First remembers classic NES Titles… then screws with them.

With Nostalgia being the “in” thing this decade – seriously, how many retro-inspired remakes, new games, sequels or complete re-releases of 80/90’s-Era Games have there BEEN since 2010? – it’s no surprise many turn to the NES for new game ideas. It’s also a commonly held belief – rightly or wrongly – that old-skool games offered much tougher or more cerebral challenges than games of today. So chalk one up to Nintendo for announcing the NES Remix game collection, available on Wii U eShop right now.

As the title suggests, NES Remix is a new game collection from Nintendo for the Wii U that takes 16 classic Nintendo games — from Super Mario Bros. to The Legend of Zelda – to offer you fresh challenges from each. At the start, the games are the typical NES titles with appropriate challenges to match – get a hole in one on Golf, for example; or ten 1-Up’s in a row by jumping off a single Koopa in Super Mario Bros. However, the game also offers a series of “Altered” challenges, which is where the fun really begins. Imagine for example, rather than having Mario rescue the woman kidnapped by Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong, you played as Link instead? Or what about Excitebike in the dark? There’s even whole Super Mario Bros. levels to complete with their own twists – turning the worlds icy, flipping it right-to-left…

As you complete each challenge, you’ll get the option to brag about it on the MiiVerse. But beyond this, you can also share level clear times to compete with friends and the larger community of Wii U players, injecting a large dose of competitiveness into the mix. Challenges can come from original or altered versions of Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong 3, Excitebike, Super Mario Bros., Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Clu Clu Land, Wrecking Crew, Pinball, Urban Champion, Baseball, Tennis, Ice Climber, Golf and Balloon Fight, for a total of 16 classic NES titles to challenge through.

NES Remix is available now on the Wii U eShop for $15 plus tax, though it may just be in America for now – we’ll stay tuned for further details.

Some news stories make you smile or laugh, others make you cry or rage. Then there are the elite few that make you go “WTF?” Put this firmly in the latter category.

When Democracy 3 – the latest title in Positech Games’ series of PC-based Political Strategy games – was preparing for its US launch, not one person broke a sweat. The game, self-dubbed “the ultimate political strategy game,” was launched on Steam on October 14, 2013 – as well as a retail game for PC, Mac and Linux – with nobody raising an eyelid to its game-play simulating the career as president or prime minister of a democratic government, the very theme of the series’ eight-year history. So why, in all seriousness, is a “major U.S. advertising agency” refusing to run banner ads promoting the game due to its “political content”?

Cliff Harris, the founder of Positech Games, reported on his blog yesterday that an ad for the recently-released Democracy 3 was deemed by a “BIG game-advertising agency” to be inappropriate to run on a particular website. When Harris asked why, he was told, “We can not promote any politics as this is a sensitive topic.”

Harris was noticeably unimpressed with the response, believing politics is a MUCH less sensitive subject than some of the OTHER things commonly featured in today’s games that go without criticism – as evidenced by the next statement on his blog:

“I bet ads for games like Hitman, or GTA, or games where you get slow-mo closeups of people’s skulls being blasted apart by high-caliber bullets are just fine. But discuss income tax? OH NOES THE WORLD WILL END! It’s stuff like this that sometimes makes me ashamed to be in this industry. Half of the industry wants to be grown up and accepted as art, the other half have the mentality of seven year olds. I’m pretty cynical, but I never expected my ads for a game about government-simulation to be too controversial to be shown (for money no less…).”

True enough. What’s more, the whole controversy smacks to me as discriminating against Democracy 3 rather than a genuine concern. After all, politics in video games is not exactly unheard of – there have been games as far back as the NES era where you played as a president of the United States or leader of some fictionalised land. For example, how about Civilization? A real-time strategy series inviting players to “Build an empire to stand the test of time”, Civilization has a much longer history than Democracy, beginning in 1991 in the DOS computer era and still going 20 years later. The games involve you making decisions on places to build; wars to fight; and even setting diplomatic rules – which makes them also political in nature even if it’s not as obviously signposted. If political content is really as big a problem as this unidentified agency is implying, why has Civilization had a free pass for so long? Here’s hoping common sense prevails – though sadly, it seems to do so less often these days…

The new Godzilla trailer looks like Battlefield with giant monsters

I’m hoping there’s cooler stuff to be seen in the actual film, because it’ll be a shame if that amazing paratrooper sequence was wasted on a trailer.

A retailer in the UK has accidentally sent some customers a free PlayStation Vita. And is now resorting to some heavy methods in an attempt to get them back.

According to a report on Eurogamer, “a number” of people who had preordered Vita game Tearaway were instead sent a Tearaway PlayStation Vita bundle, which included the game and the hardware.

Upon realising its error, the retailer – Zavvi – asked for the bundles to be sent back. And that’s where things get messy.

British customer rights website What Consumer says “if you’ve been sent unsolicited goods, you are entitled to treat them as an unconditional gift and do with them as you choose.”

Understandably, some of those affected have done just that, leading Zavvi to send out further letters, including a “final notice” that reads:

This is our final notice to politely remind you that you did not order, or pay for, a PS Vita and if you fail to contact us by 5pm (UK time) on 10th December 2013 to arrange a convenient time for the PS Vita to be collected we reserve the right to enforce any and/or all legal remedies available to us.

Normally in these circumstances, the retailer would admit the mistake and simply take the hit. It’s rare a company would try and engage in a move like this; the PR backlash will probably make them wish they’d never bothered.

Original post by Eurogamer here

The first trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has swung in.

And it’s a corker, with action, villains and fanboy/girl easter eggs galore.

The two minute trailer builds on the web-slinging action seen in the first, and ramps up not only the special effects, but the villains too, with our first proper glimpse at The Rhino, Electro and even the Green Goblin (and it us, or is that Dane DeHaan’s Harry Osborn rocking the glider?!).

Throw in some cute Pete and Gwen romance-asizing, some ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ easter eggs (spot the Doctor Octopus/Vulture paraphenalia), and a ton of action, and there’s more than enough to get you excited for next summer’s big superhero flick.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is set for release in cinemas 18 April 2014.

Looking forward to Amazing Spider-Man 2? Let us know below…