WII-KLY UPDATE: TWO WIIWARE GAMES AND TWO VIRTUAL CONSOLE GAMES ADDED TO WII SHOP CHANNEL

Nov. 17, 2008 - The ever-growing library of games on the Wii™ Shop Channel truly offers something for every gaming occasion, as seen in this week's new additions. Want to settle in for a few single-player laughs? Check out the latest hilarious Strong Bad adventure. Socializing with friends? Target Toss Pro: Bags lets you play with as many as 15 of your pals. Gathering with family? Even your grandparents can enjoy the arcade classic SPACE INVADERS®. And the side-scrolling action of FORGOTTEN WORLDS™ provides a wickedly fun diversion for solo gamers and fantasy-loving groups alike.

Nintendo adds new and classic games to the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii owners with a broadband Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week's new games are:

WiiWare™

Strong Bad Episode 4: Dangeresque 3 (Telltale Games, 1 player, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older – Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Crude Humor, Mild Cartoon Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Move over, generically buff action heroes. Strong Bad is here to show you how it's done in his hand-crafted cinematic masterpiece, Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective. You play Dangeresque, a dirty cop in pursuit of a little action and several big sacks of cash. Can our hero stay alive long enough to defeat his arch-nemesis, save the world and get the girl? Looks like he's gonna have to jump.

Target Toss Pro: Bags (Incredible Technologies, 1-16 players, Rated E for Everyone, 700 Wii Points): Target Toss Pro: Bags is a new video game based on beanbag toss, the nation's hottest backyard and tailgate sensation. Bags – or Cornhole, as it's called in some parts of the country – originated in the Midwest in the 1960s and has since become a staple at outdoor social events from coast to coast. Similar to horseshoes, Bags is a deceptively simple yet extremely competitive game where players try to toss beanbags into a hole in a slightly raised platform or "box" for points. Whether at a tailgate party or a summer barbecue, the game has become a social focal point, and the unmistakable thud of bags hitting the box is now a universal party soundtrack.

Virtual Console™

SPACE INVADERS: The Original Game (Super NES™, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): Experience one of gaming's iconic franchises in this perfect rendition of the arcade classic. Take aim at the field of invaders relentlessly marching toward you. Move quickly but carefully, using the barriers for protection as you avoid missiles fired by the aliens and try to destroy all of them before they reach the bottom of the screen. Further enhance the nostalgia by choosing from several modes that simulate different versions of the arcade game (such as upright cabinet or black-and-white). Or if you want to prove your superior skills to a friend, try the new VS mode and see who can stop the alien menace the quickest. All in all, it's pure gaming at its best, now with no quarters required.

FORGOTTEN WORLDS (SEGA GENESIS, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone – Fantasy Violence, 800 Wii Points): FORGOTTEN WORLDS is a one- or two-player side-scrolling shooter made by CAPCOM. It was one of the first games to incorporate 360-degree aiming and shooting. This SEGA GENESIS version provides the same impact and intensity of the classic arcade game. In the 29th century, without warning, warships broke through the sky, loaded with fiendish aliens. They rained down fire, bombs, missiles and napalm, leaving the land barren and inhospitable. Humanity was enslaved and Earth became known as the Forgotten World. In a hidden place, a group of brave humans raised two male children in secret. They brought up the young men as warriors, training them for battle. The two warriors emerged as armed machines of might, strength and super power – the Nameless Ones. Fight the hateful invaders as the powerful Nameless Ones. Collect Zenny to upgrade your weapons and satellite, and free the planet.

For more information about Wii, please visit www.wii.com.

MALLS NATIONWIDE FEATURE WII MUSIC STREET PERFORMERS

Nov. 14, 2008 - Live musical performances have always been a fun part of the holidays. This year, Nintendo will be making spirits bright at family destinations and retail locations across the country with bands of street performers demonstrating Wii Music™.

Now through the end of the month, the family trio of music-makers will entertain shoppers by turning the Wii console into a musical instrument with Wii Music, the new music game from Nintendo. Wii Music contains more than 50 songs and lets players use more than 60 different instruments to make their music, from melodic steel drums to soaring trumpets. To play, players simply use the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™ controllers to make the same motions they would with a real instrument: Strum a guitar or pound the keys of a piano. The game challenges players to transform improvised notes into great music, while enabling the freedom to customize your song, instrument, genre, tempo and stage.

