Retro Gaming Australia

Last week, news broke that Nintendo had acquired the “supermario4.com” domain name and speculation as to meaning ensued. Shigeru Miyamoto, in an interview with Korean website Betanews overnight, has confirmed that Super Mario 4 is currently in development.

No details about the upcoming title were released, save for the announcement of its existence. It is unknown whether Super Mario 4 is the 2D Mario game for the Nintendo 3DS that was promised last year or the Wii U Super Mario title (to be shown at E3 this year). Perhaps it is something new entirely?

With Super Mario Bros. 4 deemed already in existence by many (referring to Super Mario World – subtitled Super Mario Bros. 4 in Japan), we are curious as to how this new Super Mario 4 will eventuate and keen to hear the choice of name/codename explained. Super Mario 3D Land has Super Mario Bros. 3 at its core, maybe this Super Mario 4 will have a similar relationship with Super Mario World. Only time, and Nintendo, will tell.

Miyamoto stated that more details would be revealed soon.

YouTube user ZeldaFreakGlitcha has discovered a warp glitch in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64 that allows players to finish the game in less than 24 minutes.

The recently discovered glitch warps players from the Deku Tree straight to the Ganon’s Castle escape sequence, as child Link. Upon activating the blue warp circle after defeating Queen Gohma, plays must ignore this warp and instead travel through the glitch warp to teleport past adult Link, the Light Medallion, Zelda’s Lullaby, and much more of the 1998 classic.

Click the video above to watch the 23 minute 29 second speed run in its entirety.

When announcing the PSN release of PS1 Classic The Legend of Dragoon earlier this week, Shu Yoshida (President SCE Worldwide Studios) revealed that a sequel was in development.

Apparently, “Legend of Dragoon 2” was in production after Yoshida left SCE Japan Studio and “ [it] was eventually cancelled for some unknown reason, and the team members moved on to different projects,” He went on to write “Some people still work in the Japan Studio, so we talk about the memories of developing LOD when we see each other at company functions.”

It is a shame that Legend of Dragoon 2 never saw the light of day; it would have made many RPG fans very happy.

Another sparse week.

Nintendo eShop (PAL)

3DS Virtual Console
The Legend of Zelda (NES) – £4.50

Wii Virtual Console
Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (MD) – 800 points

Nintendo eShop (North America)

Nothing

PlayStation Network (SCEE)

Discounts
Silent Hill (PSOne Classics) – Free for PSPlus users til May 9th

PlayStation Network (SCEA)

New Releases
Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3: FES (PS2 Classics) – $US9.99

Good Old Games

New Releases
Theme Hospital – $US5.99
Darkstone – $US5.99

Discounts
Interplay Blast – 50% off the following (all $US2.99 each):
Battle Chess Special Edition
Castles + Castles 2
Conquest of the New World
Descent + Descent 2
Descent 3 + Mercenaries Expansion
Die by the Sword + Limb From Limb Expansion
Earthworm Jim 1 + 2
Earthworm Jim 3D
Evolva
F/A-18E Super Hornet
Fallout
Fallout 2
Fallout Tactics
Freespace + Silent Threat Expansion
Freespace 2
Giants: Citizen Kabuto
Invictus: In the Shadow of Olympus
Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business
Kingdom: The Far Reaches
Kingpin: Life of Crime
Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader
MAX + MAX 2
MDK
MDK 2
Messiah
Redneck Rampage Collection
Sacrifice
Screamer
Shattered Steel
Shogo: Mobile Armor Division
Stonekeep
VR Soccer ’96

Fez, a retro inspired 2D puzzle platformer set in a 3D world, is now available on XBLA for 800 Microsoft Points.

In Fez, players navigate 3D structures using 2D and 3D perspective-shifts (think Super Paper Mario or Crush) to explore a pretty world full of puzzles, treasures and secrets. As Gomez, we run, jump, climb and rotate the world to uncover hidden areas, unearth mysteries, overcome various spacial challenges and collect cubes.

Oh, and there is a magic hat. Cute.

The Wii remake of the far too creepy survival horror game Fatal Frame: Crimson Butterfly (known as Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly in PAL regions) is coming to Europe. Titled Project Zero 2: Wii Edition, the game’s release is set for June 29 – the same day as the 3DS Fatal Frame spin-off, Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir.

