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NintendoWare Weekly: Pac-Man, Trenches Generals
In case you missed it yesterday, the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program has officially launched. Those who signed up to the eShop before August 11 can now download ten NES games from the eShop, though it's an annoying process. If you can't get into the 3DS Embassy, it's a much less exciting week. The Game Boy version of Pac-Man awaits 3DS owners, and a House, MD game is up on DSiWare. There's a bit of intrigue, however, in a WiiWare tower defense game called Trenches Generals.
Portabliss: Antipole (DSiWare)
Did you know that you can download handheld games now? That's amazingly convenient! The only inconvenient part of it is finding the right games to buy -- and that's where we come in, with our Portabliss column. In each installment, we'll tell you about a downloadable game on the iPhone, iPad, Android device, DSi, 3DS, PSP, etc. Today: Antipole. If you're a DSi owner feeling glum about the lack of free NES games today -- or if you're a 3DS owner wanting to play something new after binging on NES games -- Antipole is the ideal solution. It's a classic-style side-scrolling platform action game built around a really great gimmick: your character can flip gravity in a bubble around his body at will. Your ability to reverse gravity allows you not only to stick to the ceiling, but to extend jumps by flipping mid-jump, to flip enemies and environmental obstacles, and even to send bombs back upward to the enemies that dropped them. Each level introduces a new wrinkle to the formula, from lasers that you have to block with a box, to toxic pools of sludge that kill you in one hit -- and float upward toward you inside your gravity bubble -- to robotic spiders who exude their own gravity bubbles. The levels are brief enough, and the restart time quick enough, that it doesn't really irritate you that much to learn by trial and error. Antipole may not be the best-looking game on DS; in fact, the graphics have a sort of PC-shareware charm to them. But the level design and mechanics combine to make enjoyably devious puzzles. And, occasionally, like whenever that toxic sludge is involved, frustratingly devious puzzles. If you happen to have an Xbox 360, you can try this game out -- it's on Xbox Live Indie Games. In fact, we featured it as an Indie Gem. It's just a cool game, on either platform! %Gallery-122548% Antipole is available from the 3DS eShop for $5, or the DSi Shop for 500 DSi Points. We're always looking for new distractions. Want to submit your game for Portabliss consideration? You can reach us at portabliss aat joystiq dawt com.
NintendoWare Weekly: Gargoyle's Quest, The Ignition Factor
Once again, to our delight, Virtual Console games grace two separate Nintendo platforms today, and both are "fire" themed to a degree. On the 3DS eShop, Capcom's excellent RPG-ish Ghosts 'n Goblins spinoff, Gargoyle's Quest, is now available. The somewhat more obscure SNES firefighting game, The Ignition Factor, is on Wii. DSiWare sees a very cute Bubble Bobble-esque game, and ... Calculator. Which is a calculator.
NintendoWare Weekly: Urban Champion, Flight Control
During a convention like Gamescom, with news flying out in all directions, you have to bring your A-game if you want to get attention. Nintendo of America has brought ... Urban Champion. Specifically, the 3D Classics remake of Urban Champion, available today on the 3DS eShop. Nintendo also mentioned that a new Jason Derulo video will premiere on Nintendo Video today, if that's something you want to see and hear. WiiWare finally gets its port of air-traffic control puzzler Flight Control, so if you don't own any smartphone or a DSi, you can now see what all the fuss was about.%Gallery-131006%
NintendoWare Weekly: Super Adventure Island 2, Go! Go! Kokopolo
The Wii Virtual Console continues to expand at a glacial pace, with one more classic making an appearance today: Super Adventure Island II. In this SNES adventure, Master Higgins ventures across Waku-Waku Island to save his amnesiac wife from the king, by throwing hammers at birds and jumping over fire pits. The wildcat protagonist of Go! Go! Kokopolo on DSiWare handles his conflicts in a different way: he scratches his enemies in order to enrage them into chasing him through maze-like levels, and then leads them into the jaws of a carnivorous plant.
NintendoWare Weekly: Mario's Picross, Monochrome Racing
If you've never tested your brain for picross compatibility, you can do so today with the latest Virtual Console game on eShop. Try Mario's Picross and you'll either have an awesome time making little pixel pictures out of number puzzles, or throw your 3DS down the stairs. Good thing the price for replacements is going down! WiiWare offers a novel take on the racing genre: Monochrome Racing (also out on PS Minis), a game that takes place in a fully monochrome environment, in which you must keep your car "charged" and moving with color by picking up items.
