False Starts: The Intellevision
Technically, the very first 16-bit system was the Intellevision, which went head to head with the Atari 2600. It was a rather unique system, with a controller design that had users inserting overlays for each game. It was the first system to feature in-game voices (via an add-on module), downloadable games (via the PlayCable, a device which allowed users to download games through cable TV, although without a storage device, they were not kept after the system was turned off), and a 16-way direction pad. Though it was superior to Atari’s system, the Intellivision couldn’t hold a candle against the SNES and Genesis. Moreover, it was a pre-video-game crash system, so it wounded up being swept in the dust.

Nintendo’s Dominance
Since reviving the video gaming scene back in the 80s with the NES, Nintendo almost single-handedly ruled the gaming landscape, thanks to some heavy handed licensing policies, which affected developers, publishers, and even retailers. First of all, stores were only authorized to carry Nintendo products which carried the Official Nintendo Seal of Quality, a stamp placed on a game by Nintendo to indicate to indicate that it met its standards. Publishers were only allowed to produce 5 games a year, and once they agreed to produce players on Nintendo consoles, they were prohibited from producing them for competitors’ systems. Also, Nintendo retained strict control of the amount of cartridges developers had access to as well as how much advertising their products received in their Nintendo Power magazine. While they were intended to prevent the over-saturation that led to the video game crash, they also severely hampered publishers and developers. More resourceful companies found ways around them. Konami created the Ultra Games sub label to produce more games a year while Color Dreams and Tengen found ways to reverse engineer and work around the lockout chips that Nintendo used to enforce its strict policies. Even so, Nintendo’s rules starved their competitors out of much needed third party support. One of these competitors was the Turbografx-16.

Close but not Quite: The Turbografx-16
Hudson/NEC’s Turbografx-16, which competed directly against the NES and the Genesis (which had been released around the same time) had a lot of promise, but even though it was billed as a 16-bit system, it was built around an 8-bit microprocessor. It barely outperformed the NES, and even though many of its games had larger sprites, it was unable to do many of the graphical techniques shown on the SNES and Genesis, such as parallax scrolling. It’s high price point, one controller port (requiring players to purchase a multitap if they wished to play with more than one player), and limited marketing didn’t help matters. Even so, the system ended up being more of a success in Japan than in the U.S., particularly when a CD add-on was released from the system (in fact, In Japan, the Mega Drive was actually a distant third behind the Super Fanicom and Turbografx throughout much of the 16-bit era). Another of Nintendo’s competitors wouldn’t go as easily into the darkness…

The First Runner-Up
There was only one other system that really made an attempt to go against the NES, and had the ability to legitimately do so: The Sega Master System. For the past few decades, Sega had been an innovator in the arcade business, developing games that used primitive 3D technologies years ahead of their time. In 1982, they took their first shot at the game console market and released the SG-1000. It was moderately successful in Japan, and while it was released in South Africa along with select European and Asian countries, it never saw a U.S. release (although Telegames’s Personal Arcade, which WAS released in the U.S. a few years later, could play both SG-1000 and Colecovision games). Unfortunately like many other consoles released during the period, the SG-1000 was swept aside during the video game crash of the mid-80s. Unlike other console developers such as Mattel who either refocused their efforts or gave up completely, Sega didn’t back down. Spurred by the runaway success of the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega came back with the Sega master System, which was the closest thing to competing with the NES. While Sega’s 8-bit console had a decent following in both the U.S. and Japan, it was Nintendo who dominated 83% of the market share during the 8-bit era. The biggest reason for this was because the Master System couldn’t get the third-party support that had helped the NES remain at the top of the pile. Indeed beside Sega, there were only 2 other third party developers that made Master System games: Activision and Parker Brothers. Still, Sega was determined to remain a player. However, they knew that the next time that they released a system, they would have to do it big. So they went all out.

Sega’s Genesis
In 1989, Sega bought their Mega Drive unit over to U.S shores as the Sega Genesis. The Genesis was powered by a 16-architecture similar to the Sega System-16, an arcade board which powered many of Sega’s arcade titles such as Golden Axe and Shinobi. Sega’s Mega-Tech, Mega-Play, and System-C arcade boards are also based upon this tech, so any game developed for the Genesis could be ported to these systems, and vice-versa. Since Nintendo still had third-party developers and publishers on lockdown, Sega had to work to make its system marketable. To that end, Sega hired Michael Katz as CEO of the American branch, and began an aggressive marketing campaign to compete with Nintendo, advertising their system as the place to go to play arcade hits. Perhaps no one game at the time could illustrate this more than the Genesis version of Strider. While the NES version of the game was basically the red-haired lovechild of Metroid and Ninja Gaiden, the Sega Genesis version was the exact same game that players enjoyed in the arcade, complete with all the water cooler moments. Weather you were storming through Eurasia, battling that huge mecha-creature in the jungle, or you were being tossed around by gravity close to the end of the game, it was all here on the Genesis. Other arcade hits followed suit, and the Genesis saw home versions such as E-Swat and Golden Axe that were just like their arcade counterparts. Thanks do a deal with Capcom, Sega was able to develop Genesis versions of games such as Forgotten Worlds and Ghouls n Ghosts. To further establish a look for the Genesis, Sega partnered with various sports figures and celebrities, and produced games bearing their likenesses, such as Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, Joe Montana Football, and James ‘Buster Douglas’ Boxing. Still, without third party support, Sega’s Genesis still had a hard time establishing itself in North America, so Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama replaced Katz with Tom Kalinske and went back to the drawing board.

What Nintendon’t
Though Kalinske knew little of the video game business, he surrounded himself with people who did. He began a brand new 4-part marketing plan which in many way was similar to the gamble that Nintendo took when introducing the NES to North America. First of all, the system’s price was cut. Secondly, Kalinske formed a marketing team dedicated to promoting the console to North American audiences, similar to the teams that Nintendo used to first promote the NES. Thirdly, Sega’s advertising became even more aggressive against Nintendo. Who could forget the unforgettable “You can’t do this on Nintendo”, along with it’s spiritual successors the “Sega Scream” and “Welcome to the Next level”? Finally, the pack-in game of Altered Beast was replaced by Sonic the Hedgehog. With Sonic, Sega had a mascot that could compete with Nintendo’s Mario, and the game would be the start of one of gaming’s most prolific franchises. Soon Nintendo would be forced to end their restrictive licensing policies, and in 1990, companies such as Acclaim began to develop games for the Genesis, and soon Sega would would command an increasingly higher market share. Finally, Nintendo had some real competition to face.

