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8BitDo’s Nintendo-inspired mechanical keyboard has Super Buttons just begging to be mashed
Novelty accessory maker 8BitDo today announced a new mechanical keyboard inspired by Nintendo’s NES and Famicom consoles from the 1980s. The $100 Retro Mechanical Keyboard works in wired / wireless modes, supports custom key mapping and includes two giant red buttons begging to be mashed.
The NES at 40: Seven ways it changed the gaming world forever
Nintendo's 8-bit console casts an outsized shadow on the gaming world. As it turns 40, we look at the ways it imacted our gaming universe today.
NES and SNES creator Masayuki Uemura dies at 78
Masayuki Uemura, the lead creator of the NES and SNES, has died at 78.
Famicom Detective Club is a pair of visual novels for people new to the genre
Nintendo's re-release of the Famicom Detective Club games is an interesting time capsule of the visual novel genre.
'Famicom Detective Club' hits the US for the first time in May
Visual novel and mystery fans will finally get a crack at a Japanese classic when 'Famicom Mystery Club' comes to the US in May.
Analogue's metal NES returns as a $499 special edition
If you're kicking yourself for missing out on Analogue's metallic NES on steroids, the Nt Mini, you're in luck -- provided you have the cash. Analogue has opened pre-orders for the Nt Mini Noir Edition, a final run of the console that comes in a gunmetal finish with gold-hued ports, a refined NES cartridge slot, an updated 8BitDo wireless controller and a refreshed user interface. Throw in existing Nt Mini touches like HDMI out and this might be the ultimate way to play NES (and Famicom) games without resorting to emulators.
8BitDo turns the NES gamepad into a mouse
Many moons ago, Swedish designer Daniel Jansson brought us a cute concept mouse that took cues from the classic NES console, featuring its iconic red circular buttons, black D-pad and grey body. There was nothing ergonomic about this peripheral, but that obviously wasn't the point. 11 years later, it was accessory maker 8BitDo who finally took up the challenge to turn this foam model into a functioning wireless mouse, and you can already pick one up for $24.99.
Japan gets golden NES Classic dedicated to old anime games
When Nintendo promised to revive the NES Classic Edition and SNES Classic Editions, we didn't expect the company to do it this way. In celebration of Japanese manga magazine Weekly Jump, Nintendo will release a special gold and red Famicom Mini (NES to Western audiences) preloaded with 20 games that were based on manga from the magazine, as spotted by Kotaku. The mini console will be released in Japan on July 7th. If you really want one, your best bet is probably to keep an eye on eBay, or find a friend abroad.
The Analogue Nt Mini wants to be the last NES you'll ever buy
Trying to play an NES cartridge on Nintendo's original, 30-year-old hardware can be an exercise in frustration. The console's ancient composite cables offer terrible image quality on modern televisions, and getting games to actually run is a ballet of reseating, jostling and, of course, blowing on game cartridges. Nintendo's own NES Classic Edition and the Wii U and 3DS virtual consoles offer refuge for the casual gamer's nostalgic yearnings, but collectors looking for an authentic, cartridge-based retro gaming experience have long suffered under the dark shadow of compromise. Is it better to play on the original, but unreliable, hardware, or an NES clone plagued with compatibility issues? With the Analogue Nt Mini, you may not have to tolerate either -- but at $449, Analogue's compromise-free Nintendo doesn't come cheap.
Nintendo hid a secret message in the Famicom Mini
The NES Classic and its Japanese counterpart are already incredibly cool -- but you know what makes an awesome toy even better? A secret message. Apparently, developers that worked on the Famicom Mini emulator left a short, hidden message in the code: "Please," it says, "don't break everything!"
Peek inside one of Nintendo's retro gaming vaults
What secrets lie inside Nintendo's offices? It's a question I ask myself regularly at night, clutching my new Nintendo 3DS and dreaming about a Metroid Prime sequel (Federation Force doesn't count.) Well, today Nintendo has drawn back the curtain -- if only a smidge. In a collection of articles celebrating the Legend of Zelda, Nintendo has posted some photos from a storage room at its Kyoto headquarters. It's chock-full of old hardware, including mint Famicoms (released as the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES in North America) and Disk Systems.
Nintendo's Famicom Mini is Japan's NES Classic
Nintendo fans in its home country are getting their own teensy retro console, as well. Today, Mario's creator has revealed the mini Famicom, a shrunken version of the original NES the company released in Japan. Just like the mini NES for the west, the Famicom mini fits in the palm of your hand and plugs into your TV via HDMI. It comes with two wired controllers instead of one, but the bad news is that it follows in the footsteps of the New 3DS -- it doesn't have a bundled AC adapter. You'll have to buy that one separately.
Analogue's beautiful, aluminum NES gets a smaller spin-off
The NES Classic is equal parts neat and limited -- after all, it has the correct look, but can't be expanded beyond the 30 games built into it and won't play nice with existing NES controllers. Cheap? Sure, though it's maybe not the tiny retro machine fans have been hoping for. That's where the makers of the custom-built Analogue Nt come in: they've built a smaller, less expensive version of the console called the Nt mini that's set to ship in January 2017.
