Video Game Buttons Blog

May 11, 2007

Publisher Sega has revealed its 2007-2008 line-up, including Condemned 2: Bloodshot for PS3/Xbox 360, a conversion of arcade gun game Ghost Squad to Wii, Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm for XBLA, RTS Universe At War adding an Xbox 360 SKU, and a new PC RPG deal with Gas Powered Games.

 

Condemned 2: Bloodshot for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, developed by original franchise creator Monolith Productions, and sporting “an all-new fighting mechanic and online multiplayer functionality”, will debut in early 2008 for the next-gen consoles.  According to the firm, “Players will engage in visceral combat using a variety of firearms, blunt instruments and an all-new fighting system complete with defensive and offensive combo chains, [as well as an] all-new set of high-tech forensic tools.”  Online multiplayer modes will include hand-to-hand deathmatch playable across the network.

 

Ghost Squad for Wii is a conversion of the arcade gun game title originally developed by Sega’s AM2 arcade division. The Wii version brings the arcade experience home and adds a number of new Wii-specific gameplay modes and features. The game features the use of the Wii Remote as a multi-purpose tool that allows players to easily control the targeting of on-screen enemies, defuse bombs, and rescue hostages, and will debut for the 2007 holiday season.

 

Happy Tree Friends False Alarm, based on the popular and gory animated series, Happy Tree Friends, is currently under development by Stainless Studios (Novadrome), and is scheduled for release via digital download on PC and Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade in fall, 2007.  Sporting a “physics-based reactive environment”, Happy Tree Friends False Alarm is an action-puzzle game in which you use resources such as concrete, ice, gasoline, and nitroglycerin and “save the Happy Tree Friends from hilarious disaster situations and their own bad luck.”

 

Universe at War: Earth Assault, the already-announced PC RTS title from the former Westwood veterans at Petroglyph, is now also confirmed to debut on the Xbox 360 in Q1 2008.  The title is themed around a near-future Earth under siege by aliens, and is scheduled for a PC release in 2007 for the holidays, before moving onto Microsoft’s next-gen console next year, with “…a control scheme built from the ground up to ensure smooth gameplay and ease of command for console gamers.”

 

Finally, Sega has announced a new partnership with Gas Powered Games, the creators of Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander.  Under the terms of the worldwide agreement, Sega and Gas Powered Games will collaboratively develop an original, and as yet unspecified role-playing game for the PC.  A release date for the RPG is not yet announced.

March 28, 2007

Nintendo and Sega icons Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog will reportedly appear in a new game to be developed by Sega Japan that is based around the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

 

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games will be released this Christmas on Wii and Nintendo DS, and will be published by Sega in the West and Nintendo in Japan, according to an official joint statement by the two companies.

 

The game uses an official International Sports Multimedia (ISM) license, the interactive entertainment software licensee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).  ISM has previously overseen the video game adaptations of the recent Olympics and Winter Olympics games, starting with the Sydney 2000 Games.

 

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games will feature various Olympic events including the 100m sprint, swimming, and table tennis.  The game will feature both Mario and Sonic, as well as secondary characters from both franchises including Luigi, Knuckles, Yoshi, and Tails.

 

“Mario and Sonic have been respectful rivals since the early days of video games,” said Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto. “In fact, for a long time they have been discussing the possibility of one day competing against each other. Now that they have been given the perfect opportunity to meet at the Olympic Games, we may finally learn who is actually faster, Mario or Sonic?”