Cute wizards battling using monsters, what next?
Japanese WiiWare is back from holiday with a vengeance, plus Shinobi!
Aside from Electroplankton, last week was possibly the driest Japanese download week in living memory. Nintendo has made up for the WiiWare break last week with five new WiiWare titles in addition to two new Virtual Console Arcade titles and a slew of Game and Watch titles for the DSiWare service.
Marcel has already posted the news on Game & Watch coming to DSiWare, so be sure to read up on the full list of titles here. Four are being released next Wednesday with two more on the 29th and then a further three with dates to be announced in August. All Game & Watch titles will be 200pts each.
The Virtual Console Arcade releases are Burning Force from Namco, a futuristic jet ski title similar to Space Harrier, and Sega action platforming classic Shinobi which should please many fans. As with all Virtual Console Arcade titles in Japan these are both 800pts.
The five WiiWare titles cover a range of genres, even if they're from developers unknown outside of Japan:
Kentei TV! Wii (1000pts - Kosaido Co., Ltd.) --TV Quiz show game for 1-4 players and includes a few games modes and mini-games.
Hirameki Card Battle Mekuruka (1000pts - Tom Create) -- virtual card/board game featuring super-cute characters in a fantasy setting. Has 1-2 player local or online play.
Mebius Drive (800pts - Jorudan Co., Ltd.) -- a racing game where players race what look like Formula One cars through various tracks including dirt and city streets. Features local splitscreen play for 1-2 players and online play with 2-8 including ranking tables.
Fish Eyes Challenge (500pts - Marvelous Entertainment) -- Fishing game called Reel Fishing Challenge in North America.
Finally we have an application that many people could use:
Easy No Smoking Wii App (1000pts - Silver Star Japan) -- no this isn't software to stop your Wii from overheating; rather it's a programme designed to help people track their efforts to stop smoking. This is something that would seem more suited to the DS/DSi, but could herald the coming of more utility programs for WiiWare which I'm sure all Nintendo Life readers would welcome.
1. Objection_Blaster
10 Jul 2009, 15:04 BST
Smoking card games with races, TV quizes and Game&Watch? This is a pretty varied week for Japan...wonder if its the first time their release could be covered by one said lame description by NoA's emails.
2. Turkey Brutus
10 Jul 2009, 15:05 BST
Love the final sentence, Sean.
3. irken004
10 Jul 2009, 15:07 BST
that racing game doesn't look half-bad
4. Kadunta
10 Jul 2009, 15:22 BST
@irken004 : I concur. And the price doesn't look half-bad either.
5. KnucklesSonic8
10 Jul 2009, 15:25 BST
I saw the card battle game yesterday and said I'd love to get it if it came here. Racing game looks great! It better come here especially with the online play! Reminds me of Excite Truck.
And I bet the No Smoking title will come here... And I agree, it's better suited to DS.
Burning Force looks okay. I wanna see the TV Show quiz game though.
Even more titles we can all hope will come overseas...
6. Ratengo
10 Jul 2009, 15:26 BST
I'm looking forward to Shinobi for VCA. Wonder if any 'Easy No Drinking Wii App' will appear on WiiWare in the future...? Everybody would surely welcome that title too...!
7. Djungelurban
10 Jul 2009, 15:26 BST
Any chance Mobius Drive might come here? It looks sweet... How about some detailed impressions on it Sean?
8. Popyman
10 Jul 2009, 15:29 BST
Woah, I want that card battle game!
9. JayArr
10 Jul 2009, 15:53 BST
I just quit smoking. I never thought I would see a Wii App. that would help with that. I would have bought it too. Quitting is becoming a common trend in the U.S. Especially with the cost of smokes.
So they better get on top getting this to North America.
10. Angelic Lapras King
10 Jul 2009, 15:58 BST
A Stop Smoking App? It continues... :/
11. Egg miester
10 Jul 2009, 16:11 BST
not a bad week for japan, i am wondering if the card battle game is any good
12. Sean Aaron
10 Jul 2009, 16:47 BST
I'd need to see video of the card battle game before making a decision on that, but that's the only real possibility for me (sorry racing fans!).
