GAME> The Legend of Zelda (1986)
SYSTEM> NES
SOURCE> Nintendo Power #266, April 2011

Miyamoto’s famous story behind the original design of Legend of Zelda is that, as a boy, he often paid old women to find his way out of the woods.

“Not everyone is cut out to be a president,” begins this week’s Nintendo Download press release, but everyone deserves Butler Mode. Cozy Fire lets you stack and light logs virtually-manually… or just sit back and let the Wii butler do it. 500 points. Also debuting on WiiWare today: Jewel Keepers: Easter Island (500 points) and demo versions of Rage of the Gladiator and PooYoos Episode 1. Nintendo is seriously playing catch-up with demos, eh? You’d think we’d see more new titles show up with a demo on day one.

Nintendo Download

This Presidents Day, Make an Executive Decision to Download New Games

Not everyone is cut out to be a president, but every Wii™ and Nintendo DSi™ user must act as commander-in-chief of his or her own gaming republic. On this Presidents Day holiday, Nintendo recommends reaching across the aisle in the spirit of bipartisanship, creating harmony between new and classic titles, puzzle games and platformers, sprawling console adventures and crisp hand-held challenges. Start with the fantasy-fueled fun of Faxanadu, a memorable RPG from the NES™ era making its appearance on the Virtual Console™ service. Test your resolve even further with a demo version of the action-filled Rage of the Gladiator for the WiiWare™ service, available to download for zero Wii Points™. Most importantly, boost your diplomacy by sharing your favorite WiiWare and Nintendo DSiWare™ game recommendations with friends and spreading fun throughout the 50 states and beyond.

Virtual Console

Faxanadu
Original platform: NES
Publisher: Hudson Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Fantasy Violence, Use of Tobacco
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: You are an adventurer who has just returned to his hometown, the Elf town of Eolis, at the base of the World Tree. You find the village in peril: The Elven water supply has dried up, monsters are causing chaos and the once-proud Tree is slowly wilting. Equipped with the last of the King’s money and the trust of the people, you set out to climb the World Tree, braving obstacles, fiends and dangers to discover the source of this corruption. Wield weapons and magic, get hints from townsfolk and experience a world of new environments as you ascend to the top of the world.

WiiWare

Jewel Keepers: Easter Island
Publisher: Nordcurrent
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: One day, world-renowned Easter Island expert Professor “H” received a strange letter from the capital city of Hanga Roa. It was a cry for help from an unknown person, saying that something bad was happening on the island. Without hesitation, the Professor, his assistant Joel and his granddaughter Ivie rushed to the island, where many puzzles, mysteries and quests awaited them. Can you help him to reveal the greatest secret of Easter Island?

Cozy Fire
Publisher: dtp young entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: We all long for a cozy open fire, particularly during the cold season. But not everyone is able to snuggle in front of a warming blaze. The WiiWare service opens the door for a fireplace to fill the room with a magical and cozy atmosphere. Select from a variety of logs and use the Wii Remote™ controller to stack them up. Next, light the virtual match and your home will soon be snug and glowing. Choose from six available fireplaces: fire alone, campfire, rustic, classic, elegant and Zen. Poke and tend the fire to keep it going. Add more logs to keep the fire burning, just like a real fire. Want to just sit back and relax? In Butler mode, new logs will be placed on the fire automatically, and the logs never burn down in Non-stop mode.

Rage of the Gladiator (demo version)
Publisher: Ghostfire Games
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) – Animated Blood, Alcohol Reference, Violence
Price: 0 Wii Points; full version available for 1,000 Wii Points
Description: Rage of the Gladiator is a fantasy-based fighting game in which you must fight for your life in the arena. Prove yourself by conquering all opponents. Features include: amazing 3D graphics, animation, lighting, shadows and special effects. With full voice acting, each boss has its own personality and taunts you mercilessly. Use insane finishing moves – summon a fiery meteor or a savage tornado, or transform into a hulking colossus 10 times your size. Customize your character and specialize in skill trees – Offense, Defense or Magic – to gain new powers. Enjoy masterpieces of blood-pumping music by legendary composer Sean Beeson. Beat the game to unlock Challenge Mode, where bosses are much tougher. The game also supports the Wii MotionPlus™ accessory.

Learning with the PooYoos: Episode 1 (demo version)
Publisher: Lexis Numérique
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: EC (Early Childhood)
Price: 0 Wii Points; full version available for 500 Wii Points
Description: Welcome to the first fun, poetic brain-trainer for children aged 3 to 6. With the PooYoos, a merry band of adorable baby animals, children will have fun while learning development basics like numbers, letters, lateralization, shapes and colors. Children get to dance with their new friends and receive lovely interactive rewards. There are two levels of interactivity, so any child can play. This game has been designed for use by children who have not yet grasped reading.

Note: Some demo versions do not support all game features, and players cannot save their in-game progress in demo versions.

Nintendo DSiWare

G.G Series DRIFT CIRCUIT
Publisher: Genterprise Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: Use your drifting technique to gracefully slide past the competition. Steering around corners lowers your speed, so it’s all about choosing the best course line and being able to use your drifting skills with precision. At the start of each three-lap race, conditions for winning will be displayed. After that, it’s up to you and your speed-demon prowess to drift through the Grand Prix and steal first place. Choose between EASY, NORMAL and HARD difficulty levels – perfect for beginners and advanced racers alike.

Arctic Escape
Publisher: Teyon
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Take control of a bunch of penguins that are always getting into all sorts of trouble. A cunning scientist abducted them from Antarctica, and now they need your help to get back home. Lead them safely through more than 100 frosty levels by using commands such as walking, jumping and waiting. Guide them to avoid broken ice areas, falling cages, wolves and other dangerous obstacles. This special top-down-view puzzle game is easy to pick up but impossible to put down.

Remote Racers
Publisher: QubicGames
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Select one of eight vehicles: Speeder, Monster, Candy, Dozer, Tank, Stunt, Mantis and Rocket. Race against AI or the clock on 15 great tracks. Jump in the garden, drift through the cellar, ride on the beach and dive in the ocean. Use power-ups and transform your vehicle to gain an advantage over your opponents. Complete 32 challenges in eight Championships.

Nintendo adds new titles to the Nintendo DSi Shop and the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Mondays. Users with broadband Internet access can redeem Wii Points or Nintendo DSi Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card™ can be purchased at retail locations. All points from one Nintendo Points Card must be redeemed in either the Nintendo DSi Shop or the Wii Shop Channel. They are not transferable and cannot be divided between the two systems.

Remember that both Wii and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit www.Wii.com or www.NintendoDSi.com.

Today Nintendo announced that the final shipment of the limited edition release is on its way. This last batch is expected to hit shelves in the middle of March. For $30, you get the original Super NES All-Stars game, complete with four classic NES Mario games redone with SNES graphics. You also get a snazzy 25th anniversary historical booklet and a spiffy soundtrack CD. It’s the snazzy and the spiffy that got me.

Somebody cue up that Mario “time is almost up” music… because for the All-Stars collection, it almost is. I’m sure Nintendo will never re-release Super Mario Bros again, right?

Nintendo Announces Final Shipment of Retro Mario Collection

Nintendo of America is producing its final run of the Super Mario All-Stars™ Limited Edition package that celebrates the 25th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros.™ game. The collection went on sale on Dec. 12 at a suggested retail price of $29.99, and nearly all retail locations were out of stock within days. The final shipments will be in stores on March 13.

The games included in the Super Mario All-Stars collection are Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3. Each game features the enhanced graphics and updated sound from the Super NES™ Super Mario All-Stars collection, and all four can be played on the Wii system using one of several controllers: the Wii Remote™ controller, Classic Controller™, Classic Controller Pro™ or the Nintendo GameCube™ controller.

Also included is a Super Mario History soundtrack CD, a compilation of memorable music from the Mario™ franchise. Containing classic theme songs and fun sound effects from the original Super Mario Bros. game all the way up to the acclaimed Super Mario Galaxy™ 2 game, this special disc also marks the first official release of the “Super Mario Bros. Ground Theme,” widely recognized as one of the most famous pieces of video game music in history.

Rounding out the Super Mario All-Stars collection is a 32-page Super Mario History booklet featuring interviews, behind-the-scenes details and rare concept art. Fans from every generation can enjoy firsthand insights into the beginnings of Mario, illustrated with candid photos and never-before-seen design sketches. Together with the game software and soundtrack, it’s the ultimate tribute to a unique game series.

For more information about the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., visit http://mario25.nintendo.com.

More demos for WiiWare… we’re quickly approaching the point where any WiiWare game worth a damn now has a free demo. This week, Urbanix and LIT (above) get demos. I can’t vouch for Urbanix, but LIT is pretty slick.

