Posts Tagged ‘virtual console’
Nintendo’s Recent Annoucements In Regards to Retro
Let’s face it, Nintendo has had a pretty crazy 2019 so far. Whether you are a fan or not, it’s hard to ignore how much has changed in less than 8 weeks into the new year and despite what you may think a large portion of the topics are retro. I figured it was high time to discuss them. Let’s break down what’s been announced and the retro take on these changes.
NES and SNES Classic Editions Going Away
Okay, I know, this one came at the end of last year (announcement on Dec. 14th, implementation and shipments on Dec. 22), but one of the biggest changes this year is the phasing out of the NES and SNES Classic Editions. It was inevitable Nintendo would stop production on these items and once they were readily available the well for demand dried up very quickly. I’m so on the fence about the mini console craze because it’s clear that all of these items have had corners cut to a certain extent and I’m not convinced most people actually play these things. On the other hand, the mini things look so cool when you get them into your hands and thanks to hackers you can easily side load any games you want into them so they are much more versatile. I think of them now as emulation boxes that have the one thing other emulation solutions – like RetroArch on computers or RetroPie on Raspberry Pis – don’t have: they’re easy to make and operate. As a person who loves tech and is intrigued by a challenge, it’s aggravating that today emulation requires a lot of knowledge and time to set up. I get it, these are complex emulators that need complex setup, but that doesn’t help the mainstream. I’ve already heard from several of you that it’s just so much easier to buy one of these consoles and do the dead easy process of hacking in the roms you want. Lets also not forget that specifically the SNES Classic Edition contains Star Fox 2 in the only official release ever to come out as well as games that contain special chips like the Super FX and SA-1 that don’t work with a majority of flash carts on the market.
Shmups on a Budget
It’s the end of Shmuppreciation 2012 and after the article that goes live at noon it will be time to stop reading about shmups and start playing them. Unfortunately, as I’ve mentioned before, shmups aren’t cheap…or are they? In these articles I have covered many shmups that have extremely high price tags depending on what console you want it on. I stress the fact that most shmups are arcade ports and thus all versions you can find on home consoles revolve completely around making as perfect a port as the developers can. For this reason, it doesn’t really matter what console you get your shmups from, just knowing which ones you can get them at inexpensive prices. The following article discusses the buyer who doesn’t want to drop a hefty chunk of change and some of the amazing deals I have found this month.
Note: Many links in this article will redirect you to retail sites like GameStop.com or auction sites like eBay to demonstrate the highs and lows of purchasing games of this type. I did this to make it easy for you to find them, especially because some deals require an inventory search in your area.
Gaming History 101 