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Ask Joystiq: On bankruptcy, guitar compatibility and Euro-rock (band)
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Ask Joystiq, the column where you ask the questions and we track down the answers like the lowly, underpaid servants we are. This week's topics include the magazine industry, PlayStation 3 guitar compatibility and Rock Band's absence in Europe.If you have a question you want answered, drop us a line at ask AAT joystiq DAWT com. Let's get down to it:Q: Regarding Ziff-Davis' filing for Chapter 11: Did online kill the magazine star?-Jonah FalconWhile most people associate the word "bankruptcy" with "going out of business," Chapter 11 status is often used by relatively healthy companies to restructure old debts. 1UP Vice President for Content Simon Cox explained as much in a recent blog post: "Ziff has been saddled with an enormous amount of debt for many years. An amount so large that even though we're a profitable company (and growing all the time), the repayments were killing us ... So last year we brought the bondholders of that debt to the table and proposed that they turn that debt into equity in Ziff Davis. They all said yes."
VC Friday: 'R you ready?'
So asks the front of Super R-Type's box. Of course, you won't get the box when you purchase Super R-Type on the Virtual Console (you are purchasing Super R-Type ... right?), but we couldn't resist revisiting such a deliciously bad pun. You just don't get that kind of cringeworthy wordplay on today's boxart!The NES version of Operation Wolf also makes an appearance today, and if you ask us it's one of the very few Virtual Console games that would actually benefit from added Wiimote functionality. Super R-Type -- SNES -- 800 Wii points Operation Wolf -- NES -- 500 Wii points Don't forget there's footage to get all misty-eyed about after the break!
Diabolik: The Original Sin will attack European Wiis this fall
Black Bean Games recently announced that they're making a game for the Wii (and other platforms) based on the comic book character Diabolik. If, like us, you're not exactly familiar with obscure Italian 1960s comic books, the press release describes Diabolik as a merciless anti-hero who also happens to like gadgets. The release also mentions that Diabolik: The Original Sin will be a point-and-click adventure game that includes combat fighting and stealth sequences. What we find most interesting, though, is that the game will mix 2D comic animations in black and white with 3D real-time graphics. If Artematica (a developer that we're not familiar with) pulls that off well, Diabolik could turn out to be a very stylish game.The game is currently scheduled for an autumn release in Europe and PAL territories.[Thanks, Lego!]
VC Friday: The puffball returns
Just the one game on today's update, though that doesn't mean your Wii points will have it easy. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards has become the twelfth Nintendo 64 game on the European and Aussie Virtual Consoles, and as such comes in at 1000 Wii points. It's not the lengthiest of titles, but it's still a worthy purchase. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards -- N64 -- 1000 Wii points As usual, skip past the break for footage.
VC Friday: Pew pew pew
It's been hard not to feel totally pampered by recent PAL Virtual Console updates, with the likes of Phantasy Star II and Street Gangs keeping us up late.This week's releases -- both of which are shooters -- can't quite match that kind of awesomeness, but they're still worth considering. Super Turrican is a pretty SNES shooter from Factor 5 (heard of those turncoats?), while Psychosis is -- we urge you to brace yourselves for a shock -- a Turbografx-16 shooter.Blast your way past the break for extensive footage of both in action. Super Turrican -- SNES -- 800 Wii points Psychosis -- Turbografx -- 800 Wii points
VC Friday: It's only freakin' River City Ransom
We kind of knew all along that Street Gangs (or River City Ransom as NTSC gamers will know it) would materialize on the Virtual Console eventually. Yet even with this knowledge in hand, we still couldn't resist cartwheeling across our living rooms with joy after it appeared for really reals today on the PAL VC. People, it's Street Gangs, a.k.a. River City Ransom. Whatever name you give to it, it's a bona fide classic, and requires your instant attention.Adventure Island is this week's second addition, yet may well go unnoticed, thanks to the game it shares this particular VC Friday with. That would be a shame, as Hudson's platformer is also worth investigating.Hoist a trash can above your head and hit the break for footage of both! Street Gangs -- NES -- 500 Wii points Adventure Island -- NES -- 500 Wii points
VC Friday: VC Phriday
After a run of three weeks with only one title, this Friday sees two Sega properties up for the taking on the PAL Virtual Console. The first, 2D fighter Eternal Champions, should only concern the most ardent supporters of the company.Indeed, if our bastardization of "VC Friday" tells you anything, it's that this is the week of Phantasy Star II. Sega's RPG is rightfully a huge favorite amongst the Fanboy staff, and it should be high on your list as well. For 800 Wii points, on a machine with no notable RPGs to call its own, it's a pretty damn essential addition to your Virtual Console library. Eternal Champions -- Mega Drive -- 800 Wii points Phantasy Star II -- Mega Drive -- 800 Wii points
VC Friday: Lords of the Virtual Console drought
After a quiet couple of weeks on the European and Aussie Virtual Consoles, this week is ... no different whatsoever. Just a single game is on offer to PAL Wii owners this Friday, with Lords of Thunder on the block for 800 points. This blogger won't pretend to be familiar with Hudson's Turbografx-16 shooter; did anybody else give this a whirl back in the day? Lords of Thunder -- Turbografx -- 800 Wii points
Nintendo teases PAL regions with Brawl release date
While Wii owners in Japan are feverishly playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and everyone in the States is biting their fingernails in anticipation of the March release, we forget our friends in the PAL region, who thus far haven't even been given a firm release date for Nintendo's franchise fighter. Wii Fanboy helps us catch up with all the drama.A few days ago, Nintendo updated the Brawl page of their UK site, posting a release date of June 1st for the game. Once word had gotten out of the posted date, Nintendo quietly removed it, replacing it with the super-helpful time frame of "2008."What's even weirder is Nintendo's denial of the slipped release, claiming the update is likely a mistake as June 1st is a Sunday. Keep in mind that the official Brawl release date in the US is March 9th: a Sunday. So either it's a flimsy excuse for an unannounced release date, or the date really doesn't mean anything. Either way, we'll keep you updated on whether Nintendo ever decides to "set a date" with our PAL pals.
