This Week at the Nintendo Shop: Try Before You Buy

[Doctor Setebos]

Nintendo has finally gotten on-board with the whole "demo" thing and have provided demos of a small handful of the WiiWare library. The first ones out of the gate include the following:

• BIT.TRIP BEAT
• FINAL FANTASY® CRYSTAL CHRONICLES®: My Life as a Darklord
• NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits
• World of Goo
• Pokémon™ Rumble

It isn't much, but it's a start. Hopefully they add more as time goes on (with an eventual goal of including everything in the catalog). Beyond that, today brings us a new Pokemon game, a couple of DSiWare titles, and Indiana Jones for the SNES.

Full game descriptions and links below.

WiiWare

Pokémon Rumble
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 1,500 Wii Points
Description: Available exclusively for the WiiWare service, Pokémon Rumble is an action game in which you control Toy Pokémon (referred to as "Pokémon") and take on wave after wave of other Pokémon in a variety of stages. You can befriend some of the defeated Pokémon along the way, which lets you add them to your collection and grants you the ability to use them in battle. Switch between collected Pokémon at any time, taking advantage of the fact that the amount of damage you deal depends on the type of move used and the type of Pokémon hit. Be the last one standing to gain the right to compete in the Battle Royale and test your skills against many Pokémon at once. You can also team up with three people for some multiplayer action (additional Wii Remote controllers required), working together to take down tough Bosses and earning points that can be used toward recruiting or training Pokémon. You can even save your favorite Pokémon to your Wii Remote™ controller for exchanges with friends. Combining beautiful cel-shaded graphics and exciting game-play features, this is one rumble you won't want to miss. Note that a demo version of Pokémon Rumble is also available for zero Wii Points.

Virtual Console

Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures™
Original platform: Super NES™
Publisher: LucasArts
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Mild Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Grab your trusty whip and slash your way through all three Indy classics in this no-thrills-barred adventure. If it happened in the movies, it happens here: the giant boulder from Raiders of the Lost Ark, the mine-cart chase from Temple of Doom, the three trials from Last Crusade, Rene Belloq and Colonel Vogel – it's three times the action, all in one fully loaded game.

STREET FIGHTER II: CHAMPION EDITION
Original platform: TurboGrafx16
Publisher: Capcom
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) – Mild Blood, Violence
Price: 700 Wii Points
Description: This is the classic PCEngine (TurboGrafx16) version of the two-player fighting game that started it all. At the time, a large capacity HuCARD was used to allow faithful recreation of the dynamic arcade game and its features, including bonus stages and sound effects. In the game, players select one of 12 characters and face opponents in a no-holds-barred battle to decide the top fighter. Master a character's special moves and combos to defeat your rivals around the world. In "V.S. BATTLE" mode, there's a convenient handicap feature. Using this feature to adjust a character's performance, a novice player can be evenly matched against a seasoned player to enjoy an intense, head-to-head combat experience.

DSiWare

Art Style™: DIGIDRIVE™
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: It's traffic control with a twist as you try to direct identical cars down the same road in Art Style: DIGIDRIVE. This constantly moving puzzle game combines an easily understood playing field (an intersection) and a simple goal (create fuel), challenging you to properly guide a never-ending stream of cars. Stack similar cars five deep to create some fuel, then use that fuel to continue your progress in the game. Play in ENDLESS mode to see how long you can last, or compete against the computer or a human opponent in VS mode. Use combos to your advantage and see if your reflexes can handle the intensity of Overdrive mode. When all is said and done, you may never look at gridlock quite the same way again.

Arcade Bowling
Publisher: Skyworks Interactive
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: From Skyworks comes another addictively classic game, Arcade Bowling. It was designed by video game legend David Crane, one of the original founders of Activision and one of the most critically acclaimed game designers of all time. In the tradition of everyone's favorite Boardwalk bowling game, use your stylus and steady aim to flick "laser" balls down the alley and up the ramp into the scoring holes. The farther away the scoring hole is, the more points you'll get. Arcade Bowling features three futuristic sound tracks, state-of-the-art 3-D graphics and two addictive game modes, Classic and Progressive. In Classic Mode, roll up to nine balls to score as many points as you can. In Progressive Mode, enjoy multiple levels of game play with increasing score plateaus and bonus targets.

Robot Rescue
Publisher: Teyon
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Robot Rescue is a fun logic game based on a simple but entertaining concept. Your mission is to free robots trapped in 45 evil computer labyrinths while avoiding deadly traps. Sound easy? Not so fast. Each robot shares linked controls, so when you move one, you move them all. It will take clever planning and nerves of steel to pull off this electronic escape. You'll need to avoid many traps, such as mines or electrical circuits, and take advantage of special elements like glue stains. Choose one of three difficulty levels and get ready for a challenge.

Enjoy!

[Wilkz07]

i just updated my wii to 4.2 and went to check out the shop channels. to my surprise i discovered i had 1200pts on my account (think it was from way back when I bought Lit). So Indiana Jones is going to be downloaded tonight along with Super Star Wars.

[LordDon]

I've been wondering what My Life As A Darklord is like. Yay demo!

[Ravenlock]

Rather than repeat them here, I will link to the thoughts I have already expressed.

Short version: WiiWare demos make me happy, super late though they are.

[Doctor Setebos]

I'm looking forward to trying out My Life as a Darklord. That game looks interesting, but I won't pay $10 to experiment with something I may not enjoy.

[Chris_D]

I remember checking out the rom for SF2 on TG16 one day and being blown away that it had been made to run on the TG16 somehow. Still, a purchase for curious fans of the TG16 only I suspect.

[Suave Peanut]

Too little, too late?

[Ravenlock]

Originally Posted by Suave Peanut

Too little, too late?

Depends - for what? Too little too late to get the majority of Wii owners excited about WiiWare? Probably.

But there's still a lot of developers actively and excitedly making WiiWare for it, so it this allows them to get more sales going forward, I think it could greatly improve an already-pretty-good service. A good demo will probably sell a lot of copies of Cave Story.

It could also potentially decrease the "sucker" sales of shovelware titles on the service, and that wouldn't be a bad thing either.

[Purple Santa]

Originally Posted by Ravenlock

It could also potentially decrease the "sucker" sales of shovelware titles on the service, and that wouldn't be a bad thing either.

That's only if said developers of shovelware make a demo to be played. I won't hold my breath.

[Ravenlock]

Well, if demos of the good games were to become standard that would be just as useful, now wouldn't it? "They didn't bother making a demo, clearly they don't have much confidence in their game."