Shinobi is an automatic buy though -- love that game!
@Chicken: I only speak the truth!
13. Chatham
10 Jul 2009, 17:38 BST
I seriously want to see what the stop-smoking app is all about... how in the HELL is it going to help me!?
14. Terranigma
10 Jul 2009, 17:50 BST
I want that racing game. Looks amazing
15. pixelman
10 Jul 2009, 18:22 BST
That racing game looks sweet. Online play? Hell yes.
16. LEGEND MARIOID
10 Jul 2009, 18:28 BST
Mobius? Ooooooh , looks sweet. Hope thw Wii Wheel controls work and that its actually going to come over here.
I liked TV Show King a lot so that TV quiz show thingy has piqued my interest.
17. Ricardo91
10 Jul 2009, 18:58 BST
That racing game sounds amazing! Especially since it has online! Me wants a US release! That card battle game looks fun too. First time I saw the the pic I thought it was some sort of FF Tactics spinoff lol. I'm a little interested in Burning Force too. It IS from that Namco company I like so much.
18. Dazza
10 Jul 2009, 19:18 BST
@Richardo91 I agree, Mobius Drive does look pretty funky. Check out the screenshots. It kinda reminds me of F-Zero GX.
19. pixelman
10 Jul 2009, 19:36 BST
@Dazza: Looks like F-Zero mixed with Excitebots.
20. Sean Aaron
10 Jul 2009, 20:48 BST
Hopefully Gametrailers will get some video of both Mobius Drive and Card Battle thingy next week, though I cannot imagine attempting to connect to Japanese servers from the UK would result in a great play experience!
@Chatham: From the screenshots it looks like the no smoking thing is some kind of chart a la the Fit Cash part of Wii Fit and a collection of tips from a medical expert. Frankly for 1000 points it might be cheaper than the medical alternatives, but I expect without the willpower to stick with it that's 10 bucks (or 1000 yen) you're just throwing away. But if I can find Wii Fit useful in trying to focus on losing weight, I suppose folk will find a simple app that tracks their abstinence from smoking days useful. Again, probably something better to have on a DS, though.
21. bngrybt
10 Jul 2009, 21:08 BST
game & watch games for 200 points? now that's the sort of stuff i wanna see! give me a reason to buy a dsi, nintendo! throw in some gameboy and i'll be sold!
22. ICEknight
10 Jul 2009, 21:33 BST
Burning Force arcade is an instant download for me. The MegaDrive port was cool, but didn't look as good without real scaling effects.
23. chunky_droid
10 Jul 2009, 22:37 BST
I wish it were a program to stop your Wii overheating, I wouldn't have gotten artifacts then!
Now I have a new Wii, with none of my games on it
24. Fleeman
10 Jul 2009, 23:17 BST
that racing games looks amazing
25. Clinker
10 Jul 2009, 23:39 BST
On Tuesday, Japan will have 4 Shinobi titles while US/EU will only have one.
26. Ratengo
11 Jul 2009, 14:59 BST
@Sean: One more WiiWare title (5 in total) coming on Tuesday, according to the Shop Channel: Fish Eyes Challenge (known as Reel Fishing Challenge in NA) by Marvelous Entertainment for 500 Wii Points.
27. Sean Aaron
11 Jul 2009, 16:44 BST
Bad NoJ, bad! I'll see if Darren can sort it!
28. KingMike
12 Jul 2009, 03:14 BST
I'd certainly pay 1000 points to stop my Wii from trying to light one near me.
Really, that's certainly an unusual program and it'll be interesting to see how effective it is.
29. winter123
13 Jul 2009, 07:16 BST
Stop smoking game should be ~750 points... Thats how much a box costs... I dont see any way that could work. Maybe its just some hypnotizing rainbow spinning graphic that brainwashes you into not smoking
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