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Earthworm Jim now launching cows on iPhone

by JC Fletcher { Oct 21st 2009 at 8:25PM }

Gameloft's iPhone remake of Shiny's classic Earthworm Jim has found its way to the App Store, at a price of $4.99. It's a great game, but trying the iPhone version means you're willing to punish yourself by attempting the already-difficult run-and-gun without the benefit of a D-pad or buttons. We're going to have nightmares if we think too long about playing the submarine level that way.

In addition to the download-anywhere convenience and painful controller substitution, the iPhone/iPod Touch release lets you play your own iPod music as you play. That should be a welcome addition to one intentionally annoying level.

After the break, see gameplay footage captured by Touch Arcade.

Earthworm Jim ($4.99)

[Via AppShopper]

Continued →

Earthworm Jim on iPhone looks familiar

by JC Fletcher { Oct 14th 2009 at 11:30PM }

We recently found out that when Gameloft announced intentions to make a new Earthworm Jim game, the company really meant it intended to remake the first one. And while the next-gen version has some cleaned-up graphics, the iPhone release, as seen in the new trailer (after the break) might as well be a port. If you ignore the total lack of buttons, it might as well be the Genesis or SNES game. And speaking of buttons, have fun playing that submarine level on a touchscreen.

If the graphical improvements aren't more obvious in the WiiWare release, then the only real difference between the game on Virtual Console and WiiWare will be one extra level and difficulty selection. Awkward!

Continued →

First details of Earthworm Jim remake unearthed

by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 29th 2009 at 12:52PM }

GamerBytes has some details about the remake of invertebrate warrior Earthworm Jim's first outing. Speaking with Gameloft, the graphically updated title will be based on the Sega Genesis version, but will have "smoother animations" and feature several difficulty levels. The game will also include the bonus "Big Bruty" level that was featured in the Sega CD and PC releases of the original.

Earthworm Jim will blast onto Xbox Live Arcade first, followed by PSN and WiiWare. Gameloft is currently "considering" a PSP Minis version.

New Earthworm Jim less new than expected: it's a remake

by JC Fletcher { Aug 19th 2009 at 10:00AM }

Sega recently announced that due to a licensing issue with Interplay (a result of the newly announced Gameloft/Interplay Earthworm Jim game), Earthworm Jim would no longer be an option for a new Genesis XBLA game. The company then removed what was at that point the clear winner from its XBLA poll.

Why would a new Earthworm Jim prevent the release of an old one? Because the new one, G4TV's The Feed reports, is a remake and not an original game. That means it isn't the Earthworm Jim 4 announced last year, and that the same game will be available on both Virtual Console (the Genesis version was released on VC in October) and WiiWare.

[Image credit]

Groovy: Interplay and Gameloft making new downloadable Earthworm Jim

by JC Fletcher { Aug 17th 2009 at 4:57PM }

Interplay has announced a new Earthworm Jim for PSN, WiiWare, XBLA, and mobile platforms. Well, specifically, it announced that Gameloft will develop and publish a new Earthworm Jim game on those platforms. Which is ... considerably less exciting than if original creators Shiny Entertainment (now a part of Double Helix) were to return to the franchise. However, it is possible that this is the "Earthworm Jim 4" project for which creator Doug TenNapel was hired to consult -- which would be very groovy indeed.

The recent XBLA Genesis poll proved that there is a sizable Earthworm Jim fanbase, a fact that must have delighted executives at Interplay and Gameloft as they prepared to make this announcement. We didn't realize there are still that many Earthworm Jim fans in the world after Earthworm Jim 3D -- a game with which we hope this new release has nothing in common.

Earthworm Jim will debut on XBLA in the "last quarter of 2009," and will remain exclusive to that platform for one month.

[Image credit]

Sega wants your vote for the next Genesis XBLA game

by Richard Mitchell { Aug 14th 2009 at 6:00PM }

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Genesis, Sega is asking you, The Internet, to pick the next Genesis game to arrive on Xbox Live Arcade. It doesn't look like an easy choice either, as the list of candidates has some of the console's best games. All told, you can cast your vote for:

Earthworm Jim
Streets of Rage
Golden Axe II
Toejam & Earl
Shining Force
Revenge of Shinobi
Wonderboy in Monster World

Sega is accepting votes until August 21, so head over to genesispoll.com and vote. We'd be remiss not to mention that all of these games are available on Virtual Console already, but XBLA is guaranteed to add a few extra features, like game saving, Achievements and online multiplayer. Keep that in mind when casting your vote.