The War Begins
Sega had released the stylish Genesis to compete with the increasingly aging NES. However, Nintendo wasn’t done yet. Not one to take this lying down, Nintendo released the Super Famicom in the U.S as the Super NES in the late summer of 1991. The SNES was a more technically impressive system than its competitors. It’s advanced graphical capabilities allowed games to easily produce graphical tricks such as advanced tiling, background layer techniques, and mode-7, which gave games a pseudo-3D scaling effect. The 16-bit audio board made for sound effects and music that were more impressive than what was on other systems. Individual game cartridges could even include custom graphics chips, such as the Nintendo’s Super FX (Star Fox, FX Trax) and Capcom’s Cx4 (Mega Man X2) which could further push the system’s capabilities and create new special effects. The dual-grip control pad was also iconic. It contained 4 action buttons on the face, and two trigger buttons on the top. To this day, the basic design remains an influence in later systems, such as the Xbox 360 and the PS1/2/3 controller.

However, regaining ground was still an uphill battle. When the SNES launched, there were only a handful of games available compared to the dozens of games available on the TG16 and the Genesis. Not only that, the Genesis’s library was bolstered even more thanks to the Power Base Converter, which allowed Genesis owners to play Master System games on the Genesis, and there was no such device available to allow SNES owners to play their old NES games. Most of the SNES’s early lineup consisted on sequels, remakes, and arcade ports. Many older NES titles received SNES sequels, such as Super Mario World (which added battery backup and huge scaling sprites to Super Mario World 3’s over-world formula), Final Fantasy 2 (which featured an orchestral soundtrack), and Super Castlevania 4 (which also featured an orchestral soundtrack, along with some mode 7 techniques and huge character and enemy sprites). Around this time, developers were exploring the compact disc medium as a gaming format, and the PC market was already well in. The gaming console market would soon follow, although to varying degrees of success.

CD Games: A New Frontier?
NEC was the first game console manufacturer to release a CD add on in North America. The Turbografx CD released at a very steep $399.99 (which most likely intimated potential customers, especially since the system didn’t have a pack-in game). In 1992, NEC re-upped with the Turboduo. This system combined with the TG16 and the CD and allowed players to play newer ‘Super CD’ discs. Realizing the system’s $299.99 price tag was a bit steep, the game included several pack-in titles such as Bonk’s Adventure and Y’s Book I and II. For the original TG CD, an add-on card was released which allowed players to play Super CD titles without having to buy the new system. Sega, seeing the popularity of the format, released its own Sega CD (or the Mega CD as it was known in Japan) in the U.S 1992 as an add on for the Sega Genesis. Much of the Sega CD’s line up consisted of FMV video game such as Sewer Shark and Night Track. These games, which were basically the illegitimate bastard offspring of the old Space Quest and Dragon’s Lair arcade titles, employed varied production values (sometimes even Hollywood quality, but you wouldn’t know it) and D-list actors and required little interaction on the part of the player. Because of the Sega CD’s limited color palette, the video quality was often muddy and pixelated. Once they were finished, there was little incentive to keep playing. There was an upside to the FMV game genre. PC Adventure games such as Gabriel Knight and Phantasmorgia integrated FMV sequences with the genre’s classic point-and-click gameplay. This paved the way for games such as Final Fantasy 7 and Metal Gear Solid which used cinematics to drive their story along. The other huge majority of the Sega CD’s line up consisted of port-ups of Genesis and arcade titles, usually adding animated sequences and/or a CD soundtrack. That’s not to say that there were no good titles on the Sega CD. In fact the Lunar games became a critically acclaimed role playing game series and was ported to other systems, the Sega CD Sonic game is highly regarded as one of the best in the series, the Sega CD version of Eternal Champions outclassed Mortal Kombat II which had been released that year, and Konami’s Snatcher became a much sought-after cult classic. The Sega CD did better than the TGCD and Duo in North America, although it was a distant third in Japan. Part of the reason for this was the TGCD/Duo’s high price tags and small U.S library (although players could import games from Japan as the system had no region protection). Well, there was also the embarrassingly bad ‘Johnny Turbo’ comic ads, which implied that Sega falsely claimed that it’s CD add-on could play games by itself (Sega never made such a claim, as the Sega CD was always marketed as an add-on). The TGCD flourished more in Japan, where the library included far superior games such as Ys IV and Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Even so, the high price tag was a deterrent for many buyers, and the CD was discontinued in 1995. Of course Nintendo had also shown an interest in developing a CD add-on for the SNES. First they partnered with Sony, and the deal fell through, eventually resulting in the Playstation. They tried again with Phillips and that deal fell through again, so Nintendo remained with the cartridge format.

Of course NEC and Sega weren’t the only companies to invest in CD gaming, and they weren’t the only console developers to compete with Nintendo. Other companies threw their hats into the pile, albeit with mixed, and mostly poor results…

The Competition, or Lack Thereof
Several competitors rose up to compete against the big two, and for a while it was feared that the market would become over-saturated, and there would be another market crash. Thankfully, despite supposedly being more powerful than the SNES and Genesis, these systems tanked for various reasons, most common of which was their high price tags. The best of the worst so to speak, was the 3DO. Designed by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, who had envisioned a CD-based platform for developing games that could be licensed out to third parties. Thus in effect, the 3DO was about it’s internal tech rather than the console itself, and models of the 3DO were produced from 4 different manufactures; Panasonic, Sanyo, Goldstar, and Creative Labs (the Creative Labs model was actually a PC card which allowed gamers to play 3DO titles on the PC). Its library consisted of high-res versions of older Sega CD and PC FMV games as well as ports of arcade games such as Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Samurai Showdown (the former was regarded as being superior to the arcade title as it had a CD-quality soundtrack). It also boasted other games such as Gex and Immercenary which were received well. Despite this, the system’s $700 price tag kept it out of many player’s homes. The Phillips CD-I was another critical failure. Not so much of a video game system so much as a glorified disc player, the CD-I’s lineup consisted of game show titles, educational titles, and kids software. Oh yeah, as a by-product of the failed Nintendo-Phillips CD-venture, Phillips had the right to create software featuring various Nintendo characters. The less said about them, the better. It’s controller was ranked the fifth amongst IGN’s worst video game controllers of all time. Despite it’s line up being horrible, the system lasted all the way from 1991 – 1998, and the interactive media techniques employed on the system served as a blueprint of sorts for the DVD format. Then there was the Atari Jaguar. The system that would end up being Atari’s last foray into the console business sported an ugly and horrendously complex controller (#1 on IGN’s worst controller list), a horrific line-up (despite including the excellent Alien vs Predator, Tempest 2000 and ports of Doom and Wolfenstein 3-D), and a CD add-on which made the system look like a miniature toilet seat. Despite being billed as a 64-bit system, the system was barely more powerful than the SNES and Genesis, and the system was discontinued in 1995. On the bright side, when Hasbro bought out the rights to the Atari Corporation and it’s properties, they released the development specs to the Lynx and Jaguar to public domain, opening the door to homebrew development, though I can’t imagine anyone wanting to play the system, much less develop for it. The Pioneer Laseractive, released in 1993 war Pioneer’s attempt at a disc-based gaming console. The unit itself cost $700, and one could purchase add-ons for around $600 each. Surprisingly enough, two of these add-ons were made by Sega and NEC. The Sega add-on allowed users to play Genesis and Sega CD games, while the NEC allowed users to play TG16 and TGCD games. Now keep in mind that at the time of the release, hell, even well before, the Sega Genesis and its CD add-on, the TG-16 and it’s CD add-on, and the TurboDuo were all available for under $600 each. Also, the LaserActive games, nearly all of which required a special module to be played, retailed around $120 each. So you could see why this thing flopped.

