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VC Friday: 250
People, say hello to the 250th title on the combined PAL Virtual Consoles: it's ... one of the below. Woohoo! Let's say Ys Book I and II, as that's the one this blogger is most looking forward to trying out. On a sadder note, this is the last week of the current Hanabi Festival; we shall remember it fondly! Mainly because of, you know. Ys Book I & II -- Turbografx-16 -- 800 Wii Points Spelunker -- NES -- 600 Wii Points Chase H.Q. -- Turbografx-16 -- 600 Wii Points DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure -- SNES -- 900 Wii Points Make the jump for videos of all four.
VC Friday: Convergence
Up until now, Virtual Console and WiiWare games in PAL regions have played nicely, each politely waiting their turn to appear on alternate Fridays. This week, they've both appeared on the same day, scrapping it out for your love. This is what we wanted to happen from the start, but since WiiWare appeared, Nintendo has had an excuse to offer less on the VC.Anyhow, that's another rant for another post. Critter Round-Up and the totally obscure MaBoShi: The Three Shape Arcade are the latest WiiWare additions, while the Hanabi Festival continues with Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa (parts of which look like some of our dreams -- eating through miles of cake) and Dig Dug. Is Dig Dug really worthy of a Hanabi Festival release? Hasn't it already appeared on every format known to man? Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa -- NES -- 600 Wii Points Dig Dug -- NES -- 600 Wii Points MaBoShi: The Three Shape Arcade -- WiiWare -- 800 Wii Points Critter Round-Up -- WiiWare -- 1000 Wii Points Munch your way through the break, which isn't made of cake, for footage of all four.
VC Friday: Super Mario Update
It's only been three months since the previous Hanabi Festival ended, but a third has already kicked off, bringing us PAL gamers a slew of (usually) fantastic U.S. and Japan-only games that never saw the light of day in Europe or Australia. In the coming weeks, we'll be buying Wii Points for Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa (NES), Dig Dug (NES), Spelunker (NES), and DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure (SNES).This week is Mario week, meaning you're probably going to need to stock up on Wii Points. While Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels did appear for a limited period during the first Hanabi Festival, it's now here to stay forever. That's pretty exciting, but even more thrilling is the appearance of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, a full twelve years after its original Japanese release. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars -- SNES -- 900 Wii Points Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels -- NES -- 600 Wii Points Jump in a green boot and hop past the break for footage of each game!
VC Friday: Something fishy
Arguably more a relaxation tool than a game, Hudson's My Aquarium makes its western debut in the latest PAL update today. Its price, just 500 Wii Points, reflects its status as the Endless Ocean of WiiWare; it's definitely a good deal cheaper than the real thing. The in-jokey Strong Bad Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner completes the line-up, while the Virtual Console is put on the backburner for another week.My Aquarium -- WiiWare -- 500 Wii PointsStrong Bad Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner -- WiiWare -- 1000 Wii PointsSpread your fins and swim past the break for video of each.%Gallery-29482%
VC Friday: Sequel week
Game sequels often suffer from a reputation of being weaker than their predecessors, but that hasn't stopped Nintendo whacking a whole pile of them on the PAL Virtual Console this week. The M-rated Splatterhouse 2 leads the charge, bloodied lead pipe in hand, and is joined by Samurai Shodown II, Pitstop II, and Ecco Jr. (okay, so that's not a sequel in the strictest sense of the term, but a spin-off for the kids). Here's what that little lot will cost you: Ecco Jr. -- Mega Drive -- 800 Wii Points Splatterhouse 2 -- Mega Drive -- 800 Wii Points Samurai Shodown II -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii Points Pitstop II -- Commodore 64 -- 500 Wii Points * * As usual, Australia misses out on the Commodore 64 game.Footage of all four is past the break -- try listening to six minutes of Pitstop II's engine effects without going insane.
Rumor: Australia getting fleeced on Rock Band
An anonymous source has informed Kotaku that Rock Band (remember that North America/Europe?) will finally launch in Australia this October, a whopping eleven months after the game hit the U.S.But EA isn't done sticking the boot into Oz just yet. According to the mole, the game won't be available as an all-in-one package in Australia, but instead will come in two separate parts (the game itself, and an "Accessories Pack" containing a guitar, drums, and a mic), all of which will cost -- wait for it -- the equivalent of $350.Obviously, because we all get paid about six million a year and spend our evenings lighting cigars with a wad of Benjamins, we doubt our resident Aussie will be too deterred. But man, we feel for the rest of you!
