Guitar Hero's peripherals will always have a special place in my heart. That little plastic guitar could act as a highly effective dinner plate in a pinch, for example.
News Blips:
The Guitar Hero franchise isn't fully gone, just "on hiatus." Activision VP of Developer Relations and Acquisitions Dan Winters told GamesIndustry.biz that while another GH game won't appear on the horizon for now, it certainly has a chance to make a strong return. "Actually, just to clarify, we're just putting GH on hiatus; we're not ending it," Winters said. "We're releasing products out of the vault — we'll continue to sustain the channel; the brand won't go away. We're just not making a new one for next year, that's all." Activision canned its GH efforts in early February (along with 500 jobs) after struggling sales prompted it to cease development, but this latest news spells good tidings for those wanting to mash brightly colored buttons once more.
Analyst claims Nintendo 3DS sales have sputtered and slowed since its launch. After consulting his Abacus of Unerring Vision, Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian said, "Based on our recent checks, we believe that sales of the 3DS have slowed considerably since the initial launch window, although the Easter holiday could provide a near-term boost." Of course, with Nintendo being cagey on any launch sales figures outside of Japan, any schmuck on the street probably possesses the same amount of clout in predicting the lifespan of a freshly launched handheld device. Just sayin'! [IndustryGamers]
The 3DS remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time gets a release date of June 19. Barely scraping into Nintendo's Spring 2011 launch lineup by the threads of its elfish hairsock, the game is a total port of the Nintendo 64 classic that utilizes the 3DS' visual trickery and questionable battery life. That's good and all, but how am I supposed to cope with that little hellion of a fairy Navi and the eyestrain of the 3DS? You ask too much of me, Japan!
Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition is officially coming to the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 systems. Four new fighters — Street Fighter 3's Yun and Yang, an Evil Ryu sadly devoid of a powerstache, and a darker form of Akuma named Oni — and a slew of technical tweaks and character balances round out the features of the new version. Current Street Fighter 4 owners, you're in luck: An option to upgrade to the Arcade Edition will be available on June 7 for 1,200 Microsoft points or $14.99. A standalone retail version comes out on June 28, with the PC version arriving in July. [GameSpot]
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