WiiWare
Max & the Magic Marker (1000pts – Press Play) – The novel platformer makes its North American debut today. We thought it was a very good addition to the platforming line-up on WiiWare, so if that kind of game floats your boat get your points ready!
Dracula: Undead Awakening (1000pts – Chillingo) – Hot on the heels of the European release comes this credible iPhone port. If you like a bit of arcade action it's worth a look.
Virtual Console
Final Fantasy II (800pts SNES - Square Enix) – Whilst owners of certain other consoles get to experience Final Fantasy XIII tomorrow, Wii owners can indulge their retro tastes with this classic RPG from way back when.
DSiWare
Elemental Masters (800pts – Ibxgames) – A fantasy card game that combines strategy and role-playing. We'll give it a shuffle and see how it stacks up.
4 Travellers: Play Spanish (800pts – Agenius Interactive) – An educational program from newcomers Agenius Interactive. The goal is to teach you Spanish words via a game in which you compete with other players to gain Spanish friends, money and items at a hotel. Player languages supported are English and French. It's already been approved for European release and will support more than four times the number of player languages when it arrives in PAL territories (Australasia is also on the schedule, friends Down Under). There's a sequel focusing on French in the works, so it appears to be the start of a series to help people bone up on their foreign language skills in a fun way.
Dracula: Undead Awakening (500pts – Chillingo) – We thought this undead version of Smash TV was pretty decent so if you want to blast the undead on the move, you may want to give it a look.
Flips: The Bubonic Builders (500pts – EA) – The second in a series of interactive books from Electronic Arts. You can be sure we'll have our thoughts on this newest entry online soon for your reading pleasure.
As usual here is the full press release from NoA:
Sometimes realism is overrated. Don't we all need a regular jolt of fantasy to keep our imaginations alive and kicking? For Wii™ owners, this week's new game lineup is set to deliver exactly that. Max & the Magic Marker for the WiiWare™ service imagines what would happen if your own artistic creation turned against you, while the Virtual Console™ service features a big dose of otherworldly action with the classic FINAL FANTASY® II. Browse all the latest downloadable games for the Wii and Nintendo DSi™ systems to help keep your imagination fueled to the max.
We've also got some free bonus inspiration for you this week: At last September's Penny Arcade Expo, Nintendo invited professional artists to create one-of-a-kind animations using the Flipnote Studio™ application for the Nintendo DSi system. The results are now online and ready for viewing at the Flipnote Hatena site (http://flipnote.hatena.com), including cool clips from top comic artists like Eric Jones, Christina Strain and Mike Choi. Check them out and treat your brain to extra helpings of creative juice.
WiiWare
Max & the Magic Marker
Publisher: Press Play
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Comic Mischief
Price: 1,000 Wii Points™
Description: One day Max gets a mysterious marker in the mail. Not knowing better, the first thing he draws is a wacky, purple monster. As soon as the marker leaves the paper, the monster comes to life and jumps off the paper and into another drawing. With the monster on the loose and messing with Max's drawings, Max has no choice but to go after it. Armed with the magic marker, you must help Max track the monster through 15 inventive and challenging levels. You'll need more than good will and quick reflexes to tackle the challenges ahead. Draw freely inside the game to help Max defeat enemies, overcome obstacles and solve puzzles. As you draw stairs, seesaws, balloons, surfboards and whatever else you can think of, your creations will interact with the physical environment, making every session unique.
Dracula - Undead Awakening
Publisher: Chillingo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) - Fantasy Violence
Price: 1,000 Wii Points
Description: Are you a vampire hunter? Are you ready to battle legions of undead foes including zombies, ghouls and werewolves? You'll need to wield an arsenal of powerful weaponry while using your skill and intelligence. Uncover devastating firepower - machine guns, buzz-saws, flamethrowers and more - and choose upgrades for them as well as unique new perks for your character as your enemies increase in number and ferocity. You're a tough customer, but beware - Lord Dracula is always on the hunt, and you are his prey. Enemies in Dracula have one thing in common: Undead, lycanthrope or mutant, they're all after your flesh.Virtual Console
FINAL FANTASY II
Original platform: Super NES™
Publisher: Square Enix
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Follow the dark knight Cecil - Lord Captain of Baron's elite force, the Red Wings - as he embarks on a fateful journey riddled with trials, betrayals, friendship, loss and self-discovery. Plagued with uncertainty over his monarch's motives, can Cecil turn away from the path of darkness and destruction?
