Rectifying one of the major holes in the Virtual Console lineup, Nintendo has revealed that Jaleco and Tose's classic NES baseball title Bases Loaded will be added to the Wii's online storefront later today.

Accompanying Bases Loaded in its journey to the VC Hall of Fame is Nintendo's NES puzzler Yoshi's Cookie, which has players matching up rows and columns of same-shaped cookies.

Selling for 500 Wii Points ($5), both titles will be available for purchase and download through the Wii's online Wii Shop Channel beginning today at 12 PM EDT, 9 AM PDT.

Nintendo has announced that Wonder Boy and Cruis'n USA are this week's releases for the Wii's Virtual Console storefront, with the former marking the first offering of a Sega Master System release on the service.

Selling for 500 Wii Points ($5), Westone's action-RPG Wonder Boy is the Sega Master System rendition of Wonder Boy in Monster World, the Genesis version of which arrived on Virtual Console last April.

As with most Nintendo 64 titles, the old arcade racer Cruis'n USA is priced at 1000 Wii Points ($10).

Both titles will be available for download beginning today at 12 PM EDT, 9 AM PDT.

Nintendo has revealed that King's Knight and Powerball will be this week's two additions to the Wii's online Virtual Console library.

A top-down shooter, King's Knight was developed by the renowned RPG powerhouse Square. With five stages, multiple playable characters and a princess to save, the old NES title sells for 500 Wii Points ($5).

Described as a hybrid of rugby and football, Namco's Powerball was originally released on the Sega Genesis. It'll set you back 800 Wii Points ($8) to try what Nintendo claims is "a brand new sport."

Both titles will be available for purchase and download through the Wii's online Wii Shop Channel beginning today at 12 PM EDT, 9 AM PDT.

Nintendo has announced that Irem's Super R-Type and Micro Graphic Image's Spelunker will be this week's additions to the Wii's online Virtual Console storefront in North America.

One of many such shooters available on the service, the side scrolling SNES arcade shooter Super R-Type will sell for 800 Wii Points ($8). Spelunker, a cave-exploring NES platformer said to be infuriatingly difficult, is priced at 500 Wii Points ($5).

Both titles will be available for purchase and download through the Wii's online Wii Shop Channel beginning at 12 PM EDT, 9 AM PDT.

Two more formerly Japanese-only titles have arrived in the Wii's online Virtual Console.

Serving as the sequel to Milon's Secret Castle, Hudson's DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure was originally released on the Super Nintendo. As with the original, which hit Virtual Console last year, the Hudson-developed sidescroller has players trapping foes in bubbles.

Compile's Puyo Puyo 2: Tsuu continues the blob-dropping exploits found in other Puyo Puyo titles, which have been released in North America as Kirby's Avalance, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, and Puyo Pop Fever. The Genesis sequel has players matching colors to clear lines, with chain-based combos causing garbage blocks to rain down on an opponent.

As both games had been officially localized, each sells for 900 Wii Points ($9), marking a slight premium over the normal price of Super Nintendo and Genesis titles.

Factor 5's Super Turrican marks this week's sole release Wii Virtual Console release.

Selling for 800 Wii Points ($8), the alien-destroying Super Nintendo title features 2D sidescrolling goodness interspersed with lightning whip and grappling hook hijinks.

The game is currently available for download from the online Wii Shop Channel.

In recent times, Factor 5 has spoken of reviving the franchise on current-gen consoles. "I was looking at Metroid Prime's reinventing of a franchise that had been out there for quite awhile, and we're facing the same thing with Turrican," studio president Julian Eggebrecht noted last year.

This week's Wii Virtual Console titles are Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Psychosis, Nintendo announced this morning.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is a 1-4 player platformer, originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. Take control of Kirby as he travels across six different worlds gathering all the pieces of a shattered crystal. Also includes several multiplayer mini-games. Kirby 64 will set you back 1000 Wii Points ($10).

The side-scrolling shooter Psychosis, a 1990 TurboGrafx16 release, is 600 Wii Points ($6). In the game you blast your way through five stages gathering the usual type of weapon and armor powerups as you try to regain your sanity, lost after your mind has been taken over by an evil power called "The Devil Ugar".

