Review Legends of Exidia (DSiWare)
DSiWare's first RPG doesn't set the bar too high, but it's still quite enjoyable
News Miyamoto Hints Towards Next Console
Nintendo overlord Shigeru Miyamoto reminds us that Nintendo is indeed working on its next machine
Review Blaster Master: Overdrive (WiiWare)
A blast from the past gets a makeover
News - February, 2010
Sunday28th Feb 2010
News Note: How Not to Play Sonic & Mario at the Olympic Winter Games
Watch out if there's a camera behind you!
The 7pm Project (an Australian comedic take on the news) have noticed something strange about the way that the hosts of another certain popular Australian show were showcasing the controls of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. Judge for yourself! Let this be advice to all of you aspiring...
First Impressions Aa Mujō Setsuna
Lots of flash; not much substance
Nintendo isn't exactly known for publishing shooters, much less shooters of the "bullet hell" variety, but that's exactly what we have here. Developed by Arika and recently shown at the Nintendo Media event in North America as Metal Torrent, Aa Mujō Setsuna is certainly one of the most graphically...
News WiiWare Leads Indie Awards Category
Three out of five ain't bad
Direct2Drive has announced the five finalists for the 12th Annual Independent Games Festival, to be held March 11th at the Games Developers Conference, with three of the games being WiiWare titles. Max and the Magic Marker, NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits and Super Meat Boy have all been nominated for the Direct2Drive Vision...
News Extreme Hangman Breaks Sales Records
How do you spell "best selling North American game"?
While some studios are struggling to reach Nintendo’s download sales targets and actually make some kind of profit from DSiWare development, Gamelion Studios are having no such trouble with the platform. Extreme Hangman, the developer’s first DSiWare production, has shot to the top of the...
Saturday27th Feb 2010
Review ChuChu Rocket! (Game Boy Advance)
The ultimate game of space cat and mouse
Around the turn of the millennium, Sega wasn’t doing so hot. Their much-beloved Dreamcast failed to ignite the sales charts despite being home to a plethora of fantastic new and original games as well as nigh-perfect (in some cases, improved) home conversions of arcade hits. It was with a heavy heart that...
First Impressions WarioWare DIY, FlingSmash and Photo Dojo
Hands-on with three very different titles
You've already heard what we thought of Metroid: Other M, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Sin and Punishment 2, and we got to play Monster Hunter 3 a few weeks ago, but there's still plenty to tell about the other titles available to play t
Friday26th Feb 2010
The 8-bit classic returns
If you were gaming on home computers in the 8-bit era then it's very likely you came across a game called Pipe Dream. Originally published on the Commodore Amiga as Pipe Mania, it's a puzzle game in which the goal is to link together pipe sections on a grid to complete a route for a green (or blue) liquid called...
First Impressions Sin and Punishment 2
Blasting, slashing, stunning – trailer inside!
It took forever (well, nearly) for Treasure's seminal N64 game Sin and Punishment to see a Western release, but thankfully the sequel isn't due to take anywhere near as long to find its way to your Wii disc tray, with a European release date of 7th May. When Nintendo offered us the chance to play it...
First Impressions Metroid: Other M
Hit me baby, one more time
As stunning as Retro Studios' Metroid Prime Trilogy undoubtedly is, we still fondly remember Samus Aran's formative years, and particularly the seminal Super Metroid. It seems we're not the only ones fond of this piece of the bounty hunter's history however, as Team Ninja and Tecmo's take on Nintendo's sci-fi franchise...
First Impressions Handy Mahjong
Budget majaan on the go
Mahjong (or, as they call it in Japan, "majaan") is incredibly popular in Japan where you can find gambling parlours with fully automated tables shuffling, dealing and stacking tiles for players. It therefore should come as no surprise that there are a few mahjong games available in the Japanese DSiWare shop and...
News Japanese Virtual Console list - March 2010
Even Japan seems to be getting several VC-less weeks from now on.
Things are moderately bad for Virtual Console in Europe and North America at the moment, with each month having several weeks without a new release for the service. But now it's really time to worry - Even Japan seems to be getting several of these now. March only sees three new...
News Dreambox Games Unveils its Debut Title
See the first screenshots from the upcoming WiiWare title Robox
Freshly cut screenshots of Robox have been released, and it certainly looks like a compelling platformer from the creative team based in Valencia, Spain. If the various layers of background look as good in-motion as they do stationary, we should be in for a real treat. Our protagonist...
Trailer Sin and Punishment 2 + Screenshots
Direct from yesterday's European Gamers Summit comes a new trailer and screenshots for Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies.
Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies, the breakthrough shooter game for Wii from developer Treasure, will launch across Europe on May 7th 2010. The game features non-stop action with two playable characters and...
Nintendo Download 2nd & 3rd March 2010 (Japan)
Another light week for the Wii and the usual assortment for DSi to start the month off
Japan seems to have settled very much into a release schedule like other territories, which will hopefully send some green-eyed monsters off to bed (well, except Virtual Console fans). WiiWare: Aqualiving: Television de Nagameru Sakana Tachi (800pts - Nintendo)...
Nintendo Download 26th February 2010 (Europe)
The Virtual Console is still nowhere in sight, but at least there's Castlevania!
Believe it or not, this is the sixth week of this year in which we haven't gotten any new Virtual Console games. The amount of weeks in which we have is actually lower! Nintendo partially makes up for it by releasing a ton of games on the other services, but the...
News DSiWare Enters Tie-Break with VT Tennis
Spanish developer Virtual Toys serves up some tennis
In between tournament seasons and need a tennis fix? Starting next Monday, you can get the strawberries and cream out of the fridge as you start preparing for a Summer of sports with a new tennis title on the DSi. VT Tennis will feature a Quickmatch mode where you can tweak certain settings and...
First Impressions Fantasic Cube
Hey, you got your Columns in my Quarth!
Fantasic Cube is very much an old-school puzzle game, but a decent one and more full-featured than most of the puzzlers we've seen lately. There are three single player game modes on offer and two-way multiplayer either locally or over Wi-Fi connection with friends or random strangers. The primary game mode is...
Thursday25th Feb 2010
Review Aura-Aura Climber (DSiWare)
A shining beacon of arcade-style fun
It's not easy being a star, having to worry about losing your place in the night sky. Aura-Aura has slipped and fallen from the heavens, crashing into the Earth far, far below, and you'll be helping him to resume his place in outer space in Aura-Aura Climber, Nintendo's own latest offering for DSiWare. By now,...
Review Family Go-Kart Racing (WiiWare)
A pit stop on the road to hell
The family that just can’t get enough of each other is back in their eighth outing on WiiWare. By now, Aksys has had plenty of time to figure out what works and what doesn’t in this series of games. And it was becoming pretty obvious that if these games have a fault (and they’re all pretty flawless) it’s that...
Live Text European Gamers Summit 2010
We're LIVE from London for Nintendo's European Gamers Summit 2010
From 10am onwards we'll be live-blogging from Nintendo European Gamers Summit 2010 at the O2 Arena, London. What will Nintendo have in store for us? Mario Galaxy 2? Sin & Punishment 2? Or perhaps a shock announcement, like Pilotwings Wii or Pikmin 3? There's no need to refresh...
Fun with friends
The DSi has been getting some love lately in terms of games that take advantage of its onboard cameras, but applications geared toward straight-up photo manipulation are still somewhat sparse. Neko Entertainment has come forward to help fill the gap with Faceez, a quirky little application promising plenty of ways for you to...
News WarioWare: Do It Yourself - April 30th
The latest game coming in the WarioWare series on Nintendo DS, WarioWare: Do It Yourself, launches on April 30th
Ever wanted to be a game designer? To see your friends and family playing games that you created? Well, now’s your chance! WarioWare: Do It Yourself, featuring over 90 fantastic microgames to play and, best of all, the ability to create...
First Impressions Super Mario Galaxy 2
Truly spacial
Super Mario Galaxy 2 had by far the biggest queues of the day, with a cordoned area showcasing the plumber's latest adventure. Our crafty writers, however, took advantage of everyone else's hunger by striking when most other journalists were stopping for lunch, managing to get a good half an hour of hands-on time. With such high hopes...
