Nintendo Downloads 7/27/09

Here are the WiiWare, Virtual Console and DSiWare games that will be released this Monday, July 27, 2009.

WiiWare:

Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 1
Publisher: Telltale Games
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) - Alcohol Reference, Comic Mischief, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes
Price: 1,000 Wii Points™
Description: Join Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate, in this first chapter of an epic five-part saga, filled with humor, romance and piratey swashbuckling. When a showdown with the demon pirate LeChuck goes up in flames, Guybrush gets marooned on a strange island. How will he escape? Where is Guybrush's beloved wife, Elaine? And what's up with the voodoo pox spreading through the isles? Jump into Tales of Monkey Island today to find out!

The Three Musketeers: One for All!
Publisher: Legendo Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Cartoon Violence
Price: 900 Wii Points
Description: The Three Musketeers have been imprisoned by the treacherous Count Xavier and his sinister lieutenant, Count Orsini! Well, almost - take on the role of Porthos, famed member of the Musketeers, to save the day in this swashbuckling platform adventure inspired by the cIassic novel. Swing the Wii Remote™ to launch blistering sword attacks on your foes, avoid fiendish traps and discover hidden collectables. Packed with frenetic fencing, heroic leaps and fun puzzles, this is one adventure no aspiring hero will want to miss.

HB Arcade Cards
Publisher: HB Studios Multimedia
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: HB Arcade Cards is a great collection of fun and easy-to-play card games. The collection of games included in this title includes: Rummy, Hearts, Euchre, Canasta, Cribbage and the always-cIassic Solitaire. Each game comes with an interactive tutorial to show you the rules and basic game play. You'll need to be clever to outsmart your opponents, and you can even team up with a computer partner to play Euchre and Cribbage. You can play HB Arcade Cards using a Mii™ character from your Wii™ console, or play with one of our four new characters. HB Arcade Cards has lots of styIe and flare, and will keep you coming back for more. Remember, it's never the same game twice.

Nintendo DSiWare:

Sudoku Student
Publisher: Hudson Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: Sudoku Student brings you the first Nintendo DSiWare sudoku experience with all the features you'd expect. For "students" of sudoku who are just getting their feet wet, Sudoku Student comes with a full tutorial. Once you've completed the tutorial, jump into simple and easy-going sudoku puzzles. Designed for entry- to beginner-level players, you'll find just the right amount of challenge to keep you hooked.

Virtual Console:
Nothing! Again (2 weeks in a row).

These games will be made available at 9:00 PCT.

Nintendo Downloads 7/6/09

This week we see the highly anticipated sequel to one of the best WiiWare games available, along with a splattering of different released for every other service.
WiiWare:

BIT.TRIP CORE
Publisher: Aksys Games
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 600 Wii PointsTM
Description: BIT.TRIP CORE continues the BIT.TRIP saga in this retro-arcade-styIe game. BIT.TRIP CORE adds up to an exciting action/rhythm game that's best played while zoning out on the tunes and letting the visuals swallow you whole. The experience is inspired by games from the '80s, but with a modern twist. The game play is entirely new to the series, leaving the single-axis controls of BIT.TRIP BEAT behind in favor of the ability to control two axes. If the difficulty gets you down, grab a friend and play cooperatively with two-player multiplayer. Make it to the end and you'll have journeyed one step further to completing your BIT.TRIP.

BUST-A-MOVE Plus!
Publisher: TAITO
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 600 Wii Points
Description: BUST-A-MOVE Plus! is a simple but hugely addictive puzzle game in which you must try to burst a multi-colored mass of bubbles with your very own bubble launcher. Every time you make a group of three or more bubbles of the same color, they pop. There are two game modes available: 1P Puzzle (players tackle the game's 135 stages in pursuit of a new high score or best time) and Battle (players take on friends or computer-controlled opponents). If that doesn't satisfy your passion for popping, there are a total of 270 extra stages waiting for you in the two add-on-content packs, available for purchase on the WiiTM Shop Channel. BUST-A-MOVE Plus! is simple to get into and deep enough to keep you coming back for more.

Heracles Chariot Racing
Publisher: Neko Entertainment
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Comic Mischief
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: The famous Heracles has taken on a challenge like none he has ever faced. Our hero will have to beat his opponents in a race across mythological kingdoms and be the first to reach the top of Mount Olympus. You can play as Heracles and help him return the sacred trophy, or play as one of the other varied mythological characters from Satyr to Poseidon and claim the prize for yourself. Race through three racing cups across 10 courses set in five mythic landscapes. Use awesome fantasy weaponry to defeat your opponents: tridents, fireballs, Zeus's lightning rods and more. Get your friends together for intense two-to-four-player split-screen multiplayer action in Championship, Single Race or Battle mode.

