chuchu-rocket posts(Subscribe to this feed)

Rumor: ChuChu Rocket! to blast the XBLA


Here's an Xbox Live Arcade rumor for you. Lately, our friends over at SEGA have been busy re-registering a few of their older game trademarks, most recently a trademark for the Dreamcast's addictively fun ChuChu Rocket! A game trademark that has yet to expire. So, why the need for a new trademark? Well, Siliconera speculates that SEGA could be prepping ChuChu Rocket! (and other franchises) for release to the Xbox Live Arcade.

Admittedly, the theory is a bit of a stretch, but isn't total crazy talk. SEGA prepping for an XBLA release of ChuChu Rocket! by re-registering the trademark kind of makes sense ... right?

[Via Wii Fanboy]

Sega directing ChuChu Rocket! to WiiWare?

Does Sega share our view that ChuChu Rocket! was Born for Wii? The company's U.S. arm re-registered a trademark for ChuChu Rocket! on December 22, and Siliconera's Spencer predicted that this could mean a future release for ... Xbox Live Arcade.

In this case, we hope Spencer is totally wrong, and that this actually signals a forthcoming WiiWare adaptation. Sega recently made its WiiWare debut with Let's Catch, so has already shown an interest in the service. Obviously, this news could also mean nothing, but we don't like to dwell on that possibility -- the dark satisfaction to be had from guiding your opponent's ChuChus towards a hungry KapuKapu is something we want to experience again.

Born for Wii: ChuChu Rocket!

In spite of its untimely demise, the Dreamcast still lives on in gamers' hearts due to a small library of now-classic titles, ranging from the grandiose, such as Shenmue, to the bizarre, like Space Channel 5. Falling closer to the latter on the weirdness scale is ChuChu Rocket!, a unique Dreamcast puzzler that's noteworthy for being one of the last great games to come out of Sega's Sonic Team (I mean, really -- Shadow the Hedgehog?), and for taking the Dreamcast online with four-player multiplayer -- no small feat in 2000. Just like Katamari Damacy, ChuChu Rocket! succeeds on the strengths of simple-but-addictive gameplay and irresistible charm.

ChuChu Rocket! makes no attempt to hide what it is -- a pure puzzler, free of all frivolities and unnecessary dead weight like a story. The concept is quite straightforward -- your only goal is to guide a group of mice (or, in some levels, just one mouse) into a rocket. In many cases, this involves avoiding cats who are roaming the puzzle terrain, waiting to make a mouse sandwich out of your little ChuChus. Both the mice and the cats move in the exact same fashion -- they head in a straight line until they hit a wall, which will cause them to turn right. It's a little like watching a group of lemmings, but, thankfully, the mice move just a bit faster.

Continued →

Joystiq Features




Featured Galleries (view all)

Club Nintendo 2009 gifts
Logitech Wii instruments
Lost in Shadow (Wii)
Dementium II (10/26/09)
Calling (Wii)
DiRT 2
Let's Catch
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Crystal Defenders R2

Team Joystiq

Chris Grant

Editor-in-Chief

RSS Feed

James Ransom-Wiley

Managing Editor

RSS Feed

Ludwig Kietzmann

Senior Editor

RSS Feed

Andrew Yoon

East Coast Editor

RSS Feed

Randy Nelson

West Coast Editor

RSS Feed

Justin McElroy

Reviews Editor

RSS Feed

Alexander Sliwinski

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Ben Gilbert

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

David Hinkle

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Griffin McElroy

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

JC Fletcher

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Kevin Kelly

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Mike Schramm

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Richard Mitchell

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

Xav De Matos

Contributing Editor

RSS Feed

About Joystiq