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VC Tuesday: For all players hoping to touch the true entertainment
There are only two Virtual Console games this week in Japan, but of course for the US that would be a massive week. Both are sports-themed, and both are excellent. Well, actually, we've never played the PC Engine version of Super Dodge Ball, developed by Naxat, but it is Super Dodge Ball, and thus probably wonderful. Mario Golf needs no explanation. Mario Golf 64 (Nintendo 64, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Nekketsu Koukou Dodge Ball-bu: PC Bangai Hen (PC Engine, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) The biggest news in WiiWare (as in, the game that no other region has and is thus news) is Aero Guitar, Yudo's Wiimote rhythm game, which we're hoping to see more of now that some people can buy it. Tsuushin Taiyoku World Chess (1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Wi-Fi 8-Player Bomberman (1-8 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Aero Guitar (1 player, 800 Wii Points)
Wii Chess is WiiWare Chess in Japan
Next week, Wii Chess finally arrives somewhere outside of Europe, not that many people were holding their breath. The Japanese release as World Chess, however, is interesting for a couple of reasons: first, it'll cost only 1,000 yen. Second, that price will be payable in Wii Points, because World Chess is a WiiWare game in Japan. That means it's the first disc-to-WiiWare game. Eternity's Child is planned for a similar multiformat release across regions, but it has yet to be dated.Surprisingly, the Japanese WiiWare version and the retail European game will be compatible online. If you still have your copy of Wii Chess, hang on to it, because next week you'll have dozens of new players eager for a game.[Via Siliconera]
ChessNET does what Nintendon't
Though homebrew competitions are always a great opportunity to see the latest games and applications coders have been working on, they also provide us a refreshing look at creative ideas and approaches that commercial developers have no interest in.ChessNET, one of 25 other entries in the NDS/GBA division of Neoflash's Spring Coding Contest, is an online chess game with an interesting feature that we've yet to see in any other online-enabled DS games -- play-by-mail-style matches. Every action is saved onto an online server, so you don't have to stay glued to your handheld all night. After your opponent moves a piece, you can wait hours or even days to deliberate over your response. Likewise, your opponent can play other games or turn their DS off while waiting for your next move. A play-by-mail option like this would have been perfect for Advance Wars: Days of Ruin and many other turn-based titles with plenty of inactive stretches. Sony Online Entertainment certainly agreed, as the developer implemented it in its Advance Wars knock-off for the PSP, Field Commander. Nintendo even neglected to provide the feature in Wii Chess, a seemingly obvious oversight.CYBER_Aeon, the programmer behind ChessNET, has plans for more features that should come standard with almost every online-enabled commercial game -- messaging, buddy lists, and account handles. [Via DCEmu]
Wii Warm Up: Board games
With the recent news and media from Wii Chess, we can't help but cast our eyes toward board games lately. While we certainly aren't against playing board games on a console, Wii Ware seems like the logical choice for release, not regular retail titles (though we're in favor of the budget price) ... you know, sort of in the spirit of XBLA releases. Then again, we've seen full-fledged retail versions of XBLA titles before, and they worked just fine, so we can only assume that current-gen board games can fly as well. Our question today is: what would you actually like to see in a retail board game (as opposed to a downloadable title)? Which games with what features? Perhaps a version of Settlers of Catan with options for all the expansions, or games we've enjoyed on consoles before, like Risk, that are nice in electronic form because you don't have to bother with all the pieces. But will any board game really be enough to take us away from all the other Wii games that are already so much fun to play in live groups?
Wii Chess looks comfortingly like the real thing
We find it inherently amusing that Wii Chess is -- minus a few frills -- the same game as countless other titles on the market, many of which can be bought with a small handful of spare change. Despite this, we still suspect Wii Chess' no-nonsense approach to the world's favorite strategy game could be a commercial hit for Nintendo; certainly, the budget price tag won't harm its chances. There's a couple of things to note about the above video, however. One: that elevator music is freakin' hideous (and on that note, we'd really like MP3 support in this please, Nintendo). And two: where are the optional Nintendo-themed pieces?! To have Mario and Peach playing the king and queen would have been an excellent little touch. Other Nintendo games get outstanding fan service, so why not this? Two words: Missed. Opportunity.[Thanks, Troy!]
New details on Wii Chess remind us that the game exists
Considering it's a Nintendo game, there's been astoundingly little fanfare for Wii Chess. The game's Wikipedia page is absolutely barren, while a release date has only just appeared (January 18th), and then only for Europe. Despite the lack of information, Nintendo obviously reckons this could have broad appeal, as it's slapped the "Touch! Generations" logo on the corner of the box, which roughly translates as: "Your Gran and her friends will like this."Anyway, further details finally emerged on the title today, with CVG reporting that Wii Chess is to retail for a budget price of £20 / €30 (we'd presume the game's budget status will be preserved if and when it reaches other markets -- our educated guess would be $30 for the U.S.), and that it will support both local multiplayer and games played over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. We're also promised a number of graphical styles, which hopefully means Nintendo-themed boards and pieces, including Goomba pawns and knights that look like Yoshi.And yes, that is the German boxart. We travelled the seven seas of the internet searching for an English version, but returned empty-handed. Still, at least you now know the German word for "chess." Never know when that might come in handy.
