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3DS NES games will include multiplayer following an update
Those freebie NES games you get from the 3DS "Ambassador Program" on September 1 will be bare-bones at first, but a future update will bring some extras. Nintendo told IGN that after the paid versions of those ten games show up on the eShop "later in the year," the free versions will be updated at no cost. The upgrades will include "additional features such as multiplayer simultaneous play," which is kind of a big claim, since not even the Game Boy Virtual Console games sold now have multiplayer functionality. Nintendo didn't detail any other changes, except to say that 3D isn't one of them. The games won't be remade as 3D Classics. The list of NES games announced includes Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, and The Legend of Zelda. These and five more unknown games will be included in the Ambassador Program. Ten Game Boy Advance games will follow later in 2011.
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.
Current 3DS owners eligible for free games
Nintendo is looking to reward early adopters of 3DS, or at least incur a last-minute sales burst before $80 (that's over 30 percent!) comes off the system, bringing it down to $170 on August 12. Those who own a 3DS and connect to the Nintendo eShop before 11:59PM EST on August 11 will be automatically enrolled into the "Nintendo 3DS Ambassador" program. 3DS ambassadorial duties mostly involve playing a bunch of free games. The status grants you access to 10 free NES Virtual Console games on September 1 before their general release (these include The Legend of Zelda, Balloon Fight and Ice Climber), along with 10 more Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games by the end of 2011. The GBA games -- like Yoshi's Island, Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames and Mario vs. Donkey Kong -- will not be available to anyone else. Is all that enough to ameliorate early buyer's remorse? Nintendo claims that it has sold more than 830,000 3DS systems in the US since it debuted in late March, and that it will keep momentum up with several big holiday releases. In the category of games available to everyone: Kid Icarus: Uprising in the holidays, Super Mario Land 3D in November, followed in December by Mario Kart 7.
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.
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.
Urban Champion is the 3DS's latest 3D 'Classic'
Well, the 3DS had a good run. Of all the NES games to spend time and money remaking in 3D, Nintendo has chosen its worst first-party game as the third 3D Classics release. That's right, Urban Champion follows Excitebike and Xevious in the 3D Classics line, coming to the eShop in Japan July 13, for ¥600 ($7.40). The 3D perspective change effect actually looks really cool, and there's local wireless multiplayer -- two new aspects that temporarily distract from the crumminess of Nintendo's 1984 fighter. The same day, an unaltered retro game will also come to 3DS in Japan via Virtual Console: Adventure Island 2.
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.
3DS eShop inhales Kirby's Dream Land in Europe
There's good news for fans of Nintendo's fluffy, pink wonder: Kirby's original adventure, Kirby's Dream Land, is headed to the European 3DS eShop. The game will be available for 400 points (€4). North American Kirby lovers have reason to be excited too, as the ESRB has dropped a 3DS rating for the game. Hopefully, the adorable little guy will land on the North American eShop this week as well.
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.
3DS eShop launch lineups announced for Japan and Europe
The initial lineup of 3DS eShop software was just announced for North America -- at least the Virtual Console part and the free Excitebike, anyway. The lineups for other regions are slightly different -- and have been announced in slightly more detail. The Game Boy Virtual Console titles coming to Japan include Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge, Kirby's Dreamland, Baseball, Phantasm (called Avenging Spirit in the west), Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki Dayo Zenin Shuugo (a samurai-themed River City Ransom spinoff). Original 3DS software in Japan launching June 7 includes Excitebike 3D, Mystery PI, 3D Block Breaking, and a 3D Classics version of Xevious. The launch eShop content for Europe, detailed in a press release, includes the remade Excitebike, as well as the Game Boy games Alleyway, Super Mario Land, and Tennis, with more coming every Thursday.
NintendoWare Weekly: Super Adventure Island, House, Valet Parking 1989
How timely! One day before Takahashi Meijin leaves his post as Hudson Soft's resident PR expert/hero/mascot, Nintendo has released a Virtual Console game starring Takahashi (or, as he's called here, "Master Higgins"), namely Super Adventure Island. On DSiWare, we get to experience one of the most delightfully random release days since the service started. There's a game about parking cars with an early GTA-style top-down view, an A-Team pastiche, and an episodic House, M.D. adventure game. Examine the full list of releases after the break.%Gallery-124786%
NintendoWare Weekly: Chrono Trigger, Gabrielle's Ghostly Groove
It's an oldie, but a goodie -- actually, you know what? It's a bestie. Square Enix's beloved SNES RPG Chrono Trigger arrives on the Wii Virtual Console for 800 Points, giving us yet another platform upon which to totally hang with Robo, Frog, Lucca, the prehistoric one, the princess, and that one wizard guy. Oh, Chrono Trigger. It has obviously been far too long. Other games added today include Big Bass Arcade on DSiWare, in which bass -- preferably big bass -- are pulled from bodies of water using sticks and twine, and Natsume's gothic rhythm title, Gabrielle's Ghostly Groove: Monster Mix for WiiWare. Check out the full list of new releases below!
