Following the passing of Satoru Iwata earlier this week Nintendo isn't actively issuing press releases at the time of writing; as a result the following is based upon checking the eShop stores. We have a promising Nindie effort on Wii U, a couple of quirky efforts on 3DS, more G.G Series DSiWare and a NES option on the Wii U Virtual Console. Let's get to it.
Wii U eShop
Tiny Galaxy (Arcane Pixel, $5.99) - A promising platforming effort, this utilises planetoids and gravity manipulation to shake up the standard run and jump formula. This has six worlds and 60 levels while promising a true test of our reflexes; we'll do some planet hopping for a review.
Wii U Virtual Console
Blaster Master (Sunsoft, $4.99) — Certainly classed as a decent third-party title of the NES era, you alternate between navigating the world in a tank and on foot, with eight regions making this a lengthy title by 8-bit standards. Importantly, it's a lot of (challenging) fun over that playtime, as our Blaster Master review explains.
3DS eShop
I am an Air Traffic Controller Airport Hero Narita (Sonic Powered Co., Ltd, $19.99) - Not exactly a snappy name for this title, it's a follow-up to a Hawaii equivalent. This time you manage the Tokyo-Narita Airport, worrying about safely guiding planes in the air and on the crowded runways; though odd, we though the Hawaii title was a reasonable simulation experience. We'll hop on board for a review.
I Love My Dogs (Bigben Interactive, $24.99) - So far this series has shown love for horses, pets and more, with you looking after various little people and creatures - now it's time for the dogs to be cared for. You know the drill by now with these sim games, though in this case you're at least looking after abandoned dogs, so there's a feel-good factor. We'll dig out our stylus and find some dog treats to bring you a review.
DSiWare
G.G Series VECTOR (Genterprise, 200 Nintendo Points) - This entry in G.G Series is a falling block puzzler, though you need to sort blocks by both colour and arrow direction; we'll get working on a review.
G.G Series SCORE ATTACKER (Genterprise, 200 Nintendo Points) - A top-down shooter, this one ramps up the difficulty as your score increasingly, so falls into the arcade approach of a number of other G.G games. We'll blast some pixels and bring you a review.
That's the North American line-up for this week - let us know what you'll be downloading in the comments and poll below.
Comments 132
Hmmmm... Nothing for me. I wanna see more JRPGS hit Virtual Console.
Ugh.
Nothing.
I also saw I Love My Cats next to I Love My Dogs before the update. It's odd that they only made one available.
More G.G series, are we EVER gonna get dsi games OTHER THAN G.G SERIES? Probably not but one can only hope.
Wow looks like NOA has given up! So many games that still haven't gotten that I'll gladly pay for
Wake me up when we actually get good VC games from my hibernation.
The complete opposite of the European Download update, which is by far better than this. I would love to download Poké Park and Final Fight One, but I don't have an European console.
I'll complain until I get Kirby's Return to Dreamland, which is the only Kirby game I never played.
tumbleweed.gif
Strong week,got a bit of everything there
@majinx07 blaster master is a classic
Sad week, sad offerings...
Fitting?
I've Got to Run is on sale for both the Wii U and 3DS. Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold also got a demo this week.
I usually don't complain about the weekly downloads, but there really isn't much at all. Terrible week.
I don't get how or why NoA picks what games they release on eshop. It's so random and inconsistent.
@dings
Nothing for me this week. (already said what im getting though out in August(
hurry up and get here streets of rage II.
I'm going download I Got Run for my 3DS and will download the demo for Untold 2
I've got to run Wii U is on sale for 1 cent and the complete edition on the 3DS is on sale for 10 cents, also next week will be awesome, Binding of Isaac, Streets of rage 2, that Dragon Quest like game.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Empty week, but I was expecting it to be.
The Big N kind of has more important things to worry about this time.
No respect for Blaster Master? I'll keep that in mind when people are saying "so many great titles and they release nothing!" that they just mean the 2 or 3 games they care about.
