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Night Trap creator planning re-release for current platforms
Full-motion video game pioneer James Riley is seeking a re-release of the infamous Sega CD launch title Night Trap for modern platforms, CVG reports. "I do plan to re-release Night Trap and have been talking with a number of interested parties to do so," Riley revealed in a comment at the game's closed-access Facebook fan page. "However, the specific platform(s) have not been confirmed (including online) and I will let you know once we have a definite plan and release schedule." Riley continued: "Night Trap will come back, in better resolution and game play than before, we just want to be sure it's the best strategy for all involved." Released alongside the 16-bit Sega CD add-on in 1992, Night Trap is an interactive B-movie that challenges players to switch between multiple security camera feeds to capture vampiric creatures stalking a slumber party. Despite featuring little in the way of objectionable content, Night Trap caused a stir in the U.S. Senate soon after its release, resulting in the game's temporary removal from store shelves and the introduction of a content ratings system for video games. [Video: Digital Pictures / hassel2000]
Joystiq Streams: Play like it's '93 with Ecco the Dolphin on Sega CD [UPDATE: Relive the stream!]
Let it not be said that Joystiq Streams doesn't know how to get crazy. Underground indie games? ROM hacks? Pfft. Joystiq Streams knows that if you really want to get nuts, the only way to do it is on archaic consoles that were janky to begin with. That's why today's stream will be devoted to Ecco the Dolphin. We're not just playing Ed Annunziata's original story about a perky dolphin messing up sinister alien plots. We're playing the Sega CD version. Richard Mitchell will be picking up the old Sega controller and swimming through the oceans blue while Anthony John Agnello will be hanging out in the chat relaying your questions to him on the fly. Join us at 4p.m. EST on the Joystiq Twitch channel for sea-based mammal entertainment of the highest order.
Sonic CD coming to XBLA, playable at PAX [update]
Major Nelson, majordomo of all things Xbox, took to his blog this afternoon and posted a detailed list of all the games and events that will be spread out across Microsoft's five booths at this week's Penny Arcade Expo. It's about what you'd expect; Gears of War 3 Horde mode, Forza 4, Mass Effect 3, etc, until you get to the list of Booth 432's XBLA titles. Right near the end, snuggled squarely between Retro City Rampage and War of the Worlds, is an unannounced XBLA port of Sonic CD. We've reached out to Major Nelson and Sega for comment, but as of yet no additional confirmation has been provided by either party. We suspect they're too enthralled by Sonic CD's masterful theme song to even move, let alone respond to our e mails. Update: A communique has hit our inbox from Sega PR: "We don't have any details at this time, but we'll be sharing some more information soon."
Kojima on Snatcher: 'If anyone else would like to develop it, I would love it.'
During an interview with PlayStation Blog, Metal Gear mogul and transfarring technorati Hideo Kojima dropped a crucial truth-bomb about the future of Snatcher, his cyberpunk cult-classic. With L.A. Noire's brain-bustingly successful existence as an adventure game, and with Deus Ex: Human Revolution bringing cyberpunk back into the limelight, Kojima was asked whether or not he thinks the world is ready for another Snatcher. "I would love to do something like Snatcher," he said, "but I do not have the time or the means to do so. But if anyone else would like to develop it, I would love it." It's sad to hear that the series' progenitor won't be returning to Neo Kobe City anytime soon, but at least die-hard Snatcher fans (Snatchies, we call ourselves) can look forward to a radio drama based on the game. What do you think? Should Snatcher be handed off to another developer, or left as-is?%Poll-66471%
Ben Heck builds a portable Sega CDX
Remember how when you were a kid, your parents would see you playing video games for hours and force you to go outside and "get some fresh air," whatever that meant? Remember how you would then sneak down into the sewers and pretend you were playing Sewer Shark? Remember that? Uh, you have no idea what we're talking about, do you? Great, now we look like a bunch of weirdos. Now that our whole intro is shot, we'll get right to the point: Ben Heckendorn has used his Frankenstein-like ability to create new life from old, defunct consoles to make handheld console out of the Sega CDX, making the dream of subterranean Sewer Shark possible. As you can see in the image above, it's quite small -- the portable taps an old camcorder battery for power, a gutted Genesis pad for the controls and a four-inch LCD screen for the display. It's an impressive mod (as the majority of Ben Heck's work is), whose creation is documented in the video just past the break.
Night Trap's original cover art for sale on eBay
Have you ever dreamed of having the original cover art from a video game hanging on your wall? How about the original cover art from Digital Pictures' Sega CD vampire-hunting game, Night Trap? If so, passion burns and danger calls you to eBay where, for around $250 (the current bid), you can own the 15" by 25" painting used for the Sega CD box, retrieved from Sega of America's art department. If you're not sure whether you want this real gaming history for yourself, mull it over while you watch Night Trap's party scene, after the break.
