What are you doing New Year’s Eve? Thanks to the Wii Shop Channel, you’ve got some outrageous new options. This week’s classic game additions offer brilliant fantasy and crackling action to help you ring in ‘08. So if you haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions yet, allow us to suggest a few: pop more bubbles, battle more medieval beasts and try to save the universe a little more often.

Three new classic games go live at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Nintendo adds new games to the Wii Shop Channel every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

BUBBLE BOBBLE (NES, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): BUBBLE BOBBLE’s release in 1986 introduced the two bubble dragons, Bub and Bob, and brand new play mechanics, with players defeating enemies by trapping them in bubbles and then popping them. Although the puzzle-action game can be beaten by clearing all 100 rounds, it also contains secret elements such as not being able to get the “true ending” in single-player mode; hidden commands that lead to secret rounds; and a ton of different items. These elements are some of the game’s most memorable and important features. Each round even has different air currents that are not visible, so bubbles rise in unpredictable patterns. Aspects like forcing players to understand and utilize these different patterns while playing help make this a revolutionary game that is fun to play anytime.

Light Crusader (Genesis, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Animated Violence, 800 Wii Points): Each day, more good townspeople of Green Row have been mysteriously disappearing, and beleaguered King Weeden summons the knight Sir David to investigate. Armed with his wits and his sword, Sir David must find the cause of this strange evil and save the citizens of Green Row before things get any worse. Take the role of the brave knight in this action RPG and get to the bottom of the mysteries of Green Row as you fight enemies, solve puzzles and use your best combination of brains and brawn to save the kingdom.

TOP HUNTER (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and older-Cartoon Violence, 900 Wii Points): Take on the role of either Roddy or Cathy, bounty hunters in this side-scrolling action game set far in the future when humans have colonized space. But all is not well: Space pirates called the Klaptons are making their way through the galaxies, wiping out peaceful settlements along their path. This disgraceful behavior leads to them having a price on their heads, so now Roddy and Cathy must travel through four distinct worlds on a mission to defeat their leader, Captain Klapton. Both characters have retractable arms-used to grab enemies or other objects in the scenery-that can then be thrown at others to destroy them. Also, be on the lookout for rings or levers to pull, as this might reveal special bonuses. Further adding to the mix, the game uses a unique system where the action happens on two planes, with the player switching between them at will. Can you prove yourself worthy of the Top Hunter name and help save the universe?

For more information about Wii, please visit wii.com.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Sorry about last week with the lack of “The Weekly Finisher”. I was a tad bit drunk and having too much fun. There is be one for the new year this Sunday. Hopefully good news show up soon.

Well this was on Monday the 24th but obviously, it was not posted so here it is.

If you hear a rumbling on the roof tonight, don’t assume that it’s reindeer when there are gorillas on the loose. Yes, this week’s merry Wiiâ„¢ Shop Channel lineup includes a classic adventure title to entertain every reveler in your household, from the nicest to the naughtiest. Plus, you’ll find a wicked-cool dose of ice hockey action and a thrilling secret-agent sequel to help keep spirits bright all winter long. You were expecting lumps of coal? Sorry-maybe next year.

Three new classic games go live at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Nintendo adds new games to the Wii Shop Channel every Monday. Wiiâ„¢ owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Pointsâ„¢ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

BLADES OF STEEL (NES, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Violence, 500 Wii Points): With stick in hand and confidence brimming, you are looking to bring home the cup, win the MVP award, get on the covers of major sports magazines and date a beautiful model (not necessarily in that order). But soon you will learn that, in this league, nothing is ever given to you, and before you can reach your goals, you’ll have to put the puck in the net and score some. You’ll need both the artful skills of a finesse player and the bone-crushing brutality of an enforcer. Defend your own goal against unrelenting power plays, or put the pressure on your opponent’s goalie and try a slap shot of your own. Don’t forget to defend yourself when anger flares because the gloves come off and fists start flying. So strap on blades of steel and prepare to either make a name for yourself or be put on ice.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble (Super NES, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): Revisit Donkey Kong Island and join the Kong family for their latest adventure. The Kremlings have a mysterious new leader named KAOS and are up to their usual mischief, even capturing Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. Now it’s up to Dixie Kong and the newest Kong, a giant infant named Kiddy, to rescue the two missing apes. They’ll travel across previously unseen parts of the island in their search, and even take to the skies in a rocket at one point. Lucky for them, Dixie and Kiddy’s powers complement each other (including Kiddy’s talent for rolling like a barrel), so they form a powerful team capable of major Kremling damage. They’re not completely on their own, either, since returning favorites like Funky Kong and Enguarde the swordfish provide help along the way. And in a series known for its abundance of secrets and high replay value, this entry doesn’t disappoint, with enough hours of game play to satisfy Donkey Kong himself. Anyone else have a sudden urge for some bananas?