Project Zero 2: Wii Edition will feature updated graphics, a new third person camera view, some additional endings and story episodes, revised maps for more scares and the Wii remote will act as a flashlight pointer (hooray!).

A Haunted House mode has also been included, with local multiplayer in mind. There are several courses through the Haunted House to explore, but events are random. Your friends can frighten you by making ghosts appear (using a second Wii remote), while the game measures how much fear you experience.

With the fourth installment of the series, Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, not seeing a release outside of Japan, perhaps Project Zero 2: Wii Edition can satisfy fans’ yearning for more Fatal Frame. There are no currently plans for a western release of Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, however an unofficial English translation patch has been released for the game.

Source: Siliconera

In a recent interview with Edge, Shigeru Miyamoto has once again expressed interest in reviving the Super Nintendo classic The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Last year, Miyamoto stated A Link to the Past (which he produced) was the game he would most like to see remade for the Nintendo 3DS. Miyamoto confirmed that while he would still like to see an enhanced 3D port or remake of the original game, he would be much more interested in creating a new game perhaps “based on, or starting from, A Link to the Past.” Miyamoto went on to say “I think it’s important to bring some really new software.”

“To be very honest and open, it really depends on the directors that have time at the moment as well,” he said. “Some directors, I can give them the title and I know they will do something great with it. Other directors I’m not so 100 per cent confident [in], so they’re the ones I’d rather take a more remake approach to the title.“

A Link to the Past is my personal favourite of the Legend of Zelda series (hence the site banner) and I would truly love to see the title revisited, preferably by way of a new game. However, it would appear that such a game will not come into existence until Miyamoto can entrust the title to the right game director. That’s A-OK with me; I’ll happily continue to wait with bated breath.

Raven Travel Studios pays tribute to 80s run ‘n’ gun games with Cast of the Seven Godsends, a Ghosts ‘n Goblins-esque side-scrolling action game available “soon” on XBLIG and PC.

Boasting retro-style hand drawn graphics and large stages in various fantasy locales, the game pits legions of enemies and some rather large bosses against the player who is armed with projectile weapons, some magic and a lot of jumping.

Throughout the games six stages, seven ‘Godsends’ can be collected and invoked to enhance your weapon (resulting in 40 weapon variations) and unleash magic. Thirty-five magic attacks are available through the use of these Godsends with each of the game’s five weapons.

To celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary, Nippon Ichi Software is developing a new RPG as the first part of their “20th Anniversary Project”.

Little information has been revealed about the mystery title which made its first appearance in Dengeki PlayStation via some artwork. The title is being produced by CEO Shuhei Shinkawa, directed by Masahiro Yamamoto, and features character designs by Noizi Ito.

The artwork revealed three of the RPG’s characters; Renya (pictured), Ririel and Mizael. In an interview with Dengeki, Ito stated that she is designing approximately twelve characters, including main and sub characters. The character designs have an angel and devil theme with a comical twist, such as angels and devils wearing maid and butler outfits, Ito revealed.

The RPG’s platform is yet to be announced, but we expect more information soon as the title is currently planned for a 2012 release in Japan.

Source: Andriasang

Nintendo of America has registered the “supermario4.com” domain, but what does it mean?

Earlier in the year, Nintendo’s president Satoru Iwata announced they were working on a new 2D Mario game for the Nintendo 3DS. Could it be that this promised 2D Mario adventure is going to be Super Mario 4?

Many would argue that Super Mario 4 already exists, as Super Mario World was subtitled “Super Mario Bros. 4” in Japan. Perhaps the lack of such a subtitle for the western release of Super Mario World leaves Super Mario 4 wide open for use by Nintendo of America. This wouldn’t be the first time that audiences outside of Japan received a Super Mario Bros. game of a differing name, with the Japanese release of Super Mario Bros. 2 being known as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels and the western release of Super Mario Bros. 2 (the redeveloped Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic) being titled Super Mario USA in Japan.

However, the recent domain registration might not relate to any currently planned project and may simply be Nintendo purchasing domain names to prevent others from using them.

Discovered by an IGN reader, the supermario4.com domain name was registered in April of this year but has apparently been in existence since 2007. Visiting the URL reveals no clues as to it’s meaning, it simply redirects to Nintendo’s country selector page.

So, now we play the waiting game.