Nintendo DSiWare™
Elemental Masters
Publisher: lbxgames
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) - Animated Blood, Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: In this fantasy card game, stand your ground in a quest filled with magic and adventure, and experience a thrilling combination of strategy and role-playing. Choose your character, build up your army in your card deck and fight the mystical creatures of Elendior. With thoughtful use of your cards, you'll obtain the monsters of your enemy and support your attacks by using arcane spells and the rules of dark magic. Dive into this captivating story in the quest mode or duel with your friends in multiplayer mode. More than 100 creatures in numerous maps are waiting for you.4 TRAVELLERS™ - Play Spanish
Publisher: AGENIUS Interactive
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Whether played alone or together with friends, 4 TRAVELLERS can teach you new words in Spanish. The game is suitable for both young and old, and no previous knowledge is necessary. The more you play, the more your Spanish vocabulary increases. You can also play and learn with the game's unique learning mode. The game is perfect to bring on your trip, with more than 240 carefully selected words included specifically for this occasion.Dracula - Undead Awakening
Publisher: Chillingo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) - Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Are you a vampire hunter? Are you ready to battle legions of undead foes including zombies, ghouls and werewolves? You'll need to wield an arsenal of powerful weaponry while using your skill and intelligence. Uncover devastating firepower - machine guns, buzz-saws, flamethrowers and more - and choose upgrades for them as well as unique new perks for your character as your enemies increase in number and ferocity. You're a tough customer, but beware - Lord Dracula is always on the hunt, and you are his prey. Enemies in Dracula have one thing in common: Undead, lycanthrope or mutant, they're all after your flesh.
Flips: The Bubonic Builders
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: Not Rated
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Flips Interactive Books are the fun new way for kids to read. The builders are in to replace the girls' toilet block, but they're more interested in cups of tea and instant noodle snacks than doing any work. James suspects foul play, but Alexander and Lenny are doubtful until a strange accident hammers the truth home. How will the three friends stop St. Sebastian's from being reduced to rubble?Nintendo adds new titles to the Nintendo DSi Shop and the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Mondays. Users with broadband Internet access can redeem Wii Points or Nintendo DSi Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card™ can be purchased at retail locations. All points from one Nintendo Points Card must be redeemed in either the Nintendo DSi Shop or the Wii Shop Channel. They are not transferable and cannot be divided between the two systems.
Remember that both Wii and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit Wii.com or NintendoDSi.com.
Comments 75
Seems Like an Nice week. Final fantasy II, Max and the magic marker, and flips all look good. But Dracula undead awakening looks horrible.
Elemental Masters looks kind of like a rip off of pokemon. Play Spanish is a good idea.
meh...Final Fantasy II is ok but I thought we were promised something else on Wiiware this week. I can't remember what it was though.
time to grab max
Not bad week. Dracula looks fun but I'll wait.
Final Fantasy II, YEAH!
Definately will be getting Final Fantasy IV in the future. (And yes, I'm calling it that because the REAL second entry in the series is crap.) Next week is 350th game. I'm calling it right now: Kirby Super Star.
Aw-man when I see both Fantasy and Dracula in the article title, I thoguht we were gonna get two VC gmaes with Final Fantasy IV and Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Guess I'll had to wait longer for RoB then.
@Kevin
I second that
That card game looks like final fantasy VIII's card game, might think about getting it, if theres a 2-player VS mode.
Dammit!...by Dracula in the title I was hoping it was Rondo! Rats...
Does that mean the west won't get the actual FFII?
Damn you Kawazu!
Damn! Still no Zombie Panic in Wonderland! What's taking so long?!!
