Commodore 64 Titles Join Wii's Virtual Console

TechDock writes "Gamasutra reports that several Commodore 64 games will be emulated on the Wii's virtual console." From the article: "Although no specific titles were named, the only indications so far are of titles from now defunct U.S. developer Epyx, maker of the likes of Impossible Mission and the Summer/Winter/World/California Games series. Best known for their work on the 8-bit Commodore 64 home computer, Epyx also designed the prototype Lynx console for Atari as well as several of its games." I'm thinking we need Ghostbusters, Defenders of the Crown, Maniac Mansion, and (of course) Boulder Dash.

Comments

M.U.L.E.

[jennis]

You can't leave this game off the wish-list of games to port.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.U.L.E

Re:M.U.L.E.

[revlayle]

MULE would be awsome for the Wii (if EA bothers to let it happen), as it has 4 controllers and MULE is great with 4 players!

Re:M.U.L.E.

[jest3r]

Actually an update to M.U.L.E with better graphics, online gameplay, a little more depth on resource types and land usage and NO CHANGE to the audio would be pretty good.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[revlayle]

I would have no problems with updated graphics. However, adding more gameplay elements to an already damn-near perfectly balanced cutthroat game would have to be extensively playtested, IMNSHO.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[El Gigante de Justic]

There's a mess of other E.A. programs for C64 that would be great to see in addition to M.U.L.E. Especially the Adventure Construction Set and the Racing Destruction Set. One can only hope.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[revlayle]

Archon, Wasteland (if the whole swapping floppies thing could be eliminated), Bard's Tale Games, and (not EA, however) the AD&D Gold Box games.

However, getting a nice integrated version of DOSBox for the Wii (one where the emulator and game and config is preset for each game download) could also open up a whole slew of classic DOS games too (like the PC versions of the AD&D Gold Box games, Wasteland, etc...)!

Re:M.U.L.E.

[VJ42]

For some reason, the top of my list (i.e. the first game into my head) came Joust, followed by Miner 2049er. Both of which I played on my Atari, as opposed to the C64, but I kow that they were available for the C64.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[DaveM753]

If you happen to own a Mac, get Power64 emulator for the Mac. Then head on over to www.c64.com.

(There are also C64 emulators for Windows, buy why would you want to dirty the goodness of Commodore?)

Re:M.U.L.E.

[Ucklak]

One game that comes to mind that was unique at the time was Mail Order Monsters.

Game play sucked because of loading times, 2 minutes of loading for 30 seconds of game play followed by another 1 minute of post round then repeat.
All the virtually limitless combinations, my favorite was the squid with the grav gun or the lion bear with beast fu.

Also, don't forget Archon and Adept.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[CronoCloud]

Port the C64 version? MULE was released for the NES.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[simcop2387]

I vote for that and P otty Pigeon!</a> one of my all time favorites ever, what more can you ask than pooping on cars from above!

Re:M.U.L.E.

[Original Replica]

If Mail Order Monsters was rereleased as an online game would it be MOMMMORG? Where can I buy one?

Re:M.U.L.E.

[Tyger]

Hardly a "port" either way. Both the NES and the C64 used the 65xx chip. Which is probably why C64 was easy to add to the lineup. Just need to tweak 6502 to make it 6510, and add SID and VIC support.

Either way, the NES version wasn't as good as the C64 version. (I had them both.) But apparently the original Atari version was even better than the C64 version.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[CronoCloud]

Everyone says the Atari 400/800 version was the best, but MULE Is one game that I've never played. I know, gamer sacrilege.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[Daedone]

I'm pretty sure the whole floppy thing has been worked out in the last 20 years...

Re:M.U.L.E.

[CaseyB]

And combat too!

(Mod: -1 Sad, Because it's the actual goddamn reason that M.U.L.E. wasn't remade by Dani Bunten in the '90s. Some EA fucktard wanted to add guns, and she wouldn't let them.)

Re:M.U.L.E.

[Gulthek]

How about Autoduel?

Re:M.U.L.E.

[LocalH]

Too bad the NES version of MULE sucks, well, mule balls.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[revlayle]

I'm not so sure. Many C64 program *REQUIRE* the user to "switch disks" and then hit a key to continue (for multi-disc games). The various flavors of disk drive for the C64 has no auto detect routine to indicate to a program that a new disk has been inserted. While many emulator enthusists can deal with and manage switching disk images to emulate the switching disks operation, many causal users on something like a Wii may be confused or not understand why they have to do this.

Now, enterprising developers who want to release multi-disk games C64 can go into the original assembly and make it into an executable that requires no disk flips, or even provide an emulator-only opcode to automatically switch disk images that are attached to the games... IF they want to bother with that.
Fortunately, there are a LOT of C64 games not on disk or require on one disk side, as well as not necessarily require a write back to the disk (which is not really the problem tho). Just some of the cool ones are multi disk :)

Re:M.U.L.E.

[shoptroll]

Don't forget there was a NES port done back in the day too. The NES version probably looked better than the C64 version, I wouldn't be surprised if they used that one for the VC in this scenario.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[Aphexian]

Awww man... M.O.M. with beast fu! Thanks for the dip in the nostalgia well... I adored that game, and I had nearly forgotten it... In retrospect, the load times were long, but at the time I knew no better, so it was just a blast.

KUDOS TO THE WINNER

Re:M.U.L.E.

[MarkAD88]

If they release Racing Destruction Set for the Wii I'm a dead man. That game nearly consumed my soul at the tender age of 14 and I can only imagine that the rerelease would suck me in just as well.

I'm sure if they release it on the Wii that my wife and children would simply abandon me.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[KDR_11k]

Considering the load times of some C64 games (e.g. Katakis took like 30 seconds to load each level, after loading the game itself for roughly 2 minutes) they'd have to change the load parts anyway to make the games acceptable to modern users. After all there's no real reason for that to remain but an emulator couldn't automatically cut these parts out without possibly hurting the game itself.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[KDR_11k]

There's C64 emulators everywhere, even on my PDA. I just wish it could run at 100% speed instead of 200% or 50% (without and with framerate limiter).

And don't tell me you need to download those games. Just get a cable and connect your C64 drives directly to your new computer, make your images that way. Though I think that requires a non-multitasking OS to work.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[byolinux]

As an Amstrad CPC user, I am obliged to ask if C64 disk games will still be slower than molasses?

