DSi Virtual Handheld- The Others

If the Virtual Console can have games from non-Nintendo platforms, why not the Virtual handheld. The Gameboy was so succesful that no one could blame you for not even touching another portable system but they did have their gems that a virtual handheld could allow you to discover. Besides, Nintendo already has relationships with these third-parties. I’m sure they would love some free money.

DSi Virtual Handheld- Pokemon, they must all be caught by you

It goes without saying that if Nintendo were to start selling you old handheld games on DSi, the massively successful Pokemon RPGs would be some of the first games on the service. The series created a whole new generation of Gameboy players and we, along with Nintendo’s bank, are still feeling the effcts of its legacy to this day.

DSi Virtual Handheld- It's for the Core

DSi Virtual Handheld: It’s for the Core

When you sell as many units as the Gameboy did third parties are bound to take advantage of it. After all, beening able to play your favorite console franchises on the go is a marketing strategy that writes itself. With no other viable handhelds to go to even the developers of more hardcore games had to jump on the Gameboy bandwagon. These same third parties would also be quick to get as many of their games as possible on the virtual handheld to actually get some money for the 100k roms sitting on their thumb drives.

DSi Virtual Handheld- Nintendo's Heavy Hitters

I’m doing this for four more days so let’s try to get some of the big Nintendo franchises out of the way shall we? And remember, wait until this series is done before complaining that your favorite Gameboy game wasn’t mentioned and that I have ruined your childhood memories. We have a lot of games to get through today so let’s get started.

DSi Virtual Handheld- The Many Forms of Mario

Special thanks to Arceus144 whose mailbag question inspired this post
For me personally, one of the most disappointing things that came out of this year’s E3 was NO announcement of a virtual console service for the DSi. But on HearMii we can dare to speculate on what the idea, bursting with potential, could have brought forth. All this week all I’ll be posting some of my picks for what I would want on this “virtual Handheld”. Are you listening Reggie. Each day will have a theme. Today’s theme is a few of the more standout Game Boy games starring Nintendo’s bizarre grown-man-yet-still-has-childlike-appeal mascot Mario.

Condition: Used - Like New! - Heatseeker

When Heatseeker was first released, it received many a mixed opinion from the major
reviewing sites/magazines. As high as an 85 and as low as a 40, it's definitely a niche game. I got this game back when it was new. I played it a lot and really enjoyed it. I remember spending countless hours playing it and getting extremely frustrated when I would die at the easiest setting.
The game takes place in a future that, for whatever reason has decided to use fighter jets of today's age (quick note: They're officially licensed by Boeing and Lockheed Martin). You're a new transfer to Lord Robert's Airbase on Lord Robert's Island when you get bumrushed by random enemies. Throughout the game you face fictional entities but it all boils down to 3 factions: The International Council (US/UN), The Federation (Russia) and Kamcha (Korea). You can easily tell by the accents.

Not a very deep storyline, but when gameplay boils down to “Kill every motherfucker in front of you” and “Protect X defenseless ally”, who needs a storyline?

As for controls, there's a bevy of control schemes, from using the Nunchuk as a flight stick (which is somewhat responsive) to using the pointer to steer the plane (which I was reminded of when I played the H.A.W.X. PC demo). Easy to pick up, hard to master, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Being a fighter-jet fan, this was an easy purchase for me, but for most of you, it won't be, as I said earlier it's a very niche game. As NGamer UK put it:

"Fast as you like, fun to control and a mindless diversion for military
fetishists. Difficult, even on the easiest setting, but if you're up to the
challenge you'll get loads of value from it. [May 2007, p.46]"

Heatseeker can be found on Amazon.com for $18.98 used for Wii (somehow new for $74.96 on Wii), $12.23 for PSP, and $4.50 for PS2 (guess which version of the game was probably ported to Wii).

Best of the Blogs: Idofriar1313

Condition- Used, Like New!: The World Ends With You

Wake up, shaken up, plastered on asphalt
Phones can’t block the voices of the masses
Seven days left between you and Death
Better race, place, Reapers won’t give up the chase

A boy comes to an intersection awash with people alone, unaware of how he got there. Then he receives a message:
Clear this mission…
Or face erasure
And with that, Neku is thrust in a life or death Game that sends him scrambling down streets paved with one riddle after another…

Now, when I bought this game, I actually wasn’t expecting a stellar story. But what I did find was an epic plot filled with twists and turns. I was glued to the DS for 2 weekends. I kept on promising myself I would stop next chapter, but I found myself firing the DS back up, 10 minutes later. The story hooks you instantly, and never lets you go.

Condition: Used- like new: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Eskimo-Bob wrote this

Ace Attorney is a series visual-novel type adventure games that were originally a Japan exclusive Game Boy Advance series created by Capcom that started off in 2001 with the game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. In 2004, after the third game in the series had been released, the DS had been released and Capcom decided to port the games to the DS both in and outside of Japan. The first rereleased game in the series was the original and was released in Japan on September 15th 2005, in North America on October 11th the same year while Europe had to wait until March 31st 2006, and Australia until March 8th 2007. In these versions of the original Phoenix Wright, Capcom added in a fifth chapter that used the 3D potentials of the Nintendo DS that would later serve as the base for the fourth game in the series, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorneys, gameplay mechanics.

Condition: Used, Like New!- Custom Robo Arena

In my continuing quest to validate my purchase of a DSi, recently I’ve been going back and playing my old DS games on bigger and brighter screens. I’ve also been on a quest to crush my desire to buy another Pokemon game because despite how good they are, I still played it a decade ago. The joining of these two factors led to me finally beating the March 2007 release of Custom Robo Arena for the Nintendo DS.

Condition: Used, Like New!-Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition

Assie Note: The following is from forum mod eskimo-bob.

In 2003 Capcom had signed an exclusivity deal with Nintendo to bring over the first three Resident Evil titles along with Resident Evil: Code Veronica and making Resident Evil 0 for the GameCube. This deal also included that Capcom were to develop five new titles exclusively for the GameCube: Dead Phoenix, a game that was quickly scrapped after the first screenshots were shown, Killer7, Viewtiful Joe, P.N.03, and Resident Evil 4. This deal was known as the Capcom Five. Unfortunately for Nintendo and Capcom, only one of these games stayed exclusive, two of them got average reviews and one of them was critically acclaimed, but never sold well at all. The last game that Capcom released in the Capcom Five was Resident Evil 4. The game was later ported to the PS2 and later to the Wii, which is the version I’ve played.

Condition: Used, Like New!- Call of Duty 4 DS

This was an idea that Eskimo-Bob and I have been refining for a couple days. Basically, in this economy, we figured it was a good idea to go back and highlight quality Wii and DS games that may have gotten overlooked and are now at discounted prices. This actually helps me too since I’m not writing long reviews of expensive new games. Right now the name is “Condition: Used, Like New!” or CULN for short. That actually sounds kinda dirty. Today’s game is Call of Duty 4 for the Nintendo DS.