Hello folks. It’s been many months since I’ve updated the site. The reason is simple…I moved to Japan. That’s right, Japan. The road has been hard up until this point, but I’m glad I made the trip as I’ve learned many new things and seemed to have finally gotten myself settled. Everything seems to be back in order, but there is a lot of site maintenance to be done. The new forums will go up in the next week or so and I need to sort through a bunch of mail. The process will be slow starting out, but will become more regular as time goes on. If anyone finds anything interesting, please feel free to send it.

I look forward to getting back to work.

It took Nintendo a while to get the information up and since many of us are Virtual Console junkies, we’ve already looked up what games were released. Doesn’t matter since we got a good crop of games for the second week in a row. A shame that there’s no way Nintendo, Sega, Hudson, etc. can keep up the pace. Best to enjoy these moments while we can. So even though it’s late, here’s what’s on the VC today. Enjoy!

From the Nintendo press release:

Super C™ (NES®, 1-2 players, rated E for Everyone – Fantasy Violence, 500 Wii Points): In this action-packed sequel to the popular Contra, players have little time to think. Experience run-and-gun game play at its best as you take control of Mad Dog or Scorpion and once again battle the forces of Red Falcon. Stages feature a combination of perspectives (side scrolling, top down, etc.) and intense battles against huge bosses. Use a variety of powerful weapons and tap into your killer instinct to survive the deadly waves of enemies. And if you’re scared, recruit a friend to help you. Because if your trigger finger lacks stamina, then Earth will lack a future!

BREATH OF FIRE™ II (Super NES®, 1 player, rated E for Everyone – Mild Violence, 800 Wii Points): Featuring a wide range of characters and personalities and a vast, endless world to explore, Breath of Fire II is the sequel to the original smash-hit role-playing game. In a world set 500 years after the previous installment, in a frontier village known as Gate, the father and sister of a young boy known as Ryu are suddenly abducted. Strangely, all the villagers appear to have completely forgotten everything about the incident, and Ryu has instantly become an orphan. At a church, Ryu meets Bow, another orphan in a similar predicament, and they slip away from town together to begin their adventure. Take advantage of the multiple game-play viewpoints found in the game (such as the quarter-view perspective during battles that made the original game so popular) to use exciting abilities like shaman fusing and dragon transformations and help these two heroes complete their mission.

Ghouls’n Ghosts (Sega Genesis, 1 player, rated E for Everyone –Fantasy Violence, 800 Wii Points): Ghouls’n Ghosts is the sequel to the popular action game Ghosts’n Goblins, originally released in the arcades and later ported to the Genesis. One full-moon night, three years after the battle with Astaroth, a ray of light shoots through Princess Prin Prin, and her soul is stolen right in front of Arthur’s eyes. To save his bride’s soul, Arthur the knight must battle all manner of evil undead creatures with a variety of weapons, powerful magic and new actions.

From the press release:

Today, 2K Games released the original score to BioShock as a free download on The Cult of Rapture website. The score was created by film, television and video game composer Garry Schyman and features a combination of early twentieth century writing, aleatoric elements, musique concrete, traditional tonal and late romantic styles that capture the distinct retro-futuristic aesthetic of the game. To download the score for free, please visit The Cult of Rapture at: http://www.2kgames.com/cultofrapture.

From the press release:

LYON, FRANCE – Atari today announced the forthcoming release of Lucky Luke: Go West! for PC, Wii and Nintendo DS, an action packed platform game based on the adventures of legendary animated cowboy Lucky Luke in the forthcoming full-length animated feature film ‘Go West!’. The film is slated for December 2007 release in France and other European territories, following the video game launch in the autumn.

“Following the great success Infogrames has enjoyed with the Lucky Luke license in the past, we are extremely pleased to be working with licensor Lucky Comics and film producer Xilam on a brand new Lucky Luke product,” said Mathias Hautefort, Executive Vice President of publishing and production, Atari. “We are already working closely with them to ensure that this title delivers everything consumers expect from the license, and a high quality game.”

“We are very excited to have Atari bring our film to so many great game platforms,” said Marc du Pontavice, founder and President of Xilam. “We are very happy to be working closely with them to turn this story into such compelling gameplay.”

Inspired by the cucumber-cool cowboy’s adventures in the comic book ‘The Caravan’, Lucky Luke: Go West! lets players jump into his spurred boots for a thrill-a-minute journey escorting the notorious Dalton brothers to New York to stand trial. Of course, the Daltons do what they do best – they escape, rob banks, wreak havoc and blow stuff up. Throw in the tenacious Lucky Luke, his faithful steed Jolly Jumper, tribes of deadly Indians, cops by the cart-load, and a vast wagon train where the Daltons mislay their ill-gotten gains and the result is a wild world of hilarious new western adventures.

Play as a selection of different characters from the famous stories, including the Daltons and of course Luke himself, through the fun and colourful environments from the parched western desert to the mean streets of the Big Apple. A host of frenetic mini-games will test much more than the speed of the player’s draw with chaotic shooting, drawing, steering, dancing and music games. Take on the story mode solo or invite up to 3 friends to join in for party mode mayhem and see who really does have the fastest draw in the west.

