turbografx-16
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The Pre gets PlayStation gaming and more thanks to ZodTTD (video)
If you're familiar with the emulation scene (and let's be honest, you are reading Engadget), then you know the name ZodTTD -- the brain behind some of the best jailbroken emus for the iPhone, including variations on the PlayStation, Game Boy Advance, and most importantly... the TurboGrafx-16. Now the master-hacker has brought his goods to the Pre, cooking up a version of psx4all on the Palm device, with the aforementioned GBA and TG16 ports on the way! Interestingly, he reports that the performance on the Pre is actually better than that of the iPhone 3GS, and of course he's hacked access to the keyboard, allowing for (more) proper control of games. There are still kinks that are being worked out (sound emulation, screen scaling, etc.), but it looks like we can expect big things in the near future. We at Engadget know everyone will rest a bit easier tonight knowing that real gaming on the Pre is at hand. We'll hopefully be getting our hands on a version soon, but for now hit the read link for more info, and check out the full video after the break!
Virtually Overlooked: Fighting Street
In a few months, Street Fighter IV will be released on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. It combines new characters, bright new 3D graphics, and new gameplay systems with a celebration of classic Street Fighter history. Home ports of new Street Fighter arcade games have been a very big deal since Capcom first revealed that they were porting Street Fighter II to the Super NES -- a port that, even at an MSRP of $70, sold over six million copies, more than anything Capcom has released before or since.But as huge as it was, Street Fighter II was not the first home console port of a Street Fighter game. The first, mostly forgotten Street Fighter was ported to the Turbografx-16 CD-ROM in 1988, and renamed Fighting Street.
Alien Crush remake heading to North American WiiWare
Nintendo's WiiWare service has apparently sparked a renewed interest in developing games with one pixelated foot rooted in the past. Following both Capcom and Konami's head start, Hudson has likewise decided to dip into its archives, returning with news to bring the Wii-make of its TurboGrafx-16 sci-fi pinball game, Alien Crush, to North America. Descriptively titled Alien Crush Returns, the download was released today in Japan and is based on the 1988 classic, which itself is available on WiiWare's sister service. While a date for the game's North American debut has not yet been announced, Hudson notes the follow-up will again be played across two screens and an unspecified number of boards, each no doubt filled with galactic baddies with a lust for silver balls. Most interesting, however, is news that Alien Crush Returns will support two-player online play as well as include online leader boards, with Hudson promising multiple online tournaments for the pinball-obsessed to throw down with their E.T. crushing skills. %Gallery-30489%
TurboGrafx-16 emulation hits the iPhone
Finally, the ultimate dream of all iPhone owners has come to pass: TurboGrafx-16 emulation. Thanks once again to the massive talents at ZodTTD, Apple's phone has gotten another piece of the emulator puzzle in the form of Temper4iphone, a fully functioning recreation of everyone's favorite under-performing game console. The app can play both TurboGrafx and PC-Engine games, as well as CD-based ROMs. Right now the software is only available to beta testers (and donation-makers), though it's expected to hit wide release soon. Check the video after the break and see for yourself.[Via Joystiq]
TurboGrafx-16 comes to iPhone (unofficially)
Attention "jailbroken" iPhone owners: Touch Arcade reports that it's now perfectly okay to Bonk your wunderphone without having to worry about its purty glass screen cracking. Emulator author ZodTTD (shall we kneel before him?) has ported the nifty TurboGrafx-16 emu, Temper, to iPhone as – wait for it – temper4iphone.Temper was originally developed for the South Korean GamePark 2X handheld and ran ROM- and CD-Based titles designed for NEC's 16-bit system, which was a smash in Japan (as the PC-Engine) but enjoyed modest success in the West under its Turbo-fied moniker. As you can see from the embedded video, the emu is already plenty impressive. Unlike its GP2X counterpart, there's no support (yet) for CD-based game images, but compatibility with TG-16 ROMs (if you don't own the game, don't download em, 'kay?) is said to be high. Like previous emulators ported to iPhone, the retro console's controls are recreated on the touch screen. Apple is expected to launch its "2.0" refresh of the iPhone along with the iPhone App Store in just a couple of weeks, and we'd be jazzed to see a proper Virtual Console-esque suite of "sanctioned" emulators offered for download via the service.[Via TUAW]
Wii Warm Up: Through rose-tinted glasses
The appeal of the Virtual Console is obvious: nostalgia. The VC is jam-packed with memories from yesteryear, spilling over with wonderful software that defined our childhoods. But it isn't all lollipops and puppy dogs. Nostalgia can also be very misleading, and some of those packets of data you download from Nintendo's service can end up souring childhood memories. Personally speaking -- and this will probably sound like heresy in some quarters, so brace yourselves -- I was left disappointed by Mega Man 2, a game I adored as an eleven-year-old, but one that now seems slightly dated, with its repeated leaps of faith and enemies that like to spawn directly beneath you. On the other hand, a game such as Super Mario Bros. 3 still feels like a breath of fresh air, almost two decades after it was released. Thinking about this some more, we have three questions for you. One: which Virtual Console games don't hold the same magic for you as they once did? Two: have any titles aged better than you suspected they would? And three: have you ever held off from downloading a certain game, concerned that it may ruin one of those precious childhood memories?
