Vidya Game News – July 30, 2015
Whew, the weather is heating up just as July is on its way out! But thankfully, there is some good gamin’ news to help you through these miserable temperatures. (Note: Your region may vary.) On to the proper post!
– Ernie Smith of Atlas Obscura has an incredible piece on the Brazilian video game market, where the Sega Master System still sells 150,000 units a year.
– A cool documentary idea: Two guys try to buy as much of a NES collection as they can in 30 days. The film is called Nintendo Quest, and Geek & Sundry’s Robert Workman has an article on it here.
– In other Nintendo news, the company posted a surprising first quarter profit, per Financial Times and many other sites. The gains were attributed to better cost controls and the performance of Splatoon, a new shooter IP for the Wii U.
– Per Wired and other sites, Dragon Quest XI is the first confirmed game for the Nintendo NX, along with the 3DS and Playstation 4, confusingly. In comparison to Square Enix’s other big series, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest games are usually simpler graphically, so the series could be on multiple, divergent platforms.
– The podcast I’m sure everyone was clamoring for: A game-by-game one on the Atari Jaguar! You can check it out here.
– From Wired’s Klint Finley, an article and linked YouTube on the “hot tech rivalry” between Amiga and Atari.
– James O’Malley at Gizmodo UK writes about a poll of British gamers and voters. Conservatives love Candy Crush, whereas Labour voters like that and Grand Theft Auto.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– In 1993, Ecco the Dolphin came out for the Sega Master System. The release date does vary depending on what site you look at, but the general dates are from July 29 to July 31 for the game’s release.
– Pokemon Crystal, a Game Boy color special edition of the gold and silver versions of that game series, came out in North America in 2001.
– And since it is still July, almost nothing else came out. (For the second week in a row!) Womp womp womp.
Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.
Vidya Game News – July 2, 2015
Hey, it’s July! Bask in the summer heat with some hot video game news! Good times, good times.
– A slew of old Sega games are getting released on the 3DS eShop in the next couple weeks, according to Nintendo Life. First up is Streets of Rage 2 on July 16, followed by Gunstar Heroes in August and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in September. Sales on those games will determine whether additional games get pumped out. (The latest Sega-related app game though, Sonic Runners, got a negative review from Touch Arcade.)
– The classic Atari series Battlezone is getting rebooted by Rebellion for the PC and Playstation 4, according to International Business Times.
– Nintendo fans are pissed about the early videos and screenshots from Metroid Prime: Federation Force. It’s supposed to be a multiplayer-focused game on the Nintendo 3DS, which basically means it doesn’t sound like a Metroid game at all. Forbes.com has an article on the controversy. Wired has an interview with the man behind the game, Kensuke Tanabe.
– Speaking of the Big N, their next console could hit stores in July 2016, according to Digitimes.
– The developer of Mario Strikers pitched Nintendo a volleyball and wrestling game, according to Gamespot. It didn’t get picked up.
– From Siliconera, a fan is doing a new indie version of the Mega Man series, Mega Man X: Corrupted. Read more here.
– The Sporting News is doing a best sports video game bracket. They’re down to the final, NBA Jam vs. NHL 94, which might be familiar to Your Parents Basement listeners. Check out our NBA Jam show here, and the NHL series here.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Pretty much zero games of significance were released in the United States. This is probably because it’s the middle of summer, and on top of that, two days before a major holiday. Even in Japan, this is a traditionally light release day. The only one I ever really played? Nolan Ryan’s Baseball, one of the early SNES sports games from 1991 and 1992, and it isn’t anything impressive.
– July 2 does have one big event from a gaming history standpoint though. Warner sold its home computing and game console divisions, which included a company named Atari, to Jack Tramiel, in 1984. This was after the video game crash of 1983, so Atari wasn’t in great shape, and Tramiel had a spotty reputation in the gaming industry as the former owner of Commodore. Atari and everyone else was run over by the NES juggernaut after the industry recovered from the crash. For more, check out Wikipedia.
Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games.
Your Parents Basement 