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An SNES emulator disguised as a file manager hits the App Store
A simple file-sharing app called Remote File Manager holds a dark secret: It can boot up and play Super Nintendo games via built-in emulation software, TouchArcade reports. The *.smc files that hold SNES games aren't actually on the list of supported file types that the app claims to be able to manage, but it certainly handles them just fine. The most interesting thing about this particular emulator is that it allows you to play games stored in a Dropbox account, so you never have to actually move the software to your iPhone or iPad in order to play it. Pretty nifty, even if the practice of emulation crosses into some shady moral and legal territory. As of the time of this writing, Remote File Manager is still available for US$0.99, though it'll almost certainly be pulled very shortly.
The artists behind the SNES cart art in Gone Home
In your search for clues in Gone Home's big ol' house, you may have spotted a few forgotten games in the cupboard. The fictional SNES games of yesteryear were each concocted by established video game artists. Adventurous The Cat Returns, created by Double Fine artist Lee Perry, is the easiest cartridge to find, developer The Fullbright Company notes in a blog post. Perry's directive was to create "an overly 'cool' Bubsy-esque character" and we'd say he nailed it. Journey of Crystal, seen above, was clearly created by Supergiant Games art director Jenn Lee. This hypothetical JRPG sequel to Secret of Time Crystal is chock full of the fantastical, with a towering castle beckoning off in the distance. Check out the Fullbright post for the rest. Gone Home, currently available for PC, Mac and Linux on Steam, has you returning home after a year abroad, only to find no one there to greet you and a cryptic note on the door. You explore and examine the house interior to piece together the story of the people who live there.
Pixel art controllers coming from Hyperkin this September
We've got a hard and fast rule against caps lock here on Joystiq, but don't think we didn't write at least three unacceptably uppercase headlines about Hyperkin's forthcoming line of pixel art controllers for PCs and Macs. Beyond the aforementioned platforms and the fact that they're slated to release sometime next month, nothing else is known about these double-retro doodads. We're hopeful that the controllers' plentiful angles and corners will somehow tessellate into a comfortable gaming experience, despite what logic and medical science may suggest to the contrary. Still, depending on how much they wind up costing, their comfort index is likely to be completely irrelevant. Update: Engadget got its hands on Hyperkin's pixelated controllers at E3 and found them to be "quite comfortable to hold and use." It's a medical miracle.%Gallery-195792%
Earthbound and children at play
This is Making Time, a column about the games we've always wanted to play, and the games we've always wanted to play again. Earlier this month, a friend on Twitter asked his followers to name a "perfect game." The resulting conversation was fascinating, as hordes of players listed games while also admitting that each had "flaws," or that the plot wasn't strong enough to be considered perfect. Some refused the notion that a perfect game could ever exist, or argued that it shouldn't exist, because perfection is unattainable. After spending time with Earthbound's recent Wii U Virtual Console, I've come to think otherwise. Earthbound is perfect. To be clear, it's not perfect because it's a flawless product, but because it expresses a coming-of-age adventure in every ounce of its code. At its roots, Earthbound (Mother 2 in Japan) is like a group of children at play, in a world much larger and darker than themselves.%Gallery-195204%
Hyperkin teases pixelated SNES-style USB / Bluetooth gamepads at E3 (hands-on)
Are the Super Nintendo gamepad's smoothly curved edges just too darn comfortable for your palms? You might want to check out Hyperkin's Pixel Art controller, an SNES-inspired USB controller rendered in the style of its time. Hyperkin quietly unveiled it on the E3 show floor, scattering boxed prototypes throughout its booth. Despite our jest, it's actually quite comfortable to hold and use, and feels very much like a brand new SNES pad. Unfortunately for retro gaming die-hards, this gamepad won't actually work on your classic game console -- the SNES compatible version of the product was nixed when the team decided to make it a Bluetooth gamepad instead. A bummer for some, but the design is still a hoot. Hyperkin didn't have a price for us, but the pixel-obsessed should be able to pick up the USB model of the gamepad (in eight colors!) later this summer, followed by a wireless version in the fall.
Hands-on with Hyperkin's Retron 5: emulating nine classic consoles with help from Android
This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo might be all about the next generation of gaming hardware, but not in Hyperkin's E3 booth: these guys are looking backwards. We dropped by to check out the Retron 5, the outfit's latest machine to traverse the library of older gaming titles. All told, this iteration strolls through half a dozen hardware cycles, offering compatibility for a full nine video game systems. It's more than a simple hardware emulator, however -- this machine offers save states, cheats and visual filters too.
