Firstly, just to remind everybody, we're back. Invisionfree server 6 went down on Wednesday, losing their records. There was a backup from a couple of days ago luckily. The mod-nomination post has been continued due to this. If you voted before, you may have to again.

Mayhem in Monsterland - Commodore Gaming, Commodore 64

(1993 - they still made C64 games in 1993?) Would appear to be a collecting game. Platformer. Dinosaurs. Happiness. Typical bright and cheery game. Apparently it's a peak of C64 gaming or something.

Street Fighter II: Special Championship Edition - CAPCOM, SEGA MEGA DRIVE

(1993) Standard Street Fighter affair with some new modes. Nothing really riveting. Was one of the first to use group battle.

Space Harrier - SEGA, SEGA Master System

(1986) Bizarre on-rails shooter. Yeah, pretty much it.

Sorry if the summaries seem short, I just can't get enthused about unremarkable games at 12:15 AM.

Tell you what IS remarkable though, is Capcom's Phoenix Wright games. I'd recommend them to anyone with a DS. Kudos to Mudson and Ross for the recommendations there. The third itteration was released the weak before last. Currently making my way through that one. I seem to be using this part to describe whatever game I'm playing currently. It's probably quite boring to you. Ah well, it's a recommendation.

Pretty much it really,

Cieran...

Just Wiiware this week. There's fairly big video game stuff going down in the form of the Tokyo Game Show but it's
1. Mainly aimed at Japanese games (I think) and I dislike that stuff, and
2. Nintendo arn't involved. I don't care what you say, but we're a Nintendo site.

Speaking of which, Noolsey has left NoE2. You'll all know him, unless you're the type who for some odd reason reads these emails but never visits the site. I dunno, maybe you exist. His rational was that he now had a life.

Wiiware there are two games called Potpourii and Midnight Bowling. The second is as it says on the tin, and the first is a puzzle game. Involves leprechauns.

Why don't I do Wiiware anyway? I've realised that they ARE released on the same day as VC. I'm just lazy is all.

Forum news, we're having a mod election process currently. Come along and decide on how many to have, followed by nominations for actual places. These'll be open soon, each member can nominate any other member. Nominations have to be seconded (ie, you need two nominations) to go in the poll.

That's all,

Cieran...

So, VC releases this week. There are two, and I need to tell you that because it's CLEARLY not evident in the title. Well what else should I put here?

<u>Shining Force II</u> - SEGA, SEGA MEGA DRIVE

(1994) The description for this is almost pure fantasy RPG. Stolen jewels sealing away ancient power, ancient power erupts out, terrorises, up to young boy to take it down. Naturally along the way the princess is kidnapped. The opening for the VC description states that "It's a dark and stormy night," a phrase so poor it has its own Wikipedia article. Seriously.

<u>Earthworm Jim</u> - SEGA, SEGA MEGA DRIVE

(1994) Most people will probably have heard of this game. You play an earthworm (the titular Jim) who has super powers. It's a platformer. I think there was a cartoon of this, but I dunno if that or the game came first and can't be bothered to check Wikipedia.

Semi-big news today in video games. Nintendo has announced the DSi, an enhanced DS, to be released Spring 2009 in Europe (so they say). It will have a camera, editing software, a browser, an SD card slot and will be slightly smaller overall than the DS Lite. It will eschew the GBA slot to accomplish this.

Soon, you'll be able to transfer VC games to SD card. Finally, a solution of sorts to the Wii storage problem. Also some games were announced, but I forget what they were/are.

It's really hard to have three controllers next to you on a bed and pick one blindly. I have a Wii Remote (for checking the VC stuff), a 360 controller (for playing on my laptop) and a mouse. I kept picking up the wrong one. Ah well, it's over for another week now.

Cieran...

No new VC releases this week. Just Wiiware. In Wiiware there are Helix, Mega Man 9 and some another Strong Bad episode.

Video game news...hm, well Jack Thompson has been disbarred. Hopefully it'll mean he can no longer practice law. He's appealing though. Sadly. Speaking of him, I'm loving the GTA games currently. Seem to be working through them backwards though.

That's all,

Cieran...

Three titles. I don't know why I always say how many there are in this first bit but there you go.

Sonic the Hedgehog - SEGA, SEGA Master System

(1991) Hold on...this is a remake of the original STH...but for the Master System? It has more stuff, but is on an inferior console. That would be like...I dunno, remaking Mario Galaxy with more features and other stuff for the Gamecube. It just makes little sense...

Jumpman - Commodore Gaming, Commodore 64

(1983) Arcade/platformer type game where you have to walk around avoiding aliens or something. And defuse bombs, so I assume it's timed.

Boulder Dash - Commodore Gaming, Commodore 64

(1984) Dig Dug with a puzzle element. In America it was called something else, but I don't kn-AH! Oh that's brilliant...that's just brilliant. I go to Wikipedia to find out the name (Rockford incidentally) and find copyright infringement on Nintendo's part. Text from the description of this game is taken from the Wikipedia article on the game! I even checked for old copies of the page, from early 2008, before this game was released on ANY VC. Oh haha, that's brilliant. And actually pretty serious, it means the text should ALL now be under GNU Free Doc. Here's the passage in question. There's probably more in others. It's probably nothing but could be serious:

Wikipedia:
"Boulder Dash is one of the very few computer games ever to be ported from home computers to arcades (contrary to the other way around)."

