Sonic & Knuckles comes to XBLA on September 9th
Removing the greatest and most essential part of any gamer’s childhood, Sonic & Knuckles will see virtual release onto XBLA on September 9th. You’re probably wondering what it’s removing, right?
Well, how about the ability to make a tower of video games starting with your Genesis as the base, Sonic & Knuckles in the middle and then Sonic 2 on top? We all know your friends tried to convince you that Knuckles would play in other games if you jammed them in the top. Well, it’s true. Try it with Vectorman… MINDBLOWING!
Sonic 2 dropped on XBLA in September of 2007, and if you’ve got it and you download Sonic & Knuckles you will be able to play through Sonic 2 as Knuckles himself. Total hacks.
No word yet on a release for the Wii or pricing. More as it comes.
Japanese hardware sales, Aug. 17 - Aug. 23: Bottom drops out edition
The entire Japanese gaming hardware market was visited by the ghost of plummeting sales this week — a natural side-effect from the waning of interest in the highly anticipated RPGs which hit the nation throughout the past month. However, no console took the brunt of the depreciation quite as hard as the PS3, which took an unfamiliar last place finish in this week’s charts. You’ll find it just below its last-gen brother, the PS2 — which would likely be maniacally cackling right now, if it was equipped with the vocal chords required to do so.
Don’t go hocking your Sony stock just yet — the sizable drop can be attributed to the nation’s anticipation for the PS3 Slim, which is set to rise like a phoenix on September 1. To continue our cryptozoological metaphors, the other consoles should level out like a winged chimera by that point — except for the PSP, which may be strengthened like a minotaur with the Japanese release of Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny. Also, the Xbox 360 will inexplicably be like a chupacabra. There’s no reason for this observation. You’re just going to have to trust us.
- DSi: 59,578 
28,358 (32.25%)
- PSP: 27,187 12,695 (31.83%)
- Wii: 26,972 20,760 (43.49%)
- Xbox 360: 8,979 183 (2.00%)
- DS Lite: 5,735 2,186 (27.60%)
- PS2: 3,295 1,612 (32.85%)
- PS3: 2,052 3,892 (65.48%)
[Source: Media Create]
See: The cryptozoological archives
Japanese hardware sales, Aug. 17 - Aug. 23: Bottom drops out edition originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Sonic & Knuckles speeding into XBLA September 9
Once again, Xbox Live Arcade will be visited by a ghostly vision of Sonic the Hedgehog’s good (see: not terrible) old days — Shacknews is reporting that the Sega Vintage Collection 2 series will draw to a close on September 9 with the release of Sonic & Kunckles. As hinted at when this Sega collection was first announced, owners of the previous Sonic XBLA titles will have access to bonuses in the latest installment — including the “Blue Sphere” mode (Sonic 1), as well as the ability to play as Knuckles in Sonic 2 and 3.
We’ve contacted Sega to confirm the release date and get pricing details — and also to discover whether the Wii version of the game (revealed by an ESRB listing) will be made available simultaneously.
Sonic & Knuckles speeding into XBLA September 9 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
GameGun going to be ready for retail by Christmas, will be console compatible
Remember that RedneckTechie and his insanely great GameGun idea? Well, he’s back with another “slick” demo video, along with some news for us: he’s putting together a retail version that will be ready by Christmas. The gun will also be compatible with Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and Windows and a plug-and-play device. We’re incredibly short on details, and the pre-order page isn’t live just yet, but if Mr. Redneck can pull this off, we’re gonna fall all over ourselves to nab one no matter what the price is. New vid is after the break.
Continue reading GameGun going to be ready for retail by Christmas, will be console compatible
Filed under: Displays, Gaming, Peripherals
GameGun going to be ready for retail by Christmas, will be console compatible originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Edge reveals LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias
WiIWare aficionados, brace your hind quarters. UK gaming mag Edge has revealed (via N-Europe) that a sequel to Frontier’s LostWinds is in the works, titled LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias. While most of the core gameplay elements in the sequel remain unchanged, Toku returns with one new ability: he can now change the seasons, turning Summer to Winter and vice versa.
