Tecmo's Nostalgeo no Kaze, being localized as Nostalgia by Ignition Entertainment, is a fantasy RPG set in a fictionalized version of our own world in the late 19th century. In this steampunk-inspired world, a young man named Eddy searches for legendary treasures, traveling around the world ... on his zeppelin.

During E3, we had the opportunity to speak briefly with producer Keisuke Kikuchi (best known for creating Fatal Frame) and director Naoki Morita (known for his work on Sega's Sakura Taisen series, which is finally coming to North America) about the inspiration behind the fanciful Nintendo DS RPG, and about life after the Tecmo-Koei merger.

Hey, remember Winds of Nostalgio, the Matrix Software/Red Entertainment-developed RPG that Tecmo published in Japan last winter? Don't worry, we had forgotten about it too. But Ignition Entertainment didn't -- the publisher is partnering with Tecmo to release the RPG in North America this September, under the simpler title of Nostalgia.

Afraid it's just another RPG? Here's the description from the press release. "Set in an alternate-reality
version of 19th-century Earth, Nostalgia casts you as Eddie, a headstrong Londoner who amasses a group of memorable companions to traverse the world in his steampunk-inspired zeppelin." It features both turn-based combat with monsters and airship battles.

Ignition seems to be stepping up its game with stuff like this and Muramasa. Is this the influence of new Business Development director Shane Bettenhausen?

Warning: you are now entering a Wii Fanboy nostalgia zone; if we get wrapped up in jabbering about our wholesome childhoods over the next 200 words, you've been warned. The cause of this trip down memory lane? The announcement that Tomy would be bringing a Pop-Up Pirate game to WiiWare. Yay!

Pop-Up Pirate Wii will emulate the pop-ular children's board/party game, in which players would hold their breath (that bit is optional, but helps) while inserting plastic swords into a plastic barrel containing a pirate. If you chose the wrong slot, the pirate would spring out, startling everybody. As dull as it sounds now we've written it down, it was all the rage back in the '80s, before those damn computer videogame whatchoomacallits came along and ruined everything.

Like other board games of our childhood that relied on a steady hand (such as Buckaroo and Operation), we're not yet certain that a videogame version will capture the same ridiculous levels of tension, but still, three cheers for Tomy for at least trying! The chunky, colorful visuals are a great start, in our opinion.

Also on Nintendo of Japan's WiiWare page: Simple Series Vol. 2 The Number Puzzle Neo. If ever a series was designed especially for WiiWare, the cheap-but-cheerful Simple series would be it. Both of these will launch next Tuesday in Japan for 500 Wii Points each.


[Via Siliconera]

This is a two-part column on digital distribution and its effect on the psychology of your average gamer. In part one we look at the change from the aesthetic of a well-stocked gaming shelf to a digital software library and what is lost or gained by it. Next week we will look at the they way smaller, quick-fix digital game downloads may change our gaming habits.

Sorry for the brief hiatus, Inconstant Readers, but I was too busy making repeated trips to the store to pick up more Dramamine and an extra Dual Shock 3 after the PSN update last week. Let's just say that what Wipeout HD lacks as an epileptic stimulant it makes up for with motion sickness at 60fps. Mega Man 9 should also carry a warning about possible "controller malfunction" - here's a tip kiddos: the original Sixaxis is slightly lighter than the Dual Shock 3 and thus has a smaller chance of cracking televisions and denting walls when thrown.

Still, I wouldn't have traded this weekend's gaming experiences for anything short of an LBP beta key. Generally after some frantic gaming and letting my house devolve itself into a special level of disarray I rather savor picking up the pieces - smoothing out the crumbled instruction manuals and reinserting them into their cases while finding the perfect organizational spot on the shelf for the box art (alphabetically? by genre? producer?). Imagine my lament when come Monday morning I realized I had nothing but broken controller pieces to pick up. The game's I'd spent my weekend with were all digital downloads!

The VC Advantage is usually geared toward nostalgia -- specifically, evoking the memories of a time gone by, when we were denied resources such as GameFAQs, we had to look up codes in magazines, and we had to walk two miles uphill to school (both ways!). Help was available in other places besides magazines back then. Needed to know what to play and how to advance? You could turn to a book ... and we're not talking about glitzy Prima strategy guides packed with glossy photos, either.