Rolling Thunder 2 (Genesis, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone-Violence, 800 Wii Points): In this follow-up to the original classic, you are once again a member of Interpol’s Rolling Thunder task force, and it’s up to you to stop the return of the evil Geldra organization. Now known as Neo-Geldra and led by a newcomer named Gimdo, the bad guys are bent on destroying several valuable outer-space satellites. In this one- or two-player game, you can play as Leila or Albatross-both characters from the original-as you venture through several different levels, trying to put a stop to the nefarious efforts of Gimdo and the rest of Neo-Geldra. Use your bullets wisely and make Rolling Thunder proud.

For more information about Wii, please visit wii.com.

It seems that Super Smash Brothers Brawl has finally gone gold. BUT… it for Japan. :(

You know what that means?

I have to move to Japan now. :P

Click here to check out more info on its gold status.

This might be late on my part but, Merry Christmas!

Please donate to the “Help OutlawAdidas Get A Wi” fund! :)

I am really tired right now and really don’t feel like writing this, but luckily for me there was not a lot of gaming news to talk about. So lets see… well we have the Smash Bros. Brawl updates. Co-op Events sounds like fun. Actually I was hoping that Sakurai would do this and it has happened. The boss battle stage from Metroid Prime is a very nice inclusion. Love the visuals and the little 180 degree twist. Oh yea, I can’t forget about the Sub-space movie that was posted. I watched it, then creamed my pants, then watched it again, then creamed my keyboard. All I could say was “epic”. It truly looks epic (sfx: echo). Can’t wait for this game to come out. Now all I need is a Wii. I am still accepting donations to the “Help Outlaw Get A Wii” fund. It’s for a good cause. :P

Nintendo announced that rain check deal with GameStop. Oh please. Screw the rain check stuff. If you wanted a Wii, you would have lined up around 3 am outside your local gaming outlet and wait for the store to open up. This is what people have done and are still doing… I believe.

I just realized that Ninja Gaiden for the DS has not been released yet. I don’t know why. Very disappointed I am.. Seriously, where is my Ninja Gaiden? This game is probably gonna bomb now. They should have just released it when it was nearly done and released a patch for it through Wi-Fi. Yea, I said it, a patch on the Nintendo DS.

Res Steel 2 … woohoo? Didn’t play the first one and I’m hearing that the second one will be better. It has been in development for almost one year. Online mode is confirmed. Now if they can make this work, then WOOHOO!!

I was playing Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and I realized that this game is freaking amazing. When I got to the boss fight with the crab, I was like OMG. Using the top screen as the crabs point of view and the bottom as Link. You know, I’m amazed at what developers can do given time and… oh wait… this was Nintendo’s doing. Nevermind. It’s just good.

The Jump Festa 2008 convention went down in Japan. I’m not that excited at it at all. A new Tales game was announced but no platform specified. Given its graphical detail I can tell you two things. One, its not for the Wii. Two, Namco sucks. Seriously, we are getting “Tale of Whatever: Knights with a name that I can’t pronounce”. Yeah, thanks Namco. Cel-shaded FTW… last generation. Same to you Atari. Honestly, as I said before, Atari needs to lose the DBZ license. Give it to me. I bet that with my lack of programming, I can make a decent fighter.

Square-Enix is once again milking Final Fantasy’s Tifa again. You bring out one game, it does great, so now you milk it for the next ten years. Can’t wait for, “Final Fantasy 7: The 70 Year Reunion”. Oh noez, Sephiroth is trying to take over the retirement homes. No, not unless Cloud and crew has something to say about this… right after some Wii Sports. How about this Square-Enix, if that is your real name, remember that game called Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers. The game that deviated from your usual milking of Clouds’ nuts. How come that wasn’t present? Did you guys scrap it? Cuz if you did may Jenova have no mercy on your soul.

Wel I’m tired. I have to wait three weeks for my Naruto Shippuden to come back. *sighh*

Dattebayyo :(

One more post before I slink back into the walls of the world. Here is a video teaser of the Ironman video game based off the movie and this video might be a little bit late. Sega is going for another movie license. Video is awesome with nice looking graphics that is probably from either the PS3 or the X360 but a Wii version is coming as well. Now on to the trailer, huh?

