Late last year, the SEGA Ultimate Mega Drive Collection had merely been a rumor. Now, it’s a reality, and it’s coming to video game store shelves this January 26, at least in Australia. Is it also slated for release in North America and Europe? I really have no idea.

All I know is what’s in the SEGA Ultimate Mega Drive Collection. Here’s a partial rundown: Sonic the Hedgehog (1, 2 and 3), Alien Storm, Space Harrier (whoopie!), Streets of Rage (1, 2 and 3), and Columns.

Here’s what, *sigh*, PC World has to say about the upcoming release of SEGA Ultimate Mega Drive Collection followed by a short clip of what you can expect:

SEGA will bring smiles and nostalgic thoughts to many next week with the release of the Ultimate Mega Drive Collection for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Featuring 40 of the most popular games for the SEGA Mega Drive, the collection brings the retro games to the latest generation of consoles with high-definition refinements. Each of the 40 games has been enhanced to 720p, and console-specific unlockable achievements and multiplayer modes have been added. The collection is scheduled for a January 26 local release on both consoles.

Oh, and in case you didn’t like the video, PC World has a slideshow of screenshots from the collection. You might want to check it out.

Post from: EveryJoe

SEGA waxes nostalgic, to release Ultimate Mega Drive Collection for Xbox 360, PS3

How did the current home-console controllers come to be? How have they evolved? You may have noticed some similarities between the current generation controllers, or between them and the previous generations of controllers. So, how do they all tie together?

Let’s try to find out. I’ve put together a chart, or controller family tree, that tries to connect all the current console controllers with their predecessors. Firstly, I don’t think anyone else has tried to do something similar on the Web, and secondly, none of the manufacturers actually come out and tell you who they’re borrowing ideas from. This means that a lot of the information presented here is my opinion. I try to keep things accurate, using facts I know, but also making some of my own conclusions where no hard evidence is available.

Suffice it to say that Sock Master has done a good job at assembling his little project, from the old school Atari 2600 joystick to the sensational Nintendo Wiimote.

Atari 2600 joystick: Grandpa Controller

Nintendo Wiimote: Junior

Here, take a gander at Sock Master’s work.

Post from: EveryJoe

The video game console controller ‘family tree’

Well, here’s my list:

Pong, Space Invaders, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Pac-Man, Frogger, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, Leisure Suite Larry, Afterburner, Double Dragon, Prince of Persia, Tetris, Secret of Monkey Island, Sonic the Hedgehog, Castle Wolfenstein, Super Mario Kart, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Minesweeper, Myst, Rayman, Command & Conquer, Tekken, Tomb Raider, The Sims, Grand Theft Auto, and Total War.

Darn, I think I have to brush up on my video games history and literature again.

Post from: EveryJoe

The History of Video Games in two minutes

Go check it out and judge for yourself:

Kudos to Norman Caruso for the superb voiceover.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Gaming Historian: Now this is edutainment

Sigh. I guess I just have to content myself with watching videos of the fights—at least until I get to the arcades and find a suitable opponent to fight. Haha. Here’s one of the videos I’m currently watching:

Awesome graphics and sounds, as only Capcom can pull off.

Post from: EveryJoe

Ken and Ryu versus Ken and Ryu

The author of this mish-mash, however, missed the entire Apple line of personal computers. I owned an Apple IIc, so I know first-hand that a lot of video games can be played on the machine—that is, if any Apple computer is still intact to this day.

Post from: EveryJoe

Video game consoles, then and now

Well, it’s just how I see them, father and son (or mother and daughter). I remember looking for a PC version of Puzzle Bobble, also known as Bust-A-Move, a few years back but ended up downloading a copy of Dynomite, which is pretty similar.

What the hell was I doing looking for an arcade game when I had dozens of role-playing game titles waiting to be installed? I really don’t know, suffice it to say that I spent a considerable amount of time playing Puzzle Bobble in the arcades with, uhmm, lady friends.

Anyway, for those who have no idea or can’t remember what Puzzle Bobble is, here’s a brief description:

Puzzle Bobble, known in the United States, Canada and some parts of Europe as Bust-A-Move, is an arcade game series developed by Taito.

The main screen of the game contains several elements, including a number of bubbles (hence the title) of different colors arranged in a pattern. At the bottom of the screen is a cannon that fires bubbles in a straight line.

The objective is to fire the bubble loaded in the cannon at similarly colored bubbles at the top of the screen. If the bubble you fired comes into contact with identically colored bubbles to form a group of three or more, the bubbles and any other bubble hanging onto them removed from the screen.

Yes, yes, exactly like Dynomite, only cuter, and more mobile.

You see, Puzzle Bobble has been ported to various platforms, including mobile phones. The game also had an online version called, well, Puzzle Bubble Online, which supported up to six players and several team modes. How’s that for a 1994 classic.

Post from: EveryJoe

Puzzle Bobble: Dynomite’s daddy

Well, my 80s self is starting to rear its ugly head again, which is why I’ve been scouring the web for either an authentic download or a remake of the 1980s arcade hit by Atari Inc.

The game may be simple, but I assure you, especially those who haven’t an inkling what Missile Command is, that it provides loads of fun. Want to find out? There’s an online version here if you want to get down and dirty shooting down intercontinental ballistic missiles.