VC Friday: Cho Aniki and the return of the Neo Geo
We were already totally pumped about getting Cho Aniki on the European and Aussie Virtual Consoles, but our faces lit up when we saw what else was lying in store for us this morning. Metal Slug is the first Neo Geo game to appear on the download service since December 14th, but what a comeback!From a value-for-money perspective, we'd still recommend picking up Metal Slug Anthology (especially now that it's so cheap), but it's great to see SNK's classic series represented on the VC (and this version even has Classic Controller support). Puyo Puyo 2 and TurboGrafx billiards title Break In complete this week's line-up. Cho Aniki -- TurboGrafx-16 -- 900 Wii Points Metal Slug -- Neo Geo -- 900 Wii Points Break In -- TurboGrafx-16 -- 700 Wii Points Puyo Puyo 2 -- Mega Drive -- 900 Wii Points Hop in your Slug and blast your way past the break to see all four in action!
VC Friday: The Hanabi Festival returns! [Update]
An immensely pleasing sight greeted our bleary eyes when we inspected the PAL Virtual Console this morning -- the revival of last September's Hanabi Festival! What does that mean? Simple: for the next few weeks, the VC will feature games that were previously unreleased in Europe or Australia, which we suppose justifies the slightly higher price tags.Best of all, we're promised that this will continue for the next few weeks. Wonder what else we'll get? Here are this week's trio: Columns III: Revenge of Columns -- Mega Drive -- 900 Wii Points Final Soldier -- TurboGrafx-16 -- 700 Wii Points Gradius II Gofer no Yabou -- TurboGrafx-16 -- 900 Wii Points As usual, make the jump for footage of all three.[Update: There's much excitement here, as further inspection of Nintendo's press release reveals that Speedos-clad TurboGrafx-16 shooter Cho Aniki will be one of the future Hanabi Festival releases!]
Lords of Thunder, Harvest Moon crop up on Virtual Console
As evidenced by our extraordinary difficulty in making a coherently themed post, Nintendo's two Virtual Console additions for today seem suited to diametrically different gamers. If you're the sort who enjoys blowing things to smithereens -- and then smashing said smithereens into even tinier smithereenies -- Harvest Moon is definitely the game for you. No, wait ... maybe it's the other one. Lords of Thunder (TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM, 1 Player, 800 Wii Points): Okay, it's definitely the other one. The side-scrollin' shootin' and a rockin' soundtrack should appeal to your lust for destruction and your hatred of the letter "g." Harvest Moon (SNES, 1 Player, 800 Wii Points): Swap your agro culture for some agriculture as you diligently water crops, raise livestock and expand your farm, all in the hopes of impressing some girl.
The Bossman's still in the DragonZone; the Virtual Console is headed to the Riot Zone
Despite the game apparently being quite mediocre, we can't help but be excited about the arrival of Hudson's Riot Zone on the Virtual Console this Monday. To be honest, we haven't gotten over the gee-whiz factor of being able to download Turbografx-16 CD-ROM games. Also, we love brawlers. Well, I love brawlers. Dave may have something else to say after playing it.The game is basically a whole-cloth Final Fight clone, which we're secretly okay with. It's not our copyright. Capcom seems to be doing okay with their whole fighting-game thing, even after being ripped off. Riot Zone at least one-ups Final Fight in awesomely Engrish intro cinemas!