Trailer Super Mario Galaxy 2 + Screenshots
Direct from today's European Gamers Summit comes a new trailer and screenshots for Super Mario Galaxy 2.
Super Mario Galaxy 2, the sequel to the smash-hit galaxy-hopping original, embraces the gravity-defying, physics-based exploration from the first game, but is loaded with entirely new features including new galaxies to challenge and delight...
News Super Mario Galaxy 2 Hits Europe June 11th
Europe not too far behind North America, you'll be playing Mario Galaxy 2 before Wimbledon!
Super Mario Galaxy 2, the sequel to the smash-hit galaxy-hopping original, embraces the gravity-defying, physics-based exploration from the first game, but is loaded with entirely new features including new galaxies to challenge and delight players. On some...
News DSi XL Release Dates Announced
No time like the present
Confirmation of the release dates for the upcoming DSi XL for Europe, North America and Australia, have come out of Nintendo’s back pocket and into our hands. Europeans will be first to the party when the handheld hits the streets on March 5. Nintendo will then set sail across the pond for a North American entrance March...
News Australia Gets Black Wii & New Remote Colours
Colour coordinate your console and remotes in a way Bertie Bassett would be proud of.
When the console was first announced to be available in its second colour in Japan, the gaming world (maybe not the entire gaming world) started to salivate at the prospect of owning the Wii in the console equivalent of sexy black lingerie. Likewise when it was...
News Yullaby Causing a Fire Panic on DSi
Budding firefighters can start tackling those flames later in the year
French development studio Yullaby is taking things back to the Game & Watch days with a new "beginner-friendly" title. Fire Panic is a game that requires the player to map out a route on the lower screen for the fire engine to travel by in order to extinguish a...
News Teyon Announces 101 Minigolf World Release and Other Upcoming Downloads
Latest DSiWare game gets a publication date and new DSiWare and WiiWare titles revealed
Teyon is really ramping up their output on the DSiWare and WiiWare fronts, announcing that their third DSiWare game, 101 Minigolf World, will be coming to the North American DSiWare Shop on the 15th of March. In addition they unveiled the names of five other...
News More Super Mario Galaxy 2 Footage
Nintendo release another "B-Roll" trailer from today's Media Summit showing off the upcoming Super Mario Galaxy 2
Super Mario Galaxy 2, the sequel to the smash-hit galaxy-hopping original, embraces the gravity-defying, physics-based exploration from the first game, but is loaded with entirely new features including new galaxies to challenge and...
News Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies for Europe May 7th
Nintendo have confirmed that Europeans will be getting the Sin and Punishment treatment before North America
All-action shooting comes to Wii on 7th May 2010 when Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies launches across Europe. With relentless waves of attacks from violent creatures from the fourth earth and projectiles to destroy, this is a true...
News Metroid: Other M Denied Set Release Date in Europe
North American gamers rejoice, Europeans will have to wait longer for Other M, currently scheduled for "Q3" release.
Metroid™: Other M, the incredible new Metroid game developed for Wii through a collaboration by Nintendo and the world-renowned Team Ninja, launches June 27 (North America). The game looks at the classic franchise from a new...
News Nintendo European Media Summit 2010 Round-up
All the big news from the big day
Earlier today, two of Nintendo Life's UK editorial team attended Nintendo's European Media Summit in London's swanky O2 Arena, which was filled with transparent plastic chairs and surrounded with projection screens showing upcoming titles. Although many of the major announcements were made at the US summit...
News They're Coming - 23rd April for Monster Hunter Tri in Europe
Europe gets two special bundles, one with black classic pro, one with black classic pro and WiiSpeak.
The rumble of approaching monsters grows louder by the day and on 23rd April 2010, Wii owners will get to taste the game that has been a phenomenon in Japan, when Monster Hunter Tri roars into life across Europe. To further whet your monstrous...
Wednesday24th Feb 2010
When there's no more water in the well, the dead will walk the Earth
You know what they say: if you can’t beat ‘em, take what they did and put a fresh coat of paint on it. In this case it’s Gevo Entertainment taking on Wii Sports Resort’s sword-fighting modes with a mythical Chinese folklore twist. This is by no means a bad thing...
Will it really make you flip?
What began life as a mere tech demo for its creator's Voxel 3D engine somehow turned into a fairly hyped up DSiWare release that's gotten quite a bit of attention since it was announced last year. Not only that, but the game has undergone a major visual overhaul during the course of its development. The ultimate goal in...
News Capcom Reveals Everything You Want To Know About Monster Hunter 3
Free online play, WiiSpeak support and more
Among all the other tidbits and release dates coming out of Nintendo's American Media Summit today, Capcom confirmed the hopes and dreams of Western monster hunters by announcing a whole slew of things about Monster Hunter 3 Tri. The game has been given a solid release date of April 20 with a demo disc...
News Cave Story Coming March 22nd
The long-awaited WiiWare release is finally dated!
Cave Story fans can now breath a sigh of relief as Nicalis has just announced that Cave Story will be released in North America on March 22nd. It seems the wait is finally over. You can check out the official press release below for more information and we'll have some new screenshots up soon...
News Prince of Persia to Include SNES Remake of Original
Exclusively on Wii
While Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands on Wii won't look as good as the HD versions, nor feature the studly Jake Gyllenhaal, it'll be bringing along a little extra sumthin'-sumthin' that may sway retro game fans its way. At the Nintendo of America Media Summit today, Ubisoft revealed that the Wii version will exclusively...
News Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid: Other M Coming This Summer
Nintendo Australia reveals release window
We knew Nintendo was all set to have a big Wii year with a line-up that includes Super Mario Galaxy 2, the Team Ninja collaboration Metroid: Other M and possibly a new Zelda game. What we didn't know was when, but thanks to Nintendo Australia we've a stronger idea for at least two of these. Greg Arthurton,...
News WiiWare and DSiWare Release Dates Announced
Download services keep on rolling!
Nintendo has just announced the release schedule for their DSiWare and WiiWare services at their Media Summit in San Francisco and it looks like the Nintendo digital download services are about to really heat up. You can check out the full press release on these releases below and we'll have new screenshots on some...
News BAFTA Awarding Miyamoto With Fellowship
Let's hope it doesn't go to his head
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced this week their choice of the next honoree of the BAFTA Fellowship award, and it is none other than legendary Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda and more fun than a monkey barrel could ever dream of...
News WiiWare Market Grows to Nearly $60M USD in 2009
WiiWare sales are projected to overtake that of Virtual Console in the coming year. Games WiiWant? Apparently so
It's interesting to see how both the Virtual Console and WiiWare services have been utilised by today's gamers. The act of acquiring a game via download is something that was previously only common-place in a market like the PC. Now, all...
News Metroid: Other M Hits June 27th
Team Ninja's take on the series almost ready for take-off – UPDATED: Hear Samus speak (we think)!
Metroid fans had better brace themselves, as Nintendo has just announced that Metroid: Other M, their brand new collaboration with Team Ninja, is set to hit North American store shelves on June 27th. Metroid™: Other M, the incredible new Metroid...
News Super Mario Galaxy 2 Hits May 23
Nintendo's newest Mario adventure is not far away!
Nintendo has just announced that Super Mario Galaxy 2 will be hitting North American store shelves on May 23. That gives Nintendo fans exactly 3 months to save up for what is sure to be one of the biggest releases of 2010 and a much-anticipated sequel for Wii owners. So get that money saved, as this...
News Sin & Punishment 2 Coming June 7th
Sequel to Nintendo 64 classic is on its way
Nintendo and Treasure have just announced that the sequel to the cult classic Nintendo 64 shooter will be hitting North American store shelves on June 7th. Sin and Punishment: Star Successor will use the Wii Remote to create an unprecedented level of play control and interaction within the game. You can...
News GlobZ Announces Globulos Party for March
DSiWare release coming soon to North America and Europe
We've just gotten word from independent French development studio GlobZ that they've received a publication date for their upcoming DSiWare game Globulos Party. Globulos Party is a mini-game collection featuring cute and colourful blobby critters that you guide with the stylus to play a full...
News Nintendo to Publish Dragon Quest IX in North America
Set to hit stores this summer!
Nintendo and Square-Enix have just announced that Nintendo will be publishing the much-anticipated Dragon Quest IX in North America. The game is set for a summer 2010 release and is looking to be one of the biggest DS releases of the year, especially for eager RPG fans who've been waiting to get their hands on the...
