MrWezzle

@Relylp Yup. I think it's safe to expect it after MH3U's success.

@MadAussieBloke Nope.

Yeah... I've actually heard that TLoU doesn't really shine if you're looking for a story that is really that consistent with the world around it. That includes gameplay. I don't really know if it's set a new standard like everybody thought it would.

@mr_moobs Yeah, I don't think you'd be satisfied with this on Wii U at all. The textures are reeeaally low in some shots (especially on the ground itself). Hopefully the visuals will improve, but I still don't think you want this playing on an HD system.

@Revolution5268 I agree with you. Wii 2 may have not been the perfect name, but I guarantee it'd be selling better than Wii U. And considering the audience for the Wii is vastly different than the Xbox or Playstation demographic, I think Wii 2 would have worked pretty dang well.

Yup. Could have even called it "Wii 2" and avoided this mess. Sad, but true. The name has really hurt the sales, I'd imagine.

Already tired of that single music track playing in the trailer, and who wants to bet it's the only track in the entire game?

Sure, I'd buy it. I'd love if more Japan-only titles came to VC. I'll buy it simply to support the idea, if nothing else. But it also looks like fun game. Crazy that it's Famicom, yeah.

@_MorbidFaith Enjoy! If I had a Wii U, I'd be doing the same. Gonna grab Mega Man 4 myself. Love those games!

@_MorbidFaith 9AM PST.

Nah. Nintendo doesn't need a press conference to make a splash (or did you not catch the Direct last week?).

This game is looking to be excellent, and nobody's seen more than ten minutes of gameplay. I don't care how much milking Nintendo does of its core franchises, as long as they do it with quality and style, I'll keep on buying it.

"The time was right" to release Earthbound on VC? No. The time was right about five years ago. What a crap answer.

@Raghav Great? This post seems to be made for those of us that are...

This is really exceptional, if not HISTORICAL news. Earthbound's release on VC is the result of countless fan projects, protests, and petitions. Really a huge victory for all fans of Nintendo, not just the Mother series. A lot of us thought this day would never come, so it's really inspiring to see this finally happening.

Wow, $4.99 is such a great deal for Crimson Shroud... EVERYONE should get it at that price.

I can't imagine anyone is actually surprised by this. Most of the things being reported about this game seem to be things it WON'T include. "The original NES version of DuckTales was an entirely single player experience" says it all. I think we can expect more or less a similar experience to the original with a few minor changes to enhance what the original set out to do. This crazy speculation seems a bit off.

As always, I'm making a slow, sweet progression through Dark Souls and taking another stab at Lost Planet, since I never beat the original and now it has a third installment coming out.

On the handheld side of things, I've started playing Sakura Samurai (got it on sale) and so far it's a pretty fun little game!

Big fan of Crimson shroud, but I'd need to be convinced to try either of these, even if Inafune is behind one of them.

Man, when are we gonna get NES Castlevania on the 3DS VC? Hasn't EU had it for a couple weeks now?

I just did. It felt so wrong, I don't think I'll ever do it again.

Black Tiger is pretty good, but Avenger is NOT. They definitely have retained that quarter-munching difficulty. I don't know how raging wasn't so much worse back then.

Would they release in the same format (packs of three games that added themselves to this "compilation game") or would they come to the eShop as standalone titles? Do we know?

Interesting that there's no sale for Rolling Western, I figured they'd want to get some more people interested in the series before that sequel comes out. For example, me. I'd totally jump on that game if they dropped it a couple bucks.

Yeah, I can see where some would enjoy this type of gameplay, but it came of as near-archaic for me. I don't mind a lot of depth and management, but it's gotta be presented a little better than this game seems to do it. When it comes down to it, it really did just get very boring very quickly. But cheers to anyone who can get into it. I'm glad they're letting everyone try it out.

@IsawYoshi Haha yes, we'll see.

Xerneas looks like a big ol' Y in that picture. They BOTH look like big ol' Y's. One of them should look like a big ol' X.

Wow, Blaster Master came out of nowhere. Great, slightly underrated title. Way to go, EU!

Ninja Gaiden's release date has been changed to today's date in the eShop. So there's a chance we might be adding that to our list... Crossing all my fingers.

@RetroGBHippie92 Yeah, I figured. It just baffles me that it was in an official press release and yet there's been no word on its absence. I know NA is getting much better eShop updates than the rest of the West, but I mostly look forward to the slow, molasses-like trickle of VC titles, and when a drop doesn't hit my tongue, I get all cranky.

