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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.

Frontier Developments has used the WiiWare platform to deliver two small, but high-quality games: the LostWinds series. However, according to David Braben (and a quick look at the offerings on any console download service) not everyone has taken the same approach. "One of the things that really annoys me," Braben told Develop, "is when people see XBLA, PSN and WiiWare as a dumping ground, in terms of 'you don't need to put the same amount of effort in.'"

Instead of a place for shallow games, Braben described the download space as the "short story" of game design. "It's a way to try out a radical idea," he said, "It's a way to try out a radical idea, and quite often a lot of those do become novels later on. What I don't like is the idea that people can scratch one out at the bus stop, which I've overheard at conferences." More CUBELLO, less Frogger 2. Of course, the real takeaway from Braben's article is that you should look around at conferences to see if David Braben is nearby.

We knew about this week's marquee European WiiWare release yesterday, and, happily, LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias has actually arrived on the Wii Shop. For just 1,000 Wii Points, you can begin causing irrevocable damage to the ecosystem of another landscape by haphazardly altering the weather. Fun! For season-themed entertainment, we'll definitely take that over Happy Holidays: Halloween, an app that lets you make Halloween e-cards and send them to your friends' Wiis. We're not going to think too much about that one, much like publisher 505 Games.

The Virtual Console has an inferior, but more Haggar-centric, Final Fight sequel, along with Wonder Boy III, which is good but not as good as the other version of the same game already there (Dragon's Curse). And on DSiWare, Photo Clock and ... oh, hey, Dragon Quest Wars!

• LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
• Happy Holidays: Halloween (WiiWare, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
• Final Fight 2 (Virtual Console, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (Virtual Console, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
• Photo Clock (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Dragon Quest Wars (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 500 DSi Points)

In North America, Bit.Trip: CORE was the hundredth WiiWare release. Today, Frontier Developments announced that LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias will receive that honor in Europe -- which also happens to mean the game will be out tomorrow! As the sequel to the standout WiiWare launch title, Winter of the Melodias is a good choice for the spot, although we don't discount the possibility that it just happened to work out that way.

Winter of the Melodias includes a new cyclone ability and a mechanic that allows main character Toku to change the environment from summer to winter and back instantly; in turn manipulating bodies of water or even clouds. We hope Frontier and Nintendo don't wait until it's actually winter to give Americans the chance to play it.

About 20 seconds into this video of the freshly revealed sequel to Frontier's sleeper WiiWare platforming wonder, you'll probably be asking yourself, "Hey, where's the 'winter' in LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias?" Then, before you know it, BAM! It's winter. This seasonal manipulation is clearly a core game mechanic this time around, but the trailer does little to explain exactly why and how. For now, we're content simply knowing a follow-up to LostWinds is coming at all.

WiIWare aficionados, brace your hind quarters. UK gaming mag Edge has revealed (via N-Europe) that a sequel to Frontier's LostWinds is in the works, titled LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias. While most of the core gameplay elements in the sequel remain unchanged, Toku returns with one new ability: he can now change the seasons, turning Summer to Winter and vice versa.

There's no word on when the game will hit WiiWare right now, but if you live in the UK, you may want to check out the latest issue of Edge. The preview on LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias is apparently pretty extensive and, if you're wondering what all of the fuss is about, you still have time to check out the first game (which some of us think is quite excellent).

[Via Go Nintendo; thanks, Fernando!]

And the same holds true for what's happening in games. In a recent discussion with Eurogamer, Frontier's David Braben observed, "In games, most interaction involves killing, unfortunately." The Elite designer noted that while killing felt realistic "for better or worse," interactions with characters, be they NPCs or online pals, fail to be fulfilling. "It's either stealing stuff from them, killing them and then stealing stuff, or having a bit of voice chat, if you're lucky," he said.

While we'd argue that that plenty of gamers have been killing time with non-violent titles (think Flower or Rock Band), it's hard to dispute Braben's point in the context of player-character interaction -- or to overrule his optimism. "Where it gets interesting is when you can't distinguish AI from a real character, and I know that's still a long way away, but we were saying 10 years ago, when will you not be able to distinguish computer graphics from the real world?"

That's something we'll have to ask Milo!

