The European Nintendo Download Update details arrived a little later than normal, giving us a look at what to expect this week. It's a packed line-up, with lots of Minecraft storytelling, a well-regarded Wii re-release of a GameCube sequel, a number of 'Nindie' titles, discounts galore and more. It's a hefty list, so let's just get on with it.
Wii U eShop
Teslapunk (klutzGames, €9.99 / £8.99) - This has the look of an old-school vertical shoot 'em up, as you fight off an invasion from Mars "led by Emperor Zangórax, who back on Mars is a popular DJ by night and a frantic invader by day". Fair enough. It looks rather promising, and beyond a six stage campaign it has a survival mode; we'll blast away for a review.
Scribble (Bear Box Media, €2.99 / £2.99) - This takes the core aspect of the equivalent Pictionary-based minigame in U Host and expands it across multiple modes. There are five modes and over 1500 words from 17 categories, with the option to also create your own words and contests; it's potentially ideal for the festive season.
Breakout Defense (nuGAME, €7.00 / £7.00) - Based off the classic Breakout formula, this seems focused on two paddles competing against each other, as you take on the AI or a friend locally. That seems to be the overall selling point here.
Test Your Mind (XenoHorizon, €1.99 / £1.99) - As the name suggests this is a compilation of puzzles and minigames to put your brain to the test, and naturally it supports two player action for some couch multiplayer. Ultimately we were rather unimpressed in our Test Your Mind review.
Wii U Virtual Console
Pikmin 2 (Nintendo, €19.99 / £17.99) - This is the 'New Play Control' Wii version, utilising the Wii Remote's pointer capabilities. This release does now mean that the entire trilogy is available and playable on Wii U, which is a rather pleasing thing - we enjoyed this Wii version a lot in our original review.
Wii U Retail Download
Minecraft: Story Mode - The Complete Adventure (Telltale Games, €34.99 / £28.99) - The chapters for this eventually made their way to the eShop in North America, though Europeans missed out; now the 'complete' adventure is arriving as a retail release in the region. Available from 16th December.
Wii U eShop Temporary Discounts
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Ubisoft, €14.99 / £9.99 until 29th December, normally €29.99 / £19.99)
Assassin's Creed III (Ubisoft, €9.99 / £7.99 until 29th December, normally €19.99 / £15.99)
Just Dance 2017 (Ubisoft, €29.99 / £23.99 until 29th December, normally €49.99 / £39.99)
Rabbids Land (Ubisoft, €9.99 / £7.99 until 29th December, normally €19.99 / £15.99)
Rayman Legends (Ubisoft, €14.99 / £11.99 until 29th December, normally €29.99 / £23.99)
Sports Connection (Ubisoft, €7.99 / £6.39 until 29th December, normally €19.99 / £15.99)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist (Ubisoft, €9.89 / £6.59 until 29th December, normally €29.99 / £19.99)
Watch Dogs (Ubisoft, €14.99 / £12.49 until 29th December, normally €59.99 / £49.99)
ZombiU (Ubisoft, €7.99 / £6.39 until 29th December, normally €19.99 / £15.99)
Child of Light (Ubisoft, €4.94 / £3.95 until 29th December, normally €14.99 / £11.99)
Darksiders II (Nordic Games, €9.99 / £7.99 until 29th December, normally €49.99 / £39.99)
Legend of Kay Anniversary (Nordic Games, €5.99 / £3.99 until 29th December, normally €29.99 / £19.99)
The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 (Nordic Games, €3.99 / £3.59 until 29th December, normally €19.99 / £17.99)
