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Wiikly Wares: LONPOS, Snowboard Riot, and Sonic Chaos
It's a full week on WiiWare and the Virtual Console for Wii owners. We've got two new WiiWare games, but, sadly, only one Virtual Console game. Looks like that streak Nintendo's been on for a while now will continue. Oh well, onto this week's releases:WiiWare LONPOS (Nintendo, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): A puzzle game not for the weak of heart, LONPOS tasks players with solving puzzles revolving around a rectangular area comprised of 55 spaces. Using 12 different pieces, the goal is to fill the entire playing field and not have any pieces left over. Snowboard Riot (Hudson Entertainment, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Fantasy Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Hudson's snowboarding game takes advantage of the Wii Balance Board and is full of ... well, racing down mountains covered in snow. Virtual ConsoleSonic Chaos (SEGA MASTER SYSTEM, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Players can go through the game as either Sonic or Tails in an attempt to stop Dr. Eggman, who has nabbed the Red Chaos Emerald and plans to use it to create nuclear weapons. No, we did not just make that up. Gallery: Snowboard Riot
VC Friday: Lonpos finally leaves Japan
Oh goody, Nintendo slashed the price of a WiiWare game in PAL regions. Oh, it's ... Lonpos. The only neat, semi-interesting thing we can bring ourselves to write about Lonpos is that it was a launch title for the Japanese WiiWare service (but for 1,000 Wii Points), and that buying the starter pack and downloading all of Lonpos' extra content would cost you 5,300 Wii Points. We kid you not. Good luck with that, Genki. Lonpos -- WiiWare -- 800 Wii Points There's a video after the break of the game in "action." In short, it's a tangram puzzler, in the vein of Neves. Anybody else detecting a lack of excitement in our tone?%Gallery-19077%
Super Punch-Out!! and rare Ogre Battle rated by ESRB
That copy of Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen you stashed under the mattress to partly fund your early retirement just got a whole lot less valuable. The ESRB has rated the rare Enix RPG for a Virtual Console release, along with another, more widely known SNES gem: Super Punch-Out!!. Is Nintendo planning to release the classic pugilist title alongside its modern Wii equivalent, as it did in the case of Super Metroid and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption? Perhaps!Those aren't the only surprises in the latest ESRB ratings: Lonpos, a launch title for the Japanese WiiWare service no less, has also been classified. As it's been a while, here's a reminder of what it looks like:%Gallery-19077%
Lonpos hates your wallet
While you already know our stance on Lonpos's downloadable content, you probably didn't realize how much wallet maiming would actually be going on. In Japan, nine puzzle packs were released this week. While that might seem like good news at first for the puzzle lovers in us all, it's not. Each puzzle pack costs 500 Wii Points (or $5, if you will), meaning that all nine packs come to a total of $45. Let's not forget the $10 to download the starter pack of Lonpos to begin with.A puzzle pack includes twenty-five puzzles, which means that all nine packs would admittedly be a lot of content, but this still doesn't sit right with us. At the very least, the initial gimped version should be cheaper to download off of WiiWare. With this much DLC at these prices, we'd have preferred that Genki released a disc-based game instead. Think about it: if you don't think you'd like Lonpos, you won't want to download it in the first place. If Lonpos interests you, though, you're going to want as many puzzle packs as possible, and feel completely deflated by the money Genki is asking for. It seems that Genki has gotten the concept of nickel-and-diming down to a T. Gallery: Lonpos
Wii Warm Up: Microtransactions
Don't get us wrong -- we're not against downloadable content by any means. Yet, the way in which microtransactions were presented during the WiiWare launch for games like Lonpos and My Life as a King seems really ... cheap. And by cheap, we mean the DLC is a total cheap shot, because it's actually expensive. Take Square Enix's title, for example, which released $13 worth of downloadable content on its first week. Yes, we're familiar with the "If you don't want it, then don't buy it" argument (and we won't), but all of that just sours us on the game in general.What do you think, though? Are we being to hard on Lonpos and My Life as a King? Or, is there a wrong and right way to present DLC? Then again, it could also be possible that you don't support any microtransactions. Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Lonpos is only a starter pack
Lonpos, that game that has you lining up beads in a tray, might not be the game many made it out to be. In charging 1,000 Wii Points for admission, it turns out that Lonpos is actually only a starter pack. There's a 500 Wii Point bonus pack for download, as well.Within this bonus pack, new puzzles and ... uh, new puzzles is all you're going to get. Based on impressions of the game so far, you won't want to check it out, anyway.%Gallery-19077%
Lonpos may be bad for your blood pressure
