Longtime game industry stalwart Hudson is back with more games from the old days. It's bringing back pinball classic Alien Crush with a new twist for WiiWare. Three new screens for it are out, plus fresh skinny on Karaoke Joysound has been dished out. Hit the jump and get the details.

Southpeak Games is releasing a new pinball game for the PC, Wii, and Nintendo DS this Spring. The game is called Dream Pinball 3D and boasts of a realistic physics engine and stunning visuals. Details and screenshots for each platform lie in the full article.

Wii owners in Europe take notice - Kirby's Ghost Trap and Devil's Crush will be making their way to your consoles very, very soon, via Nintendo's offering to the retro world, the Virtual Console.

Let's hop onto the time machine and pretend it's 1995 once more, just to see what these games are all about.

First up is Kirby's Ghost Trap. Not quite the ghost-busting title we'd want Kirby to star in, but a very fun puzzle game nonetheless. Defeat each and every one of Kirby's foes by strategically stacking and blending fast-moving, color-coded blobs.

If you do it right, you'll cause a massive chain reaction that will cause a torrent of ghostly ghouls to rain upon your hapless enemies. Featuring 16 levels and familiar enemies from the Kirby Universe, any fan of the pink blob with a black hole for a stomach will feel at home with this VC title. Kirby's Ghost Trap is available for download for a mere pittance of 800 Wii points.

Next up is the aptly-titled Devil's Crush. Again, no devil-crushing to be seen, but rather a wickedly-awesome pinball game with lurking enemies, and a cool-looking pinball board. Using the Devil Shooter and the requisite paddles to keep the ball crashing and smashing for points, you can unlock a total of six bonus stages for more demon pinball action. Definitely one for the pinball guys, and a steal for 600 Wii points.

It's time for another update about what's new on the North American Virtual Console. As usual, there are three new classic games for Wii owners to enjoy this week.

First is Kirby's Dream Course. For 800 Wii Points, gamers can get this SNES original and go for a really weird round of golf on a floating golf course in the sky. This one- or two-player game lets players pitch and putt Kirby through a maze of three-dimensional obstacles on a checkerboard course, hitting enemies along the way.

Next is Shining Force. This turn-based strategy RPG for the Sega Genesis is available for 800 Wii Points. Younger gamers may have experienced the GBA remake of this title, Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon. The objective in this game is to dispatch the Dark Dragon, who is threatening the world with hordes of evil creatures.

Finally, you can also grab Devil's Crush for 600 Wii points. This TurboGrafx-16 game is the sequel to the pinball game Alien Crush and is for one to two players. As a sequel, it brings enough pinball action to the table to satisfy even hardcore pinball enthusiasts.

A simple search at the online database of the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) will yield interesting results that should make any Wii owner happy. Accordingly, a lot of classic video games have just been rated, clearly slated for the console's Virtual Console (VC).

You have to take note though that these titles have just been rated and there's no telling when they will go live. Just the same, it's interesting to know what titles we could be having next month, or probably even next week.

With all that jazz said, here's the list:

• Shinobi III: Return Of The Ninja Master
• Eswat: City Under Siege
• Wrecking Crew
• Strider
• Devil's Crush - Naxat Pinball
• Drop Off
• Shockman
• Battle Lode Runner
• Silent Debuggers
• Bonk's Revenge
• Volley Ball
• Yoshi's Cookie
• Landstalker: The Treasure Of King Nole
• Ghouls 'n Ghosts
• Ninja Spirit
• Galaga '90
• Blazing Lazers
• Axelay
• Probotector Ii: Return Of The Evil Forces
• Super Mario Bros. 3
• Crack Down
  
• Sonic The Hedgehog 3

Here's the first E3 trailer video of Crave Entertainment's pinball title Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection for the the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo Wii platforms. The video game is scheduled to become available this Summer and is a follow up to Gottlieb Pinball Classics also for the above mentioned consoles.

Anyway, just like the name implies, The Williams Collection features a total of eight classic tables including the first ever talking pinball machine Gorgar, 1984 wonder Space Shuttle, and even the table named Black Knight which introduced Magna-Save and Bonus Ball.

If you want to know more, just watch the video clip below as it also reveals some of Pinball Hall of Fame's added features. The Wii version will be priced for US$ 29.99 while the PSP version will be sold for US$ 19.99.

