PPR 108

fter just over a decade of service, the Wii Shop Channel is going to be largely inaccessible next week. All of those choice, $5-$10 Virtual Console titles that easily retail for hundreds of dollars in their physical vintage forms will be cut off from purchase in what ostensibly be a virtual catalog that you’ll never be able to order from again, or even see again once the channel is completely taken offline next year.

We have taken it upon ourselves to talk about the history and impact of the Wii Shop Channel, and what it did for the digital distribution model that took off in the sixth generation of video games. The gang also makes it a point to curate the must-have titles of software library that anyone would be remiss to the pass the chance on before they’re gone for good. We also talk about Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Yakuza 6, Luigi’s Dick, Soul Calibur 6, and more, so be sure to download this episode and take some notes on the recommendations!

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QCF: Secret of Mana

ack when RPG’s were barely beginning to pick up in sales with western gamers in the 16-bit era, there was a humble release from a little-known company by the name of SquareSoft, named Secret of Mana—it revolutionized the genre for years to come.

Even 25 years after its initial launch on the SNES, the game has been ported time, and time again for the modern generation, with waves of new players also falling for its vibrant color palate, sprite work, and timeless action-oriented battle system. Strangely enough though, for all of the re-releases that Secret of Mana has seen, the game has never received a full-fledged remastered release on modern consoles up until now, with Square developing a new 3D rendered-revision exclusively for PlayStation 4, Vita, and Steam.

While the core gameplay from Koichi Ishii’s classic has still managed to have aged gracefully, the game engine’s translation over to a 3D-rendered world and models aren’t anywhere near as elegant as it should be, resulting in an admittedly beautiful, but undeniably underwhelming version of the beloved RPG.

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