On May 12th, 2008 we here in the U.S. finally got our grubby American Idol loving hands on its first 6 WiiWare titles. WiiWare of course is the Nintendo equivalent of Xbox live arcade, a feature in which you can pay to download more “virtual enhancements” to your real life you couldn't normally buy in stores. These games will set you back anywhere between $5 to $15 dollars, so eat one less family meal next time you hit Taco Bell.

On launch day, I sat down with two of the exciting new games: Lost Winds and Tv Show King.

Lost Winds first-look review:

Lost Winds was the game I heard about most mentioned most in publications covering WiiWare developments leading up to the service's release. The game hosts pleasant simple graphics with a bright color palette, you won't be blown away by LW's (Lost Wind) looks but nor will they turn you away. LW is a 2d platformer with game play that feels like Okami light with the way you manipulate the wind to blow monsters away by drawing a line of wind through them, or in the way you manipulate environmental effects around you such as fire; to burn down bramble barriers or blossom plants to reach new areas. LW also has a touch of Kirby: Canvas Curse (DS), most us at Two Bit News also have a touch of Canvas Curse, but thats an entirely different type of scratching in an entirely different kind of area.

I much enjoyed the manner in which one uses wind lines to keep your character Toku aloft during jumps. When first starting out I found using the wind to jump slighty annoying as I missed a couple easy gaps at the beginning causing me to take what seemed like an unfairly punishing amount of fall damage. However, that quickly changes about 4-5 minutes into the game when you get your first upgrade extending the length of your gust and basically allowing you to 'double jump'.

The control layout is a simple one, you use the nunchuck and the wiimote for this game. You control Toku with the analog stick on the nunchuck for basic walking and Z to pick up items. Toku will auto jump when you get to ledge in a Zelda like fashion, but most of your jumping will come from the gust move. By holding the "A" button to slow things down this gives you time draw lines of wind through or under Toku allowing him to jump and float around to where ever you need him to be. So far my experence with LW has been a simple and fun, this little gem will only run you back $10, and is well worth it.

TV Show King first-look review:

TVSK (Tv Show King) is a simple multiple choice quiz show game. I play tested it in the ideal setting of 4 players with my family, which includes 2 adults and 2 teens, and it made for a fun time. You use your Mii to represent yourself, as the the host Jerry calls you down in a The Price is Right fashion. The TVSK starts out very basically and innocent, like Britney Spears' career, asking questions in various areas: such as sports, movies, history, terrorist cell plotting (ok, I threw this one in to see if you were paying attention) etc. the player who picks the correct answer first gets the full value of the question and each copy cat player gets less in the order answered.

There are some "special" question rounds where you have to scratch off the answers or shine your wiimote cursor on the answers to illuminate them but they all play out pretty much the same. Between each round is a wheel players can spin for bonus money and heres where things can Mario Kart levels of random. On the wheel there are values that can double your money, take all your money, swap money with another player or give and take various amounts between a player of your choice. There would be rounds where I would be winning
and an unlucky spin can take all of it away. I'm happy to report tho that use of the wheel is totally optional and if you want to have straight up test of knowlegde all you have to do is agree with your friends not to use the wheel. The final round breaks down to a face off one on one till someone get 5 correct answers, the player answers first getting credit for the right answer.

As far a presentation
theres just enough voice working from the host to give the show a game show feel, all the questions have to be read but thats not a big deal. The graphics have a bright and cartoony look with versions of the games main theme playing at the right time.

I definately felt I got my $10 worth and with 3,000 questions it makes for a good game with both friends and family.

-CJ, Staff Writer