By all accounts, last week's "Nintendo Direct" presentation was a bit of a disappointment, with no big announcements whatsoever. Instead, all the mini-press conference really delivered were a handful of concrete release dates, most notably for Scribblenauts Unlimited and Sing Party, a few vague 'early 2013's and a little bit more info about some games we already knew about. Bar a funky new Lego City Undercover trailer, the only real interesting titbits were that of the new downloadable games coming to the eShop in the coming months - a few of which we hadn't heard about before.
Zen Pinball 2
Release Date: March 2013
Platform: WiiU
Price: TBA
Plants vs Pinball
The first (and only) Wii U eShop game announced during the broadcast is Zen Pinball 2. For those of you dying for some ball-flipping action on your new console, Zen Pinball 2 is one of the most highly regarded pinball games about, with a range of seriously fancy tables to try your luck with - from one themed around medieval knights, to a whole host of tables decorated with Marvel comic characters, and even a special Plants vs Zombies table waiting to test your skills. In a bit of a twist, rather than buying the game as a whole, the basic game will instead be a free download from the store which includes trial versions of the tables, leaving you to buy only the ones that particularly take your eye.
Harmoknight
Release Date: March 2013
Platform: 3DS
Price: TBA
From the developers of the much-loved Pokemon series comes a rather different sort of game. Harmoknight is a music game of sorts, in which your character automatically runs from one side of the screen to the other, leaving you to bash enemies with your rhythm stick and leap through the levels in time with the music - get your timing right, and you'll collect the many musical notes that have been scattered throughout. With eight different worlds filled with countless songs (including some familiar tunes from the Pokemon games), Harmoknight's certainly one to keep an eye on.
Picross e2
Release Date: January 2013
Platform: 3DS
Price: TBA
One of our most anticipated eShop games, Picross e2 brings more of the same puzzle solving we've come to know and love from the picture crossword series to a second downloadable instalment. As before, you'll need to chisel away a number of squares on a mosaic like grid, working out which squares to remove, and which to leave, by using the numbers shown around the outside to whittle down your possibilities - kind of like a chisel by numbers. Knock out the right blocks, and you'll eventually be left with a picture. Luckily, it's a lot easier to pick up and play than it is to explain. With a set of 150 puzzles to complete, Picross e2 also sees the debut of a new mode, dubbed Micross mode, in which you complete a series of smaller grids, which eventually combine to form a much bigger picture based on a famous painting, such as the Mona Lisa seen in the trailer below:
Tokyo Crash Mobs
Release Date: 17th of January
Platform: 3DS
Price: TBA
Another surprise announcement, Tokyo Crash Mobs is a game brimming with trademark Japanese oddness. Essentially a match three game, with a barmy twist, you have to launch similarly-clothed hipsters at a queue of people to make them vanish in an effort to be one of the first ten through the shop door. To mix things up a bit, some levels take on a slightly different perspective, and see you using the 3DS' built in motion sensor to aim against a ninja who surrounds you with a 360 degree queue of people. It's about as crazy as it sounds:
Hydroventure Spin Cycle
Release Date: 13th of December
Platform: 3DS
Price: £8.99
A sequel to one of the best WiiWare games of recent years, Hydroventure: Spin Cycle has you twisting and turning your 3DS to transport Eddy, the cute little water spirit through a magical book, in order to rescue his kidnapped friends and defeat the evil Goop. Taking the form of a puddle of water, it's up to you to make the most of your 3DS's motion sensors to rotate the course, and splosh Eddy through the maze like levels, each of which is filled with all manner of physics and temperature based puzzles that mean you'll have to use of water's unique properties to proceed - as a block of ice you can stick to walls, as a cloud you can summon lightning and rain and as a liquid you can flow through small gaps. Judging by the screenshots, it looks as if we'll be seeing dinosaurs, giant spiders, and a rather angry dragon on our journey through the magical book too. With the game out this Friday, there's not too long to wait for this one either.
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And so ends the eShop update - although it leaves us with a bit of a conundrum. We would quite like to get Hydroventure Spin Cycle when it hits the eShop tomorrow, but £8.99 is very much towards the top end of what we'd ordinarily pay for a downloadable game. In fact, it's worth noting that few of the eShop games have been announced alongside prices - perhaps because Nintendo are still deciding on them, or perhaps because eShop prices have been steadily rising for some time. Take a look at Pullblox, a charming little puzzle game released late last year for £5.40, whose sequel Crashmo hit the store at a markedly more expensive £7.19 a few months ago - that's a £1.79 increase, or just over 33%. There's been plenty of games we've been interested in over the past year or so, but few we've actually bought, simply because it's hard to justify the nearly £2 premium for each game - our last purchase was Picross E in September; before that it was Pullblox last December...
With a pretty strong line-up of games out over the next few months, the 3DS eShop looks set for another mini-Golden period of quality games. That's good news for Nintendo - but bad news for our wallets. In the meantime, we'll be keeping our fingers crossed for some decent sales - or better still, some reeling in of the prices to bring us in line with other countries.