It's a similar issue with the Amiibo restock. If you missed the toy on the shelf because you weren't paying attention, the whole thing is still broken. Still, hundreds of people are satisfied and feel like it's getting turned around.
If the one or two games you are looking forward to on VC don't show up, Nintendo isn't doing anything right.
I can certainly understand frustration with not getting a game you want to play, though. The exaggerated responses that ignore the greater situation. I could stand less of that.
That being said, I'm feeling a bit snubbed by certain VC releases that came out in Europe which NA is not getting. Beyond that, I can't figure it out yet. Like @darthnocturnal says It does appear random sometimes. I feel like there is some holding on to titles to do a VC promotion of some sort maybe?
Perhaps NoA is gearing up for a big value proposition to coincide with a Wii U price drop? Something to get new users excited about downloads? I don't know.
@Mr_Zurkon Agreed.
@BaffleBlend I understand what you mean. But it seems it's only NoA the worried one. Just look at the Nintendo Europe update.
Ive had Blaster Master on 3ds for awhile now. Nothing for me again.
Seriously, where's the rest of the article?
OH BOY NO SMILEBASIC
I just hope that we get the Kirby titles that EU got before long.
Well the only good thing seems to be the Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold Demo.
@Olmectron : NoA IS unambiguously more heavily affected by Iwata's passing than NoE, because Iwata took up the position of CEO of NoA as well in June 2013, which means there's a pretty significant gap in operations right now.
NoE has its own regional CEO and wasn't struck as directly as NoA and NoJ were.
Good gravey. I've never seen so much nothing before.
Blaster master is amazing. Everyone that says nothing came out this week have obviously never played this game.
@aaronsullivan I'm with you on Europe getting a few vc titles we've been wanting. Blaster Master is a great game, but it's been on the 3ds eshope forever. I'd figure most dedicated Nintendo fans have a 3ds and probably picked up the game already.
NOA IS HORRIFIC
@aaronsullivan Well you left out the part where someone the entire company is awful for a certain aspect like weekly eShop releases.
I'm surprised there was even this. I think for the most part everybody is standing down for Mr. Iwata. The only thing I really want is an Iwata theme for my 3DS or something in regards to the e3 muppets. I'm cashing in a Gamestop reward to get an eShop card to finally buy Earthbound on SNES. I hope his family gets any royalties that his name appears on. Not sure how it works for Nintendo games.
Just pathetic. They need to fire all the NOA's upper staff. This reminds me of Reggie making fun at that guy that said Reggie sucks at smash. Well Reggie, like you said, you run a company, what you didn't say was that you SUCK at running a company. Get fired please.
To those saying the week being bad is understandable due to what happened? please take a look at Europe. It has meat to their releases. We barely got a cup of water.
@Superryanworld
Yeah, I'm a console lover. I like big screens and I cannot lie.
I have a 3DS XL and it sits there with unplayed games on it. I can't play them together with family unless I buy more of them. I do like the 3D and think there are amazing games on there. Love Kid Icarus for instance, but the cramped nature of the thing gets to me quick and I go play on a big screen with possible interaction with my family instead of isolation.
Plus, with VC games, these are games I played on a couch with others when I was young. Playing on a tiny screen no one else can see just isn't right for me.
So... cheap upgrade to Wii U version of Blaster Master it is.
Point taken, though. You are right that most who wanted it probably got it there as there are way more 3DS owners.
No love for Airport?? It's a rather unique series and if you love planes you should give it a try. It seems most people don't like playing anything 'out of the box.' Being more open minded, I have played many good games that other people refuse to try.
I don't have the funds to get it right now, but I will eventually.
Is it me, or is 3DS's Virtual Console kinda dead now? Heck in Japan they haven't updated it sense after getting DKL3, and the "Pokemon Trading Card" game last year.
Not to mention Japan got "Bubble Bobble," "Shadowgate," "Kung-Fu Heroes," "Sonic Advance," and many good VC games we have yet to get here. I think NOA should outsource the VC's development to another company if they can't handle it.
@ikki5 NoA's CEO did just unexpectedly retire.
