Some people, like John Ivers of Indiana, have the guts and ingenuity to build a working rollercoaster in their back yard. For most folks, however, coaster construction is limited to virtual worlds, and Nintendo fans can soon join the fun if Atari and developer n-Space deliver on their recent announcement: Rollercoaster Tycoon is coming to 3DS.

Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 is one of my top 3 favorite games; its lifelike physics and charming sprite graphics took me on a mini-vacation every time I booted it up. And, unlike some players (who posted YouTube videos of their wildest crashes and intentionally drowned their customers), I took my role as park manager very seriously and considered the level “failed” if I had a single fatality on my watch. I even named all my guards, mechanics, entertainers and janitors. Yeah, I’m a geek. (more…)

How many of these classics and clunkers are you familiar with?

It’s So Reeeeeeal! Thank you, Sammy Sosa, for one of the best lines ever:

At the launch of N64, Nintendo dared us to “Change the System!” and abandon the load-time heavy Playstation. This came after a campaign urging players to stick with SNES because, “Who Needs a New System?” (more…)

While in Wal-Mart the other day, I found N+ for $10. Remembering it was in IGN’s Top 25, I picked it up with excitement, removed Spirit Tracks from its well-deserved place in my card slot, and popped in this simplistic platformer.  Let me say, if any of you have not picked up this game, DO IT.

In N+, the N stands for Ninja, and all you do is run and jump (see gameplay footage). There are HUNDREDS of levels, plus a level editor and online access to a community of players. After playing it for a couple of hours, I am realizing how incredibly challenging this game is. I can’t tell you how many times my little guy has exploded as he hit the explosives scattered throughout the levels. Just recently I screamed in a room of friends and family when a barely missed passing a level. Its intense.  I love this game.

Thought your collection of old school NES Mega Man cartridges was hardcore?  Try this on for size: Mega Man for the the Atari 2600.  Avalible for download at Atari Age’s Forums, this short but neat demo was created by David Galloway for iam8bit in 2007 and has only recently released to the public.

The demo only has one level consisting of four vertically scrolling screens, and a boss – but it’s pretty cool.  A full sized Megaman game in this style would have been awesome in Atari’s golden years – it’s almost too bad there are no plans to make a full game out of this.   Hit the jump for a playthrough video  and peek at Elecman.

[via Joystiq]

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Ghostheads in US territories can breath a collective sigh of release thanks to Atari CEO Jim Wilson, who contacted GamesIndustry this morning to assure them that Sony only bought the rights to the upcoming Ghostbusters game in PAL territories.

“The Sony Computer Entertainment partnership is exclusive to Europe, Atari is going to be publishing on all platforms in the US on June 16,” clarified Wilson.

Until now, fans had feared that the Sony buyout would have outright canceled Xbox 360 and Wii versions of the title, but new information shows that this a Europe exclusive deal.

Although it still seems like a shady move that’s unfair to the fans, screwing Europe seems to par for the course when it comes to game publishing.

Ghostbusters will be available for Xbox 360, PS3, and Nintendo Wii on June 16th 2009.