Both games will show up in the Wii Shop Channel at 12PM EST/11AM CST.

Nintendo of Europe today announced that classic Commodore 64 titles will be making their way to the European Wii Shop as Virtual Console titles in the near future.

While no plans for North American releases were mentioned, International Karate and Uridium were named as the first European games, with prices of 500 Wii Points ($5) each.

"The massive impact the Commodore 64 had on video gaming is still evident today with many gamers remembering the computer and its games with great fondness," said Commodore Gaming CEO Bala Keilman.

"By working with Nintendo of Europe, we are ensuring that future generations of gamers can play some of the best and most popular titles that kick-started the computer games revolution and so keep the C64 legacy in gamers' hearts."

Nintendo has announced that today's Wii Virtual Console additions are Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom and Phantasy Star II. The two games will be available in the Wii Shop Channel at 12PM EST/11AM CST.

A 1991 NES release, the action platformer Ninja Gaiden III has you playing as Ryu Hayabusa, framed for the murder of an FBI agent. For 500 Wii Points ($5) you get to fight plenty of bad guys while trying to clear your name.

For 800 Wii Points ($8) you can get your hands on the 1990 Sega Genesis release Phantasy Star II, which is regarded as one of the finest console games ever made.

Harvest Moon and Lords of Thunder are this week's new Wii Virtual Console relases. Both games can be purchased when the Wii Shop Channel updates at 12PM EST/11AM CST.

A 1996 SNES release, Natsume's farm role playing game Harvest Moon will set you back 800 Wii Points ($8). Red's TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM fantasy side-scrolling shooter Lords of Thunder, released in 1993, will set you back the same amount.

Operation Wolf and Columns III: Revenge of Columns are this week's Virtual Console releases, Nintendo has announced. Both will be available for download from the Wii Shop Channel beginning at 12 PM EST/11 AM CST.

Following the first-person exploits of a soldier tasked with liberating a concentration camp, Operation Wolf is an on-rails light gun shooter that predates such well-known examples of the genre as Mesa Logic's Area 51 and Sega's House of the Dead. Developed by Taito, the Nintendo Entertainment System port of the arcade game will sell for 500 Wii Points ($5), though it is unlikely to allow gamers to use the Wii Remote as a light gun.

Sega's Columns III, meanwhile, continues the series' penchant for providing an unrelenting assault of jewels that fall from the sky. As with other titles in the puzzle-action franchise, the former Sega Genesis-only game involves matching three or more pieces of the same color, all for the price of 800 Wii Points ($8).

This week will see just a single new addition to the Wii Virtual Console lineup in the form of 1080º Snowboarding from Nintendo EAD.

Originally a Nintendo 64 release, 1080º Snowboarding has you tricking down the slopes as one of five different characters using a variety of boards. The game, which can be played solo or against a friend, will set you back 1,000 Wii points ($10).

As always, the game will become available when the Virtual Console store updates at 12PM EST/11AM CST.

The Sega Master System is the next console to be represented in the Wii's Virtual Console lineup beginning in February, IT Media reports.

The first two Master System titles to make the leap are Sega's Fantasy Zone and Fist of the North Star, both released in North America for the Master System in 1986. Fist of the North Star was originally localized under the name Black Belt.

Both titles will be made available on the Japanese Virtual Console in February for 500 yen a piece, with overseas releases likely to follow soon thereafter.

Steel Penny Games today revealed itself to the general public, announcing its intent to focus on digitally distributed titles. The developer represents the latest studio centered around digital distribution, a category that includes Blazing Lizard, the Kuju-owned doublesix, Wideload Shorts, and many others.

The first release out of Steel Penny, which was formed early last year by ex-Naughty Dog tools engineer Jason Hughes and background artist Andrew Gilmour, is a puzzle game starring the cat-dog duo Bruiser and Scratch (pictured above). It is slated to arrive on WiiWare in mid-2008.

