As always, hit the jump for the full list, courtesy of Nintendo.
Sometimes realism is overrated. Don't we all need a regular jolt of fantasy to keep our imaginations alive and kicking? For Wii™ owners, this week's new game lineup is set to deliver exactly that. Max & the Magic Marker for the WiiWare™ service imagines what would happen if your own artistic creation turned against you, while the Virtual Console™ service features a big dose of otherworldly action with the classic FINAL FANTASY® II. Browse all the latest downloadable games for the Wii and Nintendo DSi™ systems to help keep your imagination fueled to the max.
We've also got some free bonus inspiration for you this week: At last September's Penny Arcade Expo, Nintendo invited professional artists to create one-of-a-kind animations using the Flipnote Studio™ application for the Nintendo DSi system. The results are now online and ready for viewing at the Flipnote Hatena site (http://flipnote.hatena.com), including cool clips from top comic artists like Eric Jones, Christina Strain and Mike Choi. Check them out and treat your brain to extra helpings of creative juice.
WiiWare
Max & the Magic Marker
Publisher: Press Play
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Comic Mischief
Price: 1,000 Wii Points™
Description: One day Max gets a mysterious marker in the mail. Not knowing better, the first thing he draws is a wacky, purple monster. As soon as the marker leaves the paper, the monster comes to life and jumps off the paper and into another drawing. With the monster on the loose and messing with Max's drawings, Max has no choice but to go after it. Armed with the magic marker, you must help Max track the monster through 15 inventive and challenging levels. You'll need more than good will and quick reflexes to tackle the challenges ahead. Draw freely inside the game to help Max defeat enemies, overcome obstacles and solve puzzles. As you draw stairs, seesaws, balloons, surfboards and whatever else you can think of, your creations will interact with the physical environment, making every session unique.
Dracula - Undead Awakening
Publisher: Chillingo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) - Fantasy Violence
Price: 1,000 Wii Points
Description: Are you a vampire hunter? Are you ready to battle legions of undead foes including zombies, ghouls and werewolves? You'll need to wield an arsenal of powerful weaponry while using your skill and intelligence. Uncover devastating firepower - machine guns, buzz-saws, flamethrowers and more - and choose upgrades for them as well as unique new perks for your character as your enemies increase in number and ferocity. You're a tough customer, but beware - Lord Dracula is always on the hunt, and you are his prey. Enemies in Dracula have one thing in common: Undead, lycanthrope or mutant, they're all after your flesh.
Virtual Console
FINAL FANTASY II
Original platform: Super NES™
Publisher: Square Enix
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Follow the dark knight Cecil - Lord Captain of Baron's elite force, the Red Wings - as he embarks on a fateful journey riddled with trials, betrayals, friendship, loss and self-discovery. Plagued with uncertainty over his monarch's motives, can Cecil turn away from the path of darkness and destruction?
Nintendo DSiWare™
Elemental Masters
Publisher: lbxgames
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) - Animated Blood, Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: In this fantasy card game, stand your ground in a quest filled with magic and adventure, and experience a thrilling combination of strategy and role-playing. Choose your character, build up your army in your card deck and fight the mystical creatures of Elendior. With thoughtful use of your cards, you'll obtain the monsters of your enemy and support your attacks by using arcane spells and the rules of dark magic. Dive into this captivating story in the quest mode or duel with your friends in multiplayer mode. More than 100 creatures in numerous maps are waiting for you.
4 TRAVELLERS™ - Play Spanish
Publisher: AGENIUS Interactive
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Whether played alone or together with friends, 4 TRAVELLERS can teach you new words in Spanish. The game is suitable for both young and old, and no previous knowledge is necessary. The more you play, the more your Spanish vocabulary increases. You can also play and learn with the game's unique learning mode. The game is perfect to bring on your trip, with more than 240 carefully selected words included specifically for this occasion.
