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'Banjo-Kazooie' joins the Switch Online Expansion Pack in January
Rare's beloved collect-a-thon platformer will be the latest title added to Expansion Pack, Nintendo's premium online subscription.
Online 'Expansion Pack' brings N64 and Genesis games to Nintendo Switch
The new membership plan includes Starfox, Zelda, Castlevania, Sonic and more.
Rare's unreleased N64 game 'Dinosaur Planet' leaks online
Rare's unreleased 'Dinosaur Planet' game for the Nintendo 64, which was later turned into 'Star Fox Adventures' for the GameCube, has emerged online.
This week in tech history: Nintendo's N64 goes on sale in Japan
At Engadget, we spend every day looking at how technology will shape the future. But it's also important to look back at how far we've come. That's what This Week in Tech History does. Join us every weekend for a recap of historical tech news, anniversaries and advances from the recent and not-so-recent past. This week, we're looking at the N64, which arrived in Japan 23 years ago.
Nintendo won't release an N64 Classic anytime soon
The NES and SNES Classic consoles served as bellwethers for the retro gaming revival that's currently in full swing. Naturally, everyone thought the N64 Classic was next (with both an earlier trademark filing and controller patent adding fuel to the fire). And what better time to launch then Christmas, right? Wrong. According to Nintendo America President Reggie Fils-Aime, the company has no plans to release an N64 Classic now, next month, or for the foreseeable future.
It's official: Playing as Oddjob in 'GoldenEye' was cheating
I thought this secret would go to the grave with me, but alas, my hand has been forced -- I have a confession to make. Back in gaming's early glory days, when Rare's seminal Nintendo 64 first-person shooter GoldenEye was the only game that really mattered, I would always play as Oddjob against my younger (clueless) sister. I told her the only reason she couldn't hit me was because her aim was rubbish and I was just better than her, but I knew it my heart this was a lie. Now the game's creators have ratted me out.
The SNES Classic is probably the last retro console Nintendo will make
When Nintendo announced the SNES Classic earlier this week, nerd hearts everywhere were aflutter at another opportunity to relive old gaming glory. There was a hint of caution, though, as fans remembered how demand for Nintendo's first retro console -- the NES Classic -- wildly outpaced supply when it launched last fall. The company hopes to forestall shortages this time around and has improved a few other things (like adding a few feet to the controller cables). Either way, make your peace with the SNES Classic when it lands on Sept. 29th. It'll probably be the last retro console Nintendo releases.
Nintendo's hardware visionary is calling it a day
Alongside today's impressive earnings report, Nintendo announced that long-serving employee Genyo Takeda is stepping down as company director this June. Holding the title of representative director and also sitting alongside Miyamoto as "Technology Fellow", Takeda has played a key role in defining both Nintendo's hardware and software.
Look at the Xbox 360's cancelled 'Goldeneye 007' HD remaster
It's one of those bits of gaming trivia that punches a specific generation of players square in the gut: There was once an Xbox Live port of Goldeneye 007 in the works, but it was cancelled. It's true -- Activation was porting the Nintendo 64 classic to the Xbox 360 back in 2008, but the project was canned when Microsoft and Nintendo couldn't reach a licensing agreement. The good news? Today we finally get a look at what the game would have been -- known leaker Rare Thief has posted 30 minutes of gameplay footage.
'Pokemon Snap' strikes a pose on Wii U next week ...in Japan
It's been almost 17 years to the day since Pokémon Snap released on the Nintendo 64 and we still haven't seen a sequel. The quirky on-rails first-person "shooter" that had you taking pictures of the pocket monsters in their natural habitat released just as Poké fever was catching on here in the States, but since then fans' imaginations have been the only place for a follow-up. Next week on April 4th Nintendo is releasing the game on the Wii U Virtual Console. In Japan. Where it'll cost a paltry ¥1,028 ($9.15).
N64's 'GoldenEye 007' goes modern with Unreal Engine 4
Ah, yes. GoldenEye 007. One of the classic Nintendo 64 titles and a memorable first-person shooter is certainly a game that I spent a lot of time with. Now we have a glimpse of what the game could look like if it was made with the tools available to developers today. YouTube user Jude Wilson recreated a portion of the Facility Map using Unreal Engine 4, offering a bit of nostalgia for those of us who are familiar with the title. Wilson isn't the first to do this, as Mario and Sonic have already been given the UE4 treatment. It's an interesting take, but don't take our word for it, go through the level yourself via the video down below.
