WiiWare News (Page 4)

  • Review Carmen Sandiego Adventures in Math: The Big Ben Burglary (WiiWare)

    Big Ben brain buster

    Episodic gaming is becoming a regular occurrence on the Wii and DSiWare services, and whether that’s a good or bad thing is completely up to the individual. It is true, however, that if the first episode in a series isn’t very good, then there’s a chance that it won’t get much better moving forward. Carmen Sandiego...

  • Nintendo Download 12th January 2012 (Europe)

    Three for the choosing

    Nothing unique for 3DS owners this week as 3DSWare and Virtual Console take holidays, but WiiWare and DSiWare have the centre stage. WiiWare: Bobby Carrot Forever (FDG Entertainment, 800pts) — In development for years and years, little rabbit Bobby finally left the warren in July last year and brought a pretty good game with...

  • News Icon Games: "Nintendo's Policies Put Jobs at Risk"

    Former WiiWare dev strikes out

    A few days ago, Icon Games revealed its WiiWare sales figures, showing just how its games had fared on the service, breaching Nintendo's non-disclosure agreement in the process. Nintendo responded by asking Icon to remove the WiiWare sales figures from its post, prompting Icon boss Richard Hill-Whittall to slate...

  • Nintendo Download 5th January 2012 (North America)

    Meet your (samurai) destiny

    For the fourth time in five weeks, the 3DS gets new Download Software. Elsewhere there's a spot of DSiWare and a WiiWare game back from the dead. Nintendo 3DS Download Software: Samurai Sword Destiny (UFO Interactive, $5.99) — A side-scrolling slasher with a Japanese bent, your heroine Akane must defeat all in her path...

  • News Icon Games Breaks WiiWare Sales Figures Silence

    Dev speaks out

    All developers who sign up to work on Nintendo's download services have to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that forbids them from discussing sales numbers for their own games, among other things. However, British studio Icon Games has revealed sales figures for its WiiWare titles. The company's biggest-seller is Family Games,...

  • Nintendo Download 5th January 2012 (Europe)

    Hit the Pits

    If you've registered two qualifying games in Club Nintendo, you can download a free game this week; if not, you'll have to choose from one of the other titles on offer in the first digital drop of the New Year. 3DS Download Software: 3D Classics: Kid Icarus (Nintendo, free to qualifying users) — You can only get 3D Classics: Kid...

  • Review Soccer Up! (WiiWare)

    Shoots too narrow

    On the Wii Shop Channel, EnjoyUp! Games describes Soccer Up! as being "a funny soccer game." We're willing to bet you and EnjoyUp! Games have different senses of humour. But we're also willing to bet you have different definitions of "total control," "inertia" and "soccer." Indeed, much of...

  • Game of the Year Nintendo Life Staff Awards 2011

    What won our votes this year?

    With the launch of 3DS in March, the Wii U's unveiling at E3 and a Christmas period that included new Zelda, Mario and Mario Kart games, we rather think 2011 was a pretty good year all in all. But what were the very best stand-out games of the year? What moments will we think of when we reminisce about 2011? The...

  • News SEGA Confirms No WiiWare Outing for Sonic 4: Episode II

    Sad times

    SEGA's digital brand manager Ken Balough has confirmed that Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II will not make it to Wii. In a post on the SEGA forum, Balough confirmed it wouldn't appear on Nintendo's home console: But no - the reason Episode I was on the Wii was because we wanted to bring the Sonic 4 saga to the widest possible audience...

  • Nintendo Download 29th December 2011 (North America)

    VVVVVVery exciting

    The last batch of downloads for 2011 brings with it some more goodies, including a gravity-flipping eShop game and a certain game starring a guy with a bionic arm. 3DS Download Software: VVVVVV (Nicalis, $7.99) — The well-known indie platformer has made its way to the eShop. It seems to be identical to the PC release, including...

  • News Sonic 4: Episode II Teaser Trailer Due Tomorrow

    It's got a nice ring to it

    Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I seems all but a distant memory now, but SEGA is ready to revitalise your nostalgia for 2D Sonic games by officially revealing Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II tomorrow. Gamespot will have the exclusive teaser trailer tomorrow, with SEGA brand manager Ken Balough keen to emphasise its...

  • Nintendo Download 29th December 2011 (Europe)

    Bionic Commando!

    Just because the Christmas celebrations are winding down doesn't mean we can't feel all festive and excited about the final Nintendo Download of 2011. What choice delights does Nintendo Europe have lined up for excited eShoppers this week? Read on, dear reader, and find out. 3DS Virtual Console: Bionic Commando (Game Boy, Capcom,...

  • Review Carmen Sandiego Adventures in Math: The Lady Liberty Larceny (WiiWare)

    Where in the world is the rest of the game?

