Ah, another Monday, another fresh crop of Virtual Console titles. Today’s entry brings us Tennis (NES), Space Harrier II (Genesis), and Military Madness (TG-16). As far as Tennis goes, it’s not even worth five bones, in my opinion. I’ll stick to Wii Tennis. However, I do have good memories of playing Space Harrier II on my Game Gear many moons ago. Still, not sure if i could get $8 out of it. Finally, Military Madness actually does look quite promising. I’ve never played it, but have heard many people refer to it as their favorite TG-16 title. It’s basically a 1 or 2 player miltary strategy game like Advance Wars, so I think that’s my choice this week.

Press Release

I really love the Perry Bible Fellowship webcomic, so I had to post its take on Tetris. Click on the image for a bigger one.

Some funny (in a stupid humor kind of way) fan made Wii videos. Enjoy

Here are some faux Wii bowling tips from a hyper girl.

Here is the ultimate depravity of wanting something a little too much.

And, what I consider to be the best for last. A scene from my all time favorite holiday movie, remixed for this year’s Christmas.

I saw this somewhat randomly linked on Joystiq, and I found it to be interesting. Although it’s very unforgiving and critical on Nintendo’s 2D artwork, it gives a pretty interesting rundown on how Mario’s image has evolved. What started as “Jumpman” the carpenter, has come a long way in the last 25 years. For instance, did you know that Mario’s appearance is all due to technical limitations at the time of his inception. The mustache, overalls, and big nose were all ways to make his character more visible on old hardware.

The Evolution of Mario

Although I am feeling considerably better, the lingering effects of acute bronchitis still remain. So that means more games! And since we’re in the holiday season, that of course, is no problem.

Metal Slug Anthology
Despite numerous delays, Metal Slug Anthology made it in time for Christmas, barely. It came out Thursday. This is the equivocal release of Metal Slug, featuring all 7 of the games, with over 6 control options, and 5 of which use the Wii’s remote in unique ways. Although the motion sensing methods of control are fun, I still find myself using the classic push button method. Kudos to SNKP for letting me use my Gamecube controller. As far as controls go, this is what I was talking about in a previous post, provide choice, and provide both motion controls and classic controls via the Gamecube controller. As to the game itself, they are all great ports of the original, the only difference I see is some minimal loading times between different parts of the mission, but nothing that detracts from the action. Also, this is the first time I’ve been able to play Metal Slug 6, which was previously only available on the Sammy Atomiswave arcade system. Sure, some zealots out there have consolized the Atomiswave system, and with the Metal Slug 6 ROM, this would cost about $1000. I’m glad I waited to get my copy for a comparably measly $40. I noticed the back of the game says 4 players, but not sure if that is for all the Metal Slug games, since they were originally only 2 players. Guess we’ll see when I get more controllers. Also included in MSA are art gallery and music extras. Nothin’ big, but cool little extras you have to earn by beating all the Metal Slugs. I played through Metal Slug 3 last night, which is my favorite in the series. It was really fun, but of course this game was a quarter muncher, so I’m glad they provided an infinite continues option. All in all it took me 60 continues to beat Metal Slug 3, since it’s bean so long since I played it. So, that would be $30 in the arcade. You gotta love home arcade ports.

Final Fantasy III
Given my huge back log of unfinished games, I was going to wait on Final Fantasy III, but a one day deal at Toys R Us where I could get it for half off greased my wallet. I knew if I didn’t get it now, it would be a year or two till I could beat that price. And I figured I could buy two, sell one on eBay, and come close to getting mine for free. I also got Final Fantasy XII for half off, but that one will sit quietly until I am ready to play it. Final Fantasy III was originally only released in Japan for the Famicom, so this is actually the first time we Yanks get to play it. In their infinite wisdom, Square Enix decided to completely redo the title in 3-D, and I have to say, the results are beautiful. Colors are vibrant, and the attention to detail is pretty impressive. This is the best looking DS title I have ever seen. Also, Square Enix added a bunch of jobs to give the game more depth. When I read some initial reviews for Final Fantasy III, the only complaints were that it turned into a “grind-fest”, where you would often find yourself fighting random baddies for the sole purpose of leveling your characters. But so far, I haven’t found it to be a grind at all. My characters have naturally leveled at a good rate while exploring dungeons, but that’s really the way I play it. Most classic RPGs I scour the dungeon for every treasure, so I don’t have to deal with the “grind”. Even if I did, the battle system is well polished, and it is a true pleasure to fight baddies. Another cool feature is the added online ability. Really it just boils down to an in-game mail system, where you can mail other people playing the game while n your quest. Not much, but a start in the right direction. It would be cool if this could evolve into an Auction House system of sorts like on Final Fantasy XI. All in all, I am loving this game, and I’ve already logged about 6 hours in the last couple of days.

