People often complain that Nintendo don't understand online features - voice chat between friends, easy-to-jump-in online play, virtual stores - the list goes on. And while many hoped that with the launch of their latest console, the Wii U, those days would be behind them, it seems to have been mostly wishful thinking in the end. While things have been slightly better this time - they did at least have their download store up and running on launch day (providing you downloaded the humongous system update) - the main bone of contention has been the prices, with games seeming even more expensive than the Playstation Store and even the Xbox Live Arcade. With the console said to be incredibly friendly to indie publishers, who could set their own prices, and receive a much larger share of the sales than with other stores, we were hoping for a cavalcade of cheaply priced downloads from day one - but instead, we got games like Chasing Aurora weighing in at a whopping £10.79 - and somewhat unsurprisingly, it seems it's failed to meet the developers' lofty sales expectations, even after it was discounted over the Christmas period.
The idea is to nick the glowing gem off the GamePad player to win
A very multiplayer-centric title, the game pitted friends against each other in a game of aerial acrobatics - basically variations on tag or hide and seek, often with every one teaming up against the player with the GamePad to steal a gem. Following some feedback from players, the developers have updated the game to make the multiplayer modes more balanced and decrease loading times, along with a number of tweaks that have been designed to make the single player game even better. But of course, it'd be no use making changes to the game if it didn't attract any new buyers - so to help persuade those who've been umming and ahhing, this week sees the release on the eShop of not only a much-needed demo, but also a whopping price cut, with the game now on sale for a much more reasonable £5.39 until the 21st of April.
Over on the 3DS eShop, meanwhile, this weeks update will see the addition of a demo of the anime ninja brawler Naruto Powerful Shippuden - although for some illogical reason, you'll only be able to download it until the 4th of April, after which time it'll disappear from the Nintendo eShop. On the downloadable game front, meanwhile, there are two new games making up this week's offerings, in the form of Viking Invasion 2: Tower Defense (£6.99), where you need to place various units to take down the Viking hoards as they relentlessly advance on your castle, as well as the bargain-licious match-3 game Jewel Master Atlantis 3D for £4.49. Over on the DSi (and in the DSiWare section of the 3DS story), those who remember foul-mouthed arcade game QBert may be interested in the new title, Goony, a super-cheap download for 200 Points/£1.79 that sees you controlling a anthropomorphic green blob who continuously slinkies down some platforms, whilst you have to press a button to nudge him left or right to avoid obstacles.
With new games now hitting the handheld eShops on a regular basis, there's certainly plenty for handheld fans to chew over here - although, while it's nice to see fairly regular discounts on the Wii U eShop, it would be even nicer to have some actual new games to download. At the moment, the Wii U eShop feels like it's in danger of shrivelling up and dying before it's even got started, when it could be the home to so many games we'd love to see more of - match 3 games, hidden object titles, and puzzlers. Here's hoping things pick up over the next few weeks.