For the sake of the young hearts out there and the young at heart, here’s a brief backgrounder of this gaming masterpiece:

The game is played by moving a crosshair across the sky background via a trackball (or mouse, as the case may be) and pressing one of three buttons to launch a counter-missile from the appropriate battery. There are three batteries, each with ten missiles; a missile battery becomes useless when all its missiles are fired, or if the battery is destroyed by enemy fire. The missiles of the central battery fly to their targets at much greater speeds; only these missiles can effectively kill a smart bomb at a distance.

The game is staged as a series of levels of increasing difficulty; each level contains a set number of incoming enemy missiles. The weapons attack the six cities, as well as the missile batteries; being struck by an enemy weapon results in destruction of the city or missile battery. Enemy weapons are only able to destroy three cities during one level. A level ends if all the cities are destroyed, or when all enemy weaponry is destroyed or reaches its target. If a player should run out of missiles, he no longer has control over the remainder of the level. At the conclusion of a level, the player receives bonus points for any remaining cities or unused missiles. Between levels, missile batteries are rebuilt and replenished; destroyed cities are not rebuilt, but at set point levels, a bonus city is awarded.

According to wikipedia, there’s an “interesting bug” in the original version of the game. Once a score of 810,000 is reached, a large number of cities are awarded (around 150), making it possible to play the game continuously for hours. It’s not clear whether the bug has been ported along with the game to later versions, including the one playable on the Atari 5200 and the Xbox 360.

Missile Command on the Xbox360: A classic on a lean, green, gaming machine.

Post from: EveryJoe

Wham! Blam! Alakazam! It’s Missile Command!

As with Tekken the retro status of the Tony Hawk’s series seems somewhat sketchy, but it was so long ago that I first played (and sucked at) Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater that I feel like it’s appropriate to mention it here…

I don’t normally do this, but I posted this on my personal blog, and have watched this video so many damn times that I just had to share it here… Check out the video after the blogger’s traffic generating dream, “the jump”…

This is a clip from the forthcoming Tony Hawk’s Project 8… Turn your speakers down or you run the risk listening to Kasabian, and while the track is fitting of the clip (and doesn’t sound that bad against the footage) the fact remains that they’re a terrible band…

Kasabian: Achingly cool (stupid rubbish)…

I don’t know… You’d think everyone would have learnt their lesson with The Music, but noooo, let’s buy Kasabian’s record too…

Really… Don’t encourage them… Watch the video, and enjoy the music if you want to… But don’t really because they’re a very bad band…

Now does that look sweet or what?

I used to be quite a fan of skating (and as a result of this video I’m getting back into it), and I was always a fan of the previous Tony Hawk games, although I gave up after the fourth… It seems hard to believe that this is the eighth… Not only that, but that it looks so damn good…

I remember thinking that the switch to 128bit was a huge leap in terms of the serie’s cosmetics, but I never thought I’d see a Tony Hawk game with that level of detail…

I recommend that you watch the video again and really look at the detail… See the animation of the skaters finding their balance, the chipped wood and scuffed griptape on the boards, and see the way that the boards flex across the trucks realistically; perfectly adjusting to the skater’s weight, their center of gravity and the positioning of their feet…

This level of detail doesn’t find itself into games all that often, it’s nice to pay attention once in a while… It’s clear that a lot of effort has gone into this game, and I can’t wait to get back into the series and play this game until my thumbs are bloody, worn stumps… To quote Slateman of Planet Tony Hawk:

Sporting some incredible animations, realistic visuals, and some utterly sick moves, it’s hard to imagine playing a Hawk game that looks this good. While I doubt things will really look quite so amazing, we know things will be incredible when compared to the engine we’ve enjoyed the past 5 years. Touting an engine that’s been rebuilt from the ground up, this truly could be the revolution that many appreciated back when THPS 3 came out.

Got it in one mate…

Post from: EveryJoe

THP8 hits the spot – Kasabian don’t…

Contrary to what was said in the previous post, Jeux France has the goods yet again with some great magazine scans of the next-gen Sonic offering, Sonic The Hedgehog.

The last editions of the official magazines Xbox and PlayStation reveal us of all new images of the next shutter of Sonic the Hedgehog on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. One learns as well as the play developed by Sonic TEAM will be playable on line and than it will give a real impression of speed. A system of change of time will be also available, but we do not know yet if that will affect the gameplay. Sonic, more blue and realistic than ever, should also have new movements of the Breakdance style in particular for the engagements. The title, which gives finally the impression of a return to the sources of the series, will be presented at the time of E3 2006 in Los Angeles in a few days.

Here are a few of the scans… So far this game is looking absolutely stunning… I can’t wait for this game, and it will serve as a perfect excuse to drop the hard earned on a 360 (although I’ll most likely get a PS3 so I can get MGS4 too).

Anyone who loved Sonic back in the days of the Genesis should be excited about this. Could this be the return to form we’ve all been waiting for? Let’s hope so. As with Sonic Rivals we may see more footage at E3, and perhaps a playable demo. Maybe Sonic Team really do care after all.

Post from: EveryJoe

More Sonic Next-Gen Images!