Nintendo:
"It is one of the very few computer games ever to be ported from home computers to arcades, rather than the other way around."

Ahh Nintendo, you and your crazy shenanigans. I'd email Kotaku about it if I knew how.

Anyway, very little of note has occured on the forums, or in the Nintendo world. Nintendo are holding a conference in a few weeks though, maybe something new will be announced that doesn't make you look like an idiot.

Cieran...

No VC this week. Just Wiiware. I dunno what day this stuff actually comes out onm but there's a "NEW" tab hanging over PLATTCHEN, which appears to be a painting game, Midnight Pool, which is self-explanatory, and Bomberman Blast, also self-explanatory. Oh it has Wi-Fi support. That's it.

Forum-wise...no more moderation will be taking place in the Staff Opinions Board main area (not an excuse to spam please). That's it really. Hope those of you back at school are enjoying it, and those who arn't...well there are very few of you on NoE2.

Cieran...

Whoa, really sorry about really late update today. Went to bed early last night, then just forgot today. Too much playing GTA, that's what it is.

Ys Book I and II - NIHON FALCOM, Turbografx

(1990) Action RPG. Magic, hack & slash etc. Apparently ahead of its time. There's loads of text and my Wii remote is running out of batteries and I can't be bothered to put new ones in.

Spelunker - Tozal Games, NES

(1987) It's pretty much exactly what the name says. You explore an underground network of caves. It's a platformer. Looks similar to Pitfall. There are hazards etc.

DoReMi Fantasy Milon's Adventure - HUDSON SOFT, SNES

(1996) This game is a DokiDoki game, so I'm sure you can expect gameplay similar to Doki Doki Panic, also known as Super Mario Bros 2. Bright, colourful, cheery music etc. That kind of game. Oh yeah, and it's in Japanese.

Chase HQ - TAITO, Turbografx

(1992) Well that's something I've never seen before. A car chase simulator. While it looks like a racing game, it's not. You have to chase down criminals as a police officer, and run them off the road. Or something. I dunno.

Forums have been active as usual. You can now swear and not be warned. Ryan has won a Wii in a competition he entered, so well done to him.

Video games...little really. Spore is finally out today. My brother bought it, he seems to be enjoying it. Noolsey has mentioned that he may do a review of it. That's all for now,

Cieran...

Two titles this week. Hanabi again.

DIG DUG - NAMCO BANDAI, NES

(1985) I'm sure you all know this one. You dig for stuff and defeat enemies using strategy and weapons. It can be played for free online, so I personally wouldn't bother with this.

BIO MIRACLE BOKUTTE UPA - Konami, NES

(1988) Platforming game. You play a baby who is also a prince and must hit enemies with your rattle. Apparently it has good graphics for the time. Looks bizarre to be honest.

Nothing has changed rule-wise on the forum, but it's still been nice and active. Noolsey has also posted an interesting guide to some decent and free PC games, probably in Other Consoles, but I can't remember.

Also, sorry about the lateness of this, I was out last night till relatively late and forgot about doing this,

Cieran...

Well there you go. Super Mario RPG HAS been released on the Euro VC. What next, Mother? These are labeled as Hanabi Festival titles, even though that's over now. But they never were released here. Well, Lost Levels was actually, as part of Super Mario All Stars on the SNES. Very good game SMAS, I'd recommend it if you have a SNES.

Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels - Nintendo, NES

(1986) This is what the Japanese had as Super Mario Bros 2. It was too hard for us apparently, so we got a reskinned Doki Doki Panic labelled as Super Mario Bros 2 instead. At 600 this is slightly more than a normal NES game, but it's apparently worth it.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - Nintendo, SNES

(1996) This is one of the games people have been whispering about since the VC began. It's amazing it took this long to come out. It's apparently held in very high acclaim. It's developed by Square. We never got this one, it was just the USA and Japan (importing wasn't such a big scene 12 years ago). At 900 points this is also slightly more than average. But Square fans should check it out. I know there are plenty of you.

The forums have been nice and busy lately. We've had a couple of polls go through, now there's a change in the way multiple value polls work (ie, more than two values) and new warn images should be going up soon. Also, today is the first anniversary of NoE2's biggest thread, The General Chat Thread (formerly Post Last To Win). It just yesterday reached it's 1000th page, and to celebrate (yes, we praise spam here =D), post counts are being turned ON in the Super Happy Fun Board all day.

Yes, today is good,

Cieran...

No VC this week. Wiiware this week is Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. I've never seen any Homestar Runner, but apparently it's very funny. As well as that is My Aquarium. It's a virtual aquarium for your TV. After all, who DOESN'T want fish in their TV? It's only 500 points though. Can't see much gameplay in it.

These descriptions get longer by the week. They'll stop once I get back to school in a few weeks.

On the forum, Noolsey is still running the NoE2 Awards. Closing date for votes to be PMd to him by the 17th please. Also for that date could we please have any warn images for the competition organised months ago. Same deadline.

Cieran...

Four titles. all of them sequels this week. Sorry it's late, I completely forgot about it last night.

Splatterhouse 2 - SEGA, SEGA MEGA DRIVE

(1992) It's apparently a very violent video game from the early 1990s. You have to rescue your girlfriend from a haunted house with a special mask or something.

