news/reviews/previews

Guitar Hero Player Jams His Way into the Guinness World Records Book
Chris Chike walks away with the high score after a record-breaking jam session in New York City.
March 12, 2008 - To mark the launch of the inaugural Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008 some of the nation's best players of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock convened in New York City for a mesmerizing record-breaking jam session.
When the dust settled, one of the best Guitar Hero players in the world, Chris Chike, age 16 from Rochester, Minnesota, walked away with a new Guinness World Record for the "Highest Score for a Single Song on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" - an astounding 840,647 points (a 97% completion on Expert Level) for the song "Through the Fire and Flames" by DragonForce.*

Chike's fast fingers and mad gamer skills have astounded thousands of people online and now for the first time he has been recognized as an official Guinness World Record holder. "Chris's accomplishments are nothing short of amazing," said Guinness World Records judge Doug Parsons who was on hand to certify the attempt. "Guitar Hero is a one of the hottest games on the market and the speed and accuracy showed by Chris today truly cements his spot as gaming royalty."

Kai Huang, co-founder of RedOctane, creators of the Guitar Hero franchise commented, "The Guitar Hero franchise has created a phenomenon that has swept the world creating loyal and passionate fans of all ages. It is an honor to be a part of this exciting event and we congratulate Chris on a fantastic accomplishment that is worthy of a Guinness World Record."

Gamers who believe they have what it takes to be considered videogame elite are encouraged to visit the official Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008 website, http://gamers.guinnessworldrecords.com to learn more information on submitting their scores and being a part of the online gaming community.

The all-new Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008, the first Guinness World Records book devoted solely to the world of gaming, is on shelves now and bursting with new records, high score statistics and fascinating facts.

*At press time, Chris Chike bested his score, registering a new Guinness World Record with 880,920 points, 97% accuracy and an 1,107 note streak.

About Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records is the universally recognized authority on record-breaking achievement. First published in 1955, the annual Guinness World Records book is published in more than 100 countries and 20 languages and is one of the highest-selling books under copyright of all time with more than 3 million copies sold annually across the globe. Guinness World Records celebrated its 50th anniversary edition in 2004, a year after the sale of its 100 millionth copy. The Guinness World Records website (www.guinnessworldrecords.com) receives more than 11 million visitors a year.

wow...

wow cool did you here about teh new guitar hero game coming out. forgot the name though

guitarhero: areosmith package

yeah there ya go if i sell my ps2 then im going to reserve that game(possibly not sure have to see the info on that game first)

Nintendo Wii and DS take up just under 50% of February 's sales.

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Nintendo's Wii and DS consoles are still showing no signs of fatigue in the game market, with the destructive duo taking out 48% of the total hardware sales in the month of February.

Nintendo sold approximately 587,600 DS consoles and 432,000 Wii consoles during the month, with these sales making up 47.6 percent of the monthly hardware sales at a combined total of over 1 million consoles sold. Nintendo sold 3.6 million DS games during February, beating the Wii which sold 2.9 million. Out of every 10 games sold, four of them were for a Nintendo console. In addition, three of the five top games throughout Feburary were for Nintendo systems, two of which were third party games.

Hopefully Nintendo can keep this up for a couple more years.

Reggie claims Wii and DS owners are "gonna be excited" at E3 2008.

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In a recent interview Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, the subject of Nintendo's E3 offerings was touched on. Reggie didn't state what exactly will be on show at this years E3, however he did state that "We’re gonna unveil the whole second half during E3."

When asked if there is a new Zelda or Mario game currently in the works, Reggie simply said "All I can tell you is what we announce during E3 is going to be fantastic. The gamers gonna be excited, and the expanded audience is going to be excited. We’re gonna have a ton of great content.".

Could a true Twilight Princess sequel be in development? Is Animal Crossing Wii finally ready to be shown off? Guess we'll just have to wait until E3 to find out.

Snaking REMOVED from Mario Kart Wii.

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Recent reports stated that the snaking glitch was indeed evident in the game Mario Kart Wii. For those who for whatever reason don't know, snaking is the term used when someone abuses the drifting boosts in Mario Kart DS and uses it to win races easily. Nintendo's official UK magazine has reviewed the game and according to them, snaking has been scrapped from the Wii version.

