Wii Ware as a platform has lead a dubious life since its inception a little over a year ago. There have been the occasional hits like Lost Winds and World of Goo, but those are the exception rather than the rule to titles like Family Pirate Party and Pong Toss! Frat Party Games. With over 100 titles and with more misses than hits, many have speculated that the Wii Ware platform would be killed off unceremoniously, much like someone gets played off-stage at the Oscar's. Well let me tell you something: they may not have the wrong idea!This week, both DSi Ware and Wii Ware received puzzle games with Art Style: Zengage and 5 Spots Party, respectively. I think Wii/DSi Ware are the perfect platforms for puzzle games as so few people want to spend full price on simple puzzle games because no one can deliver a product that is worth the price. The problem with many of these smaller, downloadable games is that they are still garbage. This is not to say that either of these titles are poor - I'm simply using them as a springboard.
Also included this week is Left Field Productions' Battle Poker. Left Field is probably best known for creating Excitebike 64. While Battle Poker looks cute and cartoony, I hesitate to download it myself. At the cost of 800 Wii Points (8 USD), it is a steep investment for a game I know very little about and cannot demo myself.
Lastly on the lineup is Square Enix's Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord. A sort of antithesis piece to the previously released FFCC: My Life as a King, this title puts you in the shoes of Mira, the Evil Darklord's daughter. Set up as a tower defense game, you, as Mira, must defend, well, your tower from the do-gooders who are attepting to infiltrate. I think it's a great take on the tower defense genre and one I am currently planning to purchase, even at 1,000 Wii Points (10 USD). Just like My Life as a King, My Life as a Darklord will have DLC that you may purchase. Sixteen different pieces of DLC have been announced, with the prices ranging from 200 Wii Points to 600 Wii Points, which I find a little steep. In total, all the DLC amounts to 5,700 Wii Points (57 USD). That is a lot for a $10 game. Of course, I'm wasting my breath as the Squeenix fanboys are surely plunging their points into this title.
You can find these titles and hundreds of others on the Wii Shop Channel under Wii Ware.
Looking for a big name to bolster your downloading agenda this week? We've got two words for you: FINAL FANTASY. The latest additions to the ever-growing WiiWare game library include the new FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a Darklord, plus a fast-paced poker title and a brain-teasing party game that everyone in the household can enjoy. Also this week, the Nintendo DSiWare service welcomes a slick new installment in the Art Style series, mixing extraordinary sounds and visuals to create a captivating puzzle game.
WiiWare
FINAL
FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a Darklord
Publisher:
SQUARE ENIX
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) -
Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild
Suggestive Themes
Price: 1,000 Wii
Points
Description: Step into the royal shoes of the Darklord's
daughter as she installs traps and monsters inside her tower to fight
back the endless waves of invading adventurers in this world-conquest
RPG. Known as Artifacts, these monsters and traps are your only hope in
keeping the adventurers from destroying the Dark Crystal on the top
floor. Fly your tower across the land and conquer every stage on your
way to dominating the entire world.
Battle
Poker
Publisher: Left Field Productions
Players: 1-4
ESRB
Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Battle
Poker is a family-friendly card game with up to four players battling
against the clock to make the best five-card hand possible. Battles are
played across multiple rounds, and points are scored for each round
based on the quality of the hand. Each player uses a Wii Remote
controller to point and click on a standard deck of cards on the screen.
The first click flips the card over, at which point it can be grabbed by
anyone else. You've got to have fast fingers and eyes to grab the cards
you need before someone else snatches them.
5
Spots Party
Publisher: Cosmonaut Games
Players: 1-4
ESRB
Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Have fun
with the entire family and compete in three different play modes. 5
Spots Party is a game of skill for all ages based on the popular game of
finding five differences. The goal is to find the greatest number of
differences in the pictures shown. In the party modes, you must compete
with other players and find as many mistakes as possible. In the
1-Player mode, you must find the differences before time runs out in
order to beat the game's highest scores. How far do you think you can go?
Nintendo DSiWare
Art
Style: ZENGAGE
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating:
E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Do you
dream of relaxing with a great puzzle game? Art Style: ZENGAGE revolves
around sliding cells (squares) to match colors with cores (beads)
located on the board. Clear each stage by matching all of the cores and
cells. As you progress through the game's 100-plus stages, you'll
encounter cells with special characteristics, such as immovability,
which further add to the challenge. To truly master ZENGAGE, you must
keep your mind sharp and employ careful strategy to complete stages in
as few moves as possible. Combining wistful graphics and mesmerizing
sound, ZENGAGE creates a surreal world that should be experienced by all
puzzle gaming fans.
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.