Samurai Shodown 2 - D4 Enterprise, NEOGEO

(1994) Well it's a NEOGEO title, so without even looking at the screen (or remembering that Samurai Shodown was released a few weeks ago, I can tell this will be a fighting game). Whaddaya know, I'm right. It's a standard fighting game. In fact it seems pretty much identical to the previous one but with more characters.

Pitstop II - Commodore Gaming, Commodore 64

(1984) This was apparently the first racing game to pit you against another player. While I'm sure that must have been groundbreaking at the time, now it's the most basic of prerequisites for a racing game. For just 500 points more you could get Mario Kart 64 and have proper 3D graphics (well, sort-of) and other players.

Ecco Jr - SEGA, SEGA MEGA DRIVE

(1995) It's Ecco the Dolphin (if anyone used to play that it was actually pretty good. I had it on PC in about 1996) but dumbed down for kids. You have to perform tasks and you have "friends." Early inspiration for their addition to Sonic games perhaps?

On the forums we currently have the NoE2 Awards going on. PM any nominations (a list of categories can be found in the appropriate topic in the NoE2 Awards sub-board, Off Topic) to Noolsey, who's organising them this time,

Cieran...

Wiiware titles this week are Defend Your Castle and Wild West Guns. No idea what they are, but I assume Defend Your Castle is the same game you can play for free through your browser on most Flash-based game websites out there.

No VC updates this week. Nintendo however has been having a very good year so far, according to recent figures. Profits and overall taking are up majorly, as are sales, although DS hardware sales are down for Q1 2008. Anyway, that's pretty much everything. Nothing huge on the forum, although guests can no longer view the Super Happy Fun Board, and Noolsey is currently polling for a change in the way the reviews board works. Also, check out or new NoE2 Dictionary, a compilation of words and phrases relating to NoE2, located in the SHFB. That's all for now,

Cieran...

Three games. What more is there to say?

NEO TURF MASTERS - NEOGEO, D4 Enterprises

(1996) I pretty much stopped reading the description for this when it called it a "riveting golf game". Riveting is only ever used in a sarcastic sense these days, most apt for golf. Although I myself actually quite like golf games. Interesting fact, Wii Golf is actually just a remade version of the NES game Golf. Pick it up in Animal Crossing on the GC and have a look.

International Karate + - Commodore 64, Commodore Gaming

(1987)As usual, the description tries to make this game out to be something different to every other fighter on the VC. They've replaced the side-scrolling shooters now it seems. I just wish I could see the screenshots. While my brother gets a nice new projector (which is technically everyone's, but try telling him that) and we get a nice new TV downstairs, I'm still using a crappy 12" CRT sucky thing. Ah well, could be worse, could have no TV.

City Connection - NES, JALECO

(1988) Intriguing. This game is a side-scrolling driving game/platformer where you have to paint roads to say where you've been. More importantly, it's actually something different on the VC! You also have to evade pursuers, and go around the world in a car. According to a screenshot from Wikipedia, your car looks like a G-Wiz

The forum this week has been fairly normal, nothing huge has happened, except we have amended Rule 20 so now it covers the whole of the NoE2 network (forum, mainsite, blog, YouTube channel, IRC). Yeah, pretty much it,

Cieran...

No VC this week, it's a Wiiware week. In Wiiware we have some games called SPOGS Racing and Pirates: The Key of Dreams.

Very little has happened on the forums. World of video gaming though, well, we've had E3. There were no huge announcements from Nintendo, but check out the blog (http://blog.noe-version-2.com) for Noolsey's run-down of the main Nintendo announcements. Also hinted at was the fact that the Mario and Zelda teams are working on something, and the fact that they're making more Pikmin. That's pretty much it,

Cieran...

Two this week. Sorry for late update, I was in London yesterday and didn't get back till 2:30am, at which time I promptly went to sleep.

NINJA COMMANDO - NEOGEO, D4 Enterprises

(1992) Time traveling Ninjas. You can choose to be members of a different clan, or something. The description is REALLY long. Strangely for a ninja game it's a shooter

ART OF FIGHTING 2 - NEOGEO, D4 Enterprises

(1994) Generic tournament fighting games. It seems these have replaced the side-scrolling shooters.

Nothing has happened on the forums. E3 is next week. That's it I think,

Cieran...

I've decided to just say what Wiiware titles are out in these weeks.

Wiiware: Pop and My Pokémon Ranch

I've no idea what days these were released on, and everyone knew MPR was coming. ONM reviewed it this month too (got about 40%). Speaking of ONM, check out the NoE2 blog for my rant about Chandra, followed by Chris (Scullion) responding. I'd post a link, but for some reason this thing only sends out raw HTML. Only realised that a couple of weeks ago, hence me still sending out titles formatted with underline tags etc. Oh yeah, we have a YouTube channel now, links at the end.

In forum news, we've decided to make some boards invisible to guests, because DMHowe wanted us to. There's currently debate going on as to which ones. Links at end.

Pretty much it.

Links:
NoE2 Blog
Blog post on ONM forums, with Scullion's responses
Our YouTube channel (with nothing in it)

Yeah, that's it, I'm all out now.

Also, since this is slightly different and for the blog, I can't be bothered to reformat it all, as it's 12:15 in the morning,

Cieran...

It would appear that the new model of VC is no games one week (for WiiWare) and five games the next. Which is BRILLIANT for me, as it means I have to stay up longer and be even more tired. Thanks Nintendo. Thanks a lot.

