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Be the first on your block to own a chunk of Mars! Enix (man, I can’t wait for their merger with Square), in collaboration with the Lunar Embassy Corporation, is running a very special contest with its upcoming RPG Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. Ten purchasers of the game, who enter the contest via the internet or through the provided registration card, will each win one of four deeds to lots of real estate on the planet Mars. It is unclear exactly how much land these deeds each represent, or how they’ll stand against any future colonization of Mars, but how many of your friends can say that they own extraterrestrial real estate?
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At the Game Developers Choice Awards on March 6th, the International Game Developers Association will be granting its third annual Lifetime Achievement Award to Gunpei Yokoi. Yokoi, of course, was the mastermind behind the Game Boy and Metroid. This marks the first time that the award has been granted posthumously, as Yokoi died in a traffic accident in 1997. The award will be accepted by his surviving family members.
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For those that give a damn, Japanese software giant Konami (beloved by this staff member for creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle video games of way back when) is changing its logo starting April 1 (the same day of the SQUARE ENIX EFFING MERGER!). This is to commemorate their 30th anniversary on March 19th. Observe:
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In other merger news, Sonic the Hedgehog/Sega Genesis creators Sega and complete unknown to you Sammy are also set to make two become one on October 1st of this year. Sammy’s only notable achievement this side of the globe is the Guilty Gear series (see: our review of Guilty Gear X2 in this very issue!), but they are famous in Japan for their pachinko machines (a sort of vertical pinball game). The merger is said to be taking place to “form a stronger, more comprehensive entertainment firm.” I’d say the SQUARE ENIX EFFING MERGER is way cooler, wouldn’t you? No name is yet in place for this new corporation. Wouldn’t Squeenix be a cool name for the new SQUARE-ENIX? Credit to Matt “the g50” Gardner for that one.
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In other Sega news… they’re gonna have Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Monkey Ball toys in McDonald’s Happy Meals this summer. Don’t forget to order a half-dozen smiles with that Happy Meal! They’re free, ya’know. No word on any pachinko machines in any Happy Meals anytime soon, but keep reading GameCola for regular updates.