@aaronsullivan Good, he did a terrible job anyway and the company is better off with out him. Hopefully the rest go soon.
@aaronsullivan What? Are you serious?
@ikki5; That was a euphemism. He meant "unexpectedly retired" as in "suffered an agonizing death".
It was Satoru Iwata. He was CEO of NoA along with President/CEO of NoJ.
Reggie's ONLY NoA's president.
@aaronsullivan Oh. I see what you're talking about, Iwata was CEO of NoA as well.
@Olmectron
ninja'd me.
@aaronsullivan Heh. Sorry. In fact I didn't edit it, I made a second post. But Baffle Blend ninja'd me with the comment, I looked it up on Google quickly. I don't know how to put smilies here, but (smile).
My name is Matt Desind, and I would just like to say that while I might be bias, I think Tiny galaxy is worth your time and money, I made the soundtrack for the game I feel it's a fun and challenging game that will keep people entertained, if you have time all I ask is you give it some thought this is a game that was made with passion. And I know if given a chance, people will really enjoy it. The soundtrack is also for sale both digital and physical, just find me on Twitter @OnlyMattDesind
@LztheQuack For me, my lack of faith in NOA is due to the terrible communication between their customer service rep's and the repair department. I'll never forget how poorly my repair was handled.I pretty much had to fix the problem with my "new" 3ds on my own after several months of confusing phone call's that made no progress. I even had a manager ask me to stop calling because they couldn't find the problem with my "new" handheld. It was a defective memory card. Something the repair team is supposed to check with every system brought in. I experienced the worst customer service in my entire life! NOA needs to clean house with its upper management.
I have heard people complain in previous weeks that there was to buy when it was not true at all, this week however that is completely true.
@aaronsullivan Gaming with the family on the big screen is the way to go. Definitely more affordable than purchasing multiple 3ds unit's!
Y no Starwhal...
I'm giving up hope.
@Olmectron And guess what? I did edit my post after I saw you made a second post. lol. Oh well, we got there.
Unless it was an error somehow, you can get I've Got to Run for a penny on the Wii U. I got it for 10 cents on my 3DS. Again, not sure if it's an error, but I don't think any game isn't worth a penny. EDIT: Well, maybe a few of questionable origins and such, but in terms of quality otherwise, a penny or a dime is a pretty good deal, and it still seems to be live, so yeah. Definitely buying it for a penny on my Wii U when I get home.
Nothing against the devs, but how many pet sims do we seriously need?
so sad. Thanks for nothing Nintendo.
@ikki5 I don't think you should blame Reggie for some poor weeks, sure he should take more responsibility in it but its not his fault.
Looks like NoA died with Mr. Iwata.
@ikki5 they would, but Iwata died.
And no, no CEO should be fired because you are unsatisfied with eShop releases. Matter of fact, you should be fired from whatever job you work or will work in because you screwed up one thing that, might I add, isn't really that essential in the long run
Garbage as usual
Way2go Reggie.
Blaster Master is cool, but I own it already on my 3DS and I have the original.
Blaster Master is a fantastic game that could really benefit from save states. It's lack of infinite continues is brutal.
@majinx07 if we do that you'll most likely go into a long coma
@ikki5 "They need to fire all the NOA CEOs".
That right there tells me a lot about your business knowledge. There's only one CEO. Right now though, there is no CEO of NoA because it was Iwata.
tiny galaxy sounds cool
Maybe Blaster Master.
Wow, is it a post e3 hangover, or Summer Vacation???
Oh, Blaster Master! Maybe I will have to give Nintendo some more of my money.
I've been thinking about picking up Blaster Master on 3DS for a while now, guess I'll get the Wii U version. Then Enemy Below for the portable. Hopefully next week will be a bigger, full update.
Eh, no big deal. Should be taking more time to honor the man anyway.
While I'm waiting to update my next Virtual Console game, I'll do what Iwata would've wanted any fan to do - play and enjoy the games. Might start Oracle of Seasons next.
Good to see all of the Nintendo is horrible complaints are back.
