Nintendo Wii Fanboy

We hope you have a fresh pair of underwear on, because you're about to suffer a heart attack: Earthbound has been rated by the ESRB for Wii. That pain in your chest? That's your heart exploding. Welcome the sensation. It's a sign of victory!

Now that the game has been rated by the ESRB, it's likely to show up on the Virtual Console sometime in the immediate future. We'll settle for no less than this Monday, but in all probability, we won't be that lucky. Stay tuned to Wii Fanboy in the coming weeks for an announcement on when you can spend your money on this Virtual Console game.

[Thanks, Brandon!]

When they made the deal for Super Dodgeball Brawlers, Arc System Works apparently got the rights to Technos Japan's back catalog. Their name shows up as the publisher of all the Technos games available in Japan on the Virtual Console, including Nekketsu Kouha Kunio. Aksys Games has been the American publisher for every recent Arc game. That would seem to imply that Aksys could publish Technos's games on the American Virtual Console. The fact that it is actually happening strengthens our theory.

The aforementioned Nekketsu Kouha Kunio, known over here as Renegade, has now been rated by the ESRB for U.S. release, published by Aksys, along with a Technos game that is more relevant to people who like good games: Double Dragon. Even more relevant: this opens the door for an American release of River City Ransom!

While cruising the beat over at the ESRB website, we found a pair of different titles, new titles, show up under the listing for the Wii. They're from two big development houses, Ubisoft and Konami, and are called Protothea and Critter Round-Up, respectively.

Other than that, we really don't have much to go on. You can see the described content in each game above, but it's clearly not enough for us. We know we'll be rounding up critters in Protothea, but what about that Critter Round-Up game?

The latest future Virtual Console game to show up on the ESRB is a Turbografx-16 title by the name of Break In. Sounds exciting, right? This game was published by Alien Crush/Devil's Crush publisher Naxat Soft in 1989, and it never made it out of Japan. This ESRB rating means that it's going to be released in the U.S. for the first time.

Unfortunately, the awesome title of Break In has been squandered on a pool game. We were pretty disappointed, after seeing a game called Break In and imagining some kind of unknown police-style brawler or something, to find it was some pool thing.

After opening a branch in South Korea, Nintendo has quickly ushered the DS into the region and into the hands of eager gamers. The DS has been received with big, open arms by the public, so it's only natural that Nintendo would want to get the Wii in there, as well. That time may be during this May, apparently.

In a report recently published by The Korea Times, word hits that both Nintendo and Activision registered games with the Korean ratings board (their version of the ESRB). With the popular gift-giving holiday Children's Day coming May 5th, the consensus is that the system will launch then.

Regardless of when it's coming, the important thing is that it is arriving at all. We'll cross our fingers for you, fine Korean brothers and sisters, so that you may enjoy what has been the focus of our lives for quite some time.

[Via Joystiq]

Right now, the North American Virtual Console has only one Square Enix game (though it's quality): Actraiser, and that was from the Enix side. According to a new listing on the ESRB's page, a Square game will finally be available for download -- an alliteratively-named classic that takes place in a swords-and-sorcery fantasy setting and allows players to play as a magic user, a warrior, and even a thief, all to the strains of composer Nobuo Uematsu's soundtrack.

That's right, it's King's Knight.

Also newly listed: Final Soldier! Yeah, it's another TG16 shooter, but you don't have to buy it. We've been waiting for this one.

The latest Virtual Console game to show up on the ESRB's ratings search page is an obvious one: Sonic & Knuckles. With Sonics 1 through 3 already available, it was only a matter of time before The Rest of Sonic 3 showed up. The ESRB rating should mean that the game will pop up on the VC soon, though it's no guarantee.

How will Sonic & Knuckles' unique "lock-on" feature work on the Wii? The original cartridge featured a pass-through that allowed other Sonic games to be connected, unlocking the ability to play through those games as Knuckles. Previous ports of Sonic & Knuckles have been packaged with the other games, with the "lock-on" extras selectable from a menu. Will Sonic & Knuckles on the Virtual Console check for Sonic 2 and 3? Will you be able to play Blue Sphere? Or will it just be the main Sonic & Knuckles game? We're curious, but we aren't getting our hopes up. Just like every other time a Sonic game comes out!

