Stadium Events sells for $41,300, becomes most expensive NES game ever
We’re not sure which element of this story is the most newsworthy, so we’ll lead with this: Some person, somewhere in the world, recently spent $41,300 on an extremely rare NES game. Someone was perusing the eBay auction block, saw Stadium Events (which Nintendo bought the rights to and retitled World Class Track Meet), and said, “you know what? That looks like the kind of thing I’d like to spend an American’s median annual income on.”
According to Video Game Price Charts, that auction has turned Stadium Events into the most expensive NES game ever sold. There are around 200 copies of the game still floating around out there — which should be enough to send most of you rushing to your local pawn shop in a Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-esque tizzy.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Stadium Events sells for $41,300, becomes most expensive NES game ever originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Remade NES box art almost as awesome as our childhood memories
The fruits of a deviantART “art jam” concept pitched by user lerms in late 2009 has finally been revealed, rekindling our love for classic NES promotional design (and how awesomely bad it was). The art jam’s rules were simple: Select a classic title and reimagine its box art, while also keeping the spirit of the original in mind. Suffice it to say, the results were superb and only make us want to print each of the designs for use in our own classic gaming collection. (Or at least purchase poster sized prints of them all.)
In all, ten classic designs were re imagined, including covers for Contra, Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, and (finally!) an Iron Sword: Wizards & Warriors II cover sans Fabio.
[Via Tiny Cartridge]
Remade NES box art almost as awesome as our childhood memories originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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VC in Brief: Princess Tomato in Salad Kingdom (NES)
Princess Tomato in Salad Kingdom is your usual text-based adventure game, with a decidedly vegetarian twist. It’s tough for us to provide you with a comprehensive look at a genre with so much content — plus all of the trial-and-error. It wouldn’t make for a very comprehensive and enlightening video, however we soldier on. Check out the latest episode of VC in Brief above!
- Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
Every week, we like to check out what’s new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we’re pushy jerks like that.
VC in Brief: Princess Tomato in Salad Kingdom (NES) originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth Review
Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth is the third and perhaps most impressive entry so far in Konami’s arcade-style WiiWare titles (the first two being Gradius Rebirth and Contra Rebirth). The title, available for download exclusively on WiiWare for 1,000 Wii Points ($10), retells the first adventure of vampire hunter Christopher Belmont in what is essentially an entirely new game.
Unlike the recent Castlevania titles for the Nintendo DS, Castlevania Rebirth ditches the Metroidvania style of gameplay where you unlock portions of Dracula’s castle and level up in a non-linear, RPG/Metroid-like format, and instead harkens back to the straightforward NES days where you progressed from one level to the next in a linear fashion armed with only your whip, your subweapons and nerves of steel.
The gameplay itself is simplistic but fun, giving an appropriate nod back to the series’ roots in arcade-based gaming. You can whip only left or right and have your typical subweapons – the cross, axe, dagger, stopwatch and holy water – with which to venture through the six levels of Dracula’s castle. The subweapons behave just as they did in the early Castlevania games, but Christopher’s whip retains a unique feature from the original version of The Castlevania Adventure – the ability to shoot fire. Though unlike the 1989 game, this ability only lasts for a short while. But thankfully, each enemy hit Christopher suffers from no longer annoyingly downgrades his whip.
Each level features a plethora of custom-drawn enemies – it was a relief to see some new character designs after so much recycling in the Metroidvania titles – as well as a final boss and even some sub-bosses to challenge your arcade gaming skills along with occasionally difficult platforming sections. Defeat the boss and you’ll be rewarded not with an upgrade to your stats or a new skill, but with a sense of accomplishment and yet another challenge via the next level.
The levels themselves are surprisingly well constructed with a fair balance of enemies, platforms and even destructable environments (you can crumble statues with a crack of the whip or even drop chandeliers on top of unsuspecting enemies) that provide a constantly fun and challenging journey. Konami has even given subtle nods to the original title with oversized, rolling eyeballs of doom (a common enemy in the 1989 game) and dangling ropes that mock old-school veterans such as myself who remember Game Boy title’s abundant use of rope climbing in place of stairs.
