As I have said before, Nintendo likes to be somewhat creative in how they send games to the press, and this week’s arrival of Super Paper Mario for the Wii was no exception. Packed with a snazzy pair of 3D glasses, the game promises to be one of the first must own games for the Wii. Of course, it being a first party title, this does little to stem the tide of criticism levied at the console and its pedigree of being a first party only platform. But that is the subject for another, separate debate. Now I retire to the den where I’ll be devoting the next several hours to playing the game. Impressions of the title and its associated waggle will be forthcoming.

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As if willed into existence, Sega Japan has issued confirmation of the NiGHTS sequel that has been tumbling across the internet over the last couple of weeks. Little has been released concerning the upcoming title up until today, however Sega has now confirmed that the game, tentatively titled NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, is expected to be released this fall for the Wii. I suspect this one will play a central role in Sega’ E3 presence in July, so look for more in the coming months.

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While last week may have been an anemic period for the Wii’s Virtual Console, that cannot be said this week, as Nintendo has released a trio of favorites over the online service. Among these “new” releases are Nintendo 64 classic Star Fox 64, now available for 1,000 Wii Points ($10), as well as one of the most difficult NES games ever released in Konami’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and one of my favorite TurboGrafx-16 adventure games, Dragon’s Curse, both of which are available now for 600 Wii Points ($6).

As an (over)enthusiastic fan of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of sci-fi drama Battlestar Galactica, I was understandably excited to hear about [url=http://www.game-warden.com/bsg/downloads.html]the release of a demo[/url] for [url=http://www.game-warden.com/bsg/]Beyond the Red Line[/url], a stand-alone total conversion for Volition and Interplay’s PC classic Freespace 2.

The game, which is based on the Sci Fi channel’s updated series and (thankfully) not the campy 70s original, is free and does [b]not [/b]require Freespace 2, so don’t worry about having to go rummage for your old discs.

Among the features boasted by the game, which the developers say will be done “when it’s done”, include originally engineered audio, an original in-game soundtrack in addition to pieces by Bear McCreary and Richard Gibbs, and original characters and voice acting. The final game will also include a three mission single player campaign “depicting never-before-seen events, interwoven with and true to the series’ storyline,” as well as online multiplayer offerings such as deathmatch, capture the flag, and other unspecified modes.

So what are you waiting for. Head [url=http://www.game-warden.com/bsg/downloads.html]here[/url] to download the demo, hop into your Viper, and kick some Toaster ass. What else do you have to do until 2008 anyway?

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