DoReMi Fantasy: Milon no DokiDoki Daibouken recently popped up out of nowhere on Australia's ratings board page as an upcoming Virtual Console release. It has yet to come out in that region (or any other), but the OFLC's American counterpart has given us a similar clue to the game's upcoming North American release.

The ESRB lists the game as DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure, which is a direct and incomplete (meaning part of it is still in Japanese) translation of the original title. This will likely be the first Japan-only SNES game to be released on the U.S. Virtual Console. It will also be the first Hudson SNES game to be released. It's also a totally cute game, and not as annoying as Milon's Secret Castle.

Gamasutra has taken the time to compare the distribution of ESRB rated games for this and last generations' consoles. But, the best part is, they took the time to make some delicious graphs for us.

Some findings in this study are not surprising, such as the fact that the Nintendo consoles (the GBA, DS, GameCube, and Wii) have a significantly smaller percentage of mature games than their competitors. What is interesting, though, is that the Wii (so far) has a smaller percentage of mature games than its predecessor, the GameCube.

The reason we find this of note is because the GameCube was largely regarded as a "kiddie" system by many of its critics, and yet it had a larger distribution of "M" games than the GBA, DS, or Wii. The GameCube was also the least successful (in terms of sales and arguably in other areas, too) of all the consoles in the study.

As a Nintendo gamer, what is your take on the distribution of mature games for the Wii? Is it okay to be so largely outnumbered by games with other ratings, or do you wish Nintendo would find more balance? The small percentage of mature games certainly hasn't hindered the Wii's success so far, but can it alienate the "hardcore" gamers in the future?

The latest update to the ESRB's ratings search page reveals some new games headed to the Virtual Console; among the more notable releases are King of Fighters '94, Top Hunter, Rolling Thunder 2 and The Dynastic Hero. The most notable release is Puyo Puyo 2-- on principle, anyway. That's because, while there are already two Puyo games on the VC, Puyo Puyo 2 is another of Sega's promised imports.

As "awesome" as a third Puyo Puyo game is, the news is completely obliterated by the latest OFLC updates for Australia: Blades of Steel and Mega Man 2, which probably hint at a European release as well. We don't even have Mega Man yet! This must be what it feels like for European and Australian gamers most of the time. Have fun playing basically the best game ever, jerks. We'll just ... oh, wait, we've got the NES cartridge, and also the Mega Man Anniversary Collection. We'll just play one of those while listening to "Okkusenman".

With all of the appeal going on right now, the BBFC has admitted that there isn't any definitive evidence linking violence and video games together. In accepting that there isn't enough out there to prove a link between the two, they have said that they believe more research is needed to determine if the possibility between the two being related exists. So, it isn't a final determination, by any means.

At yesterday's appeal hearing, BBFC spokesperson Andrew Caldecott stated "The board's position is that there is insufficient evidence to prove, as a fact, there is a causal connection between violent games and behavioural harm." Caldecott goes on further to say "It's a perfectly fair point, and one which we accept, but it's not by any means a complete answer to the question the [Video Appeals Committee] has to decide."

Caldecott further explains that the lack of a definitive link isn't enough to rule out the possibility of one, saying "The research certainly achieves the objective of establishing that research does not demonstrate that there is a causal link. But what it certainly does not establish is that there isn't." No matter how you look at, this is definitely an argument that isn't going to go away for quite some time.

Some high-profile U.S. Senators, including Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), have made attacking the ESRB their new pet project. The cause of this controversy is, of course, Manhunt 2. You may recall that Rockstar was forced to revise the game in order to remove the "Adults Only" rating given to it by the ESRB. These tactics may have worked in the U.S., but the British Board of Film Classification was unimpressed and still refused to issue a rating for the title.