To find out where the street performers will be each weekend in November, please visit www.WiiMusic.com.

This weekend's lineup is as follows:
Nov. 15-16, 2008
Atlanta: Perimeter Mall Toys "R" Us
Boston: Natick Collection
Chicago: Water Tower Place
Dallas: West Village
Los Angeles: The Commons (Calabasas, Calif.)
New York: South Street Seaport
San Francisco: Stonestown Galleria
Washington, D.C.: The Market Common Clarendon (Arlington, Va.)

NINTENDO CREATES A PLACE WHERE EVERYONE FEELS AT HOME

Animal Crossing: City Folk is All about Customization, Characters and Community

REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 12, 2008 - The new Animal Crossing™: City Folk game for the Wii™ console launches Nov. 16, allowing players to move into fun communities, customize their surroundings and interact with hundreds of animal characters. The world is filled with possibilities, and players never run out of things to do. They can collect more than 2,400 items like shells, fossils and bugs, or design new clothing patterns that they can share with their friends.

The new "city" area of the game provides access to the latest fashions and offers players the ability to give their character a Mii™ makeover at the hair salon, which transforms the character's features to look like the player's Mii. Players can also put items up for auction in the city and bid on items others want to sell.

"Animal Crossing: City Folk is all about building communities, customizing your world and staying in touch with friends and other characters," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "There's no ending, so people can keep playing for months and even years. It's an experience that everyone in the household can share together."

Up to four people can create characters and move into the same town. And using the Wii Speak™ accessory, players can voice chat with friends and family members around the world. The microphone sits atop the TV set and captures the voice of everyone in the room, providing for a more communal experience. People can now get together to chat with their distant loved ones, which is especially meaningful when they can't be together for the holidays. The microphone can also be used with the upcoming Wii Speak Channel, which launches in December.

The Animal Crossing: City Folk calendar passes in real time, so climates along with bugs and fish change with the seasons. Players can catch fireflies in the summer or celebrate Harvest Festival in the fall. If players use Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection to meet up with friends in other countries, they will experience the holidays native to the friends' cultures.

Animal Crossing: City Folk is a great value for the holidays because it can be enjoyed by everyone. The game never ends, which gives players months - or even years - of exploring and interacting with their virtual community.

Animal Crossing: City Folk retails at an MSRP of $49.99 and the Wii Speak accessory is sold separately at an MSRP of $29.99. Bundles of the game and accessory are also available at an MSRP of $69.99.

Animal Crossing remains one of Nintendo's most popular franchises. The original Animal Crossing for Nintendo GameCube™ sold more than 1.55 million copies in the United States alone, while the Nintendo DS™ version, Animal Crossing™: Wild World, sold more than 1.75 million in the United States.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com. For more information about Animal Crossing: City Folk, visit Animal-Crossing.com.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.8 billion video games and more than 480 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii and Nintendo DS, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com.

WII-KLY UPDATE: TWO WIIWARE GAMES AND ONE VIRTUAL CONSOLE GAME ADDED TO WII SHOP CHANNEL

Nov. 10, 2008 - Are you hungry? Think of this week's Wii™ Shop Channel lineup as a lively menu that aims to satisfy every appetite. You'll find a food-themed game to tempt your tummy, a challenging brain game to please your noggin and a classic sci-fi action title to fuel your imagination. Whatever the recipe, you're sure to come back for seconds-and thirds, and fourths, and beyond.

Nintendo adds new and classic games to the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week's new games are:

WiiWare™

Brain Challenge™ (Gameloft, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Just like your body, your brain needs to be exercised to stay in shape. Boost your brain and relieve stress through various minigames in a personal session to get a detailed evaluation. Challenge your friends' brains in delirious party games to see who is the smartest. Test your brain's abilities in Visual, Memory, Logic, Math and Focus minigames. Compare yourself with friends by challenging their brains in three multiplayer modes. Develop your resistance to stressful situations that could happen in real life. Use a customized Mii™ character to create personal sessions. Choose your favorite personal coach. Track your overall performance with detailed statistics and graphs. The special Kid Test and Senior Test modes will gather everyone around the game. For more information and artwork for Brain Challenge, visit Gameloft's website.

Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam (Virtual Toys, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone-Animated Blood, Comic Mischief, 1,000 Wii Points): Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam is a frenetically active cooking game in which you must serve food to your customers as quickly as possible. This could be a simple task, but the customers aren't very patient, and you'll find a multitude of annoying insects that make the noble mission of satisfying your small gourmets' stomachs much more difficult. In the game's Career Mode, your goal is to become the best chef in the city. To do so, you have to prove your worth by cooking in four fantastic restaurants: the Hot Dog, Hamburger, Pizza and Mexican Restaurant. Enjoy playing Yummy Yummy with your family, serving delicious food to the most surprising characters: vampires, ninjas, extraterrestrials and mafia thugs. Put on your chef's hat, sharpen your knives and turn up the heat. For more information and artwork for Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam, visit Virtual Toys' website.

Virtual Console™

Mega Man™ 3 (NES™, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Cartoon Violence, 500 Wii Points): In the year 200X, the notorious Dr. Wily, now reformed and working for the forces of good, works hand-in-hand with Dr. Light to build a new type of peacekeeping robot. When a new set of eight Robot Masters escapes the lab to wreak havoc on the world at large, only Mega Man can save the day. This time, Mega Man must rely on his new slide move and canine companion Rush to conquer the stages and vanquish evil. A new character, Proto Man, adds to the mystery and appeal of this seminal title in the famous action-game series.

For more information about Wii, please visit www.wii.com.

WII-KLY UPDATE: TWO WIIWARE GAMES AND ONE VIRTUAL CONSOLE GAME ADDED TO WII SHOP CHANNEL

Nov. 3, 2008 - Sometimes you feel like a pinball, bouncing from one thing to the other. Do you spend time blasting things in outer space or just spend a quiet afternoon at home, redecorating? Fortunately this week’s Wii-kly Update doesn’t force you to make those tough choices.

Nintendo adds new and classic games to the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii™ owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

WiiWare

ALIEN CRUSH RETURNS™ (Hudson Entertainment, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone – Animated Blood, Mild Fantasy Violence, 800 Wii Points): ALIEN CRUSH RETURNS is the ultimate incarnation of the popular TurboGrafx pinball classic, Alien Crush. Boasting innovative game and control features, this is one Wii experience that you don’t want to miss. With all the ball-blazing simplicity and flipper action thrills of standard pinball, ALIEN CRUSH RETURNS has all the visual and digital elements that you’ve come to expect in a video game, including grotesque, eye-stunning playfields as well as unique Action Ball gimmicks that redefine the fun and excitement of pinball. You can even nudge the machine with your Wii Remote controller. What’s more, you can connect via Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection to enjoy a variety of features such as four-player head-to-head action, high score competitions and Extra Stage downloads.

Home Sweet Home (Big Blue Bubble Inc., 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Picture this scene... You move into your new home, and every room is perfect. Every room, except one. Here is the blank canvas for your vision, but you lack the know-how. Who do you call? The Home Sweet Home team! Home Sweet Home will give you the chance to unleash your hidden talents as an interior designer. You choose the furniture, patterns and colors to create a masterpiece that will blow your client away. With simple controls, a fun graphical style and an easy-to-use interface, Home Sweet Home allows you to nurture your creative side. Remember, a house is not a home until it is a Home Sweet Home.

Virtual Console

Space Harrier™ (Sega Master System, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, 500 Wii Points): Space Harrier was originally released in the arcade in the 1980s, developed by AM2, which also developed OutRun and Afterburner. Space Harrier is widely recognizable by many arcade fans due to its distinctive, colorful art design and its fast-paced action. The SEGA Master System version is considered a solid port of the arcade game, containing 18 levels of intense fun. As the “Space Harrier,” you must fight your way through “The Land of Dragons” and defeat the bosses at the end of each level to restore peace to the land. Are you prepared? Get ready!

For more information about Wii, please visit www.wii.com.