Wii-kly Shopping List: Go to E3 ... or stay home and play a Final Fantasy IV sequel?

by: Cyril - posted: 6/2/2009 2:53:00 AM

With all the excitement surrounding the Microsoft (and to a lesser degree UbiSoft and Electronic Arts) press conferences, some important download news was left behind.  I'm talking about your Wii-kly shopping list of Virtual Console, WiiWare and Nintendo DSi downloads.  We have an exciting list of games for you this week, including the sequel to one of the best Final Fantasy games of all time, a famous card game and yet another classic Commodore 64 title.  So forget about Natal and Crackdown 2, it's time to get downloading.

Up first we have the Virtual Console release, the curiously named Boulder Dash.  Now don't get confused, this is not the board game where you (and your "friends") lie to each other.  Instead this is the classic 2D action game that appeared on everything from the Nintendo Entertainment System to the ColecoVision.  This is the inferior Commodore 64, which is something of a bummer.  The game has you playing as Rockford as you try to collect gems without getting killed by one of the many obstacles.  Like all Commodore 64 releases, Boulder Dash costs $5 (500 Nintendo Points).

Moving on to the WiiWare channel, we have one of the most exciting releases of the year.  It's none other than Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, a direct sequel to one of the greatest 16-bit Final Fantasy games of all time.  This little title (which retails for an affordable $8) answers some of the questions you might have had about Cecil and allows you a second (or third, fourth, fifth, etc.) chance to live in this classic 2D world.  Best of all, this gives me hope that we may see sequels to other classic Final Fantasy games, including Final Fantasy VI.  Curiously this release is not on the Nintendo DSiWare channel.  This is interesting as Square Enix has already released Final Fantasy IV on the Nintendo DS and as of right now there are no plans to bring the game to the Virtual Console.  Oh, Texas Hold'em Tournament also came out.  I hear it has online play and only costs $5.  What a deal.

Speaking of the Nintendo DSiWare Channel, fans can expect to pick up the underwhelming Mighty Flip Champs.  I'm not saying that this is a terrible game, but it's a shame Nintendo didn't take the opportunity to release something epic on the week of E3.  There's still hope, Nintendo's press conference is mere hours away.  Then again, I shouldn't get my hopes up.  Mighty Flip Champs is $8.