Nintendo Adds Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS Virtual Console Support to The Wii U April 2, 2015

That’s right, Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS games can now be purchased and downloaded on the Wii U.  And yes, not only will you be able to play these games on the Wii U Gamepad, games which featured rumble through the optional Rumble Pak support will rumble plenty on the gamepad.

Currently, the only two games you can buy through the service is Super Mario 64, originally released on the Nintendo 64, or Yoshi’s Story DS, originally released for the Nintendo DS.  Nintendo promises that more games will be released through the service throughout April including Paper Mario, Mario Kart DS and Donkey Kong 64.  Personally, I’d like to see some of the harder to find titles for these platforms make an appearance, like the Pokémon Stadium titles from the Nintendo 64, or Metroid Prime Hunters on the DS, but hopefully the service takes off and more titles will get added.

Nintendo 64 games will range in price from $9.99US to $11.99 US.  Nintendo DS titles will range in price from $6.99 US to $9.99 US.  While Nintendo has not offered downloadable DS games in the past, you could purchase Nintendo 64 games on the Wii using the Wii Shop Channel.  If you had previously done this on your Wii U (or a Wii who’s data you transferred to your Wii U) you can buy a Nintendo 64 game at the discounted price of $2.00 US).

Nintendo Direct – 4/1/2015 April 2, 2015

A huge set of announcements were made yesterday by Nintendo during their semi-regular Nintendo Direct web videos.  Take it away, Tom.

PAC MAN Has Taken Over Google Maps for April Fools April 1, 2015

Last year, Google and The Pokémon Company integrated a Pokémon capture ability into Google Maps to celebrate April Fool’s Day.  The results were epic.  Now it looks like PAC MAN has taken over Google Maps, and we need to help him avoid ghosts in arenas inspired by real-world locations..

To play, load up Google Maps either on your computer or SmartPhone and tell it to Insert Coin.  You’re going to need to find an appropriate place in the world to play the game but there are maps sprinkled all over the world.  I personally would recommend checking out the Arc de Triumphe.