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Nintendo’s Switch NES gamepads are an unnecessary blast from the past
How much would you pay to be transported back into the 8-bit era? Nintendo already gave us a taste of nostalgia with the $60 NES Classic, and now it's offering a similar experience with a pair of NES controllers for the Switch. The big downsides: They also cost $60 and they're only available for Switch Online subscribers. And, not that this comes as a surprise, they're practically useless outside of NES games on the Switch.
Dive into the long lost SimCity NES port
SimCity on the Super Nintendo was groundbreaking -- it managed to combine the joy of simulated city building that Mac and Amiga gamers enjoyed into a family-friendly console title that anyone could play. But did you know Maxis and Nintendo also had an NES version in the works, too? Last year, two prototype cartridges of the NES SimCity appeared at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, and Frank Cifaldi of the Video Game History Foundation snagged a digital copy. As a fitting Christmas gift to the gaming world, he published a deep dive into the history of the long lost game, which also covers the ways it differs from the SNES version we're all familiar with, as well as a NES ROM for emulators.
Nintendo warns it won't make more retro NES and SNES consoles
Just because Nintendo revived the NES Classic doesn't mean you'll have the luxury of buying a retro console whenever you'd like. In a chat with the Hollywood Reporter, the company's Reggie Fils-Aime warned that the NES Classic and SNES Classic will sell in the Americas through the holidays, but will be "gone" once they sell out. If you want to walk down memory lane after that, you'll have to take advantage of the games that come with Switch Online.
‘Ninja Gaiden’ and other NES classics are coming to Switch Online
The NES games keep coming as an added incentive to get you to sign up to Nintendo's Switch Online subscription service, aside from online play and cloud saves, of course. A trio of new titles have been announced today: side-scrolling action-platformer Ninja Gaiden, Tetris-style puzzler Wario's Woods (featuring Wario and Toad) and Adventures of Lolo, which bundles together puzzles from the Eggerland series. All three will be available on December 12th and Nintendo is also pledging to bring more NES games to Switch Online in January.
Bit Brigade, the rock band that plays classic NES games on-stage
Bit Brigade could be more famous if they wanted to be. They're a five-man rock band, but one of their members doesn't play an instrument -- instead, he speedruns through a classic NES game while the remaining four bandmates play its soundtrack, live and completely attuned to the pixelated action projected above the stage. Bit Brigade has a built-in audience of nerds and nostalgia fiends, especially in an era dominated by live streaming, but they don't even have a Twitch channel. There is a YouTube page named "bitbrigade," but it has just four videos, all of which are more than 10 years old.
The Playstation Classic is $100 worth of '90s nostalgia
All that's old will be new again this Festivus, if the Playstation Classic is any indication. On Tuesday, Engadget headed down to Sony Interactive Studios in San Mateo, California for an early look at what is shaping up to be one of the hottest items of the holidays.
8BitDo’s Bluetooth mod kits put retired controllers back to work
The mini-console trend isn't just a case of repackaging classic, beloved games and cashing in on our shared retrophilia. There's also a practical reason for their existence: Most old consoles are incompatible with today's TVs. Unless you've held on to a CRT, you've got no choice but to seek out special signal converters or, more likely, let your best childhood friend gather dust in a closet. But there is a middle ground. With 8BitDo's $20 mod kits, you can, at least, give those classic controllers a new lease on life by repurposing them for the Bluetooth era.
Analogue's Mega Sg sounds like the ultimate Sega Genesis
Analogue, the retro console manufacturer behind the Nt Mini and Super Nt, excellent modern NES and SNES reproductions, is now bringing back a seminal '90s rival. The company has announced the Mega Sg, a Sega Genesis, Mega Drive and Master System recreation that can play over 2,180 classic cartridges. Unlike other retro console clones, Analogue, as its name suggests, doesn't use emulation methods. Rather, the company opts to use an Altera Cyclone V FPGA chip to ensure 100 percent compatibility -- and so that games can be played exactly how they were intended. It's not the exact chip used in the Genesis, but using an FPGA chip that runs off HDL (hardware description language), it can essentially be any other chip. It's a solution that bypasses emulation through an operating system, to connect and speak directly between game cartridge and motherboard.
Nintendo Switch Online now includes an easier version of 'Zelda'
Nintendo had previously said that three new games would arrive on its instant-access NES catalogue today, and it's delivered on its promise -- and then some. In addition to the anticipated Solomon's Key, NES Open Tournament Golf and Super Dodge Ball, Nintendo's also released a fourth game -- a hyped-up spin on a Zelda classic.
After Math: To infinity... and Taiwan!
Apparently, this was the week to shoot for the Moon, in some ways more literally than others. SpaceX announced on Monday that it'd found its first Guinea Pi- I mean "paying customer" for a slingshot sightseeing trip around the far edge of la luna and back. 3D-printed guns' strongest advocate made a break for the hills (of Taiwan) after being accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old, Telltale Studios told virtually all of its employees to start looking for alternative employment opportunities, and Amazon is hawking a bargain-basement microwave because they'll put a digital assistant in anything these days.