A Super Famicom-themed Nintendo 3DS is headed to Japan
If you were watching the Japan-specific Nintendo Direct yesterday, you would have noticed a little hardware treat for classic console fans. A special edition New 3DS XL is coming to Nintendo's home turf with a Super Famicom design, complete with classic colors and nostalgic "buttons" on the outer shell. It'll launch in April for 21,600 yen (about $190) but sadly, there's no word on a wider international release. Of course, to make the jump to North America, it would need a little splash of SNES purple...
'The Legend of Zelda' marks its 30th birthday
Gamers, you have permission to feel old once again: The Legend of Zelda just turned 30. Nintendo released the classic action-adventure in Japan on the Famicom Disk System (it wasn't even a cartridge at the time) all the way back on February 21st, 1986, kicking off one of the biggest franchises in video game history. The series has since sold tens of millions of copies -- over 75 million at last count -- and has had a presence on virtually every Nintendo system to date.
A new chiptune album is coming to the Nintendo Famicom
Every week it feels like a new video game soundtrack gets a vinyl release. Journey, The Last of Us, FTL and Shenmue -- none of these are surprises anymore. So what's next? MiniDiscs? Cassette tapes? Well, some musicians are keen to use cartridges instead. 8BIT MUSIC POWER is a new chiptune album that you'll need to slide into a Nintendo Famicom (Japan's equivalent of the NES) to listen to. Developed by RIKI and manufactured by Columbus Circle, it features 12 original tracks from, among others, former Famicom music composers Yuriko Keino (Xevious, Dig Dug) and Takeaki Kunimoto (Star Soldier).
Check out this Nintendo Entertainment System machined from a solid block of aluminum
If you're any kind of self-respecting gamer, you hold a special place in your heart for the true king of consoles, the original Nintendo Entertainment System and its Japanese counterpart, the Famicom. That's why Analogue Interactive, an outfit known for building bespoke Neo Geo consoles out of the finest hardwoods, is crafting a custom NES out of aluminum. Called the Analogue Nt, it's machined from a single block of metal, has cartridge slots to accommodate both Nintendo and Famicom titles and is "designed around the heart and brain of the original NES" -- which means there's no emulation going on like with Hyperkin's Retron 5. Analogue's not letting on any other details, but knowing how much its Neo Geo replicas can cost, we're betting that grabbing this bit of NES nostalgia will set you back a pretty penny when Analogue starts taking orders at the end of March.
Final Fantasy 7 unofficial NES port restored, improved by modders
ROM hackers have overhauled an unofficial 8-bit version of Square Enix's Final Fantasy 7, turning what was once a barely-playable bootleg into a demake that's surprisingly faithful to its source material. Released as an unlicensed Famicom cartridge in China, Shenzhen Nanjing's unsanctioned port of Final Fantasy 7 featured familiar characters and settings from Square Enix's PSOne classic, but removed many key story elements while upping the difficulty dramatically, rendering it an impressive but flawed curiosity. After the subsequent release of a fan-made translation patch, a team led by modder Lugia2009 set out to address the game's many issues. The final product features redrawn graphics, improved music, and an actual ending, among many other bugfixes and improvements. Speaking to Destructoid, Lugia2009 revealed that his next project is a translation patch for Shenzhen Nanjing's unlicensed NES port of Pokemon Yellow.
Hyperkin Retron 5 combines ten consoles into one on December 10 for $99 (updated)
We love what the Hyperkin Retron 5 brings to the table, namely compatibility with ten classic gaming system cartridges: NES, Famicom, Super NES and Famicom, Sega Master System, Genesis and Mega Drive, and Game Boy original, Color and Advance. The problem is, Hyperkin's played coy about it's price and availability... until now. It'll be available on December 10th, and it'll be on sale in both Europe (for €89.99) and in the US ($99.99). And, it turns out that the Retron 5 that'll go on sale will have a few more tricks up its sleeve than the prototype we played with back at E3. The exterior's been modified to better cool the internal components, and it'll pack a work with the Sega Power Base Converter that lets you play Sega's Master System games in the Genesis slot on top. So, now you can officially start carving out space in your entertainment center for the Retron 5 -- which shouldn't be difficult once you've cleared out all the elder consoles it replaces. Less is more, people. Update: We mistakenly wrote previously that the Retron 5 comes with a Power Base converter, in fact, you'll need to bring your own converter to the party.
Nintendo's Famicom turns 30: a look back at the console that saved gaming
Without Nintendo's Famicom there would be no NES. And without the NES, chances are, the video game industry as we know it would never have existed. It's hard to appreciate history while you're living it, but thirty years ago today on July 15, 1983, Nintendo's Japan-only Family Computer debuted and set off a domino effect that would make video games a global, billion-dollar industry and rank Nintendo as synonymous with gaming itself. Rather than look back with the rosy tint we have for the NES' early days, Ars Technica's gone the informed route to celebrate the system's anniversary. From a condensed account of the console's origins (i.e., failed Atari distribution deal, revised prototypes, soft US launch in 1985) to a walkthrough of the silicon circuitry and hardware add-ons (like the Famicom Disk System and Modem) that only saw the light of day in Japan, the retrospective covers all the bases of gaming's golden era. There's a whole lot more Nintendo trivia packed into the retrospective (did you know the original Famicom's controllers had inbuilt mics?), so be sure to check it out and pour one out for that famous grey box. Lead Image: iFixit