Growing up, I didn't have much access to gaming magazines, and I'm not even sure why. I'm sure I was aware that Nintendo Power existed, and I know I read a few issues, but I wasn't a subscriber and rarely bought it (blasphemy!). I did, however, read many of Jeff Rovin's How to Win books cover to cover.

As if VH1's I Love the '90s and The Simpsons' recent '90s-stalgia episode weren't bad enough, Sony is helping us feel incredibly old with the announcement of Singstar '90s. The new karaoke collection, which goes on sales March 12 for the PS2, features Boyz 2 Men, New Kids on the Block, Spin Doctors and other artists that were popular in a decade that only ended eight years ago for goodness sakes.

Speaking of old age, we've been approaching it rapidly as we wait for the oft-delayed PS3 edition of Singstar, which an IGN interview reveals is now set for a May release in the U.S. That same interview also reveals the existence of Singstar Pop, Vol. 2, also coming in May for the PS2. We just hope our new dentures don't adversely affect our singing voices by then.

We honestly believe that when it comes to SNK, they believe that nostalgia is job one. Why else would the company continue to keep one foot rooted in the past by re-releasing countless compilations of old releases in lieu of anything truly new? Not that there is anything wrong with that. The company has forgotten more about making fun games than most newcomers will ever know, polygons or not.

On that note, SNK's latest trip back in time comes care of an impressive collection of 16 different SNK faves, which skirt across the surface of the company's storied history like flat stone. Set for release for both the PlayStation 2 and PSP sometime during the first half of this year, the not-so-creatively dubbed SNK Arcade Classics: Volume 1 will include a bevy of early-gen fighters, such as the first World Heroes, Art of Fighting, and Samurai Shodown titles, as well as Fatal Fury, King of the Monsters, and King of Fighters '94. Beyond fighting games, however, SNK has put together a rather eclectic mix from other genres, with action titles like Top Hunter, Last Resort, Shock Troopers, Sengoku, and Burning Fight, as well as sports entries Baseball Stars 2, Neo Turf Masters, and Super Sidekicks 3. And of course, where would any SNK tribute be without the original Metal Slug and Magician Lord? Nowhere, that's where, so it's a good thing it includes those as well.

Not a bad salvo for the first volume, which has us already wondering what games should make the cut for what we hope will be a second collection soon to follow. What SNK greats would you like to see make a return?

[Via press release]

Nostalgia is a great thing. Of course, it can have expensive consequences, as the Virtual Console has shown us. What's not fun, however, is downloading a game after remembering how fun it was, only to find that the game is actually terrible.

Have any of you experienced this? If so, what VC games just don't meet up to your nostalgic expectations?

Geek hero, Weblogs, Inc. buddy, and, yes, former Wesley Crusher Wil Wheaton has discovered the Virtual Console, and like all reasonable people who have just been given access to Alien Crush, he likes it! In a column on the generally-not-safe-for-work SuicideGirls website, Wil traces his NES experiences, taking us back to a time when people voluntarily played Kung Fu. After playing a demo NES in a store, he attempted to persuade his parents to purchase a system, calling it "...probably the most advanced computer that will ever be made."

Naturally, when the Wii came along and gave him another crack at The Legend of Zelda and other NES classics, Wil was more than pleased to share the games he grew up on with his stepson. We love to hear good things about the Virtual Console, and we're also glad Wil chose to play NES games in his youth instead of nefarious mind-controlling puzzle games. This is probably the most heartwarming article we've ever read on a porn site.

Got $15,500.00 sitting around? If you do, you can be the proud owner of every SNES released in the US. The same eBayer who sold his NES game collection back in January is at it again, this time hoping that 16-bit nostalgia is just as powerful as its 8-bit counterpart. All of the games are in mint or near-mint condition and include the original box and instruction manual. At 794 games in all, you'll be paying just under $20 per game. A bargain!

The auction ends March 21st and as of the time of writing has yet to receive a single bid. The NES auction closed at over $15,000 with nearly 100 bids, so either 8-bit nostalgia is more powerful or NES fans have more money to throw around.

Anyone who was a gamer in the '80s and '90s remembers the days when you couldn't turn around without running into some sort of new platformer with a furry and/or cheesy mascot. These days, the selection is somewhat more limited. Sure, the Sony triumvirate of Sly, Ratchet and Jak are still going relatively strong, and occasional breakouts like Viewtiful Joe and Alien Hominid keep the 2D-platformer on life support, but it's pretty clear that platforming mascots' best days are behind them.

