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NintendoWare Weekly: Sonic 4, Ivy the Kiwi Mini

JC Fletcher — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:03:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

It's sort of a Yuji Naka day on the Wii and DSi shops today, with Naka's old game series (Sonic the Hedgehog) receiving a new entry WiiWare, and his latest series (Ivy the Kiwi?) marching onto DSiWare.

Also on DSiWare this week: games about protecting the world as a superhero, and protecting information as a data-gathering robot. Sonic is also joined on WiiWare by a trio of jumping sports.

Gallery: Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (WiiWare) (10/11/10)

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NintendoWare Weekly: Sonic 4, Ivy the Kiwi Mini originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NintendoWare Weekly: Ufouria, And Yet It Moves

JC Fletcher — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:57:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

As if summoned by our claim last week of the Virtual Console's death, Sunsoft swoops in with a really interesting Virtual Console game! Sunsoft (who also published the last one) might be the only company left releasing retro games on the Wii Shop.

WiiWare has a (single) interesting release as well: the physics-based puzzle platformer And Yet It Moves, which has moved from PC to WiiWare with new modes and some new levels.

Gallery: And Yet It Moves (WiiWare)

Continue reading NintendoWare Weekly: Ufouria, And Yet It Moves

NintendoWare Weekly: Ufouria, And Yet It Moves originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese Nintendo downloads: Mega Man 10, Moon Cresta

JC Fletcher — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:43:00 EST

Though there's a lot of content on DSiWare in Japan today, it's almost entirely training stuff. So, it would seem that DSiWare stepped aside to let WiiWare's single release shine this week. (That's probably not what really happened -- but it's a nice thought.)

In any case, Mega Man 10 is up on WiiWare in Japan today, and it's likely to overshadow anything else available this week, including the ancient Moon Cresta:

Mega Man 10 (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
Moon Cresta (VC Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)

G.G. Series Throw Out (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Renjuku Kanji: Shougaku 4-nensei (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Renjuku Kanji: Shougaku 5-nensei (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Brain Challenge (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Let's Golf (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)

Japanese Nintendo downloads: Mega Man 10, Moon Cresta originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese Nintendo downloads: Super Famicom Wars, Diner Dash

JC Fletcher — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST

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)

Japanese Nintendo downloads: Super Famicom Wars, Diner Dash originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese Nintendo downloads: Mega Man 4, Nectaris, Starship Defender

JC Fletcher — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:45:00 EST

This week, the long-awaited remake of Hudson's Military Madness is available on WiiWare in Japan. Do you like ... war? Do you like hexagons? This is for you! Japanese gamers with no interest in playing updated versions of classic games can play a faithfully emulated version of Mega Man 4 instead.

DSi owners have a wide selection of games this week, including Q-Games's Starship Defense/Starship Patrol (now under a third name!), a new G.G. Series game, a Gameloft pet sim, and a dungeon crawler based on Sonic Powered's From the Abyss.

Rockman 4 (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Nectaris (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
Anonymous Notes: From the Abyss (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Uchimakure! Touch Pen Wars (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
G.G. Series Assault Buster (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Uso Hakkenki: Kokoro no Naka o Nozo Ichao (DSiWare, 1-2 players, 500 DSi Points)
Starship Defender (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Wanko to Issho (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)

Japanese Nintendo downloads: Mega Man 4, Nectaris, Starship Defender originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese Nintendo downloads: Parodius, Genius Personal dictionaries

JC Fletcher — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:00:00 EST

Though today is a fairly low-key day for downloads on the Japanese Wii and DSi Shops, there are a few things available that we'd love to see in North America but never will. The Virtual Console has MSX releases of two wonderful shooters, the Gradius/Twinbee/octopus mashup cute-em-up Parodius, and Salamander, which we know as Life Force. The MSX ports are inferior to most other versions, so maybe we can live.

The other programs we desperately want but won't have: the Genius Personal series for DSiWare, which allow you to write a word in English or Japanese (depending on which version you download) and get a translation and definition. Perfect for people who have to read and translate Japanese DSiWare titles all the time!

Parodius (MSX, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Salamander (MSX, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
atChess Battle Spirits (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
G.G. Series D-Tank (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Artist Ni Narou! MInna ni Nurikai Jukyuu-hen (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Pinball Attack! (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Genius Personal English-Japanese Easy Dictionary (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)
Genius Personal Japanese-English Easy Dictionary (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)

Japanese Nintendo downloads: Parodius, Genius Personal dictionaries originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese Nintendo downloads: Kirby's Star Stacker, I am a Pla-Rail Driver

JC Fletcher — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:15:00 EST

The Japanese Wii and DSi Shops are taking it easy on the first week back after a holiday, with just one WiiWare, one Virtual Console, and two DSiWare games available, quite a change from the massive pileups of previous weeks. The Virtual Console game is the Super Famicom version of Kirby's Star Stacker, an original Kirby-themed puzzle game we received on the Game Boy. And on WiiWare, a painfully adorable ... train simulator?