Virtual Console:

California Games
Original platform: Commodore 64
Publisher: Commodore Gaming
Players: 1-5
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Welcome to California, home of the most radical sports in the world. You're about to hit the beaches, parks and streets of the Golden State to go for trophies in everything from surfing to bike racing. California Games gives you the hottest sports and the most aggro competition. You even have to pick your own sponsor. So pull on those kneepads - you're about to get into the most fun you've had since Mom hid your skateboard. California Games is going to take you from surf to the turf, from the pipe to the parks.

Nintendo DSiWare:

Art StyIe: BASE 10TM
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi PointsTM
Description: Art StyIe: BASE 10 is a game of numbers. Your goal is simple: create combinations equaling 10 by sliding numbers around the playing field. Move them horizontally or vertically, but be careful not to create an unusable non-number in the process. Choose from one of three modes: eliminate a set amount of numbers as quickly as possible in ZEROSUM MODE; get rid of prearranged groups of numbers in as few moves as possible in PUZZLE MODE; or continue removing numbers until your game is over in INFINITE MODE. In addition, you can challenge an opponent to a two-player wireless battle in VS MODE and see whose number-crunching skills reign supreme. If you think you're a master with numbers, the straightforward yet challenging world of Art StyIe: BASE 10 gives you the opportunity to prove it in a unique way.

Asphalt 4: Elite Racing
Publisher: Gameloft
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) - Mild Violence
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: For the racing elite, the world is their racetrack. Choose among 28 dream cars and motorcycles from the world's most prestigious manufacturers. Then race your way through eight of the most renowned cities, fully rendered in 3-D. Control your speed machine with either standard or touch-screen controls for precision driving. Photos taken with the Nintendo DSiTM Camera can be used as your personal icon or can appear throughout the various environments, including the garage where you can customize and tune your vehicles. From New York to Shanghai, Paris to Dubai, you'll weave a course through busy streets in six kinds of races plus four-player Multiplayer mode. Avoid police, demolish competitors and pass the leader to win. You'll need to floor it at every straightaway and push every drift to the limit to stay one step ahead and become the ultimate VIP of urban racing.

These games will be released Monday, July 6, 2009 at 9:00 PCT.

Last Day of the Club Nintendo Year- Today!

Just a reminder to everyone who has been using Club Nintendo in the United States, the "year" ends tonight at midnight, so make sure you have registered everything you need to reach the 600 coins for Platinum Status.

The coins will not disappear at the start of a new year (July 1), but your status will be reset back to the original (nothing) status. So it is also advisable to NOT register anything else today if you have already reached Platinum Status. The coins you register past that will not add to your status, and you will not be helping yourself for the next year. So just kick back and wait til tomorrow to start registering again.

So what do you get for reaching Platinum/Gold status? Something, and that's the best I can tell you. In other countries Nintendo has given out things such as calenders, gold Wii steering wheels, classic controllers, Mario hats, and many other specialty prizes. What America will get for it's first Club Nintendo year has still yet to be seen.

Nintendo Downloads 6/29/09

Here are the games that will be added to the Wii Shop and Nintendo DSi Shop on Monday June, 29, 2009.



WiiWare:

Water WarfareTM
Publisher: Hudson Entertainment
Players: 1-8
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) - Cartoon Violence
Price: 800 Wii PointsTM
Description: Water Warfare is a comical first-person shooter that uses water guns to battle and soak opponents. A map with a particular theme - Playground, Beach, Plaza or Nature Park - is generated automatically when the game begins, so you can think up new strategies each time you engage. Game modes include Single Player Missions, CPU Match and 2-Player Split Screen. On top of that, players with broadband Internet access can use Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection to battle with up to eight players from around the world, or participate in Ranking Mode.

Reel Fishing® Challenge
Publisher: Natsume, Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Reel Fishing Challenge offers a fun and challenging experience for novice fishers and master anglers alike. Put your skills to the test and discover new types of fish in the challenging mission mode, or relax and enjoy the game at your own pace in free play mode. No matter which mode you play, the game's beautiful graphics and natural setting bring the fishing experience to life. Choose from a variety of lures to attract and hook the game's numerous fish. Each fish looks and moves like the real thing - it's the closest you can get to real-life fishing without putting on your waders.

Silver Star Reversi
Publisher: Agetec, Inc.
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Silver Star Reversi has two modes: 1-Player mode allows you to play a match against the computer opponent, and 2-Player mode allows you to play against another person. In 1-Player mode, you can choose from five different computer opponents, turn the background music on or off, adjust sound effects and access in-game help features. During each match, you can also redo your last move, save the game at any point, or resign from the game. After a match has ended, you can review each move and resume the match from any point you choose.

