NEOGEO title Ninja Combat and WiiWare titles Protothea and Toki Tori are the newest additions to the Wii downloadable library.

Another Monday and another batch of games released to the Wii Shop Channel. This time, Wii users are introduced to two WiiWare titles, Ubisoft's shooter Protöthea and the puzzle/platformer Toki Tori from developer Two Tribes. In addition, the Virtual Console sees a retro release from the NEOGEO system: Ninja Combat.

Monolith’s release pushed back to "increase the quality" of the title.

Nintendo announced on their Japanese website that, despite the fact that it just received a Japanese release date in April, Disaster: Day of Crisis has been delayed yet again. The title, which had been scheduled for a July 3, 2008 release in Japan, was originally revealed at E3 2006. While no specifics... Read more...

This is why it pays to read the manual: an advertisement on the back of the LEGO Indiana Jones instruction booklet reveals Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

The Wii and DS are getting an exclusive Star Wars title this fall according to an advertisement on the back of the LEGO Indiana Jones instruction booklet. The game, entitled Star Wars: The Clone Wars, looks to be modeled after the upcoming animated movie and TV series that takes place in between Episodes... Read more...

Wii version is set to come out in 2009 while the previously mentioned DS version is scheduled for September.

At a media event last week, Tecmo confirmed the eventual release of Tecmo Bowl for Wii. However, the only information known about the upcoming release is that it will come out in 2009.

Tecmo also showed more of Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff for DS and announced a September release window. Also, since EA's... Read more...

Wario makes his return to 2D platforming in Wario Land Shake for the Wii.

Wednesday, Nintendo announced a new iteration of the Wario Land franchise, Wario Land Shake for Wii. Nintendo's announcement was followed by a FAMITSU article containing details on the upcoming game.

Wario Land Shake sports sprite graphics, featuring "hand-drawn animations." The images released... Read more...

Ubisoft will capture the popular and successful stop smoking method for the Nintendo DS handheld device.

Nintendo may be getting players active through WiiFit, but Ubisoft is hoping to play a part in clearing their lungs with the recently announced DS title My Health Coach: The easy way to stop smoking. Developed in conjunction with experts from the stop smoking programs, the DS game aims to provide "a truly interactive engagement with the game through which he or she learns that it can actually be enjoyable to quit smoking."

With no sign of a Nintendogs for Nintendo's console, Ubisoft is offering up an alternative.

Nintendo has yet to bring its successful Nintendogs franchise to Wii, but Ubisoft seems perfectly happy to step in and fill the gap with their Dogz franchise. They recently announced Dogz 2008 (working title) exclusively for Wii, the second Dogz game to make it to Nintendo's console, and another entry in their animal-oriented "Petz" franchise (other examples include Catz and Horsez). The title is due for release in Fall 2008.

Game information and downloadable DS demos come to Europe and Australia alongside three Virtual Console games, but no update to WiiWare in its second week.

The Nintendo Channel, an online service providing information and advertisements for first party and third party games on Wii and DS, has gone live across Europe and Australia.

DS owners will be able to wirelessly download demos from the Nintendo Channel to their handheld console, provided they... Read more...

Wii moves ahead on The Times' list of "Coolest Gadgets."

The South African Times recently announced its yearly special of the "Coolest Gadgets for the Young." Apple's iPod was number one on the list, followed by the PlayStation 3, then Xbox 360, with the Wii in fourth place. This is especially interesting considering the Wii has 51% of the local market share and so outselling the rival consoles combined, according to The Times.

Launching this holiday season, the Wii version will make extensive use of the Wii Balance Board.

Ubisoft announced that the humorous Rabbids will return this holiday season in Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party. It was also announced that the Wii iteration of the game will have a large focus on the recently released Wii Balance Board. Also set to come out for DS, the latest in the series will have a focus on the realm of television as the titular characters parody the medium.

Also, the website for the game's user-generated content has gone live.

Majesco announced that their upcoming side-scrolling shooter, Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy, has gone gold. Coming from developer Budcat Creations, this game features a game editor that encompasses every aspect of a shooter from levels and bosses to bullet patterns and sound effects and much... Read more...

Greenpeace dissected the current generation of home video game consoles in search of toxic chemicals, Nintendo was unimpressed.

Greenpeace recently announced a new study showing toxic chemicals inside each of this generation's home consoles. Techradar called it a "Playing Dirty" report and was first to provide Nintendo's response which outlined their position on Greenpeace as a whole.

The Greenpeace "Guide to Greener... Read more...

Gameinvest develops family adventure title to encourage ocean conservation awareness.

Little is known about this music puzzle game from Portugal based developer Gameinvest. Gameplay will consist of safely guiding your fish friends through the Amazon River; solving puzzles, joining in sing-a-longs, and learning about ocean conservation. Aquatic Tales touts an original soundtrack, intuitive controls and cooperative gameplay perfect for family participation.

Scheduled for a Holiday 2008 release, Shaun White Snowboarding will take full advantage of the Wii Balance Board.

Ubisoft appears to be embracing the Wii Balance Board as they announced Shaun White Snowboarding today and also revealed that the game will make heavy use of the aforementioned peripheral. While it is unclear just exactly how the Balance Board will be used in the game, Game|Life's Chris Kohler did say that "you'll actually do little jumps on the board to make your character jump."

Formerly known as Guitar Hero IV, it will contain two new instruments (drums and vocals) and allow players to create their own songs.

After a previous reveal by their CEO, Activision finally divulged official information about the newest game in the Guitar Hero series, Guitar Hero World Tour. This game includes a variety of new features that all circle around the addition of vocals and drums. Another big addition is the music studio that allows players to create their own songs and share them. However, 1up adds the addendum that the studio will be "sans vocals".

Nintendo sold 714k Wiis in the month that GTA IV launched and Mario Kart Wii sold 1.12 million units for second place. Nintendo claimed six of the top ten software titles, eleven of the top twenty.

The greatest challenge about reporting NPD numbers is the need to repeat the same question: "Will Nintendo slow down?" For the past couple years, the answer has been "no." April, 2008 is no different.

April 2008 U.S. Hardware Sales

Wii – 714.2k

Nintendo DS – 414.8k

PlayStation Portable – 192.7k

Dr. Mario Online Rx and Metal Slug mark a resurgence: four downloadable title releases this week.

The last time that four games were simultaneously released to Nintendo's Virtual Console download service was September 3, 2007. Now that WiiWare has joined the Virtual Console in providing downloadable offerings, Mondays may be marked by a return to a wider variety of downloadable gaming.

Probably... Read more...

Mario Kart Wii joins the Nintendo million-sellers club.

Famicom Wars 2 (Battalion Wars 2 to you and me) finally gets released in Japan, making a decent, but not outrageous, entry at No.6. Link’s Bowgun (Crossbow) Training is also still in the top 10, despite it being a spin off from Twilight Princess which didn’t sell that well over here in the East.

Cooking Guide with international dishes and three new DS Lite colours are coming to Europe next month.

Nintendo’s Cooking Navi interactive talking cookbook series has been very successful in Japan where three different versions have been released. The game series features synthesized voices for instruction, voice control, terminology and utensil guides, tutorials, and everything you would need to... Read more...

The Japanese remake of Dragon Quest IV will see an American localization. Its two sequels will also be remade for the DS and released in both Japan and America.

Today, Square-Enix published a North American Dragon Quest IV website announcing the pending release of the DS remake of the fourth game from the storied RPG series. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen will see release on September 16, 2008.

In addition to the launch of the Dragon Quest... Read more...