• Wii News & Updates 2008.09.08

WiiWare


Groovin’ Blocks (Empty Clip Studios, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): A music-based game like no other, Groovin’ Blocks adds innovative musical game play to an addictive action/puzzle game foundation. Play to the rhythm of the music to increase your score, and try to hit “Superbeats” to double your multiplier. Go for the high score in each of the 27 stages as you collect stars to unlock 15 levels of power-ups. Groovin’ Blocks features three skill levels, from the accessible Casual to the fiendish Hard mode. Play with your friends in co-op mode or against them head-to-head. Head-to-head brings it up a notch as the power-ups now become attacks on your opponent. Play head-to-head with people of all skill levels using a golf-style handicapping system.
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groovin%27_Blocks
Official Website: http://www.emptyclipstudios.com/games/groovin-blocks/
IGN: http://wii.ign.com/objects/142/14279029.html
Direct Link

Virtual Console


Final Solider
TurboGrafx16
1 player
Rated E for Everyone—Mild Fantasy Violence
700 Wii Points
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Soldier


Cho Aniki
TurboGrafx16 CD-ROM
1 player
Rated E10+ for Everyone and Older—Mild Fantasy Violence
Mild Suggestive Themes
900 Wii Points
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cho_Aniki

Wii
NHL 2K9 Official Website; IGN; Wiki
Cabelas Legendary Adventures IGN
Hell's Kitchen IGN
Outdoor Challenge: Active Life (aka Family Trainer in Japan) Official Japanese Website; IGN; Wiki; WiiFolder's Video Tour
The Price Is Right IGN
Twin Strike Operation Thunder IGN

Nintendo DS
Viva Pinata Pocket Paradise Official Website; IGN; Wiki
Air Traffic Chaos IGN
Bratz Ponyz 2 (with Tiara gift and stickers with purchase) IGN
Hell's Kitchen IGN
Mystery Case Files: Millionheir Official Website; IGN; Wiki
The Price Is Right IGN
Rain Drops IGN

Special Reprintings of previously Hard-to-find titles now $19.99 at BestBuy:
ClubHouse Games Official Nintendo Page; IGN; Wiki
Hotel Dusk Room 215 Official Website; IGN; Wiki

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In some venues, silver is the color of second place. For Nintendo DS™, silver is No. 1. Starting Sept. 7, Metallic Silver joins the Nintendo DS color palette. The new Metallic Silver version makes a nice addition to any tech collection, whether you’re a gadget hipster or fashionista. Watch for the Metallic Silver DS to be featured in the new upcoming Nintendo DS print ad featuring actress Liv Tyler.

Nintendo Press

Yes, also known as Glossy Silver DS Lite in other regions.
I’ve been waiting for this particular item since DS Lite launch.
After its first appearance in Japan, then later in Europe, I knew it’s heading our way.
It’s finally within my grasp. I sure wish it'd be bundled with Pokemon Platinum. \:D/

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According to Famitsu, Nintendo of Japan just announced their Wi-Fi Router today for their region.
Pretty much a stand-alone router/bridge with AOSS support for the simpler people who may have computers at home but no router for internet access.
It'll be compatible with Wii, Nintendo DS, PC, or any other Wi-Fi or LAN enabled device. Looks like the product will be staying in Japan; no plans on it coming to Europe or America at any time. It's arriving September 18 for 5,800 yen.

Source
Official Japanese Nintendo Page: http://wifi.nintendo.co.jp/wap/

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According to Nintendo's presentation at the GameStop manager's conference in Las Vegas, Animal Crossing: City Folk and its Wii Speak will be bundled together for $69.99 when it ships this November.

Source

"The Wii Speak microphone is sold separately at an MSRP of $29.99 and allows Internet voice chat among Wii Friends – not just from person to person but from room to room. - Nintendo Press"

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Fragile [Wii] trailer 2:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39476.html
official Japanese website: http://fragile.namco-ch.net/

Wii Music [Wii] instruments demonstrations
electric guitar: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39540.html
folk guitar: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39294.html
piano: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39420.html
harp: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39450.html
violin: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39422.html
marimba: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39295.html
accordion: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39693.html
taiko: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39692.html
clarinet: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39676.html
congo: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39595.html
flute: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39412.html
snare drum: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39411.html
official Nintendo page: http://e3.nintendo.com/wii/wiimusic/index.html

Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop [Wii] Capcom interview:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/39526.html
official website: http://www.capcom.co.jp/deadrising_wii/index_en.html

Rune Factory Frontier [NDS] more screenshots and artwork:
http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/102/102643/
official Japanese website: http://www.mmv.co.jp/special/game/wii/runefactory/

Ragnarok Online DS [NDS] more screenshots and artwork:
http://wiiz.fr/article.php?a=19619
http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1217750_1124.html
official Japanese website: http://www.gunghoworks.jp/game/RODS/

Metal Slug 7 [NDS] official website open, will include free soundtrack download soon:
http://www.metalslug7-us.com/

Gradius Rebirth [WiiWare] official website:
http://www.konami.jp/products/dl_wii_gradius_re_ww/
Out now on WiiWare Japan!

Gauntlet DS [NDS] first screenshots, official site:
http://www.backboneentertainment.com/produ...duct.asp?ID=379

Unsolved Crimes [NDS] screenshots:
http://media.ds.ign.com/media/142/14239378/imgs_1.html

Lock's Quest [NDS] game overview trailer:
http://ds.ign.com/dor/objects/14244131/loc...r_1.5_h264.html

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia [NDS] a few new screenshots:
http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/dracula_ds3/
images @ IGN: http://media.ds.ign.com/media/958/958543/imgs_1.html

Disgaea DS [NDS] 'Prinny' trailer:
http://ds.ign.com/dor/objects/14239082/dis...nny_090808.html

Bleach: Versus Crusade [NDS] official Japanese site open including first footage:
http://bleach.sega.jp/
http://bleach.sega.jp/vs/

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood [NDS] 'The Vision' trailer:
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/21347

Chrono Trigger [NDS] gameplay videos:
Chrono: http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/21358
Lucca: http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/21359
Marle: http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/21360

Naruto: Clash of the Ninjas Revolution 2 [Wii] "Face Off" trailer:
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/21363

Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party [Wii] 'Big Brother' trailer HD:
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/21352

Samba de Amigo [Wii] 'Man v Monkey' trailer:
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/21339

Tomb Raider Underworld [Wii] 'BTS: Story' video HD:
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/21361

Disney Th!nk Fast [Wii] screenshots:
http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1217880_1124.html

Harvest Moon: Animal March [Wii] screenshots:
http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/104/104110/

Disaster: Day of Crisis [Wii] lots of screenshots and artwork:
http://media.wii.ign.com/media/826/826985/imgs_1.html
Japanese boxart: http://gamekyo.com/images0_4_28953.html
wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster_day_of_crisis

Wario Land: Shake It! [Wii] official North American website now open!:
http://www.wariolandshakeit.com/prelaunch/index.html

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There's this one "Art game" called Aether that I was playing for a few minutes.
It looks like the developer, Armor Games, may be bring it to WiiWare as well as PC.
The game is based on gravity and force physics, and has got a neat artistic visual style to it much similar to Pixel Junkies' Eden.
I've managed to launch my creature/pet straight, and it's been flying nonstop in to space.
Here's a video of it: Direct Link

You can try out the game yourself at the official page:
http://armorgames.com/play/2153/aether

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// Roth

• Wii News & Updates 2008.07.30

WiiWare

Frat Party Games: Pong Toss™ (JV Games, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone—Mild Language, 800 Wii Points): Pony up—it’s Pong Toss time. Compete against your friends or the computer in this ultimate party-game favorite. Play on a regulation table with up to four players. Make consecutive shots for the Fireball bonuses and Roll-Backs as you or your team try to dominate the table and reign as Pong Toss champs. In Speed Pong, up to three challengers can compete at the same time. Speed and strategy are the keys to this fast-paced game. Jack up your opponents by using a slew of power-ups that will slow them down. The first one who sinks the last cup wins it all. Be fast. Be furious. Be victorious.
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frat_Party_Games:_Pong_Toss
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltfpB9nH150&fmt=18
Official Website: http://www.fratpartygames.com/

Virtual Console


Chase H.Q.® (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older—Drug Reference, Mild Violence, 600 Wii Points): This is a different style of racing game in which you attempt to catch criminals by chasing them and ramming their cars off the road. Playing as two cops from the NYPD special “CHASE H.Q.” unit, the first half of each stage involves you maneuvering your unmarked car in a heated chase, followed by an action sequence in the latter half. Once you reach the target vehicle, you flip on your lights and siren, and then try to stop the culprits by repeatedly colliding with them. Use your different gears wisely as you make your way through streets and around corners, and be careful not to hit objects or other cars, or you’ll lose speed. Also at your disposal are turbo units for temporary extra speed and ramming power.
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chase_H.Q.