‘Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril’ could be the latest NES hit
Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril, a new Nintendo Entertainment System title, is almost ready for all those who didn’t get a next-gen system for the holidays. BK:FoP, designed by Sivak Games, will be available on an NES cartridge through website RetroZone sometime this month. The website also sells tools to make original NES games.
Battle Kid reminds us of Mega Man mixed with more Mega Man — minus the suit. A lack of preview build or five-month lead to develop a 3,000 word feature for Joystiq magazine (also available in French) has prevented us from getting a real feel for what the game is about. Check out a video of the 8-bit gameplay after the break and prepare to rock your NES like it’s 1988.
[Thanks, Levi]
Continue reading ‘Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril’ could be the latest NES hit
‘Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril’ could be the latest NES hit originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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US Wii Internet Channel buyers can now download free NES game [update]
![97d76_free-kirby US Wii Internet Channel buyers can now download free NES game [update]](http://wii.wowgoldit.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/97d76_free-kirby.jpg "US Wii Internet Channel buyers can now download free NES game [update]")
Update: Turns out the message was sent as a reminder. So, here’s another reminder. You’d best pick that title up before the offer expires. If you need help deciding, we’ve got you covered.
Back in September, Nintendo began offering the Wii Internet Channel free of charge. To make nice with those who had already paid 500 points for the channel, Nintendo promised a free NES Virtual Console download. Today, we noticed the familiar blue glow emanating from the Wii, signifying something new. Imagine our surprise when we discovered a message from Nintendo saying the free NES download offer was now active.
So, if you’re a US gamer and you purchased the Internet Channel before it was made free, you’re now entitled to a free 500 point NES download. For the record, we chose Kirby’s Adventure.
US Wii Internet Channel buyers can now download free NES game [update] originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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See Mario transformed into bacteria
We’re always happy to see gaming encroaching on the rest of the world, a sign that it’s becoming more culturally accepted and mainstream, but this example is so nerdy, it might actually be a step in the other direction. What you see on the right there is the classic NES Mario sprite, recreated in specifically-engineered bacteria by the nanobiology laboratories at the University of Osaka, Japan.
We love the idea of gaming’s leading man being transformed this way, we can’t help but think how great it would have been if Team Osaka could have achieved the same effect with fungus. … You know, because the Mushroom Kin — oh, never mind.
[Thanks, Modern Epicurian]
See Mario transformed into bacteria originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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VC in Brief: Blaster Master (NES), Earthworm Jim 2 (Sega Genesis)
We’ve got a duo of high-profile titles to check out here on VC in Brief this week. Come for the shooting stuff, stay for the Pig Chutes.
- Blaster Master (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
- Earthworm Jim 2 (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
Every week, we like to check out what’s new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we’re pushy jerks like that.
VC in Brief: Blaster Master (NES), Earthworm Jim 2 (Sega Genesis) originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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VC in Brief: Master Blaster (NES), Earthworm Jim 2 (Sega Genesis)
We’ve got a duo of high-profile titles to check out here on VC in Brief this week. Come for the shooting stuff, stay for the Pig Chutes.
- Blaster Master (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
- Earthworm Jim 2 (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
Every week, we like to check out what’s new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we’re pushy jerks like that.
VC in Brief: Master Blaster (NES), Earthworm Jim 2 (Sega Genesis) originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Miyamoto: Mario originally named ‘Mr. Video,’ couldn’t jump
Though the latest edition of Iwata Asks is technically focused on New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the first few pages of the interview go off on a tangent about the overall-clad plumber’s roots which you might find interesting. For instance, did you know that Miyamoto’s original plan for Donkey Kong was a video game based on Popeye? It’s true — it was only after he was denied the rights to put the muscly-armed sailor man in a video game that he created the most prolific video game character of all time.
Of course, just like a timid middle school student, Mario was forced to go through some awkward formative phases. Miyamoto revealed that in the original design for Donkey Kong, Mario — who, at the time, was referred to as “Mr. Video” — was unable to jump. Man, we feel like we just gazed into some kind of creepy alternate universe.
“It is me, Mr. Video. I’m going to slowly walk over there, all the while praying that I don’t encounter any ground-based enemies.”
Miyamoto: Mario originally named ‘Mr. Video,’ couldn’t jump originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Top 10 Best Selling Games
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