Topic: This Week in Nintendo Downloads, July 14, 2011

[NWR_pap64]

Netflix finally makes its debut on the 3DS, and classic Game and Watch games invade the eShop.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/27178

The Netflix app has finally been added to the eShop, allowing 3DS users to stream movies on the handheld. The app is free to download. Check out our detailed impressions of the service.

In terms of games, seven new ones were added to the various downloadable services. Exclusive for the eShop is Game & Watch Gallery, originally available on the Game Boy. The title is a mini-game compilation that includes four classic Game & Watch games. Along with the original versions of the games, the title also features remakes of the games featuring Mario characters. The game is priced at $2.99.

Also for the eShop is Baseball, a basic baseball title originally released for the Game Boy in 1989. It can be downloaded for $2.99.

For both the eShop and DSiWare there are four games to choose from. The first of these is Extreme Hangman 2 from Gamelion. Gameplay is based on the classic word guessing game where players must complete the word in order to save the hangman. This version of the game includes new backgrounds and words to solve. Players can download this for $1.99.

Afterzoom from Abylight is the second eShop and DSiWare game for the week. This application turns the DSi and 3DS's camera into a microscope where players can see many forms of microscopic life. It is priced at $4.99.

The third game this week is Puzzle Fever from Korner Entertainment. The game lets players solve puzzles in three different modes of play. It can be downloaded for $4.99.

The fourth and final game for the eShop and DSiWare is Just SING! The 80s Collection by dtp Young Entertainment. A karaoke app, players can sing to the classic tunes of Madonna, A-ha, and Rick Astley. Downloading this game will set players back $4.99.

The lone WiiWare for the week is 3D Pixel Racing from Microforum. The racer features a distinctive retro 3D look, along with 10 tracks, 11 cars, and 10 pilots to choose from. The weather also changes. Finally, the game allows up to four player racing using split screens. 3D Pixel Racing can be downloaded now for 500 Wii Points ($5). It is developed by the team that brought you Enjoy Your Massage.

[Mop it up]

I'm a little surprised that Game and Watch Gallery is $3, I thought it could be a $4 one since it was a later release. It has my two favourite Game and Watch games, so with the modern versions and all, it is definitely worth the price for anyone who likes high score games. It's just a bit of a shame that it doesn't have the Super Game Boy colour scheme.

[UltimatePartyBear]

The fourth and final game for the eShop and DSiWare is Just SING! The 80s Collection by dtp Young Entertainment. A karaoke app, players can sing to the classic tunes of Madonna, A-ha, and Rick Astley. Downloading this game will set players back $4.99.

Finally, portable Rickrolling!  A mere two and a half years too late to be relevant.

[TJ Spyke]

It was played out over 3 years ago and is just lame now.

[AV]

I'm really enjoying Game and Watch Gallery, it makes the $2 game and watch games seem extremely over priced in comparison. DOes the game save the data or will I have to use the save states?


I don't have a netflix account, but I'm seriously considering it so I can watch movies in bed with the 3DS in the doc

[leahsdad]

Definitely not downloading Baseball, that's for sure.  I got Tennis a few weeks ago, huge mistake.  All 4 levels are the same, it's just the ball goes faster!

In fact, it seems like when they offer 2 VC's in 1 week, it's usually because they're relatively weak offerings.

[leahsdad]

I don't have a netflix account, but I'm seriously considering it so I can watch movies in bed with the 3DS in the doc

Oh man, instant streaming is very awesome.

What I really like is that besides the superior interface and speakers, Netflix on the 3DS is better than on an Iphone because you can lay it down and tilt the top screen to your viewing angle.  I cooked dinner and did the dishes tonight while absentmindedly watching a movie.  And everyone at my gym likes to watch either Netflix or Hulu while they work out, and the tilt screen will make things much easier.   

And on a side note, since the 3DS uses a stylus + capacitive screen, it'll make it much easier to re-enter my gym's wifi password.  Those paranoid jerks reset the Wifi password everyday so that only members can use it.  The password is mixed case, alphanumeric, random, 12 characters.  Jeez.  Every try changing from capital to lower case letters to numerals on every other character on an IOS touch screen?

[Shaymin]

Isn't Super Earth Defense Force a new game for the week as well? (VC, 800 pts).

[leahsdad]

Isn't Super Earth Defense Force a new game for the week as well? (VC, 800 pts).

Oh yeah, that's right.  The Wii.  The red-headed stepchild that everyone forgets about.  The Kevin Arnold of game consoles.

[NWR_insanolord]

Definitely not downloading Baseball, that's for sure.

That's a good call. I had to buy it to do the VC recommendation for it, and it's terrible. While I was able to have fun with Tennis despite its limitations, Baseball's almost unplayable.

[leahsdad]

While I was able to have fun with Tennis despite its limitations,

Yeah, I regret downloading tennis a little bit, but to be honest, it may be the best downloadable tennis game, dsiware or whatever, available on the 3DS.  The mechanics are rock solid.  The controls are super tight, if not a tiny bit unforgiving and, at times, a little too realistic.  At first, it was really hard, I kept getting my butt handed to me on Level 1.  And the way they work height into the game is crazy.  Height of the ball in relation to the ground does matter somewhat and can affect how well you hit the ball, and you may sometimes miss, or even hit into the net.  This is insane, of course, considering that this is a top down early Gameboy game, and completely in flat 2D.  They represent height in the game by making the ball appear larger and smaller (larger means higher).   But it's subtle, so it's very easy to misjudge the height of the ball.   

Rallies can be very long and quite exhilerating, even at Level 1 difficulty, until you finally figure out the weakness in the AI.  Now, don't get me wrong.  The AI is pretty good.  It's smart enough to do things like lob the ball high over your head if you get too brazen and stay close up to the net.  The problem is that the AI is stupid, and consistently so, on the 2nd return when you serve, and on the 3rd return when it serves.  Basically, in these situations, it seems like the AI fails to shift position towards center court if it's returned a hard drive toward a corner.  Because it fails to shift, you can run up to the net after the AI has returned it and nail it into an opposite corner.  I suspect this is an exploit.   It is infinitely repeatable.  Once you figure it out, Level 1 becomes a joke.

Then the game just gets worse, because Levels 2 through 4 don't seem to improve the AI or even vary the AI's play style.  It's exactly the same.  Only the frickin ball moves faster when both you and the AI hit it.  That is the only change in difficulty.

So basically, it was fun for the hour it took me to really figure out the way the game works, how the controls work, how to judge the ball, and finally how to kill the AI.  After that, I have no desire to play it.  I doubt many people would.

So yeah, that was my very long (and slightly upset) way of saying "Yup, buddy, I completely agree with your sentiments."

[Mop it up]

In fact, it seems like when they offer 2 VC's in 1 week, it's usually because they're relatively weak offerings.

Good thing only one of these games is weak.

[NWR_Neal]

Baseball isn't that bad, but I also owned this game on GB when I was younger, so I'm considerably nostalgic/biased. It's a Game Boy version of NES Baseball, which means it's a poorer version of a decent very-old baseball game.

[NWR_insanolord]

There's nothing decent about Baseball on the 3DS VC. Even as someone desperate enough for a handheld baseball game that I volunteered to review Nicktoons MLB for DS, I have not yet found any redeeming qualities in the game.

[Ceric]

lol, I think I've seen this discussion before for another game.