 

USK is Germany's software rating organization, much like the ESRB in the U.S. and Australia and New Zealand's OFLC. Over at the group's official online site, two retro titles have just been rated anew to be included in the Virtual Console's library of video games. The titles are Dragon Spirit and Devil Crash.

Namco's Dragon Spirit first appeared back in 1987 on Namco System 1 hardware but was later ported to other platforms. Personally, I played the NES version called Dragon Spirit: The New Legend from not so way back. The game is a vertical scroller where players control the blue dragon Amul to save the Kingdom of Mitgult's princess, Alicia.

Devil Crash, meanwhile, is more popularly known as Devil's Crush in North America. It was released back in 1990 on the TurboGrafx-16. There's nothing much to say about this game really because it's basically a pinball simulation game. Probably the game's most notable feature is its rather eerie theme with the tables oftentimes covered with demons and ghouls.

There's still no mention as to when the two titles will be available for download. And lastly, in case you really want to know, Germany's USK stands for Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle.

Europe will be seeing three new (well, old actually) Sega titles on the Wii Virtual Console this week. All three titles also have a little "orb" theme going on, although the last one's pretty tenuous at best. Anyway, on to the titles.

First up is Sonic Spinball. It's pinball with a Sonic twist, as Sonic (who is shaped like an orb when he does that spinning thing he does so well) tries to thwart Dr.Eggman's (who is also orb-shaped!) plans by causing a volcanic eruption by removing the Chaos Emeralds used to pacify the firey mountain. Sonic Spinball launches this week for 800 Wii Points.

Next, we have Vectorman. This Sega title from the '90s features Vectorman (who's made of - you guessed it - orbs!) as he tries to bring an end to a robot war and bring peace to Earth through the use of his powers of transformation. Vectorman will be downloadable for 800 Wii Points.

Finally, we have The Story of Thor. There are no orbs in this one apart from some of the spirit attacks, but this game's American title is Beyond Oasis and "Oasis" begins with an "O", which looks like - wait for it - an orb! Well, we did say the connection was tenuous. Anyway, this action adventure title can be downloaded for 800 Wii Points. See, even the download costs all have that orb vibe!

Bring back the glory days of the Sega MegaDrive as the former console-making company announces Australian releases in the Virtual Console. The games? Sonic Spinball, Vectorman and The Story of Thor.

   

April 6th marks the date when the three classics drop to Nintendo's online service. Wii owners will be thrilled to know that even if Nintendo is mum on the subject, Sega has confirmed all of these developments from its people in Europe.

Of the three, Vectorman could be the biggest crowd-pleaser. You command a green robot in his war against WarHead, a mechanized warlord who has claimed command of Earth after humans left for a new home. Morphing into tanks, trains and drills just to name a few, you'll find yourself engrossed in hours of intense action blasting away at fellow robots.

The Story of Thor takes you on an epic journey to find four elemental spirits that will aid you in your quest to save your besieged kingdom. Sonic Spinball, on the other hand, is a pinball spin-off of the classic, high-octane platformer. Dr. Eggman is living his robot fetishes again, and for some reason he wants to turn furry animals to metallic critters. It's up to Sonic to break down Robotnik's pinball defense system and blow the top off his base.

We're eagerly awaiting the return of these blasts from the past.

  

It was just last week when developer System 3 fired fruits down the pinball machine...Or was it the other way around? Oh heck! Let's just do away with the fancy opening paragraph and get the facts straight shall, we?

As we have said, System 3 has just announced new titles Super Fruitfall and Gottlieb Pinball Classics for the Wii. They would like to inform everyone today that both titles will be available on December 8, simultaneous with the European launch of the new Nintendo console.

Managing Director Mark Cale is rather proud of the two creation saying "Super Fruitfall is a fantastic concept and offers a very broad appeal making it the perfect pick-up title for Day One hardware purchasers." Likewise, he commented on the pinball game, "we’ve further enhanced the control system to utilise the unique features of the Wii and I’m proud of the great job we’ve done with Gottlieb Pinball Classics."

And that is the news. Rather simple, huh? No complications such as region locks and codings, no misunderstandings like the unannounced Wii channels. With an information delivered just like that, we expect you guys to be there on December 8, picking up your Wii and possibly both titles.

Picking up your Wii? Ugh.