Nintendo Wii Fanboy

There is some variety available for those of you looking to download something new to play on Wii. For the retro fans, a pair of new Virtual Console titles should tickle the fancy. If you're looking for something more akin to the frat experience of today, then check out this week's WiiWare download. Without further ado, let's get to the games!

This week's WiiWare game is:

• Pong Toss - Frat Party Games (JV Games, 1 - 4 players, 800 Wii Points)

This week's Virtual Console games are:

• Chase H.Q. (TG16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
• Art of Fighting 2 (NEO, 1 - 2 players, 900 Wii Points)

Sadly, there won't be a video wrap-up for this week's releases. But, we should be back next week with our usual video coverage of the Virtual Console releases on Wii.

[Via press release]

This week's muscle-bound PAL Virtual Console update comes exclusively from SNK's sleek, black beast of a console.

Art of Fighting 2 makes its worldwide Virtual Console debut, though if you own a PlayStation 2, Art of Fighting Anthology is available cheaply, and should be coming to the Wii ... at some point. Also worth noting: it has some of the most brilliantly awful voice-acting ever (go past the break to see some footage). Sidescrolling duff-'em-up Ninja Combat completes this week's offerings.

• Art of Fighting 2 -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii Points
• Ninja Combat -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii Points

Fans of SNK and the Virtual Console, you'll be happy you're reading this post today. A couple of titles, Fatal Fury 2 and Art of Fighting 2 both popped up on the ESRB website with Wii listings, as well as Samurai Shodown and Samurai Shodown 2. Not only that, but classic title Dig Dug also popped up.

Now that's what we need! Some new, non-shooter titles on the Virtual Console are a welcome addition to the Wii's catalog.

[Via Codename Revolution]

It's another Friday, and lately, that means Neo Geo games! Plus, y'know, some other stuff, which is usually pretty pricey, as VC titles goes. But this week, European gamers get a little break with a release out there for only 600 points. On top of that, there's four games from which Wii owners may choose. Sometimes, it's good to be a Nintendo fan.

• Alien Soldier -- Mega Drive -- 800 Wii points
• Art of Fighting -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii points
• Samurai Ghost -- Turbografx -- 600 Wii points
• Sonic 3D -- Mega Drive -- 800 Wii points

The Internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.

We planned to do a blowout of Neo Geo cheats in celebration of the all-Neo Monday, but forces conspired against us. First, there just aren't that many codes for the Neo Geo games released this week. That's the biggest problem. Second, Neo games may not even display properly on your TV, meaning that a lot of people may not even be able to play them, much less play them using advanced cheaterly techniques.

So, instead of a blowout, you get ... two unlockable characters in Art of Fighting.

Unlock Mr. Karate: Do you want Mr. Karate? Then when you reach him in the single-player mode, lose. (Which, against SNK bosses, is the default state.) Start a two-player game and Mr. Karate will be available.

Unlock Mr. Big: It's true*. You can play Art of Fighting with the band responsible for the hit ballad "To Be With You". They all move in unison. It's a little weird. You access Mr. Big in the same way you play with Mr. Karate: by losing to him, then starting a two-player game.

*By "true", we mean "not true".

[Codes via GameFAQs]

VISUALSHOCK! SPEEDSHOCK! SOUNDSHOCK! NOW IS TIME TO THE 68000 HEART ON FIRE! So says the title screen in Treasure's Alien Soldier, and they're right-- given the intensity of Alien Soldier, the Mega Drive's 68000 heart seems likely to overheat. But Japanese gamers will be playing the game on Wiis this week, which, we hear, are considerably more powerful than the Sega Mega Drive.

Alien Soldier is a sort of evolution of the gameplay found in Gunstar Heroes-- more weapons and customization, more moves, more bosses (the bosses are, in fact, the focus of the game, with simple, short levels between them), and more brutal difficulty. We're really hoping that this Japanese release leads to an eventual American release, because we're Treasure fanatics and the game never came out over here (except on the Sega Channel).

NOW IS TIME TO THE LIST OF JAPAN VIRTUAL CONSOLE RELEASES!

• ZANAC (Famicom, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
  
• Alien Soldier (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
  
• Power Golf (PC Engine, 1-3 players, 600 Wii Points)
• Art of Fighting (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)

Australia has more than the Hanabi Festival to cheer about, when it comes to the Virtual Console. Like Japan and, reportedly, the U.S., Australia's download service will be home to Neo Geo games. The likely first candidate, as revealed by the OFLC ratings board, is Art of Fighting.

We best know Art of Fighting from its weird zooming camera that makes the sprites look absolutely massive, and from being the origin game for many future King of Fighters characters including Robert Garcia, Ryo Sakazaki, King, and others.

Even if Art of Fighting isn't your favorite Neo Geo game, it is a Neo Geo game, and is therefore great news for Australian fighting fans.

[Via GoNintendo]

SNK Playmore USA sent out a press release informing us that three Neo Geo games will be available on the U.S. Virtual Console at some unspecified future date. Two of the three, Fatal Fury and World Heroes, are also slated to be among the first three Japanese Neo Geo titles on the Virtual Console. The third game, however, is not Magician Lord as it is in Japan, but Art of Fighting.

Of course, most SNK fans are fighting game fans, so it does make some sense to swap out the side-scrolling action game for another of the Neo's classic fighters; however, we kind of enjoy variety. We are also a little disappointed that two of the available games can be found on inexpensive anthology discs on another system (we're also disappointed that VC Art of Fighting pretty much kills the possibility of a Wii release of its Anthology). Why not something like Waku Waku 7, that isn't currently available on a collection disc? Or how about a non-fighting game?

Don't mistake our lack of enthusiasm for these particular games for lack of appreciation of Neo Geo VC games. We will totally be dropping multiples of 900 Wii Points for Neo Geo games, and doing so with big smiles. Just not these three games.