There was one other system so to speak, the Neo Geo. Although it tanked as well, it wasn’t because of crappy games or stupid marketing. As a matter of fact, SNK’s system bought arcade titles home by using the exact same boards that the arcade cabinets were ran on. So instead of half-assed ports, versions that had to be developed from the ground up for the system(Genesis Strider), and games that didn’t remotely resemble the arcade game they were based on (NES Strider), we got the actual arcade title. Though it started off with several shooters, platformers, and sports titles, its bread-and-butter became fighting games. Games such as Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury became favorites among collectors. A cd version of the system, released a few years later, tanked due to long load times and low hardware reliability rates. If it wasn’t for the high price tag ($400 – $600 for the unit, $200 for the games), SNK could have been a serious contender to the SNES and Genesis. Of course, this is another story for another time. As their would-be competition floundered around them, Nintendo and Sega chugged right along. However, Sega would soon get a lead on Nintendo. In their quest to provide family-friendly entertainment, Nintendo would create a critical error, and this error would continue to haunt them to this day.

Moron Kombat
In 1992, Midway’s Mortal Kombat was all the rage, and gamers were eagerly awaiting their chance to play the game at home. MK was a fighting game whose key hook was the massive amount of blood and guts. Punches and kicks drew blood, and at the end of each fight, players could perform fatalities to decapitate their opponent, rip out their still beating heart, and even pull out their spine. With moves this gruesome, parents, teachers, clergymen, and politicians would be outraged. Wanting to avoid the potential negative backlash, Nintendo had Acclaim (who was responsible for developing the home versions) remove the violent fatalities and replace them with non-gory (and glitch-like) ‘finishing moves’. The Sega versions on the other hand, had the blood accessible via a code. Even though the SNES version’s graphics and sound was closer to the arcade game, it didn’t matter, since the SNES version didn’t have the blood. So while Nintendo may have successfully avoided the media backlash, the backlash from gamers had just begun. To this day, Nintendo consoles would be tagged (many times unfairly) as kid’s toys. Sega on the other hand, saw it’s popularity soar upwards as the Genesis was now regarded as the ‘cooler’ system. In fact, at the time, many teens would not admit to owning an SNES over a Genesis, as revealed by a Sony-conducted focus group. With titles such as Streets of Rage, Vectorman, Sonic 2, and Castlevania Bloodlines, Sega’s library expanded, offering players a selection of soon-to-be classic games that pushed the hardware to its limits in order to compete with the best of what Nintendo had to offer. They even attempted to make a foray into the 32 bit market with the forthcoming Saturn and the Sega 32X add on. However, in doing so, they made a few critical mistakes of their own.

Sega Competes with Itself
Where as Nintendo tried to hard to make kid friendly products., Sega spread themselves thin with products that were either superfluous or just weren’t that good. The 32X was a prime example. The cartridge-based add-on for the Genesis boasted a color palette of 32,760 colors, although most games released on the unit only looked slightly better than most Genesis and SNES titles released at the time. There were even games that required the Sega CD to be attached to the unit, one of which being an enhanced version of Night Trap. As all three had their own AC adapters, this made things very problematic for one’s power bill. Recognizing the problems with the 32X, Sega planned another console, the Neptune, which would combine both the 32X and the Genesis into one unit. However, this would eventually be scrapped as the Saturn was preparing it’s North American debut by the time a prototype had become available. Overall, it didn’t make much sense for Sega to have a 32 bit add-on in the market when they were preparing to release a legitimate 32-bit gaming system, especially when said add-on couldn’t produce the 3-D polygon techniques that were done by the Nintendo 64 and the Playstation. It wasn’t exactly flying off store shelves either, as it was selling as low as $19.99 by the end of it’s life-cycle.

The 32X wasn’t Sega’s only flop either. In 1994, Sega had released the Pico, which was a system designed to get younger players to play video games (getting small children to sit in front of their video game screen instead of going outside and being active, one can only imagine how well this could have gone over with parents). It was discontinued in North America and Europe around 1996 and 1997. As far as educational software goes, it wasn’t horrible, and the Pico was more of a causality of Sega’s decision to focus on the Saturn rather than any issues with the product itself. In Japan, new games were produced for the unit as recently as 2003, when a game based on Nintendo’s Pokemon hit the console. That’s right, a Nintendo product on a Sega system. By the end of 1995, Sega, along with many third parties that developed games for their systems, were either actively supporting and/or providing software for 8 different formats: The Master System, Genesis, Game Gear, Sega CD, 32X, 32X CD, Saturn, and Pico.

Nintendo’s Third Renaissance
Nintendo on the other hand, only had to worry about the SNES and Game Boy for the majority of the mid 90s period, and thus they weren’t as overstretched. In addition to that, Nintendo had just started development on it’s Ultra 64 platform, the system that would then go on to become the Nintendo 64. It had partnered with a slew of developers and publishers who were committed to producing software for the platform. Among this ‘Dream Team’ were DMA designs, Rare, and Midway. Having learned their lesson from the Mortal Kombat fiasco, and with the establishment of a new ESRB ratings system on the horizon, Nintendo allowed Acclaim to leave the blood and guts intact for the SNES release of Mortal Kombat II. Thus, the SNES release of the game was the closest players could get to the arcade. Well, at least it was without having to buy a pseudo-32-bit add-on, and since the 32X, which was released months later, didn’t exactly move a massive amount of units, the SNES remained the preferred platform for the game. Therefore, Nintendo began to regain some of the fans they lost over the past few years. The period between 1994 – 1996 saw some of the console’s best and most innovated titles as well. Square bought over the classic RPGs Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 (or 3 as it was known over here), Nintendo released Yoshi’s Island, which had cartoon-like graphics and was powered by the Super Fx chip (although you wouldn’t tell, as most games utilizing the device had 3-D Polygonial looks), and then there was Donkey Kong Country. Developed by N64 dream team member Rare, DKC made use of 3-D computer graphics rendering which was unheard of at the time of its release, and the game’s graphics (on a 16-bit system) rivaled those of many games available on ‘next-generation’ systems. At the heart of the game, it was the same hop-n-bop platforming gameplay that had been around since the days of Mario, but it didn’t matter since it was so awesome to look at, and it gave a sign of things to come. Now things weren’t all rosy for Nintendo however. 1995 saw the U.S release of the disastrous Virtual Boy. The handheld, whose screens were in red and black was Nintendo’s entry into the 32 bit market. More accurately, it was meant to tide players over until the Nintendo 64 was released. However, the thing sold so poorly that it was discontinued the following year. Eventually, the end was nearing for both the SNES and Genesis, as one next-gen competitor was quickly gaining leeway into the video game console market.