Re:M.U.L.E.

[Daedone]

its not really a matter of "cutting it out" it has to do with the fact of how fast the cpu could parse the code. even just going by some googled specs:

http://www.myoldcomputers.com/museum/comp/c64.htm
http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=8802

The wii is going to be 729 times as fast, cpu wise, and the bus on it is goning to be at least 243 times faster, and 8 times as wide.
Even if they dont optomise the emulator, the wii will be able to load the game faster than the C64 could ever dream. even if you use the bus speed for an ugly example ie 2 minute load time (120 seconds) / 243(wii bus)= 0.49387 seconds to pass the same amount of info, while the CPU sits there twiddling its thumbs even running at this decreased rate. now, granted, an emulator is not always as good as the real hardware its emulating, but even if you assume a 50% efficency rate, HOLY CRAP LOOK AT THAT, its still only 1 second to load. as for the use of "disk swapping" the emulator could just be set up to do it when the game tries to promt for the second disk, like placing the files for multiple cds in a video game install (like UT2004 for example) onto a DVD, I have done this several times with my games to make installing easier, not to mention faster.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[KDR_11k]

Yes but the problem is to tell the emulator which code should be run at full CPU speed and which should be run at C64 speed. You don't want your games to run 729 times as fast and not all loading is just reading from the disk. Since the emulator couldn't tell just from a normal image you'd need to add markers to it (e.g. lines 23-420 are a load routine, run these at full speed) or hand the user the "warp" button. The latter is a pretty inconvenient approach as by the time the user notices it's done loading and releases the button the game may already have begun and played for a few seconds.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[El Gigante de Justic]

Atari M.U.L.E can be played online at http://atarimule.neotechgaming.com/ Even better, it has online support built in already as long as all users are running the same version. There's a download package with a bunch of utilities for setting it up.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[El Gigante de Justic]

My bad - slight correction after looking into it more. while the page looks like a flash version, it's just a front end for the site. Download it from the downloads page and it includes an Atari 800 emulator which support online play as long as someone volunteers as to the server part of it.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[Scoth]

There is a NES version, and while it's playable it just... doesn't quite have the charm of the original Atari version I grew up playing. I'm not quite sure why; maybe it's because they made the MULEs look more like mules than camels. Maybe it's the audio. I don't know. I still play it plenty since I have an NES emu on my GB Micro, but when it comes down to it the Atari version is the one of choice for me.

Re:M.U.L.E.

[MilenCent]

Seconded. The NES version is so much worse than the home computer versions that there's an aspect of travesty to it.

The Dreamcast, however, has an excellent homebrew Atari 800 emulator, and with its four controller ports....

That's funny, cause I wuz thinking

[maynard]

Ultima III

Re:That's funny, cause I wuz thinking

[RingDev]

Oh man, if they bring U3 over my wife is going to demand that we buy one.

-Rick

Re:That's funny, cause I wuz thinking

[01101101]

Oh man, if they bring U3 over my wife is going to demand that we buy one.

Your wife is cool.

Re:That's funny, cause I wuz thinking

[maynard]

I still remember the music track from the Atari 800 version. What a great game.

Re:That's funny, cause I wuz thinking

[HellSpawnCometh]

I was thinking something even more old-school than that...

LOAD "Phantasie" ,8 ,1

I don't know if any of the rest of you remember or have ever even heard of this game, but I for one would love to be able to pull a Godsword, or even a Godknife off of zeus again!

Spell #8 ftw!!!

and if they can port these games without simulating the actual C64 load-times, that'd be awesome... that was the one painful thing about playing them, waiting for it to load the game, or load a new area off the 5 1/4" floppy disk... I feel bad for the people that had to load their games off cassette tapes...

Re:That's funny, cause I wuz thinking

[Qzukk]

Haha Phantasie! I never managed to beat that back when I had a C64, or on an emulator now, I'd always ended up lost somewhere. My cousin would spend hours creating characters just to find a party of people that could swim (the hard way). Heavily ripped off LOTR, what with the rings, the wandering dark knights, and "JRR Trollkin" in there.

Re:That's funny, cause I wuz thinking

[snuf23]

You can play it on an emulator now days. I don't think most of the old RPGs would work well on a system without a keyboard.
Nevermind, I just booted it up and now I remember it's mostly joystick driven. Of course there is the problem that the spells just had a number and you needed to look them up in the manual to see what they did. I had to look up the manual online to figure out that my level one Wizard had Spell #5.
Ah now those were the days eh?

Re:That's funny, cause I wuz thinking

[Scoth]

I was looking for something in the basement of my parents' house recently when I happened upon the cassette tape drive for the Atari 130XE we had growing up, complete with game tape still in it. I immediately ran upstairs and hooked it up to the computer (my parents still have it up and running in my old bedroom; my dad still plays a few old games on it). My fiancee had never heard a tape booting before; it's a horrid, wonderful sound full of memories of days long past when I'd sit for 5 or 10 minutes waiting for some game or another to load up, only it have it error out and have to start all over again.

I've never actually booted a C64 from cassette, so I have no idea if it actually played the tape noises. One interesting side effect of this is I remember a few tape-based games with actual voiceovers. Didn't see that again until the CD-ROM era.

Re:That's funny, cause I wuz thinking

[HellSpawnCometh]

Oh man... you cheated!! Ok, I'm gonna sound like the old man complaining about walking 26 miles uphill both ways in six feet snow to get to school here, but...

When I was playing this on the C64 I didn't have the instruction manual, nor the internet to look it up on... I had to figure out what the spells did completely by trial and error... ROFL

1 through 4 = Healing
5 through 8 = Damage
45 through 48 = Damage all monsters (I think... it's been a while LOL)

there are 50 or 60 of them in all I think... and I never did figure out all of them... LOL

I'm starting to feel the urge to pull the old C64 out of the closet and boot it up now... damn you /. for giving me these urges!!!

Re:That's funny, cause I wuz thinking

[snuf23]

I was lucky, I actually owned the boxed game when I was a kid. I remember the stiff carboard box from SSI. Here's the spell list. That site also has the full docs if you go to the root URL and search for Phantasie you'll find it.
I forgot how brutal these old RPGs can be. As far as I can tell you can't ressurect your dead characters except with a high level wizard. I've taken to using Vice 64's quick snapshot function after every battle. Now that's cheating!

