EnjoyUp Games has today announced that Chronos Twins DX will be released for WiiWare by Nintendo of Europe on Friday April 2^nd. The game has already had some great reviews across the board, receiving IGN’s WiiWare Game of the Month award for January 2010 following its US release, and being heralded by Cubed3 as one of their Most Anticipated 2010 WiiWare games. This is what Jorge Biedma from EnjoyUp Games had to say about Chronos Twins DX:

“We’re very excited with the European launch of Chronos Twins DX, and we hope European users enjoy the new experience and originality that Chronos Twins DX offers with this ‘DualPlay’ system. Also we want to thank the press for their support and the American users for the great acceptance of the game. We wish to follow these steps in Europe.”

No word as yet as to how many Wii Points the game will cost, but we’re guessing it’ll be worth it!

With its twin oriental and wild west themes Red Steel 2 can’t be the easiest game to provide a musical score for, but Ubisoft has revealed today that renowned composer Tom Salta has written and produced an original soundtrack for Red Steel 2 that is designed to fully reflect the game’s unusual setting of a mixed metropolis in the middle of the American desert where Eastern and Western cultures collide. According to Ubisoft, Salta’s score is part guitar-driven Wild West, and part evocative Asian.

Fans might recall that Tom Salta’s soundtrack for the first Red Steel game received numerous accolades, including IGN’s Wii Award for Best Original Music, and it sounds like we can expect something equally spectacular from him this time around. Here’s Isabelle Ballet, music supervisor for Red Steel 2, talking about Tom Salta’s score:

“Tom Salta is an extremely versatile composer and delivers a unique and dynamic soundtrack for Red Steel 2. He has crafted various music styles including mixing blues guitars with traditional Asian instruments to produce an energetic, hybrid score that motivates and immerses players in the action. We can’t wait to share this experience with everyone!”

Red Steel 2 will be released exclusively for the Wii on March 26^th 2010.

With the March 25^th release date for GTI Club Supermini Festa! for Nintendo WiiWare getting ever closer, Konami has today announced an extra launch day give-away, in the shape of a special custom paint job for use on the game’s Mini Cooper S, Abarth 500, Volkswagen Polo GTI and Peugeot 207 GTi cars. Konami has also released renders of all four custom paint jobs, which you can see here in all their glory. Owners of the game can access the exclusive downloadable content via the Wii’s online capabilities. All you have to do is join the Ranking option to obtain the DLC. It will then be available for all cars currently unlocked and stored in the game’s Garage location. Konami also revealed today that players can expect more downloadable content for the game in the near future.

GTI Club Supermini Festa! is based on the latest arcade iteration of the long-running series, and charges the player with racing a series of compact cars around various citiscapes across France, UK, Italy, US and Japan.

Following a report today in British tabloid The Sun that a Wii game is currently in development based on cult sci-fi UK TV show Doctor Who, MCV have done a bit of investigating and managed to get the story confirmed, although Koch Media, who MCV says will apparently be handling the sales and marketing of the game, declined to comment when they contacted them. However, MCV’s unnamed source has also told them that the game will be released as early as this October, and will feature the new Doctor, Matt Smith, as well as legendary Doctor Who villains such as the Daleks, Cybermen and Silurians.

News of the Doctor Who game follows a previous MCV exclusive back in January in which they revealed BBC Worldwide’s plans to get back into the games market, and specifically mentioned Doctor Who as being one of the main money-spinning franchises that BBC Worldwide was looking at licensing.

Zallag has today revealed fresh details about its forthcoming WiiWare racing title that’s currently being developed by Artefacts Studio. The game features 20 tracks across six different islands, and aside from testing your driving skills, will also test your aiming skills as you get the chance to target other drivers with your Wii Remote as you speed your way around the track.

There are six playable characters in all, each with their own car and unique weapon. There are also the usual power-ups to pick up along the track, plus a four-player split-screen mode. If you like the look of the island and character artwork we’ve got here, then you’ll be pleased to know that there will also be a comic book available digitally that presents the universe and art of the game, further expanding the background of the adventure. The comic is illustrated by Studio 109 and scripted by Hubert Chardot (who wrote the script for the Alone in the Dark games).

Racers’ Islands: Crazy Racers is coming soon for WiiWare.

Nintendo’s Hanabi Festival, a celebration of Virtual Console gaming, returns from March 12^th with a week-by-week release of lots of classic games that have never been previously seen in Europe. Among the games that will be featured in the festival, which is named after the famous Japanese fireworks festivals, is, as predicted in January, Castlevania Rondo of Blood (Turbografx-published by Konami), the tenth installment in the Castlevania series, which was previously only available in Japan on the PC Engine system, and will be available for 900 Wii points. In subsequent weeks the likes of Milon’s Secret Castle (NES-published by Hudson Soft), Ironclad (NEOGEO-published by D4 Enterprise) and Lode Runner (NES-published by Hudson Soft) are all set to appear as part of the festival, with Milon’s Secret Castle and Lode Runner both costing 600 Wii Points and Ironclad costing 1000. To learn more about the forthcoming Hanabi Festival releases, check out Nintendo’s official UK Virtual Console page and Hudson Entertainment’s Hanabi Festival page.

