Wii U eShop - Timeline
Thursday9th Feb 2017
News Swap Fire Update in the Works, Currently on Discount Ahead of Valentine's Day
EU release also on the agenda
The Wii U eShop has the tendency to throw up some surprising and clever games, and Swap Fire aimed to deliver just this in 2016. Primarily a local multiplayer game - though you can play it solo - its hook is that when you shoot an opponent you swap places with them, setting up the potential for some chaotic and...
Wednesday8th Feb 2017
Review Toby: The Secret Mine (Wii U eShop)
Shady stuff
The Wii U eShop has played host to some wonderful indie titles over the years, and despite the console's impending retirement there's still room for another sleeper hit to offer a charming send off. With its distinctive art-style, intriguing level design and enigmatic story, Toby: The Secret Mine seemed set to impress when first...
Monday6th Feb 2017
News Metroidvania forma.8 Launches This Month On The European Wii U eShop
Better late than never
MixedBag has revealed that its Metroidvania title forma.8 is coming to the European Wii U eShop - as well as other platforms - later this month. The game has been on our radar since 2014, and the developer lavished praise on the Wii U's unique controller in an exclusive interview
Nintendo Download 9th February (Europe)
Plantera! Ogre Battle 64! Swapdoodle DLC! More!
With the start of another week we have a look at the downloadable treats heading to Europe in a few days, and this time around there are some interesting new downloads to consider. We have a few Nindie releases, DLC from Nintendo and a slice of N64 gaming on Wii U, while the 3DS also has some notable...
Thursday2nd Feb 2017
Nintendo Download 2nd February (North America)
Fire Emblem Heroes! Poochy & Yoshi! TurboGrafx-16 games! More!
It's that time, once again, for the North American Nintendo Download Update. We'll be so bold as to say it's a decent week - there's an excellent retail arrival on 3DS, a high-profile mobile release, two TurboGrafx-16 games on Wii U, and also some interesting download-only offerings on...
News Nintendo Has Finally Pulled The Plug On Project Giant Robot
System failure
Nintendo has cancelled the experimental Wii U title Project Giant Robot, it has been confirmed. The game was originally shown off at E3 2014 alongside Project Guard as a showcase for the unique potential of the Wii U's GamePad controller. While Project Guard would become part of the Star Fox serie
Monday30th Jan 2017
News SDK Spriter to Add New Level Modes in Free and Paid DLC
Platformers and turn-based battles on the way
SDK Spriter has been an interesting title on Wii U eShop, though it hasn't yet fought through our backlog for a review. It's understandable why the concept is appealing - it's an app that promises a whole lot of tools for creating retro game art for maps, sprites, tiles and levels. There are then some...
Review Zombie Brigade: No Brain No Gain (Wii U eShop)
Brainless
A Miiverse post for Zombie Brigade: No Brain No Gain wrote, "Better than Meme Run." That's about the nicest thing that can be said about this horrendous title from Cypronia. An endless runner that you will want to end after about five minutes, Zombie Brigade is in the upper echelon of terrible eShop games. And to be clear, that's not a...
Nintendo Download 2nd February (Europe)
Poochy & Yoshi! Punch Club! Lifespeed! Bomberman '94! Much more!
Another week begins, and that means advance warning of what to expect in this week's European Nintendo Download Update. It's a fairly busy line-up this week, with a retail Good-Feel release on 3DS leading the way. There are also promising download-only releases on the Wii U and 3DS...
Saturday28th Jan 2017
News Earthlock: Festival of Magic Is Close to Its Wii U Release
Switch version "is still an uncertainty"
Earthlock: Festival of Magic has been a significant project for Snowcastle Games since it launched its Kickstarter way back in 2014, though the ambitious RPG did eventually arrive on PC and Xbox One last year. The Wii U version was handed over to a third-party and was targeting a similar release window to the...
Thursday26th Jan 2017
Nintendo Download 26th January (North America)
Three Culture Brain NES games! Candy, Please! Word Search 10K!
It's that time once again, dear readers, for the North American Nintendo Download Update. This week is relatively light in content, though may have enough to tempt you into a download or two; there are three Culture Brain NES releases on the Wii U, while the 3DS has some word searching...
Video Fresh Shovel Knight: Specter Of Torment Footage Stalks The Earth
Altogether spooky
Yacht Club Games has released new gameplay footage for the forthcoming Shovel Knight expansion, Specter of Torment. As the title suggests, you'll be controlling Shovel Knight's foe Specter Knight in this prequel DLC. The action follows the evildoer as he attempts to form The Order of No Quarter, against which Shovel Knight faces...
News Kerbal Space Program Developer Reevaluating Proposed Wii U Port
"The industry landscape changed since we made that announcement"
If you'd clean forgotten that Kerbal Space Program had even been announced for the Wii U, don't worry - so had we, to be perfectly honest. We've heard pretty much nothing since it was revealed the game would be ported to Nintendo's current home console, but now developer Squad has...
Wednesday25th Jan 2017
News Ghost Blade HD Is Bringing Intense Bullet Hell Action To The Wii U eShop
Not dead yet
North American publisher 2Dream is bringing Hucast's bullet hell shooter Ghost Blade HD to the Wii U eShop this year, it has been announced. This vertically-scrolling blaster is the latest title from Germany's Hucast Games, previously responsible for the similarily manic Redux: Dark Matters. It boasts a two-player local co-op mode, 5...
Monday23rd Jan 2017
Nintendo Download 26th January (Europe)
Castlevania: Dracula X! Inchworm Animation II! More!
We're not quite sure why, but the Nintendo Download Update details for Europe have been elusive today; thankfully the ever generous Daan Koopman has forwarded the Dutch press release that finally came through, and Kenneth Jensen then provided UK prices. In any case, this week comes with an...