NintendoWare Weekly: Let's Golf 3D, Burn the Rope
OK, you can't get those free 3DS Virtual Console games yet, but there is new stuff on 3DS if you want to pay for it. Let's Golf 3D is only the fourth original 3DS game to be released on the eShop in North America -- and that's counting two 3D Classics remakes. On WiiWare, the Virtual Console game Brawl Brothers is joined by a console release of the mobile puzzle game Burn the Rope. Not Cut the Rope, or You Have to Burn the Rope, just Burn the Rope.
NintendoWare Weekly: 3D Classics Xevious, Antipole [update]
The Nintendo Video service will be available from the 3DS eShop this week. We're looking forward to seeing what kind of short videos Nintendo has chosen for our entertainment. Well, "looking forward" might be a bit strong. We're curious. Maybe we're also dreading it, a little. Meanwhile, there's a new 3D Classics remake to play on 3DS: Xevious, which is based on a game a damn sight better than Urban Champion. DSiWare also adds the gravity-flipping platformer, Antipole. Update: Actually, it wasn't Nintendo Video at all, but a new entry on the eShop's front page to tell us that Nintendo Video was "coming soon." We're still confused.
Portabliss: Mighty Flip Champs DX (PSP Minis)
Did you know that you can download handheld games now? That's amazingly convenient! The only inconvenient part of it is finding the right games to buy -- and that's where we come in, with our Portabliss column. Three times a week, our new Portabliss column will tell you about a downloadable game on the iPhone, iPad, Android device, DSi, 3DS, PSP, etc. Today: Mighty Flip Champs DX! We didn't have a periodic column about portable downloadable games when WayForward unleashed the bookish puzzle game Mighty Flip Champs upon DSiWare. WayForward graciously ported the game to PSP and released it as a Mini last week, affording us the opportunity to treat it as a new release once again and write about it here. Thanks, WayForward!
NintendoWare Weekly: Netflix, Game & Watch Gallery, 3D Pixel Racing
The biggest release on 3DS this week isn't a game at all. It's the Netflix app! Should you decide to watch movies while you're near a Wi-Fi signal but not a TV and a streaming-capable device, now you're all set. The 3DS also sees a pair of Virtual Console releases, including one that is, itself, a collection of even older games. And WiiWare hosts 3D Pixel Racing, a racer set in a 3D Dot Game Heroes-esque voxel environment.
Nintendo 3DS gets free Netflix update in tomorrow's eShop update
Since Nintendo's 3DS launched back in March, we've been hanging on by a thread, counting the minutes until this week's eShop update. And no, it's not just because Extreme Hangman 2 is finally dropping on DSiWare: Netflix's streaming video application will be available on 3DS as well. Finally a chance to bring Agent Cooper on the go and make those smug short-form video users in Europe and Japan quit their braggin'! Nintendo revealed as much with an early announcement of its weekly eShop, DSi, and Wii Shop updates, also detailing several games that will be available for purchase across the Wii, DSi, and 3DS. We're particularly fond of the Virtual Console Game & Watch Gallery coming to 3DS, but fans of super old-school sports games may be more excited to hear about Baseball being this week's other retro re-release.
NintendoWare Weekly: Just Jam, Qix, Fortified Zone
The 3DS Virtual Console is slowly acquiring new Game Boy games, with two (essentially) third-party games added to the eShop this week. Qix is a Nintendo-published handheld version of Taito's weird arcade classic, which has players drawing rectangular lines to fill space while avoiding abstract enemies. And Jaleco's Fortified Zone is a top-down action game, sort of like the NES Metal Gears (without all the cowering). WiiWare's single release is Just Jam, a game about making music by arranging samples with a simple-looking interface.
Nintendo of Europe release list reveals 3D Xevious this month, MotoHeroz in Q3
Nintendo of Europe sent out its schedule for the summer and fall on 3DS, Wii, and DS, and most of the news to be found is related to downloadable games. For example: the 3DS's "3D Classics" version of Xevious is due to arrive on the eShop this month, as is a 3DS Virtual Console release of Mario's Picross. There's a DSiWare version of Jagged Alliance due in Q3, and RedLynx's WiiWare stunt racer, MotoHeroz, is given a Q3 release window here. Nintendo also predicts a September release for X-Men Destiny on Wii and DS, which would suggest that the other versions are due for release at that same time. Peruse the list for yourself after the break.