Goozex now accepts SNES, Genesis and other retro game trades
The increasingly popular game-trading service Goozex is expanding its capabilities to encompass the game platforms of yesteryear. New to the site is an option to trade NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Genesis, Sega CD, and Atari 2600 amongst the site's growing user base. Sadly, there's still no support for our precious Virtual Boy. Now we'll never be able to get our hands on that copy of Teleroboxer we've always dreamed of owning. There's already a ton of games from each platform up for trading on Goozex right now. Like, good games. Not the nine pathetic copies of WCW Mayhem which comprise your local used games store's N64 selection.
Lunar: Silver Star Story Harmony trailer turns back the clock
The game once called "not just the best Sega CD RPG ever, but one of the best on any Sega system" has eventually moved to almost all of the systems, as Lunar: The Silver Star has been remade and re-released on the Sega Saturn, the PlayStation, the PC, and even the GBA. And now here it comes again on the PSP as Lunar: Silver Star Harmony. This time around, the graphics have been given a complete makeover, and cutscenes have been added in, along with new voicework and music as well. Although going by the video above, XSEED might not have even bothered -- the new anime style turns a console RPG relic into something that looks like Ranma ½. But the gameplay is still there, and the story is a good one. Lunar: Silver Star Harmony should be out in stores on March 2nd, available both for $29.99 and as a limited edition for $39.99. %Gallery-80575%
Desert Bus for Hope raises more than $132,000 for Child's Play
After five days and 16 hours of playing the world's most boring game, the Desert Bus for Hope crew has reached its final stop for the year, bringing in a staggering $132,392.94 to benefit the Child's Play charity. With the third iteration of its annual marathon play session of "Desert Bus" -- a mini-game from the unreleased Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors -- comedy troupe LoadingReadyRun raised nearly $110,000 more than its first year. If you want to see just how brutal the experience was, you can try the game for yourself right here. It's just the latest piece in a long line of evidence proving that a bunch of good-hearted gamers and Canadians with a brutal, masochistic streak can accomplish just about anything. Congrats, everybody.
PSP Go turned into a homebrewed Sega CD emulator (video)
At this point, there have been so many Sonic games on so many different platforms, that you don't really need to run an old school Sega Genesis or Sega CD to play with the blue hedgehog. Need, however, is not what this is about. A fellow calling himself Neon (whose real name is presumably Thomas Andersonn) has put together a proof of concept video to show off a custom PSP Go firmware capable of running Sega CD images. Alas, he's only keen to prove said concept for bragging rights alone, and there are no plans to unleash this unto the retro-loving world, but isn't it enough to know that you can bring back all those memories of an insecure youth whiled away in a poorly lit room with a 12MHz console pushing about 200 pixels in total? Of course it is, check the video after the break.
PSP Go hacked and homebrew-enabled, becomes Sega CD Go
Some folks measure the length of time it takes for a new console to be hacked wide open by how long it takes to display a "Hello, World!" message. For us, that metric is determined by how long it takes to get a Sega CD emulator running on the system. For the PSP Go, that period of time has been finalized: 43 long, lonely, Night Trap-less days. A YouTube video by "Neon" from "Team Typhoon" (is that some sort of gang?) appears to prove that on some PSP Go, somewhere in the world, one can play Sonic CD. Don't get your hopes up -- the video's annotations repeatedly promise that the hack will not be released to the general public, so for the time being, you're going to have to keep playing that old copy of Wirehead on your clunky, Voltron-esque home console. Still, our heart swells knowing that our wildest dreams are possible -- if not slightly out of reach. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
WoW Insider Show Episode 72: Expletive included
Our podcast returned once again last Saturday, and this time we had Turpster, Adam Holisky, BigRedKitty, and myself all on and talking about the most popular posts of the past week. We covered the updated patch 3.0.8 notes and a few of the new (and old) changes therein,WoW being listed as one of the most offensive videogames, and we touched on the 45 minute time limit being placed on Arena matches, and whether it matters at all. Additionally, we answered some listener email, which includes some good hints about expertise for melee-ers and, errr, Turpster singing. Yeah.But other than that it was a great show -- you can listen in right now by following the link of your choice below, and if you're subscribed in iTunes it should be out on the feeds now. As always, if you've got questions or comments (or you'd like to record an intro of your own in mp3 and send it to us), the email address is theshow AT wow.com.Enjoy the show, and we'll be back live as always on Ustream next Saturday at 3:30pm Eastern.Get the podcast:[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.[Ustream] Listen to the unedited recording in Ustream.[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.Listen here on the page:
Amazing array of homebrew emulators released
Yesterday was a banner day for Wii homebrew. In addition to WiiPaint, a load of console emulators designed for Twilight Hacked Wiis were also unveiled, and DCEmu has rounded them up. They're all based on existing Gamecube-based emulators, but have been extended for the Wii to take advantage of features like the Classic Controller and the Wii's 480p output. Lopst's and RobertFC's ports of SNES9x even allow you to use the Wiimote! In case you always wondered what it would be like to have a really hard time playing an SNES game.In addition to an SNES emulator, new PC Engine/Turbografx-16, Genesis (with Sega CD!), and Game Boy (which installs into a channel) emulators are now available.
