Sonic Unleashed and Aliens vs Predator now playable on Xbox One via backwards compatibility

Microsoft has announced a few new Xbox 360 games that will be playable on the Xbox One thanks to backwards compatibility. Out of the three new games, two of them are published by SEGA. If you read the title you know they are Sonic Team’s Sonic Unleashed and Rebellion’s Alien vs Predator. Like always, if you already own the Xbox 360 discs or the game’s digitally, you canstart playing them today on Xbox One for free. If you don’t have the Xbox 360 games, you can buy them right now on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

While we can whine about what each console is doing right or wrong, I love that Microsoft really focused on backwards compatibility and even offered a avenue for publishers to make money on last generation software with no effort on their part. I don’t know if this is a huge system seller for Microsoft, but Its cool for fans that wanna go back and revisit games like Sonic Unleashed, which I know a lot of you might want to do.

Aliens: Colonial Marines and Alien vs Predator have been pulled from the Steam store [update]

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We know that Aliens: Colonial Marines and Alien vs. Predator (2010) could have been better games, but did they really have to get pulled from the Steam store? One might say that it has to do with the Alien license, but that isn’t true since SEGA just released Alien: Isolation, which is still on the Steam store.

The even odder thing is that the older Alien vs Predator (published by Rebellion) is also still on Steam, making me think this could have been done by SEGA to weed out the ‘shitty’ Alien games. Though Aliens: Colonial Marines is still available to buy on Amazon, GMG, and other digital PC stores (all even redeem on steam and probably have limited codes).

Alien vs Predator and Alien: colonial Marines join a list of SEGA titles to be pulled from digital services. Others include the recent Afterburner Climax, Outrun 2: Coast to Coast, Sega Rally Revo, and more.  Read more about pulled games in the Steam forum topic.

Edit: Alien: Colonial Marines and Alien vs Predator have now reappeared on the Steam store. 

Rumor: Anonymous Gearbox developer claims Gearbox lied to SEGA, SEGA temporarily canceled the project

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Destructoid has done a pretty awesome job covering the clusterfuck that is Aliens: Colonial Marines. Now they have learned, courtesy of a former Gearbox developer that spoke to them only under the condition of anonymity, that Gearbox not only lied to SEGA but that this lie lead to the project temporarily being canceled.

“Gearbox was taking people off the project to put them on Borderlands 1. This was before the big art style change happened on Borderlands. Our team was getting smaller by the month, making it very difficult to get the game made. Ironically several of the team members were ex-3D Realms people who were saying [paraphrasing] ‘Finally, we’re going to Gearbox to make Aliens, and we’re going to ship a fucking game!’ Hah.

At some point in 2008, SEGA temporarily pulled the plug on the game. They caught wind of Gearbox shifting resources (despite still collecting milestone checks as if the team were full size) and lying to SEGA AND 2K about the number of people working on each project. This led to the round of layoffs at Gearbox in late 2008.” -Anonymous former Gearbox developer

It should be noted that due to the developer’s anonymity, this should be regarded as a rumor. Though if this is to be believed, the next question one has to ask is…why did SEGA pick the project back up? While this is pure conjecture on my part, I would surmise that the resurrection of this project had everything to do with the financial success SEGA saw with Aliens vs. Predator, released in 2010. The following year, Aliens: Colonial Marines made its debut at E3 and…well, we know the rest, don’t we?

I would suggest reading the entire article over at Destructoid.

SEGA digital deals roaming around the internet [submit yours]

Hey, its that time of year where websites are slashing prices on goods, especially digital goods to earn some of your hard earned cash. You probably heard of the November holiday. Thanks what? No, I’m talking about Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We American’s rather have bargains than being grateful. Getting on with the savings, here is a short list of digital SEGA goods you can buy right now. If I left stuff out, submit it via the comments. Happy shopping.

Aliens vs. Predator Swarm Pack DLC

If you were one of those people that enjoyed Alien vs Predator but didn’t buy the rather expencive ‘Special Edition’ then it may just be worth picking up this ‘new’ DLC.

Featuring 4 new maps for different multiplayer modes, previously only available in the Special Editions, this downloadable content will challenge all three species for the fight of their existence.

The Swarm Map Pack is available now on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC platforms for £4.79 / 560 Microsoft Points. Featuring 4 new maps for different multiplayer modes, previously only available i…
The Swarm Map Pack is available now on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC platforms for £4.79 / 560 Microsoft Points.

Aliens vs Predator ultimate multiplayer trailer

Prepare for war! This is the ULTIMATE Multiplayer trailer for Aliens vs Predator! (According to its youtube title anyway.) I can’t argue, it does look pretty sexy.

The trailer boasts of 7 multiplayer modes including Infestation, Predator Hunt, Survivor, Domination, Death Match, Species Death Match and Mixed Species Death Match. Spliced togeather with some very gory scenes.

Finally it shows the release date, 19.2.2010. The game will be available on Xbox360, PS3 and PC.