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Hanabi Festival 3

Wow, is it that time already? These Hanabi Festivals seem to just roll around so quickly (not that i’m complaining).

The hottest news is that Super Mario RPG finally gets it’s PAL release and also Super Mario Bros The Lost Levels becomes a permanent addition to the VC. Hopefully Nintendo will have a few more tasty treats for us over the month long celebration.

The following Hanabi Festival games are available now:
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars – Super Nintendo
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels – NES

And in the weeks ahead you can look forward to:
BIO MIRACLE BOKUTTE UPA – NES
DIG DUG – NES
DoReMi Fantasy: Milon’s DokiDoki Adventure – Super Nintendo
Spelunker – NES

Mega Man 9 Achievement List

The excitement for Mega Man 9 has just about reached fever pitch now and to help continue the buzz a list of the achievements have been published. (Read on …)

Mega Man 9 Soundtrack

Fortunately for us gamers Capcom understands that there is a market for game music (or a least they understand there’s money to be made from it). So it comes as relatively no surprise to find out that the yet unreleased Mega Man 9 is getting the soundtrack treatment. (Read on …)

Mega Man 9 Wii Ware

Mega Man goes back to his roots and loves it up retro style in an 8 bit side scrolling shooting fest for the Wii Ware.

US gaming mag Nintendo Power has revealed that in Mega Man’s next installment the blue bomber returns to his traditional gameplay style, and on top of this he’s also going 8 bit too.

In a move to appease fans of the original series, developer Inti Creates, who created the Mega Man Zero and ZX titles, are not only to moving the looks back to 8 bit but the sound and gameplay too. If fact what the team is trying to do is recreate a NES game for the Virtual Console, this game will be every bit the 8 bit revival and don’t expect the game to be easy either.

Every NES veteran (myself included) will tell you that the Mega Man games had a punishing difficulty; one wrong move would see you blown into little pieces. Blasting your way through eight levels of ludicrous difficulty only to find yourself toe to toe against a seemingly impossible boss was standard fare. This latest Mega Man will make no exceptions and give no quarter either, with the eight bosses named as Magma Man, Galaxy Man, Jewel Man, Concrete Man, Hornet Man, Plug Man, Tornado Man, and Splash Woman, the game gets harder as each day passes.

Source Kombo

OFLC Rates Super Mario RPG

Super Mario RPG has never been released outside of Japan and the USA, it was one of those titles that came late in the life cycle of the SNES, just like Secret of Mana 2 which never made it out of Japan. The logic was that the N64 would be arriving on the scene and nobody would want to bother with 16bit when they could have 64 bit games instead.

The Playstation 2 has proved that previous generations can still operate in more advanced waters and considering that on the N64’s release most retailers only had one console allocation each, flogging the previous gen would have been a great way to boost interest.

Although Austaila is part of the PAL territories no word as yet of a similar rating by PEGI or the BBFC to confirm a European release, having said that it’s almost a given that Super MArio RPG will get a PAL wide release.

Source VC Reviews

The Slow Decline Of the Virtual Console

It’s no secret the Virtual Console has been going though a bit of a drought of late, both with quantity and far more worrying in quality too. The down turn in releases could be due to WiiWare’s recent arrival, coupled with the new Nintendo Channel which offers DS downloads. Both of which could be seen as rivals to the Virtual Console, a service that offers titles Nintendo have already made their money from whereas WiiWare and the Nintendo Channel equate to unrealised profits.

Is Nintendo scaling back on VC releases or are they simply moving resources to their newer services and what really are the chances of us seeing some of the Rarer titles uploaded? These questions and more are raised in Kombo’s look at the slow decline of the Virtual Console.

Check it out at Kombo

The Nintendo Channel

The Nintendo Channel is available today and with it comes lots of goodies.

This new channel is intended to be your one stop shop for information on upcoming DS and Wii titles, on top of this the channel will also include trailers, in-game videos and documentaries.

One of the biggest features for the channel will be the ability to download demos for your DS an play the for as long as your keep your DS switched on. Adding a community feel to the channel you will also be able to rate the games you own and recommend them to other players too. (Read on …)

WiiWare Out Now!

 WiiWare has hit the Nintendo Shop, so if you fancy one of the following titles get your Wii online and start downloading.

• Dr. Mario & Germ Buster (Nintendo) - 1000 Wii Points (GBP 7 / EUR 10 approx)
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (Square Enix) - 1500 Wii Points (GBP 10.50 / EUR 15)
• LostWinds (Frontier) - 1000 Wii Points (GBP 7 / EUR 10 approx)
• Star Soldier R (Hudson) - 800 Wii Points (GBP 7 / EUR 10 approx)
• Toki Tori (Two Tribes) - 900 Wii Points (GBP 6.30 / EUR 9 approx)
• TV Show King (Gameloft) - 1000 Wii Points (GBP 7 / EUR 10 approx)

Two other title are scheduled to be released within the “release window” which are Pirates: The Key of Dreams (Oxygen Interactive) and Pop (Nnooo). Indications suggest that this means within the next two weeks, which is quite a large windiow if you ask me.

Source Eurogamer
 

WiiWare Preview

With just four days to go before WiiWare reaches us in PAL land Nintendo releases some juicy info about the first batch of the titles available on Tuesday 20Th May. (Read on …)

Square-Enix Talks Virtual Console

Ever wondered why no Square Enix games are on the Virtual Console? Me too!