    Remember Carmen Sandiego? That mysterious woman in red who would steal precious and historical items from throughout the world all while teaching kids about history and geography? Well, she’s finally back and up to her old tricks. Except this time, rather than geography, it’s going to take all of...

  • Nintendo Download 22nd December 2011 (North America)

    Swapnote is here!

    It's the Christmas edition of the Nintendo Download, as we deck the halls with digital delights and wonder if we've been good enough boys and girls to get what we've asked Santa for. 3DS Download Software: Swapnote (Nintendo, free) — It wasn't on the website or press release but open your eShop and you'll find Swapnote waiting...

  • Nintendo Download 22nd December 2011 (Europe)

    Droppin' blocks and mailin' letters

    It's a bumper download for Europe this week — though no, there's no Wii Virtual Console present. Here's what Nintendo's digital departments has to offer this Christmas week. Nintendo 3DS Download Software: Nintendo Letter Box (Nintendo, free) — The 3DS finally gets its messaging application with Nintendo...

  • Review Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder (WiiWare)

    Not the worst game ever

    At the back of every game shelf, at the bottom of every YouTube favourites list, in the dark recesses of every gamer's heart, they live. Games with which we are far too familiar, games that some of us have taken a near-masochistic pride in seeking out. Superman. E.T. Super Noah's Ark 3D. These are some of the worst games ever...

  • Nintendo Download 15th December 2011 (Europe)

    Better late than never edition

    No press release from Nintendo of Europe this week but here's what's available to buy on the download services this week. 3DS eShop: Eurosport application (free) — This new video application is part of a new partnership between Nintendo and Eurosport. Featuring clips from the WATTS series it's set to get new content...

  • Nintendo Download 15th December 2011 (North America)

    Blaster Master and more

    It's a rather average week for the Nintendo Download this week, except for one title, which is the often overlooked Game Boy Color sequel to Blaster Master. No new 3DS Download Software this time, though you're probably still too busy playing Pushmo to care much. 3DS Virtual Console: Blaster Master: Enemy Below (Sunsoft,...

  • Review Xmas Puzzle (WiiWare)

    X-cceptable

    Less than a month ago, EnjoyUp Games released Pinocchio’s Puzzle, a jigsaw puzzle game that proved to be good fun for the whole family. Now, just in time for the holidays, EnjoyUp’s second jigsaw puzzle videogame emerges as Xmas Puzzle. But is this puzzle worth finishing and framing, or is it just a cheap Christmas cash cow? If you...

  • News Soccer Up! Videos Show Off Four-Player Mode

    Briefly

    WiiWare sports sim Soccer Up! is out next Thursday, and if you feel like gathering a few friends around for some holiday season soccer action here's two brief videos showing all the fun you could have. The game supports four-player local play with no need for Nunchuks. It all looks like the kind of silly knockabout football that did the...

  • Nintendo Download 8th December 2011 (North America)

    Pushmo!

    There's some good stuff on the Nintendo Download today, so make sure you read our Guide to the Nintendo 3DS System Update to get your machine up to speed before checking out the latest downloads. 3DS Download Software: Pushmo (Nintendo, $6.99) — Known as Pullblox in Europe where it is also released today, this is a quirky little puzzler...

  • Nintendo Download 8th December 2011 (Europe)

    Pull those blox!

    The big release this week is the new puzzler from Intelligent Systems, but we should also highlight this week sees only the second Game Boy Color game to hit the 3DS Virtual Console after The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX in June. Let's see what's on the platter this week. Nintendo 3DS Download Software: Pullblox (Nintendo,...

  • News Soccer Up! Dribbles for Goal on 22nd December

    Christmas fixture

    Soccer Up! has been knocking the ball around comfortably in its own half for some time now, but it's finally committed to a serious attack on WiiWare's football-free zone and is due out in two weeks. North America and Europe both get the Mii-powered kickabout on 22nd December for 500 Wii Points. Here's the teaser trailer below...

  • Nintendo Download 1st December 2011 (North America)

    First of the month and no returns

    After today there are just four more Nintendo Downloads left in 2011, so let's see what Nintendo has in store to kick off this final month of the year. 3DS Virtual Console: Adventure Island (Game Boy, Hudson, $3.99) — Master Higgins makes it across the pond four weeks after his European appearance. Read our...

  • Review Big Bass Arcade (WiiWare)

    Cast from the past

    Just six months back, Big John Games released Big Bass Arcade on DSiWare, offering up pick-up-and-play fishing action on the go. While the game certainly did what it said on the box, the overly simplistic design left us wanting a bit more content-wise. Enter Big Bass Arcade on WiiWare, a revamped port of that game offering updated...