Virtual ConsoleTM:

Fantasy ZoneTM II: The Tears of Opa-Opa
Original platform: SEGA MASTER SYSTEM
Publisher: SEGA
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Ten years have elapsed since Opa-Opa restored peace to the Fantasy Zone. Now history is repeating itself, and the planets that make up the Fantasy Zone once again find themselves attacked by the mastermind of the Nenon planet forces. This mastermind is secretly constructing a huge fortress in the Fantasy Zone and aims to put an end to their ambitious plans. Just as he did 10 years ago, Opa-Opa must do battle to save the Fantasy Zone.

Nintendo DSiWare:

TMSUDOKU MASTER
Publisher: Hudson Entertainment
Players:1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi PointsTM
Description: SUDOKU MASTER offers 150 unique puzzles that beginners and experts alike will enjoy. A handful of tutorials will help you learn the rules and controls as you go, and handy features like Write Mode and Temp Numbers make Sudoku pleasantly user-friendly. Feeling confident? Then try your hand at Title Mode to work your way up from Rookie to Sudoku Master. All puzzles were created by Sudoku veteran NIKOLI Co., Ltd., and tips from Sudoku godfather Maki Kaji are offered between games.

Nintendo Power Review Scores

Here are the Wii and DS scores from the latest issue of Nintendo Power.

Little King's Story (Wii) - 9.0
Virtua Tennis 2009 (Wii) - 7.0
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Wii) - 5.5
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (DS) - 8.0
Mega Man Star Force 3 (DS) - 6.0
Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits (DS) - 7.0
The Bigs 2 (Wii) - 6.0
Dawn of Discovery (DS) - 8.5
Overlord: Minions (DS) - 7.0
Overlord Dark Legend (Wii) - 7.0

Little Kings Story continues it's pace of great scores and Dawn of Discovery and Devil Survivor also score very well in this issue.

Nintendo Downloads 6/22/09

Here are the games that will be released this Monday, June 22, 2009 at 9:00 PCT.

WiiWare:

Drill Sergeant Mindstrong
Publisher: XSEED Games
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) - Mild Language, Mild Violence
Price: 800 Wii PointsTM
Description: Line up and get ready to use your mind. Drill Sergeant Mindstrong is a party game that allows up to four people to play at once. Players become boot-camp trainees under the tough Drill Sergeant Mindstrong, going through mind-boggling, mind-training games. The rules are simple, but concentration and quick thinking are key. Become the top boot of your cIass and earn promotions based on your efforts. This game is best played with friends and family.

NEVES PlusTM
Publisher:YUKES Company of America
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 600 Wii Points
Description:Try your hand at the newest puzzle craze to come out of Japan, NEVES Plus! Enhanced for WiiWare, NEVES Plus not only retains all the simple, mind-bending tangram-based game play from the original Nintendo DSTM version, but also includes new multiplayer modes wrapped up in an Egyptian theme. This time, you and up to three others can work together to move, rotate and flip the seven Lucky stones into each of the 500-plus silhouette puzzles. You can also challenge one another in new multiplayer modes such as Versus, Speed, Lucky Number and Party Mode. Whether you play every mode by yourself or with friends, NEVES Plus is set to charm you with harder-than-they-look silhouette puzzles.

Family Mini Golf
Publisher: Aksys Games
Players: 1-8
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Daddy, Mommy, Sarah and Billy are back for some mini-golf action. Play through multiple golf courses that contain obstacles ranging from bumpers to speed ramps to fans and more. Up to eight players can play together using a single Wii RemoteTM controller. You can download new courses to expand your fun-filled mini-golf experience, creating even more complex and difficult challenges to overcome. Can you conquer all the courses and become the mini-golf champion?

Nintendo DSiWare:

Art StyIe: BOXLIFETM
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi PointsTM
Description: Climb the corporate ladder in the world of BOXLIFE using your wits and... paper? Use the Nintendo DSiTM stylus to cut and then manipulate the paper into a box shape. Be careful-if you're not efficient with your cuts, you'll waste paper and be penalized. R&D mode teaches you new patterns and challenges you to complete various ranks, while FACTORY mode gives you the chance to earn money by making as many boxes as possible from an endless sheet of paper. Success in each mode brings its own reward: Clear ranks to earn a promotion, change your character's appearance, and use your earnings to acquire new items for your character's miniature garden. With this game's stylish graphics and catchy sounds, thinking inside the box isn't such a bad thing.

Virtual Console:

SimEarthTM: The Living Planet
Original Platform: TurboGrafx16 CD-ROM
Publisher: Hudson Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Violent References
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: An entire planet becomes your laboratory in this large-scale simulation game. Players help foster new life and promote its evolution into life forms of higher intelligence. Guide civilization along the path of evolution until it can achieve Exodus, the ultimate goal of settling on another planet. The basic challenge of the game is to maintain a comfortable environment for the life forms by adjusting atmospheric and geological parameters. Small organisms called Prokaryote and Trichordate will grow and evolve into a multitude of life forms. Making a drastic change is a recipe for disaster. The key to success is making small adjustments and watching how the life forms react. SimEarth also includes planets with environments different from Earth, such as Mars and Venus. Try your hand at terraforming these planetswith harsh conditions and creating a world where life can thrive.

