Don’t forget, yesterday Nintendo made available the original Metroid on the Wii’s Virtual Console. Also, Nintendo posted some more videos on their Metroid Prime 3 preview channel. One such video tells us of the Aurora unit computers, and their striking similarity to a certain maternal cerebrum. Since I was in such a Metroid mood, I found quite a detailed Wiki on the subject, and found a few random downloads. First of all, in case you need to port an old game save, or just start the game at any given point, someone has made a nice Metroid password generator program. Also, yet another selfless fan has translated the recent Japanese manga canon backstory. In what will hopefully be a regularity, I posted them both in my new Download section. Hope you enjoy.

In case you hadn’t noticed that pulsating blue light on your Wii, let me fill you in. Today, Nintendo released a “Metroid Prime 3 Preview” channel and has proclaimed August to be the Month of Metroid. (Cue Fanfare) The preview channel is a streaming video client to showcase some impressive MP3 clips. So far 2 videos are available and 2 more to be available on 8/13. The videos are pretty amazing, and just had me wanting MP3 even more, though I didn’t know that was possible.

That’s all well and good, but here’s the kicker: Metroid and Super Metroid will be released on the VC over the next couple of weeks! Metroid will hit on 8/13 for $5, then Super Metroid on 8/20 for $8. This will all culminate in Metroid Prime 3’s release on 8/27. By the way, did I mention that Super Metroid is the greatest game ever made!? Super Metroid is the first title I thought of when I heard of the Virtual Console concept. Needless to say, I am excited.

PBR? No, not Pabst Blue Ribbon. I’m talking about the exciting new game for the Wii, Pokémon Battle Revolution. Though I must admit, drinking the former whilst playing the latter would be enjoyable. PBR brings a lot of firsts for the Wii. First of all, it is the first online game for the Wii. That’s right, after entering all those fun 16 digit friend codes, you too can throw down some Pocket Monsters you’re your Pokéfreaks across the world. Also, it’s the first Wii game to connect to the DS. With PBR, you can download and use all the Pokémon you caught in Diamond or Pearl, and you can even use your DS as a controller. Finally, this is, of course, the first Pokémon game for the Wii.

So with all those distinctions, you can see why PBR looks exciting. To be honest, it’s not even really a game. It’s just a fun way to battle with your Pokémon online. Now I’ve had PBR for a few days, so I thought I’d post some opinions. First of all, if you haven’t played Pokémon for the DS, don’t waste your time with PBR. Although you can battle Pokémon without connecting a DS, the game is really meant to let you battle with all the Pokémon caught on Diamond and Pearl. Also, the single player mode is pretty boring. You just battle dumb NPCs, that’s it. So as you can see, although PBR brings a couple of firsts to the Wii, it’s on the whole a shallow gaming experience. About the only fun I’ve had so far, is playing random people online. You might not expect it, but the online competition is pretty stiff. Almost everyone I’ve faced has a ridiculous set of maxed out legendary Pokémon. I hate to be so harsh on a series I love, but this game is just way to shallow. You could find more depth in an Xbox Live Arcade title. Other than that, the graphics look pretty good, you know for a souped-up Gamecube.

With an exciting press release by Nintendo today, which finally set a date for Metroid Prime 3, it got me thinking about upcoming game releases. So far this year is looking pretty good. Usually, gamers think summer is just about playing older games and pining for new ones. But this year we get some solid releases in the dog days of summer, including one I’m really anxious to play, the aforementioned Metroid Prime 3, which will hit August 20th. I kept thinking of other great games coming soon, so I thought I’d make a list…

Xbox 360

• Blue Dragon (8/28)
• Halo 3 (9/25)
• Rock Band
• Guitar Hero III
• Assassin’s Creed

Wii

• Mario Party 8 (5/30)
• Pokemon Battle Revolution (6/25)
• Metroid Prime 3 (8/20)
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• Mario Galaxy

DS

• SimCity (July)
• Heroes of Mana (8/14)
• Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
• Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

PSP

• Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

VC

• Metroid
• Super Mario RPG
• Super Metroid
• Zombies Ate My Neighbours
• Zelda 2

XBLA

• Carcassonne
• Prince of Persia Classic
• Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
• Ikaruga

So there you have it. That’s my personal must-have list. Did I miss anything? Any must-haves you guys are looking forward to?