Super Fantasy Zone - SEGA, SEGA MEGA DRIVE

(1992) Avengement, shooting, side-scrolling, blah blah blah, upgrades. That kind of thing.

Summer Games 2 - Commodore Gaming, Commodore 64

(1985) Erm...yeah, they've gone to REALLY extreme lengths here to not call this the Olympics. It's the "Summer Games," which sound identical both in description and event line-up to the Olympics. Where are they set? Las Ongelos? That was a very poor joke on my behalf regarding the fact that the 1984 Olympics were set in Los Angeles

Pac-Attack - NAMCO BANDAI Games, SNES

(1993) In a rare turn of events I have both played this game and would recommend it. Kind of like a cross between Tetris, Tetris Attack, Dr Mario and Pac Man. It was part of a Pacman Collection which was my first GBA game. It's interesting to say the least

King of the Monsters - D4 Enterprises, NEOGEO

(1991) You fight monsters. As far as I can tell that's the depth of this game. Street Fighter with monsters.

Cybernoid - Commodore Gaming, Commodore 64

(1988) Space pirates steal your gold and you have to get it back. Think you're timed too. Still, I don't see any games about space NINJAS.

That's it for VC. In forum news, we removed the Star Fox board. About it really. And Noolsey is running a <a href="http://forums.noe-version-2.com/index.php?showtopic=4025">top NoE2 games</a> thread. Go check it out. In other news, SSBB is out...today actually. As it's quarter past twelve.

Cieran...

Five titles this week. Guess that explains the lack of titles last week (No I'm not just lazy or forgot).

The Last Ninja 2 - Commodore Gaming, C64

(1987) 9th century Ninjas in 1988 Manhatten. Fighting. For some reason. I think The Last Ninja 1 was released a few weeks go. If I'm honest I'd rather play a game set in modern day Manhatten. *Goes off to play GTA4*

Ninja Combat - D4 Enterprise, NEOGEO

(1990) From what I can discern, The Last Ninja 2 but set in the future. Why are there no Pirate games? I mean there's Monkey Island, but how many others? Ninjas suck, pirates rule, everyone knows that. Although what would happen if you attempted to pirate a ninja game...

Nebulus - Commodore Gaming, C64

(1987) You climb buildings which have been erected on the sea floor before blowing them up at the top. I can think of ANOTHER game where you do something similar, and it's called Donkey Kong.

Fatal Fury 2 - D4 Enterprise, NEOGEO

(1992) Fighting game. When you don't have much health yet you can unleash a stronger attack. Kind of like Lucario in Brawl. Except barely any of you have that yet *smug*. But two weeks today it'll be coming out. Remember that.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World - SEGA, MASTER SYSTEM

(1987) If you've seen Alex Kidd's haircut you'll understand why this is labeled as "cheesy". Anyway, it's  platformer, similar in vein to Super Mario Bros. Except boss fights don't have any element of sill whatsoever, comprising of rock-paper-scissors matches.

Anyway, that's it for VC updates. Very little of note has happened on the forum itself. We are keeping a Blog though, so check up on that. Or submit it if you like. PM me or Ryan with anything you want up. The blog can be found here.

That's all for now,

Cieran...
How to unsubscribe

Back to three titles.

Samurai Shodown - D4 Enterprise, NEOGEO

(1993) A samurai fighting game that was apparently "talked about" a fair bit in 1993. Must have been a slow year for a game that can't even spell its title. It has an anger gauge which charges up. Which back then was something new, but these days it seems games have 101 different gauges you can fill up, or maybe that's just me.

Pokémon Puzzle League - Nintendo, Nintendo 64

(2001)It's Tetris Attack/Columns/Panel de Pon/Puyo Puyo again. It's the same game. I have this free on my eee PC. However it doesn't stop it actually being quite a bit of fun. This is one of the few VC games I have actually owned, my dad bought it for me. It's nothing you won't get on Pokémon Puzzle Challenge for GBC though, although this does have a 3D mode, where it's played on a cylinder. Graphics are all pre-rendered, so obviously pretty decent for the N64. It even has some cutscenes in the style of the animé. If you really have nothing better to download I'd recommend this, but otherwise it's fairly average and can be played online. Also 1000 points for what is essentially a GBC game is rather steep. Hm, note to self, this is a summary, not a review.

Burning Fight - D4 Enterprises, NEOGEO

(1991)Side scrolling beat-em-up. Gang wars etc. You've seen this all before. Yes I realise the hypocrisy of that statement with regards to the previous summary.

Again, nothing much going down on the forums, however a reminder to keep checking the gaming blog. We do update it. Sometimes. If you have an article you'd like published, PM me or Ryan on the forums, or email us at mail@noe-version-2.co.uk,
Cieran...

I assume there's less because of WiiWare. I am not doing a Wiiware email. Well, I may over the summer. Also apologies for lateness of this one, I went to bed early last night and spent today first in an exam, then walking down to PC World, then walking back, then going to town and buying an eee PC, missing the bus, waiting another hour, coming home, having a driving lesson and messing with said eee PC. So yeah, sorry for lateness.

Paradroid - Commodore Gaming, Commodore 64

(1985)It appears to be some variety of game. Naturally not being developed by Hudson Soft it isn't a side-scrolling shooter. You play a robot who's fighting other robots or something like that. I dunno. Oh, damn, it's quarter to eight in the evening. Can't use tired excuse. Oh well, I'll use the lazy one.