VC Friday: City Turf Karate
Ask people to name the first Commodore 64 game that comes to mind, and we're willing to bet that more than half would mention International Karate +. Despite coming out on loads of different platforms back in the late-1980s, System 3's chop-'em-up is still most widely recognized as one of the C64's biggest hits, and is now available on the Virtual Console for ... slightly more than its 1987 price!Neo Turf Masters is a rather gaudy, fast-paced take on ruining a good walk golf (though if reviews are to be believed, it's heaps better than the other golfing options on the VC), while City Connection completes the bill. As usual, you can check past the break for footage of all three. City Connection -- NES -- 500 Wii Points Neo Turf Masters -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii Points International Karate + -- Commodore 64 -- 500 Wii Points * * Only in Europe.
PS3 video store not coming to PAL regions in 2008
PS3-owning movie buffs across the globe were exuberant upon the unveiling of the PlayStation Network's video delivery service, and the announcement that it would be made available, well, now. Unless, of course, you live in Europe, Australia, or one of the many other PAL regions of the world -- according to Sony Europe exec David Reeves, Sony won't be getting their Blockbuster on in PAL territories in 2008.Reeves promised that "dates and content for the video download service will be announced later this year," somewhat ensuring a lengthy delay. However, he did mention the launch of Go!View, the recently released European television and movie download service for the PSP, as something of a consolation. We would have preferred a promise to exclude any films written and directed by the Wayans brothers from the service's PAL incarnation.
Another Week in Europe
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon pair Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness reached mainland Europe this week and performed well on the whole, achieving lofty positions in the charts of Holland, Germany, Spain, and Italy (in the UK, they're occupying 21st and 24th place respectively). Cooking Guide (top ten in Ireland, Spain, and Italy) continues to help most Europeans to be better cooks (I emphatically do not count myself in that number), and would you check out that German top ten. Ho boy, go Deutschland!Next week, we'll see whether or not Guitar Hero: On Tour can match the runaway success of the U.S. version. Will Activision's outside-the-box marketing techniques have worked?
VC Friday: 'Arrrr's and cars
It's a double WiiWare update for this Friday, PAL peeps. Oxygen's Pirates: The Key of Dreams is an unknown quantity, but appears to be some kind of piracy-themed scrolling shooter with strategic elements. If that sounds like it has potential, the footage we've seen so far (viewable, as usual, after the break) isn't filling us with bright-eyed optimism. We'll be downloading that today and giving it a whirl, so let's hope we're wrong!SPOGS Racing, on the other hand, is very much a known quantity, and not a very great one, either -- we slapped a three out of ten on it. Pirates: The Key of Dreams -- WiiWare -- 1000 Wii Points SPOGS Racing -- WiiWare -- 1000 Wii Points
80GB PS3, Platinum range to launch in PAL territories
The 80GB PS3 core pack will be launching in PAL territories on August 27th and will retail for €399 (£299). Again, this new 80GB model is identical to the current 40GB configuration, except for hard drive capacity and inclusion of a DualShock 3 controller.A Platinum range of PS3 games have also been unveiled for Europe -- starting August 1st, Heavenly Sword, MotorStorm, Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, Virtua Tennis and Assassin's Creed will go on sale with a recommended retail price of €29.99. WWW Smackdown Vs Raw 08 is also in the Platinum range, but its cheaper incarnation's release date hasn't been announced. The Platinum range of games have each sold at least 400,000 copies in the PAL territories.So... in terms of software selection: Greatest Hits or Platinum range? [Via press release]
VC Friday: Neo Geo duo
This week's muscle-bound PAL Virtual Console update comes exclusively from SNK's sleek, black beast of a console.Art of Fighting 2 makes its worldwide Virtual Console debut, though if you own a PlayStation 2, Art of Fighting Anthology is available cheaply, and should be coming to the Wii ... at some point. Also worth noting: it has some of the most brilliantly awful voice-acting ever (go past the break to see some footage). Sidescrolling duff-'em-up Ninja Combat completes this week's offerings. Art of Fighting 2 -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii Points Ninja Combat -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii Points
Rock Band makes it to Australia, forgets luggage
For those of you who don't know, Australia is still waiting on Rock Band -- for any console. In fact, Australia is waiting without a release date ... until sort of now. Despite the fact that local online store DVD Crave lists Rock Band for an October 10th release, nothing is set in stone until we actually see it on the shelves. In fact, it appears Rock Band is only listed as a "game only" item. You can't exactly start a band with no instruments.DVD Crave is known for selling imported games, but the region says PAL right there. We're not sure how they plan to sell the game without instruments, unless it's a special version -- saucepan and air guitar compatible. Still, the release window is the important part, so we'll soon have all the details on how to buy the full Rock Band bundle in the country Harmonix forgot.%Gallery-19119%[Via Go Nintendo]
ASUS intros DVB-T My Cinema-PE6300 PCIe TV tuner
You're going to have to sit this one out, Americans -- unless you own a vacation cottage in Europe, that is. ASUS' latest PCIe TV tuner is aimed squarely at those in DVB-T territories, as the My Cinema-PE6300 hybrid card tunes both digital (DVB-T, obviously) and analog (PAL / NTSC) signals. There's also a hardware MPEG2 encoder to take some of the strain away from your CPU, not to mention an IR sensor input and FM radio tuner. In typical ASUS fashion, it's not even trying to dish out a price or release date, so our best advice is to simply keep an eye out if this is the card for you.