Wow

[caffeinatedOnline]

My first major introduction to computer games was on a C64. Sure, I played cartridge games on the Vic-20, but some of my most fond memories of gaming come from the C-64. Already owning a 360, I was going to put off buying another system for a few years till they dropped in price. Now, I might be in live for the Wii when it ships. Does anyone remember the ninja game for the C-64, the one where you would find different weapons laying around, angle view playing, little black ninja, etc.etc?

Re:Wow

[revlayle]

The Last Ninja series... by good ol' System3?

Re:Wow

[caffeinatedOnline]

That's it... The Last Ninja... ah, memories of many a late night spent playing that game. Thank you!

Re:Wow

[Cybrex]

You can find it online. There are a few C-64 abandonware sites around that are very good. Also, decent 64 emulators are available for just about any platform (if you're using a Mac I highly recommend Power64).

little computer people

[grapeape]

They have to get Little Computer People, The Sims has nothing on that classic :) Above all I would love to see Miner 2049'er and Attack of the Mutant Camels. I love old school gaming but can only take Nostalgia in small doses, howerver the price is ok and the kids will get a laugh out of seeing what daddy played when he was their age.

Re:little computer people

[kinglink]

Miner 2049!!! VGA only please :)

Oh man now that was a great game... I only ever beat it once, but probably played it about a hundred times. Great game.

Re:little computer people

[Ucklak]

One of the cool things about the port for the Atari ST was when the dude played his piano and you had your MIDI compatible device hooked up to the onboard MIDI ports, the music he played channeled through.
I remember leaving the computer on, eating dinner and hearing The Entertainer on my keyboard.

worst. idea. ever.

[poot_rootbeer]

The Wii is gonna be soooo failure...!!! I mean, really, who wants to have to draw out LOAD "*",8,1 in the air with that lame remote all the time???

Re:worst. idea. ever.

[ZoneManSPW]

Maybe the Wii controller will have
a slot where you can put a fastload
cartridge in it, for a 2 key shortcut
to LOAD "*",8,1

Re:worst. idea. ever.

[CronoCloud]

No no no, JiffyDos emulation is what you want.

Re:worst. idea. ever.

[kafka47]

Thanks for that. You made me spit out my tea lol.... :)

A few "wish list" titles....

[Zab UvWxy]

I echo a previous poster's vote for M.U.L.E. The article also mentioned the Impossible Mission titles (I much preferred the first).

I'd also like to see Forbidden Forest, the Jumpman series, and the Apshai games.

And of course.... ADVANCE OF THE MEGA-CAMELS!!!!!

Re:A few "wish list" titles....

[great throwdini]

I'd also like to see Forbidden Forest, the Jumpman series, and the Apshai games.

Thumbs up to Forbidden Forest, but of the Apshai titles, I'd only look forward to Gateway to Apshai. The remainder of Apshai titles were RPGs with excruciating controls and limited appeal IMO, even in the age of the C64.

Re:A few "wish list" titles....

[EasyT]

Throwing my own hat into the "wish list" thread, I'd really love to see Load Runner. Please, god.

Re:A few "wish list" titles....

[clem]

I'm hoping for Interplay's adaptation of William Gibson's Neuromancer. Loved the cyberspace battles.

Re:A few "wish list" titles....

[randyest]

It's Lode Runner and I want it too.

Re:A few "wish list" titles....

[TimeForGuinness]

I hated that freakin' swamp rat.

Cheers,
TFG

Each Announcement

[Anonymous Coward]

Every one of the virtual console announcements, on it's own, seems reasonably unimpressive but as time goes on I become more and more impressed with the system. When it was first announced as a NES/SNES/N64 emulator I thought that it was alright but nothing to write home about; after the Sega Master System/Genesis and Turbo-Graphics 16 announcment I was starting to get excited. With the C64 (and one would hope Colleco/Atari/Intellivision) announcments it seems like Nintendo is actually trying to bring the most retro-gaming together on one platform.

Re:Each Announcement

[MikeFM]

Really the backward support of old games is probably the most interesting thing about the Wii. They should really buy up all the old games wholesale and make them available for free on the Wii. Everything from Intellivision to Playstation. Heck, throw in older PC game support. If all this was available for free on the Wii I'd definitely buy one and if I owned one I'd buy new games for it.

I'm hoping for Zork.

Re:Each Announcement

[namekuseijin]

I predict Nintendo will haunt and criminally persecute all major emulation sites out there. That's the real reason behind these "virtual console" efforts: to make even legitimate uses of emulators by people who own the original machines and games a crime, so that people will have to buy the games they actually purchased back then again.

I don't know how they'll cope with open-source emulators, though, since the code is out there in the wild...

truth be told, it's not just Nintendo: M$ has a similar effort and it's been rumoured that PS3 games won't run in hardware other than the one they were first run at, making it impossible to resell.

Re:Each Announcement

[Planesdragon]

That's the real reason behind these "virtual console" efforts: to make even legitimate uses of emulators by people who own the original machines and games a crime...

If all it takes to turn your "legimitate use" into a crime is Nintendo offering a legal alternative, then you're outside the bounds of legal protection anyway.

Finding ROMs that match the same version of a console game you own is hard, and copying it over is less than simple -- in fact, if you can copy an old ROM, then you're smart enough to go find a job as a programmer.

$10 for a copy of an old game I fondly remember, or lost and never got around to beating, is well worth it. Especially since it's going to be something that will "just work", without mucking around with my PC or a custom keyboard layout.

Re:Each Announcement

[KDR_11k]

Of course with the C64 it's pretty easy to buy a C64 serial to lpt1 cable (or solder your own) and rip the images straight from the disks you own.

Re:Each Announcement

[Bambi Dee]

This wouldn't work in emulation (or with any modern Z-code interpreter), but there is a Japenese Zork port for the Sega Saturn. The Real videos aren't working for me and the screenshots at if-legends.org are offline, so I can't tell how it's played. I imagine a menu would work just fine as an interface to the not-so-sophisticated Zork-era parser and world model, but the game does have its "secret" word(s) - how do you offer those up for selection without giving them away? Oh well.

