Team 17 today posted the first shots from it’s Unreal 3-powered XBLA update of the classic Amiga top-down shooter.

In the latest issue of games™, studio director Martyn Brown said of the game: “We’re really proud of what we’ve done. It’s a title we’ve wanted to do for a long time and it’s very exciting to finally be doing it.”

Team 17 are still best known for the Worms franchise, and the studio has also worked on other publishers IPs, but Brown knows which he prefers. “There’s a gulf of difference between something that’s our own and something that isn’t. We’ve ended up with something that’s kind of a mish-mash of Dead Space and Diablo III, which is a really nice place to be.”

Look out for a preview in the forthcoming issue of games™.

Story from www.NowGamer.com

Follow the link to read an exclusive interview with the guys at Team 17.

Ok, slightly misleading headline, but now I have your attention; an old videogame Easter Egg has finally been uncovered in the Atari 2600 port of Nintendo’s arcade smash, Donkey Kong.  

Last year, the game’s 2600 coder, Landon M. Dyer, revealed on his blog that the Easter Egg existed but also admitted that he had forgotten how to actually unlock it. The game database website, Digital Press, caught wind of this and offered a $75 cash reward to the first person to work out how to unearth the buried treasure.    

Well, a Mr. Don Hodges finally unlocked the Easter Egg, which (as is generally the way with these 2600 Easter Eggs) turns out is simply a coder’s initials appearing at the foot of the screen.

So what’s the weirdest Easter Egg you’ve ever heard of? The Konami Code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A) springs to my mind. It was a universal cheat code to unlock lives, treats and Easter Eggs in various Konami games. Try it out.

Anybody have anymore Easter Eggs or unusual videogame cheats they care to share?

Even in these penny pinching times, there are still some passionate gamers out there willing to part with ludicrous sums of money for retro videogames. Take one JJ Hendricks for example, a US collector who recently parted with $17,500 for the ‘Holy Grail’ of video game collectibles; the Nintendo World Championship cart.

The carts were created especially for a Nintendo game competition in 1990 and awarded to winners and semi-finalists in the event. 26 gold carts were manufactured, and contained a 6 minute 21 second triathlon event made up of three NES titles: Rad Racer, Tetris and Super Mario Bros. We work that out to be approx $2818 per minute of gameplay. Geez!

So what’s the most you’ve ever paid for a computer game? I remember forking out £100 for a Japanese copy Street Fighter 2 Turbo on the Super Nintendo, and £70 for the US version of Star Fox. Actually, it amazes me how I managed to get my hands on that kind of money on a schoolboy’s wage.

 The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Universal is setting its sights on a remake of the classic arcade game Asteroids. This acquisition apparently came after a bidding war between four studios.

Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura is on board to oversee this project, and Disney newbie Matthew Lopez will write a first draft of the script.

Asteroids was released in 1979 and put gamers in the seat of a triangular spaceship. The aim of the game was to then traverse space while zapping countless asteroids and the odd UFO. It proved to be a big success and spawned three sequels in Asteroids Deluxe, Space Duel and Blasteroids. The game didn’t follow any real narrative path, so with a blank canvas to work from Universal can take this possible franchise in any direction.

Asteroids is in the very early stages of production and at this time there are no details regarding dates of release and casting.

Want to find out more about the history of Atari? Then visit NowGamer.com to read our Arcs Of Atari feature; http://www.nowgamer.com/features/180/the-arcs-of-atari

Story via NowGamer.com

I know Darran’s already reviewed this in the magazine, but this weekend I got some proper playtime with Bionic Commando and enjoyed it so much I thought I’d chime in with some quick thoughts about the game.

Like Rearmed, what makes this current-gen update so enjoyable is the main character’s bionic appendage. It’s obvious Grin has spared a great deal of thought to how the bionic arm could be used to best benefit the combat. And while it takes a few levels before you fully settle into using the bionic device, when it happens, and the game is in full flow, taking out the (albeit generic) enemy soldiers and gorilla-looking droids can be very satisfying. Equally, using it to scale and swing from the huge dilapidated buildings, and kite cars and enemies into the air, keeps the action feeling fresh and organic.    

 There’s nothing staggeringly brilliant or original about the game, but the lavish visuals, intuitive controls, cinematic score - even elements of the story (although the twist at the end was pretty dumb) - all work together to make Bionic Commando an enjoyable action title.

 Don’t let recent reports of dwindling sales figures put you off. If you’re a fan of third-person action games, this is one of the most enjoyable to come out for a while.