Mark down March 17th because that’s when one of the best first-person shooters of-all-time is making a return. Microsoft has announced that Perfect Dark, the classic title for the Nintendo 64, is getting its re-released on that day for 800 Microsoft Points. Microsoft has also revealed that from March 3-30 is when Xbox Live House Party will take place.
According to them, House Party is playing host to some of the most anticipated titles for Xbox Live, which obviously includes the spiritual successor to Goldeneye. Including Perfect Dark — three games will be part of the ‘House Party’ and if gamers buy all, they be refunded 400 Microsoft Points. If they are already a Gold subscriber, they’ll get one month free to Xbox Live.
The two other games are Toy Soldiers; which comes out on March 3rd and Scrap Metal; which has a release date March 10th. While I’m sure the other games will be fun, I’m craploads more excited for Perfect Dark. During the PSX and N64 generation, Perfect Dark was, and in many ways still is \, one of the best games to play with friends. But thanks to Xbox Live, I’ll be able to play with the same people as I did almost ten years ago, over the online service. I get the feeling Rare is about to take a lot of my time once again…
After the jump, check out a description for each game. (more…)
If you haven’t heard yet, Microsoft plans on shutting off the servers for all the original Xbox Live games. This means iconic games like Halo 2 will no longer be playable over the online service, which will officially end the era of an important idea introduced to the console industry.
In response, Bungie has left a note on their website which told their fans to mark down April 14th because they plan on sending Halo 2 off in style.
“That said, mark your calendars now – on April 14th let’s all rally to go online for one last hoorah. One final farewell and one final opportunity for all of you to kick our asses at Halo 2.”
They promised full details of what to expect besides just playing with some of the developers and that information will be forthcoming in the upcoming weeks, so will be checking back for you. Although, I have the feeling the company has something up their sleeve, which should be worth booting up the 5-year-old game. Halo 2 and Xbox Live both played a part in helping the studio grow into one of the biggest in the world.
Just a side note, April 14th falls on a Wednesday, in case any of you were wondering.
Gregor Collienne is a photographer from Germany. However, he doesn’t take pictures that catches his eye, or tries to capture the perfect setting to inspire people. Instead, for the most part, he takes humorous snap shots of people doing an everyday activity and pairs them up with another group, who are doing something completely different. When you check out his work, you not only chuckle, but they make you think — it almost feels like an optical illusion.
Up top is one picture of his work. While it’s unlike a lot of his photos — it made me laugh nonetheless. I’m assuming the picture is asking all of us, what if we could control our girlfriends or all women for that matter, with a single PlayStation controller? Like, how awesome would that be? No more would we hear the excuse: “I have a headache.” Can some smart scientist make this happen? Please!
If you want to check out Collienne’s work, click here.
Last night during CES, Microsoft announced a new feature which lets your Avatar from Xbox Live walk around a virtual arcade filled with retro classic games. If it sounds a little bit like PlayStation’s Home, than you are not alone. The news came from the company’s convention keynote and they revealed a trailer for this new way to play some old favorites, which we embedded up top.
Starting next spring, members of Xbox Live will be asked to download the new feature. Once they do, their Avatar will be inside the ‘Game Room,’ where they can walk around and check out videogames where most of us grew up with. It was confirmed that each arcade machine will display its original cabinet artwork that should give the feeling of authenticity to anyone that was around when these games were released.
So far, Microsoft announced classic games from Atari, Activision, Intellivision and Konami will be available right away and every week a new game will be released inside the ‘Game Room.” If you’re worried that the resolution of these original games would look awful, don’t worry, Microsoft promised each title will be re-mastered in 1080p. Each game will have more updates including two-player over Xbox Live, Achievements and cross-platform leaderboards with PC users.
Now here is the bad part, the pricing. If you want to purchase just one game, it will set you back 500 Microsoft Points ($5); however if you plan on playing just on the Xbox 360 or PC, and not on both, it will be 240 MSP ($3). The company is also allowing the gamer to play a single game, just like what we used to do back in the 80s, and will cost 40 MSP ($.50).
