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Galaga, Alex Kidd, Bravoman Hit Virtual Console
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Retro, Virtual Console, Wii,
This week’s Virtual Console releases aren’t stellar, but are still a decent collection of retro games that may entertain, at least for a while. Gamers can pick up Galaga for the NES, a decent but not spectacular port of the arcade game for 500 points. The original arcade version is available on Microsoft’s Xbox Live Marketplace, so that might be the better option for those with both consoles. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle for the Genesis is also available for 800 points; the sequel to the original Alex Kidd for the Sega Master System is an average platformer with some gameplay quirks that set it slightly apart from others in the genre. Finally, Bravoman is a side-scrolling beat-em-up style game, more known for its unusual humor that for any gameplay excellence. At 600 points, though, it might be worth a look. Overall, a middling week for the Virtual Console and hopefully A-list titles will return soon.
Nintendo’s full press release continues after the jump.
Click to continue reading Galaga, Alex Kidd, Bravoman Hit Virtual Console
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Wii Would Like To Play: Super Paper Mario
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Nintendo, Role Playing Games, Wii,
Nintendo’s Super Paper Mario ships today, and so far the game is tacking up a 90% overall rating on Gamerankings.com. From some of the major game sites, 1up rated the release an 8.0, citing the title’s relative lack of depth compared to its Paper Mario siblings, tacked-on Wiimote controls, and some slowdown evidenced in gameplay. IGN rated slightly higher at 8.9, feeling that the platformer and RPG merger was more successful and that the Wiimote controls felt appropriate for the game, but they felt the amount of writing in the game disrupted the flow, and the 3D elements seemed barren compared to the lushness of the 2D world. Nintendo has also kicked off marketing the game with a “Wii Would Like To Play” TV commercial, shown above.
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| 1up
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| IGN
$600 For A Crystal-Coated DS Lite, And It’s Upside-down?!?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Accessories, Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Nintendo, Nintendo DS,
Don’t get me wrong - if I wanted to spend a chunk of change on some bling, a Swarovski-encrusted DS lite might be towards the top of my list. But for $600 bucks, I want to make sure that everyone can properly view the full glory of my gaming obsession. With this mod? - Not so much. See, when I actually play my DS lite, I usually open the screen. And when I do that, well… that means the folks who are staring at my glorious, sparkling handheld are going to be looking at this crystal mosaic of Nintendo awesomeness upside-down.
Come on guys, even Apple figured this out a few years back when they switched the logo orientation on their laptops… if you’re going to make your product an advertisement, you want to make sure that the people who are looking at it can do so without doing a handstand.
Click the jump for more images of these almost-ridiculously-awesome handhelds.
Click to continue reading $600 For A Crystal-Coated DS Lite, And It’s Upside-down?!?
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Wii Resident Evil 4 Remake Confirmed
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Adventure, CAPCOM, Nintendo, Wii,
IGN reports on the latest issue of Famitsu, which has a new spread on Biohazard 4: Wii Edition. The US version was previously hinted at via an accidental leak on the Gamestop website for June; these new details assure gamers that the title is real. The Famitsu article details the new Wiimote functionality in the game. Gamers will use the Wiimote for cursor aiming, the B trigger and a shake of the Wiimote allows the user to reload, and motion-sensitive actions are used for close up attacking. Other features in the Wii version include new beginner-friendly difficulty settings and the additional content from the PS2 release. Finally, for those looking for insight into the upcoming Umbrella Chronicles Wii release, there will be a game trailer included on the disc.
Read More | IGN
Sega Europe Offers NiGHTS Details
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Nintendo, SEGA, Wii,
Sega of Europe offered some tantalizing new details about the upcoming NiGHTS: Journey Of Dreams earlier; the updates seem to have gone missing from Sega’s site, but Sega Nerds has a summary of the new features, including “Persona” masks that allow NiGHTS to morph into a dragon, dolphin or rocket, seven dream worlds, and utilization of the Wii Connect 24 service to exchange items and adjust the environment based on the Forecast channel. It definitely sounds like Sega is focusing on using the Wii featureset to the fullest; hopefully the game can live up to the nostalgic memories gamers have of the original.
