Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) pulled from Virtual Console

You waited too long. It was only a couple bucks, but you thought, “I have time. It’ll always be there. I’ll get to it eventually.” But now you can’t download Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the Virtual Console and your world is destroyed.
Honestly, it was a weird goal to have, but we didn’t want to say anything. In each and every region, it seems the turtles have retreated from the Virtual Console. Nintendo World Report reports Konami cited an “expired license,” the same issue that claimed TMNT Turtles in Time Re-Shelled.
There’s no word on whether the turtles will return to the surface any time soon, so we’ve contacted Konami for more.
Pandora’s Tower coming to Europe in April, enjoy gross Valentine’s Day cards now

Pandora’s Tower is an action-RPG game in which soldier “Aeron” traverses a series of towers to gather monster meat with his magical sword and chain, and then feeds the aforementioned flesh to his cursed friend Elena. Yikes.
Speaking of “yikes,” Nintendo chose to mark the announcement with a set of grotesque Pandora’s Tower-themed Valentine e-cards. You can view them in the gallery or download them from Nintendo, for any relationships you need to end.
SOL: Exodus demo available now, update soon

SOL: Exodus, the $10 downloadable title that honorably brings the space combat sim into this generation, now has a demo available for test pilots. The demo covers the full prologue mission, which includes the basic tutorial and sets the stage for the “escape the solar system before it blows up” campaign.
Seamless Entertainment is also working on another update for the game, which will be available in the coming weeks. Version 1.12 adds mission checkpoints, difficulty levels, cockpit view, collision damage and “virtual joystick control.”
So, go ahead and try out the demo, and consider supporting this genre that desperately screams in the vacuum of space to return.
Crimson Dragon rated in Australia, features markings of ‘Project Draco’

It would appear the final name of “Project Draco” will be Crimson Dragon, if the pieces of a recent Australian classification fit neatly together. The author of the classification is noted as Grounding Inc., with Microsoft as publisher. Also, the game is also called Crimson Dragon, which seems to perfectly describe the flying reptilian protagonist of the game.
Project Draco, a Kinect-based dragon shooter, is heavily inspired by the Panzer Dragoon series. This observation is totally cool since the game is under the direction of Panzer Dragoon creator Yukio Futatsugi and many of the game’s original team members. Project Draco is expected to fly sometime this year.
Monopoly: World of Warcraft, Risk: StarCraft available this year

For years, WoW had a monopoly on the MMO market, so why not celebrate that with a board game? Blizzard Entertainment and USAopoly will launch Monopoly: World of Warcraft and Risk: StarCraft before year’s end. A Facebook vote will determine what tokens make it into the final version of the Azeroth real estate simulator, which will retail for $39.95 “in specialty stores across North America.”
Risk: Starcraft will include 290 custom playing pieces, featuring the Terran, Protoss and Zerg factions, along with six unique heroes. It rushes into specialty stores in North America this summer for $49.45.
For those looking to diversify their Risk portfolio, there are also Metal Gear Solid and Halo adaptations of the game about global conquest. Sadly, the best Monopoly jobs we’ve seen over the years are custom one-off crafts honoring Mass Effect and Fallout.
Amazon Valentines sale includes Dungeon Defenders, Modern Warfare 2

Amazon is holding a Valentine’s Day sale until the 20th for “Games to Play with Friends You Love.” The titles cover major “core” titles at deep discounts and over 200 casual titles for $2.99, all on PC.
Highlights in the core section include Dungeon Defenders for $3, Borderlands Game of the Year for $7 and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Ghost Recon 2 for $2.50 apiece.
More? Okay. How about Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 for $5 apiece. Yeah, see, Amazon loves you, baby. Now, don’t get jealous when you find out this isn’t a monogamous deal between you and the retailer.
Angry Birds wins a prize for making money through merchandising

Rovio, the people sprinkling stale bread behind Angry Birds, received the Property of the Year prize at the 12th annual Toy of the Year awards (yeah, that’s totally a thing). Rovio won based on the massive amount of Angry Birds physical merchandise it’s released over the past two years, which includes plush toys, backpacks, clothing, phone cases and bacon. OK, not bacon, but Rovio has branded almost every other item imaginable.
“Our physical goods business has great momentum just now,” Ville Heijari, Rovio’s VP of franchise development, told Develop. “It’s especially interesting to see many app and social game devs emulate the merchandising strategy that Rovio has been pushing with Angry Birds for the last two years.”
Back to the Future Ep. 1 free on iPad, other episodes on sale for a limited time

Life could always use more adventure, more wacky scientist sidekicks, dogs with awesome names and reluctant yet plucky heroes. And life could definitely use more time travel. If you feel the same way, a new Telltale promotion may interest you.
Back to the Future Episode 1 on the iPad is available for download right now, free of charge. Back in October, the iPad versions of Back to the Future received substantial updates addressing graphics and bug issues. All subsequent episodes have also had their price reduced in light of this new promotion, dropping episode 2 through 5 to $2.99 each for a limited time.
Konami’s new service has a fake girlfriend email you about her day
Konami’s dating sim, Love Plus, is a hit in Japan, allowing players to have girlfriends without the hassle of actually having a girlfriend. The next installment, New Love Plus, launches for 3DS in Japan tomorrow and offers more ways to bring virtual girlfriends into real-life experiences, Siliconera reports.
Love Plus Tools, which allows players to import their previous Love Plus data into New Love Plus, will offer compatibility with AR cards that Konami will release every Monday. Users can take life-sized photos of their girlfriends and print them out on size A3 or A4 paper (16.5 x 11.7 in or 11.7 x 8.3 in, respectively).
New Love Plus will also introduce Girlfriend Mail, wherein players will receive email from their in-game girlfriends, accessible via PC and smartphone. Girlfriend Mail will cost 315 yen ($4) per month, but Konami is offering it for free until March. Owners will also be able to link their game data with Girlfriend Mail, so emails will include their pet names, and on birthdays or anniversaries players will get “special mail.” Whatever that means.
Ridge Racer Unbounded delayed four weeks in Europe

Who has time to make a hackneyed “Riiiiidge Raaacer” joke when vital information has just been released regarding the franchise’s next installment? Oh, wait, we totally do. Unbounded, the next game in Kaz Hirai’s favorite series, has been delayed to March 30 in Europe, Eurogamer reports.
“The development team felt they needed a little bit of extra time to optimise the game,” publisher Namco Bandai told the site. The Bugbear-developed racer is coming to the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
Ridge Racer Unbounded was originally scheduled to launch in Europe on March 3. Multiple North American retailers still list the game as scheduled for March 6. Joystiq has contacted publisher Namco Bandai to clarify whether the North American release date has been affected.