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European Nintendo downloads: Banana fighting street

by JC Fletcher { Nov 6th 2009 at 12:10PM }

Finally, the wait for Fighting Street is over for Europe! We suppose it's timely, given that a new Street Fighter game is in the news now, but ... it's still Fighting Street. The continuation of Tales of Monkey Island should be a bit more welcome, as should the DSiWare Bomberman Blitz.

Manic Monkey Mayhem on WiiWare sounds like it could be great (monkeys throw bananas to knock each other off of platforms), with online play -- but, of course, we always feel guarded about unknown WiiWare games. But monkeys! We look forward to hearing impressions.

As for the rest, Uno sounds like Uno and SUDOKU sounds like sudoku, but louder.

Fighting Street (Turbografx-16 CD-ROM, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Manic Monkey Mayhem (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
Uno (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
A Little Bit of ... All Time Classics: Family Favorites (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Bomberman Blitz (DSiWare, 1-8 players, 500 DSi Points)
SUDOKU (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)

USK: Phoenix Wright holding court on Wii

by JC Fletcher { Nov 5th 2009 at 9:45AM }

A rating on Germany's USK database suggests that Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is being planned for Wii. "Objection!!", you may say, thrilled to have the opportunity to work that in. "Didn't Ace Attorney Investigations producer Motohide Eshiro already say that the series would remain on handhelds?"

While it's true that future Ace Attorney games will probably be on handhelds, the series has already been ported to PC, proving that someone within Capcom -- and not necessarily anyone involved with actually making the Ace Attorney games -- has no issue with porting the existing titles, which is extremely likely to be what is happening here. And this is the same Capcom that said that Resident Evil 4 would be a GameCube exclusive.

Our guess would be an episodic WiiWare presentation of the first Phoenix Wright. Or a mistake in the rating description.

Nintendo planning to offer WiiWare demos

by JC Fletcher { Nov 3rd 2009 at 3:50PM }

During the recent investor Q&A session, Satoru Iwata announced plans to begin rolling out demos for a small selection of WiiWare games this month. He didn't say which region or regions would receive this service, so let's assume it's just Japan.

The pilot program is intended to bring more attention to the Wii Shop Channel, which, Iwata said, is currently only used by people who already know what they want. He expressed some doubt as to the effectiveness of demos as a promotional tool, but the (test) market will decide that!

There was no word on whether Nintendo would also try the controversial "advertising" method of promotion, wherein a company tells its customers about its games.

Japanese Nintendo downloads: Neo Geo, Art Style return

by JC Fletcher { Nov 3rd 2009 at 11:15AM }

This week marks two major events (sort of) for the Japanese Wii and DSi download services. First, both Wii and DSi downloads now go up on the same date. In this case, it's November 4, which is today in Japan. Second, the Neo Geo is back! The last Neo game came out in Japan in July 2008.

On DSiWare, there's more mahjong, more calendar apps, and more Art Style. Digidrive is a remake of one of the original Bit Generations games. It's been released as Intersect in Europe.

Fire Emblem Gaiden (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Fatal Fury Special (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
"Aha! I Got It" Escape Game (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
Kyoto Students Taishi Higashida Thought Puzzle Inspiration Signed Painting (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Handy Mahjong (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Daily Growing Journal Calendar (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Art Style: DIGIDRIVE (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Stop Stress by destroying everything in new WiiWare game

by JC Fletcher { Nov 2nd 2009 at 2:00PM }

Stop Stress sounds like one of those My Coach non-games for DS: based on the title, we'd assume it would be full of relaxing exercises and tips about reducing the strain of daily life. But Abylight's Stop Stress: A Day of Fury on WiiWare encourages its players to take their stress out on the virtual world by beating everything nearby to pieces.

Swinging the Wii Remote to control the arm of Jack, a stressed-out guy in a world that grows increasingly hostile as he gets more worked up, players use bats, axes, and other weapons to smash everything in sight. According to the ESRB description, "One mission is to 'search and destroy all the alarm-clocks' by using a soft slipper; another mission requires players to 'break all the windows and escape from the evil traffic jam.'"

Publisher Abylight expects to release Stop Stress this fall. Try not to get too anxious for it!

Gallery: Stop Stress: A Day of Fury (WiiWare)

Nintendoware Weekly: Sparkle Snapshots, Fighting Street, Carnival King & more

by JC Fletcher { Nov 2nd 2009 at 9:44AM }

Nintendo actually released a respectable number of downloadable games this week: 8 games across Virtual Console, WiiWare and DSiWare. You may have even heard of some of them!

As far as we can tell, the highlights of the week are a DSiWare photo decoration app and the embarrassing parent of the Street Fighter series. Hit the post break and find out if any of the many offerings are what you were looking to drain your Nintendo Points on.

Continued →

European Nintendo downloads: Zombies Lit, BBQed My Ghost Mansion

by JC Fletcher { Oct 30th 2009 at 2:00PM }

Nintendo of Europe apparently believes Halloween is serious business and worth celebrating. Four of the five new downloadable games this week are in some way horror-themed! Zombies Ate My Neighbors arrives on Virtual Console in the same week as its North American release (under the European title Zombies), as does (unfortunately) Ghost Mansion Party. WayForward's LIT proves a more appropriate Halloween release than its Valentine's Day-adjacent release in the US would suggest.

Perhaps the biggest, scariest surprise of all: Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ is out in Europe, finally! And, while it was released on a cartridge here, it's an 800-point DSiWare download in Europe! No excising of zombie food talk for this one.

