This morning you may have seen the leaked trailer for Rayman Legends showing off the Wii U’s snazzy Near Field Communication features, but who wants to play with a small tablet when you can have a whole coffee table?

Charles Lushear of custom design studio The Boho Workbench in Venice Beach, California has designed a Nintendo-chic piece of furniture that also doubles as a giant NES controller. The table measures 42″ x 18.25″ x 18″ and comes in four different varieties.

The controller table is made to order and can be crafted out of composite or hardwood materials. It also comes with a removable glass top for when you’re not playing games and optional USB capabilities. You can choose to give your table full NES controller functions or simply order a nonfunctional, but still very kickass, one.

You can purchase an old NES controller for about $5 on eBay. But because this isn’t just any old controller (it’s also a table,) ordering one will set you back about $3,500 depending on what you add to it.

Lushear is also researching adding in Wii capability. Let’s hope his project gives the Wii U tablet a run for its money too.

Source: etsy

Have you ever searched for destinations using Google Maps but were upset that the resolution was too high or that places looked too real? Ever wanted them to look like a 1986 video game?

Today Google announced Google Maps 8-bit, a map searching tool for the Nintendo Entertainment System that enables the NES to connect to Google using over “100,000 servers.”

“Our engineering team in Japan understood the importance of maps on retro game systems,” said Google Maps software engineer Tatsuo Nomura. “With the power of Google’s immense data centers, and support from Nintendo and Square Enix, we were able to overcome the technical and design hurdles of developing 8-bit maps. Today, we’re excited to announce the result: a version of Google Maps for NES, with beautiful low-res graphics, simple and intuitive controls, and a timeless soundtrack.”

While it will be available in the Google App store soon, everyone can try out the 8-bit version of Google Maps now by going to Google Maps and starting your “Quest.”

The over 20 year wait for Back to the Future fans is almost over, as TellTale’s Back to the Future videogame series kicks off for PC and Mac. The episodic content is the first real fiction in the franchise cannon since the end of the third film, released back in 1990. This will hardly be the first game in the history of Back to the Future though, as the series has spawned a series of often forgettable games, hop in the Delorean and let’s take a look back.

Back to the Future (1989, NES, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC – LJN): Perhaps fitting, the first Back to the Future game was modeled after the first movie, kind of. In the NES version, you controlled Marty Mcfly as you skateboarded through Hill Valley in an attempt to collect clocks and other power-ups to save the future (represented in a photograph at the bottom of the screen). If it looks and sounds familiar, it should — it’s Paperboy in a shiny coat of Back to the Future paint.

The most disappointing part of the game? You didn’t get to control the Delorean until the very last level of the game — it’s not too bad though, the game only took between 30 and 50 minutes to complete.

The eventual home computer versions were a bit different, presented as a side-scrolling adventure, you still control Marty, but your job is to get George McFly and Lorraine to fall in love by collecting objects like flowers, and love poems.

Back to the Future II and III ( 1990, NES, LJN): Remember the part in Back to the Future II where Marty jumped over enemies in spiked shells to collect junk food and fuel so the Delorean could get back to 1985? Yeah, me either, but that’s what LJN had you doing in this pack of 2 NES games. While the Sega Master system and PC releases saw the two games separately (with slightly spruced up visuals), Marty’s second and third gaming adventures were decidedly plumber influenced.

Back to the Future 2 (Sega Master System Version)

Universal Studios: Theme Park Adventure (2001, Gamecube, Kemco)

If Marty and Doc could, they’d probably go back in time to stop their association with this stinker.  To put the game into perspective, imagine going to the Universal Studios theme parks, having mace sprayed in your eyes (the graphics were that blurry and bad) and having to partake in cruddy mini games that revolved around the parks’ attractions. Run through Hill Valley! Fight off Jaws! Get really…really bored!

Yes, there was a Back to the Future minigame in this 2002 clunker, but most people didn’t get to play it since the rest of the game was just so terrible.

Check Blast tomorrow for a review of Telltale’s first Back to the Future Episode!