The VC Advantage: A TurboPlay Holiday
The internet has made it easy to find cheats for games, but we miss the tips pages from game magazines, when the discovery of a new code could inspire you to go back to an old game. These codes aren't exactly new, but oldness is the essence of the Virtual Console! We're bringing back the classic codes every week on The VC Advantage.The stated purpose of this column (see above) is to explore the nostalgia of video game magazines via their cheat columns. We've imitated those columns in style, but we've never done the most obvious thing when it comes to magazine nostalgia: link actual old magazines. When we happened upon this archive of TurboPlay magazine, we knew we had to share it. TurboPlay, published by Larry Flynt Publications (who also published the cheat-focused Tips & Tricks), was the longest-lasting TG16-specific magazine in the U.S., and featured a who's-who of game writers, including Andy Eddy, Chris Bieniek, and even Working Designs' Victor Ireland. (As a young pre-blogger, I had a subscription to TurboPlay, and also devoured all four issues of TurboForce and the three TurboEdge newsletters from NEC. You probably could have guessed that.)We encourage you to browse the entire TurboPlay archives, as well as the other two magazines' brief collections, to see what the world was like when NEC was still involved with the TurboGrafx-16 (all of that stuff has since been handed off to their partner Hudson) and was goofily optimistic about the future of their ultimately doomed, yet still beloved, console. We've provided the entirety of TurboPlay issue 7's "Turbo Tips" columns for you after the break, so you can get a taste of retro-cheatery.
Fanswag: Celebrate the season of giving with a VC pack
Now that the Virtual Console gift feature is alive and kicking, it just seems fitting that we celebrate with a few gifts of our own. Each member of the Wii Fanboy staff has carefully chosen one game currently available on the U.S. Virtual Console, and we're ready to show our appreciation by gifting the lot to one lucky reader. But guys! What if I already have the game in question? Well, dear reader, we've also each chosen back-up titles, just in case. If the winner has one, we'll move onto the next. If you have all of them? Maybe you should hang back and let someone else win! 'Tis the season of giving, after all.To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling us what you'd be most likely to give away, if you were so inclined. You may enter once per day, and we must receive your comments between now and December 20. The giveaway closes shop that night at 11:59 PM EST, so get to work! We'll announce the winner December 21. As usual, entries are limited to legal U.S. residents age 18 and older. Please check the official rules for any other questions.Wii Fanboy's Virtual Console Gift Pack Devil's Crush -- TurboGrafx-16, 600 points (JC) Dragon's Curse -- TurboGrafx-16, 600 points (Candace) Excitebike -- NES, 500 points (Chris) Gunstar Heroes -- Sega Genesis, 800 points (Eric) The Legend of the Mystical Ninja -- SNES, 800 points (Dave) The Legend of Zelda -- NES, 500 points (Alisha)
PC Engine devotees arrested in Japan
"What, this?" A pilgrimage to the world's gaming mecca turns sour for a trio of German Swiss otaku who are arrested in Akihabara after posting PC Engine flyers (directing readers to the group's fansite) onto a construction site wall.[Via insert credit]
TurboGrafx-CD games coming to Virtual Consoles worldwide
The news leaked out of Japan late last week, and now Hudson has officially announced its worldwide plans for TurboGrafx-CD games on the Wii's Virtual Console. In a press release today, Hudson announced the games will be available starting in October in Japan and "soon thereafter" in Europe, North America and Australia for 800 Wii Shop points.The release promises over five TG-CD games in 2007 and over ten in 2008, but doesn't go into any details on which specific games will be available. Even so, we're relatively sure that Japanese shooter Cho Aniki won't be among those classics coming across the pond. It's a shame really -- if there's one thing guaranteed to shake up the American shmup market, it's a game full of homoerotic shots of shirtless, musclebound men.Previously: TurboGrafx-CD games coming to Japanese Wii VC
Torrent of TurboGrafx-16 titles set for Australia's Virtual Console
Making up for its delayed arrival to Australia's Virtual Console, the TurboGrafx-16 will debut in the world's smallest continent next week with eleven releases! Hudson's VC site lists that over a third of the games will be shmups -- no big surprise there -- but classics like Dungeon Explorer, Military Madness, and Bomberman '93 are also set to appear at the system's opening ceremony.The US, having been spoiled with dozens of TG-16 releases since the Wii's launch, will receive only one PC-Engine title next Monday: Dragon Spirit, an impossibly hard, vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up in which you pilot a blue dragon. Check past the post break for Hudson's planned releases across all territories this July.
