It's time for the North American Nintendo Download Update, once again, and this week is full of enticing options. Two much-anticipated and terrific 'Nindie' download-only releases arrive on Wii U and 3DS, while each system also has a high profile retail release to consider. There are various alternative options and discounts, too, making it a busy eShop week; let's get to the details.
Missed the European Nintendo Download Update? Don't panic, the information you need is right here.
Wii U eShop
FAST Racing NEO (Shin'en Multimedia, $14.99 / $19.99CAD) - Futuristic sci-fi racing games have become a rare entity on Nintendo hardware, and so the hype around this racer is certainly understandable. A follow-up to FAST - Racing League on WiiWare, this new entry makes various changes to the gameplay and has lovely 60fps performance with flashy visuals. We gave this a glowing recommendation in our FAST Racing NEO review.
Dinox (Engine Software, $4.99 / $6.49CAD) - This is a 'prehistory' trivia game that'll support solo play or up to four players at once, promising over 900 questions overall. We'll dust off some fossils and bring you a review.
Jones on Fire (Joindots, $5.99 / $7.99CAD) - A platformer with blocky, retro-styled visuals, it promises 'frenetic' gameplay that'll have elements of firefighting; it looks quite pleasing on the eye, considering its stylistic approach, and we'll see whether it's hot or not in our review.
Sketch Wars (Wildcard Studios, $4.99 / $6,99CAD) - This seems to be a twist on the Pictionary formula, with single and multiplayer options that naturally make use of the GamePad touchscreen for drawing. Party games like this can certainly be fun, but we'll draw out the details and bring you a review.
Wii U Virtual Console
Medabots: Metabee & Rokusho (Natsume, $6.99) - Great news for Medabot fans as both versions of this Game Boy Advance release arrive, in which you customise your own Medabots and battle villains. In the end we considered this to be 'not bad' in our review.
Wii U Retail Download
Devil's Third (Valhalla Game Studios, $59.99 / $74.99CAD) - This shooter has attracted mixed opinions; it's a title with bold ambitions of marrying first person shooting with extensive melee combat, with a solo campaign being joined by a hefty online component. We thought it had a distinctly split personality, and could only regard it as 'average' when considering its overall quality in our Devil's Third review.
Wii U eShop Temporary Discounts
Phineas and Ferb: Quest for Cool Stuff (Majesco, $4.99 from 14th December to 28th December, normally $19.99)
Trine Enchanted Edition (Frozenbyte, on discount from 15th December to 5th January)
Trine 2: Director's Cut (Frozenbyte, on discount from 15th December to 5th January)
Life of Pixel (Super Icon, $4.99 until 10th January, normally $9.99)
KEYTARI: 8-bit Music Maker (Famous Gamous, $4.99 from 13th December until 3rd January, normally $7.99)
ZaciSa's Last Stand (ZeNfA Productions, $0.99 until 7th January, normally $3.99)
COLOR BOMBS (RCMADIAX, $1 until 6th January, normally $1.49)
3DS eShop
SteamWorld Heist (Image & Form, $16.99 / $21.99CAD until 31st December, then $19.99) - The follow-up to breakthrough title SteamWorld Dig, this adopts a turn-based 2D strategy approach for the highly stylised steambot IP. A lengthy campaign is delivered along with plenty of weapons and hats, because robots wearing hats are surely irresistible; we loved this in our SteamWorld Heist review. Free and exclusive 3DS HOME Theme included with all purchases before 31st December.
Rytmik Ultimate (Cinemax, $17.99 / $19.99CAD) - This music creation tool will include the sound samples from its predecessors on DSiWare along with new content, while there'll also be options to share, listen to and collaborate on music online. We'll create some tunes and bring you a review.
Radiohammer (Aksys Games, $5.99 / $7.95CAD) - After a glut of rhythm games earlier in the 3DS' lifespan they've been less common of late, which certainly makes this one eye-catching. It's all about taking down villains and making the world "a safer, funkier place", and hopefully the soundtrack and gameplay will make it all worthwhile. We'll get down to the beat and work on a review.
Petit Novel Series - Harvest December (CIRCLE Entertainment, $11.99 / $15.99CAD) - The eShop platforms have hosted a few storybook series, and this is the latest to stake its claim; this one has 13 short stories following a teenager called Masaki Konno, one for each month and culminating with Harvest December.
