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Diner Dash dashing to WiiWare March 29

by Richard Mitchell { Mar 5th 2010 at 8:30PM }

Attention would-be restaurateurs: Hudson has announced that Diner Dash will arrive on WiiWare March 29. This will mark the first time that the game has been available on WiiWare outside of Japan, where it was released last month. For those unfamiliar with the title, Diner Dash tasks players with running a restaurant. This entails seating customers, taking orders, placing orders, serving food and cleaning tables. You have to manage all of these tasks in real time, so it gets pretty hectic pretty fast. The WiiWare version features new controls and a new multiplayer mode as well.

The press release doesn't mention a pricing, though we'd imagine it will share the Japanese price of $10.

VC in Brief: Princess Tomato in Salad Kingdom (NES)

by David Hinkle { Feb 8th 2010 at 8:15PM }

Princess Tomato in Salad Kingdom is your usual text-based adventure game, with a decidedly vegetarian twist. It's tough for us to provide you with a comprehensive look at a genre with so much content -- plus all of the trial-and-error. It wouldn't make for a very comprehensive and enlightening video, however we soldier on. Check out the latest episode of VC in Brief above!

Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)

Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks like that.

Take heed of these new Calling screens

by David Hinkle { Feb 8th 2010 at 12:30PM }

Click image to scare up larger screens

Hudson's banking that you'll want to sample its brand of "traditional survival-horror" in Calling. Make all of the jokes you want about the game's phoney nature; what we've seen so far is downright creepy. And in the interest of getting your week off on a frightful foot, we've rummaged around in Hudson's creepy old mansion to secure some more screens, which you can find in the gallery below.

Gallery: Calling (2.8.2010)

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood on Virtual Console 'soon'

by JC Fletcher { Jan 28th 2010 at 2:45PM }

[Castlevania Dungeon]

After years of waiting, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood has been officially confirmed for a Virtual Console release in North America. A Hudson representative told Siliconera that the game was indeed bound for release on the Wii Shop, over a year after it was released as a download in Japan.

Hudson (and/or Konami) must have spent all that time implementing the English translation used in the PSP release, right? Nope! The Hudson rep said that "it will not be released in English, however." You'll just have to do your very best to understand how to whip a Medusa head in Japanese.

Find out about Lost in Shadow with a demo

by JC Fletcher { Jan 28th 2010 at 1:45PM }

It's been several months since we've seen anything about Lost in Shadow, and we're quite pleased to be presented with a reminder of Hudson's atmospheric platformer in the form of a new trailer (after the break). Last time we posted about the game, we described the concept of living shadows as "unbelievably creepy." And now we have footage of a shadow being separated from a chained-up body by a sword! In other words, our previous assessment holds.

Famitsu has also posted some new screenshots of Lost in Shadow, highlighting two new enemies, which are also creepy. Most exciting of all: Hudson has posted a demo!

[Via GoNintendo]

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ESRB rates Castlevania: Rondo of Blood for Wii

by Ben Gilbert { Jan 25th 2010 at 4:00PM }

[Castlevania Dungeon]

According to a recent "T for Teen" classification by the ESRB, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (better known as Dracula X: Rondo of Blood) appears to be heading to the Wii. An OFLC rating of the game back in December already hinted at the possibility of the game arriving on the Wii's Virtual Console (the Japanese version was released in April 2008), but the ESRB rating's description seems to clinch it, citing the "early-90s rendering" of "reddish blood-like bursts."

Previously, unless you were a resident of Japan who owned a PC Engine CD in the early '90s (or, more likely, a PSP owner anywhere in the world within the past two years ago), there wasn't an easy way for you to get your hands on "Akumajō Dracula X Chi no Rondo" (Rondo of Blood's Japanese title). But now, it seems that Wii owners outside of Japan will get the chance to check out the game.

European Nintendo downloads: Phoenix Wright, Electroplankton

by JC Fletcher { Jan 15th 2010 at 1:30PM }

The Wii port of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney arrives in Europe today, after being panned by US media for being a lazy port. We don't think "lazy port" is a strong enough term for what is essentially a GBA game running in emulation. But, because it's Phoenix Wright running in emulation, and its story is unaltered by the change in presentation, we personally don't care. It's not like anyone expected anything to be changed or added.

