Aside from Electroplankton, last week was possibly the driest Japanese download week in living memory. Nintendo has made up for the WiiWare break last week with five new WiiWare titles in addition to two new Virtual Console Arcade titles and a slew of Game and Watch titles for the DSiWare service.
Marcel has already posted the news on Game & Watch coming to DSiWare, so be sure to read up on the full list of titles here. Four are being released next Wednesday with two more on the 29th and then a further three with dates to be announced in August. All Game & Watch titles will be 200pts each.
The Virtual Console Arcade releases are Burning Force from Namco, a futuristic jet ski title similar to Space Harrier, and Sega action platforming classic Shinobi which should please many fans. As with all Virtual Console Arcade titles in Japan these are both 800pts.
The five WiiWare titles cover a range of genres, even if they're from developers unknown outside of Japan:
Kentei TV! Wii (1000pts - Kosaido Co., Ltd.) --TV Quiz show game for 1-4 players and includes a few games modes and mini-games.
Hirameki Card Battle Mekuruka (1000pts - Tom Create) -- virtual card/board game featuring super-cute characters in a fantasy setting. Has 1-2 player local or online play.
Mebius Drive (800pts - Jorudan Co., Ltd.) -- a racing game where players race what look like Formula One cars through various tracks including dirt and city streets. Features local splitscreen play for 1-2 players and online play with 2-8 including ranking tables.
Fish Eyes Challenge (500pts - Marvelous Entertainment) -- Fishing game called Reel Fishing Challenge in North America.
Finally we have an application that many people could use:
Easy No Smoking Wii App (1000pts - Silver Star Japan) -- no this isn't software to stop your Wii from overheating; rather it's a programme designed to help people track their efforts to stop smoking. This is something that would seem more suited to the DS/DSi, but could herald the coming of more utility programs for WiiWare which I'm sure all Nintendo Life readers would welcome.
Comments 26
Smoking card games with races, TV quizes and Game&Watch? This is a pretty varied week for Japan...wonder if its the first time their release could be covered by one said lame description by NoA's emails.
Love the final sentence, Sean.
that racing game doesn't look half-bad
I saw the card battle game yesterday and said I'd love to get it if it came here. Racing game looks great! It better come here especially with the online play! Reminds me of Excite Truck.
And I bet the No Smoking title will come here... And I agree, it's better suited to DS.
Burning Force looks okay. I wanna see the TV Show quiz game though.
Even more titles we can all hope will come overseas...
Any chance Mobius Drive might come here? It looks sweet... How about some detailed impressions on it Sean?
Woah, I want that card battle game!
I just quit smoking. I never thought I would see a Wii App. that would help with that. I would have bought it too. Quitting is becoming a common trend in the U.S. Especially with the cost of smokes.
So they better get on top getting this to North America.
A Stop Smoking App? It continues... :/
not a bad week for japan, i am wondering if the card battle game is any good
I'd need to see video of the card battle game before making a decision on that, but that's the only real possibility for me (sorry racing fans!).
Shinobi is an automatic buy though -- love that game!
@Chicken: I only speak the truth!
I seriously want to see what the stop-smoking app is all about... how in the HELL is it going to help me!?
I want that racing game. Looks amazing
That racing game looks sweet. Online play? Hell yes.
Mobius? Ooooooh , looks sweet. Hope thw Wii Wheel controls work and that its actually going to come over here.
I liked TV Show King a lot so that TV quiz show thingy has piqued my interest.
That racing game sounds amazing! Especially since it has online! Me wants a US release! That card battle game looks fun too. First time I saw the the pic I thought it was some sort of FF Tactics spinoff lol. I'm a little interested in Burning Force too. It IS from that Namco company I like so much.
@Richardo91 I agree, Mobius Drive does look pretty funky. Check out the screenshots. It kinda reminds me of F-Zero GX.
@Dazza: Looks like F-Zero mixed with Excitebots.
Hopefully Gametrailers will get some video of both Mobius Drive and Card Battle thingy next week, though I cannot imagine attempting to connect to Japanese servers from the UK would result in a great play experience!
@Chatham: From the screenshots it looks like the no smoking thing is some kind of chart a la the Fit Cash part of Wii Fit and a collection of tips from a medical expert. Frankly for 1000 points it might be cheaper than the medical alternatives, but I expect without the willpower to stick with it that's 10 bucks (or 1000 yen) you're just throwing away. But if I can find Wii Fit useful in trying to focus on losing weight, I suppose folk will find a simple app that tracks their abstinence from smoking days useful. Again, probably something better to have on a DS, though.
game & watch games for 200 points? now that's the sort of stuff i wanna see! give me a reason to buy a dsi, nintendo! throw in some gameboy and i'll be sold!
Burning Force arcade is an instant download for me. The MegaDrive port was cool, but didn't look as good without real scaling effects.
I wish it were a program to stop your Wii overheating, I wouldn't have gotten artifacts then!
Now I have a new Wii, with none of my games on it
that racing games looks amazing
On Tuesday, Japan will have 4 Shinobi titles while US/EU will only have one.
Bad NoJ, bad! I'll see if Darren can sort it!
I'd certainly pay 1000 points to stop my Wii from trying to light one near me.
Really, that's certainly an unusual program and it'll be interesting to see how effective it is.
Stop smoking game should be ~750 points... Thats how much a box costs... I dont see any way that could work. Maybe its just some hypnotizing rainbow spinning graphic that brainwashes you into not smoking
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