While I like the idea, I think the prices are way to high. Honestly, these games are so simple they can be played on pretty much anything and charging a gamer $5 so he/she can play on Xbox and PC, is rather high. And don’t get me started on the $.50 single play. If Microsoft wanted this feature to sell more systems, they honestly should release free games for everyone and when a ultra-popular game like Space Invaders is released — then maybe a price could be set for it.
According to ESPN, EA Sports is set to announce a classic game from the 16-bit era is returning. The sports website is reporting that the giant publisher has bought the rights to the 1990’s popular sports title NBA Jam and they plan on updating it exclusively for the Wii.
The rumor isn’t that far fetched, considering it was (is?) owned by the struggling Midway Games, but whom have recently started to sell off its assets. Although when those reports came out, I don’t remember NBA Jam being one of games mentioned. Obviously if this true, the game should have a major overhaul and I’m not just talking about the graphics.
NBA Jam was a pop-culture icon. Not only was it an over-the-top arcade basketball game, when the sport was at its peak, it had crazy characters and themes. From the famous phrase like “Boomshackalacka,” to playing as Bill Clinton; it was a game that many talked about during my childhood. While the gameplay was fun, it wasn’t perfect. What made it survive for so many years were the secretes. Unlike today when a game comes out, you can pretty much find whatever hidden easter-eggs it has on day one, thanks to the Internet — NBA Jam fans didn’t have that luxury back then. Back then, we found some secrets every month through gaming magazines or word of mouth and when you saw it for yourself — it was something special.
So while I look forward to what EA will do with the NBA Jam reboot, if it is true — I’m not sold on the idea just yet. To me, it will be nothing more than the newer arcade sport games they have developed recently like, Madden Arcade or NHL Arcade.
It should be noted that Midway at one point tried to bring back NBA Jam in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox. Sadly, the game didn’t live up to the hype and ultimately received not-so-great reviews by critics.
If you love Mario like the other millions of people roaming this planet, try not to weep while you watch this “uplifting” fan-made Mario tribute. It’s not that I’ll think any less of you as a person if water starts to leak out of your eyes — I for one had a hard enough time holding back the tears — but the problem is you’ll realize that you’re crying for a pixelated plumper. Stuff like that can only be unsafe psychologically because you start to question your own self worth. So I urge you, please watch to be entertained and don’t do anything stupid…
In 1989, Steve Harris founded a videogame magazine called Electronic Gaming Monthly, or EGM for short. It would eventually become one of the longest running print magazines to solely focus on the gaming industry, but in January of 2009, it was announced that Ziff Davis, who earlier purchased the rights to the mag — would sell their assets to the online company UGO Entertainment. UGO, who mostly wanted EGM’s online network, would announce the cost of running a magazine was too much, and decided to end the publication.
The original founder Harris revealed back in August, that he had once again purchased the rights to publish EGM and said we should have seen the magazine on newsstands on December 1st. Obviously, the date has come and gone and EGM has yet to be spotted in stores. So, if you were worried that EGM’s return was never going to see the light of day — don’t fret — it’s coming in due time.
Steve Harris told game GamesIndustry.biz that Electronic Gaming Monthly is still on track to return, but now will happen in March 2010. “With our new weekly digital format, and the premium enhancement that newsstand purchasers will receive, we’re changing the value proposition in a new and meaningful way,” said Harris. “Not only does the digital companion allow us to offer additional content that is complementary to the print magazine, but it also gives us a way to communicate with our readers and update the print product in an ongoing manner.”
I don’t know about you, but for many years I thought EGM was by far the best magazine in gaming — up until its unexpected end earlier this year. It’s great to see we are only months away until we get to open the pages of EGM once again. I just hope the quality of its knowledge is as good, as it was before.
Russian animation studio tvigle, came up with a concept of having two famous videogame stars, Pac-Man & Mario, pitted against each other in an epic battle to the death. But I think it was more about Mario going through his ordinary routine, but suddenly Pac-Man has to be a dick once again, and ruin somebody’s fun.
The direction of the action was crafted beautifully, while the animation was drawn to perfection, and the sound is guaranteed to make you at least chuckle. It’s definitely worth a few minutes of your time.
