If you enjoy these puzzle-rific games like my co-author does, check out the newest WiiWare release, Plattchen Twist-and-Paint for the Virtual Console.

We expunged only briefly about one of the new WiiWare releases, Mega Man 9, for the virtual console.  If you were an NES Mega Man player (as I was) back in the day, you’re going to need to go ahead and pick this up, Bill Lumberg style.  Capcom’s “blue bomber” is back, he’s mad, and he’s ready to kick some butt in this new release.  IGN has an informative article (as they always do) on the Mega Man 9 release.  From the article:

Capcom Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced that Mega Man 9 is now available for download on Nintendo’s WiiWare service, and will be available for the PlayStation Network on September 25, and Xbox Live Arcade on October 1. The original 2D classic Mega Man returns, bringing the series back to its roots with retroaction-platform gameplay and NES-inspired old school graphics. Relive the Mega Man experience with maniacally themed environments, a host of power-ups, and classically-inspired bosses, each with their own unique weapons and weaknesses. Mega Man 9 is rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) and is available for,1000 Wii Points, $9.99 PlayStation Network, or 800 Microsoft Points.

You know you need some Wii Points for these great releases - go get a Wii Points Card!

Oops!  There’s two more titles that I forgot to post about in my frenzy to let everyone know about Vectorman and Super Dodge Ball -Mega Man 9 and PLÄTTCHEN twist ‘n’ paint.

From the Official Nintendo News Source:

Mega Man™ 9 (CAPCOM, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Cartoon Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Mega Man fans, the wait is over! The classic Blue Bomber that debuted in 1987 is back with the ninth installment in the classic series. It’s a new adventure for Mega Man done in an 8-bit style-graphics, music and gameplay are all like you remember them.

PLÄTTCHEN twist ‘n’ paint (Bplus, 1-8 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): PLÄTTCHEN twist ‘n’ paint is a crazy, challenging puzzle shooter that delivers more than 100 hours of fun, supporting up to eight players simultaneously. Guard the birth of ZeLeLi and free them from the menace of the evil black Shadow Plättchen. Play as one of the countless FantasyMEs and fight as an astronaut, butterfly, car or football against sharks, cowboys, asteroids and skulls in numerous, fabulous fantasy Worlds. Use items and multipliers in combos to fight yourself to the top of the high scores and find the perfect way to solve a level. Go wild in three completely different game modes of PLÄTTCHEN twist ‘n’ paint with more than 300 levels. Twist cooperatively with your friends or compete through many multiplayer modes.

WiiWare Fans and Virtual Console Lovers, attention:  Vectorman has finally made it out of the gate and is available for points purchase on WiiWare.  IGN was reporting that Vectorman got a green light for release some year and a half ago - so why did it take so long to get this great game out in the USA?  Who knows.  Europe and Japan have had this for about a year.

The game, if you had a Sega Genesis 16 bit, is actually quite a spectacle, and the images do it zero justice.  Vectorman is packed with explosions, shooting, destruction, rampage, and all of those other goodies that you can expect from the old title.  From IGN’s excellent article:

The game looks sensational. Its use of color, its fluid animation, its over-the-top explosions that shake the entire screen — it’s undeniable that Vectorman pushed the power of the Genesis to the extreme, and fans in the ’90s took notice. Vectorman’s graphics got gamers to put down the new PlayStation pads and pick up their classic SEGA controllers one more time. And, when they did, they got to blow up a whole lot of stuff.

Go get some Wii points and get your own copy of Vectorman.

I would hope that any original NES players had the Super Dodge Ball game, and played it frequently - you’ll also be happy to know that WiiWare has released said Super Dodge Ball game for the Virtual Console!  For 500 Wii Points it’s yours - and IGN is giving it a rating of “great” with an 8.5 of 10 score.  Totally worth it.  Get a 2000 Wii Points Card and buy this game.  Seriously.  This was hours of fun when NES was the rockin’est console out there.

WeKnowWii has gained a Nintendo Press Pass!  We’ll always bring you as much up-to-date information as we can, as soon as it’s available!

New today, on WiiWare, from the Nintendo Press Vault:

Magnetica™ Twist (Nintendo, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone-Comic Mischief, 1,000 Wii Points): The classic puzzle game Magnetica is now available on WiiWare , putting its own unique “twist” on the puzzle-game experience. You’re surrounded by marbles, marching slowly but surely down a track. Use a launcher (piloted by a Mii™ of your choice) to shoot marbles with matching colors and wipe them out before they reach the end of the track. Control couldn’t be simpler, as all you need to do is twist the Wii Remote™ controller to aim and press the A button to shoot. And the game play remains as addictive and deep as you’ve come to expect in Nintendo’s puzzle games, with five varied play modes, advanced mechanics such as the ability to lob marbles, and a never-ending supply of combos. This definitely isn’t your typical game of marbles.

Also new today, for the Virtual Console:

FATAL FURY 2 (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen-Animated Blood, Violence, 900 Wii Points): Released in 1992 by SNK, FATAL FURY 2 is the second installment in the renowned fighting-game series. In addition to Terry, Andy and Joe, who appeared in the original game, another five distinctive fighters gather from around the world to compete for the championship title. Also newly added are stage-specific hazards and the ability to perform desperation attacks when a character’s strength is low. These particularly deadly techniques create the chance for a come-from-behind victory achieved with a single strike. Moreover, the innovative two-line battle, which proved popular in the previous version, also has been radically enhanced. Pressing the weak-attack and strong-attack buttons simultaneously enables players to move their fighters to another line themselves, or to launch an attack that pushes opponents back to another line. This game mechanic, unique to this title in the series, allows the player to take advantage of the depth of the screen and create even more exciting bouts. Can you prove yourself the king of fighters again?

