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Bombermine blasts up to 1,000 players in your browser
We'll always have a soft spot in our heart for the man with the bombs. Bombermine, a free Flash-based clone of the iconic Bomberman series, lets up to 1,000 players face off in the same game. Yes, 1,000.The premise of Bombermine is the same as in Bomberman: destroy the other players before they destroy you. All players are trapped in the same maze and must place bombs to clear paths toward the other players and powerups.Bombermine is currently in beta, with play servers across the US, Europe, Japan and Russia live right now. Once you sign up with a username and pick your server, you'll automatically spawn into an active game and probably not get any work done ever again.
Hudson name will live on after Konami takeover
We're still not sure if Konami will take the Hudson bee out back and put two tiny bullets into its brain, Old Yeller style, but Konami at least plans to keep the Hudson name around. According to a notice spotted on the company's site by Andriasang, Hudson branded products and services will continue to be developed post-acquisition.The Hudson website will also stay open after Konami takes over the company on March 1. And while the last few years haven't given us much cause to celebrate Hudson, we're sure there are a few people out there who'd like to see the bee stick around -- one of them is a person we actually know!
Bloody Roar announcement was a fake
Turns out that Bloody Roar announcement from the "Hudson" Twitter account last week was a fake. As GameSetWatch notes, the ruse was exposed when the account tweeted what was supposed to be the first image, but was actually an image stating "You all been trolled!" It turns out this fake Hudson Twitter account committed itself to a very long con for the purpose of messing with Bloody Roar fans. There is apparently a real Hudson Twitter account, but it hasn't been used since 2010. When we contacted Hudson parent company Konami for comment, the publisher simply told us it was "looking into this." Sorry, Bloody Roar fans.
Hudson: New Bloody Roar title 'in production'
The fighting game renaissance is in full swing, with massively successful titles still in the rear-view mirror, and highly anticipated fighters coming strong and steady in the near future and beyond. The soul still burns, or something, so it makes perfect sense for Hudson to announce the production of a new Bloody Roar title via Twitter. No other concrete information is available as of yet, but the #BloodyRoarProject2012 and #BloodyRoar5 hashtags used in the tweet are implicit enough to get the rumor mill running at full till. Bloody Roar, if you'll recall, is the Tekken-esque 3D fighting series characterized by its transforming, anthropomorphized animal fighters, which has been dormant since 2003's Bloody Roar 4. Also dormant? Our ability to see, thanks to Hudson's blinding font colors. [Thanks, Dean!]
Tetris Axis has a lot more going on than just Tetris
No, you don't need a trailer to know how Tetris works, but you do need one to see the surprisingly numerous array of extra modes in the 3DS game, Tetris Axis. The bonus games range far beyond the normal "Tetris with some blocks already laid out," including weirdo modes like one in which you guide a single game piece through a racetrack, a game about building up a cylindrical tower, and even AR modes that put the Tetris playing field on your desk. We're sure a lot of people will balk at the idea of another retail Tetris, but this is a good effort toward filling that cartridge. Also, there's a dancing monkey.%Gallery-134631%
Bomberman movie trailer makes rollerskates awesome again
We always knew there was more to Bomberman than his round, antennaed visage could possibly show. The Game Station -- the minds behind the equally revealing Brothers Mario machinima -- have lovingly crafted a live-action take on Hudson Soft's age-old franchise. It's as delightful as it is combustible.
Toshiyuki Takahashi (aka Master Higgins) to leave Hudson
Few single-studio careers in the gaming industry have been as lengthy or illustrious as that of Hudson's Toshiyuki Takahashi. He's something of a folk hero at the company, having appeared in the classic Adventure Island series as Master Higgins, and having become known for his uncanny ability to hit an NES button 16 times per second. He's accumulated no small amount of prestige while working at Hudson -- but in a recent post on his personal blog (as translated by Andriasang), he announced he's leaving the company at the end of this month, ending his 26-year tenure with Hudson. Takahashi didn't explain his reasons for leaving the company, or where he'd end up at next. Considering his announcement's proximity to Konami's acquisition and trimming of Hudson, we'd wager that has something to do with it. Then again, we shouldn't jump to conclusions. He might just be taking some time off to focus on his other interests, like skateboarding on clouds while collecting floating fruit, or rescuing princesses from nefarious, reptilian foes.
Hudson's final years detailed by insider
In about a month, Hudson will likely be nothing more than a brand name, having been fully absorbed by Konami. In a post on The Kartel, John "Master" Lee, who wore a couple of hats at US-based Hudson Entertainment -- including former VP of sales and marketing, and general manager of games publishing -- explains in his own words the "downfall" of the company. Lee, who was employed at Hudson Entertainment from 2006 until 2009, and continued working with the company after he left, gives a detailed account of Hudson's US division's rise and fall. He explains how the disaster of Bomberman: Act Zero came to be, why the US division started making good money for the company and how that attention eventually led Konami to make its final takeover. It's a good human account of the big business of gaming and cross-Pacific relations.