But as we saw in videos of Mario Kart Wii, you can still drift and get speed boosts. So how can snaking have been removed? The answer is simple; the mechanics are different. Instead of wagging the control stick left and right anxiously, your speed boost (and the amount of speed you gain from the boost) is determined by how long you hold the drift. This means that holding down the single drift around a corner will give you a great boost, where drifting left and right continuously will result in no boost whatsoever. In addition, you can also get speed boosts by doing tricks and pulling wheelies on motorcycles.

Put simply, SNAKING IS NO MORE!

Super Smash Bros. World
Download and upload your favorite created Brawl levels now. All around the world. Because we love you.
by Matt Casamassina

March 10, 2008 - If you live in Japan or America, you already have access to Wii's most anticipated game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The chances are therefore very good that you're already playing with the 35 different fighters across dozens of unique, stylized stages. And Nintendo itself is planning to deliver even more levels your way in the future by way of WiiConnect24 – the publisher will send you a handpicked user-created fight stage per day, every single day. Still, there's one big limitation: you won't be able to save these user-created arenas.

This, dear readers, is where IGN comes in. Introducing Super Smash Bros. World, your one-stop destination for a never-ending stream of user-created Brawl content. Looking for spectacular new user-created Smash Bros. stages? Maybe you'd prefer to upload some of your own creations? We've got you covered.

If you've got a Wii, a copy of Smash Bros. Brawl, an SD Card and a PC or Mac, you're in business. Super Smash Bros. World enables you to very quickly upload the stages you've created to the site, and you can just as effortlessly download the soon-to-be-thousands of user-created stages to your PC or Mac, transfer them to an SD Card, pop it into your Wii and get ready to fight.


Click on the image to go to Super Smash Bros. WorldYou can even rate the stages featured on Super Smash Bros. World so that they rise or decline in popularity and status, making the selection process for all users more intuitive.
Even better, you'll be able to download and upload stages compatible with either the U.S. or Japanese versions of the game – just select which build you have, upload or download, and it'll all work seamlessly.

Here's a quick video of an IGN-designed stage. You can download it right now at Super Smash Bros. World.


The rest is up to you. IGN invites its Smash Bros.-loving readers to get busy creating stages so that our new hub will be populated by a huge selection of fight arenas, created by the gamers for the gamers, as it were.



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Click here and go to Super Smash Bros. World


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cool

Brawl Smashes Sales Records
Already the fastest-selling game in Nintendo of America's history.
by Matt Casamassina
March 17, 2008 - Nintendo of America announced on Monday that Super Smash Bros. Brawl has become the fastest-selling game in the comaany's long history. More than 1.4 million gamers have purchased the fighter since its release on March 9, according to the publisher. Approximately 874,000 people, meanwhile, bought the game on the first day. The Big N added that Brawl has sold at a rate of approximately 120 units per minute since it shipped.

"Super Smash Bros. Brawl has made the leap from video game to cultural phenomenon," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and arketing. "Game reviewers and the public alike praise its fun game play and extensive, inventive content."

"It's important to remember," Dunaway said, "that we have lots more fun on the way: Upcoming titles like Mario KartWii and Wii Fit will keep our momentum going strong."

Violence Reigns in Minnesota
Court puts kibosh on M-rated game fines.
by Hilary Goldstein
March 17, 2008 - As originally reported by yahoo.com, the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with an earlier ruling that a Minnesota law meant to limit sales of M- and AO-rated games was unconstitutional.

Under the law, anyone under 17 who rented or purchased games rated M or AO would be fined $25. Shortly after it was enacted, retailers contested the law and won a July '06 court case. The ruling was later appealed, but has been squashed again by the appeals court. The court has consistently ruled that there is no concrete scientific evidence that violent videogames are harmful to children.

Minnesota can continue to appeal the decision if it chooses, so this story may not be over yet.

why do they wana make an aerosmith one???!!!!!! there are far better bands out there

Upgrade Madness: Fatal for Freeloaders.

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Ok, so everyone remembers Datel's promise of the Freeloader being able to bypass the Wii Upgrades, right...?

They were wrong.

Today, Nintendo released a update for your Wii console, that tackles both Freeloaders AND Trucha Signer, and stops them from working.

If you use one, or both of these, then we can't help but urge you NOT to update your Wii Console.

The one Nintendo released on March 20th is fine, and will not affect your ability to use Trucha Signer or Freeloader in anyway.

I hope that you were not unlucky enough to have been affected by this sneaky move by Nintendo.

