Famitsu posted a few direct feed images of Thunderforce VI earlier today.

The game seems to be heavily inspired by Thunderforce V with the graphic quality somewhere between Border Down and Gradius V. There are a few places that the textures look a little rough, but the color palette is nice and vibrant and the stages are already showcasing some interesting visual touches. If only the game’s music can live up to the standards set by Thunderforce III (and continued through the next two games), we may have a winner on our hands since from the sounds of it, the development team has the game in very good hands.

According to the article, Thunderforce VI is being planned with six stages in mind. The article showcases a quick preview of the game’s first three which include a ruined city, a volcano run, and an ocean level. The screens also confirm the return of Thunderforce V’s ‘controversial’ free range weapon. I’m going to wager a bet though that it and perhaps a few other weapons may end up seeing some drastic rebalancing prior to Thunderforce VI’s release.

The actual development team behind the game is still a bit of a mystery, but there are already rumors circulating that some obvious connections between the game’s director and Treasure could hint at just a portion of Sega’s plans. If Treasure is behind Thunderforce VI, it may end up giving the game a lot more attention than it otherwise would receive based on name recognition alone with a lot of media who usually only focus on Treasure’s shooters…

Via Arcade Renaissance

Nintendo of America pulled the EarthBound demo from the Masterpiece section of Smash Bros Brawl. Why would they do that? Nobody knows for sure, but one thing is obvious: it’s not good news. We’ve been expecting the VC release of EarthBound for nearly a year now, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

So not only are we not getting MOTHER 3, but Nintendo of America is taking away our only chance to prove how well MOTHER 3 could perform outside Japan. Lame, right? But it’s not like we haven’t dealt with this kind of crap before, so we’re doing what we do best — kicking up a creative dust cloud.

via starmen.net

One of the coolest aspects of arcade games is the artwork that companies commissioned to be made to decorate each cabinet. The better the artwork was, the more attractive the cabinet became. This was especially prominent with companies like Atari and Cinematronics who would hire comic book artists to draw the art, making it that much more detailed and eye-catching. The problem is that if you collect some of these old games, it can be a little difficult to come across a game with pristine artwork. Of all the games I own, four have significant artwork on the sides and each one has scratches, smudges, tears, etc. that the games have received over the years. If you are in this situation, you may wonder how you can get the artwork replaced - it is possible but it will take some work. And if you’re lucky, someone has already reproduced the artwork for you.

Rotheblog has a couple of articles detailing on how one can go about reproducing side art for their classic game. The article is for the “potential future collector”  and walks them through the steps of getting the artwork reproduced. As I mentioned, it will probably take some work but if you can replace some beloved artwork that has been damaged from wear and tear over the years, then it is worth it.

via arcade heroes.

Hey there! You’re looking at an auction for what is possibly the single rarest game for the NES: Final Fantasy VII Advent Children!

Originally designed by Shenzhen Nanjing Technology for the Chinese SUBOR home entertainment console (which is also compatible with the Famicom, the Japanese version of the NES), this game was released with little fanfare over in China a little while ago. This game was featured on a few websites, so I started to look for it through some of my local contacts, and managed to get what might be the only copy of the game in existence in the American continent.

Even though the game was designed for the Chinese SUBOR home entertainment console, it should also work on ANY NTSC Asian Nintendo Famicom system, and on NTSC Nintendo Entertainment Systems (with an appropriate 60-72 pin adaptor). It should also work on most Famiclone systems. This game has been tested on real Nintendo Entertainment System hardware (using a 60-72 pin adapter) and worked perfectly.

The package includes the original game cart (untampered and with security stickers intact), original game manual, and original case with art.

via gamesniped.

I remember dreaming of such a device in Middle School. Too bad it took this long for it to become reality.  How could they get the controls -so- wrong?  The buttons are backwards and not set up properly.  How are you going to make Mario run and jump simultaneously?

The FC Mobile portable console plays original game carts from the NES wherever you go. The compact console lets you play on either the built-in 2.4-inch LCD screen, or on your television via an included AV cable. The system runs on three AA batteries, and can play audio through its internal stereo speakers, or via a headphone jack.

via technabob.

Reader supa_s (somehow) got one of the limited-edition red DS Lites that were only available through a Japan Post sweepstakes. It’s a totally different color from the senior version with which we’re so familiar: a much brighter and less sparkly red than the Crimson and Black. Like DS Lites tend to be, it’s lovely. The prize also came with a matching black/red Hori System Bag, which we would put the system in immediately, only removing it in a clean room after careful hand-washing.

via dsfanboy.

About a year ago, we saw this beautiful image of what Sonic 2 would look like in high definition, and it was glorious. At that time, it was nothing more than a fan mock up, but the guys at Racket Boy are hard at work to turn it into a reality.

The purpose of the S2HD project is to remaster Sega’s classic Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in high definition graphics, whilst at the same time precisely preserving the original gameplay. New features that were not present in the original will also be made available.

The development team is hoping to add in everything fans loved about the original, but also a little more, too. They say they’re adding Sonic, Tails and Knuckles as playable characters, a new Hidden Palace Zone and entirely new sound effects. Of course, like other fan projects, they need more talented people to help this come to fruition; if you’re interested post some of your work here.

via sega nerds.

You used to play videogames all night. Your Quake prowess was unmatched; your skills at Command & Conquer unparalleled. You have a gaming history that stretches back beyond the PlayStation generation to the SNES, Megadrive, Amiga and ZX Spectrum. You were there at the dawn of gaming.

Tick-tock… Time passes. You’ve quietly come to realise that you’re not the hard-core gamer you used to be. Even your Xbox 360 Gamertag seems far too ’sensible’. How do you know that a mid-life gaming crisis is setting in? Watch out for these warning signs…

via tech radar.

Looking back Dragon Warrior on the Famicom seems simple, maybe even primitive by today’s class changing strategy RPGs. However, when it came out in North America Dragon Warrior was touted as a challenge. A fold out map and enemy chart were you companions on the quest to slay the Dragonlord. Have you beaten the original before?

If not or if you just want to reminisce take a look at this guide/review (1 / 2 / 3 / 4)that goes through the entire game. Here’s a clip of the end with the fight against the Dragonlord.

via silicon era.