Here are this week's releases on WiiWare, DSiWare, and Virtual Console!

WiiWare

Triple Throwing Sports
Publisher: The Code Monkeys Ltd.
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points™
Description: Triple Throwing Sports is the most advanced recreational throwing game available for the WiiWare service, immersing players in the world of competitive projectile throwing. Most Olympic events consist of activities that are traditionally derived from hunting and combat skills. Over time these practices have evolved into a variety of competitive sports that include Javelin, Discus, Shot Put and Hammer. As with real-life throwing events, you will have full control over the aim of the projectile. You must also take into account the angle, release point and power - all of these factors can influence the success of your throw.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar's ABCs
Publisher: CYBIRD Co., Ltd.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: EC (Early Childhood)
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: The Very Hungry Caterpillar's ABCs is an educational game based on the children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It allows parents to help children learn basic English while enjoying a game together. The game consists of four parts, including alphabet flash cards featuring colored letters and pictures by Eric Carle, plus a vocabulary quiz for preschool-aged children that includes numbers, colors, shapes, animal names and simple verbs and adjectives. Young players can also engage in fun activities such as erasing parts of a colored screen to reveal a hidden illustration, or placing a variety of animal stamps on the screen. Finally, parents can use the "To The Parents" option to check their children's progress in remembering vocabulary words. Your whole family is sure to appreciate the colorful illustrations by Eric Carle, internationally renowned as a creator of beautifully illustrated and innovatively designed picture books for children.

Virtual Console

AERO THE ACROBAT™ 2
Original platform: Super NES
Publisher: Sunsoft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: The aerialist extreme, Aero the Acro-Bat, bounds back into the spotlight once again to stop the wicked industrialist, Edgar Ektor! Aero has entered a new realm of enchantment and must now use all of his acrobatic prowess to foil a criminal plot known only as "Plan B." Join Aero as he discovers new friends - and enemies - in a world custom-built for his high-flying adventures. There are 45 levels of acrobatic fun, including Bonus Rounds, Chance Stages and Hidden Chambers. Discover new villains and original digitized character voices. A password feature allows you to return to any level. The Chillin' Snow Boarding Stage adds a new twist to Aero's style, and you'll find new moves and fighting techniques for Aero's attacks.

Nintendo DSiWare

Nintendo Countdown Calendar
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: Not Rated
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: With Nintendo Countdown Calendar, you can add and track all of your important events in a fun and exciting countdown format. Simply set up your personal profile and then start entering events. Adding events is easy: Choose a date for the event, decide whether it will be an open event (which you name yourself) or a set event (chosen from the School, Work or General Events categories), and select an icon from the wide variety of available options. If necessary, you can set the recurrence of the event or even move the event to the Hidden Events List. From there, the calendar does the rest - just watch the days count down! On subsequent visits to the application, you may see special greetings or suggested seasonal events you can choose to add to your calendar. All events added to the calendar are displayed chronologically, so you can quickly view all of your upcoming events in one place.

GO Series 10 Second Run
Publisher: Gamebridge
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Run like the wind in this unique twist on the classic platform game. Take control of a stick man and run for your life across an obstacle course to reach the goal within 10 seconds. Dash across platforms and avoid various hazards, desperately trying to reach the exit in time. Ten seconds is all you've got. Go flat out over 50 stages and three game modes. Do you have what it takes to reach the finish line?

Everyday Soccer
Publisher: Aksys Games
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Play soccer against teams from all over the world. Customize your characters to be normally sized, small, tall or muscular. You can also customize their shirts, shorts and shoes. Take advantage of your players' specific traits as dictated by their body types. Assembling a well-balanced team is the key to becoming world champions. There are many teams to play against, so keep your mind sharp and your kicking foot sharper. Play against friends via DS Download Play and find out who's the true soccer champion!

URL to share (right click and copy)

Now why all of a sudden would Nintendo introduce a Countdown Calendar this close to their press conference?

I think I'm going to get it. Sounds like a cheap alternative to owning a PDA.

Posted by

shinriley

on: 09/20/10, 15:30

Edited:

09/20/10, 15:32

@shinriley@shinriley
Yeah, why not just call it the "3DS countdown timer" and give it away for free.

Posted by

deathly_hallows

on: 09/20/10, 15:33

GO Series 10 Second Run sounds like it could be something.

I'll probably get Aero 2 eventually, apparently it's much better than the first game.

Posted by

Pandareus

on: 09/20/10, 16:30

I don't know why Aero attracts me so. Even though I've never played it. Uniracers, too.

