Beautiful paintings of glitchy NES screens will star in Tokyo art gallery through December.
Read More
NES
Famicom Mini Weekly Shonen Jump 50th Anniversary Version is all about manga/anime games, but that could spell disaster for North America.
27 years after the first 8-to-16-bit Nintendo video game migration, it might be time to do it all over again, so we called the company to see if they’d give us any more info.
Super Mario Bros. 3, Mega Man 2, Metroid, and Final Fantasy all included in save state-equipped device.
Vietnamese hobbyist Trần Vũ Trúc, using mostly undisclosed programming wizardry, introduced this Firefox browser-based emulator that adds a pixelized 3-D effect to many of the NES’s best games.
The family that games together on a giant controller…probably gets in lots of fights when someone is late to press jump.
As we head towards the end of the year, video game publishers are pulling out their big guns. But what if the modern gaming world leaves you feeling cold? Maybe you’re burned out on multiplayer first-person shooters, and open-world game sandboxes hold as much appeal to you as the pet poop-concealing one in your neighborhood park.
In that case, you’ll be happy to know that this December, Nintendo’s 8-bit Famicom, the Japanese version of the NES, is getting its first commercial cartridge release in more than two decades.
What’s the first Final Fantasy game you played? I came somewhat late to the party, and my first experience of Final Fantasy was Final Fantasy VIII. After a childhood spent playing Sonic, suddenly finding myself in a semi-realistic world with massive potential for exploration really blew my tiny mind back then. In VIII, the headmaster of the military academy is a middle-aged, bespectacled dude with a paunch called Cid. But as Final Fantasy fans know, Cid is actually a character who appears in different forms in (pretty much) all of the Final Fantasy games. The dude’s been regenerated more times than the Doctor in Doctor Who! So we decided to take a look back at all of the Cids in chronological order to see how he’s changed over the years.
Although millions of people have fond memories of playing games on Nintendo’s original Famicom (known internationally as the NES), not too many people spend much time actually playing with the system anymore. After all, portable gaming devices like Nintendo’s own 3DS and even smartphones now boast more powerful hardware specs than the classic 8-bit console, and have just as large a library of legitimately fun games as well as the capability to play old-school titles as software downloads.
Of course, the flipside to having so many great portable games to play or, in the case of smartphones, extremely important websites to visit, is that your mobile devices are going to be running out of juice before long. Now, though, there’s a way to give your new tech a recharge and your old tech a shout-out simultaneously, with this battery pack/card reader that’s styled after the Famicom’s Player One controller.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that a lot of our readers have fond memories of the glory days of the Nintendo Entertainment System. As nostalgic as the iconic piece of 8-bit hardware is for North American and European gamers, though, it’s even more so for Japanese fans, who got the equivalent Famicom years before the NES launched overseas.
Japanese humor website CuRAZY recently stopped to take a look back at all the time they spent with a tiny red controller in hand during their formative years, putting together this video of 13 Famicom experiences pretty much every Japanese gamer had.
If there’s one thing that makes video gaming even more fun than it already is, it’s appropriate snack food. And while we’d never normally suggest that chocolate and controllers could possibly be a good combination (seriously, greasy controllers are a big no-no), we can safely say that you won’t find a more appropriate gaming fuel accompaniment than a plate of tiny, edible classic controllers.
For most children of the 80s, video games mean the Nintendo Entertainment System, or Famicom in Japan. Even if you didn’t have one in your home, you surely had a friend with one of those enchanting boxes. Ah, the thrills of 8-bit action, midi music, and blowing frantically on cartridges!
Though many parents might have written the devices off as mere toys, there’s an undeniable shared experience that the NES provided for children in many countries around the world. But have you ever wondered how your experiences with the system compared to those of kids in Japan, the console’s home? Well, wonder no more!
The Nintendo Family Computer, which quickly came to be known by the abbreviation-loving Japanese simply as the Famicom, was launched in its native land in 1983, a time when the world was still in black-and-white and people travelled to work by horse-drawn cart. It was a grim, unforgiving time, but games like Donkey Kong and Popeye made life that bit brighter, and before long people even had electricity and TV sets to connect their new consoles to instead of just staring at the back of the games’ boxes.
Today, on this space-age date of July 15, 2014, the Famicom turns 31 years old, so we felt it would be a good time to think about just how much we owe this little bundle of plastic and circuitry.
It’s 1987. You’re looking awesome in your oversized Michael Jackson “Bad” t-shirt as you slot a chunky, grey game cartridge into your NES console. But instead of the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt title screen, all you see is a jumbled-up mess of an image that looks like an 8-bit Picasso. What do you do? The same thing everyone did – you take the game cartridge out, blow into it, and put it back in. Lo, and behold: this time the game loads perfectly and you can squish goombas or shoot ducks to your heart’s content.
But in the pre-internet age, how did we all “know” to blow into cartridges? And like rubbing the magnetic strip on a credit card or shaking a Polaroid photo, why did we keep doing it even when product manufacturers and scientists insisted that it didn’t work and could actually cause damage? Joe Hanson, biologist and author of the popular science blog It’s Okay To Be Smart, offers up some answers in a neat YouTube video asking just that.
The nostalgia of a classic Nintendo Entertainment system is like nothing else.
I remember when I first got a Nintendo. I didn’t get the bundle with the gun, so no “Duck Hunt” for me, but that didn’t stop me from playing “Super Mario Bros.” for hours with my friends. Then I’d go to their houses and play for hours more. It was the first real game system I had (before that I had a Commodore VIC-20 — don’t mind me as I date myself) in a long line of game systems that followed.
