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VC in Brief: Super Smash Bros. (N64) and Ninja Gaiden (Arcade)
What a day for Virtual Console fans. For one, we've got the ultra-aggressive coin-op classic, Ninja Gaiden, to check out. Then, on top of that, the game that spawned one of Nintendo's most beloved franchises: Super Smash Bros. for the N64. If that doesn't put a smile on your face, then you just may be one of the most depressed people on Earth. We suggest consulting a doctor. Super Smash Bros. (N64, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Ninja Gaiden (Arcade, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points) Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks like that.
NintendoWare Weekly: Super Smash Bros., Ninja Gaiden, Dragon's Lair
Nintendo announced its 500th downloadable Wii game today, reserving the honor for Super Smash Bros. Or, we suppose, for any of the other Virtual Console or WiiWare games released today. But Nintendo says it's Super Smash Bros., and that certainly seems like a more special way to celebrate a milestone than, say, the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden. See all the WiiWare, Virtual Console, and DSiWare releases after the break.
Report: Mario Kart, Pilotwings and Smash Bros. coming to Virtual Console by year's end
Gamespot is reporting that Nintendo revealed to them that a few oft-requested classic titles will be added to the Virtual Console within the coming weeks. According to the report, the festivities will kick off this coming Monday, when Super Mario Kart (which has been available in Japan for approximately forever) will be added to the storefront for the standard price of 800 Wii Points ($8). Later in the holiday season, Nintendo will also reportedly drop the original Pilotwings onto the platform, then shortly after that, will also toss Super Smash Bros. into the mix. No prices have been announced for these two titles, but according to the Gamespot article, both will be released by the end of the year. That's just great. It's not like we're already drowning in huge, time-draining blockbusters. Now we've got to start perfecting our drifting and shell-flinging once again. We appreciate the gesture, Nintendo -- but your timing is rotten.
VC Friday: Super Virtual Smash Bros.
Today's Virtual Console release is something really special -- something that only happens on the Virtual Console a couple of times a year: a Nintendo 64 game. And what a Nintendo 64 game! Despite having a day or two to change its mind after announcing, Nintendo of Europe has actually put Super Smash Bros. on the Virtual Console. Now you can play all three Super Smash Bros. games on the same system!Joining it is Cocoto Platform Jumper, which isa middling platformer from last-gen. And on DSiWare, Sudoku 150! for Challengers, a collection of sudoku puzzles for 500 DSi Points. Also, Asphalt 4: Elite Racing, whose iPhone sequel was announced at Apple's WWDC event, before this game launched. Awesome.
Smash Bros. intro done with Team Fortress 2 cast
The Team Fortress 2 vignettes are clever, but YouTube videographer AyesDyef did something that takes serious geeky dedication when he recreated the opening to Super Smash Bros. with the TF2 crew. The video above is an incredible recreation of the original Smash Bros. opening. How do we know it's so accurate? Well, there's a comparison video after the break if you don't believe us.
April Fools: Nintendo releasing M-rated Smash Bros.
Well, we guess this is one way to show the hardcore that you haven't abandoned them. The always-dependable IGN says that Nintendo is rolling out the new "Wii Expand" service with Super Smash Bros. Brawl X: Extreme, a super-violent take on the company's party fighter.When it really comes out because it's really real, SSBBX:E will allow Link to decapitate Mario. So, yeah, it's going to be the best game ever.
Wii Warm Up: Smashed Gameplay
As reported yesterday, the new TMNT: Smash Up for the Wii seems to borrow liberally from Super Smash Bros. We're not going to argue about the "fairness" of lifting from other games to make your design, because appropriating other people's ideas and resynthesizing them is basically the essence of art. And every fighting game since Street Fighter II has cribbed from Capcom's masterpiece anyway. Basically, we wouldn't have a fighting genre if not for copying.But on to Smash Bros. and the Turtles. Do you think the Smash Bros. gameplay is strong enough to work without Nintendo characters? Are there any particular ideas involved in the bizarre fighting series that more fighting games could stand to inherit? And is it going to become its own branch of the fighting game genre?
Super Smash Bros. sparring on Japanese Virtual Console in January
"B-b-b-but I don't live in Japan!" We know, dear reader -- despite the fact that a great deal of the world's population takes up residence in the Land of the Rising Sun, we understand that there are plenty of those who don't. This second group likely just thinks we're taunting them with the information that Super Smash Bros., one of the most requested titles for the Virtual Console, will be landing on the service in Japan sometime in early January.However, take solace in the fact that this might mean that it'll be hitting North American e-store shelves sometime soon. Let's just hope that our price for the game doesn't mimic Japan's -- 1,200 points (as opposed to the usual 1,000 for an N64 game) is ridiculous, and we absolutely would not pay it. Well, maybe we'd pay it, but we definitely wouldn't feel good about it. Fine -- we'd probably be ecstatic, but we'd totally pout for like, a minute or two. Take that, Nintendo!