Remakes in the movie, television and video game industries are very common, but they are often unsuccessful. Did you know that ABC Family is making a “10 Things I Hate About You” sitcom?

“The Italian Job?” Great. “Godzilla?” Terrible. What about “Psycho?”

The trend follows in video games. Prince of Persia and the Final Fantasy III remake on the DS were epic successes. But pretty much every attempt to recapture the addiction we found in Contra has been an epic failure.

Here’s, in no particular order, a list of Five NES games that haven’t — but should — be remade in the modern era:

The Adventures of Bayou Billy – Konami, 1989

An absurdly difficult game, but so ahead of its time. The Adventures of Bayou Billy featured shooting, fighting and driving.

And some of the most catchy music and SFX of its era.

Billy hasn’t been since his 1989 debut.

Kung Fu – Irem, 1985

How many times can you save Sylvia?

The game that never ends saw a sequel in Japan but nothing in the modern era and nothing in US since it came out in 1985.

Bubble Bubble – Taito, 1988

The Bubble Dragons Bub and Bob journey to the Cave of Monsters to rescue their girls from the evil Grumple Gromit.

Why haven’t we seen this since? Bubble Bubble is easily an NES top 20.

Crystalis – SNK, 1990

Crystalis did have a port made on the GBC in 2000, but now that it’s been 20 years since this top-down RPG was released, we should get to experience it all over again.

The game has great elements of post-apocalyptic and cyberpunk. It’s a sleeper in a world of Final Fantasy and even, at its time, the Phantasy Star series on the Sega platforms.

Faxanadu – Falcom, 1989

Faxanadu is an obscure little title from the late 1980s.

In Faxanadu, you return the Elven castle town of Eolis after many years to find it a near ghost town. Meteors have fallen to Earth, bringing “The Evil One” with them. It’s up to you to destroy evil.

Very similar feeling to Zelda II.

What did I miss? Leave comments!

I suppose I had a weird video game upbringing.

Between friends’ houses and arcades, I played everything growing up, but what I had at my house was different. I owned an NES, but a Genesis instead of SNES. I owned a Dreamcast and a PlayStation but an Xbox instead of PlayStation 2. Now I focus on PlayStation 3 instead of 360, but occasionally play Wii.

Though I admit I mostly play Wii for Virtual Console lately. And I recently bought the retro video game player on Think Geek.

And all along, I always loved PC games. It was a victory to figure out the perfect Autoexec.bat and Config.sys file so that I could get most of the games to run on my old 486SX PC that ran Windows 3.1 — it came with 4MB of RAM, but we upgraded it to a whopping 8MB and added a CD-ROM drive.

One thing I did miss out on: I didn’t play the Final Fantasy series growing up.

There have been some amazing games made lately, but nothing has ever sucked me into a virtual world like some of the games I played when I was young. Even with the realistic sounds and graphics of today’s games, it was the nuances of childhood games that stuck.

Here is my list of the 10 games I played the most.

10. The “Strike” franchise (Genesis)

Jungle Strike, Urban Strike and Desert Strike. Three buttons, three weapons. You move, shoot, reload and hope for an armor crate eventually.

The games are the purest example of simplicity. There’s some story mixed in, but really these are arcade games. They’re fun, challenging, addictive, and satisfying.

9. Contra (NES)

Up up, down down, left right, left right, B-A-B-A, Start. That got you 30 lives, instead of the impossible three that you started with.

Though, I beat the game on 4 lives on the Think Geek retro player recently. It’s like riding a bike. Just get that first “Spread” weapon and never lose it.

Contra is a shooting-based platformer with sequels that range from impossibly difficult to absurdly bad. But the original stands as one of the best games ever made, and it was one of the first multiplayer action games that felt rewarding enough to repeat.

Because everyone wants to relive that ride home in a helicopter.

8. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

Do I really need to explain much here? The platformer genre never got any better after this. The Mario Bros. were in their golden age here.

Mushroom houses, whistles, hammer brothers, sand, water, fire and floating gunships combine to send you on a trip you’ll not soon forget.