Snatcher Pilot Disk ported, fantastic
Fresh off its abridged port of visual novel Fate/Stay Night: Trial Edition, Multiple: Option has posted another homebrew adaptation of a text-heavy game, Snatcher Pilot Disk.This release is based on the PC-Engine demo of Hideo Kojima and Konami's acclaimed adventure title, but uses still images from the Sega CD version. Though there isn't much players can do to deviate from the game's very linear progression, the cyberpunk plot and voice acting keep Snatcher Pilot DS interesting. For those of you who demand interactivity beyond selecting text options, there's also a fun bug-blasting segment towards the end.Unfortunately, this "pilot" comprises only the first act of the full Snatcher game, taking players through the J.U.N.K.E.R. headquarters and factory scene (Multiple: Option does not plan to port the complete game). Still, it's an entertaining, 10-minute experience worth playing through. [Via PAlib]
Selfless crazies play Desert Bus for charity
The guys behind LoadingReadyRun have a very unique way of contributing to this year's Child's Play charity: they're playing one of the worst games of all time.Desert Bus is one of several mini-games included in the never-officially-released Sega CD game Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors. The Desert Bus mini-game challenges players to drive Penn and Teller's tour bus from Tuscon, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada... in real time... and at a maximum speed of 45 mph.It's a task that takes 8 hours to complete, and earns players one point in the game. The task can be completed back and forth as many times as the players can stomach, each time earning one point. The LoadingReadyRun team has pledged that the more money they receive, the longer they will sit and endure this painful, painful game. Over $1,000 USD have already been donated, which guarantees the masochists at least 64 hours of play-time. To see just how crazy they are, check out the gameplay footage after the break.[Thanks, Graham]
Friday Video: Passion burns and danger calls
We'll admit it: the video in this week's spotlight is a bit of a stretch, but bear with us and we think you'll agree that it's simply perfect. With this week's controversy over Manhunt 2, our colleagues over at GayGamer decided to delve into the history of controversial games, and they've dubbed this Night Trap week. Night Trap was an FMV-based game starring Dana Plato that is infamous for its overacting and horrible scenes. No, wait ... that's just our opinion now. At the time, Night Trap was considered sexist, ultra-violent, and downright shameful. My, how far we've come. Night Trap seems far less horrific than the slasher films we grew up watching, and these days, this sort of "violence" would be considered laughable in games. Check out this little slice of history after the jump.
Today's most failure-prone video: Console duds
In today's video pick, GameTrailers counts down its list of the top ten console failures, including the Jaguar, Virtual Boy, and 3DO. We were tortured by watching footage of these console failures, yet we couldn't turn away, wishing that the hardware had succeeded while laughing about all the obvious reasons the systems bombed. The list covers the systems we expected; would you have added others?See the video after the break.
Virtually Overlooked: Snatcher [update 1]
Update: screens!Welcome to our new weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative.This week, we'd like to talk about Snatcher, a Sega CD game from Konami released in the US in 1994. The game was also released in Japan for the MSX2, PC8801, PC Engine CD-Rom, Playstation, and Saturn.Why the game hasn't been announced for Virtual Console yet: Not too long ago, the obvious answer to this question would have been "because it is a graphical text adventure." Luckily, however, the DS has changed that, bringing an era where graphical text adventures are the subjects of rabid fandom. What hasn't changed is that Snatcher is a Sega CD game, and Nintendo has made no announcements regarding support for CD systems. The size of the files may be prohibitive, although it would be possible to save space by compressing the sound and music.
The leaning tower of Sega
Thanks to Joystiq reader CrankSling for sending in this bit of retro goodness -- a Sega Genesis converted into a precarious teetering tower of plastic and silicon by a series of ill-advised add-ons. We can't imagine what would possess someone to actually construct this mostrosity except a deep desire to make a Genesis look like a vacuum cleaner. Anyone out there have a more ridiculously decked out system? Send in a picture and achieve internet immortality (for, like, 15 seconds).
