wiiware posts (Subscribe to this feed)

NintendoWare Weekly: Castlevania ReBirth, Pilotwings, Oregon Trail

by David Hinkle { Dec 28th 2009 at 11:00AM }

Nintendo's been on quite the roll recently, providing plenty of content in its weekly offerings -- and today is no different. There are ten new titles to check out, including high-profile downloads such as Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth, Oregon Trail and -- finally! -- Pilotwings on the Virtual Console. Head past the break to check out the full list.

Continued →

Cave Story coming 'after the new year' with new difficulty modes

by JC Fletcher { Dec 24th 2009 at 2:45PM }

Cave Story, first announced in October 2008 for release that same year, has missed 2009. In a blog post, Nicalis confirmed that the remake of the brilliant freeware title won't be available until "after the new year." The last we'd heard, it had been submitted to Nintendo for approval in November, so it's likely that the holdup is with the platform holder.

In more positive news, Nicalis also revealed what the deal was with the alternate-color Quote sprite that it's been teasing on its Twitter account: it's the outfit the player character wears in the new Easy mode, one of three difficulty modes. Hard Mode, which gives you only 3HP and no missiles, features Quote in blue with blonde hair. The developer also has "a LOT" of DLC planned, "AND we're taking possible requests." Finally, as a little stocking stuffer (or ear stuffer), Nicalis posted three remixed Cave Story tunes. Huzzah for the holidays!

Buyer's Guide: WiiWare & Virtual Console

by David Hinkle { Dec 22nd 2009 at 7:00PM }

That little white box of yours doesn't just play discs -- it's also home to a virtual treasure trove of downloadable games. In this guide, we recommend our favorite WiiWare and Virtual Console titles from 2009, fit together to appeal to Wii's eclectic audience. What kinds of gamers are in your home?

iHeart Hudson | Kids Corner | Nouveau Retro

Parent Trap | Sega Defense Force | Wannabe Plumber

Continued →

Japanese Nintendo downloads: LostWinds, Phalanx

by JC Fletcher { Dec 22nd 2009 at 3:45PM }

Two WiiWare titles make the journey from the West to Japan today, both published by Square Enix. Just as it did for the first LostWinds, the publisher has brought the sequel to Japan for a holiday release. School of Darkness is actually WayForward's Lit, under a different, but equally literal, title. Also of note: the remake/port of the shooter Phalanx arrives!

DSiWare is a bit less thrilling, with the standout release being the cleverly tilt-controlled Katamuction.

Famicom Detective Club Part 2: The Girl Standing in the Back (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Gradius 2 (MSX, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
Majou Densetsu (MSX, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
Othello (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points)
School of Darkness ( WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
Phalanx (WiiWare, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Simple DS Series Volume 2: THE Misshitsu Kara no Dasshutsu Gakkou Hen (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Katamuku + Action = Katamuction (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Pocket Rurubu: Nagoya/Kobe (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points each)

Game Arts' 'The Magic Obelisk' for WiiWare emerges from shadow next week

by JC Fletcher { Dec 22nd 2009 at 11:30AM }

Game Arts announced that its original WiiWare action game, The Magic Obelisk, will be available on the North American Wii Shop next Monday, December 28, for 500 Wii Points. The game, released in Japan as Shadow Walker: Boy of Shadow, Fairy of Light, stars a tree spirit named Lukus, who travels the world in search of the most beneficial place to turn into a tree, and a light spirit named Popo, who uses his ability to create the shadows Lukus requires to move.

Game Arts got its Wii experience through the co-development of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and the subsequent creation of TMNT Smash-Up, but the developer is better known as the creator of the Lunar and Grandia RPG series, as well as the shooters Thexder and Slipheed. In the announcement of the North American date, Game Arts president Kazuki Morishita called The Magic Obelisk "a game that has been truly a labor of love for us."

Gallery: The Magic Obelisk (WiiWare)

NintendoWare Weekly: Super Smash Bros., Ninja Gaiden, Dragon's Lair

by JC Fletcher { Dec 21st 2009 at 10:07AM }

Nintendo announced its 500th downloadable Wii game today, reserving the honor for Super Smash Bros. Or, we suppose, for any of the other Virtual Console or WiiWare games released today. But Nintendo says it's Super Smash Bros., and that certainly seems like a more special way to celebrate a milestone than, say, the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden. See all the WiiWare, Virtual Console, and DSiWare releases after the break.

Continued →

Sky Crawlers release date crawls back a week

by JC Fletcher { Dec 18th 2009 at 5:30PM }

Did we say January 5? You're actually going to have to wait a little longer for The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces on Wii. XSEED has informed us of a new release date for the Project Aces-developed flight game: just one week later, on January 12, 2010 [edit: Corrected the date.]

While that might not be the best news, the publisher also let us know the MSRP for the game: just $29.99. That's going to make it a lot easier for curious gamers to find room in the crowded Q1 for this somewhat niche game.