This was also a big game to hit with Game Genie codes, especially in — I think it was — World 4 with all the sky levels.

7. Shining Force II (Genesis)

Shining Force will make the list twice. Remember, this is a list of games I dedicated the most time to. Shining Force II was a lot harder than the original Shining Force. It wasn’t as intuitive, and though I played the original a lot more often, it was the sequel that eluded me for a long time, especially after the Sega Channel dropped the game from its list.

For the longest time, I couldn’t get past a certain point where I had to interact with a hollow oak tree to obtain an ancient caravan that would let me progress further in the game. It was a shock when I finally figured it out.

6. Fighters Anthology (PC/DOS)

The entire PC combat flight simulation genre came to an apex here. Jane’s and Electronic Arts had success with both Navy Fighters and Advanced Tactical Fighter. So when they combined the games into one title and added several more campaigns, the result was a three-inch thick box with an (unnecessary) novel-sized manual and two CD-ROMs.

The game was sick. You could spend days flying around Vietnam, Russia, Ukraine, China and even Cuba. You career spanned some 50 years, from F-4′s in Nam to F-14s in a 1998 Russian invasion of Ukraine to F-22′s and X-31′s in Egypt in the early 21st century.

The game also had a rich following from third parties who developed an assortment of modifications, including new plans, weapons, buildings and even nukes.

5. Shining Force (Genesis)

This game, too, disappeared from Sega Channel. It disappeared before I could beat it. Years later, I would trade in some then worthless Dreamcast games for the Shining Force cartridge.

It was actually emotional to beat this game. The strategy, the sacrifice. The game told a story and forced the imagination into overdrive.

4. Doom and Doom 2(PC/DOS)

I still play these next four games whenever I can. Doom started it all for me. It was the first game I ever installed from a CD-ROM.

I played the shareware first episode of Doom for months. It was only nine levels (I forget if the bonus level was in the shareware), but there was something about shooting imps and shotgun-toting former human sergeants that’s still addicting.

We didn’t get The Ultimate Doom, which included the three original Doom episodes and a fourth called “Thy Flesh Consumed,” until years after we bought Doom 2.

Enter Doom 2. Now there’s 32 levels.

The levels were better, the enemies were more plentiful and there were two new weapons. I’d brag — I have gone through the entire game without cheats on Nightmare. I probably can’t do it anymore.

The only way we ever improved on Doom 2 was by playing Doom 2 for Windows 95 over our home network, without lag.

Be thankful kids, Doom’s deathmatch paved a blood-stained road that leads right to your Slayer matches in Halo 3.

3. Phantasy Star IV

There’s a healthy mix of action and RPG in this mix of games, but nothing (except maybe the next title) can possibly match the depth I found in Phantasy Star IV.

Not only was the game a graphical wonder with depth of character development and attack technique, but it was a wicked long game to beat. The game goes on forever, and you can’t just skip through it. You have to fight every battle and gain every character level to even have a chance at taking on the final boss.

Phantasy Star IV is also in this sort of cyberpunk post-modern fantasy world with remnants of ancient, advanced technology despite the primitive, agrarian lifestyle of the characters. That makes more sense if you played Phantasy Star I-III, but the fourth installment was the best.

It was such a perfectly made game. It was stylized but not over the top. It had dialog you could understand. It had character development. I dare you not to shed a tear when Alys dies.

2. Shadowrun (Genesis)

Karma is something you earn.

I still wish there was a 16-bit sequel to Shadowrun. I didn’t like the popular SNES Shadowrun RPG. It was the totally different Genesis game that owned me.

It’s all about depth. Character development, conversations and interactions, weapons, magic, guns, computers, dragons, elves, trolls and evil mega corporations in 21st century Seattle result in one of my favorite games and #2 on my most played list. You could even ignore the plot and become a mercenary or freelance computer hacker.

This was Shadowrun. There was as much reading as there was shooting. Don’t even talk to me about the newer Xbox 360/PC game that happens to be called Shadowrun. It’s a disgrace. It’s pitiful. It’s sacrilegious.