The Rise of Sony and the Twilight of the 16-bit Years
Sony had been a third party developer for both Nintendo and Sega. When their deal with Nintendo to create a CD-based system fell through, it was strongly hinted that the technology was used in the forthcoming Playstation unit. The PS1 was released in late 1995, and along with the Saturn, was regarded as one of the first consoles to do disc-based gaming right. Sony marketed its product towards the older generation who had grown up with Nintendo and Sega products, and the console was depicted alongside the TV and VCR as being a necessary part of one’s entertainment center. Throughout the next several years, Sony would assume dominance over it’s competitors, although this is another story for another time. You can read most of this story in our Playstation One article.

Sega of Japan’s CEO decided to discontinue all Sega systems beside the Saturn. This hurt the Genesis in North America, where unlike in Japan (where it was a distant third behind NEC), it was still closely following after Nintendo, and there was still a strong user-base for the system. Not only that, third parties were having a difficult time developing for the Saturn, and soon it would be discontinued in favor of the Dreamcast. The next few years saw the prerequisite third party multiplatform ports, the disappointing Sonic 3D blast, and a god-awful Genesis port of Virtua Fighter 2. The last official Sega Genesis (and SNES) release of the era was Frogger, which was released in 1998. Nintendo on the other hand, despite having just released the Nintendo 64 (which was also hard for third party development) continued to support the SNES for as long as it could, and a few third-party developers continued to do so as well. Capcom in particular had originally intended to pull the plug on several SNES games it had in development, including Mega Man 7, Marvel Super Heroes, and Breath of Fire 2 when fans began a massive letter writing campaign, leaving the publisher no choice to put them back on the release schedule. Along with Final Fight 3 and Mega Man X3, they became the original Capcom 5 (my name, not the medias). Of course this became the Capcom 6 when Nintendo published a SNES port of Street Fighter Alpha 2 in the fall of 1996. Square-soft partnered with Nintendo to produce the critically acclaimed Super Mario RPG, and Natsume showed more RPG love with Lufia 2. The last first-party game for the system was Kirby Dream land 3, which was released in 1997 (it’s a shame that Nintendo couldn’t have held out for another year or so, otherwise Nintendo gamers could have seen a North American release of the awesome Mega Man and Bass), and production of the console ceased in 1999. In Japan, support for the system continued all the way until late 2000, and the system’s production ceased in 2003. The last game released for it was Metal Slader Glory Director’s Cut, a graphic novel style game. Like that, the 16-bit era of gaming went out not with a bang, but a trickle and fade.

Or did it? (Epilogue)
As the law of conservation of mass dictates, nothing is truly gone forever, and this was true with 16-bit gaming. Although the SNES, Genesis, and Turbografx-16 have been discontinued officially for over a decade and third parties have stopped officially supporting the consoles, the 16-bit gaming scene has been alive as ever, thanks in no small part to the illegal emulation/ROM scene. Rom hackers have provided translations for many Japan-only release such as Final Fantasy 5, and have opened the doors for homebrew development. There were legal ways of keeping the systems alive too. The Game Boy Advance’s library contains several upgrades/re-releases of classic SNES and Genesis titles such as A Link to the Past, Super Ghouls and Ghosts, and Breath of Fire. In many cases, new features have been added to each game. Also, many GBA and DS titles have been created within the spirit of the era, with graphics and gameplay mechanics that are reminiscent of the 16-bit days of gaming. Titles such as Contra 4 and mega Man ZX may be more recent, but they give gamers an excellent throwback to yesteryear. If course the Wii’s Virtual Console service contains many classic releases, not only for NES, N64, and SNES, but for Genesis, Master System, and TG-16, despite all of them being competitors less than a decade ago!

Sega on the other hand, has had the biggest posthumous following. With Sega no longer a console manufacturer, the company has released many of its classic titles by way of the many compilation discs that they have released over the years. The console itself is still around to speak, as it’s possibly received the most hardware revisions out of any console, be it an officially licensed product, an international release, or even a bootleg. Many of these new versions either omitted features with the aims of cutting costs (most of them didn’t support any of the add-ons) and many of them were region-free, meaning they could play most internationally released games. In 1997, Sega licensed the Genesis hardware to Majesco, who released it at a budget price before developing a third version of the console. There have even been new commercial releases for the system. In 2006, Super Fighter Team released Beggar Prince, which was translated from a 1996 Chinese Genesis title. They followed it up in 2008 with The Legend of Wukong, also translated from a Chinese original. A team of homebrew developers are hard at work on the RPG Pier Solar and the Great Architects, which is being developed from the ground up for the Genesis.

More than anything, the SNES and Genesis will be remembered as demonstrating that it’s not about the hardware that you are working with, but what you do with it. When you have games such as Donkey Kong Country and Vectorman outlasting the supposedly more powerful 3DO, then you know you got something special. Many of the lessons learned during these years would grow to shape gaming for years to follow. Sadly, not too many companies have this king of work ethic anymore, not even Nintendo and Sega.

Like the Retribution Engine (which I featured a few months back), Cube 2: Sauerbraten is a game built around a set of editing tools that are featured with the game. Unlike Retribution, and for that matter most other FPS editing tools, the game tools are featured in-game, and the editing is done in real-time. Although it isn’t as elaborate as your Source and Unreal engines, it does make editing faster and processing a lot easier on your computer’s processor. The game includes a single player campaign, and several multiplayer modes which can be played either online or offline with bots. There is also an online co-operative map editor. The editing software is easy to use, and the game isn’t bad either. You can find the Cube 2 engine for free at http://www.sauerbraten.org/.