NintendoWare Weekly: Kirby's Dreamland, Final Fantasy III
One game each on two Virtual Consoles feels like a windfall, especially when both games are worth the time it takes to play them. The Wii's Virtual Console brings us Final Fantasy III, the SNES role-playing game that introduced us to Terra, Shadow, Kefka, and other beloved characters, while the 3DS Virtual Console brings Kirby's Dream Land, which introduced us to ... Kirby. Head past the break to see all of this week's releases, including a WiiWare game published by peripheral company PDP. Weird.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Inchworm Animation
Being a giant, beloved video game site has its downsides. For example, we sometimes neglect to give independent developers our coverage love (or loverage, if you will) as we get caught up in AAA, AAAA or the rare quintuple-A titles. To remedy that, we're giving indies the chance to create their own loverage and sell you, the fans, on their studios and products. This week we talk with Bob Sabiston and about his DSiWare animation app, Inchworm Animation. What's your game called, and what's it about? Inchworm Animation. It's about $5. It's an overly ambitious paint and animation program on Nintendo DSiWare. It was just released on April 25, in the USA only for now.
NintendoWare Weekly: Stratego, Pro Jumper!
We're still getting used to seeing new Nintendo downloadable games on Thursdays. It feels weird. While we spend the day dealing with that cognitive dissonance, you'll be able to visit the Wii, DSi, or 3DS shop and buy some new stuff, including a DSiWare version of the Stratego board game, a 3DS Virtual Console release of the Game Boy Tennis game, and ... Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent!? That's the one about the hidden Guilty Gear character spinning on a bar of soap and defending himself with towel snaps on the way to soothing hot springs. Nope, we don't know how this is real either.
NintendoWare Weekly: The eShop is open for business
Good news, folks! Nintendo's 3DS eShop is now officially open for business, and the second week of operation brings the Game Boy version of Donkey Kong to hang out with the bikers and heroes already residing in the eShop. A handful of DSiWare and WiiWare offerings are also said to be available, though as of this morning, none of the DSiWare games were actually available for purchase. Additionally, for you stalwarts still holding out for a demo of Bit.Trip Flux before dropping the $8, that's now available as well. The reward for your patience: finding out first hand that it's a great game.
Free DSiWare Four Swords is the GBA version
Last week during E3, Nintendo generously announced a free release of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords for DSiWare, playable on both DSi/XL and 3DS. The company didn't clarify, however, whether the game would be the original Four Swords multiplayer game that was packed in with A Link to the Past on GameBoy Advance, the GameCube Four Swords Adventures, or some combination of both. Nintendo confirmed to Joystiq today that the game will in fact be the GBA multiplayer game that was included with LTTP. Clarifying further, we were told "This is separate from the GameCube version," though it's still unclear what updates, if any, will be made to the DSiWare version of Four Swords -- we'd be shocked not to see some redone graphics, and how about some online multiplayer for good measure? It remains to be seen. The free download will be here in September, according to Nintendo's E3 presentation.
Nintendo mass announces Wii, DS game launch dates
Clearly, Nintendo wants the back half of your year to have a strong financial plan. In two lengthy lists we spotted on the company's press site, everything from Kirby Wii to Pro Jumper! Chimaki's Hot Spring Tour Guilty Gear Tangent was given a more clear release date, with Kirby arriving some time in fall and the latter mystifying DSiWare shopgoers on June 23. If one game starring a puffy pink monster just wasn't enough, how about one for your DS on September 19? 'Cause that's exactly when Kirby Mass Attack is launching. A whole mess of other release date/windows/seasons are categorized for your fiduciary planning needs, just beyond the break.
NintendoWare Weekly: Picdun, Ubongo
Okay, so today's not the most exciting Wii and DSi Shop update ever. But it will be the most exciting 3DS eShop update ever! Or, at least, the first. That's expected late this evening. Now, as for those WiiWare and DSiWare games. Picdun for DSiWare actually looks pretty cute: it's a first-person dungeon game whose maps are revealed as pixel images as you explore. DSiWare is also host to Dreamwalker, a maze game about tilting a maze to guide a sleeping character through dreams. Also, there's something called "Crazy Cheebo: Puzzle Party." Ubongo, a board game seen on DSiWare a couple months back, returns this week for a WiiWare engagement.%Gallery-125395%