Then there’s S.C.A.T., an 1991 NES game from Natsume (500 points). That stands for Special Cybernetic Attack Team, duh.

Nintendo Download

Nintendo Invites Players to Download Brawny Action, Brainy Puzzles or Both

You needn’t choose between action-packed games and mind-bending puzzle fare when the Wii™ Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi™ Shop offer plenty of both. This week, you can face down monstrous mutations of high school teachers in a demo version of LIT for the WiiWare™ service, now available for zero Wii Points™. Enter an intergalactic battle in the NES™ shooter S.C.A.T.™, which has just landed on the Virtual Console™ service. Action and strategy combine in G.G Series Dark Spirits for the Nintendo DSiWare™ service, while 505 Tangram offers pure hand-held puzzle bliss.

Virtual Console

S.C.A.T.
Original platform: NES
Publisher: Natsume Inc.
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: It’s the year 2029 and humanity faces certain extinction. An alien force led by the Supreme Commander Vile Malmort is positioned to destroy the Earth. With little time to act, the president assembled the greatest scientists from around the globe to stop this menace. From their laboratory came mankind’s last hope: the members of the Special Cybernetic Attack Team. S.C.A.T. has one goal: complete destruction of the alien fleet. Capture and adapt multiple weapons systems. Enjoy single-player mode or two-player cooperative play. (Additional accessories are required for multiplayer mode and are sold separately.)

WiiWare

Spot the Differences!
Publisher: Sanuk Games
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Enjoy the ultimate spot-the-difference game for the WiiWare service with 160 scenes, three levels of difficulty and 1,600 differences to spot. Play either solo or with friends to find out who’s the best spotter. Browse odd and attractive scenes in various categories: Landscapes, Pets, Playtime and Yummy. Four game modes are available. In Arcade mode, spot five differences in randomly ordered scenes. In Time Attack mode, spot one difference in each scene for as long as the timer runs. In Select Scenes mode, play with the scenes of your choice and find five differences in each one. In Multiplayer, up to four players can play against each other. (Additional accessories are required for multiplayer mode and are sold separately.)

LIT (demo version)
Publisher: WayForward Technologies
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Violence
Price: 0 Wii Points; full version available for 800 Wii Points
Description: Dark creatures have taken over Jake’s high school, and it’s up to you to guide him through each classroom in order to be reunited with his girlfriend, Rachael. Existing light sources must be used wisely to create bridges of light for Jake to cross. One false step and Jake gets pulled into the darkness. Along the way he’ll encounter twisted versions of his school’s faculty, who he must battle in order to advance. LIT is a horror-puzzle game that requires the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™ controllers. It contains 30 levels, five boss battles, replay modes and several unlockables, including multiple endings, Dark Mode timed challenges and an unlockable character.

Urbanix (demo version)
Publisher: Nordcurrent
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 0 Wii Points; full version available for 500 Wii Points
Description: Welcome to Urbanix, a game inspired by classic computer games. You play as Urbanix, a tiny tractor that has to build a town on an empty field. Avoid enemies and catch and chase away house crashers – they will try to spoil your game. Play on Earth, at the North Pole or on the moon. Each location has its own game-play mechanics, so you’ll have to adapt your strategy. Be accurate, be quick and collect bonuses on your way. The enhanced game play is based on decades-old classics. Discover 150 levels plus an intense multiplayer mode.

Note: Some demo versions do not support all game features, and players cannot save their in-game progress in demo versions.

Nintendo DSiWare

G.G Series Dark Spirits
Publisher: Genterprise Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Fantasy Violence
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: In this side-scrolling shooter, it’s up to you to destroy the enemy by making use of the four familiars that fly in formation around your vessel. Quickly switch the formation pattern of your familiars with the touch of a button. When you destroy an enemy, its soul becomes available to collect. Collect the soul with one of your familiars to upgrade its attack or switch to a different attack type. The familiar’s attack can be upgraded by collecting multiple souls of the same color in a row. The four familiars power up and change independently of each other, adding an element of strategy as you plan how to use each one effectively.

Boom Boom Squaries
Publisher: Gamelion
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Furries are cute, happy, round beings that enjoy rolling around in the sun all day long. But the bad-tempered, stone-cold Squaries, who hate everything that is round and fluffy, attack the unsuspecting Furries. Now it’s up to you to create chain reactions that will pop the evil invaders. Prove your skill in four different game modes: Classic, Challenge, Time Trial and Endless. Use Squaries’ special abilities such as gravity, air blast and split to plan your blasts for maximum efficiency. When you are done with 40 levels of Classic mode and 40 Challenges, you can enjoy the never-ending fun of Endless mode and beat your high score in Time Trial.

505 Tangram
Publisher: cosmigo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Solve 505 tangram puzzles from different groups and become a Tangram Master. Numerous challenges await you. Tangram is the puzzle game for purists. Assemble seven pieces of a puzzle correctly to create a preset shape. Animals, humans or objects – can you complete them all? Statistics are available for players who love to track their wins. Save the game status at any time and continue later. The game’s style and interface have been designed for easy, intuitive operation with the stylus or the + Control Pad.

Shawn Johnson Gymnastics
Publisher: Zoo Games, Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Go for the gold with Shawn Johnson as you compete in the world of competitive gymnastics. Stick your landings on vaults and nail your combinations on the beam to impress the judges. Start as an amateur and work your way up, earning awards on your way to the World Championships. Train diligently during practice and you’ll be ready for competition in no time. Earn your way through bronze, silver and gold medals as you evolve into an all-around star in the world of gymnastics. Perfect your routines and score high marks to earn a place on the podium – and in the hearts of your fans.

Nintendo adds new titles to the Nintendo DSi Shop and the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Mondays. Users with broadband Internet access can redeem Wii Points or Nintendo DSi Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card™ can be purchased at retail locations. All points from one Nintendo Points Card must be redeemed in either the Nintendo DSi Shop or the Wii Shop Channel. They are not transferable and cannot be divided between the two systems.

Remember that both Wii and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit www.Wii.com or www.NintendoDSi.com.

On Sunday, Nintendo celebrated Mario’s 25th with a special event at New York’s Nintendo World Store. The store was closed for much of October for renovations, so this party both celebrated Super Mario Bros and re-introduced the new look for the store. Although Nintendo pre-announced some of the day’s activities, they held back on the two surprise guests for Mario’s cake-cutting ceremony: Reggie Fils-Aime and Shigeru Miyamoto.

I took the family and some friends along for the event, where we checked out Mario’s new decor, hob-nobbed with cosplayers and stood close but not too close to Reggie and Shiggy.

GAME> Double Dragon (1988)
SYSTEM> NES
SOURCE> Game Player’s Strategy Guide to Nintendo Games (1990)

According to Wikipedia, “Due to technical limitations of the NES that were not worked around, the game can only generate two enemies on-screen to confront the player and both enemies are the same character.” Are we talking about the same game here, Chris?

But one of us went back in time and forced Nintendo to get out of the love hotel business and look seriously at video-graphic electro-tainment. So this is your reality, bucko.

This week is the 25th anniversary of the arrival of the Nintendo Entertainment System in America. Since we were there – and, at the time, totally in the target audience – we wanted to share our memories of gaming history’s original MEGATON. Even those of us that were not in America at the time. Walk with us, won’t you? And then let us know about your first experiences with Nintendo’s original entertainment system.

Joe Haygood – My first experience with the NES would have been at my friend’s house in 1986. This guy Ryan had recently had his parents buy him a Tandy 1000EX and they had me stay over one night to fix it up with some software from “various sources”. First we had a great steak dinner with a nice baked potato, which got me in the mood to fix the computer, but from the corner of my eye, I noticed his little brother playing some game on the TV. Now, I have to admit that I had never heard of the NES at this point, and I honestly thought he was playing ColecoVision or maybe an Atari 7800. I was informed that this was a Nintendo Gaming Computer (yeah, i knew it wasn’t a computer, but why spoil the dream), and that they were playing Super Mario Brothers. I was entranced by the simple, yet addictive gameplay. After an hour of that, they switched over to Duck Hunt, and I was perplexed at how the light gun was working with the TV (again, apologies for my 14 year old stupidity). About this point, I was tapped on the shoulder by my friend who almost had to drag me away from the TV to work on the computer. Even more of a downer was the fact that I ended up getting sick off dinner and on the way back home, I ended up puking out the window of the car. So my first Mario experience was very memorable.

After all of that, I cannot believe that this has never come up on a podcast.