Source: Wiibrew.com

EDIT: Side note from Coolza:

This is an unactivated update, so please, don't be stupid and update.
By "unactive" I mean it won't activate unless a newer game (I.E. MKWii) carries the code. Then it stops working.
NOTE: Games will (or, should) not be affected by this since it ONLY carries the Trucha Signer/Freeloader patch for the exploit.

my review-house of the dead 2&3 return:

the return of the classic arcade shooter series-house of the dead- except this time, on the wii and zapper compatible. It may seem a little like resident evil(and it is), but that doesnt mean its not good. well the graphix or anything rly has change since the arcade game, excpet the wiimote and nunchuck and a few different mode. it does rival the scaryness of resevil, but the creatures seem more like experiments than zombies-examples- 1. the creatures hav green goo, not blood. 2. There are swamp monsters!
it kind of feels like residentevil the umbrella chronicles, but its still pretty good. id give it a 7.5 4 the game
9.1 4 scaryness!
but re always takes the cake with 10.0 scary!

Rock Band Announced
The popular music game is set to debut for Wii this June minus online play and downloadable content.
by Matt Casamassina
March 24, 2008 - Harmonix, MTV Networks and Electronic Arts on Monday announced that the popular music game, Rock Band, will debut for Wii on June 22 in America and Canada. The package includes the title itself, a set of drums, a microphone and wireless guitar, and will set players back approximately $169.99. Rock Band for Wii features 63 songs, five of which are "bonus" tracks presumably exclusion to the version.

Rock Band takes the fundamentals of Guitar Hero to the next level by incorporating additional instruments, such as drums and a microphone. The title has gained popularity since its release in large because of its extensive list of interactive tracks from leading artists, all of which can be purchased and downloaded for use in the game.

On the official Rock Band website, a representative for developer Harmonix elaborated on the specifics of the package. "The feature-set is a lot closer to the PS2 version of Rock Band which was also developed by Pi Studios," he wrote on the site's message board. "We've decided to focus on getting the core gameplay on to the Wii and focus on making that awesome."

The instruments included in the package will not be compatible with the Wii remote, according to Harmonix. Instead, the instruments will work wirelessly directly with the Wii console, similar to the other console versions.

Disappointingly, it appears as though Rock Band for Wii will support neither online play nor downloadable content -- huge, glaring omissions. One of the game's biggest draws on other consoles is the steady stream of downloadable songs, which can be purchased and then utilized in-game very easily.

"The Wii's success among casual and core gamers of all ages makes it an ideal match for the cross-generational appeal of the music featured in Rock Band," said Bob Picunko, vice president of Electronic Games and Interactive Products, MTV.

"The social interaction and addictive nature of the Rock Band experience is a perfect fit for the Wii and will undoubtedly be fun for the entire family," said Steve Singer, licensing VP from Nintendo.

IGN Wii will have much more on the title in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

BIG NEWS FOR SONIC FANS!!!!

brand new sonic game called sonic unleashed 4 unspecified platforms, but most likely on wii, 360 and ps3, the first news i got was at http://miiwiichat.com/
heres wat is se(theres also a video): Finaly a Sonic Game Worth Waiting For!
Bandit March 24th 2008 08:01:59 pm




This Video does not really show much in terms of game play, but it does show the more attention to detail SEGA has put in.

I saw this at Joystiq! Sega has announced Sonic Unleashed is on its way to unspecified consoles for a November release!



"You'll be able to traverse the game's 12 stages as Knuckles, Tails or the eponymous hedgehog, who has picked up the ability to transform into Wolf Sonic, seen in the concept art above. We aren't crazy about the prospect of a foam-mouthed, feral version of the beloved protagonist, but we're pleased to know they're keeping the game's character lineup to a minimum. There's a chance we'll be hearing more about the title at SEGA Gamer's Day in May -- keep your fingers crossed that no additional whimsically named forest dwellers pop up on the game's roster until then. "

Sonic Unleashed is in the works with a giant budget! This game might be returning Sonic to his classic Side-Scrolling roots! SEGA said, "rebuild the Sonic brand and prove it could work in 3D environments.">

I think this is the Sonic game that could finally revive the series' awesomeness.