  • Nintendo Download 1st December 2011 (Europe)

    A bumper crop

    There's plenty to choose from this week, with WiiWare, 3DS download software, DSiWare and 3DS Virtual Console all represented, though there's no sign of resurrection on Wii's Virtual Console. Here's what's available this coming Thursday. 3DS Download Software: Zen Pinball 3D (Zen Studios, €5/£4.50) — The first downloadable pinball...

  • Nintendo Download 24th November 2011 (North America)

    Samus is back!

    The headline story this week: intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran returns to Nintendo 3DS, battling Metroids — but definitely not Space Pirates — in a portable adventure that paves the way for Super Metroid. In other news, DSiWare continues to swell with puzzle games and there's definitely something fishy going on in WiiWare...

  • Review Pinocchio's Puzzle (WiiWare)

    Pinocchio goes to pieces

    Chances are, when you're deciding to pick up a puzzle game for your console of choice, you don't think of actual jigsaw puzzles. They just don't fit easily into the genre's landscape. Popular puzzlers like Tetris and Angry Birds have an immediacy to them that encourages quick play and gratification, while a real jigsaw...

  • Nintendo Download 24th November 2011 (Europe)

    Samus returns

    Four titles on the download front this week, with a bit of a mish-mash of styles: shooting, singing, escaping and bounty hunting. Of course there's only one title we're really interested in, so let's just dive in and introduce you to this week's contestants. 3DS Virtual Console: Metroid II: Return of Samus (Game Boy, Nintendo,...

  • News WiiWare Reels In Big Bass Arcade Next Week

    It's a live one

    Fresh from its DSiWare appearance earlier this year, Big John Games' Big Bass Arcade is on the way to WiiWare in North America next week. The trailer below, we're told, is "all in-game graphics" and below that you'll find screenshots from the game too. Will you have a crack at landing this one next week? Big Bass Arcade...

  • Nintendo Download 17th November 2011 (Europe)

    Kirby's back

    A trio of new downloads this week, with one long overdue game on WiiWare sitting alongside a much anticipated 3D Classic on 3DS. Let's see what's competing for your money this week. 3DS Download Software: 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure (Nintendo, €6/£5.40) — Kirby's legendary NES adventure gets the 3D Classics makeover, adding a...

  • Review Step Up! (WiiWare)

    Don't step to this

    The Wii is a great console for combining a love for gaming and fitness. Casual workout titles like Wii Fit offer laid back activities like yoga and jogging, while third-party titles like EA Sports Active offer up more rigorous cardiovascular routines. But what about WiiWare? Sure, retail offerings are great, but Nintendo's...

  • Review Gnomz (WiiWare)

    Fun with a capital Z?

    When we first started playing Gnomz, we were excited: here's a game that's joyously silly, bizarre and simple enough that anyone willing to pick up the controller could play it and have an absolute blast. The graphics are colourful. The soundtrack has a giddy urgency to it. It's got a good sense of humour. WiiWare's Angry...

  • Nintendo Download 10th November 2011 (North America)

    Your digital delectable delights are in

    The headline act of this week's Nintendo Download comes from Nintendo itself, with a spot of 3DS downloadable software from the Big N. There's also some healthy stuff on WiiWare and a spot of puzzle and strategy on DSiWare. Let's meet the contestants, shall we? 3DS Download Software: Freakyforms: Your...

  • Competition Winners escapeVektor: Episode 1

    Were you one of them?

    Our recent competition for escapeVektor: Chapter 1 met with a great response: we had hundreds of entries, and all winners should now have been contacted by Nnooo via Twitter direct message with details of how to claim. For posterity, here's the selected winners:...

  • Podcast NLFM Episode 22: Mascots and Mixes

    New digs for old friends

    Our chip and game music podcast rears its lovely head this month with a collection of Nintendo mascot sounds new and old, from that new Kirby game to Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Metroid remixes. Jun Ishikawa, Hirokazu Ando — Cookie Country (Kirby’s Return to Dreamland)The Greatest Bits — Fear Factory (Donkey K

  • Nintendo Download 3rd November 2011 (North America)

    Kicking off November in style

    There's a distinctly domestic theme to this week's Nintendo Download in North America, with a house, some garden gnomes and a spot of lawn mowing all featuring in one way or another. Let's get on our aprons and see what's available to take home this week. WiiWare: Gnomz (QubicGames, 1000pts) — A single-screen...

  • Competition Win escapeVektor: Chapter One [EU, NA and AUS]

    15 copies to give away

    We know you love great games, and we know you love competitions, but we bet you love both of them together even more. We've teamed up with Nnooo to give away 15 copies of WiiWare gem escapeVektor: Chapter 1 to readers around the world. We have five copies for North America, five for Europe and five for Australia and New...