Tuesday23rd Feb 2010
Home improvements needed
Mouse House is the latest game to make the jump from iPhone to WiiWare. Not all of these transitions are very successful, but Mouse House is a basic enough puzzle game that it survives the leap intact and without bringing any shame upon developers Plaid World Studios. Unfortunately, in the competitive WiiWare marketplace,...
News Last Ninja 3 Pulled From European Virtual Console
Bye bye, broken Commodore 64 game
Bringing an end to a long-standing issue with the download release of the Commodore 64's Last Ninja 3, Nintendo has pulled the game from the European Virtual Console. A bug present since release was never fixed by Commodore Gaming, and those who have purchased the game will be receiving a refund. Nintendo Life had...
Review Flips: Terror in Cubicle Four (DSiWare)
Reading fun for the young kids
Digital books seem like a pretty obvious thing to sell for just about any handheld. Strangely enough, we didn't really see any notable ones on the DS until 2008 when Nintendo released their 100 Classic Book Collection. At the end of 2009, EA released a set of five Flips games, each featuring a number of decently sized...
News Brand New NES Platformer Released
Get 'em while they're...uh gone.
For those who don't know, Sivak Games has released a brand new NES platformer via RetroZone which has completely sold out its initial launch quantity almost immediately after being listed for sale. Rest assured, RetroZone has stated that more carts are being produced and will be available for sale on the site...
News Warner Bros. Interactive Announces New Batman Game for Wii and DS
Animated show tie-in to coming this fall
Wii owners may have missed out on Arkham Asylum, but they're getting an exclusive release in the form of a game based upon the Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated series, in which the Dark Knight teams up with other DC heroes to combat villainy. Wayforward are the developers behind this licensed tie-in,...
News Brush Up On Your Street Fighter History With New Book
Capcom teams up with Chronicle Books to tell the history behind the popular beat 'em up series
We're sure many of you can remember where you played your first game of Street Fighter. For me, it was the house of a distant relative that shared a similar enthusiasm for gaming as myself in my childhood. It's a series that stretches back to the mid '80s...
Interviews EnjoyUp Games - Chronos Twins
EnjoyUp Games talk Chronos Twins.
With the recent release of Chronos Twins on both the DSiWare and WiiWare services, we thought it might be a good time to try to get some more information out of EnjoyUp Games about the titles they've created during their years in the gaming industry. Julio Moruno, Lead Game Designer on Chronos Twins, was kind enough...
Monday22nd Feb 2010
News Nintendo Cereal System Sells For $200
Indigestion medication not included
Do you remember the Nintendo Cereal System from 1988? It let people who just couldn't get enough of Mario and Zelda to pour them into a bowl and eat them, keeping their spirits (but, sadly, not powers) with you all throughout the day by way of two different types of cereal: fruit-flavored for Mario, berry for...
Review Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll (Wii)
Rollin' rollin' rollin', get those monkeys rollin'
One of Sega's first games for a home console of former rival Nintendo was Super Monkey Ball on the Gamecube. It quickly became a favourite among many with its simple arcade gameplay and irrepressibly cute characters. Reception for the first Wii installment, Banana Blitz, was a bit mixed due to a...
News Mario & Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Almost Considered a Possibility
Unsurprisingly, Wii DLC is also out
In a recent Q&A about Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing with The Kartel, producers Omar Woodley, Dan Gallardo were popped the million-dollar question: was Mario ever considered for the race? Everything is a possibility. It definitely was discussed way early on in development, but just the fact that we have...
Review Flight Control (DSiWare)
Up in the air
Already available on the iPhone, Flight Control puts you in one of the world’s most stressful jobs: air traffic controller. Charged with landing all flights safely, you have to plot a path for each incoming aircraft towards its designated landing zone, naturally making sure to avoid collisions. What begins as a straightforward...
Review Puzzle to Go Wildlife (DSiWare)
Puzzling
DSiWare's got more than enough puzzle games already, so we can't say it was unexpected that the service has now finally gotten one based on the traditional definition of the word. Based on nothing more and nothing less than jigsaw puzzles, all you'll be doing here is dragging around pieces of a puzzle in an effort to snap them all together...
First Impressions G.G. Series Z・ONE
Budget shooting on the go
Genterprise has published a lot of DSiWare in the past year, mostly as part of a budget line called G. G. Series. These are small arcade-style games with a 200 Point price tag which have caught the attention of many who read our weekly Japanese download news because we just aren't seeing this kind of thing elsewhere for...
News Nintendo Patents Touch Screen Rumble Feature
No news of a new Star Fox to go with it
Nintendo have recently filed a patent for touch screen rumble feedback. The patent reveals a tactile feature, wherein rumble feedback is applied through the touch screen consequent to the user’s interaction. The patent confirms that the hardware to which the technology relates to consists of two screens,...
News Super Meat Boy Coming to Xbox Live Arcade
Red meat is heading into the red ring!
Well Meat fans, hold onto your shorts. It seems our beloved and much-anticipated WiiWare release Super Meat Boy is going to be doing a little moonlighting on another download service. We've just learned that Super Meat Boy will not only be making an appearance on Xbox Live Arcade, but it's going to debut there...
Nintendo Download 22nd February 2010 (North America)
Ghost slaying, mouse housing, flight controlling and fish finding this week!
North America is clearly the territory to envy thus far this year with weekly updates featuring a variety of downloads for the Wii and DSi. Whilst retro-gamers will bemoan the absence of any Virtual Console releases this time around, there's still a bevy of budget WiiWare...
News Dark Void Zeroes In on European Release
Capcom Twitter feed spills the beans
Dark Void in HD may have been something of a stinker, but the "long-lost" 8-bit prequel Dark Void Zero smelled quite lovely. Europe hasn't been able to smell its retro roses so far, but that's all about to change soon. Capcom Europe community manager Chiara Woolford revealed on her Twitter feed that the...
Sunday21st Feb 2010
News The Nintendo DS in Breakfast Form
Now five years old, the DS is looking a bit crusty
In the world of cuisine, the first bite is supposedly via the presentation. Following that rule of thumb, the creator of this "DS toast" has obviously gone for a flavour that Nintendo fans will enjoy. Presumably created by a fan rather than a famous chef, the crunchy console takes its form...
News ONM Cross-Examines Capcom on Ace Attorney
Gamers get their questions answered
Coinciding with Friday's European launch of the fifth game in the series, a recent ONM Asks session saw Shu Takumi (Creative Director of the Ace Attorney series) and Motohide Eshiro (Producer of Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth) answering some questions on the popular quirky courtroom puzzle games...
News Upcoming Media Summit Promises Surprises, Hype
What will Nintendo reveal in a few days?
Whenever there's a Nintendo press event, everyone goes bananas predicting what will be unveiled: new hardware, new entries in long-running series, Virtual Console Handheld. Well, with not one but two three Media Summits scheduled for this week, you can bet there'll be some interesting announcements in the...
News Rogue Listing On Retailer Website
Here's where the speculative fun begins!
Star Wars fans have been left a little wanting this generation with that light sabre game still unannounced. But now, all you wannabe Jedi’s may be able to look forward to piloting an X-Wing instead, as UK retailer GAME has recently listed Rogue Squadron as an upcoming release on its Web site. Of course,...
News GhostSlayer Trailer Appears to Spook You
Get your slay on with this new trailer
Gevo Entertainment producer Lim Ming Jie has just e-mailed us here at Nintendo Life to let us know about the new trailer for the upcoming WiiWare game Ghostslayer. It's looking especially delicious, and when we get our hands on it in just a few hours we certainly hope the gameplay matches up with the footage!...
Friday19th Feb 2010
News XBLA Perfect Dark Getting GoldenEye Maps and Weapons
Another nail in the coffin of Virtual Console GoldenEye?
Although it's pretty obvious to all but the most blinkered Rare fans that the N64 game GoldenEye has about as much chance of hitting the Wii Virtual Console as Tiger Woods keeping his club to himself, there's always been a part of us that held out hope. However, Microsoft's Ken Lobb (the...
