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SNES Wii controller coming to Japan in April
Like some of our editors here at Engadget, we know you long for the carefree, multi-hued days of the Super Nintendo and all its Mode 7 glory. Well, if you live in Japan, are a member of Club Nintendo (wherein you earn points for purchases of the company's games and accessories), and have the patience to wait until April, you could be the proud owner of the Wii SNES (Super Famicom, rather) controller. The gamepad won't be commercially available, nor will it be offered stateside (as far as we know), so now is the time to firm up your relationships with Japanese friends, or start saving pennies for your forthcoming eBay bidding war. Either way, the chance to relive your youth is just around the corner.[Thanks, J]
3D Link to the Past 'interests' Aonuma
OK, show of hands, please: who fancies a 3D remake of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past? If your arm just shot up, know this: you're far from alone. Series director Eiji Aonuma wants it, as well. Or at least, he's "very interested" in adding an extra dimension to what is arguably probably unquestionably the greatest Zelda game ever conceived.Aonuma, who most recently acted as director on the DS's splendiferous Phantom Hourglass, revealed his wish in the latest issue of the Official Nintendo Magazine (the UK edition), stating that "The first Zelda game that I played and felt potential in was Link to the Past. I'm actually very interested in what it would be like if we remade that title as a 3D game."Now, we confess that's a loooong way from us actually getting a 3D Link to the Past, but the mere fact that Aonuma has even considered this makes our legs go all wobbly. If you've never played the game, and therefore can't comprehend that reaction, then we suggest you stop reading, head over to the Virtual Console now, and commence downloading. For $8, it's a quite obscene bargain.
VC Monday Madness: Blue's Journey, Volleyball and Axelay
As one might imagine, the week following the release of Super Mario Bros. 3 is a bit on the disappointing side. But, hey, just about any Virtual Console release this week would disappointing when we've gotten our hands on one of the best games of all time. Volleyball (NES, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Blue's Journey (NeoGeo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points) Axelay (Super NES, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) As usual, be sure to stop back later for our video wrap-up of the day's releases.
Rapping, puppetry, and misogyny: Zelda commercials through the ages
This compilation of western and Japanese Zelda TV commercials is by no means comprehensive, but it does feature three or four that are new to us. Some are just downright peculiar -- the second Legend of Zelda advert recalls David Lynch's Eraserhead -- and there's clearly been an unsettling amount of rapping involved in the marketing of the series, something we hadn't noticed previously. The advert for Twilight Princess is utterly tame in comparison.No doubt you'll have seen a couple of these about a gazillion times (the Ocarina of Time commercial from the days when Nintendo didn't think twice about calling you a weak little girl, and the fabulously dorky "Your parents help you hook it up!" ad from the late-'80s), but it's still worth a watch for the more obscure stuff, some of which even manages to out-weird Sony's recent output. And that's a heck of an achievement.
Japan's November VC releases: Nuts
... and also Milk. November's Virtual Console outlook for Japan looks pretty excellent, with a lot of delightfully niche stuff. That includes King's Knight, the medieval-themed vertical shooter (!) from Square(!) that nobody likes but us ( ....) It will also bring Sega's Eternal Champions, the goofy Mortal Kombat-influenced fighting game that we poured hundreds of hours into. But it also includes stuff that non-us people will enjoy, like Panel de Pon, which, released in the U.S. as Tetris Attack, is the most popular version of the Puzzle League puzzle games. Light Crusader is notable for being an RPG from Treasure, and not much else.Of course, the big news for a lot of us is that SNK has turned the King of Fighters faucet on, ensuring a constant stream of fighting games with overdone storylines and ridiculous outfits for at least a year. Here's the full lineup for November, assuming some of them don't get bumped or pushed back into December (they will): Famicom: Ganbare Goemon, Balloon Fight, Makaimura (Ghosts 'n Goblins), Nuts and Milk, King's KnightSuper Famicom: Panel de PonMega Drive: Ecco Jr., Light Crusader, Eternal ChampionsPC Engine: Dynastic Hero (Wonder Boy in Monster World), Dragon Spirit, Take the A-Train 3, Kawa no Nushi Tsuri (Legend of the River King), Gradius II GOFER no YabouNeo Geo: The King of Fighters '94, Baseball Stars 2, Top Hunter
Virtually Overlooked: Umihara Kawase
Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative.The recent reveal of a new Bionic Commando game for the PS3 and Xbox 360 got us very excited. Not about the new game, which looks heartbreakingly bland, but about old grappling hook games. But we can't exactly detail the NES Bionic Commando here. You've all searched for Super Joe, accidentally fired off shots in neutral zones, and blown up Hitler Master D. And the arcade version isn't as awesome. But there's another grappling game, for the Super Nintendo, that is even more grappling-focused than Bionic Commando.