Review Mega Maze (Wii U eShop)
Not so amazing
Do you remember that mesmerising screen saver from the '90s? The one that was an endless loop of twists and turns through a red brick maze? Well, Mega Maze is sort of like that, except everything is blue or white and it's just not all that entertaining. Mega Maze is exactly what its name implies; a game about solving mazes. There's...
Thursday19th Jan 2017
Nintendo Download 19th January (North America)
Dragon Quest VIII! Star Fox 64! Punch Club! Yoshi demo! More!
It's time for another Nintendo Download Update for North America, and this week has shaped up rather nicely. On 3DS there's a huge retail release and a tempting demo, while a notable download arrival brings a bit of punch to proceedings. On Wii U there are some interesting Nindie options...
Wednesday18th Jan 2017
Review Spheroids (Wii U eShop)
It's time to break some balls
Spheroids has a simple plot that is well-suited to a platform adventure game. Giant alien blobs known as "the Spheroids" are attempting to take over the world, and it's up to a brave Canadian boy named Lucas - with the assistance of a crazy scientist known as Otto - to save the day. Based in a comical science-fiction...
Monday16th Jan 2017
Nintendo Download 19th January (Europe)
Dragon Quest VIII! Poochy and Yoshi Demo! Toby! More!
Another week begins, and the latest Nintendo Download Update details are out for Europe. There's a major retail release on 3DS, while a notable demo and 'Nindie' release also stand out; let's get to the details. Wii U eShop: Toby: The Secret Mine (Headup Games, €9.99 / £6.99) - A rather...
Thursday12th Jan 2017
Video Ladies And Gentlemen, We Might Have Found The Worst Game On Wii U
Alex suffers for his art
Like any console, the Wii U has seen its fair share of stinkers. Not every game can be like Splatoon, Super Mario 3D World or Bayonetta 2; some will invariably fall short of greatness and make you wonder exactly what compelled you to hand over your hard-earned cash in the first place. However, if you've ever wondered...
News F-Zero X Comes to the North American Virtual Console Tomorrow
Hopefully it's the patched version
F-Zero X has had a bit of a rough time on the Virtual Console this generation. The high-speed racer ran into some serious control issues when it made its Wii U VC debut in Europe, and these issues actually rendered it nigh unplayable. Fortunately, Nintendo listened to fan outcry and fixed the issue a bit later, and...
Wednesday11th Jan 2017
News CIRCLE Entertainment Dips Into New Territory With Koi on Wii U
Koi blimey
The Wii U eShop has been a platform for some rather left-field releases, and we think that the upcoming Koi from CIRCLE Entertainment will be another one for the list. It appears to take place within a Koi pond - obviously - with missions, customisation and more involved in the gameplay. A trailer and some screens showing different...
Tuesday10th Jan 2017
News Toby: The Secret Mine Arrives on the Wii U eShop Very Soon
It's about Toby and a secret mine, obviously
Late last year Headup Games, a publisher familiar for also developing and releasing Typoman on the Wii U eShop, confirmed that it was publishing another game on the system. That title is Toby: The Secret Mine, which is the work of Lukáš Navrátil, an independent developer from Czech Republic. It looks...
News The Next Penelope Cancelled On Wii U, But Nintendo Switch Version Could Happen
"The game was made for a Nintendo console from the beginning"
You might recall that we covered The Next Penelope a while back, and were quite excited about the fact that it was being ported to the Wii U. Playing like a cross between F-Zero, Micro Machines and the classic French/Japanese cartoon Ulysses 31, this combat racer was the work o
Monday9th Jan 2017
Review Teslapunk (Wii U eShop)
More like meh-slapunk
The Shmup genre is one that was quite popular in the halcyon days of pre-3D gaming, but it seems that the addition of the extra dimension largely rendered this style of gaming obsolete. Nowadays you may see new entries every now and then, but it seems that many are simple games designed for smart devices, or are otherwise too...
News Hex Heroes Still Coming To Wii U, Dev Hints At Nintendo Switch News
Well, that's refreshing
While other developers are dropping Wii U support and shifting projects over to the forthcoming Switch, the team behind Kickstarter project Hex Heroes are bucking the trend by standing by Nintendo's outgoing home system. An update has just been posted on the project's Kickstarter page which shows the game running on a Wii U...
Nintendo Download 12th January (Europe)
Mercenaries Saga 3! Shift DX! Discounts!
Nintendo Switch week is here, but the Wii U and 3DS eShop still have the usual updates on the way. In Europe this week's Nintendo Download Update has two new arrivals on the portable, while there are some tempting discounts across both systems; let's get to it. Wii U eShop Temporary Discounts: SEVERED...
Friday6th Jan 2017
Video Gorillas, Mechs And Lightning Bolts, Wii U FPS Draw The Line Has It All
"Give us your heart"
Way back in July last year we reported on the development of Draw The Line by indie studio Nexis Games, previously famous for the as-yet-unreleased Minecraft clone UCraft. Billed as the first in the The Dance of the Damned series, this FPS title is something of a melting pot of ideas. Your role is to protect a scantily-clad...
News Check Out This New Village Area in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
"The afternoon sky was dark as night and red as blood"
Though Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is unfortunately quite some time away from being in the hands of gamers, Koji igarashi and his team have been doing a good job of communicating progress to their Kickstarter backers and showing how the game is shaping up. In the last post, we got a look...
Thursday5th Jan 2017
Nintendo Download 5th January (North America)
Pokémon Snap! Spheroids! Quiet, Please! More!
It's the first Nintendo Download Update of the year in North America, and the headline release is a much-requested N64 title on the Wii U Virtual Console. Beyond that there are some interesting Indie options to consider, so let's get to it. Missed the European Nintendo Download Update? No need to wail...