Posted by

Anand

on: 09/20/10, 17:40

@anandxxx

Uniracers was a lot of fun. Pretty mindless fun, but fun nonetheless.

Posted by

ludist210

on: 09/20/10, 17:49

@anandxxx

Don't give us that, you do know. Hell, I know.

I know.

Posted by

Pandareus

on: 09/20/10, 17:53

Edited:

09/20/10, 17:54

Fine, it's the ears! The ears!

*Cradles imported copy of Band Brothers*

No, but that pun is pretty awesome. Aero the AcroBAT. I have to respect any party that structures the entirety of their game around a stupid joke.

Posted by

Anand

on: 09/20/10, 19:20

David Siller? Maximo? Helloooo!

I literally know you better than you know yourself!

Posted by

Pandareus

on: 09/20/10, 19:25

Of course, Davey Siller! I don't have a bat fetish at all, haha!! Ha... ha...

No, that dude does intrigue me. Here are his credited games from MobyGames:

Death Jr. (2005), Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
Death Jr. (Limited Edition) (2005), Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
Maximo: Ghosts to Glory (2001), Capcom Co., Ltd.
1942 (2000), Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Ghosts 'N Goblins (1999), Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (1997), Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc.
Scooby-Doo Mystery (1995), Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., Sunsoft of America
ACME Animation Factory (1994), Sunsoft of America
Aero the Acrobat 2 (1994), SunSoft
Bugs Bunny Rabbit Rampage (1994), Sunsoft of America
Daze Before Christmas (1994), SunSoft
The Death and Return of Superman (1994), SunSoft
Looney Tunes B-Ball (1994), SunSoft
The Pirates of Dark Water (1994), SunSoft
The Pirates of Dark Water (1994), Sunsoft of America
Speedy Gonzales in Los Gatos Bandidos (1994), Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.
Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel (1994), SunSoft
Aero the Acro-Bat (1993), Sun Electronics Corp.
Blaster Master 2 (1993), Sunsoft of America
Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions (1993), Sunsoft of America
Disney's Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Quest (1993), SunSoft
Disney's Beauty and the Beast: Roar of the Beast (1993), Sunsoft of America
World Heroes (1993), SunSoft
Looney Tunes (1992), Sunsoft of America
Road Runner's Death Valley Rally (1992), Sunsoft of America
Superman (1992), Sunsoft of America
Taz-Mania (1992), Sunsoft of America

Pretty diverse resume. Well, kind of diverse. Now I want to try the Wii Death Jr. port (although it's the sequel to his game).

DAMN, I MISS MAXIMO! It should've released on the N64, as originally planned, where it would've thrived... maybe!


And Uniracers is DMA Design, of Lemmings, GTA, Body Harvest, and Space Station Silicon Valley fame. Nintendo used to be pretty chummy with them. Can you imagine a world in which GTA hit the Gamecube first?

No, neither can I. But it DID have the only unedited version of BMX XXX, eh? EH?

Eh...


I also have a soft spot for Road Runner's Death Valley Rally. It's the best Sonic game ever made, as far as I remember!

Posted by

Anand

on: 09/20/10, 19:30

Edited:

09/20/10, 19:33

To be fair, the first Maximo sold very, very well on PS2. The second tapered off a lot though.

And then when it came time for a third, we were already into PS3 territory, and no way would it sell there. Nor 360. Possibly Wii if it had hit earlier and made a strong showing, but I dunno anymore. Wii sort of died off.

Posted by

Zero

on: 09/20/10, 20:18

I think 'very, very well' is probably overstating it. That game was bargain-binned to hell and back. It did make Greatest Hits, I think, but I wonder how many $5 copies it took to get there.

Maximo 3 was canned due to the bombing of Army of Zin, I think. And the whole studio was dissolved after Final Fight Streetwise. I still have to try that game, to honor the memory of Maximo, which was never even christened as a legitimate part of the G'n'G franchise.

Hmm, according to Wiki, Capcom Production Studio 8 also made a Final Fight fighting game for Saturn that was never released in America. Weird. I wonder what they worked on in-between. Ports and stuff?

Posted by

Anand

on: 09/20/10, 20:31

I remember having tons of fun with a rented copy of that Speedy Gonzalez game for the SNES. I should get myself another copy of that someday.

Posted by

X-pert74

on: 09/20/10, 22:54

I didn't even see that. If it's anything like Death Valley Rally, I'm all over it!

I wonder if Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel and Aero the Acrobat are related.

Well, that's probably impossible. I mean, one's a squirrel and the other's a bat.

Posted by

Anand

on: 09/20/10, 23:11