News Sony Patents Universal Game Controller
Would work with all three current home consoles - including Wii
Owners of multiple consoles can attest to the clutter and occasionally annoying battery maintenance that comes with having several different controllers kicking around the house. Televisions, stereos and DVD players can all be programmed to use one remote control, but gamers are stuck...
News Castlevania: The Adventure is Reborn in Europe Next Week
Get your Belmont on
Good news, vampire slayers. The release date for Konami's WiiWare undead party Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth has snuck onto the Nintendo Channel in Europe (spotted by Nintendaan), revealing that you'll be able to take on Dracula and his cronies on February 26 for 1000 Wii points. Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth is the...
News Trackmania Building Speed
Nearing the finish line
Trackmania, the virtual trackset and PC sensation, is on the final lap as it speeds towards its home console debut on the Wii. The first trailer for the game has come out of Focus Home Interactive, showing an engine that looks finely tuned and running on all cylinders. Firebrand Games, the racing game specialist who handled...
News Mario & Sonic's Winter Olympics Outing Shifts 6M
Quite possibly more profitable than the actual Olympics
The real Winter Olympics in Vancouver may be watched and beloved the world over, but you know what else is beloved all across the globe? Video games, and especially ones starring Mario and Sonic. Combine that with the Olympics and hoo-boy is there money to be made. Sega and Nintendo would like...
First Impressions Shashin de Kakutō! Photo Fighter X
Two street fighters and a microphone
No doubt many have seen the latest and greatest fighting game on the Wii and thought "me and my mates could do better than that." Well Nintendo must have read your pixie-stick addled thoughts because they went and released a D.I.Y. fighting game for the DSi last December in Japan called Photo Fighter X...
Nintendo Download 19th February 2010 (Europe)
Another no-show for the Virtual Console.
Things were looking alright for a while, but Nintendo of Europe has gone back to their old tricks once again, as this week offers us no new Virtual Console titles. Not to worry too much though, because at least there's 7 downloads spread across the other two services! On WiiWare, the biggest release is, no...
News Rage of the Gladiator - Amit the Snake Charmer Trailer
Check out the game's newest bad boy!
Ghostfire Games have just released the newest boss gameplay trailer for its upcoming WiiWare fighter Rage of the Gladiator for all to enjoy. In this video you'll get to meet Amit the Snake Charmer. Not only is he a ferocious fighter, but he also has the ability to transform himself into a snake for a more...
Nintendo Download 23rd & 24th February 2010 (Japan)
Another light release week, but a surprise VCA release takes us higher
This year Nintendo seems to be taking a more leisurely release pace than its overseas arms. Whilst this can be disappointing for importers, it certainly seems more fair and we have to think that game publishers will be happy to have less competition than in those massive release...
News Pick Up, There's A Developer Diary Calling
New footage and details about Hudson's upcoming horror game
We've already gone hands-on with Hudson's horror title Calling, but maybe you'd like to hear some of the people involved with the development talk about the scare-fest. Eh? Eh? Alongside new footage, Chief Director Kazufumi Shimizu and Concept Creator and Design Director Takeshi Inomata...
Thursday18th Feb 2010
Review Art of Balance (WiiWare)
Who would have thought stacking could be so much fun?
Shin'en, probably best known for their Nanostray shooters on the Nintendo DS, decided to toss their hat in the increasingly crowded ring of WiiWare puzzlers. Instead of rehashing another dumbed-down clone of an existing idea, however, they've instead taken the basic idea of stacking and built one...
Review Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice For All (WiiWare)
“Sustained!”
This second game in the Phoenix Wright series brings more of the same intriguing puzzle solving game play mixed with addictive storytelling that made the first game a runaway success when it was released. And like the first game, Phoenix’s second outing is one of the best experiences to be had on a handheld. But as we pointed out...
Review Prehistorik Man (DSiWare)
A real dinosaur
Originally released for DOS as Prehistorik 2, Prehistorik Man has seen ports to the Game Boy, SNES, and GBA already, and it seems the GBA version has been ported to DSiWare this time around. In each version, the story is the same — hungry dinosaurs have snuck into a prehistoric village in the dead of night and eaten all the...
Review Scrabble Classic (DSiWare)
Words in your pants
Scrabble has been kicking around as a DS release for almost a year now, but plopping down full price for a board game adaptation that you might only play every once in a while is kind of a tough pill to swallow for a lot of people. This DSiWare release, while reduced in both price and features, is a good alternative for...
Talking Point Does Nintendo Need to Exercise More Quality Control on the Wii?
Are shoddy ports and the tide of cheap cash-in titles putting the Wii at risk?
Nintendo is right to be proud of the Wii: it has single-handedly put them back at the top of the console stack after two generations of consoles which, whilst not outright disasters, failed to capture the imaginations of the majority of the game playing public. The Wii...
News Steve Wiebe Crowned King of Kong Once Again
Although it's Donkey Kong Jr. this time
Celebrity gamer and star of the excellent King of Kong Steve Wiebe has reclaimed the world record for Nintendo's Donkey Kong Jr. coin-op after briefly relinquishing the title to Mark Kiel, who had set the previous high score at a whopping 1,147,800. Wiebe - who became famous after his battle with gaming legend...
News Sony: Publishers Pulling Resources From Wii Development
PS3 Vs Wii... Fight, Fight!
Lately we’ve seen some of the big-third party publishers such as EA distancing themselves from the Wii somewhat, largely because sales just ain't what they had hoped for the platform. Could it be due to increased competition from Sony’s mighty PS3? According to SCEA vice president of publisher relations Robert Dyer...
News New Trademark for Eternal Darkness
Is there light at the end of the tunnel for this Gamecube classic?
Kotaku.com spotted the re-upping for the trade mark of the highly lauded GameCube title, Eternal Darkness. That means ... what, exactly? Nintendo is considering a new title for the Wii? Can you imagine motion control to deal with Sanity effects? Or is this just Nintendo squatting on...
News Mouse House Coming to WiiWare
Grab the cheese - win the prize!
Big John Games have just announced that their new WiiWare puzzler Mouse House will be coming to the North American WiiWare service on February 22nd for 600 Wii Points. You can check out a snippet from the press release that gives a bit more information about the game below and we'll have a full review of the game...
News Frobot Multi Playa Gameplay Video
Check out the game's multiplayer mode in action!
The guys at Fugazo have just sent over the newest gameplay video of their upcoming WiiWare title Frobot in action. This new video features the game's Multi Playa mode, chock full of hectic and intense multiplayer action. You can check out the video below and we'll have more information on Frobot as it...
Wednesday17th Feb 2010
Boom boom pow
When it comes to downloadable game output, Intelligent Systems is on a roll. They’ve launched us to the moon, single-handedly blasted pollution into nothingness and took a few turns around some dragon war. Now they’ve got us chucking bombs into the mouths of ghosts in Spotto! And while it may be their smallest effort yet, it...
News Tetris Party Deluxe Dropping Into Wii and DS
New modes, Wii Speak support and more blocks than the entire 8-bit era
You may have thought Tetris Party on WiiWare had exhausted all variants on the classic puzzler, but you'd be wrong. Very wrong. Hudson Soft, Tetris Online and Majesco have announced today that they've found even more kitchen sinks to throw into the mix for the retail release that...
News EA Tees Up Golf Club Peripherals for Wii
Living rooms, beware
With Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 due out in June, EA have announced that they are releasing a line of sports accessories for the Nintendo Wii, including realistic golf clubs for its Tiger Woods PGA Tour series. These golf clubs will stretch out to 36 inches, so if you're playing the Wii in your bedroom this may not be such a...
First Impressions And Yet It Moves
We take this gravity puzzler for a spin
And Yet It Moves is heading to WiiWare, fresh from its critically-acclaimed PC appearance, so we were naturally curious how it would stack up on the Wii. If you've not played the PC demo yet, here's a brief summary to get you up to speed. And Yet It Moves is a side-scrolling platform game that puts you in...
News Dimps Revealed As Sonic 4 Developer
Sonic Team not involved, say Sega
Sega's highly-esteemed internal development studio Sonic Team may be named after the character it helped to create but it will apparently have nothing to do with the production of the upcoming Sonic 4. Coding duties have instead fallen to Dimps, the team which helped Capcom make Street Fighter IV. While this news...
First Impressions Sakutto Hamareru Hori Hori Action Mr. Driller
Portable Driller action is Go!
