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NintendoWare Weekly: Prince of Persia
The SNES version of Prince of Persia arrives on the Virtual Console in North America. We'd forgotten this was happening in the interim between the December ESRB rating and today, so this is, like every Wii Virtual Console release, a pleasant and unexpected surprise.Speaking of surprises, DSiWare's Crazy Hunter is about a crocodile building a goat tower to reach the sky, in order to capture hens who lay golden eggs. It gets weirder from there, actually.
Nintendoware Weekly: Metal Slug X, VectorRacing
It's a quiet week on Nintendo platforms (except, of course, for last Sunday's New Super Mario Bros. 2 launch), with just one new game per platform.Wii Virtual Console fans can rescue hostages and blow up everything that isn't a hostage in Metal Slug X; 3DS owners get to see through the track in VectorRacing; and DSiWare has a sort of submarine exploration game called Abyss.
Nintendoware Weekly: Touch Battle Tank 3D, Super Mario Land 2 sale
This week is fairly light on content, with one new Virtual Console game on Wii (another Neo Geo fighter) and one new game on 3DS eShop (Touch Battle Tank 3D, an abstract-looking top-down tank shooting game).A couple of deals are available that might be worth knowing about: Hulu Plus on Wii offers a free one-month trial, if you sign up between August 10 and September 23. And Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is one golden dollar cheaper this week on eShop.There also appears to be a "3D Sports Highlights" video on Nintendo Video, featuring Lego recreations of Olympic highlights. Really.
NintendoWare Weekly: Wario Land, Mole Mania, Planet Crashers
Once again, the 3DS eShop is rich with content, including the 8 Bit Summer releases of Wario Land and Mole Mania, the latter being a somewhat under-the-radar puzzle game designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and a small team. There's also the fascinating Dot Runner: Complete Edition, a new game that mashes up Pac-Man and first-person RPGs into some kind of psychedelic anime monster, and Planet Crashers, a top-down dungeon RPG with a cute sci-fi theme, developed by Renegade Kid.Two games are on sale on 3DS at the same time(!): Super Mario Bros. and the versatile drawing app Colors! 3D.There's even a new Virtual Console game on Wii in the form of World Heroes Perfect, one of the Neo Geo's many, many fighting games.
NintendoWare Weekly: Kirby's Pinball Land, Ace Mathician, Mighty Switch Force sale
We could get used to this – there's a lot to download on Nintendo platforms this week! The "8-Bit Summer" brings two 3DS Game Boy games, one you likely know and one you probably don't. You'll also find some new games, Johnny Kung Fu and Sweet Memories - Blackjack. The latter is, for real, about connecting with a high school sweetheart over blackjack games.Mighty Switch Force is cheap this weekend, while DSiWare offers the fascinating-looking math-platformer Ace Mathician, by Flipper creator Goodbye Galaxy Games.
Nintendo's 8-bit Summer on 3DS eShop has these eight classics
Nintendo has dubbed July the "8-bit Summer," and plans to launch eight Virtual Console games for the 3DS eShop next month, beginning July 5 with The Legend of Zelda. Kirby's Pinball Land and The Sword of Hope 2 will hit on July 12, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters and Tumblepop will land on July 19 and Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 will arrive on July 26.Nintendo is also sending Sonic Blast and Sonic Labyrinth to the eShop during its 8-bit Summer. If you can't remember what these games look like in action, the above video should provide a handy reminder.
Nintendo Direct trailers: Kirby's Dream Collection, Professor Layton, and more
Last night during the US Nintendo Direct presentation, we were treated to footage of several new games including the Wii Kirby's Dream Collection and Pikmin 2, the 3DS's Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, New Super Mario Bros. 2, and the DS's Pokemon Black and White Version 2. There's also a video detailing the eShop's Virtual Console promotion. Find them all after the break!%Gallery-158919%
Two new Virtual Console titles to hit 3DS per week in July
Nintendo's 3DS eShop will launch two new Virtual Console titles each week from July 5 to August 1, beginning with The Legend of Zelda and Kirby's Pinball and including Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3.Super Mario Land is now $2.99 in the eShop through the end of June, Nintendo also announced.
NintendoWare Weekly: Double Dragon 2, Order Up
The NES classic Double Dragon 2 unexpectedly shows up on Wii today, in an otherwise portable-heavy week. Today's 3DS releases include the popular Order Up!!, and a series of "Slitherlink" math puzzles.Normally, we don't give too much attention to the kids' stuff on DSiWare, but we feel compelled to share this. There is a game called Lola's Fruit Shop Sudoku, and it is a sudoku game designed for four-year-olds. You line up pictures of fruit instead of numbers. This is incredible.
NintendoWare Weekly: Mega Man X2, Mad Dog McCree
It's a surprisingly packed week for downloads on DSi, 3DS, and Wii. There's a Wii Virtual Console game (and a good one, Mega Man X2!), an NES game for 3DS, a port of the classic FMV shooter Mad Dog McCree, and even a demo for an upcoming release.
Nintendo 'readying the system' to transfer WiiWare, VC and Wii saves to Wii U
During a developer roundtable discussion at E3 today, Nintendo said that it's currently working to figure out how Wii owners will be able to transfer their content to the Wii U. The fact that this is even a possibility is pretty amazing to us."We are readying the system, yes, to transfer saves and everything you've bought," designer Katsuya Eguchi. So it looks like the idea of transferring WiiWare, Virtual Console and save data content from the Wii to the Wii U is not the crazy pipe dream we once thought.[Note: Image taken from today's Nintendo liveblog.]