On the forums, all that's really happened is that we've changed the appearance of links. They now have an underline. That is all.

Cieran...

Three titles this week, continuing the Hanabi Festival.

Star Parodier - HUDSON SOFT, Turbografx

(1992)*Cries into pillow* Look. Just look at the maker and console. What do you THINK this game is? Well, it's a vertical shooter rather than side scrolling. Except it's Hudson parodying themselves, so you can play as a Bomberman ship or a PC Engin ship, or some other ship.

Gley Lancer SEGA, SEGA MEGADRIVE

(1992) Why not just rename the virtual console the half-baked side-scrolling shooter library from the late 1980s/early 1990s. Seriously. Except this one is more typically Japanese, with a 16 year old girl fighting off an alien threat.

Interesting fact, a gley is a waterlogged piece of soil, where the oxygen has been compressed out. Thank you AS Level geography. Sadly we can't send the endless deluge of side scrolling shooters to a waterlogged pit in the ground.

Digital Champ - naxat soft, Turbografx

Once again, we rely on naxat soft to stop a full run of SSRs, with a sports game. Oh right, except it's not a conventional boxing game, it's a game where you have to infiltrate an organisation to destroy a computer. And fight bad guys with boxing. Which has stringent rules. Which the bad guys are clearly adhering to. Ahh the laws of gameplay.

A reminder that next week the VC update email won't be coming until fairly late in the day, due to me not wanting to stay up late the night before an exam. It should come through either at midday or around half 4 in the afternoon. Oh, and Wii Software is being released next week. I am not doing updates on Wii Software as well as VC.

Cieran...

Yay, four more games. Apparently it's the Hanabi festival, which means we get bombarded with obscure Japanese titles when I should be sleeping

Puyo Pop 2 - SEGA, SEGA MEGA DRIVE

(1994)It's this game again. Pretty much the same as Columns, except more gravity. And four rather than three in a row. Apparently it has an "intriguing backstory". I just wonder how falling blogs is intriguing

Metal Slug - D4 Enterprise, NEOGEO

(1996)Side scrolling shooter. Except on foot. That pretty much describes this game.

Cho Anki - HUDSON SOFT, Turbografx

(1992)Look, it's the Turbografx. What have 90% of all VC titles for Turbografx been? Yup, side-scrolling shooter. Again. Why do I even do these updates? Why don't I just send out "There is a Turbografx game this week which is a side-scrolling shooter, you're not going to download it anyway, because it's probably crap"</rant>

Break In - naxat soft, Turbografx

(1989)Wow, apparently the Turbografx CAN do things other than shooters. Although it's billiards, so you're still shooting the balls with the cue I guess. In a kind of way. There's really not much more I can say about this.

There's probably a load of gaming news that I havn't mentioned that happened this week. In fact I know there is, but at past 12am my brain is a little frazzled. Also, there will be no update the week after next, due to me having an exam early the next morning,

Cieran...

Yet more obscure titles from the early 90s. By the way, does anyone actually download these games? Just VC games in general? We have a retro forum if you want to discuss them or anything:

GRADIUS II GOFUR NO YABOU - Konami, Turbografx

(1992)Did the Turbografx actually have anything other than side-scrolling shooters? I mean seriously...

Final Soldier - HUDSON SOFT, Turbografx

(1991)*Gasps* Evidently it did. This is a VERTICAL scrolling shooter!

Columns III: Revenge of Columns - SEGA, SEGA MEGA DRIVE

(1994)Chances are you've played this already. It's been ported so many times and under so many names it's untrue. Pokémon Puzzle League, Panel de Pon, some modes of Tetris, Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine to name but a few. It's a falling block game where you have to match three in a row. Although frankly I can't see how columns of blocks can harbour feelings of revenge...

Nothing has changed on the forums. In video gaming...well MKWii was released in America. GTA IV was released on 360 and PS3, I know that's not Nintendo, but I'm just padding for news here.

Cieran...

Another deluge of three distinctly average games from the 8-bit era:

World Games - Commodore Gaming, Commodore 64

(1986) You compete in strange sports around the world. All the sports seem to be stereotypical of the nation they are held in (caber tossing in Scotland etc)

The Last Ninja - Commodore Gaming, Commodore 64

(1987) Summary: A bunch of Japanese stuff happens, you're a ninja and have to do some more Japanese stuff to put right the other Japanese stuff. I dunno, it's past twelve in the morning and I'm tired.

Double Dragon - 505 Games, NES

(1988) It seems to be exactly the same as every other beat-em-up side scroller out there. Apparently this came first though. It's a storyline we've all seen before, the shadowy syndicate stealing the hero's girlfriend and him having to rescue her.

I swear these games get more samey every week.

Nothing has happened on the forums. SSBB has been given a Euro date of June 27th. Doesn't affect me, I already have it ^_^. That's pretty much everything I guess,

Cieran...

*Gasps* For once it's not a side scrolling shooter!

Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom - SEGA, SEGA MEGADRIVE

Fantasy RPG. You play a guy named Rhys from some oddly named kingdom rescuing a princess from another oddly named kingdom. Apparently it has multiple paths through, and is played out through generations. It also has characters from previous games.

