Cave Story on WiiWare 'this holiday season' with new 'content and features'

by Christopher Grant { Oct 2nd 2008 at 2:58PM }

Tucked inside a press release straight from Nintendo of America comes the downplayed news that Cave Story – the Japanese freeware cult-classic – is coming to "Wii this holiday season" via the console's often dubious WiiWare service.

But it's not just a straight port, oh no. The indie Metroidvania title will have "new, exclusive content and features created only for the WiiWare version." No word on what those are, what Cave Story will cost or, really, when "this holiday season" it'll be available to play. But, hey, if you've got a "computer" at home, you can play it today. Without waiting. Or paying "money."

Download Cave Story (1.5MB)

Tags: BreakingNews, Cave-Story, Doukutsu-Monogatari, Pixel, WiiWare

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Alexisonfire @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:04PM

Yes, but Cave Story is WORTH paying money, even if it's free.

ZaxCG2 @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:05PM

Amen.

Levi @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:59PM

Super mega agreed

ZaxCG2 @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:05PM

THIS GAME EARNS MY MONEY. Will buy, yes.

samfish @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:06PM

+10 Awesome news.

gameplayFanBoy @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:08PM

I won't buy this, but it looks intriguing enough for a free download...

Mr Khan @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:08PM

Eh, it brings up the same issues as paying for Portal: Still Alive, but i have faith they can bring it up to task to convince people to pay for it.

Aside from the fact that many people just don't play PC games, even when the option is available. I'm one such person, always preferred a console.

FishyBoy @ Oct 2nd 2008 7:13PM

The problem with Still Alive is that if you paid for the Orange Box on the console, you basically got screwed. If you got Portal on the PC, you could've already gotten the new content free.

However, this doesn't screw everyone who got the game since it was already free, so you don't lose anything, and it's new content that has not been already released for free.

BananaBoat @ Oct 2nd 2008 10:52PM

I'll pay for it. Gems like Cave Story are rare, and the promise of new content has me chomping at the bit. It may not be the longest game ever, but it's comparable to a Mega Man (both in length, and difficulty) so I'd say it's fine on that front as well.

I'm very excited to be able to throw some monetary support in the direction of the developer.

Xoviet chiK @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:11PM

Native OS X version (Universal)
http://www.nakiwo.com/software.htm

English Patch for OS X
http://www.wctc.net/~luvmimac/cavestory/

Heh (Mr. ESC, living in the hearts of us all) @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:19PM

Playing games? On a mac? Are you mad?

Xoviet chiK @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:22PM

You should try making them, Python (pygame) and Ruby (gosu) are your best and only friends with Apple's lackluster support!

Heh (Mr. ESC, living in the hearts of us all) @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:25PM

I can only imagine the pain it would be to make an OS X compatible game. To be fair, though, I've heard many great things about python.

Evan @ Oct 2nd 2008 8:47PM

@Heh

Uh, ever heard of OpenGL? PS2, PS3, GameCube, Wii, and OS X all support OpenGL! It's what almost every non-Microsoft system uses instead of DirectX.

ed @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:12PM

just played this on PSP again. won't be getting this. but fuck yea still! GG Nintendo.

Fernando Rocker @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:12PM

Oh my... awesome.

Drake @ Oct 2nd 2008 8:59PM

HUZZAH!!!

Pimliconite @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:20PM

Now I've got the egg stage music stuck in my head.

So Happy Right Now @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:22PM

Yep, I just ejaculated. ^.^

stray_dog_strut @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:25PM

Huzzah!!

Ichi the One @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:26PM

Similar to the N+ situation.

However I didn't like it when I heard the Cave Story guy was apparently requesting websites pull versions of Cave Story so people would be forced to buy it. Guess those stories were true after all.

Won't be buying on principle that the guy has turned into a greedy asshole.

Xoviet chiK @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:30PM

You can download the game, for free, on Pixel's website, as has always been the case.

http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA022293/binaries/index.html

How is that being a greedy asshole?

Ichi the One @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:33PM

I'm pretty sure he realized that trying to 'remove' things from the net is impossible. But just the fact that he wanted to do this, irks me greatly.

Vicente @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:37PM

actually, pixel's probably not even involved with the port.

you did know that pixel was the author, right?

and that he's incredibly humble?

and that he's japanese?

you know, nothing like the N+ situation, which isn't even a situation to begin with.

i wonder who is handling the port, and to what degree pixel is actually involved.

Alexisonfire @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:41PM

Misinformed internet poster is misinformed.

samfish @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:44PM

Even if that were the case (and it's not), the game has been free for, what? 3-4 years now?
You have no reason to complain, seeing as you had the last 1,500 days to get it for free.

