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VC Monday Madness: Samurai Shodown 2 and Ys Book I and II
We're back again, with a fresh video that's piping hot with gaming goodness. Oh, and there's some dude talking over the whole thing. We're sorry about that. He will be taken care of. After checking out the video above, head past the break for the rest.
Virtual Console adds classic role-playing, tardy fighter
How nice of you to join us. Do you have any idea what time it is? We were expecting you weeks ago! Well, no matter, go and take your seat with the rest of the Virtual Console class so we can begin. Samurai Shodown 2 (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points): SNK's 1994 follow up to Samurai Shodown finally slices and dices its way onto the Virtual Console this week, bringing back most of the original's weapon-wielding cast, as well as several newcomers vying for the opportunity to skewer anything that moves with a pointy blade and sharp Engrish wit. Ys Book I & II (TurboGrafx 16 CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points): Nihon Falcom's enhanced remakes of the first two titles in the Ys saga finally levels up for the US Virtual Console. Offering roguelike-style combat and music we still find ourselves humming at the dinner table, this is a download not to be missed by role-playing fans with eyes for the classics.
Retail and download releases for the week of August 25th
There's plenty of content releasing on the Wii this week. Whether you're a fan of retail games or looking to download some content on the Virtual Console or WiiWare, your gaming needs should be taken care of this week. Head on past the break for the details and let us know what you'll be playing!%Gallery-24326%
Hudson says Ys coming out next week (again), may be joined by Helix
Once again, Hudson Soft has updated their Virtual Console page with a release date for Ys Book I & II. They say it will be out this Monday. Last time they dated Ys, Nintendo chose not to release it or any of the other games that had been announced for that day, choosing totally different games instead. Will it show up for real this time? We hope so. We'll have 800 points ready. Would Nintendo really do that to the same game twice? Well, okay, but will they?Ghostfire Games also sent out a press release announcing that their rhythm/exercise game Helix will be released on WiiWare this Monday for 1,000 points. We wish both companies the best of luck in having their games released.
Nintendo: VC announcements are our turf
Seeking some kind of explanation or justification for the disparity between VC releases as announced by publishers -- which would have given us Mega Man, Samurai Shodown II, and Ys Book I & II -- and the actual releases (two games that aren't any of those), GoNintendo's RMC contacted Nintendo. Their response failed to shed any light on the motivation for the change, or anything other than that Nintendo is just not interested in explaining themselves:"A number of variables can affect a game's release date," according to the statement. "Therefore, the Wii-kly Update is the only authority for confirmed release dates of Virtual Console games." So ... Hudson's website, SNK's press release, and Capcom's blog were all just wrong? Or was Nintendo teaching those publishers an important lesson about presuming to know when their games are coming out? We're sure they've learned their lesson by now.
Finally, some good news about the Virtual Console
Thanks to advance notice from two companies, we can now look forward to the Virtual Console releases for once. If Hudson and SNK's plans go through (as in, if a game isn't mysteriously bumped) we can expect both Samurai Shodown II and -- this is totally awesome -- Ys Book I & II.We've been waiting for Ys since its first appearance on the ESRB ratings database last year, and now we're going to have the opportunity to buy two great action RPGs for eight bucks! There hasn't been a better deal since they packed Ys I & II with TurboDuo systems, and the Wii actually costs less than a Duo![Samurai Shodown II news via press release]
Hudson 'evaluating' North American VC release for Ys
In an interview about digital distribution (Bomberman for all!), Siliconera asked Hudson's Vice President of Product Development, Sabine Duvall, about the prospects for an U.S. release of the Turbografx-16 CD-Rom version of Ys Book I & II. Her response: "We'd love to make our fans happy, so we're still evaluating if it's right to bring Ys over."We fully expect the game to show up on Virtual Console here at some point. There's no reason for it not to. It's not even as if Ys is an import title like Battle Lode Runner or DoReMi Fantasy. It was released in the U.S. For that matter, it was bundled with TG16 CD-Rom drives. But for whatever reason, they've been evaluating this for a long time. Ys was actually given an ESRB rating back in November. We wonder if they're trying to decide between releasing Ys I & II as an $8 VC download and publishing the DS games that recently bombed in Japan.
