This Day in Video Game History: November 30

This Day in Video Game History: November 30
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This Day in Video Game History

1989

Ubisoft released the S.C.A.R.S. racing game for personal computers. (ESRB: E)

1990

Sega released the Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle platform game for the Sega Genesis in Europe. It was the fifth installment in the Alex Kidd series.

1995

Sega released the Virtua Fighter fighting game for the Sega 32X in Europe.

Sega released the Vectorman platform game for the Sega Genesis in Europe.

Virgin Interactive released the _The 11th Hou_r puzzle game, the sequel to The 7th Guest, for Windows in the U.S. According to a script that was later released as part of a walk-through guide, the game’s designers originally intended to include several sexual cut scenes that were ultimately removed, possibly due to the controversy surrounding video game ratings that had sprung up around Night Trap in 1992. (ESRB: M)

1996

Konami released the Contra: Legacy of War third-person shooter for the PlayStation in the U.S. (ESRB: T)

Sega released the Scorcher racing game for personal computers and the Sega Saturn in the U.S.

1997

Activision released the first-person shooter Quake II for personal computers in the U.S. It was a new game, not a sequel to the blockbuster Quake. (ESRB: M)

Bethesda Softworks released the role-playing game The Elder Scrolls Legends: Battlespire for MS-DOS in the U.S. (ESRB: M)

Virgin Interactive released the SubSpace 2D shooting game for Windows in the U.S. (ESRB: E)

1998

Acclaim Entertainment released the NHL Breakaway ‘99 hockey game for the Nintendo 64 in the U.S. (ESRB: E)

StarCraft Brood War

Blizzard Entertainment released the StarCraft: Brood War expansion pack for the StarCraft real-time strategy game for personal computers. The expansion pack included additional campaigns, further upgrades, music tracks, new map tiles, and new unit types for each race. (ESRB: T)

Eidos Interactive released the Thief: The Dark Project stealth-based game for Windows in the U.S. The game casts players into the role of a thief named Garrett in a Victorian steampunk fantasy world. Unlike most first-person games, its goal was to avoid combat. (ESRB: M)

Sega announced that it had sold one hundred fifty thousand Dreamcast video game consoles in only the first day of its release in Japan. Price: 29,800 yen

Sierra On-Line released the sci-fi first-person shooter Starsiege: Tribes for Windows. It was among the earliest games that could be played online, and it also featured a number of other innovations, such as its support for as many as 128 players in its online mode. (ELSPA: 12+, ESRB: T)

Working Designs released Magic Knight Rayearth, based on the manga of the same name, for the Sega Saturn in the U.S. (ESRB: T)

1999

Acclaim Entertainment released the Shadow Man platform game, based on the Valiant Comics series Shadowman, for the Dreamcast in the U.S. The game will go on to sell over a million copies, making it Acclaim’s most successful title and one of the best-selling games ever released for the console. (ESRB: M)

Activision released a remake of the Space Invaders classic arcade game for the Nintendo 64 in North America featuring fifteen different opponents and ten bosses across over one hundred levels. (ESRB: E)

Electronic Arts released the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2000 golf game for personal computers and the PlayStation in the U.S. It is the second game in the Tiger Woods series. (ESRB: E)

Konami released the horror-themed Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness platform game for the Nintendo 64 in North America. (ESRB: T)

2006

Blizzard announces a new tracking system for their massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft that will allow players to track seven days of activity in game.

Namco Bandai released Naruto: Ultimate Ninja, based on the popular anime series Naruto, for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable (PSP) in Europe.

Research firm iSuppli released dated that estimated that Microsoft lost $153 loss for each its Xbox 360 sold but notes that production costs would decrease over the coming year.

2007

Capcom released the survival horror game Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles for the Wii in Europe. (PEGI: 18+)

Game magazine publisher Enterbrain published an article announcing that, in the month of November, the Sony PlayStation 3 outsold the Nintendo Wii at a ratio of nearly six to one.

Kane and Lynch

News begins circulating on the internet that GameSpot editor Jeff Gerstmann had been fired after more than ten years of working for GameSpot for giving the Eidos game Kane & Lynch: Dead Men a lukewarm review. In the review, Gerstmann wrote, “While [Kane & Lynch] sounds interesting at first, and has a few bright points, it’s weighed down by bad storytelling, a real lack of character development, and a host of gameplay-related issues. The end result is a game that squanders much of its potential and just doesn’t come together as well as it probably should have.” He also commented that it was an “ugly game not worth a purchase.” Eidos had run a major advertising campaign in the run up to its release on the GameSpot website, and many suspected that the dismissal was caused by external pressure brought to bear by Eidos. As a result, Eidos is forced to lock down all discussion threads on its website. CNet, the parent company of GameSpot, would later release a statement claiming that the decision was “under review.” The rumor, which has never been definitively proven either way. Over time, both insiders and industry analysts have come forward on both sides of the issue.