The Senators are pretty ticked off at the ESRB for not being as censor vicious as the BBFC. But the ramifications of the Senators' attack on the ESRB go deeper than Manhunt 2, and may affect the video game industry in general if the ESRB is put under the "thorough review" that they are demanding.

Even worse, the Senators are calling for more extreme ratings on the Wii, due to the console's motion-sensitive controller. They argue that the Wiimote "permits children to act out each of the many graphic torture scenes and murders."

Of course, they don't acknowledge the fact that children shouldn't be playing Manhunt 2 at all, since the game was given a "Mature" rating by the ESRB, and one of the few ways they can even play the game is with parental permission. If children playing mature games is really their concern, perhaps the Senators should be putting parents under review, and not the ESRB. Those old enough to play violent games can differentiate between using waggle and using real weapons, making separate Wii ratings unnecessary.

At times like these, we really yearn for Stephen Colbert to make a political comeback.

A new site, What They Play, launched yesterday, and it's geared at explaining to parents just exactly what the ESRB ratings are all about, in simple terms, when it comes to the games their children are stuffing into those mystical boxes attached to the televisions. The brainchild of former 1UP/Ziff Davis employees John Davison and Ira Becker, What They Play hopes to cut through parents' confusions and offer not reviews, but simply information about exactly why games get certain ratings. How much blood is there? Nudity? Language? They also warn about future downloadable content and how it could change the gaming experience.

Of course, there are two early issues with the fledgling site. The first, and most important, is that right now, it's getting noticed in the gaming community -- and parents within are usually already informed about what games are or are not appropriate for their children. The second is that the facts are written with the humorous, down-to-earth tone that categorizes so many gaming sites. Again, this is great for gamers, but what about older parents, who are mystified enough by the technology their children so effortlessly wield? Will this quote cut through the generational barrier?

"Furthermore, Guitar Hero III offers some visual themes that parents should be aware of. For one thing, all the characters tend to be of comic-book proportions, with the women dressed in torn shirts, low-cut pants, and/or bikini tops (outfits that are emphasized by the game's, ah, lifelike physics)." (emphasis in original)

There are boobies in them there hills, guys. Bouncing cartoon boobies, which, from all the rock videos we've seen over the years, aren't a bit out of place, even if they are sometimes a little eyebrow-raising. However, a lot of the language is very simple, the site is easy to navigate, and each game's page includes a rating provided by parents with the recommended age-level. It looks like What They Play is on the right track, and with time (and with some carefully placed advertising and widespread marketing), could help to inform parents about the games their children play.

As if Fox News has been a beacon for intelligent discussion and sensible thinking throughout the years, it still manages to surprise us every now and then. Take the Cashin' In segment presented above, for example, which brings on "anti-violence activist" Jack Thompson to discuss the Manhunt 2 ban in Europe and the debate as to whether it should be banned here in the States. Jack claims that there are different acts of fraud going on with the game and the ESRB (o ... kay?) and that the game surely didn't have enough time to be altered from an "Adult's Only" to "Mature" rating. Last time we checked, Jack wasn't a game designer or programmer, so we're sure he has no clue when it comes to game development (or much else, for that matter).

The rest of the video is pretty much your usual Fox News fair, with each side yelling at each other and no resolution to the conflict made, so if it's your thing, hit up the video above.

[Via Go Nintendo]

Well now, color us shocked that the recent version of Manhunt 2 that was cleaned up for our friends across the pond turned out to be the same exact game that received a "Mature" rating by the ESRB here in the states. So, what's mature to us is absolutely intolerable to them, apparently.

This might cause one to think that the BBFC is tougher on games than, say, movies, as the country had no problem allowing films such as Hostel and Saw into the country. BBFC spokesperson Sue Clark says otherwise, stating "If we were more tough on games than any other medium, don't you think we'd be banning far more titles? Manhunt 2 is the second game we have rejected in 23 years. I'd hardly call that draconian." She goes on further to add "Manhunt 2 went beyond our guidelines when it came to gross violence and we had a public duty to reject it."

Looks like there is still a lot of debate left here.

See also: Croal goes on CNN to discuss Manhunt 2