NINTENDO DOWNLOAD - IT'S NO REEL FANTASY: WATER, SUDOKU AND SILVER STARS CAN BOOST YOUR SKILLS

June 29, 2009 - This week's new downloadable games include a trio of WiiWare™ titles - two built around water-themed challenges and one designed to keep your mental chops in top shape. For Virtual Console™, you'll find a memorable SEGA character making his return in a classic single-player sci-fi adventure. Rounding out the lineup is a new Nintendo DSiWare™ title that's sure to have sudoku fans reaching feverishly for the nearest stylus.

WiiWare

Water Warfare™
Publisher: Hudson Entertainment
Players: 1-8
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) - Cartoon Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points™
Description: Water Warfare is a comical first-person shooter that uses water guns to battle and soak opponents. A map with a particular theme - Playground, Beach, Plaza or Nature Park - is generated automatically when the game begins, so you can think up new strategies each time you engage. Game modes include Single Player Missions, CPU Match and 2-Player Split Screen. On top of that, players with broadband Internet access can use Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection to battle with up to eight players from around the world, or participate in Ranking Mode.

Reel Fishing® Challenge
Publisher: Natsume, Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Reel Fishing Challenge offers a fun and challenging experience for novice fishers and master anglers alike. Put your skills to the test and discover new types of fish in the challenging mission mode, or relax and enjoy the game at your own pace in free play mode. No matter which mode you play, the game's beautiful graphics and natural setting bring the fishing experience to life. Choose from a variety of lures to attract and hook the game's numerous fish. Each fish looks and moves like the real thing - it's the closest you can get to real-life fishing without putting on your waders.

Silver Star Reversi
Publisher: Agetec, Inc.
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Silver Star Reversi has two modes: 1-Player mode allows you to play a match against the computer opponent, and 2-Player mode allows you to play against another person. In 1-Player mode, you can choose from five different computer opponents, turn the background music on or off, adjust sound effects and access in-game help features. During each match, you can also redo your last move, save the game at any point, or resign from the game. After a match has ended, you can review each move and resume the match from any point you choose.

Virtual Console™

Fantasy Zone™ II: The Tears of Opa-Opa
Original platform: SEGA MASTER SYSTEM
Publisher: SEGA
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Ten years have elapsed since Opa-Opa restored peace to the Fantasy Zone. Now history is repeating itself, and the planets that make up the Fantasy Zone once again find themselves attacked by the mastermind of the Nenon planet forces. This mastermind is secretly constructing a huge fortress in the Fantasy Zone and aims to put an end to their ambitious plans. Just as he did 10 years ago, Opa-Opa must do battle to save the Fantasy Zone.

Nintendo DSiWare™

SUDOKU MASTER
Publisher: Hudson Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: SUDOKU MASTER offers 150 unique puzzles that beginners and experts alike will enjoy. A handful of tutorials will help you learn the rules and controls as you go, and handy features like Write Mode and Temp Numbers make Sudoku pleasantly user-friendly. Feeling confident? Then try your hand at Title Mode to work your way up from Rookie to Sudoku Master. All puzzles were created by Sudoku veteran NIKOLI Co., Ltd., and tips from Sudoku godfather Maki Kaji are offered between games.

Nintendo adds new titles to the Nintendo DSi Shop™ and the Wii™ Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Mondays. Users with broadband Internet access can redeem Wii Points or Nintendo DSi Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card™ can be purchased at retail locations. All points from one Nintendo Points Card must be redeemed in either the Nintendo DSi Shop or the Wii Shop Channel. They are not transferable and cannot be divided between the two systems.

Remember that both Wii and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit www.Wii.com or www.NintendoDSi.com.

MEDIA ALERT: NINTENDO DSI JOINS LINEUP AT SUMMERFEST 2009

Interactive Tour Invites Fans in Milwaukee to Play, Share and Create Using the Portable Nintendo DSi System

WHAT:
When festival goers flock to Milwaukee for this year's Summerfest, they'll have a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with a remarkable newcomer in hand-held entertainment. Appearing June 25-29 at the festival's lakefront site in downtown Milwaukee, the Nintendo DSi™ Mobile Tour invites consumers to board an interactive tour bus loaded with portable Nintendo DSi systems and software. Visitors and spectators can experience the unique features and creative fun of Nintendo DSi. With help from on-site Nintendo ambassadors, consumers can use Nintendo DSi to take and manipulate photos, tweak sound recordings and enjoy a wide variety of games. Visitors can print their original souvenir photos on the bus or store them online and download them from home.