Nintendo of Japan drops Famicom hardware support
Well, it had an amazing run.Unless you're a citizen of Japan and own a Famicom system, this bit of news is likely to not affect you. However, should you fulfill those requirements, you might like to know that Nintendo of Japan has ceased to support the old piece of hardware. You're probably one who still plays the thing, we imagine, so you might want to take it easy on the old gal, as this goes into effect on the 31st of this month.Also of note, Nintendo of Japan will be dropping support for the Super Famicom, N64, Game Boy and Game Boy Pocket, as well.[Via Arcade Renaissance]
Virtually Overlooked: Ultraman
Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative.The success of Street Fighter II had an instantaneous effect on the game industry, not only driving production of me-too fighting games, but also providing a template for any fighting game to follow; every 2D one-on-one fighting game since then has stuck closely to this design, distinguishing itself in how it differs from the Street Fighter II formula.Pre-Street Fighter II fighting games lacked this template for fighter success, and thus exhibited more variation in design. In a way, this makes the few pre-SFII fighters more interesting. Unfortunately, most of these games do have one feature in common: they aren't very good. Ultraman for the SNES fits in this category, but we can't help but like it.
Project Exile finds publisher for early 2008 release
We thought that Project Exile was abandoned, left to rust in an unused barn with the other RPGs from indie studios that we haven't heard much from in months (e.g. Western Lords), but that wasn't the case! Signature Devices and Graffiti Entertainment announced that they've teamed up with Montreal-based developer Studio Archcraft to publish Project Exile, predicting a release for the 1st quarter of 2008.If this is your first time hearing about the title, Project Exile is a "Japanese-style RPG" that follows the traditions of classic SNES RPGs with both its graphics and game design. In fact, its similarities to games like Chrono Trigger, the Seiken Densetsu series, and Final Fantasy 6 are so pronounced, there was a bit of controversy over whether or not the developer was using altered sprites ripped from its forefathers.Though we're weary over what functionality the team might've shoehorned in during the game's mid-development move from the GBA to the DS, if Studio Archcraft manages to fulfill its promise of "eight fully developed playable characters armed with over 100 different abilities, skills, and combos," we'll definitely be at the front of the line when Project Exile hits shops.[Via Joystiq]
VC Monday Madness: Gate of Thunder heralds a new system
Not only do we get our first originally-CD-based game on the Virtual Console, but Hudson skipped ahead and went straight to the more powerful version of their Turbografx-16 CD platform, the TurboDuo (for which Gate of Thunder was a pack-in). And by all accounts, Gate of Thunder is among the best of the Turbo's many shooters. In fact, reviewer Malc said "Gate of Thunder is living proof that there's such a thing as a perfect shmup." So it's got historical significance and, apparently, awesomeness going for it.If you're not up for another shmup, there's also Ninja Gaiden II, which is a whole lot like the first one (which is not at all a bad thing) except you can get two shadow-clone Ryus to run around behind you like in Ninja Spirit. Or Metal Marines, which is a rarity-- a turn-based strategy game for the SNES. Overall, this is a very nice VC week-- at least all of the games should display correctly. Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (NES, 1player, 500 Wii Points) Metal Marines (Super NES, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Gate of Thunder (TurboDuo, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
VC Friday: Ah, Samus
In a mirror of the pre-Metroid Prime 3 release that U.S. gamers saw, European Wii owners get to celebrate with a little taste of Samus on their own Virtual Consoles this week. Instead of asking the opposite, let's just do this: who isn't going to get Super Metroid?Now we're going to need to know why. Probotector II: Return of the Evil Forces -- NES -- 500 Wii points Super Metroid -- SNES -- 800 Wii points
DS Daily: Z-cell
For obvious reasons, today's daily question is aimed squarely at those of you who still have physical copies of Zelda cartridges. I have a bunch of Zelda games on cartridge myself, and have since The Legend of Zelda first went up for sale. But the copy of NES Zelda I currently have is not my first copy. The battery died on that one back when new copies of the game were still available. It's been replaced a couple of times, and the "NES Classics" grey-cartridge version is still holding on. These games were replaced, of course, before I realized that you could change the battery in NES cartridges. It was also back when, if you wanted a triwing screwdriver, you had to go through one of the janky mail-order outfits found in the back of Electronic Gaming Monthly instead of some janky dude on eBay.Have you had a similar issue? Has your NES Zelda cartridge forgotten how you totally beat the second quest? Have you had to replace your Link to the Past, or its battery? And, for a bonus question, can you name at least one other item in video gaming that, annoyingly, requires constant replacement of CR2032 batteries?You kids and your flash memory. You don't know how good you have it!
