As much as you and I might think that Beer Pong - Frat Party Games is a brilliant idea for a WiiWare title, others disagree. One of those wet blankets is Connecticut's attorney general Richard Blumenthal, who thinks that the Teen rating from the ESRB wasn't the smartest move in the world. I might disagree, as kids should learn early that binge drinking is a fantastic way to kill a Thursday night/millions of brain cells/possibly the passenger's of the vehicle you're driving.

So, summertime kind of makes me want to go to amusement parks, but since all I really do is sit inside my un-airconditioned apartment and play video games, I feel glad that Majesco is looking after my interests with the announcement of Wonder World Amusement Park for Wii, shipping to retail today with 30 carnival-style minigames and five "interactive rides".

The park's got five themed zones: Spookyville, Fairytale, Space, Pirate and, quite logically, Carnival. There's a single-player Story Mode and multiplayer for up to three that I assume is local-only. Spookyville sounds rad, and while I'm no coulrophobic, this clown definitely spooks me a little.

Coyote Console's the developer; full details after the jump.

If Nintendo reveals the Wii iteration of Animal Crossing, we shan't use a single exclamation point in our liveblog upon the announcement. We already know that Nintendo of Japan has tentatively dated the game for a 2008 release at home and just assume that Nintendo of America will follow suit. According to the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine, it sounds like the announcement has already happened.

Tom East, online editor for ONM, writes on his blog that "those of you who have read the new issue of Official Nintendo Magazine should already know that Animal Crossing Wii will be unveiled at the conference". QED, I guess.

Since we've yet to see any ONM subscribers excitedly spill the details from the mag online — if there are any details, that is, outside of the brief Animal Crossing Wii mention we've already seen — we're going to hold tight on this almost-confirmation. But yeah, Animal Crossing Wii. We'll be shocked if it doesn't come up next Tuesday.

One Week To Go... [Official Nintendo Magazin]

At a press conference held yesterday in Japan, Namco Bandai's Makoto Yoshizumi has apparently announced the development of another Tales game. This time for the Wii. And no, he's not talking about Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, he's talking about another one. With Dawn of the New World, Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Hearts and Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 all on their way, this makes the currently unnamed title the fifth Tales game currently in developmenti. Leave no stone unturned, Namco Bandai!

Tales Series Continues on Wii [IGN]

As posted earlier, Kotaku's own Mike "Michael" McWhertor was impressed with Skate It's straight forward incorporation of the Wii Balance Board. But for some, maybe just the regular Wii Balance Board isn't enough to get them in the mood for skating. Maybe they want something to sexy the board up. You know, like some sort of snap-on peripheral. Nothing's been announced by EA, but rumours persist Skate It will ship with something like that. When asked if such Balance Board peripheral exists, EA replied:

That's something I haven't heard. So... Our focus is just working with what is provided by Nintendo. So there's not an extra piece. You know, it's really about working with the Balance Board. So if you have one, this is another game you can play with it. It's not about fitness, it's about skateboarding and having fun.

There's a video after the jump. Watch it if you like.

Lots of people have the Nintendo Wii. For example, I have a Nintendo Wii and, yes, maybe you do too! With such a high install base, making Wii games would seem like a valuable part of any developer's arsenal. Not Epic's, no sir-ey. The developer has stated in the past that it has no intentions of making Wii games, and Epic honcho Mark Rein still is sticking with his nothanks.jpg for Wii development:

Marvellous' upcoming Little King's Story for the Wii looks brilliant. A delightful fairy-tale aesthetic, gameplay that promises to be a hands-on version of The Settlers and cow knights? All exciting stuff. Made even more exciting by the announcement today of one of your rival kingdoms in the game. Which is...the Kingdom of the Drunkards. Led by King Duvroc, he "wishes for everyone in the world to be happy" and "thinks it's Mardi Gras all year round". Duvroc has a daughter, Princess Bouquet. She loves science. And is trapped in a pot. Once you beat Duvroc, "the princess will appear from inside the pot". Can't wait.

Pre-E3 2008: Little King's Story [IGN]

We hope you're ready for a world in which all games are controlled with your feet, because following the success of Wii Fit and the welcoming of the game's Balance Board peripheral by third-party developers, it's only going to ramp up from here. Fortunately, in the case of the Skate It at least, playing games with your feet may not be such a bad thing. It has the potential to be about as awkward as any attempt to ride a skateboard, if it's your first time, but you might be surprised at how easily one can pull off nose manuals and nollie kickflips within minutes.

The Harvest Moon farm/life sim franchise is coming up on ten years old! Natsume will toast the anniversary with not one, but two new games "later this quarter", and promises tons of commemorative goodies, too.

There's Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness for DS, and Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility for Wii. And yes, there will be pre-order bonus stuffed toys.

Please hold the girl jokes, but as a fan, I think this news is amazing. Especially because the screenshots, handily provided for you after the jump, show that in the Wii version, you can ride on an ostrich. Horses are so ten years ago. And screenshots for the DS version (one of which seriously shows a girl saying "Wow, it's bigger than I thought"), reveal not only that the possible girlfriends are as decision-wrenchingly cute as always, but that the top screen map will actually show you where townsfolk are so that you can visit them.

Full announcement after the jump.

Mega Man 9 [Go Nintendo]