I just want to see Nintendo Life confirm that Satoru Iwata was in fact the guy who wrote up the press releases and that's why there wasn't one this week? Man the President of the company clearly did everything!
Wow...Boring.
Big Fat Nothing.
@sketchturner A good point. I never did finish the original on NES. I think I got to stage 8 once...
These are some slim pickings. I'm looking forward for the fall and winter releases.
@Blast I heard that.
@ikki5 iwata was ceo of noa. he died. you shouldn't wish death on somebody due to selfishness. whats wrong with you.
Well how soon will we see a clickbait talking point about how NoA has failed?
It is sad to see NoA not put out a lot but they are probably in a little bit in disarray still with Iwata gone. They should try to make up for it next week.
@BaffleBlend Please explain, or someone please explain this further. Sources I read just show Reggie Fils-Aime as president of NoA and Satoru Shibata as president of NoE. I haven't seen anything show Shibata as also CEO. Was Iwata not CEO over all regions, including NoE?
@Blast
YES!! I want Chrono Trigger, every Final Fantasy, every Dragon Quest/Warrior, Lufia's.. hell...even some pokemon... they are really dropping the ball.. god forbid you put up games that everyone wants. Lets give them crap and complain about not selling anything...
@zeldazero It makes one wonder. Some Square Enix games are on the JP eshope, but show no signs of coming here. Could be the publisher on that one. As for games like Sonic Advance and Metroid Zero Mission I have no clue what the hold up is.
@Smash_kirby I think that branch of the big N has been in disarray for awhile now.
Wow... What a bad week.
@Smash_kirby You'll be waiting a long time for that article here. It's a quiet week, it happens, plus as this week reminded us there are far more important things than rocking the world with a download update.
Quiet week, but next week looks a bit better (Streets of Rage 2, Binding of Isaac and Dragon Fantasy: The Volumes of Westeria), a bad week, but given what has happened I can hold off until next week.
@Qun_Mang So I can't remember exactly when it happened (I want to say late 2012 or some time in 2013), but Reggie remained President of NOA and Iwata became CEO. I don't believe the same thing occurred in Europe, but I could be wrong. It was strange little tale, I'll have to look up and see what the full story behind these events were.
Looks like normal NoA digital protocol to me. Kinda growing numb to it.
@Qun_Mang Reggie is the COO of NoA (Iwata became CEO in 2013), which is different from Shibata who is the CEO of NoE. I don't really understand the difference between COO and CEO but it looks like CEO is like the "rank" above COO so Shibata would have more control in Europe than Reggie has in NA.
@HandheldGuru97 Nintendo of America had a Japanese CEO prior to Iwata-san, I believe, but the predecessor took a role in Kyoto. It wasn't particularly unprecedented, the only surprise was that Satoru Iwata took the role himself; he had no equivalent role in Europe.
Nintendo of America's folly is best shown in the mess over Devil's Third. Instead of just releasing the game, even digitally, and letting the market decide what it likes, they would rather see their customers starve for content.
I feel that it is this same arrogance that kept Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, Another Code R, Captain Rainbow, Disaster: Day of Crisis, Pandora's Tower, Project Zero 2, Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, and Zangeki no Reginleiv from the Wii in the US. We don't need gatekeepers like that, especially in the age of digital. If NoA lacks the confidence in the title, the make it an eShop exclusive but release at least release it.
@Grumblevolcano @HandheldGuru97 I did read the COO part on a couple of pages for Reggie, but I guess I am not reading the right pages for Shibata. But since several of you mention Shibata as CEO of NoE I will have to investigate further. Sounds like he could be a good candidate then for taking control of NoJ and NoA as well as CEO, and appointing someone else as NoE president.
I don't know why people are blaming this lousy week on Iwata's passing--there have been so many lackluster sad download weeks while he was alive... If anything this is just keeping up tradition.
@DarthNocturnal Well in Europe we get far less indie titles (and even fewer in Germany). Granted, most of them suck.
At least Dragon Fantasy comes next week.