Other C64 classics

[El Gigante de Justic]

I only have some vague memories of playing on my older brothers C64, but I'd like to see the following:

Axe of Rage
Jumpman
Jet Set Willy
Mail-Order Monsters
The Last Ninja
and of course Forbidden Forest

A lot of the best C64 RPGs were already released on NES, so maybe we'll just see the NES versions of those.

Re:Other C64 classics

[Bieeanda]

God, yes. I'd love to see some of the classic EA titles like Mail Order Monsters (made by the same folks behind Star Control and the Ur-Quan Masters!), Racing Destruction Set (whose internal track construction system was designed with a joystick/controller in mind) and Realm of Impossibility. Save your MORPHs, tracks or progress through the Thirteen Dungeons to your Wii's non-volatile RAM, transfer them to friends over the 'net, and... oh, god. I think I just had a retrogasm.

Re:Other C64 classics

[bensode]

Maybe http://www.lemon64.com/ will spark a few memories.

This has nearly EVERYTHING you want to know. Scans of original packaging, game manuals ... used to have all the roms too but I think that stopped a long time ago because of law suits.

Virtual console

[the_brobdingnagian]

When i look at the Wii site now, I see 4 systems supported as virtual console. About a month ago I could have sworn there where at least six systems on the same page. I should have saved the page.

Re:Virtual console

[DanloRingess]

On the Wii Channels page, it lists "NES, SNES, N64, Sega Genesis and NEC TurboGrafx platforms" So I count 5, plus the Commodore 64 bringing it up to 6. If you count the backward compatibility with the GameCube, that is 7 older platforms they support. Not too bad in my opinion.

I'm in earworm HELL! Thanks a lot!

[krell]

I figure I'll get that Mule music out of my head sometime tomorrow morning.

Re:I'm in earworm HELL! Thanks a lot!

[bobdehnhardt]

Two friends and I learned that music well enough to sing it, each of us on a part. To this day, all one of us has to do is start the drum beat, and we can launch into it.

Hmmm.... If you'll excuse me, I have a conference call to make.

Good roundup of Epyx games

[OakDragon]

A good roundup of Epyx games can be found here. Lots of screenshots, ratings, and scans of old ads. (Not my site, but this topic reminded me of it.)

Re:Good roundup of Epyx games

[Blakey Rat]

Lunar Outpost!!! No Zytrons In Range!

That's all I have to say about that.

Stay awhile...

[brunes69]

...stay FOREVER!!!!!!

Those words still run a chill down my spine.

Serioursly though, this is AWESOME!

Re:Stay awhile...

[Ucklak]

You know, that opening was pretty damn fantastic but the let down was the end when all he says "no, no, NOOOO" and you see his big head.

Ghostbusters was the other speaking game at the time.

Re:Stay awhile...

[Blakey Rat]

C-64 had a lot of speaking games. There was a Barbie game that talked, for instance. There was a shooter called "Psychastria" (or something similar) that said "Tough luck, dummy" when you died. Or something like that, it was hard to make out.

Re:Stay awhile...

[Ucklak]

There was also a speech synthesis program called S.A.M I think.
I remember the syntax was something like

say"he4lo3. ha4rh r yuu tudah4"

for `Hello, how are you today?`

Re:Stay awhile...

[An ominous Cow art]

Software Automated Mouth.

I wasn't much into piracy, but I did have a pirated copy of that for my Atari 800, until an idiot friend killed the disk :-(.

Re:Stay awhile...

[hords]

Neuromancer (which I would love to see on the Wii) had a digitized intro, music and words. Of course it was only a short clip of the song with the limited ram.

defender of the crown

[gEvil (beta)]

Defender of the Crown was ported to the GBA a few years ago.

Re:defender of the crown

[sqlrob]

It's also out on PS2

Re:defender of the crown

[Daetrin]

It's also out on PS2

Unfortunately the developers totally screwed up the new version by making it the game one big quest mode. You always have to play as Robin Hood, you always have to go through the tutorial bit at the begining, you always have to go through the rest of the story elements for the remainder of the game.

How much extra work would it have taken to add an extra mode where you could start a strategy only game which allowed you to pick any one of the sides? I can't imagine that much, expecially compared to the amount of replay it would have enabled. I was a also a little disapointed with the battle system. You have three "channels" down which you can send groups of troops to fight the enemy, it was interesting but in the long run i felt it was too twitch based and wished they had stuck with something simple and strategic like the original game.

The PS2 game was fun for what it offered, but i couldn't help feeling disapointed because it could have been so much more if they'd just put a little more effort in.

Games I'd like to see

[DrWily]

I remember playing Ghost Chasers and that was fun. I second Jumpman, Defender of the Crown, and Little Computer People! Also one that I never saw good on any console but great in the arcade was STUN Runner. That would make an awesome use of the Wiimote!

This is like the best news ever

[clu76]

I always thought that c64 games on the wii virtual console would be awesome. Though I never thought it would actually happen. Games I want:

Alice in Wonderland
Below the Root
Jumpman
Beach Head
Montezuma's Revenge
Labyrinth
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mind Benders

Re:This is like the best news ever

[regular_gonzalez]

Good list. I'd add The Seven Cities of Gold, GI Joe (awesome multiplayer game), and Realms of Impossibility.

Re:This is like the best news ever

[coop247]

You would think playing old games would be fun, but sadly it is very disappointing. I know it looks fun. I remember playing C64/A2600/NES games and they were great at the time. I bought two different "classic" game compilations for the PSP and after about 5 minutes you realize that the great game you remember is unfortunately quite repetetive and boring compared to what you are used to.

Re:This is like the best news ever

[tao]

Well, at least Zak you can play in ScummVM (yes, even the 64-version is supported; although the 256-colour FM-towns version is the best looking, the 64-version has the best music).

Wizball!!

[deadryk]

Mornin'

I can imagine playing "Wizball" with the Wii remote. All the spinning and fine motor control would do nasty things to my carpal tunnel, and I would love it!! Two player would be a must, not sure how you would control CAT otherwise.

And of course... Tounge of the Fat Man (Mondu's Fight Palace), tis a classic.

- Nothin Fancy.

Re:Wizball!!

[natslovR]

Wizball was awesome. Probably the most fun non-sport co-op game there has ever been. Two player wizball on wii is a must!

