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NintendoWare Weekly: Chick Chick Boom, Around the World
The Flashy-looking Chick Chick Boom headlines this week's WiiWare releases, as a pair of Neo Geo titles comes to Virtual Console. On DSiWare, there's a virtual slots game and the sequel to DodoGo! (the exclamation being part of the game title). Check out the full breakdown of digital Wii and DSi releases for the week after the break. %Gallery-104897%
Team Meat explains what went wrong with WiiWare's Super Meat Boy
If Super Meat Boy were to launch on WiiWare today, it would have no leaderboards, no Dark World levels and no support for downloadable additions. Boss fights and cutscenes would have no musical accompaniment, and only six music tracks (including just one for retro-themed levels) would be present. In the words of designer Edmund McMillen, it would be "a piece of shit version of Super Meat Boy." When McMillen and programmer Tommy Refenes, who together form Team Meat, tested a version of their loopy platformer that could fit under the (previously disputed) 40MB file-size limit imposed by Nintendo's WiiWare service, they weren't satisfied with the compromises and decided to cancel it. "There is no way to avoid the fact that if we released a 40MB version of Super Meat Boy it would be a shit version of the game," McMillen told Joystiq. "It's a lose lose situation, but the fact of the matter is if we release a shitty game, we will have to live with that for the rest of our careers and have to cop to the fact that it is a shitty game."
Super Meat Boy WiiWare canceled, retail 'looking grim'
The saga of the WiiWare version of Super Meat Boy has come to an abrupt, disappointing end, with Team Meat tweeting today that the project has been canceled altogether. The team is still considering retail, but adds that the possibility is "also looking grim." We've contacted Team Meat for further comment. Keep an eye here for updates as we get them.
Curve Studios director spills about Fluidity's inspirations, origins
On December 6, Nintendo and Explodemon developer Curve Studios released Fluidity for WiiWare, an unusual platformer in which you tilt the level to guide a puddle of water through puzzles, changing it to ice or vapor as necessary. This is framed as taking place entirely within the "Aquaticus," a sort of magical, living encyclopedia about water. Design director Jonathan Biddle explained the evolution of the concept to Joystiq. "Early on, we were pursuing a more scientific presentational style that focused on teaching the science of water," he said. "We liked the idea that the game was an interactive school book from the future that taught you by letting you play it. As the game dropped its scientific slant, we retained the book presentation – since we still thought it was fresh - but took it in a much more colorful direction." That direction now involves guiding a small amount of water through the landscape of the book, picking up "Rainbow Drops" and clearing away the evil Influence -- an ink spill. %Gallery-109311%
Retro City Rampage hits XBLA in summer 2011, WiiWare version delayed
If you were looking forward to buying Brian Provinciano's Retro City Rampage on WiiWare, we have some bad news: it's been delayed significantly. The WiiWare version of the satirical 8-bit sandbox game was originally targeted for the end of this year, but now won't arrive until fall 2011. But you'll be able to play it before then. Like Super Meat Boy before it, the announced WiiWare release of Retro City Rampage will be preceded by an XBLA version, which comes out in the summer. "In order to continue making these games and not have to start flipping burgers after Retro City Rampage is done," Provinciano told Destructoid, "it needed to be multi-platform." Provinciano is using the extra time to put additional content, including playable characters and missions, into both versions of the game.
NintendoWare Weekly: Mario Party 2, Frobot
Gather up all your extra Classic Controllers and GameCube controllers. They are about to get seriously ruined, thanks to the arrival of Mario Party 2 on Virtual Console -- the first Nintendo-published Virtual Console game to arrive since June. If Nintendo 64 minigame collections aren't your thing, you can download Frobot on WiiWare, a top-down Zelda-style action game, with robots. And disco. DSiWare gets Dragon's Lair 2, almost a year to the day after the first Dragon's Lair hit the service ... and a month after Dragon's Lair arrived on DS cartridge.