Yeah, it's totally beatable without the save states. I've done it at least twice, and I don't consider myself a master or anything. Now Ghosts n' Goblins, that's another story...

Emailed Nintendo to check about the Ninja Gaiden stuff, since they had a press release-set date and all that. Here's the response, which is probably typical, but I figured I'd share anyways:

"Thanks for writing. I can certainly understand your interest in Ninja Gaiden. As you are aware, this game was not yet released on the Nintendo eShop. However, I'm happy to forward your comments to the appropriate people so that your feedback will be heard. While I can't guarantee when or if this game will be added, we take all feedback into consideration."

So there you have it. For now, there are no guarantees about not only WHEN, but IF Ninja Gaiden will make it to the eShop. Dunno what gives, but there's the closest thing to an answer we're gonna get.

Man, I'm really bummed about Ninja Gaiden. Hope he hasn't gone the way of ol' Sonic, forever on backlog.

@Omega I'm sure there's a site out there that has exactly what you're looking for.

Yeah, I was really looking forward to Ninja Gaiden this week, and there's no 3DS VC whatsoever... Not cool, Nintendo. You toy with my heart enough as it is; the last thing I need is for you to start that trolling business. Leave that to Capcom.

Yeah, this is what we get for having such a ballin' update last week. And things could always be worse: we could live in Europe.

@idork99 I know, right? VC is very strangely organized on the eShop. The new titles sometimes aren't advertised at all on the front page, and even when you go into the VC list itself, they're organized to where new stuff is sometimes waaaay down the list. Could use some polish.

What. A. Week. Honestly, so much great stuff being delivered here that it's almost baffling that anyone can come up with an excuse not to get something (Yeah, I'm looking at you, @Donjwolf). Two 3DS VC (well, more like one, but still) plus DLC, plus demo, a retail release, plus two long-awaited downloadable titles for 3DS. Nicely done, Big N. Expect some money from MrWezzle this week.

Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath. Those other two Sonic games have been catching cobwebs at the dark, dank recesses of the "Virtual Console" list for months now, since the infamous 8-Bit Summer. Even if this one is announced, I'd be surprised to see it arrive on time. Something fishy going on there.

@Pikachupwnage Haha, you took the words right out of my mouth. Any game that needs to misspell with a Z to get my attention is a game that likely doesn't deserve it. There are too many great things headed to the NA eShop in the coming weeks to worry about some sub-par runner.

Really excellent stuff. Great for background music at work.

@Pikachupwnage I'll take the NA software selection these past couple of weeks over a sale any day. No need to be jealous of EU because of one sale.

Another NES title is always welcome on the 3DS. Especially excited about Ghosts n' Goblins next week. Also, we'll take that Mega Man release you gave EU this week, Ninty. Anytime you're ready. The more the merrier.

@0LD_SK0OL_PUNK MrWezzle.

@Tech101 What, Castlevania "The Adventure" isn't good enough for you? Literally the last Castlevania title anybody ever asked for on VC?

And no, I don't think I'd take this as a signal that anything's really going to improve for the West. Japan gets at least one if not two NES titles almost every week. Their 3DS VC catalog is BALLIN', and it has been for a long time. I don't know why it takes so long for EU and NA to get the scraps off that table.

Yeah, I really wanted some 3DS crosswords, and was on the fence, and then I saw a used copy of its predecessor in a store, and just got that for maybe $10 instead of a whopping $30. Definitely satiated my appetite for a fraction of the cost. If this had been sold for less, I would have gotten it digitally. Alas.

Yeah, I don't think I'd trust them with another Megaman title. Just give us the old stuff that Japan's been given, and I'll be juuust fine.

@sillygostly I didn't know anyone HATED Face Raiders. What's to hate? It didn't even cost you anything.

Also, Nintendo, way to beef it up this week. Seriously might be the most impressive week I've seen so far. Kind of overwhelming, in a good way.

I somehow haven't played a 3DS iteration of Cave Story yet, so I'll pony up for this apparently and finally "got it right" version.

And as badly as I want all those crosswords, I just can't sensibly pay $30 for them. I'm gonna wait until that price drops to like half of that. Which hopefully won't take long, considering it's... you know... a crossword game.

Fire Emblem news is always welcome.

Protip #2: If you want your game to do well, it had better be considerably better than every free-to-play online Flash game of the exact same genre.

@iroxyorsox Yeah, maybe if the review is really, really solid. Tough call.