Revolutionary: Emulation-ary
Every Tuesday, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities. Traditionally, consoles have had to carry over hardware from previous generations in order to offer backward compatibility. This can be thought of as a burden, as the costs of including that hardware might be better used increasing the specs and features of the system for the benefit of new games. This generation marks a change in the method of operations in providing backward compatibility. The Xbox 360, Playstation 3 (in select models and territories), and Wii use a process known as software emulation to provide backward compatibility with their predecessors, so that they don't have to include that old hardware. What emulation does is allow one set of hardware to mimic the functions of another set of hardware. Emulation isn't a new technique, and it isn't exclusive to consoles. In fact, many people have been using it for years to play games on hardware other than for which it was developed.
VC Monday Madness video wrap-up 9/24/07
Mondays are usually regarded as bad by most folk. We have to go back to work and push back the memories of fun from the weekend that just passed. That doesn't count for Virtual Console fans in the U.S. however. No, we celebrate the coming of Monday and cherish its offerings.
VC Monday Madness: Kirby, Legend and Streets
Like the great Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Kirby's Avalanche is a fine Puyo Puyo clone. And, as you all know, we're insane about some puzzle games here at Wii Fanboy estates. Here is all of the games available for download after 9am PST today: Kirby's Avalanche (Super NES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Streets of Rage 3 (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) LEGEND OF HERO TONMA (TurboGrafx16, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) Be sure top stop back later for our video wrap-up. Unlike last week, we'll have it up in speedy fashion.
VC Friday: What gets Bonked in Vegas stays in Vegas
Just two releases this week for European gamers on the Virtual Console, and they're certainly pretty different. One is the casino game that featured interesting interaction via random encounters (and also, hey, gambling), and the other is, well, Bonk. Either of these sound like something that might tickle your particular fancy? Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure -- Turbografx -- 600 Wii points Vegas Stakes -- SNES -- 800 Wii points
VC Monday Madness video wrap-up 8/27/07
Wow, what a week for the Wii, eh? First, we're getting Metroid Prime 3 and now we get three stellar Virtual Console games?! Someone killed us and we're typing this from beyond the grave, is that it? Yup, that has to be it: we're dead.We'll say hello to Ghandi for you.
VC Monday Madness: Breath of Fire II, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Super C
While Nintendo didn't gift us with a press release today, causing us to wait until this very minute to confirm the games available for download on the Virtual Console this week, we can't be too mad. It's quite the selection they have for us this week. Breath of Fire II (SNES, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Ghouls 'n Ghosts (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Super C (NES, 1-2 players, 500 Wii points) Anyone planning on picking up some downloadable content?
VC Monday Madness video wrap-up 8/20/07
It took us a lot longer than we initially would have liked, but we finally bring forth our video for this week. As you can imagine, our minds are focused mostly on Super Metroid. But the inclusion of Shinobi III is a nice extra and not to be overlooked, either. All in all, great work as far as Virtual Console content goes.
VC Monday Madness: Super Metroid, Shinobi III and Neutopia
There are going to be three new titles you may download from the Virtual Console in little under an hour, and one of them is perhaps one of the best games ever made: Super Metroid. As far as the franchise goes, we can easily say it is our favorite entry. But, not to be outdone by Nintendo's Class A act of a SNES game, Sega's Shinobi III is also available. As for this third game, well we've never heard of it: Super Metroid (SNES, 1 player, 800 Wii points) Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii points) Neutopia (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, 600 Wii points) We can put you down for one download of Super Metroid, then?