@ThomasBW84 I personally am happy with how Nintendo is doing. Restocking of Amiibo is happening in all regions, Nintendo becoming open to partnerships, and they have a set plan. I know there things take time, I just hope they share with us an update to their plans in August.
More 64 Games! More 64 Games! MORE 64 GAMES!
@ikki55 mocking Iwata's death?
You must be the saddest apple in the bunch.
Already got Blaster Master on my 3ds so I'm good on the classic of Blaster Master.
@OptometristLime I'm pretty sure Ikki5 wasn't aware that Satoru Iwata was the one being referred to. To me, and I imagine to most, he was CEO of NoJ, or Nintendo overall, not specifically NoA. Talk of CEO of NoA then would lead one to think of Reggie, or someone else, but not Iwata himself.
@Grumblevolcano A COO does more of the day-to-day stuff. In a retail store, you can think of them as the person who is there are the store making all the decisions, over ruling manager decisions, and basically being aware of every detail. The CEO might go years without actually being at the location, and makes decisions, but travels the world, gives speeches, and is a public face of the company.
Im just waiting word on Fast Raging Neo, Brave tank hero, and 90s Arcade Racer. Also would like to see Starfox 64, Mariokart 64, or Pilotwings 64 in VC. Don't think lack of content has to do with Iwatas passing, just the summer drought.
@BaffleBlend Oh, Darn, I was hoping he meant someone stepped down by choice. Usually when I think of CEOs, I think of all the head guys of the company or that section of that company. I also fixed it to have the upper staff because they are obviously all idiots and oblivious and nothing they say or identify as problems matters any more because they just get worse and worse over time.
@LztheQuack Um... right, Screwing up for years, admitting mistakes and identifying problems yet taking no steps to improve but instead taking steps back is the same as a simple error. This isn't just about e-shop releases, this is everything. Please, stop talking, you obviously have a shallow way of thinking and are probably just some apologist if you are going to compare a simple mistake to years of mistakes and problems and taking no action to solve it after it has been identified months to years after they have been identified and admitted.
@faint Wishing Someone fired does not mean death. Big difference. I suggest you get a dictionary and look up the difference.
@Hero-of-WiiU Some.... some? Are you really going to say some? You need to take a look of the last year. NoA has been crap for a long time now. VC is worse, Club Nintendo was worse, sales we worse, number of sales was worse (sales as in deals), Collectable rewards for pre-orders were overall worse. The only thing that isn't is the cost of games (most of the time) but you have a government to thank for that. Every region that has these services is far superior in pretty much every way. I remember when Europeans would makes lists of the VC games that they wanted from us and we'd do the same. majority of the lists from the Europeans have now been all completed and they have those while almost none of the Lists the people made from NA even got 1 game released of those. NoA and Nintendo in general have lost me so much now that next E3, I will watch it for Zelda U and Zelda U only. I am not even going to care for the NX nor am I even going to bother saving for one. I'll take a look at it a year after it is release and decided if Nintendo is still being their usual garbage or not and if I should start saving.
Wow anyone see the European iodate?? 3! Count em 3 vc games!!! NOA sucks ass as they continue to stick to 1 vc a week! Unbelievable!!!
@Toadthefox can't wait for 90s arcade racer!! Hope it's still coming...
Well, at least we got Mario Tennis to play from last week, and Sonic 2 to look forward to for 3DS. Sega knows how to put some love into their VC games on 3DS.
@UnseatingKDawg Finally someone with some sense. I'll be doing the same.
This is just a travesty! Nothing for me at all!
@ikki5 And somehow NoE is supposed to be forgiven for making the same mistakes?
@ThomasBW84 you need to change "Master Blaster" to "Blaster Master" on the article descriptions!
Can't let this great game get the wrong-name treatment!
@LztheQuack NoE made the same mistakes? I guess they did however it looks like they are learning from their mistakes where NoA is ignoring them and not caring. As for Nintendo in general, that's another story.
BLASTER MASTER!!!
Sorry, I've been waiting too long for that one...really excited to see it on there at last.
