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GBA-Based Classic NES Series Confirmed For States
Thanks to IGN for its article revealing that Nintendo has confirmed their Game Boy Advance-based classic NES conversions for U.S. release on June 7th. According to the article: "The collection [already released in Japan as the Famicom Mini Series] will be called [the] Classic NES Series, and will begin as a limited edition NES Game Boy Advance SP as well as a line-up of eight classic games", with the specific titles being Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., Excitebike, Ice Climber, Xevious, and Bomberman. The piece also notes: "Each game in the series will be priced at $19.99, and will be packaged in a standard Game Boy Advance box featuring the classic artwork of the original game."
With any luck, we'll get that NES controller seat cushion too. ;-)
Please please please, make a portable version of Super Dodge Ball. That game freaking rules.
Oh, yes! Please, PLEASE give me the honor of paying $20 each for a bunch of 10 year old games that cost a dollar in their original format and/or can be played for free on an emulator (even a portable PDA emu!)! As a Nintendo sh33p, I will gladly pay you over and over again for the same re-hashed games!
..but I got FP, so I'm above the law.
;-)
Anyways, click on the article (I wish I that went without saying) to see the rad retro boxart and the special GBA SP. I was pumped for it, and I'm glad it won't be as rare as the Famicom one, but it's just kinda...ugly. Rumor has it that Nintendo is coming out with new SP colors, though. I'm holding out for yellow
$20 does seem a bit steep for a NES game, though. I mean, you could get Card-E versions of some NES games for $5 a pop. I'll still end up buying them all...sigh...
I'm all for a re-release of the classics-- especially the original Legend of Zelda (stupid save batteries dying... grr...)-- but I am also very much of the opinion that $20 per game is WAY overpriced. Fortunately for me I still have my e-reader and copies of DK, Excitebike, and Ice Climber, and I also picked up Pac-Man Collection a few months back for $10... let's see, $30 for the e-reader, $15 for the card sets, and $10 for Pac-Man is $55 for eight games (Pac-Man Collection has four games on the cart, and the e-reader bundle I bought had DK Jr.) We're looking at a little over $7 per game. I'd find that to be a fair price... but then again, let's assume that $15 is the absolute lowest a "new" GBA game can be and set the price to that. I'd buy Zelda for $15; maybe Xevious, too. Never got a chance to play it. So the question is then what extra goodies and incentives will Nintendo offer for US gamers?
This post differs from the similar troll post below from the anonymous coward in that, to the best of my knowledge, I'm not being a total asswipe about my complaint. Please moderate accordingly.
"Why Subscribe?" Good question...
If they're actually using their own emulator to run the old ROM data for these old games, I wonder how hard it would be (if at all possible) to 'modify' one of the game cartridges to run other NES ROMs.
I dont own a GB, but I'd consider owning one if I could relive my addiction of the original Metroid.
huzzah
I would buy all 8 for $20... The prices are a bit steep.
And they didn't include Punch-Out!....
I gots me a hankering for the classics one day, and went on a crazed eBay spending spree. Got an NES and a bunch of good titles: Contra, Mario 3, Zelda, Ice Climbers, etc. Nothing beats the original hardware playing the original games on the original controllers...
Except that I can't get the blasted thing to work. It's got Grey Blinky Syndrome, a common ailment because the pin connectors are too lose... I cleaned my carts and got a shiny new 72-pin connector, but after installing it, now the thing's got a vice-like grip on my carts to the point where a grown man can't pull them out without yanking the 72-pin free. Agh.
A) Anybody got any suggestions?
B) Maybe getting them emulated on your GBA isn't such a crazy idea...
I thought it looked pretty cool, actually. Then again, I'm an absolute fiend for almost anything NES; I'd probably even wear a Power Glove, if it were socially acceptable. It'd match my watch!
not to troll, but this seems a little fishy. not the fact that they are being released, but the quote from kaplin. she is always well spoken, and that quote is out of character. plus the box art is off. take a good look at that dk box. since when is luigi taking on dk?
i need not remind you all that april 1st is comming up. this isn't quite as fishy to me as the ati radeon 9500 built for ascii gaming, but there are inconsistancies.
All of them were on one cart, hell full price would still be worth it.
Maybe add some mini rpg mode taking place in an arcade to unlock a few others
No Star Soldier? That was the only game out of the collection I really wanted!
Now, on another note, these re-releases are capable of wireless multiplayer if you have the WiFi adapter distributed with the next Pokemon games.
What about PocketNES? It's not "official Nintendo" stuff, but it works. Ok, not all games - here's the compatibility list, anything tagged [P] is good to go. And, yes, you do need the ROMs, PocketNES won't provide them for you... But that what we have the Internet^W backups at home for!
If they were polished versions of the games (ala Metroid: Zero Mission.. I'm too lazy to link) I'd be more then happy to shell out the $20. Hell, I'd shell out full GBA price for that.
Until that happens I'll be just as satisfied with Zelda on my emulator. (I own the original copy so don't hound me out.)
The Nintendo image: http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/nescollect ion_032604_000.jpg
I missed labeling the A and B buttons, but other than that, they look pretty similar. I like mine better though :-)
This is why companies don't listen to people on Slashdot. Before companies started doing this, we all whined about how companies weren't making classic games available. We all had to pirate them and emulate them... we had no option. Poor us.