Report: Hudson Entertainment shut down
A blog post by Hudson Entertainment brand manager Morgan Haro reveals that Hudson Entertainment, the California-based American arm of Japan's Hudson Soft, is closing down. "It was revealed today," Haro said in the post, "that all of Hudson's previously planned projects have been canceled and that our office will be closing it's doors at the end of February." Hudson Entertainment has been active since 2003; prior to that, "Hudson Soft USA" published games from 1988 through 1995. The closing is a result of Konami's full acquisition of Hudson Soft, after which Haro speculates "there apparently won't be any need for the talents within the San Mateo offices of Hudson Entertainment." Haro also speculated that the difficulty of finding an audience for Japanese games in the west, and the proliferation of both giant publishers and indies, as recent problems for Hudson. "You're either a hit, or an indie developer looking to be a hit." Hudson's most recent American release was Lost in Shadow on Wii.
Konami taking full control of Hudson
Konami is in the process of making Hudson a wholly-owned subsidiary through a stock swap. The Metal Gear Solid and Castlevania publisher currently owns a little over 50 percent of the company Bomberman built. Hudson's stock will be delisted and its CEO replaced at the end of Konami's fiscal year on March 31. Konami reportedly wants to absorb Hudson's know-how in the mobile space and its IP. There's also the expectation of name changes and a likelihood of redundancies as the business operations are combined.
TurboGrafx-16 emulation app coming to iPhone
And now, some news that is simultaneously awesome and depressing. Hudson is (officially) bringing Turbografx-16 games to iPhone and iPod Touch "this winter" in a free TurboGrafx Gamebox app. It'll launch with a library of $3.99 games, and will include one, the Olympic-style World Sports Competition, for free. Each day, Hudson will select one game from the library and make it available through the app for a free three-minute trial. Hudson didn't announce the initial lineup, but we're going to go out on a limb and guess it'll include Bonk's Adventure and Military Madness. And knowing that many people missed out on the TurboGrafx-16, we're happy to see the games being brought to such a popular platform. And there's the terrible part. Last time we checked, the iPhone continued not to have buttons. So that's $4 each for a potentially great game to be rendered totally unplayable.
ESRB rates Castlevania: Rondo of Blood for Wii
[Castlevania Dungeon] According to a recent "T for Teen" classification by the ESRB, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (better known as Dracula X: Rondo of Blood) appears to be heading to the Wii. An OFLC rating of the game back in December already hinted at the possibility of the game arriving on the Wii's Virtual Console (the Japanese version was released in April 2008), but the ESRB rating's description seems to clinch it, citing the "early-90s rendering" of "reddish blood-like bursts." Previously, unless you were a resident of Japan who owned a PC Engine CD in the early '90s (or, more likely, a PSP owner anywhere in the world within the past two years ago), there wasn't an easy way for you to get your hands on "Akumajō Dracula X Chi no Rondo" (Rondo of Blood's Japanese title). But now, it seems that Wii owners outside of Japan will get the chance to check out the game.
Hudson's 'Master Higgins' sings on new game music CD
For some of us, the latest game music remix album release from Hudson is going to be a bizarre retrogaming oddity. But for a few -- those who love Hudson classics and also idolize Takahashi Meijin, the Hudson PR executive who became famous for his ability to push a button 16 times a second, and who served as the model for Adventure Island's protagonist, Takahashi Meijin Legend: Soul of the 16 Shot -- is instantly going to become one of the year's most anticipated music releases. And a bizarre retrogaming oddity. Soul of the 16 Shot features the Meijin singing, auto-tuned, over new arrangements of the music from classic Star Soldier, Challenger and Milon's Secret Castle. It'll be available on CD and in the Japanese iTunes store January 27. After hearing the new interpretation of the Adventure Island music, we're going to hope really hard that it shows up in the US iTunes store as well. Listen to some preview tracks after the break! [Via Chiptuned]
DSiWare Master of Illusion, Brain Age, Art Style rated by OFLC
While we can't be sure what the launch lineup for the DSiWare shop outside of Japan will look like, we can guess that the Australian shop will feature at least one of these games, thanks to OFLC ratings: Master of Illusion Express: Shuffle Games Master of Illusion Express: Funny Face Master of Illusion Express: Deep Psyche A Little Bit Of ... Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: Maths Edition D-Code (probably Art Style: Decode) The standard ratings board disclaimer applies: we don't know when these will be out, or if this release implies other regions. But if you wanted to know if Nintendo planned to localize any of its Japanese DSiWare lineup, here is evidence that yes, it is. Also found on the OFLC: The WiiWare version of Rainbow Islands (yay!) and Adventure Island: The Beginning. Also, Karate Phants. %Gallery-39571%
First screens of Adventure Island: The Beginning
Finally, Hudson has revealed the first screens of the new WiiWare Adventure Island game. It looks like a return to the style of gameplay from the original NES game -- which means that axes and skateboards are in, and dinosaur riding (as seen in Adventure Island 2 and 3) is out. While we're suitably (extremely) excited about playing a new Adventure Island game, we do wish that Hudson had taken the Mega Man 9 route, because the 3D makeover isn't working. The GameCube remake of Adventure Island looked a lot better, in fact. The new game includes some exciting new features, like multiplayer and Adventure Island-themed minigames. Our favorite is the in-game version of the Shooting Watch, the button-press-timing toy made famous by Hudson's Takahashi Meijin, who is the inspiration for the Master Higgins character.