Namco's Mr. Driller is certainly one of the greatest arcade puzzle franchises ever, and has even surpassed its arcade heritage on home consoles in the the past decade of its existence. Whilst Drill Land remains the franchise pinnacle, subsequent releases on WiiWare and DS have still been fun entries in the s
News GhostSlayer Slicin' and Dicin' WiiWare Next Week
Get Ready
Gevo Entertainment has revealed to Nintendo Life that its upcoming supernatural slasher GhostSlayer has been given a North American release date. Players will be able to go blade-to-ectoplasma with the ancient spookies on February 22nd. Players take on the role of a GhostSlayer to fight off the hordes of the Ghost Queen in this...
News Get Heard on the Nintendo Life Podcast!
Speak up about the DS for our next show!
Next month the DS console is five years old in Europe, and to celebrate we're going to be hosting a special DS edition of the podcast. We'd love to hear your memories and thoughts on the DS on the show. What's your favourite DS game? How do you think the console has changed gaming? Do you have any special...
Tuesday16th Feb 2010
Review Sonic & Knuckles (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)
Lock-on, baby
It's widely known that Sonic and Knuckles (S&K) started out as the latter half of Sonic 3, but development constraints forced SEGA to split the game in two, putting S&K onto an innovative Lock-On cartridge that, when combined with Sonic 3, pieced the game back together into its original state. Now, with the announcement that...
Review WarMen Tactics (WiiWare)
Shockin' awful
Here at Nintendo Life we pride ourselves on reviewing every downloadable game and application released for the Wii and DSi. As a reviewer this may mean reviewing games in genres you might not regularly play, and there's also the risk of playing a bad game; sometimes a really bad game. WarMen Tactics is one of the latter, a game that...
Par for the course
On DSiWare, we very recently saw the release of A Little Bit of... Nintendo Touch Golf (Or True Swing Golf Express in North America), a slightly cut-down version of the retail game bearing the same name. We thought it was very competent, and as such felt that the "golf game" gap on the service had been filled. But here...
Review Spaceball: Revolution (DSiWare)
The same sphere-shooting fun, now in the palm of your hand
Last year, Virtual Toys brought Spaceball: Revolution to the Wii Shop, an arcade-style puzzle game that had you firing at a grid to copy patterns. Now that it's hit the DSi Shop, this puzzler has brought the same unique experience to a handheld system. Challenge Mode is where you’ll find...
First Impressions Rune Factory Frontier
Growing a beaut
US readers may scoff at the "First Impressions" title of this article as Rune Factory Frontier has been available in the Western hemisphere for nearly a year, but as always European gamers are left waiting for any Harvest Moon-related titles. However, farming fans need not fret much longer, as Rune Factory Frontier is due...
News DS2 Rumour Is Rumour No More
According to The Pokemon Company
Did you scoff at the recent rumours of a DS2 development kit doing the rounds? Well get ready to wipe that smirk off your smug face because according to CVG the machine is very real. The website has been told by an employee at The Pokemon Company that they have indeed received DS2 development kits - although the tech...
Interviews Flipper Developer Hugo Smits
The one-man voxel machine talks DSiWare development
It's not long until Flipper will be swimming onto DSi systems, so we had just enough time to reel in Hugo Smits, hook some questions on him and wait for him to return with the answers. Nintendo Life: First off, congratulations on the Seal of Approval! Just to bring our readers up to speed, what's...
News Ubisoft Limbers Up For Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
New screens and release date revealed
Ubisoft has today come full circle with the Prince of Persia franchise as it revealed new screens and details on Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands for the Wii, the game tied to the movie based on the games. Whew. The game has been built from the ground up for the Wii and will introduce fans of the series to...
News Fragile Dreams Come True in March
Mark your calendar for the 19th of next month
If you're a fan of subtle Japanese pseudo-supernatural survival adventure RPGs, today is your lucky day. Not as lucky as Friday, March 19th though, as that's when Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon is confirmed to launch across Europe. We've already spent a good few hours with the game and were...
Podcast NLFM Episode 4: The One With Datarock
Robot rock
There's a Norwegian, Dark Void Zero, de Blob, Mega rap and the aural debut of Sega's 16-bit beast — what more could you possibly want? Welcome to another jolly good episode of NLFM, the chip and game music podcast from Nintendo Life. We're joined in this bumper-length episode by special guest Fredrik Saroena, one half of the...
First Impressions Monsteca Corral
Round 'em up, move 'em out
So far we haven't been told much about Onteca's upcoming WiiWare title Monsteca Corral, so when the developers offered us to see the game in action for ourselves we jumped at the chance. It's tough to describe Monsteca Corral in traditional genre terms, but it's perhaps closest to a real-time strategy game, although it...
Monday15th Feb 2010
News Developer Allegedly Has DS2 Kit
Could this be Nintendo's big reveal?
As Nintendo’s Media Summit approaches, rumours about what exactly the big announcement will be are starting to surface. According to French web site Gamekult, it could well be the unveiling of a DS successor. Developer sources close t
News Nintendo Power Unwittingly Reveals Wii 2
...only to discover that it has fallen foul of a cheap Photoshop trick
Those of you lucky enough to get Nintendo Power magazine on a regular basis may have been shocked to see an image in the latest issue bearing the Wii 2 logo. The photo of a Wii Remote - which was used to illustrate an item regarding Netflix - seemed to confirm the impending...
News Nintendo Download 15th February 2010 (North America)
Phoenix Wright, Art of Balance, Spaceball, Sonic and more in another big update!
Nintendo of America is certainly putting out a lot of original content for the Wii and DSi this year. This week we have four downloads for Wii and five for the DSi, so hopefully you'll be able to find something of interest. WiiWare: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: JUSTICE...
Sunday14th Feb 2010
Luchador's lament
Lucha Libre has an interesting history and place in Mexican culture and luchadores can be viewed in the same light as Japanese sumo (unsurprisingly Lucha Libre has a strong following in Japan as well): real-life super-heroes. Like super heroes, most luchadores wear masks and go to great lengths to maintain an air of mystery about...
Games that tug the heartstrings
Valentine's Day is sometimes derided as a "Hallmark Holiday" - a day created for shops to sell stuff like greeting cards and chocolates due to feelings of obligation. Despite this, it must be said that having a day in which you're expected to express love and devotion to those closest to you can't be all...
Saturday13th Feb 2010
News Sonic Classic Collection Goes Collectible
Limited edition for Australia and Spain
Get ready to add yet another tin case to your growing collection, as SEGA have confirmed the existence of a limited edition release for Sonic Classic Collection for the Nintendo DS. The set comes in the aforementioned tin case, the contents of which are an exclusive Sonic figurine, five postcards featuring...
We chat about Bplus' Japanese debut: the evolution from Bit Boy!! to Bit Man!!
Bplus games seem to be the Marmite of WiiWare, invoking strong feelings of love or disdain from gamers in our forums, but whichever side of the fence you're on, you have to be impressed that they've been selected as one of the first participants in Marvelous...
News GTI Club Supermini Festa! Under Starter's Orders
Trailer comes out of the garage
Konami has just released a video for the Wii instalment of its classic arcade franchise, GTI Club. The publisher is set to publish a version of GTI Club Supermini Festa!, the third title in the series which was released as GTI Club+ Rally Côte d'Azur on the Playstation Network. The game is famous for its handbrake...
Friday12th Feb 2010
Review Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (Virtual Console / NES)
A Virtual Console vegetable medley
After making several appearances on various Japanese personal computers and then being ported to the Famicom system, Hudson decided to bring the unique vegetable-themed text adventure Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom over to American NES gamers. The game was obviously quite a change of pace from the majority of...
Review Oscar in Movieland (DSiWare)
Cut, cut, cut
Oscar in Movieland was originally released for Amiga computers in 1993 under the name Oscar. While its predecessor, Oscar in Toyland, was centered around Troll dolls back in the day and later shoehorned the character into the game when developer Flair lost the license, Movieland was the first straight-up Oscar game. Like Toyland, this...
News Super Mario Bros. 3 Turns Twenty
One of the greatest games ever celebrates a milestone.
For those unaware, today marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Super Mario Bros. 3 in North America. Having sold over 18 million copies worldwide, it still stands as one of the best-selling video games of all time - and that's not even accounting for the various remakes and re-releases of...
