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Capcom to re-release $100 'Street Fighter II' SNES cartridges
As if grabbing the SNES Classic Edition weren't challenging enough, retro gamers have another limited re-release to look out for: brand-new Street Fighter II cartridges. Capcom and iam8bit have teamed up to produce a run of 5,500 units, available in either "Opaque Ryu Headband Red" (4,500 cartridges) or "Glow-in-the-Dark Blanka Green" (1,000 cartridges). The boxes are all identical and will be sealed, so which one you might actually get is random.
‘Secret of Mana’ returning as a 3D remaster on PlayStation and PC
Next month, a horde of nostalgic Nintendo heads will get the chance to relive the Secret of Mana on the SNES Classic Edition. But, if you're a gamer with modern sensibilities, then its 16-bit world may not suffice. Fortunately for you, developer Square Enix is giving the iconic title the 3D treatment. An upgraded version of the JRPG is heading to the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Steam next year.
SNES-inspired 3DS XL hits Europe in October
Miss out on the SNES Classic pre-orders that went up (and promptly sold out) overnight? Nintendo has a consolation prize for you. Sort of. The storied game-maker will release a Super Nintendo-themed 3DS XL this October 13th. There's a catch though: It'll only be available in Europe. As Polygon notes, last year Japan got a Super Famicom-styled 3DS XL, and it still hasn't made its way to our shores. But given that the Super Famicom itself was exclusive to Japan, that makes sense. The same can't be said for the SNES one. We've reached out to Nintendo for more information and will update this post should it arrive.
Nintendo's second 'Classic' console is better, but not perfect
When Nintendo announced that the already impossible to find NES Classic Edition was going out of production, there were two reactions: outrage that the company could introduce such a popular product and fail to meet demand, and curiosity -- why would Nintendo kill off the most popular throwback console ever made? The official line is that it was never intended to be a long-term product, but in the months that followed, you had to wonder if the original retro console was merely discontinued to make way for a sequel: The Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition. Now, that console is almost ready to hit the market, and Nintendo promises that it will make up for the original's shortcomings. The company expects to ship "significantly more" of the new console than the original. And we hope it does -- because if the short preview we had with the console last week is any indication, it's going to sell just as fast as its predecessor.
Bring your own SNES cartridges for the Supa RetroN HD
The upcoming launch of Nintendo's SNES Classic has turned up the hype on 16-bit nostalgia, and Hyperkin is ready to seize the moment. The company already builds several consoles built for retro gaming, and now product designer Chris Gallizzi tweeted this image of the Supa RetroN HD. Hyperkin's $160 RetroN 5 already plays SNES games (as well as other classic systems), but a pared-down clone will probably be simpler, might not need to run Android and may be cheaper, just like the $40 RetroN 1 HD for NES games.
Walmart cancels early SNES Classic Edition preorders
If you're one of the lucky folks that got a preorder in at Walmart for a Super Nintendo Classic Edition unit last week, you might want to sit down. Walmart is canceling all of the preorders, claiming that it was "mistakenly made available last Friday evening ahead of the official release date." The retailer has started notifying customers today.
Play the lost 'Rayman' prototype if you have a SNES emulator
While the dream of playing a lost version of Rayman for Super NES on Nintendo's Switch console hasn't come true (yet), we have a bit of an update about the game itself. Archivist and game developer Omar Cornut recently borrowed the ROM original developer Michel Ancel (above) teased last fall, dumped it to his computer and then uploaded the files to Dropbox for everyone to play. Everyone who has a Super NES emulator that'll read a .SFC extension, of course.
When tech nostalgia goes too far
Nintendo had a bonafide smash on its hands with the NES Classic. And it looks like the SNES mini console will fly off of store shelves just as quickly. But it's not the only company looking to cash in on your nostalgia. Nowadays, there are reboots of TV shows like Twin Peaks and MST3K. Oh, and how about Netflix's Stranger Things, a series that's basically a love letter to the 80s? These are all examples of nostalgia products done right. But not everything we've seen in recent years has been as great as you would have hoped. Because, seriously, do you really want one of the Furbys pictured above watching you sleep? And who would be caught dead toting around a Tamagotchi in 2017? You know what, maybe that is you, and who are we to judge? But if you ask us, these 10 things probably took our retro obsession a little too far.
Here's what Nintendo needs to do to make the SNES Classic great
Before Nintendo unveiled the Switch, its new hybrid game console, to the world, it rereleased an old one. The NES Classic Edition was an adorably small box of nostalgia packed with some of the best games for Nintendo's original home console. Now the company is doing it again -- on September 29th, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition will put games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country and Mega Man X back in the living room. Hopefully, it'll do that while improving on the faults of Nintendo's first throwback machine.
Nintendo swears the SNES Classic won't sell out so quickly
Nintendo's sales strategy for the NES Classic Edition was frustrating, to put it mildly. It shipped so few systems that they sold out almost immediately, and killed the product despite loads of pent-up demand. Will it learn from its mistakes now that the SNES Classic is on its way? Apparently, the answer is yes... maybe. The gaming giant has put out a statement (you can read it below) promising that it'll ship "significantly more" SNES Classics than it did last year's retro console. It's not divulging numbers (that would be spilling trade secrets), but this suggests you might not have to pre-order right away to bring one home. However, you probably don't want to get your hopes up just yet.