Retro-bit bringing wireless controllers to retro consoles
Remember Retro-Bit, the company behind the nifty handheld NES / SNES, the RetroDuo Portable? Once again, the company is looking to make your outdated gaming habits a little more convenient, this time with a line of wireless controllers for vintage consoles. There are three controllers in the Hypermode series, one for the Nintendo 64, a hybrid controller the NES and SNES, and finally one for the Sega Genesis. Each uses a 2.4GHz receiver to connect to its respective console, and all three have turbo functionality. The N64 controller also features a slot for a Rumble Pak. Furthermore, the NES / SNES and Genesis controllers can also be used on PC or Mac. The N64 controller is slated to launch this summer, while the other two are planned for this fall. Each will cost $30. Distributor Innex will be showing the controllers at its booth during E3. We'll do our best to swing by and check them out. In the meantime, we pose a simple question: Where's our wireless Saturn controller?%Gallery-188447%
Nintendo Wii U's spring update, Panorama View arrive next week
Nintendo's Wii U game console is getting its promised spring update next week, said company president Satoru Iwata in a Luigi-filled video presentation this morning. The update is said to launch software dramatically faster than before, as Nintendo demonstrated in a video last month. Iwata also said the update adds continuable downloads while the console is off, and that Virtual Console won't arrive until the following week -- should you wish to directly launch into the Wii menu, you'll be able to hold down the B button as the console is starting up. That said, if you wanna play those VC games directly from the Wii U menu, you'll need to re-buy them for $1 apiece for NES games and $1.50 for SNES games. A variety of games were shown off as available at the Virtual Console's launch, including classics like Super Mario World and Punch-Out! Apparently GameBoy Advance and Nintendo 64 games are planned for inclusion on the VC in the coming months, but no definitive date was given. He also said Panorama View will arrive next week for free, and it sounds like it'll be a separate download from the software update.
Mod lets you play 'Super Mareo Bruhs' inside Counter-strike
Behold, the Sourcemod Entertainment System, a custom-made plugin for Counter-Strike: GO that allows players to play "Super Mareo Bruhs" inside cs_office. With real controllers, cartridges, and a working power switch, the SMES is just like the real thing. With more flashbangs.
'Project Unity' is 15 fully-functional consoles in one giant box
Constructed by evil genius/mad scientist/hardware hacker Bacteria, Project Unity is a single, unified gaming console that can play Sega Master System, Neo Geo MVS, GameCube, Dreamcast, Saturn, Intellivision, Colecovision, Atari 7800, Turbografx 16, PS1/PS2, Mega Drive, NES, Super NES, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64 and Amstrad GX4000 games.Project Unity's most impressive feature, besides the fact that it works, is that it was constructed entirely out of authentic hardware and does not make use of emulators or combo units like the FC Twin. It also manages to use a single power supply, video output and custom-built controller, regardless of the system selected.Jump to 09:30 in the video above for a demonstration of this behemoth in action, including the repurposed NES cartridges that contain different circuit boards for each controller type, or start from the beginning for some deliciously chaotic wiring shots.
RetroN 5 and the uncomfortable tension between old and new
There are at least two schools of thought when it comes to playing retro games. Let's call it two for the sake of argument. On one side, there are people who want all the modern conveniences, both in-game and out: save states, fast-forward and rewind in the games, and wireless controllers, high definition output, and non-finicky hardware to play them with. These are the people who like emulation the most, either through downloading ROMs or official downloadable re-releases of games.On the other side, there are people who strive for absolute authenticity: real cartridges on real consoles, played on CRT televisions with real controllers. These are the people who, hypothetically speaking, stuff a Twin Famicom in their suitcase while on a business trip to Tokyo.Somewhere in the middle is this thing.
RetroN 4 plays NES, SNES, Genesis and GBA carts, hides its looks (for now)
Hyperkin's fourth RetroN console wants to be the perfect way to enjoy gaming's past glories. Alongside the ability to play NES, SNES, Gameboy and Sega Genesis titles, it's compatible with PAL and NTSC formats, with ports for your NES, SNES and Genesis controllers -- you still have those, right? If not, Hyperkin's own Bluetooth-connected controllers can fill in, while the console's UI will allow you to reassign buttons as needed. There's also HDMI output, so those 16-bit graphics will get the full glory of your HD plasma screen. Alas, following another notable games console, the company isn't showing off the device just yet. You're looking at its predecessor above, which should at least give your mind's eye something to work with until it's finally unfurled at Wisconsin's Midwest Gaming Classic on March 23rd.
Portable SNES is one shade of yellow, 16 bits of cool
We've seen a handful of portable Super Nintendo mods, but few of them look as tough as this one. Submitted to Reddit by one robotairz, this puppy looks like it could withstand the rages of a gorilla jonesing for some Donkey Kong Country. The unit runs on internal, rechargeable batteries, and can also be powered directly by a wall outlet. You can check out some more images (and fuel your ever-growing jealousy) right here.
Buy every North American SNES game for $25,000
If you want to play every single North American SNES release ever – and display them in their original boxes when not playing – now is your chance. A collector called "Byuu" is selling a complete set of 721 Super Nintendo games on eBay, for just $24,999. That comes out to $34.67 per game overall, but it's worth noting that the rarer games are worth much, much more than that (Demon's Crest, for example, is up for $150 complete), and boxed copies of any game command higher prices than loose cartridges.In addition to the games and boxes, the set includes 605 manuals, plus duplicate games, boxes, and manuals for some. Such careful, expensive, obsessive work was done in the name of preservation: Byuu is the developer of the Bsnes emulator, and the cartridges were dumped from the collection to obtain clean copies of all the games, in order to make the emulator work as close to perfectly as possible. "I will be using 100% of the profits from this sale to do the same for the European and Japanese sets next," Byuu said on Reddit.Byuu is getting offers ranging from one penny to $20,000, but no one has bid the full price yet, Byuu told Polygon. "If I cannot get $20,000 I will not fully recoup my own investment, and I can't afford to lose money," Byuu said. "I will most likely wait indefinitely. The SNES game prices have continued to rise steadily over the past several years. It will eventually sell, I am confident in that."
