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It's Nintendo Download time, North America, and this week brings the long-awaited Pikmin 3 to stores. There's plenty more to consider, with new and old download-only options on the Wii U eShop, more retail goodies and a few diverse offerings on the 3DS eShop. Without further ado, let's get to the details.

Wii U eShop

Cloudberry Kingdom (Ubisoft, $9.99) — Developed by small developer Pwnee Studios, this began life as a crowdfunded game on Kickstarter before Ubisoft was suitably impressed to step in and publish. It's a platformer that randomly generates stages, and features an Arcade mode to cover a range of difficulties, right up to levels that look positively impossible for all but the most skilled players out there. With online leaderboards, a level builder and lots of running and jumping, we'll see whether this mixes it with the best on the Wii U eShop in our upcoming review.

Wii U eShop Promotion

Hulu Plus (free app, $7.99 per month subscription) — Hulu Plus is offering a two month free trial to new customers. Those interested should visit www.huluplus.com/WiiU2months.

Wii U Virtual Console

Harvest Moon (MarvelousAQL, $7.99) — Though the series has recently returned to life on the 3DS Virtual Console, this Super NES version is where the series began. This simulation RPG tasks you with managing and improving your farm, which requires plenty of effort and attentive care. Despite a premise that some may consider to be dull, it's a series that's delivered to a loyal fan-base for many years, all based on this 16-bit template. We'll work the land on the Wii U, but until then you can check out our Wii Virtual Console Harvest Moon review.

Wii U Retail Download

Pikmin 3 (Nintendo, $59.99) — After years of waiting since the GameCube era, the third entry in this franchise is finally arriving on the Wii U in North America. With lush visuals and the usual super-cute minions, the single player campaign is joined by multiplayer content and a variety of control schemes to suit any player. With the GamePad opening up new possibilities and a delightful level of care and attention to detail on show, we gave this a strong recommendation in our Pikmin 3 review. Available from 4th August.

Disney Planes (Disney Interactive, $TBC) — Available from 6th August.

3DS eShop

Bike Rider DX (Spicysoft, $5.99) — Announced last week, this promising retro-style action bike game has reportedly sold around 150,000 copies in Japan as Chariso DX. You pedal through multiple stages while trying to grab three trickily placed coins; Japanese artist and DJ, Ram Rider, has contributed the soundtrack and has themed stages included. The footage looks encouraging, but we'll put on our helmet — safety first, remember — and do some daredevil cycling over skyscrapers for our review.

Family Kart 3D (Arc System Works, $4.99) — The Family range of games from Arc System Works continues with this kart racer. It looks positive in raw numbers — there are three modes (Grand Prix, Free Play, and Time Mode), eight characters, eight karts and 12 tracks. We'll see whether this is a fun racer or a kart crash in our upcoming review.

My Farm 3D (Bigben Interactive, $7.99) — After multiple budget releases in this series on DSiWare, this title takes a more conservative approach to delivering a farm management sim. It's full of good intentions, but an unimaginative interface and grinding repetition drag the experience down, as we explained in our My Farm 3D review.

3DS Virtual Console

Kirby's Dream Land 2 (Nintendo, $3.99) — The long wait for this Game Boy platformer in North America has been surprising, as it arrives well over a year after hitting the 3DS Virtual Console in Europe. It originally arrived on the system in 1995, towards the end of its lifespan, but delivered fun and simple platforming that shows how the humble portable could dish up some serious entertainment. Oh, and Kirby rides around on the backs of animal chums, so read all about that and our overall recommendation in the NL Kirby's Dream Land 2 review.

3DS Retail Download

Disney Planes (Disney Interactive, $TBC) — Available from 6th August.

Quite a few options to choose from this week, to suit most budgets and game tastes. Let us know what you're planning to download in the poll and comments below.

What will you be downloading first this week? (297 votes)

  1. Cloudberry Kingdom (Wii U eShop)18%
  2. Hulu Plus (Wii U eShop app)2%
  3. Harvest Moon (Wii U Virtual Console)4%
  4. Pikmin 3 (Wii U retail download)22%
  5. Disney Planes (Wii U retail download)1%
  6. Bike Rider DX (3DS eShop)2%
  7. Family Kart 3D (3DS eShop)1%
  8. My Farm 3D (3DS eShop)  0%
  9. Kirby's Dream Land 2 (3DS Virtual Console)20%
  10. Disney Planes (3DS retail download)  0%
  11. Nothing for me this week30%

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