It’s time to throw away those old consoles

Well maybe start thinking about it. We’ve got some news here on what Wii Virtual Console games are coming out this week as well as what Xbox Live games will be released throughout the rest of the summer and boy are some of them great! Wave Race 64, Ecco the Dolphin, Streets of Rage 2 are the games from this list that I’m looking forward too!

Wii Virtual Console:
Wave Race 64 (Nintendo 64, 1-2 players, rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Take to the waves on your own personal watercraft and experience some of the best water effects in video game history. Choose one of four characters, each with his/her own unique abilities and style, and master the game’s excellent controls. Make your way through nine courses, each with its own challenges. If the ramps, mines and hairpin turns aren’t enough, you’ll also have to deal with varying weather conditions that can make the water choppy or cover the course with fog. And if you ever feel like taking a break from racing, then try out Stunt Mode to polish your skills by pulling off handstands, rolls and more. Get good enough and you might even be able to ride a dolphin—just don’t get seasick.

ADVENTURES OF LOLO (NES, 1 player, rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): This was the first game in the Eggerland puzzle series to be released in North America. After the love of his life, Lala, is kidnapped by the Great Devil and taken to a haunted castle, our hero Lolo sets out to rescue her. The journey is perilous because the Great Devil’s fortress is guarded by a massive army. But Lolo has a few tricks up his sleeve, including a Magic Shot that turns enemies into eggs and an Emerald Framer that shields him from attacks. Combining clever environmental puzzles with tricky enemies and an engaging style, ADVENTURES OF LOLO is a true classic.

GALAGA ’90 (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points): This is an updated version of the classic arcade shooter Galaga. Set in the vast reaches of space, you will fight your way through all 29 rounds to reach the enemies’ stronghold on Planet Galaga. Game levels consist of a few rounds with changing enemies and backgrounds. To top it off, the nostalgic “Galactic Dancing” lives on to mark the end of each level. With the new addition of dimensions, you can choose your attack route. Collect capsules and open dimension warps at branch sections to take on even tougher enemies. GALAGA ’90’s inclusion of the triple fighter, scrolling backgrounds, boss Galaga and even new system effects make it nothing less than a masterpiece.

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Xbox Live Arcade:
August:
“Ecco the Dolphin” (Sega) Cool off with this fun, whimsical update of the classic undersea exploration game featuring everyone’s favorite bottlenose dolphin, Ecco!

“Hexic 2” (Carbonated Games) The highly anticipated sequel to the popular puzzle game “Hexic HD” will have gamers racing to solve brand new challenges, including an all new two player Battle mode.

“War World” (Ubisoft) A pure adrenaline rush, War World features powerful armored mechanoids battling head-to-head in all-out savage single and multiplayer battles that combine action and strategy.

Coming Soon:
“Geon: Emotions” (Eidos) Engage in the unique sport of Geon, where you must master a diverse range of emotions to best your opponents.

“Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords” (D3Publisher of America, Inc.) Addictive and easy-to-learn, this game integrates story and character progression elements found in RPGs delivering a brand new type of game that pushes the puzzle genre to a whole new level.

“Space Giraffe” (Llamasoft) Created by genre-defining game designer Jeff Minter, “Space Giraffe” is a psychedelic shooter that spans 100 levels, all set against vivid, pulsating backgrounds that synchronize with any custom music selection.

“Streets of Rage 2” (Sega) One of the most popular side-scrolling beat ‘em ups of the 90’s gets the Xbox LIVE Arcade treatment, complete with enhanced graphics, sound, Achievements and multiplayer modes.

“Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix” (Capcom) This game combines addictive puzzle action with favorite Capcom fighting characters including Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Morrigan.

Shenmue Online Canceled

Don’t get me wrong, Shenmue is one of my favorite games of all-time, but Shenmue Online – no thanks. I’m glad that this game is dieing or is finally dead. Shenmue Dojo reports overall the game is too much of a liability for Sega to pursue further development. When you think that the original two Shenmue games cost $70 million and the first Shenmue game barely sold over 1 million copies, creating a MMO is even more of a financial burden.

Overall the whole purpose of Shenmue is to tell an amazing story about revenge for the death of ones father, which leads onto some mystical journey with magical mirrors and karate ass-kicking. The MMO on the other hand would take place during the events of Shenmue 2 and would basically be about secondary characters rather than truly pushing the story forward.

So I thank Sega for not wasting their time on this pointless attempt at appealing to a gameplay genre that’s sizzling right now with games like World of Warcraft. Seriously did anyone think Shenmue Online could gain 9 million subscribers? I highly doubt it.

But what does this mean for Shenmue 3? Last I heard from an insider, was that Shenmue 3 was being developed for the Xbox 360 along with Shenmue 1 and 2 being remade for the system as well. Did Sega shut down Shenmue Online to focus in on developing this trilogy or has Shenmue truly been laid to rest? I hope I’ll be able to play Shenmue 3 one day…

If you don’t know what the hell Shenmue is, you’re probably not alone. You most likely didn’t own a Dreamcast. So I’ve mixed together a bunch of videos to show you why you need to buy Shenmue 1 and 2, as well as a Dreamcast or Shenmue 2 for the Xbox and play it on your Xbox 360. The Xbox version contains an extra DVD with a recap movie of Shenmue 1. So pick your poison.

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The Pipeline Videos of the Week

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Don’t think we don’t upload videos everyday onto The Pipeline cause we do… Huh? Striking a long list in everyone who likes video, this week we’ve added the following stuff to our media player The Pipeline.

PC Game Videos:
World of Warcraft: Wrath Of The Lich King
Rage
Project Offset
Penny Arcade Adventure
Fury

Music – Lyrical:
Jailhouse Rock
White & Nerdy
Circle of Life
Potential Breakup Song
Amish Paradise
Underdog Raps
One Crowded Hour
Rock Your Body
Sexy Back

Cell Phone Game Videos:
Gravity Blast

Xbox 360:
Castle Crashers
Lego Indiana Jones: The Video Game
Guitar Hero III
Enemy Territories: Quake Wars
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Resident Evil 5

Developer Interviews:
Inside Lionhead (2)

Retro Game Classics:
Zork Nemesis

Movie Clips:
Superbad (2)

Movie Trailers:
Superbad

TV Shows:
The Muppet Show Season 2 (3)

Of course this list doesn’t even contain all the podcasts that were uploaded this week. Don’t even get me started…

id’s Rage

Road rage

At QuakeCon 07 id Software revealed it’s latest game Rage. If you’ve ever played a video game before you might already know what this one is about: post-apocalyptic world where the player fights the government. How original…

Rage is being developed with all-new technology called tech5, developed by John Carmack – the dude that is the reason why id Software is so popular aka the co-founder.

The major difference between Rage and other id games in the past is that you’ll be able to roam in the outdoors! What a concept.

Being a Games Journalist is …

At times it can be crazy but at others it can make you joyous. To be able to play games that no one else has is an amazing privilege. This year’s E3 was one that didn’t live up to anyone’s hopes, but it was more about the games than ever before! Here’s a slideshow of the event, you’ll notice that my pictures are the ones taken with a crappy cell phone camera.

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