In the 90’s Square and Enix separately produced some of the greatest RPGs known to mankind and since their merger hold the keys to a very large vault of highly respected games. It’s strange then that aside from a few remakes here and there that Square-Enix have been reluctant to re-release their back-catalogue to old and new fans alike.

As it turns out the main reason why they haven’t, is actually because they haven’t decided whether or not digital downloading is the best medium for their treasure trove of gaming.

It’s a matter of the package — which is downloading. You look at a game, and you have to decide whether it will be better to be sold in a retail store, or if it will be better for download.

This to me sounds a bit flimsy because the cost of using the Virtual Console has got to be cheaper than producing CDs or cartridges and packaging for the DS/PSP. It’s a win - win situation releasing old titles for the VC, maximise your profits for a minimum of effort. I just hope the penny drops.

Source VC Reviews

Ness Enters The Fray?

The Hanabi Festival is back to the Virtual Console, seasoned Wii owners might remember the Hanabi Festival from last year, which released titles like Sin And Punishment, Ninja Gaiden and the limited-edition Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.

As of today PAL territories will be able to download

• Gradius II Gofer No Yabou – Turbografx (Japanese version)
• Columns III: Revenge of Columns – SEGA MEGA DRIVE (U.S. version)
• Final Soldier – Turbografx (Japanese version)

Each week Nintendo will release a selection of titles that never saw an original release in Europe and all games will be released in their original U.S. or Japanese versions.

The most exciting news though has to be the fact that Earthbound has just been rated by the ERSB, which could see the title available in America very soon. With the Hanabi Festival already under way could we finally see a European release too?

Earthbound Source VC-Reviews

Hanabi Festival

Most Wanted VC Titles

The one thing i remember about the SNES was it’s sheer abundance of RPGs and since the 16 bit console no other Nintendo system has even come close the number or quality of those trail blazing days.

I think it’s safe to say i haven’t really gone back to the genre since then either, there’s something about the 3D versions of RPGs that doesn’t seem right and the last Final Fantasy game i played was VII, I’d love to get back into them but there’s not a lot pulling me in. The closest to I’ve gotten would be Golden Sun on the GBA and more recently GTA IV (which i see as a modern take on RPGs). (Read on …)

Burnout Paradise Announcement *Update*

The Criterion HUGE announcement has happened on their first live video podcast now.

If you missed the vodcast, it can be viewed here, hit the jump to find out some of what happened during the podcast (Read on …)

Super Classic Controller!

The lucky people over at Inside Games have been lucky enough to get their hands on the new Super Famicom Classic Controller for the Wii’s virtual console, And if you are thinking to yourself “I would like one of those” you may need to do something about it very soon as (Read on …)

??? Smash Update ???

“This so far is the best thing ive seen to come out of Smash Bros.” (Read on …)

Commodore 64 On Virtual Console

The beloved Commodore 64 is making it’s way to the Virtual Console.

Originally released in 1982 for $595 (and we complain about the PS3’s  price), this 8 bit machine has amassed over 30 million systems sold and holds the record for the best selling personal computer in the world.

It’s success in the early eighties is thought to have been a major contributor to the infamous video game crash, which in turn helped Nintendo to dominate the post crash console war in the states.

Some of you may be aware that the C64 celebrated it 25th anniversary  in December of last year and at the Computer History Museum a special celebration was recorded and is available on you tube, read about it here.

The C64 back catalogue will be available in Europe soon and will be priced at 500 Wii Points.

LostWinds

One of the first Wiiware titles to be announced is LostWinds by leading independent developers Frontier, for some information and four screens. (Read on …)

Virtual Console Update

Once again PAL gamers are getting the short end of the stick with only one game for the VC, the only redeeming fact being over the past weeks these games have actually been good. I would like to think that maybe NOE is busy with other things, I dunno, Smash Bros for instance? (Read on …)

Virtual Console Update

This week we only get one game for the VC here in Europe, just as well it’s a kick ass one.

Super Street Fighter II - SNES - 800 Points

This sequel to SFII Turbo divided fans because of its much slower pace, but it didn’t stop SSFII from being less successful. With the inclusion of four new playable characters, T.Hawk, DeeJay Cammy and Fei Long the character roster was boosted up to sixteen, which also mean four new characters to master and different ending for each for those who bothered to play single player.

The game was improved in all areas, with obvious graphical and musical tweaks to the levels, character sprites and sound. There were also more subtle changes to each original character, with notable differences made between Ken and Ryu. Ken’s Dragon punch now scored multiple hits and set victims on fire and Ryu’s Haduken was much faster and could also score double hits.

SSFII was the first Street Fighter game to add a combo points system as well as a first attack bonus too, combos had been possible in every street Fighter game before, but was not officially part of the game mechanics. It and was considered a mark of a good player if they could perform a combo attack in earlier installments this usually consisted of an aerial attack followed by a sweep or punch in quick succession, really good characters could get three or four hits in a combo, but it required really quick fingers and an unwitting opponent.

Master System To Hit VC

The Sega Master system (SMS) has been confirmed for Nintendo’s Virtual Console, so for all you young-uns out there here’s a brief run down the console. (Read on …)

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