Japan Gaming Guide

The official site for the new Wii Baseball title just launched. Some videos show off the characters’ special swings, a fireball shot for Mario and a charmed shot from Peach that nobody wants to catch. You can also see the gestures for swinging the bat (a swinging gesture) and pitching (a downward swipe, but you can twist the Wiimote to add curve, much like in Wii Sports). Several mini-games are shown or named: Jewel Catcher, Fireworks, World Gun, Ice Block Shot, Ghost Shot, Castle Pinball and others.

Super Mario Stadium Family Baseball launches June 19th for 5800 yen.

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Nintendo just updated the website for the Wii exclusive Fatal Frame – Mask of the Lunar Eclipse. Details on this have been pretty sketchy until now with rumours that development has passed from Tecmo to Nintendo. There are a few shots on the site which look suitable gloomy and very good quality. Of course the Fatal Frame series has always looked good, the crucial thing will be the spook-snapping gameplay and how the camera controls will translate to the Wiimote.

The game is out in Japan on July 31st.

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Summer is here, the sun is out, and so are a load of new virtual console games:

Famicom (500 points)

Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa
Transformers Convoy no Nazo
Chou Nekketsu Dodge Ball
Yoshi’s Cookie

Super Famicom (900 points)

Super Mario RPG

Master System (500 points)

Asyura

Mega Drive (700 points)

Phantasy Star IV

PC Engine

Power Tennis (600 points)
Lords of Thunder (800 points)
Paranoia (600 points)
Blazing Lazers (600 points)

Neo Geo (900 points)

King of the Monsters
Ninja Commando
Art of Fighting 2
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The next big title from Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto will be Wii Music. This game has been on the cards since the Wii was a revolutionary twinkle in Shiggy’s eye. We’ve already seen the great man using the Wiimote to conduct a virtual orchestra at E3, and wonder if that will figure in the gameplay.

[Read, via Kombo]

Another new Wiiware game is coming out today. Block Breaker Deluxe looks like Arkanoid with brighter lights and plot development. You’ll be able to control the paddle with the Wiimote and smash your way through a whole host of levels. The cellphone version of the game was downloaded an astonishing 8 million times so it has a bit of casual gaming pedigree behind it. The Wii incarnation can be yours for just 800 Wii points.

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Famicom Wars VS, the Japanese version of Batallion Wars 2, will finally be released on March 15th. The cartoon strategy warfare game was pretty well received when it came out elsewhere and looks like a solid addition to the Wii’s line up. The online multiplayer should be fun, although we don’t know if you’ll be able to play against people outside Japan.

A teaser site for the game has just gone up. There are a few videos to browse through and more content will no doubt be uploaded over the next couple of weeks.

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Link’s Crossbow Training is getting a Japanese release on May 1st and will come with the Wii Zapper. The bundle costs a mere 3800 yen. The game has got mixed reviews so far. Although enjoyable it’s very short with a single player mode that can be finished in an hour. That makes the price seem a little less of a bargain.

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The last episode of Sam and Max season two came out on PC recently, and is available via Telltale’s website. Not only that, but Telltale have officially announced that season one will be coming to the Wii later this year. We’re big fans of the crazy pair here at JGG, and reckon the games will be perfect for the Wii. Though the puzzles are fiendish, the control scheme is pretty straightforward and should readily translate to the Wiimote.

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A brand new Wii-white version of the gamecube controller is coming to Japanese stores this month. The wiimote’s simple beauty is all very well, but it does lag behind in the buttons department. Not so the gamecube controller, which requires a certain amount of digital dexterity to get the most out of, but makes playing those older games a lot easier.

Don’t forget you can plug your old gamecube controllers straight into the Wii, but that’s, like, sooo going to destroy your colour scheme. Now where’s that dusty copy of Mario Sunshine?

[Joystiq, via Engadget]

Mario Kart Wii is just a few weeks away from launch. Nintendo’s official site is now live, and features a bunch of details on the new tracks, items and game modes.

The game is coming bundled with a steering wheel accessory that is basically just a shaped holder for the wiimote. We’re interested to see how that affects the game – will series veterans be able to recreate the deft SNES pad mastery of classic Mario Kart – or will they end up hurtling into the barriers like newbies?

There’s a lot of cool new stuff in the game, including online play, with international tournaments promised. There are twelve characters, including Waruigi, Baby Mario and Baby Peach among all the old favourites. Ten announced tracks including some based on old Nintendo consoles – including a GC cake stage. There’ll be 19 items in the game including the giant mario mushroom from Super Mario Bros DS as well as the POW block from the original Mario Brothers.

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