ART OF FIGHTING 2 (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen—Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Violence, 900 Wii Points): Released in 1994 by SNK, ART OF FIGHTING 2 sees 12 characters compete for the title in the toughest fighting contest of them all: King of Fighters. Each character has a range of deadly techniques in his or her arsenal, and players must use these lethal techniques to fight their opponents. As in the original ART OF FIGHTING, however, using a deadly technique lowers a character’s mental-energy gauge. For this reason, players must use these techniques carefully. Meanwhile, players can taunt an opponent to exhaust his or her mental energy, and even suppress their opponent’s techniques if successful. This type of mental-energy offense and defense gives ART OF FIGHTING 2 a uniquely enjoyable spin on the fighting-game genre. Further adding to the strategy required to win, an attack will become stronger or weaker depending on exactly when the button is pressed. And even if a player is thrown, defensive action is possible with the timely press of a button. All of this adds up to an intense and nail-biting fighting-game experience not found anywhere else.
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_Fighting_2

Wii
Summer Athletics Official Website; IGN; YouTube
MLB Power Pros 2008 Official Website; IGN; Wiki
King Of Clubs: Mini Golf IGN; GameSpot

Nintendo DS
Professor Brainium IGN; GameSpot
Puzzler Collection IGN
Suzuki Superbikes II: Riding Challenge IGN

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Free Wii system with Comcast Preferred Plus Triple-Play Offer ends Aug. 17

Some of you may have seen the commercial ad on TV that Nintendo is partnering with Comcast.
Comcast will be giving away a limited supply of free Wiis in an upcoming promotion. The offer is good for new Comcast Triple-Play subscribers signing up July 28-August 17th in select markets. The promo will be good around certain areas such as Miami, San Francisco, Houston, Denver, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, and some other markets too. In valid markets where Triple-Play is not available, Double-Play subscriptions are eligible.

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Nintendo has also recently teamed up with photo company Fujifilm to bring you the "Digicam Print Channel", which is a photo-printing service out now in Japan. This one allows Wii owners upload photos to the Wii Photo Channel and print them via the console. Also available are "Wii Name Cards", which are essentially business cards, and "Wii Photobooks."



The service is expected to go global, but no dates are set yet.

Video demonstration on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCKMB5hWB88&fmt=18
Read more details @
Source

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Nintendo's unusual new Wii project, Captain Rainbow, from the developer behind GiFTPiA and Chibi-robo, Skip Ltd., is set to hit Japan on August 28th and at last some new concrete details have emerged from a Japanese retailer and have now been translated.

Completely out of the blue Nintendo revealed that it had a game called Captain Rainbow heading to Wii and that it would be out much sooner than anyone could have guessed, despite a trademark for the game's name appearing earlier in the year. Now information is starting to pour out of Japan at a spectacular rate as Nintendo attempts to quickly build up sufficient hype to help the game sell. Below are two new trailers from the game, showing off characters like Little Mac and Birdo, as well as the translated details from the NeoWing retailer website.

Watch all 3 trailers @ http://media.wii.ign.com/media/142/14265257/vids_1.html

More about this game @ IGN: http://wii.ign.com/objects/142/14265257.html#aboutThisGame
or Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Rainbow

Source

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Ragnarok Online DS

- gameplay remains closely related to PC title
- offline story mode is main focus
- Play as Ares, “a mild-mannered kid who wants to start up his own guild and be a great adventurer like his father
- recruit party members
- takes place in the realm of Rune Midgard
- build up characters to gain new jobs, skills
- mostly stylus control
- tap to pick up items, attack enemies
- draw circles and more for spells
- two brand-new jobs (Dark Knight can do special moves that drain HP, Shaman has various magic skills)
- Online play: three people team up to take on the Tower of Mirages, a 50 floor random dungeon
- December 18th release in Japan
- no US plans yet

scans from Famitsu magazine:
Page 1, Page 2

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnarok_online_ds

Source

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Winds of Nostalgia

- produced by Keisuke Kikuchi (Fatal Frame)
- developed by Matrix Software
- play as Eddie “a young London native who’s decided to adventure off to unknown lands in search of his missing father”
- travel the world with crew mates such as Pad and Melody (witch)
- locations: Cairo, Rio de Janeiro, Africa, Northern Europe and more
- certain characters are better with certain weapons
- travel via airship, which is outfitted with armor and weapons
- airship battles are a major part of the game
- each character has specific skill sets that can be power-ed up and branched-out upon