Ys I & II DS get bundled, still cost too much
The remakes of Ys I & II should have been sold in one package to start with, as 5,040 yen ($49) each is rather a lot to pay for yet more Ys remakes -- especially since they were released on the same day and therefore fully intended by Interchannel to be sold together. All but about 1,000 Japanese DS owners agreed, as the games sold 2,000 copies combined in their first week.7dream.com, an online retailer run by 7-Eleven and NEC (who used to own Interchannel, the company publishing these games) is now offering a "Special Box" of Ys I & II DS containing both games, a soundtrack CD, and, yes, a special box. While it's awesome to have both games in one deluxe package, the 9,800 yen ($95) price probably won't boost sales that much.[Via Inside Games]
DS releases for the week of March 17th
This week, there are a lot of DS games headed out all around the globe, but it's particularly a great week for those of you who keep your eyes peeled for interesting Japanese releases. Not the import type? That's okay -- there's a lot of other games to consider, and some that aren't even quite games, per se. Diary Girl Fantasy Aquarium by DS GoPets: Vacation Island Lost in Blue 3 Sega Superstars Tennis
Ys into this new trailer
The Ys games have always been heavy on the anime-style cutscenes. It's basically what the series is known for in the West, since it made its first big splash as a Turbografx-16 CD game. Ys still has masterful animated cutscenes, that get us as excited about Ys I & II in this cutscene-rich age as they did back then. The vintage anime style is even more distinctive now.The music is delightfully old-school as well, especially when the "rock" theme kicks in in the second half of the trailer. That part, by the way, sneaks some gameplay in as well, highlighting the new multiplayer features and the simple fact that Ys is one of the faster-paced action RPG series. For a somewhat more reasonable price, we'd be all over these remakes. If you are similarly all up ons, know that they are actually coming out on March 20th, even though the trailer says February.%Gallery-9295%%Gallery-9296%
Ys to get JP release in Fb
GAME Watch has revealed the Japanese release date for the Ys remakes: both drop on the same day, February 28th. If you think you'll be in the mood for $92 worth of ported action RPG, these seem like appropriate purchases. Of course, they almost seem worth it based on their boxarts alone. Featuring the original art we previously wowed over, they show that somebody still knows how to make RPG boxarts-- and it's Interchannel, a company who primarily makes dating games. Check the link for the Ys II boxart, and be sure to poke around the official site for a few screenshots.
Ys I & II remakes look like Ys, on the DS
The Age of Remakes continues, as more old stuff is resurrected for the newly re-energized Japanese game market. Screens for the new Ys remakes for the DS have been released, and they look pretty nice! Somewhat controversially, the environments have been remade in 3D; while the change certainly doesn't make the game look any nicer than the recent PC releases, we think it looks okay.We're hoping for an American release of these games (at a significantly reduced price), because a handheld release would finally provide us with the impetus to spend some time with Ys I and II. Alternately, we could play the Turbografx-16 CD-Rom version on the Virtual Console in the near future (we're sure), but we'd enjoy the portable option.Check out our galleries of the games and see if you're up for some vintage action-RPG games!%Gallery-9295%%Gallery-9296%
Ys I and II being remade for DS
Originally released in the late 80s for PC, Ys I and Ys II were the foundation of what would become a fairly popular RPG series spanning across several systems. Now, gramps and grandma are getting a fresh coat of paint for the bajillion or so DS owners in Japan. This new version will offer new animations, a multiplayer mode and boss fights. The kicker is that the games will be sold separately from each other for the equivalent of $44 ... a piece. Hey, we just finally figured out how to pronounce Ys properly: "ball-sy."
