In these belt-tightening, penny-pinching times, it literally pays to have a nose for the bargains. That's where we, or rather Gamefly, comes in. The game rental outfit has a broad selection of used Wii software for low, world banking crisis-friendly prices, and we chose ten of the best sub-$20 games to tempt you. Thar be bargains ahead!
There's actually a ton more we could have mentioned, including Super Mario Galaxy for $32.99, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for $30.99, and Metroid Prime 3 for $26.99. Sadly, "One hundred and fifty-eight for under forty-two" just doesn't work as a headline. Hit up the "Source" link for the full set.
Gallery: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
Last week in Japan was all about Sony dominance, as Metal Gear Solid 4 rocketed the PS3 into first. The Wii still did pretty well for itself, though, nabbing the third spot in hardware and nine of the top thirty in software: Shiren the Wanderer 3 managed to remain in the top ten despite the Metal Gear bullying, but everything else was as we expected. Just click past the break if you want to check out the software rankings and sales numbers.
The top Wii game last week wasn't Mario Kart, or even Wii Fit. Rather, beloved roguelike Shiren got the coveted title, as Shiren the Wanderer 3 debuted in second behind the PS3's new Dragon Ball Z. The previously mentioned Nintendo games did show up in the top ten, though, along with Family Trainer.
We're happy to see both Smash Bros. Brawl and Battalion Wars 2 hanging tough in the top thirty; the previous week had us a bit worried. In hardware, though, the Wii remains sandwiched between the PSP and the DS: Just click on past the break if you'd like to see how Wii software fared.
Wii Fit gained some competition last week, as Family Trainer finally made its debut in Japan. Even so, Namco Bandai's game couldn't overtake Nintendo's six-month-old fitness title. Many Wii games were also pushed to the bottom of the top thirty in this week's chart, with Smash Bros. Brawl in danger of falling off completely.
Despite less than stellar software sales, Wii hardware performed well. Yet, once again, the Wii fell behind the currently dominating PSP: The software figures are located after the break, so click on.
If you keep up with Japanese hardware and software sales, you may have noticed an unexpected game in the top ten these past two weeks. Said game is none other than Battalion Wars 2, the tactical action title that's one of our favorites here at Wii Fanboy.
Normally, software that's considered "western" doesn't fare too well in the East, but Kuju London's creative director Tancred Dyke-Wells thinks differently about BWii (called Famicom Wars VS in Japan). "I have the impression that a certain western exoticism plays a part in attracting attention to the title," Dyke-Wells told GamesIndustry.biz. Yet, if you've ever played or seen BWii, you'll know that it has more charm and softer aesthetic than most of the games from the West that Japan is used to seeing. It's this combination that Dyke-Wells thinks Japanese gamers found most appealing.
Since we love it so much, we're definitely happy to see Battalion Wars 2 do well in Japan. In total it has only sold 40,000 copies as of the end of May, but that's probably indicative of stock more than anything. Hopefully the game sees more weeks of success, as it's certainly deserving.
No new Wii games debuted last week; at least, none that ended up in the top thirty. There was one teensy weensy title that was introduced into the Japanese market, though. You may have heard of it: Guitar Hero III.
To put it bluntly, sales for the game were low. In fact, it didn't even make the top fifty in Media Create's charts, and Famitsu reports that the title only sold 1,300 copies. Compared to sales in other regions (like North America and Europe, for example), where Guitar Hero III performed fiercely, you can see that tastes often differ between western and eastern gamers.
Other than that, there's not to much to report about the software charts. Battalion Wars 2 managed to hang in the top ten, while Mario Kart Wii slipped into third place. Meanwhile, Smash Bros. Brawl might be in danger of falling out of the top thirty soon.
In hardware, the gap between the Wii and the PSP lessened as sales for Nintendo's console rose, while sales for Sony's handheld fell. Still, the PSP had a lead of about 15,000 units last week, keeping the Wii locked in its second place spot: The software numbers are located after the break, so go on and take a look.
The new kid on the Japanese Wii software block last week was Battalion Wars 2, which faired well enough in its debut to hit the top ten. Will it stay there? Our guess is no, sadly. Still, it's nice to see the game get some recognition in Japan.
Once again, the only non-Nintendo title for the Wii that made the top thirty was Deca Sports, which dropped thirteen spots from the week before. Ouch. We're not sure what made Japan fall so out of love with Deca Sports in one week, but the game seems to have lost some of its legs. Smash Bros. Brawlalso took a spill, falling from tenth place to nineteenth.
