Ugh! What a week, no time for anything. This is just about the only thing I even get to do online anymore, when I can even make time for it that is (missed it a couple weeks back). Oh well, its fun though, so I'll keep at it, now lets see what happened last week. We got Devil's Crush for TG-16, Shining Force for Genesis, and Kirby's Dream Course for SNES. So, technically I only got 1 outta three right (sure, I got all three systems right, but big deal), but I cannot make any sense of why Sega released the second game in the Shining series (that being Shining Force), instead of the first game in the series (that being Shining in the Darkness, which I predicted last week). Its inexplicable to me, and I don't get it, so I'm just gonna go and give it to me. Seriously. Would you ever think that a part 2 of anything would come out before a part 1 of something (without 'part 1' actually being a prequel or something)? Of course not, so I'm gonna give it to me, and just say that I called the series debuting on the VC, apparently, and that's just the way I'm gonna see it this week ;) So, with that in mind, the updated stats now read 11 outta 15, or 73%. Gotta try to get it bumped up, and I'm confident I will, as I think I'm gonna have another 3 for 3 week here:
TurboGrafx-16
Drop Off - G-Mode
NES
Donkey Kong Jr. Math - Nintendo
SNES
Super Turrican - Factor 5
I feel making these three picks this week are like shooting ducks in a barrel, as both Super Turrican and DK JR. Math have been 'mentioned' as being released for July in Nintendo Power magazine (which isn't always a credible source mind you, but you can't deny it is the only kind of official word on VC releases in any way straight from the big N themselves, and this is the last Monday of July, so....), and Drop Off has been confirmed by Hudson as this weeks TG16 release, so these picks are really no-brainers, though I did have one or two others in mind to predict, I feel I just have no choice but to put these 3 up there. Seriously though, if Super Turrican isn't released this week, I'm gonna stop predicting it, this is its third appearance on this list already!! I really want to play it already too!!! Loved that game back in the day. As for DKJR Math, well, Nintendo is doing everything it can to un-demonize gaming in the media, expanding the market, blue ocean, yada yada, and this would be just one more talking point for them, I guess, but I really doubt many gamers will ever download it though.
That's all folks! Just another short update, still searching for more free time. Sure, Super Parer Mario and PacMan CE have been consuming much of my free time that I could be spending writing, but that not likely to change until I finish SPM, or PacMan CE gets less addicting (which I'm sure ain't gonna happen), so back to SPM for a bit! See ya!
-Kimo
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Virtual Console Crystal Ball 07/30/07
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Virtual Console Crystal Ball 07/22/07
Missed the update last week, and its a shame, as I totally called Paper Mario for N64 on Monday, but didn't have the time to update the site (been so incredibly busy the last couple weeks around the house and with work, you have no idea), so, oh well, missed one week, onto this weeks predictions:
TurboGrafx-16
Devil's Crush - Compile
Super Nintendo
Super Turrican - Factor 5
Sega Genesis
Shining in the Darkness - SEGA (Sonic! Software Planning)
There you have it, this weeks predictions, very short and to the point this week, but like I said, time is short. But have no fear, this site will soon be seeing updates out the yin-yang, Pac-Man Championship (Xbox 360) & QuickSpot (Nintendo DS) reviews will be posted within one or two days, and of course there's that E3 stuff I still wanna write about, plus if I can, there's this feature I've been dying to write, so yeah, there's a ton of content (finally) coming soon. Not to mention the impending site re-design (its coming). Stay tuned, and we'll see tomorrow morning if we can improve this 9 out of 12 (75%) track record this crystal ball's got goin' on here. See ya soon.
- Kimo
Friday, July 6, 2007
Virtual Console Crystal Ball 07/09/07
Wow, what an amazingly good week for the 'ol Ball last week, going 3 for 3, as Dragon Spirit, Ecco 2, and Super Mario Bros. 2 all got released onto the VC last Monday, bringing this site's prediction stats up to 7 out of 9 so far, or 78%. Yay for me! Don't really have too much time for this post (and I'm really tired, so I might ramble and not make much sense), so I'll get right to this weeks predictions:
TurboGrafx-16
Air Zonk - Red Entertainment
Sega Genesis
Shining in the Darkness - SEGA
NES
Mach Rider - Nintendo
This week's releases come just a couple days before E3 kicks off, and barring any unforeseen huge surprises (Mega Man, for example), or Nintendo finally unloading some of their big guns they have in waiting (Metroid/Super Metroid, Super Mario RPG, PilotWings, etc..), I think these 3 are noteworthy of an E3-week release for different reasons.
I feel Air Zonk is noteworthy in the fact that this character represents the last attempt NEC made in the console market, as he was their mascot for the ill-fated Turbo-Duo. That, and it's already been confirmed for Monday. The other 3 are pretty good bullet-points for the VC in more direct ways I feel.