I think back on those games and that system fondly, but I never considered buying one today, or even one of the mods people have made, such as this one, called the Hyperkin Retro 5.
Usually it’s because the graphics on these systems is pretty weak compared with what we’re used to from systems like the Xbox 360, and especially newer systems like the PS4 and Xbox One.
Until now, that is.
In the wake of the exciting new video game systems hitting stores this season, our reliable Japanese friend Nintendo is taking us onboard the nostalgia express train with a Wii U game that puts a new spin on 16 well-known NES (or Famicom in Japan) games, like Super Mario Bros. and Excitebike. Besides turning these popular games into mini-game levels where players challenge their own high score, NES Remix changes these games up a bit with new challenges, like playing Donkey Kong in the dark or playing tennis against an invisible opponent.
MOST POPULAR
Now
Japanese man berates American woman for “crime” against taiyaki, ends up converted to her ways
Can a curry shop legally ban you if you don’t finish your rice? A Japanese lawyer chimes in
Parasite ramen challenge: Can you cook the movie’s noodle dish in just 8 minutes?【SoraKitchen】
Kenshi Yonezu’s “Paprika” might be a much heavier song than we thought
These apartments are crazy-small even by Tokyo standards, and super-popular with young people
Japan’s busty YouTube chef expands chest-based income by auctioning her shirt for crazy price
Japan’s one-person bento box-sized rice cooker can give you freshly cooked rice at the office
Do 100-yen hair removal pads do the trick, or leave our reporters the hairy messes they are?
Japanese fans ecstatic to see Takakao Matsu perform at Oscars with Idina Menzel and 9 other Elsas
New edition canned fish rings in capsule machines nationwide, now with tuna!
Weekly
- Japan’s one-person bento box-sized rice cooker can give you freshly cooked rice at the office
Can you solve this crazy difficult, super satisfying math puzzle from a Japanese middle schooler?
A warning to think twice before taking photos of a crab dinner lying in a Japanese subway station
Controversial My Hero Academia character gets new name, comes with risk of yet another controversy- Japanese man berates American woman for “crime” against taiyaki, ends up converted to her ways
- These apartments are crazy-small even by Tokyo standards, and super-popular with young people
- Japanese fans ecstatic to see Takakao Matsu perform at Oscars with Idina Menzel and 9 other Elsas
Japanese otaku finds way to get the smell of a high school girl in his car passenger seat
We test the new two-in-one curry rice cooker from Japan that’s got everyone talking【Video】
Starbucks Japan reveals new sakura cherry blossom drinkware range for 2020
Monthly
Japan goes beyond rice cookers with new curry rice cooker, the kitchen gadget we need right now- Japan’s one-person bento box-sized rice cooker can give you freshly cooked rice at the office
My Hero Academia creator, publisher make official apologies for controversial character name- Can you solve this crazy difficult, super satisfying math puzzle from a Japanese middle schooler?
Out-of-business Tokyo McDonald’s gets brutal but kind sendoff from rival Burger King branch
Demon-slaying Dojigiri, one of Japan’s Five Swords Under Heaven, now on display at Kasuga Shrine- A warning to think twice before taking photos of a crab dinner lying in a Japanese subway station
- Controversial My Hero Academia character gets new name, comes with risk of yet another controversy
Here’s what happened when our biggest male otaku tried out Japan’s new Manga Genic eyeliner【Pics】
Japanese cosplay model shows off thighs, but fans’ eyes are on her Nintendo 64 controller grip
Yearly
Adult Cream Pie coming to McDonald’s Japan- Japan goes beyond rice cookers with new curry rice cooker, the kitchen gadget we need right now
- Japanese cosplay model shows off thighs, but fans’ eyes are on her Nintendo 64 controller grip
Pokémon fan learns the startling truth about the Wooloo plushie
Free “Language Learning with Netflix” extension makes studying Japanese almost too easy- Japan’s one-person bento box-sized rice cooker can give you freshly cooked rice at the office
- My Hero Academia creator, publisher make official apologies for controversial character name
- Can you solve this crazy difficult, super satisfying math puzzle from a Japanese middle schooler?
We taste the Adult Cream Pie from McDonald’s Japan- Out-of-business Tokyo McDonald’s gets brutal but kind sendoff from rival Burger King branch
RECOMMENDED STORIES
Japan’s busty YouTube chef expands chest-based income by auctioning her shirt for crazy price
Japan’s one-person bento box-sized rice cooker can give you freshly cooked rice at the office
Do 100-yen hair removal pads do the trick, or leave our reporters the hairy messes they are?
Japanese fans ecstatic to see Takakao Matsu perform at Oscars with Idina Menzel and 9 other Elsas
New edition canned fish rings in capsule machines nationwide, now with tuna!
Japanese student creates Traditional Japan Bicycle, brings new life to centuries-old craft
Japanese kitty sculptor creates a new topical meme figure: a cat in a face-mask
This classic Japanese candy shop is a trove of nostalgic treats, sends us into the past【Photos】
Can you solve this crazy difficult, super satisfying math puzzle from a Japanese middle schooler?
Naruto’s favorite noodle shop Ichiraku Ramen is real, and we just visited it!
Free “Language Learning with Netflix” extension makes studying Japanese almost too easy
Mitsubishi’s solution for stressed office workers in Japan: fake skylight video displays
A warning to think twice before taking photos of a crab dinner lying in a Japanese subway station
The three ways to say “love” in Japanese, and when to use them
-