Dave Perry discusses canned Atari project, 'Plague'

by Ben Gilbert { Aug 5th 2009 at 11:00PM }

Dave Perry will always have a place in our hearts, and so it's a bit difficult these days to write pieces on the man who created Earthworm Jim. Doing his usual job of outlandish claim-staking, the man now known mostly for his company Gaikai and its streaming game service recently spoke to Eurogamer about a canceled game of his, named Plague.

"It was a little too big for Atari," he says. Allegedly, he was working with an author and intended to make a movie of the game. "It was a big deal," he added. He goes on to say that it included "nano-weapons" that would "generate objects and delete [them] in real-time." He even teases that the game idea is "nowhere near done." Unfortunately, he's a bit busy at the moment trying to get his unicorn-powered magic carpet off the ground to work on it.

Interplay still out of money

by JC Fletcher { Apr 17th 2009 at 6:30PM }

It seems that selling off the Fallout IP hasn't reversed Interplay's fortunes -- nor has ... planning to make a Fallout MMO. According to a recent SEC filing, the publisher ended 2008 completely broke. But don't worry! Interplay has a plan: Get more money from somewhere.

"We continue to seek external sources of funding," the company stated, "including but not limited to, incurring debt, the selling of assets or securities, licensing of certain product rights in selected territories, selected distribution agreements, and/or other strategic transactions sufficient to provide short-term funding, and achieve our long-term strategic objectives." We assume that those long-term strategic objectives would include paying off the new debts incurred in order to provide short-term funding.

The document does mention that the publisher continues to work on "the development of a MMOG code named: "Project:V13" (the alleged Fallout MMO) as well as "sequels to some of our most successful games, including Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent and MDK." All decent reasons to hope the company doesn't tank.

[Via VG247]

VC Tuesday: Let's Catch Earthworms

by JC Fletcher { Dec 16th 2008 at 10:50AM }

This week is (slightly) special for the Japanese Virtual Console, because a previously import-only game is making its debut on the service, even if it isn't entirely new to Japan. The Genesis version of Earthworm Jim never made it overseas, so the VC release is the first for this particular version of Earthworm Jim. There isn't even a 100 point surcharge for the import!

The other VC download is Jigoku Meguri, a Taito platformer about a monk in hell. The name "Jigoku Meguri" (Tour of Hell) also apparently refers to a real-life tour of a bunch of hot springs! Neat.

Earthworm Jim (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
Jigoku Meguri (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)

Along with those two games, three rather interesting WiiWare titles are available. Prope's Let's Catch is officially the first release from Yuji Naka's new Sega-funded studio, and probably the first game Yuji Naka has done any real work on in quite some time. Sorcery Blade is the first WiiWare RPG. And 1 Meke! Dasshutsu Game My Home-hen (something like One Extraction! Escape Game * My Home Edition) basically came out of nowhere. It appears to be a cutesy, comedic "room escape" game, like a colorful version of The Crimson Room.

Let's Catch (1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
Sorcery Blade (1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
1 Meke! Dasshutsu Game My Home-hen (1 player, 500 Wii Points)

VC Monday Madness: Earthworm Jim

by David Hinkle { Oct 27th 2008 at 5:13PM }

Earthworm Jim (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
Wii Fanboy says: download it!

Who doesn't love Earthworm Jim, this week's Virtual Console release? People without souls and taste, that's who! It's a great mix of platforming and action segments, wonderful minigames, and tense boss fights that come together and form one amazing product. an earthworm in a robotic suit? Can't beat that!

Each week, we here at Wii Fanboy like to check out the latest Virtual Console releases in our VC Monday Madness feature, in the hopes that you can make the most sound decision possible regarding purchasing retro titles from the Wii Shop Channel. If you're looking for more retro goodness, check out Virtually Overlooked, which talks about games that should be on the Virtual Console.

Earthworm Jim swings onto Virtual Console

by Justin McElroy { Oct 27th 2008 at 9:30AM }

Of all of the beloved video game characters that have fallen by the wayside (or been forced there by a string of subpar games) Earthworm Jim is one we'd most like to see make a comeback. C'mon, game publishers, the guy practically oozes charm, just give him a gun and some things to shoot and you're three-fourths of the way there.