3DS Retail Download
Terraria (505 Games, $19.99 / $29.99CAD) - This 2D platformer / resource / sandbox game has become a huge success since it took off as an Indie title on PC, picking up 505 Games as a publisher and arriving on a host of platforms. The 3DS version will deliver some welcome portability, of course, with the touch screen put to good use. You can check out our hands on impressions to see more, and we'll dig into a review.
3DS eShop Temporary Discounts
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (Atlus, $9.99 from 14th December to 28th December, normally $29.99)
Phineas and Ferb: Quest for Cool Stuff (Majesco, $4.99 from 14th December to 28th December, normally $19.99)
AeternoBlade (Corecell Technology, $4.99 until 31st December, normally $14.99)
Adventure Bar Story (CIRCLE Entertainment, on discount until 31st December)
KAMI (CIRCLE Entertainment, on discount until 31st December)
Zombie Panic in Wonderland DX (Akaoni Studio, $4.99 until 9th January, normally $8.00)
Classic Games Overload: Card & Puzzle Edition (Telegames Inc, $14.99 until 4th January, normally $29.99)
3DS HOME Themes
Mario Hanafuda
SteamWorld Heist - Free with a purchase of the game until 31st December.
Plenty to choose from this week, so let us know what you'll be downloading in the poll and comments below.
Comments 116
First vote lol. 100% for Heist! I would've actually like to have been able to vote for 2 as I'll be logging into both shops and dl,ing Heist and Fast Racing Neo at the same time.
I never seen the option to vote for more till after I voted. Since when was this a thing lol
Heist, Heist baby.
@Spoony_Tech D'oh, you can vote for multiple games now. Bear that in mind for next week!
Grabbing FAST as soon as I can download it off the eshop!
I'm interested in Fast Racing Neo and probably Mario Hanafuda cards.
I'll finally pick up Adventure Bar Story!
I've been looking forward to both Heist and Fast Racing Neo for some time. What a great way to head into the Christmas break!
Fast Racing NEO
Steamworld Heist
Terraria
and most importantly cause its the most wanted NA game of all time based on E3 chatter (Nevermind those silly reviews), Devil's Third.
If you picked "Nothing for me this week" you better be broke or have no soul.
AND Good call on allowing us to vote for more than one thing. Better representation of results.
@XCWarrior I'm broke and I still chose multiple options.
@ThomasBW84 After this week I don't know what I'll vote more then once for but I'll keep that in mind. Minecraft for my family is a no brainer next week.
I'm kind of interested in Terraria, so I might download that, but otherwise nothing for me this week. I gotta say though, this is one of the better weeks we've had in a while!
Devil's Third is out today? I thought Nintendo was doing a shoddy job promoting Mario Tennis Ultra Smash and AC:aF but apparently we were drowning in a tidal wave of publicity for those 2 compared to DT.
NOA News page and twitter feed. I can't find it anywhere.
http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/#all
https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica
No wait, I found it, the news feed had an article for it on July 21. Silly me, how could I forget?
$60 for an unpublicized game that's free on PC? Yeah, that's gonna sell well.
Congrats to Shin'en and Image and Form for making it a good eShop day.
Nothing for me this week.
Too busy with XCX.
@rjejr I think the fact it's not particularly good contributes to the lack of attention NoA is giving it. I've not even downplayed it here either, as the download update PR dumped in in the 'Also new this week' bit at the bottom.
Hmm Lionel City Builder was supposed to come 'early Dec' so I thought it'd come out today but it didn't so I'm not getting anything this week.
FAST RACING NEO, BOYZ!!!
So can American Devil's Third players play with us Europeans in multiplayer? Because if that's the case I would go in the multiplayer again, it's really fun. Or it would be, if there were more people playing.
Very good week! got Heist Ambassador code from someone and should be able to get the theme, will see about Terraria.
Fast and DT for me. Might be too busy with XCX for awhile, so I may not even touch them until January.
Are the Medabot games any good?
@Spoony_Tech Yep! it's always been Vote on what your downloading FIRST!
Terraria and Steamworld Heist for me!
Awesome, I can vote for Neo Fast racing and Nothing... LOL Though seriously, I like the multi voting. Neo Fast racing for me and possibly that VC title once I look to see some reviews.
I want to get Neo Fast Racing. I have to see if there's any money left after all my Christmas shopping is done though. Still waiting on NoA to catch up with Europe's VC selection.................................................
Great week. Fast and Heist look awesome.
Can't believe they are asking $60 for Devil's Third.
Fast I'll snag immediately and Heist I'll grab just before I get on plane for Christmas. I am pleased
Nothing for me....
@A01 You've already got it? The eshop on my Wii U still says it's "Coming Soon".
@FeedingTheWheel Good man. Thanks to Steamworld Heist, you can learn to steal food and buy video games with the leftover money.
@A01 Ah, that would explain it. I was assuming you were in NA due to this being the NA Dowload post. Guess I have to wait for a few more hours.
Now, this is more like it! A pretty good selection this week. I'll be grabbing Heist as soon as I clear out some Christmas gifts from the "to buy" list.
You NL people forgot to add the 3DS eshop tag again!
Can't complain bout this week! The eshop is looking packed predating Christmas!
gasp Mario hanafuda!?
I guess we're not going to get the Zelda DS titles anytime soon.
@ThomasBW84 "I've not even downplayed it here either"
Apologies if you thought I was taking offense at NL's lack of coverage TW. I don't see it as your job to create hype, just report on it. Obviously Nintendo isn't marketing it, not your guys fault. Honestly it never even dawned on me.
I do read a lot of comments where guys get on you for being late to the party - somebody commented yesterday that you should have posted the article 25 minutes earlier - but I think you guys do a great job covering everything that needs covering. You can't just make stuff up, Nintnedo has to give you stuff to promote. It's all on them.
Nothing interesting. Again.
@A01 Nah, it's me assuming. It's good to know that it's as good as I hoped, though.
Fast Racing Neo & Radiohammer are what i'll be getting during christmas.
otherwise to busy with XCX, and some games on PC, and Fallout 4
Faat Racing Neo and Steamworld Heist of course. I'll dowload both tonight
I there a demo for FAST racing NEO on the Eshop ?
We aren't going to get Zero Mission or Resident Evil 4 before Christmas, are we?
@rjejr I didn't take it that way at all, was just clarifying. We covered Devil's Third a whole lot before and during its European launch, so would have just been repeating ourselves. It's all there on the game page. As for NoA, as I say I think they know it's not a particularly strong game and probably have metrics that indicate low interest and likely sales, so they're just not bothering to promote it. I do think they should have done more, though, pretending it doesn't exist (almost) is harsh.
Oh and I'm never bothered by anyone saying something should have been up quicker. Posting everything super quickly has never been our focus, and probably never will be. We try to be prompt with things like Directs, obviously, but generally focus on doing other stuff too - that's our 'model', or whatever!
Fast Racing Neo for me.
I'm totally going to buy Devil's Third... when the retail version is $9.99
I'll think on Medabots a bit mote. I'm mostly focusing on saving up for the next Smash DLC, though.
Just FAST Racing Neo and Terraria for me, probably gonna wait for them to go on sale tho (especially Terraria..)
Totally hyped for Devil's Third! I think the game looks very cool, the graphics and story kinda have a Metal Gear Solid 2 vibe that I dig. Also, I have more faith in Itagaki-san than those 'professional reviewers' that barely bothered to play the game before giving it a horrible score...
Is Nintendo EVER going to release zero mission??
Demintium, steam world, Devils third, xenoblade all purchased in last 7 days. But nothing for my PS3 or 4. Just saying.
Almost forgot fast racing.
yawn no zero mission again... surprise surprise...
Nothing for me and that is okay. Xenoblade Chronicles X is absorbing all my gaming energies at the moment and that will continue for a while. Still a little sad that NoA still cannot figure out how to effectively use the Virtual Console to actually promote their system.
Nothing for me this week. The holidays are straining my funds. Hopefully I can pick up Steamworld Heist before the discount ends.
I also might pick up Medabots: Rokusho at some point.
I'll be getting Fast Racing Neo and Terraria once I have a little more money to spend. Until then, Xenoblade X will keep me very, very busy.
$60 for Devil's Turd?? I thought it was a budget release in the UK/Europe.
Only Medabots for me this week since I've been waiting for the game for a whole and don't want to spend so much money. Gonna have to wait until after finals though. It's a great game with charm and repeatability though. Anyone thinking about it I recommend to just got for it!
Very packed weak in the eShop this time. I guess that's why it's usually bad, they don't know how to evenly spread out releases.
I would get FAST racing if I wasnt broke.
When exactly can will Fast Racing Neo be released today?
@rjejr to be fair you only get part of the game on pc. Not sure if that makes any difference tho.
@luke88 nope tho it's probably had a price cut by now
Finally getting FAST!
