Tiny Cartridge 3DS

Publishers old and new bring me games old and old ⊟

One of the most weirdly unlikely domino-meme developments recently is the one that starts with THQ's bankruptcy in 2012 and ends with me playing a Sunsoft Famicom game from 1992 on my Switch. But that's basically what happened?

Nordic Games Licensing bought a lot of the THQ back catalog, then went through a series of acquisitions, later adopting the apt name Embracer Group, and just opened a subdivision called Embracer Freemode to focus on retro games. Part of Embracer Freemode is Bitwave, who is developing a port of Gimmick! for Xbox, PC, Switch and PS4.

This news has Sunsoft re(re)-entering the gaming space, following the last WiiWare iteration. They announced a Gimmick soundtrack release, a port of Ufouria, and a new roguelike game based on the very old, beloved kusoge Ikki.

Simultaneously, the reliable ININ Games announced three -- THREE -- Ninja Jajamaru-kun collections, compiling the platform games, two "lost" RPGs, and all of the above respectively. I am deeply personally invested in this, if only because NInja Jajamaru-kun was one of the main inspirations behind the brilliant Haggleman minigames from Retro Game Challenge. Preorders for the physical PS4/Switch collections will open on the 21st, and I can only presume that they'll also show up on the eShop in some form.

JOIN CLUB TINY AND OUR DISCORD Support Tiny Cartridge!

Taito making a new Bubble Bobble sequel ⊟

It’s called Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, includes a four-player mode (hence the clever name) and will be published on Switch this November in Europe and early next year in 2020, by not Square Enix for some reason?

Instead, both the physical and digital versions will be handled by ININ Games and Strictly Limited Games, instead of Square Enix, the company that owns Taito outright. Good get for ININ and Strictly Limited, though.

The press release announcing this game quotes Hiroshi Uemura, Executive Officer, Division Manager of Development at Taito: "Bubble Bobble is an extremely popular title in Europe, so we decided to implement a pre-sale in Europe in conjunction with ININ Games and Strictly Limited Games. It is also the first internally developed title since Taito has re-entered the consumer market, and the development team is thrilled to be working on this famous IP. I deeply hope that many people will enjoy it." This seems like a big deal? 

SUPPORT TINY CARTRIDGE Join Club Tiny!