1. Tie Fighter Collector’s Edition (PC/DOS)

The hair on the back of my neck stood up and a fight or flight response triggered the first time Admiral Harkov betrayed me to die in a Rebel minefield while flying Tie Interceptor Gamma 1.

I was doomed. The Victory Class Star Destroyer Protector was firing on me and a Rebel cruiser dropped out of hyperspace to back up the traitors. I, a loyal Imperial naval aviator, was singled out for a creative extermination.

Then the cavalry came. The Modified Frigate Osprey, carrying shielded Tie Interceptors from Theta group arrived to pick me up from the clutches of certain death.

I was born after the original Star Wars trilogy and way before Episodes I-III. I didn’t read the books growing up. It was this game, which still ranks as one of the best computer games ever released, that gave me my Star Wars education and left me rooting for the Empire from then onward.

Tie Fighter Collector’s CD puts you in the cockpit of the Empire and immerses the player in a world of intrigue, open war and piracy. The full voice acting (one of the first games to do it) and sound effects are forever burned into my mind. And when the throes of dementia take me later in life and I end up spouting off “Die Rebel Scum” and “Peace between the Dimok and Ripoblus!” in my nursing home, you’ll know why.

Okay, so it’s not really System of a Down, as the sign in the video implies. That’s clearly just a clever name thought up for the purposes of this music video, which shows 8-bit characters from the Mario universe playing some classic NES tunes, metal style.

While it’s certainly no Powerglove (check out Mario Minor and other songs on their Myspace, and browse their official website here) it does have a music video with 8-bit animation, so that’s something.

The other day, I was talking on AIM to a dashing man who may or may not determine the writing assignments here for Blast, and my calling him “dashing” is in no way an attempt to curry favor.‚  Anyway, the subject of RPGs came up, and since it is my favorite genre, I had plenty to say.‚  The query posed was a seemingly simple one: What were my 10 favorite RPGs, any system, from any time?

I actually found it pretty hard to limit myself, and eventually spit out about 15 different ones. ‚ The subject is so complex and the games so great (in my mind) that I could probably do a post on each game on my list.‚  I mean, just yesterday Marc did an entire post on Final Fantasy VII, which definitely makes my list of best RPGs and probably my Top Five of all-time.

Therefore, in an attempt to edit myself prematurely, I’m going to focus on the inverse today “" The five WORST role-playing games I’ve played.‚  (Note that I did qualify the preceding statement with “I’ve played” so fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint, most of the SaGa and Tales games are safe.)‚  I did not include old NES games that were meant primarily as action-adventure games with some role-playing elements (so you’re safe, Deadly Towers and Hydlide) or games that weren’t “officially” released in the United States (Final Fantasy 2j or Earthbound Zero, although that’s a decent game anyway).‚  The list, in no particular order:

I just loved when Frodo killed wolves in the book.

- The Lord of the Rings: Volume 1, SNES.‚  Much like Peter Jackson’s trilogy stands as the definitive work that the bad, 1980s animated films pale against, so goes the SNES version vs. the modern games.‚  The action-adventure-RPG fails in every aspect.

Released by Interplay in 1994, The Lord of the Rings’ programmers somehow decided that Tolkien’s original work, which is admittedly dry in some spots, would be better if it was simplified.‚  Unfortunately, their judgment was pretty piss-poor in terms of what they chose to remove.‚  For example, gone is Bilbo’s somewhat terrifying reluctance to part with the ring at the start of the tale, and in its place is a simple sentence about how “it’s hard to give up.”‚  Sigh.

Stealing a page from the book of the Angry Video Game Nerd (NSFW), remember how awesome it was when Frodo fought a shitload of wolves in the Shire?‚  Oh, you don’t remember how awesome it is because that never happened?‚  Yeah, me either.‚  But like the video game version of Back to the Future, which has you dodging bees and garbage cans and plate glass windows, Lord of the Rings SNES has little to do with its literary or film counterparts.‚  As the full name implies, it covers the first third of the trilogy, but because of dismal sales, I imagine the other installments were never made.

