Club Nintendo has had this sweet deal going for a while that allows members to use coins earned registering Nintendo product codes on actual video games rather than the type of paraphernalia more commonly found in Chinatown. For the most part selected titles have been restricted to stuff the majority of long time players wouldn’t bat an eyelash at but as you can tell from the headline and screenshot above, this isn’t the case at the moment. The N64 classic 1080 Snowboarding is up for grabs for a mere 150 coins as are three other selections each worth looking into. 1080 is a game that I spent a ridiculous amount of my un-prescribed medicinally medicated marijuana years playing as a teenager and it’s a lot of fun. Especially now since you can enjoy it in a higher resolution while your hands are wrapped around the asscheeksofthewomanyoulove GameCube controller. Also, if you burn some Nag Champa and listen to this track as you tear through the Golden Forest stage over and over again, shit gets really far ou-sorry? Oh right, what else is currently up for grabs: Let’s have a look.
And here at the List we all wish our beloved creator of Mario, Link, Pikmin and of course, Wii Music Shigeru Miyamoto a truly wonderful birthday. Just think: By the time the next presidential election rolls around the guy will actually turn 64!
Beetle Adventure Racing is/was an absolutely incredible arcade-style racer released back in 1999 for the Nintendo 64. Living up to the title, the game’s 6 tracks featured awesome themes including everything from a tropical island (complete with a volcano that you get to drive through), an urban downtown city scape and of course my favorite, a haunted forest called “Wicked Woods“. These levels were so massive and filled with so many optional shortcuts that one lap alone could take up to 3 minutes and you could potentially complete an entire race without seeing all of the detours and side-roads. The overall experience has a feel not unlike that which a Rare game provided back during that time. The graphics are some of the best on the system, the controls are just right and the level design rewards exploration. Pretty much anything that crosses your mind as a “Wouldn’t it be cool if I could?” type of thought, turns out to more often that not indeed be possible. It’s really too bad that the rumor of this game’s impending release on the Wii’s virtual console never shook out because it truly is a lost gem and deserves to be played by a larger audience than it originally received (Also, I’d kill to play it with a WaveBird). In any case, if you happen to still have your Nintendo 64 kicking around somewhere and have never had a swing at this, the actual cartridge isn’t asking a whole lot on ebay. I’m gonna dust mine off, pop this thing in and tear through those creepy ass woods for a bit tonight. Here, have a look at the clip below to see what you’re missing out on:
Well that isn’t a very nice attitude to have now is it 8-Bit Vader? The truth is that me and my pals here at the List have been invited to help put the final nail in the coffin provide our old friends over at Nintendorks.net with our invaluable insight and expertise on all things Nintendo (and maybe even some other stuff) from now on. Now what does this mean for you my dear, faithful reader? Well…nothing really. We aren’t going anywhere and I’ll continue to update regularly until the police find my lifeless, nude corpse at my computer desk surrounded by empty bottles of discount I.P.A. You can look forward to the same high quality self indulgence that we’ve blessed the internet with these past few years only now under both the Shigeru’s List url and the legendary banner of Nintendorks. In fact, I’ll probably be cross posting all of the larger pieces such as news and reviews on both sites but keep the random little mini updates exclusive to my little baby here.
I know, I know. It all sounds too good to be true but please, try and contain yourself. You’re embarrassing us.
“Holy, Shi-moly, how can I get in on this sweet deal!?” I hear you scream at your computer monitor. Well, it’s fairly easy: If you’re a Club Nintendo member, simply pony up the first born male in your bloodline as a ritualistic sacrifice to Beelzebub any time before January 6th and wait, WHOA. Yeah I read that press release all wrong, my mistake. Actually what you have to do is buy one of these first party games: Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, Art Academy: Lessons For Everyone!, Crosswords Plus or Style Savvy: Trendsetters, which are all available either now or very soon. As a result of your monetary donation, Nintendo will provide you with a code that allows you to download a modified NES rom of the original Donkey Kong (which includes the aforementioned “banned on Earth” pie-making level)! Now keep in mind the only way you’ll receive this password is by downloading one of these titles from the eShop rather than picking up a retail copy. Factor in the new SD card that you’ll most likely need as a result of the massive amount of memory these “full retail” games soak up and you’re looking at somewhere between $40 and $50 bucks to afford yourself the glory of playing this game for five minutes before shutting it off out of boredom. Of course if that sounds a bit steep, you could always go and grab your N64 out of the garage and throw in Donkey Kong 64. As traumatic of an experience as that game was, keep in mind that it still featured a perfect emulation of the actual arcade original Donkey Kong, pie factory included. What? You don’t want to talk about Donkey Kong 64? No, no, I understand, how thoughtless. Please forgive me.
