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Konami rounding up critters for U.S. WiiWare launch
In all our excitement over the likes of My Life as a King, Dr. Mario, and Star Soldier R, we've barely found the time to discuss cutesy animal-based puzzler Saku Saku Animal Panic. That's a shame, because a Konami press release has now confirmed that the title will be released as part of the U.S. WiiWare launch line-up on May 12th (as Critter Round-Up), and it sounds like this could be more than a fun distraction.Critter Round-Up has players segregating animals into groups by laying down fences, but there are other factors involved, namely avoiding aggressive animals who might attack you, and preventing the animals from chomping each other (for example, you wouldn't want to create a crocodile-and-chicken pen). Successfully sorting the wildlife into like groups (within a time limit) is the key to victory, and there's 50 levels of fencin' and segregatin' to plow through.Also in the Konami WiiWare pipeline: a sandcastle-building sim currently known as Fresco Beach. That would take this blogger back to his childhood, if much of his childhood wasn't spent in Blackpool, next to the worst beaches in the world.
WiiWare launched, impressions rounded up
While most of us were sleeping -- like a bunch of chumps -- Nintendo launched its WiiWare service in Japan early this morning. As expected, the WiiWare servers are taking a beating from thousands of gamers hoping to try out the new downloadable releases, but Siliconera's Spencer Yip and Wired's Chris Kohler were still able to grab a few games and write up their impressions, all of which you can peruse below.A few surprises revealed themselves with the service's launch: My Life as a King is rife with microtransactions, offering additional costumes, dungeons, and races (Yukes, Selkies, and Lilties) for 100-300 Wii Points. Star Soldier R features three light modes -- a two-minute mode in which you play through a quick stage for a high score, a similar 5-minute mode with two levels and boss encounters, and a "Fast Shot" mode for testing your button-tapping skills. Saku Saku Animal Panic, the only WiiWare launch title from a US developer and a game we haven't paid any attention to at all, is apparently "pretty fun!" Judging by Chris Kohler's impressions, it sounds a lot like Jezzball, minus the balls ... And the Jezz. Now all we need are detailed Dr. Mario, Okiraku Ping Pong,and My Life as a King impressions!Read - The WiiWare Shopping experienceRead - WiiWare Impressions: LonposRead - WiiWare Impressions: Angel's SolitaireRead - WiiWare Impressions: Saku Saku Animal PanicRead - WiiWare Impressions: Star Soldier RRead - Extra content in My Life as a King explainedRead - Lonpos has pay-to-play content too