Alex M @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:52PM

You got it wrong.

For starters, he lent the source code to any serious programmer that offered to make a port of the game. He didn't have to, but he did. That's how there's a playable version for the PSP, and that's how there used to be a demo version for the DS.

Once he started getting into talks about a proper, paying release, he asked those serious programmers to stop their work. For the PSP version, that was no problem. But it did spell doom for the DS version, sadly.

But I totally understand this. The same thing happens in theatre. If you want to license a play for professional production, but the author is already in talks about a movie version, you are NOT getting that license. The movie producers (or Nintendo) don't want the brand of the play (or game) to be diluted by extraneous performances (or ports).

Levi @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:28PM

I could never get the English version to run on my computer, so this is good news for dummies like me.

StrangeBum @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:29PM

Hell yes! I loved Cave Story, seriously one of the best shmups I have played in a long time, easily worth my money. But I don't know if I could justify anything more than maybe $15 for such a short game.

ed @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:37PM

Get back to fucking game school! Shmup? My fat hairy ass! This is no R-Type! This is Cave Story!

StrangeBum @ Oct 2nd 2008 4:05PM

Isn't it like technically considered a shmup though, or am I totally off?

Because there is a lot of shooting-em-up in the game, ya dig? Anyway, I just wanted to say that I fucking loved the game!!!!

Pimliconite @ Oct 2nd 2008 4:11PM

It's not a shmup. Halo is also not a shmup.

samfish @ Oct 2nd 2008 4:31PM

Shmups are games like Ikaruga or Space Mega Force or Cho-Aniki where you fly around and shoot tons and tons of enemies. I've heard some people claim games like Gunstar Heroes are shmups, too, but that's subject for debate.
But simply having a game where you shoot things doesn't mean it's a shmup.

Cave Story is more commonly referred to as a metroidvania game.

Shadow Hog @ Oct 2nd 2008 4:48PM

I'm not particularly sure why everyone calls it a Metroidvania, though (although I agree - it's not a shmup). I mean, it's pretty damn linear, and I certainly didn't get much incentive to explore areas I'd already cleared, well after the fact.

Damn fine game, but not exactly Metroidvania in my book.

WhatIsThatThing @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:05PM

I don't think Cave Story can be considered a shmup by any extension of the word. You shoot things but the game is a platformer through and through.

StrangeBum @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:14PM

Weeeellll it seems it isn't a shmup in the least. Sorry all!

I will stand by what I said previously though, I love this game! Very linear as Shadow Hog said. I did play it through for the different endings though. Anyway, consider me schooled today in the shmup world.

Also, I had not even heard the term Metroidvania before, but I can understand what that means to a degree and I think I might just enjoy it if more games were made in a similar style.

shouryuuken @ Oct 2nd 2008 9:12PM

@samfish: gunstar heroes is a run n gun... shoot em ups usually mean over head or sideways view of a space ship where youre on a linear path that you dont direct constantly shooting things.

run n gun is when small elements of platforming are involved.. and those games are always character based... no ships there unless you include vehicles like in metal slug.

so yeah.. shmups: raiden, galaga, ikaruga, dodonpachi etc..

run n gun: metal slug, commando, contra, gunstar heroes, etch..

serotoninzero @ Oct 2nd 2008 3:39PM

I was hoping someone would port this to the Wii as homebrew.. but this is even better. Count me in. This game ruled.

KirbyMeister @ Oct 2nd 2008 6:11PM

Game is well worth paying for.

I totally would like to see the new content, though.

Tamer Brad @ Oct 2nd 2008 4:22PM

fuck now i have to buy a fucking wii fuck

StrangeBum @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:18PM

fuck

WhatIsThatThing @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:06PM

I'd just like to mention that brand loyalty is a very good thing for companies and a very bad thing for people's wallets.

That said, day one purchase.

Crazylink @ Oct 2nd 2008 5:29PM

I would gladly pay $10 for Cave Story. Pixel deserves it.

Rob Accomando @ Oct 2nd 2008 7:17PM

Cave story is awesome. Too bad I already
played it to death on the PSP

Evan @ Oct 2nd 2008 8:51PM

AWESOME! Even though I've played it on the PC, I'm definitely buying it.

This is turning out to be the best week in a long time game announcements!

Ddyq @ Oct 2nd 2008 10:52PM

Ugh, this is so stupid. Honestly, how long do you think it'll take to mod all the new content into the original game?

You want to support Cave Story? DON'T BUY THIS VERSION, SEND THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY DIRECTLY TO THE ORIGINAL GAME'S AUTHOR WITH PAYPAL. All the money goes to the author and we keep art as art. Cave Story is one of those few rare games that is a GAME and not a product.