Just last week in Japan was the annual Square-Enix Party. Basically it’s just a fun press event where Squeenix announces all their plans, and fans get to dress like idiots. Well, it looks like this is going to be quote a busy year for Square-Enix. They either announced or confirmed over a dozen Final Fantasy games. And that’s not even counting other series like Star Ocean, Mana, and Dragon Quest. Now since I am such a huge Final Fantasy fan, I figured I would compile a fun little list of all the planned releases.

• Final Fantasy I (PSP) - 6/27/07
• Final Fantasy II (PSP) - 7/24/07
• Final Fantasy IV (DS) - TBA
• Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (PSP) - TBA
• Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess Expansion (PC, PS2, Xbox 360) - Q4 2007
• Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS) - Q4 2007
• Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) - TBA
• Final Fantasy Agito XIII (Mobile) - TBA
• Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3) - TBA
• Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (PSP) - October 2007
• Final Fantasy Tactics: A2 (DS) - July 2007 in JPN, Not yet announced for NA
• Final Fantasy Dissidia (PSP)
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS) - 2007
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (Wii) - 2007

I hope you are ready for the avalanche of Final Fantasy games, since almost all of these are due sometime this year. Obviously Final Fantasy XIII is still set sometime in the very distant future (2009?), but there look to be some great titles in that list.

If you haven’t played Final Fanstasy I or II yet, the upcoming remakes for the PSP look great. All the art and sprites have been redone, and the cinemas from Final Fantasy Origins are included. Also on the PSP is an all new Tactics game, a fighting game called Dissidia, and the Final Fantasy VII prequel, Crisis Core. Don’t think all those releases for the PSP means SE is neglecting the DS. Planned for the DS is a remake of Final Fantasy IV (Much like the remake of III), another Tactics sequel, a FF XII side-story action RPG, and (finally) a Crystal Chronicles release. Finally, if you thought FF XI was dead, think again my friend. Later this year an all new expansion pack will drop, and yours truly may once again enter the addictive world of Vana’diel to give it a try.

The optimistic part of me is excited at all these new games, and the cynical part of me thinks these releases are just milking an overly dedicated fanbase. Oh well, either way my wallet will be hurting when all these games drop.

Quite an interesting set of releases this week. Let’s take a look at our contestants…

Wii Virtual Console

• Pacman (NES) - $5
• Ninja Gaiden (NES) - $5
• Ninja Spirit (TG-16) - $6

Xbox Live Arcade

• Soltrio Solitaire - $10
• Aegis Wing - FREE!

Now, let’s take an in depth look at both services. Nintendo, Pac-man is fun, but you are late. XBLA already had a better version of Pac-man with leaderboards and achievements for the same price months ago. As for your sneaky inclusion of two ninja games, that’s great. I haven’t played Ninja Spirit, but Ninja Gaiden is a classic and a solid inclusion.

Now Microsoft, Solitaire? Ten bucks!? I understand there are 18 different solitaire games in the package, but still…it’s solitaire. One player games don’t exactly shine on the world’s best gaming network. Now if that was your only release, you would have definitely lost this week, but a free game, that’s unprecedented. Sure it was made by interns, and I know the gameplay probably doesn’t run very deep, but you can’t beat free! Sorry Nintendo, Microsoft has raised the stakes, this round goes to XBLA.