New Sonic Game Inadvertently Unveiled
First images leaked to web.
by Nate Ahearn
March 24, 2008 - Last week SEGA ominously filed a new trademark for a property named Sonic Unleashed and now we have images to go along with the rumored name. Found earlier today the images that you'll find in our gallery appear to depict a new three-dimensional Sonic game similar to that of Sonic Adventure. We'd bet our bottom dollar that this new Sonic title is coming to Xbox 360 and PS3 at the very least (based on the high-def screens), but we'll wait until SEGA officially makes a comments – something they've declined to do throughout today – to speculate any further. For now, enjoy the screenshots.

We'll have much more on this new Sonic game as soon as it becomes available

heres the link 2 the video posted by me on youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o0yJ8D89nw

Hands On: Pokemon Ranch
One free Pokemon a day for those without Diamond & Pearl.
by John Tanaka
March 25, 2008 - We at long last have an answer to the age old question: what happens if you try to play Pokemon Ranch without having a collection of Pokemon from Diamond & Pearl?

The answer is, a whole lot! The WiiWare service's launch Pokemon title in Japan may be a glorified tool for managing the Pokemon from the DS titles, but it also offers something for the Pokemon fanatic who's starting from scratch.

Pokemon Ranch hooks up with your DS via Wi-Fi, allowing you to transfer your Diamond & Pearl collection over for viewing in full 3D in a ranch environment. You can do all sorts of things with your new 3D friends, including making them interact with your Miis and with the toys that you place around the ranch. You can take pictures, which can be saved to an SD card and sent to your friends. You can also invite friends to your ranch in order to show off your collection.

So what happens if you don't have your copy of Diamond & Pearl handy? It turns out that the game starts all players off with six starter Pokemon, Pikachu included. From then on, the ranch manager, Yukari, adds a new Pokemon to the family at the start of every day.

Even with the freebies, there isn't too much to do when you first start off Pokemon Ranch. In fact, the game initially limits your control over the action. You initially have access only to an "auto" mode of movement, which switches views automatically between things on your ranch. It's only once you've reached a high-enough level with your ranch, which you do by collecting more Pokemon, that you gain access to a free movement mode. This lets you freely move your view point and force Pokemon and Miis to move around.

In short, most of your initial time with Pokemon Ranch will be spent starting at low polygon models of Pokemon. If that doesn't excite you, you'll probably want to start your WiiWare collection off elsewhere.

Hands On: Dr. Mario
We go online with the WiiWare launch title.
by John Tanaka
March 25, 2008 - Tetris is still a few months away from hitting the WiiWare service, but Nintendo made up for the absence with its only game to launch with the service in Japan today: Dr. Mario and Virus Buster (for all the smarty pants out there, Pokemon Ranch is published by "Pokemon" in Japan, so it's technically not a Nintendo title).

Dr. Mario has been around for ages, so we'll skip the detailed gameplay breakdown. As a quick "it's like Tetris except" recap, Dr. Mario is like Tetris except your goal is to eliminate colored bacteria from the play field by making them part of the chains and combos that you create using the capsules that Mario tosses at you.

The WiiWare version of the game is actually two games in one., combining Dr. Mario with the lesser known Virus Buster. Dr. Mario looks like a high tech version of the classic puzzler, with single player and competitive modes included. The competitive modes, which can be played against a friend or against the CPU, includes standard competitive matches, as well as a "flash" mode, where you race against your opponent to wipe out flashing bacteria quickly. All modes let you adjust speed between slow, normal and fast, and set the bacteria count.

Also included in the Dr. Mario game is Wi-Fi play, allowing you to face off against players from throughout the world via the Wi-Fi Connection service. You can select to face off against a randomly selected opponent, or send out invites to friends who've recorded your Dr. Mario friend code. Your gaming buddies don't actually need a copy of the game, as Nintendo has implemented a download play feature for this game, which sends a limited versus-only copy to members of your Wii Friend List via Wi-Fi Connect 24.

The other game included in the bundle will be recognizable to those who played through the Japanese Brain Age 2. Virus Buster has the same basic rules as the main Dr. Mario game, except you use the Wiimote to directly move capsules around on the play field. To make direct pointing controls feasible, Nintendo has zoomed the action in, so you won't have too much trouble grabbing hold of the capsules. This mode can be played simultaneously by up to four players, something which should come in handy once the game starts throwing multiple capsules at you simultaneously.