Gallery: Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces

European Nintendo downloads: Starship Patrol, A Boy and His Blob, Eat! Fat! FIGHT!

by JC Fletcher { Dec 18th 2009 at 3:45PM }

Today's European Wii/DSi Shop update includes one of the most cringeworthy localizations in memory. Tecmo's Tsuppari Oozumo Wii Heya, the latest in its long-lived sumo wrestling series, appears in Europe today as ... Eat! Fat! FIGHT! Sure, it's more lighthearted and less a strict simulation of sumo, but Eat! Fat! FIGHT? Really?

A Boy and His Blob and Street Fighter II' (the PC Engine version) arrive on Virtual Console today, and DSiWare has yet another original Q-Games title: Starship Patrol, a futuristic-looking tower defense game in space!

Eat! Fat! FIGHT! (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
Moki Moki (WiiWare, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
A Boy and His Blob (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Street Fighter II': Champion Edition (Turbografx-16, 1-2 players, 700 Wii Points)
A Little Bit of... Magic Made Fun: Psychic Camera (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Castle of Magic (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Littlest Pet Shop (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)
myNotebook: Green (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
Starship Patrol (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Mega Man 10: First trailer and screens

by JC Fletcher { Dec 17th 2009 at 9:45AM }

The first trailer for Capcom's multiplatform retro revival, Mega Man 10, has given us a glimpse at all the evil, robotic things we'll be killed by over, and over, and over again. Evil robot castles! Evil robot light bulbs! Also, delightfully, the trailer includes a bit of the new soundtrack, which is as catchy and series-appropriate as that of its predecessor.

The last part of the clip gives us an idea of the scope of the new Easy Mode, which is quite a bit easier than we expected. We anticipated reduced numbers of enemies and a greater supply of health powerups, but Easy Mode actually makes the levels less complicated!

In our gallery, you can see new screenshots that hint at many of the stages we'll be challenging. There's an ice stage, a sand stage, a computery stage, a fire stage, and a ... truck stage?

Gallery: Mega Man 10 (360/PS3/Wii)

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

by JC Fletcher { Dec 15th 2009 at 4:15PM }

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)

Nintendo dates Endless Ocean 2, Pokemon HeartGold, more

by JC Fletcher { Dec 14th 2009 at 1:40PM }

Nintendo's Q1 release schedule is as packed with new information as all Nintendo release schedules are. In addition to the announcements we've already covered, Nintendo confirmed the March 14 date for Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Endless Ocean 2, another game Nintendo has been silent about since E3, is now called Endless Ocean: Blue World, and e-divers will be able to start exploring it on February 22.

Some big WiiWare indies are on the way in Q1, including And Yet It Moves and Super Meat Boy. See the full list of releases, including a series of unannounced, Nintendo-published DSiWare games, after the break.

Continued →

NintendoWare weekly: Bejeweled, Blaster Master, Earthworm Jim 2

by David Hinkle { Dec 14th 2009 at 1:20PM }

As promised, Sunsoft's brought Blaster Master to the Virtual Console -- though we think the impact is somewhat dulled by the quantity of other games available for download this week. There's a total of 11 different games available, so head past the break for the full list.

Continued →

Nintendo: Mega Man 10 teleporting down in March

by JC Fletcher { Dec 14th 2009 at 9:30AM }

Though we just found out about Mega Man 10, we won't have to wait long at all before we can try it. Nintendo's new Q1 schedule gives a March 2010 date for the WiiWare run-and-gun -- just two months after Capcom starts releasing Phoenix Wright ports. What a wonderful time to have an Internet-connected Wii and enjoy Capcom products.

With the release so close, we expect more information to come out soon, starting with character art for all the bosses and the mysterious third character. We currently only know of the delightful Sheep Man and Commando Man.

European Nintendo downloads: Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, Monkey Island

by JC Fletcher { Dec 11th 2009 at 4:00PM }

The sole Virtual Console release this week is a reminder of a very odd time: when Sega thought Alex Kidd was a viable character. The company took an in-progress Shinobi parody game called Shinobi Kid, and then added the Alex Kidd character. Someone at Sega was under the impression that a game would sell better with Alex Kidd in it.

Also available: more Monkey Island, an expansion of one of Rubik's World's games, and Pallurikio, a cute platformer with a slingshot mechanic. And on DSiWare, it's ... a stripped-down version of Hell's Kitchen!

Pallurikio (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
Rubik's Puzzle Galaxy: RUSH (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)
Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 4 (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
Alex Kidd in Shinobi World (Sega Master System, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
PictureBook Games: The Royal Bluff (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 500 DSi Points)
Hell's Kitchen Vs. (DSiWare, 1-2 players, 800 DSi Points)

Capcom handing out mysterious Mega Man items before VGAs

by JC Fletcher { Dec 11th 2009 at 1:45PM }

If you're in Los Angeles tomorrow and have an interest in either Mega Man collectibles or eBay profits, be sure to get to 1013 W. Olympic Blvd. in LA tomorrow between 2pm and 5pm -- actually, we're guessing you're going to need to get there early. And bring a printout of this coupon with you.

Capcom and i am 8 Bit plan to hand out some kind of extremely limited Mega Man swag in enticing E-Tank boxes. It's likely related to the newly announced Mega Man 10, and with the Mega Man 10 "box art" done by i am 8 Bit's Gerald de Jesus, it's possible that the item will bear that image. If you get one, be sure to let us know what's in the box! We have to know what is in the box.