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Epyx back on DS, Wii
Development studio System 3 has scored rights to the old Epyx library of games and is already planning to bring popular titles Impossible Mission and California Games to the DS and PSP. Impossible Mission is due to grace the handhelds in January, while California Games will release in May including unlockable content in the form of older titles Winter Games and Summer Games. While these games will be remakes of their original, dust-covered cousins, System 3's founder Mark Kale said they will not be updated to 3D."You gotta keep the gameplay mechanics the same or else it ceases to be the original game and you're only using the game brand to sell games," Kale said. "It ceases to be Impossible Mission or California Games or what have you. ...What we're doing is we're incorporating the original gameplay and mechanics and bringing the gameplay up to date."Kale also noted that versions of these remakes are also planned to release on the Wii, which he was quick to say had the ideal control scheme for these games. We assume the games will be sold independently via Nintendo's Virtual Console service, however the piece makes no mention of distribution plans.
Star Wars gets Lethal
Ubisoft has announced today that they're developing a new, original Star Wars game for the PSP and DS. Entitled Lethal Alliance, the game will take place in the time between the so-so Episode III and the good Episode IV. You'll play as Twi'lek Rianna Saren and her security droid Zeeo, and it's your job to uncover the most lethal weapon the Empire has ever come up with: the Death Star (cue dramatic music). GameSpot has some screenshots of the PSP game, and also an interview:On [the] PSP, we wanted to utilize the powerful hardware by making an action-packed, fun-filled game set in beautiful environments... Both versions of the game offer local Wi-Fi capabilities... On PSP you will play Twi'lek versus Twi'lek, while on DS you will play droid versus droid.[Thanks, steve & daniel-kun!]
Yet another classics compilation, this time from EA
If the upcoming Capcom Classics Reloaded or the insanely awesome Sega Genesis Collection aren't enough retro games for you, then you might want to check out EA's offering. Gamespot recently spotted a Gamestop listing (these names always confuse me) called EA Replay, and it should feature the following games:B.O.B.--1993--SNES and Genesis Budokan--1990--Genesis Desert Strike--1993--SNES and Genesis Jungle Strike--1993--SNES and Genesis Haunting Starring Polterguy--1993--Genesis Mutant League Football--1993--Genesis Road Rash--1992--Genesis, later on 3DO Road Rash II--1993--Genesis Road Rash III--1995--Genesis Syndicate--1995--SNES, 3DO, Jaguar Ultima: The Black Gate--1994--SNES Virtual Pinball--1993--Genesis Wing Commander--1993--SNES Wing Commander: The Secret Missions--1993--SNESWhile these may franchises may not be as famous as Sonic or Street Fighter, there are still some heavy-hitters there. Personally, I can't wait to get back into Road Rash, while many should get excited about Wing Commander. But, compared to Sega's 30 game offering, will EA's less than blockbuster lineup be able to compete?
