Sega’s Dreamcast ended in failure.  But despite its shortcomings, the system did boast one major feature that will forever be cherished: a memory card that included a mini monochrome display that complemented a select number of games.  Mimicking that tech is Datel’s Turbo Fire EVO Wireless controller for the Xbox 360.

On the face sits a 1.7-inch color LCD screen allowing you to easily select and manipulate the controller’s wide array of controls, which include turbo fire, sniper mode, low recoil mode, combo sequences and mission specific button mapping.  In real world terms, this means you can rapid fire at your opponents without lifting your finger off the trigger, map a button to perform a macro or modify the controls such that you can have the same layout in Call of Duty as you do in Halo.  Analog sensitivity and trigger buttons can also be manipulated dependent on your tastes, or should we say penchant for fragging.  You can even flip the analog stick to accommodate left handed players.

Because there is no sense in missing out on gameplay, or kills, they’ve added small set of buttons underneath that quickly flip between your options, which are complemented by blue glowing grips that indicate when Turbo Rapid fire mode is enabled.

Looking for more gaming versatility than you can dream up?  Plug the Turbo Fire EVO into a PC via USB and you can download EVO’s built-in custom profiles.

The Turbo Fire EVO is compatible with Xbox 360 battery packs, or two AA batteries.  Surprisingly, it costs just $54.99.

5 out of 5 stars

Arcade games have never been about story or characters or anything thought-provoking. The fact that popular franchises like Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Pacman, Galaga and countless others have evolved these things is only a product of the undying fascination of hardcore fans and a never-ending supply of game iterations. Now, we play our arcade games at home, on a console, but the premise still exists through Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network titles.

Renegade Ops is the perfect example of a no-BS, freefall adventure that’s fun all the way down.

From the introductory video until the very last moment of the 9-level game, Renegade Ops openly shuns using your brain with the most straightforward plot imaginable: take down the bad guys. Everything else, like the army general who doesn’t care about politics going out on his own with a team of ‘renegades’, is all secondary. Just shoot to kill. Blow up whatever gets in the way. And have a blast doing it.

As those renegades, driving one of four heavily armed and armored vehicles, players must stop a maniacal madman bent on destruction. Or more appropriately, blow the hell out of everything and do it within the allotted time because there is, after all, some plot to follow. There’s no subterfuge or sneaky unknowns, just the team of renegades and their mission.

Each of the four characters has their own car and special ability, be it an air-strike or invincible armor, to wreak havoc on the enemy. Up to four players can get in on the action online. The destruction of civilian property isn’t encouraged…but it sure ain’t frowned upon. By any means necessary is an apt description of how to handle any situation. Anytime a character in the game has a doubt about how to do something, the general yells in his most manly voice, “Nah, we’re going in hot. Take them down renegades!” And you go blow stuff up.

As an action game, there’s very little that can compare to Renegade Ops currently on the marketplace. It’s very similar to Assault Heroes in scope: both have the Geometry Wars top-down dual analog stick shooter element, and both pit players in cars driving to certain destruction and doom. In those cars lies the weird, I’ve-gotta-get-used-to-it control of piloting something stuck on the ground. The cars have to turn in real time, and won’t just do it automatically, so it’s not only about which way you shoot but which way you’re driving. Thankfully the physics are made to keep vehicles upright, so it’s very hard to flip them over. Should that happen however, or if the car gets stuck somewhere, the game will respawn players within four seconds. It has never failed to do so, and that in itself is a technological achievement.

Alongside the destruction players earn points that go towards upgrading their vehicles and weapons with three abilities. Each new level helps add points to unlock new abilities, and some of those abilities are badass, like a second chance after you blow up where you’re invincible until you find some health, all without losing your life in the first place.

A health bar monitors your status while players have three lives per level. Across gigantic maps are plenty of secrets and occasional secondary missions to earn more points, though mission time limits tend to keep players from making Renegade Ops into an exploratory game. That, however, is not a bad thing, because it’s all about the action. So much so that developer Avalanche Studios intentionally distorts the game’s plot just for the sake of making the game slightly more awesome.

With logic like that, it’s hard not to like Renegade Ops. Yet from a gameplay and technical standpoint, the title maintains the same level of resolution: excellent gameplay, great visuals and architecture, good programming and solid mechanics…Renegade Ops has it all. Including our love.

Pros:

• Fun, fast-paced gameplay with proper difficulty settings
• A no-BS attitude that makes trivial nonsense obsolete
• Excellent online play that can go on for hours and hours

Cons:

• 5-6 hour campaign is relatively short for the price

Bottom Line:

• If you like Arcade games, Renegade Ops will slap a smile on your face so hard, it hurts. Good.

An electric car with a display that renders the real world, as you drive, in in the style of the 1986 video game OutRun by Sega.

3 out of 5 stars

Nostalgia is the lifeblood of remakes. We wouldn’t want to experience the same thing over again so readily for any other reason. “Hey, let’s rent Robocop, I remember it was great!” We all know the feeling. For some, the experience is, well, nostalgic. For others, eye-opening and proof that yes, I may have had bad taste back then.