The other noticeable drop was Mario Kart Wii, which only fell one spot, but an important spot -- from first to second -- and finally succumbed to the frightening power of Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G. Hardware was also a PSP victory, as the handheld beat all other systems by a convincing margin. Now that you've seen the hardware numbers, check past the break for the software sales.
The price for Battalion Wars 2 keeps on dropping on Amazon -- first it fell to $32.99, and now you can pick it up for $25.83. Not that we're complaining. Any chance to pick up a good game cheaply is okay by us. We're especially glad that this price qualifies BWii for Amazon's free shipping (by eighty-three cents).
This isn't Amazon's "Deal of the Day," so we don't know how long this pricing will last; make sure you take that into consideration when you debate whether or not to jump on this sale.
Although the Wii had many good games this year, it's clear that some developers noticed the Wii's hype and have put out some unsatisfactory products in an attempt to ride the popularity wave. We're often critical of such games, "tsk, tsking" at them to our hearts' content, but it makes us feel better when developers notice this trend since they're the ones with the power. It's up to the developers to really push themselves and the machine they're working with, and as time goes on, the process becomes easier and more efficient.
Tancred Dyke-Wells, the creative director of Kuju (the company behind the Wii's Battalion Wars 2), recently criticized many Wii developers for "under-exploiting" the little white console. We tend to take his word seriously, since we think that BWII "has just about everything that fans of first-party Nintendo games are looking for," as you can see in our review of the game.
Dyke-Wells' main beef with developers is with the way in which graphics are handled on the system. While the Nintendo Wii can't compete in the graphics department with Sony's Playstation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360, he believes that the Wii is a "pretty good piece of kit" that overpowers the GameCube "by a factor of two."
In the end, Dyke-Wells thinks it comes down to how much respect these developers have for their companies, their products, and their consumers, and we can't help but agree. The possibility of making a quick and easy buck is tempting, but we expect developers to make good games simply because they can.
As if further proof was needed that Nintendo regards Australia as the red-headed stepchild of the global games market, word reached our ears today that our friends down under will be missing out on a host of first-party and second-party Wii titles in 2007.
Battalion Wars 2 is a very competent squad-based shooter. And, it has just about everything that fans of first-party Nintendo games are looking for. With compelling gameplay that effectively uses the control scheme, all of the action in this game is fun throughout. It even has an enjoyable online mode, although it's fairly limited.
On the whole though, Battalion Wars 2 is easily deserving of a place in anyone's library and one of the best games on the Wii so far. Even if Nintendo hasn't acted like it is from an advertising standpoint.
Update: The game uses specific Friend Codes, which I didn't expect. So, I've updated the post with my game-specific code below. The other code is for my Wii, so please don't send me any disturbing pictures.
We just got a nice little package in from Nintendo, containing a copy of Battalion Wars 2 for the Wii, along with the cool helmet you see there. Pretty nice of the Big N, if you ask us, and since we've got to review the thing (our job is really tough sometimes), we wanted to see if any of you wanted to give the multiplayer a try with us. So, tomorrow night at 9PM EST, we're going to meet up in our usual Game Night IRC chat for DS Fanboy (#dsfanboy). If you don't have an IRC client (try mIRC or the Chatzilla plug-in for Firefox), then you won't be able to take part in the fun.
Do us a favor and leave your Wii Friend Code in the comments and be sure to add mine below.
Dave Hinkle's FC: 4435-9943-0556-8534 313-647-484-714
It's only a few more days until this game hits the streets and we can't wait to get our grubby little blogging hands on it. So, it's with pleasure that we present the video above, which is a short, but very sweet, which looks at some naval combat. The fun doesn't stop there, though, as we have tucked some other videos behind the break that focus on land and air combat, as well.
Finally, Wii owners are about to have lots of opportunities to take their game online, and one of those chances comes with Battalion Wars 2, better known as BWii. Lots of media and hands-on impressions on the strategic sequel to the GameCube title surfaced after last week's event, and we've helpfully collected some of here it for you. In our gallery, we've got updated screens and artwork, as well as a gameplay video after the jump.
But what we're sure you really want to know is: how's the game? Well, we can tell you what we know, but unfortunately, that's not as much as we'd like. It looks like everyone was limited to an extremely brief slice of gameplay when they got to go hands-on with the title, but so far, all outlets seem to be reporting good results. The controls are easy to pick up and seem precise, with the nunchuk controlling movement and the D-pad serving as unit selection. As expected, players aim with their current unit via the remote. To win, all you have to do is destroy more units than your opponent by the end of the round, and you can offer up a rematch to anyone who gives good game. Sounds solid so far, but this close to release, we wish Nintendo had revealed a little more.