"Windwaker to be cel-shaded," we whined. "I'd rather the original Zelda any day, but they won't sell it to me!"
Now Nintendo is offering its old games in a variety of formats. What happens? More whining. First, we whine that it's only releasing them in Japan. "Bring them stateside!"
Now they bring it stateside. "They aren't selling it cheap enough," we whine. "They should be bundling more together," we whine. And worst of all, "they already gave this to us free!"
Horrible profiteers, yes, absolutely. They gave us four Zelda adventures essentially free, and now they dare to offer us a portable version for a small price on a console we're actually likely to own.
a similar problem exists for open source advocates. "Every company should give us Linux driverS!" So they give us Linux drivers. "But the Linux drivers aren't open source!"
It's never enough on here.
This Game Boy Advance Famicon/NES with NES games package has first of all been released in Japan, which I read the said series would be exclusive in, and it is now America which is granted with its release. I truely hope Nintendo seriously consider releasing it on the European market, as over here, it would sell like hot buns. Why is the European gaming market always the last one considered when a game is released? On the Nintendo France forums, people are crying and even writing petitions to have Baten Kaitos and Naruto (also Animal Crossing, which is not planned to be released in France) sold over here. There is a real gaming public over here and for some reason, it does not seem to be taken seriously, at all: in the majority of cases, we are always the last to get a bite on the good games; a number of awesome video games products and gimmicks stay exclusive to Japan, when I am sure that they would be a real success here.
Of course, there is the difference in culture, which I know plays the main role in this game of releases and exclusivities. Whereas in the 'land of the rising sun', video gaming has become a cult phenomenom, a true subculture, to the point of having been banalized, here in Europe we seem to have been somewhat "late" in on the market, or so that is what it looks like. Japan has known a real growth in the technology market and America is not far off (if not on a par with) the Japanese technology market, but this does not mean Europe is not ready to be the host to new kinds of technology, which seems to be the constructors' perception of the situation. Their is a real and serious gaming audience in Europe and one that could be of profit, which is, let's not forget, why companies sell games. How could they not understand us being frustrated on being left out on some products which we will never get our hands on excepted in the pages of our favorite magazine? The culture difference is a big factor in this game, as you can notice if you compare the prices of games in Japan to those of the same games in Europe, but I am pretty sure that one can affirm that Europe is ready for the new games and gimmicks, and that there is a public here which can be taken seriously.
Now don't get me wrong, I never said we would want all Japanese releases over here, become some are seriously quite dodgy (what's with the manga whorehouse puzzle games?), but some have true appeal over here and not only to an "elitist" bunch of gamers, but also to a genuine and expanding public which is ready to hand over the cash to get these gems. The best I can hope for is one of the major Japanese companies of the industry seeing the potential of this market; I am conscious this is something which shall not happen overnight, let alone happen at all perhaps, but we over here need to be seen as gamers now, and not only as 'hobbyists'. Whoever knows, maybe one day video games will be as banalized over here as they are in Japan, but as long as the European public is not seen as a serious one, that will not happen... Though will it ever?
"Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect" -- Linus Torval
Nintendo is crazy. They have the worlds most advanced handheld, and they continue to pump out older game titles on it, and, expect us to pay 20 to 40 US dollars for it. I dont see the logic in it anymore. I am through waving their flag. They can go down without me.
Nintendo of America may have removed one of the biggest selling points of the series by using standard GBA packaging and carts. Americans won't pay $20 for these games, and the retro appeal that made the Japanese versions collectors items is gone.
Way to go, Nintendo.
Goo goo g'joob.
Japan gets the games first, because the japanese companies code it with Japanese text.
The US market gets it next, because we're a large market which only speaks one language (theoretically).
You get games last, because they have to be localized in several languages, plus you have a different TV standard (not applicable in the case of GBA games).
Why is animal crossing probably not going to make it over there? I don't think that it sold that well in the US, and given the sheer ammount of text that needs to be translated into french/spanish/german/Italian, NOJ probably won't release it.
In short, Europe gets games last, or not at all, because the number of languages spoken on the continent fragments the available market for each translation of the game. More effort, less reward.
"Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
According to some contacts I have at Gamestop, River City Ransom is being remade for GBA.
BARF!
Are we having fun yet?
Striking fear in the authors of godawful fanfiction, I am here, appearing in darkness, Tuxedo Jack!
It's 2004. In 1993 Nintendo released Super Mario All Stars. You would think you'd be paying less in 2004 for these games than in 1993. That is not the case! In 2004 Mario Bros. 2 and Mario Bros. 3 on GBA cost the same price ($60) as Mario Bros. 1, 2, 3 and Lost Levels in Mario All Stars did. You gotta love Nintendo.
It's coming soon...
May 25
I suspect that, if they wanted to, N could include maybe 30+ games on a single cartridge rather than making a single one for each classic game. Maybe you would be more willing to pay 20 if they stacked games onto the cats - EG having all 4-5 (?) Mario games on one, etc.
My wish list: Mike Tysons Punch Out Crystalis Doctor Mario. Almost makes me want to by a flashcart for my GBA. But the price aint right.