Hudson gets chatty about the Virtual Console

Sorry, I didn't mean for today to become "Virtual Console Day." I actually meant to post this earlier in the week, but I've been busy and couldn't get to it until today.

NintendoPlayers.com recently scored an interview with Hudson's John Lee and came away from the experience with some very pleasant information. Not only did Lee spill the beans about some of the company's upcoming VC releases (Neutopia, Blazing Lazers and Ninja Spirit among them), he also suggested the cuddly TurboGrafx-16 mascot may be making an all-new appearance on the Wii at some point.

Is Red (the company that originally developed the Bonk games) even around anymore? If so, I hope Hudson puts them in charge of whatever idea comes out of such discussions.

Beautiful Katamari is living up to its name

Pretty much every gaming site under the sun has picked up on this news today, but I'm choosing to credit Siliconera.com for first putting me on to it. The news in question? Brand new shots of Namco's Beautiful Katamari have made it onto the wonderful World Wide Web!

The game doesn't appear all that different from the PS2 original or its sequel, but that's fine with me. This isn't a game that needs all of the photo-realistic, high-definition bells and whistles the PS3 and Xbox 360 have to offer, if you ask me. Plus, the seemingly rudimentary graphics should make it all the easier for Namco to bring the game to the Wii where it belongs. Yay!

Speaking of which, hopefully news of the Wii version will drop soon. If not, I guess I'll just have to get of my butt and get a PS3 or Xbox, as much as it would pain me (and my wallet) to do so.

Wired assesses the current state of the Virtual Console

Wired's Chris Kohler knows how lazy we gamers can be (well, not me, of course, but the gaming masses). As such, he recently decided to take one for the team and spent what was sure to be a busy hour or two (I kid) surfing the Web to come up with an exhaustive list of all the games that have been announced in some form or other for the Wii Virtual Console.

The only real surprise is Kohler's discovery that certain previously announced games--such as the NES light gun games and a few SNES stunners like Super Metroid and Super Mario RPG--have been removed from the ESRB site. Does this mean they have been "cancelled" or were simply removed from the site until their release dates can be finalized? I'm betting (hoping) it's the former.

Not that you asked, but here are the releases (that have been announced) I'm particularly looking forward to:

NES - Metroid, Super Mario Bros. 2, Zelda II
TurboGrax-16 - Air Zonk, Battle Load Runner, Blazing Lazers
Genesis - Shining in the Darkness
Super NES and N64 - none :(

Tingle takes on Balloon Fight

Now here's a game that I've been keeping my beady little eyes on for some time: Tingle's Balloon Fight. Not because it's an amazingly crafted title, but because it's pretty darn rare and oh, so Japanese.

Well, it seems the editors at IGN.com have gotten their hands on the game (only available to members of the Japanese Club Nintendo) and recently shared their impressions of it. Writer Anoop Gantayat's verdict? "I enjoyed playing a few rounds of this latest Club Nintendo bonus item," he says. "However, I'm not sure if it offers enough gameplay to warrant a purchase through an auction site, unless you're a collector."

Want to see the game in action? Check out this wacky YouTube video from Japan.

Too bad Nintendo doesn't seem interested in bringing the game to the U.S. in any form or fashion. Personally, I think it would be cool to either offer this alongside Tingle RPG (if it's ever released on this side of the pond) or offer it as some sort of premium download for those who pick up the sure-to-be-niche game.

Dewy makes a splash with IGN editors

I have to admit, when Konami first unveiled its second Wii offering, Dewy's Adventure, I yawned. It looked nice enough, and the control scheme piqued my interest (you hold the Wiimote sideways and tilt the world a la Super Monkey Ball to move little Dewy around), but at the end of the day it left me feeling more than a little bored.

I'm still not sure it's a title I'll be picking up for my Wii, but as more and more information is released about the game, my interest increases as well. The editors over at IGN.com recently got to spend some time with the still-in-development game and seem suitably impressed with it. The images and videos they've posted of the game back up their praise, too.

A release date hasn't yet been mentioned for the title, so it could be a long time in coming. In the meantime, check out IGN's impressions here and get your own feel for the Wii-exclusive offering.