Tag: N64

Nintendo Will Reportedly Remaster/Re-Release “Most of Super Mario’s 35 Year Back Catalogue” for the Switch!

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Video Games Chronicle – Multiple sources have told VGC that the platform holder is planning to hold an event to coincide with this year’s anniversary, which marks 35 years since the start of the mainline Super Mario series in 1985.

As part of its anniversary celebrations, Nintendo will reveal plans to re-release most of Super Mario’s 35-year back catalogue this year, remastered for Nintendo Switch, VGC was told.

As VGC’s network partner Eurogamer reported in a follow-up to our story, these remasters will include 1997’s Super Mario 64, 2002’s Super Mario Sunshine and 2007’s Super Mario Galaxy.

Nintendo will also release several other Mario titles in 2020, including a new instalment in the Paper Mario series and a Deluxe version of 2013’s Super Mario 3D World.

LETS GO! Finally some good news after all the doom and gloom we hear all day every day on the TV right now. If theres one thing thats gotten a lot of us through the Quarantine (get off your cross, I know), it’s been video games. All the money I’ve saved from not going out has gone right back into buying new video games. However, one thing Papa Giorgio and I constantly bitch about is how Nintendo is just sitting on a gold mine of IP at a perfect time in history when everyone is home all day and refuses to open the Disney Vaults. You know how much money I would spend re-buying old Nintendo games if they just ported them to Switch? A lot.

So now comes this report that Nintendo is apparently planning to not only re-release, but *remaster* “most of Super Mario’s 35 year back catalogue.” Porting a game is great, but for Nintendo to go back and actually remaster an old favorite is WELL worth my $60 bucks.

Just the other day I pulled my N64 out of the closet and, after about 10 minutes of furiously trying to connect technology that was never meant to be connected, I hooked it up to my flatscreen TV.

Now a remastered Mario 64 would be incredible, but there’s also a ton of Mario games I missed over the years because Switch was the first Nintendo system I actually bought since N64. So the bevy of titles from Gamecube, Wii, and Wii U is the real gold coin here.

Just think of all the Mario games this could potentially include? There’s obviously a laundry list of titles, but lets run through the most likely candidates from any Mario game that was on a console. The titles in bold were ones mentioned in VGC or Eurogamer’s report as specific games to expect.

  • Super Mario 64 – N64
  • Paper Mario – N64
  • Super Mario Sunshine – Gamecube
  • Super Mario Galaxy – Wii
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2 – Wii
  • New Super Mario Bros – Wii
  • New Super Mario Bros U – Wii U
  • Super Mario 3D World – Wii U
  • Super Mario Maker Wii U

That’s a list of console games pre-Nintendo Switch, not including handheld games or anything prior to N64. A lot of the NES and SNES Mario games you can play right now with Nintendo Switch Online too.

However, as we saw with 2019’s The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Nintendo is not against remastering even old Game Boy games.

So if Nintendo wants to really get nuts, there are a TON of Mario titles to pick from over the last 35 years. Aside from some of the heavy hitters mentioned above, there is one game that I think we all desperately need back in our lives. Yup, thats right. Mario Golf.

Which Mario game do you want to see remastered for Nintendo Switch?

Madden is Losing It’s Exclusivity Deal With the NFL, Which Means NFL2K is Coming Back!

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Yahoo – For the first time in over 15 years, “Madden” is getting some competition in the world of football video games.

The NFL revealed on Tuesday morning that it’s ending its years-long exclusivity deal with Electronic Arts on football games. “Madden” will continue to be produced in partnership with the NFL, but the NFL is also working with 2K Sports — the company behind the smash-hit “NBA 2K” franchise.

That new arrangement encompasses a “multi-year” deal that includes “multiple future video games” — the first of which is expected to arrive next year, in 2021.

The worst thing that ever happened to Madden was the exclusivity deal EA signed with the NFL because it removed any real competition. Madden was always the best football game on the block, but only because it actually had to be. 2K closed the gap when I was in high school and a ton of people still argue that NFL 2K5 was the best, albeit 2K’s last, football game ever made.

Thats not just me looking back fondly on the PS2 days either. NFL 2K5 got a 9.2/10 on GameSpot, a 9.4/10 on IGN, and a 92% on Metacritic, which bested Madden reviews in two out of three as Madden 05 actually got a 9.5 from IGN. Still pretty damn good for a game that just ended up getting shelved a few months later.

So once 2K was no longer there to keep pushing Madden, things got a little stagnant. Madden was always introducing new features with every version of the game, some more beloved than others (I actually enjoyed the Vision Cone), but just look at this run of iconic additions.

  • Madden 99 – Franchise Mode introduced
  • Madden 03 – Online head to head play
  • Madden 04 – Vick God Mode/Playmaker Control/Owner Mode/Mini Camp
  • Madden 05 – Hit Stick
  • Madden 06 – QB Vision Cone/Superstar Mode
  • Madden 07 – Truck Stick

Madden was always trying things out because they had to keep the game fresh. Once any shred of competition was removed, Madden was able to just update the graphics and the rosters each year and sell you the same old shit for $59.99 every August. Madden 07 (released in 2006) was the last year any substantial feature was added to the game in my opinion and that was FOURTEEN YEARS AGO.

I would love for these two giants to go head to head like the good old days, but it seems like 2K may try and go in a slightly different direction.

Notably, 2K says the games it’s creating are “non-simulation football game experiences” described as “fun, approachable and social experiences.”…EA issued the following statement in response to Tuesday’s announcement: “EA Sports is the exclusive publisher of NFL simulation games, and our partnership with the NFL and NFLPA remains unchanged. Our agreements have always allowed for non-exclusive development of non-simulation games on various platforms.

