Posts Tagged ‘Sega’
Sega Announces NiGHTS Into Dreams HD Re-Release For Later This Year – Forgets The Spit ‘n’ Polish
One of the most fondly remembered games from the Sega Saturn deserves more than just the ‘lick’ of HD paint that it currently has. Singular.
Sega has announced a HD re-release for their 1996 Sega Saturn cult hit, Nights Into Dreams, which is due to drop later this year on 360, PS3 and PC (via Steam) platforms.
As well as having all of the usual mod-cons like achievements, trophies and a new lick of HD paint, the game also bundles in the original Sega Saturn version with the original visuals intact as a freebie. Whilst any day in which anything remotely Nights orientated gets announced should be looked upon as a good day, i’m left distinctly underwhelmed by the title’s HD resurrection. The reason for my dissatisfaction is purely superficial – the supposedly ‘new’ high definition visuals look chuffing awful; drawing attention to the fact that this looks like the laziest and most cynical ‘HD update’ seen in a long while.
The whole thing has essentially been upscaled into 720p with the sixteen year old assets being brought along for the ride, kicking and screaming. That’s it – that’s the extent of these ‘new’ visuals – a resolution upscale. Thanks for that.
It looks fairly atrocious and this sad issue is exasperated by the fact that in the trailer below, footage is shown of the bundled Saturn version and it looks almost indistinguishable from the high definition version.
Not happy. In addition, to say that it doesn’t exactly light a fire of confidence regarding my hopes for a quality Shenmue HD re-release would be understatement of the year at this point.
Watch and cry below:
NiGHTS Into Dreams is due to be released sometime later this year on 360, PS3 and Steam. OR, you could just bring out your Sega Saturn and play it NOW.
Sega And The Creative Assembly Confirm The Existence Of Total War: Rome II – Will Release Next Year On PC
Fancy giving Carthage the shaft once again in lovely Total War-O-Vision? Soon you’ll get your chance.
Confirming the long-standing rumour that the next RTS from the Total War folk would be a second entry in their Rome series, comes the announcement from Sega and developers The Creative Assembly that Total War: Rome II is real and will launch next year on PC.
According to Creative Assembly boss Mike Simpson, the latest entry in their famed RTS franchise will feature “the most expansive turn-based campaign and the largest, most cinematic real-time battles yet seen in any game. Our games have always encompassed a grand vision, but we’re now pushing that vision at both ends of the spectrum. From the immense reach of the sandbox campaign right down to the human-level drama of a single warrior on the battlefield, we’re aiming for an unprecedented level of detail and scale”.
In addition, Rome II will feature a new graphics engine with the capability of being able to render “tens of thousands of men” in “bone-splintering detail”, as well as new ‘unit cameras’, which will allow for a far more up-close and richly detailed perspective of the battlefield.
Scalability of difficulty and the experience overall is being promised; allowing you to play the game “no matter what your spec.” – Something that is bloody useful for RTS-tards like me that wouldn’t know a flanking movement from a head-on charge.
Finally, the Total War Brand Director, Rob Bartholomew, went onto say; “In our 25th year of games development, it feels fitting to return to our most critically acclaimed era. There’s been a multi-generational leap in technology since the original game and we are ready to set another benchmark in gaming.”
The first shots for the newly announced title were also released along with the boxart which you can see below and at the top of this article respectively.
Not exactly bad on the eyes is it?
A couple of interviews, one with the Lead Battle Designer and one with the Lead Designer for the project have also cropped up online as well as a swankly looking live-action trailer and naturally being the helpful chap that I am, I have embedded them all below for you to peruse at your leisure.
Enjoy:
Total War: Rome II is due to release sometime next year exclusively on PC.
Classic Sega Megadrive/Genesis brawlers Streets of Rage and Golden Axe get ‘collection’ re-releases tomorrow on XBLA for 800 MSP
Behold! Streets of Rage & Golden Axe – No finer expression of 16-bit testosterone.
Ah, the wistful memories of 16-bit side-scrolling pugilism – the battering of multiple enemies, the pressing on the ends of the screen to progress to the next section as soon as possible, the desperate reaching for a weapon to level the playing field… In my adolescence, it was gaming satisfaction at it’s best and having a mate sat next to me, frothing at the mouth as I was to beat that final, seemingly indestructable boss, only added to the enjoyment.
Sadly however, the old side-scrolling brawler appears to be the genre that time forgot.
That is, until tomorrow when Sega will release the Streets of Rage collection, including all three original Sega Megadrive/Genesis titles on Xbox Live Arcade tomorrow for 800MSP.
They’re also doing the same thing with Golden Axe; releasing all three of the 16-bit console games as a collection on the service tomorrow for 800 of your Microsoft Points.
I think i’ll be plonking down the points for the Streets of Rage collection for sure, but the Golden Axe collection is not something that appeals to me much; given that the only decent one (the original) is available on XBLA already and the two sequels that followed it were lame ducks indeed.
Any of you lot up for some old-school scrolling brawling action?
Streets of Rage Collection and Golden Axe Collection both release tomorrow on XBLA at 800 Microsoft Points each.
BitSnark 