In other "things that used to be retail DS games" news, on DSiWare, Nintendo offers two more Electroplankton segments this week. Hudson also presents the hardest sudoku puzzles yet.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
Electroplankton: Beatnes (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Electroplankton: Hanenbow (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Sudoku Sensei (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Hudson's 'Master Higgins' sings on new game music CD

by JC Fletcher { Jan 4th 2010 at 9:15PM }

For some of us, the latest game music remix album release from Hudson is going to be a bizarre retrogaming oddity. But for a few -- those who love Hudson classics and also idolize Takahashi Meijin, the Hudson PR executive who became famous for his ability to push a button 16 times a second, and who served as the model for Adventure Island's protagonist, Takahashi Meijin Legend: Soul of the 16 Shot -- is instantly going to become one of the year's most anticipated music releases. And a bizarre retrogaming oddity.

Soul of the 16 Shot features the Meijin singing, auto-tuned, over new arrangements of the music from classic Star Soldier, Challenger and Milon's Secret Castle. It'll be available on CD and in the Japanese iTunes store January 27. After hearing the new interpretation of the Adventure Island music, we're going to hope really hard that it shows up in the US iTunes store as well. Listen to some preview tracks after the break!

[Via Chiptuned]

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This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Calling has a story

by David Hinkle { Jan 4th 2010 at 2:45PM }

It seems the Nintendo Channel is still in vacation mode, because there isn't much in the way of new content this week. Sure, there's some No More Heroes 2 footage to check out -- odds are you've already seen it on our site -- but the only genuinely new and interesting video is the story trailer above for Hudson's survival-horror game, Calling. Check it out then be sure to head past the break for the full list of this week's content.

Gallery: Calling (Wii)

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NintendoWare Weekly: Castlevania ReBirth, Pilotwings, Oregon Trail

by David Hinkle { Dec 28th 2009 at 11:00AM }

Nintendo's been on quite the roll recently, providing plenty of content in its weekly offerings -- and today is no different. There are ten new titles to check out, including high-profile downloads such as Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth, Oregon Trail and -- finally! -- Pilotwings on the Virtual Console. Head past the break to check out the full list.

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Rooms: The Main Building: A Trailer

by JC Fletcher { Dec 16th 2009 at 2:00AM }

If the Flash game Continuity were more slow-paced and puzzle-oriented, and swapped out its stick-figure aesthetic for a more opulent, woodgrain look, it would be Rooms: The Main Building. Hudson's DS (and Wii) port of the PC puzzle game, out next spring, turns the rooms of a building into a slide puzzle. By configuring the rooms in the correct manner, the player can navigate between them with doors and ladders.

Why would anyone even dare to enter a building with sliding rooms that threaten to trap you forever? For a birthday party, of course!

NintendoWare Weekly: Tales of Monkey Island, Bookworm, The Combatribes

by David Hinkle { Nov 30th 2009 at 12:00PM }

If you thought last week's NintendoWare Weekly update was huge, well ... you'll probably think the same thing about this week's update! That's mostly because Nintendo provides quite the overweight offering this time, with a total of ten new titles available for your post-Thanksgiving download. Loosen that belt and make some room for more by heading past the break for the full list of this week's releases.

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New Hudson survival horror trailers are Calling

by JC Fletcher { Nov 11th 2009 at 1:15PM }

Hudson released a pair of trailers for Calling, due out in Japan on November 19. We don't know if this will reflect on the actual scare content of the game, but the trailer above is creeeepy, bearing all the hallmarks of Japanese horror -- by which we mean terrifying little girls getting in your face, and that weird head-rattling motion (in this case performed by dolls).

After the break, see another video demonstrating gameplay. Not only can the Wiimote be used to simulate the in-game cell phone, but apparently that phone can be used as a teleportation device? But ... that would only be possible if you were some kind of ghost. We're scared.

Gallery: Calling (Wii)

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Diner Dash serves XBLA on Nov. 18

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 3rd 2009 at 9:45AM }

With the rough time a downloadable title can have finding success in the fourth quarter, it's probably a good thing that Diner Dash could likely give a plate-dropping damn how successful it ends up being on the console after it arrives on November 18th. The casual title by PlayFirst is already a hit in realm of personal com-pu-ters, having sold over five million copies.

The XBLA version of Diner Dash naturally includes HD-ified graphicals, along with a new multiplayer mode that includes support for up to eight players. The game will allow direct control over protagonist Flo, or the "traditional control scheme," which involves "point-and-click style with hotkeys." All the best to Flo in opening up her diner in the midst of the triple-A retail season ... she's going to need it.

NintendoWare Weekly: LostWinds, Shootanto, Rygar ... Domo

by JC Fletcher { Oct 19th 2009 at 9:51AM }

It's an unexpectedly packed week for Nintendo downloaders! On WiiWare, there's a game that should be wonderful and another that should be, uh, interesting. There's an arcade classic on Virtual Console, and DSiWare features the arrival of one of the weirdest game series to be announced at E3: a set of five games based on NHK mascot and generally adorable monster Domo-kun.