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It's time for the North American Nintendo Download Update, once again, and this week is full of enticing options. Two much-anticipated and terrific 'Nindie' download-only releases arrive on Wii U and 3DS, while each system also has a high profile retail release to consider. There are various alternative options and discounts, too, making it a busy eShop week; let's get to the details.

Missed the European Nintendo Download Update? Don't panic, the information you need is right here.

Wii U eShop

FAST Racing NEO (Shin'en Multimedia, $14.99 / $19.99CAD) - Futuristic sci-fi racing games have become a rare entity on Nintendo hardware, and so the hype around this racer is certainly understandable. A follow-up to FAST - Racing League on WiiWare, this new entry makes various changes to the gameplay and has lovely 60fps performance with flashy visuals. We gave this a glowing recommendation in our FAST Racing NEO review.

Dinox (Engine Software, $4.99 / $6.49CAD) - This is a 'prehistory' trivia game that'll support solo play or up to four players at once, promising over 900 questions overall. We'll dust off some fossils and bring you a review.

Jones on Fire (Joindots, $5.99 / $7.99CAD) - A platformer with blocky, retro-styled visuals, it promises 'frenetic' gameplay that'll have elements of firefighting; it looks quite pleasing on the eye, considering its stylistic approach, and we'll see whether it's hot or not in our review.

Sketch Wars (Wildcard Studios, $4.99 / $6,99CAD) - This seems to be a twist on the Pictionary formula, with single and multiplayer options that naturally make use of the GamePad touchscreen for drawing. Party games like this can certainly be fun, but we'll draw out the details and bring you a review.

Wii U Virtual Console

Medabots: Metabee & Rokusho (Natsume, $6.99) - Great news for Medabot fans as both versions of this Game Boy Advance release arrive, in which you customise your own Medabots and battle villains. In the end we considered this to be 'not bad' in our review.

Wii U Retail Download

Devil's Third (Valhalla Game Studios, $59.99 / $74.99CAD) - This shooter has attracted mixed opinions; it's a title with bold ambitions of marrying first person shooting with extensive melee combat, with a solo campaign being joined by a hefty online component. We thought it had a distinctly split personality, and could only regard it as 'average' when considering its overall quality in our Devil's Third review.

Wii U eShop Temporary Discounts

Phineas and Ferb: Quest for Cool Stuff (Majesco, $4.99 from 14th December to 28th December, normally $19.99)

Trine Enchanted Edition (Frozenbyte, on discount from 15th December to 5th January)

Trine 2: Director's Cut (Frozenbyte, on discount from 15th December to 5th January)

Life of Pixel (Super Icon, $4.99 until 10th January, normally $9.99)

KEYTARI: 8-bit Music Maker (Famous Gamous, $4.99 from 13th December until 3rd January, normally $7.99)

ZaciSa's Last Stand (ZeNfA Productions, $0.99 until 7th January, normally $3.99)

COLOR BOMBS (RCMADIAX, $1 until 6th January, normally $1.49)

3DS eShop

SteamWorld Heist (Image & Form, $16.99 / $21.99CAD until 31st December, then $19.99) - The follow-up to breakthrough title SteamWorld Dig, this adopts a turn-based 2D strategy approach for the highly stylised steambot IP. A lengthy campaign is delivered along with plenty of weapons and hats, because robots wearing hats are surely irresistible; we loved this in our SteamWorld Heist review. Free and exclusive 3DS HOME Theme included with all purchases before 31st December.

Rytmik Ultimate (Cinemax, $17.99 / $19.99CAD) - This music creation tool will include the sound samples from its predecessors on DSiWare along with new content, while there'll also be options to share, listen to and collaborate on music online. We'll create some tunes and bring you a review.

Radiohammer (Aksys Games, $5.99 / $7.95CAD) - After a glut of rhythm games earlier in the 3DS' lifespan they've been less common of late, which certainly makes this one eye-catching. It's all about taking down villains and making the world "a safer, funkier place", and hopefully the soundtrack and gameplay will make it all worthwhile. We'll get down to the beat and work on a review.

Petit Novel Series - Harvest December (CIRCLE Entertainment, $11.99 / $15.99CAD) - The eShop platforms have hosted a few storybook series, and this is the latest to stake its claim; this one has 13 short stories following a teenager called Masaki Konno, one for each month and culminating with Harvest December.

3DS Retail Download

Terraria (505 Games, $19.99 / $29.99CAD) - This 2D platformer / resource / sandbox game has become a huge success since it took off as an Indie title on PC, picking up 505 Games as a publisher and arriving on a host of platforms. The 3DS version will deliver some welcome portability, of course, with the touch screen put to good use. You can check out our hands on impressions to see more, and we'll dig into a review.

3DS eShop Temporary Discounts

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus, $9.99 from 14th December to 28th December, normally $29.99)

Phineas and Ferb: Quest for Cool Stuff (Majesco, $4.99 from 14th December to 28th December, normally $19.99)

AeternoBlade (Corecell Technology, $4.99 until 31st December, normally $14.99)

Adventure Bar Story (CIRCLE Entertainment, on discount until 31st December)

KAMI (CIRCLE Entertainment, on discount until 31st December)

Zombie Panic in Wonderland DX (Akaoni Studio, $4.99 until 9th January, normally $8.00)

Classic Games Overload: Card & Puzzle Edition (Telegames Inc, $14.99 until 4th January, normally $29.99)

3DS HOME Themes

Mario Hanafuda

SteamWorld Heist - Free with a purchase of the game until 31st December.


Plenty to choose from this week, so let us know what you'll be downloading in the poll and comments below.

What will you be downloading this week? (You can choose multiple options)

(You can select up to 14 answers)