$20 Game of the Week: Free 3D Game Maker (PC)
Platinum Art’s Sandbox Free 3D Game Maker is based off the Cube 2: Sauerbraten Engine, and is modified to teach children about game development. There is no violent content in the game (as the project is intended to be used in school settings), but there are several game modes, such as role playing, side-scroller, and base capturing. Much of the Cube 2’s functionality is available including the in-game and co-op in-game editors. In addition, there are even several in-game menus (that can even be viewed in 3D) that make the software even easier for younger developers. Many schools are making use of this, and pretty soon we’ll be seeing the next generation of game designers! You can find the Free 3D Game Maker at http://www.sandboxgamemaker.com/.

Lost Classics: Mario Paint (Super Nintendo)
Mario Paint was one of the first Super Nintendo games that wasn’t actually a game, but an application suite. Despite it’s name, Mario paint was more than a simple paint composition program. Players could use to program to create animations and even compose music. You could create tile stamps with a pixel grid editor, and use them to make complex designs. The program made use of the SNES mouse (which was bundled with the game), and was one of the few SNES games that made use of it. Unfortunately, since this was before online gaming, there is no way to share your works besides recording using a VCR. When you need to take a breather, there is a fly-swatting minigame. Mario Paint did a great job of giving players the ability to be creative on a 16-bit system, and has served as the inspiration for various other SNES games, as well as the upcoming Wario Ware D.I.Y.

Unfortunately, Nintendo didn’t feel like releasing a sweet compilation of footage for Metroid: Mother M. so you can enjoy this gallery of gameplay screenshots at Joystiq.

Morton Koopa Jr.
No, Bowser’s real name is not Morton. But this big mouthed lad is the namesake of one Morton Downey Jr, a trash TV talk show host that paved the way for Jerry Springer and Maury Povich.

Downey was also a conservative radio host in the early 80s who was fired for making an ethnic slur on air. Rush Limbaugh replaced him and has held the job ever since. A champion of smoking, Downey changed his mind in 1996 when he got lung cancer, from which he later died in 2001.
Morton Koopa shows none of the conservative or racist tendencies of his namesake, though he might be smoking from that wand when we’re not looking.

Wendy O Koopa
If there was a rival for a controversial figure on this list to Morton, it would certainly be Wendy O. Williams.

Wendy was known as the singer for the band The Plasmatics, and on stage she would spray paint “Fuck The Status Quo” on a car before blowing it up. She regularly appeared with little clothing and he trademark Mohawk on stage. Williams commited suicide in 1998.
Wendy Koopa has virtually nothing in common, she just has some hoops.

Iggy Koopa
One of the more obvious names on this list, Iggy Koopa is named after Iggy Pop.


He wants to be your dog.
Iggy Pop has had a long career, and remains active today. His song “Lust For Life” appears inappropriately in many commercials (”Beat my brain with liquor and drugs!” is this really a good lyric for a cruise ship commercial?) and he has a LEGO version of himself featured in the game LEGO Rock Band.
Neither Iggy Pop nor Iggy Koopa wear a shirt, ever.

Roy Koopa
The sunglasses are a dead giveaway.


Roy Orbison, a legendary crooner who his behind a big pair of shades his entire life. He recorded dozens of hits in the 60s and 70s, including “You Got It,” “Crying,” and “Only The Lonely” and is known for his unique and irreplaceable voice. He was experiencing a huge comeback in 1988 as a member of the Traveling Wilburys (with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, George Harrison, etc), but died suddenly of a heart attack.
Roy Koopa is notably more aggressive and shares little in common with Orbison outside of the Ray Ban sunglasses permanently affixed to his face.

Lemmy Koopa
If you like to gamble, you know Lemmy’s your koopa.


Seriously, is there anyone else in the world named Lemmy? The only way this could be more obvious is if they named him God.
Lemmy Kilmister is the bass player and singer for Motörhead, a cult icon known for his gravely voice and lyrics. He’s been performing metal for longer than you’ve been alive, and he’ll still be playing long after you’re dead. Aside from lending songs to Rock Band and Guitar Hero, Lemmy also recently appeared in the game Brutal Legend.
Lemmy Koopa rides around on a ball, Lemmy Kilmister rides a motorcyle through a wall.

Ludwig von Koopa
Perhaps the least controversial figure on this list, this Koopa takes his name from Ludwig van Beethoven


A legend in his time and beyond, Beethoven was a pianist and composer from Germany. He had a long and successful career, though in his later years he went completely deaf he continued to perform and compose.
Ludwig von Koopa is typically the last one you’ll face on your trip to World 8 and Bowser, perhaps a testament to Beethoven’s lasting influence.

He eventually made a break at Hollywood, making appearances and small-roles in television shows, but became most widely known for his role as Mario on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, where he did live-action skits alongside Danny Wells, as well as providing the voice of Mario for the animated segments of the show.

Rest in Piece, Capt. Lou. Your devoted childhood fans will be Doing the Mario in your honor this day.

During the early 80s, the video game market was in danger of dying off before it could take off. Too many manufacturers were releasing too many consoles no one cared for, and developers were making too many games that were mediocre at best. This would lead to a diminished demand for them in the consumer market as well. If that wasn’t enough, the home computer market was slowly beginning to emerge, as PCs were becoming cheaper and more easily accessible to consumers. It would be a fool’s errand for a company to attempt to reenter the market, yet Japanese developer Nintendo would jump in the market head first.

Nintendo was certainly no stranger to gaming or family entertainment. They had existed since the late 1800s, cutting their teeth by making playing cards. During the 70s, Nintendo shifted focus from playing cards to toys, arcade machines, and electronic gaming. They had created a number of arcade games such as Donkey Kong, and In 1983, Nintendo released the Famicom in Japan. Two years later, Nintendo was planning on releasing system to the American market as the Nintendo Entertainment System. After changing around the basic design of the system(the original Famicon had controllers hardwired into a console as well as a microphone built into them), they also had to hit on the right marketing scheme to sell a new video game system to an American market that had been burnt out by over saturation. They marketed the console not as a video game console, but as a toy. Nintendo employed a dedicated marketing team which set up their own displays, conducted telemarketing, and performed in-store demonstrations of their product. They regulated third party developers via shrewd (and somewhat controversial) licensing policies (such as allowing certain publishers to release only 5 titles a year, controlling the amount of cartridges they would have access to, and a 2-year lock out agreement preventing publishers for releasing titles for other consoles) were designed to prevent the over-saturation that had led to the market crash 2 years earlier. They also managed to win over retailers with a risk-free proposition: if the system bombed, they would buy back any unsold units. With very little to lose, retailers took a chance with Nintendo’s console, and it became a complete success, forever changing the direction of the video gaming industry.

What really made Nintendo’s console a success had little to do with their marketing practices. What really made the NES a household name was the library of games that were released for it. Both Nintendo and the third party developers who made games for it put their best feet forward, creating games that were not only fun to play, but have become iconic franchises which have laid out blueprints that have been followed by many of today’s games. This article discusses 10 of the most significant games for the system. Please note, this is not a top ten list. If it were, there would be some games on this list that would be left out.