Though, Devil's Third finally releasing after that completely pointless delay huh? Price is still $60 and I assume there are no content differences aside from maybe cut content. Typical NoA.
@holygeez03 since Nintendo published it I doubt it will go bellow 25 bucks. It's definitely going to get a price drop.
@faint
Some retailer some where will be sitting on some copies and need to get rid of them... unless they are not legally allowed? In which case, I'll buy it used.
Jones of Fire has an interesting backstory. Made by senior graphics programmer of cancelled LEGO Universe game.
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MeganFox/20130927/201165/The_Jones_On_Fire_Postmortem_A_Game_In_Five_Acts.php
of = On
@faint "to be fair you only get part of the game on pc"
My understanding from when it released in the EU was that the online multiplayer was the good part. So PC is getting the good part for free and Wii U owners have to pay $60 for the free part + the bad part. Not sure that's exactly fair.
If Nintneod only needed to recoup their advertising budget for this game then we could all get it for free.
is the theme in the theme shop as well as with downloading the game or?
I'm missing the AC:HHD theme.
that one vote for Medabots
Very, very good week.
@ThomasBW84 Personally, I am okay with a trusted site being a little late to the party. I can tolerate a late review or story if I know I can trust the reporting to be unbaised, fair, and as accurate as circumstances allow (VG companies being a cagey group at times).
@rjejr Devil's Third, like Bayonetta 2, was Nintendo trying to buy a big name game or personality to make a "core" game to appease the "core" gamers that they've lost. It is the same way that they paid to grab Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, and other "core" games/remakes with the GameCube. Sometimes it works, but most of the time falls flat.
Nice week! I'll definitely be getting Aeternoblade at that price. Radiohammer piques my interest but I'll wait for a review.
Getting Fast Racing Neo and Devil's third
::searches for zero mission posts::
Yup. The rally cry continues.
For one week I won't stress about it to much though. FAST has my adrenaline levels shooting through the roof.
@Darknyht It's a shame games like Bayo,DMC and RE don't sell better.
Fast Racing and Heist this week. Minecraft next week. All while I'm playing Battlefront and FF7 on my PS4. Oh and I bought last of us today.
#backlogged
Devil Survivor Overclocked on 3DS for 9.99 is a fun game, though I enjoyed Devil Summoners Soul Hackers slightly more. I'd recommend them for Shin Megami Tensei fans, though Atlus seems to discount them at about that price regularly.
Anyone know why AVGN actually isn't on the Euro eshop today?
Fast Racing Neo and Steamworld Heist it is. I would download Terraria but I already own like... 3 different versions of the game. Hell, I might not even be able to play the above two games for a while but I want to support both companies
@Darknyht I'm pretty sure Bayonetta 2 got a lot more marketing than this last year.
@rjejr It did, as did RE4. But all three still were Nintendo attempting to buy the hardcore gamers to their system. It is just with Devil's Third they just chose badly.
@Superryanworld I think all three of those games reached all the audience they were going to. Those genres have either evolved or become niche.
Terraria is awesome, folks. 'Course, it's best played on PC, but any version besides mobile is great.
@Sawdy Just beat TLOU. Amazing game. I'ts been fun revisiting FF7 as well.
@Darknyht Agreed.
nothing for me, except mayhe fast racing NEO
Interested in Fast Neo, Terraria and Heist, but I'll wait for discounts. At those prices I prefer physical copies (Fast Neo may be acceptable but I'll wait)
Fast Racing Neo eShop card is on my Christmas list. I wanna try Devil's Third, but not just outright buy it for $60.
I'll definitely get AeternoBlade for $5 bucks. Also want to get Terraria and Devil Survivor Overclocked.
Oh ya I forgot Devil's Third comes out this week. Well due to holiday sales, I got my hands full for some time playing.
I vote Devil's Third and SteamWorld Heist but by the time I get around to buying them, one would be selling at a discount price and the next will already be on the Wii U.
I'd play Devil Third with pleasure, but 'm not paying 80$(Can) for it. Although I must say ZeldaU is the only game so far that I would pay such a price.. As for SFz, they will need to impress me, an avid StarFox fan, much more.
Terraria is tempting, but $20 is twice what it costs on PC (4x what I paid,) and more than it costs on most other platforms too. I guess that's the downside of something getting a retail release. I'll wait for reviews and/or a sale.
I'll probably grab FAST, I doubt it'll really scratch the F-Zero itch but it might come close.
