Enough options to make anyone's head spin!

There seems to be a resurgence in Nintendo's focus on WiiWare - There were three new WiiWare games last week and there's three more this week. They're probably not the titles most people were waiting for, though... It should also be noted that every single game this week is new to western shores, so we don't have any reviews yet - Think before you buy!

Drill Sergeant Mindstrong comes off as a fun party game with an army recruit theme, but judging by the Japanese release it seems to be nothing more than solving mathematical equations faster than your friends. The 800 Wii Points price doesn't really seem to work in its favour either. We'd like to be proven wrong though - Watch out for our review this week.

In NEVES Plus, you are presented with a big picture - You are then given smaller blocks, which you must try to turn and fit together to recreate that picture. It's a sequel to a DS game released in 2007, and with (supposedly) over 500 different puzzles across multiple different game modes, for just 600 Wii Points, we think this could be a very good purchase if you like puzzle games. We'll have a review soon, of course.

We all knew it had to come sometime - Family Mini Golf is the fourth game in Aksys Games's "Family" series, which was preceded by Table Tennis, Glide Hockey and Pirate Party. As the title implies, this time you'll be playing mini golf. Of course, we always hope that new WiiWare games are good, but the series's track record doesn't exactly work in Mini Golf's favour! As such we recommend staying away from it until we've reviewed it. The game costs 500 Wii Points, just like the previous three.

Europe has three Art Style games on DSiWare which North America has yet to get - But for some reason Nintendo of America has decided to release the one game Europe doesn't have yet first. Art Style: BOXLIFE is the western equivalent of Japan's HACOLIFE. In this installment of the Art Style series, you are presented with what is basically a bunch of squares on the floor - Your job is to cut them up and then fold them into nice cubes. There's both an increasingly difficult R&D mode and an endless Factory mode, and there's a number of things to unlock to keep you busy as well. As with all DSiWare Art Style games it's just 500 DSi Points - We'll have a review up ASAP.

The Virtual Console's single new game this week was already announced in advance by Hudson Soft. SimEarth: The Living Planet is another game in Maxis's line of "Sim" games, which also includes SimCity, SimTower, and of course, The Sims. It's generally considered to be the hardest to play in the series, by far - This time you're managing an entire planet instead of a city or even a single house, so as you might expect, there's a ton of available options. Just take a look at Hudson Soft's online manual for the game to get a good idea of how much stuff there is to do! For the strategic masterminds, this game is pretty much a heaven - But people who like their games simple might want to stay away. Look out for the review soon!

No mascot fighting or LostWinds-esque puzzle solving just yet! Will you be downloading any of this week's new games? More from Nintendo's press release:

NINTENDO DOWNLOAD: CUT STRAIGHT TO THE FUN WITH PAPER, PLANETS, PUZZLES, MIND GAMES AND MINI GOLF

June 22, 2009

Familiar activities get a funky boost with this week's additions to the Wii™ Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi Shop™. A trio of fresh WiiWare™ titles will have players wrapping their minds around unique puzzles, entertaining brain drills and awesome mini-golf courses. A new Art Style™ game for Nintendo DSiWare™ turns cutting paper into a cool hand-held gaming challenge. And simple things like air and weather conditions become exciting game elements in the latest classic offering on the Virtual Console™.

WiiWare

Drill Sergeant Mindstrong
Publisher: XSEED Games
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) - Mild Language, Mild Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points™
Description: Line up and get ready to use your mind. Drill Sergeant Mindstrong is a party game that allows up to four people to play at once. Players become boot-camp trainees under the tough Drill Sergeant Mindstrong, going through mind-boggling, mind-training games. The rules are simple, but concentration and quick thinking are key. Become the top boot of your class and earn promotions based on your efforts. This game is best played with friends and family.

NEVES Plus™
Publisher:YUKES Company of America
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 600 Wii Points
Description:Try your hand at the newest puzzle craze to come out of Japan, NEVES Plus! Enhanced for WiiWare, NEVES Plus not only retains all the simple, mind-bending tangram-based game play from the original Nintendo DS™ version, but also includes new multiplayer modes wrapped up in an Egyptian theme. This time, you and up to three others can work together to move, rotate and flip the seven Lucky stones into each of the 500-plus silhouette puzzles. You can also challenge one another in new multiplayer modes such as Versus, Speed, Lucky Number and Party Mode. Whether you play every mode by yourself or with friends, NEVES Plus is set to charm you with harder-than-they-look silhouette puzzles.

Family Mini Golf
Publisher: Aksys Games
Players: 1-8
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Daddy, Mommy, Sarah and Billy are back for some mini-golf action. Play through multiple golf courses that contain obstacles ranging from bumpers to speed ramps to fans and more. Up to eight players can play together using a single Wii Remote™ controller. You can download new courses to expand your fun-filled mini-golf experience, creating even more complex and difficult challenges to overcome. Can you conquer all the courses and become the mini-golf champion?

Nintendo DSiWare

Art Style: BOXLIFE™
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: Climb the corporate ladder in the world of BOXLIFE using your wits and... paper? Use the Nintendo DSi™ stylus to cut and then manipulate the paper into a box shape. Be careful-if you're not efficient with your cuts, you'll waste paper and be penalized. R&D mode teaches you new patterns and challenges you to complete various ranks, while FACTORY mode gives you the chance to earn money by making as many boxes as possible from an endless sheet of paper. Success in each mode brings its own reward: Clear ranks to earn a promotion, change your character's appearance, and use your earnings to acquire new items for your character's miniature garden. With this game's stylish graphics and catchy sounds, thinking inside the box isn't such a bad thing.

Virtual Console

SimEarth™: The Living Planet
Original platform: TurboGrafx16 CD-ROM
Publisher: Hudson Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Violent References
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: An entire planet becomes your laboratory in this large-scale simulation game. Players help foster new life and promote its evolution into life forms of higher intelligence. Guide civilization along the path of evolution until it can achieve Exodus, the ultimate goal of settling on another planet. The basic challenge of the game is to maintain a comfortable environment for the life forms by adjusting atmospheric and geological parameters. Small organisms called Prokaryote and Trichordate will grow and evolve into a multitude of life forms. Making a drastic change is a recipe for disaster. The key to success is making small adjustments and watching how the life forms react. SimEarth also includes planets with environments different from Earth, such as Mars and Venus. Try your hand at terraforming these planets with harsh conditions and creating a world where life can thrive.

[source press.nintendo.com]