Nostalgically Nibble at WC History (March 4, 2021)

[ChrisReid]

Coffeehound RetroSharka has published a fun video in her Nostalgic Nibbles series. This one focuses on the Super Nintendo version of Wing Commander. The author here has a lot of positive things to say about the game, and they're coming from a place of experience. She played the original Amiga Wing Commander and picked up the SNES version not long after its release. They've even played the Sega CD edition and Super Wing Commander on 3DO but considers this version a favorite. I have to agree - there are many limitations compared to the DOS release that most folks are familiar with, but the game's punchy opening music coming through lo-fi speakers is just an indelible memory. The controls were dense for a console at the time, but it was possible to do almost everything in the cockpit that a PC could. This is a good overview of the game, although I can't forgive the person for pronouncing SNES as "SNES" instead of "Super Nintendo."

In the mid-27th century, humanity is locked in a deadly struggle, a seemingly endless war, against the Kilrathi. Into this battle against the territorial alien felines steps 2nd Lieutenant Valkyr, known by the callsign 'Valkyrie', fresh out of OCS and assigned to the TCS Tiger's Claw in the Enyo Sector. Let us see how they fare on their first mission via the lovely SNES port of this Amiga and DOS PC classic.

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Original update published on March 4, 2021

 

[ODVS]

It's a British thing, @ChrisReid. All my peers who had a SNES called it a "SNES" ;^)

I had a MegaDrive myself. I always thought it was weird how you guys pronounced MegaDrive as "Genesis" :^P

 

[ChrisReid]

It's a British thing, @ChrisReid. All my peers who had a SNES called it a "SNES" ;^)

I had a MegaDrive myself. I always thought it was weird how you guys pronounced MegaDrive as "Genesis" :^P

The whole country-specific names thing is a weird anachronism now. Famicon vs NES, Resident Evil vs Biohazard, etc. You don't see that much anymore since so much marketing is across borders.

 

[ODVS]

The whole country-specific names thing is a weird anachronism now. Famicon vs NES, Resident Evil vs Biohazard, etc. You don't see that much anymore since so much marketing is across borders.

Just you wait for the launch of "Wing Commander IV: Remastered" in the US at the same time as "Wing Commander IV: What ho! More Tea! Jolly Good Show!" in the UK

 

[Wedge009]

Or just another case of American culture dominating the Anglosphere. I was going to say that I saw nothing wrong with saying SNES because I would say the same, but left it alone as it wasn't pertinent to the subject of the news post. I also grew up talking about MegaDrives instead of Genesis. I'm sure I'd also cop a lot of flak for saying things like Lylat Wars instead of Star Fox 64, Hungry Jack's instead of Burger King, and a whole bunch of other things. Sometimes regional differences make for interesting conversations - certainly Wing Commander regional differences seem to be celebrated here, why not other things too?

 

[ChrisReid]

Sometimes regional differences make for interesting conversations - certainly Wing Commander regional differences seem to be celebrated here, why not other things too?

Nope, only Wing Commander multiculturalism is celebrated here.

Which is a joke, just like the original comment. People in the US say "SNES" now too, especially if they didn't grow up with it (in fact, that was the entire joke. I glossed over the Megadrive reference and didn't even realize this person was from a different country).

 

[Wedge009]

I see. That wasn't entirely clear in the original post. While I didn't take the 'can't forgive' part seriously, I thought there was a genuine complaint against saying 'SNES'.