Re:Wizball!!

[ZzzzSleep]

Quoth deadryk about Wizball

Two player would be a must, not sure how you would control CAT otherwise.

They'd probably do the same thing that they did in the C64 version. You hold down a button, Wizzie keeps firing/moving/doing whatever he was doing before, and the joystick now controls CAT.

C64 titles - oh yes!

[skurk]

Two words: Bloody. Brilliant.

Just when I thought the Wii couldn't get any more attractive, they come up with this. This cute, affordable console just gets more attractive for every day that goes by. Just check out the preview videos of some of its titles.

..And ofcourse, the reason to choose Wii over PS3. I mean, hey - who wouldn't? :)

Seriously though, all we need now is a free (or affordable) devkit and we've got ourselves a wi(i)nner.

I can't wait. I'm getting one the minute it hits the shelves.

Re:C64 titles - oh yes!

[CronoCloud]

Ummm PS3 + Linux + VICE = any C64 application you want including keyboard intensive games. Same goes for the PS2.

Re:C64 titles - oh yes!

[Leto-II]

[blockquote]..And ofcourse, the reason to choose Wii over PS3. I mean, hey - who wouldn't? :)[/blockquote]

Hilarious video. :)

Re:C64 titles - oh yes!

[Leto-II]

If there is a mistake...well, you should have used the 'Preview' button!

Games copyright,

[mnmn]

Shouldnt all the Atari games' copyright be over by now? If thats true, we can see a cheap single DVD with the emulation and all C64 and Atari 2600 games ever produced.

If it hasnt expired, can an expert here give us a year?

Re:Games copyright,

[maynard]

See the wikipedia entry on US copyright law:

The length of the copyright term within the United States was extended by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act which made the copyright term the life of the author plus 70 years for works created after January 1, 1978. In the case of a work of corporate authorship (also known as "Work for Hire") the term will be 95 years from the date of first publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever expires first. This legislation was challenged in court and affirmed by the US Supreme Court in the landmark copyright decision, Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003), in which the Supreme Court agreed that the length of the copyright term (ie, during which the copyright holder has a monopoly on its exploitation) could be extended by Congress after the original act of creation and beginning of the copyright term, as long as the extension itself was limited instead of perpetual. The duration of U.S. copyright for works created before 1978 is a complex matter; however, works published before 1923 are all in the public domain.

Based on this, if one assumes 1980-1990 as the baseline for most ATARI games, they should fall out of copyright into the public domain sometime around 2200 - 2210. Yup, seriously.

Re:Games copyright,

[maynard]

Need a coffee! (and preview) That's 2100 - 2110.

Re:Games copyright,

[johnsmith_12345]

That makes all the diffrence in the world....
  I was shocked but now I am going to wait it out....

Re:Games copyright,

[maynard]

Better be first in line for them life-extension drugs!

Re:Games copyright,

[Surt]

Indeed, and no doubt it will be extended again before then to protect the mouse indefinitely.

Copyright laws have completely failed the people in their intended purpose to both reward creators AND bring new material into the public domain.

Re:Games copyright,

[Ucklak]

You can fit all of the games for the Atari 2600 on a CD (or a couple of floppies).
Hello, just market a thumbdrive with all the games on it including the emulator.

Re:Games copyright,

[LocalH]

Try October 1977-January 1992. This means that some of the earliest 2600 games will enter PD long before the majority of the system's catalog, as there were three months betweem the 2600's introduction and the earliest date covered by the Bono Act.

Re:Games copyright,

[mrchaotica]

Copyright laws have completely failed the people in their intended purpose to both reward creators AND bring new material into the public domain.

Only the latter is the intended purpose; the former is just a means to that end.

Re:Games copyright,

[snuf23]

They've released Atari 2600 compilations for consoles and Windows. You can usually find them pretty cheap for example here.

Now for Commodore 64 - nothing on the legal side I guess, but this site has been around forever:

ftp://arnold.c64.org/pub/games/

Re:Games copyright,

[sowth]

Forget emulators, they are selling Atari 2600 consoles with a bunch of games built-in for about $20(US). If you look in the toys/game section of your local department store, you may find it.

Re:Games copyright,

[Conspiracy_Of_Doves]

You think that copyrights should ever expire? Report yourself to Father^H^H^H^H^H^HHomeland Security immediately, you unamerican scum!

Best news evah!

[Frag-A-Muffin]

I can't wait. I hope Space Taxi makes the cut. One of the best games ever :) I've been trying to make a clone of it, but it keeps getting pushed to the back burner. Oh, and Archon too. I'd be super impressed if I could play Archon with a buddy over WifiConnection!

Re:Best news evah!

[drinkypoo]

Amen to that. Space Taxi and Archon are the two finest C64 games ever. IMO, anyway. But especially space taxi. Then again, Thrust would be a nice addition as well.

Re:Best news evah!

[AKAImBatman]

I hope Space Taxi makes the cut. I've been trying to make a clone of it, but it keeps getting pushed to the back burner.

How about an officially sanctioned sequal?

Re:Best news evah!

[Frag-A-Muffin]

How about an officially sanctioned sequal?

Heh, very nice. Looks so 3D though ;) I just might give it a shot. The most important part would be the voices though. Nothing compares to the "Hey Taxi, Pad 4 Please" on the C64 :)

Re:Best news evah!

[markimusk]

Seconded! Space Taxi rules and I bought this very sequel as well.

Best $19.99 I ever spent and the only game installed on my PC.

If you liked Space Taxi on the C64, you will enjoy this update to it.

And while reading this thread I can't help but being somewhat surprised by the enthusiasm for theses old games. What I mean is everyone is kind of saying "OMG! I loved that game! I'd pay for it in a second!"

Okay, my point being is that all of these games never went anywhere. They are all still availble. I've got a C128 hooked up on my desk, been there since I scored it on ebay for $30 about five years ago, there is so much of this original equipment available for cheap that anyone can still play it.

But now Nintendo is dangling these tidbits and everyone is freaking drooling? Why? if you want to play M.U.L.E. then play it! You can do it very cheap through emulation, or like I did and invest a whole $30 and get the original equipment and play it like it was meant to.

And I'm not even anywhere near being some kind of gearhead, just google Commodore emulator and enjoy! It's really easy, if I can do it, so can anybody.

