Today Capcom announced that the three Phoenix Wright DS games will arrive on WiiWare next year. January will see the four-chapter “Ace Attorney” for 1000 points, plus you have the option of getting the fifth AA chapter for another 100. “Justice for All” appears in March, and “Trials and Tribulations” is scheduled for May.

We’ve talked about this on the podcast once of twice, about Phoenix Wright being an odd little beast. A tad too trial-and-errory for me; a little too nonsensical for Haygood. But at $10, you could do a whole lot worse. Given that this series is much-loved on DS (and remember that the DS releases were ports of popular Japanese GBA originals), I’d say we’re getting a pretty ripe plum for WiiWare.

CAPCOM® UNVEILS CLASSIC ACE ATTORNEY® SERIES FOR WiiWareTM

The beloved Ace Attorney series featuring the most exciting courtroom dramas of the digital decade are headed to Nintendo’s popular download service in 2010

SAN MATEO, Calif. — November 18, 2009 — Capcom® Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced that three classic Ace Attorney® games are scheduled for digital release on Nintendo’s WiiWare next year beginning with the one that started it all, Phoenix Wright™: Ace Attorney® followed by Phoenix Wright™ Ace Attorney®: JUSTICE FOR ALL, and Phoenix Wright™ Ace Attorney®: TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS. Gamers can expect the deliberations to begin January 2010. These games will cost 1,000 Wii Points, $10.00 USD.

Ace Attorney’s massive popularity and appeal in Japan has caught on in the West and the franchise has now sold well over 3.7 million units worldwide. For the first time ever, this beloved handheld series is making an appearance on a home console, giving gamers access to three of the classic Ace Attorney adventures from the comfort of their own living rooms. Fans and newcomers alike will have a chance to star as the most popular defense attorney in videogames, Phoenix Wright – a man driven by principles and his ability to separate fact from dubious fiction. Each game in the series presents twisting storylines and intriguing gameplay with comical anime stylings. Players will collect evidence, weed through inconsistent testimonies and overcome corrupt agendas to ensure that justice prevails! Present evidence with the wave of the Wii remote or press suspicious testimonies by wiggling it. These games can be played via single-player and has multiple save slots.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Episode 1 through 4) is the first release hitting in January. The story kicks off with Phoenix Wright defending his childhood friend Larry Butz from a murder charge. But this is only the beginning drama for the tenacious legal eagle as Wright faces unexpected tragedies that will test the limits of his incredible deductive prowess. In May, owners of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney will be able to download the bonus episode that appeared in the original Nintendo DS™ version of the game. It will cost 100 Wii Points.

In March, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: JUSTICE FOR ALL arrives. Phoenix Wright has six months experience and five court victories under his belt. But none of that will do him any good against the ruthless new D.A. in town. Franziska von Karma wants revenge and she’s ready to take Phoenix down at any cost!

In May, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS arrives. Phoenix will face the toughest prosecutor yet as the mysterious hard-boiled “Godot” is gunning for him with extreme prejudice. Get ready for the most intense courtroom standoffs of Phoenix Wright’s career!

For more information, please visit http://press.capcom.com and http://capcom-unity.com

Issue #248, December 2009
featuring New Super Mario Bros Wii, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (Wii), Infinite Space (DS)

Nintendo announced a flurry of new games at E3 09, but only one was slotted to be this year’s big holiday title… and that’s New Super Mario Bros Wii. Nintendo Power is quick to point out the game is no watered down party minigame collection. In fact, it’s more of a watered-up version of New Super Mario Bros on DS.

As the first console-based 2D Mario title in eighteen years, NSMBW owes everything to the NES/SNES generation. The screenshots show rolling hills, card-matching minigames, an overworld map, and the usual allotment of tubes, coins and blocks. NP stresses that the game is a fully capable single-player experience, just in case you thought the levels were best enjoyed with the 4-man multiplayer.

For those of you coming into the game from the like-minded DS game, note that NSMBW lets you keep a much larger pile of collected items like fire flowers and whatnot. However, you can no longer activate a stored item in the middle of the level; you have to use it on the map screen before a level begins.