Shooting faster than his shadow, Lucky Luke fights crime and injustice across the wild plains of the old west. Lucky Luke is one of the most popular and best-selling comic-book series in Europe with more than 250 million comic books sold in 20 countries. A total of 80 comic books, four feature length animated cartoons, two live action films, three cartoon series and five video games have been released to date, and the award-winning ‘The New Adventures of Lucky Luke’ animated TV series is currently broadcast in more than 20 countries worldwide from France to Indonesia.

Developed by Tate Interactive (Wii, PC) and Neko (DS), Lucky Luke: Go West! is scheduled for release across Europe this autumn, followed by the feature film ‘Go West!’.

Hello folks. Just wanted to take a moment to let you guys know that there will be a lack of updates for the next couple of weeks because I’m moving to Japan. That’s right…Japan. For this reason, lots of time is spent getting ready for the move and working at my current job when I’m not doing that. Things should settle back to normal in the next couple of weeks, and at that time I’ll revamp a couple of things including the message board. I apologize for the lack of screenshots posted in previous updates and will try to have this corrected in the future. The reason for this is I haven’t found a good (quick) screen editing tool for the Mac. Since I don’t use my PC for updates anymore, I don’t really have a means for adjusting and resizing pics when I get them from publishers or from other sources. I’ll be looking into correcting this issue with more vigor in the next couple of weeks as well.

Anyway, if you have any question, please feel free to let me know. If all goes well, I will be at Tokyo Game Show next month and should have quite a bit of coverage. Best of luck to everyone out there who reads this site and here’s hoping for an awesome rest of the year.

From the press release:

New York, NY – 2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today that it will publish Borderlands™, the latest release from acclaimed developer Gearbox Software, for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Games for Windows®. As the first title in an all-new sci-fi action franchise, Borderlands combines the best elements of Gearbox Software’s famed first-person action titles with player customization and vehicular combat to create an unprecedented gaming experience.

Gearbox Software has developed revolutionary new technology to create Borderlands’ incredible layers of gameplay depth. Borderlands features a groundbreaking content generation system allowing for near-endless variety in missions, environments, enemies, weapons, item drops and character customization.

“Borderlands represents an important evolutionary leap in game design and technology,” said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. “By utilizing revolutionary new technology to create thousands of unique, randomly generated missions, weapons and situations, Borderlands will raise the bar for next gen action games.”

Borderlands is an extraordinary cooperative experience, allowing for multiple players to share the same game experience simultaneously online. Players can freely join or leave each other’s games at anytime, or choose to play in the full single-player mode. Borderlands features life-like character animations, impressive real-time physics, and customizable vehicles.

“Borderlands creates a universe of gameplay that goes far beyond anything anyone would expect. We’re tapping into every bit of Gearbox Software’s experience with the biggest science fiction video game franchises, then taking everything way past the next level,” said Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox Software. “The team at 2K Games shares our passion for pushing boundaries in gameplay and storytelling and are absolutely perfect partners for Borderlands.”

Borderlands will be available holiday 2008 for PLAYSTATION 3 system, Xbox 360 and Games for Windows®.

Hey, folks. We’re a little behind this week and will be for the next couple of weeks. I figured I’d go ahead and throw up the information about the Virtual Console games that were released on Monday. I personally had to pick up Shining in the Darkness since that was the game I’ve been waiting for since Sega announced it over a month ago. Now is the long wait for Landstalker!! At any rate, Nintendo is prepping for Metroid Prime 3: Corruption by releasing a new Metroid game each week. This week we got the original Metroid and next week we’ll see the much anticipated Super Metroid. Everyone have fun and we’ll be back next week!

From Nintendo’s press release:

Metroid® (NES®, 1 player, rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, 500 Wii Points): The first installment of the immensely successful Metroid series introduces us to the hideous title creatures and the slick, cybernetic bounty hunter Samus Aran. As Samus, your mission is to penetrate the space pirates’ home planet, Zebes, and keep them from destroying the galaxy with the dangerous life forms known as Metroids. Metroid has all the high-tech weaponry, creepy tunnels and crawly alien creatures that anyone could ask for. With its deep and complex game play, excellent music and a rare sense of setting, it establishes a frightening ambience that will haunt and entertain you for a very long time.

Shining in the Darkness™ (Sega Genesis, 1 player, rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, 800 Wii Points): Dark Sol has vowed to reign over the enchanted Kingdom of Thornwood, and only you can stop him. Find the powerful Arms of Light and battle the deadly beasts that keep your people desperate and starving in this epic journey for peace. Roaming the dark Labyrinth, you’ll seek out enemies and collect weapons, all of which will help you pass the test of the Ancients and become a shining knight. Get into the adventure with a stunning 3-D perspective, amazing cinematic views and fast-paced scrolling. You’ll move from battle to battle, solving puzzles and discovering secret items in this engrossing struggle between good and evil.