VC Friday: Back to Eggerland!
This week on the PAL Virtual Console, players get another chance to return to Eggerland and help blue-sphere-with-eyes Lolo rescue pink-sphere-with-eyes Lala from King Egger (a poor man's Bowser) in Adventures of Lolo 2. Sometimes, we miss the simpler characterization to be found in older games.If you're not so crazy about the thought of more Adventures of Lolo, then consider this your chance to save those Wii points for possible future treasures. Adventures of Lolo 2 -- NES -- 500 Wii points
Nintendo puts up Brawl PAL release date, yanks it down again, denies everything
With Japan fretting over possible shortages of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and North America absorbing the frustration of the game's delay, there's nothing like the ongoing suffering of PAL gamers to keep things in perspective. Forget shortages or delays -- here in PAL land, we don't even have a release date yet.That seemed to change yesterday, after Brawl's page at Nintendo's UK site was sensationally updated with a release date of June 1st. CVG just so happened to be hanging around there at the time, and so wisely screencapped the date for posterity. This proved to be an astute move, as the page now displays -- surprise! -- a far more vague "2008."What's more, Nintendo this morning denied the whole thing to Eurogamer, pointing out that June 1st is a Sunday, and that the appearance of the date was a simple mistake. Do we believe them, readers? Well, we suppose we have to, but a June release hardly seems far-fetched, either.Read: News of the date's initial appearanceRead: Nintendo's official denial
Wii Fit dated for North America, PAL regions
Since it was picked up by more than a million consumers in Japan, we have been impatiently waiting for news on Wii Fit's release Everywhere Else. Our dumbbells, caked in dust after our last workout in 1999, have been brought out of retirement, and the leotard has just arrived back from the cleaners. We are ready to become fine, chiselled specimens.Except ... we'll have to wait a bit first. Until either April (if you're in North America) or June (for those in a PAL region), to be precise. An April release date in North America is actually quite a pleasant surprise. Not only does it mean we can continue living our gluttonous lifestyles for at least another couple of months, but it's also a little sooner than we initially expected.
Europe to wait for Okami, reckons insider
In news that caused us to throw our heads back and howl loudly at the moon, an "inside source" close to Eurogamer has informed the site that Europeans will have to wait until summer for Okami. According to the latest schedule, the game is still set to appear in the U.S. on March 25th.It's not the first time this has happened with one of Capcom's Wii releases -- Europe may have had only ten days to wait for Resident Evil 4, but Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure took its sweet time getting here, and only launched last week. Then again, the Wii hardly sells in Europe, does it?Aussies, it's not confirmed, but recent history suggests you might be in the same boat. Can you feel the love? Can you?