Check them out!  Need Wii Points?  Go get some!

Pardon our absenteeism lately, life and freelance work have kept us away from you, and our beloved Wii.

There’s some buzz lately about new games coming out at E3, and one of them is a Wii-centric version of the old favorite F-ZERO.  Nintendic writes:

The F-Zero franchise has never been able to reach the heights of the original Super Nintendo game’s sales despite stellar efforts hitting the Nintendo 64 (F-Zero X), GameCube (the SEGA-developed F-Zero GX) and Game Boy Advance (F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, GP Legend, and the Japan-only Climax). But Nintendo has continued to push the game that pre-dated the WipEout franchise and has out-lasted the Extreme-G series of racers by bringing the SNES and Nintendo 64 games to the Virtual Console over the past year.

Real?  Who knows.  Hopeful?  We are!

(for what it’s worth, Gametrailers.com has some good movie clips of F-ZERO on the Virtual Console.   Good times!

Any of you Nintendo 64 fans remember 1080° Snowboarding?  Nintendo has released 1080° Snowboarding this week for Wii’s Virtual Console.  Any of the old-school snowboarding gamers might remember this title as one of the first “truly realistic” snowboarding video games, with the famous Shigeru Miyamoto on the design team for 1080° Snowboarding.  You might know Shigeru from such classic titles as the Mario Brothers and Super Mario series, Legend of Zelda, as well as a ton of the super-selling games for Nintendo’s Wii.  Oh heck, here’s a full list of Shigeru’s games for Nintendo.

1080° Snowboarding allows players to choose from one of five characters (male and female) that each offer their own flavor of unique attributes and tricks.  The player is also able to choose from a selection of boards before heading down the slopes.

From the official Nintendo 1080° Snowboarding website:

Once you’ve got the gear, six different modes of play, including Match Race, Trick Attack, and 2-Player Versus, await. Pick a course and get ready to experience a sensation of speed that’ll make you forget all about the cold—but it might just send a shiver down your spine. Throw in hidden characters and boards, varying weather and snow conditions, multiple paths through each course, and a variety of tricks to master—topped off with rock-solid play control—and you’ve got a recipe for winter fun that you can enjoy any time of the year. It’s all the fun and excitement of the sport, without the bruises and frostbite!

This classic Nintendo 64 game is available on Wii’s Virtual Console via the Shop Channel.  Remember, you’ll need some Wii Points to purchase games from the Shop Channel, so go get a card!

For those of you who don’t know of the classic game for NES (that’s just recently available for Wii’s Virtual Console), you have to check out the screenshots over at Gamespy. This is a classic game. We’ve posted about it twice now, so take that as your cue to go get some Wii Points and purchase it on your Wii’s virtual console!

Star Tropics was released for the Wii Virtual Console!

As far as I am concerned, this is one of the top three old NES games EVER, and you can very soon look forward to some screen shots and more in-depth information about the game. If you’ve never heard of Star Tropics, or have never played this fantastic classic NES title, check out the Wikipedia article for some in-depth background info.

You need Wii Points to purchase this game, since it is a Virtual Console title. Get a Wii Points Card here!

On Monday, January 21, The Nintendo Company announced a new round of Virtual Console titles for the Wii console. Among those mentioned was Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers. Super Street Fighter II boasts some new characters as well - T. Hawk, Deejay, Fei Long, and Cammy will soon be fighting in your living room!

The Super Street Fighter II game retails for 800 Wii Points. You need Wii Points to purchase these Virtual Console games through the store on your Wii.

The Adventures of Lolo 2 for the NES is a sequel of the original, The Adventures of Lolo. The second entry, retailing for 500 Wii Points, Lala is captured by The Great Devil and challenges Lolo to rescue her.

More announcements as soon as we get them!

This week, two new Virtual Console games are available in the Wii Shop. You can purchase these games with your Wii Points from the Wii Shop Channel.

From Nintendo’s Press Release:

Pac-Attack (Super NES®, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): Pac-Man makes a rare appearance outside of a maze environment in Pac-Attack, a fun and quirky puzzle game. This unique entry in the genre puts its own twist on established conventions and adds one of gaming’s most iconic characters to the mix. The goal is simple: Keep your screen clear of falling blocks and ghosts by lining up blocks horizontally, causing them to disappear. Clearing the ghosts, though, requires the help of a hungry Pac-Man (who just happens to swing by every so often for a snack). It’s up to you to get all of the ghosts lined up for him, because Pac-Man will keep eating them until he is stopped by a block or he runs out of ghosts. In addition, his range of movement on the playing field is limited to horizontal or downward—thus adding further strategy. There are three game modes to choose from: 1 Player Normal, 2 Player VS., and the challenging 1 Player Puzzle. Feel like gobbling up some ghosts?

Riot Zone (TurboGrafx16 CD-ROM, 1 player, Rated E 10+ for Everyone 10 and Older - Tobacco Reference, Violence, 800 Wii Points): Riot Zone is a side-scrolling fighting game that follows two heroes as they fight to take down an evil organization. The crime syndicate Dragon Zone has kidnapped Hawk’s girlfriend and it’s up to him and his partner detective, Tony, to get her back. Join them as they jump “fists first” into the grim Kowloon district. Play as Hawk or Tony and fight through all five stages in the deadly Kowloon district. Smash down the Dragon Zone goons in areas like the Harbor, Abandoned Warehouse and the Ghetto. Both characters have unique skills and attacks. Hawk is a master of karate, while Tony is a hard-hitter. That being said, both guys are massive and possess killer techniques. The hard-boiled action is enhanced by the game’s realistic sound effects.