Konami’s classic arcade-turned-NES shooter Gradius brought to the table a unique weapon-upgrade system that would be a defining element in every successive Gradius game. It also had a singular art style that filled deep space with abstract robots, volcanoes, and those gigantic Easter Island heads. Through its nostalgia-tickling Virtual Console system, Nintendo has released the NES version of Gradius for the Wii, and it’s a pitch-perfect emulation, right down to the texture flicker. Its structure can also prove to be screamingly difficult, and despite being only six, relatively short levels in length, it’s a serious challenge to get to the end.

Publisher Ubisoft today announced that it is underway with a new property for Nintendo’s Wii console.

The game, called Cosmic Family, is a “space adventure geared toward young children,” according to the company. It’s being developed by Ubisoft’s Barcelona studio and will ship around the world later this year.

The mastermind behind the experiment wrote: “I outlined a 6 week game plan for myself, the idea being that I would continue ALL normal activity and eating habits, and simply add 30 minutes of Wii Sports to my day. For the past month and a half, I’ve stuck to these guidelines very strictly.”

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As the Wii continues to sell out around the world, game publishers are getting over any trepidation they may have had in publishing games for the new system. The latest to announce a new title for the console is Namco Bandai, who today revealed that a game based on its Tamagotchi license is in the works.

Konami’s support for both the PS3 and Wii appears to have taken a major hit. The release list in the latest issue of Famitsu reveals that a number of next generation titles previously announced by the company are no longer in development.