The eShop hits the court in this week’s Nintendo Download

There isn’t a ton of new content debuting on Nintendo’s consoles this week,  but Mario Tennis might hit the spot for a few fans.

Launching on the Virtual Console this week, Mario Tennis features all your favorite Nintendo characters in action, set in the Mushroom Kingdom with all the trappings that you’d expect of that. Up to three players can compete in this one and you’l have a few modes to choose from.

And while tennis might not be the most popular of sports, it’s your best pick this week, which sees precious little emerging for purchase on the eShop. In fact, other than Mario Tennis, there’s nothing reall of note releasing this week, and only a few minor launches to speak of.

Even the sales are kind of meh, though 40% off the ticketed price on Persona Q for the 3DS is pretty sharp and there are a few indie games in that sale grouping that are very solid. Scroll down for the abbreviated offerings.

• Virtual Console on Wii U
  • Mario Tennis – The Mushroom Kingdom’s finest hit the court in this wild multiplayer tennis game from Camelot, the talented developers behind the Golden Sun and Mario Golf games. Put some power and spin into your shots to claim victory on your own, or go head to head with up to three friends who also have the game in multiple modes.

Nintendo eShop Sales:

• Nintendo eShop on Wii U
  • The Epic Indie Sale – Own or buy one of the participating Nindie games and take 60 percent off ALL other participating games. The offer lasts until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 23. Visit http://www.nintendo.com/eshop/offers for more details.
  • Frenchy Bird is 50 percent off (reduced from $1.99 to $0.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 16.
  • TNT Racers – Nitro Machines Edition is 37 percent off (reduced from $7.99 to $4.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 23.

• Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS
  • Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth is 40 percent off (reduced from $49.99 to $29.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 20.
  • Snow Moto Racing 3D is 50 percent off (reduced from $7.99 to $3.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 23.
  • AeternoBlade is 46 percent off (reduced from $14.99 to $7.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on Aug. 5.

Activities:

• Camp Miiverse – Camp Miiverse returns this year! Running now through July 20, Camp Miiverse is a Miiverse-themed summer camp that splits Miiverse into two teams: Team Yoshi vs. Team Toad. Your Camp Miiverse guides, Tom and Amy, will invite you to participate in fun activities for games such as Splatoon, Mario Kart 8 and Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Once complete, users can post a screen shot of the finished activity to that game’s community with either a #TeamYoshi or #TeamToad hashtag. Which team will come out on top? Check out the Camp Miiverse community on Miiverse here for continuing updates.

• Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. “Supernatural” Tournament – See how your squad stacks up online in Nintendo’s Public Tournaments. Top players earn unique titles that are visible online and earn major bragging rights with your friends and around the world! The new “Supernatural” tournament runs July 7 through July 12. Opt in via the SpotPass feature for notifications about future tournaments. Good luck, agents!

Theme Shop on Nintendo 3DS:

• New themes this week include:
  • Etrian Odyssey Untold 2: Story Theme

Permanent Price Reductions

• Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS
  • Pyramids 2 on Nintendo 3DS is reduced to $3.00 (from $4.99) beginning at 9 a.m. PT on July 10.

Also new this week:

• Asteroid Quarry (Nintendo eShop on Wii U)
• Dare Up Adrenaline (Nintendo eShop on Wii U)
• DON’T CRASH (Nintendo eShop on Wii U)
• KEYTARI: 8-Bit Music Maker (Nintendo eShop on Wii U)
• Land it Rocket (Nintendo eShop on Wii U)
• Neon Battle (Nintendo eShop on Wii U)
• Santa Factory (Nintendo eShop on Wii U)

In addition to video games available at retail stores, Nintendo also offers a variety of content that people can download directly to their systems. Nintendo adds new games weekly to the Nintendo eShop on the Wii U console and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems, the Nintendo DSi^™ Shop for the Nintendo DSi system and the Wii^™ Shop Channel for the Wii console.

The Nintendo eShop is a cash-based service that features a wide variety of content, including new and classic games, applications and demos. Users can add money to their account balances by using a credit card or purchasing a Nintendo eShop Card at a retail store and entering the code from the card. All funds from one card must be loaded in the Nintendo eShop on either Wii U or the Nintendo 3DS family of systems, but can be used in either Nintendo eShop if the systems are linked to a single Nintendo Network account.

The Wii Shop Channel offers games and applications and uses Wii Points^™, which can be purchased via the Wii Shop Channel. The Nintendo DSi Shop offers games and applications and uses Nintendo DSi Points^™, which can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop.

Remember that Wii U, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL, Nintendo 2DS and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage some of the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu or http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.