Shining in the Darkness is the first in the Shining series, which has a large following among RPG fans (not FF-large, but still well known), and will likely be downloaded in pretty high numbers when it releases. This can be seen as a pretty high-profile release I would think, and one geared towards the core gamer, the type who crave more RPG's for VC. For all the talk of expanding the market and casual gaming this and that, Nintendo knows to dance with the one that brought them, and will always try to appeal to the 'hardcore' as well. This would be one more example for them @ E3 to cite that they are doing that (along w/MP3, Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros., Zelda PH, all coming on the horizon, and likely to be focused on @ E3).
Mach Rider fits the bill in the fact that, if it follows the Australian and European releases, it will be a VC release that is improved over the original. Not Xbox Live Arcade-like improved, unfortunately, but still, improved nonetheless, as they have added the ability to save your custom designed tracks, something you could not do in the original NES release (a NES launch game, btw). Another good E3 VC talking point for Nintendo I would say. That, and its already released in other regions (Eur and Aus), and I've been expecting it for weeks now.
OK, so I rambled on anyways, I always do. See you soon with E3 reactions & opinion.
- Kimo
TurboGrafx-16
Air Zonk - Red Entertainment
Sega Genesis
Shining in the Darkness - SEGA
NES
Mach Rider - Nintendo
This week's releases come just a couple days before E3 kicks off, and barring any unforeseen huge surprises (Mega Man, for example), or Nintendo finally unloading some of their big guns they have in waiting (Metroid/Super Metroid, Super Mario RPG, PilotWings, etc..), I think these 3 are noteworthy of an E3-week release for different reasons.
I feel Air Zonk is noteworthy in the fact that this character represents the last attempt NEC made in the console market, as he was their mascot for the ill-fated Turbo-Duo. That, and it's already been confirmed for Monday. The other 3 are pretty good bullet-points for the VC in more direct ways I feel.
Shining in the Darkness is the first in the Shining series, which has a large following among RPG fans (not FF-large, but still well known), and will likely be downloaded in pretty high numbers when it releases. This can be seen as a pretty high-profile release I would think, and one geared towards the core gamer, the type who crave more RPG's for VC. For all the talk of expanding the market and casual gaming this and that, Nintendo knows to dance with the one that brought them, and will always try to appeal to the 'hardcore' as well. This would be one more example for them @ E3 to cite that they are doing that (along w/MP3, Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros., Zelda PH, all coming on the horizon, and likely to be focused on @ E3).
Mach Rider fits the bill in the fact that, if it follows the Australian and European releases, it will be a VC release that is improved over the original. Not Xbox Live Arcade-like improved, unfortunately, but still, improved nonetheless, as they have added the ability to save your custom designed tracks, something you could not do in the original NES release (a NES launch game, btw). Another good E3 VC talking point for Nintendo I would say. That, and its already released in other regions (Eur and Aus), and I've been expecting it for weeks now.
OK, so I rambled on anyways, I always do. See you soon with E3 reactions & opinion.
- Kimo
Monday, July 2, 2007
Virtual Console Crystal Ball 07/02/07
Yep, its that time once again to peer into the ol' VC Crystal Ball. First, lets see what happened last week. Looks like the Ball got 2 outta 3 again, as both China Warrior (TG16) and F-Zero X (N64) were released, but instead of Super Turrican for SNES, we got the surprise of SFII:Turbo Hyper Fighting. So, once again 2 for 3, and overall the Crystal Ball now stands at 4 outta 6, or, still at 67%. Well, 67% two weeks running isn't bad, but I'd like to see that number climb higher, that percentage get bigger, so with that in mind here's this weeks predictions;
TurboGrafx-16
Dragon Spirit - Namco
Sega Genesis
Ecco the Dolphin: The Tides of Time - Sega
NES
Super Mario Bros. 2 - Nintendo
Three big titles to predict, but I think its gonna be a big update this week. Its a long weekend in the States too, no? That leads me to believe that Nintendo is gonna let loose with some of the big name titles they have in reserve, waiting to be released, and aside from the Mario RPG/Paper Mario games and the Metroid/Super Metroid games, Nintendo's biggest title they have to release would be Super Mario Bros. 2, the cut-and-paste warping of Doki Doki Panic that was re-imagined into 'Mario Madness'.
I think the two RPG's would likely be released together, and with a N64 game just last week we're not gonna see Paper Mario anytime soon, so both of those were out to me. The Metroid games I think we'll see closer to Metroid Prime 3 being released, when we're in the middle of all the Metroid-hype, that seems like the perfect time to release those two. And I firmly believe that we will get an NES game this week, after the SNES & N64 treats last week, so the only NES title that really fills the blockbuster-bill for Nintendo is SMB2, I think. Plus, it was recently mentioned in Nintendo Power, which may be a tip of their hand a bit. Although, PilotWings would be a perfect fit, and I almost picked that, as what better game to release for July 4th weekend than a game in which you can fly over the 'entire' good ol' USA? But like I said, I think it'll be NES, not SNES this week. I would love to be wrong though.
