Nintendo Wii Fanboy

FFCC: My Life as a King's director, Kenichiro Yuji, commented to 1UP that fans of My Life as a King (and fans of spending money on DLC) aren't going to get downloads anytime soon. "All DLC has been available since May 30. That's everything for now, and we have no plans for future DLC at the moment." So much for more downloadable bikini outfits!

How many of you have picked up some DLC for My Life as a King? Want more? Could care less?

This week saw the long wait for Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon come to an end. Square Enix fans, Chocobo fans and dungeon crawling fans alike all have something new and fun to play. The critics seemed to like it, is what we're saying. But, what about you all?

Our weekend is pretty much going to be full of Civilization Revolution, until next week arrives and we find ourselves neck-deep in work. Are you going to be playing Chocobo's Dungeon, or is this weekend going to find you playing something else?

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon is warking on over to the Wii today, and this excites us for two reasons. For one, we're entirely ready for the cuteness overload that is sure to engulf us while playing the game. Seriously, dressing up Chocobos in cute little class outfits? We're not even sure we can handle that level of adorability. The second reason is that it's a roguelike RPG, and we can definitely use some more representation for this niche genre on the Wii.

We don't want to play a bad game, though, so we're interested in seeing what the critics have to say before giving Square Enix our hard-earned $40. If you are, too, then look no further:

1up (B+) found many redeeming qualities about the game, as long as you're willing to embrace the roguelike challenges: "It's difficult, and it's often controller-throwingly infuriating, but the challenge is fundamentally fair -- and the game looks and sounds so good that you'll keep playing to see what comes next. The dungeons are surprisingly pretty for randomly generated affairs, boasting colorful corridors and flashy graphical effects. And the soundtrack is nothing short of amazing, a collection of lush rearrangements of Final Fantasy standbys."

IGN (84/100) thought that this title had a lot of polish, and that Squeenix fans should run to pick this one up: "On the surface, Chocobo's Dungeon appears to be another watered-down entry with its kid-friendly presentation and seemingly simplistic gameplay. But spend a little time with it and layers of depth slowly reveal themselves. This is one of the most engaging, challenging experiences on the Wii, proving that a kiddie presentation doesn't have to mean shallow gameplay."

Gamers anxious for something new to play will only have a pair of titles to choose from, as two new games release for North American Wii consoles this week. The first title is something we haven't really noticed here on the site, but the second game is one we've been talking about for a very long time. Do you plan on picking it up?

• Wonder World Amusement Park
• Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon

In an IGN interview, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon producer Yuki Yokoyama described the game as a toned-down roguelike, made in such a way that "users who have never played a dungeon crawler can enjoy it as well." Item and experience loss after death, then, is gone to make the experience friendlier. Good for new players, but roguelike devotees may be put off!

Square Enix was motivated to return to the Chocobo's Dungeon RPG series, Yokoyama said, after the last Chocobo game on the DS. In Japan, the Chocobo Tales minigame collection was apparently popular, leading Yokoyama to believe it was a good time to make another game in the Chocobo's Dungeon series.

While you're reading about the cutest dungeon RPG this year, be sure to check out IGN's new screens as well.

We didn't just get one WiiWare game and one Virtual Console game this week. We also got ... some DLC for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King! Well, that's much better! The new content includes four new dungeons:

• the Infinity Spire pack for 300 points, which contains two dungeons, one of which levels up when it's completed,
• Castle Renovation for 100 points, a dungeon that enables you to rename your adventurers and listen to the game's music in a jukebox mode,
• the Library for 200 points, a dungeon that adds libraries to the game and lets you teach your adventurers skills.

In addition, for 100 points each, you can buy new outfits for the King and Chime. That's right, the Chime bikini DLC has finally arrived. Just in time for summer for furtive, shameful downloading!

[Via press release, image via Siliconera]

Square Enix hasn't had their memories of Europe taken away by some enchanted bell yet. The company has just announced that their roguelike-ish Final Fantasy spinoff game, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, will be released "across Europe and PAL territories" in the fall of this year.

The game, a turn-based dungeon RPG about a cuddly Chocobo's adventures in random dungeons created from villagers' lost memories, came out in Japan in December. It is being released in North America on July 8.

Along with the new announcement, Square Enix has released new screens, which can be found in our gallery. And in addition to the totally sweet video above, two more videos of Chocobo in action -- as a black mage and dragoon -- are available after the break.

It's easy adding a bunch of content to pretty up your Life as a King, but the latest details for the new Japanese additions are anything but cosmetic. For a price of 300 Wii Points, Infinite Tower is a tough dungeon with plenty of infinitely awesome treasure to find. The Library (200 Points) allows you to teach species-specific abilities and includes an extra dungeon.

Finally, Castle Reform (100 Points) lets you change adventurers names and adds the Temporary Estuary Dungeon. Three content-heavy updates for a grand total of 600 Wii Points. Nothing superficial there .. except that bikini for Chime and new clothes for King Leo -- 100 Points each. Well, lives of kings can't all be explore'n and build'n.

We've got a winner in our latest contest: reader Nathan, who was looking forward to Tetris. After all, what's life without a little Tetris? We can only hope he's also looking forward to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, since he's picking up a copy on us! Didn't win? Don't worry -- we'll have something new on offer next week!

Interested in trying out a (few) day(s) as the little king of a little region? Then jump on over to our Virtually Free giveaway and throw your name in for a chance to win Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King. The contest winds down tonight!

Don't forget that we're offering one reader a chance to experience life as a (Final Fantasy) king! Head on over to our latest edition of Virtually Free for a chance to win a copy of the WiiWare title Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King. Remember, you can enter once per day until the contest winds down Monday night!

There are two things that led to this particular question of the day: our new column, Born for Wii, and the release of expanded games like Dr. Mario Online Rx. Are there other properties you'd like to see get this kind of enhancement for WiiWare? Or maybe you'd be more interested in something like the direction Square Enix went with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King -- in that it's a nice break from the typical with the Final Fantasy franchise.

There are tons of original games for WiiWare, sure, but there are equally as many possibilities for things like this, from board games to expanded online mini-games based on popular characters. What would you pay for?

We've got something special for you in this week's Virtually Free giveaway: the chance to live as a king! Manage your peasants, live in a castle, and jaunt around in puffy shorts, all on our dime. Of course, it's virtual, but hey -- we never promised the moon. Or a kingdom. But we are promising Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King ($15) to one lucky reader!

So what do you have to do to win? First of all, you have to leave a comment (with a valid e-mail address) on this post telling us what WiiWare games (current and announced) excite you most. Second, you must be a legal resident of the United States with an American Wii (sorry, Canadians, we have to leave you out of this one; blame the gifting system and not us!) and 18 years of age or older. You may enter once per calendar day between now and Monday, June 16; the contest comes to a close that night at 11:59 PM Eastern time, and we'll select a winner in a random drawing the next day. Questions? Check out the official rules.