Guess which category Sonic Spinball falls under?

It was back in 1993, as a child with a Sega Genesis (thanks to my dad needing a Terminator game with a light-gun), that I had the patience of a saint when it came to videogames. But even then I clearly remember the frustration I had with Sonic Spinball. I couldn’t beat it. It was way too hard. The levels were too long, and I wasn’t allowed to leave the Genesis on during dinner. I did a few times anyways, but it didn’t help. Another 20 minutes and I’d fall into a pool of lava or a tub of acid. A flailing Sonic slowly falling across my screen haunted my dreams:

Thankfully, nothing’s changed in 17 years. Well, I can do whatever I want during dinner, or so I tell myself. Sega hasn’t changed a thing with Sonic Spinball, except for removing the scene of Sonic’s plane crashing. You know, to give the game some semblance of story. But who needs that, it’s the iPhone version! Don’t worry, the game has a nice old 16-bit feel, from the soundtrack all the way to the blocky visuals. I’d say nostalgia at its finest, even going so far as to not optimize for the Retina display. But nostalgia only goes so far, and in this case Sega missed its mark and made the game even harder. What the hell.

I mean, I can’t beat it. I couldn’t beat it 17 years ago, and I can’t beat it now. I’ve never been huge on pinball, but I consider myself pretty good at videogames. I’ve been offered jobs as a game tester, to play competitively in competitions, and I’ve been playing videogames for nearly 20 years now. But no, Sonic Spinball just isn’t happening. At some point after my third day, I gave up. There are only 3 lives, period. There are no continues like in the original Genesis version, which at least let me start the same level from scratch. To make matters worse, the touchscreen makes it impossible to beat thanks to lag between tapping on the virtual buttons and the flippers actually moving. It’s slight, and noticeable. Point being, I’m not beating it, and I sure as hell am not going to do what I did so long ago and play until the controller buttons are completely worn down. The last thing I need is to get another iPod Touch because I turned the glass back into sand.

For anyone who somehow missed the original, Sonic Spinball is a simple pinball game with giant levels and a vast array of objectives, such as collecting chaos emeralds and opening up new sections of the levels. Four levels in all and 16 emeralds to collect, there’s good reason why the game is so damn hard: if it weren’t, you’d finish in just a few hours. I suppose Sega decided that it’s better to never let anyone win than letting them win too soon.

I enjoyed reminiscing the good ol’ days, as we all should on occasion. It’s certainly odd to do it through videogames…my parents do it through photographs, their parents through stories, and probably their parents through hieroglyphics. Who knows. But only a masochist would intentionally buy a game they know they have no chance of beating. That’s not to say it isn’t enjoyable, because it is. You just won’t beat it. Expecting to is insane. Only an insane person does the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Einstein said that. Then again, we all played it as kids and kept trying anyways…I guess “We’re all mad here.”

Genesis games often rival 8-Bit NES games in terms of raw nostalgia and while we’ve seen a couple old school ports on the iPhone (Streets of rage), word is that Sega is going to bring a Genesis emulator app that contains a storefront where you can purchase a myriad of classics.

Slated for a February release, the app basically serves as a unified storefront to access already and yet to be released Genesis titles.  Games are supposedly priced at $3 a piece and you will get Space Harrier 2 just for downloading the app, which should be free as well.

What Genesis games do you most love and remember??

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Retro gaming has permeated almost every facet or our modern living.  The Sega Genesis was one of the best gaming experiences of my childhood and I was pumped to see this business card holder modeled after this “master” system of old.  Anybody that doles out business cards like confetti and loves retro gaming needs to pick up this styling holder.  On sale now for just about $27. 

[via GearFuse]

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For all you fireworks junkies out there, the Sega Indoor Fireworks Projector takes the danger and financial burden out of cornea burning displays of holiday.  Not so sure whether or not this is actually made from the iconic video game company, I’m interested in seeing just how cool this thing is.

The Sega Indoor Fireworks Projector has a small speaker for sounding out periodic blasts but you can also hook it up to your home theater for that extra push.  To keep sets varied, you can exchange circular pattern discs for different arrays of fireworks like a slide machine or those old picture viewers you had as a child.

On sale now for $217.

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What’s a GeniMini?  A portable Sega Genesis, but of course.  Like the portable Dreamcast we saw in October, this one too is built by Hailrazer (aka John Jandron).  I  like how he just whipped it together because he was ‘bored’.

Retro yourself this holiday season…or your kid with the Sega Dreamcast Console.  Amazon has it for $88.99 – $9.50 instant savings + free shipping = $79.49 shipped!  I’m not sure if it includes a controller or not, but who cares, this thing is late 90s (1999) retro and had those killer memory cards with an LCD screen.

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Chances are you’re going to wonder why I’m even bothering to talk about a Sega Saturn joystick at least ten years after the system went the way of the dodo, but I tell you that there’s a very good reason.

Because, you see, in the grandest old tradition of original Nintendo belt buckles, someone’s taken that old device and made it into something new and interesting: art.

