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Nintendo of Japan totally skimped on the digital releases this week. It's actually a bit disconcerting to see a list of releases without a huge DSiWare education or sudoku contingent. If you happen to want to play things on DSiWare (and if you read Japanese) there's a new Jake Hunter adventure, as well as another fascinating cheapo GG Series game, this time featuring a big drill.

On Wii, an Advance Wars predecessor is up, as well as Diner Dash, which arrives on WiiWare in Japan first.

• Super Famicom Wars (Famicom, 1-4 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Diner Dash (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
• GG Series: Drilling Attack! (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Detective Saburo Jinguuji: Portrait of the Deceased Child (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Despite the continued absence of WiiWare, there's plenty of stuff to download this week if you have a Japanese Wii or DSi. After giving the DS version most of the year to sell, Nintendo has released the original SNES version of Kirby Super Star to the Virtual Console. It's joined by a Namco shooter, Baraduke, and its sequel, in the rare case of an entire series being released to the Virtual Console at once. Baraduke stars Kissy, who, in Namco's weirdly cross-game universe, would go on to marry Dig Dug's Taizo Hori and give birth to Susumu Hori, Mr. Driller.

DSiWare has an especially full lineup this week, with two new cheapo G.G. Series games, one of which is some kind of ninja platformer, and the other a brawler. There's also 200-point tower defense and math training! For a little more cash, there's another Jinguuji Saburo/Jake Hunter mystery, as Arc System Works takes the Telltale path to releasing adventure games.

• Kirby Super Star (Super Famicom, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Baraduke (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Bakutotsu Kijuutei: Baraduke II (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Amakuchi! Dairou Castle (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Calculation 100 Barrage (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• G.G. Series Ninja Karakuri Den (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• G.G. Series Super Hero Ouga (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Tantei Saburo Jinguuji: Drastic Move & Mysterious Case (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Despite being loaded with content, this week's Japanese Virtual Console and WiiWare offerings are unlikely to excite, with one major exception. Square Enix's My Life as a King follow-up arrives in Japan this week, allowing players to run the tower fortress of their dreams! It's joined by a, uh, doll game, and ... a brain training game ... for kids.

Virtual Console this week offers one really cute Namco arcade game, and another Jinguuji Saburo detective game, which we'll never see.

Virtual Console:

• Marvel Land (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Tantei Jinguuji Saburo: Toki no Sugiyuku Mama ni... (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
  

WiiWare:

• Right Brain Kids Okigaru Right Brain (1-4 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Licca-chan Oshare House (1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
  
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord (1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
  

We were ridiculously excited about the North American debut of Workjam's Tantei Jinguuji Saburo detective adventure series -- until Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles actually came out, and turned out to be a mess of poor localization and incomplete content. Whoops.

North American publisher Aksys Games is taking the rare step of correcting its mistake in the followup, Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past. In addition to three new cases (judging by the art, they are the cases from the DS game Tantei Jinguuji Saburo Detective Story: Kienai Kokoro) and six new adorably drawn "comedic" adventures, Memories of the Past also includes all three cases from the first game, with a new localization! "Like a Phoenix, Jake Hunter has been reborn as a game infused with personality and a brand new localization that will keep you coming back for seconds," Frank deWindt II, project lead for the game, said in the press release. We see what he did there and wonder if it signals an intentionally quirkier re-Wright for the cases.

In other Aksys news, the company announced a very cute multi-instrument music game called Rockin' Pretty.

Pedigree

Well, we've found one of the weirdest game company names in existence: Aksys Games. It's right up there with "Infogrames" and "Camerica." I was surprised to learn that they're not as obscure as their name would lead one to imagine: they're the folks behind the Guilty Gear series.

Jake Hunter was developed by Arc System Works, which is a large Japanese developer and publisher who publishes overseas via Aksys Games. That'll be something I've gotta keep an eye on in the future: the same-developer-same-publisher factor. I'd probably have to talk to a few people who work for a development team or a publisher to learn more about that one. Any such folks reading this who'd like to help me out? Come on, I know you're out there.

The Critics Said ...

IGN was quick to note that this is a Phoenix Wright-inspired adventure, but also added that "Jake is a stereotype, and the stories are straight forward, humorless affairs." Game Informer followed suit, stating that the game "takes itself way too seriously." So ... the game is being criticized for not being closer to what inspired it? This leaves me a bit befuddled. If Jake Hunter copied Phoenix Wright to a T, it would be criticized for not being original. But when it decides to take a serious approach (as opposed to PW's humorous presentation), it's criticized for not being enough like the original. Poor Jake Hunter can't do anything right.

Criticism of critics aside, the two reviews were basically on-par with their peers: the game holds a 47% aggregate score at Metacritic.

Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles on the DS didn't really set the American gaming community on fire, in terms of sales or critical response. The American debut of Workjam's detective series was marred by text errors and omitted content that caused the game to lose points with reviewers, and it just flew too far under the radar for even the Phoenix Wright audience to hear much about it.

All of that is just a roundabout way of saying this: the third Tantei Jinguuji Saburo game, with a scenario by Final Fantasy VII/VIII/X and Super Smash Bros. Brawl scenario writer Kazushige Nojima is out in Japan today, and we shouldn't expect Aksys to pay to translate it for the few people who would drop $5.