Stephen Munn – My first experience with the NES was at a friend’s house. I went over to hang out and he had the first NES I had seen or heard of. We played Super Mario Bros, which amazed me. We also ate pizza.

Vikki Blake – You know those people who remember everything? Those guys who say that they remember being born, or losing a tooth, or the first time they walked? I am so not that person. I remember sweet FA of my formative years. And so whilst I can’t remember the very first time I saw the Nintendo in action, I do remember the first time I felt a pang of its awesomeness – which is saying something, considering I don’t remember much else.

I’ve written about it before, but my parents – read: my Dad – always had a thing for the latest techie gadget, and we had a Nintendo very early on. I don’t remember the first day it arrived – I would’ve been ten, maybe eleven at the time – but I do remember the first time I saw the super-shininess of the gold-embossed Legend of Zelda cartridge. I remember hearing the score and watching my father run through Hyrule – that huge, immense, awesome fictional world – and being completely and utterly sucked in from that point onwards. As awesome as Mario was, and as much fun as it was pitting myself against my brothers, it’s still the Zelda theme that to this day can still catapult me back to those days, sat on the living-room carpet next to my Dad’s chair and finding myself utterly absorbed in this make-believe world.

Joe Fourhman – Our household went from an Odyssey2 to an Apple //, and since the Nintendo had no “2″ in the title, we could not abide it. My parents tried the old “These handheld LCD games will suffice” trick, and I moved out ten years later (unrelated).

After getting my first job, I moved to the original Game Boy right away. Like, First Paycheck right away.

Paul Munn – My earliest memories include how angular the edges of that little rectangular controller was, which had just the D-pad, select, start, and A and B buttons, and how thick the cord was that connected it to the NES. Looking back those are probably the sturdiest cables ever used on a console. I also remember playing Super Mario Brothers for hours on end, working hard to keep Mario running to the end of the level so he could make super-fast jumps to hit the very top of the flagpole at each castle. Duck Hunt was another favorite, and I remember the gun — was it called the Zapper? — had a very, very sturdy trigger that nearly clanged every time you pulled it. Its spring was that strong. Still I think it ended up wearing out eventually.

Shane Whitehouse – My 1st experience, at least I think it was, was about grade 5 and at a “friends” house. I convinced a kid in my class, who in addition to having a NES created these crazy mazes on paper, to let me over to see this new NES thing. He finally let me over and showed me Mario. I was just floored… even more floored when he showed me his BACKUP VHS TAPES he had recorded of the entire game FFS!!!

I didn’t end up getting a NES though for another 2 years or so, and I had to sell my Steve Caballero skateboard to a Convenience Store to get the money for it.

What’s your NES memory? And please, no vomit-related stories. We already have one of those.

This tri-fold brochure was crammed inside Game Boy game boxes of the day. This was back when Capcom had the Disney license. Yes, there was a time when Street Fighter II got just as much promo ink as Gargoyle’s Quest, The Little Mermaid and Snow Brothers Jr. The Darkwing Duck NES game was so new, it didn’t even have box art!

This was also a time of horrible design (triangles! filled with jimmies!) and egregiously unrelated pre-teen clip art. Give a look at the full scans below and reflect on how Capcom turned itself into a name brand gaming powerhouse today.

You also received a lifetime Craze Club membership card for your $3.95. I wonder if current management still recognizes those.

Issue #260, November 2010
featuring GoldenEye 007 (Wii), Kirby Epic Yarn (Wii), NES 25th Anniversary

You guys know me. I’m not one for constantly looking backward at the classic video gaming systems. I don’t regularly fire up my Genesis for a warm look at Star Control and I’ve seen about all the pixel-art-decorating-a-college-building I can stand. Thankfully for you, perhaps, Nintendo Power does not have this problem. Issue #260 devotes a shocking 26 pages to the 25th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System. And while the intro page is pretty schmaltzy, and the editorial contains a typo (“how fun many of these decades-old classics can swtill be”), the article itself takes the brilliant tact of letting modern game developers opine on their favorite NES titles. Here’s some of the standouts.

Hideki Konno (Nintendogs, Mario Kart Wii) on Donkey Kong: “At the end of the [Donkey Kong] commercial, it said the price of the [Famicom] console was 10,000 yen. I misread the digits on the screen, though – I thought it said 100,000 yen. And I was seriously considering purchasing the Famicom for 100,000 yen.”