News Mega Man 10 Coming March 1st
Capcom's latest retro-fest is almost here.
Capcom has just announced that their upcoming WiiWare release of Mega Man 10 will be hitting North America on March 1st for 1000 Wii Points. In a new blog entry on Capcom's Unity Blog, you can check out all of the new Mega Man moves detailed complete with screenshots and artwork. Or if you'd rather just...
News Sniper Elite Remade for Wii
A new old game
World War II sniping simulation Sniper Elite is to be brought to the Wii by UK publisher Reef Entertainment. Set in Berlin 1945, players take the role of an American OSS agent on a mission to seek out German nuclear technology and shoot Nazis in the neck. The game was released back in 2005 on PS2, XBOX and PC and was generally well...
News Bit Museum Episode 5 Coming Soon
Nintendo's classic Game & Watch handhelds get the spotlight
As retro-gaming fans it's no surprise we have a soft spot for Robotube Games' fantastic series of Bit Museum videos showcasing forgotten gaming consoles and handhelds. Nintendo's early gaming consoles from the 1970s featured in the first episode and we've gotten word that the latest episode...
Interviews Gevo Entertainment - GhostSlayer
Take a lesson in ghostbusting from the game's producer
Upcoming WiiWare release GhostSlayer wants to put the power to vanquish spirits in your hand, and we've had a word with Lim Ming Jie, the game's producer, on exactly how they intend on doing so. What's the premise of GhostSlayer? Who are these ghosts and why do they need slaying? Lim Ming Jie:...
Currently incubating
Alien After All and Neko Entertainment have today announced their first DSiWare download: DodoGo! The title is highly stylised action puzzle game in which the stylus is used as a tool to return the Dodo eggs back to their nest and away from the jaws of hungry predators. The eggs themselves are uncontrollable leaving players to...
Nintendo Download 16th & 17th February 2010 (Japan)
Japanese downloads go on a diet
There's still something being offered in each category next week, but this has to be one of the lightest Japanese download weeks we can remember with only four games on offer across both platforms. WiiWare: Diner Dash (1000pts - Hudson) — Hudson is pretty good about doing worldwide releases close together so you...
Nintendo Download 12th February 2010 (Europe)
Increasing the amount of games ever so slowly.
Nintendo of Europe's planned games for today seemed almost set in stone since last week, but over the past few days we suddenly got a handful of extra games to complement update, bringing the total amount of new things this week up to seven. Still not quite as much as elsewhere, but at least they're...
Thursday11th Feb 2010
Review Link 'n' Launch (DSiWare)
We have liftoff!
If it's one thing Intelligent Systems has become well known for over the years, it's their diverse game development. While they've had their hands in quite a few of Nintendo's biggest selling hits over the years, it's their Advance Wars and Paper Mario series that tend to stick out in most people's minds. Now, they've decided to try...
Review The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (GameCube)
Incredible destruction; incredibly satisfying
It's practically a truism that video games built on film and book licenses suck; probably due to the motivation for using a license from another medium being more about attempting to cash-in on name recognition than actually delivering a compelling gaming experience. Of course there are exceptions to the...
Run to the hills
There once was a time when the tower defence genre was so niche that, shock and awe, there weren’t these types of games released somewhere every week. In case you haven’t overindulged on the genre, Subatomic Studios’ Fieldrunners would like your attention, please. No, don’t leave, it’s good! Originally released on...
News Rising Star Confirms European Release of No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Return to the Gardens of Madness in April!
Today Rising Star games confirmed what many had suspected, but had never officially been announced: namely that they're handling the publication of Grasshopper Manufacture's eagerly anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed 2008 release, No More Heroes. Naturally we just couldn't wait and had to review...
Wednesday10th Feb 2010
Review Blaster Master: Overdrive (WiiWare)
A blast from the past gets a makeover
Over the years, Sunsoft's NES Blaster Master release has become a favourite among fans of the console. Not only has it gone on to become a true cult classic for the system, it's also been called one of the most innovative gameplay experiences of the 8-bit era. Now Sunsoft is back and after having recently...
Review Hubert the Teddy Bear: Winter Games (WiiWare)
Teddy bear Christmas comes early
WiiWare has seen a surprising number of mini-game collections come its way, probably due to the simple nature of the genre and the greater likelihood of standing out as part of a weekly download release than on a store shelf crowded with such titles. Hubert the Bear: Winter Games makes a decent addition to the genre...
News OpaOpa and ChuChu's Rocket into Sega and Sonic All-Stars Racing
Jacky, Akira and Bonanza Bros join the fun too
Sumo Digital are shaping up Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing is full of goodies for Sega fans old and new. The offical website has been updated to bring the full character list up to speed and they include the sentient ship Opa Opa of the Fantasy Zone series and a quadruple of ChuChus from the Dreamcast...
News New Pokémon Revealed in CoroCoro Magazine
New Dark-type 'mon on the way
The weekly Pokémon show in Japan, Pokémon Sunday, showed a silhouette of a brand-new monster due to be the first announced creature in the forthcoming fifth generation of the popular critter catching series. Pokémon fansite Serebii has since gotten its hands on scans of the latest issue of CoroCoro Magazine, which...
Review Extreme Hangman (DSiWare)
Less violence, more vocabulary
With all the sudoku games that have hit the DSi Shop since the service launched last April, it's nice to occasionally see a pen-and-paper puzzle game for DSiWare that doesn't involve numbers. In Extreme Hangman, Gamelion has taken the time-honored word-guessing game and turned it into something a little more...
News Marvelous Entertainment Announces World Game Parade
Western indie games heading for the Land of the Rising Sun
Marvelous Entertainment is launching a new "World Game Parade" label for WiiWare in Japan, bringing over indie games from Western developers which might not otherwise have seen the inside of the Japanese Wii Shop. The release dates haven't been announced yet, but the first four...
News Big Nintendo News Incoming
But what could it be?
Sometimes it seems that looking forward to upcoming games is more exciting than playing what’s on the shelf. The anticipation of a new instalment in a favourite franchise is enough to drive many to stalker like tendencies as the internet is scoured for any nugget of new information. Nintendo knows how crazy we can all get,...
Dig Dug II: a new action film from Michael Bay
Tom Create are no strangers to the Nintendo download scene having released a WiiWare "card battle" game and three budget DSiWare games last year. Earth Saver was the last DSiWare game from them in 2009: a puzzle game with a play mechanic very much like Namco's Dig Dug II, but a setting like a...
We get ready for the European Overturn release with this Q & A!
With Overturn: Mecha Wars finally on its way to European shores, we took the time to catch up with Studio Zan's CEO, Makoto Sunaga, and fire off some questions about the robot battling title. Nintendo Life: First of all, could you give us a brief introduction to Studio Zan?Sunaga-san:...
We do some Happy Hammerin' with the game's director
Agenda's WiiWare bash 'em up Happy Hammerin' has been out in Europe for a month or so now, bringing joy to anyone who enjoys smacking moles with hammers. One such bash-fan is the game's director, Akimoto-san, who very kindly answered our questions. Nintendo Life: First of all, can you give us a...
Tuesday9th Feb 2010
News Miyamoto Hints Towards Next Console
Nintendo overlord Shigeru Miyamoto reminds us that Nintendo is indeed working on its next machine
As reported by Eurogamer (via Andriasang), Mr Miyamoto has recently been quoted confirming the existence of the next console from Nintendo. Obviously he didn't go into any specifics as Nintendo will be keeping any new ideas extremely close to their...
Floats like a lead bloon
Balloons have a proud history on game consoles, stretching all the way back to Circus Atari on the venerable Atari VCS and Nintendo's Joust clone Balloon Fight. There's just something about popping balloons that tickles a part of our inner children it seems and it's an activity that generally translates well to video games...
News Ubisoft Bringing Ghost Recon: Future Soldier to Wii
Will take a "different approach" for the Wii audience
If you ask Ubisoft, military tactical shooters and the Wii need not be mutually exclusive. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed to Kotaku that the newly announced next entry in the Ghost Recon series, Future Soldier, will be making its way to Wii, with a few caveats. Naturally. The Wii version...