And now Nintendo is going to try and cash in on it. Know what? If it works (and judging by the posts I've read so far) good for them! Cash in on an untapped market!

My take is this, I'm a bit of a retro gamer, not insanley so, but none of the new consoles interest me at all. Online content? Micropayments? If I wanted to game online I would use my computer. Right now I can pop in Panzer Dragoon Saga into my Saturn and not have to worry if it is still "supported" or not.

I really liked Phantasy Star Online for the Dreamcast but now that the servers are down and the game is no longer supported, what good does that do me? hmmm, I can still play Panzer Dragoon Saga but not Phantasy Star Online.

And that is where I think the current generation of consoles is headed. It will be pretty damn cool. Now. Okay, what about 5 or even ten years from now? I sure didn't have to download any patches for my Sega CD games and can still play them, not sure about this "next" generation though...

ok, I just proved my point, I just fired up Space Taxi on my C128 and played it with a CX-40. Absolute fun!

Also, about 1-2 years ago, just after I bought Space Taxi 2 for the PC I emailed John Kutcher whom wrote the original and told him how much of my youth I wasted on his original game (never paid for!) so I was more than happy to buy the new one, not even sure if he gets anything out of it, but I felt better about it... and he wrote back. I was very surprised but he did and thanked me as well, said he was glad something he did provided enjoyment to someone. Great Stuff!

So I guess to summerize, John Kutcher is a good man.

Why is everybody so happy that Nintendo is going "retro"?

I guess because the new games pretty much suck. And...

Why do you have to buy a new console to get retro games people? You don't, but Kudos to Nintendo for seeing this market. (especially since I'm a Sega boy...)

Markimus of K.

The only thing that would be better

[regular_gonzalez]

If they can get the rights to emulate Atari 2600 games and enable online multiplayer for Warlords, the Wii would easily be my favoritest console ever.

Ahh, the good old days.....

[petera76]

What about Paradroid, Turrican (1 and 2) and IK+. I spent far too many hours playing these games as a kid.

So what if Nintendo are going as much for the retro crown as the traditional fanboys? They seem to have figured that trying to follow Sony and MS is not for them and decided to go down their own path and kudos to them I say.

M.A.M.E. and all the other emulators out there are good, but it's still not as good (or nostalgic)as plugging it into your TV.

Maybe someone will bringout a Wii compatable Quickfire joystick?

Re:Ahh, the good old days.....

[KDR_11k]

I'm still seeing the Playstation version of IK+ in stores. 3€ or so.

Karateka

[incest]

I dunno about you guys, but Karateka has a warm place in my heart even after all these years. I'd love to play it again.

And as long as I'm dreaming, Lord British will rise from his grave or his hole or his whatever and make a solo RPG with a great story and a lot of ethical decision-making, just like he used to.

Oooooooooh, and I always loved Moon Patrol. I played that until I broke the cartridge.

Re:Karateka

[DaveM753]

Oh yeah....Karateka was fun! I still remember the first time I beat that bastard eagle. That was a banner day for me. :-)

Great Giana Sisters

[petteri_666]

Nice news. I still somehow doubt that the greatest C64 game of all time Great Giana Sisters will appear on Wii ;)

Re:Great Giana Sisters

[natslovR]

I'd not played any Mario's when i first tried GGS, which i quickly thought was one of the best game ever. It certainly played better than the mario it cloned.

Re:Great Giana Sisters

[KDR_11k]

Interesting that I had to go this far down the thread to find a reference to that game. That and Katakis (same developer, same legal trouble) were probably my most-played C64 games. I had a hacked version that substituted Mario and Luigi for the sisters and a mushroom for the punk wheel (I also have the normal version, of course).

Re:Great Giana Sisters

[hords]

While Great Giana Sisters was fun, it sucked in comparison to Super Mario Brothers in my opinion. It was too buggy and felt like a little bit more polishing could have done wonders for it.

Yie-Ar Kung Fu!

[Kman_xth]

The only game that asked me to turn off the disk drive after loading (?!), and never wanting to turn it on again was Yie-Ar Kung Fu! A primarily melee 2d fighter, where you could jump insanely high to get away from your opponent. Although it's not from epyx (Konami I think), I'd gladly give some wii points for it.

ARCHON!!!!!

[crotherm]

Archon is a MUST.

Re:ARCHON!!!!!

[El Gigante de Justic]

Archon would be pretty sweet, but it seems more likely they would just port the NES version of it. Probably the same for M.U.L.E. and Ultima 3-5, but it would be cool to see both options available.

Here's hoping we can use USB Keyboards

[Daimando]

That way, it will feel more like using a Commodore 64 when we download the games.

Xmen: Madness in Murderworld

[LoverOfJoy]

That's what I want! Along with all those other Paragon software games that involved superheroes.

Ugh.

[eddy]

Ah, yes. The NES version which was famously RAPED by Nintendo's stupid censorship rules.

Almost makes me not want to support Nintendo, still.

Re:Ugh.

[WilliamSChips]

It's more legitimate than calling George Lucas's changes rape. At least George Lucas didn't change the message(if Han were really supposed to be badass Greedo wouldn't've been armed) or anything like what Nintendo did.

Re:Ugh.

[ElleyKitten]

It's more legitimate than calling George Lucas's changes rape.

You know, maybe that word shouldn't be used lightly, on edits to movies and videogames. It kinda diminishes what the word actually means.

Re:Ugh.

[WilliamSChips]

True.

Re:Ugh.

[eddy]

Words are overloaded all the time, get used to it. What really gets me about the PC crap around rape is that so many seem to rate it worse than murder. Maybe the word SHOULD be "diminished" so people get some perspective on life.

I guess you "correct" people who use the word "kill" outside of the meaning of literally taking a life too? Wouldn't want to "diminish" the meaning of "kill".

c64?

[DocBoss]

What is a commodore 64?

Viva Epyx!

[Xaroth]

On the one hand, I desparately want to say things like "Woohoo! Jumpman, here I come!". On the other hand, I'm totally sure that Nintendo is lurking around internet forums looking for which games to port. I can just imagine the conversation:

Nintendo Secret Ops Agent Alpha: "Oh! Some random person on the internet just said that Jumpman must be ported!"
Nintendo Project Lead: "That's great! We'll get right on it!"
Nintendo Secret Ops Agent Alpha: "...oh, wait. Someone else on the internet says that game sucks."
Nintendo Project Lead: "Nevermind, then. Cancel the programming team."