Read More | Sega Nerds
Mario Strikers Wii To Feature Online Play
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Internet, Nintendo, Sports, Wii,
With the European release of Mario Strikers for the Wii a little under two months away, Nintendo of Europe has dropped a press release documenting a few of the new features games will find when the game ships May 25th in that territory. The gameplay will still feature 5-on-5 teams as in the Gamecube release, but with added support for the motion controls of the Wii remote. One of the more interesting new features, though, has to be the addition of a multiplayer online mode; Nintendo claims the game will support up to four players online, split across two teams. It is unclear what the division between local and online players will have to be, but one can probably assume that friend codes will be involved for online play. Nintendo also promises ranked leaderboards and unranked matches for the title. Mario Strikers joins Pokemon Battle Revolution as online-enabled titles for the Wii.
Read More | Nintendo Europe
Star Fox Launches On Virtual Console
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Retro, Virtual Console, Wii,
After last week’s weak release on the Virtual Console, Nintendo has followed up with three new titles, each with at least some good points. First, Star Fox 64, is a classic game in the Star Fox franchise, and the last of the series to be fully developed in-house by Nintendo; there aren’t a ton of items to collect, the game isn’t co-developed by Namco, and the title doesn’t mix in some turn-based strategy segments. For 1,000 Wii points, gamers get classic Star Fox style gameplay. Other releases are platform-based games, including the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the NES, which was a decent game for a licensed title, and Dragon’s Curse for the Turbografx-16. Dragon’s Curse, a conversion of a previous Sega Master System game also offers some unique gameplay for a platformer of that era.
The full press release continues below.
Click to continue reading Star Fox Launches On Virtual Console
Actual NiGHTS 2 Screens, Interview Online
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Screenshots, SEGA, Wii,
Game magazine Maxi Consolas has preview screens and an interview with designer Takeshi Iizuka about the upcoming sequel to the original NiGHTS Into Dreams on the Sega Saturn. The original game was a psychelic, “dream-like” game world that was introduced on the Saturn with the 3-D controller; it has been over ten years since the game’s original release, and NiGHTS fans still haven’t stopped clamoring for a sequel. NintendoGal has scans of the magazine, and a loose translation of the interview with Iizuka. From the interview, it sounds like NiGHTS and the Wii controller will be a good match, and hopefully Sonic Team can get back on track with this release.
Read More | Nintendo Gal
Mario And Sonic Finally Meet
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, SEGA, Sports, Wii,
Nintendo and Sega today announced that two icons of past console wars, Mario and Sonic, will be teaming up for a licensed game set at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Titled Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, the new title will be available exclusively on the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS. No official pricing or launch date was set for the titles, but additional details have been revealed in an interview held between Sega and Nintendo representatives and N’Gai Croal at the Level Up blog. While the interview tends to focus a little more on the rivalry between the two companies, a few nuggets of development information can be found. First, while Sega will apparently be handling the development of the game, Shigeru Miyamoto will be overseeing the development process to some degree. Also, Sega’s Sonic Team apparently will not be involved, which may be a good thing given the spectacularly bad reviews that Sonic on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 received. This mascot match-up has been a long time coming; here’s hoping it lives up to the hype.
Nintendo and Sega’s press release continues after the jump.
Click to continue reading Mario And Sonic Finally Meet
Read More | Level Up
Nintendo Alters Wii To Block Modchips
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Nintendo, Wii,
Reports in Taiwan indicate that Nintendo may be altering the circuit board layout of the Wii to make mod chips more difficult to install. According to Digitimes, however, new modchips to deal with the changed layout may be less than a month away. While these changes probably won’t be difficult to work around, other mod chip installers believe that there are more complex methods available to Nintendo to block modifications for a longer period of time.
Read More | Digitimes
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