In forum news, we are currently undergoing an election for some new mods. Shoeb_star and picollo no. are in the running, you can vote for both, either one or neither. Choice is yours. We also have a shiny new banner on the forum, designed again by shadowlink. That's all for this week,

Cieran...

Just a single game this week.

Yoshi's Cookie - Nintendo, NES

(1994) A fairly simple puzzle game where you have to line up cookies in stacks to make them disappear. Which is basically just another take on every puzzle game ever, line stuff up and it disappears. It's rather odd though for them to just release one game which these days would barely make mini-game status.

Anyway, the forums are fairly quiet, but we now have a Super Smash Brothers Board (probably, I can't remember if I made it or not, and it's twelve in the morning. Oh yeah, another thing, VC stuff updates at 12 during DST). Also, admins now have the legal power to ban you for whatever without going through the warn system. I mean, we did before, but now it's cool with you too. And you're not allowed to advertise via PM.

Cieran...

Back up to three releases this week. Seems to fluctuate randomly.

Uridium - Commodore Gaming, Commodore 64

(1986) Right, well despite sounding vaguely like the mineral you would probably get by evaporating urine, this is instead a shooter. But it's about robots who have invaded the solar system and are after our rocks. Yeah...our rocks. The mineral cores from planets. Looks very basic from the screenshot

International Karate - Commodore Gaming, Commodore 64

(1986) Seems basic. It's a karate fighter, set in different locations. You're watched by a wise old judge who awards points. That's pretty much all the description says...

Cruis'n USA - Nintendo, Nintendo 64

(1998) Right, I can sum this up by using the title. You cruise. Across the USA. There are racetracks in the USA. I've actually got this game, and to be quite honest, it's a bit rubbish. Ah well, you can decide for yourselves. It's got lots of cars in it apparently, Ffunny that, it being a racing game.

Obviously nothing has happened on the forums, due to the polls being out, but in the real world the Byron report into the effects of video games on kids was published today, naturally "Dr" Byron says that yes, violent video games make violent kids.

That's all,

Cieran...

Firstly, sorry about not updating the blog last week, the site was down or something. But now, to business

Mega Turrican - SEGA, SEGA MEGA DRIVE

(1994)Yet another side-scrolling action title, which seem to be the only thing on the VC these days. Wait a moment...remind me, didn't we have a Turrican game a few weeks ago? Super Turrican the blog says. Obviously mega means it's a sequel. You're the same guy, Bren McGuire, and you have to fight the machine. You also have a large arsenal of weapons. Why do the "good" yet repressed guys always have amazing weapons, enough to beat a galaxy spanning force who controls all the production? Fiction is screwed.

And on the forums, the roleplay board now incorporates fanfics, in the reviews board you can now submit directly, and all current polling has been shelved until next Wednesday due to Noolsey abusing the right to poll. Normal service will resume soon.

Cieran...

Just one this week, but it's N64. 2001...don't think of N64 games being that recent. In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, but have we had any VC games so far from post 2000?

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - Nintendo, Nintendo 64

(2001)This is one of the few games I've ever seen here that I actually remember coming out, having only gotten into serious video gaming with my Dreamcast in 2000. I seem to recall it getting rather average reviews, but maybe that was my dad telling me that so he didn't have to buy it. Anyway, it's a 3D platformer involving Kirby fighting against some dark matter. It appears to have different power ups which are elemental, and looks rather colourful on screen.

As for on the forums, polls must now go through a mandatory 24 hour discussion period after being submitted before a poll is allowed to be attached to it. The Other Platforms and Other Games boards have also been merged.

Cieran...

Firstly, to those who subscribe to our RSS feed, sorry about last week, I forgot to publish. The blog was written, but with this host it doesn't just go straight up,  it needs you to Publish as well. Anyway, this month we have:

Street Gangs - 505 Games, NES

(1991)It's a standard side scrolling beat-em up, just fight along until you get your girlfriend back, who has been captured. It has RPG elements too, power ups and working on stats etc. Ohh right, this is River City Ransom. Just under a different name. Thankyou Wikipedia.

Adventure Island - HUDSON SOFT, NES

(1988) You have to rescue your girlfriend from this island you're on. It's a fairly simple platformer, but you have life, which diminishes over time. Bit stupid IMO, we play games to ESCAPE real life, not relive it. But anyway, there's a witchdoctor, go tell him what to do. Also I've made a mistake in the email, it should read Island, but I put Islans as a result of hurrying this.

And on the forums, DMHowe has been allowed to return as a result of an appeal poll stemming from the six month re-appeal rule awhile back. Also when Zetaboards comes, there will be no joinable clubs.

That's all for now,

Cieran...

Looks like the one a week format is permanent. I remember when it was four...

Lords of Thunder - HUDSON SOFT, Turbografx

(1993) A side-scrolling shooter. You can choose which levels you play first and the armour, weapons etc you use on them. You play a guy called <s>Londis</s> Landis, trying to stop an evil guy named <s>Taggart</s> Zaggart from being revived where he's sealed under six continents. Because several miles of earth on top of you is never enough.

And that is all. It's very quiet...too quiet...

Cieran...

Again, just one game this week. It's certainly a step down from when we had 4 a week.

