Those online Tetris Party tournaments won't just enhance your fearsome internet reputation -- they'll also offer Wii Points as prizes, a pretty awesome way of keeping player interest high. The first tournament kicks off December 1st, and contains four rounds, each featuring one of Tetris Party's eighteen variations. After you complete a round, the game will give you a rank and confirmation code, which you can register at the official Tetris Party tournament site. Perform strongly over all four rounds, and you could win!
Five hundred prizes are up for grabs (though how many points will be given away isn't known), and we're fairly sure this is a global contest -- there's no mention of regional restrictions in the press release. Skip past the break for start dates, end dates, and other details of the first tournament, then get practicing!
The Japanese Virtual Console releases this week are all relatively obscure. The most recognizable name in the lineup is Sonic the Hedgehog 2,and even that is the Master System version. These Master System Sonic games, by the way, aren't just ports of the Genesis games. They're basically original Sonic games from back when it was possible for those to be good!
The other games are a very early (the arcade version predates Super Mario Bros.) sidescrolling platformer-RPG and an upgraded Qix game.
Just one WiiWare release, and it's Hudson's online pool game. Hopefully it isn't terrible, because Wi-Fi pool with four players sounds like an awesome deal for five bucks.
Just as we all found out last week, today marks the release of the fourth episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. Oh, and we're also getting a bunch of other games. This week, seriously, has a lot of games. Head on past the break for the full list.
Also, our apologies. There likely won't be a VC Monday Madness video today, but we'll try to get it up as soon as we can. Sorry!
Unless you've got a PS2 or a PSP, there's really no excuse to miss out on downloading Phantasy StarIV: The End of the Millennium, a game that is treated with justifiable reverence by fans of the franchise's early years. Mega Man 3 might not represent the peak of its respective series, but it's still worth a punt for 500 points. Especially as you don't have to look at this.
Mega Man 3 -- NES -- 500 Wii Points
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium -- Mega Drive -- 800 Wii Points
You know the drill: embedded footage of both games is past the jump.
The biggest news for Japan's downloadable Wii games this week is the debut of an excellent Square Enix series on the Virtual Console. While it's awesome that the VC will be graced with the first Ogre Battle game from genius creator and Queen fanboy Yasumi Matsuno, it's basically confirmation that Square Enix doesn't care about the series -- like ActRaiser and King's Knight. And Mana. This is no surprise, really, since Matsuno all but disappeared during the development of Final Fantasy XII and isn't at Square Enix to work on more Ogre Battle.
The other VC game, Cadash, is a pretty good side-scrolling action RPG type thing from Taito. It's a fantasy game that's got a ninja in it!
There's a lot of goodies available to Wii gamers this week, both on the retail shelf and via download. Of course, we would expect as much, what with it being the second week of November and everything. Planning on picking up something for yourself, or perhaps a gift for that special someone? Head on past the break for the details and let us know what you'll be grabbing!
Gallery: Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- Lightsaber Duels
Capcom traditionally lends lots of support to every system, no matter how well or poorly they are doing. Games like Marvel vs. Capcom, Mars Matrix, and Power Stone helped make the Dreamcast worth owning, for example. So it's no surprise that the Wii, which is actually very popular and enables companies to easily lend support in the form of direct ports of old games, is the recipient of some of Capcom's favor. It's an especially good week in Japan for Capcom fans, with both Rockman 3 and Mercs, the sequel to the classic Commando.
We're very curious about this CD version of Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball-bu. It looks pretty much like a PC Engine version of Nintendo World Cup, but ... maybe it's got good music?
This week's WiiWare releases include a board game sort of like Pente and a WiiWare version of a Japan-developed entry in Gameloft's mobile Nights simulation series:
This is a big week for fans of James Bond. Those who found themselves interested in the super spy's latest exploits will have a chance to nab Quantum of Solace this week. If you enjoy FPS games, or are looking for some people to play online with, we'd suggest Game Night. Of course, Quantum of Solace isn't the only game releasing this week. Head past the break and check out what else is on offer.
