WiiWare and WarioWare Join Forces for Maximum Downloadable Excitement
Wario may be known as a troublemaker, but this week he deserves a friendly high-five for helping to deliver a mother lode of downloadable fun for Wii owners. The new WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase game for the WiiWare service lets users with broadband Internet access download all kinds of outrageous content, from music and microgames to four-panel digital comics – some created by users themselves. Meanwhile, a classic RPG has arrived on the Virtual Console service, while Nintendo DSiWare users will find new ways to tune musical instruments, rescue turtles, launch their own fireworks display and more.
This week also marks the kickoff of Nintendo's WarioWare: D.I.Y. "Big Name Games" series. Several of the industry's most talented game designers are using WarioWare: D.I.Y. software for the Nintendo DS family of systems to create their own one-of-a-kind microgames. New microgames will be added every Monday through July 26, all available for download to anyone with broadband Internet access and a copy of either WarioWare: D.I.Y. for Nintendo DS or WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase software for the WiiWare service. The series gets underway with inventive new microgames from Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai and Metroid designer Yoshio Sakamoto. To learn more about the games and view an exclusive behind-the-scenes video featuring Masahiro Sakurai, visit http://www.wariowarediy.com.
And just for Club Nintendo members, we've got a little something extra to offer this week. Starting March 31, members can redeem 80 Coins to download Grill-Off with Ultra Hand!, a wild game for the Wii console that challenges players to cook a variety of meats with an extendable arm. What better way to prepare for barbecue season than some fast-paced grilling drills on your Wii system? For a taste of the action, visit http://grilloff.nintendo.com.
WiiWare
WarioWare:
D.I.Y. Showcase
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1-4
ESRB
Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence
Price:
800 Wii Points
Description: The frantic fun of WarioWare
is available for the first time on the WiiWare service! WarioWare:
D.I.Y. Showcase shows off all the different elements found on the
WarioWare: D.I.Y. game for the Nintendo DS family of systems. The
WiiWare software includes microgames, music and four-panel comics – all
with simple controls using only the Wii Remote controller. Use the Game
Blender and its many modes to play microgames featuring Wario, ninjas,
animals and even classic Nintendo franchises. Check out the Music
section to hear or play a selection of songs using a character from
Balloon Fight. In addition to the bevy of preloaded products, you can
also receive content from friends, play with products made using
WarioWare: D.I.Y. or download games from the NinSoft Store. Let your
creativity run wild – even Wario would be impressed with the
possibilities for new content!
Diner
Dash
Publisher: Hudson Entertainment
Players: 1-4
ESRB
Rating: E (Everyone) – Use of Alcohol
Price: 1,000
Wii Points
Description: Diner Dash, a popular PC action-puzzle
game, has landed on the WiiWare service. Guide Flo, an office
worker-turned-restaurateur, as she builds up her empire over four unique
diners. Go online to face players in head-to-head. If you feel up to the
challenge, join up with a friend or another player online for a Team
Dash game where your team will take on six other players to see whose
diner is the best in town. (Broadband Internet access is required for
online play.) Players take direct control of Flo as she runs around to
seat patrons, take orders, deliver food, take payment and bus tables as
efficiently as possible within the time allowed. Players who are fond of
traditional control schemes may also use a point-and-click style with
hotkeys to aid Flo in her quest for customer satisfaction, which is
reflected in a heart meter that empties as customers lose patience. If
the meter empties completely, then the customer will leave the
restaurant.
