Give thanks for the opportunity to lob penguins into a basketball hoop this week, courtesy of WiiWare and Snowpack Park, a game you might want to download to your Wii? No? Maybe Tetris then?
Nintendo's Snowpack Park, a penguin hunting and flightless bird mood management sim, leads this week's list of fresh downloadable options for WiiWare, DSiWare and Virtual Console. And while Tetris may not be the freshest of games, Tetris Party Live is certainly the most cost efficient way to play some classic Tetris against Nintendo DSi owners over a wi-fi connection.
In addition to new things to pay for, WiiWare also gets a batch of new demos, including And Yet It Moves, BIT.TRIP FATE, Jett Rocket and ThruSpace.
See the rest of the new downloadable options in the gallery.
Snowpack Park
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Comic Mischief
Price: 800 Wii Points
Welcome to Snowpack Park! You've arrived in hopes of hanging out with some of the local penguins and learning how to take care of them. However, a recent storm has just sent the residents of the park fleeing to various islands throughout the area, and there are only a few penguins to be found. Take control of either a Mii™ character or one of the game's built-in characters and brave various terrains and unexpected obstacles. Travel from island to island, find penguins and bring them back safely to the park. But getting them back is just the beginning. The penguins have different moods, which will go up and down depending on how much interaction they have with you. If a penguin's mood gets too bad, it will leave the park. To prevent that from happening, you must learn how to feed, pet and play with the penguins in order to keep them happy. Throughout the park, you'll also find fun minigames to play, headwear pieces for the penguins to wear, fish for them to eat, blowfish to roll up into snowballs and a variety of other useful things. You can even collect photos of yourself and the penguins by visiting one of the park's photo-taking locations. Prepare for a heartwarming Antarctic adventure!
Music on: Electric Guitar
Publisher: Abylight
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Transform your Nintendo DSi™ system into an incredible electric guitar and your stylus into a pick. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to play your favorite songs, even if music isn't your thing. Pedals include Distortion, Flanger and Delay. The Advanced Play Screen is great for melodies, arpeggios and chord variations. Enjoy 32 definable chords on the control pad. Discover more than 950 chords in all and save up to 10 sessions.
Supermarket Mania
Publisher: G5 Entertainment AB
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Supermarket Mania is a mesmerizing time management game. Help Nikki keep five grocery stores stocked to the rafters with the provisions customers want. If you work fast and hard, you'll earn enough money to upgrade your establishments and show your adversary what a little hometown pluck can do. Supermarket Mania includes 50 levels in Story Mode, Endless Shift Mode with extra bonuses, five shops, seven types of customers, 20-plus upgrades for your shop and more than a dozen products to sell.
Tetris Party Live
Publisher: Tetris Online, Inc.
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Now you can party with Tetris whenever and wherever you like! Tetris Party Live features several exciting game modes from the popular Tetris Party series, including Marathon (a favorite single-player mode), Computer Battle (challenge the computer), VS Battle (challenge a friend) and Duel Space (strategize to claim more space than an opponent). But the party doesn't stop there: Take the Tetris fun online via the Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection service (broadband Internet access required) and enjoy multiplayer Tetris with up to three opponents at a time. You can also use the global ranking system to see how your Tetris Party Live skills stack up against the rest of the world.
SPIN MASTER
Original platform: NEOGEO
Publisher: D4 Enterprise
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) - Cartoon Violence
Price: 900 Wii Points
SPIN MASTER is a side-scrolling action game that was originally released in 1993. Take on the role of an adventurer named Johnny. Dr. De Playne has stolen your piece of a treasure map and kidnapped your girlfriend, Mary. Now you must set off to retrieve them both. Make your way through five different stages, each featuring a unique and colorful boss at the final turn. After clearing each stage, you will obtain a piece of the treasure map. Put all the pieces together and you're in for one big surprise. Make full use of jumps and standard attacks to advance through the game. To experience really explosive and invigorating combat, be sure to employ the wide range of special attacks that are also available, including spirit charges, sliding attacks and super bomb attacks. Another player can also join in the action simultaneously!