Heart-warming puzzle platformer A Boy and His Blob - the game with a hug button - came out on Wii back in 2009. Now, it's about to hit PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
A Boy and His Blob
Key events
4th November 2009
12th October 2009
6th October 2009
A Boy and His Blob 3DS canned?
E3 reveal was a mistake, apparently.
The studio behind cute Wii platformer A Boy and His Blob is not working on a 3DS version of the game, despite the game appearing on a Nintendo release schedule after the platform holder's E3 conference this year.
Jelly good fun.
The best candidates for the remake treatment are generally not those blessed with classic status, but ones that came close without hitting the bull's-eye; games that had lots of great ideas but never quite delivered on their promise. In a modern gaming landscape where old titles are dusted off purely to cash in on their name, A Boy and His Blob is already off to a good start - it's been remade for all the right reasons.
The 1989 original, designed by Activision co-founder David Crane, may be recognisable to NES scholars but it's hardly the sort of marketable franchise that gets the accountants excited. A puzzley platform game, it was full of clever concepts but hamstrung from the start by brutally tough gameplay and some very fussy design. In bringing the game into the 21st century, WayForward Technologies has amplified all that was good in Crane's original while minimising the less appealing aspects. As an example of how to ride the remake pony, it's hard to beat.
As the title suggests, it's the tale of a young boy and the gelatinous alien blob he befriends. Together they set off to defeat the evil emperor of Blobolonia, for no better reason than he's evil and needs to be defeated. Their chosen weapon in this struggle is rather unusual, however: jelly beans.
Where you bean.
Some of you, the ones who still regret the demise of Top of the Pops and Wimbledon FC, will remember the original NES game, A Boy and His Blob, from 1989. You might remember its huge play area, its unique mechanics or its ridiculous final boss. You might remember it fondly. Or you might not. Because most of you who played it won't remember it for its innovation or quirkiness, most of you who played it will remember it because, even by the standards of the time, it was a complete, unremitting bastard of a game.
A Boy and his Blob returns to Wii
Majesco remakes 20-year-old NES classic.
Majesco has announced that it's making a new version of the fondly-remembered NES game, A Boy and his Blob, for the Wii.
Phone and email possibilities.
Nintendo executive Katsuya Eguchi has revealed that the Wii version of Animal Crossing may allow you to send messages to fellow players via your PC and mobile phone.
Still in the planning phase.
Nintendo's Katsuya Eguchi has confirmed that a Wii version of Animal Crossing is in the pipeline - but there's no word on a release date yet, since they're still deciding how the whole thing's going to work.
3 million copies of DS game sold.
Nintendo has announced that more than 3 million copies of DS title Animal Crossing: Wild World have been shipped around the globe.