Holiday Buyer's Guide: Nintendo Points for WiiWare, DSiWare & Virtual Console
Chances are, someone you know has or will receive a Wii or DSi this holiday season -- many people you know, if the November sales are any indication. Or perhaps you know someone who has owned one of these systems for a while but hasn't messed around with its downloadable games yet. In either case, 2010 has been a great year to introduce someone to WiiWare or DSiWare, with lots of interesting games and apps released just this year. Somehow, Virtual Console's been decent too, despite the fact that releases have slowed down to a trickle. To begin, click one of the links below to jump to a category or simply head on past the break to peruse the guide form top to bottom. Wii: Retro-esque Gamer | Authentic Retro Gamer Art Aficionado | The Independent | Person Who Would Enjoy Muscle March DSi: All DSi Band | Busy Gamer | The Eccentric | Longterm Portable Gamer
Debut Bit.Trip Flux screens give us deja vu
You'll forgive us if we make an obvious observation here, but these first screenshots of Bit.Trip Flux look very ... familiar. Perhaps it's because of our recent proclivity to play Bit.Trip Beat on the iPhone every chance we get, but the images -- unlocked by Extra Lives after completing "Day 17" in the Flash-based indie game Mission in Snowdriftland -- look similar to the very first game in Gaijin Games' Bit.Trip series. One item of note: The Flux images appear to show a reverse version of Beat's right-to-left gameplay. We're not sure what other difficult twists Gaijin has in store for this sixth and final Bit.Trip, but we could use some reassuring right about now. %Gallery-111593% [Thanks Anthony!]
NintendoWare Weekly: Lilt Line, Darius Twin, Zombie BBQ
It is, without a doubt, an actually good, not disappointing day on the Wii and DSi Shops. It's a Christmas miracle! The very cool iPhone reflex / rhythm game Lilt Line is now on WiiWare, published by Bit. Trip developer Gaijin Games. And Taito's Darius Twin shoots 'em up on Virtual Console. On DSiWare, Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ, originally a retail DS game, can be downloaded for 800 Points, obviating the need to go to a store and hunt down that somewhat obscure (but fun) shooter.%Gallery-110454%
Frobot hits the WiiWare dance floor Dec. 20
WiiWare will get an unlikely combination of robots, dungeon crawling, disco, and Shaft (shut your mouth) references on December 20, when Fugazo's Frobot hits the scene. Frobot is an action game about an afro-sporting robot -- not a frozen robot, as you might have thought -- who rolls into BotBlocker's headquarters to rescue his five foxy, equally robotic girlfriends. This is represented gameplay-wise by a top-down experience similar to The Legend of Zelda's dungeons, with the addition of pointer-based aiming. If the grouping of all those elements seems too far-fetched for you, you'll be able to get proof in the form of a demo, available the same day. We're so glad to see devs taking advantage of this demo feature, by the way. European gamers will get the game (and, presumably, the demo) in 2011.%Gallery-109593%
NintendoWare Weekly: Fluidity, Commando, SonSon
Finally, this WiiWare game has arrived -- one we've been reading about for months, that will allow us to experience a common natural phenomenon in a new way. We're talking, of course, about Fireplacing (formerly My Fireplace). Oh, also, Fluidity is out. If you download them together, will they cancel each other out? Meanwhile, on Virtual Console, Capcom surprises us with a pair of games that weren't supposed to be out until next year!%Gallery-109311%%Gallery-109310%
Lilt Line dubsteps onto WiiWare December 13, iPhone version free
There's no new Bit. Trip game on WiiWare in December (as far as we know!) but you'll still be able to give Gaijin Games a little money in exchange for some abstract, challenging, musically integrated WiiWare radness, in the form of Gaijin's port of Lilt Line. It'll be out in North America on December 13. A demo will also be released. In case you're not familiar with the iPhone version, involves tilting to control the angle of a line as it moves through a narrow path, occasionally tapping in time with the dubstep soundtrack. Also, if you're not familiar with it but have an iPhone, you can get that version for free right now. Consider it a preview of the WiiWare release! Or just consider it a free game! Or something!