News Nintendo Wins Another Piracy Court Case
Massive fine for Mario bootlegger
Nintendo have won a court case where they took action against the James Burt, an Australian who illegally copied and uploaded for distribution the first pirate copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a whole week prior to its official release in Australia. How was Burt able to get it so early? Well, blame that on an...
Review Sudoku 4Pockets (DSiWare)
Time to dig out your sudoku dictionary
Since 2002, the aptly-named 4Pockets.com has been creating applications and casual games for pocket PCs and smartphones, including Breakout clones, jigsaw puzzles, pinball games, and of course, sudoku. Their version of the ever-popular puzzle game has received a slight makeover and a cute Japanese doll-shaped...
News Eduardo the Samurai Toaster Soundtrack Set Free, Is Toasty
Includes new bonus songs not in the game
Along with a relaunched Web site for the rather good WiiWare release Eduardo the Samurai Toaster, developer Semnat Studios has made the game's full soundtrack available for free. Composed by Raymond Gramke, the album includes all nine tunes from the game as well as seven bonus tracks too hot for original...
News Dead Space Extracted From Wii?
Full HD version rumoured for XBLA and PSN
Dead Space Extraction was one of 2009's unexpected gems, offering tense action and a polished production values. Sadly the game sold very poorly at retail, which might be why EA is apparently investigating ways of delivering this on-rails blaster to a wider audience. Kotaku has reported on a survey for...
News Netflix Lean Towards Wii For Success
On-demand video service soon to be available on Wii in the US
Netflix is coming to the Wii very soon, according to one the company's senior executives. TheWiire.com reports: Netflix Vice President of Corporate Communications Steve Swasey anticipates seeing a lot of success (without predicting any numbers) on Nintendo's Wii platform. He notes the...
News Hudson Bringing Tetris Party Live to DSiWare
Party on the bus
Nintendo handhelds and Tetris go together like chocolate and peanut butter, so it's a bit disheartening that the stellar Tetris DS is so hard to come by these days. Hudson hears your pain and is stepping in with Tetris Party Live for DSiWare, which was discovered by Siliconera via an OLFC rating (G, by the way). Tetris Party on...
News Flipper finally gets a launch date
February 22nd for goldfish hunting fun
Some of you may remember Flipper, an indie title being developed by Goodbye Galaxy Games. The game features a boy traveling though various worlds trying to rescue his pet Goldfish named (surprisingly) Flipper. We've been following the title since its early inception (in part thanks to Hugo Smits and his blog...
Monday8th Feb 2010
Combining two classics into one disaster
Cinemax's last DSiWare game wasn't too hot, so we didn't exactly have high hopes for their second effort. It looks like our assumptions were correct, because although it borrows heavily from classics Arkanoid and Snake, it just doesn't work. How does one combine Arkanoid and Snake, you ask? Simple: by taking...
Interviews Firemint - Flight Control
The two-million selling iPhone app is coming to DSiWare very soon...
Flight Control is coming to land on DSiWare in Europe and Australia on Friday, February the 19th for only 500 Nintendo points - sadly the US release date is still up in the air. To coincide with this imminent arrival we took the opportunity to fly some questions over to Firemint's...
Nintendo Download 8th February 2010 (North America)
Another big update for North America: blasting, dancing, balloons, rockets and more this week!
The big North American updates keep on coming. This week there's four new WiiWare releases, five new DSiWare releases and a quirky NES adventure game. WiiWare: Blaster Master: Overdrive (1000pts - Sunsoft) -- The announcement of the original NES classic...
First Impressions Chōkon Chicken Do Shindan
Test your "Chicken Bird Soul"
The DS has become massively popular in part due to the number of games on it which claim to test players cleverness in some way. These are typically referred to as "brain training" programs and they've clearly been embraced by a large audience of people that enjoy being tested on math skills and such. This...
Sunday7th Feb 2010
Talking Point Nintendo Arcade Games on Virtual Console?
Should these arcade wonders get a re-release?
While we've already seen four of these arcade classics released as NES titles on the Virtual Console, we've yet to see Nintendo bring their own arcade games to the Virtual Console Arcade, despite many third party companies already doing so. So why exactly is Nintendo dragging its feet on these arcade...
Saturday6th Feb 2010
Nintendo Download 9th & 10th February 2010 (Japan)
A revamped PC Engine game comes to WiiWare, more Mega Man on the VC and a DSiWare gaming assault next week in Japan!
The Wii only has two downloads next Tuesday, but they're both hotly anticipated releases for strategy and retro fans. DSiWare is where the real download action is though, with no less than seven releases - all of which appear to be...
News Blaster Master: Overdrive Coming to WiiWare on Monday
A blast from the past is back!
Sunsoft has just announced that their brand new WiiWare title Blaster Master Overdrive will be hitting the North American WiiWare service this coming Monday for 1000 Wii Points. You can check out the snippet of information from Sunsoft's official web site, along with 6 new screenshots of the game in action. BLASTER...
News Art of Balance Coming Soon to North America
Release date and pricing set.
Shin'en Multimedia have informed us that their upcoming WiiWare title, Art of Balance is coming to the North American Wii Shop on the 15th of February and will be retailing for 800 points. Naturally we'll give it a full review at that time, but for now you can read our first impressions and feast your eyes on a new...
Friday5th Feb 2010
News Sonic Playable in Super Mario Galaxy 2?
Will Sonic be touring space with his old rival?
UK magazine Ngamer has posted an interesting tweet on Twitter this afternoon, making a rather bold claim that not only comes right out of the left field and has left us all a bit dazed and confused here at Nintendo Life Towers. We should stress this is currently deep in the realms of rumour territory...
Review Yume Koujou Doki Doki Panic (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 2, minus the Super Mario Bros.
Depending on who you ask, you're likely to hear quite a few different variations on the story of how Yume Koujou Doki Doki Panic came to be. Some say it was originally intended to be a Super Mario Bros. game but ended up taking on a life all its own at the hands of video game developer extraordinaire...
When the bugs come tumbling down
Originally released on the PC, the first and second Tumblebugs games were relatively well received. However the series failed to attain the mass popular appeal of similar games such as Zuma and Luxor as well as others. Tumblebugs is not even the first in this genre on WiiWare: that distinction goes to Magnetica...
News The Grinder Gets a Release Date, Goes Multi-Platform
No longer Wii exclusive, coming next year
High Voltage software has revealed a lot of information about anticipated team-based horror FPS The Grinder including a new trailer and the announcement that it will be shown off at this year's Game Developer's Conference. No publisher is mentioned in the interview, but there's some other interesting new...
Interviews Virtual Playground - Oscar In Movieland
Let's go to the movies with Oscar!
With the upcoming release of their second DSiWare platformer featuring Oscar this coming Monday in North America, we thought now would be a good time to get in touch with the developers in order to find out a bit more information about the game. Colin Courtney, Managing Director of Virtual Playground, was kind...
Thursday4th Feb 2010
Review 5 in 1 Solitaire (DSiWare)
Five games for the price of two
So far, Digital Leisure hasn't done the greatest job of bringing public-domain games to WiiWare or DSiWare. Sudoku Challenge wasn't challenging in quite the right way, and Word Searcher only worked on DSiWare because word searches were meant to be portable to begin with. The interfaces seemed a bit rushed and...
Review Downtown Texas Hold 'Em (DSiWare)
One step forward, two steps back.
We've already seen a host of card games released on DSiWare so far and Texas Hold'em seems to be the hot new card game to get. Hudson recently released its High Stakes Texas Hold'em onto the service to rather mediocre reviews and now EA is serving up its version of the game with the release of Downtown Texas Hold...
Review 5 in 1 Solitaire (WiiWare)
Tethered to a television is not the way to play
Just like sudoku, crossword puzzles, word searches, and other public-domain fare as WiiWare, Digital Leisure's 5-in-1 Solitaire will have you tied down in front of a television after having plunked down your Nintendo Points for games available for free on the internet or, worse yet, that came...
News Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 Coming to Wii
A return to 2D side-scrolling action of old - now with trailer!
Sega has just announced that Project Needlemouse is in fact a return to the 2D Sonic side-scrolling action of the 16-bit era. The game will be called Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 and will be released on XBLA, PSN, and WiiWare this Summer. Below is a snippet of the interview conducted...
