It's astounding that, despite all the eBay auctions we've followed and Nintendo oddities we've researched, there are still so many Famicom accessories out there that we've never seen, much less heard of. Thankfully, an obsessive Japanese collector has put up a page documenting these rare controllers and peripherals, like Hori RF adapters and Disk System cleaning sprays. Check out the Hyper Shot Zapper-clone pictured above -- can you believe that Bandai made a submachine gun for the Famicom? Jump past the post break for more Famicom odds and ends.
As much as we'd love to import one of these gorgeous arcade sticks -- modeled after the original Neo Geo AES arcade stick -- $59.90, not including steep shipping fees for the 4+ lb. controller, is just too rich for our blood, especially since it's only compatible with a limited selection of Wii games. For Virtual Console games, however, this would be the business.
For now, we'll just have to live through David Spreckley who bought one of these sticks from an Akihabara shop and posted photos of the unboxed product online to torment jealous gamers. Down, Down Forward, Forward + Punch past the post break for another glamour shot of the Neo Geo Stick 2.
At full price, the Wii remake of the fossilized arcade game Crazy Climber was a ridiculous proposition. But at $18.90, it's ... a ridiculous proposition that we're actually considering, which, we suppose, makes us ridiculous. Maybe even crazy.
But that's the situation Play-Asia has put us, and no doubt others faced with similar, uncomfortable feelings of casual Crazy Climber interest, into with their weekly deal. For this week only, Nihon Bussan's Crazy Climber Wii is marked down from $60 to $18.90. Of course, you'll need a Freeloader or a Japanese Wii in order to play this, so it's a bit less of an impulse purchase than it would seem.
Namco Bandai's new huge monster fighting game, Kaiju Big BattelDaikaiju Ultra Battle Coliseum, features a wide array of familiar, but legally distinct, monsters in your everyday city-destroying scenarios. There's the big flying thing! The walking lizard guy! The robot! Coliseum, it turns out, is an adapted version of an arcade game called Daikaiju Ultra Monsters, which has also been adapted into a TV show from Ultraman producers Tsuburaya Productions. Thankfully, Namco Bandai has swapped out pretty much everything from the original game. While the arcade game is one of those card-based things that are so popular in Japan, Daikaiju Ultra Battle Coliseum uses Wiimote motions to control the (ultra) fighting.
Posted Mar 22nd 2008 2:00PM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
Namco Bandai seems to have come up with a solution to their problem of (possibly) Wii-fueled arcade downturn: involving the Wii in the arcade. According to a very sad Asahi Shimbun report about closing arcades, Namco is now planning games that will allow data to be shared between the cabinet and the Wii -- we assume by Wii Remote data transfer.
Home/arcade integration from Namco is not terribly surprising, since Tekken 5 actually has PlayStation 2 controller ports on the cabinet. No, the really interesting thing about this story is trying to figure out what Namco Bandai is going to design for play on both the Wii and in the arcade.
The news article is pretty interesting in other ways, as well: it goes into possible reasons for arcade business slowdown other than the Wii ... like the economy.
Much to our delight, SNK's Neo Geo Stick 2 for the Wii will retain that classic black look of the original and PS2 controllers, foregoing the predictable white case that Hori opted for. Jeux France has uncovered several photos of the arcade stick, unboxed and beside its packaging, and it is gorgeous. Leaving one of these displayed on your coffee table sends a clear message to your visitors: "This guy is serious business." Just make sure not to break up that illusion by letting them see your Chewbacca bedsheets -- you don't want people to think that the business you're serious about is living like a twelve-year-old.
Back on topic, the Neo Geo Stick 2 supports both Wii games and Virtual Console titles. Retailers in Japan won't begin selling the arcade controller until April 10th, but you can preorder one now from import shop Play Asia for as cheap as $59.90. Step past the break for more photos from SNK's product page.
Now before you remind us that arcades are long dead, this story is about Japan. After a 38 percent cut in their profit forecast, in response to which Namco Bandai is closing between 50 and 60 of its arcades, the company's spokesperson Yuji Machida directed the blame at home video games. "A lot of the types of games that people played at an arcade can now be done at home," said the representative of the Namco Museum publisher.
Machida mentions the Wii specifically, due to its popularity and its ability to simulate the kind of specialized controls that are a strength of many arcade games. While arcade ports are nothing new, and neither are arcade ports of games requiring special controllers (such as Dance Dance Revolution), a home console whose controller can substitute for many motion-based control schemes is. Also, it's a convenient scapegoat.
There could be truth to the idea that people are saving their game money for home consoles more than usual, but we doubt that has anything to do with any similarity in game types. It's still terrible for the poor arcade industry in the short term -- until some "expanded audience" gamers decide to get into competitive Tekken or something.