The SNES Classic is real, arrives on September 29th for $80
The delicious rumors are true: Nintendo is gearing up to launch the SNES Classic, a miniaturized version of the glorious original Super Nintendo Entertainment System. According to Nintendo's Twitter account, the system will be available on September 29th with 21 games built-in -- including the never-released Star Fox 2.
Nintendo's next hit console could be the SNES Mini
Nintendo's decision to retire the NES Classic left many fans disgruntled. The system, a reimagined version of the iconic 80s console, was a hit last Christmas -- for those that could find one, that is. Stock problems meant it was notoriously difficult to acquire, and rather than solve these supply issues, Nintendo simply killed the product completely. While frustrating, there could be a silver lining: Eurogamer reports that a SNES Mini is in the works. Citing anonymous sources, it says the new hardware is scheduled to launch this holiday season, and that development is already underway.
Nintendo classics get online multiplayer on the Switch
The Nintendo Switch features a new, paid subscription model that grants players access to online multiplayer features -- and something extra. According to the Nintendo Switch Online Service website, anyone who subscribes will be able to download and play one classic game from the Nintendo Entertainment System or Super Nintendo Entertainment System per month, "with newly added online play."
Someone Google Translated 'Final Fantasy'
As much as we love them, Japanese role-playing games can be baffling at the best of times. Yet thanks to some clever localization, teams of writers and translators around the globe have managed to make sense of these intriguing adventures. But what if these localization teams didn't exist? That's the question translation enthusiast Clyde Mandelin asked, resulting in him rigging up a program to Google Translate Final Fantasy IV.
Celebrate the SNES with Hyperkin's mechanical keyboard
If you grew up in North America during the early 1990s, there's probably one color you associate with Nintendo: Purple. The SNES had a distinctly violet tinge in the region, while European and Japanese customers were treated to a grey, slightly more curvaceous model (the controller had multi-colored face buttons too.) If the purple version has a special place in your heart, you might be interested in the Hyper Clack Tactile Mechanical Keyboard by Kyperkin. It costs $99.99 and comes with Gaote Blue switches, which should suit serious but not too serious gamers and writers.
Ben Heck's multi-system retro controller
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Using a build idea from the element14 Community, Ben takes an ESP8266 module and creates the ultimate all-in-one retro gaming controller for the Super Nintendo, Sega Megadrive / Genesis and Nintendo Entertainment System. To get the digital signals from the buttons across the wireless transmission to the receiver, Ben will have to use shift registers such as the 74HC595 to combine the bits into a data stream. It's not all straightforward, though: Felix steps in to help with LUA scripting and the team hits a snag with the programming. Fortunately, designing the enclosure is a lot simpler thanks to Autodesk Fusion 360. After a lot of testing, soldering and taking apart a Sega controller, the team creates a controller of wonder. Which consoles would you control? Would you design it any differently? Suggest a build on the element14 Community.
Get a look at the lost Super NES 'Rayman' game
When he isn't busy cryptically teasing Beyond Good & Evil 2, game developer Michel Ancel laments (above) past projects lost to the sands of time. Like the Super NES version of Rayman that was scrapped in favor of iterations for the Atari Jaguar and original PlayStation. As noticed by Motherboard, Ancel managed to find an old prototype cartridge and fired it up.
Disney 16-bit classics including 'Aladdin' coming to GOG.com
Nothing says '90s gaming like the Sega Genesis and 16-bit Disney classics like Aladdin. You can bathe in that nostalgia again thanks to GOG.com and Disney's re-release of Aladdin, The Lion King and Jungle Book. Those titles, originally developed for the Super NES and Sega Genesis, were groundbreaking at the time for the hand drawn "Digicel" tech used. All were eventually ported to the NES, Amiga, PC and other systems, but GOG cheekily said that the Aladdin update is based on the "obviously superior" Sega/PC version.
Game Boy mod plays nearly any classic Nintendo game
It's trivial to play vintage Nintendo games if you're not picky about what devices you use. But what if you miss the look and feel of the original Game Boy? Wermy has an answer: build a Game Boy that does it all. His Game Boy Zero modification uses a Raspberry Pi Zero, a modified game cartridge and a whole lot of drilling to emulate classic NES, SNES and Game Boy titles (up to the Game Boy Advance) while preserving most of Nintendo's original look and feel. On the outside, the only concessions to modernity are the 3.5-inch color display and the stealthily integrated buttons needed to play some newer titles.
Spin-jump your way to 'Flappy Bird' in 'Super Mario World'
To date, we've seen the infamous Flappy Bird show up either cloned or otherwise in roughly 853 different places. That's a slight exaggeration, but you probably weren't expecting to find it in a game that's rapidly approaching 30 years in age. YouTube user "SethBling" says that by executing a glitch on a standard Super NES with no modifications, he was able to trick the game into letting him upload code for the airborne fowl's namesake game into Super Mario World. Your homage in Super Mario Maker just got even less impressive.