Warren Spector (Epic Mickey) on The Legend of Zelda: “I can’t tell you how much I love the Zelda music. The main theme, the “you’ve discovered a secret” ditty… I swear my blood pressure drops when I hear that stuff.”

Alex Neuse (Bit.Trip series) on Blaster Master: “…to a dude who had only played games wherein you couldn’t run to the left, this was life-changing.”

Masahiro Sakurai (Smash Bros, Kirby series) on Kirby’s Adventure: “At the time I never imagined that Kirby would grow into such a franchise.”

Brian Provinciano (Retro City Rampage on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: “…most of us kids made our [playable character] decision on one of two factors: our favorite turtle or Donatello.”

Hideki Kamiya (Viewtiful Joe, Devil May Cry) on Super Mario Bros. 3: “I waited at the door … and ran in as soon as they opened, slicing my way through elementary-school kids (I was in high school at the time) and was the first one to buy it.”

Ben Judd (Bionic Commando Rearmed) on Bionic Commando: “I had always longed for a solid “Spider-Man-type” game and the Atari 2600 version wasn’t cutting it.”

Akitoshi Kawazu (Final Fantasy) on Final Fantasy: “We only spent about six months on the development … and we were only very heavily involved in development for four months, but it felt like such a long time.”

Oh, and nobody famous had anything nice to say about Kid Icarus, so NP editor Chris Slate had to write about that one.

Why is Yu-Gi-Oh eating Pokemon’s lunch right on Nintendo’s home turf?

What the hell is that? How is it that freaking Konami figured out how to make a card scanner for Wii so Yu-Gi-Oh players can use their meatspace cards in the video game? Why has Nintendo not done this for Pokemon cards?

Yeah, the GBA’s eReader let you scan in Pokemon cards to unlock secret attacks and GBA minigames and trivia… but Nintendo has yet to produce a video game that lets you play the actual Pokemon Trading Card Game with your actual Pokemon Trading Card Game cards. Am I the only guy who wants this?

And how is it that Konami can’t spell “separately”?

The game, incidentally, is Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’S DuelTranser, which may also contain a typo.

Check out these great ads for this year’s dumb Rabbids game.

This four-page ad for the upcoming Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time shows the Rabbids ripping through three old Rayman Nintendo Power articles.

The first two images feature Rayman 2: The Great Escape for N64 (NP #117 and #125 – 1999), then Rayman: Raving Rabbids for Wii (NP #207, 2006). I have issues #117 and #207, so I can verify that these are indeed actual article pages re-used for a clever print ad.

As for me calling Travel in Time “dumb,” that’s because I’m still pissed that Ubisoft is going back to another stupid party minigame collection after last year’s brilliant and overlooked Rabbids Go Home.

Download Staff Picks: Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (WiiWare), Ufouria: The Saga (NES)

Top scoring Wii review: NBA Jam, 9.0 (all scores out of 10)
Top scoring DS review: Professor Layton and the Unwound Future 9.0
Lowest rated Wii review: Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, 4.5
Lowest rated DS review: Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs, 7.0

Other key reviews this issue include Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light (8.0, DS), Samurai Warriors 3 (6.0, Wii), Wii Party (7.5, Wii), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (7.0, Wii), Sid Meier’s Pirates (8.5, Wii), Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest (5.5, Wii), and Flip’s Twisted World (6.0, Wii).

Call it Kirby: Other M. – Kirby’s Epic Yarn isn’t all NES-controls. For some train-based levels, you point the Remote at the screen and draw train tracks for Kirby-train to use, just like Kirby: Canvas Curse.

Oh, you tease. – Yuji Naka was at Sega working on a Famicom game right before Sega decided to start their own console, so their Famicom project was ended. Naka doesn’t say what the game was like, but he would still like to publish it.

But where’s Joe Don Baker? – The new GoldenEye for Wii slightly updates the original movie/game’s plot but uses the likeness of latter day Bond Daniel Craig.

Suitable for framing. – The issue came with a free poster with retro Mario on one side (leveraging the princess in another castle gag) and a full map of SMB World 1-1 on the other.

I’m still waiting. – The screens for Pac-Man Party still lack any visible Mappy fan service.

Next month in Nintendo Power… time for the Donkey Kong Country Returns preview.

GAME> Metroid (1986)
SYSTEM> NES
SOURCE> Game Informer Volume II #2, March/April 1993

To celebrate this week’s arrival of Metroid: Other M, here’s your order of ordnance in the NES original.