For now though, we'll have to sate ourselves with the original Earthworm Jim (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) on Virtual Console, which we suppose will have to do, if only to square off once more with Bob the Killer Goldfish.

VC Friday: Thursday edition [Update 1]

by Chris Greenhough { Oct 2nd 2008 at 6:38PM }

And the Nintendo of Europe site leaks another morsel of info! Not long ago, news of Nintendo selling music appeared in our RSS feed weeks early, only to lead to a dead link after it was hastily pulled by Nintendo. And now another slippage has occurred, with Nintendo accidentally revealing (what we suspect are the contents of) tomorrow's PAL Virtual Console update: Earthworm Jim and Shining Force II.

Once again, the news appears in our RSS feed (as seen here) while the story itself has been yanked from Ninty's site. All being well then, tomorrow's VC update for Europe and Australia should read something like this:

Earthworm Jim -- Mega Drive -- 800 Wii Points
Shining Force II: The Ancient Seal -- Mega Drive -- 800 Wii Points

These aren't set in stone yet, so we'll label this as a rumor, but it looks likely. Also: "Hurray!" for both of these.

Update: And it's confirmed: those are your titles for this week, PAL people! [Thanks, Lanceh!]

David Perry: Selling Earthworm Jim was the "dumbest move ever"

by Xav de Matos { Sep 30th 2008 at 4:30PM }

When you stop to think about iconic characters for each of the big three a few easy ones come to mind. Master Chief owning on Xbox, Super Mario fighting for Nintendo and Kratos breaking dudes on the PlayStation (or insert your own characters if these examples don't work for you). One character that had the potential to be a huge gaming icon after his introduction was Earthworm Jim.

Jim had it all. Fun games, ridiculous cartoon and even action figures. Then one day the team that owned the rights to Earthworm Jim decided to call it a night and sell the character off for fear they wouldn't be able to bring him into the 3D world. David Perry, founder of Shiny Entertainment, has recently come clean on one of the biggest mistakes his company ever made; letting Jim get away.

"[Selling the rights of Earthworm Jim to Interplay] turned out to be the dumbest move ever," Perry said in an interview with Kikizo. "There's been other versions of Earthwork Jim done that were done without our permission really, licensing deals, and I was very unhappy about them." We'd be happy enough to see the original titles added to the Xbox Live Arcade or any news on the announced fourth title in the series.

You know, it's funny to hear losing Earthworm Jim was the biggest mistake in Shiny's history. We could have sworn it was just being involved with Enter the Matrix. Just saying.

Dave Perry: Selling Earthworm Jim was the 'dumbest move ever'

by Jason Dobson { Sep 29th 2008 at 2:25PM }

Dave Perry has been feeling a twinge of seller's remorse since washing his hands of former platforming icon, Earthworm Jim. More than that, actually, as the Shiny Entertainment founder admits in a recent interview that, in hindsight, selling off the rights to annelid-made-superhero was probably the "dumbest move ever."

The outspoken Wii detractor lays the blame for the miscue largely on the industry's transition away from 2D and into the third dimension in the 90s, his animators at the time unwilling to lay down their pencils in favor of the almighty polygon. Of course, the team eventually went on to create the fabulously tongue-in-cheek action epic, MDK. Now, like Perry, we're left to sit and wonder what might have been as we wait for Interplay to push Jim up from the soil once more.

More great VC news: Mega Man 1, 2, Earthworm Jim 2 rated

by JC Fletcher { Aug 1st 2008 at 4:39PM }

The latest ESRB update confirms two wonderful things that we knew were happening at some point: first, that Mega Man and the sublime Mega Man 2 would be on the way to our Virtual Console soon; second, that Earthworm Jim would make an appearance.

Even more interesting -- Earthworm Jim has been rated for a while, but the latest update includes a rating for Earthworm Jim 2 on the Wii! Strangely, the new rating is for the Wii and Genesis versions, while another rating is already on the site for the Genesis game. Now it's got two E ratings! It's extra appropriate for families.

Other interesting new games found in ratings: Professor Heinz Wolff's Gravity, an Incredible Machine/Crayon Physics hybrid; Potpourii, a matching puzzle game; and Midnight Pool and Midnight Bowling from Gameloft.