Thursday, April 25, 2013

The House of the Dead: Overkill – The Lost Reels sneaks onto the App Store

As with most SEGA iOS releases, The House of the Dead Overkill: The Lost Reels has stealthily arrived to little fanfare. Thankfully, SEGA was kind enough to reach out to me to offer up a review code, so I was able to download it last night for a bit of pre-release gameplay. While the game does utilize a virtual pad (or tilt controls, depending on your preference), the controls are surprisingly tight! At $4.99, the game offers up two worlds, with a third available via a $1.99 in app purchase. Expect a full review early next week over at SEGAbits. In the meantime, I have zombies- er, I mean mutants to kill.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Presenting the latest SEGA Nomad mod: The SEGA Nomad X

Game console and handheld modding genius Wiggy, at the Rose Colored Gaming blog, lives by the motto "new ideas for old games". As such, he has made some pretty nifty upgrades to classic consoles and handhelds. Most notably, to handheld fans, Wiggy has added improved LCD screens and front and back lit screen mods to systems including the Wonderswan, various Game Boy devices, Neo Geo Pocket, and SEGA's Nomad. Earlier this week, Wiggy revealed his latest project: Nomad X. Nomad X is a souped up, modified, SEGA Nomad with a modern LED illuminated LCD screen, an internal battery, and an upgraded speaker. Really, the only thing he couldn't modify was the Nomad's size, though I have always been a fan of the Nomad's "big and beautiful" shape.

Also changed (at least for the R&D stage) is the Nomad's color, which has changed from black to white (Michael Jackson?). The Cartridge door is now grey and the logo itself features a red X. Wiggy notes in the comments that "This one is my R&D unit. I have R&D units for all the systems that I mod, and honestly they aren’t the ones you want LOL! Lot’s of unnecessary cuts, a bit rough around the edges, etc. I’ll gladly make more though, and in any color you like. Plus they units I produce from now on have all the issues resolved and the installs are as clean as can be". No release date or price has been announced, but Wiggy promises a price as soon as R&D has completed.

For whatever reason, when I hear the name "Nomad X", I think of Speed Racer's brother Racer X. Could it be? Nomad X is the Nomad's long lost brother?