Unless my eyes deceive me, Elemental Masters is missing in your summary of games (although you do have a photo), but included in the full press release.
man, the headline gave me hope that we would see Rondo this week... oh well, FF2 rocks!
FINAL FANTASY II!!!!!!!! THE WAIT IS OVER!!!!!!!!
I am going to download Final Fantasy II when I get home! Hopefully we'll see Final Fantasy III someday.
I hope they fixed the bugs in Max and the Magic Marker for you guys.
Good week. Next week will be big too.
Man, I've been waiting for Max and the Magic Marker. But now I'm torn between Max and Mega Man...
Does this Spanish game teach you more than you learn in college level entrance language classes?
Bubonic Builders? O_o I read that blurb three times and I still don't understand it.
Now, the wait for VI...
I think our 350th VC game needs to be Yoshi's Island.
Final Fantasy "II"? Jesus Christ, Square Enix, just when you had almost managed to make people understand that this is really the fourth game in the series. You even have the direct sequel up on Wiiware with the "IV" number on it. Guh.
But they don't change titles for VC releases. They just don't. They keep the same name as it was originally released as even if its better known as something else in the modern day.
FF IV!!! My personal fave from the series - I'd gladly take that over any of the newer ones, I must say.
They don't change the title screen, no, but they occasionally give the game a different name in the shop/menu/description. Calling it "Final Fantasy IV" and having the description say "This game was originally released as Final Fantasy II in America on the SNES, as the real FF2 and FF3 were unreleased at the time" would've been the best. Calling it Final Fantasy II everywhere implies that the game IS FF2, which it, well, isn't.
I'm sure the idea of referring to it as Final Fantasy IV did crop up in the process of the game coming to VC but was shot down. Well, whatever the reason, its Final Fantasy II.
How come Elemental Masters is missing from your summary?
Nice, Final Fantasy IV. If next week brings us Super Star, I'll definately be getting that.
@Adamant: if you notice, it does exactly as you said in the Wii Shop, but in reverse -- 'Originally released as Final Fantasy II on SNES in North America, this game is in fact Final Fantasy IV in the main series chronology' is what it says under 'more info' or whatev'. They probably felt that calling it FFIV would be too confusing for the general public, as they're unwilling to change any parts of the actual game (including the title screen).
Ah, I see - haven't checked the shop channel yet.
I don't see how calling it FF4 would be confusing, though - calling it FF2 would be MORE confusing, given that it's NOT FF2, and it's not like they're not putting out rereleases of FF2 and FF4 under their real names on a regular basis either.
Yeah, it looks like Elemental Masters is just a straight rip of the FFVIII card game.
That's just funny - I hope it has the same horrible music too.
Yeah, Capcom changed the name to one of their games ages ago, personally I would have thought it made sense to call it Final Fantasy IV, to avoid any confusion to the people who own the DS version (which I'm currently playing through!).
But to those who knew it as Final Fantasy II on the SNES, I guess the title stands as is on VC.
March is a great month for WiiWare. We got Mega Man 10 last week, Max and the Magic Marker this week, Rage of the Gladiator is coming out next week and Cave Story will finally be arriving the following week. Whew, I'm going to be broke!
awesome i love smash t.v and with out on vc then Dracula: Undead Awakening is jsut right up my alley
Again a bad update for me :S
I will probably try Max and the Magic Marker ... but other ... no thanks !
Not a bad week for us. But I'm going to need to buy some points before I can download anything
So...we FINALLY get Final Fantasy "II." Over two months late. Better late than never, I suppose. I may give this a try, just because the first version I played was on PS1 and I'm curious to see just how easy the SNES version really is.
A disappointing week to say the least. Or is it to say the most?
The Dracula game is an eventual possibility depending on the review, but I'm saving my points for Rage of the Gladiator next week.
By Dracula, I thought we might have finally gotten Bloodlines or Rondo. Ah well.
Don't care about FF so bad week for me
Nice week.
Flips Interactive Books? What is this I don't even- I mean, the DSi was heavily marketed for kids last holiday season, but this is ridiculous!
I'll buy FFII when I'm finished with the first one.