Pool of Radiance

[ectal]

I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that the C64 thing catches on and moves beyond Epyx. Having Pool of Radiance, the Bard's Tale series, Wasteland, and--this one will never happen--Alternate Reality remixed for the Wii would be incredible. And let's add in Bluetooth keyboard support.

Oh, C64 nostalgia... I've tried emulators, and they just don't do it for me. But somehow C64 games on the Wii sounds good. I can't explain that.

(As fond as the memories are, we can probably skip BASIC and GEOS, as hilarious as they'd be.)

Cauldron!!

[suparjerk]

And Cauldron II.

M.U.L.E. and Jumpman of course.

Below the Root, BC's Quest For Tires/Grog's Revenge, the Beach Head series, Heart of Africa (and Seven Cities of Gold), Spy vs. Spy 1 and 2, Parallax would all be pretty awesome too.

Life plus works against you too

[tepples]

Better be first in line for them life-extension drugs!

If the author gets the same drugs, the copyright will be extended just the same amount of time.

Paradroid

[David Rolfe]

Paradroid is an absolute classic (and the first game I ever bought on diskette). The "battle for control" of other droids brains is one of the most fun action-puzzles I've ever played. The smooth scrolling 'hi-res' graphics were a class above at the time. And finally, one of the robots you could take over was a Dalek in all but name! Mmmm Daleks. The control felt great, the tension and challenge are also superb -- this is from back when games weren't soothingly easy. And the flavor and illustration of the wide variety of droids is also fun.

Everyone else, if you haven't played Paradroid, find it and run it under emulation (or download it for Wii if it ever makes it). It's definitely one of those games that has aged well and is still both challenging and fun.

Or... try one of these remakes for some flavor:
http://freedroid.sourceforge.net/
http://www.jpct.net/paradroidz/paradroidz.html
http://www.paradroid.ovine.net/

This just keeps on getting better...

[ciw42]

Lets hope they make plenty of these available - Mayhem In Monsterland, Creatures II, Paradroid, Sanxion (they'll need to somehow make sure you can hear the loading music), Wizball, Apple Cider Spider, Archon, Thunderbirds (the original Firebird one), Monty On The Run, Ghostbusters, Impossible Mission, IK+, Sentinel, Spy vs Spy (the Island one), H.E.R.O., Aztec Challenge and Thrust. I'd buy them all, and presumably they'll only be a few GBP each too.

Think I've just gone from my plan of picking up a Wii when I'm in my local Game and can just grab it from the shelf, to pre-ordering.

Great! Now...

[writermike]

Now let's bring in games from the following:

Atari 2600
Bally Astrocade
Vectrex (simulated, of course)
Intellivision
Atari St
Amiga
MSX
Odyessy
Neo Geo
Sega Master System

And while you're at it, why not throw a PS-1 and PS2 in there. Go ahead, they won't mind.

But, please, please! No CD-i. I don't care how possible it is. It's just not right. No one should ever seen that ... thing ... again.

Re:Great! Now...

[British]

Yes, let's port MESS(and mame) over, put some tweaks in to make it easy to use, secure some licenses, and BAM: instant retro-library at launch.

I'd love to be able to play classic games in the living room instead of fighting with so-so programmed emulators.

Re:Great! Now...

[ZombieRoboNinja]

"But, please, please! No CD-i." Aw, how will I complete my Zelda game collection? :-(

Please, don't forget Earth Orbit Stations

[WCLPeter]

I spent hours and hours playing Earth Orbit Stations as a kid.

It's a very hard game to describe as there was so much to it, but in essence you were given command to build a space station and make it profitable. You had a number of missions to complete before a set time, all the while your friends were *also* trying to complete the missions before you! You had to learn to balance setting station modules for research, profit, or maintaining the station.

The game would throw in little *snags* to mix things up, and if you wanted a *real* challenge you could turn on "component scheduling" where you would have to plan your station in your head, schedule the parts on shuttle launches and then put the thing together as the parts arrived. This game was under-rated but incredibly fun.

If they port this to the Wii, I'm going from a potential buy to a buy for sure.

Pete...

Since everyone's doin it

[CrazyJim1]

Gotta give a shout out to Legacy of the Ancients and Wasteland.

"Another visitor..."

[CreateWindowEx]

It took me ages to figure out what it was saying before "stay awhile, stay FOREVER..."

Don't forget the echoing footsteps, the whirring elevator, or of course "AIIIIIIIIIGHHHhhhhh...."

Drink and Drown

[Chadhulhu]

best game for the C64. Only reason I still play that 64k son of beetch. well not really, I just love the old fella. like a family PET..lol

What is the point?

[DrXym]

If I want nostalgia, I can fire up an emulator and play thousands of easily obtainable C64 (or Spectrum, ST, Amiga, Amstrad, BBC, Atari, Gameboy, N64, PS, SNES) games. Or I buy something like this and do the same.

Re:What is the point?

[wknoxwalker]

Because it is quick, easy, and in your living room.

It's the difference between playing a DVD on your PC connected to your TV and using a DVD player.. Not much time saved, but it can make your life that little bit easier.

Plus I have no doubt they will add innovative little things into it all and in general pander to our nostalgia (and our micro-payments).

Re:please oh please have Delta

[cheese-cube]

If you like the soundtrack to Delta heres a nice piece: 'Space Grind'

STAY AWHILE..STAY FOR-EVVERRR. HAHAHAHAHHAHA

[siberian]

If you don't remember that you didn't game on a 64.

Re:Best Games I evah played

[tao]

Well, luckily there's both Nighthawk and Freedroid (the latter with great music as a bonus).

I would like to see..

[BawbBitchen]

Ultima 1-4 (Yes I know you can get the PC set but is sucks vs. C64 version), Law of the West, Wasteland, Neuromancer, Bard's Tail 1-3.

Re:Amiga

[Jace of Fuse!]

Cannon Fodder with the Wiimote as a pointing device would probably be a lot of fun if it was precise enough.

More games

[without]

Loderunner.
Raid on Bungling Bay.
Lords of Conquest.
Spy Vs. Spy

Re:More games

[Tom_M_Riddle]

• "Archon I"
• "Archon II"
• "Spy VS Spy I"
• "Spy VS Spy II" (Island Caper)
• "Mail Order Monsters"
• "Miner 2049er"
• "Skyfox"
• "Rescue On Fractalus"

So many memories...

Re:C64 titles - oh no!

[CronoCloud]

I'm not referring to the Cross Media Bar interface, thats separate from the full Linux distro with GCC installed.

And I'm most certainly not wrong on the PS2 which itself would make a better C64 (and PET/VIC20/C128) game playing device than the Wii.

Re:Best Games I evah played

[hords]

Both were great games. I played Fist a lot, I thought the soundtrack was awesome. It got so hard when you got further in, the guys would keep spawning over and over. I figured out a cheat to get over pits or just to bypass enemies, hit the restore key while walking and you keep moving while the game is paused. Unfortunately I'd get really far in the game and then I'd get stuck in an area I couldn't get out of, which I assumed was a bug. It sucked after spending so much time to get that far.

I almost won Paradroid once, had every room cleared but one and just took too long to find that last enemy when I was in a high powered droid. Man that sucked.

i dont care

[minus_273]

as long as they have burger time im happy.

Re:Actually, Ultima 2-5 is already availible onlin

[Shipwack]

huh... why was this moderated as "Troll"? Is Gametap in the doghouse for some reason? I have financial interest in them; I'm no even a subscriber... What unwritten (or written) line did I unwittingly cross?

Intellivision sucks

[sowth]

Nooo! Not Intellivision! When I was a kid I really wanted an Intellivision. I thought they were the coolest thing. Then, a few months ago, someone gave me one of those ancient system on a chip joystick devices--one with an Intellivison and all the games on it. Well, THE GAMES SUCK!!!!!!!!!! They had no point.

One you wonder around a maze until a spider kills you. That is the whole game--well I think another creature might kill you too, but that is all. I don't even think you could advance to the next level if there was one. I can't remember the other ones, but they were just as sucky. C64 and the 8-bit Ataris would be cool though. I just hope you can program them in Basic. (or Action! or any of the other languages) I had an a Atari 130XE. That's where I first learned assembly.

Re: Attack of the Mutant Camels

[mdfst13]

"Attack of the Mutant Camels"

That was my first thought too.

Lode Runner, Boulder Dash, original Bard's Tale...I might actually buy one of those game console thingies if it had all that.

Any Amiga games? E.g. Battle Chess or Pirates?

The Atari 5200 version of Centipede was great too.

Re:Amiga

[Cybrex]

The Amiga was hands-down the best platform for Syndicate! The DOS port was great and all, but the Amiga version was a work of art.

MOM

[Telepathetic Man]

Bah, the worm and the grenade attack was killer.

The reason im getting the wii....

[bigern1990]

is because they're adding things like these. I have never played an atari, commodore 64 or any of those oldskool gaming systems. The Nintendo Wii is takes you back to the past with clasics. I want a Wii so i can play those old games.

The "Fist II" bug was fixed

[Neo-Rio-101]

That "Fist II" bug was actually fixed in a later release and the game became playable (and completeable). You'll find the bugfixed version on www.gb64.com

Re:The "Fist II" bug was fixed

[hords]

Thanks for the info! Now I'm going to have to fire that game up again. Horrible to release a game with such a bug when there is no way to patch it.

I would like to vote for:

[lorelorn]

Ghosts 'n Goblins: a great arcade conversion

Monty on the Run: Platform perfection!

Wasteland: an RPG better than Fallout, I swear

Ranarama: Sort of hard to describe, plus the C-64 version is just a straight port from the Spectrum 48k, but still a great game.

Lords of Midnight and Doomdark's Revenge: The ultimate in fantasy strategy

Ultima V: My personal favourite, also the last Ultima to appear on the C-64

Re:I would like to vote for:

[revlayle]

They did make Ultima VI for the C64 - kind of a pain in the ass to play with the interface it was designed for (and the first Ultima game I would completely recommend the PC or Amiga version to play instead)

I need to know.

[steveo777]

I used to have a c64, and I may still have it, but the c64 stopped working 10 years ago, haven't pulled out the box or looked for it at my dad's place for just as long. There was a game called Star Fox or Space Fox or something for it. It was a side scrolling game, but I don't remember much else about it. Except that you would fly through a cave which my brother and I both agreed was the moon (back when we were 4 and 6 years old, and moon experts). Anybody have any clue what I'm talking about?

Re:Yie-Ar Kung Fu! on GBA.

[trdrstv]

It's Available on GBA if you don't want to wait. An added bonus is the multiplayer mode (single cart no less) which I don't recall the original having.

Re: please, please! No CD-i

[trdrstv]

Aw, how will I complete my Zelda game collection? :-(

You will have the 'Canonical' Zelda, which is better than the 'Complete' Zelda, since there are no disapointmenting installments. Kinda like Star Wars minus the Ewok Movies, The Chrismas Special, and Episodes I-III.

Brilliant!

[Rev Jim (AKA Metal F]

Nintendo is showing some gutsy, smart maneuvering in the war of consoles to come. I hope they have even more suprises up their sleeves. Perhaps the golden age of PC action/adventure titles such as the 90s' SCUMM/Lucas Arts titles etc will start being ported next? One can only hope...by porting these classics and the likes of those C64 titles, they're attracting old and new gamers alike. Now if only they could work on some new titles for adults, like RE4 or Scarface/GTA and such.

Jumpman

[MilenCent]

Not only is Jumpman one of the games that could specifically be brought to Wii by this very deal (published by Epyx), it's one of the Commodore games that still holds up well today. There's thirty levels in the thing, and every damn one of them has a different challenge than the others. There are levels with robots that follow rote paths, levels with bats chasing the player around, a couple of levels that give the player a gun but remove the ability to jump, levels where picking up objects makes ladders and platforms disappear, levels where they make them appear, a level where parts of the maze are invisible until the player gets close to them (and there are four different versions of that levels to make it tough to memorize!) and even a level where the player's jumps destroy small bits of the level at his feat. It's just absolutely great all though.

Epyx also published the original PC version of Rogue....