Said to launch in early 2008, WiiWare marks Nintendo's latest addition to the online Wii Shop Channel. Unlike the Virtual Console portion, which sells straight ports of old games, WiiWare will focus on original titles.

Thus far, Virtual Console sales have brought in almost $32 million, and many are hoping for a repeat of that success with WiiWare. Advocates of digital distribution argue that such a model--recently introduced in the realm of consoles via Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare, and PlayStation Network--allows for more creativity, lower project costs, shorter development time and higher returns.

Renowned arcade developer SNK will be bringing 16 of its most popular old-school titles to the PlayStation 2 and PSP in the form of SNK Arcade Classics: Volume 1.

Collecting such 2D NeoGeo fighters and side-scrollers as Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, Metal Slug and Samurai Shodown, the compilation will hit stores within the first half of 2008. No price point was disclosed in the announcement, though several of the titles sell individually for $9 through the Wii Virtual Console.

"SNK Arcade Classics: Volume 1 is a must-have addition to any arcade fan's collection," said SNK Playmore USA president Ben Herman. "It's the most comprehensive SNK compilation to date."

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The full list of included games, as provided by SNK, is as follows:... Read more

Adventures of Lolo 2 and Super Street Fighter II mark this week's additions to the Nintendo Wii's online Virtual Console storefront. Both will be available for download beginning today at 12PM EST/11AM CST.

Originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Adventures of Lolo 2 continues developer HAL Laboratory's puffball-staring, top-down action-puzzle series. As with the original, which is also available on Virtual Console, Lolo 2 will run 500 Wii Points ($5).

Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, meanwhile, represents the third and last of Capcom's Street Fighter II titles to hit the Super Nintendo. Much like the other two Street Fighter II games available via Virtual Console, it will sell for 800 Wii Points ($8).

Though it brings four new fighters to the mix--Cammy, Dee Jay, Fei Long and T. Hawk--SSF2T:TNC wasn't the final Street Fighter II entry. That distinction goes to Super Street Fighter II Turbo, which was never released for Super Nintendo and is currently being retooled for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network in the form of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Mode.

Pac-Attack and Riot Zone are this week's new Virtual Console titles, Nintendo has announced. Both titles will sell for 800 Wii Points ($8) when they appear in the Wii's online storefront at 12 PM EST / 11 PM CST.

Unlike traditional Pac-Man titles, Namco's Pac-Attack offers a Tetris-esque approach to Pac-Man's perpetual ghost gobbling. The game was eventually released on a variety of platforms, including the Genesis and Super Nintendo, with the SNES edition available on Virtual Console.

Hudson Soft's Riot Zone, meanwhile, is a side-scrolling beat' em up that premiered on the TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM.

Nintendo has announced this week's additions to the Wii's online Virtual Console, which sees Nintendo's Star Tropics and SNK's The King of Fighters '94 added to the service.

Originally released for the NES, the Zelda-esque Star Tropics sells for 500 Wii Points ($5). The King of Fighters '94, meanwhile, brings home some old-school Neo Geo-flavored 2D arcade fighting at 900 Wii Points ($9).

Both titles will be available for purchase and download beginning at 12PM EST/11PM CST.

Nintendo DS owners will eventually be able to acquire both demos and whole games from the Wii, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime informed The New York Times.

The games and demos will presumably be downloaded through the online Wii Shop Channel and then transferred to the portable via the wireless capabilities of both systems.

Though word of downloadable demos comes as little surprise--DS Download Stations located at retailers already allow such functionality and Nintendo previously announced it would come to the Wii someday--the inclusion of full games is a bit more surprising.

It is unknown if that full games bit refers to digitally distributed versions of existing games, compatibility with downloaded Wii Virtual Console titles, or... Read more

For some New Year's Eve gaming you can fire up your Wii for three Virtual Console additions.

For 500 Wii points ($5) you can get the NES version of the puzzle platformer Bubble Bobble. For 800 Wii points ($8) there is Light Crusader, an action RPG originating from the Genesis. And for 900 Wii points ($9) you can get the NeoGeo side-scroller Top Hunter.

All three games will be available at 11AM CST / 12PM EST.