The main Dr. Mario mode is the main draw here though, and seems like it could be worth the 1,000 Wii Points, not only for the online play, but also for the convenience of having access to a Tetris-like experience on your Wii without having to switch out discs.

Hands On: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
The WiiWare launch title has us hooked.
by John Tanaka
March 25, 2008 - Given the space constraints Nintendo has imposed on WiiWare developers, we were a bit concerned that games for the service would be quick experiences that you play in between the real Wii games. That may not be the case, though, judging by our first couple of hours with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, which launched with the service in Japan today.

As we've noted in past previews, this new installment in the Crystal Chronicles series, subtitled My Life as a King and not to be confused with the full Wii Crystal Chronicles game, is a major change of pace for the series. While Square Enix calls it an RPG, it's actually more of a simulation game, where you attempt to build a city, constructing houses and shops and luring residents (also known as tax payers) to your growing kingdom.

The game begins when you and your party arrive in an abandoned, barren town. You stumble upon a large crystal, which gives you "Architecture Power," or the power to construct things. You decide to use this ability to build this new town into the image of your old home town, which was destroyed in the original GameCube Crystal Chronicles.

With your new powers, you're able to build your first home, selecting its positioning in your town, and its facing direction. After that, you simply press a button, and a few seconds later, you'll have a fully constructed home, and a couple of new residents inside, one of whom becomes your town's first soldier.

On its own, the architecture skill isn't enough to build up your town. To actually use the skill, you need spirit power, which can only be found in the dungeons and caves surrounding your town. You don't actually go out into these dungeons, though, instead entrusting hired soldiers to do the dirty work. Hiring these soldiers and sending them out on quests takes cash, which you get through taxes collected from your residents. To get more residents, and thus more taxes for hiring soldiers, you need to build new homes and shops.

It's all a big cycle, but the Crystal Chronicles experience can be broken down into two parts: building up your town and managing your soldiers.

At the start of each day, you choose the quests you'd like your soldiers to perform that day. Doing this is as simple as selecting dungeons and caves from a map, which grows throughout the course of the game to include new, tougher locations. Initially, you're limited to assigning a single quest per day, but this limit is cleared as you advance.

Once you've selected a set of quests, these get posted to message boards around town. Your first bit of activity after leaving the castle is usually to head to these message boards and assign the quests to individual soldiers. When determining which soldier goes on which quest, you need to consider the soldier's level, class and weapon set, as some dungeons may be impossible or difficult for some characters to clear.

We were able to send all our soldiers out on any given quest, although only one character actually manages to get through to the end of the dungeon and clear it. That may not take place within the limits of one day, though. Some dungeons take multiple days to clear, forcing you to reselect the same dungeon each day until the job is complete.

While you're not in direct control of them, the game does keep you in touch with your soldiers throughout the day. You receive notices when your warriors arrive at their intended locations, when they begin engaging in a fight with a tough enemy, and when they reach their goal. It's actually quite satisfying to learn of an soldier's impending arrival back home following a quest, and waiting to greet them at the town entrance. This meeting is actually recorded in the soldier's report that you get to read at the end of the day.

Your party of adventurers grows as you advance through the game. Each time you build a new home, one of the residents is sure to be a young warrior in training. This character will eventually approach you near the castle gates and ask that you take him or her into your employ, something that requires a hefty amount of cash.

As your soldiers are off fighting, you run around town interacting with your citizens and taking part in your building duties. Your big concerns with creating new structures is building up your town's population, keeping your townfolk happy and, keeping your adventurers well equipped. You start off with the ability to build nothing but houses, which takes care of your need for tax payer and adventurers. A bakery is added rather quickly to this, and seems to be used to keep your citizens happy One character whose house happened to be next to the bakery came up to our king and said how happy he was to be living next to a bakery.

Eventually, you learn how to build a weapons shop, which takes care of your need for weapons for your soldiers. However, even if you've built the weapon shop, you'll find it stocked with exactly zero items. To get some items, you have to hand over cash for weapons research.

All this has made for some compelling strategy so far. There's plenty to consider when deciding on new buildings and quests, and a growing list of options that should make things even more interesting for those who get far enough.

And for those who get really into it, the game could expand even further. Square Enix has provided some provisional details at its website on upcoming downloads for the game. Examples of content include additional houses which, when combined with clearing a special dungeon, unlock new character classes for your soldiers. Also planned are clothing downloads for your king. Pricing is expected to range between 100 and 300 points.

