Hasta La Gadget!

Early 3DS adopters, your smorgasbord of throwback make-goods is now only a day away. Nintendo recently announced via its Twitter account the full line-up of ten Famicom / NES virtual console games headed for the company’s Ambassador Program. Owners of the 3D handheld in Japan and North America can look forward to re-acquainting themselves with such 8-bit classics like Metroid, Super Mario Bros., Ice Climber, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II : The Adventure of Link, Balloon Fight, Donkey Kong Jr., NES Open Tournament Golf, Wrecking Crew and Yoshi. Those golden games of yore will be available to download from the eShop tomorrow, but gamers looking for the GBA goods will have to wait until later this year.

Update: Turns out the games are available to download now.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Software

Nintendo’s 3DS Ambassador Program line-up revealed, games available September 1st originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq  |  Nintendo (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

If we didn’t already know those cats were mad about customizable controllers, we just got a reminder: the Mad Catz Major League Gaming Pro-Circuit Controllers. These professional-grade PS3 and Xbox 360 controllers allow competitive gamers to adjust the gamepad’s weight and swap out key components — such as exchanging the controller’s analog stick for a D-pad. Want your PS3 controller to have a Xbox 360 layout? No problem. If the insane kitty’s ambitious Onza competitor isn’t your thing, check out the MLG Tournament Edition Fightstick, featuring the same Sanwa Denshi components used in Japanese arcade cabinets. It may not have its sibling’s stick-swapping action, but its 13-foot controller cable, classic layout, and left-right stick toggle mode (for emulating the missing analog thumbstick) still aims to please. The Arcade Fightstick can be had now at the GameShark store to the tune of $160, but the Pro-Circuit gamepads aren’t due out until closer to the end of the year. Hit the break for a pair of extra pictures and the standard PR.

Continue reading Mad Catz Major League Gaming controllers offer swappable thumbstick layouts, fancy arcade buttons

Mad Catz Major League Gaming controllers offer swappable thumbstick layouts, fancy arcade buttons originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Mad Catz  | Email this | Comments

In some weird alternative universe, this is how retail is done: you walk into a store, buy a voucher for a digital product, and then download it. It’s a model that GameStop is embracing by offering digital PC game purchases through its retail locations. There are certain benefits to buying from a brick and mortar location — for one thing, customers can use trade-in credits for their purchases. And those who pre-order a digital copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution — the first game being offered through this model — will receive some extras including downloads of earlier entries in the series. Just be mindful of pop-ups — they’re way worse in real life.

Continue reading GameStop brings digital download purchases to stores, thus completing the retail circle

GameStop brings digital download purchases to stores, thus completing the retail circle originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 03:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Yahoo News  |   | Email this | Comments

Nowadays, you can’t really claim to have a mobile OS worthy of the title if your users can’t run Angry Birds on it. Good news from Microsoft, then, as Windows Phone 7 can finally be admitted at the grown-up table now that it has released its port of Rovio’s epic bird-launching experience. $2.99 is the Marketplace price for the full version, though there’s also the option to try out the first few levels for free. Because, you know, there might still be people out there who haven’t yet been exposed to the charms of this perniciously addictive little game.

Continue reading Angry Birds lands on Windows Phone 7, ready to explore the third ecosystem

Angry Birds lands on Windows Phone 7, ready to explore the third ecosystem originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 03:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  @majornelson (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

It’s already been found unconstitutional by lower courts, and now the Supreme Court of the United States has finally weighed in on the infamous California state law that sought to ban the sale of violent video games to minors. In a seven-to-two ruling on the Brown v. The Entertainment Merchants Association case, the Supreme Court said that video games are indeed protected as free speech under the First Amendment, and noted that under the constitution, “esthetic and moral judgments about art and literature . . . are for the individual to make, not for the Government to decree, even with the mandate or approval of a majority.” Inevitable, perhaps, but still a fairly historic day or the video game industry — and one that we’re guessing will be a bit more positively received than a certain other milestone involving violent video games this year. You can find the complete ruling in PDF form at the source link below.

US Supreme Court strikes down California law, says video games are protected as free speech originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq  |  Supreme Court  | Email this | Comments