What a wonderful week. I love how the Americans and Europeans always battle it out. Perhaps we should team up and collectively moan about how much better the Japanese download update is?
@ikki5 I'll agree VC has been lackluster compared to the Euro one but this has only been one awful week. If this trend continues then I can agree with most of what you said but until them I proclaim that your reaction is overdone.
@Hero-of-WiiU One more added to the multiple bad ones, bad weeks are not something new.
Wow....this is an awful one...
Blaster Master for me.
@ikki5 Tilts head to the side as if he's examining an abstract piece of art Hmmmm.
dang....
@Olmectron I'm also hoping they'll eventually release Return to Dream Land; though at this point I'm just hoping for any good Wii games.
Wow! Great week!..to work on the back log.
@funky_muzic Sure is.
Another wasted week for the 3DS. What is with all the DSiware lately??? Whomever is responsible for the lack of VC on the 3DS should be fired.
@aaronsullivan Some really good points, man. I can relate to being discouraged some weeks. Whether or not a title we've been hoping for emerges, it would smooth things over a bit with fans if NOA appeared to be making more of an effort... especially when we're able to see what Europe and Japan have each week.
Ideally, there would be one VC title per week per console. An NES, SNES, DS, N64 and GBA title. Heck, even a Wii. Here in America we have a lot of catching up to do in that area. Even at THAT pace, Nintendo would still have so many unrereleased gems in their back catalog. The Virtual Console frustration has been ongoing, and while Blaster Master is a stellar title, if you're an SNES, N64, DS or GBA fan you were bummed today.
My suggestion to Nintendo would be run some VC sales on lean weeks like this. Sure, there might not be a lot of new retro content, but hey, a few nice discounts could soften the blow.
One of the worst VC weeks EVER!!! >
Wow. VC is literally a desert wastelamd now.
With a friend over, I booted into the Wii U eShop to find 'I've Got to Run!' on sale for a single cent. Since Nintendo funds appropriation allows for only as much as is needed, I nabbed it. Not too good of a game, but funny for how differently Roy the Marshmallow Boy handled. After we passed it between ourselves, popped into Miiverse to see what others had to say. Learned the (stately better) 3DS version was ten cents. So, had to get it. And wow, it is so much more on 3DS. More familiar jumping, more significant graphical assets, and a wider set of options for it all. Not disappointed in these both, as a fun night for us.
@TerrapinJess Whoops! It was a long day.
Tiny Galaxy, airport management, Blaster Master, G.G Series and more
So when you say "more," you mean "I Love My Dogs and absolutely nothing else," right?
Not that I'm complaining. It's kinda hard to, knowing what's happened to Nintendo's CEO this past week.
@FeedingTheWheel: That's great! Happy gaming to ya!
Got Blaster Master finally! Hurrah! (as well as earthbound beginnings, shanta, and giana sisters).
Now to start hoping to see Bubble Bobble and my nostalgia collection will be complete.
Still want to see some of the classic Square games from way back, but I'm not holding my breath.
This week is a snoozer. When are we getting more N64 in the US?
I was hoping for Gotcha Racing this week **Sigh** I would love to get that Air Traffic Controller but I haven't finished the first one. Plus I think I will wait for a sale . what I have played of the first one I liked alot.
So sad. Here we have a console that is a perfect machine for classic games. The emulators are perfect. But we get nothing. What a disappointment this system was.
I would happily repurchase every NES, SNES, and N64 game I ever owned for the ability to play it on the controller and TV. I would keep my Wii U around forever specifically for the classics.
Nintendo, you are not a smart company. Many/most people play their ds and 3ds an home on the couch...
Here we have a console that can do both, but its like they actively ignore this obvious feature.
Oh well, miss out on potential sales, Ill play them for free on my phone. Dip****s. I just cant support you anymore Nintendo.
@Wiidsguy What program do you use to make your music? Also feel free to give me any other music making tips because I am trying to make my own.
Find me on Twitter and I would more then willing to talk to you more there. @OnlyMattDesind
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