Some nitty-gritty items: NSMBW supports both Remote alone and Remote+Nunchuk control schemes. The game seems to have inherited the tilting Remote mechanic used in Warioland: Shake It. This is the first 2D Mario game in widescreen, but NP doesn’t say what happens to those of you with old, crappy 4:3 TVs. Does it center-cut the image, or do you have to play it letterboxed? Just like in Smash Bros Brawl, the camera will zoom in and out depending on how tight the players are in the level.

The Koopa Kids return from the dead to play bosses in New Super Mario Bros Wii. All ugly seven of them. With their dorky American Instruction Manual 1990 celebrity names. There’s a good reason Nintendo has done very little with this team of sops in nearly twenty years. Bowser Jr is also in NSMBW and hopefully he kicks the Koopalings around.

Nintendo is still holding on to the previously revealed playable lineup of Mario, Luigi, Toad and Toad. And no, neither of the Toads are clad in the traditional red so the game can preserve easily identifiable colors for all the players. Mario and Luigi own red and green, so the Toads must come in blue and yellow flavors. I still say Nintendo is holding Playable Peach as a hidden ace, because how can a fan-service title like this ignore the Super Mario Bros 2 cast of Mario, Luigi, Toad and Peach? We’ll see if I’m right when the game is released next week.

Have you checked out Nintendo Week? This weekly miniature TV show starting showing up on the Wii’s Nintendo Channel in September. Clean-cut hosts Gary and Alison spend each episode going over the newest releases from all over Nintendo: Wii, DS, Virtual Console, etc.

Nintendo Power introduces the duo in this issue with a brief interview. Unfortunately, it’s not a stellar showing, as the mag basically asks the same question three times, resulting in the hosts having to say the same thing (”I’m a big [Nintendo] fan!”) three times. We do learn that Gary is currently deep into Scribblenauts and Professor Layton, while Alison likes Wii Sports and Donkey Kong Country.

I’ve caught a few of their shows and they are moderately watchable. They are far too scripted and overwritten for adult tastes (they have an odd predilection for calling the DS “the Nintendo DS System”), but kids should enjoy it. They remind me of the first wave of dopey video game shows that landed on TV when I was a kid during the NES era. Of course, I think that supposedly mature shows like X-Play are far too scripted and overwritten as well. But at least with Nintendo Week you know you’re not going to get clumsy sex jokes before each commercial break.

Nintendo might actually try to leverage Nintendo Week once in a while. The episode for the week of October 26 contained the exclusive reveal of the new WiiWare title Excitebike: World Tour.

NP’s Ultimate Zelda list manages to rank thirteen Zelda games, as well as award categories like Best Weapon and Best Overworld. Here’s their order:

• #13. Zelda II (NES, 1988)
• #12 Four Swords Adventures (GameCube, 2004)
• #11 Majora’s Mask (N64, 2000)
• #10/9 Oracle of Ages/Seasons (Game Boy, 2001)
• #8 Minish Cap (GBA, 2004)
• #7 Phantom Hourglass (DS, 2007)
• #6 Wind Waker (GameCube, 2003)
• #5 Link’s Awakening (Game Boy, 1993)
• #4 Twilight Princess (Wii, 2006)
• #3 Legend of Zelda (NES, 1987)
• #2 A Link to the Past (SNES, 1992)
• #1 Ocarina of Time (N64, 1998)

Having played only eight of those, I’m hardly in a position to rank… but I’d put Wind Waker as number one.

These (NO NAME GIVEN) credits have got to stop.

I don’t know where or how Nintendo Power solicits some of their reader mail. Every issue devotes a page to multiple readers’ responses to one specific question. This issue, it’s “Which game world do you find the most compelling?” They must collect responses through a poorly-defined form on their website, because more and more NP seems obliged to publish quotes from people who do not leave their names. Not even their fakey internet names. Which leads to not-entirely-convincing missives like this one:

I suppose it is entirely possible that one fan thinks Wuhu Island from Wii Sports Resort satisfies some mad definition of the word “compelling.” But signing it with a (NO NAME GIVEN) makes me think the writer was ashamed of his pick. Just seems to unintentionally undermine the whole thing.

