…Reverge Labs is kinda gone. Fans of Skullgirls who applied the 1.01 patch were probably surprised to see Lab Zero Games splashed on the screen instead of Reverge Labs, whose name now appears in a smaller section of logos near the end of the sequence. So what happened?
Despite the somewhat shaky launch of The Last Story, XSEED sent out a press release celebrating the game as their most successful title ever. This prompted XSEED to go ahead to the production of a second printing of the game without the artbook in it and sell it for $30. Even better, the launch copies of the game (the ones with the artbook) that might still out there will now sell for $40. So if you haven’t bought the game yet, now’s a good time to get it, and you might even be lucky if you find those launch copies. Also, to all you Wii U owners out there. The game might like better if you have an HDMI cable. While the Wii U doesn’t upscale Wii games, its passing via HDMI might be somewhat beneficial and make things look less like an .mpeg on an HDTV.
Hopefully Nintendo’s seeing this. While a success for XSEED might not have the same definition for Nintendo, they don’t have to put their expectations so damn high to the point that it’ll be unattainable. And you don’t have to spend a crapton on marketing. So Nintendo, especially NoA, don’t be so damn stingy with the games in Japan.
The Last Story is XSEED’s Most Successful Title [Operation Rainfall]
This week was Thanksgiving, so all this week was about giving thanks to the things videogames did for us. We started the thank-you’s with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Then we surfed from sewers in TMNT IV: Turtles in Time. Then we climbed The Shard in Mirror’s Edge. Then we searched for the crystals in Final Fantasy IV. And finally we paid a visit to the Mushroom Kingdom in Super Mario RPG.
If you want to see the music as it goes up (and not wait every Saturday for these wrap-ups), remember to go to our Tumblr page and follow it. Music for Night-Time Listenings goes up every weekday at 10PM.
Looking at the repertoire of games in Nintendo’s portfolio, they had a multitude of genres already under their belt. So their next venture would be sci-fi, and they started with F-ZERO, a futuristic racer. It was launched early in the SNES’ lifecycle. But they wouldn’t stop there. Some years later, Nintendo would tap into sci-fi once again to test drive their latest Super FX Chip. Their creation: Star Fox. They wouldn’t stop there though. A new console was approaching, and they wanted to bring that series there. So strap yourself in as this weekend we barrel roll into Star Fox 64.
Finally!
Earlier this year marked the release of Skullgirls, a game made by pro-tournament player MikeZ and his team as Reverge Labs. It was an all-girl (for now) fighting game that was rife with references and was a love-letter to fighting games. While critical and fan reaction was mostly positive, there were still lots of things to be addressed. Shortly after release, Reverge said that they’ll ready a big patch to release later on, and that later on is now. And since patches cost money to go online, the team at Reverge Labs wanted to make this patch count and fix a multitude of things all at once. Since this is a small dev team, they don’t have the resources to make constant patches and put them online. Highly understandable, and preferable (PS3 guys, you’ll understand. I sure do). The fix list is massive. Really massive. Summarized list after the break.
WayForward startin’ early on the Wii U, and they’re startin’ with Mighty Switch Force Hyper Drive Edition. This prison-girl catching puzzle platformer comes to the Wii U with cleaner redrawn sprites, bringing the in-game art closer to the concept and packaging art from many of WayForward’s games. It also comes with all the 3DS stages reimagined in HD and 21 more stages for Hyper Mode. I tried this out on James’ 3DS before one of of the podcast tapings a while back, and I got pretty damned hooked. I had to stop though since I didn’t want to get beyond where James was.
Mighty Switch Force Hyper Drive Edition is currently available on Nintendo’s shop on the Wii U.
In the midst of all the hoopla surrounding the launch of the Wii U comes a silent announcement that starting on November 25th, 2012, Donkey Kong Country 1, 2, and 3 will be removed from the Wii’s Virtual Console. News of this came first from Nintendo Life from Twitter user NintenDaan who received a notice on the Wii Shop Channel. It states, “Hello, We would like to let you know you that the following titles will become unavailable for purchase on 25/11/12: Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Country 2, Donkey Kong Country 3.” There was no prior warning as to why these titles were being pulled. Initially it seemed to only affect Europe. But it’s been confirmed that NA’s Virtual Console will also be lacking the Kongs.
There are already questions swirling if it has something to do with Rare being the original developers of these games. For those people who believe this, go here. It’s kinda sad to see these apes go. Without ’em on the VC, I wouldn’t have been able to play DKC 1 again after it bit the dust in my childhood. Or play DKC 2, the one game that’s eluded me for an extremely long time. Yeah yeah there’s emulators, but it’s nothing compared to actually playing these on a TV screen. If you haven’t played these games yet and have no plans to get the original carts, buy these three now before November 25th. If you have them still, hold on tight to them. And be sure your little Pikmin friends transfer those games safely to your shiny new Wii U if you get one!
Donkey Kong Country Games To Be Removed From Wii Virtual Console [gamrConnect]
Donkey Kong Country Trilogy To Be Pulled From Wii Virtual Console [Nintendo Life]
This week we took a stroll into the calm side of videogame music. We chatted with friends in Final Fantasy XI. Went to work at the refugee camp in Xenoblade. We soaked up the sun in Final Fantasy X. We took some photos in Beyond Good & Evil. And finally we woke up to a fine morning in Arni Village in Chrono Cross.
If you want to see the music as it goes up (and not wait every Saturday for these wrap-ups), remember to go to our Tumblr page and follow it. Music for Night-Time Listenings goes up every weekday at 10PM.
