wiiware
Latest
Watch some footage of the canceled Bonk game
Bonk, Hudson Software's headstrong caveman that made his gaming debut on the TurboGrafx-16, was set to make a Stateside comeback in Bonk: Brink of Extinction on WiiWare, PSN and XBLA. Unfortunately, Hudson Software shut down before the game was released, leaving Brink of Extinction in an uncompleted state. Judging by a trio of videos posted by YouTube user "Bonk Brink" though, who appears to be running the game on a PS3 development kit, a decent amount of progress was made on Brink of Extinction before Hudson closed up shop. One of the three videos gives a brief overview of apparent features planned for the title, including online play, downloadable content, a Horde mode and a secondary "Dactyl" story, which follows Bonk retrieving his dinner from a thieving pterodactyl. The other videos are more focused on pure gameplay, one of which is embedded above. Amassing points from collectible vegetables, head butting enemies out of this plane of existence ... yup, looks like Bonk! [Image: YouTube user Bonk Brink]
Watch Brian Provinciano's Retro City Rampage talk from GDC
One of our favorite talks from GDC was Brian Provinciano's session, in which the indie developer discussed bringing his game, Retro City Rampage, to just about every platform known to man. It's a valuable talk for many reasons, giving a clear picture of what it's like working with The Big Three™ and the types of hurdles a determined indie developer will inevitably hit. Provinciano's determination to port Grand Theft Auto 3 to NES hardware escalated into a love letter to video games and pop culture. While Provinciano hasn't announced his next project yet, he says we should expect more humorous open-world games.
New Nintendo eShop releases: Pokemon Mystery Demo, Kersploosh
This is a good week to have a 3DS and an internet connection, with an overwhelming amount of downloadable stuff to enjoy. For free, there's a demo of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity (more of a gate to finity in the demo, we suppose); for relatively cheap, there's the new Kersploosh!, Virtual Console oldie Wrecking Crew, and a week-long discount on the excellent Sakura Samurai.There are also retail-ish releases, led by Renegade Kid's ATV Wild Ride 3D, a new 3DS update of a game originally released on DS. At $8, it's cheaper than retail. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D launches on eShop today as well.
WiiWare version of Retro City Rampage is a '$20,000 gift' to fans
Developer Brian Provinciano doesn't expect to make any money from the launch of Retro City Rampage on Nintendo's WiiWare – in fact, he stands to lose $20,000 in development costs alone, with little chance of seeing a return."Between the office rent, hardware, insurance, game ratings and other costs, had I not done the WiiWare version, I could've saved around $20,000 – not even including my salary in porting it," Provinciano tells Nintendo Life. "And as it stands, virtually no games hit the threshold these days, so it's only being released as fan service. A $20,000 gift to the fans."The loss comes down to a few odd requirements Nintendo places on WiiWare launches: The developer must have a designated office space, even for a one-man operation, and he gets paid only if the game sells a certain number of copies. Unless that sales threshold is hit, "you don't get paid a cent," as Provinciano puts it. These regulations have been tweaked for future platforms, he says, and Nintendo deserves kudos for listening to its content creators."They listen to feedback and take action to improve things if there's a better way. In both cases, the original policies had the best intentions, but turned out to be a bit problematic."Regardless, Provinciano launched Retro City Rampage on WiiWare on February 28 because he wanted to keep his promise that the game would come to a Nintendo console: "I'm happy to see it finally out, and the many happy players. That said, I encourage everyone to buy it! I'm crossing my fingers that it will hit the threshold at least in one region."Retro City Rampage is holding its own on Vita, PS3, Steam and XBLA, in that order.
New Nintendo eShop releases: Retro City Rampage, Runner2
Two high-profile indie games make their way to Nintendo platforms this week. Runner2 has actually been on Wii U since Tuesday, but it's worth noting in case you only check the eShop on the "official" update day. And finally, Vblank's Retro City Rampage comes to WiiWare as promised, where it will very likely be the last major WiiWare release. The Wii version includes the bonus "ROM City Rampage," a genuine 8-bit remake of the game!On 3DS, there's a demo of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, which hopefully lasts longer than the title. And Fractured Soul is on sale for $7.99 for the next week!
PSA: Wii Shop purchases don't get Club Nintendo coins through Wii U
Here's an annoying situation that could cost you a few of the "Coins" used as currency on Club Nintendo. If you transfer your Wii content to your new Wii U (or just start fresh on the Wii U) then buy WiiWare or Virtual Console games through the Wii U's "Wii Mode," you won't get the Coin value of those purchases.This is because you can't link your Club Nintendo account to the virtual Wii within your Wii U, which you'd use to buy legacy games.The easiest solution would be to buy whatever you want on Wii, and get the Coins, before transferring your Wii data to Wii U. But if it's too late for that, you have the choice either to buy on Wii U and forfeit the potential Coins, or realize it's 2013 and that you've likely been pretty much caught up with WiiWare for the past two years, with the possible exception of La-Mulana.
NintendoWare Weekly: Fluidity - Spin Cycle, The Lost Levels, Mega Man
Curve Studios' Fludity: Spin Cycle washes up on the 3DS eShop today, whirling in at a price of $10.99. The follow-up to the 2010 WiiWare game is also joined by a couple of retro superstars in Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels and Mega Man. There aren't any new games on the Wii U eShop this week, but head there and you'll find Trine 2, Little Inferno, and Chasing Aurora on sale until January 3.