Download Staff Picks: Contra Rebirth (WiiWare), Tales of Monkey Island 2 (WiiWare), Phantasy Star (Sega Master System), Puzzle League Express (DSiWare)

Top scoring Wii review: Three Wii games at 7.5 this month… WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010, Astro Boy: The Video Game, and Harvest Moon: Animal Parade. (all scores out of 10)
Top scoring DS review: An unbelievable six DS games ranked 8.0… Phantasy Star 0, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island, Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans, Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, and Space Invaders Extreme 2. No more complaining about low-quality DS games, okay?
Lowest rated Wii review: SimAnimals Africa, 5.0
Lowest rated DS review: Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, 4.0

Other notable review scores this issue include DDR: Hottest Party 3 (Wii, 6.5), Nostalgia (DS, 7.0), Academy of Champions: Soccer (Wii, 6.5), Cooking Mama 3 (DS, 6.0), TMNT: Arcade Attack (DS, 4.5) and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (Wii, 5.5).

Frank busts a move. – You may have heard that the US release of Wii-exclusive Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars will feature Frank West of Dead Rising, but did you know that he can wear a Mega Buster-toting Mega Man outfit in the game?

Follow the money. – Infinite Space became a DS game because director Hifumi Kouno thought his budget was not large enough for a console release. Reasonable fellow, that Hifumi.

Don’t forget your Arceus! – Polish off your legitimately collected Pokedex in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum with a visit to Toys R Us during the week of November 7 to 15. You’ll be downloading the last pokemon of this generation, Arceus.

The DSi-specific carts are coming. – Foto Fighter, one of a half-dozen games that I have seen claim to be “the first game made specifically for the Nintendo DSi,” lets you take pictures of household objects to spawn battling monsters. Sounds cooler than it actually is… NP makes it sound like the game is only really looking for basic shapes and colors in your pictures, and the resultant poke-ripoffs look nothing like your source photo.

And this isn’t even Sonic’s first racing game. – Sonic may have been a Brawler and an Olympic champion, but he’s not joining every Mario family game just yet. Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing will feature over twenty Sega characters in their own kart racer.

But he wanted to be an interior designer. – Composer Akira Yamaoka went from the music director for the first Silent Hillto the franchise’s producer for Silent Hill 3 and 4. For the upcoming Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, he’s back to being just the composer.

Next month in Nintendo Power… with the big first-party Wii game out of the way, NP turns to the season’s big DS game, Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Plus, celebrate as the DS turns five!

The rare, legendary, FINAL pokedex member is available this week at Toys R Us as a free Wonder Card download for any of the current three DS core Pokemon games. Not only do you get a level 100 monster, but you also get a little shove of interest to the next Pokemon games. Seems that Arceus, when traded forward into HeartGold or SoulSilver, will allow you to “witness the moment a legendary pokemon comes to be.”

Having Arceus on your team will allow you to catch – at level 1 – either Dialgia, Palkia or Giratina. You know, the three poster monsters for Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, respectively. Sure, pro Pokemon Trainers likely have all three of them already (legally, even.) But catching them at level 1 means you’re getting the beast in a far more malleable form. Like, you could train it to fetch sodas from the fridge or something.

November 3
Academy of Champions Soccer – Ubisoft’s arcade soccer + Hogwarts game is finally out. This one made an initial splash for including characters from Ubisoft’s stable like Jade and Mr. Splinter Cell.

LEGO Rock Band – The multiplatform family-focused Rock Band title arrives. I still think it’s odd that the setlist isn’t true kids music from established kids bands, because what you are getting really isn’t appreciably different from a regular Rock Band setlist. 2009 seems to be the year that Harmonix finally squanders all that goodwill they’ve built up since the initial RB release. And speaking of that, Band Hero is also out this week. Both are also on DS.

Rabbids Go Home – The evolution of the Rabbids into a genuine gaming brand is complete as they get their first non-garbage-minigames game. Actually sounds pretty funny, if you can stomach the oh-so-zany Rabbid marketing. (Also on DS)

November 9
Excitebike: World Rally – Nintendo stealth-announced this new WiiWare title on the October 26th Nintendo Week show. Looks like a fair redux of the NES original, with some very familiar track layouts just at a new 3D camera angle. And it still has a level editor!

November 10
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex – Just in time for Modern Warfare 2’s release, an adaptation of the original hits the Wii. Apparently the game does not support the Wii Speak microphone, so we should have none of those problems. (Also on DS, sort of, as Modern Warfare Mobilized.)