The Turbo game is already known about, but is a big game in the fact it is from Namco, and I believe it is the 2nd game from them on the system (behind Splatterhouse), and Namco is a big name, so sure, that's a big game too. As far as Ecco goes though, this one was tough to finally choose on, as I was also thinking about Shining in the Darkness (recently ESRB-rated) or Vectorman, which has been ready to be released for, like, ever, and both are 'big' games, in that their both great games. But in the end, I chose Ecco because he is a well-known Sega name-character (Ecco 1 was on VC from day one!), and the only well-known Sega character they have ready to be released (if Sonic 3 had been ESRB-rated too, I'd have picked that for sure). I have a hunch this was a real long shot, but I feel 100% that there will be a Genesis game this week too (if not it'll be 2 NES games), like I said this one makes the most sense to me, big-name-game wise.
Last week was a surprise for SNES, as the other two were locks, to me at least, and were met with no surprise at all. I just knew a SNES game would release for sure, but I just kinda jumped on Super Turrican, as it was just esrb-rated (some games (3rd party) seem to come out shortly after they get a rating, well, sometimes anyways), and they rated both 1 & 2 at the same time, leading me to believe that they'd throw one out now, and leave the other languishing in the wings for a while, to see what interest in the 1st one was like, yada yada. But no, they threw out SFII:HF exactly 6 months after putting the original SF2 on VC on Christmas. Totally didn't think that would come out for another couple months, but oh well, I can't figure out what they're thinking all the time.
Wow, long post again just to say I think these 3 games will release in about 9 and a half hours or so, but its my blog so whatever! :) See you next week to see if that % improves, and I hope you all have a great Canada Day or July4th weekend (Canada Day here, eh).
-Kimo
TurboGrafx-16
Dragon Spirit - Namco
Sega Genesis
Ecco the Dolphin: The Tides of Time - Sega
NES
Super Mario Bros. 2 - Nintendo
Three big titles to predict, but I think its gonna be a big update this week. Its a long weekend in the States too, no? That leads me to believe that Nintendo is gonna let loose with some of the big name titles they have in reserve, waiting to be released, and aside from the Mario RPG/Paper Mario games and the Metroid/Super Metroid games, Nintendo's biggest title they have to release would be Super Mario Bros. 2, the cut-and-paste warping of Doki Doki Panic that was re-imagined into 'Mario Madness'.
I think the two RPG's would likely be released together, and with a N64 game just last week we're not gonna see Paper Mario anytime soon, so both of those were out to me. The Metroid games I think we'll see closer to Metroid Prime 3 being released, when we're in the middle of all the Metroid-hype, that seems like the perfect time to release those two. And I firmly believe that we will get an NES game this week, after the SNES & N64 treats last week, so the only NES title that really fills the blockbuster-bill for Nintendo is SMB2, I think. Plus, it was recently mentioned in Nintendo Power, which may be a tip of their hand a bit. Although, PilotWings would be a perfect fit, and I almost picked that, as what better game to release for July 4th weekend than a game in which you can fly over the 'entire' good ol' USA? But like I said, I think it'll be NES, not SNES this week. I would love to be wrong though.
The Turbo game is already known about, but is a big game in the fact it is from Namco, and I believe it is the 2nd game from them on the system (behind Splatterhouse), and Namco is a big name, so sure, that's a big game too. As far as Ecco goes though, this one was tough to finally choose on, as I was also thinking about Shining in the Darkness (recently ESRB-rated) or Vectorman, which has been ready to be released for, like, ever, and both are 'big' games, in that their both great games. But in the end, I chose Ecco because he is a well-known Sega name-character (Ecco 1 was on VC from day one!), and the only well-known Sega character they have ready to be released (if Sonic 3 had been ESRB-rated too, I'd have picked that for sure). I have a hunch this was a real long shot, but I feel 100% that there will be a Genesis game this week too (if not it'll be 2 NES games), like I said this one makes the most sense to me, big-name-game wise.
Last week was a surprise for SNES, as the other two were locks, to me at least, and were met with no surprise at all. I just knew a SNES game would release for sure, but I just kinda jumped on Super Turrican, as it was just esrb-rated (some games (3rd party) seem to come out shortly after they get a rating, well, sometimes anyways), and they rated both 1 & 2 at the same time, leading me to believe that they'd throw one out now, and leave the other languishing in the wings for a while, to see what interest in the 1st one was like, yada yada. But no, they threw out SFII:HF exactly 6 months after putting the original SF2 on VC on Christmas. Totally didn't think that would come out for another couple months, but oh well, I can't figure out what they're thinking all the time.
Wow, long post again just to say I think these 3 games will release in about 9 and a half hours or so, but its my blog so whatever! :) See you next week to see if that % improves, and I hope you all have a great Canada Day or July4th weekend (Canada Day here, eh).
-Kimo