Now Playing 08.25.2011

Now Playing features information for releases on all Nintendo systems for the next week. Check back every Thursday for more of the same.

Wii

August 30th, 2011
Driver: San Francisco (Ubisoft)
Madden NFL 12 (EA Sports)
Summer Challenge (dtp)

3DS Virtual Console

August 25th,2011
Gargoyle’s Quest (Capcom)

3DS

August 26th,2011
PAC-MAN & Galaga Dimensions (NAMCO-BANDAI Games)

August 30th,2011
Driver: Renegade (Ubisoft)
James Noir’s Hollywood Crimes (Ubisoft)

DS

August 28th,2011
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (Nintendo)
Bridge

August 30th,2011
1001 Touch Games
Hoppie
Junior Mystery Quest
Veggy World

There are a few heavy hitters this week, yes, even for Wii, in the shape of sales juggernaut Madden NFL 12 and the would be top-seller,Driver: San Francisco— which must surely be a make-or break-entry for the multi-platform series, now standing on its last leg.

3DS-wise there is PAC-MAN & Galaga Dimensions in Europe, which looks to house interesting takes on the coin-op classics, with differing viewpoints and new ways to play incorporated into these genre-defining titles. With any luck, the game will bring them bang up-to-date with the current 3D generation. Joining Namco’s 3DS effort is Ubisoft’s Driver: Renegade, which looks to take the baton from its console cousins and create a standalone experience which may have something to offer game-starved 3DS owners.

DS rounds up the release schedule for this week with the obligatory glut of shovelware. 1001 Touch Games and Junior Mystery Quest stand out in particular as titles that you may want to avoid. On a brighter note, is the release of Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2, the sequel to (surprise, surprise) Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker, itself a sequel to the Game Boy Color classics Dragon Warrior Monsters and Dragon Warrior Monsters 2. While Square-Enix was probably prompted into making this sequel because of good sales for the first Joker, it probably isn’t just a ramshackle effort and may be one to watch out for.

Lets us know below if there is anything in particular you are planning to buy from this list! What you are looking forward to as the summer ebbs away?