I’m honestly a bit surprised. I figured Nintendo would take the opportunity, with Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver out, to try to find some way to further exploit the name on the Virtual Console. I’m not even sure what other older games they can release at this point, but I expected either a Pokemon game, or [...]

Calling
Publisher: Hudson Soft
Developer: Hudson Soft
Genre: Adventure
Release Date: 03/09/2010
Horror games have a lot of parallels with the RPG market. Both were started in the west. Early US RPG’s were things like Ultima, Wizardry, The Bard’s Tale the SSI Dungeons & Dragons video games and so on. Early horror games included Haunted House, Uninvited, Shadow of [...]

What was the worst gift you ever got for your birthday? Mine was a box of cat poop (true story), though even that was probably not as bad as the gift received by the main character of Rooms: The Main Building. Imagine a jigsaw puzzle that transports you to another world where the only means [...]

Sometimes, being a Nintendo fan gives that person something to cheer about, especially if they’re dealing with fans of the other two consoles. From innocuous things like “We have Mario and Zelda!” to obscure musings like “Hey, nice of your entertainment divisions to finally be seeing a profit!” to low blows like “We didn’t just [...]

Data East Arcade Classics
Genre: Compilation
Developer: G-Mode, G1M1
Publisher: Majesco
Release Date: 02/19/2010
Back in the eighties, arcade games were a whole lot more prolific than they are now, and often a lot more creative to boot. Granted, the games all fit into the genres of the time, be they sports, shooters, beat-em-ups and so on, but the concepts [...]

Endless Ocean: Blue World
Publisher: Nintendo of America
Developer: Arika
Genre: Simulation
Release Date: 02/23/2010
The first Endless Ocean is one of my favorite games of this console generation. I raved about it in January of 2008, and at the end of the year, Endless Ocean would go on to win our “Nintendo Wii Game of the Year” and “All-Ages [...]

In the two plus years that we’ve been doing these wrap-ups, whether just for the Virtual Console or for the entire service, just about every article has had a lot of comments about whatever the Virtual Console has put out. When we started profiling the other downloadable titles on the WiiWare and DSiWare, most of [...]

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Genre: Beat ‘Em Up
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: 01/26/2010
I’m a fan of over the top style action, whether it is infused into the games I play or the movies I watch, so it should come as no surprise that I enjoyed the original No More Heroes game on the Wii. [...]

5-in-1 Solitaire
Publisher: Digital Leisure
Developer: Digital Leisure
Genre: Card Game
Release Date: 02/01/2010
This is interesting. 5-in-1 Solitaire was released for DSiWare the same day as the WiiWare version. The DSi version was only 200 Nintendo points ($2), while the Wii version if 500 ($5). You would think the portable one would be more expensive, since you can take [...]

Muscle March
Genre: Mini-Game
Developer: Namco Bandai
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Release Date: 01/18/2010
As the gaming industry expands and more games are released, we’re beginning to see more and more bizarre games filter their way into the regular expected release lists. Third person shooters and RPG’s with pretty male leads only attract so much attention anymore. So if you can’t [...]

The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces
Developer: Namco Bandai / Project Aces
Publisher: XSEED
Genre: Flight Simulation
Release Date: 01/12/2010
When I first heard about Namco-Bandai’s Wii bound flight sim, The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces, I was at that time unfortunately not familiar with Hiroshi Mori’s novel series, or the recent Mamoru Oshii (of Ghost in The Shell fame) animated film [...]

Walk It Out
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Exercise/Bemani
Release Date: 01/12/2010
Long-time readers know that I’m the go-to guy for exercise or Bemani games on the Wii. Walk it Out is Konami’s attempt to cross the two over. With Rhythm games, Konami has generally done a really good job with DDR Hottest Party 1, HP2, and HP3, which came [...]

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Eighting
Genre: 2-D Fighting
Release Date: 1/26/2010
2009 was a bit of a disappointment for fighting games here in North America. Street Fighter IV was good, but nowhere up to the level of previous Capcom titles, a point made abundantly clear with the re-release of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, which in itself was a [...]

ShadowPlay
Publisher: Deep Fried Entertainment
Developer: Deep Fried Entertainment
Genre: Puzzle
Release Date: 01/11/2010
It’s dark outside and the power just went out. Now what do you do? If you answered with breaking out your backlit Nintendo DS or Sony PSP and playing that until the lights come back on, then you are a cheater and totally just defeated the [...]

Contra ReBirth
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Action
Release Date: 09/07/2009
Before I begin, take a moment to think back to the hardest game you’ve ever played in your gaming career… besides Battletoads… and Ninja Gaiden… Did Contra cross your mind? If it did, then congratulations! You are among the thousands, perhaps millions of gamers around the world that had [...]

Excitebike: World Rally
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Racing
Release Date: 11/10/2009

Pallurikio
Publisher: Playstos Entertainment
Developer: Playstos Entertainment
Genre: Platformer
Release Date: 12/29/2009
Story/Modes:
A group of chubby cheeked children are playing with a strangely titled board game, the titular Pallurikio, and get sucked inside of it. Really, that’s the whole of Pallurikio’s plot. Pick whichever children’s movie with a similar plot to compare it to, the truth is, the plot is [...]

Fast Draw Showdown
Publisher: Digital Leisure
Developer: American Laser Games
Genre: Light Gun Shooter
Release Date: 01/04/2009
I’ve always been a big fan of American Laser Games. I was pretty happy last year when Digital Leisure and Majesco released the Mad Dog McCree Gunslinger Pack back in July. Sadly, the compilation wasn’t as well received by younger or newer gamers [...]

Castlevania The Adventure: ReBirth
Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment
Developer: Konami
Genre: Platformer
Release Date: 12/28/2009
Back on December 27th, 1989, a game was released for the Nintendo Game Boy called Castlevania: The Adventure. This 2-D platformer was not only the first Castlevania game for the black and white portable system, but was also considered one of the toughest Castlevania games [...]

Downloadable services are almost like children. They start out awkward and wobbly, eventually grow a bit, and make people cry as they reach full maturation and show their full potential. Lately, we’ve seen Nintendo’s downloadable services take their SATs and apply for colleges with some solid weeks, including the expansion into arcade titles and some [...]