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NintendoWare Weekly: Zombie Panic demo, Magic Destiny
This week, you have a chance to try out the WiiWare game Zombie Panic in Wonderland, an entertaining forward-scrolling shooter in which Momotaro, Dorothy, and Snow White shoot at zombies and avoid being hugged (fatally). We suppose you've always had the chance to try it, but thanks to the demo you can now do so without spending money. If you'd like to know when you'll be able to afford more WiiWare games, you can pick up Magic Destiny, which tells your fortune using tarot, seashells, numerology, and, uh, virtual palm reading. That kind of makes the DSiWare game about adopting 101 dolphins seem tame.%Gallery-115397%
WiiWare demos return this week in Europe
One of the most frustrating things about the WiiWare service -- other than The Incredible Maze -- is that there aren't playable demos. Even more frustrating is that Nintendo did offer a series of demos last year, but made it a limited-time initiative for no good reason, going so far as to remove the few demos that were available. Nintendo of Europe announced that the demo program is returning this Friday, November 5. Encouragingly, it's referred to as an "ongoing" demo program, suggesting that the whole thing won't disappear in a month. However, the individual demos will be rotated out regularly, which is back to being a bit frustrating. The latest demos will be listed here after the program starts up. The first set of demos includes Furry Legends, Jett Rocket, ThruSpace, and Zombie Panic in Wonderland. We're checking with Nintendo of America about the prospect of a similar program here.
NintendoWare Weekly: Zombie Panic in Wonderland, Kung Fu Funk, Crazy Golf
This week's NintendoWare Weekly is brought to you by insanity. The eclectic mixture of downloadable content on the virtual table this week is quite odd, with everything from spoofs on '70s kung-fu flicks to "scented dwarves" coming to DS and Wii owners.
Zombie Panic hits Wonderland and North America this Monday
We've been patiently waiting for our turn to take Little Red Riding Hood (or Momotaro) on a zombie massacre, having seen Zombie Panic in Wonderland hit WiiWare in Europe and Japan already. Developer Akaoni Studio announced today that the North American release date for the undead shooting gallery is this coming Monday, May 3. We were already intrigued by the WiiWare title due to its similarity (and shared development staff) with the DS's Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ, but we became even more intrigued when we read this description of the premise: "To save his friends from the spell of the 'amorous zombies,' machine gun in hand, [Momotaro] will have to solve the mystery of the 'scented dwarves' in time and put an end to the evil power hidden in the castle in the northern city ..." That's right -- amorous zombies and scented dwarves.
European Nintendo downloads: Blaster Master, Zombie Panic in Wonderland, Game & Watch
This week's releases largely belong to DSiWare, at least in terms of volume. Three Game & Watch simulators are joined by a downloadable version of The Price is Right, the surprise hit Faceez and Alphabounce, a Breakout clone with ... RPG elements? But in terms of quality, the Wii has the advantage, with both the NES version of Blaster Master and Akaoni Studio's WiiWare shooting game Zombie Panic in Wonderland, which combines fairy tale characters and firing guns at zombies. The complete list of releases for the week follows: Blaster Master (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Zombie Panic in Wonderland (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 1000 Wii Points) Learning with the PooYoos - Episode 2 (WiiWare, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Game & Watch: Helmet (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Game & Watch: Manhole (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Game & Watch: Vermin (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Faceez (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) The Price is Right (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 800 DSi Points) Alphabounce (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Japanese Nintendo downloads: Zombie in Wonderland, Karate Champ
Marvelous's World Game Parade brings a "world game" that actually has yet to release anywhere but Japan: Akaoni Studio's Zombie Panic in Wonderland, a sort of spiritual successor to the DS's Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ. Also on Wii is one of the original fighting games, Karate Champ, in its original arcade form -- though we doubt it supports the dual-joystick interface of the original. Karate Champ (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Zombie in Wonderland (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Pokosuka Racing (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points) Write to Memorize: English Notebook (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Write to Memorize: Picture Notebook (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) G.G. Series Exciting River (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Ah! Nikaku Tori (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points) Shooting Down King (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 500 DSi Points) Hachi-One Diver Story (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
Marvelous licenses Western WiiWare games for Japan
Marvelous Entertainment, faced with low sales and financial trouble, is turning to a relatively low-cost source of new material to publish: Western WiiWare games. The publisher just started a new label, World Game Parade, to release localized Japanese versions of some WiiWare games originally developed and published outside of Japan. In March, World Game Parade will release Zombie in Wonderland (called Zombie Panic in Wonderland outside of Japan) and Bit Man!! (Bplus's Bit Boy!!). Katamuki Spirits (Equilibrio) and Rakugaki Hero (Max & the Magic Marker) will follow in April. WiiWare sales figures aren't normally released, so we may have to wait until Marvelous's next earnings report to determine the effectiveness of the plan. We can confirm right now that the logo is adorable. [Via Andriasang]