As much as we adore Hori's arcade sticks, we love hardware with the words Neo Geo printed on them even more! Both Amazon.jp and Japanese retailer Rakuten have posted product pages for a Wii version of the Neo Geo Stick 2, an arcade-style, ball-top controller previously put together by SNK-Playmore and Sega Logistics for the PS2.
If it's anything like the PS2 remake of the original Neo Geo Stick (see above image), this new edition will also have non-analog L and R buttons hugging its four primary convex buttons like a set of parentheses. Hopefully, the Wii version will keep that classy black color; it would be a travesty if it didn't!
The Neo Geo Stick 2 is scheduled to arrive in Japan this April 10th, selling for ¥5,040 (approximately $47). According to Rakuten, the controller will support both Wii games and Virtual Console titles. With this announced, a Wii release for SNK Arcade Classics seems like a sure thing!
Despite Hori's reputation for producing quality arcade joysticks for consoles, its $50 Fighting Stick Wii is just too expensive for many gamers. If you're one of those people seeking an arcade alternative to the Classic Controller, but not looking to pay any more than two Jacksons, thank your lucky stars that you loaded Nintendo Wii Fanboy today -- Overstock.com has Hori's "Wii Digital Arcade Stick" temporarily listed for $38.95.
We can't guarantee that this deal will stay up for long, so swoop in fast and snatch your prize, like a hawk, while the sale lasts. Make sure to throw a free shipping coupon onto your order, too.
Update: Apparently, the free shipping coupon doesn't work on video game-related items. That is some straight-up malarkey. Thanks, Garu.
Like with Ghost Squad, its other Arcade-to-Wii light gun port, Sega has an optional Zapper pack-in planned for the Japanese release of The House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return this March. Amazon Japan already has preorders for the set available for 5,023 yen, about $44 dollars. For comparison, the software alone is priced at 4,536 yen, or $40.
You know, Sega, we wouldn't mind if you brought these bundles to the US at those prices (and with a Nyko Perfect Shot, instead). We understand that Japan didn't get the Link's Crossbow Training set, but this will be the third Zapper pack-in that North America misses out on -- the previous two being for Ghost Squad and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. Come on, Sega, just think of it as a good-will gesture to all the Americans who actually gave you money for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.
Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative. Puzzle Quest has taught us that mixing up unexpected genres and settings can make stale-as-hell gameplay seem fresh, interesting, and awesome. Wrapping up a pick-up-and-play game (like Bejeweled) in a narrative frame (like that one game I made in RPG Maker, I think I called it -- okay, never mind, I didn't make an RPG Maker game but you can imagine a funny one here) gives players a reason to continue playing the game even when it's not immediately satisfying.
Seta's Cacoma Knight in Bizyland is an attempt to perform this kind of ... contextualization with the classic arcade game Qix. The results are enjoyably nonsensical. Almost -- but not quite -- as enjoyable as the word "Bizyland." Why couldn't Bizyland have been the setting for a bunch of games like Oddworld?
Reader John is quite the crafty fellow. He's made just about the sweetest arcade cabinet ever, dedicated to one of Nintendo's biggest and baddest franchises, Metroid. It's an arcade cabinet to rule them all, with incredible light-up buttons and art all over the thing. Seriously, this is some impressive stuff.
There isn't exactly many choices for those looking to have that arcade experience with their Wii in the living room, so while The Shaft might not be the most ideal solution, at least it is a solution other than "not having an arcade stick." They aren't out now, either, so it isn't like you can stroll down to your local game shop and try one out, so if you are interested, you'll have to wait until mid-December, when they ship.
Nihon Bussan's Crazy Climber, about a guy trying to climb skyscrapers, is an arcade classic. And by 'classic', we don't just mean 'good'-- it's also very old, having been released in 1980. Somehow, it's been lifted out of obscurity and brought back for the Wii!
The game actually seems pretty well-suited to motion controls. In the original arcade game, each of two joysticks controlled one side of the climber's body: lift his left arm and leg with the left joystick, and use the right joystick for the right arm and leg. The new Crazy Climber will use the Nunchuk and Wiimote in the same way.
Other than that and, obviously, the new graphics (which employ a more dynamic perspective) it looks like Crazy Climber. You climb buildings, avoiding falling plants, open windows, giant apes, and other hazards. What an unexpected and random game to remake.
Of course, that's of little use when fighting terrorists. This trailer for the Wii version of Ghost Squad shows not only the game in action (revealing the fact that there's a constant on-screen crosshair, which may be annoying to light-gun game fans), but it shows what you may look like playing the game in a Hawaiian shirt. Or at a party! Or not at a party-- poor single-player guy.
For our money, this is the real Zapperkiller app, if a controller holder can be said to have a killer app. We'd be perfectly happy with a bundle like Japan is getting, with a Zapper and a real gun game. Of course, you could get a Ghost Squad bundle plus the regular package with Link's Crossbow Training and have (nearly) two games and two guns!
