News::'Sonic the Hedgehog' tribute games reflect a mascot's fall from grace

It'd be an understatement to say that the Sonic the Hedgehog game franchise hasn't held up well over time. Sonic was once nearly as big as Mario, but a long string of bad titles (with exceptions) ruined his rep -- you're more likely to spot him in dodgy fan fiction and internet memes than a popular game. And the homebrew developers from Arcane Kids know it. They've built the Sonic Dreams Collection, a batch of tiny tribute games for Macs and Windows PCs that acknowledge the Sega mascot's fall from grace. It masquerades as a leaked set of Dreamcast protoypes, but it's really a nod to the weird places Sonic fandom has gone in the 21st century. There's a "Sonic Movie Maker" where the hedgehog calls you his dad, and "My Roommate Sonic..." well, let's just say it turns romance stories on their head.

Filed under: Gaming, Software

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Via: Boing Boing

Source: Arcane Kids

Tags: arcanekids, dreamcast, fanfiction, gaming, mac, nostalgia, sega, software, sonic, sonicdreams, sonicdreamscollection, sonicthehedgehog, videogames, windows

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News::Darth Vader PS4 bundles cater to your 'Star Wars' cravings

Between The Force Awakens, Battlefront and Disney Infinity, you're about to get your fill of Star Wars -- and Sony is determined to capitalize on that sci-fi feast with some special PlayStation systems. It's releasing two limited edition Darth Vader PS4 bundles that each include a distinctive 500GB console (emblazoned with the Sith Lord's face, naturally) and a controller whose red and white accents mimic Vader's chest panel. The core Battlefront Vader bundle includes both a Deluxe edition of its namesake shooter as well as a voucher for four vintage Star Wars games (Super Star Wars, Bounty Hunter, Jedi Starfighter and Racer Revenge). Head to Walmart, meanwhile, and you can spring for a Disney Infinity 3.0 Vader bundle that replaces Battlefront with Infinity and a matching figurine kit. And if you're just interested in software, there will be a plain PS4 bundle that includes Battlefront and the classic games.

Filed under: Gaming, Sony

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Source: PlayStation Blog

Tags: battlefront, bundle, darthvader, disneyinfinity, gaming, infinity, playstation, playstation4, ps4, sony, starwars, starwarsbattlefront, video, videogames

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News::Immersive Virtual Reality gaming center opens in Australia

A new gaming center has opened its doors in Melbourne, Australia, and it's not quite your typical after-school haunt. This place, called Zero Latency, offers true immersive virtual reality experience: if you want to kill zombies, you'll literally have to walk/run around, aim and shoot a VR gun. CNET got to try it out before launch and found that the center uses a 4,300-square-foot warehouse covered in a white-grid pattern and equipped with 129 PlayStation Eye cameras. One session can have up to six players, each one fitted with a backpack that houses an Alienware Alpha PC, which renders the environment for the users' Oculus Rift DK2 headsets.

Filed under: Misc, Gaming

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Via: N4BB, CNET

Source: Zero Latency

Tags: australia, gamingcenter, virtualreality, VR, zerolatency

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