Shigeru Miyamoto’s birthday passed yesterday. So I thought going to one of his games would be a perfect fit for the return of Retro Weekends. But which game? Back then he had his hand in many games from Zelda, to F-ZERO, to Donkey Kong, to Star Fox, to Pikmin. But one of his more recognized franchises has to be Mario. And of the mainline platformer games, I’ve played all of them up to Super Mario Galaxy 2, even the original Lost Levels on NES (via Virtual Console). I’m actually leaning on wanting to talk about The Lost Levels. But you know what, let’s tackle a game on a console that I haven’t touched on yet on Retro Weekends. After the break, we’re flying high with Super Mario 64.
The World of Goo guys are back at it, and this time the world is a darker place in Little Inferno. The second trailer gives us a better idea of what the game is about. You get money which you use in a shop to buy stuff to put in a fireplace. Aaaand then you watch them burn. However, further into the trailer seems to suggests that some of these toys are sentient and are curious about what’s further up the chimney. It’s also great to see Kyle Gabler making more music, and it still just as sweeping as it was in World of Goo.
Little Inferno is expected to release around Winter of this year for Wii U, PC, Mac, and Linux.
Little Inferno – Trailer 2 [Youtube]
UTV Ignition once again shows the world that they’re still alive, and made good on their word that Magical Drop V would be released in the U.S. They released a trailer last week and hooooly crap that music is awesome! What was I going to s—oh yeah, Magical Drop V releasing packed to the brim with modes. It’s got the usual story more (now different for each character), and competitive multiplayer modes. But now there’s more added on the multiplayer side. Teams Battles is a new mode where two people play cooperatively in one playfield versus another team. This raises the possibility of some massive screen-clearing chains. King of the Hill is also added into the mix. This release also comes with Ghostlop, which looks to be a mix of Bust-A-Move/Puzzle Bobble and Arkanoid. This playstyle can also be mixed into a match, so you can have a Magical Drop vs. Ghostlop style matchup.
Magical Drop is currently available on Steam for $10. Golgoth Studio was also nice enough to offer the soundtrack free to download on their website. A box of some f-ing Kleenex for The Fool is also available at your local store.
System: Nintendo DS/Publisher: Destineer/Developer: Spellbound Entertainment/Players: 1/Release Date:11/2/2011In the 80s, there was a new beginning in the videogame industry. The NES was selling like hotcakes, and Super Mario Bros. went on to become a household name. This was only happening on the NES however. On the more computer oriented side of things, most only went as far as Point-and-Click adventure games and RPGs. There weren’t many, if at all, platform games like Super Mario Bros. (or at least ones that scrolled smoothly). So Time Warp saw this as a chance to grab a market that had yet to be tapped into in the computer game space. They created The Great Giana Sisters. The name of the game, the gameplay, and the look of it smacked of Mario Bros. Even the ad campaign for the game took a shot at the Bros. But the fun was over when Nintendo shot back with a cease and desist. And so the Giana Sisters series was left to wallow in obscurity… until now. Nintendo is a different company now and are more open to other games replicating their style. In comes Spellbound who were willing to make a new Giana Sisters game, and this time not make it a straight up clone. Is the game different enough from the game that inspired it, or is it just another uninspired clone? Today I breakdown Giana Sisters DS.
This week marked the last week fans of My Little Pony had to wait. Today was the Season 3 premier of Friendship is Magic. So all week I featured the music of one of the biggest fangames to come from this fandom, Fighting is Magic. Composed by RainbowCrash88 and Whitetail, the music featured where the themes to AppleJack, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash.
If you want to see the music as it goes up (and not wait every Saturday for these wrap-ups), remember to go to our Tumblr page and follow it. Music for Night-Time Listenings goes up every weekday at 10PM.
All you rare game collectors, listen up! Over at Capcom-Unity, user Versus Omnibus had inquired if it was possible to play Tatsunoko vs. Capcom on the Wii U. Two users, one of them a moderator, told Omnibus that the Wii U will be backwards compatible with all Wii games, accessories, and peripherals. Then Capcom exec Christian Svensson stepped in and kinda misunderstood the question and though it was about a re-release. He states “Our rights with Tatsunoko have lapsed fairly recently (so we’re no longer allowed to sell the title physically or digitally). Unless Japan were to strike a new deal, I’d say the chances of this happening are slim.”
So not only can Capcom not make a Wii U re-release in HD, they can’t even sell the current Wii game now due to rights issues. So if you haven’t gotten the game yet, it’s best to do it now since the prices might rise up. And to those that have it already, hold on tight to it ’cause you ain’t seeing a “new” copy anytime soon. They’re not expensive now, but they will be, just like Metroid Prime Trilogy.
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom on the Wii U? [Capcom-Unity, via Kotaku]
Ever since the reveal of Mass Effect 3 for the Wii U, one thing that bugged me was how exactly anyone playing the Wii U version would be able to make any previous decisions really matter. The Mass Effect games are well known for having the choices you made in the previous incarnations carry over to the next game, whether by making something different or your choices being referenced by the characters. Well, EA is looking to alleviate the omission of the first two ME games by giving you an interactive comic, Mass Effect Genesis. This time it will detail the events of the first two games, similar to how the PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 handled the first game. Still, would it kill EA to just release that newly announced Mass Effect Trilogy compilation on the Wii U and be done with it.
Along with this, the Wii U version of Mass Effect 3 will come with all the released so far for the game already included and ready to play. This includes From Ashes, the Extended Cut, all the multiplayer packs (Rebellion, Resurgence, and Earth). No word on the Leviathan chapter, but since it just came out, it’s probably not getting included. So far this looks like a good deal if you’re planning on getting a Wii U but haven’t played Mass Effect 3 yet.
BioWare Details Mass Effect 3 For The Wii U [WebProNews Gaming]
The Wired Fish Network 