Shadow Puppeteer (Snow Cannon, €10.49 / £9.44 until 5th January, normally €14.99 / £13.49)
Soul Axiom (Wales Interactive, €7.49 / £5.99 until 12th January, normally €14.99 / £11.99)
Beatbuddy (Threaks, €1.79 / £1.61 until 5th January, normally €8.99 / £8.09)
Alphadia Genesis (Natsume, €7.49 / £5.99 until 29th December, normally €14.99 / £11.99)
Brave Tank Hero (Natsume, €2.99 / £2.49 until 29th December, normally €5.99 / £4.99)
Ninja Strike: Dangerous Dash (Natsume, €2.99 / £2.49 until 29th December, normally €5.99 / £4.99)
3Souls (Red Column, €1.80 / £1.60 until 8th January, normally €3.60 / £3.20)
Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures (Screwattack Games, €4.99 / £4.49 until 29th December, normally €9.99 / £8.99)
Inside My Radio (Seaven Studio, €5.99 / £5.19 until 5th January, normally €14.99 / £12.99)
The Quiet Collection (Nostatic Software, €3.59 / £2.39 until 22nd December, normally €4.49 / £2.99)
Stone Shire (Finger Gun Games, €1.49 / £1.34 until 31st December, normally €1.99 / £1.79)
Dracula's Legacy (Joindots, €5.99 / £4.49 until 29th December, normally €7.99 / £5.99)
Island Flight Simulator (Joindots, €5.99 / £4.49 until 29th December, normally €7.99 / £5.99)
Grand Prix Rock 'N Racing (EnjoyUp Games, €4.95 / £4.45 until 12th January, normally €7.99 / £7.19)
Gravity+ (Nitrolic Games, €3.24 / £2.94 until 5th January, normally €6.49 / £5.89)
Mahjong (Sanuk Games, €3.99 / £3.59 until 29th December, normally €4.99 / £4.49)
Solitaire (Sanuk Games, €3.99 / £3.59 until 29th December, normally €4.99 / £4.49)
Super Destronaut 2: Go Duck Yourself (Petite Games, €1.59 / £1.49 until 29th December, normally €1.99 / £1.79)
PictoParty (Retroid Interactive, €3.99 / £3.50 until 5th January, normally €7.99 / £7.00)
Puzzle Monkeys (Log Games, €0.74 / £0.74 until 11th January, normally €1.49 / £1.49)
Wii U eShop DLC Permanent Price Drop
Gravity+ Level Editor (Nitrolic Games, €1.99 / £1.79, previously €3.99 / £3.59)
3DS eShop
Johnny Dynamite (Twofivesix, €1.49 / £1.29 until 5th January, normally €1.99 / £1.29) - This is a platformer with some retro style (courtesy of vertical levels) in which you collect and use dynamite to clear 54 stages. It also has a level creator with QR code distribution; it got a big 'meh, it's alright' from us in our Johnny Dynamite review.
The following are a series of small games released as inexpensive downloads, seemingly targeting a young audience. Kutar is a mascot that's "not a dog, cat or bear", with each short 'quest' supposed to be easy to play for young gamers:
Kutar Apple (CIRCLE Entertainment, €0.99 / £0.99)
Kutar Burger Factory (CIRCLE Entertainment, €0.99 / £0.99)
Kutar Concert Staff (CIRCLE Entertainment, €0.99 / £0.99)
Kutar End Credits (CIRCLE Entertainment, €0.99 / £0.99)
Kutar Jump Rope (CIRCLE Entertainment, €0.99 / £0.99)
Kutar Magic Ball (CIRCLE Entertainment, €0.99 / £0.99)
Kutar Powder Factory (CIRCLE Entertainment, €0.99 / £0.99)
Kutar Quiz (CIRCLE Entertainment, €0.99 / £0.99)
Kutar Ski Lift (CIRCLE Entertainment, €0.99 / £0.99)
Kutar Tube Rider (CIRCLE Entertainment, €0.99 / £0.99)
New Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console
Demon's Crest (Capcom, €7.99 / £7.19) - Firebrand the Gargoyle features here, and needs to recover elemental stones before his enemy, Phalanx. It's dramatic stuff, and this SNES action platformer also gives you freedom in stage order along with some ability to explore. We liked it a lot in our review.
3DS DLC
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse - Lore 1: Parellel Universes (Deep Silver, free)
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse - Lore 2: Observation Explained (Deep Silver, free)
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse - Extra Difficulty Levels (Deep Silver, free)
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse - The Inverted Pyramid (Deep Silver, €1.99 / £1.49)
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse - A Godslayer Needs Jewels (Deep Silver, €2.99 / £1.99)
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse - A Trip to Hawaii (Deep Silver, €2.49 / £1.79)
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse - Explosive Epidemic in Mikado (Deep Silver, €1.99 / £1.49)
7th Dragon III Code: VFD Quest: Code: Lucifer! (Deep Silver, Free until 22nd December, then €1.99 / £1.49)
7th Dragon III Code: VFD Quest: To My Beloved Unit 13 (Deep Silver, Free until 22nd December, then €1.49 / £0.99)
7th Dragon III Code: VFD Quest: Allie's Death March (Deep Silver, Free until 22nd December, then €1.49 / £0.99)
3DS eShop Temporary Discounts
Farming Simulator 14 (Focus Home Interactive, €7.50 / £5.00 until 29th December, normally €29.99 / £19.99)
Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures (Screwattack Games, €4.99 / £4.49 until 29th December, normally €9.99 / £8.99)
A-Train 3D: City Simulator (Natsume, €12.49 / £9.99 until 29th December, normally €24.99 / £19.99)
Brave Tank Hero (Natsume, €2.49 / £2.24 until 29th December, normally €4.99 / £4.49)
Gotcha Racing (Natsume, €2.99 / £2.49 until 29th December, normally €5.99 / £4.99)
Reel Fishing 3D Paradise Mini (Natsume, €1.99 / £1.79 until 29th December, normally €3.99 / £3.59)
Super Strike Beach Volleyball (Natsume, €2.49 / £2.24 until 29th December, normally €4.99 / £4.49)
Adventure Bar Story (CIRCLE Entertainment, €3.99 / £3.89 until 5th January, normally €4.99 / £4.89)
Ambition of the Slimes (CIRCLE Entertainment, €2.99 / £2.89 until 5th January, normally €5.00 / £4.79)
Swords & Soldiers 3D (CIRCLE Entertainment, €1.99 / £1.99 until 5th January, normally €6.99 / £6.89)
Witch & Hero 2 (CIRCLE Entertainment, €2.99 / £2.39 until 5th January, normally €3.99 / £3.19)
World Conqueror 3D (CIRCLE Entertainment, €2.99 / £2.99 until 5th January, normally €4.99 / £4.89)
Kingdom's Item Shop (CIRCLE Entertainment, €3.99 / £3.89 until 5th January, normally €5.00 / £4.79)
Castle Conqueror EX (CIRCLE Entertainment, €1.99 / £1.79 until 5th January, normally €3.99 / £3.99)
Demon King Box (CIRCLE Entertainment, €1.99 / £1.79 until 5th January, normally €3.99 / £3.99)
Sssnakes (EnjoyUp Games, €1.97 / £1.77 until 12th January, normally €2.99 / £2.69)
Goosebumps: The Game (GameMill, €9.99 / £7.49 until 12th January, normally €19.99 / £14.99)
3D Game Collection (Joindots, €5.24 / £3.74 until 29th December, normally €6.99 / £4.99)
3D MahJongg (Joindots, €3.74 / £3.33 until 29th December, normally €4.99 / £4.49)
Gardenscapes (Joindots, €5.99 / £4.49 until 29th December, normally €7.99 / £5.99)
Cats and Dogs 3D: Pets at Play (Treva Entertainment, €11.99 / £9.99 until 5th January, normally €29.99 / £24.99)
Life With Horses 3D (Treva Entertainment, €14.99 / £13.49 until 5th January, normally €19.99 / £17.99)
My Pet School 3D (Treva Entertainment, €9.99 / £8.33 until 5th January, normally €29.99 / £24.99)
Pets Resort 3D (Treva Entertainment, €14.99 / £8.99 until 5th January, normally €29.99 / £17.99)
Infinite Dunamis (KEMCO, €4.99 / £4.49 until 29th December, normally €9.99 / £8.99)
Journey to Kreisia (KEMCO, €4.99 / £4.49 until 29th December, normally €9.99 / £8.99)
Heart Beaten (Springloaded, €2.33 / £2.00 or €1.09 / £1.00 if you own Space Lift Danger Panic! until until 29th December, normally €3.49 / £2.99)
Space Lift Danger Panic! (Springloaded, €1.65 / £1.29 or €0.80 / £0.65 if you own Heart Beaten until until 29th December, normally €2.49 / 1.99)
3DS HOME Themes
Amanojaku (DWANGO, €1.99 / £1.79)
Bad∞End∞Night (DWANGO, €1.99 / £1.79)
Karakuri Pierrot (DWANGO, €1.99 / £1.79)
Aa, Subarashiki Nyan-Sei (DWANGO, €1.99 / £1.79)
Tale of the Deep-sea Lily (DWANGO, €1.99 / £1.79)
That's the line-up for this week's Nintendo Download Update in Europe. Let us know what you plan to download in the poll and comments below.
Comments 65
I'll be grabbing free SMT DLC, providing my game turns up.
There's discounts at least. Soul Axiom at half price is tempting, though I think it will go lower in future. I'll definitely buy a digital copy of The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 to go along with the physical version I own. Other than that I already own pretty much everything else there worth buying.
Ubisoft helped pad out the discount section, it would be nice for Nintendo to give us some discounts on their games next week. You know, the Season of giving and all that. There's a little holiday called Christmas coming up.
Whoa nelly, that's a lot of discounts. I recommend Child of Light and Rayman Legends to anyone who doesn't have it yet!
Would pick up Pikmin 2 but not at this price.
Definitely worth picking up both Assassins Creed titles discounted if you haven't already. Incredible games.
Does anybody know whether Ubisoft has ever put its DLC on sale? I've completed the main story in AC3 and want to buy the Washington expansion, but it costs £25, three times the price of the game with the discount!
@GoldenGamer88
Good luck trying to get it cheaper.
Watchdogs any good on Wii U? The newly released one looks quite nice for the stealthy gameplay?
AVGN Adventures, neato! This might be the time I actually pick it up.
On both consoles, against all common sense.
Never played a Telltale game, maybe i will buy Minecraft Story Mode... Is this maybe the final retail 3rd party game for Wii U?
Will check out Teslapunk; always up for some old school shm'up goodness.
Also 1 or 2 Wii U eShop discounts intrigue me.
My biggest worry is next week if any good Wii U eShop sales last only a week as I'll miss them due to lack of access to my Wii U for a week.
Pikmin 2 is very tempting. I had the opportunity to buy it brand new on eBay a few years ago for €20 and unfortunately didn't, now it's up to impossible to get and costs about €100.
I would have bought it at the time if I had played Pikmin 1 with New Play Controls as I didn't realise how well it works with Wii.
I'll be picking up Demon's Crest for my New Nintendo 3DS XL. Niiiiiice!
Definitely Legend of Kay and The Book of Unwritten Tales 2. Hard to pass them up at that price . Also Assassins Creed IV, missed it the last time it was on sale. That should net me 90 gold points I can spend on nothing. Might even get Watchdogs too but not this week.
Technically the Pikmin trilogy was already playable on the Wii U before this, as you could use the Wii games... although due to their rarity, this is a far cheaper option.
I am vaguely tempted by some of the discounted games that have seen physical release... but I know that I could get the physical copies cheaper preowned.
Pikmin 2 is great I'll go digital and eBay my Wii version
I'll grab the free SMT4A and 7th Dragon DLC.
I kind of wish I bought copies of the Wii versions of Pikmin seeing as their value is shooting up. I seen them numerous times for dirt cheap but never paid them any notice as I already owned and played them on Gamecube.
I'll take Book of Unwritten Tales 2 at that price. Nothing else seem to catch my eye.
Nothing for me this week. I have Pikmin 3, but haven't got round to playing it. I may as well play that first before even thinking about Pikmin 2.
@Mart1ndo you will be able to get the physical version cheaper now because the price will plummet..same thing happened when the digital version of Xenoblade got released.
Great price for Book of Unwritten Tales 2.
But doesn't it have that unfixed savegame bug? Reviews on amazon.de are really bad.
so much yet so little
and no picross e7 for europe? aw, the US gets it this week
Demon's Crest... Maybe not this week but someday definitely.
WHAT?! PIKMIN 2?! YOU LUCKY EUROPEANS...
@Mart1ndo Already have it physical lol. Would have been interested in it because I'd get to skip the "find game and put it into console" part since Pikmin 2 is one of my faves and I play it fairly regularly.
Please have Pikmin 2 come to NA.
For that price I'll finally give Watch Dogs a chance! Never had any hype for that game, so hopefully I won't be dissappointed Can absolutely recommend Splinter Cell Blacklist, AC IV and Child of Light, especially at these prices!
Are ANY of those 3DS discounted games any good?
Teslapunk looks awful.
Nintendo Europe are on a three week VC roll. F Zero X update, Excitebike 64 and now Pikmin 2. Will it continue for a fourth week?
