Aww, that's nice

This week's European update has swooped in via YouTube, with both handhelds accounted for while the home consoles are neglected. Two 3DS eShop releases can be classified as "highly anticipated", while the DSiWare title is more along the lines of "hm, never heard of it". You can throw in a rather attractive Wii U demo and two discounted classics on the 3DS Virtual Console as well; you can feast your eyes on what's coming up below.

3DS download software

Crimson Shroud (Level-5, €7.99 / £7.19) — The final part of a trilogy of titles that have made their way to the West from the Guild01 collection, following in the footsteps of Liberation Maiden and Aero Porter. This one is an RPG from Yasumi Matsuno that promises to follow a traditional style, with footage so far backing that up; Matsuno's previous works include Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story. We'll be equipping some gear and levelling up for a review, soon.

Hydroventure: Spin Cycle (Nintendo, €9.99 / £8.99) — A handheld follow-up to the rather excellent WiiWare title Hydroventure — known as Fluidity in North America — this promises some clever puzzles based on water physics and, we suspect, a variety of control options. After the high quality experience of the original we have big hopes, but we'll see whether it lives up to that potential in our upcoming review.

3DS Virtual Console "Hero Sale"

Metroid (Nintendo, €3.49 / £3.19 until 20th December)

Metroid II: Return of Samus (Nintendo, €2.99 / £2.69 until 20th December)

Wii U retail demo

Rayman Legends (Ubisoft, free) — Although the release of the full game has been put back to early 2013, this is still one of the most eagerly anticipated Wii U launch window titles. Visually stunning and promising to continue the fine form of its predecessor, this title is exclusive to Nintendo's new console; it's simple, download this demo.

DSiWare

Wizard Defenders (Teyon, 200 Points) — If there are two genres well represented on DSiWare, it's Tower Defence and match-3 puzzle games; naturally Teyon has decided to blend the two together. It looks like enemies will swarm across the screen horizontally as you colour co-ordinate your troops and fire deadly beams, all covered in a story about wizards and sorcerers. We'll put on our pointy wizard hats and rescue the kingdom soon.

So there you have it; you can watch Nintendo's trailer for this week's update and share your (potential) purchasing plans in the poll and comments section below.

What will you be downloading first this week? (98 votes)

  1. Crimson Shroud (3DS eShop)36%
  2. Hydroventure: Spin Cycle (3DS eShop)39%
  3. Wizard Defenders (DSiWare)2%
  4. Nothing for me this week23%

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