WiiWare out today

[Malacus]

I haven't checked my Wii personally, but the WiiWare stuff was supposed to have launched today for those of us in the states.

-Mal

[shmokes]

It's can't be.  RTSDaddy would have a review of it on here.   

[stephenp1983]

I haven't turned my wii on in months

[DaveMMR]

Checked out the list of games available.   A little pricier than I hoped (would it KILL THEM to at least have some game play demos*) but still a nice, eclectic little selection (including a Fina Fantasy game - which some will be excited about though not my cup 'o tea). 

(*EDIT:  D'uh. I totally forgot about the Nintendo Channel with game play previews.  According to 1up.com, Wii Ware game play trailers are up on it.   Though I haven't checked.)

I may want to try out the Trivia Game they have up.  I liked "Smarty Pants" but I could not bring myself to spend the money they ask for the game.  $10, though, seems like a decent deal should it have a good amount of questions.

[Malacus]

Ive only bought one game from all of the download services, Assault Heroes, which I quite enjoy for five dollars, and it reminds me alot of Blaster Master. Five bucks is really my price point on any of these games... As a big Final Fantasy Fan, its gonna be tempting to grab Crystal Chronicles for 15... and theres always room for Doctor Mario... but ten bucks...

-mal

[RTSDaddy2]

It's can't be.  RTSDaddy would have a review of it on here.   

          

I did check it out, was disappointed in the actual offerings as compared to what will be out later. 

Needs to be a little donkey icon with its bottom towards the viewer, head looking back in shock, with lip marks also present on the backside.  You figure out the name of that one.

[shmokes]

C'mon RTS, I'm just taking a piss.   

[RTSDaddy2]

What is WITH you people?  I read these tongue in cheek posts that people put up on here, has most of the board rolling in the aisles - I try to do it, and people think I've really gotten my feelings hurt.  I got the joke shmokes, don't sweat it. 

My god.  Man I must suck at trying to be funny.   

Anyway, for goodness sakes, carry on at my expense, please - if you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? 

[SavannahLion]

Needs to be a little donkey icon with its bottom towards the viewer, head looking back in shock, with lip marks also present on the backside.  You figure out the name of that one.

You read look at Penthouse?

[shmokes]

It's the limitations of the internet.  IRL, I'm sure the inflections of your voice would have clued me in.  Ya gotta end that stuff with a smiley, man.  I thought you were mad.   

 

[RTSDaddy2]

Very true (limitations of this medium) and duly noted.  Actually I thought about putting a smiley there, but thought the idea of the donkey icon was so far gone and silly enough that I left it out.

*Ahem*....and now on with the review 

At any rate, I thought the debut really stunk the place up based on (and I wish I could recall where this article is now) what Japan received with their WiiWare debut.  The Wiki on it gave me the idea the Dr. Mario RX was debuting yesterday, and I was going to put down the Wii Points to see what the Wifi was like on it.  Yeah, not much of a game to do Wifi for, perhaps,  but at least another reason to get online with the Wii.  Then what did we get?  Pop? Excuse me - the game is all about busting bubbles?  Well, well...how very appropriate.

I said under an ealier post that I thought the prices were reasonable, but not for games like this that - in all probabliity - might could have been free flash games I could access through the Wiis internet service.   

I'm just glad you don't lose Wii Points over time - I've got 1400 of em just sitting there!

[patrickl]

I said under an ealier post that I thought the prices were reasonable, but not for games like this that - in all probabliity - might could have been free flash games I could access through the Wiis internet service.   

I'm just glad you don't lose Wii Points over time - I've got 1400 of em just sitting there!

Indeed getting the internet channel was a pretty good purchase. Especially during the first months, we played more flash games than Wii games.

I spent some points recently on getting Operation Wolf. I always loved this game, but playing it on the Wii was really a waste of money. OK, I'll admit I should have probably thought it out more, but I really hadn't counted on playing a gun game with a d-pad. Seriously lame.

[spiffyshoes]

So far I've downloaded Lost Wind and Defend Your Castle and I'm enjoying both purchases. 

Lost Wind is sort of like a side scrolling version of Okami.  You play as a kid who has to use his Wind Magic to save the world from an evil demon.  You use the Wii Remote to cast his Wind Powers in a similar fashion to painting in Okami except it is in real time and doesn't pause the game while you paint.  I'm finding it very fun to play and the visuals are amazing on it.

Defend Your Castle actually is based off of a free Flash Game so you can try the flash version before you buy it.   The game play is the same as the flash version but they improved the graphics for the Wii version.

