Kotaku Australia » snes

Virtual Console: Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Pilotwings, All Coming

Luke Plunkett — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:30:00 +0000

Has a year of uninspiring selections all but made you forget the Wii’s Virtual Console even existed? Understandable. Might want to buckle up, though, because three of the most-requested games for the service are finally making an appearance.

This coming Monday, November 23, sees the release of the original SNES Mario Kart for 800 Points. Good news. Better news is to come, though, as “sometime this holiday season” Nintendo will also release the original SNES Pilotwings and the original N64 Smash Bros. Exact release dates and pricing to come on those two.

Leaving just one game on my Virtual Console wish list. Jurassic Park. Chop chop, Nintendo.

Super Mario Kart drifts onto Wii VC [GameSpot]

Phalanx Making A Triumphant Return

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Phalanx is a strange game. Few of you will remember the game, even fewer probably ever played it. But most of you will remember, or at least recognise, the game’s famous box art.

Sadly, that art won’t be needed for the game’s impending re-release, with original developers Zoom Inc handling a port of the original Sharp X68000 — not the later SNES — version of the game for Nintendo’s Wii.

It’ll be made available via WiiWare, not the Virtual Console, and will go for 500 Nintendo Points. Phalanx is currently due for re-release only in Japan.

Phalanx Gets WiiWare Port, Banjo Not Included [GamerBytes]

That’s One Way To Honour Grandma

Owen Good — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:00:00 +0000

As seen at F*ck Yeah, Tattoos!, which has an explanation.

SNES Portable Case Mod Does Not Stop At Case Mod

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:00:00 +0000

There’s also a custom box creation. French modder darthchris13 whipped up the creation and then compared it size-wise to a SEGA GameGear.

The SNES Portable sports a 2.5-inch screen, and according to darthchris13, the tricky part was getting all the SNES wiring into such a small casing. Nice work.

Une magnifique Nintendo SNES Portable et son emballage [Nowhere Else]

The Stuff Super Nintendo Nightmares Are Made Of

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:30:00 +0000

While most case mods are designed to improve the appearance of a games console – or at least tailor it to suit the whims of a more fickle owner – we don’t see many that will make small children cry.

But, man, if I was four years old and saw this thing, it’d disturb me. And that’s just during the day. At night, it glows green and bellows smoke like a the very gates of hell.

Oh, and despite it’s horrific appearance, the “Game Over” Super Nintendo still works just fine.

!GAME OVER PROJECT! [Retrotaku, via technabob]

How Nintendo Has Described Itself From ‘87 To ‘09

Stephen Totilo — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:20:00 +0000

Over the years, Nintendo, like most companies, has had to explain what in the world it is at the bottom of the press releases it issues. That description has changed. A lot.

1987 Nintendo financial earnings report…

Nintendo of America Inc. is the U.S. marketing and sales arm of Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo Co. Ltd., the world’s leading manufacturer of electronic games.

1990 Press release announcing EA becoming a Nintendo-licensed developer…
(Note: “electronic games” has become “video games”… hooray!)

Nintendo of America Inc. is based in Redmond, Wash., and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo Co. Ltd. of Kyoto, Japan, the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer of video games.

1995 Killer Instinct press release…

Nintendo Co. Ltd. of Kyoto, Japan, is the leader in the worldwide $US15 billion retail video game industry. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere, where more than 40 percent of American homes own a Nintendo system.

2000 Press Release Announcing Pokemon Gold and Silver Strategy Guides
(Note: PlayStation has passed Nintendo in the market at this point, just as Nintendo becomes much more descriptive of what it has accomplished.):

Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, is the acknowledged worldwide leader in the creation of interactive entertainment. To date, Nintendo has sold more than one billion video games worldwide, has created such industry icons as Mario and Donkey Kong and launched franchises like The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon. Nintendo manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home video game systems, including the Nintendo 64, Game Boy and Game Boy colour – the world’s best selling handheld video game systems. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Reddmond, Washington, serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in North America.