And for the hell of it since I am at it US sales.

October US hardware sales rankings
Last month’s rank - rank - sales - Lifetime US sales
( 2 ) 01. Wii - 519,000 (5,038,400)
( 3 ) 02. NDS - 458,000 (13,591,100)
( 1 ) 03. 360 - 366,000 (7,094,800)
( 4 ) 04. PSP - 286,000 (8,885,900)
( 5 ) 05. PS2 - 184,000 (39,449,800)
( 6 ) 06. PS3 - 121,000 (1,986,100)

US software sales rankings
Last month’s rank - rank - sales - Lifetime US sales
( 1 ) 1. 360 - Halo 3 (all versions) (Microsoft) - 433,800 (3,733,800)
( - ) 2. 360 - Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (Activision) - 383,200 (NEW)
( - ) 3. Wii - Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (Activision) - 286,300 (NEW)
( - ) 4. PS2 - Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock w/ guitar (Activision) 271,100 (NEW)
( 3 ) 5. NDS - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo) - 262,800 (486,800)
( 2 ) 6. Wii - Wii Play w/ remote (Nintendo) - 239,700 (2,469,700)
( - ) 7. 360 - The Orange Box (Electronic Arts) - 238,400 (NEW)
( - ) 8. PS2 - Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock standalone (Activision) - 231,700 (NEW)
( - ) 9. PS2 - Fifa Soccer 2008 (Electronic Arts) - 129,700 (NEW)
( 9 ) 10. NDS - Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (Nintendo) - 116,900 (300K+)

November US hardware sales rankings
Last month’s rank - rank - sales - Lifetime US sales
( 2 ) 01. NDS - 1,530,000 (15,121,100)
( 1 ) 02. Wii - 981,000 (6,019,400)
( 3 ) 03. 360 - 770,000 (7,864,800)
( 4 ) 04. PSP - 567,000 (9,452,900)
( 5 ) 05. PS2 - 496,000 (39,945,800)
( 6 ) 06. PS3 - 466,000 (2,452,100)

US software sales rankings
Last month’s rank - rank - sales - Lifetime US sales
( - ) 1. 360 - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision) - 1,570,000 (NEW)
( - ) 2. Wii - Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo) - 1,120,000 (NEW)
( - ) 3. 360 - Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft) - 980,000 (NEW)
( 4 ) 4. PS2 - Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision) - 967,000 (1,238,100)
( 6 ) 5. Wii - Wii Play /w Remote (Nintendo) - 564,000 (3,033,700)
( - ) 6. 360 - Mass Effect (Microsoft) - 473,000 (NEW)
( - ) 7. PS3 - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision) - 444,000 (NEW)
( 3 ) 8. Wii - Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Activision) - 426,000 (712,300)
( 1 ) 9. 360 - Halo 3 (Microsoft) - 387,000 (4,120,800)
( - ) 10. PS3 - Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft) - 377,000 (NEW)

and more interesting sales notes for Nov:
11. Wii - Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (Sega) - 333,000 (NEW)
12. 360 - Rock Band (Electronic Arts) - 312,000 (NEW)
Wii - Wii Zapper with Link’s Crossbow Training (Nintendo) - 232,000 (NEW)
NDS - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo) - 227,000 (713,800)
Wii - Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts) - 180,000 (NEW)
Wii - High School Musical: Sing It! (LucasArts) - 180,000 (NEW)
Wii - Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Capcom) - 120,000 (NEW)
PS3 - Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (Sony) - 117,000 (NEW)
PC - Crysis (Electronic Arts) - 87,000 (NEW)
PS3 - Rock Band (Electronic Arts) - 70,000 (NEW)
PS3 - Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (Sony) - 66,000 (140,000)
NDS - Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (Square Enix) - 49,000 (NEW)
PC - Unreal Tournament III (Midway) - 34,000 (NEW)
Wii - Manhunt 2 (Rockstar Games - 19,000 (NEW)
Wii - Zack & Wiki < 35,000

Sad to see Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, and Ratchet & Clank even Zack & Wiki so low as in my opinion these are very good games. Mario Galaxy is a Million seller, which is a rarity these days. Crysis and Unreal Tourny III tank as these mark the first appearance of PC games (in orange) on the NPD sales numbers we do.