This week the Virtual Console celebrates its 300th downloadable game as a classic Zelda game finally makes its debut.
- DSiWare
- Art Style: PiCTOBiTS (Gameloft, 500 DSi Points): This color matching block game is ready for download on the DSi Shop. Enjoy various levels of puzzle-solving fun and the occasional visit from a classic NES character.
- WiiWare
- Crystal Defenders R2 (Square Enix, 800 Points): Ward off the encroaching enemy fleet by deploying Fencers and Black Mages. Battle through various maps of combat and strategy.
- Silver Star Chess (Agetec, Inc., 500 Points): Finally you can ditch that cumbersome chess board and rely on your Wii for some fun. Silver Star Chess offers one or two-player game modes.
- Virtual Console
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000, Nintendo 64, 1000 Wii points): In Majora's Mask, Link must once again save the world by making his way through dungeons, traps, and huge bosses. Best of all, you won't need the N64 expansion pack to play this one!
What games do you think are missing from the Wii Virtual Console? Sound off at our discussion board!
This week brings us a standalone downloadable soccer game for the DSi, some family pirate fun on WiiWare, and a classic arcade space shooter to the Virtual Console.
- DSiWare
- Real Soccer 2009 (Gameloft, 800 DSi Points): Finally, the DSi Shop gets an independently developed third-party downloadable game! Real Soccer 2009 provides great soccer action with 198 teams to choose from. Use the DSi's camera to create your own soccer ball.
- WiiWare
- Family Pirate Party (Aksys Games, 500 DSi Points): The Pirate family is back again, pillaging the seas for gold and other treasures. Play with up to four friends in this electronic board game.
- Virtual Console
- Galaxy Force II (1991, Sega Genesis, 800 Wii points): Make your way through five planets of 3D shooter action in this arcade-inspired title. Destroy the alien enemies and ward off an invasion as you restore peace to the universe.
What games do you think are missing from the Wii Virtual Console? Sound off at our discussion board!
(Credit:
nintendolife.com)
- DSiWare
- Dr. Mario Express (Nintendo, 500 DSi Points): The classic color-matching puzzle game makes its way to the Nintendo portable in Dr. Mario Express. Play alone or against the computer in the race to fight off viruses.
- Master of Illusion Express: Deep Psyche (Nintendo, 200 DSi Points): Continuing the series of magic tricks for your DSi, Deep Psyche will ask you a number of questions in order to reveal a startling truth.
- WiiWare
- Crystal Defenders R1 (SQUARE ENIX, 800 Wii points): See how many encroaching monsters you can hold off by deploying soldiers and Black Mages. Test your skills over various levels with different layouts and difficulty settings.
- Virtual Console
- Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (1990, Sega Genesis, 900 Wii points): Monster Lair is a Japanese import that never saw the light of day in North America until now. Use your sword to defend Xenobia with a friend or endure the battle alone.
What games do you think are missing from the Wii Virtual Console? Sound off at our discussion board!
Updated Editors' note: Now that our testing has completed with the online functionality of the DSi Shop experience, we're able to give the DSi a full review.
Just four and a half years after its initial release, the Nintendo DS has sold more than 100 million units worldwide, solidifying itself as the best-selling portable video game console of all time. By comparison, the competing Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) has sold about half as many units.
The Nintendo DSi is the third iteration of the DS, which originally released in November of 2004. In June of 2006, the company refreshed the system in the form of the DS Lite, which dramatically changed the device's overall design and vastly improved screen performance.
Rumors of a second redesign proved to be a reality when Nintendo announced the most recent--and what we believe to be the final--rehash of the system, the Nintendo DSi. This upgrade adds two small-resolution cameras to the portable, slightly larger screens, and an SD card slot. The Game Boy Advance slot found in both previous versions has been removed.
While current DS Lite owners may want to think twice about upgrading, the DSi's innovative media features and online functionality (the DSi Shop) may warrant a purchase. But if you've been holding out on a DS purchase up until now and you don't need backward compatibility with Game Boy Advance cartridges, the DSi is certainly the way go.
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On Sale Now: $169.99
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On Sale Now: $169.99
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Nintendo sent us our Nintendo DSi review unit this morning. Follow along all the excitement step by step with our unboxing slide show. Like the previous two DS systems, the packaging is overly simple, very much in the vein of an Apple product.