Prospects are significantly better for Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair -- so much better, in fact, that it's already out in the US and Europe, albeit on a different console. Rastan Saga 2, an awkward-looking Taito action-platformer about a big barbarian dude, is pretty much a lock as well, because Hudson is nice.

As for WiiWare, judging by Nintendo of Japan's WiiWare page at the time of writing ... nothin'.

• Tantei Jinguuji Saburo: Kiken na Futari Zengo-hen (Famicom Disk System, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
  
• Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (Mega Drive, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)
  
• Rastan Saga 2 (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)

In the comments area of our recent post about the adventure game Lux-Pain, a discussion popped up about length in adventure games. Basically, they tend to be short. Some people avoid some adventures because of this (a problem that is exacerbated by the fact that most adventure games have zero replay value), and some accept it (understanding that an adventure game requires a great deal more dialogue than most other games).

Where do you stand on this issue? Do you love adventure games, but wish they could be longer? Do you steer clear of them in general in an effort to get the most game time out of your money?

In a platform game, it's important that you be able to actually move from one platform to the next. Action game? It's similarly important that you be able to fight and move, in order to progress through the game. Few people would argue those points -- so why is the text in a text adventure often less than great?

Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles could have been a great game. The potential is there, and there are a lot of great little touches. Unfortunately, the localized script is sloppy, and that, combined with the missing cases, makes this much more a miss than a hit.

It seems like only a few days ago when publisher Aksys Games announced that it would be localizing Super Dodgeball Brawlers and Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles (Tantei Jinguji Saburo), much to our delight. Though both titles have been met with mixed reviews, we can't help but be thankful that someone took the risk to bring over these titles that likely would have stayed in Japan otherwise.

With both Super Dodgeball Brawlers and Jake Hunter now on store shelves, we chatted with the studio's localization crew -- associate producer Mike Manzanares, assistant associate producer Frank deWindt, and marketing director Gail Salamanca -- about the two titles and Aksys's future. Jump past the break for details on Super Dodgeball Brawlers' unlockables and Jake Hunter's abridged case load!

Seriously, she only brought it on herself. Sharing is caring.

In all seriousness, we were looking forward to the release of Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles this weekend for some crime-solving fun, but after checking out the reviews and discovering our localized version would only get half the game the Japanese currently enjoy, we're doubting if the man is as tall as he's said to be.

With that said, we don't know how this weekend will unfold for us, from a game-playing perspective. So, what will we play? Wait, who cares! We're just some jerks who blog. Let's find out from more important people what they'll be enjoying this weekend.

What will you be playing?

Well folks, it would seem that all of our excitement over Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles might have been wasted. What little in the way of reviews for the game online say it's kind of, well ... below mediocre. They aren't too kind to the game, but we can't say we blame them. The North American release only has three cases, where the Japanese release has six!

• Game Informer (65/100) says "This is a brief and functional title, but it lacks the flair and intrigue to pull off the film noir aesthetic. It's also hard to get over the fact that Jake Hunter looks like he should be ordering Jägerbombs and hitting on your sister instead of solving cases."

• Nintendo Power (50/100) thinks "The game would have benefited from some compelling touch-screen use (for puzzles or combat, perhaps), but as is, it barely puts the 'interactive' in 'interactive novel.'" [June 2008, p.89]

• 1UP (D-) is of the mind that this game isn't even qualified to be in the bargain bin: "Each case is stupidly linear (to the point where you cannot leave an area until you perform the game-moving action), the script is riddled with typos (at one point, a character refers to a mobile phone as a "sell phone"), and the static character art exemplifies the cheapness of the entire package."

Oh, Jake Hunter, that giant detective. It's so good to see you. Or to prepare to see you. Well, either way, you'll be around this week. Just watch out for that fashion game. You don't want to get too close -- it's catching.

• Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles
• Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor
• My Fashion Studio

Check out what's out in the rest of the world after the break.

What, you're surprised? You thought perhaps we'd use the global Joystiq stage to feature NASCAR 09 or Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm? Nope, it's all about Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, finally being released on an unsuspecting public this Thursday.

This is by no means a one-snake show though. The 360's getting Don King Prizefighter, and the somewhat intriguing Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles is coming to the DS. But, of course, the biggest non-MGS 4 release has to be Snood Deluxe on the PC. Let us be the first to say: "Finally, we can pay money to play Snood again."

The next few months will be filled with a lot a great releases -- perhaps too many. Super Dodgeball Brawlers, Bangai-O Spirits, Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Etrian Odyssey II, Space Invaders Extreme, Arkanoid DS, Rondo of Swords, Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles, Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness, and The World Ends With You are just a few that we can name on the spot, and all of these will be out before July starts.

Unless you have abundant amounts of currency, though, you probably can't afford to buy that many games in such a short period of time. Also, money isn't the only problem. Supposing that you could afford everything you wanted, you wouldn't even have the time to play them all.

Narrowing down the field is tough, but necessary. What games that are coming out in the next three months do you consider must gets? And they don't have to be chosen from the games listed above, so go nuts.

Thanks to a sweet thread over at GAF, we've got a look at the boxart for upcoming Aksys title Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles. Regular readers of the site will know that we're pretty darn anxious to get our hands on this game and give it a try.

If there's one thing we'll say about the boxart, it sure is busy. There are tons of characters crammed onto the boxart, but none is so prominently displayed as the lead man, Jake Hunter himself. And, because of this, we consider the boxart a great success. What about you all?

See also: 2008 Blips - Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles