This week sees the commencement of E3, the Super Bowl for gamers. On Tuesday, Nintendo will announce all of its big plans for the rest of the year, sending fanboys and fangirls alike into a frenzy. And while others choose to give us predictions of what we will see, here is the much more important information: things that we won't be seeing.
5. The Game Boy Ultra - Around the time that the DS was first announced, Nintendo made a point to clarify that the new dual-screened portable was more of a "third pillar" than the next installment in the Game Boy line. But then the DS started printing money ... lots and lots of it. Regardless, in an effort to stay true to their word (as they always do), Nintendo will unveil the Game Boy Ultra. The sleek handheld will feature a small but crisp widescreen display showcasing wonderful GameCube-esque graphics. In fact, it will be backwards-compatible with all GameCube games, using the same 8cm discs as Nintendo's last-gen console. Also, similar to the PSP's remote play, the Game Boy Ultra will connect to the Wii and allow data transfers to an SD card. This will allow Virtual Console and select WiiWare games to be played on the go. And since Nintendo plans to keep DS owners in agony by not announcing New Super Mario Bros. 2, they will reveal that the Game Boy Ultra will ship packaged with a free copy of Super Mario Bros. Ultra.
Survey Says: Not necessary; Contra 4 removes the need for any other portable game or system.
Every Monday, Wii Fanboy brings you the Top 5. Inspired by sages such as David Letterman and John Cusack, the Top 5 will give us a chance to share our opinions on the numerous facets of a vast video game culture. And after all, who doesn't like reading these kinds of lists (and then bitching about them afterwards)? So jump right in, agree or disagree, and maybe leave a comment with your own personal Top 5.
The first batch of WiiWare was released awhile ago, and there have been high-profilereleases, as well as a few futurecult-classics. Despite the plentiful start, there are still many more titles on the horizon. Here's a look at what we are anticipating the most.
5. Bomberman - Since 1983, not much has changed in the Bomberman universe. This has its pros and cons. It's good because the basic Bomberman formula is not one that needs tinkering with. It's bad because, well, it's a little ridiculous to shell out full retail price for the same game generation after generation. Then along comes Bomberman for WiiWare. Nintendo's downloadable service is the perfect platform for a game such as this. With online multiplayer for 2 - 8 players, this release should be everything we need out of Bomberman: simple, classic gameplay for a reasonable price. The reduced cost should be wonderful news for wallets that were unfortunate enough to weather Bomberman, Super Bomberman, Bomberman 64, and Bomberman Generation.
For more than 20 years, gamers have been taking whip in hand to navigate Dracula's dark castle and defeat the villain and his minions again and again. Castlevania has evolved considerably over the past two decades, with recent games in the series largely adopting the incredibly popular Metroidvania style of gameplay that first showed up in 1997's Symphony of the Night. The older games typically offer a more classic platforming experience, although RPG elements such as a leveling system worked their way into the series even as early as Castlevania II: Simon's Quest in 1987.
Castlevania has also braved the world of (gasp!) three dimensions with mixed results over the years, but in general Konami has managed to retain the feel of the classic 2D Castlevania adventures on an expanded scale. Rumors of a Wii game titled Castlevania Judgment have been floating around the intertubes for quite awhile, but when the news finally broke -- a Wii Castlevania really was coming! -- it wasn't quite in the form people expected. The terms "3D fighting game" and "Castlevania" don't really go hand-in-hand. Even if the fighter is a success, Wii gamers deserve a true Castlevania experience, and that's why the series is this week's entry into the library of games that are Born for Wii.
Gameloft's first WiiWare entry, TV Show King, might turn away most gamers with its casual premise and 1000 Wii Points tag, but the publisher has made an effort to pack value in the trivia title -- 3,000 questions, Mii integration, and a game show atmosphere complete with a smarmy host and a busty blonde. Is all that enough to warrant its $10 price? Read our review to find out!
So, WiiWare launched yesterday! We were all excited to see what we'd be getting, and we even found the time to check outa pair of the more casual titles on offer. But, who cares what we think, we're just a bunch of dumb jerks on a gaming blog.
We want to know what you think. Did you download any of the games? Read some impressions? What did you think of the overall WiiWare launch line-up? And, to make it simple, just go ahead and assign WiiWare's launch a score, like we do with our reviews (keep it between 1-10, makes it easier).
The browser game that many of you have tried at one time or another has been revamped for Wii and launched alongside WiiWare earlier this morning. After spending a good bit of time with the game, we're confident that we can present a decent review of the title. With a price point of 500 Wii points, as well as a fairly addictive game just lurking beneath that small admission price, we're happy to report that Defend Your Castle is a good game and well worth your small sum of money.
Every other week, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities.
If you're smitten with the Virtual Console, one thing we're sure you aren't in love with is having to swap games between an SD card and your Wii's internal memory, or even worse -- deleting games to be re-downloaded later. WiiWare is on its way and it's hard to imagine My Life as a King demeaning itself to share its estate with less noble games. And certainly not with it bringing microtransactions to the royal ball. And wouldn't it be dandy if some of our multiplatform ports had somewhere to store that downloadable content that everyone is raving about on other consoles?
We wantneed more storage, and some of you have gathered to plead with Nintendo to sell a Wii Hard Drive. It appears that your cries just fall on deaf ears because they seem hardly driven to provide one. In this edition of Revolutionary, we'll examine why Wii can't have a hard drive.
While most of us were sleeping -- like a bunch of chumps -- Nintendo launched its WiiWare service in Japan early this morning. As expected, the WiiWare servers are taking a beating from thousands of gamers hoping to try out the new downloadable releases, but Siliconera's Spencer Yip and Wired's Chris Kohler were still able to grab a few games and write up their impressions, all of which you can peruse below.
