Gamertell

I love when big companies do something to help out those less fortunate. Nintendo Canada was doing some spring cleaning and found a warehouse filled with old Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Virtual Boy paraphernalia (mainly games). So the division made an eBay account (nocl604) and decided to auction off all the items in 33 separate lots for the United Way.

If you’re suspicious, because it is a new eBay account and you figure anyone can go online and pretend to be from anywhere - you need to be a little more trusting. Plus the members of the NintendoAge forum did quite a bit of extensive research to make sure the sale was legit. Link at gameSniped.com even posts the complete message explaining the sale, left by a Nintendo representative at the NintendoAge forum. 

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There comes a time when a hardcore fan must ask the value of a mint condition, piece of history which takes one back to a happier time. Apparently, if that piece of history is a factory-sealed copy of Chrono Trigger, then it is worth $540. A recent eBay auction by nyescott is selling a perfect, brand new copy of the title.

The price on Chrono Trigger may rise even higher, as the auction still has 18 hours left. It ends February 3, 2008, at which time one lucky fan will be the winner of this priceless game. So far there have been 36 bids on the game, which originally started with an opening price of $25. 

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The PlayStation 2 may be the role-playing game (RPG) giant today, but it wasn’t always so. Back in the early 1990s the Super Nintendo, aka the Super Famicom, was undoubtedly the place to go for a large variety of solid RPGs. It featured great games like Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire, Lufia, Earthbound, Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG and Ultima. That may seem like a long list, but there were even more great RPGs which didn’t make it stateside.

At this point, it is possibly pointless to look for some of these old classics. They might occasionally pop up on eBay, but its not worth selling a kidney or lung to buy them. There are shady ways of acquiring these titles, but that isn’t recommended as it is illegal.

Today Important Importables honors Live A Live, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu, Star Ocean and Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon: Another Story.

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One of the coolest displays at CES 2008 displayed the awesome powers of the Retro Duo and Gen X consoles from Innex. Okay, cool for people who were born sometime in the 1980s. The two consoles are the thing of dreams for gamers who owned the original Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Master System or Sega Genesis, and want a chance to relive those glorious days.

Each of the system focuses on one of the two major branches from the period that started in the late 1980s and ended in the middle of the 1990s. The Retro Duo handles Nintendo cartridges and the Gen X handles the one Sega Genesis and NES cartridges (Thanks Ron!). Both systems allegedly have full compatibility with all existing cartridges. Both systems also have top loading, like the last NES model, SNES and Genesis, which helps reduce the necessary cart blowing to make cartridges work.

Wired reports that the reason these systems are legal is that the patents the original systems had expired. Even so, I doubt the FBI and police are going to come knock on your door for buying a working machine to play games you already own. Already some of these consoles are popping up on eBay, so if you’re interested they’re worth a look.

“Editor’s Note: The article has been updated to note that the Gen X handles Genesis and NES cartridges.”

Read [Wired] Via [Kotaku] Product Page [eBay]

New this week: F-Zero X, Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting and China Warrior.

This week’s three additions brings the total count to 109 games available for download through Nintendo’s Wii Shop Channel and playable only on the Wii. New Wii virtual Console (aka Virtual Arcade) games go live each Monday at 9 a.m. (Pacific Time).

Click through for descriptions of the newly added games ...

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