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Gametap Adds Konami Games
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Internet, PC, Retro,
The Turner Broadcasting game subscription service Gametap today announced a partnership with Konami to bring some of their game properties online. The titles announced today include the arcade game Frogger, Contra Hard Corps and Castlevania: Bloodlines for the Sega Genesis, and the first three Castlevania games for the PC. Most of the games on the Gametap service are either classic games running under emulation, or older Windows PC games, so don’t expect to get Metal Gear: Solid any time soon. The original game was released for the PC and the Commodore 64, so there is hope that some form of the stealth action game will show up.
The announcement further expands the lineup for the $9.99 per month service. Gametap has been aggressive at adding new content with their agreement to publish the new Sam and Max episodes from Telltale Games and their upcoming relaunch of Uru Live. Gametap has also recently added multiplayer gaming support and instant messaging to their service, along with both original and licensed Cartoon Network content. Turner Broadcasting has kept their subscriber numbers secret, so it is hard to gauge the popularity of the service. The only number so far released indicates that 70% of trial subscribers stick with the service. Whether this is due to genuine interest in the games or simple failure to cancel subscriptions is unknown. Also unknown is how much the company is spending to acquire new customers. Overall, though, it can only be a good thing for subscribers of the service that Gametap has been pursuing new content.
Full press release continues below.
Click to continue reading Gametap Adds Konami Games
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“Clubhouse” Parlor Games for DS to Feature WiFi Connectivity
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Retro, Strategy,
Nintendo of Europe has posted some information on the upcoming 42 All-Time Classics (dubbed Clubhouse Games in the US and releasing on October 9th). According to their site, the game will feature access to the Nintendo WiFi Connection in addition to multiplayer single-cart play.
From the site:
You can play solo or challenge up to seven friends by sharing one game card. And if you don’t have anyone to play with, simply log on to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and find opponents across Europe or in the US. You can even chat to each other, PictoChat-style, while you play!
That last bit about PictoChat-style conversations sounds quite exciting. If the title is bargain priced (and I sure hope it is given the graphics and simple gameplay) then this game could give you a great way to chat with your friends across the globe. Currently, PictoChat on the DS only allows you to talk to people through direct DS-to-DS wireless connections.
The site also lists another first for Nintendo - the game will allow you to play with up to seven other players through Nintendo WiFi Connection (most other games max out at four). Given that the parlor games don’t depend on quick reaction time, this makes a lot of sense as lag won’t be an issue. Still, it’s nice to see some games that support larger numbers of players on the DS.
Read More 
| Nintendo of Europe via Nintendojo
Victor Ireland Forms Gaijinworks
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Retro, Role Playing Games,
For many gamers, Working Designs was synonymous with import game localization excellence. The company was responsible for the translation of the fabled Lunar series from Game Arts. Working Designs also brought some key titles to the Sega Saturn, including Shining Wisdom, Dragon Force, and Iron Storm. The company also was known for its extreme attention to detail, in both its localization efforts and the packaging for its games. Unfortunately, this may have also led to long delays for some of the company’s releases; many of the delays may not have been the fault of Working Designs, but they certainly contributed to its demise. The company officially announced its closure on December 12, 2005.
Now, through an entry in the blog of Corbie Dillard, comes news that Victor Ireland may be staging a comeback. The former head of Working Designs apparently has a new company, Gaijinworks. Gaijinworks has only a placeholder website at the moment, but Dillard quotes Ireland, “I’m not done bringing JRPGs to the US yet. Keep an eye on gaijinworks.com and we should have something more interesting than a placeholder there by the Fall.”
Read More | Corbie Dillard via 1up
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New Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins PSP Screens
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, PSP, Retro, Screenshots,
Ultimate Ghosts ‘N Goblins is set to ship on August 3rd in Japan, and GameWatch has some new screen shots showing off the PSP title. The Playstation 2 has seen two unofficial 3D sequels to this series in the Maximo line of games, but this will be the first real update of the 2D side scroller since Super Ghouls ‘N Ghosts. The game still maintains a side perspective, but the backgrounds and characters are all polygon-based models. The new screen shots show off this new perspective, and also show some of the transformations your character will go through in the game. It has been said that the game maintains the legendary difficulty of the original; hopefully the game will see a release in the US shortly after the game goes on sale in Japan.
