Finally, Hudson has revealed the first screens of the new WiiWare Adventure Island game. It looks like a return to the style of gameplay from the original NES game -- which means that axes and skateboards are in, and dinosaur riding (as seen in Adventure Island 2 and 3) is out.While we're suitably (extremely) excited about playing a new Adventure Island game, we do wish that Hudson had taken the Mega Man 9 route, because the 3D makeover isn't working. The GameCube remake of Adventure Island looked a lot better, in fact.The new game includes some exciting new features, like multiplayer and Adventure Island-themed minigames. Our favorite is the in-game version of the Shooting Watch, the button-press-timing toy made famous by Hudson's Takahashi Meijin, who is the inspiration for the Master Higgins character.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nintendo has announced its monthly DSiWare update for February, including eight programs in all -- five of which are actually games! Fans of downloadable Nintendo games will be most excited to see the Art Style series continuing with Art Style: Nalaku and Art Style: Hacolife. But there's also unexpected innovation in one of the most mundane titles available! Not to mention the first third-party DSiWare game.Here's the rundown on each title:

• Nintendo DSi Calculator (200 Points) A simple calculator app, which is sold separately in Famicom Mario style and Animal Crossing style.
• Nagameru Dake de Kashikoku Nareru! Mojipittan Shiritori Tokei (200 Points): The title translates to "You can become wiser just by looking! Shiritori Clock." Shiritori is a Japanese game about spelling a new word from the final character of a previous word. This clock app puts a constant scrolling display of words and their definitions on the top screen, along with adorable Mojipittan characters.
• Art Style: Nalaku (500 Points) A puzzle game about guiding a little character around structures made of cubes, and painting the surfaces by contacting them. Sort of like Q-Bert, but with moving stages in which blocks fall out of and drop into the stage.
• Art Style: Hacolife (500 Points) Literally "Box Life," this game involves taking groups of six contiguous squares from flat levels and folding them into cubes. It also manages to be super cute.
• Chotto Asobi Taizen: Onajimi Table (500 Points): A selection of games from Clubhouse Games including reversi, hasami shogi, go, shogi, and hanafuda.
• Chotto Bungaku Zenshu: Sekai no Bungaku 20 (500 Points): A selection of 25 books in the style of the Japanese version of the 100 Classic Book Collection. This pack includes 20 translated versions of foreign works, and five Japanese books. Reading is fundamental!
• Ide Yousuke's Kenkou Mahjong (800 Points): What is in one way one of the most boring releases this month (it's a mahjong game!) is also one of the most exciting: this mahjong game features cross-platform online play with the WiiWare version of the same game.
• Sakutto Hamareru Horihori Action Mr. Driller (800 Points): This downloadable version of Namco's puzzle franchise features the Mission Mode, Time Attack Mode, and Dristone mode from the DS launch title Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits.

All of these games will be available Wednesday, February 25 on the Japanese DSi Shop.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Looking to pick up a DSi at launch, but not sure what to do with your old DS Lite? Brits will be able to trade it in at their local GAME and pick up the new model for half price. That's £74.99, in case you're wondering. GAME's operations director, Robert Quinn, claims that the company will "have plenty of stock and some fantastic launch offers to give customers the best possible experience."If you're not willing to part with your old DS Lite, the offer also extends to unwanted Xbox 360s, PSP-3000s and Wiis. To be honest, though, all of those are worth far more than the 75 quid you'd be getting in return. The DSi is released in Europe on April 3 and will retail for £150. That gives you plenty of time to hunt around the house for your old DS Lite box. You do still have it, right?Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Disney Interactive's Spectrobes series, the company's action-RPG take on Pokémon featuring creatures that must be excavated from the ground, is expanding to Wii this fall with the upcoming release of Spectrobes: Origins. In an interview with IGN, producer Kentaro Hisai revealed the Genki-developed project, which is more action-oriented than its DS predecessors, will be "[shifting] the focus away from the RPG genre while still using some beneficial RPG elements."In Origins, players control series regular Rallen, who is now directly involved in combat and controls only one Spectrobe at a time, who acts as a support character. The assisting Spectrobe can be switched out at any time. The new game is being designed for new players, expanding on the story found in the DS games while catching players up with the use of flashback sequences.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments