New games and a Splatoon update highlight the Nintendo Download

Badland: Game of the Year Edition and Xeodrifter are the newest additions to the Nintendo eShop, but Splatoon sticks around with a monster of an update.

Two quality titles, Badlands: Game of the Year Edition and side-scrolling retro title Xeodrifter, make up the main bulk of this week’s Nintendo Download. Both games are worth your attention, and if you haven’t played them before, pretty solid additions to the Wii U’s digital library.

And then there’s Splatoon. One of the strongest titles for the Wii U here in 2015 already, that multiplayer shooter is getting a pretty chunky set of additions next Wednesday. New modes, weapon types, and loads of fresh gear make up the pack, which should give you more than enough reason to get back in the fight, if you’ve taken the game out of rotation.

Full listings below:

• Nintendo eShop on Wii U
  • BADLAND: Game of the Year Edition – Fly through the award-winning world of BADLAND and discover an astonishing number of imaginative traps, puzzles and obstacles on the way. BADLAND is a side-scrolling action adventure with innovative physics-based game play and stunning atmospheric graphics and audio. Purchase and download now to enjoy beautiful HD visuals, more than 15 hours of single-player levels and up to four-player local multiplayer awesomeness with co-op and death matches! Click here to view a trailer for the game.
  • Xeodrifter – Xeodrifter is the story of an interstellar drifter traveling the stars on a simple mission of exploration. Blast your way through alien landscapes, seek out valuable secrets and defeat ancient guardians to unlock powers in this exciting journey of mystery and adventure. People who buy the Wii U version of Xeodrifter will also be able to download the game for Nintendo 3DS for free – and vice versa! Click here to view a trailer for the game.
  • New Splatoon Update – On Aug. 5, a free software update for the Splatoongame on the Wii U console brings new content to the game, including two new matchmaking modes, new weapon types, an increase to the game’s level caps and more than 40 pieces of new gear. Following this update, more content will continually roll out through the rest of the summer and fall, including the Rainmaker Ranked Battle mode, additional maps and new weapons. For more information visit http://splatoon.nintendo.com.
  • Just Dance 2016 – Demo Version – Play the free Just Dance 2016 demo today in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U! No additional Wii Remote controllers are required – you can download the free Just Dance Controller app to your iOS or Android device to turn your smartphone into a controller.
• Virtual Console on Wii U
  • Celebrate Kirby’s Aug. 1 Birthday Today with Three Classic Games – Kirby first appeared in North America in August 1992 in the Kirby’s Dream Land game for the Game Boy system. To celebrate this special occasion, we are releasing three classic Kirby games in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U today – Kirby Squeak Squad (Nintendo DS), Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards(Nintendo 64) and Kirby’s Return to Dream Land (Wii). Learn more by visiting http://kirby.nintendo.com.

Nintendo eShop Sales:

• Nintendo eShop on Wii U
  • Elliot Quest is 15 percent off (reduced from $12.99 to $10.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on August 13.
  • High Strangeness is 50 percent off (reduced from $9.99 to $4.99) beginning at 9 a.m. PT on Aug. 3 until 8:59 a.m. PT on Aug. 9.
  • 99Moves, Abyss and Rock Zombie from EnjoyUp are on sale until 8:59 a.m. PT on Aug. 27.

• Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS
  • Castle Conqueror Defender, Demon King Box and Quell Memento from Circle Entertainment are on sale until 8:59 a.m. PT on Aug. 20.
  • Toys vs. Monsters is 50 percent off (reduced from $3.99 to $1.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on Aug. 23.

Activities:

• Miiverse has an entire new look and new features! – With a new Screen Shot Album and Play Journal features, there is a lot to explore! Get ready to have more fun than ever sharing tips, drawings and comments on Miiverse. Check out https://miiverse.nintendo.net/special/redesign_announcement for all the fun details.
• Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. “Sink or Swim” 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 “Sink or Swim” tournament runs July 31 through Aug. 9. 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: Classic Theme

Price reduction:

• LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham has been reduced to $19.99 (from $29.99).

Also new this week:

• Endless Golf (Nintendo eShop on Wii U)
• Best of Board Games – Mahjong (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS)
• Best of Board Games – Solitaire (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS)
• Flick Golf 3D (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS)

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.