ADVENTURES OF LOLO 2 - HAL Labs, NES

(1991) Sequel to the "hugely popular" Adventure of Lolo. Ah imaginative titling. All I can think of now is how much Lolo looks like lol. It appears to be a hybrid puzzle-adventure game, it's classed as puzzle in the list thingy. There's a wizard kidnapped the girl (Lala), and somehow a devil comes into it. Dunno how exactly.

And on the forums, we have a new board, the Other Reviews Board.

'Tis all for tonight as I'm being rushed off the computer,

Cieran...

Just the one again this week.

SUPER STREET FIGHTER II: THE NEW CHALLENGERS - CAPCOM, SNES
(1994) The description says it revolutionised fighting games, but fails to say exactly how, aside mentioning combos. Assume that was a new thing back then. I think it's just Street Fighter with a new control system and some new people actually.

Wow, these news things get shorter every week. Damn you lack of news! Oh, and Nintendo made £604m in Q3 of 2007. And they're pretty much predicting another good year this year.

Source

Cieran...

I'm keeping this brief. I was just drifting off to sleep when I remembered I had to update this. So I'm highly sleepy. Here's the lowdown:

1080(degrees sign that Ryan likes): TenEighty Snowboarding - Nintendo, Nintendo 64

(1998) It appears to be a fairly realistic snowboard simulation. And that's pretty much all there is to say about it. Seems to have quite a lot of variation. Or should that be quite a lot of different ways of riding a piece of plastic down a hill. Whatever, I'm very tired.

Riot Zone - HUDSON SOFT, Turbografx

(1993) Side scrolling fighter. Two characters, one heavy one skilled. Different zones. Bringing down evil corporation who...kidnapped your girlfriend. Right, it seems pretty generic. From the screenshot Nintendo provide it appears to be Japanese based.

My summaries have been getting shorter lately. Hm. I blame tiredness.

Nothing changed poll-wise on the forums this week. Now all that remains is for me to hold down the zed key for a while turn off the Wii and Computer and go to bed.

Cieran..

Usual two titles this week. No explanation forthcoming on why there was only one last week anyway.

Alien Storm SEGA, SEGA MEGA DRIVE

(1991) Typical alien storyline here, aliens invade your city and you have to fight them back. You have three characters each with different abilities. That was probably quite an original idea back in 1991.

Star Tropics Nintendo, NES

(1992) It's a pretty generic adventure so it seems. You're a kid on an island, invited their by your uncle who has then mysteriously disappeared upon arrival...and you get a letter. I'm sure this says Star Tropics and not Another Code: Two Memories, but who am I to judge? It's got overland stages and dungeons.

That's pretty much it for this week's offerings.

Nothing's changed on the forums and there's very little in the way of new video game news.

Cieran...

First, apologies for last week, I couldn't access the Internet with my Wii, I was away at relatives. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble was released.

Harvest Moon Marvellous Entertainment, SNES

(1998)It's the classic farm sim. From the description it doesn't appear to have changed at all in the past ten years. You start off with empty fields and work your way up to being a big-time farmer. And get married. That's the guy's lifelong dream. Ahh to be a farmer.
Bluetounge disease and EU subsidies not included.

Just the one update. It's been Christmas, you know what Nintendo are like over Christmas. Well, anyone who was on the old NoE forums at Christmas times would *shudders*.

In other news, using knowledge of another members password in order to get into their account is now a warnable offence,

Cieran...

Sorry for no update last week, was late at night and I had to upgrade the Wii firmware to go online. Was too tired to bother, sorry.

Blades of Steel - KONAMI, NES

(1990) It's a hocky game with some mini games (hockey related). No wait, I just misread the description. It's just for goals. Oh, and it's ICE hockey. I was here going to make a joke about how it probably doesn't simulate the fights, but according to Wikipedia, it does. =|. K. Also appears to have remarkably good visuals for a NES game.

Skate or Die! - KONAMI, NES (Note: Although Konami ported it to the NES, the game itself was developed by Electronic Arts)

(1990) Skating game, as implied by the title. It sounds pretty advanced from its description, but it seems just to be a typical game with five modes. Obviously got nothing on modern skating games, but seems pretty advanced and diverse for its time. Apparently in an early version you could run a boy over and kill him, but it was changed for the German market so you could only make him cry.

On the subject of polls:
Shadowlink has been voted out of being a mod, however he quit before the poll could actually end. In other mod news, Dino Dan the Dinosaur Man has resigned his post. There will be no new mods to replace these. Other than that all change polls have been defeated. 'Tis all,

Cieran...

Just two again this week:

Light Crusader - SEGA, SEGA MEGA DRIVE

(1995) So there's this town called "Green Row" and these people keep going missing. So the King says you have to go save them. And you're a knight. It's an RPG and it's got puzzles and stuff...

Rolling Thunder 2 - SEGA, SEGA MEGADRIVE

(1991) It's a spy game, you're part of Interpol trying to catch some evil organisation which was originally dead and now isn't. Because so many people would  have played the first game and heard about it (do correct me if I'm wrong, bear in mind I was 0 at the time this was released. Gaming wasn't a high priority). And this time...they're after the SATELLITES!!! OMGNOWATWILWEDOOO!!!

*Ahem* Yers.

But there's a character in it called Albatross. So...yeah...

Thus concluding the roundup...also I dunno why I included poll results last week. Just copied from email.

Oh, and we reached 500 members, G_R7 won £15 at Amazon.co.uk for his roll in refering people to us. And there will be no more mods.