There’s no word on when the game will hit WiiWare right now, but if you live in the UK, you may want to check out the latest issue of Edge. The preview on LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias is apparently pretty extensive and, if you’re wondering what all of the fuss is about, you still have time to check out the first game (which some of us think is quite excellent).
[Via Go Nintendo; thanks, Fernando!]
Edge reveals LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Week-Ending Game Endings - 08.28.09 - TMNT: Tournament Fighters
As we march on to the release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up, we now take a look back at the Turtles’ first time breaking into the fighting game business. Sure, they’ve starred in beat-em-ups aplenty, but Tournament Fighters was the first time they ever took to the one-on-one scene revolutionized by Street Fighter II (barring a one-on-one mode in TMNT IV for the Super NES, at any rate).
Tournament Fighters brought something interesting that you really don’t see much any more, except where the Wii is sometimes concerned: the game was available across the NES, the Super NES, and the SEGA Genesis, and each platform had its own distinct game. Whereas TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist reused many assets from TMNT IV: Turtles in Time, the two versions of Tournament Fighters had no such similarities.
In addition, our first ending gives us a glimpse at a true rarity: a SF-like fighting game on the NES.
More after the cut.
PDP Unveils New Super Mario Bros. Wii Remote Controller Shells
It appears that Nintendo isn’t the only one banking on New Super Mario Bros. Wii being a big hit this holiday season.
Sony R&D: Our Motion-Controller “A Complete System”
You may remember Richard Marks from Sony’s press conference at this year’s E3, where he led the motion-controller demonstration. In a new behind-the-scenes video from Sony’s Research & Development department, Marks explained why Sony’s wand is different from its competitors.”…The biggest difference between our device and any other device that I’ve ever seen is we get such accurate position data from the camera. So, especially where in the image it is, we get down to a really sub-pixel level, so we can get very very precise position information, and that’s something that people really haven’t been able to do before. So that new capability, mixed with all the angle capability that other people have also worked on, really gives you a complete system and that’s kind of the first time that we’ve seen a complete description of position and rotation.”The angle capability Marks is referring to is the set of gyros and accelerometers found inside the wand, much like the Wiimote, whose gyros are found in the MotionPlus expansion.
Read on after the jump for more of Sony’s motion-control features, and for the full behind-the-scenes video.
Ign:”Wii runs distant second to 360 in profits”…Oh really?
Ign recently ran an article about how the Wii is winning the core gamer back, but it seemed that the author didn’t have all his facts straight. Although the article was meant to be a hearty portion of Nintendo goodness, the article ran with an overlay of Microsoft bias.
There were many quotes from this article worth mentioning like: “Couldn’t blame him, really. I’m the guy who’s been known to lead off a column by typing “the Wii is a fad” several times in a row. Not because I personally believe it, but because it’s fun to watch Nintendaddicts get Hulk-mad” and “N-fans love to shout Wii sales numbers (52.3 million units at this writing) and its total market domination (almost half of all consoles sold is a Wii) and call it good.”(although he can share his numbers “My personal Xbox/Wii game ratio stands at about 4 to 1.”)
The one we had to scratch our heads at was actually this “You really can’t understate what Nintendo’s accomplished with its hail Mary pass, coming off the GameCube’s distant third showing, but you also can’t ignore that it currently runs a distant second to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 when it comes to annual profits.”
This caught our attention, could Microsoft actually be achieving more profit than Nintendo?
We had to look this up. This is what we found:
The above numbers are from the Big 3’s financial reports, and we have to ask if the author of Ign still believes what he says? As a Neogaf member once said “you can’t spell ignorant without IGN.”
WiiWare Monkey Island Ep. 2 on sail Monday, Aug. 31
WiiWare Monkey Island Ep. 2 on sail Monday, Aug. 31 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments