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Namco goes insane after too many Namco Museum releases
The major complaint about Namco's Museum series of retro compilations is that they're just too faithful to their arcade counterparts. People don't want exact arcade translations anymore, they want games remade unrecognizably in 3D! They want Pac-Man randomly inserted into every game!At least, that seems to be Namco Bandai's thinking. Either that or they weren't sure how else to rerelease games they're already selling on the Virtual Console. The result is Namco Museum Remix, a set of Namco classics, now with more waggle, depth, and Pac! The remixed games include Galaga, Pac-Motos, Rally-X, Gator Panic, and Pac 'n Roll, which is apparently a classic now despite not even being two years old. For that matter, Gator Panic seems to be based on a cell phone game which is itself based on the Whack-a-Mole like redemption game, and we have no idea what Pac-Motos was originally. Interesting what passes for "classics" these days!In addition to the remixes, the collection includes Cutie Q, Dig Dug, Galaxian, Gaplus, Mappy, Pac & Pal, Pac-Mania, Super Pac-Man, and Xevious. We poke fun at Namco for selling the same games over and over again, but this is an okay selection of somewhat less common stuff! Sorry to everyone who bought NES Xevious on the Virtual Console.Check out our gallery of screens from the remixed games. Some are faithful, like Rally-X, and others are completely incomprehensible, like the image at the top of this post, which is supposed to be Galaga.%Gallery-3280%
Pac-Man + tennis = love
Sure, Virtua Tennis 3 had some strange gimmicks ... like collecting giant pieces of fruit whilst avoiding deadly bouldering tennis balls. But Namco's upcoming Smash Court Tennis looks to out-do quite possibly every tennis game ever made with this utterly brilliant duo of retro-themed gameplay modes. Above, you'll see the rad flavors of Pac-Man infused into the typically high-brow sport of tennis. After the cut, you'll see some equally cool gameplay inspired by the retro groove of Galaga.These simple additions have made this game suddenly shoot up much higher on our radar. For some "regular" (aka "boring") gameplay, don't forget to check out our previous coverage of the game.
The Joystiq Weekend: April 7 to 9, 2007
This is one of p3ss3ssod's four Galaga tattoos. In fact, he's got quite a collection of game-related inkings shown in his album. Check out the highlights for this weekend:JoystiqueryJapanese hardware sales, Mar. 26 - Apr. 1: No more noir editionJoystiq hands-on: HP's mscapeThe Political Game: Take Two and the golden parachuteToday's "looks good on paper" video: Super Paper Mario commercialWeekly Webcomic Wrapup: beware the Easter Cow editionNewsRed Octane says two Xbox guitar models 'defective'Gamespot leaks Xbox 360's new dashboardThree Speech retracts PS3 BioShock, but not other release datesLeaked Xbox 360 keyboard controller attachment, Voltron jealousIM coming to Xbox 360, keyboard accessory this summerGalaga, BRAVOMAN, and Alex Kidd smash Virtual ConsoleSpecial Xbox 360 Elite black HD DVD drive up for auctionEA struggles to meet demand for Wii gamesNew Gears gametype 'Annex' previewed, still no dateHands-on pics of the Xbox 360 QWERTY keyboardPSP vs DS game price showdown, it's a drawVideo Game Decency Act: saving the children, or one-way ticket to tyranny?Gears of War update, Annex gametype todayNew games this week: Super Paper Mario editionTake 360 Guitar Hero flaw into your own handsHalo 2 Vista Achievements discovered, viral hilarity ensuesResident Evil 4 Wii controls detailed, diagramedMicrosoft unleashes 4000-point Marketplace cardsShiver me timbers! Oblivion expansion has critical bugRumors & SpeculationRumor: Phoenix Wright 3 dated, titled for USESRB leaks 'Quake III: Team Arena' for Xbox 360 (XBLA?)Culture & CommunityBurger King 360 prize comes with steep price: TerrorGamestop spoils Twilight Princess ending in storesMicrosoft forcing fees? Marketplace Phil. 101 with Epic and Microsoft'Sims' credit card will buy everything but a lifeWhen is it okay to pass little Jimmy the Gears of War?PS3 Cell chip saves more lives with medical imaging
Galaga, BRAVOMAN, and Alex Kidd smash Virtual Console
Prepare to power-up your sledgehammer and smash some watermelons in the NES version of Gallagher!... wait, this just in. We're being informed that there never was a Gallagher NES game, so we'll have to settle for Galaga, Namco's classic 1981 arcade shooter that was later released on the NES (and every other platform known to mankind). We now return to our previously begun post.Prepare to power-up your spaceship and shoot some aliens in the NES version of Galaga, hitting the Wii Virtual Console this morning along with its ne'er-do-well friends BRAVOMAN and Alex Kidd (in the Enchanted Castle, where else?). All three will arrive on US VC at 9am PT for the standard, platform-specific asking prices: Galaga (NES, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) BRAVOMAN (Turbografx16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
VC Friday: Straight up killing
It's all about destruction this week in Europe on the Virtual Console. Either you're blasting space dudes, wrecking ghosts and perhaps a few ghouls, or perhaps yourself while playing Double Dungeons ... either way, something is going to die. And people say gaming isn't exciting anymore!This week on the VC in Europe: Double Dungeons (600 Wii points) -- TurboGrafx Galaga (500 Wii points) -- NES Super Ghouls n' Ghosts (800 Wii points) -- SNES
T-shirt goodness from Japan: Namco Game Series
When you're not wearing a limited edition Joystiq t-shirt (i.e., when it's in the wash), we suggest an alternative route to game geek chic. And to avoid the emo-ness of Atari logos, it could be worth looking to the online stores of Japan where, at the end of the month, MARS16 will unleash the first design in its fully-licensed Namco Game Series -- this iconic Galaga print. We've been sucked up and captured, handing over ¥3,990 (US$33) for our escape shirt. If anyone is wearing a cooler t-shirt than this right now, let us know about it (and we'll tear it off your back).
More ESRB ratings found for Virtual Console
The ESRB ratings website is a veritable treasure trove of nuclear launch codes, CIA secrets, and unannounced Virtual Console games. Recently, ratings have popped up for Mighty Bomb Jack, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire. While not all of the ESRB rated games have yet arrived on the console, it's fairly certain that they'll get here eventually.In addition, Super Ghouls n' Ghosts was announced not only for the Wii, but for the 360 and PS3. This would make it the first game to be released on all three systems' classic download services, which then brings up silly flame wars and pointless arguing.But seriously, the Wii version will totally be the best.(Note: The GameSpot article mentions that Galaga was also tagged for release, but we actually caught this back in January. We rock.)
Galaga & Pac-man update stops pops
Retro XBLA titles Galaga and Pac-man have been updated to fix an issue with annoying pop-ups (such "download complete" notifications) that pissed people off by disrupting gameplay. Now they show up in the right hand corner of the screen. Now, in the interest sparing a few hurled controllers, how about making the little yellow guy a wee bit more responsive.[Thanks Julian]
Galaga makes its way over to XBLA
The latest Xbox Live Arcade title to make its Wednesday appearance is the truly old school alien shooter, Galaga. We would be a smidgen more excited about this if it wasn't something most of us can already play on our PSP or PS2 classic hits compilations (or any other system that has one of them).For that reason, there's just not that much to get hyped about with this one since all it does is the same thing it did back in 1981. Where's the enhanced online play? Where's the co-op mode? How bout we get that little something special for our 400 points?
Galaga hits Live Arcade
It's Galaga! Available right now on Xbox Live Arcade! A game sure to make gamers, non-gamers, and even the significant others of gamers very happy. Everybody loves Galaga. Grab the demo, and if you like it, Galaga can be purchased for 400 points. That's a mere $5. Seriously, when you were a kid, if someone told you that you could play all the Galaga you ever wanted for five bucks, you'd go for it right?If by chance you have no idea what Galaga is, get the demo and experience gaming history. Otherwise, rejoice!
Sunday at X360F: arcade madness results
The results from last Sunday's poll are in and it was a major upset to say the least. In a come-from-behind victory that nobody was expecting even in their wildest of wild dreams, Street Fighter II -- the plucky underdog that nobody believed in -- has come out on top with an astonishing 32% of the poll totalling 763 votes. Now, with the sarcastic statement of the obvious out of the way, let's look at the results. It seems SFII has a monopoly on gamer nostalgia, as the other retro classics, Galaga, Pac-Man, and Frogger gather a paltry 11% of the vote with 242 votes combined. It should be noted that Galaga seems to be the favored retro hit outside of SFII, though. By far the most interesing aspect of this poll is the performance of Lumines Live, Small Arms, and Texas Hold 'em, with a combined 47% of the vote. This is evidence that the real strength of Live Arcade is its ability to bring us original content (just as Cloning Clyde project lead, John Nielson told us earlier this week). No doubt had titles like Castle Crashers and RoboBlitz been on the poll, they would have shown a strong performance as well. So, to wrap up, Capcom is the king of selling us our youth, and people want to see more games that you can't get anywhere else. Here's to the 360 for making Wednesdays a little brighter. Cheers.