The UK-based Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, or ELSPA for short, has a new face on board. Seasoned game designer David Braben and his crack team of devs at Frontier Developments have joined the trade body, no doubt wooed by the organization's rumored regular meetings to play Twister.

Braben wowed early gamers with his influential space sim, Elite, as well as its 1993 sequel, Frontier. Braben's latest release strayed far from his roots, however, in last year's WiiWare platformer, LostWinds. In joining the ELSPA, Braben says he hopes to help the organization deal with such issues as piracy, ratings and used game sales "swiftly and efficiently." Still, given that the studio's current project, The Outsider, was first announced in 2006, and we're still waiting on Elite IV, we're not convinced speed is how Braben and company roll.

In the latest edition of Touch Ruminations, former DS and Wii Fanboy Lead David Hinkle talks about how lousy Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop looks and why the Wii needs to be taken more seriously. Basically, he just rants about stuff. The opinions expressed here belong to the author and don't necessarily reflect those of Joystiq, Weblogs Inc. or its affiliates.

You've seen it, right? Horrible, I know. How does something like this even happen? I don't have all of the answers, but being an individual that has worked in the Wii trenches for years now, I can tell you one thing: this isn't helping the Wii to get the respect it deserves.

What a delightful variety of games on the Japanese Virtual Console this Christmas week! Compare that to the American selection, which is delightful but not at all varied. Japan has four new old games, from four different systems, in four different gameplay styles, including a shmup, a strategy game, a platformer, and a wrestling game -- and great examples of all four genres!

• Salamander (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points)
• Super Nobunaga no Yabou (Super Famicom, 1-8 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Super Wonder Boy: Monster World (Sega Master System, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
• Fire Pro Wrestling 3 Legend Bout (PC Engine, 1-4 players, 600 Wii Points)

WiiWare is also a treat this week, but one the rest of the world has already been served: LostWinds, published in Japan by Square Enix.

Frontier Developments' WiiWare launch title LostWinds remains one of the highlights of the lineup ... in the US, Europe, and Australia. Good news for Japanese Wii owners: the platformer is finally scheduled for release in December, for 1,000 Wii Points. Good news for Frontier Developments (although we suspect they've heard this): Square Enix picked up the publishing rights to the game for Japan -- whatever it means to "publish" a WiiWare game.

LostWinds, which was published in other regions by Frontier themselves, will be the second WiiWare release from Square Enix, following Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, and the first Square Enix WiiWare release from an external developer. We know we'd be pleased if a big, prestigious publisher like that showed confidence in our game! And if our game existed!


[Via Game Watch]

Nintendo doesn't release sales numbers for VC or WiiWare titles (although stat lovers might be able to figure out some estimates). To give us a better idea of what's hot and what's not, though, everyone's favorite marketing guy Laurent Fischer reports that LostWinds is dominating Europe. The two games that "come close" to LostWinds' sales in the continent are TV Show King and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King.

Fischer also reports that WiiWare titles are enjoying a "constant flow of downloads," which makes sense in today's digital media environment. As for LostWinds, we're glad to see a game that's such a breath of fresh air get the recognition it deserves.

Wow, we've been happy with WiiWare. You all have been happy with the titles, correct? Well, regardless of how you would rate the service so far, we have a tough question to ask.

Do you think the steady flow of new titles will remain constant going forward? Would you expect at least one new WiiWare game each week, or do you think that the well is getting close to dried up? Sure, there's Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People to look forward to, but what else? Will the flow continue?

As in, we've found a winner for our LostWinds giveaway! Our first free WiiWare title goes to:

Marcelo, who is hoping for something like Ikaruga on WiiWare.

Congratulations, Marcelo! Everyone else, stay tuned for next week's Virtually Free, when we'll have a new prize up for grabs.

Right on time, Nintendo has pulled the appropriate levers, flicked the necessary switches, and sent a whole world of WiiWare goodness down the pipes and into Europe and Australia. Here's what greeted this blogger on his local servers just now:

• Dr. Mario & Germ Buster -- 1,000 Wii Points
  
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King -- 1,500 Wii Points
• LostWinds -- 1,000 Wii Points
  
• Star Soldier R -- 800 Wii Points
  
• TV Show King -- 1,000 Wii Points
  
• Toki Tori -- 900 Wii Points
  

Expect reviews of Dr. Mario and Toki Tori in the very near future; in the meantime, let's hear what you've downloaded so far, PAL people!