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Earthworm Jim is set to return in a new TV series
The cult classic '90s game Earthworm Jim is coming back to TV as a new series.
Sorry I missed your 30th birthday, Super NES
I missed one of my best friend’s birthdays this week – but belated best wishes are better than nothing. So, to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, my favorite console of all time, which arrived in the US on August 23rd, 1991, I wish you many happy returns.
Nintendo 'gigaleak' reveals the classic games that never were
An apparent leak of Nintendo art and source code has revealed prototypes for legions of classic games, including 'Yoshi's Island' and 'Star Fox 2.'
The legendary Nintendo PlayStation prototype is up for auction
For years it was the stuff of legend -- a games console that incorporated both a CD drive and SNES cartridge slot made with the official backing of PlayStation and Nintendo? But back in 2015 we saw the magical prototype for ourselves and even had a play with it. Now, after years of touring the world to show off the system to classic gaming fans, the owner of what is believed to be the only remaining Nintendo PlayStation system is putting the console up for sale.
16-bit 'Aladdin' and 'Lion King' cartridges are returning in 2020
Are the modern ports of Aladdin and The Lion King not sufficiently nostalgic for you? You're about to get your retro fix, and then some. Nighthawk Interactive and iam8bit are planning physical releases of the classic Disney games, including limited "Legacy" cartridges for Aladdin on the Genesis/Mega Drive, and Lion King on SNES -- about as authentic as it gets short of finding an original copy on eBay. They'll cost $100 each, won't ship until early 2020 and will only have 4,500 available units each, but you don't get many opportunities like this. Pre-orders start October 24th at 1PM Eastern on iam8bit.
20 SNES games are coming to Nintendo Switch tomorrow
Nintendo Switch Online members have been able to play NES games on Switch for several months, and you won't have to wait much longer until you can finally play SNES games on the console. A whole bunch of them will drop September 5th, and they're included with a Switch Online subscription.
Nintendo backs off of bringing Super Nintendo games to Wii U
Bad news for Super Nintendo fans: your Wii U fix is about to dry up. Nintendo's Virtual Console, the download service offering older games on its consoles and handhelds, has never had the most robust selection. With Nintendo turning its eye towards N64 games, though, SNES releases are being left behind. According to Natsume, a publisher with a plethora of SNES games primed for re-release, Nintendo is done with 16-bit for now.
This guy wants $164,000 for his gigantic video game collection
Do you have $164,000 handy? If so, you can snag nearly every retro console game since the beginning of the NES era. Ebay seller "reel.big.fish," also known as Nintendo Twizer, is selling a positively massive collection of games and consoles, spanning everything from the NES to Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Game Gear, Game Boy and much more. He claims to have complete sets of every single game for Super Nintendo, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Virtual Boy, 32X, Sega Master System, Game Gear and NES (except for Stadium Events), in addition to several incomplete sets for other consoles, notably a hefty Sega Genesis collection. On top of all the games, there are also multiple variants of various consoles, including every single N64 color. There's far too much to list here – almost 6,000 games – so you may as well watch the video above, and you can also peruse the master list of every single game in the collection. The catch is that it's all being sold as a single lot, with a $164,000 asking price. That's pretty steep, to be sure, but before you scoff at the price, don't forget the crown jewel of the collection, a framed copy of "No One Wants to Play Sega with Harrison Ford," signed by artist Brandon Bird.
Joystiq Streams: The Sailor Moon Super Nintendo RPG time forgot [UPDATE: Relive the stream!]
