Do you hear what I hear? Do you see what I see? I’m not sure that you do, because Jetsetter’s eyes can see farther and its ears can hear deeper. Provided the source of the sights and sounds are video games, because that’s our thing. If you’re looking for a column about the world of imported cheese and the world of Central European poetry, look elsewhere. This is Jetsetter, and the wide world of video games is our only purview.
Welcome back to Jetsetter, Digital Trends readers. This weekly column is devoted to covering the video game world outside the United States, writing about sweet import games and developers abroad.
This week, we’re talking about shooters, both old, new, and from opposite sides of the world.
* GoldenEye 007 developer closes for good.
Two weeks after announcing that it laid-off two hundred employees, UK studio Eurocom is closing its doors. It planned to refocus as a mobile developer with a skeleton crew of fifty developers, but it has now entered administration and closed completely. Eurocom was never Britain’s best or brightest developer, but for almost a quarter of a century, the studio was a staple of console gaming. It made hilarious drivel like War Gods for the Nintendo 64, it made licensed trash like Lethal Weapon for the NES, but it was also the studio behind genius ports like the Dreamcast edition of Hydro Thunder and some truly wonderful platformers like The Jungle Book on Super Nintendo. More recently Eurocom was known for one making one of the Wii’s last great games, GoldenEye 007. This year’s 007 Legends, though, will be its last. A tip of the cap to all at Eurocom. We hope you all land safely on your feet.
* Sidhe brings Shatter to iPad.
New Zealand’s Sidhe broke more than a few brains when it released Shatter on PlayStation 3 in 2009. A blend of two-dimensional shooting, the arcade classic Breakout, and slick music, Shatter was a breath of fresh air in the downloadable console game world after a few years of Geometry Wars clones. Sidhe’s game made the jump to PC and Mac back in 2010, but save for some licensed games, a weird car combat title, and a smattering of Rugby League games for their home country, Sidhe’s been pretty silent. No more! Shatter is getting its first handheld release on Apple’s iPad. The studio’s co-founder announced the release on NeoGAF. Sadly, no iPhone version is forthcoming.
* Cave bringing Dodonpachi to Steam?
From New Zealand to Japan, the cradle of the 2D shooter! Developer Cave is one of a few studios keeping old style shmups alive in the modern age with Xbox 360 games like Deathsmiles. Its most famous series, Dodonpachi, actually started life back in the late ‘90s in arcades and on Sega Saturn. In recent years, Cave has mostly worked on Xbox 360, making new shooters and even weird one-offs like Kinect adventure Instant Brain, but now it’s talking about jumping to other platforms. In an interview with Siliconera about the new sequel Dodonpachi Saidaioujou, Cave’s creative lead Makoto Asada said PC fans may see legitimate releases soon. “There were some discussions about Steam and with the release of Windows 8 there may be a chance,” said Asada, “We are also considering the Windows 8 Marketplace and hopefully we can bring some of our games there like we have with the Xbox 360.” PlayStation 3 shooter obsessives hoping for a dose of Cave’s style will be put out as Asada reiterated that the studio won’t support Sony’s console any time soon. Jetsetter recommends you play Under Defeat HD as an alternative!
