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Documentary chronicles the sounds of console gaming's early years
When it comes to video games, more often than not audio gets the short shrift because, well, you can't see music in a screenshot. It's with that in mind that Red Bull (yes, that Red Bull) is putting together a documentary series about the scene surrounding classic Japanese video-game music called Diggin' in the Carts. The first episode focuses on the early days of the industry at Namco Bandai and Nintendo and features interviews with, among other luminaries, the first person in charge of game music for the Mario company, Hirozaku "Hip" Tanaka. Tanaka would go on to produce the iconic scores for Balloon Fight and Metroid, as well as design the sound chip for the first Game Boy. This premiere episode, embedded below, also showcases just how early soundtracks were composed. Spoiler: it involved more wave-forms and soldering than it did keyboards and drum machines. Interested in seeing more? A new clip is scheduled to release every week for the next month-and-a-half.
VC Tuesday: Balloon Fight wasn't already out?
The biggest surprise for us this week is right there in the title. Balloon Fight is one of the canonical first-generation NES games. It's already out in the U.S. and Europe, and it was even remade for the DS in Japan in a Club Nintendo-exclusive Tingle version. So why has it taken so long to show up on the Virtual Console in Japan? In the time that Japanese Wii owners have been waiting for Balloon Fight, they've gotten two versions of Wonder Boy in Monster World. Similarly, today brings the second version of Gradius II. Speaking of repeat performances, we'd like to point out how awesomely Treasure is represented on the VC. Light Crusader is the fourth Treasure game to appear on the VC so far, and we appreciate every one. Even Light Crusader. Balloon Fight (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Light Crusader (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Dragon Spirit (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Gradius II GOFER no Yabou (PC Engine, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Baseball Stars 2 (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
VC Friday: Shooting rubber balloons
At the very least, this is a great week for pricing on the Virtual Console -- all three of the games are near the lower end of the pricing scheme, and for gamers trying to collect 'em all (or at least, as many as they can!), that's usually good news. Don't think that limits the choices, however; this week, you can choose your poison -- puzzle, shooter, or ... uh ... Balloon Fight. It's fighting. With balloons. Which is, of course, awesome. Adventures of Lolo - NES - 500 Wii points Balloon Fight - NES - 500 Wii points Dead Moon - TurboGrafx - 600 Wii points
Introducing Tingle's Balloon Fight
Japanese gamers get all the good stuff!Courtesy of Club Nintendo in Japan, Siliconera recently got their hands on a copy of Tingle's Balloon Fight. Little more than just a DS version of the NES classic Balloon Fight, the game stretches the action across both screens, which makes the game easier, according to Siliconera. We'd give anything to come to that realization on our own!The game offers wireless multiplayer for up to four players and also has "Balloon Trip," a side-scrolling gametype that charges players with dodging enemies on-screen and gathering loose rupees. The action stays constant, as the game keeps forcing Tingle to move with the action.