NintendoWare Weekly: Metal Slug 3, Rayman
Ubisoft's widespread digital Rayman assault continues with ... no, not Rayman Origins on the 3DS eShop, but the Game Boy Color Rayman. It's accompanied by the demo for the upcoming eShop release of Order Up! and a DSiWare game about dodging hazards and slowing down time.This week on Wii ... something! Yes! And hey, it's Metal Slug 3!
NintendoWare Weekly: Mighty Switch Force update, Game & Watch Gallery 2
If you've got Mighty Switch Force, go download it again from the eShop later today. WayForward is updating it to a "New Edition" featuring the vocal stylings of a young Bobby Brown. Actually, it features five new levels, upgraded 3D effects, and a "retry" button.If you'd like to buy something else while you're on the eShop, the Game Boy Game & Watch Gallery 2 is on the shop today, as is the DSiWare game Snakenoid Deluxe, which is, of course, Snake plus Arkanoid. And this Friday, you can get a Madagascar 3 trailer on Nintendo Video, to bring Chris Rock's voice with you everywhere. And on Wii this week: nothing.
NintendoWare Weekly: An actual Virtual Console game
After two weeks of absolutely nothing in new Wii downloads, Nintendo dropped a new Virtual Console game on us. And not just any new Virtual Console game, Super Street Fighter II ... with online play. Even after being released in Japan last November, and being announced locally by Capcom the same month, it's still surprising to see extra functionality. It's still surprising to see a Wii Virtual Console game.
Game Gear emulation outclasses the other 3DS Virtual Console games
With the arrival of a new system on the 3DS Virtual Console -- the Sega Game Gear -- comes a new hardware emulator. And the one Sega and developer M2 put together is really, really nice! Nicer than I'm used to for Virtual Console games, honestly, and including a full suite of tweaks and features.Do you want to play your game inside a tiny 3D Game Gear? You can do that. Would you like said Game Gear to be a rare limited-edition color variant? You can totally do that too. Excited by the application of more than minimal effort toward the presentation of retro games, I recorded this quick video.Though I didn't bring it up here, there's also a "performance" option that, I believe, allows for system-accurate slowdown (or lack thereof). I didn't see any difference with Sonic, so it wasn't going to make for great video. Sonic arrives tomorrow on the 3DS eShop, along with Shinobi and Dragon Crystal.
NintendoWare Weekly: Punch-Out!!, King of Fighters '97
We have a coveted double Virtual Console event today, in which emulated retro games appear on both 3DS and Wii. On 3DS, you can experience the thrill of being beaten severely by enormous people in Punch-Out!! And on Wii ... pretty much the same thing (beatings, enormous humans) from a different perspective in King of Fighters '97.DSiWare now features Zuma's Revenge, just the latest in PopCap's widespread assault on every platform ever.
3DS eShop releases: Punch-Out!! on March 8, Game Gear games on March 15, more
Nintendo decided to let us all in on what's happening on the eShop in the next couple of months, and we couldn't be happier with the advance notice. This Thursday, 3DS owners (even non-Ambassadors) can buy the NES Punch-Out!! -- the Mr. Dream version, of course. It'll be followed a week later by a trio of Sega Game Gear games, including Shinobi, Sonic Triple Trouble, and Dragon Crystal.There's also new new stuff coming to eShop. Ketzal's Corridors, coming "soon," seems to be the game known in Japan as Speedthru, a 3D puzzle game like the Wii's ThruSpace -- in which players rotate Tetris-like shapes to go through oncoming walls. In April, the DS homebrew drawing app Colors! becomes a for-real, official thing on 3DS as Colors! 3D. Other releases include Fun! Fun! Minigolf Touch! and a demo for Rhythm Thief. Find the full schedule after the break.
Trade Club Nintendo Coins for Cubello or Game Boy Virtual Console games this month
With the beginning of a new month comes a new selection of downloadable Club Nintendo rewards. This month, you can trade your hard-earned Club Nintendo Coins (earned by registering purchased games) for Art Style: Cubello on WiiWare, or the Game Boy games Mario's Picross and Radar Mission on 3DS eShop. They cost 100 Coins each.As with previous monthly selections, these are all games that you can buy through the Wii Shop or 3DS eShop with real money. You simply have the additional temporary option of using your Club Nintendo stash.
NintendoWare Weekly: Crush3D demo, Metroid
Nintendo's actually doing a pretty good job with these 3DS demos! Today on the eShop, you'll be able to get a sample of the upcoming puzzle adventure Crush3D. You know, in case our preview wasn't quite vividly descriptive enough to paint an accurate picture in your brain.If you missed the Ambassador Program, you can now buy the NES classic Metroid on 3DS as well.
Metroid coming to Japan's 3DS eShop on Feb. 29
Japan's 3DS eShop is getting the NES classic, Metroid, next week on February 29. Metroid is one of many free NES titles available to qualifying 3DS Ambassador Program participants (i.e. early 3DS adopters). Everyone else will have to hand over ¥500 ($6) to navigate the deadly wilds of the planet Zebes once again.
