Date Released: Winter 2012 for most versions Date Reviewed: February 17, 2013 Genre: 3D Party Racer Players: 1-4 players locally (up to 5 on Wii U), 10 online Length: 3-30 minutes per event, 12-25 hours to unlock all content Replayability: High
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Introduction
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is the sequel to 2010’s crossover party racer Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. Not simply a basic sequel, the game focuses around the concept of vehicles that change during the race to traverse over land, water and the sky with a few courses that even head through lava or outer space. Presented as kid-friendly but designed to be enjoyable for all ages, Transformed is a quality racer for fans of SEGA and the genre. Difficult but not unfair, the game succeeds in making a unique and fun game for groups online or off, but somewhat sloppy direction and awkward marketing attempts keep it from becoming a true classic.
Though it’s not as iconic as Daytona USA or innovative as Virtua Fighter, The House of the Dead is nevertheless one of the most important series of arcade titles in the history of gaming. With machines found in practically every arcade and movie theater throughout all of it’s 16 years, The House of the Dead has remained a fixture in the scene since its debut in 1997, and since then it has gone on to become one of the most popular series of arcade games in the world, featuring four games in the main series and several spin-off titles spanning across dozens of platforms.
With its outstanding success, further attention was brought to the series outside of the video game medium, when in 2003 a film adaption was released, which was followed by a sequel in 2005. After the break we have included overviews of the plots, discuss the negatives and positives of both films and reveal little-known facts about their production.
Date Released: April 18, 2012 Date Reviewed: May 19, 2012 Genre: Lightgun Shooter Players: 1-2 Local Players Length: 40+ Minutes Replayability: Good
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Introduction
The House of the Dead 4 is the 2005 lightgun arcade shooter developed by SEGA-AM1. The title has become available to home consoles for the first time in 2012 as a download on the PlayStation 3’s Sony Entertainment Network. This newly released version includes both the original arcade game and it’s direct sequel The House of the Dead 4: Special for a budget price point. Functionality for PlayStation Move and the standard PlayStation 3 controller is also included.
Seven years after it’s initial arcade release, The House of the Dead 4 has been made available to home console users for the first time. This digital release also includes extra features, such as the extended ‘Special’ story events and PlayStation Trophy support. Like The House of the Dead III before it, although it is a lightgun game intended for the player to physically hold a fake gun and aim at the screen, players are given the option to use the standard DualShock 3, SIXAXIS controllers or the PlayStation Move motion accessory.
Available exclusively for download on the PlayStation 3 at 10 USD, members who subscribe to Sony’s PlayStation Plus service can subtract a percentage of the game’s total price off for a limited time. The European PlayStation Store will be updated sometime later today.
Be sure to check out the exciting new launch trailer after the break.
Last week, news from SEGA of America broke that saw numerous members of staff fired, games canceled and a general downsizing of the entire branch of SEGA of America. Initially, rumors ran rampant and confused a large amount of fans across the globe, the worst of which was that the entire United States branch of SEGA had completely shut down, which of course is not the case.
Immediate reconstruction has taken place going into their new fiscal year. They expect a net loss of ¥7.1 billion ($86.4 million) as part of the reform and news of this dropped their entire company’s stock 4%. However, the day after their stock rose 5% and is showing signs of continual growth.
After the break I discuss the potential cancellations, their effects, observe the negatives and positives of the change and attempt to discover if SEGA truly is in trouble or if the downsizing is the start of a brilliant strategy. The rest of the post should be taken as speculation from a dedicated fan of the company and game industry as a whole and not as a financial advisor.
Out of respect of those whom lost their jobs, any subjects around them will not be mentioned at all.
A very brief demonstration for The House of the Dead III is available now for PlayStation Plus subscribers on the PlayStation 3’s newly titled Sony Entertainment Network. The demo only allows players to use one credit and have one health point, making it very short and challenging. The full game will allow players to customize these features, however.
The title supports the use of standard DualShock 3 or SIXAXIS controllers, but is designed with the PlayStation Move peripheral in mind.
Due for release on February 14th for North America (Valentine’s Day) and soon after for PAL regions, the game will cost $7. Purchasing the game before February 28th will unlock a special avatar picture for your PlayStation account, whilst PlayStation Plus members will receive a 30% discount and a special The House of the Dead III theme for their dashboard.
After the release of The House of the Dead Overkill Extended Cut on the PlayStation 3, fans of the THotD series and owners of the Move motion controller have reasons to smile once again. SEGA has announced the release of The House of the Dead 3 and 4 on the PlayStation Network. It marks the first time House of the Dead 4 will be available on a home console. The feature set is the usual from this kind of release: improved graphics and resolution, and trophies. It’s not known whether these versions will support the regular controller, but it’s quite likely as Overkill Extended Cut did as well. The House of the Dead 3 will be released on 7th February while the fourth game is set for sometime this Spring.
The House of the Dead: OVERKILL – Extended Cut is out now in North America and will be released this Friday in PAL television regions. Developed by Headstrong Games exclusively for the PlayStation 3, it is a largely upgraded port of the 2009 Wii title with a large variety of new content, such as new levels, characters and story elements. Although the PlayStation Move motion controller is recommended as it is a lightgun game, support for the standard DualShock 3 is included.
Designed as a parody of cheap 1970s horror films, this new release features 3DTV support in both stereoscopic and the retro blue and red style seen above.
Included after the break is the raunchy launch trailer.
Although SEGA was notably absent from GamesCom 2010 (with the exception of Virtua Tennis 4), their showing at the German event this year was very strong. Mostly focusing on home console releases, not much new info was revealed overall, but each product featured was a better representation of how the finished game will turn out. As such, each title represented had a more positive reception overall when compared to E3 2011.
We have collected info from hundreds of previews, interviews and presentations then summed it all up in a simple read after the break.
Two new levels have been announced for The House of the Dead: OVERKILL – Extended Cut, an upgraded version of 2009’s Wii title with 60% new content. Under the title Extended Terror, these levels will feature two playable female characters previously unplayable, with one of them being new to this version.
The game will be released exclusivly for the PlayStation 3 on 25 October with an MSRP of 39.99 USD.
The SEGA Source 