NintendoWare Weekly: Game Gear, Samurai Shodown IV

It's the Virtual Consoliest day of 2012! Between the Wii and 3DS, there are four new Virtual Console games you can buy today. On 3DS, of course, that means Game Gear support has arrived. On Wii, it means Samurai Shodown IV, originally for Neo Geo.

There's also some free entertainment to be found on the 3DS Nintendo Video service, where a 3D Kid Icarus anime is probably being delivered to you over SpotPass right this second.

Wii Virtual Console

• Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points): 17 samurai types slash at each other.

3DS eShop

• Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble (Sega, 1 player, $4.99): Pre-Sonic Cycle fun with Sonic and Tails.

• Shinobi (Sega, 1 player, $3.99): Joe Musashi must rescue his ninja friends from the evil ninjas who have captured them!

• Dragon Crystal (Sega, 1 player, $2.99): A turn-based RPG in randomly generated dungeons. Find the magic goblet!

DSiWare

• Pirates Assault (Circle Entertainment, 1 player, $1.99/200 DSi Points): "Tower" defense -- by "tower" we mean "treasure" and by "defense" we mean "hey, look, pirates."