First Impressions Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
Tri-Crescendo's brooding adventure comes to life
You may have already heard some impressions about Fragile Dreams in our recent podcast, but there's still much to tell about Tri-Crescendo's upcoming post-apocalyptic adventure. The game begins with the death of your surrogate grandfather, the only human being you've ever had contact with. The world...
News Sonic & Knuckles Coming to EU Virtual Console on 12th February
Sega due to finally complete the Mega Drive series
It's been a big day for hedgehog fans. Along with the Sonic 4 reveal today, Sega has also let slip that Sonic & Knuckles is now Wii-bound at long last. The 1994 title is a follow-on from Sonic 3 story-wise, continuing the journey of Sonic as he takes down the Death Egg, and Knuckles's path as he...
News LEGO Harry Potter Year 2 Vignette Released
Get prepared to stab a LEGO diary!
We've been blessed by the LEGO gods here at Nintendo Life! Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and TT Games have released a new video vignette the upcoming LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, which is due for release on Wii and DS in May of this year. Take a look at the vignette below, it focuses on the second year at...
Nintendo Download 5th February 2010 (Europe)
Two anticipated titles finally arrive.
The Virtual Console seems to be in full swing in Europe again, after a rather lackluster period - We got Street Fighter Alpha 2 last week, and we're getting Sonic & Knuckles the next. The space inbetween isn't empty either, because Capcom has chosen to release two games in a row. Meanwhile, on WiiWare,...
News GhostSlayer Jumps Out, Goes "Boo"
MotionPlus at the ready!
It's typical, isn't it? You wait months for a first-person, MotionPlus-utilising WiiWare title and then two come along at once. Not long after our hands-on with Rage of the Gladiator, Gevo Entertainment just emailed to let us know about its future WiiWare release GhostSlayer. Like Rage, MotionPlus is optional for...
First Impressions Panel Renketsu 3 Minute Rocket
Pipe Mania plus Apollo Space Progam plus Sky TV?
Whilst Nintendo's Intelligent Systems development team might be better known for the Fire Emblem series, on the download front they seem to be cutting loose with a lightgun shooter on WiiWare and now a puzzle game for the DSi. At first glance it looks like the classic puzzler Pipe Mania, but that's...
News THQ Announces de Blob Sequel for 2011
Latest earnings report drops reference to franchising of critically acclaimed original IP.
de Blob was one of THQ's most critically acclaimed new IPs when it was released in the second half of 2008, but despite past rumours of a sequel we've not had anything concrete said on that score until now. There's not much specific about the Wii in THQ's...
News Europe Finally Gets Overturned on February 12th
Mecha madness hits WiiWare shortly
Until now, European fans of giant robots have been crying into their Transformers pillowcases about the state of the Wii's 'bot back catalogue, their tears ever saltier by the long delay in seeing Overturn: Mecha Wars reach European shores. Originally announced for a European release last April, Gamebridge has just...
Wednesday3rd Feb 2010
Review Legends of Exidia (DSiWare)
DSiWare's first RPG doesn't set the bar too high, but it's still quite enjoyable
It's a bit odd that we haven't seen any DSiWare RPGs until now. You'd think that with the service's portable nature and the genre’s wealth of retail releases, it would be a perfect fit. Apparently developers think otherwise! Gameloft is known for their frequent...
Review Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 (DS)
Once you start, you'll need to call on the Ouendan to help you stop playing this game
In 2005, iNiS crafted Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan for DS. Rhythm games were hardly being made for the system, but they instantly proved that it could have amazing results when done right. People spoke so positively about it that it was popular both in and outside Japan,...
Review Geometry Wars Galaxies (DS)
A near-perfect translation of the console classic
Bizarre Creation's Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved is something of a modern classic. The wireframe graphics and gameplay consisting of firing at enemies in every direction on a closed 2D playfield are like a marriage of arcade classics Tempest and Robotron, making for some addictive gameplay. Sierra...
News Pokémon Lose the Slots From Their Heart and Soul
Risk explosions from Voltorbs instead!
Poké-fans in Europe may remember last year when during their Pokémon journey in Pokémon Platimum they discovered they couldn't play the slots like they could in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. It seems this trend continues with Pokémon SoulSliver and HeartGold as well, though this time instead of simply picking...
First Impressions Space Invaders Extreme Z
Space Invaders Extreme 2 comes to DSiWare
Space Invaders is a video game icon: even people who don't play video games are likely to recognise the bitmap images of the Invaders thanks to Taito's persistence in keeping the brand name alive via product licensing, video game sequels and home console ports. The celebration of the 30th anniversary of...
First Impressions Pinball Attack!
Pinball and shooters: two tastes that go great together
ArtePiazza is better recognised for its work on RPGs like Enix's Dragon Quest series and more recently Koei's Wii RPG Opoona, so it's interesting that their freshman effort on DSiWare is a marriage of video pinball and shooter called Pinball Attack! There are currently no other pinball games on...
News MotionPlus Nabs A New Exclusive: Zelda Wii
Producer hopes to bring a playable build to E3
Wii Sports Resort is great and all, but if you've stopped playing it for whatever reason then odds are good you've tossed its accompanying MotionPlus dongle into a drawer, waiting for a good reason to pop it back in. Sure, there's Ubisoft's Red Steel 2 on the horizon, but it's not everyone's cup of...
News More Viral Survival Details Break Containment
Get your shots here
We first brought you news on NIS America's upcoming WiiWare game back in December, and now we've been infected with some screenshots and an official press release. Viral Survival (JP title: Escape Virus) is an "escape" action game where you control a DNA unit and dodge through enemy virus attacks. If you save a...
Tuesday2nd Feb 2010
Hardware Review Yobo FC-16 Go Portable SNES
Attack of the clones
Those of you with especially keen memories will recall that we reviewed the RetroDuo console not so long ago. One of the growing number of unlicensed clones hitting the market at the moment, this neat machine is now joined by something a little more portable - namely the Yobo Gameware FC-16 Go. This is essentially a portable...
Review Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 5 (WiiWare)
Another episodic adventure comes to an end.
It took a surprisingly long time, but the fifth and final chapter of Guybrush's latest adventure has finally hit WiiWare. Every previous chapter has been building up towards this supposedly epic conclusion, so was the long wait worth it? Considering this is the fifth and final part, spoilers for the series...
First Impressions Monster Hunter Tri
Nintendo let us get to grips with Capcom's monster offering
Yesterday we were cordially invited to a guest lecture at the Science Museum in London. The subject? Monster Hunter of course; in fact, it was the very first session of 'Monster Hunter University'. In a lecture led by long-time series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, the assembled masses were...
News Oscar in Movieland Filming Soon
Coming to the Americas on February 8
We have just received word from our good friends at Virtual Playground that the follow up to their first DSiWare game, Oscar in Toyland, will be out on the DSiWare service in North America on the 8th of February for 800, with Europe and Australasia getting the game later on in the month. The game will employ a...
Monday1st Feb 2010
News Cursed Mountain Developer Closed
A real horror story
The studio behind Cursed Mountain has been shut down by parent company Koch Media. The game was Deep Silver Vienna's first piece of Wii software and is one of the few third-party titles that was backed by a healthy television advertisement campaign but, although there are no hard sales figures to go on, it is generally regarded...
News Speak Up, Monster Hunters
Game gets Wii Speak support, bundles of joy
How many accessories would you like with your copy of Monster Hunter 3, Europe? On its launch in April you'll be able to pick it up in one of three tasty varieties: the vanilla game solo, with the sweet-looking Classic Controller Pro (also confirmed for the US) or in the full-on sensory overload of the...
Nintendo Download 1st February 2010 (North America)
Cards, golf, adventures and bug puzzles this week
Looks like the download scene in North America is ramping back up again with a hefty five new titles on DSiWare, and four downloads on Wii including a new Virtual Console release. WiiWare: Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 5 (1000pts - Telltale Games) - The saga of Guybrush Threepwood comes to a...
Podcast Episode 12 - Fragile Dreams and Reviews Round-Up!
Plus first impressions and news too
Yes, it was but one month ago we all gathered around the soft glow of our audio devices to discover who won the Nintendo Life Game of the Year Awards. This month we look forward, with audio recaps of our recent previews of Art of Balance, Rage of the Gladiator and Calling, as well as a podcast exclusive preview as...
