Nintendo's Post-Christmas Download List

Trying to push merchandise just after Christmas is a manager's nightmare, but also their chance to shine. If you can convince people to buy something just after they've spent pretty much all their money on stocking stuffer and are now slouching on the couch, bloated from overeating, then you've got a gift for selling. And Nintendo feels “divine” enough to try just that, as it pushed ten new items on the download list this week.

First off is the Wii, with the resurrection of an unmistakable title, Castlevania, in the form of Castlevania the Adventure Rebirth. The 1,000-Wii Point, or $10, game takes a new look at the classic one, without straying too far from it. While the graphics will be a major leap from the 8- and 16-bit visuals, gameplay mechanics should remain somewhat similar, even if the input method will be different. Hopefully, the game won't fall as bad into the Wii-casual-family game filing cabinet and retain some of the original difficulty. The next one up for grabs on the Wii is Eat! Fat! Fight!, and, if anything, it's the exact opposite of what the Wii Fit has been trying to teach us.

The 1,000-Wii Point game is a Sumo cartoonish fighter with both single and multiplayer, so we can compete and fight with our friends over who ate more over the holidays, but in Wii fashion. Ubisoft's Rabbids Lab is up for 500 Wii Points or $5, but it's nothing more than a Rabbids character creator, where you can fiddle with the aesthetics of your “psycho groupie, cocaine crazy” rabbit, but that's about it. The last Wii addition is The Magic Obelisk, a 500-Wii Point adventure game that will have you play man-on-point for a spirit tree.

As for the DSi, the handheld gets five new games, and the first one is Gameloft's The Oregon Trail, an 800-DSi Point port of the Wireless/iPhone version. The second one is Sudoku Sensei that features 100 number-crunching puzzles for just 500 DSi Points. Also tagged at 500 DSi Points is Glow Artisan, a puzzle title for one or two players. Master of Illusion Express: Psychic Camera's price of 200 DSi Points reflects the fact that it's just a feature of the original game, so, if anything, it acts like more of a teaser for the full one than a proper stand-alone. The last addition to the DSiWare is Arcade Hoops Basketball, a quick-match basketball toss that makes use of the stylus and that costs 200 DSi Points.

The one that did get shorthanded this week was the Virtual Console, as Nintendo went back to just one release for this week. PilotWings has been made available for 800 Wii Points, or $8, and this is not really the resurrection of a great title.