Chrono Trigger travels to Virtual Console next Monday
It sure feels like we've waited an eternity for Square's timeless Super Nintendo RPG to come to Virtual Console. Begrudgingly, we suppose it's true -- good things do come to those who wait. Next Monday, May 16, marks Chrono Trigger's long overdue release on Virtual Console in North America. Following its press release, Square Enix confirmed that the game will be sold at the standard 800 Wii Points ($8) price for SNES ports on VC (as opposed to the 900-point premium being charged in Japan). That's quite a bargain for pretty much the best game ever. [Image source: Chronopedia]
Localized Monster World IV leads newest PSN/Virtual Console 'Sega Vintage Collection'
This is slightly confusing, but also awesome. We recently found an ESRB rating for the previously unlocalized Mega Drive/Genesis game Monster World IV, for release on XBLA and PSN. Today, Sega of Europe confirmed that it's bringing the game over -- but on PSN and Wii Virtual Console, as part of a new "Vintage Collection" being released late this year and early next year. The collection also includes Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Revenge of Shinobi, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, and Wonder Boy in Monster World, all of which have already been released on Virtual Console in North America. Super Hang-On is in there too, and has not been released on Nintendo's download service. None of these were already on PSN. Monster World IV is arguably the star of the collection, because it's never had an official console release outside of Japan -- and Sega is actually localizing it.
NintendoWare Weekly: Bit. Trip Runner demo, Rival Turf!
Gaijin Games has made it simple for you to try out its super-hard platformer Bit.Trip Runner, releasing a demo on the Wii Shop today -- just as it has for most of the Bit.Trip games. You should absolutely try this one, unless you get frustrated easily. Also on Wii today: Rival Turf!, a game that isn't actually very good, but has a distinctive box art that ... also isn't very good.
Chrono Trigger rated by ESRB for Virtual Console
Square Enix's beloved Chrono Trigger has popped up on the ESRB site for "Wii," meaning the SNES classic will also make its way to the North American Virtual Console. The title was previously announced for digital distribution on the Nintendo console for Japan and Europe. No official word on price, but it'll likely be the same 100-point markup as in Japan, making the title a premium 900 Wii Points ($9). The game was also recently rated for PSP and PS3, alluding to a PSN release. Still no word about the mobile version for North America, but at least there's still the DS version.
NintendoWare Weekly: Mega Man X
We didn't have to wait long for Mega Man X on Virtual Console. It was announced for Japan just last month, and it's on the Virtual Console in North America today! Of course, if you count all the time since the original 1993 release, including the years since the Wii first came out, it's a longer wait. WiiWare offers a Bit.Trip Core demo today, and on the total opposite end of the "crazy hardcore" spectrum, My Little Baby. DSiWare has a very cute submarine game, a piano teaching tool, and the third DodoGo puzzle game.%Gallery-121503%
NintendoWare Weekly: Super Bonk, From the Abyss
The future of Bonk: Brink of Extinction may be uncertain, but that doesn't mean you can't download a new (to Wii) Bonk game today! If you prefer your adventuring to be more technologically advanced, there's also a game about using an underwater vehicle to capture fish. DSiWare features baseball management today, along with fantasy-themed puzzling and Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 - From the Abyss -, a DSiWare spin-off of an obscure DS dungeon game.%Gallery-120348%
Chrono Trigger, Mega Man X coming to Virtual Console in Japan
Nintendo's Virtual Console release schedule for April includes just three games -- quite a contrast from the service's high points in 2007 and 2008, when the monthly additions would routinely top a dozen. However, even with just three releases, Nintendo of Japan manages to make us totally jealous, because one of those releases is Chrono Trigger. Nintendo (or Square Enix) has decided to charge a premium 900 Wii Points for the Super Nintendo RPG, a 100-point markup that is usually reserved for games "imported" from other regions, but used here basically because they can. That's still cheaper than the current (discounted) price for the DS version in the US. In case we hadn't achieved sufficient jealousy levels, the other planned SNES release for next month is Mega Man X, which will sell for the standard 800-point price in Japan. Also on the schedule: King of the Monsters 2 for Neo Geo.