Prettied-up pastel SNES consoles now on sale
Okay so, we've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that a French retailer called Lekki has started selling four different shades of gorgeously refinished Super Nintendo console, each with its own matching controller and bonus Super Mario World cartridge. Hooray!The bad news, for us non-Europeans at least, is that these are PAL systems, which means that your dust-covered, attic-stored boxes of old SNES carts won't work, and therefore you'll need to either find a good import shop, or only ever play Super Mario World. If you are European though, or you've run out of holiday gift ideas for the retro-gamer in your life, the consoles will set you back €150, which is essentially $200.
Chrono Trigger travels across mobile platforms, arrives on Android (video)
Pulling out another classic from its storeroom of 16-bit hits, Square Enix has finally ported Chrono Trigger, almost a year since we saw its reappearance on iOS. While it may have taken its time to get here (despite the Japanese version getting an early release), you can now relive the SNES hit on any Android device running version 2.2 or higher. The download resides at the link below -- and it'll set you back 10 bucks.
MMO Blender: Larry's old-school 16-bit MMO
In August of 1991, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System launched in North America, kick-starting what would eventually be the biggest boom in console roleplaying games. Granted, some of us had been playing RPGs on consoles like the original NES, but RPGs didn't see as big a console boom as they did on the SNES. In fact, console RPGs haven't seen the same level of popularity since the SNES. A quick jump over to VGChartz shows us that out of the top 50 games sold world-wide on any individual console, RPGs on the SNES dominated the NES, the Playstation, and even the Nintendo DS, boasting titles like Dragon Quest VI, Final Fantasy III, and Super Mario RPG. If you take into account some adventure games that should be considered RPGs, like Super Metroid and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, then you have arguably the best platform of all time for the genre. Nowadays, with online gaming and indie companies sprouting up all over the place, a 16-bit online RPG would probably sell really well, especially if it took some of the best elements from the classic console RPGs of the NES/SNES era. Isn't that right, Cthulhu Saves the World? Let's see what I can throw together from some of my favorite 8- and 16-bit games.
SNES-001 Advance gives two retro gamers a screen to play, guarantees no fights for TV time (video)
There's been no shortage of SNES mods with built-in screens. They almost always tend to overlook one fundamental problem, however: with only one screen, gamers have to either share one tiny LCD or play solo, and neither option will make that Street Fighter II nostalgia trip a pleasant one. Frequent console modder Downing has offered a fix with a key trade-off. Although his Super Famicom-like SNES-001 Advance is decidedly non-portable, each gamepad has its own LCD to show what would normally go to one screen, even with audio. Both controllers are custom-molded creations that still plug in the old-fashioned, wired way. Downing certainly isn't hoarding his creation, despite it being one of a kind. An auction for the console (with a $500 buy-now price) is still well underway as of this writing, making sure that at least two Double Dragon fans will be happy without cutting into their less sentimental roommate's Netflix marathon.
ThinkGeek selling SNES-style Wii Classic Controller
The Super Famicom Classic Controller for Wii remains out of reach for everyone but Japanese Club Nintendo members (and eBay users, of course), but ThinkGeek is stocking a very close facsimile for $20.In fact, the Classic Super Famicom Controller for Wii is functionally identical to the Club Nintendo version. It plugs into your Wii Remote and lets you play Virtual Console games (or anything else that supports Classic Controller use and doesn't require analog sticks) with a controller designed to replicate the SNES pad. It even has the colorful face buttons of the Japanese controller.Right now seems like a questionable time to buy a Wii accessory, but you'd already be using it to play old games. The impending obsolescence of the Wii isn't necessarily a deal breaker. Besides, the Wii U uses Wii Remotes; a Classic Controller might come in handy with that as well.
'Indie-core' collective funding retro action-RPG on Kickstarter
Legend of the Time Star has all the potential to be a brand new nostalgia bomb whose inherent paradox rips a hole in the thinly woven fabric of space and time itself, but only if we allow it to. We think that sounds like a pretty cool thing we'd like to witness, but in the end it's up to the larger community on Kickstarter to decide if this retro, side-scrolling action RPG will be made. It's kind of like building the atomic bomb, but with more citizen input.Legend of the Time Star is in development by Attack Mountain, an "indie-core" collective based in New York City with the goal to "bring that warm, fuzzy feeling back to gaming by providing players with polished and engaging games that have just the right amount of old and new." The game itself features a protagonist named Hero, a villain who looks like Rasputin and a robust world built with a classic SNES RPG art style.Attack Mountain is asking for $57,500 to create Legend of the Time Star, and with 21 days to go it has raised $5,700. Donate here if you're intrigued and follow progress on Attack Mountain's tumblr.