Ordyne blasts onto VC this Monday
Monday sees the release of Ordyne onto the Virtual Console in North America. The side scrolling shooter is one of a whole bunch of Hudson titles coming to the VC in May. Based on Namco's 1988 original, the game casts you as genius scientist Yuichiro Tomari on a quest to rescue your fiancee from the evil Dr. Kubota. Ordyne will go for a wallet friendly 600 Wii points, like other TurboGrafx 16 titles. Of course, we'll give you our thoughts on Monday, as with all Virtual Console releases, in our weekly feature VC Monday Madness.[via Video Game Generation]
Hudson celebrates the 20th anniversary of the PC Engine
2007 is the twentieth anniversary of the PC Engine (the Japanese Turbografx-16) and Hudson, who co-created the console with NEC, is honoring the little console and its little HuCards in two ways this year: By releasing lots of awesome games on the Virtual Console, and By featuring a multipart PC Engine retrospective on their home page We're so happy to see the Wii bringing the PC Engine back into the limelight. It brought us a lot of games that deserve a second look, and deserve to be played by a new audience. Please, tip your hat to NEC and Hudson's masterpiece. Go check out the first part of the article, and then check out some Turbo games on the VC if you haven't already!
Hudson talks Dungeon Explorer VC delay
Hudson's Dungeon Explorer missed its target launch date yesterday, leaving Urban Champion (NES) and Baseball (NES) to represent Wii Virtual Console's New Years releases. The muff doesn't sit well with TurboGrafx-16 fans who have already suffered through two Hudson VC blunders: a broken Military Madness and a pricey R-Type.Speaking on Dungeon Explorer's tardiness, Hudson's John Master Lee cited "funky things" (bugs) appearing during last-minute tests. Lee wisely avoided suggesting a new release date, saying only that an update on the game's condition would be "coming soon."
Christmas sees first VC price increase
Wii owners waking up this Christmas morning expecting to download some classic space 'shmup goodness might be a little surprised at what they have to pay to get it. R-Type, released today on the Wii's virtual console, is the first TurboGrafx-16 game to be available for 800 VC points instead of the normal 600.This didn't come as a total surprise: Nintendo casually mentioned last month that virtual console games merely "start at" the now-standard point levels (NES: 500, TG16: 600, SNES/Genesis:800, N64:1000). They also mentioned the R-Type price specifically in a press release last week, but our eyes glazed over and we misreported it at 600 points. Silly us... we thought the price used in six other TurboGrafx-16 games so far would carry over to the seventh.While R-Type is a bit more popular than a similar game like Super Star Soldier, we can't help but wonder why Nintendo chose this game to break out the first price hike. While a 200 point increase isn't too outrageous, we can only hope this does not represent the start of a trend in ever-increasing virtual console prices.
2 more TG-16 VC games revealed
The folks over at Bits Bytes Pixels Sprites have discovered that two new Virtual Console games, as of now unannounced, will be headed to the Wii sometime in the near future. See, in poking around Hudson Entertainment's website, they found pages for both Alien Crush and Dungeon Explorer, mentioning their inclusion into Nintendo's Virtual Console line of games. For the unaware, Alien Crush is a pinball title with an extra-terrestrial theme, where Dungeon Explorer has playing as Detective John Gutter, a tough-as-nails cop with a dark past. As witness to a rather disgusting murder with no evidence left on the scene beside your testimony, you have 48 hours to find the one responsible before your fellow police officers toss you into the slammer.OK, we're kidding. You do, in fact, explore dungeons. [Via Joystiq]
