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If you buy a lot of video games from Nintendo, and you're not taking part in Club Nintendo, you're wrong. The service offers a few great prizes, and goodies that aren't available anywhere else, and costs nothing more than the games you're already buying. One of the items Japanese Platinum members are lucky enough to find this year is a download for Advance Wars; Days of Ruin, which was unreleased in Japan.
Why does this matter to us? It probably doesn't. It's just interesting that a DS game has been converted to an eShop game after it went unreleased. Could we soon see DS games added to the Virtual Console? Probably not, but it's definitely something that could have a market.
Let me preface this by saying I am not a fan of the Xbox One in any way. I honestly doubt I will be getting one for a long time, if at all. (I'm not a huge fan of the PS4 either.) However, I really think its too early to count the XB1 out yet.
Everyone seems to be currently losing their shit over the fact that the Xbox One seemingly can't do 1080p as well as the PS4. However, I submit to you that this will not matter in the long run. In the technology world we have something known as a killer app. In the long run I believe it will be the software that sells consoles, not the hardware. Let's take a look at some history, shall we? Rarely ever does the most powerful console gain more sales than its competition. There are exceptions to this (for instance, the Super Nintendo).
So you want to get into collecting classic games but don't know where to start? Fear not, citizens, for I have come to your aid! I've been collecting video gaming memorabilia for years, and have probably had more collectibles destroyed in moving than most people have on display.
And that brings me to our newest segment, QualityCollections. Each week Every now and then I'll be bringing you a guide on how to build different aspects of your collection, until your display room rivals that of the Raddest Kid in the World™.
Possibly one of the best collections to start with is the Nintendo Entertainment System, known in certain circles as either the Nintendo, the NES, the Original Nintendo, or even by some weirdos (read: Me when I was 8): the Regular Nintendo.
The NES was a revolution when it was introduced, saving the world from the clutches of the Last Great Video Games Crash and bringing us into the glory days of third generation gaming. These days, everybody talks about game changers and industry interrupters, but Nintendo really paved the way for this kind of methodology in electronics. When the NES was released, it literally changed the world of video gaming as we knew it.
(NES Bedding image courtesy of Instructables user rpaxton)
Ace of Spades, we all love Motorhead; I know I do. So, when I first watched the trailer to this game I was taken in by the fact that they were using Motorhead's famous Ace of Spades to accompany the gameplay. First of all, I loved that, that had me pretty much sold anyways and the gameplay looked pretty decent as well, it kind of seemed like a mix between Team Fortress 2, which is a game I love, and Minecraft, which is a game I have never played. It seemed like a good combination, but boy was I in for a treat... I went to knock on Jagex's door; I gave out a swift yet pleasent Trick or Treat and what did they drop into my batman pillow case? A big 'ol peanut butter cup, known as Ace of Spades. I was excited for it looked amazing, but when I got home and bit into it, to my dismay I found not peanut butter, but a center of foundationless, tedious, disappointing gameplay.
I usually hate blanket terms like "the best" anything, but let's be honest here, on the NES there was one game that was a shining example of what the machine could do. It had the graphics, it had the speed, it had the music, and it had the two player battle mode. That game was Super Mario Brothers 3.
Released in Japan on October 23rd, 1988, which is 25 years ago, Mario 3 made it to the United States in February 1990, presumably due to all the dialog that had to be translated. I mean, let's face it, with over twenty lines of dialog, this game had probably the most immersive story seen in video games at the time.
Who loves the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker? I know I do, and I also have reason to believe the UK does too. But do you love it enough to make a clone and market it to the world? Jonathon and Sam of Ascension Games do, and so they've launched a Kickstarter campaign for Cornerstone: The Song of Tyrim.
It's no secret that we here at Retro of the Week love our Dreamcast games. Either in their natural habitat or ported to other, more successful consoles, the Dreamcast had a huge library of great games. One of those beloved titles is Ikaruga, an extremely fast vertical arcade shooter with a rather interesting play concept. Instead of just shooting at everything you see, and avoiding obstacles, you have to switch the polarity of your ship to either destroy opposite colored enemies, or absorb similar colored weapons to charge your own. The game play is fast, hard, and fun.
But what if I were to tell you that soon, Ikaruga will be available on PC through Steam? That's just what the group over at RetroCollect told us last week, and we can't be more excited about it! Although it hasn't been officially approved, Ikaruga is currently on