1. Super Mario Brothers
If Super Mario Brothers didn’t create the platformer genre, then they certainly made it into what it is today, introducing many of its characteristics. It also demonstrated Nintendo’s philosophy of making games which are easy to play, yet difficult to completely master. When you powered up the game, you learned exactly what you needed to know within seconds: run to the right of the screen, jump on enemies to kill them, bash your head under blocks to either break them or receive items. After pressing start, you picked up on everything else rather quickly. Despite how easy it was to play the game, it would take even longer to master. There is not a person who played the series who hasn’t tried to find the way to get into the minus world, attempted to master the koopa shell 1-up technique, or discover the right combination of warp pipes in order to make their way to the end of the game. Even today, one can go online and see speed runs of the game. With Super Mario Brothers, Nintendo has made Mario one of the most recognizable cultural icons of the 20th and 21 centuries, ended the 2-year video game sales slump, and created one of the best selling video game franchises of all time.

Fun Fact: A Japanese-only sequel to this game had a look that was similar to this title. Thus the game that we know as Super Mario Brothers 2 was actually a Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic with the Arabian characters replaced with Mario and pals. We wouldn’t see the Japanese SMB 2 until years later as a Super Nintendo remake called The Lost Levels.

2. Legend of Zelda
If Mario was the president of Club Nintendo, then the Legend of Zelda’s Link was the vice president. The Legend of Zelda featured exploration, puzzles, and fantasy action. Legend of Zelda would layout the groundwork for console action RPGs. You gained many weapons and objects, and you utilized them to help defeat a dungeon’s boss and access areas that had previously been inaccessible. When you completed the game, a second quest opened up which rearranged the maps and the locations of enemies and power ups. Although he didn’t speak any words (lame TV show notwithstanding), Link would come to be just as memorable a character as Mario, and a Legend of Zelda game (lame CD-I system entries notwithstanding) would be a surefire system seller, be it the original, the N64’s Ocarina of Time, or the more recent Wii entry, Twilight Princess.

Fun Fact: Of course provided they had the guts, one could access the second quest from the beginning just by inputting Zelda as their name on the character select screen.

3. Metroid
Metroid bought science fiction action to the NES. It also introduced the first hints of the open world genre, as it would be seen in later games such as Grand Theft Auto. As bounty hunter Samus Aran, your task was to make your way through the planed Zebes, defeat the space pirates, and destroy Mother Brain. What was great about the game was that it wasn’t neatly hashed up into levels like so many other games. As with the Legend of Zelda, the entire world was open from the get go, and it was up to you to figure out where to go and what to do. Thankfully the game had a good way of keeping players from being overwhelmed. While you could see what was beyond the horizon, you needed a new item, a new ability, or something to happen before you could access it. Maybe you needed something to help you jump high enough to reach that ledge, or you needed a weapon that allowed you to destroy that seemingly impossible barrier, or you needed a special suit that could help you survive an area with a heat-filled atmosphere. When you defeated Mother Brain and escaped from Zebes, you were greeted with a huge surprise. The guy you just guided to victory wasn’t actually a guide at all, instead it was a female, and if you beat the game in under 3 hours, you even got to see her in her swimsuit. Samus Aran would grow to become one of gaming’s leading female protagonists, and Metroid’s style of gaming would influence several other games, from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night to the Xbox Live Arcade title Shadow Complex.

Fun Fact: If you enter the password ‘JUSTIN BAILEY’, then you can play as Samus without her power suit.

4. Mega Man
Not only did Nintendo crank out quality franchises, but the third party developers and publishers it employed also had the proverbial fire lit under their rear ends. One of these third party developers was Capcom. Capcom had enjoyed a rich arcade history, creating classics such as Commando, Trojan, and Legendary Wings. Later on, they would create even bigger arcade classics such as Street Fighter, Final Fight, and Darkstalkers. However, their home console support would become just as significant, and they created an original franchise with Mega Man. Mega Man had a unique gimmick: players would select the order in which to play the stages in. After defeating the boss of that stage, Mega Man would receive the boss’s weapon. There was another boss that the weapon would work on, and the trick was to decipher the correct order in which to take them on. After defeating them all, you’d take on villain Dr. Wily in a multi-level castle, where you eventually had to battle the previously defeated bosses again before taking on Wily himself. It was a simple formula, and it managed to spawn 6 installments on the NES alone. It has also branched off into several spin-offs, some successful (the Mega Man X series) and others not so much (Mega Man Star Force). The best games in the series have kept it close to the basic formula established so many years back. In fact, last year’s Mega Man 9, despite being released through various modern-day digital distribution methods (Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, WiiWare), returned the series to a more retro style, complete with 8-bit graphics. Capcom had created a hero that was just as much of an icon as anything that Nintendo was able to create.

Fun Fact: A Psp remake of this game, entitled Mega Man: Powered Up features 2-d graphics, a level editor, and the ability to play as the bosses.

5. Castlevania
Konami was another third party developer that built its reputation on the Nintendo. It too managed to produce a string of hits that started in the arcade days and continued on with recent titles such as Metal Gear Solid 4. Castlevania was one of their most famous NES franchises, and like many others, it managed to remain relevant well after the 8-bit era. Castlevania told the tale of Simon Belmont’s quest to destroy Dracula. By making use of your vampire killer whip, and a set of sub weapons, you made your way through several levels, battling classic universal monster movie alumni such as the wolfman, the mummy, and Frankenstein’s monster. Castlevania would spawn a franchise of sequels, each expanding upon Catlevania’s rich backstory. Surprisingly, the most current entries in the series take their inspiration from Metroid. Even so, they are every bit as enjoyable as this NES classic.

Fun Fact: Although they are completely different games, this game, Super Castlevania IV, and Vampire Killer (which was released over here as Castlevania Chronicles) are all the same in terms of the overall series chronology. The arcade game Haunted Castle is also a remake of this game, although the kidnapping storyline is not a part of the original Castlevania.

6. Contra
Contra was another Konami entry. Although it started out in the arcades, it would be the NES version that players grew up with (as evidenced by the lousy sales of 2006’s Xbox Live re-release of the arcade version). It was also one of the first titles geared toward hardcore audiences. You (and a friend if playing co-op) traveled through several levels, blasting at unending waves of enemies. If one of them hit you, you lost a life, and if you lost all your lives, you had to use a continue. When you lost all your continues, it was game over. While the previous 5 games were safe for kids, only the strongest of the strong stepped up to take on Red Falcon. Of course, you could be a chump and use the famous Konami code, but if you were a real man, then you went through the game yourself using the three lives you were given. After several successful 8 and 16 bit games, the series took a step into mediocrity only to be bought back with the Playstation 2 entry Shattered Soldier. The series was further bought back to prominence with the 2007 DS entry Contra 4, which bought the series back to the white knuckle shooting action that made it famous.