Nintendo wanted to tone down the violence in 'GoldenEye'
The classic N64 first-person shooter GoldenEye 007 is one of the most beloved games of the '90s and played a big part in ushering such games from the PC to the living room. It's the kind of game that a certain audience will never tire of learning more about, which is why this report from The Guardian is such an enjoyable read. GoldenEye's director Martin Hollis discussed the game at the GameCity festival in Nottingham England and dropped some details on just how developer Rare was able to bring such a violent game to the family-friendly Nintendo console.
A look at the evolution of modern video game controllers
If anything's kept pace with how video games have changed over the years, it's how we interact with them. Our biggest touchpoint with virtual worlds is the gamepad and -- akin to how games themselves have evolved from simple 2D affairs into 100-hour-long labyrinths in three dimensions -- controllers have changed to accommodate that. What you'll find in the gallery below is a comprehensive look at gamepads from the past 30-plus years of gaming, including high points and missteps alike. [Image: Adafruit Industries/Flickr]
N64 controller modded to (sort of) work with the Xbox One
Microsoft has an exorbitant $150 controller coming this year that it hopes will make up for the Xbox One's middling gamepad, but that won't make the upcoming Rare Replay feel any more authentic when you play. The folks at Hyperkin -- makers of the Retron 5 console -- know this and set forth a challenge: mod a Nintendo 64 controller to work with Microsoft's latest game console. And they succeeded. Mostly. As you'll see in the video below, the three-pronged paddle can navigate the console's dashboard and select apps, but, since there's only one analog stick, that rules out it playing nicely with a vast majority of modern games. The wiring is a bit wonky and certain inputs trigger at random, but, from the sounds of it, the project is far from over.
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 Majora's Mask-inspired Christmas carol is smashing
Yeah, so you played - or are at least familiar with the premise of - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and saw where this was going. The video is still smile-worthy! And hey, maybe you can make your own Majora music video when Majora's Mask 3D comes to 3DS in spring 2015. [Image: Nintendo]
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.
Bandcamp houses complete Banjo-Kazooie soundtrack
There's probably no amount of reminiscing that can return the Banjo-Kazooie series back to its 3D platforming glory at this point, but at least now you can give kudos to the man behind the series' musical beginnings. Grant Kirkhope, composer of Banjo-Kazooie's soundtrack and longtime contributor to Rare's portfolio, is offering the sounds that backed the bird and bear's debut to those willing to name their own price. The exhaustive 164-file collection includes tracks, sound bites and a few unused beta tracks, all of which take us right back to searching for notes, Jiggles and Jinjos in the 1998 platformer. As a general Bandcamp reminder, you can take a thorough dose of nostalgia in MP3, FLAC or other formats, and those that pay will earn unlimited streaming through the Bandcamp app. If sampling the tracks has made you miss exploring themed worlds and Kazooie's general disdain for every other character, ports of both Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie are still on Xbox Live Arcade for $14.99 each. We imagine those ports will retain their usefulness to collectathon fans in the coming years, considering the cancelation of the series' spiritual successor. [Image: Microsoft]
Happy 18th birthday, N64!
Nintendo 64! Gaming machine that birthed the modern Nintendo, maker of consoles with libraries both peculiar and specific! Like the Wii U, Wii, and Gamecube that followed, the Nintendo 64 played host to a handful of revolutionary games, some real garbage, and some stuff that was frankly just bizarre. This week, the Nintendo 64 turns 18 years old, an auspicious year. That's when people start to branch out, to experiment beyond the social mores of youth and high school. Learning new things, meeting unusual people, and creating your adult self from the ground up. You know, when you take a comp lit class, get an industrial piercing, and start wearing garish, insane clothing. To salute the N64's passage into this period, we celebrate games that reflect that weird, weird, weird stage of life. Occasionally brilliant, sometimes embarrassing, these are 18 games for the 18-year-old N64. >>Nintendo 64's Weirdest Bunch<< [Images: Nintendo]
GameStop nabs Ocarina of Time-themed Hyrule Warriors costume pack
GameStop appeals to nostalgia-addled N64 kids with an exclusive Hyrule Warriors costume pack, allowing pre-order customers to dress Link and Zelda up in costumes originally featured 1998's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Pre-order Hyrule Warriors at GameStop and you'll receive a DLC code for the costumes at purchase, while online customers will receive a code via e-mail after the game ships. Club Nintendo members who register Hyrule Warriors by October 23 will also receive a code for a matching Ganondorf outfit. [Image: Nintendo / GameStop]
