The old classic shooter has been given an HD face lift and will be available on XBox Live Arcade by late Summer.

From the release:

Legions of long-time fans and a whole new generation of gamers around the world can now experience serious shooting mayhem as Majesco Europe, an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, today announced that Serious Sam: The First Encounter HD is coming to Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Developed by Croteam, the creators of the Serious Sam franchise, and produced in partnership with Devolver Digital, Serious Sam: The First Encounter is re-tooled and re-vamped in glorious High Definition with an all-new version of the CroTech engine.

8 pretty pictures with one of them being a shot from the original game:

Images|Majesco

Post from: EveryJoe

Serious Sam Gets a Makeover

So, it warms my zombie loving heart to see that Konami is releasing Zombie Apocalypse for download on Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network this summer.

Zombie Apocalypse tasks up to four players with killing [re-killing?] as many zombies as they can so that the world is saved from the brain-eating bad guys.

If you fail at your task, you become one of the undead so make sure that you kick some zombie ass or you’ll end up having brains for dinner.

Post from: EveryJoe

Save the World One Zombie Death at a Time

The hoax that birthed “the first Mega Man 9 screenshot” went over with the fandom like a poop sandwich, but it looks like the August issue of Nintendo Power has the first real screenshots. Kombo has the story and The Mega Man Network has the pretty pictures, though the latter’s slow because of a traffic kablooey.

Word already has it that this will be a PSN and Xbox Live Arcade download, though what’s definitely confirmed is Mega Man 9’s status as a WiiWare download. Zounds!

If you do get to view the scanned article, you might say to yourself, “Enough of this retrospective bullshit. Where are the Mega Man 9 screenshots?”

Then suddenly you’ll realise…

…You’re looking at them.

And then your stomach will go cold with fear or warm with excitement.

The reaction to Capcom’s decision to return Mega Man to his 8-bit roots—like, really his 8-bit roots—is mostly positive. I’d say it’s surprisingly positive. I thought for sure the fandom would take a hyper spaz over Capcom’s audacity to use “recycled” sprites.

Granted, some fans are disappointed. I guess we were all expecting the scarce, lush pixel art that so rarely appears in games today. At the same time, I have to admit that this is exciting.

I’m definitely pleased to see that Capcom is fully reverting to an 8-bit style versus some old sprite work that’s been souped-up with that damnable pulsating neon bullshit every “retro” developer has copied since Pac-Man Championship Edition. You want old skool? Capcom’s bloody well giving you old skool. Swallow that jagged little pixel pill.

Oh, and what’s a Mega Man game without Robot Masters? A Mega Man game that lacks a humour outlet. This time Mega Man is up against Magma Man, Galaxy Man, Jewel Man, Concrete Man, Hornet Man, Plug Man, Tornado Man, and …

and…

Splash Woman?

Thanks for a female Robot Master, Capcom. Even though you read HR’s guidelines for gender equality in video games something like eleven years late.

(Image copyright Capcom and Nintendo Power. Scanned by Erico and used with permission.)

Post from: EveryJoe

Mega Man 9 Screenshots! Serious This Time!

Everyone was tres excited when they first heard about downloadable games for the Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network. Now that the idea’s in full swing, the roar of approval has turned into more of a purr of half-contentment. We like the idea behind downloadable games and there are indeed some good ones to be had, but overall the pickings haven’t been all the awesome they can be.

The good news is, downloadable content will be receiving a vitamin shot thanks to Square-Enix’s contribution of PSOne classics to the Playstation Network. The bad news is, it’s only happening in Japan.

As for the chosen games, well, you might have a lot of adjectives for Xenogears, but chances are good that “classic” is not one of them.

Square-Enix’s reluctance to participate in the online love-in has been cited by bloggers and game sites as the main reason for the slow start and recent stagnation of Arcade Live, Virtual Console and Playstation Network. The Twin-Headed King of the RPG genre is very fond of remakes and has populated the Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS with remakes of classic titles like Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV and a lot of DragonQuest.

And lo, Square-Enix told the groveling peasants, “Yon Virtual Console may haveth the shit we care not for. Behold, Actraiser!”

I can understand why Square-Enix might want to hold onto Final Fantasy and DragonQuest remakes for the DS, but I’m also of the opinion that DragonQuest is a license to print money anytime, anywhere. Being the one remaining franchise that Japan is still crazy over, I don’t think releasing a Famicom-era DragonQuest on the Virtual Console is going to hurt the prospects of the upcoming DS remakes.

Even so, what about SoulBlazer? Illusion of Gaia? Terranigma? What about the original Secret of Mana? How about…dast I say it (oh, she dast) Chrono Trigger? Going back to Final Fantasy, give us a downloadable copy of Final Fantasy VII for Christ’s sweet sake. Like the fangirls aren’t going to trample each other in a mad rush to see Sephi-poo once more in his native habitat.

Rant, rant, snort, seethe, stamp. Here’s what’s being made available today on PSN, courtesy of Silicon Era:

-Xenogears (Square)
-Einhander (Square)
-Astronoka (Enix)
-Rakugaki Showtime (Enix)
-Raystorm (Taito)
-Fighters Impact (Taito)

You know, I’ve never played Xenogears?

I’ve just…never played Xenogears.

Post from: EveryJoe

Squeenix To Stop Being A Douche About Downloadable Games?