Nintendo Wii Fanboy

After all of the fun to be had at E3, it's time to get back to business as usual. Nintendo knows this, which is why the Virtual Console and WiiWare have both updated this week. So, let's get to the details already!

This week's WiiWare release is:

• Pirates: The Key of Dreams (1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
  

This week's Virtual Console releases are:

• Super Fantasy Zone (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 900 Wii Points)
• Gley Lancer (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 900 Wii Points)

And, before you ask, yes, those are the correct prices (both games are imports).

[Via press release]

It's a double WiiWare update for this Friday, PAL peeps. Oxygen's Pirates: The Key of Dreams is an unknown quantity, but appears to be some kind of piracy-themed scrolling shooter with strategic elements. If that sounds like it has potential, the footage we've seen so far (viewable, as usual, after the break) isn't filling us with bright-eyed optimism. We'll be downloading that today and giving it a whirl, so let's hope we're wrong!

SPOGS Racing, on the other hand, is very much a known quantity, and not a very great one, either -- we slapped a three out of ten on it.

• Pirates: The Key of Dreams -- WiiWare -- 1000 Wii Points
• SPOGS Racing -- WiiWare -- 1000 Wii Points

Nintendo has released a list of eight games described as "launch window" titles ahead of WiiWare's debut in Europe on May 20th. Included are four games that the U.S. is still waiting on -- Dr. Mario & Germ Buster, Star Soldier R, Toki Tori, and Pirates: The Key of Dreams -- though it looks like Europe will be waiting a little longer for Defend Your Castle and V.I.P Casino: Blackjack. Frankly, we'll live without a blackjack game.

Once again, note that these are "launch window" games. How long is a launch window? No idea. "Launch window" is one of those infuriatingly flexible terms beloved by PR types. Anyway, the list of WiiWare games that Europe will be getting kinda near the launch is as follows:

• Dr. Mario & Germ Buster
  
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
• LostWinds
  
• Pop
  
• Star Soldier R
• TV Show King
• Pirates: The Key of Dreams
• Toki Tori

There's currently no news on pricing, but we'd fully expect European WiiWare prices to match those of other regions, assuming Nintendo hasn't found a totally new and unique way to rip European gamers off.

Those of you looking to get into King of Clubs, know the game is releasing on March 14th. On top of that, if you've perhaps not checked the game out in awhile (it's been a bit for us, we admit), then hit up the trailer above for a fresh look at the game. Personally, we're digging the narration in the above trailer, as the comedy is spot on.

Based on what we've seen of the game so far, you might have forgotten that this is a golf game. Thankfully, development director Andy Squirrell with Oxygen Games, is around to remind us as he takes us through some of the title's aspects, including one of the courses and the Pro Shop, as well as some of the tricks of the trade in trying to get that coveted hole-in-one. Also, they give us a look at the Wii-specific game mode Golf Warriors, where players are given random ball and club combinations.

Publisher Oxygen, which is based in the UK (as you may have gathered from the title of this post), has decided that they need a new internal team focused solely on Nintendo. This new internal crew of miscreants will be working with both the DS and Wii, in the hopes of capturing some of that mainstream appeal each of the systems already enjoy.

The reasoning behind the move is simple for Oxygen: they want to get as big a slice of the mainstream market pie as possible. "Today the DS is the ascendant mainstream format, and it looks like the Wii will repeat that awesome success," says Kevin Hassall, Oxygen's publishing director. They aren't the Nintendo fanboys you'd believe them to be, though, as Kevin further adds "Oxygen's objective has always been to cater for mainstream audiences. So, if we had set up Oxygen Studios a couple of years ago they would probably have started with a PS2 title."

Whatever, we'll take all the publishers and developers we can get!

Out in the Nevada desert, next to Big Bubba's Burger Bar and Truck Stop, you'll find King of Clubs. A poker joint? Actually it's a mini-golf course complete with pteranodons on poles and spaceships on strings. Don't worry if the locals look a bit strange; how would you look if you lived on an old nuclear waste dump? We've showed you the title before, but a few new details have emerged in a recent press release from Oxygen Interactive.

Trickery and cunning are to be encouraged, with rewards to be earned and the possibility of scoring a hole in none. The game features five themed areas, each of which has its own resident pro. You can see the pros in the picture -- looks like the dress code is informal.

King of Clubs hits the Wii in July, with a DS version to follow in September.

[Via Go Nintendo]