I thought about buying the Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles but decided to hold off when I saw that you were going to have to buy add-on content for it in the future. 

I can't wait until Animales de la Muerte comes out.  That game looks awesome! Also World of Goo and Star Soldier R look really good.

http://www.youtube.com/v/j7LR6EXx9ug&hl=en

http://www.youtube.com/v/KTdcP4LaddE&hl=en

http://www.youtube.com/v/-A_JfkzPwww&hl=en

[ahofle]

That Goo game looks really interesting.

[shmokes]

From what I've seen of Lost Winds, it also looks excellent.

[SavannahLion]

Given the memory limitations of the Wii, are these games that you download then play any time or games to be loaded from a server each time?

[shmokes]

I'm pretty sure you download them, but I could be wrong about that.

[spiffyshoes]

Just like with the Virtual Console games you can re-download them at any time if you need to delete them to free up some space.  You can also archive them onto a SD memory card when you are not using them.

[DaveMMR]

Downloaded POP last night and played it for a little while.  My impressions:

- It's a little pricey for what boils down to an extremely simple game.  Yeah $7 isn't going to be bank-breaking, but I feel that I can get more game for $2 less by downloading an NES classic.

- Played one game of Pop and thought to myself, "ehh, whatever".  Immediately played three more games of Pop, each clocking in at 15 minutes a piece.   So yeah, it has some addictive qualities, especially when you're trying to get medals and work your way up to the top of the worldwide leader board.   (Current rank: 362)

- I only played single-player but I'm seeing that there's more "game" to it when you play against other people (e.g. more debilitating power-ups).  Players can drop in anytime during a game in progress.

- It has a Chill mode which is fun to keep running at parties (unless SSB:B is more your guests' cup-of-tea). 

- I'm actually kind of upset I'm not playing it right now.

So anyway, it's pretty solid for a medium-length diversion.  It's not as mind-numbing as I thought it would be and is quite amusing.  I would almost definitely recommend it if you want something to play with the girlfriend.

[RTSDaddy2]

I'm glad to hear about Lost Winds, Pop, and some of the others.  I still believe there are better games to come on this service, but it's nice to know the early releases aren't as bad as I feared.  Also nice to know they are a) re-downloadable, and b) moveable to an SD card.  Thanks for sharing the info!   

[RTSDaddy2]

WiiWare, for me at least, just released a winner!  Dr. Mario RX online is a great deal of fun.  The WiFi works well...interesting playing against others from around the world.  The Wiimote control works well and is especially interesting play on the Virus Buster version.  Definitely worth the download; perhaps a little high in cost - 7 or 800 Wii points might have been better, but it's still a great choice! 

[ahofle]

Anyone see this WiiWare game yet?   
http://www.pongalong.com/beerblog/beer-pong-wii-%e2%80%93-midway%e2%80%99s-game-party/

[RTSDaddy2]

Dr. Mario RX online is a great deal of fun.

This is kind of a goofy question, but does the music on Dr. Mario RX have any variety?

The arcade version with the 30 second theme song that reset at each level drove me nuts.  I finally muted the game after a few days.  :/

Not sure how the arcade version worked, to be truthful.  There are different music choices - I think about 6 of them - that you can choose to have playing on your side of things.  They all do repeat however - in other words, if I choose the one labeled "SNEEZE" that's the only one I'll hear while in game.

[RTSDaddy2]

I know Wii owners may be tired of party games, but if you have'nt tried TV Game Show King, I personally think it's worth the 1,000 points.  I like the fact that instead of phony looking background folks the "audience is made up of all the Miis currently on your system. 

The rest of the graphics are great too...no scrolling text, the announcer's mouth moves - near as I can tell - in sync with his words.

Only complaints I have 1) either I'm an idiot, or what to do in spinning the wheel is not that well explained (you hold A and immediately flick the remote...not hold A, release A, then flick, as I initially thought), and 2) damned I wish it had WiFi play!  That would have made it a VERY nice addition as the questions are tough and the results of the wheel being pretty unpredictable (good random generator used, it appears).

[RTSDaddy2]

Of interesting note:

Was looking around over at Metacritic on the DS side of things, decided to punch the Wii's button as well.

Interestingly enough, 3-4 of the new Wiiware games are 75 percent or better over there (Dr Mario Rx Online comes in at a surprisingly low (I think) 72).  As I recall, there were very few Wiiwares down below 70....certainly a few, but not as many as one might have expected.

Somewhere I read something that recently (I honestly forget where) suggested that WiiWare might be a saving grace for third party software.  It's too early to judge that, but it looks like now some 3rd party games - and software companies - are getting some limelight.