Finally! Wii Sports….Has Come Back….To Wii U ehop
Some of us have been scratching our heads as to why Nintendo didn’t try and do something with their incredibly successful Wii Sports series when the sophomore Wii console launched. You could argue that thanks to backwards compatibility, you can still play the old school games, and you would be right – but what they kids – and by kids, I mean me – really want is all HD and online and that, aye?
Well today the blighters have only gone and announced the launch of Wii Sports Club, which will hit the eShop on November 7th. What they are doing is either a bit cheeky or manna from casual gaming heaven, depending on your views and level of cynicism. Re-releasing all of the O.G Wii Sports offerings (bowling, tennis, boxing, baseball and golf), with MotionPlus technology, HD graphics and online multiplayer is a great idea – but the price point of £8.99 (or 9.99 if we are working in Euro-Rupees) per individual sport (or £1.79/€1.99 for a 24hr Day Pass for all the available sports) is pretty steep, particularly given that the vast majority of humans currently breathing oxygen have access to the 2006 Wii classic.
It is a brilliant bit of news though, because lets face it- those games are fun and have still not really been topped in the entertainment stakes.
Tennis and Bowling will be the first two games to be released. Anyone who downloads the Wii Sports Club software will automatically get a Day Pass, completely gratis, which is a fine way to test out the games and decide whether you want to weigh in with the full eight quid-odd.
Thass not all though folks! Because there is more activity on the eShop this week. The excellent new Professor Layton adventure is out for physical purchase on November 8, but can also be downloaded from the eShop for £39.99 (E44.99).
Joining the Prof from November 7 are the new duo of Batman titles. Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate will also be downloadable priced at £49.99 and £34.99 respectively.
If you prefer jolly winter sports to grim caped crusading, you can also pick up the snappily titled Mario & Sonic at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games from the 8th, which will set you back £39.99.
Elsewhere is a mixed bag. Popular and very funny Cartoon Network programme Regular Show enjoy their first outing for the 3DS in the form of Regular Show: Moredecai & Rigby in 8 Bit Land, courtesy of Namco Bandai. Released on November 8, it will be priced at £28.49 from the eShop.
The Wii GamePad engineered version of the charming (yet unnervingly ubiquitous) Toki Tori (Two Tribes) will be available for £1.79 from November 7, the same day that 3DS owners can shell out a cool £19.99 to sample DETUNE’s KORG M01D musical workstation.
“Didn’t you always want to care for a sweet little baby?” If the answer to this question is “yes”, you will want to get your arse down to the eShop two days after fireworks night for Treva Entertainment’s My Little Baby 3D. Awww. Also, it will cost £24.99, roughly the same amount of money it costs me to feed and en-nappy my 1 year old for about a week.
Brunch Panic may sound like the ensuing melee when the sandwich van beeps his horn outside my workplace, but it is also another new download on the eShop from November 7, with an even less enticing premise that the 3D baby game. “Ever dreamed of running your own food truck?” Quite. Still, if knocking out brunch from a static vehicle is your thing, this can be snared for a not unreasonable £3.99.
Rounding things off is Arcade Classics 3D, by the heartwarmingly named Enjoy Gaming, which for £2.50 sounds like one of those game compendiums you used to get for christmas as a child, only instead of blackgammon and draughts you have a bunch of popular classic videogame tropes dressed up in one budget bundle. 7th November for that one.
If it is bargains you are after then there are a bunch of reductions.
Toki Tori 2+ is down to £7.79 until November 14, with a further 60% off if you downloaded Toki Tori on Wii U.
November 8 sees eShop Ubisoft titles get slashed by £8 (10 euro) price cuts for Assassins Creed Avengers: Battle For Earth, Rabbids Land, Sports Connection, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013 and ZombiU.
Last and by no means least is the latest DLC for Pikmin 3 – Battle Enemies Stages 7-10, which is out November 6 and will cost a mere £1.79.