James Ian Killinger took apart an old Sega Saturn joystick and noticed that, if he just added a few extra screws–three, to be exact–we’d get the thing you see above, a giant space bug.

Let that sink in for a second.  That’s a big bug sculpture made from only the parts of a Sega Saturn controller and three extra screws.  No extra parts were brought in, nothing was taken out.  That thing is just a Sega Saturn controller with three screws.  It’s easy to wonder what Killinger could’ve done if he’d had a FOURTH screw.

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Because any retro gamer will be instantly flooded with fond, and in the case of the Sega Saturn, short lived memories.  At $114 a piece, you will make quite the statement brandishing one of these.  “I love video games and I smoke, what do you do?”

I don’t smoke but I was attracted to these pics upon first glance.  They left a nice impression.  Was the Japanese version of the Saturn look like this?  Mine was all black.  I wish I could say that about something else.

You can pre-order yours starting November 5th, but you can start smoking right now if you please.

[via Destructoid]

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So while it is known that the PS3 Slim will not be backwards compatible “disc-wise” with PS2 games, Sony may have something up their sleeves to offer players in the form of downloadable content.

A document leak has occurred that involves Sega discussing Sony’s plans to bring the PS2 back catalog to to PS3′s PSN and even possibly to throw some old Dreamcast games in there as well.  With each new iteration of the PS3 containing a larger hard drive, it only seems plausible that DLC is indeed the wave of the future.

If you are having trouble remembering what some good Dreamcast games were, IGN has just run some content on the 25 best games for the 10-year anniversary of Sega’s now defunct last console.

There’s no doubt in my mind that DLC is a great thing I’m just worried that Sony is going to charge too much for each game.  I can surmise that each PS2/Dreamcast title will be between $10-20, but I would be much more inclined to buy them if they were priced at $5 a piece.

Any thoughts?

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Back in the day this game was all the rage.  The sequel was pretty darn good too.  There was even a third.  Not quite sure if it is worth $5 at this stage in the game but Sega has just announced that it will be bringing Streets of Rage to the iPhone and iPod touch.  Will the controls translate?  I would think so given the minimalistic scope, but will there be co-op?  This is a great start to what I hope will be tons of older games like this.  I’d buy Bad Dudes for dollar!  Also let’s see some graphic adventure titles from back in the day like Police Quest and King’s Quest!

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Sega announced today, their collaboration with Marvel Entertainment to craft the next installment of the Iron Man video game series that will coincide with the theatrical release of Iron Man 2 in 2010.  As per always, the Iron Man 2 game will be on most platforms, and only appeal to kids and parents that don’t know crap about quality video games.  In the press release below, Sega promises to give the player a newly enhanced gameplay experience.  I won’t hold my breath.  Anybody that’s not a sucker for these crappy movie games knows that all they do is throw an Iron Man skin over some old, tepid game engine, tie in some voice acted cut scenes, and call it a day.  But with all the lame ass movie games out there, I ask you this.  Why didn’t we see a Dark Knight game?  Someone thought it would have been too good?

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON –(Business Wire)– Feb 03, 2009 SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA of Europe Ltd today announced a continuation of their existing partnership with Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) to include Iron Man 2™, the video game. The multi-platform title is slated to come out in 2010 along with the Marvel Studios film of the same name, a sequel to the 2008 box office triumph distributed by Paramount Pictures.

“We are thrilled to build on the success of the Iron Man phenomenon and work with Marvel and Paramount on another epic project,” says Simon Jeffery, President of SEGA of America, Inc. “SEGA and Marvel are collaborating closely to ensure we deliver an authentic Iron Man experience.”

The game is currently in production at SEGA Studios San Francisco. SEGA has continued to refine its game engine so that players can expect an entirely new and enhanced gameplay experience. Stay tuned for more information about Iron Man 2, the video game.

[SlashGear]

I’m not saying I’d buy this bag, let alone carry around this type of bag, but it’s a trip down memory lane.  Besides, who can knock the Sega Genesis, which I remind you came with ‘Altered Beast’, the most badass game of its time.

Available here at a way overpriced $55

[Technabob]

Before the weekend there was a rumor flying around that Sega was getting back into the hardware market and was set to release a new handheld gaming device to compete with the PSP and DS.  We didn’t post on it because it seemed a stretch to say the least.  Turns out the rumor is only half true.  Sega, which plans to remain a software developer, licensed the rights to their name and games to a 3rd party Chinese PMP developer.  Sega Vision was just that, a vision.

Official quote from Sega:

“The Vision is primarily an MP4 video player with some basic games functionality, and not a new handheld gaming machine…the Sega Vision isn’t actually a Sega-developed device at all, and in fact a cheap Chinese iPod-style alternative.”

[Joystiq]

I never thought I’d hear ‘vintage’ and ‘video games’ in the same sentence, but where there’s a will there’s a way.   Ebay seller ‘hit-japan’ has the very cool, very old Resident Evil Dreamcast called Biohazard Code Veronica.  You can grab it now for $800 or toss in your bid for a piece of history and nostalgia.

Available here

One more pic after the ‘leap’

[Techeblog]