Video of the Day is a feature of /gamer showcasing geekarific video creations. Have a video we should feature on VOTD? E-Mail us at slashgamer@gmail.com
People seem to forget when Mario isn’t saving Princess Peach inside the strange world of the Mushroom Kingdom, from the clutches of Lord Bowser, he is a plumber on the side. Everyone wants a little extra cash and in this economy, being a hero just doesn’t pay all the bills.
Up top is picture drawn by Pat Kinell, which he entitled “Super Plumber.” It shows Mario what he does best, and that is fix the pipes of an old-broken-down sink, while having a few ‘friends’ on the side.
Obviously right away you can spot some of his enemies on the floor, but there are a few other Super Mario Bros. references. For one, if you look on the floor to the right of Mario, you’ll see a raccoon tail, which would have been from the third installment of the famed series. On the top of the toilet, you should notice a tissue-box with it baring a mushroom logo. Above that, on the windowsill, you’ll see a miniature Piranha Plant getting some rays. And to the right of that, check out the picture that resembles one of the many infamous castles.
If you want to own a 11X 14″ print, click here — it will only set you back $50.
Cool Stuff is a feature of /gamer. Know of any geekarific creations or cool products which should be featured on Cool Stuff? E-Mail us at slashgamer@gmail.com
I love videogame fashion that doesn’t overdo the geekeyness, while I sport it. Not that I have anything wrong with geek-wear, in fact I have quite a few gaming shirts and other attire that I dress up in. But sometimes I don’t want to blind people with my dorkyness and I find as I get older — I want things a little more subtle.
This watch is a perfect example. As you can tell, this limited edition ticker has a class look to it, but if one were to inspect closer, they would know it was from the great retro classic, Pac-Man. Not only is the yellow looking pizza guy on the watch, but displays his arch-nemesis the ghosts, Inky, Pinky and Clyde — trapped inside the ‘nest.’
What is really cool is as every second goes by, so does Pac-Man around the watch — eating pellets, a ghosts and whatever is in his way of destruction.
Although, Looking like a classy videogamer doesn’t come cheap. You can order one for $130 on clubnamco, but if you really want one, you should hurry. According to the site, it should be a collector’s item because only 500 of these beauties were made.
Up top is an image of what Link from the Legend of Zelda would look like if he were on The Simpsons. Odd? Sure, but definitely cool. Although, it obviously wasn’t created by any of the artists from the show, but a fan who apparently has his own site and showcases his work. And yes, it always revolves around the famous cartoon.
This past episode of Bones on Fox, revolved around a competitive gamer who was found dead in a bin behind a restaurant. Now, I was going to write just that the show was going to be about around gaming, but I was watching this week’ s episode, I noticed quite a bit of similarities between the feud of Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe, from the documentary “King of Kong.” After the break you can watch the show and read about the ‘coincidences’ between this week’s show and the great film. (more…)
A lot of information has been coming out since the death of Michael Jackson. Over the years, rumors suggested that the “King of Pop” worked on various scores for videogames, and one of these titles was Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for the Sega Genesis. The publication Black & White asked the composer of the retro classic, Brad Buxer, if the rumors were true about Jackson’s involvement. Oddly enough, they were.
“I’ve never played the game so I do not know what tracks on which Michael and I have worked the developers have kept, but we did compose music for the game. Michael called me at the time for help on this project, and that’s what I did. And if he is not credited for composing the music, it’s because he was not happy with the result sound coming out of the console. At the time, game consoles did not allow an optimal sound reproduction, and Michael found it frustrating. He did not want to be associated with a product that devalued his music…”
B&W later asked the musician if some of the soundtrack was used in Jackson’s “Stranger in Moscow,” he confirmed that it indeed was.
“Yes, Michael and I had composed those chords for the game, and it has been used as base for Stranger in Moscow.”
It has been known that Jackson was an avid gamer, especially in the early 90s during the 16-bit generation. But it’s really cool to know he was influential in the industry beyond having the terrible Moonwalker videogame.
This sweet hoodie, which was designed by Derek on enclothe, reminds me of a time when we had to blow into an NES cartridge because when we turned on the game — this is what it looked like on the TV.
Besides the color scheme and how the pattern begins to break up as it nears the top of the hoodie, I love how the zipper has a “1UP” mushroom for a zipper, which gives it an authentic feel. If you want one, hurry up because there is only a limited quantity and each sells for $65.