Hudson confirms new Adventure Island and online FPS for WiiWare
This June, none other than Hudson's Master Higgins himself, Takahashi Meijin, revealed early plans to make a new Adventure Island game for the Wii. We've heard almost nothing since then, until today! Hudson has told WiiWare World that a new Adventure Island is on the way to Europe for this April. We can assume it'll show up worldwide at some point as well, like every other Hudson WiiWare game. In addition, the company has announced a new WiiWare FPS called Onslaught, whose defining characteristic is that it isn't Adventure Island. We're willing to look past that flaw, however, for a four-player online multiplayer WiiWare FPS (seriously) about "blasting a massive number of enemy creatures to feel the exhilaration". Onslaught is set for European release in March.
VC Friday: Resistance is futile
EX-TERM-IN-ATE! EX-TERM-IN-ATE! Wait, no, those are the other ones. But whatever. The point is: after hearing nothing about Space Invaders Get Even! for months, the game has randomly appeared on the European and Australian Wii Shops. We are unashamedly jigging with joy as we type this. And the extra-terrestial goodness doesn't stop there, for Alien Crush Returns has also joined the line-up. Needless to say, we wholeheartedly welcome our new rulers (of all our spare time). The other game is Brain Challenge. Sorry, Brain Challenge. Alien Crush Returns -- WiiWare -- 800 Nintendo Points Brain Challenge -- WiiWare -- 1000 Nintendo Points Space Invaders Get Even! -- WiiWare -- 500 Nintendo Points %Gallery-25384%
Wii Fanboy Review: Alien Crush Returns
I've been a huge fan of Naxat Soft's Alien Crush and other Crush games since they came out. It's no exaggeration to say that the availability of Alien Crush on the Virtual Console factored into my decision to purchase a Wii. When Hudson revealed plans for a 3D WiiWare update of Alien Crush, it definitely captured my attention. Alien Crush Returns, it turns out, is much more than an update: it is a direct sequel to Alien Crush, and a very different game. While the new version doesn't outshine the original, there's certainly more of it. And it finally brings online leaderboards to the series -- along with direct online competition! %Gallery-19346%
Alien Crush returns Home (Sweet Home) on WiiWare
Finding a way to combine pinball and H.R. Giger, Alien Crush Returns (Hudson Entertainment, 1-4 players, 800 Wii Points) is now available on WiiWare. The remake to 1988's Alien Crush has you facing off against insectoid monsters from outer space, using only your flippers and a large metallic sphere. Sonic Spinball would be proud. For the more faint of heart, this week also introduces to WiiWare Home Sweet Home (Big Blue Bubble Inc., 1 player, 1000 Wii Points), based on the casual PC title. It's all about bringing out the aspiring interior designer inside you, for when you want to live vicariously through the TV instead of getting off the couch to redecorate your actual living room. Gallery: Alien Crush Returns
North America soon to join in on the Alien Crushing
If you thought Hudson was done announcing WiiWare games, you were dead wrong. In fact, Bomberman Blast was just a warmup for the real WiiWare announcement, which we all knew was coming, but we're elated to see: Alien Crush Returns is coming to North America! A few new screens came with the announcement, which you can find in our gallery. Chris Kohler's impressions of today's Japanese release suggest that this news is, in fact, a good thing. According to the press release, "Alien Crush Returns is the only pinball game for WiiWare that lets gamers compete head to head online." It also happens to be the only pinball game for WiiWare. As with Bomberman Blast (and Star Soldier R), Hudson will host periodic online tournaments, starting with one near the unspecified launch period. %Gallery-19346% [Via press release]
