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VC Friday: 'Stay a while ... Stay FOREVER'
"Nintendo, with this week's four Virtual Console releases you are really spoiling us!"We feel extra special this week, because kindly old Uncle Nintendo has lavished the PAL Virtual Console (or at least the European Virtual Console) with four new titles, including another two Commodore 64 additions (both of which are cracking), and the first Master System games to reach Australia. Unusually, all four are worth a look, but Impossible Mission has a special room all of its own in this blogger's heart. As usual, there's footage of all titles past the break. California Games -- Commodore 64 -- 500 Wii Points* Impossible Mission -- Commodore 64 -- 500 Wii Points* Wonder Boy -- Master System -- 500 Wii Points Fantasy Zone -- Master System -- 500 Wii Points * Europe only, for now -- sorry, Aussies!
VC Monday Madness video wrap-up 3/31/08
This week sees another duo of titles available for play. One of them is N64 title Cruis'n USA, while the other launches a new system on the Virtual Console for North America. Hit up the video above for your usual dose, then head past the break for some added fun.
VC Monday Madness: Cruis'n USA and Wonder Boy
Looks like we've been fooled! If today is going to be any kind of indicator for the future, all Sega Master System games won't be the cheap 400 Wii Points per download we initially thought. Instead, the games will cost the same as NES titles. Eh, what's an extra dollar, right?Today's Virtual Console releases are: Cruis'n USA (N64, 1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Wonder Boy (Sega Master System, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) As usual, be sure to stop back later for our video wrap-up of this week's Virtual Console games.
Wonder Boy and Fantasy Zone coming to North America
Upon reading the title of this post, some of you may have been bouncing off the walls like this blogger, while the rest of you probably shrugged and moved on with your lives. If you don't realize how great these two games are, though, just trust us when we tell you that they are. We'd probably be excited for any Sega Master System games to hit our VCs, but these two happen to be some of our favorites. Our childhoods would have been empty, barren wastelands without them.Granted, Wonder Boy came out ages ago on the Virtual Console in the guise of Adventure Island. Yet, even if you aren't incredibly biased like us to see the option based on the original arcade classic as the superior choice (elitist snobs that we are), Wonder Boy will cost you $1 less than the Takahashi Meijin-infused port. That's right -- in an incredible show of awesomeness, Sega is only charging 400 Wii Points for Master System games. (Note: Sega used tricky wording in their press release, stating that "prices start at 400 Wii™ Points for SEGA Master System titles." This means that the games announced today might cost more.)Wonder Boy aside, though, Fantasy Zone is a must buy. The crazy stages and enemies alone make this game a memorable experience, but it's also a fun side-scroller with super-cool music.Of course, take our opinions with a grain of salt -- sometimes it's hard to see through nostalgia-tinted glasses. But, what we really mean by that is buy Fantasy Zone. No word on exactly when these games will hit North American VCs, but Sega promises "soon."%Gallery-19152%%Gallery-19157%[Via press release]
Wonder Boy, Fantasy Zone coming to North American VC
The wait will soon be over for us norms to find out what all the eight-tenths kids who owned Sega Master Systems were up to in the late 80s. Sega announced today that two games for the system are on their way to the Virtual Console: Wonder Boy and Fantasy Zone. They'll be arriving "soon" for 400 points a piece.After those drop, we'll still be on the lookout for other SMS favorite like Alex Kidd and ... hmm. Wait, we'll think of something. Well, there's ... no, no, that was terrible. OK, we give. Are there any you guys and gals want?
Finally! A Wonder Boy game on the Virtual Console!
We're so glad Sega Master System support came to the Virtual Console, because now Australian Wii owners are going to have a chance to play ... another Wonder Boy game! Even better -- it's another duplicate game, too! According to a new listing on the OFLC ratings page, the first Sega Master System game to appear on the Virtual Console in Australia will be the original Wonder Boy.If you like Hudson's Adventure Island, chances are quite good you'll like Wonder Boy -- because Adventure Island is the exact same game with a different character. It's great that Master System games are coming out in regions other than Japan, but do we really need another conduit for duplicate Wonder Boy games? Really, we like the idea of releasing all kinds of variants and permutations, but let's get more original games out first.[Via Aussie-Nintendo]
Master System games arrive on Japanese Virtual Console
The day Japanese Wii owners have been waiting for for, er, roughly a month is finally here. Today's marks the release of the Sega Master System's Fist of the North Star on the Japanese Virtual Console.The event marks the potential expansion of the Virtual Console library to a brave new world of Master System hits such as ... um ... hmmm. Well, the Alex Kidd games were pretty cool, we guess. And hey, Mortal Kombat made it to the system ... although the Genesis version would probably be preferable. Well ... it's still cool anyway. Trust us.