As the latest evolution in Nintendo's popular line of hand-held video game devices, Nintendo DSi features two built-in cameras, audio recording and playback functions, and access to a wealth of downloadable games and applications from the online Nintendo DSi Shop™. Players can use 10 different interactive "lenses" to tweak photos in unusual ways and share them over a local wireless connection, or have fun with their favorite music by using different audio filters to alter recorded voices or change the tempo of a song. Since launching in April, Nintendo DSi has sold more than 1 million units in the United States.

WHO:
Milwaukee-area adults, teens, festival fans and consumers of all kinds

WHEN:
Thursday, June 25 - Monday, June 29
Noon - 10 p.m. daily

WHERE:
Summerfest
200 N. Harbor Drive
Milwaukee, WI 53202
(The Nintendo DSi Mobile Tour bus will be located near the U.S. Cellular Connection Stage at the north end of the festival site.)

NINTENDO DSI MOBILE TOUR TAKES CREATIVE HAND-HELD FUN FROM COAST TO COAST

June 22, 2009 - The portable fun of the new Nintendo DSi™ video game system will be on full display in cities nationwide this summer as the Nintendo DSi Mobile Tour rolls through festivals and special events from coast to coast.

Throughout the summer, consumers across the United States will be invited to climb aboard a customized, interactive tour bus loaded with Nintendo DSi systems and software. Nintendo ambassadors will be on hand to show visitors the variety of entertainment and creative social fun offered by Nintendo DSi. Consumers will experience the system's built-in cameras, sound-manipulation features and downloadable video games. Attendees also can enjoy access to a wealth of downloadable Nintendo DSiWare™ games from the online Nintendo DSi Shop. Visitors can print their original Nintendo DSi souvenir photos on the bus or store them online and download them from home after the event.

Some scheduled stops for the Nintendo DSi Mobile Tour include Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisc. (June 25-29), the Rothbury Festival in Rothbury, Mich. (July 2-5), the All Good Music Festival in Masontown, W.Va. (July 9-12), and the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago (July 17-19). For a full list of tour dates and details, visit NintendoDS.com/news.jsp.

NINTENDO DOWNLOAD: CUT STRAIGHT TO THE FUN WITH PAPER, PLANETS, PUZZLES, MIND GAMES AND MINI GOLF

June 22, 2009 - Familiar activities get a funky boost with this week's additions to the Wii™ Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi Shop™. A trio of fresh WiiWare™ titles will have players wrapping their minds around unique puzzles, entertaining brain drills and awesome mini-golf courses. A new Art Style™ game for Nintendo DSiWare™ turns cutting paper into a cool hand-held gaming challenge. And simple things like air and weather conditions become exciting game elements in the latest classic offering on the Virtual Console™.

WiiWare

Drill Sergeant Mindstrong
Publisher: XSEED Games
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) - Mild Language, Mild Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points™
Description: Line up and get ready to use your mind. Drill Sergeant Mindstrong is a party game that allows up to four people to play at once. Players become boot-camp trainees under the tough Drill Sergeant Mindstrong, going through mind-boggling, mind-training games. The rules are simple, but concentration and quick thinking are key. Become the top boot of your class and earn promotions based on your efforts. This game is best played with friends and family.

NEVES Plus™
Publisher:YUKES Company of America
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 600 Wii Points
Description:Try your hand at the newest puzzle craze to come out of Japan, NEVES Plus! Enhanced for WiiWare, NEVES Plus not only retains all the simple, mind-bending tangram-based game play from the original Nintendo DS™ version, but also includes new multiplayer modes wrapped up in an Egyptian theme. This time, you and up to three others can work together to move, rotate and flip the seven Lucky stones into each of the 500-plus silhouette puzzles. You can also challenge one another in new multiplayer modes such as Versus, Speed, Lucky Number and Party Mode. Whether you play every mode by yourself or with friends, NEVES Plus is set to charm you with harder-than-they-look silhouette puzzles.

