News Tagged: Features
Talking Point: Copyright and Video Games
What is stopping us from experiencing the entire history of video games?
Last year Taito issued Space Invaders Get Even on the WiiWare download service as well as multiple versions of the original game on the Japanese, PAL and North American Virtual Consoles. This was in celebration of the 30th annivesary of the release of Space Invaders in arcades worldwide. Similarly Namco is due to celebrate..
Talking Point: Is the Virtual Console On The Slide?
Since the birth of the Virtual Console a couple of years back we’ve been granted some truly amazing slices of retro-related brilliance. Zelda, Phantasy Star, Street Fighter, Alex Kidd, Mario, Castlevania, Sonic…all of these franchises (plus many others) have been reborn in a blaze of glory thanks to Nintendo’s download portal.
At the start of 2008 we asked a few probing questions about the..
News: Virtual Console Reviews - Best of 2008
This year brought two new systems to the Virtual Console with the Commodore 64 computer added to the European Virtual Console and the Sega Master System added to both the European and North American Virtual Console services. We also saw a host of new releases on the systems already available on the service including some very high profile titles.
As 2008 comes to a close, we at Virtual Console..
News: Corbie's Top 20 Virtual Console Releases - Part 2
We've already done quite a few Top 10 lists of games we'd like to see hit the Virtual Console, but now that we're quickly approaching 300 Virtual Console releases, we thought it might be a good time to come up with a list of our favorite Virtual Console releases already available for the service.
I'm going to kick things off with my own personal Top 20 Virtual Console releases list. Now before the..
News: Corbie's Top 20 Virtual Console Releases - Part 1
We've already done quite a few Top 10 lists of games we'd like to see hit the Virtual Console, but now that we're quickly approaching 300 Virtual Console releases, we thought it might be a good time to come up with a list of our favorite Virtual Console releases already available for the service.
I'm going to kick things off with my own personal Top 20 Virtual Console releases list. Now before the..
News: Hardware Focus - NEC SuperGrafx
In 1989 the PC Engine was still selling quite well in Japan, but Sega's 16-bit Mega Drive system was beginning to pick up steam and Nintendo's Super Famicom console was looming just around the corner. Sensing this, NEC decided that they needed a true 16-bit console if they were to have any hope of continuing their success in the Japanese console wars.
The successor to the PC Engine was originally..
News: Hands-on with Datel's Wireless Retro Controller
The Classic Controller is a great peripheral, modelled on the humble SNES controller of yesteryear with two analogue sticks and a few extra buttons thrown in for good measure to support N64 games - it is all you need to enjoy most of the retro games on the Virtual Console.
The only downside is that it isn’t completely wireless. Sure it is wireless in the sense you don’t have to plug it..
News: Top 10 Racing Games We Want To Come To The Virtual Console
Racing or driving games are sorely underrepresented on the Virtual Console. Why is that we ask? They’ve always been popular with gamers since Pole Position on the Atari 2600. In the vain hope that powers that be at Nintendo ever visit this site for inspiration, here are the driving games which we feel deserve consideration for the Virtual Console.
10. Outrun – Sega Master SystemHow could a list..
News: Top 10 Puzzlers We Want To Come To The Virtual Console
Following the series of Top 10 lists we've already done, we've made a selection of puzzle games we would like to see! It should be noted that there's a bunch of great puzzlers already on VC - The likes of Puyo Puyo, Adventures of Lolo, Wrecking Crew, Solomon's Key and Pokémon Puzzle League are all top-notch and very much worth a purchase. Still, here's 10 that would make great additions as well.
1..
News: Top 10 Shmups We Want To Come To The Virtual Console
Since I've been fortunate enough to witness all of the shooter love in the comments lately, I thought I'd take a moment to share the love with a new top ten list chock full of shoot 'em ups. Although there have already been quite a few outstanding shooters released on the Virtual Console, there are still a lot of great titles left between the various consoles. Today we'll take a look at ten of the best. No need to thank me, just enjoy the list. :P
10. Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth (Nintendo 64) - Here's the forgotten member of the Star Soldier series and one that didn't get a lot of attention when it was first released on..
News: Retro Gamer Magazine Interview VC Reviews
Recently we did an interview with Retro Gamer magazine about the success of VC Reviews and our thoughts on the Virtual Console service so far.
If you are interested to read it why not pick up the magazine (issue #53) and take a look for yourself? It is available today in all good newsagents such as WHSmiths in the UK.For our many international readers, we would hate for you to feel left out so our..