2K Sports has today announced that they have signed Ryan Kesler, star two-way forward for the Vancouver Canucks and 2010 Winter Olympics hero, to be featured as the cover athlete and spokesman for NHL 2K11. As a vital member of the 2010 US Olympic hockey team, Kesler caught the attention of sports fans worldwide with his gritty performances, so kudos to 2K for getting him to ink the deal. This is what Kesler had to say about his involvement in the game:

“Having the opportunity to participate in the Olympics and play in front of my home crowd was one of the best experiences of my life. To now be chosen as the next cover athlete for NHL 2K11 is another dream come true. It was awesome to work with 2K Sports last year on the NHL 2K10 commercial shoot and the outdoor motion capture session on the Las Vegas strip was incredible to be a part of. I’m looking forward to having just as much fun again, and helping them make another great hockey game this year.”

NHL 2K11 is currently being developed by Visual Concepts, a 2K Sports studio, and is due for release on the Wii in fall 2010.

Icon Games Entertainment has today launched a competition in which, among other prizes, the winner will get to help design its forthcoming WiiWare game, Stunt Cars 2, due for release in late 2010, as well as literally getting their name in lights in another forthcoming Icon WiiWare game, RaceTrax. To enter the competition, all you have to do is download and play the first Stunt Cars WiiWare game (800 Nintendo Points), and then send an email with your ideas about what you’d like to see in Stunt Cars 2, along with your contact details, to comp@icongames.com, by the closing date of April 30^th 2010.

The best three entries, as chosen by Icon, will each receive the following prizes:

• Dedicated in-game billboard design, featuring their name, in RaceTrax – Icon’s new racing game in development for the Nintendo Wii & PSP
• Copy of RaceTrax upon release
• A special thanks in the RaceTrax credits
• 2,000 Nintendo Wii Points

And, the knowledge that some of your ideas have helped shape a video game! I’m going to email them right now with my idea for a Tower Defense Zombie Hunting Stunt Car game!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gajin Games have today released a trailer for their forthcoming  WiiWare Game, BIT.TRIP RUNNER, the fourth in the BIT.TRIP series (BEAT, CORE and VOID are the previous three ). The series has understandably built up a big following, with critics and fans alike loving the quirky retro look of the games and the simple-but-addictive fun of the old-school arcade-style gameplay. You just can’t help but smile after seeing the trailer, and  many are saying that this is the best of the four games so far. This is what Alex Neuse, Gaijin Games designer, had to say about the BIT.TRIP series:

“The Gaijin Games team wanted to make a game that used the tools of today to inspire the fun of yesterday. Our goal was to make a game that was as simple in gameplay as the games of the early ‘80s and equally as fun, even though gamers’ tastes have changed over the years. And let’s face it, sometimes a really good videogame is just awesome.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

No word as yet on the WiiWare release date, although Gaijin say “we’re guessing summer-ish” on their Twitter page.

Hudson Entertainment has today announced that its best-selling Diner Dash game will be released for WiiWare on March 29^th 2010, in partnership with the game’s creators, PlayFirst.  In this 3D version of the game, which has been specially adapted for the next generation consoles, players can take direct control of Flo as she tries to run her busy diner, seat customers, take orders, deliver food, collect payment and bus tables, all within a time limit. Alternatively, those players who prefer the more traditional control scheme can use “Flo Control” with hotkeys to help Flo in her quest for customer satisfaction. Keep an eye on the heart meter to ensure that the level of customer satisfaction remains high and prevent customers getting impatient and leaving the restaurant. As well as the single-player mode, you can also play with up to seven others across four diners in Team Dash, or go one-on-one in the head-to-head mode. Here’s what Sabine Duvall, vice president of product development at Hudson Entertainment had to say about the game:

“Diner Dash has been serving heaps of fun for years and Wii owners will soon get their first taste of the action. New controls designed especially for the Wii and a new multiplayer mode will keep gamers coming back for second helpings.”

The Code Monkeys Ltd has today announced that its iPhone recreational shooting game, Triple Shot Sports, will be released for WiiWare on March 15^th, for 500 Wii Points. As with real-life recreational shooting events, in the game the player will have full control over the aim of the weapon, and must also take the prevailing weather conditions and the athlete’s breathing pattern into account, as both can have a considerable effect on shot accuracy. The game includes a variety of sports that come under the “shooting” umbrella, such as Archery, Pistol Shooting and Free Rifle, all of which are sports that traditionally derived from hunting and combat skills before evolving into competitive sports.  The iPhone version of the game was very well received by the critics, and you can find out more about it at The Code Monkeys’ official website.