Features// SPOnG's Review of the Year '09: December

Nintendo would undoubtedly see a lot of Wii sales in the run up to Christmas, but certain third parties have spoken out about how “over-saturated” the market is with “sub-standard software”. You know, all those Wii Fit clones and party games that last ten seconds and other kinds of shovelware. So, who’s coming out and making such statements?

Well, it’s just one publisher, really. Lightning Fish Games. Come on, you must have heard of it. It made NewU with Ubisoft, so far its only title but it’s working on a party game and another fitness game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The shift to the ‘HD consoles’ by Lightning Fish is a result of the Wii audience “only trust[ing] big Nintendo brands” (“Wii Audience “Only Trust Big Nintendo Brands””, 1st Dec 2009).

CEO Simon Prytherch looked ahead to Microsoft and Sony’s motion controllers, due in 2010, so most likely we’ll see future products taking advantage of Natal and the Wand controller. We can’t help but discover some irony about the whole affair though... Maybe it’s just us.

In other Nintendo news, it was reported that the Japanese company was slowing down production of the Wii, which sounds a bit odd ahead of Christmas but bear in mind that manufacturing plants usually work to ship several months ahead. Either way, it didn’t help component manufacturers any - Mitsumi and Hosiden suffered huge losses in revenue due to the cutback from Nintendo. “Declining fortunes” of the Wii and “a drop-off in orders” were specifically mentioned (“Nintendo Slows Wii Production”, 2nd Dec 2009).

The dawn of a new year brings new possibilities and advances in tech, and it was revealed that, after an ice-age of development, Universal Studios would finally launch its ‘Flipper’ dual-format DVD/Blu-ray discs on January 2010 (“Blu-Ray/DVD Hybrid Discs Launching In 2010”, 2nd Dec 2009). The hybrid discs are hoped to increase adoption of high-definition movies, and could be a bonus to the PS3.

Looking further into the future (because we just can’t help ourselves), a LinkedIn CV was discovered online, suggesting that another design change in Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Dashboard is in the pipeline (“New Xbox 360 Dashboard In The Works?”, 7th Dec 2009). The Microsoft UI designer had been working as an “Animator for the XBOX 360 dasboard [sic]” since November 2009.

For those trying to find gifts for family and loved ones, SCEE was at hand to announce another marketing push for the digital distribution-dependant PSP Go (“PSP Go and the Free Games”, 1st Dec 2009). Buying a PSP Go console entitled the lucky owner with a free copy of either Gran Turismo, MotorStorm Arctic Edge or Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines. If you hurry up you can still get in on the promotion, as it runs until the 10th January 2010.

Of course, Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without some SPOnG features, and in the final weeks of the year we took a look at Dark Void, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing, Madden NFL Arcade and Red Dead Redemption. We also revisited Team17’s Alien Breed Evolution, and reviewed Borderlands, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and Jambo! Safari for your reading pleasure. Round that all off with a friendly chat with skater extraordinaire, Tony “The Birdman” Hawk and you’re golden.

Finally...

A bittersweet closure for Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Drive fans the world over. Late pop legend, Michael Jackson, had been linked countless times to the 1994 hit, Sonic 3. Over the last 15 years, SEGA officials avoided confirmation, going only as far as to say that Jackson intended to create a soundtrack for the game that never got used.

Months following his death in June, MJ tribute magazine Black & White managed to score an interview with Brad Buxer, Jackson’s collaborator for many years and fully credited in Sonic 3 under Music direction. Buxer confirmed that the King of Pop did write some songs that were kept in the game (“Michael Jackson Did Work on Sonic 3 Soundtrack”, 3rd Dec 2009). Specifically mentioned was the credits theme, which was re-used in Jackson hit Stranger In Moscow.

That rounds up the SPOnG Review of the Year 2009. 2010 already looks to be a corker of a year that could well top the fantastic games and events we’ve seen this year, and we hope you will join us in the Underwater Castle for coverage on tons of upcoming stuff.

For now though, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you! Thanks for reading!