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1TB Xbox One bundle includes 'Gears of War' and two more games for $399
Do you have a special someone on your Christmas list who deserves a shiny new console this holiday season? Even if you're just shopping for yourself, there's a new Xbox One bundle that might catch your eye. Microsoft is offering the 1TB version with three games for the cost of the console alone. The trio of titles includes Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, Rare Replay and Ori and the Blind Forest. All of that will set you back $399 when this so-called Holiday Bundle goes on sale in October.
'Rare Replay': gaming classics at their best-worst
It wasn't until after I'd repeatedly pummeled an oversized rat's testicles that I realized why preserving video game history is so important. Were it not for Rare Replay, an anthology of 30 games spanning 32 years, I'd never have played Battletoads Arcade and would've missed one of the finest moments from one of gaming's most storied developers. Replay is an invaluable record of developer Rare's legacy, but it's neither complete nor perfect. Before Microsoft purchased the studio for $375 million in 2002, Rare made games almost exclusively for Nintendo. GoldenEye and the Donkey Kong Country series (arguably its biggest hits) are absent here thanks to publishing and licensing deals, while other games have been scrubbed free of Nintendo references entirely. While Replay's remastered contents are the best they'll likely ever look, games aren't movies, and visuals are only one part of the equation here. So can a slick, modern package make up for any shortcomings that result from playing decades-old games? The answer isn't so simple and it fluctuates wildly from one classic Rare title to the next.
JXE Streams: digging through the 'Rare Replay' vault
More than any other artistic medium, video games have a dire need to preserve their history. Unlike movies, books or music, it's incredibly hard to enjoy a classic game years or even decades after its release because of how quickly the technology powering gaming advances. Lately though, the influx of HD remasters and digital distribution have made it really easy to enjoy works from years gone by. So when Microsoft announced Rare Replay at this year's E3, the idea of 30 (!!!) games from developer Rare's past being playable on a modern console struck a chord with many people. But how do games from the UK studio's storied history hold up to? Join us at 3PM PT / 6PM ET on Twitch.tv/Joystiq, right in this post or on the Engadget Gaming homepage to find out as we broadcast two solid hours of classic Rare weirdness.
'Battletoads' is getting a Comic-Con exclusive vinyl soundtrack
The rumors circling a Battletoads return came to a head at E3 this year with the announcement of the Rare Replay collection, and Microsoft didn't waste its next tradeshow appearance for a chance to capitalize on the hype. Folks roaming San Diego Comic Con can pick up a limited edition soundtrack for the amphibious beat 'em up on a very fitting yellow and green 180 gram LP. If the cover art up above looks a little familiar, that's because it was done by the same artist responsible for Run the Jewels' records, Nick Gazin. The SDCC run is $25, limited to 300 copies and features different art than what'll be sold outside of the show later this year, according to Entertainment Weekly.
N64 controller modded to (sort of) work with the Xbox One
Microsoft has an exorbitant $150 controller coming this year that it hopes will make up for the Xbox One's middling gamepad, but that won't make the upcoming Rare Replay feel any more authentic when you play. The folks at Hyperkin -- makers of the Retron 5 console -- know this and set forth a challenge: mod a Nintendo 64 controller to work with Microsoft's latest game console. And they succeeded. Mostly. As you'll see in the video below, the three-pronged paddle can navigate the console's dashboard and select apps, but, since there's only one analog stick, that rules out it playing nicely with a vast majority of modern games. The wiring is a bit wonky and certain inputs trigger at random, but, from the sounds of it, the project is far from over.
'Rare Replay' puts 30 classic games on your Xbox One this August
It's Rare's 30th anniversary, and the game studio is marking the occasion in style: It's releasing Rare Replay, a 30-title compilation for the Xbox One. The pack includes everything from the mind-numbingly difficult Battletoads through to Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark. There isn't mention of whether or not the games are getting visual upgrades or new modes, but there are 10,000 Gamerscore points up for grabs if you're playing for bragging rights. Replay arrives August 4th, so you won't have to wait long to relive the Rare games of your childhood. Check here for everything happening at E3 2015!