Wario Ware first brought us Micro Games, on the GBA, which later appeared on the Gamecube, and in a new version on the DS (Touched!). Basically Micro Games, are quick 5 second games, where you must figure out what to do, and do it. It’s frantic, it’s crazy, and it’s a lot of fun. The series is known for it’s wacky humor, and outlandish style. Given it’s quirkyness, and inherently fun multiplayer, it’s a perfect fit for the Wii. Come January 15th, it will be released along with Wii Play, and I have to say, it’s looking to be the best Wario Ware title yet, and may be the first smash hit for casual gamers. It’s already out in Japan, so we are getting to see a lot of game footage. I personally, am finding the wait to be very difficult. Enjoy these clips of Wario Ware: Smooth Moves.

Ever since I signed up for Blog Patrol, I’ve been able to see some pretty interesting statistics about my site. One thing I like to check from time to time, are the keywords that people use to find Big Head Mode. Some people are actually looking for content on the site, but some people seem to just stumble here, apparently, people that like to make fun of people with big heads. So, here are the current top 10 searches that found Big Head Mode.

“CompUSA Final Fantasy XII street date” (Google)
“atlanta wii” (Google)
“metroid prime 3 release day” (Google)
“Zipatoni viral PSP” (Yahoo)
“bigheadmode in company of heroes” (Google)
“”cousin pete” psp google video” (Google)
“make fun of big headed people” (Google)
“GAMECUBE GAMES BIG HEAD MODE” (Google)
“UmJammy Lammy” (Google)

Nintendo obviously knew of the possibilty of losing your grip of the Wiimote. But I don’t think they expected people would be rocketing their Wiimotes with such fervent gusto. In what has already become a well documented Internet meme, all over the world people’s straps are breaking sending their Wiimotes flying. Nintendo is responding and today announced a 3.2 million strap recall. If you got the tiny strap, be sure to go here to get the new and improved strap made of adamantium.

I’m sure all of us have a list of games we’d like to see on the Wii’s Virtual Console, but until yesterday, I hadn’t thought of the exciting possibilities of Mario Paint. An interesting piece of trivia got me and Chris talking about how great Mario Paint was. We both have fond memories of playing it quite a bit. But quickly I realized, not only would this be a great candidate for the WiiVC because of its content, but by using the Wii remote as a pointer, you can effectively substitute the mouse for its interface. I mean you can already do some doodling in the Photo channel, but nothing like the cool stuff you could do in Mario Paint. And imagine swinging your Wiimote around swatting at the flies in the minigame. Always being able to suspend your game (ROM save state), means you’ll never lose your creations. So, Nintendo, I am slapping my imaginary 800 Wii points on the table. Make it so!

Playing games on Nintendo’s Wi-Fi network with a Nintendo DS can be really fun. But unfortunately, Nintendo didn’t exactly use the most streamlined system. Each game you play gives you a 12 digit “Friend Code”, which you give to your friends, and you must in turn register their “Friend Codes”. Unfortunately, you must keep up with a 12 digit code for each game you play. For the Wii, there is a similar system, with each console assigned an 16 digit number. As you can see, all these numbers can become quite burdensome to keep track of. This is why I am really liking WitendoFi. It’s a forum community with features that help you track and trade all your friend codes. Check it out if you get a chance, and check out my WitendoFi WiFiTag there on the right. With obvious inspiration from Microsoft’s Gamertag, it gives you all my friend codes. Just use your mouse to rollover a game to see that game’s friend code. Shoot my an email if you add me in a game, because as you know, I have to also add you. If you register at WitendoFi, register through this link.