On PC, and it's free
There are some things that immediately grab your attention, and we'd classify the following as one of those things: God of War NES version, free of charge. It may seem unlikely, but that's exactly what indie developer Holmade Games has produced. PlayStation 3 owners are likely to be familiar with the God of War series set in...
Suspend points are in!
If you're a 3DS Ambassador, the NES upgrades just started rolling in. Super Mario Bros. now comes with Suspend Points, allowing you to suspend your play mid-game and reload it as often as you like. Should make those speed runs a whole lot easier. Other games have updates available but from our quick flick through it doesn't...
All together now...
The Konami code is one of the most famous video game cheats of all time, but how did it come about? According to a translated chat between Konami's Kazuhisa Hashimoto and Shigeharu Umezaki, it all started with the NES port of Gradius. Hashimoto, the code's creator, explains: I had one guy under me, and he played through the coin-op version. That one’s really tough. I hadn’t..
It's Zelda
Japanese 3DS owners can now download The Legend of Zelda for Virtual Console for 500 Yen. It's the first of the 3DS Ambassador games to be sold on the service, and goes for around £4/€6.40. The game now comes with a digital manual and a new VC menu that offers improved save and suspend features. We'll update you when we know more about...
8 bits of glory
In September we reported on the first issue of NES-Bit magazine; originally intended as a one-off, it performed well enough for editor Lorfarius to start work on issue two. Available as a PDF at first before getting a print release, the next issue covers a range of topics, with a special feature on the much-loved Castlevania series...
A Nintendo icon talks exclusively about starring in the cult classic that defined a generation of gamers
Although critics will tell you that The Wizard was little more than a brazen Nintendo advertisement masquerading as a movie and box office statistics will suggest it was a dismal commercial failure, there are legions of devoted fans that will...
So does Eiji Aonuma
The re-release of Legend of Zelda as part of the 3DS Ambassador program has reminded gamers just how hard Link's first outing is. If you haven't finished it yet, don't give yourself a hard time about it: neither has series producer Eiji Aonuma. In a recent interview with Game Informer, Aonuma revealed to this day he has never completed the original Zelda: I’ve never actually..
Oh happy day
The humble Nintendo Entertainment System: responsible for bringing so many to sip from the cup of gaming, and now enjoying yet another lease of life via the recent 3DS Ambassador games. As with all Nintendo consoles it has a dedicated following online, but it could soon have a bigger presence in the print world as website NES-Bit.com...
Here we go
The Nintendo 3DS NES Ambassador games are just two days away, and although there's been no official announcement of the full line-up yet the official Japanese 3DS eShop page has seen an update to feature the 10 NES games. Here's what's going to be available in Japan on Thursday. There may be a few changes to the Western releases, but for the most part this list should be accurate: Super..
We take a look at that famous female and her effect on the virtual playing field
Historically, just about every form of media has seen itself dominated by men, and gaming is as guilty as the rest. You could chalk it up to the playing population remaining largely scant of females for reasons too complex and debatable to delve into here, but that's...
By popular demand
We've already heard about the GBA games you want on 3DS Virtual Console, but that's only half the equation: Nintendo will also be giving away 10 free NES games to 3DS users too. The NES games announced so far are: Super Mario Bros.Donkey Kong Jr.Balloon FightIce Climber
But there's a catch
It's official: Nintendo's 3DS Virtual Console service is getting Game Boy Advance games. However, they will not be available to anyone who buys a console after the 3DS price drop on 12th August. Here's the deal. Any North American 3DS owner who picked up the console before 11th August and accessed the eShop will be classed as an...
Forget sore thumbs
The trend for steadily increasing variants of the iconic NES controller is approaching critical mass, as Dutch students have just set a new record for the largest functioning game controller with an NES pad measuring nearly four metres wide. The pad measures 3.6 metres by 1.6 metres, which is around 11.8 feet by 5.2 feet, which...
NES classic gets sequelised
NES brawler River City Ransom is showing its age a little now, though it's still a fun little title, with fans of the game no doubt hoping the newly-announced sequel will feature the same quality playability. Miracle Kidz has proudly announced River City Ransom 2 is in development for home consoles this summer, with a development team including staff members from the..
Every English-language game to get its own custom artwork
With the extensive catalogue of games that the NES has to offer, the collectors out there understandably try to get themselves a copy of each and every title. For artist Campbell Whyte, his mission is to paint every single one of them. Based in Perth, Australia, Whyte is in the process of producing one painting a day in his 8 Bit Dreams art..
Like a robot
Over the years we've seen people play Super Mario Bros. in some crazy ways: you can play Mario with Kinect, play Mario with your eyes and even, believe it or not, play Mario with your hands, like a baby's toy. They've all required some sort of human interaction, but not this latest Mario-related chicanery, which uses a robot to replace...
DSiWare abound
It's another clearly DSiWare-oriented week this time, with four new titles released on the service. WiiWare and Virtual Console only get one game each, along with another WiiWare demo. WiiWarePucca's Kisses Game (Bigben Interactive, 1000pts) – What seems to be a platformer game, based on the surprisingly popular franchise which has its own animated series and tons of merchandise,..
See how some of your favourite characters have evolved over the past 25 years
The Nintendo Entertainment System was a system that stimulated the imaginations of designers and gamers alike. Whether it was the smiling, dream-like wonderland of the Mushroom Kingdom, the sprawling fantasy world of Hyrule or the atmospheric depths of planet Zebes, the NES gave birth to some of the most brilliant and..
Is it a-you?
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of Super Mario Bros. and the North American debut of the NES, we ran a competition to give away a free 500-point NES title for Virtual Console to each of twenty-five winners, the selection of the game being their choice. Almost a thousand users entered, so we'd like to congratulate the 25...
It's the little things that count
Today, the virtual reality experience of the Wii is as immersive as Lawnmower Man director/writer Brett Leonard ever could have hoped, with Mario as real and in-person as an actual member of our family and special effects so vivid that we compulsively hold our breath during underwater levels. Okay, maybe things...
