Here’s one out from left field. British developer System 3, also known as Studio 3, is hard at work bringing Epyx’s classic Commodore 64 platfromer Impossible Mission to the Wii, as well as the Nintendo DS and PSP. The news follows a report from Nintendo Power last September that noted this and other C64 classics were heading to the Wii’s Virtual Console. Now it seems, as least with regards to this particular game, it is getting a full retail boxed release.
In the game, the player takes the role of a secret agent attempting to stop evil genius Professor Elvin Atombender who has been tampering with National Security Computers. Players must penetrate Atombender’s base, attempting to recover parts of the system password whilst avoiding robots in a race against time.
Whilst the game has been re-written from the ground up with new presentation, the developers note that the core gameplay remains “impressively loyal” to the original, with level layout changing for every new game. There are now three main characters to choose from plus a new tutorial mode. The player can now chose from three game modes, new, original and for the purist; a hybrid mode with the original gameplay using the updated graphics.
The PSP versions offer the additional ability to send a full copy of their game to a friend over the air so they can try it for themselves.
“We’ve worked hard to bring Impossible Mission up-to-date whilst keeping the original gameplay that made the game such a hit in the eighties”, commented CEO, Mark Cale, “We’re particularly pleased with the handheld versions which will ensure this historic game can be enjoyed by a completely new generation of gamers”.
For the first time that I can remember, a researcher has come out and openly predicted a return to market dominance for Nintendo. Despite the Xbox 360’s year-long lead and Sony’s considerable edge in brand recognition, US market researcher IDC has forecasted a slight edge for Nintendo’s Wii, speculating that they’ll capture slightly more than a third of the worldwide marketshare.
“Nintendo is the only one of the three manufacturers working to grow its accessible market for its hardware and software by broadening its audience beyond the traditional market,” observed the company. “We believe concerted efforts to broaden the appeal of videogames beyond the traditional enthusiast base will deepen the industry’s penetration.”
While interesting, I wonder whether anybody has done any analysis on what the effects of an installed base full of casual gamers would entail. How would it affect the attach rate? It’s one thing for Nintendo, whose titles fly off shelves without so much as an afterthought. But will third party publishers fare as well?
Officials of Vivendi Games’ Sierra Entertainment division announced plans to bring a version of Scarface: The World Is Yours to the Wii this summer. As with the other versions of the game, Scarface for the Wii will present a sequel storyline to the feature film that asks “What if Tony Montana survived the mansion shootout?”
Scarface: The World Is Yours for Wii will include graphics and gameplay changes by way of what Sierra calls “optimizations,” as well as a new control scheme that takes advantage of the Wii remote and nunchuck, as well as other unspecified “alterations for the Wii audience.”
“Bringing Scarface: The World Is Yours to Wii is an exciting opportunity to take an already amazing game and add an incredible twist, thanks to the Wii console’s unique Remote controller abilities,” said Cindy Cook, chief strategy and marketing officer for Vivendi Games. “Adding motion-sensitive elements to a game that already includes an incredible celebrity cast, Hollywood production values and non-stop action, delivers a gaming experience unlike any other, truly bringing the world of Tony Montana to vivid life.”
After a bit of silence, we are starting to get some good stuff for Xbox Live Arcade. Today Microsoft confirmed that Team 17’s Worms will debut on the online service on Wednesday, March 7 for 800 Microsoft Points. The game had been expected well before now, but was delayed on two separate occasions due to quality control. But all that is behind us, and we’re not holding a grudge. Next week, it’s ninja ropes at dawn.
Officials from German developer 10tacle Studios have announced plans for the third title in the Ready 2 Rumble arcade style satirical boxing series. Through the company’s Singapore subsidiary, along with licensor The Buffer Partnership and executive producer Stereo Mode, the game will be developed for unspecified video game platforms by AKI Corporation (Def Jam, WWF Wrestlemania series).
Though little is known about the sequel currently, early information seems to indicate that the earlier games’ cast of original fighters may be replaced by “caricatures of numerous celebrities” who take it to the ring.
10tacle adds that the company expects turnover through distribution of the game to exceed $20 million by 2010, suggesting that the game may still be quite a ways from seeing the light of retail.