Switch NES emulator already hacked to run unofficial games
Nintendo Switch Online has barely been live a day and hackers have already had their way with it. According to a modder who goes by the name KapuccinoHeck, it's pretty easy to load your own ROMs onto a hacked Switch and play them directly through the NES emulator, which comes as part of the $20-a-year service.
Nintendo unveils $60 wireless NES controllers for the Switch
If you want a classic NES gameplay experience on the Switch, be prepared to shell out $60. Nintendo announced new wireless NES controllers today as an exclusive for subscribers of the Switch's online service. From what we can tell from the Nintendo Direct presentation, they seem to be an accurate rendition of the classic console gamepads. But even though they charge on the Switch in dock mode, they don't work as Joy-Cons. (You can probably figure that out since they both have proper directional pads.) You can pre-order the Switch NES controllers on September 18th, and Nintendo says shipments will start in December. Naturally, they'll want to get these out by the holidays.
Make your classic gamepads wireless with 8BitDo's DIY kits
8BitDo will happily sell you wireless controllers that are vaguely similar to classic gamepads of yore, but it clearly can't sell you the real deal without invoking massive copyright battles. It can, however, offer you the next best thing. The company is now selling mod kits that add Bluetooth wireless to original NES, SNES, Super Famicom and Mega Drive controllers. You don't need a soldering iron or a toolbox -- so long as you're comfortable opening a vintage gamepad in the first place, you'll have everything you need (including a lithium-ion battery) to avoid stringing cords across the room.
8BitDo put a handy home button on its NES Classic wireless controller
To celebrate Nintendo re-issuing the NES Classic Edition, 8Bitdo has revamped its wireless retro controller to match. The new version -- dubbed "N30 2.4G Wireless Controller for NES Classic Edition" -- boasts a different button layout (a square rather than a cross), rechargeable battery and now it has a dedicated home button to get you back to the micro-console's main menu. The new gamepad will set you back $24.99 when it's released this August 20th, and pre-orders are available right now. Happy gaming!
Cloud saves are coming to Nintendo Switch this September
Nintendo has finally revealed more details about its long-awaited Switch Online service. In addition to giving you access to NES games adapted for the console, the service will also come with cloud-based backup -- a much-requested feature that will give you access to saves in case you lose or break your device, or in case you buy a new Switch. The subscription service will set you back $4 per month, $8 for three months or $20 for a year and will launch with 20 NES titles you can play either online or offline.
Watch this streamer accidentally break a 'Tetris' world record
As the old saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, try again. Or, if you're Jonas Neubauer (AKA NubbinsGoody), break a different world record instead. The NES Tetris maestro was trying to break the world record for speed-clearing 100 lines in the classic 80s game and was doing alright until he made a minor error (a basically negligible whoopsie for most players, at that) and lost his focus. "That was a fast 300,000" he says casually, before checking his Twitch comments and then realising that yeah, it was a fast 300,000. Fast enough to earn him the world record for hitting the score in under two minutes, in fact. And understandably, he's pretty excited. And the 100 lines record? He broke it the next day.
Nintendo's Switch is secretly hiding a copy of NES 'Golf'
Much to the joy of its acolytes, Nintendo recently promised to revive the NES Classic Edition in 2018. But, the nostalgia trip doesn't end there. As it turns out, the company's latest console may carry a NES emulator. Hackers have found the system wrapped around an existing game hidden inside the Switch. The title in question is dubbed "FLOG," and it looks just like Golf (the 1984 sports sim for the NES).
Nintendo's NES Classic Edition is coming back in 2018
Despite announcing it was game over for the NES Classic Edition earlier this year, Nintendo now says that due to demand, it plans to ship the product into 2018. Shipment timings are yet to be announced, but this is big news for fans who thought they were going to miss out after the console began disappearing from store shelves. And in responding to fan enthusiasm, more units of the Super NES Classic Edition will ship on its upcoming 29 September launch day in the US than were shipped of NES Classic Editions throughout the entirety of last year. The system will retail for $80/£80 and features 21 legendary Super NES games such as Super Mario World, Super Metroid and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
VR throwback 'Duck Season' arrives September 14th
Stress Level Zero's Duck Season caught our eye for a number of reasons. It's not just a VR callback to the NES hit Duck Hunt, it's a broader celebration of '80s culture... with a horror twist, to boot. And now, you'll get to see whether or not it's as fun as it is weird. The studio has announced that Duck Season will be available on both Steam and the Oculus Store on September 14th. Yes, despite the early Vive-focused experience we saw in June, it'll be available for the Oculus Rift as well.
Amazon deal trucks may be your last chance at an NES Classic
Are you still pining for the elusive NES Classic Edition a few months after its abrupt discontinuation? If you're in the right US city and act quickly, you might have a chance. Amazon's Treasure Trucks in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle are offering the retro console at its original $60 price as part of a one-day sale on July 29th. You just have to order from the Amazon app and pick one of the trucks as your pickup point. The offer is only available from 11AM to 5PM local time, and only while stocks last, but this may be your best (and possibly last) opportunity to get the Classic without being gouged by a third-party reseller or online auction. And if you miss out? Well, there's always the SNES Classic.