  • News Machinarium Finally, Officially Cancelled

    Guess why

    Last September, XGen Studios announced Machinarium was coming to WiiWare, but since then we've heard not anything else about the game, leading many to assume it would never see the light of say. Sadly, those folks were right. Developer Amanita Design's founder Jakub Dvorský finally sealed the game's coffin in an interview with Eurogamer,...

  • Nintendo Download 3rd November 2011 (Europe)

    Master Higgins is back!

    Hudson was a big supporter of the Wii's Virtual Console, releasing no fewer than 53 games on the service over the past five years. Now it's bringing its little mascot Master Higgins to the 3DS as well with this week's title. 3DS Virtual Console: Adventure Island (Game Boy, Hudson, £2.70/€3) — This is actually based on...

  • Nintendo Download 27th October 2011 (North America)

    Blocks, burgers and board games

    3DS owners are best catered-for this week, with releases on the portable Virtual Console and some brand new software too. WiiWare fans get a 1000 Point offering and DSi fans can play checkers or go trick or treating. Here's the full list. 3DS Download Software: Pyramids (Enjoy Gaming, $3.99) — A neat 3D homage to...

  • Nintendo Download 27th October 2011 (Europe)

    Trick or treat?

    With the most frightful night of the year just around the corner, Nintendo of Europe has put together a platter of mysterious gifts. Will they be sweet as candy or as welcome as rotten eggs through your letterbox? Time to find out. 3DS Virtual Console: BurgerTime Deluxe (Game Boy, G-mode, £2.70/€3) — No doubt in anticipation of...

  • Review Fish Tank (WiiWare)

    An unrequested fishin' surplus

    We know what you're thinking: "yawn... another colour-matching puzzler." And you'd be forgiven for shrugging and moving on. If you do that, however, you'll be missing out on a game that's quite good on its own, and a multiplayer experience that absolutely bursts with frantic fun. Fish Tank is a game that's...

  • First Impressions Gnomz (WiiWare)

    WiiWare gets weirder

    QubicGames' Gnomz isn't much like other fighting games. There are no punches, no blocks and no health bars — instead it has gnomes, rainbow socks and reindeer with lights on. We recently grappled with a preview version of the game and came out (mostly) mentally unscathed. Played with the Wii Remote sideways, Gnomz is a...

  • Nintendo Download 20th October 2011 (Europe)

    Another late one

    Just like last week, there's been no press release announcing what's available this week but here's what's appeared in Nintendo's digital shops. 3DS eShop: Pyramids (Enjoy Gaming, €4/£3.60) — You'd think Nintendo would make more of a song and dance about this, only the second third-party release for the 3DS eShop, but hey ho...

  • Nintendo Download 20th October 2011 (North America)

    Dragons, castles and more

    Some games we expected to be available today haven't made it, but here's the full list of what's up for your download dollars today including the 3DS's first ever paid video content. 3DS Virtual Console: Double Dragon (Game Boy, Aksys, $3.99) — The classic 2D side-scroller finally makes it to North America, nearly four...

  • Interviews QubicGames - Gnomz (WiiWare)

    Learn more about the porcelain protectors

    After the revelation of Gnomz yesterday we had to sit down with QubicGames' Michał Dys to learn more about the bizarre WiiWare fighting platformer. We'll also have a preview of the game coming up tomorrow, so don't miss it. Nintendo Life: The first question has to be: why gnomes? What is it about them that...

  • News Are You Afraid of Gnomes? You Will Be After This Gnomz Trailer

    Don't go into the garden alone

    QubicGames has put out some pretty good games on DSiWare — AiRace and AiRace Tunnel — but it's never made the jump to the big screen... until now. The developer has just told us about Gnomz, a new multiplayer fighting game for WiiWare starring everyone's favourite ornament — the garden gnome. From the video below...

  • Nintendo Download 13th October 2011 (North America)

    Cat's out of the bag

    A little something for everyone this week — other than Wii Virtual Console fans, that is — from WiiWare demos to forgotten classics. 3DS Virtual Console: Catrap (Game Boy, ASK, $2.99) — The original turning-back-time puzzler featuring cats — take that, Blinx the Timesweeper — this game is exactly what Virtual Console...

  • Review Horizon Riders (WiiWare)

    Well balanced?

    Horizon Riders is definitely a Wii-exclusive experience. A game that makes use of both the Balance Board and Wii Zapper, Sabarasa's on-rails shooter is tailor-made for the console. If you are one of the millions that bought Wii Fit, consider yourself in for a treat, as the game makes good use of the peripheral and really shouldn't be...