It may take up just 200 blocks of space, but Crystal Chronicles doesn't seem like a marginalized experience in any way. The simulation portion has kept us hooked for our couple hours of play time, signaling a good start for Nintendo's new downloadable games initiative.

Hands On: Star Soldier R
For those who like to chase the high score.
by John Tanaka
March 25, 2008 - When we first heard that Star Soldier was going to be part of the Japanese WiiWare launch lineup, we were excited at the prospect of getting an old school shooter brought up to Wii visual standards. Unfortunately, Hudson apparently had something a bit different in mind for its launch title, which hit Japan today in a crowded lineup of nine games.

Star Soldier R isn't a full shooter with multiple levels and bosses. Instead, the game gives you access exclusively to a score attack mode known as "Caravan Mode." You can select to play for two minutes or five minutes, working through, respectively, one or two levels of play.

Those two levels are full levels. They have plenty of targets, and large bosses waiting at the end. Your ship can be sped up to three levels and can be powered up with six shot levels and multiple shields.

With just two levels playable for only a few minutes of time, the point is apparently to get as many points as you can in order to compete in the game's online ranking mode. Whether or not that's worth the 800 Wii Points that Hudson is charging for the game in Japan depends on how much of a high score freak you are.

Basic premise aside, Star Soldier R feels a bit hastily put together. There's no reset option, so if you mess up and want to go back to the title screen, you have to do so via the Wii's Home menu. The actual interface for the online rankings is a joke. You can check the top thirty rankings for both two minute and five minute modes at regional, national, and worldwide levels. For some reason, you're required to connect individually to the Wi-Fi Connection service to get the ranking for each of the six combinations. They surely could have gotten all the rankings in one go.

We wouldn't be surprised if most have come to the conclusion by now that the "R" stands for ripoff. However, given that we managed to place in the thousands in the ranking mode, there are apparently a good number of high score freaks in Japan who deemed the experience worthy of the 800 Wii Points. If that description applies to you, you'll have to hope that Hudson determines that enough people like you exist in your part of the world top warrant an international release for Star Soldier R.

Hands-on Tenshi no Solitaire
Even Wii Ware needs shovelware.
by Bozon


March 25, 2008 - The first wave of WiiWare games have arrived in Japan, and it's pretty obvious right off the bat that gamers are going to need a discerning eye when selecting their downloads on Nintendo's new service. While some titles – such as Dr. Mario, or My Life as a King – are showing the strengths of the new Wii Shop Channel options, games like Tenshi no Solitaire are doing quite the contrary.

Tenshi no Solitaire is extremely simple, so we'll be brief. For a quick 500 points players can download Gmode's first Wii Ware title, boot it up, and play three basic versions of Solitaire on Wii. The game runs in 16:9 and 480p display – a great standard to embrace for download apps – but is astonishingly simple. Rather than using the Wii IR to select and move cards, the game instead uses the Wii remote on its side, having the d-pad control an on-screen finger "cursor" which can be moved around the screen.

Huh? No IR pointer implementation? How hard is that?

As an obvious quick piece of shovelware on the system, Tenshi no Solitaire offers the thinnest possible experience for your cash. It may ask only 500 points (the price of an NES game), but even then it's overpriced, as there's simply no reason to pick this one up on Wii, rather than playing with an actual deck of cards, or booting up a free version of Solitaire on a PC or on the net. Even the card games themselves aren't randomly dealt, and in an attempt to make the game more "puzzle-like" players end up playing the same dealing of cards multiple times, which takes the random element of Solitaire out completely.

You're better off just grabbing a deck of cards, and saving the 500 points.

Crystal Chronicles Getting Paid Downloads
More surprises as WiiWare launches in Japan.
by John Tanaka
March 25, 2008 - Square Enix's experiment in downloadable gaming may also turn into an experiment for the company in microtransactions. When you attempt to download Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, which launched with the Japanese version of the WiiWare service today, you're given a message warning that some parts of the game, including expansion packs and other services, may require extra Wii Points.

This is just a general warning that appears to be attached to any WiiWare title that may get paid content in the future. Outside of Cyrystal Chronicles, Mojipittan and LonPos also display the notice when making the download from the Wii Shopping Channel. The other six games do not.

Crystal Chronicles doesn't actually have any downloadable content at the moment, so we're presuming Square Enix has bolder plans for the game down the road.