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This week, the Virtual Console receives two new titles: Golden Axe on the VC Arcade and Zombies Ate My Neighbors on the SNES. Both are great times for co-op enthusiasts and, really, just great times.

• Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Golden Axe (Arcade, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)

Of course Nintendo of America didn't release Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth today. That would have been far too obvious. However, rather than disappointing us with this week's selections, Nintendo actually surprised us with a very welcome, seasonally appropriate Virtual Console classic! Knock on the post break and see what kind of downloadable candy Nintendo is shoving into our pillowcases.

We're going to be in the minority on this one, but that's okay: for us, by far the most exciting new addition to Europe's Wii Shop this week is the arcade version of Golden Axe. More of you may be happy to see Super Star Wars, however. Or, if you're teensy, Learning with the PooYoos.

DSiWare offers a cute-sounding camera app that lets you add MySims characters to photos. The great thing about this, of course, is that MySims characters are unbelievably cute.

• Golden Axe (Arcade, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points)
• Super Star Wars (SNES, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
• Magnetis (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
• Learning with the PooYoos: Episode 1 (WiiWare, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
• MySims Camera (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)

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.

This week, Japan gets two arcade games -- both of which have titles starting with the letter G, and both of which are already available on Virtual Console as ports. Galaga '88, Namco's cute, brightly colored, fireworks-filled sequel to Galaga, is definitely something we'd consider double-dipping for. Both the arcade version and the TG16 port (Galaga '90) are great, and the port includes a bit of extra content. And is it okay to like Golden Axe? Because we like Golden Axe.

On the WiiWare front, Hudson launches its second downloadable FPS for the Wii. Unfortunately, it's the dire-looking Water Warfare.

Virtual Console:

• Galaga '88 (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Golden Axe (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)

WiiWare:

• Bang Bang Kids (1-2 players offline, 2-8 online, 800 Wii Points)

The lineup of Virtual Console games heading to Japan next month is fairly light. But we suspect that won't matter at all because it includes Super Mario Kart. Super Mario Kart plus any quantity of other games seems like a nice month! Oh, especially since it also includes Final Fantasy II, which, unfortunately, we don't expect to see on our own Virtual Console.

Other games include another Famicom entry in the Jake Hunter series, adorable Wagyan Land and Mappy sequels from Namco, and the original arcade versions of Altered Beast (!) and Golden Axe (!!).

Famicom:

• Tantei Jinguuji Saburo: Toki no Sugiyuki Mama Ni
• Final Fantasy II

Super Famicom:

• Super Wagyan Land (out June 2)
  
• Super Mario Kart

Virtual Console Arcade

• Altered Beast (out June 2)
• Golden Axe
• Hopping Mappy (out June 2)

Classic Sega games are coming to the PlayStation Network, if leaked ESRB ratings are to be believed. Streets of Rage 2, Golden Axe and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 can all be seen with new ratings from the board. These games are already available as re-released on Xbox LIVE Arcade, so it makes sense that the PlayStation Network should get them as well.

Fans of Sega compilations may also want to look into the upcoming Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, which houses a number of classic 16-bit games.

Best Buy is giving out a free beanie hat with purchase of Guitar Hero World Tour, selling Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway for $40 and offering Blitz II for $50. Target stores only have one good deal and that's a free $25 gift card with purchase of an Xbox 360 Arcade console. Circuit City is dishing out the gift cards (as has become the norm), giving away a free $10 gift card with purchase of Fable II, Golden Axe, Far Cry 2, Dead Space, Saints Row 2, and Hell's Highway. You can score a free $10 gift card and mini strategy guide with purchase of Fallout 3 (CE), a free $15 iTunes gift card with purchase of Guitar Hero World Tour and a free t-shirt with Legendary. Phew ... happy shopping!

Normally, we avoid metareviews of games that have been universally maligned because, well, who cares about them? But reader Joseph P. pointed us to a review this morning that made us reconsider our position on Golden Axe: Beast Rider. Let's see if you can figure out which one it is.

• Eurogamer (30/100): "Castle Crashers has already shown that there's a market for well-produced 2D hackandslash, but instead we get this utterly charmless and shamelessly derivative 3D shrug of a game. SEGA might as well have released this as The Adventures of Fiery Boob Lady, and left their mothballed franchise with at least modicum of dignity."
• IGN (32/100): "If had to sum up my feelings for Golden Axe: Beast Rider in five words or less, I'd actually do it in one: hatred. The game is so ridden with poor production values that there's absolutely nothing redeeming about the game, and its checklist of annoying issues will drive all but the already-insane crazy long before it ends."
• GamePro (40/100): "Fans hoping for a worthwhile update to one of gaming's most revered hack-and-slash franchises will be sorely disappointed by this poorly designed and utterly mediocre title."
• Play (90/100): "I could write another page on things I love about Beast Rider, like how bloody cool it looks when Tyris slices a body in two or hacks off an arm, subtle homages like scampering gnomes and thorny spikes, the naked body parts that Death Adder's minions use for decoration, how the game runs like a dream on PS3, and how awesome it is that the single-player experience wasn't compromised to add some bogus online crapola, but I think my work here is done."