Just look at the state of these Fluidity trailers
In a somewhat inconvenient science lesson, Nintendo has posted three different trailers across the web, each representing a different state of water in the upcoming tilt-em-up, Fluidity. We've got all three for you -- like having a glass of water, with ice, in a sauna.
Final Bit.Trip game is called 'Bit.Trip Flux'
Gaijin Games has (unintentionally) teamed up with the German USK ratings board to reveal the title for the sixth and final Bit.Trip game: Bit.Trip Flux. Yesterday, the developer put up a blog post titled "Flux," with poetic text that really looks like it's hiding some secret code. "A lesson is learned. Life is. Simply. There is no death. There is no before. There is no after. All is in flux. Simply." In addition, the USK posted a rating for an Aksys-published game called Bit.Trip Flux, which is a lot less cryptic. Even if we can't surmise any details about the game from this title or the blog post, it's basically enough to know that it's another Bit.Trip game. We're intrigued!
NintendoWare Weekly: Cave Story, Cave Story
Another relatively awesome week for DSiWare, WiiWare and, yes, even Virtual Console, as Cave Story arrives in both portable form on DSiWare and demo form on WiiWare. DSiWare also features a port of Two Tribes' Mac/iPhone puzzle game Frenzic. The Virtual Console offers the wonderful Neo Geo puzzler Magical Drop 2.%Gallery-108408%
Fluidity trickles down to WiiWare on Dec. 6
Fluidity, a WiiWare game that might be described as a platformer starring a small amount of water, will be released on the Wii Shop on December 6 for 1,200 Points. First revealed at this year's PAX, Fluidity is a side-scrolling game in which players tilt the Wii Remote to move water through various obstacles, gaining the ability to freeze or boil the water when necessary. While a game like this may not really need a story (do you really need to motivate some water?) Nintendo revealed one in its announcement today: Fluidity is set within an encyclopedia called "Aquaticus," which is apparently under attack from the evil "Influence." Okay, it's not a lot of story. To learn more about how Fluidity works, you'll find a 'How to Play" trailer after the break.%Gallery-101332%
Angry Birds try for a more diplomatic resolution to their pig problem
Birds have always looked down on pigs due to their inability to fly, while pigs themselves have always been envious of their flight-enabled counterparts -- it's led to much conflict between the species, naturally. But we're happy to report that today the two finally sat down for peace talks.
NintendoWare Weekly: Spin Master, WiiWare demos, Tetris Party Live
After the last few years, we don't know how to react to the kind of wealth on the Wii and DSi Shops today. It's too much to process all at once. WiiWare demos are back, offering a chance to check out Bit.Trip Fate, ThruSpace, And Yet It Moves and Jett Rocket with no financial outlay. There's a new Tetris game on DSiWare. There's even a Virtual Console game! How is this possible?%Gallery-107999%
Nintendo tries WiiWare demos again in North America Nov. 22
In case our review of Bit. Trip Fate didn't give you a clear enough idea about the game, you'll be able to try it yourself at no cost on November 22. That's when Nintendo of America brings back last year's WiiWare demo program. Next Monday, in addition to Fate, you'll be able to download demos for ThruSpace, Jett Rocket, and And Yet It Moves. Like the new demo program in Europe, these demos will only be available for a limited time, and will be rotated out regularly. That means that you should download every demo that you see, just in case you decide you want to try it out later. Or is that just us?
NintendoWare Weekly: Need for Speed: Nitro-X
A strange pairing of themes emerged from today's DSiWare and WiiWare selections: racing and dogs. Need for Speed Nitro-X is out just in time to promote Hot Pursuit, accompanied by two other racing games of various disciplines. Meanwhile, two games about training dogs are also available this week. And yes, there is crossover between the two motifs, in the form of WiiWare's Derby Dogs. Even Go Fetch! on DSiWare is kind of a racing game, now that we think about it -- it involves dogs running at top speed to get ahead of their opponent, a ball.%Gallery-107446%