Back in the long, long ago of 1995, well before the armies of deviantARTists and international cosplayers rose to power, anime and manga-inflected goods were rare commodities in the Western world. Sailor Moon was on TV, albeit in mangled form, and we got the creme-de-la-creme of RPGs like Chrono Trigger, but that was it. Everything else was out of reach. Why, if you were the sort that harbored dreams of mixing that Sailor Moon melodrama with the steady stream of turn-based battles from Final Fantasy VI, all you could do was order a wall scroll and draw in your Trapper Keeper. Little did you know that such a game actually existed in Sailor Moon: Another Story. Joystiq Streams is realizing all of our fantasies today at 4PM EST when we stream Sailor Moon: Another Story at Joystiq.com/Twitch. What's it going to be like? We have no idea, since we've never played it. Rest assured, though, it will be aggressively '90s. Joystiq Streams broadcasts at 4PM EST at Joystiq.com/Twitch every Tuesday and Thursday, but we regularly stream throughout the week so make sure to follow us on Twitch to know when we go live. [Images: Angel/Sailor Moon Wiki]
Fan support could lead to SNES, GBA Remix
"If you build it, they will come" doesn't always apply to game development, as NES Remix director Koichi Hayashida recently illustrated. When asked about the possible inclusion of Super Nintendo, Game Boy or Game Boy Advance games in a future Remix game, Hayashida told IGN that "if there's a big enough outpouring of support for these titles, it's something I'd like to take a look at." Nintendo just launched NES Remix 2, which fared much better than the first game in our review. The first NES Remix arrived in December, though its selection of games was lackluster. Both games approach a collection of classic NES titles in a novel way: by issuing brief mini-game-style challenges. While other Virtual Console platforms like SNES and GBA sound like natural fits for future Remix installments, Hayashida said it still boils down to the question, "Does the marketplace want it or need it?" "If we get a big enough cry for that, with a lot of people saying, 'Hey, we'd love to see more of these perhaps for the SNES, Game Boy or Game Boy Advance,' then it would be something we can take a look at," he added. [Image: Nintendo]
Speedrunners make Super Mario World reprogram itself to play Pong, Snake
A programming loophole in the Super NES platformer Super Mario World has given speedrunners the ability to build and execute arbitrary code during gameplay, leading to the creation of fully playable minigames built on top of existing cartridge assets. An in-game hack takes advantage of a convoluted glitch that was previously exploited in order to finish the game in an impossibly quick span of time using software emulators. Starting at the 1:40 mark in the video above, the hack is deployed, and new code is written using an array of eight emulated Super NES controllers -- no keyboard input or explicit programming language is used to create these new minigames. The discovery follows up on a similar hack for Pokemon Yellow that allows players to overwrite the game's code using only the Game Boy's controller input. Fans have since used tool-assisted speedrun tech in order to produce in-game art and other unexpected results. If the videos above left you confused and maybe even a little frightened, that's normal; the Super Mario World hack made its debut during last week's Awesome Games Done Quick charity marathon to a crowd of stunned onlookers. Have speedrunners gone too far this time? Is there anything we can do to stop them?
Christian-themed shooter Super Noah's Ark 3D returns to SNES
Twenty years after it earned notoriety as the sole unlicensed game on the Super Nintendo (not to mention a Christian-themed, first-person shooter), Super Noah's Ark 3D has returned to the console. For those unaware, Super Noah's Ark 3D isn't a very good game, but it is rare and collectors view it as an interesting piece of trivia given that the game was built on top of id Software's Wolfenstein 3D engine. Creator Wisdom Tree was refused a license for SNES development due to the game's overt religious imagery, so after relying on a special pass-through cartridge designed to circumvent the anti-piracy measures of the SNES, the game was released via mail order and in certain specialty stores. Nintendo's restrictions against religious imagery no longer apply to the SNES, allowing retro developer Piko Interactive to license and re-release the game on a proper SNES cartridge. If you visit Piko Interactive's site, you'll find the game listed at $40. That price is for the cartridge by itself, though if you'd like a box and manual to go along with your new old game, the price jumps to $70.
Ys 5 fan translation released, full series now available in English
Falcom's 16-bit action-RPG Ys 5 has been localized and patched by the team of fan translators at Aeon Genesis, ending its long reign as the sole entry in the Ys series to never see an English-language release. Ys 5 debuted as a somewhat controversial game in 1995, arriving exclusively on the Super Famicom after a string of multiplatform releases. Ys 5 ditches the simplified enemy-ramming combat of earlier Ys games in favor of more traditional, Zelda-like fare, giving players more control over sword strikes and defensive maneuvers. Series enthusiasts previously localized the PC Engine version of Ys 4: The Dawn of Ys and its Super Famicom counterpart Ys 4: Mask of the Sun, and many other entries in the series were officially translated and released in North America. Ys 5 was never officially localized and a revised edition, Ys 5 Expert, also remained exclusive to Japan. A translation patch for Ys 5 is available at Aeon Genesis' website, and requires either an emulator or a Super NES flash cartridge to play. Falcom's most recent series entry, Ys: Memories of Celceta, was released last week for the PlayStation Vita in North America.
Super Castlevania 4 haunts Wii U eShop on Halloween
Konami's classic 16-bit platformer Super Castlevania 4 will hit the Wii U's eShop this Halloween, Nintendo revealed this week. Following up on a trilogy of 8-bit releases, Super Castlevania 4 brought the series to the Super NES in 1991 with multidirectional whip attacks, screen-filling boss encounters, and a boatload of showy Mode 7 background effects, as was the popular thing to do at the time. The Wii U version offers a series of upgrades over the game's 2006 Virtual Console release, including off-TV play, savestate support, and Miiverse integration. Super Castlevania 4 will be priced at $7.99 when it launches in the eShop on October 31. Players who previously purchased the Wii Virtual Console version can upgrade to the Wii U edition for $1.50.
