Retro Gaming Australia

After many years and many requests from western audiences, Nintendo has finally announced a re-release of the classic RPG Earthbound.

Earthbound, or Mother 2 in Japan, saw a release in North America in 1995 on the Super Nintendo and has since become one of the most sought after video game releases – with a cart only copy of the title currently fetching US$150+ on eBay. When Nintendo announced Mother 2‘s presence in Japan’s Wii U Virtual Console Trial Campaign line-up, fans cried out even louder for a re-release in the West. Lucky for us, Nintendo heard our pleas and have responded – with Mr Satoru Iwata happily announcing the games release during the latest Nintendo Direct.

Expect to see Earthbound available to download on your Wii U thorough the Virtual Console service sometime this year – in both North America and Europe. Hooray.

Final Fantasy V, originally released in 1992 on the Super Famicom later released for PlayStation, Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Network, is now available on iOS devices.

Final Fantasy V for iOS includes the additional content from the Game Boy Advance port – including new jobs, the Sealed Temple dungeon and the extra super boss Enuo; along with touch controls and new visuals created by Kazuko Shibuya, designer of the original game’s character sprites.

You can pick up Final Fantasy V for your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad for AU$16.99/US$15.99/£10.99.

Final Fantasy X-2, the sequel to Final Fantasy X, will be included in the Final Fantasy X HD release for the PlayStation 3.

News of the game’s inclusion comes via next week’s issue of Jump (scan below), which also indicates that PlayStation Vita versions of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 will be available separately. Further, both games are based on their respective international versions and are due for release sometime in 2013 – for Japan, anyway. (continue reading…)

Last month, both The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages were released on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in Japan. Many were hoping that North America and PAL regions would too see such a release on their respective 3DS eShops forthwith.

The producer of The Legend of Zelda series, Eiji Aonuma, didn’t keep us waiting long. However, rather than confirming the western release via the usual means, Aonuma instead opted to make the announcement on the official The Legend of Zelda series Miiverse community – posting “Our plan is to release these two games in other territories some time before summer!

That’s some happy-making news.

Source: Nintendo Life

Yu Suzuki, producer and director of the well-loved Shenmue and Shenmue II, is apparently considering using Kickstarter to fund the development of Shenmue III.

Sebastien-Abdelhamid, a French TV reporter, met with Suzuki at the Monaco Anime Game Show. Following their conversation, he tweeted about Suzuki’s interest in a possible Kickstarter project to fund Shenmue III and in creating an anime or manga to conclude the Shenmue story. So, if Shenmue III were to become a reality, it might not be the long-awaited game many fans are desperate for.

Shenmue III was planned for release – its development was even announced a couple of times, but the projects were ultimately cancelled. In 2011, Suzuki indicated that Sega would likely permit him to make Shenmue III, however budget was a issue to overcome. The following year, Suzuki hinted that he can acquire the rights to Shenmue . The recent revelation of a potential crowd funded Shenmue III has no doubt set many fan’s hearts aflutter.

I suppose now is a time for cautious optimism … again.

Source: Twitter

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, the second part of Persona 2, is coming to the PlayStation Network as a PSOne Classic this week in North America.

Eternal Punishment is set a few months after Persona 2: Innocent Sin, with both games acting as chapters of the one storyline which is a sequel to Revelations: Persona – the first game in the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series. The original PlayStation version of Eternal Punishment was released in North America in 2000, however Innocent Sin remained exclusive to Japan until its PSP remake released worldwide in 2011. Unfortunately, the PSP remake of Eternal Punishment has not been localised – so here we are, with the PlayStation original being re-released via PSN instead.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment will be available on the US PSN any day now, however there is no word on whether other regions will too see the PSOne Classic. Such a release would signify Eternal Punishment‘s first release in PAL territories.

Source: Siliconera

Today, Square Enix announced the western release of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX. The collection includes HD re-releases of both Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, previously exclusive to Japan, and Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, previously not released in PAL regions. Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX also features the Nintendo DS’s Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, in non-playable form, adapted into a cinematic retelling the story of the game over a span of 2 hours and 50 minutes.

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX includes additional content, enhanced gameplay and trophy support. Expect to see Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX available for PlayStation 3 in North America, Europe and other PAL territories later this year.

Source: Square Enix

In their most recent Nintendo Direct event in Japan, Nintendo announced that both The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages are set for release on the 3DS Virtual Console in Japan.

The two Zelda Game Boy Color titles were original released on February 27, 2001 in Japan, and made their way to the west later that year. The 3DS Virtual console versions also release February 27 and are priced at 600 yen a pop. Up until March 20, players can purchase both games for the discounted price of 1,000 yen.

We suspect The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages will too be available in North America and PAL regions in the near future.

Square Enix has confirmed that a Nintendo 3DS remake of Dragon Quest VII is underway and scheduled for release this coming February in Japan.

Jump magazine’s latest issue (a scan has been provided below) revealed the 3D remake of the Playstation RPG, which is to include StreetPass features.

Dragon Quest VII was never released for PAL regions, so here’s hoping the 3DS remake makes it outside of Japan. We received the Nintendo DS re-releases of Dragon Quest: The Chapters of the Chosen (DQIV), Dragon Quest: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride (DQV) and Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie – so there is hope!

Sources: Tiny Cartridge, Siliconera

Some of the original creators of Shadowgate, a point-and-click adventure game from the late eighties, have formed a new development studio named Zojoi and are keen to develop a ‘re-imagined’ version of the first-person fantasy adventure classic.

The new Shadowgate boasts many new features and additions which add to the mythology and story of the original game. The re-imagining includes 60+ rooms, lots of new and improved puzzles, both a full digitally-orchestrated soundtrack and a retro soundtrack featuring the original NES music (hooray!), environmental and object-specific animations and will be available for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices.

The Kickstarter has 30 days remaining and over $20,000 has already been pledged by backers towards the $120,000 goal. You can back the project here, with a $10 ‘Early Bird’ pledge rewarding you with a digital copy of the finished game.

If all goes well, expect to see the new Shadowgate in November 2013.