Read More | GameWatch
New Pac-Man, Frogger and Galaga Screens
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Retro, Screenshots, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade,
The first screenshots of the new Xbox Live Arcade titles are starting to hit the web, and GameWatch in Japan has the goods on the upcoming releases. GameWatch features shots of Pac-Man, Frogger, and Galaga in the classic game modes, and one of Frogger’s side-by-side play. The menu screens indicate that there will be demo versions released of at least Pac-Man and Galaga. Unfortunately, there aren’t any shots of the promised enhanced versions of the games, unless adding a slick background counts. Hopefully gamers will get new versions similar to the updates featured in Namco Museum Battle Collection for the PSP.
Read More | GameWatch Japan
Pricing Announced For Street Fighter II, Pac-Man
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Retro, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
While Microsoft was unable to pull back their early Xbox Live Wednesdays announcement, there was one tidbit of information that was kept secret until the Summer of Xbox Live event in San Francisco. Left for the exclusive party was the pricing for the new games; Gamespot was able to get the details. Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting and Cloning Clyde will debut at 800 points, $10 at current marketplace pricing. Dedicated fans of Capcom’s fighting games will probably find their $10 well invested, assuming that lag is kept to a minimum in online play. Cloning Clyde will probably need a good demo to get sell through at its price point. Pac-Man, Frogger, and Galaga will all come in at 400 points, or around $5. Considering the number of games that usually make up the Namco Museum collections, this pricing seems a little high. Perhaps online play and enhanced graphics will make these worth the money. Microsoft also could not promise that Xbox Live Wednesdays would last beyond August 9. New Xbox Live Arcade releases have been spotty since launch. Having five weeks of uninterrupted new Xbox Live Arcade games is great, but it would be nice to have a more reliable stream of casual gaming experiences.
Read More | Gamespot
Xbox Live Wednesdays Announced, Street FIghter II Dated
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Corporate News, Retro, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Earlier today Microsoft announced “Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays.” Basically, Microsoft is saying that we will be getting one new arcade game per week during the summer, each and every Wednesday. The initial five week run begins tomorrow at GMT 0800 starting with Frogger. That will be followed up by Cloning Clyde, Galaga, Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, and Pac-Man. TThat’s right peeps - Street Fighter II finally has a release date, and it’s scheduled to drop on the Xbox 360 on August 2. Since the original post on Gamasutra, Microsoft has stated that the information will not be released until a later time. Thankfully The information is still available elsewhere on the internet.
Read More | Xboxic
Tech E Blog has put together a fun list of the Top 10 strangest NES mods. If you have any old NES hardware sitting around you can easily come away from this list with a good weekend project. My personal favorite is the NES alarm clock, which won an honorable mention.
Read More | Tech E Blog
Cheap Ass Gamer Yard Sale Guide
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Accessories, Hardware, Hot Deals, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Retro, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Some of the friendly users over at Cheap Ass Gamer have put together a guide for finding great game deals at local garage sales. With recent garage sale finds such as a Zelda 3 prototype, garage sales have become a beacon to bargain hunters and game collectors. The guide is part of the CAGwiki; and includes many common sense tips, bargaining methods, and video game loot cleaning tips.
Read More | Cheap Ass Gamer
New Super Mario Codes for the Masochistic
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Adventure, Mods/Hacks, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Retro,
So you’ve made your way through New Super Mario Bros. for the DS. You’ve defeated Lord Bowser, you’ve gone back and opened all the worlds…you’ve even collected all 120 coins and opened every background. What’s a Mario obsessed gamer to do?
Well, 4ColorRebellion is here to help. Now you can access Challenge Mode, a new mode of the game that incorporates forced scrolling, so you can’t go back to collect anything you miss without re-playing a level. To enter this mode, simply press Start on the map screen, then enter the following button sequence:
L R L R X X Y Y
Now we just have to wait a little for the first hardcore gamer to post the video of beating Challenge Mode on YouTube. At the rate folks are tearing through this game, it shouldn’t be long.
Read More | 4ColorRebellion.com
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