News Article

Surprise Japanese WiiWare Released Today

Posted Fri, 27 Mar 2009 by Sean Aaron

You, Me and Shape

You, Me and Shape

Two new WiiWare releases from Nintendo as well as six releases for the new Virtual Console Arcade

What's been widely reported is that the Japanese Virtual Console Arcade got six releases today compared to the four released in the rest of the world (Return of Ishtar, Gaplus, Emeraldia, Space Harrier, Star Force and Solvalou).

What's not been widely noted is that the Japanese also got two WiiWare releases, in what has become a familiar refrain of Japanese Wii customers getting more content than everyone else. This is possibly to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the WiiWare service launch. It will be interesting to see if there is going to be additional content next week as well.

Both games are 1000 points and both are from Nintendo:

Picture Book asoberu sugoroku tobida! --- Looks to be some kind of board or card game with a 3D representation and 2D pieces that look like cut-outs.

Kimi to Boku to Rittai (You, Me and Shape) -- This looks like a sort of puzzle game where you're trying to place people on structures made of cubes in pairs and position them so the structure stays balanced and they don't fall off. Sounds like something that could be translated easily enough for other territories and it's from Nintendo so there's a chance this could appear overseas.

Tags: Japanese Releases, Nintendo, WiiWare.

User Comments

KeeperBvK

1. KeeperBvK Germany 27 Mar 2009, 07:10 GMT

Hm, Kimi to Boku to Rittai sounds interesting. But why does Nintendo keep making puzzlers on WiiWare? Didn't they say something about stronger efforts in the future?

KDR_11k

2. KDR_11k Germany 27 Mar 2009, 08:53 GMT

"Puzzler" is a very vague genre that seems to be defined as "anything that doesn't fit into another established genre" so when you're trying completely unprecedented game designs it's likely that the result will be considered a puzzle game.

KeeperBvK

3. KeeperBvK Germany 27 Mar 2009, 09:15 GMT

Erm, if you say so...
If your goal is to position things in a fixed place so something happens that has nothing to do with moving enemies and the likes: It's a puzzler. Don't come to me like a jackass.

PALgamer

4. PALgamer Spain 27 Mar 2009, 09:30 GMT

I've seen the videos, and it's something I would buy, reminds me of Super Mario 128. Anyways, it won't come to Europe's WiiWare service any time soon.

jangonov

5. jangonov United States 27 Mar 2009, 09:33 GMT

@keeperBvK
hey now, no need to get nasty. KDR_11k is right though, I mean before "music/rhythm" was a genre most website listed guitar hero as a puzzler. So it can be used as a general term. I dont think it is an appropriate term for most things listed as it, but still.

Sean Aaron

6. Sean Aaron United Kingdom 27 Mar 2009, 10:42 GMT

@KDR_11k: Agreed, but in this case it seems apt. It is a logic puzzle of sorts, in the same way that Toki Tori is: you're trying to arrange people on some kind of geometric structure so that it stays balanced.

It's reminding me of something from the Playstation; I just cannot put my finger on it...Intelligent Cube! The games are totally different, but the screenshot is giving me that vibe. I really liked IC; that and Bushido Blade would be cool to see resurrected on the Wii.

Okay, the price turns me off and the game isn't really grabbing me, but if there's a groundswell of support I'm willing to "take one for the team" and buy this to give some impressions, but it's gotta be more than a couple of people since we're talking £10 with the exchange rates being what they are.

PALgamer

7. PALgamer Spain 27 Mar 2009, 10:51 GMT

Look at the videos, and save yourself 1000 points:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hUEGcXWNa4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT3c2ZzjVbY
I like how they can slide off the platform, but the others can help them get up, lol.

Starwolf_UK

8. Starwolf_UK United Kingdom 27 Mar 2009, 11:01 GMT

The block size of Kimi to Boku to Rittai his to be the most surprising aspect, its around about 120 blocks.

How do they do that? What secrets do these Japanese developers know?

The is from Eno Kenji who is best known for his games "D" and "Enemy zero" (those two were from over a decade ago so don't be afraid if you didn't reconise them...I know I didn't).

Objection_Blaster

9. Objection_Blaster United States 27 Mar 2009, 11:44 GMT

This is a puzzler, but play nice kiddies.

JohnshiBRPG

10. JohnshiBRPG United States 27 Mar 2009, 13:14 GMT

They did not add aditional background, they used possibly the lower level version of some 3-D characters, and just created simple coding of physics.

KnucklesSonic8

11. KnucklesSonic8 Canada 27 Mar 2009, 14:05 GMT

I saw the vid for YMS earlier on and I really hope it comes to NA. I'd buy it in an instant. I'd like to see the other one come to as I would consider giving it a try.

i_am_error

12. i_am_error Canada 27 Mar 2009, 14:28 GMT

Looks very cool to me. It's really Art Style-ish - in fact it should be under that line. Anyway. I hope to see it stateside.

Chicken Brutus

13. Chicken Brutus United States 27 Mar 2009, 14:31 GMT

I'd love to read your opinions on it, Sean; but I can definitely understand your reluctance to shell out money for the game!

Sean Aaron

14. Sean Aaron United Kingdom 27 Mar 2009, 14:50 GMT

Cheers for the vids PALgamer. That Intelligent Cube vibe is still with me, so I think I'll give it a shot. It certainly looks different and I'm totally into different!

PALgamer

15. PALgamer Spain 27 Mar 2009, 15:41 GMT

No probs Sean. Looking forward to your impressions (if you decide to get it).

Sean Aaron

16. Sean Aaron United Kingdom 27 Mar 2009, 16:13 GMT

Looks pretty dry otherwise (I cannot believe we get nothing today after Japan gets two days of releases this week!), so I'll pick it up.

Bahamut ZERO

17. Bahamut ZERO United States 27 Mar 2009, 19:58 GMT

It is Nintendo stuff, which usually is good, so I hope they reach the States eventually.

Stratos

18. Stratos United States 28 Mar 2009, 08:21 GMT

You Me Shape looks interesting. I like the little screams they make when they fall. It's funny.

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