Score: XBLA 3, VC 2

XBLA has won twice in a row, can they make it three? Here’s this week’s downloadable lineup…

Wii Virtual Console

• Mighty Bomb Jack (NES) - $5
• Final Fight (SNES) - $8
• Ordyne (TG-16) - $6

Xbox Live Arcade

• Double Dragon (Arcade) - $5

This week is kind of a tough one. XBLA brings us a nice online enabled version of Double Dragon. It’s an arcade classic with cleaned up visuals for HD. I got admit, it looks good and its fun to play, but I used to own this arcade game, and played it to death. It’s fun, but it just doesn’t seem to leave you wanting more. While the XBLA title brings a good bang-for-the-buck, Wii does bring a decent number of games to choose from. You have another excellent brawler, along with an obscure platformer, and what looks to be an interestingly solid shooter.

So, the verdict this week is…. VC! Just when you thought XBLA was going to bury VC, they come from behind and tie it up. Very nice Nintendo, now get to work on Super Metroid!

Many are quick to point out one of the biggest advantages Xbox’s Live Arcade has over the Wii Virtual Console. There are no demos for the Virtual Console, so there’s really no way to determine if you will like an unfamiliar title. Until now, sort of. Nintendo now has improved their Virtual Console website to include a nice list of all available titles, with corresponding information and a gameplay video. While you still have no way of playing these games before you drop the points, at least you can see what the game looks like now. Thanks Ninty, but when are these videos going to be standard on the Wii Shop Channel?

Wii Virtual Console

Wow, I started this new weekly column, and now I am consistently late in posting it. Quickly, here are this week’s contestants.

Wii Virtual Console

• Castlevania (NES) - $5
• The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES) - $8
• Shockman (TG-16) - $6

Xbox Live Arcade

• Catan - $10
• Centipede / Millipede - $5

So let’s see, Nintendo’s got Castlevania and a couple more obscure retro titles. I’ve heard Mystical Ninja is good, and I know Castlevania is great. But, I have been waiting quite a while for Catan. It’s the Xbox Live enabled game based on the board game Settlers of Catan. The original board game looked like awesome fun, but I have no friends that want to play board games with me. At least with Catan on XBLA you can play on XBL. Also, XBLA brings the first bundle of retro arcade games for the low price of $5. That’s like $2.50 a game, or like $0.05/Pede. Sorry N, XBLA wins again. Thanks for Castlevania though, I mean you did put up a fight.

Winner: Xbox Live Arcade

Score: VC 1, XBLA 2

Last night I arrived home finding new games from GameFly. One of my new arrivals was Bust-a-Move Bash for the Wii, so I quickly went over to the Wii to power it on. That’s when I noticed, the Wii stand-by light wasn’t on. There was a thunderstorm earlier that day, and at first I thought that the surge protector had kicked off.

Then I noticed everything else connected to the same power strip had power. I tried turning on the Wii. Nothing. I double and triple checked connections. Nothing. I even hit the Wii around a little. Still, nothing. This is when I began to get a little upset. It appeared my Wii had prematurely gone on to console heaven.

After looking around on Nintendo’s website, I found one more thing to try: resetting the AC adapter. Apparently, there is some sort of auto cut-off switch in the AC adapter, and if it is tripped, you have to perform these steps to fix it. Straight from Nintendo’s troubleshooting page:

“…If this fails, try resetting the AC adapter.

1. Unplug/remove all accessories from the system (including game discs, SD Cards, memory cards, Nintendo GameCube controllers, hookup cables, the AC Adapter, and Sensor Bar) from the outlet and Wii.
2. Let the system rest for about 45 seconds. While you’re waiting, check to see that controller cords, AC Adapter, and Stereo AV cables/Component Video cables are not frayed or have exposed wires (this can cause the system to shut off); if so, you should replace those parts.
3. After the 45 seconds, Plug the AC Adapter into the system and wall outlet. Check to see if the power light on the Power button comes on.”

After performing these steps, I hooked it all back up, and I was back in business. So kids, if your Wii won’t power up, don’t panic! Just reset the AC adapter. After all this, I finally got to play Bust-a-Move Bash! In a word, meh.