This week, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, is dazzling game enthusiasts in Los Angeles. All sorts of new games are being announced and even a few new consoles, such as the Wii U (?), are making a debut. Then again, you know me. I'm all about the classic gaming experience. Fortunately, a couple of legendary franchises are celebrating their anniversaries at E3 this year with a lot of fanfare.
First off, one of my favorite arcade games turns 30. The classic space shooter Galaga is still devouring quarters from arcade enthusiasts, even after three decades. Namco Bandai is celebrating by releasing the Galaga series on smart phones and iOS, as well as the upcoming Galaga Legions DX on XBOX 360 Live Arcade and a new title on the 3DS that combines a 3D version of Galaga with a game featuring last year's trentagenarian: Pac Man. There was even a World Galaga Championship at New Hampshire's American Classic Arcade Museum this past weekend. It was part of their world famous International Classic Video Game Tournament, but was actually sponsored by Namco Bandai. Hopefully, I can scrounge around the internet and get more details on the championship at a later time.
This year also sees 20 years with my favorite speedster, Sonic the Hedgehog. While I usually dislike platforming games, the classic Sonic games are still some of my favorite games on the Genesis. Though his games have not been as good as of late, Sega hopes to change that with Sonic Generations. This new game supposedly gives you the opportunity to choose play style between modern Sonic or "old skool" Sonic. Will it deliver? We'll have to wait and see.
Of course, one of the biggest announcements has been the 25th anniversary of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda franchise. At their press conference, Nintendo let out all the bells and whistles. An orchestra started the conference with a medley of classic music from the legendary franchise. Then, Shigeru Miyamoto himself announced a slew of great things for the franchise. For instance, the Game Boy Color classic Link's Awakening DX is one of the first games available for the 3DS Virtual Console (Aww, yeah!). Of course, there's the remastered release of Ocarina of Time for the 3DS, but now they announced the game's soundtrack for the first people who register their copy of the game on Nintendo's website. On top of that, a new Legend of Zelda: Four Swords adventure will be available on DSiWare (for those who have a DSi or the 3DS) for FREE! To cap it off, they're doing a worldwide tour of symphonic Legend of Zelda and there's going to be a symphonic CD available (most likely as a limited edition add-on for Skyward Sword). There's a lot for Zelda fans to look forward to.
Later on, I'll go more in depth with each of these classic franchises and the games that helped define a generation of video gamers. For now, I'm really sick and can only muster up enough to write this short blurb.
There was also another video game series celebrating an anniversary. Nothing too fancy, really. It's this small video game that a couple of people may have played. I think it's called Halo, or something. It turned 10. They're doing a remastered version of the original game for XBOX 360. No big deal.
I'll see you guys next week.
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