Cratermaze™ (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, rated E for Everyone – Comic Mischief, 600 Wii Points): Cratermaze is a comical action game set in a parallel world. While on a trip through time, you and your friends are confronted by Kublai, henchman to the evil Zenzombie. He traps your friends at separate points in the space-time continuum. Now you must fight your way through 60 rounds of mazes to save your friends. Dinosaurs, ninjas, robots and other enemies lurk within the mazes, spanning from primitive times to the future. Escape the enemies by digging holes to trap them in and then filling the holes to finish them off. Collect all the chests within the time limit to get the key and exit to the next round. With special items such as shovels and spring platforms, Cratermaze takes its game play to new heights, making for an unforgettable gaming experience.

From the press release:

Durham, USA – Funcom is proud to reveal the world’s first MMO concert delivered via in-game video feed delivery. The popular US band “All American Rejects” will have a unique virtual concert for the many citizens of Rubi-Ka this Sunday, perfectly merging technology and music from the 21 st century with a game set 25,000 years into the future.

While some games have had virtual avatars of bands performing in their virtual worlds, this will be the first known concert via dynamic mega size screens, delivered through technology developed by Microsoft Corp.’s Massive. Gamers will see the band’s performance, hear them and be able to mingle in the giant concert arena specifically designed for this historical event.

The concert is available free of charge to all players of Anarchy Online, and all they need to do to see it is to opt to toggle on viewing of the commercial advertising billboards in the game during the event. New players to the game can simply go to www.anarchy-online.com to download the free client, but since the event is secured via a sponsorship deal with a major U.S Telecom provider it can only be seen by North American gamers. With time Funcom hope that it is possible to expand the offering to global users, as well as providing other encore events.

Craig Morrison, the Producer / Director on Anarchy Online stated, “Virtual world entertainment is definitively expanding, and this historical opportunity to bring a concert to our players is something we have wanted to do for years. We know how much our players love music, whether it’s the award winning soundtracks from the game, listening to the in-game radio station GridStream or bringing their own, and now they will get to experience yet another level of interaction thanks to Microsoft Corp.’s Missive’s unique technology.”

Anarchy Online is well known for innovations in the gaming industry, and Funcom has been a pioneer on everything from instancing in MMOs to digital download and the introduction of dynamic in-game advertising billboards. The world’s first sci-fi MMO keeps on attracting scores of gamers, and with this move Funcom is once again stating its commitment to the continued development of the game.

Funcom hopes that this historical concert is but a first stepping stone for a technology with staggering potential. As the opportunities in virtual worlds expand, the company will continue to explore new venues with world-class partners, both in Anarchy Online and in future Funcom games. Check out www.anarchy-online.com for detailed event information, and come join Rubi-Ka this weekend!

From the press release:

LOS ANGELES – The Mercury is rising and headed to Wii™ this fall! Ignition Entertainment Ltd., a worldwide publisher and developer of video games, today announced that Mercury Meltdown Revolution for the Wii home video game system will be arriving on store shelves September 25th at an amazing value of only $19.99. Mercury Meltdown Revolution is the fourth edition to the Mercury series, offering new capabilities via the Wii Remote’s tilt sensing controller to achieve a high degree of blob agility.

“With over 2 years of franchise development, we’ve really taken the time and perfected the blob physics, enhanced the graphics and created an extremely compelling experience that’s a perfect fit on the Wii,” said Ken Gratz, Director of Product Development. “We’ve finally found a video game system that would allow us to fully realize our vision and passion for the Mercury games.”

“The Wii Remote is a perfect complement to Mercury’s gameplay. Tilting the Wii Remote to guide your mercury blob through the challenging mazes is extremely satisfying,” continues Vicki White, Sales Director. “On top of the 150-plus levels, we’ve added loads of mini-games that create a great deal of fun for the whole family! Mercury Meltdown Revolution is an essential title for gamers to have in their library at an outstanding value.”

Mercury Meltdown Revolution is an action packed game that immerses players in a colorful world of imaginative machines, kooky characters and bubbling test tubes. Tilt and flow the mercury blob around a tremendous amount of treacherous obstacles while avoiding some pesky adversaries that live within this puzzling adventure.

From the press release:

Nintendo has found a way for people to exercise both their fashion sense and their minds at the same time. The first new color scheme to hit the hot-selling Nintendo DS™ system in the United States in nearly a year will come bundled with Brain Age™ 2: More Training in Minutes a Day, all at an MSRP of $149.99. The bundle hits stores Aug. 21.

The top half of the new Nintendo DS sports a smooth, glossy Crimson, reminiscent of a dangerous shade of lipstick or a cherry-red sports car. The bottom is a matte black – an Onyx yin that complements the Crimson yang.

Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day is the sequel to the smash-hit original that got baby boomers and seniors playing and redefined the concept of what video games could be. This new title includes 15 fun new activities designed to help users exercise their brains. It challenges players in areas like math, memorization and even music.

The original Brain Age: Train Your Brain In Minutes A Day has sold 8.61 million worldwide, including more than 1.4 million in the United States alone, while its sequel has already posted sales of 5.33 million in Japan.

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