Ever wonder what a 2D Metroid would look like on the Wii? Well, wall paper graphic artist Alchemist Defined has decide to create an modern console generation image rendition of the classic game, Super Metroid :

See more of his awesome works here.

Thinking back in time..one of the most standout moments in my video game experience has got to be the first time I’ve laid eyes on F-Zero for the Super Nintendo back in late 1991. I was still a little kid in grade school then, and during that time the SNES was the hot new game console on the market. It was also during a time when a famous game known as “Street Fighter 2” was taking the arcades all over the world by storm and sparked fighting game genre that exist until today. The massive iron grip power of the NES was slowly starting to give way to the new powerhouse 16-bit systems of the Sega Genesis, SNES, and TG16.  That was during what is now known as the Fourth Generation of Video Game Consoles and the legendary 16-Bit Wars was just on it’s way. This was the 90’s baby.

Sonic the Hedgehog boasted the “Blast Processing” buzzword to enhance the Sega Genesis’s image of speed and power.

Yes it was a happy time for gaming because anything new was exciting and it didn’t take much to impress us, considering now consoles games were approaching the level of their arcade counterparts. Fancy words like “Blast Processing“, “Megabit“, “16-bit“, “Parallax scrolling“, and something called “Mode 7” was used to it’s full extent to dazzle us. And it sure as hell worked. You see, back then all games were still 2D sprite based and anything out of the 2D realm seemed unimaginable on a video game system - at least at the time it did. I still remember imagining a 3D-like game (which is easily done on any 3D game engine nowadays) in which you can walk or drive around a full 3D digital world. But that was impossible then.

This was where the SNES surprised us all. One advanced feature of the SNES was something called “Mode 7” which allowed for a series of 128×128 tiles to be stretch, rotate, and scaled to form a 3D-like perspective without the processing of any polygons. Hell, this was even before any one even understood the concept of polygons in a video game. The end result effect however, was amazing and was best put to showcase on the iconic futuristic racing game F-Zero.

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Pokemon.com says the game will release on December 10. If I didn’t have the original for N64 then I’d buy this game in a heartbeat. I loved this game when I was younger, and I actually played it again for
awhile a couple months ago. Now the game will be even better with the added functionality of being able to save and share your pictures with friends and challening them to see who took the better picture. If you don’t already own this game, then I suggest you buy it on the VC. It’s a great spin-off title that deserves a full sequel on the Wii.

Even with this good news of added functionality, I’ve got to wonder why Nintendo hasn’t added online functionality to any other VC game, namely Mario Kart64, F-Zero X, Star Fox 64, and Wave Race 64.  I’d pay a little extra for some added online play, even though Nintendo could easily do it without charging us any extra. It would be nice to be able to play some classic games online. Overall though I guess this isn’t too big of a deal seeing as we’re getting Mario Kart Wii online in the next couple months, and I’m sure we’ll be getting an F-Zero Wii online by the end of the Wii’s lifetime.

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“A tiny bit of extremely rare insight into Nintendo’s Virtual Console sales status was provided today at a press conference held in Tokyo by Nintendo and NTT to formalize their upcoming business tie-up for Internet service.

Anyone out there want to try extrapolating estimates on per-game downloads based on the two figures?” - IGN

If only Nintendo had an offcial VC sales stats on the VC main page. Along with each game on the game’s page. At least put a download tracker so we can see whats popular and whats not.

Well, you knew it was going to happen eventually. You’ve always dreaded this day. But the time has come. Nintendo of Japan has finally decided drop their support for their granddaddy of Nintendo consoles, the Famicom. Otherwise known as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to the rest of the world. Also to go is the support for the Super Nintendo (Super Famicom), N64, Gameboy, and Gameboy Pocket lines. The reason for this was due to issues from finding the needed parts required for repairs. And possibly the fact that you can now play a lot these older games on the Wii’s Virtual Console (or via emulators).

This comes as a surprise not because they’re actually doing it, but because I (as well as just about everyone) didn’t even know the NES was still being supported in the first place. It’s almost like Microsoft just ending support for Windows 1.0 or something now.

Source : Arcade Rennaisance

Well for all you Brits out there who always get pissed on how the US keeps on getting everything before you guys do, here’s you time to gloat. This week, SNK’s very first fighting game Fatal Fury is debuting one the Nintendo Wii’s Virtual Console in the UK, along with Streets of Rage 3, Golden Axe 3, Landstalker, and Super Thunder Blade. For those of who don’t know about Fatal Fury, it was insanely expensive-yet-insanely-powerful-console-for-its-time NEO-GEO’s answer to the Street Fighter 2 madness of the early 90’s. Fatal Fury was fairly popular in its day and was known for it’s “two-plane” fighting field in which players can jump from different view planes to avoid attacks. The game itself would spawn 10 others Fatal Fury games throughout the NEO-GEO platforms. Familiar characters such as Terry and Andy Bogard would eventually make appearances in other SNK’s massive fighting line up of games. Fatal Fury will run you 900 Wii Points ($9.00) or in UK talk, (£6.75) as well as the upcoming NEO-GEO games.
I’m actually a bit upset that this didn’t show up on the US Virtual Console. This is one of those games that I wouldn’t even have to consider before buying. Oh well. So you Brits can go ahead gloat. Go ahead. Do it.