Star Soldier R - Will it be the first WiiWare game?
Earlier today, Nintendo held a press conference in Japan. While I'm sure we're all aware of the bigger news, like Sonic being in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and motorcycles being in Mario Kart Wii, there's some nice treats in store for the Wii Shop too!
First off, Nintendo has announced the first WiiWare title made by themselves - It's Dr. Mario! First details and screenshots (Found here) seem to suggest it's a faithful recreation of the original game with some new features, and Wi-Fi multiplayer!
Hudson, not staying behind, have also announced three more WiiWare titles. Star Soldier R, Bomberman and Joysound (A karaoke game) will all be appearing in the spring of next year. Star Soldier R has some screenshots, which you can view here.
Finally, Square have announced Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land for WiiWare. This will have a price of 1500 Wii Points, no other details are known.
Nintendo has also announced what many people were asking for - Yes, DS demos will be downloaded from the Wii Shop sometime in the future! Presumably you will wirelessly link the DS with the Wii and then play the demos on your DS. No date has been given, but we expect it to be early next year.
Finally in VC news, the Everybody Votes Channel will be getting an update, which will allow you to vote how much you like games you own. We don't know if this includes VC games, but it would be likely.
Apparently, there will also be new Channels soon - Alongside the already known Mii Popularity Channel, we'll be getting some sort of Commercial Channel, for viewing game commercials and trailers! Screens of this can be found here again.
There's also a new "Pokemon Farm", although we're not quite sure if it's a Channel or a WiiWare game. It seems to involve your Mii being able to interact with Pokemon. We personally think it's a WiiWare game, though it would seem more suited to being a Channel. Stay tuned.
And if that's not enough - There's a new Wii update available, which will allow you to click links, copy text to search with, and more! You can also update the Everybody Votes Channel and Internet Channel through the Wii Shop to enable USB keyboard support!
User Comments
1. KeeperBvK
10 Oct 2007, 12:40 BST
Wow, just wow...really great news.
2. Atlantis1982
10 Oct 2007, 13:00 BST
I might think of getting the Karaoke game and maybe....just maybe the Bomberman game if it has wifi multiplayer.
3. Bass X0
10 Oct 2007, 13:12 BST
i wonder if Dr. Mario will have online play beca--
motorcycles? in mario kart!? thats new to me!!!
4. Drake
10 Oct 2007, 13:25 BST
Yup, Bass, in the first screenshots (Which I've now linked to), Wi-Fi is confirmed!
5. GrandAeon
10 Oct 2007, 14:05 BST
I thought the USB keyboard support was already available (only partly maybe...) Oh well, good news anyway!
That Star Soldier game looks badass!
6. Bass X0
10 Oct 2007, 14:30 BST
yeah, now i see the pictures. Peoples Miis is in the middle of the screen wearing doctors coats. nice touch.
7. jg233
10 Oct 2007, 14:37 BST
*heart stops*
Pokemon Channel! Demo Channel! DR. MARIO WI
The end of the world is coming and those with wii's will be saved! Dreams do come true!!!
8. Ian Daemon
10 Oct 2007, 15:13 BST
Awesome news...
9. Mirokunite
10 Oct 2007, 15:26 BST
Very nice. I wonder if Square-Enix working with Nintendo means we will see Soul Blazer, E.V.O.: Search for Eden, ActRaiser 2, Paladin's Quest, Terranigma, Illusion of Gaia, The Portopia Serial Murder Case, Soul Blazer, Paladins Quest, and much more.
If those games make it to VC. I can die happy.
10. Valien
10 Oct 2007, 15:29 BST
Wii update came out this morning in the US. Now supports USB Keyboards and updated the Everybody Votes and Internet Channel. Other than that I'm not sure what else was changed/updated. No demo channel though
11. rman
10 Oct 2007, 15:33 BST
All this is great, all these new channels seem cool, and the new games to download are awesome, BUTTTTT!!!!! We are still hindered by the 512K of internal memory. Unless Nintendo does something about this, the Wii is still just a system that could have been better.
12. deggs
10 Oct 2007, 15:45 BST
i'm truely hoping dr. mario has the 4 player splitscreen multiplayer that was available for the n64. i wonder if some of the other cancelled games are going to become wario ware titles
13. Ron Prower
10 Oct 2007, 16:04 BST
Today is the greatest day of Nintendo news ever, not only do we get this most awesome Wii news, but we also learned from the Smash Bros Dojo of Sonic now officially in Brawl. Today is truly a great day for all. =D
14. "L"
10 Oct 2007, 16:08 BST
gah, sonic in smash : /
I bet i'm the only one upset a little about this.
15. yeehaw
10 Oct 2007, 16:10 BST
I hope, I so hope that Capcom will put his new Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix on WiiWare. Please Capcom. Make it happen!! Aaaaa!!
*passes out*
16. Yoshi175
10 Oct 2007, 16:45 BST
WOW today has lots of great stuff revealed, I'm shocked about sonic being in smash bros brawl, and this other stuff is really cool
17. Shortay
10 Oct 2007, 17:24 BST
Good news I must say
18. The Holg
10 Oct 2007, 18:14 BST
"Nintendo has also announced what many people were asking for"
Well, many have have asked for 60 Hz support for European VC games. But they don't care, do they?
