They're cubes and they're fabulous - sorry, FANTASIC!

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 weeks gone by.

WiiWare

Gyakuten Saiban 3 (1200pts - Capcom) – Fans elsewhere will recognise this as the third and final Capcom legal adventure game to feature Phoenix Wright in the starring role: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations. As with the previous two outings this looks to be yet another GBA to Wii port. No doubt this will be hitting other shores soon just as the others did.

Fantasic Cube (800pts - Zoom) – Another WiiWare outing from Zoom (who could forget the excellent Sharp X68000 game Phalanx or Fantasic Tambourine?) and looks very much like Konami's arcade puzzle-shooter Quarth (Block Hole), with a ship on the bottom of the screen firing cubes at other cubes at the top of the screen; and then some kind of "fail line" at the bottom that you presumably want to stop blocks from crossing. There's a story mode and local split-screen multiplayer for two people to battle it out. It's not clear if there's online play, but there are at least online leaderboards. We'll try to bring you some First Impressions of this title next week to let you know more.

Go for it!

Virtual Console

Crazy Climber (800pts Arcade - Hamster Co.) – This is some big surprise news for retro fans to be sure! You may better recognise Nihon Bussan Co. via the "Nichibutsu" label used on their arcade games. They really had their day back in the early 80s on the back of a couple of hits: Crazy Climber and Moon Cresta, though some readers may also recognise that naughty boy Frisky Tom as well. Crazy Climber certainly has a following and we do hope it makes its way Westward along with the other classic games mentioned. There was a Wii sequel in 2007 – though from videos it seems to lack the challenge and charm of the original game.

DSiWare

at Kanji Jukugo Game Kanjukugo Kanjuu (200pts - Tasuke) – A word puzzle game to help you learn kanji – wait, didn't we see one of these from I.E. Institute recently?

Hachiwan Diver DS: Naruzō-kun Hasami Shōgi (200pts - Silver Star Japan) – Looks like a kiddie shogi game, tied into the same manga as the WiiWare game of the same name.

Aquarium with Clock (500pts - LukPlus) – The appeal of an aquarium program on WiiWare is pretty obvious: turn it on in the background and enjoy a fish tank without all the work and matchbox funerals required. Putting it on DSi is a little less obvious, but once you put a clock on there, well you can turn your DSi into a desk clock! Whilst the clock/calendar display is optional, the variety of forms is pretty impressive: face clock with hands, a conventional LCD time/date display, a chunky pixellated look or best of all the ability to hand-draw your numbers. Using the full drawing program (and enough time and talent) you can create quite an impressive-looking clock display indeed and be the envy of all your office colleagues!

You got your clock in my aquarium!

3 Minute Tenkatōitsu Tō Nihon Sengoku Quiz Hen (500pts - GAE) – A historical quiz game about the Sengoku, or "Warring States," period of Japanese history during the time of Oda Nobunaga and other feudal lords with a focus on events in the eastern prefectures.

3 Minute Tenkatōitsu Sei Nihon Sengoku Quiz Hen (500pts - GAE) -- A historical quiz game about the Sengoku, or "Warring States," period of Japanese history during the time of Oda Nobunaga and other feudal lords with a focus on events in the western prefectures.

Idol ★ Nights (800pts - Gameloft) -- Better late than never, right? This game was released in the West last May under a couple of different names with the words "Pop" and "star" in the title.

Konichi wa Nani no Jitsu? Hyakka (800pts - I.E. Institute) -- An encyclopaedia for DSiWare if we're understanding what Google Translate is trying to tell us...it can't be any worse than Wikipedia, can it?

Finally there are two new Pocket Rurubu virtual travel guides for the premium price of 800pts each from Nintendo: one for the Hakone district and nearby Izu peninsula and the other covering the Shinshu region.

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