1P Start

Nintendo has always been the games company that puts fun above all else, sometimes at the expense of innovation, graphics, and moving the game industry forward. In that sense, you could say that Nintendo is the casual gamer to the hardcore gamer folk at Sony and Microsoft.

This generation has seen the casual gamer tag being applied to the Nintendo consoles more than ever, because both the Wii and DS have a much wider range of appeal than their competitors the PSP, PS3 and Xbox 360. But despite being inherently and unashamedly casual in their intent, I thought Nintendo would at least respect the more hardcore amongst us. But it seems not after comments from Nintendo of Europe managing director of marketing Laurent Fischer prove.

In an article about Wiiware, the downloadable games store for the Wii which features hundreds of small but highly playable games, NextGen.biz revealed that Fischer referred to the storage space problems on the Wii by saying how “geeks and otaku” were the only people who would want the issue addressed.

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In news that made me as giddy as a school girl, LucasArts is thinking about re-releasing some of their classic adventure games on the Nintendo Wii. Lucas Arts is quoted as stating:

“We have looked at it,” admits Norris. “It is something we are continually looking at - new venues to put out our library of games on. We’re not announcing anything about that because honestly I don’t know anything about it.”

“The cart size of the DS makes it impossible to put out ports of any of our old graphic adventures,” claims Gullett. “There’s literally not enough room on those carts to put the games out.”

“It could still happen,” rallies Gullet. “We’ve got a lot of pride in our heritage and it’s definitely something we’re still leaving open.”

If there was any way possible to do so, it must be done. Newer generations should be exposed to games like Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle (I still have my Corley Motors T-shirt). Hell, there’s even licensed games like Sam and Max Hit the Road or Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis that need to see the light of day again. The Nintendo DS would be a fantastic platform for these kinds of games, but if the cartridge is too small then there’s not much you can do about that. The Nintendo Wii would be a decent way to play these games considering their point and click interface, so why aren’t these available as downloads on the Wii Virtual Console yet?

Thanks to: Gaming Today

Ladies and Gents it pains me to say my farewells to 1PStart. I’ve been here only a short time, though I’ve been at Xbox 360 Rally (another 451 site) for just under a year. I will miss you guys, though you’re probably throwing a party, chanting “he’s leaving! Huzzah! Huzzah!”. If you do miss me, though, you can find me at my new home BingeGamer.net.

It’s been fun, and I hope to see y’all around.

P.S.: Qbix — E-mail me, dude. I’m still gonna get your GTA IV to ya.

A staple in any gaming site, is a end of the year type list and/or holiday wish list. JW and yours truly have each picked the top three games for the main three consoles and some other categories for PSP, DS, Xbox Live Arcade, Virtual Console, and even finish our picks with the best console of 2007. To help with the ‘holiday list’ portion of this, I checked CheapAssGamer and Google for any good deals that will make sure you can save some cash in getting the… Top Ten Best Games Awards Holiday Picks of 2007! So lets get this going:

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It certainly appears two new consoles are coming to the Wii Virtual Console. Go Nintendo, who originally posted the image above showing the consoles available on the WVC, was writing about how Nintendo was redesigning the Japanese Virtual Console page. However, when you look at the list you can see two spots reserved for new consoles.

So what consoles could they be? Kotaku theorizes (or rather “wishes”) that the Sega Master System is one of them. Not a bad choice, but I would personally love to see the Sega Dreamcast and the… wait for it… the TurboGrafx-16.

We’ll find out soon enough, in any case.

Nintendo, Wii, Virtual Console

Guitar Hero III and The Simpsons Game, if you aren’t getting one, you should get the other, hitting all three big systems this week. Though I am going to wait on Rock Band myself (I want those drums), Guitar Hero III is here now, and has a great line up of songs itself. The Simpsons Game might possibly be *the* Simpsons game to own, looking like a perfect mixture of comedy and gameplay, however, with the track record of past Simpson games, it may be best to keep an eye on Metacritic before making a full on dive into buying it.

Some other notable things this week, Manhunt 2 makes its way onto Wii, I might give this a rent, though never into the series, the fuss it has caused makes me curious as to the content. Virtual Fighter 5, the first good fighting game on the 360, I am still waiting on Soul Calibur, but for now, VF5 looks like a “definite rent.” PC games seem to reach into every single genre, even fashion designing. PS3 gets a hold of Stranglehold finally, and… well, time to just check the full list after the break:

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At the top of this week should be noted that PS3 finally has what some may consider a “system seller” title with Ratchet & Clank. Platformers are not everyones cup of tea, however you have to admit the game is rated ‘E for Everyone’ and can help the PS3 make sure it has some consoles sold this holiday season (that and the now “Affordable Edition” of the PS3).

I am not sure what is worse with Nintendo, the Dancing with the Stars (also on PS2) or the game that gives me nightmares of the Noid (NES) and Cool Spot (SNES) games, M&M Kart Racing!!! Seriously, what in the hell. Anyways, for the rest of the systems, there seems to be quite a bit of ’something for everyone’ .. Ace Combat (360), a new Phoenix Wright (DS), Assault Heroes (PC), and… well, just check the list after the break:

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As reported by 1PStart, Nintendo has officially confirmed the addition of the Neo Geo to it’s ever-growing Virtual Console library.

While no definitive date has been announced for the first Neo Geo titles, we do know that they will arrive sometime “soon”, and will retail for 900 points.

Now, for a brief history lesson. The Neo Geo was a console developed and released by SNK. If you don’t know who SNK is, they’ve released games like Ikari Warriors, Fatal Fury, King of Fighters, Metal Slug and one of my favorite arcade games EVER, Mutation Nation. But I digress.