It's a pretty light month for releases on the Virtual Console in Japan, but it's still a good month, mostly for one reason: Mega Man 3. Even though we'll be happy with any Mega Man games that Capcom decides to put on the Virtual Console, Mega Man 3 is, generally speaking, from the period before Mega Man games started to go downhill. So it's actually good! We'd love to see how new Mega Man 9players react to a game designed with sliding in mind.
The other really big news is Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, the first Ogre Battle strategy game, and a classic of the genre. Personally, we're happy to see Mercs, Cadash, and the CD version of the Kunio soccer game! The full list is after the break.
With a fresh Halloween upon us, Nintendo has settled on a horror theme for its latest update to the PAL Virtual Console. Nintendo restricting itself in this way could have gone tragically wrong -- they could have given us something terrible like Friday the 13th, for example -- but instead the results are ... really, really good.
Normally we'd whoop unashamedly for Ghosts 'N Goblins alone, but Castlevania III, which is yet to be released on the U.S. or Japanese Virtual Consoles? And Devil World, which North America has also been waiting on (for almost a quarter of a century)? Yeah, we'll take those. Watch bone-chilling footage of all three past the break.
Okay, hypothetical question time. I recently acquired an Xbox 360 to keep my Wii and DS company, and have spent most of my time playing games on Xbox Live Arcade. My chief obsession in this short period has been Treasure shooterIkaruga, which I previously enjoyed on the GameCube. The Xbox Live Arcade version is different, however, having been fleshed out with some neat additions, including the ability to upload/download replays and online leaderboards.
Now, I like these features. In fact, I like the leaderboard aspect so much that I began to wonder why Virtual Console games didn't offer such extras. Given the choice, would you like to see stuff like leaderboards and other additions (for example, some new galleries of old art, a developer commentary or interview, etc.) included with Virtual Console releases, or would you rather not spoil the pristine authenticity of the service? I used to be in the latter camp, enjoying the unspoiled genuineness of VC games, but now find myself wanting more!
The big gallery feature is approaching at full throttle. According to the data, it is identified as "Awesome Treasure Gallery."
It's a week of twos on the Virtual Console in Japan. SNK Playmore's Metal Slug 2, which Metal Slug fans generally like, and Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, which is fairly polarizing. Some Castlevanians enjoy its RPG elements and day-to-night cycle, while some hate its plodding gameplay and completely inscrutable puzzles. Everyone's right! We suspect that the release of Simon's Quest is timed to coincide with the latest DS Castlevania game, Order of Ecclesia, which came out last week. Or it's timed to coincide roughly with the one-year anniversary of the North American release of Simon's Quest!
Sadly missing from this week's releases is the SuperGrafx Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, which has failed to make its announced October release. Unless Nintendo surprises everyone on Halloween!
You've been waiting patiently and finally Guitar Hero: World Tour releases to retail this week. It's a good week if you're looking for some new retail disc games to play. Also, if you're looking for some fun to be had from downloading WiiWare and Virtual Console titles. As well as the game shown above, past the break you'll find a long list of new experiences to enjoy on your Wii.
Tell us, what are you planning on picking up this week?
Nintendo of Japan has slowed down the rush of Virtual Console and WiiWare releases this week, but the releases are still quite high-quality. Even the least interesting game is probably considered pretty good: Donkey Kong Country 3: Okay Guys I Think We Can Stop Releasing Donkey Kong Country Games Now, People Get The Idea. We're more excited, personally, about Enduro Racer, an isometric racing game in which you race your motorcycle against dune buggies across ancient ruins.
Just one WiiWare game is out this week, but it's probably worthy of attention: Okiraku Air Hockey is like Arc System Works' Family Table Tennis, but for air hockey. Which means it's a fun and cheap Wii version of air hockey, which happens to be one of the world's most wonderful things.
It's a pretty big week for releases. On top of plenty of games available at retail, there's a couple of imports available on the Virtual Console, as well as one awaited WiiWare release (can you guess what it is?). Head past the break and start thinking about cracking open that piggy bank.
Unless you've got a 
It's a pretty light month for releases on the Virtual Console in Japan, but it's still a good month, mostly for one reason: 
With a fresh Halloween upon us, Nintendo has settled on a horror theme for its latest update to the PAL Virtual Console. Nintendo restricting itself in this way could have gone tragically wrong -- they could have given us something terrible like 