I could overlook this aspect, except that the rest of the game is a steaming pile as well.‚  You only control Frodo, but all of the other characters of the fellowship join you.‚  How can that be?‚  Well, while you walk around, they’re given free reign.‚  Unlike, say, Secret of Mana, there is nothing stopping Gimli and Legolas from wandering off-screen and getting killed by a goblin or troll.‚  And this will happen constantly, because the AI is ridiculous.‚  You can hold the L-button to “control” your other characters, but this prevents Frodo from walking, and it controls all of them at once.‚  This is an issue when you have as many as eight or nine people in your party.

By the way, death is permanent in The Lord of the Rings.‚  In the words of Ivan Drago, if Pippin dies, then he dies.‚  There is no way to revive him.‚  Combine this with the idiotic AI, and it’s impossible to make it through the entire game with all of the fellowship intact without some serious luck.

There are plenty of other “fail” aspects to The Lord of the Rings.‚  Even though it is a SNES game and thus a cartridge, there are long pauses when switching areas and accessing the menu.‚  You can’t chose who equips what; if you acquire a new piece of equipment, the most “important” character (in the order of Aragorn, Frodo, Gandalf, Gimli, Legolas, Sam, Pippin and Merry, roughly) inherits it.‚  All of the character sprites are tiny, and it would be impossible to tell the hobbits apart, except that they wear different colors.‚  You do a bunch of crap “" exploring caves near the Shire and Bree for stones to open up the way in the Mines of Moria “" that isn’t in the book or the movies.‚  Even if you let everyone else die, Frodo and/or Aragorn can easily power their way through the computer’s also stupid AI.‚  The last battle is against the Balrog, but you can kill it if Gandalf dies.

There are two reasons to play The Lord of the Rings.‚  One, the sound is pretty good.‚  And two, Tom Bombadil is still the man.‚  He is the only character who doesn’t lose a god damn thing from book to game.‚  He still is a merry fellow, bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow; none have ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the master, and his songs are stronger songs, and his feet are faster.

- Beyond the Beyond, PSX.‚  According to Wikipedia, this game now has attained a sort of cult following, although I don’t know why.‚  It bears the distinction of being the first RPG released for the PSX, but this doesn’t excuse its inferior quality.‚  The game is actually OK in the graphics and sound department, as it looks like it belongs in Sega’s Shining series.

Unfortunately, this is where the similarities end.‚  The gameplay is plodding, with the double whammy of a high encounter rate and long, meandering dungeons.‚  Enemy magicians are especially overpowering, as group-effecting spells can wipe you out in a single round.‚  Your own magicians aren’t as lucky, because there isn’t a ton of MP to go around, and you often have to save it up for healing and fighting boss characters.‚  Nothing comes easy, and all of these gameplay and battle system issues have nothing to do with its debut status.

Also, as I mentioned in my review of Black Sigil last week (yay for self-pimping!), one of Beyond the Beyond’s major characters is cursed for a good portion of the game.‚  It is as if you have a confused character in your party the entire time. There is a one-in-three chance that he attacks, freezes up or takes damage each time he does something.‚  The whole “cursed” thing is the insult-to-injury, pointy stick rammed into the eye socket aspect of Beyond the Beyond that pushes it from below average to cringeworthy.

This skull randomly tells you things in The Black Gate. It is cheesier than you imagine.

- The SNES Ultima games.‚  Yeah, I’m just doing a group entry for them, but if I have to mention one, let’s go with The Black Gate, the seventh installment.‚  It features a top-down, three-fourths perspective that makes me somewhat sick to my stomach while playing.‚  The font used by the game doesn’t help matters either, as its slightly-cursive tint, small size and prodigious length makes it hard to read.‚  The other SNES Ultimas at least have a legible font, although they all seem to use the horrible perspective.

The Black Gate is the usual non-linear sort of game primarily featured in the Ultima series, but the dizzying perspective and better alternatives on the SNES “" like a decent port of Might and Magic III “" allow it to earn its place on this list.‚  Besides, being non-linear isn’t the problem, as Quest for the Avatar is an underrated gem for the NES, and very first, plain old Ultima is serviceable.