Zombies (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
LIT (WiiWare, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
Ghost Mansion Party (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)
A Little Bit of ... All Time Classics: Card Classics (DSiWare, 1-8 players, 500 DSi Points)

Tomena Sanner running to North American WiiWare in Q1

by JC Fletcher { Oct 29th 2009 at 3:15PM }

Konami has announced a North American release for its one-button WiiWare action game Tomena Sanner. The mobile port stars a businessman named Hitoshi Susumu who must run to an "ultimate dance party" to get there on time -- and who has the terrible luck to face obstacles like chorus lines, T-Rexes, lizardmen, and Frankenstein's Monsters.

The game uses a single button to control Susumu's jumps, as well as attacks, basketball dunks, and whatever the situation calls for. It's like Canabalt, but with more dancing. All the while, a running commentary on Susumu's progress displays at the top of the screen. It also includes split screen multiplayer for up to four.

Tomena Sanner will be out, unfortunately, in Q1 2010.

Gallery: Tomena Sanner (WiiWare)

Yes, Excitebike World Rally has some motion control

by JC Fletcher { Oct 28th 2009 at 5:16PM }

Wait! Come back! The motion controls sound okay! We know that you're already groaning about the potential ruin of an NES classic with unwarranted waggle, but according to 1UP's preview of Excitebike: World Rally, the limited Wiimote motion sensing added to the traditional Excitebike control scheme actually improves the game.

You still move with the D-pad and accelerate with a button, but you can now tilt the Wiimote to lean your rider and "affect the pitch of your bike." "Jumping was always the trickiest part of Excitebike," 1UP's Jeremy Parish notes, "and the analog smoothness of the motion controls makes it intuitive -- it became second nature before the end of the first track."

We're curious enough about this sensible-sounding innovation that we'll delay throwing our controllers down in disgust. For now.

Whippin' out some Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth footage

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 27th 2009 at 2:45PM }

Upon close inspection of two new videos of the WiiWare title, Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth, we can confirm the following: It's definitely a Castlevania game. While the game is a remake of the Gameboy title of the same name -- sans the "ReBirth" bit -- the WiiWare version is more reminiscent of the 16-bit games found on the Super Nintendo and Genesis. In fact, we're fairly certain we spotted some reused art from said 16-bit games, which is pretty characteristic for a Castlevania title! Still, the classic monster-slaying, holy-water-tossing gameplay looks to be firmly intact.

Check out the footage after the break.

Continued →

Japanese Nintendo downloads: WiiWare ReBirth

by JC Fletcher { Oct 27th 2009 at 12:44PM }

WiiWare is officially back in Japan, with one of the most content-rich updates we'd ever seen. Just Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth would be enough to make this week remarkable, but Game Arts' Shadow Walker and Bit.Trip VOID are available as well, along with an oddity from D3!

Not enough? How about four Virtual Console games, including a Sonic & Knuckles with the lock-on feature intact? Or a budget DSiWare game about blowing up asteroids to save the Earth?

@SIMPLE Series Vol. 5: THE Judo (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 700 Wii Points)
Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
Bit.Trip: VOID (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
Shadow Walker (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
Championship Lode Runner (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Sonic & Knuckles (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
Face Off (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Rolling Thunder 2 (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Earth Saver (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Puzzle Selection Monthly Crossword House vol. 6 (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Hills and Rivers Remain (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 800 DSi Points)

This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Excitebiking to the World Rally

by David Hinkle { Oct 26th 2009 at 4:15PM }

This week's most noteworthy item on the Nintendo Channel is undoubtedly the unveiling of Excitebike World Rally -- if you haven't had a chance to check out the brief trailer for November's WiiWare racer then, by all means, get with the clicking. If that doesn't tickle your fancy, then we suggest you check and make sure it's still breathing, because a new Excitebike is definitely a fancy tickler.

Head past the break for this week's Nintendo Channel content.

Continued →

Excitebike World Rally heats up WiiWare Nov. 9, includes online multiplayer

by JC Fletcher { Oct 26th 2009 at 12:50PM }

Turn on your Wii and check out the Nintendo Channel right now: on the weekly "Nintendo Week" program, the hosts revealed a new WiiWare version of Excitebike, called Excitebike World Rally, due out November 9. It looks like a 2.5D version of the original Excitebike redone in polygons, with the classic track editor. But this version has online multiplayer! Take that, Vs. Excitebike.

There's also footage of Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth! It looks fantastic. That comes pretty early in the show. The Excitebike reveal comes only after a Frag Doll appearance and a Scooby-Doo style fast-motion chase sequence. And a zombie grunting his way through a description of Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

NintendoWare Weekly: Zombies Axed My PictureBook

by JC Fletcher { Oct 26th 2009 at 10:20AM }

Of course Nintendo of America didn't release Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth today. That would have been far too obvious. However, rather than disappointing us with this week's selections, Nintendo actually surprised us with a very welcome, seasonally appropriate Virtual Console classic! Knock on the post break and see what kind of downloadable candy Nintendo is shoving into our pillowcases.

[Image credit]

Continued →

Oh, the huge manatee! Monkey Island Episode 3 on WiiWare this Monday

by JC Fletcher { Oct 23rd 2009 at 5:15PM }

Telltale just announced that the third chapter of Tales of Monkey Island, called Lair of the Leviathan, will arrive on WiiWare this Monday, October 26. Given the success that the series has seen so far, it's sure to attract interest despite taking place in "the guts of a giant sea manatee". And not, we suppose, inside the rare land manatee.

Leviathan's PC version was released on September 29, giving it roughly a month of lead time over the WiiWare release. That means if you know any avid PC adventure gamers, you should stay away from them or risk being totally spoiled. They'll understand.