NintendoWare Weekly: Wario Land 2, Mario Tennis Open
More full retail games are flooding onto the 3DS eShop, including Nintendo-published games Mario Tennis Open, Pilotwings Resort, and Pokemon Rumble Blast. The best deal, however, is Bit.Trip Saga, which collects all six Bit.Trip games for $15. Game Boy Color classic Wario Land 2 is also up on 3DS today.Meanwhile, on the Wii U eShop, this ... is ... Jeopardy! Nintendo TVii's launch date is also today, so, uh ... Jeopardy! again!
NintendoWare Weekly: Scribblenauts Unlimited, tons more
Publishers are starting to be into the idea of retail games on the 3DS eShop. Today, Natsume and Warner Bros. drop some of their recent releases on the store, including the 3DS version of Scribblenauts Unlimited. There's so much we almost didn't notice Ninja Gaiden missing its release date! A few more Wii U retail games from D3 and Ubisoft also make the lineup.There's even a Wii Virtual Console game, which makes this a historic week: for the first time, downloadable games have been released on four Nintendo consoles in the same week. There's also a Skrillex video on Nintendo Video this week. So there's that.
NintendoWare Weekly: Paper Mario Sticker Star
The latest Paper Mario role-playing game will hit 3DS this Sunday, and it'll be downloadable on the eShop from day one. Until then, you'll have to fill your time with the Epic Mickey demo, a few other new eShop games, and Pokedex 3D Pro, the expanded, less free version of the Pokedex 3D app.
NintendoWare Weekly: Super Mario 3D Land and more hit eShop
Four formerly retail-only 3DS games arrive on the eShop today. Super Mario 3D Land, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D, and Mario Kart 7 will all be released digitally for $39.99 apiece.On Sunday, they'll be joined by new release Style Savvy: Trendsetters, which lets players create a boutique clothing store and stock it with the latest in men or women's apparel. There's even more on the eShop, including Sparkle Snapshots 3D (which is exactly what it sounds like) and the NES version of Gradius. Were we able to hold your attention until that last bit?
Prepare for the Retro City Rampage with this trailer
What does it look like when one man devotes most of a decade to a single game? We'll find out tomorrow when Retro City Rampage launches on PC, PS3, and Vita.
NintendoWare Weekly: NSMB2 DLC, Cave Story, tons more
There is entirely too much going on on the 3DS eShop this week. The New Super Mario Bros. 2 DLC is here, of course, and Pokemon Dream Radar shows up later on this week. Retail games Crosswords Plus and Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone launched digitally on Monday (and offer free access to Donkey Kong: Original Edition when bought on the eShop).In addition, Cave Story is out on eShop, and it's a great port. In addition, Dr. Mario arrives on Virtual Console, there's a demo for Style Savvy: Trendsetters, and a new game called Samurai G is there as well.
La-Mulana comes to WiiWare Sept. 20, EnjoyUp publishing
The remake of Nigoro's retro-inspired, brutally hard archaeological platformer La-Mulana recently made it to PC, but the long-awaited WiiWare release was canceled by publisher Nicalis.Spanish developer EnjoyUp Games (Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ) has picked up La-Mulana for WiiWare, and will publish it in North America and Europe. The long, long wait is almost over: EnjoyUp plans to release the game on September 20.La-Mulana follows Professor Lemeza into the ruins of La-Mulana after finding a note from his long-lost father. It's a Metroidvania-style game set in a deadly cave full of traps and monsters.
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.
NintendoWare Weekly: Zelda NES, Heroes of Ruin demo, more
The "Summer of 8 Bit" begins with two downloadable 3DS releases of NES games that were, until now, exclusive to "Ambassadors:" The Legend of Zelda and NES Open Tournament Golf. Each game will get eShop release updates, such as save states (Ambassadors can update their existing games). Also available on this spectacularly packed day are Family Tennis 3D and a demo for Square Enix's Heroes of Ruin.Nintendo's "Game of the Weekend" promotion continues with a special $4.99 price on Sakura Samurai, from 12pm EDT Friday through midnight Monday morning. There's more, on 3DS, DS, and Wii, so check it all out after the break.
NintendoWare Weekly: Bomb Monkey, Marvel Pinball, VVVVVV sale
This is not just a great week for the 3DS eShop, but it's an important one. Last weekend, Nintendo discounted Super Mario Land temporarily; this weekend's sale on VVVVVV proves that these limited-time discounts are an actual thing. For a digital Nintendo platform, two sales is a giant leap forward.That discount is joined by a demo for Rhythm Thief, which appears to actually be coming out, and interesting new eShop games Bomb Monkey and Marvel Pinball 3D. It's not so great for the Wii this week, with absolutely no releases of any kind on the Wii Shop, but it can't all be good news.
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.
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.]
Club Nintendo coin rewards changing on July 1
You may want to redeem those coins you've accrued through Club Nintendo, because the reward values are changing as of July 1. Completing registration surveys for the Nintendo DSi or Nintendo DSi XL will yield only 100 coins, as opposed to the previously established 160 coins.Software rewards are also getting a shake-up, though only select titles will see a decrease. Completing registration surveys for some 3D Classics and other downloadable titles will grant fewer coins; however, a lot of first-party 3DS games like Mario Kart 7 and some third-party ones, such as Resident Evil Revelations, are seeing increases. Wii and DS/DSi games are sadly seeing a reduction pretty much across the board. Better put in your Animal Crossing: City Folk code before time runs out!