Family Mini Golf
Publisher: Aksys Games
Players: 1-8
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Daddy, Mommy, Sarah and Billy are back for some mini-golf action. Play through multiple golf courses that contain obstacles ranging from bumpers to speed ramps to fans and more. Up to eight players can play together using a single Wii Remote™ controller. You can download new courses to expand your fun-filled mini-golf experience, creating even more complex and difficult challenges to overcome. Can you conquer all the courses and become the mini-golf champion?

Nintendo DSiWare

Art Style: BOXLIFE™
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: Climb the corporate ladder in the world of BOXLIFE using your wits and... paper? Use the Nintendo DSi™ stylus to cut and then manipulate the paper into a box shape. Be careful-if you're not efficient with your cuts, you'll waste paper and be penalized. R&D mode teaches you new patterns and challenges you to complete various ranks, while FACTORY mode gives you the chance to earn money by making as many boxes as possible from an endless sheet of paper. Success in each mode brings its own reward: Clear ranks to earn a promotion, change your character's appearance, and use your earnings to acquire new items for your character's miniature garden. With this game's stylish graphics and catchy sounds, thinking inside the box isn't such a bad thing.

Virtual Console

SimEarth™: The Living Planet
Original platform: TurboGrafx16 CD-ROM
Publisher: Hudson Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Violent References
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: An entire planet becomes your laboratory in this large-scale simulation game. Players help foster new life and promote its evolution into life forms of higher intelligence. Guide civilization along the path of evolution until it can achieve Exodus, the ultimate goal of settling on another planet. The basic challenge of the game is to maintain a comfortable environment for the life forms by adjusting atmospheric and geological parameters. Small organisms called Prokaryote and Trichordate will grow and evolve into a multitude of life forms. Making a drastic change is a recipe for disaster. The key to success is making small adjustments and watching how the life forms react. SimEarth also includes planets with environments different from Earth, such as Mars and Venus. Try your hand at terraforming these planets with harsh conditions and creating a world where life can thrive.

Nintendo adds new titles to the Nintendo DSi Shop and the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Mondays. Users with broadband Internet access can redeem Wii Points or Nintendo DSi Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card™ can be purchased at retail locations. All points from one Nintendo Points Card must be redeemed in either the Nintendo DSi Shop or the Wii Shop Channel. They are not transferable and cannot be divided between the two systems.

Remember that both Wii and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit www.Wii.com or www.NintendoDSi.com.

June 15, 2009 - Nintendo Japan's attempts to turn the DS into more than just a game system already kicked into high gear with the recent announcement of a program that will turn the system into an educational tool for classrooms. Now the company's efforts are going into overdrive with a new program called Nintendo Zone.

Nintendo Zone is a new Wi-Fi service that will offer downloads and other free content to DS, DSLite and DSi owners at various public facilities. The first two examples are nationwide McDonalds restaurants and train stations along one Tokyo train line, the Tsukuba Express.

Following on the test program Nintendo launched in Tokyo last spring, the Kyoto-based game company and the fast food giant announce "Mac de DS". Way back in 2005, Nintendo of America teamed up with McDonald's to offer free WiFi in the United States. This new nationwide service is a first for Japanese McDonald's. Starting June 19, the service rolls out a DS wireless service at restaurants across Japan. Customers who bring their DS units to McDonald's can download items and original content as well as play others via WiFi. Besides Pokémon mini-games and character downloads (Jirachi, anyone?), there are also McDonald's quizzes and even a McDonald's manga service. I'm loving it?

Both the McDonalds and Tsukuba Nintendo Zones will offer demo downloads and Wi-Fi Connection hot spots for players. Nintendo will also offer other types of downloads, including Jirachi Pokemon data for Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum.

The Tsukuba Express implementation will exclusively offer access to news and television program downloads, as well as full access for DSi users to to the DSi Shop, where they can download DSi Ware games.

While McDonalds won't allow for the DSi Shop access, Nintendo and the restaurant chain are teaming up for some special promotions (click here to see a pic at Famitsu.com of Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata holding a really big Big Mac). DS owners will be able to collect digital Pokemon stamps as part of a digital stamp rally. Each restaurant will offer a different stamp, cycling daily. Collect eight stamps, and you'll get a coupon for a cheeseburger. Sixteen will get you a Bic Mac!

Those who have been keeping up with Nintendo's expansion efforts will recall a similar program from last year called Nintendo Spot. That was just a test run of Nintendo Zone.