5 Companies Nintendo Should Buy? Your Thoughts?

I have been thinking about this topic quite a bit lately, the Wii and DS continue to pull in the cash, and with the recent E309 under its belt, Nintendo has succeeded in fully supporting each branch (core and casual) of gamers.

With that covered, and profits still souring, who would you want Nintendo to buy up and consume into a first party studio?

Recent Purchases/Funded Studios:
Monolith Soft. (Baten Kaitos, Disaster: Day of Crisis)
Project Sora (Founded by the creator of Super Smash Bros, and his team)
Retro Studios (Metroid Prime series)

Other development studios are likely owned by Nintendo (such as Grezzo Games), but those are the official ones that have been announced via press release.

Here are the 5 studios I would hope Nintendo adds to their ranks.

5. Cing & Town Factory
I imagine these two can be had for a fairly small sum, and they have already had strong relations with Nintendo in their short life span. Nintendo will be publishing their newest Wii game (Another Code R) in all territories (as of this writing). They have also worked together on the Hotel Dusk games for the DS and the previous Trace Memory game.
That was all Cing, Town Factory is the developer who was pulled in to help out with the development of Little Kings Story (the other Wii game they have produced). Little King's Story has received amazing reviews so far, and I would love to see what these two could do together (with Nintendo's funding as an added bonus).

4. Sega
Now Sega is a different animal when it comes to money and how much it may cost to grab them, as it would likely cost a very large chunk of profit to carry over and incorporate someone as big as Sega. This would be a financial risk that I fear Nintendo would never take, but if they did the payoffs could be huge.
The payoffs would come in multiple fashions, Nintendo could inject some of its own developers into Sega and push them more towards a Nintendo quality development studio. Then Nintendo gets to happily relinquish many games from the competitors (no Virtua Fighter, Sonic, Golden Axe, Valkyria Chronicles for anyone), those titles being exclusive to Nintendo would be huge, and with the rights of something like Sonic placed in Nintendo's hands you have a large quantity of potential.
Overworks(Valkyria Chronicles), Prope (Lets Tap), Smilebit (Panzer Dragoon), would all be included in the deal, and Nintendo would also grab a large share of the arcade game business.


3. Treasure
Not an unlikely choice, as Nintendo has bought out Monolith Soft. shortly after announcing that they were creating a game together. Treasure would work in the same style as that purchase, with Sin and Punishment 2 being developed by Treasure and Nintendo as we speak.
Treasure's cost? Likely nothing near that of Sega, but a large enough sum to warrant a slight concern, but I believe that Treasure could be put to work on some core games, filling in a need that Nintendo does not necessarily "need", but could improve on.
Nintendo would also relinquish full control over the Sin and Punishment franchise, along with stakes in Gunstar Heroes and Mischief Makers, and the rights to Ikaruga.
Out of this list I would place Treasure as one of the more likely studios to be bought out by Nintendo in some form.

2. Factor 5
You could probably find the employees of Factor 5 in court these days, after claiming that the studio did not pay them for 2 months and then laid them off unfairly.
Still, Factor 5 is Factor 5, and they have an uncanny knack for making the best out of nothing in the graphics department. Factor 5 could likely be had for extremely cheap (as it would only be the name, and then rehiring of the employees), and I'm sure most of them would be happy to get on with life after Factor 5's sudden close, so working for Nintendo is probably a step in the right direction for many of them.
Grabbing Factor 5 also means grabbing the Turrican series, a welcome addition to a genre Nintendo is lacking in (as of now, at least). Factor 5 could also be the perfect developer for Star Fox, perhaps handing the rains to them for a long period of time and allowing them to create something like Rogue Squadron with it would be a good thing for that franchise.
Factor 5 has also worked with Nintendo before, and were once considered a second party studio until their departure to create Lair for the PS3. Still, the relationships should hold true on most levels, and I'm sure Factor 5 would be forgiven and accepted, if the right price and opportunity came along.



1. Whoever Nintendo Decides They Want
Might sound like a lame answer, but it is the best one available to us as Nintendo fans. Perhaps they have looked at the 4 I mentioned above and have already decided that they are not worth the trouble, or maybe they are not willing to work for Nintendo and would not be a good choice in keeping the company nice and together. Perhaps Nintendo has already found a slate of developers they want to buy, and they are signing the papers right now, or maybe they are completely content with what they have (and lets face it, they have quite a bit). Whichever way it turns we will have to trust that Nintendo can continue to produce quality games for the DSi and Wii, and whatever comes after those, it's the best we can hope for and the most we can say in the matter.

What studios would you want Nintendo to buy? Comment below.