Sunday at X360F Poll: Arcade Madness [update 1]
No matter where you look, the big news this week was definitely Xbox Live Arcade. Every Wednesday for the next month we'll have a new Xbox Live Arcade game to download. So, of course, the big question now is which company will make the most money which game will be the most popular? Below is a list of some of the upcoming games. Which one are you anticipating the most? If you choose other, please, let us know your choice in the comments -- even if it hasn't been announced, tell us what games you want to see on Live Arcade. Will SFII hadoken the competition? Will Pac-Man wakka wakka his way to the top? Vote for your favorite and tell us why. We'll discuss the results next week. Which XBLA game do you want most? Frogger Cloning Clyde Galaga Street Fighter II Pac-Man Texas Hold 'em Small Arms Lumines Live Other More micropayments? No, thanks. Free polls from Pollhost.com Basic poll stuff: You could spam the poll, thus destroying its democratic brilliance, but that would make you a total jerkball. Don't be a jerkball. It's bad for democracy. Update 1: Oops, Lumines Live has now been added to the poll. The votes have also been reset. My apologies for any emotional distress this may have caused. You should be able to vote again no problem.
Help the Gamma Bros. destroy evil space bats
It would be wise to examine the severe implications of a post such as this one. You know, one which links to a horribly addictive game filled with old-school flair, adorably pixelated explosions and unstoppable space bats. Gamma Bros. is exactly that kind of game, a sort of Galaga meets Robotron meets, well, space bats. As you sit there, caressing your keyboard into annihilating said beasties, consider how many people are doing the very same thing and how many more are sharing the experience with their friends. From this humble starting point, a plague of unproductivity will spread, tearing apart relationships, economies and the very concept of outdoor activity.But at least those stinkin' space bats will get what's coming to them.
Street Fighter 2: Mega Ultra $10 edition
I know everyone is excited that Frogger is coming to XBLA today, but let's get this boring Street Fighter II news out of the way first. Street Fighter II -- the one Live Arcade game that nobody is anticipating at all -- will be sold for 800 MS Points, or 10 American dollars. Okay, there. I'm sorry. Here's the real news: Frogger will be sold for a paltry 400 points ($5). Heck, just take a look at the whole list: July 12 - Frogger, 400 points ($5) July 19 - Cloning Clyde, 800 points ($10) July 26 - Galaga, 400 points ($5) August 2 - Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting, 800 points ($10) August 9 - Pac-Man, 400 points ($5) That's 5 games for $35! Also, the Live Arcade team indicated that Wednesday will become the defacto release day for most Arcade titles. As Joystiq points out, this list may indicate that older games will see a lower price point than their newer cousins with fancy features like "blast processing" and "more than one button." [Via Joystiq]
Screenshots of Pac-Man and Galaga on XBLA
Namco announced the Xbox Live Arcade versions of Pac-Man and Galaga at Microsoft's Japanese press conference last week. This, of course, spawned the obvious question, "What's it gonna look like?" We're happy to report that high-def Pac-Man and Galaga look like ... well, Pac-Man and Galaga with artwork on the borders. Sure, it's not thrilling, but at least it doesn't look like this. Galaga screenshot after the break.
Pac-Man, Gundam, and more at Xbox 360 press conference
In addition to the news that anime is on the XBLM, there is plenty more from last night's Japanese press event. You can read the horrible machine translation of Famitsu's coverage here, or read on for the big Arcade legends Pac-Man and Galaga are coming to the Xbox Live Arcade! No word on whether there's any bad blood between the two considering Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga have been spending an awful lot of time together. Both titles will support worldwide rankings. Bandai Namco also announced Zegapain, "an anime/game collaboration that will boast downloadable content," as well as a new entry in the Culdcept series, Culdcept Saga. Xboxyde has screens of Zegapain XOR. An as-yet-unnamed Xbox Live compatible Gundam FPS. GameBrink has five high-res screens, and Xboxyde is hosting a torrent of video from the press conference. Tri-Ace studios, creators of the Star Ocean series, Radiata Stories, and Valkyrie Profile games, are working on an as-yet-unnamed RPG exclusively for the Xbox 360, to be published by Microsoft Game Studios. Sounds like the mystery Xbox 360-exclusive RPG has been revealed ... sort of. Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's Mistwalker studios is bringing several games to the Xbox 360. They announced that the first of these, Blue Dragon, will be released (in Japan presumably) before the end of the year, while a demo disc for Lost Odyssey will be released "later this year." No word on Cry On. Xboxyde has screenshots and video footage of the Square Enix/Gamearts collaboration, Project Sylph. A sequel to Gamearts' PS2 shmup Silpheed? Microsoft is cognizant that the Xbox 360 hasn't been going over so well in Japan. Last night's press conference, and their intentions to hold a second console launch in June, are indicative of their determination to succeed in Japan; an opening salvo, if you will, of the oncoming console wars looming on Japan's ultra-competitive gaming landscape. Read - Translated Famitsu coverage with imagesRead - Microsoft Briefs Media in Japan (1UP)Read - GameBrink's posts on the press conference
