Growing up with a ZX Spectrum and a Sega Master System and his exhaustive knowledge in the fields of SEO and digital marketing, Darren's organisational prowess helps steer Hookshot's portfolio in the right direction.
Darren has previously worked for companies such as Nokia, as well as a diverse range of high-profile clients.
I am very excite!
Nintendo’s Excitebike is a bit of a cult classic. It’s never been a massive selling series but true Nintendo fans have a very special place for it in their hearts. When Excite Truck was announced as a Wii launch title, those very same fans rejoiced – at last, they could put away their copies of Excitebike 64 and get stuck...
News Europe VC releases - 2nd March
Today Europe gets the following Virtual Console games:
Streets of Rage - Megadrive Bio-Hazard Battle - Megadrive Sword of Vermillion - Megadrive Chew Man Fu - TurboGrafx-16 A average week for releases but not a bad one by any means. Top picks are Steets of Rage and Chew Man Fu!
News Welcome to the Warp Zone!
A cheeky little surprise awaits UK visitors to the Virtual Console. Next time you load up the Wii Shop if you look carefully you'll see a not very discreet smiley face which when clicked will take you to a hidden area with the text as follows:
"Welcome to the Warp Zone! ... Congratulations, you've discovered the Virtual Console's hidden area...
News Europe VC releases - 23rd February - Ocarina of Time
The dark Lords of Nintendo Tower look favourably at the minions within the EU today as they grace them with one of the greatest games ever! (I don't mean Altered Beast you got that some time ago!) Yes that's right lowly peasants today you are invited to the realm of Sir Link of Zeldashire and play OCARINA OF TIME!
Here's the review: The Legend of...
Feature GamesTM interview VC Reviews (Issue 54)
VC Reviews get their 15 minutes of fame this month as our favourite UK multi-format videogame magazine GamesTM publish a recent interview we did with them!
Issue 54 of GamesTM will hit the shelves of all good newsagents in the UK on the 22nd of February. We get a 2 page spread in the retro section (pages 150/151) We say our piece about the PAL 50Hz...
Feature Top Five Most Wanted Virtual Console Games
Now that the Virtual Console Archive has a commenting facility we thought what better time to ask what are the games you would most like to see on the Virtual Console. The catch is you can only pick ONE game per format and you have to give a brief reason why this should be released before any other games.
Here's my wish list to kick things off: NES...
News US VC releases - 19th February - Finally DK Country!
After what seems like an age Donkey Kong Country has been released in North America! We can all breath a sigh of relief! It was originally thought to have been held up by licensing issues with RARE (now owned by Microsoft) but that all looked to have been sorted out - phew!
Sega have released the mighty Streets of Rage too which is great news...
News Reggie hints at magazine downloads on Wii
In a recent interview with MTV Reggie Fils-Aime the president of Nintendo of America made a interesting statement:
An innovative company can't just worry about what fans want but also anticipate what fans don't even know they want. So when the discussion turned to the Wii's 24/7 online service, Fils-Aime threw a curve. Yes, the system will continue...
News Europe VC releases - 16th February
It's going to be another great week for European Wii gamers. OK so none of these games are going to completely blow you away, but then again none of them are turkeys either! 2 of the best NES games are up for grabs, a classic PC Engine platformer and one of the best horizontal shoot-em-ups to grace the Super Nintendo.
Here's the reviews for the new...
News Everybody Votes Channel on Nintendo Wii
A surprise announcement has hit the Wii - it turns out there was a secret channel kept under wraps! The "Everybody Votes" channel gives Nintendo Wii owners the chance to vote on various subjects, and then see how their fellow compatriots voted. From the Wii Message Board:
What wish would you ask a genie to grant? Health or Wealth? We're...
News Europe: Military Madness & Mario Kart 64 Update Patch available!
The Wii Shop in Europe now has the first patches for Virtual Console games!
From today there is an update in the Wii shop that finally fixes the scrolling glitch in Military Madness. There's also an update for Mario Kart 64 that fixes a glitch on the character select screen too. Just go to the Wii Shop and find the game you bought then apply the...
News 12th Feb USA VC releases - Kirby, Ice Climber and Kid Icarus
NES fans will be in their element today as 3 of Nintendo's classic games become available for download on the North American Virtual Console. All 3 are worthy of your attention but Kirby's Adventure steals the thunder easily.
Normally we'd be disparaging of a release week with just three NES games but Kirby is still so much fun 14 years later that...