2005 Press Release Hyping Animal Crossing Wild World
(Note: Nintendo puts its home console as third-fiddle to its two handheld platforms and adds Metroid to the list of characters it name-checks. Nintendo also dubs itself an “innovator.”)…

The worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home and portable video game systems. Each year, hundreds of all-new titles for the best-selling Game Boy Advance SP, DS and Nintendo GameCube systems extend Nintendo’s vast game library and continue the tradition of delivering a rich, diverse mix of quality video games for players of all ages. Since the release of its first home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 2 billion video games and more than 360 million hardware units globally, creating enduring industry icons such as Mario and Donkey Kong and launching popular culture franchise phenomena such as Metroid, Zelda and Pokemon. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere.

2009 Press Release Announcing New Starfy Game
(Note: Now Nintendo is a “pioneer,” one proud to name-check all of its major systems except the NES and Virtual Boy.)…

The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo has sold more than 2.9 billion video games and more than 496 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, as well as the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Super NES, Nintendo 64 and Nintendo GameCube. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Zelda and Pokémon. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere.

I could now ask you readers how you would describe Nintendo, but that might be asking for trouble.

Box Of Old Zelda Games Redefines Definition Of “Case Fresh”

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:00:00 +0000

We don’t post about video game auctions very often here. When we do, it has to be something that’s pretty amazing. This cardboard treasure trove of Zelda fits that bill.

It’s a box of sealed copies of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The original SNES release. Like the wounded body of 1992 heaved itself upon our doorstep and, with its final, dying breath, left us with its greatest treasure.

There are six copies to be found within, and they’ve never been played. Never been soiled. Oh, they’re also the PAL version, so if that’s a problem for you, well, tough. Paradise don’t come cheap.

Link to the Past Factory Case, Computer Space 2p [gameSniped]

Modder Builds USB Adapter For SNES Carts

Owen Good — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0000

The SNES is old enough that any hankering to play Super Mario World can be satisfied entirely by emulator. Still, here’s a USB hack that lets you plug old carts to a PC.

Hackaday reader Matthias rigged up this solution, which makes the cart show up on a PC as an external drive with the ROM file inside. From there, it’s playable on one’s choice of emulator.

Admittedly, the number of cases in which one has a working cart but no working console, and a working emulator but no working ROM, are probably quite low. But I remember Dad asking me what was the point – when free WiFi is so plentiful – of jailbreaking my iPhone and rigging it to serve as a dialup modem for my laptop. “Self esteem,” I said.

In other words, whatever this thing does for you isn’t important; the thing you made it do, however, is. Good work, Matthias.

USB Reader for SNES Game Carts [hackaday]

Use Your N64, NES & SNES Pads On The Wii

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:30:00 +0000

Not the first time this has been done, granted, but Komodo’s Retro adaptor is certainly the most elegant way of using all your old Nintendo pads on the Wii.

Due to come in at around $US20 when it ships in July, the Retro adaptor works like a controller hub, allowing you to use NES, SNES and N64 pads. What’s more, the hub is styled to look like an N64 (though you could say it looks as much like a 3DO.

Innex Retro adaptor updates your old controllers for active Wii duty [Offworld]

Game Controllers That Clean Your Filthy Hands

Mike Fahey — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:20:00 +0000

You know those shaped soaps at your mother’s house that no one is allowed to actually use? Here’s our version, courtesy of Etsy seller Digitalsoaps.

Digitalsoaps offers our favourite video game weapons, lovingly recreated in the form of scented soap products. Take the green Xbox 360 controller above. Scented with Mountain Dew, it’s the most extreme gaming soap ever created by the hands of man. The store also produces NES controllers, PlayStation controllers, Wii remotes, and a rather lovely Super Nintendo model, all present in the gallery below.

I love the contrast between the real item and the recreation. Game controllers are probably some of the dirtiest things in any gamer’s household, and soap generally isn’t found. Kidding! I am of course referring to the contrast between ultimate dirty and the embodiment of cleanliness that is soap or something like that.

The only problems I have with soap shaped like game controllers is that I could never bring myself to use them to clean myself, and if I got drunk enough I would totally try to eat them. To address that second concern there’s the Digitalchocolates store.

Digitalsoaps Etsy Page [Etsy.com - Thanks Jwu!]