News: Top 10 Neo Geo Games We Want To Come To The Virtual Console
The Neo Geo console was a lot like a Rolls-Royce.
It wasn't necessarily that much better than the other consoles on the market at the time, it was just a hell of a lot more expensive. Not only that, but if you managed to somehow survive the $650 price tag the console hit you with, you'd still have to shell out another $200-$300 per game if you wanted anything to play on your shiny new console. It..
News: Secret of Evermore - Brian Fehdrau Interview
Our resident reviewer Corbie Dillard has been busy securing some fresh content for his SNES fansite. He really struck gold with a recent interview which he did with Brian Fehdrau, the lead programmer on the Squaresoft USA team that developed the Super Nintendo rpg hit Secret of Evermore.
At the present moment, Square seem to be reluctant to throw up their entire back catalogue on to the Virtual..
News: Square-Enix Changes Its Mind About The Virtual Console?
Highly respected Japanese developer Square-Enix has broken its silence regarding the lack of support for Nintendo’s Virtual Console service in a recent interview at the 2008 Game Developers Conference.
Producer of WiiWare title Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King Toshihiro Tsuchida lifted the lid on why the company has been so reluctant to publish titles on the retro download..
News: Playtest: The Shaft Virtual Console joystick
As old school gamers on Wii the only thing we missed was a joystick peripheral for that authentic arcade feel. Back in the days anyone who was serious about Street Fighter II on the SNES would have owned a Super Advantage joystick. The NEO GEO was famed for the quality of its joystick – indeed it was almost as big as the console itself. Why hasn’t Nintendo released an official joystick for the Wii yet?
Worry not retro fans because Overline Gaming have heard your cries and have created the Wii Shaft joystick to bring back the feel of the arcade into your own home. Phallic puns aside, we got our hands on one of these recentl..
News: Top 10 C64 games wanted on the Virtual Console
Now that the Commodore 64 is firmly established on the Virtual Console (at least for Europe) it seemed like an opportune time to compile a list of C64 games that I feel deserve a home on the Virtual Console. All of these choices are influenced by games that I loved at the time, and, in my opinion, retain superb playability to this day. With such a wealth of games available it is inevitable that this small selection omits some other classics, and for that I apologise in advance!
10. Head over HeelsArguably one of the best isometric arcade adventures on any system. Featuring hundreds..
News: Top 10 RPGs We Want To Come To The Virtual Console
Role-playing games have always been extremely popular in Japan, but over the years they've become quite popular in other parts of the world as well. There's just something amazing about getting to take part in an epic story line and watching as it all unfolds in front of you. I personally own over 130 role-playing games at last count, so I decided to take a moment to put together a list of the top 10 role-playing games I'd most like to see released on the Virtual Console.
10. Legacy of the Wizard (NES)Legacy of the Wizard is probably the most obscure release on this list. The game was actuall..
News: Will Sega CD Support Ever Come To The Virtual Console?
Since the very welcome introduction of TG-16 CD-ROM games to Nintendo’s Virtual Console service we’ve seen a steady flow of requests for the same treatment to be given to Sega’s ill-fated Sega CD add-on (also known as the Mega CD in Europe and Japan).
This much-hyped peripheral was rolled out in the early ‘90s (a few years after Hudson/NEC had released their CD-ROM attachment) and despite..
News: Why April Is A Massive Month For the Virtual Console
If you count yourself as a hardcore gamer then you will have read our recent news piece about April’s Japanese Virtual Console games with marked interest. Sure, there’s the usual amount of filler in there, like Famicom Detective Club Part II and Bokosuka Wars (neither of which are likely to make the leap over to the US/Euro VC service), but there’s a trio of games that should cause your pulse to race uncontrollably – Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, MUSHA Aleste and Metal Slug.
Dracula X is widely regarded as one of the finest entries in Konami’s long-running vampire franchise and until the release of t..
Talking Point: The State of Play of the Virtual Console
Since the end of last year there’s been an unpleasant undercurrent of tension in the world of the Virtual Console. It all started when Nintendo’s VC releases began to strangely dry up, with the usual three-game weeks becoming a thing of the past. This controversial move then kick-started a tirade of anger, with each week’s announcements being greeted with almost predictable cries of derision.
Obviously it’s impossible for Nintendo to please everyone in this situation. Yes, the drop from three games to two (or sometimes even one) is unfortunate but it’s worth taking a moment to look at the figures involved. Since the Virtual Console service was launched Nintendo has made over 200..
