Newsbriefs: New Wii VC Titles, Left Behind Outreach, Eidos On Traxxpad

Author: by Staff

[UPDATED: 3:25pm PST] Today's regularly updated newsbriefs include the latest batch of games to be released over the Wii's Virtual Console, a church's youth outreach program to use Left Behind: Eternal Forces, and Eidos to publish the upcoming music mixing title for the PSP, Traxxpad. - Nintendo has released three “new” games for download over the Wii's Virtual Console. Purchasable from the Wii's online Wii Shop Channel, the games released today include the NES port of Taito's arcade classic Elevator Action for 500 Wii Points ($5), as well as Capcom's SNES action platformer Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts and Genesis RPG Sword of Vermilion, the first console-exclusive title developed by Yu Suzuki (Virtua Fighter), for 800 Wii Points ($8) each. - Christian-themed game developer Left Behind Games, which recently reported a loss of $4.1 million for the third quarter, announced that its flagship title Left Behind: Eternal Forces will play a central role in a church sponsored outreach event this evening at XPC LAN Gaming Center in Temecula, California. The real-time strategy game is based on the Left Behind series of books which deal with an Evangelical Christian eschatology view of the end times. The game has already been criticized by Christian and Jewish groups, with the Council on American-Islamic Relations also calling out the game for gameplay that rewards players for either converting or killing people of other faiths. - Major publisher and developer Eidos Interactive has announced that it will publish Definitive Studios' upcoming music mixing title for the PSP, Traxxpad. Described as less of a game, and more of a musical application, Traxxpad will allow users to create, mix and sample their own tracks using the PSP using an assortment of music-making modules that focus on different aspects of music making such as sequencing, song assembly, and melody creation. Sounds can be assigned to specific buttons, and sequenced through rhythmical button presses. The game, which will ship in North America this spring, will feature over 1000 stock sounds, and users will be able to import their own music, as well as export their creations for playback on other devices. "The PSP system is so much more than a gaming platform," said executive vice president of sales and marketing, Robert Lindsey, Eidos. "Traxxpad utilizes the PSP system hardware to its fullest. It produces professional music, and makes it easy to do, providing an end result that is more fun and satisfying than completing a pre-defined task in a game."