Wii Warm Up: Super Obsolete Bros.?
The big news out of Nintendo of Japan yesterday was an impending Virtual Console release of the original N64 Super Smash Bros.. I personally have warm feelings for the original title that none of the sequels have managed to recapture, but that has more to do with the circumstances of my life at the time than the actual game -- I just happened to be living in a dorm at the time, and Super Smash Bros. was a daily pastime among residents.At least on a superficial level, the sequels (both of which are playable on Wii) improved massively upon the original in terms of character selection, levels, options, and extras. So why all the furor to go back? Is it something about game balance that is visible only to tournament nerds? Overarching love of the series? Nostalgia? Don't take this as an attack -- I'm probably going to buy the thing myself, and I'm not sure why.%Gallery-26316%
Super Smash Bros. leads January VC lineup in Japan
Nintendo of Japan has announced their plans for the next month's Virtual Console games, and, for once, the list includes a Nintendo 64 title. Super Smash Bros. is headed to the Japanese VC in January. Pokémon Snap came out in the US within a week of the Japanese release last year, so maybe this year's big winter N64 game will follow suit. Nintendo has lovingly appended an extra 200 points to the normal cost of a Nintendo 64 game for this release.Super Smash Bros. is likely to be the only thing anyone reading this will care about, given the combined Brawl obsession of the Wii audience and the first-party-franchise domination of VC sales, but we've got the whole (rather small) lineup for January after the break just because.
Top 5: Multiplayer Experiences
As someone who writes on the Internets, I do a lot of reading as well. As just about any successful author will advise, if I want to be a better writer then I should be reading as much as possible. Thus, I tend to spend a good amount of time scouring the gaming websites and reading commentary from just about anyone. I wouldn't insult anyone by pointing out flaws in their work (as I'm host to many of my own), but it is sufficient to say that there is great diversity in the quality and other general attributes of gaming commentary. One source that I do consistently enjoy comes from GoNintendo's head honcho, known as RawmeatCowboy. Equal parts Nintendo fan and beard enthusiast, RMC has a passion for gaming unmatched by nearly anyone else in the entire industry. Whereas some journalists and commentators may give off an impression of jaded cynicism, this particular blogger is a bundle of video game-loving joy. Though he's not quite the wordsmith of a Jerry Holkins, his joy and optimism transcend any potential criticism. And after all, that should be the reason we play video games: for happiness. Stepping away from worshipping his shrine, I'll get back on target. In a recent post, RMC discusses offline multiplayer via a get-together involving several friends of his trying out Guitar Hero: World Tour. He states that multiplayer is more enjoyable in person than online, and I find it difficult to disagree. That is not to say that online multiplayer is garbage; quite the opposite is true. Aside from the obvious pragmatics of not always being able to round up a few friends to play a game you enjoy, there's the global aspect behind online gaming. Though I've been battling people online via chess years before any major console had such capabilities, the enormous power of the technology didn't register with me until very recently. As I was connecting to an online race in Mario Kart Wii, the identification of racers on the globe really hit home. Realizing that I was simultaneously connecting with individuals from Japan, China, Germany, and England was strangely beautiful. Despite the fascinating global implications of such connections, I remain a bit of a luddite in that I don't think there's anything better than having your friends in the same room with you while fighting with or against each other. Here's the Top 5 ways we recommend that you enjoy such opportunities. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
Top 5: Where Do They Go Now?
As someone who's been following Nintendo for quite awhile, they've almost never failed to surprise me. Though their origins are classic, Nintendo-developed games are continuously refined, retooled, and revitalized. Some may buy into that old standard line used mostly for musical artists that makes you sound cool: "their older stuff is better." Such broad generalizations are silly: to ignore Super Mario Galaxy because of a fetish for Super Mario Bros. would be dogmatic.But for those of us growing long in the gaming tooth, we're led to wonder where all of these classic IPs are headed. It's hard to imagine a gaming world without Nintendo's current A-listers, but does anyone have a solid idea of what future iterations of our favorite franchises will be like? Now that just about every gangbuster franchise has been successfully embedded in 3D, we're at a loss as to the next big step for gaming. Some of us have really good ideas, but I'm positively stumped as to where these franchises are going. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
Zero Punctuation braves interstellar spreadsheets in EVE Online
Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee has reached geek culture superstardom by sacrificing sacred cows. By profanely slamming popular franchises such as Halo and Super Smash Bros., he's brought down the wrath -- and the web traffic -- of virtually the entire gaming community. There's a running joke through many of his animated reviews, though: he hates MMORPGs.Both Tabula Rasa and Age of Conan got the full treatment, and Yahtzee has even criticized some single-player games (such as The Witcher) just for sharing gameplay elements with MMORPGs. His fans apparently thought he was being a bit too harsh. "Not all MMORPGs are the same," they presumably said. "Try EVE Online. It's different!"And so he did. It turns out that "different" might be in the eye of the beholder. Or just as likely, MMORPGs can never be different enough for Yahtzee! The humorous (and as usual, NSFW) video review is embedded above, courtesy of The Escapist.
