Who releases new hardware just two days before Christmas? Atari and Plaion, that’s who. Talk about cutting it fine – it must have been a real last-minute rush to get production underway and units shipped.
Retailing for £99.99, the Intellivision Sprint has 45 built-in games, including the console’s first official release of Boulder Dash, while features include HDMI output, wireless rechargeable controllers and overlays for all games. For those unaware (or very young) the Intellivision was Mattel’s entry into the video game market, going head-to-head with the Atari 2600. Despite being technically superior, Atari managed to capture the lion’s share of the market with their recognisable arcade conversions – something the Intellivision sorely lacked.
Christmas Day meanwhile sees the 500th Arcade Archives re-release. Space Invaders has been chosen to mark the occasion, with Space Invaders: Part II to follow next week. It’s our understanding that the Space Invaders license doesn’t come cheap these days, hence why it has been saved for a special occasion. Admittedly, we’re a bit disappointed it wasn’t one of Namco’s 3D arcade games such as Alpine Ski, or the arcade version of Tekken – that would have been a real Christmas treat.
Over on Xbox we can expect the third-person horror Injection π23 ‘Tabula Rasa’ – which entails secret societies and mind control programs – the two-player underwater explorative adventure Abyss DX, a new Pinball Jam compilation, and the fantasy themed hidden object game Hidden Legends. Sure beats having to look for nan’s glasses again.
Then on PSN there’s the four-player sleuthing sim Whoowasit?, the stupidly named 2D side-scrolling platformer Mr. Slime in Dungeon, arcade puzzler clone Suika Sprunki Edition, the arcade-style Hypercar Racing (also on Switch), the allegedly adrenaline-fueled Police Chase Simulator: Highway Racers Pursuit, and the cargo carrying Heavy Duty – which involves using various construction machinery.
The Switch 2 gains a couple of new releases too, including the infrastructure-focused Factorio – offering cooperative multiplayer and a map editor – and the chaotic 4v2 asymmetrical party package PRITTO PRISONER…which involves laying “poopie” and “peepee” traps. It truly is the most magical time of year.
New release trailers
Intellivision Sprint
Injection π23 ‘Tabula Rasa’
Pritto Prisoner
Next week: Arcade Archives: Space Invaders: Part II, Gym Business: Fitness Empire Simulator and Parallel Hearts. Maybe work on that backlog, eh?