Whatever the hell that means, your guess is as good as mine. It seems like, through 2021 at least, 2K won’t be able to create a true “simulation game” so we may not get a direct competitor to Madden right out of the gates. Perhaps something thats officially licensed by the NFL, but maybe a little…different? Something a little more…arcade style. Something like…

Now we’re talking!

But so help me god if 2K tries to pass off some card based garbage mobile game. Just give us something that will make the folks at EA a little nervous so we start getting legitimately innovative games once again.

There is a Documentary on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Coming. Yes, Please.

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Polygon – The film was first announced back in August; it began as an unsuccessful Indiegogo campaign in 2017. Mic reported on Wednesday that Pretending I’m a Superman ended up getting independent financing. Mic said the film “tracks how the broader skateboarding industry was in a perilous place in the early 90s,” and that the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games were a big part of mainstreaming the sport and lifestyle.

Sign. Me. Up.

For anyone around my age, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was a momentous video game when it first came out in 1999. Sports games were always fun, but oftentimes were more like managing a fantasy team than actually playing the sport. THPS made a game that was FUN to play and introduced an entire generation of kids, myself included, to skateboarding. Think about that for a second. A fringe sport that was traditionally a California burnout beach bum activity went mainstream because Tony Hawk tapped into something no one saw coming.

THPS came out in ’99, which is so long ago that I had it on my Dreamcast. I honestly doubt most of my younger coworkers would even know what a Dreamcast is if I mentioned it. This game should probably also be credited with getting an entire era of kids into punk rock and ska with an absolute banger of a soundtrack. It’s the first game I can remember playing that you actually looked forward to the music. In a way it created the blueprint for music in a game that the likes of NBA2K have adopted and still follow today. With tracks from The Dead Kennedys, The Vandals, and of course Goldfinger’s Superman, this game slapped.

THPS 2 doubled down on the soundtrack too with the addition of bands like Rage Against the Machine, Bad Religion, Papa Roach, Anthrax, and Powerman 5000, which I still have stuck in my head 20 years later.

This whole blog also just reminded me of the store-brand version of THPS; Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX. Am I the only one that played that game? Just doing double back flips on a bike while listening to Sublime and Peaches. Those were the days.

Sony is Jumping on the Cash Grab Bandwagon with the Mini Playstation Classic

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Sony is jumping on the cash grab bandwagon that is the mini “classic” console re-release. It really is nothing more than a shameless cash grab, but hey don’t hate the player. I have yet to pick any of these up because like a hoarder I still own half of these systems and can bust them out anytime I have a 6 pack of IPAs down in my parents basement over the holidays.

Nintendo has led the charge on this trend with the NES Classic Edition

and the Super Nintendo Classic Edition

And people went fucking BANANAS for these things. Legit sold out for months. Something about the nostalgia of video games you grew up playing coupled with the fact that they’re miniature drove people wild.

Meanwhile, SEGA is in the corner like “What the hell? We’ve been selling the same goddamn thing in Urban Outfitters for YEARS!”

Anyways, Sony is jumping into the fray with their own mini system, the Playstation Classic, and I have some questions.

There will be 20 games playable on the PS1 classic and as of right now only a handful have been announced.

“It’ll be out on December 3 in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia, and includes games like Final Fantasy VII, Jumping Flash, Ridge Racer Type 4, Tekken 3, and Wild Arms. There’ll be 20 bundled titles in total, but those five are the only ones announced at the moment.”

$100 bucks for Final Fantasy VII? Pass. Hard pass. Throw in Metal Gear Solid 1, Crash Bandicoot, Tomb Raider, maybe Spyro and then we can talk.

What else should we throw in there? Full disclosure I never owned the PS1. After N64 I went over to the Dreamcast because I’m a goddamn contrarian before coming back to the mainstream with the PS2.

So what other games does this mini system need to have for you to buy it?

Even though it looks like the biggest piece of shit ever created, I am still dying to play the 1997 release, Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout.

Give me all the gloriously bad games and I will somehow wind up giving you $100. But with the garbage thats been announced so far? Can’t do it guys. I gotta save those crisp bills for the N64 classic, which you just know is coming sooner than later.

I mean I’m currently balls deep in Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Switch so its not like I need any more video games, but this is the only “classic” miniature system I’ve ever really been hyped for. Sure I have TWO N64 consoles in my apartment currently, but what I don’t have is a miniature version of it.

I Need These Custom NBA Jam Jordans Like I Need Air

By on • ( Leave a comment )

I don’t think I’ve ever needed something as badly as I need these video game sneakers. So FreakerSneaks makes all these custom Jordans and they are so choice. They got all the classics like NBA Jam, Super Mario, Duck Hunt, and Sonic. There’s stunting on people and  then there’s stunting on people in totally custom NBA Jam Jordans. $1,200? Swipe swipe. So slap these on my Christmas list today mom and dad. Just look at the details though, they even have the championship screen shot on the tongue.

But lets not forget some of the other beauties like the Jordan Sonic: Marble Zone 1. If these kicks don’t take you right back to the glory days of playing Sega in the basement then I don’t even want to know you.

And of course you can’t forget the true classics, the godfather of modern video games, the plumber himself; Super Mario.

On to the best of the rest:

Somebody get me a goddamn sneaker deal!

PS – If I were to design my own pair of these I would 100% have to call them the Jordan Super Nintendo Chalmers 1.

…..Patent Pending.