19. Henry
10 Oct 2007, 18:15 BST
Fantastic! I certainly didn't expect this much info in one day.
20. Rockman 90
10 Oct 2007, 19:18 BST
I did not see any virtual console voting in the everbody votes channel how does that work?
21. 10 Oct 2007, 20:02 BST
Wow! Sonic in Smash Bros!
OMG!
I heard it here first! XD
But DR MARIO!
I
Am
Happy
22. Jonno
10 Oct 2007, 21:03 BST
WiiWare Games I want:
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land
Dr. Mario
Pokemon Farm
Star Soldier R
23. John Hood
10 Oct 2007, 21:58 BST
Time to run software update!
24. john
10 Oct 2007, 22:40 BST
So much news, I think my eyes are going to bleed.
25. Mii be you
10 Oct 2007, 23:59 BST
WHOA! Great news! I can tell that a lot of people will get the Dr. Mario game(Me being one of them).
26. johnny
11 Oct 2007, 00:55 BST
wow this is so good...keyboard accesible?
PC games anyone?
27. Mr.Nintendo21
11 Oct 2007, 01:25 BST
Hmmm. This makes me curious. I have noticed that the original Dr. Mario for the VC is under the "no longer rated by the ESRB". Now that a New Dr. Mario for WiiWare has showed up, it shows my theory of some older games possibly getting a little touched up with some online is true. Just curious to see what other classic games could also get this. This is all wonderful news.
Other games you could possibly see that are no longer rated by the ESRB: Duck Hunt, Hogan's Alley, Wild Gunman.
There's almost endless possibilities with this.
28. JODIsBack
11 Oct 2007, 02:10 BST
If you don't get the Dr. Mario game within a year when it comes out Reggie will come in your house and beat you up.
29. yeehaw
11 Oct 2007, 13:37 BST
I was wondering, do you have to buy a special Wii keyboard? Or can you use any PC keyboard with a USB connector? That would be so much cooler.
30. Ryu-mithril
11 Oct 2007, 16:21 BST
does this mean that the wii will try to get expanded memory?
31. Mii be you
12 Oct 2007, 00:50 BST
It should. Soon were gonna keep buying and buying and stuff. And that takes space. Not to mention all the Wii games that will come out in the future.
32. Felius
12 Oct 2007, 11:59 BST
The update lets you use a standard USB keyboard. I tried one from my Mac, it worked first go. It works in the Wii menu (for notes and messages) and in the Internet channel at least (if you click on a text field it still brings up the normal text entry window, but you can use the keyboard for input.) I posted to my blog from my Wii using Opera and the external keyboard without any difficulty at all.
As for expanded storage, isn't that what the SD card slot is for? System updates could easily improve that.
33. AJK
12 Oct 2007, 14:22 BST
With the addition of WiiWare in March, does this mean this site will also review new releases for WiiWare, or will they stcik with the VC only?
34. Drake
12 Oct 2007, 14:27 BST
We're working on a site overhaul, which will hopefully be ready in time for the WiiWare games. Yes, we will be reviewing them too.
35. Valien
12 Oct 2007, 17:01 BST
Hey yeehaw, I tried using a PS2 keyboard with a USB adapter. Didn't work.
I got a quick keyboard flash light then nothing. 
36. Ian Daemon
12 Oct 2007, 19:33 BST
Valien, try a USB keyboard. I've been using one for a while now and it works fine.
37. deggs
12 Oct 2007, 20:35 BST
i'm hoping they release updated versions of the gba metroids as wiiware titles. that would be simply amazing...
38. Super VG Bros
14 Oct 2007, 05:48 BST
try not posting pics from japanese sites...they load to slowly and you obv cant read anything. they have to be on another site or at least....something like photobucket? thanks for the great news though
39. Boredom v2.2
15 Oct 2007, 23:54 BST
Mr. Drake, can you speak Japanese? Cause i want to learn Japanese soooo bad!!! Oh yeah by the way, did u know this Thursday, i think Nintendo will have the same event as Wednesday but this time in Los Angeles! They mentioned that on smashbros.com. something about E for All (which i only have 40% of a clue what it is.) Check out the website (unless u always have been)
40. NintyFanGirl
16 Oct 2007, 10:38 BST
Is it just me who noticed that shortcuts on the internet channel have been disabled...
41. Drake
16 Oct 2007, 14:23 BST
Nope, I can't speak Japanese. To navigate around Japanese sites I usually look at page URLs which contain English words.
42. Gameguardian
21 Oct 2007, 18:02 BST
How will Nintendo solve the problem with capacity in the Wii!? If you'll soon be able to download such great games, they have to release some sort of external hard drive. Any news anyone!?
43. William
22 Oct 2007, 15:10 BST
Is this game available in the USA? If so, under which category would it appear on the Wii VC? That screenshot of Star Soldier R looks pretty cool! I'm a fan of shoot-em-up games, especially like the old days of Tyrian 2000 (for the PC).
44. Drake
22 Oct 2007, 15:41 BST
WiiWare games will appear early next year, none are available yet.