Now, if you were wondering about the Neo Geo’s success… wow. If you thought the Dreamcast failed, after selling ten million, then you’ll probably think the Neo Geo was a lake bed filled with liquid suck. It sold only one million units. Of course, when you’re trying to sell a console for $650, it’s gonna have a hard time selling — especially when the games cust upwards of $200 and higher.

But SNK makes some wicked games, so this is a good deal for the big N. I can’t wait to see what they bring over first.

[EuroGamer]

Nintendo, Wii, SNK, Neo Geo, Virtual Console

Another Monday is upon us and Nintendo asks us one simple question:

“Which is cooler, ninjas or circular yellow dot-eaters?”

Even though I have a deep respect and admiration for yellow dot-eaters, I’d have to side with the coolness and deadliness of ninjas. I just think ninjas can kick a lot more ass than yellow dot-eaters. Here’s the VC update list for this week:

• Pac-Man® (NES®, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points)
• Ninja Gaiden™ (NES®, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
• Ninja Spirit (TurboGrafx16, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)

Hmmm…Pac-Man for the NES? As much as I love Pac-Man, I know for a fact I won’t be picking this one up. Do people really still love Pac-Man that much to justify spending $5 for it? The original Ninja Gaiden was a great game, and even though not as challenging as the recent version, it was still a lot of fun. And Ninja Spirit… ehhh.

What do you guys think about this week’s update? Who won this battle? The yellow dot-eaters or the ninjas?

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This week’s Nintendo Wii virtual console update brings us two all-time classic games and a “Who?” game.

• Castlevania® (NES®, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
• The Legend of the Mystical Ninja™ (Super NES®, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Shockman (TurboGrafx16, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)

The original Castlevania was a great game for it’s time (even though I feel Castlevania III was the best NES Castlevania). It was such a ground breaking game because at the time, most platformers were cartoony and kiddie. I’m not saying Castlevania was full of blood and gore, but it had more of an “adult” theme to it. Mystical Ninja was a pretty good game too, not a great game, but a good game nonetheless. It had a Link to the Past feeling to it and was released early on in the SNES’s life. As for Shockman….who?

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Is it Monday already? Guess you know what that means. Another toss of the ‘ole Nintendo virtual console coin. Let’s see what memories Nintendo thinks we should relive this week!

• Gradius®III (SNES®, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Wonder Boy™ in Monster World (Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
• Battle Lode Runner® (TurboGrafx 16, 1-5players, 600 Wii Points)

Alright, not that bad of a week. Not great, but not that bad. Gradius III was probably the best Gradius in the entire series. I remember the graphics and gameplay for Gradius III were amazing when it came out. And I also remember the level design was very unforgiving. I have no clue if Battle Load Runner was a good game, but I think I played the NES version and wasn’t impressed (probably because it went from the TG-16 to NES)

What are your thoughts with this week’s release? Anyone plan on purchasing any of these games or are you all too busy with Super Paper Mario to care?

[UPDATE: I've officially gone crazy. I had the title 4/16/07 all day. Thanks to the diggers for correcting me.]

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Finally! Nintendo has updated their virtual console today with some games that will actually get me to turn on my Wii! Without further ado, here’s the list of what you should expect today on the VC.

• Punch Out!!® Featuring Mr. Dream (NES®, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
• Virtua Fighter™ 2 (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Bonk’s Revenge (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)

Punch Out!!, Virtua Fighter 2, and Bonk’s Revenge? Looks like I’ll have to wipe the dust off the old virtual console controller for today’s releases. It’s just unfortunate that the version of Punch-Out!! that was released was of course the Mr. Dream version. Ewwww. If it ain’t Mike Tyson, then I don’t want it.

Nintendo, Wii, Virtual Console, 4/16/07

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According to my “Hang in There” Kitty calender, it’s Monday and that means another virtual console update. Virtual console updates are always a mystery, because majority of the time, we have no idea what’s going on in Nintendo’s head with their releases. Sometimes it’s classics, and majority of the time it’s pure and utter crap. With that said, let’s see what Nintendo has released this week.

• Galagaâ„¢ (NES®, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points)
• BRAVOMANâ„¢ (Turbografx16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
• Alex Kiddâ„¢ in the Enchanted Castle (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)

Galaga was a great game in it’s time, but I don’t recall the NES version being something special. BRAVOMAN and Alex Kidd? Yea, it looks like it’s another week of let downs in the virtual console update.

Nintendo, Wii, virtual console

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Today’s announcement by Nintendo was more exciting than last week. This week, we are getting several new titles. They include:

Star Fox 64 for the Nintendo 64 at 1,000 Wii Points, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES at 600 Wii Points, and Dragon’s Curse for TurboGrafx-16 at 600 Wii Points. I’m not familiar with Dragon’s Curse but am definitely excited about the other two. I logged a lot of hours playing Star Fox 64 and TMNT back in the day. The prices seem just about right for this weeks releases.

Virtual Console Release, Virtual Console, Nintendo, Star Fox 64, TMNT NES

According to the PAL virtual console update, today Europe got The Legend of Mystical Ninja, Dragon’s Curse, but more importantly, the European VC was updated with Punch-Out!!

According to past virtual console releases, whenever Europe gets a “big” game that the US virtual console hasn’t received yet, then most likely it’ll come out to the US virtual console the following Monday. And if you’ve been keeping track of the past US virtual console releases, then you know this would be a great release in the midst of a crappy couple of weeks.

So in other words, be on the lookout for Punch-Out!! this Monday.

Nintendo, Wii, virtual console, Punch-Out!!