Just got finished downloading Fast Racing Neo and Steamworld Heist w/free exclusive theme. That's it for me. Can't wait to dive into both, especially Fast Racing Neo!
Wow, 100 comments on an article about the things that have been discussed extensively in the past few days.
1 VC released every two weeks or so and it's always some lame GBA game or a GBA version of an already released SNES title.
UGH
Nothing here. Was considering Terraria, but not for that price. FRN also looks boring and repetitive, don't see the fun in a racing game that has ridiculously linear courses.
I may get SW Heist to have something to play on 3DS again while I'm on my way to and from work but $16.99 is too much when I've got eShop funds saved up exclusively for the Smash DLC since November... I might get it if I get paid soon though, the price doesn't sound awful considering Dig was good. I just hope there's enough content to merit that price, cause Dig was good but way shorter than I initially expected.
Which one was Konami Krazy Racers?
As usual Europe gets some good Wii u vc choices and America gets crap!!! Thank god Fast Racing Neo hit to ease the continuous torture that NOA puts us Americans through with the vc!!! Stubborn jerks!!
Meanwhile the boys at Shin'en get my money this week! Thanks guys! Wishing you big sales & then Nintendo might say "gee maybe we shoulda looked into an F-zero!"
@OneBagTravel that's NOA for ya!! 1 vc game a week for 3 years and counting!
@Darknyht the vc could of been the single greatest selling point of the Wii u to millions of retro fans- instead it has become such a missed opportunity by the morons at NOA!
There are thousands of classics out there! All they have to do is spend a little money to secure some of them but noooo Nintendo too cheap to do that!!!
@khaosklub Nintendo of America dude...cmon...they want you to buy medabots instead!😡😡
I have to say Fast Racing Neo feels like F-Zero meets Extreme-G, and that is a good thing! Damn it's fast, but beautiful! Sometimes I hit the boosts, and I feel like am being throttled into the stratosphere!
It is definitely not for casual gamers, but a must have for racing lovers!
@holygeez03 when we're 90 years old it'll be 10 bucks....maybe...
@ThomasBW84 all the more reason why it shouldn't be $60! Betcha would be $30-40 if published by third party! And they only published it cause of the Internet uproar that took place. But that's Nintendo for ya!
Fast Racing Neo is epic. Your pulse will be heavily affected so people with heart diseases be aware lol. Overall FRN runs beautifully, with no framerate drops including the online mode. 8.5 out of 10 for me. Definitely worth a buy and more when it's a serious competitor to MK8 and F-Zero.
@bezerker99 here's the score bro:
Japan Wii u vc 367 titles
Europe Wii u vc 221 titles
USA WII U vc 201 titles
USA original Wii....400 vc titles
Whoever is in charge of the vc at NOA really really needs to be fired!!!😡😡terrible!
@XCWarrior or busy playing XCX
Once again, if only the Canadian dollar wasn't as p00p as it is now =w=
"groundbreaking title Steamworld Dig"
I get it, its a mining game!
I thought it was funny.
@XCWarrior
Already finished Devil's Third (Australia got it early), really enjoyed it. You're right not to listen to reviewers opinions.
Also, Fast Racing Neo is awesome so far!
Got Terraria, played it for over two hours, and i'm hooked. Everything looks really small and zoomed out, but i'm getting used to it. Can't wait for Minecraft.
I'm so torn on whether or not to buy Terraria!! I am SO far on my PS4 version... Like.... Hours... Days.... Months.... And having to start fresh is just.... But I want it on the go so bad! I feel like I'd play it more.
Rytmik when Christmas comes.
I had sticker shock on Terraria. Was interested....no longer. Will wait on a sale. Next thing we will see is Minecraft for 19.99. The descrepancy between the Eshop and other markets drives me nuts sometimes
People wanting VC games need to head over to Ebay. That's the trend in America and I'm guessing Nintendo sees this. Just check out Youtube and all the nutty collectors on there. American trend. Sorry.
Really like the multiple choice format, though the only true one for me was "Nothing this week." Didn't stop me from also selecting eye-catchers.
Was going to get Steamworld Heist but not right now. Maybe after Christmas. Still have presents and stuff for the baby that's coming next Friday to buy. Probably end up getting Overclocked if it's a good price on the Canadian eShop.
Anyone know how to get the Steamworld theme? I had an error while downloading and, while i was able to redownload the game, i can't find the theme anywhere
Rytmik Ultimate got barely anything...
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