VC Tuesday: The Master System arrives
Sure, Hokuto no Ken (aka Fist of the North Star, aka Black Belt on American Master Systems) isn't exactly a red-carpet debut for Sega's 8-bit system (that would be Phantasy Star or maybe one of the Alex Kidd games), but there are certainly worse ways for the Sega Master System to make its first appearance the Virtual Console lineup. Hokuto no Ken is joined in Sega solidarity by a Mega Drive shooter called Gleylancer, made by Cho Aniki creators and frequent VC supporters Masaya.Much like Hokuto no Ken is the big Sega news today, overshadowing Gleylancer, the PC Engine CD version of Military Madness, Neo Nectaris, is going to drown out any attention the Power Eleven soccer game was going to get. Which, to be fair, wasn't much. But even though one of them is a soccer game, it's worth noting that four games came out this week in Japan, without any contributions from stingy old Nintendo. Hokuto no Ken (Master System, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) Gleylancer (Mega Drive, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) Neo Nectaris (PC Engine CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Power Eleven (PC Engine, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)
Wii Warm Up: The Sega Master System
When virtual console support for the Sega Master System was announced, this blogger jumped, screamed, and did some sort of "happy dance" around the room. After being told that this was an odd reaction to news about the Sega Master System, of all things, the celebration calmed down a little. Was it odd, though, fellow video game aficionados? What was your reaction? Joy, indifference, or perhaps even repulsion are all possible answers (though that last one might make me shed a tear or two). Did you ever own the Master System? If so, what games are you most looking forward to? And if not, does that make you more or less excited to finally have the chance to play some old-school titles?Also, let's not forget about the inclusion of Game Gear games. Not that we're trying to sway your answer here ... okay, we totally are.
Segaton: Master System games on the VC next month
Awesome news for people who love 8-bit games, or just wonderful things: Sega Master System games will be offered on the Japanese Virtual Console starting in February, with other territories to follow. It looks like the base price for games will be 500 points, with the customary 100 tacked on for licenses. Sega Mark III games and even Game Gear games will be offered for download -- marking the first handheld games available through the VC, all thanks to the Game Gear and the Master System using identical hardware.The first two offerings? Fist of the North Star for 600 points (yay?) and Fantasy Zone for 500 points (yay!) Neither Nintendo nor Sega have updated their Virtual Console pages to reflect this development, so we'll get to freak out again when that happens. For now we can just dream about what the future holds. Remember ALF? He could be back -- in Virtual Console form.
Alex Kidd, Wonder Boy, and 2D Virtua Fighter 2 slated for Virtual Console
Sega continues to throw its support toward Nintendo's Virtual Console by announcing three new titles that will likely be coming in the next few weeks: Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, Wonder Boy in Monster World and a 2-dimensional version of Virtua Fighter 2.Unfortunately, it is not the Virtua Fighter 2 that one might hope for. While the title was made originally for the arcade and Saturn, Sega is bringing the Genesis version to the Virtual Console. This far inferior version did not have an 3D engine and instead opted to approximate the renderings in 2D. It also excluded new characters Shun Di and Lion. Is this perhaps what spawned that Sega Saturn on Virtual Console rumor?It was around this time last month that Sega announced its releases for March, so expect to see these titles arrive within the coming weeks.
BenQ launches a slew of Joybees
We're glad BenQ's not trimming the fat on their portable audio division the way their optical drives business got the boot this week (it was bought by LITE-ON), but a couple of their new Bluetooth-enabled Joybees are definitely hat-tipping BenQ-Siemens as possible accessories. So let's get to the players, already (clockwise from top left): the E520 (no, not that BenQ E520) with Bluetooth / call features not dissimilar from Samsung's SBH-300; their ET50 with the same Bluetooth call features, but also a data transmission profile, presumably for file swapping (so it'd probably be OBEX / FTP); the Game Boy Micro-esque EG10, which comes bundled with ten Sega Game Gear and Master System titles (like Sonic Blast and Columns) and an SD slot; and finally the E105 (no, not that E105) clip-on MP3 player. No word on when or if these'll be States-bound, so keep those fingers locked and loaded on your favorite importer.[Via The MP3 Players]
