Could Ecco the Dolphin be delisted on XBLA?
Posted by Chris. Filed under Chris. Tagged with Ecco, Sega Vintage Collection, XBLA.
You may or may not have heard the recent news that Microsoft plans to remove certain Xbox Live Arcade titles that aren’t performing at an acceptable level. That level is games that have been available for at least half a year, have a Metacritic score less than 65 and have a conversion rate of under six percent.
While Microsoft doesn’t openly share its conversion rates with the public, the other two criteria are easy enough to find out. Mygen has done the hard work for us and has discovered that more than 40 games could possibly be on the chopping block, including Sega’s Ecco the Dolphin.
Ecco was released on XBLA Aug. 15, 2007 and is saddled with a Metacritic score of only 53, which only serves to prove how silly mainstream reviews have become in recent years. While things certainly don’t look good for our underwater ally, we still don’t know what the game’s conversion rate is, which could actually save its life on XBLA if it’s higher than six percent.
It’s truly sad that the game might be axed due to some badly written reviews on Metacritic. It seems a lot of the publications that scored it the lowest, didn’t score the game based on its own merits, but compared it to other games that are available on the platform today. I don’t think I really need to go into detail on why that’s a problem. Ecco is currently available to purchase for only 400 points.
[Via Mygen/Image via Tree Bugger]
Ecco Jr. hits the Virtual Console
Posted by Hudson. Filed under Nintendo Wii, Retro, Sony PSP, Sony PlayStation 2, Virtual Console. Tagged with Ecco, Sega Genesis Collection.
How awesome? So awesome.
Ecco Jr. hit the Virtual console today for the low low price of $8.
 It’s a lot like Ecco the Dolphin, but with a difficulty level appropriate for small children. In addition, terror does not stalk you at every turn while your air supply threateningly drops leaving you no hope of reaching the sweet relief of the surface and its life-giving oxygen.
There’s also a lot more sea horse herding than your standard dolphin game. Which is to say, any.
Add in the fact that Ecco Jr. is already on the Sega Genesis Collection and you’ve got yourself a hard sell for anyone but unwitting parents or the girl that sat next to you in grade school who drew dolphins on her binder and talked about how much she wanted to be a marine biologist.
 She loved dolphins so much. Maybe a little too much…
Ecco, Streets of Rage 2 on XBLA this month?
Posted by Hudson. Filed under News. Tagged with Ecco, XBLA.
John Porcaro, senior group manager in Microsoft’s Global Games Marketing Team (gasps for air), has let slip the basic time frame for the release of Ecco the Dolphin and Streets of Rage 2 for XBLA on his Gamerscore blog. He lists Ecco under “Hot August games also releasing this month” and Streets of Rage 2 under “Sizzling Summer launches hitting in the coming weeks,” along with a little summary blurb for each game:
“Ecco the Dolphin†(Sega) Cool off with this fun, whimsical update of the classic undersea exploration game featuring everyone’s favorite bottlenose dolphin, Ecco!
“Streets of Rage 2†(Sega) One of the most popular side-scrolling beat ‘em ups of the 90’s gets the Xbox LIVE Arcade treatment, complete with enhanced graphics, sound, Achievements and multiplayer modes.
Other Genesis titles on XBLA have cost 400 Microsoft Points ($5 for those that prefer thinking in terms of actual money), though time will tell if this trend will continue. I’m just hoping there’s a “jump real high” achievement in Ecco.
Three more games coming to Sega Vintage Collection
Posted by Nathan. Filed under Microsoft Xbox 360, Nathan, News, Sonic. Tagged with Ecco, Sega Vintage Collection, XBLA.
Want some good news after the hilarious letdown that was Nintendo’s press conference? Three more Sega games are coming to Xbox Live Arcade at some point in the future: Streets of Rage 2, Ecco the Dolphin, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Online co-op Streets of Rage 2? YES PLEASE.
[Via Sega Japan]
Europe receives trio of Genesis VC titles
Posted by Chris. Filed under Chris, Europe, Sonic, Virtual Console. Tagged with Ecco, Golden Axe.
Sega has now released Sonic 2, Ecco: Tides of Time and Golden Axe II for the Virtual Console in Europe for 800 Wii points each.
I won’t bore you with details about the games, because frankly, if you don’t already know enough about them, you’re probably on the wrong site.
So today, I present you with a video of the Sonic the Hedgehog theme being played at Yale University during the Video Games Live concert.
