Nintendo; 2008
The Club Nintendo Super Famicom Classic Controller is a specially designed Classic Controller for the Wii, made to look and feel exactly like the original Japanese Super Famicom controller. It was released earlier this year as an exclusive gift for platinum members of Club Nintendo in Japan, and it’s a perfect treat for those who enjoy playing Super Nintendo games from the Wii’s Virtual Console.
I have always thought that the regular Classic Controller is just fine for most games, but it doesn’t feel exactly like the original SNES controller. The button placement is slightly different, for example, which became most noticeable to me while playing through Super Metroid. Additionally, the cord to connect to the Wii Remote comes out of the bottom of the normal Classic Controller, which is different from most controllers (where the cord comes out of the top). This particular controller is exactly the same as a SNES controller except for obvious aesthetic differences that stem from the fact that it’s an import (the multicoloured buttons, for example, were present on the original SFC controllers in Japan but were changed to dull purple and blue for the SNES).
Final Fantasy XII: International Zodiac Job System is the ironically-titled Japan-only “international” update to the original version of the PS2 RPG. It features the English voice acting and the widescreen option of the North American version and comes with the bonus DVD that was also packaged with the Collector’s Edition version. New features include the ability to control guest characters, a high-speed option for travel through tedious areas, new items, new gambits, more tolerable treasure chest randomization, and a complete redesign of the licence board.