Fun Fact: The European versions of Contra were renamed Probotector, and all the human enemies were changed to robots due to many European countries’ laws against computer and video games that depict violence against human life forms. Probotector would make his U.S. debut as an unlockable character in Contra 4. This wasn’t the only Contra name change. This game’s sequel, Super C, was changed to such to keep anyone from associating it with the Iran-Contra affair.

Fun Fact #2: The aforementioned Konami code (up up down down left right left right B A start) has many uses in several other games. In addition to its use in Contra, it is also used to grant 10 lives in Super C, 30 lives in Life Force, full powerups in Gradius III (when L and R are used in place of left and right), and unlocks additional features when entered in each game in the Game Boy Advance title Arcade Advance.

7. Ninja Gaiden
Like Contra, Ninja Gaiden began life as an arcade game that became more popular when it hit the NES, and like Contra, it was also a game for the most hardcore audience. However, the challenge didn’t come from unending waves of enemies (but make no mistake, the game had plenty of these too), but it came from many of the perilous jumps you had to make. One misstep, and you lost your life. What made things even more difficult were the small creatures that casually floated across of the projectiles that were thrown by enemies. Precision was paramount here, as you had to plan each jump in advance. Strangely enough, even though the game was difficult, players still enjoyed it and braved through the challenge just to see what is next. This was no doubt due to the cinematics that took place between each level. These cinemas told more about the game, and added more to the story than the standard ’save the girl’ plot that we’ve seen so many times before. Years down the road, other games would also feature cinema scenes, and their inclusion became a huge force behind the success of games such as Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid. As for Ninja Gaiden itself, after 3 entries on the NES and a Game Boy spinoff (which was supposed to be another game altogether) the most we would even see of this series (beside a Super Nintendo compilation package) would be his appearances in the Dead or Alive fighting games. In 2004, Tecmo bought Ninja Gaiden back to Xbox. Although it had nothing to do at all with the previous NES games, it captured the original spirit of using its difficulty to motivate players into trying harder to push farther.

Fun Fact: Like Contra (perhaps you may have noticed a theme here), Ninja Gaiden was also subject to a name change for its European release. Since German laws forbid video games that feature ninjitsu and violent marshal arts, Ninja Gaiden was released under the title Shadow Warriors.

8. Tecmo Bowl
Tecmo Bowl was as significant a title for the sports genre as it was for Nintendo games. As one of the first games to make use of an NFL player’s license, Tecmo Bowl became one of the first video game sports titles to make use of real players. Although there were no real teams, the fictional teams in the game had players such as John Elway, Lawrence Taylor, and Bo Jackson among their ranks. It also featured playbooks, bringing depth to video game sports. Although there were some balance issues and glitches, Tecmo Bowl did a good job of being one of the first football titles to show what the game was all about.

Fun Fact: The sequel, Tecmo Super Bowl, was the first NES football game to feature both NFL and NFL Player’s Association licenses (most other games up to this point either had one or the other, but not both), thus bringing in real NFL teams and players. It is a favorite of ROM hackers, as they release patches with updated team rosters each year.

9. Dragon Warrior
Dragon Warrior, or Dragon Quest as it was known in Japan, was one of the first console role-playing games on Nintendo’s system. It was a milestone for the genre, as it was the first console RPG to make use of top-down graphics. While its storyline about the legendary hero saving the princess from the dragon was as generic as it got, it’s game play was anything but. You explored a huge world, battled enemies in a menu-driven interface, and learned more about the game’s plot by conversing with townspeople. The real joy of the game however, was leveling up your character into a powerhouse, increasing his stats, gaining new weapons, and learning new spells. While the game was tough at the start, it was only after toughing it out with the game’s enemies, gaining experience points, increasing your character’s level, and learning new abilities that you were able to put yourself on even ground with whatever the game threw at you. Dragon Warrior’s success paved the way for more console RPGS, most specifically games such as Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, and even Suikoden on the Playstation.

Fun Fact: Dragon Warrior is not to be confused with the pen and paper RPG Dragon Warriors, written by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson. Speaking of which, the U.S. version of Dragon Quest was renamed Dragon Warrior to avoid conflict with American company SPI, who released a pen and paper RPG called DragonQuest. SPI was later bought out by TSR and DragonQuest was later published as a dungeon and dragons offshoot.

10. Tetris
Although Tetris wasn’t created specifically for Nintendo, it was on the NES where it gained the most fame (as well as created a huge amount of controversy). Created by Russia’s Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris was a different kind of game. However, out of all the games on this list, it’s the closest in spirit to the early days of video gaming, where games were all about hand-eye coordination and split-second thinking. Just like in Space Invaders and Pac-Man so long ago, you competed against yourself just to see how high you can score. However, Tetris was like nothing ever seen before. There wasn’t any alien invasion to thwart, terrorist attack to stop, or princess to be rescued. Instead it was a well in which blocks would drop into, and your job was simply to rearrange them and make them disappear by forming lines. It sounded so simple at first, but when the shapes started coming faster, you had to be as quick as you can in order to keep the well from filling up. Tetris has been bought to virtually every computer operating system and video game console, either by an official release or by homebrew, and other puzzle games such as Dr. Mario and Columnus do not stray too far from Tetris’s formula.

Fun Fact: There was another NES version of Tetris created by Atari games (who were going by the name Tengen at the time). However, after much litigation, this version of Tetris had been recalled. This was a shame too, as the game featured a two player mode and is considered superior to Nintendo’s release.

These 10 games, along with so many others, laid out a foundation for nearly every game that you see today, regardless of what system it is on. If Nintendo hadn’t taken a chance so many years back, then the video game industry would have died out long ago. If you enjoy gaming at all, then you need to thank Nintendo for revitalizing the gaming industry. Virtually all of these games ara available on the Wii Virtual Console, so check them out.

(What did you think of the E3 announcements? Leave a comment below!)

Audio Netcast Details
Subscribe to the Powetcast on iTunes
Direct Link: Powetcast Episode 12: E3 and the 80s

Show notes after the jump!