- Legend of Mana, PSX.‚  Here is the secret to beating Legend of Mana: Have a pulse.‚  If your lungs work, then you should be able to stream roll your way through the game.‚  Even if you are a corpse, or some sort of ethereal being that only has limited possession skills, you should still be able to handle it.

Basically, the only requirement to beating Legend of Mana is having a working thumb with which to press the attack button.‚  (In fact, by reading the preceding paragraph the game might have rewarded you with an extra level or two.)‚  It bears little in common with the great Secret of Mana, and nothing in common with the quirky, comical and underrated Secret of Evermore.

"And then I had to go allllll the way uphill to the market..."

- Lagoon, SNES.‚  If you’re wondering why there are so many SNES games between this list and the section below, it’s because the success of some legitimately great games “" Final Fantasy 2 and 3, Chrono Trigger, Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, Dragon Quest 5 and 6 in Japan “" caused some developers to just dump mediocre games on the market.

The people behind 1991′s Lagoon probably noted (or bet on) the success A Link to the Past to propel their paltry title to some increased sales.‚  Lagoon is an adventure-RPG; Zelda with hit points and equipment, or a more RPG-ish version of the PSX and DS Castlevania games.‚  Like Beyond the Beyond, it was one of the first titles for console, but this doesn’t excuse its sins; Final Fantasy 2 came out in the same year and that’s still great.

No, Lagoon would still suck if it came out in 1791, although the villagers of Salem would get some sick enjoyment out of screaming “Witch!” at its strange, rectangular form before burning it atop a stack of actual witches.‚  Your character can only move in the four compass directions, which is a problem when you’re trying to dodge fireballs and other attacks from the game’s later bosses.

In addition to the lethargic movement, combat is hurt by the minuscule attack range of your character.‚  A swing from your sword has enough range to disturb some flies in your general area, and not much else.‚  The hit detection is generally poor, and makes Lagoon frustratingly hard.

As suggested by my picture selection, the dialogue is nothing to write home about either.‚  Most villagers will prattle on about any old thing.‚  And yes, your character is called Nasir.‚  Hot, I know.‚  The only names of major characters I like less in the various RPGs I’ve played are Ashley from Vagrant Story and Poo from Earthbound.‚  (Maybe that list can be next.‚  A man can dream…)

- Also at least considered, seriously or fleetingly, for this list: 7th Saga, Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled, Brain Lord (since Enix somehow got that stateside instead of Dragon Warrior 5 or 6), Brandish, Breath of Fire 2 (the SNES version with the high encounter rate, minimal experience gains and low gold drops), Chrono Cross, Drakkhen, Final Fantasy (yes, seriously), Final Fantasy Legend 1 and 2, Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest, Final Fantasy X-2, Grandia Xtreme, Harvest Moon, The Legend of Dragoon, Lufia and the Fortress of Doom, Lufia: The Ruins of Lore, Magna Carta, Ogre Battle, Paladin’s Quest, Pinball Quest, Romancing SaGa 3, Shadow Hearts 3: From the New World, Spell Craft, the numerous bad Star Trek games, Suikoden IV, Uncharted Waters, Vagrant Story and Valkyrie Profile.

It would have been easy for Capcom to release yet another reboot of the Mega Man series. Instead, Mega Man 9 is a frustrating, pixelated adventure that looks like it’s been sitting in out game collection for the past 15 years.

It’s everything Mega Man should be.

Available for download from the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live and Wii-Ware, Mega Man 9 is a retro treat that brings us back to a time seemingly forgotten by the industry. Everything you remember from the classic Mega Man games is here, from the blaster to the series trademarks disappearing blocks. Somehow though, after all these years, the series still holds up, not just to nostalgia buffs — but as genuine, satisfying game experience.

Borrowing mostly from the original Mega Man and it’s sequel than any of the more recent titles (ie, no charge shot or power slide), MM9 stays true to the game’s true origins though the story does take a radical turn. After yet another robot rampage, Mega Man’s arch nemesis Dr. Wily presents a video of famed scientist and Mega Man’s creator Dr. Light claiming responsibility and plotting world domination. It’s up to Mega Man to not only defeat clear his mentor’s name, but stop yet another robot revolution.

