Late Night Consoling

Confirming fairly solid rumors, Namco Bandai Games today announced that the upcoming flight combat sim Ace Combat 6 is indeed being developed for Xbox 360. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, as it is named, adds what Namco calls the "Allied Support System," allowing players to draw aircraft, naval fleets, tanks, or other friendly forces to fight alongside them. This combines with the game's "Dynamic Operation System," by which up to half a dozen discrete battles can be in progress simultaneously on one large battlefield.

Notably, Ace Combat 6 will be the first entry in Namco's long running series to feature online multiplayer. The multiplayer component will include several modes such as deathmatch and team deathmatch as well as cooperative play. Xbox 360-standard online leaderboards will be included.

Namco Bandai released several Ace Combat 6 screenshots today, and also noted that concept art and icons are available through the Xbox Live Marketplace on Xbox 360.

In 2002, Atlus USA published Japanese developer MaxFive's PlayStation strategy RPG Hoshigami. Today, publisher Aksys Games announced that it will localize and publish for North America the Nintendo DS remake of Hoshigami, which had previously been announced only for Japan. Entitled Hoshigami Remix, the game will feature a newly translated script as well as a stylus control option, a new character, new missions, and various new graphical elements. Three levels of difficulty have also been implemented, likely to address some players' claims that the original game was too demanding. Players will also be able to trade items and spells amongst one another. Aksys sent over this batch of screenshots and character artwork.

Aksys Games was founded in 2006 by former Atlus USA executive Akibo Shieh as a localization firm, but the company soon declared its intention to move into full scale publishing with an emphasis on adapting Japanese games to the North American market. Hoshigami Remix is Aksys Games' second title, following last year's Eagle Eye Golf (PS2) from developer Telenet Japan.

Hoshigami Remix is expected to ship for Nintendo DS this summer.

Sega sent word today revealing the names of three more Genesis titles it plans to release to the Wii's Virtual Console service in the near future: Virtua Fighter 2, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, and Wonder Boy in Monster World.

Sega notes that AM2's Virtua Fighter 2 was "the first 3D fighting game in the industry"--the 1996 Genesis version, however, was remade as a 2D fighter due to hardware limitations. The game features the playable characters Lau Chan, Kage Maru, Wolf Hawkfield, Jeffry McWild, Akira Yuki, Jacky Bryant, Sarah Bryant and Pai Chan.

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle was the only Genesis title to feature Alex Kidd, Sega's platforming mascot before Sonic the Hedgehog took center stage. Both before and after Enchanted Castle's release in 1989, all other Alex Kidd games were released on the Master System.

Finally, there is Westone's Genesis version of its Zelda-esque action/adventure game Wonder Boy in Monster World, first released in 1991.

Sega has not officially confirmed pricing, but all three games are likely to run 800 Wii Points ($8), standard for Genesis games.

Next week's Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday release for Xbox 360 will be Rare's Jetpac Refuelled, Microsoft announced today. An expanded and graphically revamped update to the classic shooter Jetpac, Jetpac Refuelled has players shooting their way from planet to planet across 128 levels. Like most other Xbox Live Arcade games, Jetpac Refuelled features online leaderboards, Achievements, and online or local multiplayer. Also included is the original 16-level Jetpac game. Previously released Jetpac Refuelled screenshots are available here.

Jetpac was first released to ZX Spectrum in 1983 by Ultimate Play the Game, the development house founded by Tim and Chris Stamper and later redubbed Rare.

Jetpac Refuelled will be released on Wednesday, March 28 for 400 Microsoft Points ($5).

Raven Software released its X-Men Legends followup Marvel: Ultimate Alliance nearly five months ago, but new content is still on the way for the Xbox 360 version of the game. Activision today announced that players will soon be able to purchase two new Heroes and Villains content packs via Xbox Live Marketplace. Heroes and Villains will add the playable characters The Incredible Hulk, Magneto, Sabretooth, Doctor Doom, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Venom. Players will have access to new Achiements, an addition made possible with Microsoft's recently revised guideline allowing downloadable content to feature up to 250 additional potential Gamerscore points.

Both the Hero Pack and Villain Pack will be available in April for 500 Microsoft Points ($6.25) each, with a Combined Hero and Villain Pack selling for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).