Portable SNES is one shade of yellow, 16 bits of cool
We've seen a handful of portable Super Nintendo mods, but few of them look as tough as this one. Submitted to Reddit by one robotairz, this puppy looks like it could withstand the rages of a gorilla jonesing for some Donkey Kong Country. The unit runs on internal, rechargeable batteries, and can also be powered directly by a wall outlet. You can check out some more images (and fuel your ever-growing jealousy) right here.
MMO Blender: Larry's old-school 16-bit MMO
In August of 1991, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System launched in North America, kick-starting what would eventually be the biggest boom in console roleplaying games. Granted, some of us had been playing RPGs on consoles like the original NES, but RPGs didn't see as big a console boom as they did on the SNES. In fact, console RPGs haven't seen the same level of popularity since the SNES. A quick jump over to VGChartz shows us that out of the top 50 games sold world-wide on any individual console, RPGs on the SNES dominated the NES, the Playstation, and even the Nintendo DS, boasting titles like Dragon Quest VI, Final Fantasy III, and Super Mario RPG. If you take into account some adventure games that should be considered RPGs, like Super Metroid and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, then you have arguably the best platform of all time for the genre. Nowadays, with online gaming and indie companies sprouting up all over the place, a 16-bit online RPG would probably sell really well, especially if it took some of the best elements from the classic console RPGs of the NES/SNES era. Isn't that right, Cthulhu Saves the World? Let's see what I can throw together from some of my favorite 8- and 16-bit games.
SNES-001 Advance gives two retro gamers a screen to play, guarantees no fights for TV time (video)
There's been no shortage of SNES mods with built-in screens. They almost always tend to overlook one fundamental problem, however: with only one screen, gamers have to either share one tiny LCD or play solo, and neither option will make that Street Fighter II nostalgia trip a pleasant one. Frequent console modder Downing has offered a fix with a key trade-off. Although his Super Famicom-like SNES-001 Advance is decidedly non-portable, each gamepad has its own LCD to show what would normally go to one screen, even with audio. Both controllers are custom-molded creations that still plug in the old-fashioned, wired way. Downing certainly isn't hoarding his creation, despite it being one of a kind. An auction for the console (with a $500 buy-now price) is still well underway as of this writing, making sure that at least two Double Dragon fans will be happy without cutting into their less sentimental roommate's Netflix marathon.
Battlestar Galactica, as retold by a 16-bit RPG
Feel like reliving the bizarre twists and turns of Battlestar Galactica without, you know, actually having to watch it again? College Humor has put together a handy (and fake) retro RPG that handily condenses the series' most memorable plot points (and holes). Oh, and: Spoiler warning. Duh.
Retrode 2 retro gaming adapter brings SNES / Genesis support to your PC for $85
We were already head over heels for the original Retrode, and we've gotta say -- version 2.0 looks mighty good in that attire. As the story goes, the product shown above is the result of some three years of toiling, with the second iteration handling cartridges for Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. In fact, there's a pair of ports on here, enabling one cart from each console to be loaded up and carried around. Users need only to find and install an emulator on their machine, plug a cartridge and / or an associated controller into the device and then connect the Retrode 2 to one's computer via USB. Once you've loaded a ROM into your emulator, configured your controller and canceled every appointment on your calendar for the next 48 hours... well, you're in for quite a weekend of retro gaming nirvana. It's up for pre-order now in the source link for $84.99, with shipments expected to begin on January 23rd.
SupaBoy portable SNES, the most fun you can have without a soldering iron
We previewed Hyperkin's SupaBoy back in the summer and loved the idea of toting 'round original SNES games without resorting to Ben Heck-style crafting. The handheld takes full-size cartridges, packs a 3.5-inch screen and a battery that's disappointingly rated for just two point five hours (best keep a power cable handy). It'll also double as a home console: there's an AV-out port and slots for two classic controllers for when you wanna kick it old-school. It's reportedly compatible with titles like Mario World, A Link to the Past and Starwing Starfox, but who needs them when we've got a mint condition copy of Tetris Attack at home? It'll cost you $80 and is available from Amazon as of yesterday -- we suggest you get to practicing blowing the dirt from the connectors, since you'll be doing a lot of it soon.