Assassins Creed 3 is free from Ubi on PC this month if you have a UPlay account.
Though it's probably US only, I don't know, sorry.
https://club.ubisoft.com/en-US/ubi30
Ambition of the Slimes sounds good.
@Moon A-Train 3D is amazing, not sorry about paying full price.
Love a good discount
Never an EA sale is there! Would quite like need for speed most wanted u it's really expensive and seems to be rare at retail
Might finally dive in on a KEMCO game. They always looked like fun in a pulp-JRPG sort of way but are a bit too high priced for me to randomly grab.
Kutar End Credits sounds like a must-play.
@ThomasBW84 the introductory discount price for Johnny Dynamite looks a bit suspect...?
What a great week.
I read Pikmin 2 on the eshop... then I read Europe.
I'm kicking myself for selling that game back years ago. It's hard to find nowadays, and it's pretty expensive to boot. Was hoping I could at least get a eshop release at some point, as it'd be cheaper than buying the game used. Oh well.
@rjejr It's worldwide Downloaded a few of their freebies over the past few months
Blacklist is a good game for £6!
@Oubie
Yooka Laylee is still to come and Shantae half genie hero, but thats about it
@tysonfury
Only worth one playthrough though..... at least with physical I can dump the game once I am finished and over the Wow-factor of playing a 3rd party on Wii U.
Lot of great prices on Wii U software. Gonna pick up Soul Axiom!
Minecraft Story and one of the Wii U discount games and maybe pikmin 2 for me this week.
At least I won´t get to spend any money on the eshop again. Nintendo making sure i can afford that shiny NX
I'll just wait and see if Pikmin 2 comes to Switch.
@eltomo I thought is was really good. Recommended at that price or less
There are 2 special miis to download from Nintendo Zones too:
"Mr Miyamoto will be available from December 9th until December 26th, and Mr Tezuka will follow on from December 27th until January 15th."
I already have 2 copies of Unwritten Tales because I forgot about a pre-order and now it's heavily discounted and still not fixed. :/
Minecraft Story Mode is already available here at my local store as of today
@LemonSlice £9.99 good? £9.99 can go a long way for buying a game.
I'll grab the last of the free 7th Dragon DLC, and maybe Child of Light.
I am not European, but I really want to know what the heck are those themes about.
Why does my birthday have to be December 30th.
Very conflicted I've heard mixed things about blacklist so I never got it. I may finally pick up rayman legends.
Why can't NA get all these awesome vocaloid home themes (T_T)
Too bad most of those Ubisoft deals can be purchased in many past 360 sales for around the £3 mark, not to mention you can pick up the physical versions for £5-10 in CeX. Oh well, a good start on Xmas sales at least, let's pray Nintendo discounts their own games decently next week (VC sales please?)
@gortsi Your best bet would probably be getting a £25 eShop card/code on the cheap, like getting a loyalty discount from a store like Game.
Might take awhile but hey, least you'd get it for free. XD
I dunno why, but the Kutar games are strangely enticing. I wonder which to pick.
@Tisteg80 Yes I read that too, its the only one I am interested in. I wonder if the glitch happens to everybody?
Book of Unwritten tales and Soul Axiom look like bargains to me
@Cantisque [A-Train 3D is] £20 good (it is a full price retail game in Japan), but isn't for someone who dislikes strategic sims. It is very deep and complex, probably the best of it's kind released on the 3DS, which sadly lacks both SimCity and Civilization games the DS had, and it's RollerCoaster Tycoon is utter crap. If you're intrigued, go for it; but don't expect to immediately like it if you're new to the genre.
OH MY! Pikmin 2, for sure. One of my favorite games of all time, can't hate myself enough for selling my GC copy all those years ago...
@Angelic_Lapras_King but that's not my point, what I said was that I was looking at various DLC's for different wii u games the other day and realised (after a quick Google search) that even after all these years they have never been discounted, even for Nintendo games (like Pikmin or Hyrule Warriors). In fact the only discounted DLC I've bought on Nintendo systems was when they had a sale for FE Awakening's maps, that's it. Too bad, I would buy loads otherwise
What's this "Amanojaku" theme? oO The man-beast manga/anime hero?
how long until the discounts go live? It is already 15th and the prices are the same.
edit: do not bother. Already bought Black Flag and Watch Gods =]
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