It's another nice day for another nice OpenBoR mod. You've seen the Chaotix Rage mod and that Ladies of Rage project. Here comes another one: the Golden Axe Genesis OpenBoR demo. This takes all three Golden Axe games on the Sega Genesis for a Beats of Rage spin.

Download: Golden Axe Genesis OpenBoR demo

Sega has just released an updated list of games they plane to release for the PAL (Europe) regions. And while it's pretty much the same line up of titles that were featured in our post from (almost exactly) last month, this new list brings with it updates. For the the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 folks, expect SEGA Rally to hit retail come September 28.

The PSP and Wii crowds also receive an update for Alien Syndrome, which is now expected to launch this July 9 for both consoles. And come November, there's The Golden Compass readying up for a multiplatform release on the consoles mentioned earlier, along with the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS.

• Xbox 360
• SEGA Rally (28/09/2007)
• Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm (Autumn 2007)
• Virtua Fighter 5 (Autumn 2007)
• The Golden Compass (30/11/2007)
• PSU: Ambition of the Illuminus (Winter 2007/2008)
• The Club (Winter 2007/2008)
• Golden Axe (Spring 2008)
• Condemned 2: Bloodshot (Spring 2008)
• Universe At War: Angriffsziel Erde (Spring 2008)
• PSP
• Alien Syndrome (07/09/2007)
• Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars (07/09/2007)
• SEGA Rally (28/09/2007)
• Sonic Rivals 2 (Autumn 2007)
• The Golden Compass (30/11/2007)
• PlayStation 3
• SEGA Rally (28/09/2007)
• The Golden Compass (30/11/2007)
• The Club (Winter 2007/2008)
• Condemned 2: Bloodshot (Spring 2008)
• Golden Axe (Spring 2008)
  

The complete date list is available in the Full Article

Here are two new videos for the reborn classic Sega Genesis Collection. The first one is for Golden Axe II. Now, for those of you young enough not to be able to remember anything about this game, GAII is actually a side-scrollin' beat'em up title that was released exclusively on the Mega Drive.

What? You weren't born yet when Mega Drive was still around? Blimey. Never mind. What's important is that you now have the chance to get acquainted with what the once-young-but-still-young-at-heart gamers were all going agog for that time (not too long ago, really).

The other vid is for the more familiar blue-blurred Sonic the Hedgehog. You have got to be kidding if you say you don't know who or what he is. But if that's the case, again, our remedy for that is for you to check the Collection out. But really, if you wanna call yourself a serious gamer, you better brush up on your history.

Golden Axe II

The Sega">Sonic the Hedgehog vid, after the jump!

Last month, we posted one of the best possible piece of news for PSP fans - the announcement of the upcoming Sega Genesis Collection which includes:

• Alex Kidd - The Enchanted Castle
• Altered Beast
• Bonanza Bros
• Columns
• Comix Zone
• Decap Attack
• Ecco the Dolphin
• Ecco: The Tides of Time
• Ecco Jr.
• Eternal Champions
• Flicky
• Gain Ground
• Golden Axe I, II and III
• Phantasy Star II, III and IV
• Ristar
• Shadow Dancer: Secret of Shinobi
• Shinobi III
• Sonic The Hedgehog 1 and 2
• Super Thunderblade
• Sword of Vermillion
• Vectorman 1 and 2
• Virtua Fighter 2

If you were born late and none of these titles sound familiar, here's a short history lesson: Sega Genesis (also known as Sega Mega Drive) was a 16-bit video game console first released in Japan in 1988, which was then also released to the rest of the world later. Sega Genesis was meant to compete with Super Nintendo.

The Sega Genesis Collection is a compilation of classic Genesis games from 15 years ago and the titles included in the package are considered as milestones in the earlier chapter of the gaming industry. It's the closest thing to turning your PSP into a virtual time machine! The Sega Genesis Collection is set for release this Fall.

Sega has teamed up with Planet Moon Studios (Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Armed & Dangerous, Infected) to develop and publish a new PSP game based on a "fan favourite" franchise. The game's name itself has not yet been revealed, but it's a "classic brand", more information regarding that should follow soon.

This makes it the third resurrection of an old Sega franchise announced in the last few months. Previous ones include a partnership with Totally Games, also on a yet unnamed brand, and the upcoming 2007 release of Golden Axe developed by recently acquired studio The Secret Level.

Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President Of Marketing at Sega Of America commented, "Planet Moon's reputation of creating critically acclaimed games makes them the perfect choice to inject originality and ingenuity to our classic IPs."

Planet Moon Studios have a notorious reputation for their humorous and innovative games. Giants: Citizen Kabuto is still, as of today, one of the craziest games to hit the video game market, and Armed & Dangerous, released for consoles in 2003, could be considered as equally wacky. Personally, I wasn't too fond of Infected, their last PSP effort, but I can't wait to see what these guys come up with next, especially in conjunction with a Sega franchise.

The PS2 or PSP don't have their own Virtual console Wii-Style or Xbox Live Arcade to download games from, but the availability of retro games for the PSP has just taken a leap with the announcement of Sega Genesis Collection for both the PS2 and the PSP. This is another one of those popular re-release packages that will contain 30 classic titles from your youth in one pack.

As 1UP correctly stated, "the collection is not only a terrific snapshot of what gaming was 15 years ago, but an opportunity for a whole new generation of gamers to experience the titles that once defined Sega as one of gaming's most revered publishers". These are some of the games that I grew up with, and I can't wait to play them again!

Some of the younger gamers out there may not remember some of the games, but will recognise popular franchises such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Glodex Axe, Columns and Ecco the Dolphin - the game which I could never complete. Sega have said that the games will be reproduced (or to use a word which is slightly more fitting, 'ported') with "the utmost accuracy to the originals as possible" by developer Backbone Entertainment. Also, the PSP version will allow wireless multiplayer for several of the games, giving 2.7+ firmware PSP owners the chance to see what they are missing out on with wonderful emulators like DGEN.

Sega Genesis Collection will be available this fall. Here's the full list of titles: Alex Kidd - The Enchanted Castle, Altered Beast, Bonanza Bros, Columns, Comix Zone, Decap Attack, Ecco the Dolphin, Ecco: The Tides of Time, Ecco Jr, Eternal Champions, Flicky, Gain Ground, Golden Axe, Golden Axe II, Golden Axe III, Phantasy Star II, Phantasy Star III, Phantasy Star IV, Ristar, Shadow Dancer: Secret of Shinobi, Shinobi III, Sonic The Hedgehog, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Super Thunderblade, Sword of Vermillion, Vectorman, Vectorman 2, Virtua Fighter 2.

I must admit, I don't know half of them; but for the other half, it's probably the best UMD purchase you'd make.