November 15
New Super Mario Bros Wii – Nintendo’s big first-party release of the fall. I’ve been wavering on this one for quite some time, but I think I’m going to officially pass. It has the Koopa Kids in it, and I hate the Koopa Kids.

November 17
EA Sports Active – More Workouts – I think that subtitle probably explains it all.

LEGO Indiana Jones 2 – Another multiplat release. The ship has sailed on Indy Jones; did enough people really want this sequel? (Also on DS)

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles – We didn’t seem to land a single decent horror game in time for Halloween, did we? They’ve all been pushed to invade other holidays.

Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! – The Scene It brand escapes 360 exclusivity with two Wii releases; there’s this one and a Twilight-focused edition arriving Nov 24.

November is expected to see Part 5 of Tales of Monkey Island arrive on WiiWare, as well as the tower defender Robocalypse: Beaver Defense.

Now, on the DS:

November 3
C.O.P.: The Recruit – Watch out Chinatown Wars! C.O.P. is trying to out-GTA you with a true 3D world.

Style Savvy – A curious first-party release, Style Savvy has you running a clothing boutique eager to satisfy incoming clients. The human models in the game are extraordinarily creepy: normal-proportioned figures with oversized anime heads. Something about the look makes me think more blow-up doll and less anime design. Every time I see this game in action I think “Well, that’s somebody’s fetish.”

November 10
Phantasy Star 0 – Sega’s RPG hits the DS. This is the one with the in-game chat feature where you can draw your conversations to each other.

November 17
Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery – Nintendo Power mentioned that this one was sort of a surprise. Which kind of fits, don’t you think?

Nintendo Power revealed the news in issue #248; the Arceus distribution will be at Toys R Us from November 7 through 15. As with previous critter handouts, you’ll just have to show up and download it over the DS WiFi.

Arceus can change its type based on certain held items, which might make it a good pinch-hitter on your team. It is the last final absolute end of the Diamond/Pearl/Platinum generation Pokedex. And if the upcoming HeartGold and SoulSilver releases follow the remake trend and do not add any new types, Arceus could be our last new pokemon for quite a while.

Up until now, odds are that if you encountered somebody with an Arceus… it was a hacked fake. So it will be nice to get a legal version of this rare beast.

Nintendo has made a slight alteration to their Club Nintendo survey system, and it makes a Bowser-sized pile of size. You now have to wait at least seven days for taking the online Post-Play Survey. Shocking!

Before this change, you could take the Post-Play Survey immediately upon registering the game. In fact, Nintendo’s system sort of encouraged you to do so, what with all the ubiquitous reminders to take the survey and earn a bonus 10 points for your Club Nintendo account. Of course, taking a Post Play Survey when you’ve barely played the game is ridiculous. Now you have to wait… the survey won’t even appear in your To-Do list until a week has passed since registration. Hopefully you’ve played the game once or twice since then.

Incidentally, even though Wii Fit Plus retails for $20, you still get the full 50 point buff for registering it with Club Nintendo. Mario didn’t randomly cheap out on the points. We’re only four months into the current Club Nintendo calendar year and I’m already at Gold status.

A big apology for this podcast getting to press so late.  Real life has been getting in the way of things for the last week and a half, but things are getting better.  And believe me, beyond a technical issue for this podcast, it is well worth the wait.  Why is that you say?  Well, we had our writer from the UK, Vikki, making an appearance on the show.  So for once, we have a really good English accent on the show, although a really bad accent shows up as well at one point.

Features in this podcast include shopping for good, not so cutesy DS and DSi games, and the Xbox 360 and PC Ones to Watch titles, so it was not a fanboy oversight that they were not on the site.

Music is provided by Revolution Void, and mixed as always by Stephen Munn.

Download the podcast from here or subscribe to the podcast using one of the services below: Also make sure to review us on iTunes.

GAME> Nintendogs (2005)
SYSTEM> Nintendo DS
SOURCE> Nintendogs trading card, 2005

This game is such a classic RPG. Find the party member whose class has a natural capacity for the quest. Grind up on low-level training to improve the skill level. Earn cool new buffs and items for your inventory or trophy room.