The formula stays the same here –‚ battle your way through a slew of eight themed robo-bosses in any order, obtaining a new signature weapon after defeating each. There-in lies the secret; planning out your course to use your weapons effectively on each boss. While there is no‚ definite‚ right answer, finding a winning combination can prove to be quite taxing. What it comes down to — in most cases, is mere trial and error, very very frustrating trial and error.

Yes, Mega Man 9 is difficult, in fact, at times certain stages will seem damn near impossible.You’ll die often, and odds are you’re going to go through quite a lot of controllers in fits of rage as the game doesn’t forgive failure very easy. Each of the eight stages only features two checkpoints — one around the stage’s halfway point, and the other at the very end boss battle. Luckily, as in previous games in the series, the masochistic difficulty never seems to deter one from playing — it’s a good, frustrating challenge that if you’re willing to stick with, feels incredibly rewarding when finished.

Undoubtedly, playing Mega Man 9 on the Wii feels the most comfortable. Gamers familiar with the series will feel right at home with the sideways Wii remote control scheme (used frequently for other NES era games ported to the Wii), while the PS3 and Xbox 360 version do their best to map out the control’s in a‚ similarly easy‚ way, but it just plain doesn’t feel right, and the Xbox’s clunky and unresponsive d-pad will only add to the frustration.

Mega Man 9 plays like a love letter to not only the world‚ Keiji Inafune created so many years ago, but to the golden age of gaming in general. Proof that even today, games don’t need hi-def graphics and cinematics to be a worthwhile experience — gamers of all ages should pick up Mega Man 9 — if you can take the frustration.

At a press conference in Japan this week, Nintendo confirmed what everyone already knew: the DS is getting a touch-up. Officially called the Nintendo DSi, the new system will feature sharper visuals, crisper audio and will allow users to listen to their music library and snap photos with a built in 3 mega pixel camera. While the DSi’s design will stay mostly the same, it will be tweaked where it counts, as it will reportedly feature 17 percent bigger LCD screens and a 12 percent thinner package.

“We are finding ourselves in an unprecedented stage where one of every six people (in Japan) has the DS,” Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told a news conference on Thursday. “We will strive not only to appeal to those households without the DS, but to promote a shift to ‘one DS per person’ from ‘one DS per household’.”

The new unit will also give users access to an online store, similar to that found on the Wii. Nintendo has also promised that the DSi will feature an SD card slot to alleviate any memory concerns and allow players to view their own photos on the system. The new DSi, launching November 1 in Japan and expected mid 2009 in North America is no doubt an attempt by Nintendo to compete with Sony’s PSP and Apple’s iPod, the company’s main competitors on the portable entertainment front.

Also at the conference, Nintendo made every gamer who grew up in the NES era happy when they announced that a new version of Punch Out! will be coming to the Wii in 2009. No further details are known on the game, but it’s expected to use an advanced version of the engine seen in the boxing stages of Wii Sports and Wii fit.

In a stroke of imaginative genius, French modder Kotomi managed to squeeze an entire Nintendo Entertainment System into an old Super Mario Bros. cartridge.

The engineer behind this mod used NES-on-a-chip to squeeze the entire gaming system, with AV plugs, power switch and two controller ports, into a single game cartridge.

NES, called Famicom in Asia, was released in the US in 1985.

Kotami has done a ton of retro mods including a USB version of the SNES Mouse and a bunch of wicked cool, colorful case designs.

Viva la France.

(Engadget, technobob)

One of the greatest features on the Nintendo Wii is the Virtual Console, giving players a chance to relive some of the greatest games ever made, including the original Mario Brothers and Zelda games.

But try as you might, many people just don’t feel the Wiimote — or even the Gamecube controller — feels right. That’s because we played these games for countless hours with the familiar two buttons of the rectangular NES controller and the breakthrough six buttons of the SNES. Or, if we really got fancy, we might have had a NES Advantage arcade-style control platform.