Right away we noticed the free games promotion sticker we talked about last week. Anyone who purchases a DSi by October 5, 2009 will receive 1,000 free DSi Points to spend in the DSi Shop.
When we first turned the DSi on, we were greeted with a setup screen followed by a short tutorial that explains the various functions of the device's cameras.
The DSi goes on sale this Sunday, April 5 for $170. Check CNET this week for our full review!
The DSi lets you record and edit audio.
(Credit: Nintendo)Two weeks ago, we gave you an exclusive hands-on First Look at the Nintendo DSi, the company's second refresh of the DS portable gaming system. While we had to hold back some juicy details about the DSi, we can now let you in on all the fun.
The DSi Shop, which will go live April 5, will offer downloadable games and applications via the DSi Shop that you can store on either the 256MB of internal storage or on an SD card. When Nintendo visited us a few weeks ago, we got to play some DSiWare titles like WarioWare Snapped!, a collection of mini-games designed for use with the DSi's cameras. Snapped! had us moving our heads to dodge objects and watched our mouth's movements to re-enact eating a sandwich. We imagine there will be dozens of more titles that make use of the unit's cameras in addition to the microphone capabilities.
We also got to see a title called Moving Memo that lets you create a sort of flipbook animation. There have even been rumors about a Virtual Console for Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games on the DSi Shop (which would explain the absence of such games on the current Wii Virtual Console).
Games and applications on the DSi Shop will range in price from free to more than 2,000 points. 100 points will equal $1, so a 1,000-point game will run you $10. As a promotion, anyone who buys a DSi before October 5 of this year will get 1,000 free points to spend in the DSi Shop.
While a list of games and applications hasn't been finalized yet, you will be able to grab a free Web browser for your DSi right out of the gate. The Opera-developed software is reportedly more robust, offering a better experience over the cartridge-based software we saw in the past. We'll update this post with a list of launch DSiWare titles when Nintendo confirms them.
The Nintendo DSi will cost $170, and is available in either black or blue. Check CNET next week for our full review!
Word from the Nintendo Developer Conference in London suggests the company is encouraging third-party developers to think outside of the box when it comes to DSi downloadable content on the DSi Shop.
While Nintendo has focused its WiiWare platform around games, it seems the DSi might be a viable platform for applications outside of gaming. While we know games will be available--there are already plenty circulating in Japan--the unique photo, microphone, and touch-screen capabilities embedded in the system could make for some very interesting third-party applications.
The possibilities are potentially endless. Think about it: a Facebook app? Maybe a Flickr app that will let you upload photos? This certainly erases any doubt about Nintendo following the same Apple App Store model found on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Now that everyone is familiar with the new media features on the DSi, what kind of app would you like to see on it?
The DSi launches in North America on April 5 for $170. Stay tuned for more developments on DSi downloadables. For now, check out our hands-on First Look video of the handheld itself.
(Source: develop)
On Sale Now: $169.99
View the latest prices for Nintendo DSi (blue)
On Sale Now: $169.99
View the latest prices for Nintendo DSi (black)
With estimated unit sales approaching 100 million worldwide, Nintendo has proven itself time and time again as the industry ruler of the portable console market. With the DSi--the second refresh of the Nintendo DS--we're starting to see the company move in an evolutionary direction with its flagship handheld.
The DSi takes with it most of the features the DS Lite had to offer, but adds new multimedia capabilities. The DSi has been on sale in Japan since November 1 of last year and has already sold well over an astonishing 1 million units. Now that Nintendo has announced that the DSi will go on sale April 5 in North America, it certainly leaves everyone asking one big question, "Should I buy one?"
First, let's look at what exactly separates the new DSi from the DS Lite. In terms of actual form-factor, the difference between the two portables is negligible. The DSi is slightly slimmer, but you're not going to see the massive change in size like we saw when Nintendo upgraded the original DS to the DS Lite. What you may notice is that both screens are a quarter of an inch larger. The DSi hardware also actually eliminates the Game Boy Advance slot found on the Lite, so you won't be able to play older Game Boy Advance games or DS titles that make use of the port, such as "Guitar Hero: On Tour."
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On Sale Now: $169.99
View the latest prices for Nintendo DSi (blue)
On Sale Now: $169.99
View the latest prices for Nintendo DSi (black)
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