Ys inevitably lands on DS
The DS has previously seen one not-very-representative entry in Falcom's vaunted Ys series in Ys Strategy, but now some proper action-RPGs will make their way. The first two Ys games will be released for the DS in Spring 2008, at an unfortunate price of 5040 yen ($44) each. The remakes, from Interchannel, will include new multiplayer modes, and the usual DS stuff (stats on one screen, action on the other). They'll also swap out the original bump-into-enemies combat style for the Eternal versions' more conventional attack button.This had to happen sooner or later. The DS is a system popular with Japanese gamers, and these Ys games have been ported and remade endlessly. Ys, for example, has appeared on seven different Japanese computer formats (not including DOS), Windows, NES, Sega Master System, Saturn, PS2, cell phones, and the Turbografx 16 CD ROM. Most recently, the TG16 CD-ROM version was released on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan. [via NeoGAF]
VC Tuesday: Sonic Samurai Assault Club
SNK is wasting no time getting all its big fighting franchises onto the VC. Even though their VC offerings are already dominated by fighters, we imagine that most Neo fans will be pleased to see the arrival of Samurai Spirits, also known as Samurai Shodown, as it heralds the release of the game in our region.Other releases include one-time Turbo CD pack-in Ys I&II, a collection of two lovely action RPGs from Nihon Falcom; Assault Suits Valken, which you may recognize as Cybernator; and Famicom Tantei (Detective) Club, a graphical text adventure from Nintendo.Also there's Sonic 3D Blast, whose title is 2/3 accurate. Famicom Tantei Club (Famicom Disk System, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Assault Suits Valken (Super Famicom, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Sonic 3D Blast (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Ys I&II (PC Engine CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Samurai Spirits (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
Japan's VC lineup in October: Smiles are free
Japan gets wall-to-wall awesome this month on the Virtual Console. In total, twenty games are scheduled for release, including some really good ones. The first PC Engine CD games are on the list, including Ys I & II and the extraordinarily manly shooter Cho Aniki. Three Neo Geo games make their appearance, as well-- including Samurai Shodown. The classic Treasure game Alien Soldier will be available for download.But by far the best news for October is a little Famicom game by the name of Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari, known in the U.S. as River City Ransom. Simply put, this is one of the best games ever made, and our lives are improved just by thinking about it. River City Ransom could be available on our own Virtual Console soon; what a lovely thought. What a beautiful world!Nintendo's site lists the publisher as Arc System Works; it would appear that, since ASW is also publishing the DS Super Dodge Ball game, they now own the Kunio license. [Via Game|Life; image from I Am 8-Bit artist Plamo]
TurboGrafx-CD games coming to Japanese Wii VC
Remember when CD technology was the future of gaming, and only the most expensive, cutting-edge systems could handle the awesome power of the laser? Now, even the cheapest, least powerful system on the market can easily emulate these classic games, as will be proven by the imminent release of Turbo-Grafx CD titles Ys I & II and Chou Aniki on the Japanese Virtual Console for 800 Wii points.While we're excited that the Virtual Console is expanding into the world of optical media (note to Sega: We would not be adverse to a downloadable Sonic CD) So, we have to wonder how the system will handle the larger of these games. After all, a filled-to-capacity CD-ROM can easily dwarf the Wii's puny 512MB of on-board memory, and all those orchestral scores and spoken-word introductions aren't small. Then again, the games that ended up filling discs back in those days were mostly FMV crap, so maybe it's no great loss.[Update: Edited headline to note the story is about the Japanese VC only][Via PalGN]
Gotta mispronounce 'em all
Games Radar has crafted another one of their hilarious Top 7 lists, this time about the "Top 7 Most Mispronounced Game Names." Nihon Falcom has two of the seven entries on the list, proving that they're kind of mean about titles. We remember that every magazine article about Ys back on the Turbografx-16 CD included a note about pronunciation ("ease"), because it's really not obvious.Topping the list is a certain Nintendo franchise whose name is delightfully, and intentionally, mangled by meme addicts across the web, including pretty much everyone here. Our mispronunciation: let us hint at it.
Japanese release day highlights: 12.21.06
Trains are great. We ride them most days of the week. In fact, today we took a train ride in order to buy two new train-based videogames. That's the scary extent of our railway passion. To avoid those funny looks we keep getting from the station master, we also picked up copies of the games listed here. Just so that we could look at their non-train-related packaging on the way home, to pretend that we weren't really thinking about trains. Mmm ... the 16:09 Express to Kyoto ... Sorry, those games: Ys Origin (Falcom's legend returns, again; PC) Seiken Densetsu 4 (Mana, Mana, Mana; PS2) Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (ice cool Capcom; Xbox 360) Let's Go By A-Train HX ("Artdink" is the funniest developer name ever; Xbox 360) Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (Snake crawls back to Japan; PSP) Armored Core 4 (PlayStation 3) Railfan (for the jotter and flask crowd; PS3)