Pretty much every review you’re going to read about Kirby’s 20th birthday compilation will begin with a direct comparison to Nintendo’s own anniversary treatment for their mustached mascot a couple of years ago. And for good reason: When the announcement was made that a special commemorative box would be released to coincide with the 25th birthday of the original Super Mario Bros., a lot of longtime fans (yours truly included) were understandably excited. But as the end result wound up being essentially an unchanged 20 year old rom (Super Mario All Stars from the SNES to be exact) slapped onto a disc and packed in with a flimsy at best scrapbook along with an anemic 13 track CD…well, pissed isn’t exactly the right word but you get the idea. Now with HAL laboratory celebrating the second decade mark for their little friend Kirby with such style, what once simply felt like a missed opportunity for Mario at this point feels like a legitimate insult.
Martin Hollis is a name that will sound kind of familiar to anyone that grew up during the SNES and N64 days (alternatively known as the “Rare blows your mind over and over era”). His name was plastered across some of the best games to come out of Twycross during this time, specifically as director on both GoldenEye and Perfect Dark. When the Stamper Bros. decided to sell their souls (and company) to Microsoft, the dude jumped ship to form his own studio called Zoonami where I guess he worked on some other stuff? Not really sure about that though (email me). Anyway, Hollis recently conducted a “post mortem” on the greatest video game for the Nintendo 64 based on the motion picture GoldenEye ever made and as you can guess, there’s some pretty interesting stuff in here. It’s a little long and very British, however absolutely worth checking out if you’re at all interested in the software design process or if you’re just having trouble sleeping.
Club Nintendo has been rotating the available downloadable game codes with greater frequency for a couple months, with a new game being available roughly every two weeks. This time at bat it’s the original Super Smash Bros., originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998 and downloadable on the Wii Virtual Console. Spending 200 coins, or roughly what you get for registering a 3DS system and a game with your Club Nintendo account, nets you the ability to beat the crap out of your friends as Link and Kirby, who were forever after nerfed as the series went on. Pikachu’s always been the tits, though. Anyway, if you want to throw Pokéballs like a maniac on top of the Silph Co. building to cause a cacophonous clusterfuck, and don’t feel like spending 1000 Wii Points, you have until September 16th- next Saturday- to cough up those coins you’ve been holding onto in the faint, desperate hope that the Super NES Classic Controller would ever come to the NA Club Nintendo store, before Nintendo switches it out with some other game, probably a worse one.
“Thank you all. Please be seated. *Ahem*. Ladies and gentlemen, like many of you here today I came across Nintendo Power at a very young age. For me personally, it was the third grade and I was eight years old when I first heard whispers of a magazine that was all about Nintendo and filled with maps, special codes and strategies. These rumors spread like wild fire across the black top during recess but that’s all they amounted to at first: Rumors. Some kid knew a guy from another school who’s brother supposedly had described some book he’d seen as having the small clay Mario you see beside me plastered across the cover. More words were spoken of free pull-out posters and comic strips as well as contests that gave away prizes like t-shirts, toys and most importantly: Nintendo Games. It all sounded too good to be true of course and these second hand (third and fourth even) stories were all I had to tide me over before the truth of the matter would finally be revealed to me. It was a cold, overcast October afternoon when this kid I knew opened his backpack to reveal the beautiful image of a grown man in full body armor holding the decapitated head of Dracula by his hair.