Source

------------
Fire Emblem DS

more details:
1. Most classes remain the same
- Pegasus Knights = Dragon Knights.
- Thieves, Lords, other special classes cannot change

2. Class-swap as much as needed, but with some limitations
- no swapping to unique classes (Lords, Commandos, etc
- limited to amount of each class

3. Class change uses an item called the Master Proof
- class change to the upper classes allows you to swap between the upper classes
- Warrior and Berserker classes added

4. Wi-Fi battles
- voice chat
- Fog of War
- rule settings
- team of 5 units

5. 6 difficulty levels
- Normal and Hard open from the beginning
- Enemy reinforcements at beginning of enemy phase

Source

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Tetris Party [WiiWare]

Details:
- due out this Fall
- 18 new modes
- balance board support confirmed
- 10 never-before-seen single/multi Tetris variations (point-and-shoot, balance board, and more)
- play online with up to 6 players
- World Battle and Friend Battle

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_Party

screenshots and more @
Source

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TrackMania DS - new trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHUYuiyR9lw&fmt=18

Fire Emblem DS - trailer+TVCM from Everybody's Nintendo channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTIdLNwwsEw&fmt=18

MadWorld - IGN E3 Live Wire demo: http://media.wii.ign.com/media/142/14253678/vids_1.html

The Conduit - IGN E3 Live Wire demo: http://media.wii.ign.com/media/142/14248157/vids_1.html

Mega Man 9 - IGN E3 Live Wire demo: http://media.wii.ign.com/media/142/14260822/vids_1.html

Naruto: Clash of the Ninja Revolution 2 - IGN E3 Live Wire demo: http://media.wii.ign.com/media/965/965447/vids_1.html

Tenchu 4 - trailers: http://media.wii.ign.com/media/142/14258123/vids_1.html

Captain Rainbow - trailers: http://media.wii.ign.com/media/142/14265257/vids_1.html

Wario Land: Shake - Hi-res artwork gallery at my Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/rothsothy/WarioLandShakeIt

Fatal Frame IV
- New full-length trailer (featuring theme song and creator's voice): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cruZeTUAddU&fmt=18
- Gameplay footage now with some translation by Stormbringer (NeoGAF): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yM3dJK9VvM&fmt=18

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Fatal Frame IV / Zero ~Mask of the Lunar Eclipse~ Experience Page now open:
http://wii.com/jp/articles/zero/

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop - official website now open:
http://www.capcom.co.jp/deadrising_wii/

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
- official website now open: http://www.square-enix.co.jp/kingdom/days/
- translation: http://www.khinsider.com/latest/358-2-days...site-opens.html

LEGO Batman - official website now open:
http://www.legobatmangame.com

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Penguin United announced their upcoming 4X Quad Charge Station for Wii.

Details:
- charge up to 4 Wii Remotes simultaneously
- now with set of rechargeable Li-Ion batteries for longer lasting than Ni-Mh
- up to 13hrs of play each remote
- LEDs on each dock will indicate when batteries are in need of charge around 25%
- full charge in less than 4hrs
- 4 colored wrist straps included
- price: $44.99

Source

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LiveMove 2 is a brand new product that fully supports the Nintendo Wii MotionPlus accessory. AiLive collaborated with Nintendo to design the MotionPlus hardware and is offering LiveMove 2 to help game developers take full advantage of its capabilities. LiveMove 2 can knock at least six months off the time required to integrate the basic functionality of the new device into your game. For advanced use, you simply won't find anything else like it!

Exciting new features such as:
– Fully supports the Wii MotionPlus;
– 1:1 tracking of both position and orientation;
– Snap-to-fit extends tracking indefinitely, allows chaining of moves
and can instantly map player movements to in-game animations;
– Even easier to use, with a more intuitive GUI and improved debugging facilities;
– Classification of two-handed, coordinated motions;
– Classification can use additional MotionPlus data to improve performance.

Demo Videos and more info @
http://www.ailive.net/lm2.html

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Catch up on previous Wii News & Updates at my Blogspot, Xanga, or Multiply.
See you all next week! \:D/

// Roth