You read that right: A 9 out of 10. How could something like this have happened, you ask? Well, in this missive, reviewer Dave Halverson theorizes that most reviewers didn't even finish the game. We haven't played it ourselves and with Halverson listing "the lack of a multiplayer mode" among the things he loves about Beast Rider, we don't know who to trust. Have any of you given it a shot?

And here ... we ... go. We're halfway through October and it's finally started. The industry imposed holiday game torrent is upon us. We hope you've saved up some cash (or tidied up your GameFly queue) because, starting now, you're going to need it. Just look at all of these games:

• Dead Space
• Saints Row 2
• Blitz: The League II
• Golden Axe: Beast Rider
• Rock Revolution
• FIFA Soccer 2009

Yeah, this is going to be a tough couple of months.

[Via Joystiq]

Sega has released a new video featuring one of the new beasts in Golden Axe: Beast Rider. As the title implies, the beast in question can be ridden. Called the Abrax, the beast looks to be something of an amalgamation of the dragons and the purple chicken-lizard thing from the original arcade game. It has a variety of abilities, including a tail whip, fire breath, and fireballs that take on the properties of mortar shells. All in all, the Abrax looks like a pretty sweet ride, although we can't help but feel something's missing.

Check out a video of the original chicken-lizard in action after the break. We're these guys separated at birth, or what?

Sega has announced that Heavenly Golden Axe of War (also known by its official title: Golden Axe: Beast Rider) will release Oct. 17 in Europe. Retailers currently have Oct. 14 listed for North America, but we've contacted Sega of America to confirm. GA:BR is the AAA AA+ title based on the co-op driven, arcade beat 'em up from the early '90s. Sadly, Beast Rider does not feature any co-op play.

For that, protagonist stripper Tyris Flare will apparently have to wait until a sequel, as the developers were keen to focus on combat this time around. At least we know what the first back-of-the-box bullet point will be.

Imagine you gathered together a group of video game journalists and told them to recall their fondest memories of the classic Sega arcade game, Golden Axe. Now imagine you created a video montage of said journalists discussing said memories. Now imagine watching that video and not once hearing the word "multiplayer." Seems a little weird, no? And yet, not once in a new Golden Axe: Beast Rider mini documentary (embedded after the brdeak) does a single person mention one of the biggest (if not the biggest) features from the original Golden Axe, multiplayer. Now, we're not saying Beast Rider will be an awful game -- in fact, it looks pretty decent -- but come on. Really? Nobody remembers how awesome it was to take on Death Adder with a buddy? Nobody remembers how our brother used to kick us in the shins when our dwarf accidentally clipped his barbarian with our trusty battle axe?

Anyhway, the team at Secret Level seems to be pretty dedicated to the Golden Axe legacy. We just hope someone explains the lack of multiplayer. Somehow, we get the feeling that the answer will sound something like this: "Do you know how successful God of War is?"

The fall from grace. Unless your heart is nothing more than a cold, shriveled lump, you probably don't like to witness a once-respectable series slowly degrade. It's happened to many franchises. Often the decay is gradual, with gamers slowly noticing a decline in quality and is correlated with slumping sales. Other times a single misstep can throw an entire series against the ropes and nearly into submission. Either way, it's never pleasant to witness failure. Well, almost never.

What was once a prominent pillar in the stealth world has been slowly regressing into mediocrity. The Tenchu series was one of the first and most successful entries in the emerging stealth-based genre of the late 1990's. Though games involving evasive maneuvering over combat had been around for awhile, they truly flourished in 3D. From the onset, Tenchu was there. Peered with and rivaled against other top-notch franchises such as Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell, the word "Tenchu" was synonymous with heart-thumping, adrenaline-pumping sneaky gameplay. But everything eventually dies. And the Tenchu series received a terminal illness in the form of Tenchu: Dark Secret. Unless somebody steps in and performs some sort of miracle, we might have to talk to Tenchu fans about video game heaven. It's where all game franchises go when they pass away. All of Tenchu's friends are there, like Golden Axe, ToeJam & Earl, and Ecco the Dolphin (Sega, please prove me wrong on these).

It's been three months since we've seen any moving pictures from Golden Axe: In Name Only, but is that enough time to prepare yourself for a new trailer? Have you had enough time to get ready for footage of a title that's so clearly not a Golden Axe game that it's almost kind of adorable? Are you ready for "Not this day!" sure to be one of the classic video game lines of all time? Most importantly (and prominently), are you braced for the most gratuitous digital ass shot of this or any other decade?

Feel free to watch above, just don't say we didn't warn you.