DSiWare has another G.G. series shmup, and another miniature Paint By DS featuring cats. Pretty mellow week!

Boku wa Pla-Rail Untenshi: Shinkansen & Joukikansha Hen (1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
Kirby's Star Stacker (Super Famicom, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
G.G. Series Dark Spirits (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Artist ni Narou! Minna no Nurikai Neko Hen (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Japanese Nintendo downloads: Kirby's Star Stacker, I am a Pla-Rail Driver originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese Nintendo downloads: Phoenix Wright, Zaxxon, Photo Fighter X

JC Fletcher — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:15:00 EST

The release list for the Japanese Wii and DSi Shops are a bit more restrained than the last couple of weeks, offering a much more manageable (read: smaller) selection of downloadable titles. On Virtual Console, for example, Sega's isometric arcade shmup Zaxxon is the only offering. Similarly, there's just one WiiWare game, but it's Phoenix Wright!

DSiWare gets the cool Photo FIghter X, which lets you build fighting game characters from DSi camera snaps. More Paint By DS joins it, this time all about dogs; and in the requisite "puzzle game" positions are a new G.G. series entry and a Jupiter-developed game about rotating blocks to match colors.

Zaxxon (Arcade, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (WiiWare, 1 player, 900 Wii Points)
Shashin de Kakutou! Photo Fighter X! (DSiWare, 1-2 players, 200 DSi Points)
G.G. Series Vertex (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Kanji Practice First Grade (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Artist ni Narou! Minna no Nurikai Inu-hen (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Atelier Deco La Doll (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Castle of Magic (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Panewa! (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Gallery: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (WiiWare)

Japanese Nintendo downloads: Phoenix Wright, Zaxxon, Photo Fighter X originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese Nintendo downloads: Kappa Michi, Final Fight 3, more

JC Fletcher — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:45:00 EST

Another ridiculous overload of content today on the Japanese Wii and DSi Shops. Not so much in WiiWare, whose only release this week is The Incredible (and incredibly avoidable) Maze, but Virtual Console and DSiWare are absolutely stuffed with games!

Weirdly, there are two map-based puzzle games on DSiWare. One, Map Map! is a series of puzzle, and the other, Sekai Tanken Kokki World Map, is a quiz game. Also available: a cute puzzle game from the G.G. Series, in which you drop blocks to build a path for a character, a mini version of Paint by DS, more Jake Hunter, and a really cute game from Mother 3 developer Brownie Brown about leading a kappa along paths of coins.

Chokkan! Balance Labyrinth (WiiWare, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Final Fight Tough (Super Famicom, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Yie Ar Kung Fu 2 (MSX, 800 Wii Points)
Namco Quester (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Valkyrie no Densetsu (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Metal Gear (MSX, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
G.G. Series: Black x Block (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Sekai Tanken Kokki World Map (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Map Map! By Gotouchi Kentei DS (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Artist ni Narou! Minna no Nurikai (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
UNO (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 500 DSi Points)
Kappa Michi (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Tantei Saburo Jinguuji: Chained Curse & Mystery Case (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Japanese Nintendo downloads: Kappa Michi, Final Fight 3, more originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese Nintendo downloads: Trial edition

JC Fletcher — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST

The WiiWare demo program arrives in Japan today, offering many of the same demos found in North America. Bit.Trip Beat and NyxQuest are out, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is in. Oddly, the Japanese site for the demo program mentions a January 31 end date, which the North American page doesn't. We don't know if that's the end of the whole demo thing or just the expiration date for this set of demos.

Also on the Wii today in Japan: two Namco arcade games which are personal favorites: free-scrolling shooter Bosconian (with fantastic "ALART" voice samples), and Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani's weird Libble Rabble. Genterprise continues its budget series on DSiWare, with a top-down racer and a VR-looking action game:

Bosconian (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
Libble Rabble (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
G.G. Series Tetsubou (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
G.G. Series Drift Circuit (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Art Academy (First and Second Semester) (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points each)

Demos: Pokemon Rumble, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord & World of Goo

Japanese Nintendo downloads: Trial edition originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese Nintendo downloads: Kirby and Kissy

JC Fletcher — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST

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)

Japanese Nintendo downloads: Kirby and Kissy originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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