Sony's David Reeves says PS3 victory in sight
Apparently Sony has decided to start both hangin' tough and unleashing the fury in the console wars, at least in Europe. According to SCEE president, CEO, and player-hater David Reeves, 2008 will be the year that the PlayStation 3 takes the gloves off and makes a nasty dent in the UK games market, amongst others. While not specifying official sales numbers for the machine, Reeves stated that the company has sold over a million systems in December across PAL territories, and went on to say that in some markets like Switzerland and France, the PS3's installed base outnumbers the Xbox 360's. Of course, it's easy to find small victories like monthly sales figures, but Sony's really going to have to break out the BFGs if it wants to tackle the big boys.[Via Pocket-lint]
BARF! OFLC approves River City Ransom for VC
As much as we value and admire the Virtual Console, we've always found it to be lacking in the area of River City Ransom. Our hopes that this oversight would be corrected were briefly raised in October, when the game appeared on the Virtual Console in Japan (where it is known as Downtown Nekketsu Story), but since then little has been heard about any Generic Dudes making the trip to English-speaking parts of the world.So imagine our excitement this morning, after learning how Australian regulatory body the OFLC has approved the release of Street Gangs (River City Ransom's inferior PAL title, with matching inferior PAL boxart) and Adventures of Lolo 2 on the Aussie Virtual Console. Which, as we know from history, usually leads to a release on other Virtual Consoles. If we fail to write any more posts for the rest of today, now you know why: it's because we're too busy running around with our jumpers pulled over our heads in fits of celebration.[Via Go Nintendo]
VC Friday: Give the gift of Wonder Boy this Christmas
We've already discussed how much of a holy mess the Wonder Boy series is, and today European and Australian folk will be able to sample a small part of the jumbled franchise, with the release of Monster Lair, as it appeared on the Turbografx-16 (a Sega Mega Drive version appeared a year later, though only in Europe).Whereas Monster Lair is perhaps the highlight of this last VC update before Christmas, this blogger will admit to having fond recollections of the fighting sequences in NES ice hockey title Blades of Steel, while those of you with an "Extreme!!!" bent may wish to throw 500 Wii points in the direction of Skate or Die! Skate or Die! -- NES -- 500 Wii points Blades of Steel -- NES -- 500 Wii points Monster Lair -- Turbografx -- 800 Wii points
VC Friday: Mega Man!
This week, the PAL Virtual Console picks up the action theme of last week and runs with it. Up on the block this Friday is Neo Geo shoot-me-do Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy, a beautifully drawn SNK shooter that preceded genre classic Metal Slug.Mega Man 2 from the NES will be the highlight for many of you, however, with 500 Wii points a terribly small price to pay for what is arguably the series' finest moment to date. Even without the completely rad boxart. Mega Man 2 -- NES -- 500 Wii points Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii points
Five gifts that PAL gamers should import this Christmas
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Five_gifts_that_PAL_gamers_should_import_this_Christmas'; Gaming sites are inundated with holiday gift guides at the end of the year, listing the best and most popular games that everyone pretty much already has (or knows about). Well, we're not going in for that this year. Our gift guide will help you find the best gifts in categories the other sites won't cover -- because we just made them up. Nintendo's indifference towards PAL regions is infamous, but there's arguably less room for complaining when it comes to the DS. See, the DS is (and we do not use this phrase lightly) an importer's dream. It doesn't faff around with region-specific software, there's a huge library of diverse and interesting NTSC-only titles, and the games themselves are cheap. As in, cheaper than they'll be when they arrive in the UK/Europe/Australia six months from now. Frankly, we can't think of a good reason for you not to import. Which brings us to our latest anti-guide, featuring the five DS-related gifts that PAL regions won't be seeing until 2008 at the earliest -- if ever. All deserve to be imported without hesitation, so read on fellow PAL folk, and prep that credit card!
Australians love the Wii, too
In the GameCube era, Australia had a bit of a rocky relationship with Nintendo. The GameCube has only sold 167,899 units there in its lifetime so far, though we can't imagine those numbers going up much. All seems to be forgiven and forgotten, however, because the Wii is now the fastest selling console in the country. In the (almost) year that the Wii has been around, it has sold 200,000 copies, which is more than even the DS and Xbox 360 sold in their first years. With its Australian market growing, perhaps Nintendo won't neglect its PAL region as much as it tends to do sometimes, but alas, we can only hope.
A year of Wii: The PAL verdict
Being a devotee of Nintendo in a PAL region is probably a bit like marriage (I'd urge you to stick with me here, because I've thought this analogy through for at least four minutes). For years, you slog away at the relationship, mildly irritated by the other person's foibles and imperfections, like that weird bumpy mole on their back, or how they noisily slurp soup, or how they insist on playing nothing but Keane during long car journeys.Then every so often, you have your disputes, arguing about the merits of Magnolia Eggshell and Cream Eggshell in the aisle of Lowe's. And sometimes, these disagreements might build up to something bigger in your mind, begin to fester, and perhaps you occasionally think, "Is this it? Is this the rest of my life?" But then, something strange happens -- every so often, the other person does something really fantastic, something that reminds you exactly why you got hitched in the first place, and why you settled on this individual as your soul mate. And suddenly, everything is well with the world, or at least until it's soup night again.The point of this long-winded comparison being: as a gamer in the UK, that pretty much sums up my relationship with Nintendo. For years now, PAL region gamers have often been treated fairly shabbily by Nintendo. I'll freely admit it doesn't take much too rile us -- we hardcore types are notoriously tough to please -- though Nintendo doesn't always help itself. Its insistence that we receive games or hardware late, or not at all, or borked ... well it's just plain infuriating is what it is. The prices, as well, leave a lot to be desired. And totally rad free gifts? Yea, forget about those.