News 9th February - PAL VC games - Mario World & Zelda 2
PAL gamers catch with what the USA got 4 days ago with the mighty Mario World and Vigilante. As if that wasn't enough they also get Zelda II on the NES, any true Zelda fan owes it to themselves to plod through the black sheep of the Zelda family, just so they can sit back and say to themselves "well at least I've done that one too!"
Here's...
News New USA Virtual Console releases for 5th February - Super Mario World / Vigilante
February the 5th is a great day for Virtual Console gamers with a North American Wii. Finally the long awaited Super Mario World joins it's prestigious library. Also not to be overlooked is the PC Engine's classic beat em up: Vigilante. It's sort of like the Kung-fu but a lot more fun! Gain Ground isn't really worth the time these days in our opinion. Here's the reviews:
Super Mario World - Super NES (1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): During a vacation in Dinosaur Land, Princess Toadstool gets kidnapped and a spell is cast on the inhabitants of the island. When they stumble upon Yoshi, a young dinosaur, Mario and Luigi le...
News 2nd February - PAL VC games - Megadrive goodies
Some goodies today on the UK Virtual Console - Finally Gradius makes it across (the US have had this for some time!) and 3 Megadrive games also! If you were to download only one game today our tip is Comix Zone, it's the cream of the crop!
As ever here are the reviews: Gradius - NES Bonanza Bros - Megadrive Gain Ground - Megadrive Comix Zone -...
News New USA Virtual Console releases for 29th January - Contra III and more!
Some great games on the US Virtual Console today. Contra III being out favourite. If your virtual wallets are still full after downloading that then Mario Kart 64 and Comix Zone also come highly recommended! Bonanza Bros is a bit of a duffer though, don't bother with that!
Mario Kart 64 - Nintendo 64 (1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points): Put the pedal to...
News 26th January - PAL VC games - Mario Kart 64 & Soldier Blade
From Nintendo's Press room:
Virtual Console Shifts Up A Gear With One Of Nintendo's Best Racing Games Of All Time 26th January 2007 - Racing fans are in for an extra special treat today as Mario Kart 64, one of the greatest games in the hugely popular Mario Kart series, is available to download to Wii's Virtual Console. Featuring tense racing action...
News New USA Virtual Console releases for 22nd January - Zelda goodness!
New today on the US Wii Shop! From Nintendo's press site:
Today Nintendo adds one of the most popular games in its library of classics to the Wii video game system's Wii Shop Channel: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Nintendo adds new games to the channel every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points to...
News 19th January - PAL UK Virtual Console releases
Today's new releases for the PAL Virtual Console are:
SNES (800 Wii Points):Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1-2 players)Super Probotector: Alien Rebels (1-2 players) When we have more news about the 50Hz optimisation issues we'll be sure to let you know! These are 2 of the finest titles that ever came out on the SNES. However playing Street...
News 60Hz for PAL Wii Virtual Console online petition
Spence a friend of the Virtual Console Archive has taken the time to set up a online petition with the hope of getting Nintendo to change their stance on forcing gamers in the PAL regions to only have the choice of the shoddy 50Hz conversions. We think it is worth spending 2 minutes to sign:
Sign the petition to get riddy of shoddy 50Hz PAL Virtual...
News New Sega Megadrive games for the Virtual Console
Some great news in a recent press release from Sega regarding the next series of games to be released on the Virtual Console. Yeah we'll have a piece of this action! Keep em coming in Sega!
Here's the Q1 2007 Line Up: Streets of Rage - This city was once a happy, peaceful, place.... until one day, a powerful secret criminal organization took over...
News New USA Virtual Console releases for 8th January
Nintendo adds three new classic games to the Wii Shop Channel today. The games will be available from 9am US Pacific time (5pm UK time).
Three high quality titles here. It's good to see Nintendo's commitment to getting Shoot-em-up favourites of old onto the Wii. Dungeon Explorer of course is more than welcome too! This week's new games are: Gradius...
News Mario Kart 64 to join Virtual Console in January
OK so the title is a little misleading! Mario Kart 64 will be joining the JAPANESE Virtual Console in January along with other classics such as Fire Emblem as confirmed by IGN here.
I'm not meaning to sound ungrateful Nintendo, I'm really not but don't you think you could announce some dates for when the US and UK regions will be getting some top...
News USA Virtual Console Christmas releases
Nintendo's Press site has revealed the Virtual Console releases for Christmas day for the North American regions:
Super Mario Bros - NESStreet Fighter II: The World Warrior - SNESSuper Castlevania IV - SNESToe Jam & Earl - MegadriveR-Type - PC Engine Keeping it short but sweet the VCA can report there is not one duffer in the bunch above. Let's...