Lining up beads in a tray sounds easy, yeah? Don't be fooled. While we can't read the text that pops up in this video after every instance of failure, we can take a guess at what it says. "Damn," maybe, or perhaps, "Son of a-- stupid beads," or even "SCREW THIS GAME!" Only, y'know, in Japanese.That's the forthcoming Wii Ware title Lonpos, in a nutshell. Or, rather, in a tray. See for yourself, if you've never tried it, in the video above and the screenshots below.%Gallery-19077%
WiiWare launched, impressions rounded up
While most of us were sleeping -- like a bunch of chumps -- Nintendo launched its WiiWare service in Japan early this morning. As expected, the WiiWare servers are taking a beating from thousands of gamers hoping to try out the new downloadable releases, but Siliconera's Spencer Yip and Wired's Chris Kohler were still able to grab a few games and write up their impressions, all of which you can peruse below.A few surprises revealed themselves with the service's launch: My Life as a King is rife with microtransactions, offering additional costumes, dungeons, and races (Yukes, Selkies, and Lilties) for 100-300 Wii Points. Star Soldier R features three light modes -- a two-minute mode in which you play through a quick stage for a high score, a similar 5-minute mode with two levels and boss encounters, and a "Fast Shot" mode for testing your button-tapping skills. Saku Saku Animal Panic, the only WiiWare launch title from a US developer and a game we haven't paid any attention to at all, is apparently "pretty fun!" Judging by Chris Kohler's impressions, it sounds a lot like Jezzball, minus the balls ... And the Jezz. Now all we need are detailed Dr. Mario, Okiraku Ping Pong,and My Life as a King impressions!Read - The WiiWare Shopping experienceRead - WiiWare Impressions: LonposRead - WiiWare Impressions: Angel's SolitaireRead - WiiWare Impressions: Saku Saku Animal PanicRead - WiiWare Impressions: Star Soldier RRead - Extra content in My Life as a King explainedRead - Lonpos has pay-to-play content too
LONPOS joins the microtransactions conga line
Hold on tight to your wallets, purses, and Mario Coin Block Banks, everybody. With the Japanese launch of WiiWare less than a fortnight away, more news of microtransactions has begun to trickle in, with Genki confirming that LONPOS will feature extra DLC. The contents of this add-on pack are still a mystery, though we do know it will cost 500 Wii points. You probably don't need us to remind you that 500 Wii points will buy you River City Ransom. Or Phantasy Star II. Or Super Mario Bros. 3.News of pay DLC on the Wii is nothing new -- Bandai Namco confirmed that extra content would be available for Kotoba no Puzzle Mojipittan Wii months ago, in the form of extra stages. And, while neither title is likely to receive a western release, the likes of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King suddenly seem like prime candidates to receive DLC of their own.
Microtransactions coming soon to Nintendo Wii
And the infernal circle is complete. Microtransactions will finally be making their way to the Nintendo Wii, largely by way of the upcoming WiiWare service. The Wii was the last of the three major consoles to not support microtransactions, and now no consumer is safe from the incessant nickel-and-diming for minor content.IGN reports that WiiWare developer Genki will be selling an add-on pack for its puzzle game LONPOS. The expansion will cost 500 Wii points, half of the launch title's entire cost. Meanwhile, Siliconera is reporting that another puzzle game, Kotoba no Puzzle Mojipittan Wii, will be selling additional puzzle stages for an as-yet unknown price.As if that weren't enough to grind your gears, Madden creator Scott Orr spoke with Develop Magazine about his WiiWare title, Spogs Racing. According to Orr, the title will feature purchasable "racer packs," including cars parts and new tracks. Orr doesn't come right out and define these as microtransactions, however, instead masquerading the upgrades as "episodic downloadable content" (which it ain't). Looks like we're off to a great start already.Read - WiiWare microtransactions priced [IGN]Read - Go online with WiiWare and Mojipittan Wii [Siliconera]Read - Madden creator on WiiWare episodic and user-driven content plans [Develop]
Wii Ware priced and dated for Japan
When it comes to Wii Ware in Japan, Nintendo is cutting it fine. Just this morning, the company announced that the service would launch in the region on March 25th, a mere fortnight from now. The U.S. launch of Wii Ware, you may recall, is down for May 12th.As well as a date, Nintendo revealed a launch line-up of nine titles with prices that ranged from 500 (Okiraku Ping-Pong Wii and Angel's Solitaire) to 1500 (My Life As A King: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles) Wii points: Okiraku Ping-Pong Wii (Arc System Works, 500 points) Word Puzzle Mojipittan Wii (Bandai Namco, 1000 points) Sakusaku Animal Panic (Konami, 1000 points) Star Soldier R (Hudson, 800 points) My Life As A King: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (Square Enix, 1500 points) Angel's Solitaire (G-Mode, 500 points) Dr. Mario & Bacillus Extermination (Nintendo, 1000 points) Everybody's Pokemon Ranch (Nintendo, 1000 points) Lonpos (Genki, 1000 points) Update 1: GameTrailers has just updated with videos of Everybody's Pokemon Ranch, Star Soldier R, Word Puzzle Mojipittan Wii, and Dr. Mario. Hit the break, people!
