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Star Fox 64After last week’s weak release on the Virtual Console, Nintendo has followed up with three new titles, each with at least some good points. First, Star Fox 64, is a classic game in the Star Fox franchise, and the last of the series to be fully developed in-house by Nintendo; there aren’t a ton of items to collect, the game isn’t co-developed by Namco, and the title doesn’t mix in some turn-based strategy segments. For 1,000 Wii points, gamers get classic Star Fox style gameplay. Other releases are platform-based games, including the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the NES, which was a decent game for a licensed title, and Dragon’s Curse for the Turbografx-16. Dragon’s Curse, a conversion of a previous Sega Master System game also offers some unique gameplay for a platformer of that era.

The full press release continues below.

Click to continue reading Star Fox Launches On Virtual Console


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PSP Price Drop SignStop the presses! It seems that Sony has finally taken notice that their latest console iterations aren’t selling all that well. While rumors of an impending PS3 price drop are just that, rumors, Joystiq.com has recently uncovered evidence that Sony’s PSP Core Pack will be discounted at Gamestop by $$30 to $169.99, in an effort to boost sales.

Will this price drop be the lift that the ailing handheld needs? Or is this too little too late for Sony’s feature-rich, games-poor handheld? We’ll have to wait to find out, but $169.99 is already sounding to us like a much better impulse-buy price point.

Read More | Joystiq.com

Xbox 360 Elite PicWell THAT didn’t take long. Just days ago , we reported on M$‘s new SKU, the Xbox 360, which will feature a slick black exterior, 120GB HDD, and HDMI ports. And now, 6 days later, Circuit City is ready to take your money. We won’t be seeing the 360 elite in consumers’ hands for at least the next 4 weeks, but already you can head over to Circuit City’s store and hand over $479.99 to guarantee yourself one of the updated boxes.

So what do you say, gamers? For the 360 owners out there, is it worth the upgrade? Or will you just be picking up a 120 GB drive seperately? And for all of you out there that haven’t already decided to get a 360, does this change your mind at all? Personally, I’m not looking forward to this bundle so much as I am the emminent price drop that we’ll probably see in the “Premium” bundle.

Read More | CircuitCity.com

Guitar Hero Kid As we had guessed a few times before, MTV, Harmonix and EA are working together to suck the Guitar Hero well dry. The news today is that these three companies will be working together to produce Rock Band, a GH-like game that will include new peripherals that will let you drum, sing, and of course strum your way to rockstar fame. Looks like it’s time to make some more room in your home for gaming peripherals - given that the Guitar Hero guitar is nearly real-guitar sized, we can only imagine how big the Rock Band drum set is going to be… or perhaps they’ll build some nifty motion-sensing drumsticks?

With online play, killer peripherals, and a pretty hot looking list of record labels signing on, this game could be huge… both in the metaphorical AND physical sense. Hopefully the controller(s) won’t make the game as expensive as a new console, though. Rock Band is currently announced for the PS3 and Xbox 360 although developers have hinted that a Wii version is also in the works.

Click the jump for the full press release…

Click to continue reading Rock Band - Make Room for the Peripherals

Read More | USA Today

NiGHTS Wii

Game magazine Maxi Consolas has preview screens and an interview with designer Takeshi Iizuka about the upcoming sequel to the original NiGHTS Into Dreams on the Sega Saturn. The original game was a psychelic, “dream-like” game world that was introduced on the Saturn with the 3-D controller; it has been over ten years since the game’s original release, and NiGHTS fans still haven’t stopped clamoring for a sequel. NintendoGal has scans of the magazine, and a loose translation of the interview with Iizuka. From the interview, it sounds like NiGHTS and the Wii controller will be a good match, and hopefully Sonic Team can get back on track with this release.

Read More | Nintendo Gal

Halo 2 Map

Bungie today announced that coming in April, two “new” multiplayer maps will be available for download in Halo 2. The maps, new to Halo 2 are recreations of original maps found in the original Halo: Combat Evolved. The two maps, “Hang ‘Em High” and “Desolation,” will be downloadable on both the original Xbox and Xbox 360 for $4 on April 17th; luckily, original Xbox hold-outs won’t be left in the cold for this content update.

The full press release continues after the jump.

 

Click to continue reading Bungie Dropping “New” Maps For Halo 2


Take2 LogoInvestors expected that Take Two’s shareholder meeting today would result in the ouster of most of the board and CEO of Take Two Interactive. An Associated Press report indicates that investor groups representing the majority shareholders in the corporation would seek to replace five of the board members up for re-election including the CEO. Nearly half of Take Two’s shares are controlled by two investment funds, so this large block would seem to have no problems getting what they want. What impact this will have on any possible acquisition offers to Take Two is unknown at this time, but one would expect that there would be a period of adjustment as the new board members and CEO take stock of the company and determine a course of action. This wouldn’t seem to impact high profile titles from the publishing group, like Grand Theft Auto, but titles from smaller subsidiaries may be impacted by the change in leadership.

Read More | Associated Press Via Businessweek

GTA IV

Rockstar Games officially released the first teaser trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV. Scheduled to ship on October 16th, the game will be the first entry in the series for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. The trailer gives a brief, but detailed look at the updated look for Liberty City, and the focus this time appears to be on a Russian immigrant character. Beyond that, it is hard to get a feel for where Rockstar is taking the sandbox game series, particularly story and gameplay-wise. One can get glimpses of the product parodies that gamers have gotten used to for the game, but beyond that, the trailer does it’s job – whet gamer’s appetites for more to come.

Read More | Rockstar Games

HotspotSony Computer Entertainment America today announced a partnership with T-Mobile to allow PSP users six months free access to T-Mobile’s network of hotspots. Gamers with a PSP can get access to the hotspots by upgrading their PSP firmware to version 3.30 and signing on before March 28, 2008. Given the number of freely accessible hotspots that seem to be cropping up around urban areas, T-Mobile’s pay options often seem a bit steep, but with locations in Starbucks coffee shops all over the nation, PSP owners will definitely have more options when gaming on the go. Specific terms of the access were not announced, but after the six-month trial period expires, T-Mobile is promising a reduced rate for PSP owners.

Sony’s full press release continues below.

Click to continue reading PSP Owners Get Six Months Free Wi-Fi From T-Mobile


Mario & Sonic

Nintendo and Sega today announced that two icons of past console wars, Mario and Sonic, will be teaming up for a licensed game set at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Titled Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, the new title will be available exclusively on the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS. No official pricing or launch date was set for the titles, but additional details have been revealed in an interview held between Sega and Nintendo representatives and N’Gai Croal at the Level Up blog. While the interview tends to focus a little more on the rivalry between the two companies, a few nuggets of development information can be found. First, while Sega will apparently be handling the development of the game, Shigeru Miyamoto will be overseeing the development process to some degree. Also, Sega’s Sonic Team apparently will not be involved, which may be a good thing given the spectacularly bad reviews that Sonic on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 received. This mascot match-up has been a long time coming; here’s hoping it lives up to the hype.

Nintendo and Sega’s press release continues after the jump.

 

Click to continue reading Mario And Sonic Finally Meet

Read More | Level Up

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