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NintendoWare Weekly: Contra ReBirth, Super Return of the Jedi

by JC Fletcher { Sep 7th 2009 at 10:15AM }

Happy Labor Day! To celebrate the occasion, Nintendo offers a WiiWare game that is guaranteed to be hard work. That's what Labor Day is about, right? Doing as much labor as possible? Nintendo certainly isn't taking the day off, bringing us a decent number of downloads (relative to our lowered expectations). The list is available after the break.

Gallery: Contra ReBirth (WiiWare)

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Contra ReBirth spreads to North America on Monday

by JC Fletcher { Sep 4th 2009 at 2:00PM }

Were you feeling a bit left out by the release of Contra ReBirth everywhere but North America? We were too, which is why we're delighted to tell you that North American Wii owners will be able to get their fill of dangerously shirt-free side-scrolling combat this Monday. We'd like to take the opportunity to thank Konami for telling us what's going to be available before it's available.

Konami included the short trailer above, which includes one frame of ridiculous cut scene: "All fighting men are 'Contra,' whether they be human or robot!" There are also new screens of the adventures of Bill Rizer and samurai Genbei Yagyu (what?) to enjoy in our gallery.

Gallery: Contra ReBirth (WiiWare)

Contra Rebirth also headed to Europe

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

We just told you that Konami's faux-retro Gradius Rebirth was added to the PAL WiiWare shop. If you've been playing for the past hour or so and have already moved on to dreaming about Konami's other WiiWare retro reinterpretation, you'll be happy to hear that Konami has announced a European release for Contra Rebirth as well, to be expected this August. This also gives North American readers cause for some measure of optimism.

In addition, Konami will release its top-down racer, Driift, later this month as DRiiFT MANIA. "DRiiFT MANIA" is also a condition in which someone is compelled to spell things with two lower-case i's.

Contra ReBirth footage surfaces, US release still up in the air

by Ben Gilbert { May 13th 2009 at 1:40PM }

Earlier this week, Contra ReBirth arrived on the Japanese WiiWare channel, and wouldn't you know it, tons of footage has been loosed into the wild (opening intro/first level after the break). While we'd love to get our hands on the title, we're not quite sure when it's landing on US shores. Last year, however, Konami set a precedent with Gradius ReBirth (released this year in the US) that we're likely to see repeated with Contra.

So we asked Nintendo of America what it had to say about the title and a representative told us, "A US release date has not been confirmed." He did, however, remind us that "A US release hasn't been confirmed either." While we'd be shocked if it never showed up over here, if anything, it's going to take quite a while. After all, it took nearly six months for Gradius ReBirth to hit the US WiiWare channel. Unfortunately, as of publishing, a Konami rep has yet to return our call.

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VC/WiiWare Tuesday: Contra and more

by JC Fletcher { May 12th 2009 at 11:15AM }

Today's Virtual Console and WiiWare offerings in Japan are shockingly good. So good that if a release week like this happened outside of Japan even once every six months or so, nobody would complain about Nintendo's downloads. Even if we ignore the three WiiWare games that are already out in North America, it's wall-to-wall quality.

Well, we're kind of assuming that Contra Rebirth is quality. Even if it's terrible, we know we're in for a $10 download of an original Contra game when it shows up here. We know that the WiiWare Art Style games are fantastic, because we've been playing them since last year.

On Virtual Console, the PC Engine CD-ROM version of SimEarth and the arcade release of the brutal Tower of Druaga pale before Downtown Special, a Japan-only sequel to River City Ransom starring Kunio and friends as samurai.

Virtual Console:

Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki Dayo Zenin Shuugo (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points)
SimEarth (PC Engine, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
The Tower of Druaga (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)

WiiWare:

Art Style: CUBELEO (1 player, 600 Wii Points)
Art Style: DIALHEX (1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)
Art Style: ORBITAL (1 player, 600 Wii Points)
Contra Rebirth (1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points)

Konami kind of announces Contra ReBirth for WiiWare

by Justin McElroy { May 8th 2009 at 10:45AM }

We'd love to be excited about the newly announced WiiWare release, Contra ReBirth, but it's a little tough when considering how Konami revealed its existence. The game recently appeared with little (read: no) fanfare on a Konami product page. Heck, we're not even sure if the thing is all original or a remix of an old game!

It's like having your first-born child and letting your friends and family know by mentioning it under your breath as you drive past the hospital. What are you hiding, Konami? Is it ... a ginger?