VC Friday: Bubbles and Pokemans
It's a double WiiWare update for Europe and Australia this week as the fresh-faced download service once again blots out new old games. There is a pattern emerging here -- WiiWare one week, Virtual Console the next, and so forth -- but we're not yet sure if it's a deliberate trend or just a coincidence. Either way, it's pretty plain now that Virtual Console stuff is going to become less regular. Up for grabs this week: My Pokémon Ranch -- WiiWare -- 1000 Wii Points Pop -- WiiWare -- 700 Wii Points Videos after the break!%Gallery-22676%
VC Friday: A monstrous update
Maybe "monstrous" is overdoing it, but after last week's no-show for the Virtual Console, we're back to five games for this Friday's PAL region VC update. Hurrah! These range from forgettable spin-offs (Pac-Attack -- the first SNES title we've seen in over three months, bizarrely) to a Commodore 64 fan favorite (Cybernoid) to SNK's excellent King of the Monsters, which probably hasn't been bettered in the monsters-breaking-stuff genre since its release. Super Fantasy Zone -- Mega Drive -- 800 Wii Points Pac-Attack -- SNES -- 800 Wii Points Summer Games 2 -- Commodore 64 -- 500 Wii Points Cybernoid -- Commodore 64 -- 500 Wii Points King of the Monsters -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii Points We have some videos featuring some of the above for you, but you'll have to smash the break down with your giant monster limbs to access them.
'VC' Friday: WiiWare takes over again
For the second time in three weeks, those rapscallions at Nintendo have decided to forgo releasing old, lovable Virtual Console games and have instead opted for WiiWare. Grr. Still, at least it means that Europe and Australia get Arkanoid-style puzzler Block Breaker Deluxe, which we deemed to be rather good, despite its cast of grinning, lifestyle pillocks. At the other end of the quality pool bobs the questionable floating object that is Cocoto Fishing Master, which we wouldn't buy for our worst enemies. Block Breaker Deluxe -- WiiWare -- 800 Wii points Cocoto Fishing Master -- WiiWare -- 700 Wii points Smash through the blocks post break to see footage of each.
Nintendo adds Update 3.3 to repaired Wiis, internet not happy
Usually, the news that Nintendo updated the firmware on your Wii while it's away for repair would hardly count as news at all. Since yesterday, however, when everybody caught wind of how the latest Wii Menu Update knocked the Twilight Hack and Freeloader on the head, Nintendo's meddling hasn't been as appreciated.A group of disgruntled Wii owners whose consoles have been repaired and updated with new firmware congregated on the forums of GBAtemp.net, in a thread titled "CURSE u NINTENDO!," to howl about Nintendo's repair team and their habit of adding unwanted updates. While we can only sympathize with them, we should probably let this serve as a warning to others: if you are a homebrewer or importer with a Wii that's conked out, you might want to think twice about sending your machine to Nintendo.[Via Go Nintendo]
New Wii update spells the end for Freeloader [Update 1]
Turns out the Twilight Hack wasn't the only casualty of the latest Wii Menu Update. Import gamers everywhere are turning on their Wiis to find that the Freeloader disc they purchased to play (for example) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (remember that?) on their PAL Wiis is also rendered useless by the update. Slotting the Freeloader disc into a Wii now results in a message telling you that:1. An error has occurred.2. You'll need to eject the disc and turn off your Wii, please.3. Your worth as a human being is infinitesimal at best. Why do you even bother going on?So there you go, folks -- say goodbye to playing imports early, and hello to waiting for big-name releases that already appeared elsewhere months ago.[Update: Corrected "infinitesimally small"][Via videogaming247]
VC Friday: Back on form
If you think we've already forgiven Nintendo for totally neglecting the PAL Virtual Console last week, you can think again, sunshine. Nope, Ninty is officially in our bad books, and no amount of sweet talk, flowers, weekends away, or singing telegrams can let the company out of the doghouse right now. Frankly, we've never felt so unwan -- eh, what's that you say? Five games? Two of which prominently feature ninjas? Oh, go on then. Alex Kidd in Miracle World -- Master System -- 500 Wii Points Fatal Fury 2 -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii Points Ninja Combat -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii Points Last Ninja 2: Back with a Vengeance -- Commodore 64 -- 500 Wii Points * Nebulus -- Commodore 64 -- 500 Wii Points * * Unavailable in Oz, we're afraid, but look at the bright side: footage of all five games is past the break! Actually, we're not sure how that's meant to console you, or how those two facts are even related. Ridiculous, really.