The Wii RetroPorts from RetroZone are simple small wire adapters. You can buy an NES or SNES version. Just plug it into the Wii with your original controller and you’re allset. The adapters don’t come with a controller, but you can use any controller with either a NES or SNES plug. The adapters just plug in as GameCube controllers, and you can use them for any Virtual Console games that are configured for the corresponding amount of buttons. (Genesis?)

I tried a few NES and SNES games in the Virtual Console. They played just the same as the original system. I felt like I was playing my original console games without having to blow on the cartridges.

The Original NES controller feels sooo much better in my hands than the Wii-Mote for Super Mario Brothers.

At $19, this is a perfect product.

Quick hits:

Developer/Distributor: RetroZone
Platform: Wii, Gamecube (Uses NES or SNES-compatible controllers, depending on which one you buy)
Genre: Gaming accessory

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars

Next-generation video game consoles are teetering on the edge of photorealism, and pushing the limits of modern technology to draw more customers within a competitive industry.

But are the jaw-dropping graphics and high definition hardware what gamers really want?

The cell processor-toting Playstation 3 was received with much anticipation, but was also criticized for its issues with backward compatibility. Only three percent of games for Playstation and PS2 had issues with playback on the PS3. The newest Playstation also caught heat from consumers for not supporting legacy peripherals from the older platforms.

The Xbox 360, which also boasts an impressive hardware portfolio, is only Microsoft’s second console release. However, the company struggles to obtain full backwards compatibility with both generations. Emulation software, which can actually enhance the graphics on older games, gives the Xbox some backwards compatiblity. Still, the software cannot emulate all games properly, though Microsoft is regularly releasing updates to increase the library of first generation Xbox games that can be played on the 360.

Next up: the Nintendo Wii. While the Wii is not a technological powerhouse, its popularity has grown for other reasons. Most notably, its backward compatibility has thrown late underdog Nintendo back into the spotlight. The console directly accepts previous generation Gamecube controllers, and it also offers an online store where you can purchase ready-to-play games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64, all for reasonable prices.

In an age that offers real-time physics processing, 1080p video and internet connectivity, why are gamers still stuck in an 8-bit, side-scrolling state of mind? Is it nostalgia, or do games today just suck? Whatever it is, gamers are doing everything they can to get their fix of retro gaming. From emulation to third party adapters that allow gamers to use original NES controllers on their PCs, the Web is buzzing with retro gaming marketplaces and resources.

Great Games

Back in the day, when retro gaming was state-of-the-art gaming, developers did not have the technology or resources to wow their customers with three dimensional rendering or digital surround sound. The focus was left to the game itself.

Now, clearly not all NES titles were gold. In fact, some were plain terrible, but the platform produced more timeless classics than any other console. Games like Super Mario Brothers and The Legend of Zelda paved the way for many games since, and they basically wrote the book on video game story lines. These are the games that showed people how video games should be developed and what game play should feel like.

Today, the focus is on technical specifications and maximizing the console’s performance. But is this really all that gamers want? Are developers trying too hard to use all the technology available, without looking at the quality of their game and its story? Games can look good and be great, but many of the shiny new 1080p games are lost in mediocrity.

Memories

There is nothing better than pressing start and taking in the sweet midi-driven melodies of your favorite 8-bit games of yesterday. Even if you aren’t playing the cartridge, the side scrollers you probably unwrapped for the first time on your 8th birthday are just fun to sit back and watch.

Who still has the instruction booklets that came with their first game? No one, and you probably tossed it out the first day you got it, because you didn’t need it. The games were so simple. No ridiculous cinematic sequences, no internet connection errors, and no loading screens-just gaming. Everything was self explanatory because it had to be, and the great games made this work. At any time you could pick up the pad and have a blast, regardless of what level you were on or how good you were at playing the game.

Ten years from now, will the kids of today regard the PS3 and Wii as the holy grail of gaming? Perhaps, but that’s only because they will never be able to fully appreciate the true trail blazing retro systems that some of us were lucky enough to grow up playing.