Panel

*Sean “on the fucking spot” Corse
*Sindra – “The Ones Who Misses Out”
*Zac “Rocket” Shipley
*Crazy “No I did not buy everything at Botcon!” Jaco
*aDam “Rulz” Gardner

News

*David Carradine [1936-2009]
*Futurama renewed for 2 seasons and 26 episodes
http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSTRE55909G20090610
*Mickey Rourke is Whiplash in Iron Man 2
http://blog.newsarama.com/2009/06/09/first-look-mickey-rourke-as-whiplash
*Shia Lesomething maintains he does not want to be Y the Last Man
http://blog.newsarama.com/2009/06/10/oo-oo-pick-me-shia-lebouf-says-again-he-doesnt-want-y
*Burnout team moving to NEED FOR SPEED
http://kotaku.com/5285730/ea-burnout-devs-making-revolutionary-need-for-speed

Roundtable

*E3 News:
**Metroid Trilogy for Wii confirmed
http://kotaku.com/5264932/metroid-trilogy-preview-the-game-so-nice-you-can-play-it-thrice
**Nintendo announces: Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Metroid: Other M
**Konami Shows New Kojima-Developed Castlevania
**Mass Effect 2:
http://www.gametrailers.com/game/mass-effect-2/10875
**Left 4 Dead 2:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/92174-Valve-Fans-Form-Left-4-Dead-2-Boycott-Group

Cool Beans

*Movies
**Terminator Salvation
**Fanboys, bad movie or worst movie?

*TV
**Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien

*Games
**Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

*Comics
**Justice League International

*Toys
**Super GoBots Leader 1
**Rocklord Rockasaurs

Pimpin’

*Powet Toys: BotCon Edition (last week) June 10
*Keep Playing: Mass Effect (this week) June 17
*Keep Playing: Rewind – DemonSword (next week) June 24

An unidentified Japanese programmer made a version of Super Mario Bros thats controlled by your hand using a webcam. Watch Mario stumble through 1-1 twice before calling in for help.

Also completely not real: New Duck Hunt

Super Mario RPG can best be described as an RPG for people who hate RPGs. It contains many traditional featured you would expect in an RPG game (turn based battles, character stat building, item management, etc), but they’ve been simplified, making it easier for Mario fans and RPG newbies alike to pick up and play the game. Special attacks in battle are reminiscent of Final Fantasy 6, but they’ve been taken a step further in interactivity, making use of times button presser and controller rotations to increase damage. Many of the quests in the game make use of minigames in order to get through, making this more interactive than most RPGs. Hidden features and easter eggs are about in the game, including a throwback to Final Fantasy 4 that has to be seen to be believed.

This would be the last Squaresoft/Square-Enix game on a Nintendo system for 6 years. Even through there has been no direct sequel to Super Mario RPG, its innovation and quirkyness lives on through spiritual successors such as the Paper Mario series, and Mario & Luigi: Super Star Saga. This game is also arriving on the Wii Virtual Console (as if you didn’t already know), so players who didn’t check it out the first time can have a chance to play this masterpiece.

Enjoy his work, i’m sure he’ll be posting more soon!
Star Fox theme

Metroid, Kraid’s Theme

Now excuse me while I take a cold shower.

All this courtesy the new Japanese Super Mario Galaxy site. If you’re shy about clicking because you don’t know the language, you can get more from Gametrailers.

• Fencing – Individual epée
• Archery
• Shooting – Skeet
• Gymnastics – Trampoline
• Gymnastics – Vault
• Field – High Jump
• Field – Pole Vault
• Field – Long Jump
• Field – Triple Jump
• Field – Javelin Throw
• Field – Hammer Throw
• Rowing – Single Sculls
• Table Tennis – Singles
• Aquatics – 100m Freestyle
• Aquatics – 4×100m Freestyle
• Track – 110m and 400m Hurdles
• Track – 4×100m Relay
• Track -100m and 400m

via Joystiq.

And according to our friends over at 4CR the roster has also been revealed:

YouTube

Video Netcast
 Subscribe to iTunes POWETcast
Famicom Dojo – Episode 03 – Nintendo Has Moxie

Show notes (and an explanation for those left scratching their heads) after the jump:

Show notes (from Vinnk):

The “old man” otherwise known as “Grandpappy” is the first original character for Famicom Dojo. In a way he is meant to offset the constant facts this show usually presents, but also he is an extension of us. You see sometime we as gamers who have been playing since the Atari days and grew up eating Donkey Kong Cereal feel a bit like the old man. When these young wiper snappers whose first Mario game was “New Super Mario Bros.” come along we feel the need to tell them about all the classics they missed. The old man is in many ways what I fear we will become someday.

As for the old man’s costume. It is a pair of gray slacks pulled up past my waist, a cheap Santa beard left over from Christmas, a gray sweater that has seen better days, and a “Red Green: Duct Tape Forever” cap. I didn’t have suspenders so I took the straps off my laptop bag and clipped them to my slacks.

It was about 95 degrees when I filmed this and I had to turn the AC off because the wind was bothering the sound recording. It was recorded in segments and twice I had to take off the costume, shower, and then go back to filming.

The art was done by 4cr staff member Mitch. He had done little doodles for 4cr posts in the past and I asked if he could do some more based of my script for the old man segment. I just needed something to break up my long and visually uninteresting monologue. What he gave me was far beyond my expectations. These drawings are hilarious and fit the theme perfectly. One is my desktop wallpaper right now.

You can download them here at 4colorrebellion.

This is a quite different from our first two episodes and we are very anxious to hear what you think about it.

Episode Links:

Compare and contrast to our two previous installments:

Famicom Dojo: Famicom and Disk System
Famicom Dojo: The Battery Backup

Its an interesting retrospective, but the secretive Nintendo hero doesn’t give much of a look forward other than the tease that a once cancelled game may still see release.
Watch now: Quicktime / WMV

Mario and Sonic will finally compete on the Wii and Nintendo DS… on a game licensed by the Olympics.

I’m speechless. Official site is up. If we don’t get Sonic in Smash Bros now, I’ll be real mad.

Just to add a little value to your 500 Wii Point purchase, try going to the Negative world. This hidden glitch was covered up in many of the remakes and re-releases of the game, but is intact on the Wii since its the original NES code faithfully emulated. You’ve probably seen this trick before, in world 1-2 you break the bricks above the pipe at the end of the underwold (as seen at left) and then carefully jump backwards to the right without breaking the brick, so you slide off to the right and enter a warp pipe that takes you to a weird underwater world.

A top story on digg right now announces “How to Get to the Illusive Negative World in SMB!” but the link to the World -2, -3, and -4 is completely fake. Amazing that 21 years after the release of Super Mario Bros, players can still be falling for bogus tips like slackjawed schoolyard simpletons.

Today, we bring you a brand-new viewer-submitted discovery from within Luigi’s Mansion, a game previously previously held as my white whale.

Also: a nod to Wii Sports. Let’s all go dissect it.

“Luigi’s Band Blues”

“Top 8 Tumble”

“Toad’s Social Not-Working”