A few surprises revealed themselves with the service's launch:
My Life as a King is rife with microtransactions, offering additional costumes, dungeons, and races (Yukes, Selkies, and Lilties) for 100-300 Wii Points.
Star Soldier R features three light modes -- a two-minute mode in which you play through a quick stage for a high score, a similar 5-minute mode with two levels and boss encounters, and a "Fast Shot" mode for testing your button-tapping skills.
Saku Saku Animal Panic, the only WiiWare launch title from a US developer and a game we haven't paid any attention to at all, is apparently "pretty fun!" Judging by Chris Kohler's impressions, it sounds a lot like Jezzball, minus the balls ... And the Jezz.
Read - The WiiWare Shopping experience Read - WiiWare Impressions: Lonpos Read - WiiWare Impressions: Angel's Solitaire Read - WiiWare Impressions: Saku Saku Animal Panic Read - WiiWare Impressions: Star Soldier R Read - Extra content in My Life as a King explained Read - Lonpos has pay-to-play content too
Sydney-based studio Nnooo (pronounced "No!" as in, "No, our game doesn't really have much to it.") announced last night its plans to develop an all-ages Wii Ware project titled Pop. Playable by up to four people on the same console, Pop "challenges" you to quickly burst bubbles and rack up points with chains and multipliers. Judging from the trailer embedded past the break, the game's design and mechanics are about as simple as they sound. If you're looking for more depth, you might want to hold onto your Wii points and play with a sheet of bubble wrap instead.
The news that Nintendo will be releasing a remade Dr. Mario with online play is, to put it in one capitalized word and a bunch of random key presses, KJDFLIOUROIEJ(RJNFAWESOME. The updated graphics and Mii integration look okay, but the real deal is the ONLINE PLAY_# #$())_IJM sorry, we did it again.
This adds a new dimension to our Thursday evening pastime of wishing for old games on the VC. Now we can wish for online versions of old games on Wii Ware. What would be your choice for an old game with new multiplayer? And, for added difficulty, you can't say River City Ransom, because we just did.
Medaverse has anounced that it is bringing an original title to Nintendo's WiiWare service in Gravitronix. It's supposed to support up to eight different players, but aside from that, all we know is that it is an action game involving the shapes in the logo up above, where players must assault enemy territories.
So, for those of you counting at home, this makes the second game headed to WiiWare, joining Austrian developer Bplus' PLÄTTCHEN twist 'n' paint.
In an interview with Cubed3, PLÄTTCHEN twist 'n' paint art director Bernd Geiblinger denied online play for the downloadable title, saying that "An online multiplayer mode would certainly be cool, but currently our focus completely lies on making the game as good as possible."
He then went on to utter the statement that will probably result in thousands of emails to Bplus: "Would you really want an online multiplayer mode? Would it be your reason to buy the game? If you like, you may start a poll about this and then we will discuss that again." We've learned that for any game that could possibly have online, there are plenty of folks out there who will demand it. Please, delete that draft you just started. Despite what Geiblinger said, they probably know that you want the game to be online.
Speaking of possibilities, does the fact that Bplus chooses not to include online play mean that it's an option for Wii Ware games? While you're pondering, be sure to check out the awesome PLÄTTCHEN wallpapers, from which we took the post image. They're certainly ... at a much higher resolution than the Wii can display!
True to its word, Nintendo updated the Metroid Prime 3: Corruption channel with two new videos. Since they're streaming clips, you won't have to go through the download process again to grab them. Seeing this implemented so seamlessly made us a lot less annoyed with the steps we originally had to take to pluck the preview from the Wii's Shopping Channel.
Like the last two clips, the first video provides a few details pertaining to the story, background info on the malfunctioning Aurora Unit in this case; the other movie, more focused on gameplay, shows Samus Aran in her Spider Ball form, navigating a series of winding rails and tracks. The Aurora Unit's resemblance to a certain previous antagonist has us tingling. Yes, tingling! The next two videos, P.E.D. Suit and Air Assault, hit the preview channel this Thursday.
Building up hype for Metroid Prime 3: Corruption's August 27th release, Nintendo has declared our eighth month as the "Month of Metroid," releasing a downloadable preview channel for the FPS/adventure title. As shown in the video we've embedded above, you can grab the preview from the Wii Shopping Channel's WiiWare section for free. Two streaming videos should be included with the download -- one a lengthy trailer, the other demonstrating gameplay -- as well as two hidden artwork samples. More videos will be made available this August 13th.
Also on August 13th, as we predicted, Nintendo plans to bring the original Metroid NES game to the Virtual Console for 500 points. Super Metroid fans can expect to see the SNES classic appear this August 20th, priced at 800 points. Coinciding Wii releases with their complementary retro titles seems like an obvious sales stratagem; we wonder what took Nintendo so long to catch on? Anyhow, we can't wait to see what else Nintendo has planned for this Metroid Month.
These screens of Impossible Mission may not scream "next-gen graphics" to you, but consider these points: first, sometimes Wii games look like this; and second, this is purportedly a downloadable Wii Ware title. That said, we think the hand-drawn 2D is sharp and colorful, and we personally enjoy the look. So maybe we'll add a third point to our rebuttal: shut up, nonexistant straw man.
Nintendo World Report has a European/Australian release date of August 31 for Impossible Mission. If that's true, it means that Wii Ware games are on the way sooner than we thought. It's probably not true. We expect some more announcements from Nintendo before games just start showing up.
For more than 20 years, gamers have been taking whip in hand to navigate Dracula's dark castle and defeat the villain and his minions again and again. 