Sakurai: 'Another Smash Bros? I'd have to give it some serious thought'
During a recent interview with ONM, Masahiro Sakurai talked about his latest game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, among other things. What might be of most interest to us all is that he's apparently willing to work on another Smash Bros. game."It's interesting, because after every Smash Bros. game I've made, I've always felt at that time that I've left nothing out," he says. "However, I also understand that there are millions of fans out there who love the series so if Mr Iwata came to me in a few years time and asked me to make another one, I'd have to give it some serious thought." A few years? You're kidding! We want another game now. And can we get less things cut out of the game this time around, please?%Gallery-26316%[Via Go Nintendo]
Super Smash Bros. Rumble in the DS jungle
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Super_Smash_Bros_on_the_DS'; Building your homebrew project off an already popular franchise has the danger of raising expectations too high for your low-budget production, as was the case with Super Mario Galaxies, a 2D shoot-em-up interpretation of Nintendo's grandiose 3D platformer. Though Super Smash Bros. Rumble has the potential to one day be a satisfactory portable alternative to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it still has a long way to go!So far, the demo includes only a solo mode, a few stages, and Mario as the lone playable character. Fuzzy, the game's 19-year-old programmer from Germany, seems to have a lot planned for the project, however, as he already has a WiFi button in place and waiting for online support. Just a quick suggestion -- maybe choose another typeface for the top-screen logo on the menu screen? Though it's resident blogger David Hinkle's favorite typeface, Super Smash Bros. designer Masahiro Sakurai would never sully the series with Hobo. [Via GamerTell, GBAtemp]
DS Daily: The next great remake
Maybe it was a matter of time, but that isn't important -- what is important is that you guys called it. Chrono Trigger is headed to the DS (and we wouldn't be surprised to see something Snatcher-related for the DS eventually), and that makes last year's celebration of the age of remakes a success. Which, of course, means we need to do the whole thing again, and that means we have to turn to you, gentle readers. We need all-new games to explore for their remakeability, so open up. Let us know what you might like to see, with the exceptions of Snatcher, Super Smash Bros., Abe's Oddysee, and of course, Chrono Trigger. We'll make a new poll from your suggestions, so get to suggesting. Remakes, ports, and re-imaginings of titles are all fair game. Tell us what you'd play!
Friday Video: Smash Bros. becomes an RPG
It may not have the highest production values, but the above video is inspired and, we imagine, took quite a bit of work. Long story short, clips of gameplay from Super Smash Bros. Brawl have been edited to make the title appear as a turn-based RPG, complete with random encounters and experience points. We'd love to play a Smash Bros. RPG.%Gallery-3347% Each week, our Friday Video segment takes a look at the gaming landscape online and brings forth an interesting video that (hopefully) gets the dialog started. Past highlights of Super Smash Bros. Brawl have included an adults-only video, an ... incredibly strange video, and the franchise's past advertising.
Tiring of Smash Bros? Introducing Wii Fanboy's Stage of the Week
Akin to X3F's awesome weekly Halo 3 Community Content, the gang at sister site Nintendo Wii Fanboy has introduced a new weekly feature, aptly titled Brawl Stage of the Week, where they'll be showcasing the best user-made Super Smash Bros. Brawl levels and offering them for download.The inaugural edition highlights a rather self-flattering level: the Joystiq logo, as poorly interpreted by our very own James Ransom-Wiley. Suggestions for the feature? Think you can do a better Brawl stage? Of course you can! Submit your levels to smashsubs AAT nintendowiifanboy DAWT com ... we'll be waiting. Gallery: Brawl Stage of the Week
Wii gets the Super Smash Bros crystal ice treatment
Captain Awesome and the League of Awesomeness were unavailable for comment. Now if you'll excuse us, we need to go die a few hundred more times in pointlessly difficult platforming levels. Bowser version is after the break.
Wii Warm Up: What Brawl is missing?
Super Smash Bros. Brawl seems to have pretty much every base covered. Really, it's the ultimate gaming box of chocolates, boasting an absurdly vast array of fighting modes, trophies, characters, items, stages, stickers, challenges, music, snapshots, customized stages, and much, much more. But here's something it doesn't have: Miis.Reader Mark wrote to us pointing out that he rather liked the idea of putting himself up against the Brawl cast. We hadn't even considered this, but now Mii integration in Brawl appeals to us also! It may seem churlish to complain about a lack of stuff to do in Brawl, but then Miis make appearances in other Nintendo titles, so why not Brawl? Think you'd have enjoyed seeing a miniature, blobby version of yourself kicking Pikachu in the gums? Of course you would!Oh, and bonus points to anybody who can tell us who the dozen Miis above are based on.[Thanks, Mark!]