Virtual Console
Ogre
Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
Original platform:
Nintendo 64
Publisher: Square Enix
Players: 1
ESRB
Rating: T (Teen) – Mild Language, Mild Violence
Price: 1,000
Wii Points
Description: Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly
Caliber is a tactical RPG originally released for the Nintendo 64
system. Featuring a gripping storyline with many possible endings, plus
a genre-defining character class system, this strategic epic has rightly
retained its place in the hearts of tactical RPG fans for more than a
decade. The game tells the story of Magnus Gallant, a recently graduated
officer of the Palatinean Army who is assigned to the troubled southern
region of his native land. There he witnesses the plight of the lower
classes – the victims of a tyrannical ruling elite whose only thought is
for the preservation of its own lofty status. With civil war brewing,
Magnus is faced with a terrible choice: to betray his own noble origins
in the name of liberty, or to turn a blind eye to the evils of his
rotten society.
Nintendo DSiWare
Disney
Fireworks
Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
Players:
1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Nintendo
DSi Points
Description: Light up the night with Disney
Fireworks! Touch and flick to trigger a dazzling nighttime extravaganza
of color and fun. Aim rockets to their matching colors in the sky to set
off an explosion and score points. Time them perfectly to improve your
Wow Meter and unlock special surprises and rockets. Disney Fireworks
comes with five themed environments, original music, 15 challenging
levels for each world, high-score tracking and much more.
Save
the Turtles
Publisher: Sabarasa
Players: 1
ESRB
Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 500
Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Save the Turtles takes
players to more than 32 of the world's most exotic beaches in a quest to
help tiny turtles find their new home. Players must use the stylus to
rub and tap the touch screen of the Nintendo DSi system, digging eggs
from the sand and lining up cute reptiles while avoiding crabs, seagulls
and litter on their way to the safety of the sea. The game features four
modes, including a never-ending survival mode called Turtles Forever,
plus several unlockable trophies. Give Mother Nature a hand and help
save the turtles.
Nintendo
DSi Metronome
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB
Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description:
The Nintendo DSi Metronome software can be used to help keep tempo –when
playing an instrument, for example. It creates a rhythm by playing
sounds based on beat and tempo settings, both of which allow a wide
range of adjustments. Choose from three metronome designs (including one
based on Nintendo's Game & Watch: Ball title) and record your own sounds
for the metronome to use. Or, if you want to take a break, enjoy a
unique minigame: Donkey Kong Metronome, in which you make sounds into
the microphone to match the beat and have Mario jump over Donkey Kong's
barrels.
Nintendo
DSi Instrument Tuner
Publisher: Nintendo
Players:
1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi
Points
Description: The Nintendo DSi Instrument Tuner software
can be used to tune an instrument by aligning tonal pitches. The
software offers two methods of handling this: feeding sounds into the
microphone to measure the difference with a target pitch, or listening
to a sample tone. In addition, the standard musical pitch and notation
can be changed, as well as the design of the tuner (choose one of three
designs). If you're feeling especially in tune, test your ear by taking
on the Tuner Fight minigame's challenge: Pop balloons as they rise from
pipes by making tones that match the displayed pitches.
Super
Yum Yum Puzzle Adventures
Publisher: Mastertronic
Players:
1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price:
800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Super Yum Yum Puzzle
Adventures is a multi-award-winning puzzle game starring a chameleon
called Leon. Featuring 48 levels across four worlds and exclusive
Nintendo DSi features, the game asks players to navigate many hours of
mind-bending game play while trying to rescue Leon's babies from the
belly of Ms. Tum Tum. Leon must eat his way through fruity, fiendish
puzzles, licking fruit to change color and choosing the right
combinations of fruit to finish each level.
Nintendo adds new titles to the Nintendo DSi Shop and the Wii Shop
Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Mondays. Users with broadband Internet
access can redeem Wii Points or Nintendo DSi Points to download the
games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo DSi
Points can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card
can be purchased at retail locations. All points from one Nintendo
Points Card must be redeemed in either the Nintendo DSi Shop or the Wii
Shop Channel. They are not transferable and cannot be divided between
the two systems.
Remember that both Wii and Nintendo DSi feature
parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can
access. For more information about this and other features, visit Wii.com
or NintendoDSi.com. For the latest
WiiWare games, click here. Click
here for a list of games available on Virtual Console.