Great week.
Not bad week.
Final Fantasy isn't my type of game though.
Fairly poor week, imo.
Fairly good week.
@Kevin
Just because you don't know how to play it, doesn't mean it is crap.
For me it's the one of the most challenging retro 8-Bit JRPG ever, and one of the first to be story driven in the console world.
Very underrated and very misinterpreted.
###
Congrats America, you received the worst version of Final Fantasy IV that can be out there!
I will wait for VI here, I guess...
VC #350 next week. Hope it's good (for everyone else, at least)
Mercs was changed to Wolf of the Battlefield: Mercs. So I don't see why they can't change the title to Final Fantasy IV. Anyway good update.
Where is SHANTAE!?
With Wolf of the Battlefield: MERCS, they added to the original title of MERCS. With Final Fantasy II, it would involve changing part of the title to something else instead of just expanding upon the title.
to the people saying the don't change the title screen, look at legend of zelda (nes) on VC, then try to stand by that statement. (for you lazy bums, the copyright date has the original and 2003 on it. I know it should not bother me, but it does)
I won't be getting FFIV because I already have the DS version but if I ever feel like breezing through an easy RPG. FFIV is the game.
I will download FFVI if it ever comes out.
You know, that Spanish game would catch my interest if I didn't know that many DS games (especially from Nintendo) let players access a Spanish translation by switching the language on the system. Bowser's Inside Story taught me such indispensable phrases as "¡Tengo carcajadas!" (Fawful) while Bowser ate pollos nucleares, and with Picross DS I learn a new vocabulary word from every new puzzle! Unless that game is somehow more entertaining than hearing Fawful butcher the Spanish language, I recommend skipping it.
Nintendos update looks o.k. for this week. Thankfully no instant downloads for me this week ,though, gotta save points for a "good" dsiware update.
Oh....... and what super peach said too, ditto.
Woohoo! Final Fantasy 4! Me get! Me get!
Need some Rondo next week.
The overrated, mediocre Kirby game can wait.
Thought it was Final Fantasy 2, not 4. Whatev.
FFIV is my favorite Final Fantasy game, with VI being a close second.
Only 2 weeks until Cave Story!!!
Max and the Magic Marker AND Final Fantasy II?!?!?! Awesome week.
I agree with Digiki. I want to see Rondo of Blood as our 350th Virtual Console game next week.
I'm not a final fantasy fan, but I appreciate the efforts by VC to actually release decent, highly demanded games (like Knuckles, for instance) as of late.
Either Kirby Superstar or Yoshi's Island would make a fine entry for 350th VC game. Nintendo really needs to release more games. I believe cutting back is releases is Nintendo's magic response to declining sales, when it would be more correct to say that cutting back releases resulted in declining sales. Last fall, the free vouchers for free NES games resulted in a plethora of more downloads on VC, which was directly followed several weeks of multiple VC releases. Dang, Nintendo, there's an easy way to freakkin ramp up your sales; it's called free advertising on the Nintendo Channel!
It's hard for Nintendo to find games to release to the VC, save for their many (often obscure) first-party titles.
If it wasn't so dang expensive, they'd be releasing the good titles left and right.
Kay?
when is the 300th wiiware game? or has it already happened?
@jangonov - it has the 2003 copyright on the title screen because for whatever reason they used the version that appeared on the Zelda collectors disc for Gamecube instead of the NES version. They didn't change the screen just for the VC.
@jangonov & brooks83
The TG-16 version of Splatterhouse says "2006 NBGI Games".
@Namo - Hmm, that's strange. I wonder if all Namco's VC games are like that.
You really gotta stop saying "Dracula" in these descriptions! You get my hops up and as soon as I see its not Dracula X, they get dashed.
ohhhhh, lucky NA, it comes closer to europe now
I need some Super Star next week.
The overratted, mediocre Castlevania game can wait.
Max and the Magic Marker is quite good, I would recommend that to you guys. NL gave it an 8 as well.
I'm interested to see how elemental masters turns out.
Interesting VC too. Decentish update NA.
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