Well, allergies have begun to kick my face’s ass fairly regularly these past few weeks which can mean only one thing: invasion Summer time is here. And as much as I love to make seasonal playlists that usually consist of soft, sweet sounds from the 70’s, I also like to revisit certain video games that lend themselves perfectly to lazy afternoons spent drooling in front of the air conditioner. On this top 5 list that I’ve so lovingly compiled for you dear readers, some of my selections may feel like obvious choices given their settings and themes. But the primary asset required for inclusion was whether or not the game made me nostalgic for those glorious several weeks away from school, a controller in one hand and an ice cold Coca-Cola within reach of the other. As always, all of the games that made the cut are indeed playable on Wii resulting in chosen software that was made for the system, GameCube and anything on the Virtual Console.
So here we go boys and girls: I present to you our top 5 Nintendo games you should be playing before the Fall strikes back. READ MORE
Well, if a quote made by Shigeru Miyamoto to IGN.com (and no doubt taken out of context) is to be believed, Nintendo still isn’t quite sure. Apparently right now the answer is a toss up between remaking the SNES classic Link to the Past or Nintendo 64’s criminally underrated Majora’s Mask (which really should have been included on the Ocarina of Time 3D cart if you ask me. I know you aren’t actually asking that, but you’re welcome to my opinion anyway).
The shot above that leaked this past week supposedly reveals Nintendo’s finalized design for their upcoming Wii U controller. There aren’t really any drastic changes or anything from what was originally displayed at last year’s E3 but some subtle alterations have been made here and there that will hopefully help some of you nerds out there stop pissing yourselves in your sleep. The most noticeable change is in the control sticks. No longer the same flat “nub” sliding pads that 3DS owners have become familiar with, the new analogue input more closely resembles the traditional sticks we’ve been using since the good old N64 days. Also, the start and select buttons have now been moved from under the screen to the right hand side and there’s a mysterious new square right under the cross pad that industry insiders are speculating houses a very important screw that will hold the entire gamepad together. If nothing in this opening paragraph has made you laugh, that’s because we’re talking serious business here. READ MORE
Both Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS) and City Life (Wii) were decent if not overly familiar sequels to the incredibly addictive GameCube original, sure. But aside from the lack of including full on playable NES games as in the first, they really blew it in the soundtrack department too. I’d say that the theme to the original game’s menu screen alone is better than any one track from those follow ups. Most of the tracks (that change hourly) are so good that back when I was knee deep in that shit I’d find myself waiting until certain times of day before I’d play just to catch my favorites. Well, I just came across this this website which is apparently hosting each track in accordance with the actual time of day that it appears in during the game.
I know what tab will be open every night at 1:00am from now on.
As of 5pm this evening, the folks over at www.themade.org (Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment) have kicked off a potentially weekend long video game playing session in the name of charity and body odor. Their plan is to beat one title for every $1,000 dollars donated and the initial list they’ve come up with should be pretty entertaining. At the moment players are knee deep in Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest for the SNES. But then after that, sights will be set on Super Metroid (SNES), Paper Mario (N64), Streets of Rage 1, 2, and 3 (Dreamcast) and then they’ll finally wash it all down with some Ocarina of Time and Resident Evil 2 for the N64. All of which will be played on the original hardware which personally I feel is a nice touch.
So how about it? Do you have a weekend to kill and some spare cash lying around? Then grab a cold beer (or 12), click right here and watch these guys do what they would normally be doing anyway!
No you’re not reading your calendar wrong. Earlier today Nintendo unveiled its new online “home” for their famous mascot cleverly dubbed www.Mario.Nintendo.Com. A webpage filled with lazily written summaries for every retail and downloadable 3DS and Wii title featuring the fat plumber (isn’t this already IGN’s thing?). They’ve even added a little scroll at the bottom of each page suggesting other games you might be interested in based on the one you’re currently browsing. What’s that, guys? If I really like Super Mario Bros. 2 then I might also dig Samurai Showdown IV? Um, ok. There are actually a couple of cool little bits to be found on the site including a fun take on “Memory,” featuring familiar faces from the mushroom kingdom and also a quiz to test your Mario knowledge which you should have no trouble burning through if you’re above 6 years old and have ever played a Nintendo game in your life.
Check out the card game by clicking this and have a go at some Mario trivia right here. I’m positive you have nothing better to do.
