Silver Star has a series of Shogi (aka Japanese Chess) games for PCs in Japan. On May 27, one of them is being adapted for WiiWare. Perhaps more interesting than seeing a downloadable Shogi game (note: one is coming to the Xbox 360 too) is the publisher behind Saikyou Gin Hoshi Shogi (Strongest Silver Star Shogi). This game is being published by Electronic Arts. The mammoth sized publisher hasn’t announced specific WiiWare plans yet, but now we know they are playing with the platform. Well, at least in Japan. It seems sort of odd to see Electronic Arts move into WiiWare first with a Shogi game, but it’s not technically developed by them. Silver Star is still doing the brunt of the work.
However, it doesn’t look like there was much work done. Saikyou Gin Hoshi Shogi is a no frills Shogi game with remote controlled piece dragging, ten save files and various levels of CPU opponents. You can play with a friend, but only locally. I imagine Saikyou Gin Hoshi Shogi would be more competitive if it included online multiplayer, but for 500 yen ($5) you get a bare bones Shogi game on the Wii.
Images courtesy of Silver Star.
Published: May 28, 2008 08:53 pm