The Age's Screen Play blog was inspired by a page of forgotten advertising mascots to post up a list of some rightly forgotten platformer mascots of the recent past. Some fans might be mad to see big names like Sonic and Mega Man alongside true hasbeens like Bubsy and Aero the Acrobat. Personally, we feel the list could use some more additions. Where are Sega's Vectorman, Kid Chameleon and Chuck D. Head? Where's gun-wielding robot B.O.B.? Where's the Saturn's extremely appropriately named Bug!? Where's the useful information that could be in our brains instead of this obscure trivia?

Taking a break from watching obscure Japanese commercials, the fine fellows at Bits Bytes Pixels & Sprites recently poked their noses into the various nooks and crannies of Hudson Entertainment's website. Along with a vague smell of bacon, they discovered the product pages for two, as yet unannounced Virtual Console games. Though there's no mention of a release date, Alien Crush and Dungeon Explorer are both set to appear on the Wii's TurboGrafx-16 emulator.

Memory refresh: Alien Crush sees you playing pinball on the faces of some rather menacing aliens, whereas Dungeon Explorer adequately equips you with tools clearly intended for hacking and slashing. Presumably, you also get to explore dungeons in the company of a "knome." If either of these floats your cup of nostalgia, be sure to check back with us on Monday -- there's a decent chance they'll become available then.

It seems like Sega Genesis Collection, EA Replay and Metal Slug Anthology have been getting all the attention lately. However, some of you may not know that Taito is throwing their hat in the ring with Taito Legends.

Legends packs in 25 classic Taito games ranging from Space Invaders to The Legend of Kage. And although the game won't feature multi-player support, players can share up to 21 games wirelessly with other console owners via the PSP's game-sharing function. Also, Cameltry, Crazy Balloon, Balloon Bomb, and The Legend of Kage have each received graphical upgrades along with being adapted to the PSP's widescreen.

Gamespot, who just recently previewed the game, said "It's also a shame to see that little effort has been made to expand Taito Legends beyond including emulated versions of classic games. It's good to see that the PlayStation Portable's features have been used to allow wireless game sharing, but aside from the games themselves, there's little to keep you going for a long time."

It looks like the retro compilations are starting to pour in, but I think companies will have to do more than stuff a bunch of their old games onto a UMD and send it out the door for them to be successful.

With every new video release for a Sega Genesis Collection game, I continue to get filled with more and more nostalgic memories. We've already seen videos of Columns, Ecco and Alex Kidd. Well, there's a new kid on the block with a Kid Chameleon video that has just been released.

Released in May 1992, you may remember Kid Chameleon as that silly platformer with the kid who wore a variety of masks, each transforming his features and giving him special powers. There was even a goalie mask, a la Jason Vorhees, that enabled Kid Chameleon to throw axes.

You'll be able to enjoy Kid Chameleon and more than 30 other old-school Genesis titles Nov. 7.

[Via IGN]

There was a time in this country where everyone, and I mean everyone, was obsessed with a single video game. It may seem hard to believe in today's ultra-segmented entertainment market, but in the early '80s Pac-man was a true national phenomenon at a scale unmatched by the likes of Grand Theft Auto or even The Sims. Richard Poplak at the CBC uses the games re-release on Xbox Live Arcade as an occasion to look back at that singular moment in gaming history and speculate on why we can't recapture that feeling in today's industry.

We're all for appreciation of the past, but there's something a little rose-tinted about this retrospective remonstration of today's industry. Pac-man did capture the national consciousness in a way that will likely never be equaled, but that's as much because of the medium's relative novelty and narrowness as it is the game's simplicity and accessibility.

Despite ballooning production costs, endless licensing fiascoes, an over-emphasis of realistic graphics and all the other ills of today's gaming industry, we still enjoy a gaming market that's much more varied and potentially rewarding than the one that existed in the early '80s. It may seem at times that every other game released is another first-person shooter or beat-em-'up rehash, but any industry that can support the success of games as varied as Grand Theft Auto, The Sims and Guitar Hero is far more mass-market than it's sometimes given credit for. While this segmentation means that any one game is less likely to capture an entire nation, but it also means that the entire nation is much more likely to find at least one game it likes.

We're living in a golden age of gaming ... we may just be too close to it to appreciate it. Not to worry, though -- 25 years from now we'll look back on the simple, 3D games of today and wonder why we can't recapture that feeling in our immersive, holosuite simulations of ... Pac-man.

[Via Wonderland]