Dracula - Undead Awakening
Publisher: Chillingo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) - Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Are you a vampire hunter? Are you ready to battle legions of undead foes including zombies, ghouls and werewolves? You'll need to wield an arsenal of powerful weaponry while using your skill and intelligence. Uncover devastating firepower - machine guns, buzz-saws, flamethrowers and more - and choose upgrades for them as well as unique new perks for your character as your enemies increase in number and ferocity. You're a tough customer, but beware - Lord Dracula is always on the hunt, and you are his prey. Enemies in Dracula have one thing in common: Undead, lycanthrope or mutant, they're all after your flesh.
Flips: The Bubonic Builders
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: Not Rated
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Flips Interactive Books are the fun new way for kids to read. The builders are in to replace the girls' toilet block, but they're more interested in cups of tea and instant noodle snacks than doing any work. James suspects foul play, but Alexander and Lenny are doubtful until a strange accident hammers the truth home. How will the three friends stop St. Sebastian's from being reduced to rubble?
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.
Contest:
10:00 AM on 03.08.2010
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Ah well.
Also, hottest purple mermaid ever.
Hell ya!
Jim make a Geralt of rivia is blatantly better than kratos
It should be fun
If you played the witcher u will know
That's all they can muster up for us the week that FFXIII gets released?
Woo. I don't miss my Wii on weeks like this. I'll be content to play FFIV on the DS or on the PSX. Square's beaten this all to death already, so it's their loss for not bringing more to this soiree than just IV. I know IV has it's place in people's hearts, but it's just one of... I dunno... 6 pre-PSX Final Fantasy games that Square churned out back in the day...
So, outside of following the brainless "US-centric" logic of rebranding IV as "Final Fantasy II" as it was called 19 years ago (BRAND LEGACY OBVIOUSLY!), it's not actually the same game as we've been playing for the last decade. It's a ROM dump of the original SNES title. THANKS GUYS! We've been waiting to pay $8 in moon money for a ROM dump. Maybe they can cough up the cash to put the GBA version of the game up on DSiWare next week?! I'd buy that too, I'm sure.
This isn't so much a glorification of the original title, it's a cash grab with as little work done as possible.
They COULD rework the scripts from the updated ports into this title. They COULD put in some of the improved visuals that the game got when it was ported to WonderSwan/iMobile's.
But that would require effort. Why release a remastered Beatles album when you could just put out mono transfers only? No one will notice except the people who've been enjoying it for the last 30 years?
Yeah, they could have redone the script and all that, but every time they do, there are fans who bitch "you took away my spoony bard!" and really just want the same game they played 15 years ago. And that's really the point of the Virtual Console: giving us a virtual NES, SNES, etc. and the games they had, as they existed on those consoles. Not happy with that? Don't buy.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of FFIV, but I'm glad getting the game as it was on the SNES is finally an option. The PSX version's load times and off-putting menu lag make it too annoying to play, and the DS version's ugly 3D and stupid difficulty that makes grinding a necessity just isn't my cup of tea.
I won't be getting this, but I'm eagerly awaiting FFVI, as the only version of it I own is the PSX one, and it's nearly unplayable.
The DS version is the best imo. It adds a ton of features on the already solid game like Augments which I couldn't imagine playing without for long. Cecil + Draw Attacks = YES
The GBA version does have the advantage of letting you switch out your party members whenever you want a la Chrono Trigger.
The SNES version has the silly script Woolseyisms like "spoony bard".
@Pandareus
I haven't had to grind in FFIV DS and the only truly difficult parts I encountered were during Boss fights. Are you sure you're playing the same game?
"Personally, I'm not a huge fan of FFIV..."
Oh, nevermind.
The difficulty HAS been ramped up in the DS version compared to the SNES or GBA versions, no? Even if it's "just for the boss fights". I definitely found grinding necessary. I admit I didn't play it for that long, however.
As for the GBA version, I would warn against it. Apparently not everyone had this bug, but durnig combat the game would frequently give monsters or myself two moves in a row. Sometimes it was beneficial, sometimes not. It was always annoying, though. In addition, frequently the attack bars would freeze for no reason. Basically, all those problems broke the Active Time Battle system: you couldn't plan ahead your moves, because you never knew whose turn would be next.
I did hear that was squashed out in the European release of the game.