First-ever Earthworm Jim video delights
The Atari love continues today, as impressions and videos from their "Atari Spotlight" slowly trickle in. Another PSP game featured at the event was Earthworm Jim. While the screenshots we've seen so far have looked really good so far, seeing the game in motion has elevated its desirability to an even greater level. Like Ultimate Ghouls 'n Goblins on the PSP and New Super Mario Bros. on the DS, 3D graphics have been really changing the look and feel of 2D games... for the good. Our pal Jim looks to animate quick brilliantly. The platforming looks absolutely spectacular, with Jim have access to a plethora of moves, including a super-charged jump aided by his suit. While the combat and hit detection appear to be lacking right now, this very early demonstration of Earthworm Jim shows a lot of promise.Download - Gamespot's VideoRead - Gamespot's Hands-OnRead - AMN's Hands-On
Mixed impressions of the released Ghosts 'n Goblins
Gamespot has released a video of the next level of Ghosts 'n Goblins, and I can't help but think this game looks incredible. The game's already out in Japan, so various sites have been able to review or preview the game for us. There's the glowing preview, from IGN:"Regardless of how much I suck at games in general, and how cheap it sometimes feels, I'm loving every moment of Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins. No matter how many times I die or have to restart the level, I can't stop going back for more!"And then there's the less optimistic, from 1UP:"It is a terrible, terrible game, and the fact that some people have convinced themselves it is a work of art speaks volumes about how powerful the forces of nostalgia and franchising can be. It is not the game everyone was hoping for, except that small demographic that savors physical and psychological trauma. In fact, it is the worst thing to be inflicted upon the Ghosts 'N' Goblins legend since the atrocious Game Boy Color port of the NES port of the original arcade game. It is not good in every sense of the phrase."So, who's right? Those of you out there that have the import, please inform us! The rest of us will have to wait until the US version hits September 5th. Until then, download the latest video of the game in motion for your PSP here:[Download MP4 for PSP]
More Mizuguchi previews on Gamespot & IGN
Q? Entertainment is just everywhere these days, huh? As if the astonoshing 1UP coverage wasn't enough, Gamespot and IGN both have extensive hands-on and new videos with both Every Extend Extra and Lumines II.Every Extend ExtraGamespot: Preview | VideoIGN: Preview | Video"From what we've played, Every Extend Extra has all the makings of another Lumines-style piece of gaming crack. The gameplay is accessible, with just the right hooks to be addictive, and the visuals are clever and interesting."Lumines IIGamespot: Preview | VideoIGN: Preview | Video"Given how well the original Lumines came together and how promising Lumines II already looks, we're confident that Q's follow-up will stand as one of the better PSP games this year. The gameplay is as addictive as ever, and the presentation has benefited from the new multimedia approach."Also check out:Q&A with Q? Entertainment
Hard, harder and hardest: Ghosts 'n Goblins
Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins for the PSP is ridiculously hard! Gamespot recently went hands-on with the upcoming PSP exclusive, and it seems like all they can talk about is the game's harrowing difficulty. (But haven't they done that before?) "There are three difficulty settings in the game--novice, standard, and ultimate--but you might as well call them hard, harder, and hardest, since none of them are anything approaching easy."The stakes are even higher in this chapter of the series, as not only have the monsters kidnapped the princess, but they want to make babies with her. Things are going to get messy. Thankfully, Arthur will have a huge stockpile of weapons to choose from: javelins, knives, scythes, crossbows, and whips. But, you'll have to choose your weapons wisely: some are better suited for particular situations. The battles you'll face will be tough, especially looking at how not only do the monsters want to kill you, the environments do as well. Check out the plethora of videos on Gamespot and get ready to feel Arthur's pain on September 5th.
Madden 07 hands-on impressions
The folks over at Gamespot were witness to a recent EA event showing off an early build of Madden 07 for the Wii. With the unique control style of the Wii, it looks like essential functions, as well as some cosmetic ones, of the game will be handled fairly well. During the demo, the exhibitors showed how the ball could be snapped, thrown to a selected receiver, and even how the crowd's intensity could be manipulated. In the case of hushing the crowd on offense, all the player need do pre-snap is place the Wiimote and nunchuk above their head and the QB will shush the crowd. On the other side of the ball, the setup is presented in much the same way. When playing as a defensive back, you could raise the Wiimote and nunchuk to jump for an interception or just wave the Wiimote to swat the ball down. Basically, the nunchuk is to represent your player's body and legs while the Wiimote represents the player's arms and hands. Considering last year's edition of the popular football franchise failed to improve on anything from the 2005 edition (see: QB = mobile lighthouse), we're hoping these changes bring back some life to the game. It's not like we have another football game to fall back on anymore!
LocoRoco review on Gamespot [Update 1]
It's pretty obvious that we at the Fanboy really want Loco Roco. When Gamespot wrote one of their first previews of the game, we knew that Loco Roco and our PSPs might become more than just friends. I mean, who would be able to turn down its good looks, originality, and smooth controls? Well, the game's available in Europe and Japan, leaving us American gamers starved for more info. Thankfully, Gamespot has just posted their review of the UK version of Loco Roco.Jeff Gertsmann tells us what we already know: it looks really good, and it has great art direction. However, according to Mr. Gertsmann, it is "singularly focused." Meaning: it doesn't offer much variety. He goes on to give the game a 7.7, which isn't a bad score at all. In fact, it still falls within the high end of the "Good" scale. But for gamers that need higher scores to justify purchases, don't forget to look at the game's other reviews. Apparently, Gamespot is out of line with the other (European) critics: the game currently has an 83 average score from critics, and a whopping 9.7 from users. In the end, regardless of all this number crunching, it seems like Loco Roco is a winner.[Update 1: According to Joystiq, it appears that the Gamespot review has disappeared. However, you can check out their Metareview feature to look at some more reviews.]
Elebits Q&A
Gamespot has recently posted an interesting Q&A session with Elebits producer Shingo Mukaitouge. Though the game suffered a rather iffy showing at E3 this year, Mukaitouge states that it was an extremely basic build of the game. He plans for over one hundred of the power-bestowing creatures to inhabit the game, each with unique properties that will eventually allow the player to perform such daunting tasks as levitating automobiles and houses.Elebits will be released either at launch or very soon thereafter. Claiming a wide appeal, this game might be the sleeper hit of the initial Wii lineup.
Another Dead Man's Chest trailer and new screens
For those of you who love the antics of one Captain Jack Sparrow (and if you don't, why?), the 2nd official trailer for the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest game has been posted at Gamespot. Head on over and check it out as it has lots of action, showing Jack take down some natives, navigating environmental puzzles, and battling a gigantic squid. Along with the new trailer, there are also a plethora of new screens available centering around the naval combat that will be in the game.
An in-depth review of E3 media booths
Kyle over at Video Game Media Watch turns the spotlight back on the media's presence at E3 with an in-depth review of the big media booths that were dotted around the show floor. Here's the quick and dirty from Kyle's write-up: 1UP/Ziff Davis' booth wasn't very crowded, although the free copies of EGM were popular. BradyGames, the strategy guide publisher, stuck a couple of Guitar Hero 2 booths in their stall and let the crowds grow exponentially. GameSpot's booth was very inaccessible. So either they were working hard, or they were playing a massive LAN game. UGO couldn't hide their Geometry Wars addiction. Oh, and they stole chairs from neighboring booths. G4 let people browse the web for free: free internet FTW! Kyle goes into a lot more detail, so make sure to check out his full article.
Gamespot gets gut-punched for PS3 price promise
"... Pricing for consoles has steadily climbed over the years, and it will certainly climb higher for this generation as well. I will say that I think selling any game console for $450 to $500 is downright suicidal, so it probably won't happen. And when I turn out to be wrong and you're dropping five Ben Franklins on a PS3, feel free to punch me in the stomach. Please. I'll welcome it." -Gamespot's Alex NavarroWhile we're normally not ones to revel in the misfortune of others (well, sometimes), we feel compelled to share this video of Gamespot staffer Alex Navarro eating crow. One caveat: there is a serious conflict of interest here. You see, Navarro was punched by Gamespot's own Brian Eckberg (a fact made more clear by his Gamespot emblazoned hoodie). While we'll reserve judgment regarding the veracity of the gut-punch, we'd urge them to enlist a willing third-party (Joystiq staffers?) to deliver the punch, if only to ensure fairness. Another suggestion: trust Uncle Ken next time.[Thanks, Fuzz]
Alone in the Dark first look
Eden Studios' Nour Polloni recently sat down with Gamespot to give them a first glimpse at where Alone in the Dark stands and to reveal some information on the sequel to the game that invented Survival Horror. The game's protagonist, Edward Carnby, returns from the original game, which took place during the 1920's, to present-time New York. How he remains the same age is one of the game's many secrets. The piece also goes on to state that the development team is taking heavy inspiration from the successful shift that Resident Evil 4 made from a methodic, slow-paced survival title to a more tense, white-knuckle action game. The team says that they plan on making the same switch with Alone in the Dark and plan on the game featuring segments of stealth gameplay, melee action, and puzzle-solving.
Kojima's offering shown at E3
Gamespot recently received a postcard from Kojima productions inviting them to a E3 press conference. The team over there suspects that this invitation, which is located directly above this chunk of text should you have missed it, is directly tied to an interview Kojima had with Japanese gaming mag Famitsu where the man himself revealed he was working on a Revolution Wii title that would be a brand new IP and geared towards girls. Thankfully, there isn't much time left to speculate and come close to this time next week, we'll all know for sure just what this perplexing invitation is all about.
DS Lite engineers comment on their design
Gamespot condenses an interview run in the April edition of Nintendo's Japanese online magazine in which Kazuo Yoneyama and Tomoyuki Sakiyama comment on their choices that came to be the DS Lite we know today. Kazuo, a seasoned vet with the company, got his beginnings designing Donkey Kong arcade machines with Shigeru Miyamoto. Tomoyuki, who hasn't been with the company long, has contributions in the GBA Micro and original DS.The interview sheds some light on the design decisions that combined to create the DS Lite, with each explaining the reasoning behind weight and the new screens. The two speak of how the DS Lite's top screen needed to be sturdier, yet fit in the overal smaller package the team was aiming for and when no pre-existing piece of hardware met their criteria, they partnered with a LCD manufacturer and went into test mode, putting several variations of the top screen through a rigorous testing regimen. The final outcome, which some of you already know, is one brilliant piece of technology.[Thanks Retro_X!][Update: Fixed a spelling error. Thanks greatslack!]
More info about GameSpot and Gameplay HD
Voom recently launched their newest HD station, Gameplay HD, and it was aimed at gamers. The inital announcement indicated that CNet and Gamespot will be providing content for the channel but the dets' we sketchy at best. More info has surfaced and we thought you would like to know.Gamespot will be producing two shows for the gaming stations. One is called GameSpotting that will cover gaming news, previews and reviews. The second will tell the story of games through the cut-scenes and selected game play will be called CinemAddicts. They both sound cool and Gamespotting seems like something we would like to watch. As for CinemAddicts, it really does not interest me personally but I am sure some of you will love it.
VOOM HD creates new channel exclusively for gamers
The reborn Voom HD has launched a channel specifically for gamers, "GamePlay HD". The channel actually started broadcasting on February 1st, with some content from their new partner CNET (& GameSpot). They also plan to provide coverage of tournaments like the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational Tournament in Seoul and the Guild Wars Championship, both in April. Two GameSpot produced news segments, GameSpotting and The Art of Play, are also part of the scheduled programming.GamePlay HD can be found on DISH channel 9485, any HD Beat readers check it out yet?
12-hour Oblivion marathon starts on Monday
It looks like GameSpot's taking a page from Joystiq's gaming book by trying a 12-hour marathon with a retail copy of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the 360 this Monday.There will even be a live video feed of executive editor Greg Kasavin "driving" the game, but that will only be available to GameSpot subscribers. (Booo!) The event's currently scheduled for Monday, March 20, 6:00 PM-Tuesday, March 21, 6:00 AM PT.Greg'll be "offering commentary about the experience as it transpires" via the picture-in-picture feed, but he won't be taking part in the concurrent subscriber chat room planned so as "to avoid any outside influences on his time spent evaluating the game." Well, good luck, Greg, and make sure to stay hydrated... 'cuz it's gonna be a long night.See also: Oblivion release imminent -- March 20 (it's official) 48-hour Xbox 360 marathon begins… now! Super-frustrating boss fight in Kameo Joystiq's massive Xbox 360 launch weekend blowout: the aftermath
Indie games finalists playable now
The Independent Games Festival finalists encompass a wide range of genres, ranging from MMO Dofus to simulation Wildlife Tycoon and perennial favourite Darwinia. Their fate is now in your hands--demos of all the finalists are available for download, and you can vote in the Audience's Award for your chosen game.According to Gamasutra, this is the first time many of these games have been available for download. These demo offerings provide a good way to experience the range of creativity on offer, and at a killer price.
