WiiWare Launch: everything else
While not to intentionally impose any sort of qualitative judgment on the remaining crop of titles available during WiiWare’s Japanese launch, here are the games that, at the very most, don’t really “do it” for me. These could very well “do you” very well; I’m not saying that these are “bad” games.
However, I have segregated them into their own little holding pen where they can’t touch the other downloadable games. Make of that what you will.
Tenshi no Solitaire (500 points) - Tenshi no Solitaire, or Angel’s Solitaire, is, of all things, a solitaire game featuring hyper cute anime characters. There really isn’t much else to say. It is the cheapest of games released at launch, though. Game|Life hands-on impressions.
Lonpos (1,000 points) - Imagine a game of Tetris where you have to fit together shaped pieces to fill up an entire board and you pretty much have Lonpos. Also imagine that, once you’ve run through the the initial stock of puzzles, you have to pay a microtransaction to obtain more puzzles. Overall: the game is too expensive and too cheaply made to be considered a legitimate contender for your cash. IGN hands-on impressions.
Okiraku Ping Pong (500 points) - Sort of like Wii Tennis but with Anime-like characters and based on the Olympic event of ping-pong, Okiraku Ping Pong is a good example of what WiiWare titles should be like when it comes to pricing. While the game itself isn’t anything incredibly innovative or feature-packed, it is at least priced accordingly. If released outside of Japan, you’d get at least 5 dollars worth of fun from it, unlike the two games listed above. Game|Life hands-on impressions.
Kotoba no Puzzle Mojipittan Wii (1,000 points) - Grab your imagination helmets: imagine a Japanese version of Scrabble. Imagineering time over. I wouldn’t expect a domestic release on this one. IGN hands-on impressions.
Pokemon Farm (1,000 points) - Best described as Pokemon Box for Wii, Pokemon Farm is for the diehard pokefan only. It isn’t that Pokemon Farm is terrible, it just isn’t so much of a game as it is a tool. If you’re running out of space on Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, then this could just be up your alley. If not, avoid at all costs.
That about wraps it up, thankfully. Just as a reminder: WiiWare launches in America on May 12th. While we should get many of the same games as the Japanese launch, the games above, excluding Pokemon Farm, might not see a stateside release. However, in exchange, we will be getting Lost Winds at launch, so let’s consider the whole release date difference even, okay?
- Rob O’Reilly