That is all,

Cieran...

Sorry about last week, my brother had taken the Wii for a sleepover with his friends. So there was no update. But here's one this week. Oh, and Bubble Bobble and The King of Fighters '94 were released last week.

BASEBALL STARS 2 - D4 Enterprises, NEOGEO

(1992) It's a baseball game. One of those zany ones. Like, with crazy team names and power-ups. Pretty much all there is to say.

The Dynastic Hero - HUDSON SOFT, Turbografx

(1993) It's an RPG where you fight invading insects. Makes sense to me. Oh, and there's a Magical Ocarina which can be used to open doors. I'm saying nothing on this (it's 5 years too early if that's what you're thinking).

And just as I finish that, my Wiimote runs out of batteries. Good timing I guess.

And from the forum:

We're keeping the Starfox board, mods have been told to be more strict on topic locations, Post Last to Win is now General Chat and you can now back-seat mod.

That is all I believe,

Cieran for NoE2...

Source

Well, apparently Nintendo are finally going to update their site. It'll be good to have a site which isn't using a design from 2002 any more. That's pretty much all there is. Oh, and VIPs and Club Members are being merged, but Stars are staying the same. That's everything really,

Cieran...

Erm, yeah. Just the one game. I can only hope assume there's been an error.

Double Dribble - Konami, NES

(1989) So...it's a basketball game. Billed with "Amazing detail". For the NES. From 1989. Ah the NES, that oh so realistic console. This can't be the ONLY offering this week surely? I stayed up for this?

Cieran...

Two unknowns and one of the best Nintendo games ever this week:

Blue's Journey - D4 Enterprise, NEOGEO

(1990) I can gather from the title that it's about someone/thing names Blue which goes on a journey. VC details says that it's a he. And apparently he has to save his planet from an invading tribe who are...polluting the environment? Now I've heard of games with a message but that's just ridiculous. Also Blue can hange size. I believe this takes the "WTF" factor to a relatively high level.

Power Golf - Hudson Soft, Turbografx

(1989) It's Golf Hudson. No matter how much you claim the "lush suroundings" it's still Gold on a 16 bit console. BUT WAIT, there's more. You have to take in wind direction AND slopes in this. The mind boggles...

Super Mario Bros 3 Nintendo, NES (this is the NES version, a SNES version was also released, with updated graphics)

(1991) Who doesn't know about this one? It's a typical Mario story, ie, Mario vs Bowser. The kings have been turned into animals or something. Dunno why there's more than one king, king implies head of state and only one. Meh, it's a game. This is that one with the suits, like the racoon tanooki suit, and frog suit. Because racoons can fly. No really. Also here's some information for you, tanooki's in Japanese art are generally portrayed with HUGE testicles. Go figure. Nintendo say it's one of the greatest games ever played. Having only played it once I can't really comment, but most people say it's good.

So there you go, a roundup of this weeks retro offerings. I've also started heading it for easy viewing with an RSS feeder, so you don't even need to look at the article to see what's on offer,

Cieran...

Well, if you ordered your free jacket a few weeks ago when it was announced, they should now be coming through. Mine arrived today, I was surprised at how good they are. Very comfortable, very smooth, very nice and squidgy. And they also smell like menthol for some reason,

Cieran...

VC Releases before everyone else! NoE don't update till sometime tomorrow. We bring you the news as it happens, VC releases for those who want to stay up late but don't want to bother turning on their Wii. This is dedicated to you. Also I may add some information I hastily copied from Wikipedia ^_^.

Art of Fighting - D4 Enterprise. NEOGEO. 900 Points

Released in 1992, it's got a pretty typical plot line about some guy going out to rescue some girl. His sister or something, I dunno, it's ten past 11 at night. I have better things to do than look through Wikipedia articles at a game no-one is going to download.

Alien Soldier - Sega. Sega Megadrive. 800 Points

It's rare. It has aliens. It was released in 1995 and not in the USA. That's pretty much what Wikipedia says.

Samurai Ghost - NBGI. Turbografx. 600 Points

Released in 1992. The Yanks have had it for 4 days. That's it. That's what Wikipedia has to offer. Well done Wikipedia. And yes, I'm aware the Wii has detail, but I can't be bothered to click that.

Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island - Sega. Sega Megadrive.

Wow, a non-obscure game on the VC? What is the world coming to? You can pick up this mediocre game for about 2p in the bargain bin in GAME and have been able too since it was released in 1996. It's typical Sonic stuff, but before they went overboard with characters. Back before they changed Robotnik to Eggman.

Well, whatever, that includes my brief round-up of the games. This'll be a weekly feature. Hopefully. Now, to bed with me,

Cieran...

Link

Yep, I sad it'd never happen but here we go, Sonic the Hedgehog has been confirmed for Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Get on down to the forums to discuss it, see the topic in the Wii Board,

Cieran

Sorry, pun had to be made.

Nintendo will, as of today, be shipping free silicon jackets out with all new Wii consoles and Remotes. Obviously that's of no use to any of us who bought the Wii early. So Nintendo are giving them out for free. Yup, like those £10 jackets GAME sell. We can get them to free! Up to 4 per console! Who says Nintendo don't care about their customers. Oh yeah, me. But seriously, you can find. Information and signup form can be found here,
 
Cieran

Here are all the games you're gonna be seeing in the fourth quarter of 2007: