The North American WiiWare launch is almost upon us, and instead of the stealth releases that we thought were coming, Nintendo's press release of WiiWare games debuting this Monday (along with their point values) was recently leaked. While we can't be sure this list is 100% valid, it looks like we can expect the following:
Although we're disappointed by the lack of Dr. Mario, this looks like a pretty solid launch list to us. It'll be difficult to pick and choose exactly which titles we want, but there are definitely some that stand out more than others.
How about you? Do you plan on downloading any of the above, or are you going to wait for impressions and reviews first?
We're vaguely excited about Soul Eater, even though we aren't sure we should be. We aren't the biggest anime fans in the world, but the comments on the initial Soul Eater post suggest that there's good stuff to be found in this universe, and the concept of a school for weapon creation certainly holds promise.
But as high-quality as Square Enix's games usually are, and as interesting as this game concept sounds, we have to be wary of non-RPGs from the company. There are a lot more The Bouncers, Ehrgeizes, and King's Knights in Square's history than there are Einhänders. For that matter, the crowds of generic enemies suggest a possible Kingdom Hearts-alike, which seems like a good idea given the sale of Kingdom Hearts.
Square Enix has announced their fifthWiigame (fourth if Crystal Bearers doesn't pan out, of course), and, for the first time, it's not a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest spinoff. Instead, it's a licensed anime/manga game! Soul Eater: Monotone Princess is based on the Soul Eatermanga (and the anime that just started this week) about students in some kind of crazy school where they learn to make living weapons.
Normally we'd groan about a licensed game, but Soul Eater is an action game! It has adventure elements, of course (those still portraits of the manga's characters have got to tell the story sometime!), but it looks like a pretty cool bit of 3D weapon-based brawling.
You have to download an updated My Life as a King from the Wii Shop (and delete the old one) before you can have the privilege of adding any of the new content to your game. Luckily, the interface for feeding your money to the game is nice, and doesn't force you back out into the Wii Shop again. The menu shows how many points and blocks you have available, and the cost in both Wii Points and space of each item on the list.
The only thing missing is a pop-up window that provides periodic "WHAT ARE YOU DOING" and "YOU COULD BE BUYING BONK'S ADVENTURE WITH THOSE POINTS" messages.
Gallery: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land
The three tribal buildings (which allow players to recruit other races, including Lilitie warriors, Selkie thieves, and Yuke mages) come in at 300 Wii Points apiece (though all three can be purchased as a pack for 800 Points), and there are new costumes for Chancellor Chime and Leo (100 Points each), an Extravagant House (100 Points also), and a Sacred Shrine (200 Points).
The cost of all this extra fluff? 1300 Wii Points, thanks very much -- and that's presuming you purchased all three tribal buildings at once. That's right: Square Enix has very nearly doubled the price of its game with the first wave of DLC (and more is on the way). We're still waiting to hear news about U.S. pricing, but this doesn't bode well for your wallet if (like us) you're a weak-willed, impoverished Final Fantasy fan.
Gallery: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land
If you were wondering where you'd get your cuteness fix this summer, wonder no more. Square-Enix just announced that Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon would be hitting North American Wiis on July 8th of this year, confirming earlier rumors that were floating around the internets.
This game is mostly for the Squeenix fans who squeal at the thought of a Chocobo wearing various class outfits, but those of you who enjoy dungeon-crawling RPGs might consider it, too -- especially at the $39.99 price tag. The story revolves around Chocobo and Cid, who find themselves in a town where people have lost their memories. The only way to retrieve the memories of the townsfolk, of course, is to battle through dungeons. The game also offers Wi-Fi card battles against friends and arcade-style minigames that can be found at the Mog House.
The Wii can certainly use some more RPGs, in our opinion, and this is definitely a welcome one. Should this title interest you, you can also check out its official English website here (although there's nothing there, yet).
So, you think you're a hardcore gamer? Maybe you are. But, how well do you know your grass samples?
These posters, which are being sold at a Viennese store called Subotron for €12 ($19 USD) each, will really put you to the test. To help you out a bit, there are two samples from The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of LinkThe Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, while the other four are from Terranigma, Illusion of Gaia, Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana), and Seiken Densetsu 3 (Secret of Mana 2). All the games without the word "Zelda" in them were published by either Squaresoft or Enix, which is why we haven't gotten them (and might never get them) on the Virtual Console.
See if you can figure out what game each sample belongs to (despite the poor resolution). Don't worry if you can't discern which is which, though -- we've posted the answers after the break.
Thanks to the good folks at NintendoWorldReport, we've got some videos for you from some of the launch titles for Wii Ware in Japan. With it hitting Japanese Wii consoles earlier today, we imagine Japanese gamers are doing what they usual do: enjoy being alive and laughing at the rest of the world. You can't blame them. We would be jerks, too, if we had it that good.
Anywho, hit up the video above for your first taste of Wii Ware goodness. Then head past the break for the rest.
We've had English-language trailers for some time now, but this is at least twice as long, and contains walloping great chunks of in-game battles, cut-scenes, and indecipherable kanji. There's plenty of footage that's new to us, as well, though sadly a lotless Moogle. You can't have it all, we suppose.
Gallery: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land
Were you wondering how you'd be ruling your kingdom on the Wii once Squeenix's My Life As a King hits WiiWare? It looks like it won't necessarily be with the Wiimote, as the game supports four different control schemes.
Supposing you like your Wiimote just fine, you can use that alone or with a Nunchuck while playing the game. Some of you might prefer the GameCube or Classic Controller, though, which are also supported. Furthermore, widescreen TV owners will be happy to know that Square Enix's country-building RPG can be played in 16:9.
For those of you craving more details for this title, Game Watch reports that it will include a thief class. This is a nice addition to the game, although no big surprise in an RPG with a class system. The thief will have the usual skills of being able to unlock things, quick movement, and searching capabilities. If you ask us, a thief will be worth using just for the sweet dagger. This thief's got bling.
Gallery: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land
Can't get enough Square Enix news? We're insulted! But we'll get over it. In the meantime, head over to the about-to-launch Square Enix members site and get pre-registered. The North American version of the fan site (the Japanese version has been around for a while) is set to feature unique content for members, including developer interviews, giveaways, exclusive trailers, and if the Japanese site is any indication, Flash games. Also in the cards? A sprawling online community for Square Enix fans to interact with others who share their passion.
The site is open for pre-registration and launches officially March 24.
We've been greatly concerned with the fate of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers for the Wii, considering the system needs more RPGs, and certainly a Final Fantasy game (outside of Wii Ware). There have been rumors, however, that the game was canceled, and we've been biting our nails and waiting for news. It looks like we've finally got some, though from an unlikely source: an interview about the latest DS games in the franchise.
The staff at Kikizo recently sat down with some of the creative forces behind Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates, and in the course of the discussion, the possibility of connectivity between the Wii and DS Crystal Chronicles games came up. Ring of Fates director Mitsuru Kamiyama indicated that the Wii title is, in fact, still in development. We are so very relieved.
There's just one problem that sheds a little doubt on the Crystal Bearers reference -- either the Kikizo staff wasn't too familiar with the DS titles, or this is an old interview. There are questions asked about well-known features of both DS games (such as the lack of inclusion of Wi-Fi multiplayer), and we're forced to take the whole thing with a grain or two of salt. However, we're willing to hope that we've just been thrown the tiniest of bones reassuring us that we have a Final Fantasy experience to look forward to beyond what's coming on Wii Ware.
Well, folks, our latest giveaway has come to an end and it's time we hooked someone up with our review copy of Dragon Quest Swords. Many have entered, but only one can be crowned victorious. Let's all congratulate:
Well, Justin, that's about to change! Consider yourself a winner! So, congratulations and better luck next time to the rest of you. We've already got our next giveaway up and running, in case you're looking to try your luck again.
Square Enix is building excitement for their downloadable Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, with ... downloads! How appropriate. The official Japanese website for My Life as a King (The Little King and the Promised Land, over there) has begun offering a daily wallpaper download featuring art from the game, in 1024x768 and 1280x1024 resolutions.
We couldn't be happier, because it's only a matter of time until we get a Pavlov wallpaper. Today's wallpaper features -- we think -- some of the adventurers that do the unseen dungeon crawling.
Gallery: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land
That's it, folks. Today is the last day in our latest Fanswag giveaway. So if you haven't hit up the contest post today and left a comment, you're missing out on your last chance to toss your name into the hat for Square Enix's Dragon Quest Swords. Get on over there already!
Were you wondering how you'd be ruling your kingdom on the Wii once Squeenix's My Life As a King hits WiiWare? It looks like it won't necessarily be with the Wiimote, as the game supports four different control schemes.
Can't get enough Square Enix news? We're insulted! But we'll get over it. In the meantime, head over to the about-to-launch Square Enix members site and get pre-registered. The North American version of the fan site (the Japanese version has been around for a while) is set to feature unique content for members, including developer interviews, giveaways, exclusive trailers, and if the Japanese site is any indication, Flash games. Also in the cards? A sprawling online community for Square Enix fans to interact with others who share their passion. 
