Late Night Consoling

December 17, 2002 8:30 PM

It's funny how the rumor mill works...yesterday several sources gave me hints that the Capcom/Nintendo deal was real, including that CBS Marketwatch story I posted last night. But today, everyone's been in full retreat, especially since the Sega/Capcom deal was announced (see below). So now, even though I had been leaning towards it, I'm no longer confident in this rumor. Something big is a brewin', but for the life of me, I don't know for sure. Actually that's not true...three totally unreliable sources have dropped hints that SNK, back from the brink of death (or patchinko, whichever's worse) will be going on a buying spree, picking up Sega, Konami, Atlus and Capcom, to form a new company known as SNACKS. Or no, no, that's not true. Actually, it'll be SNK, Ubi Soft and Hudson, to form SNUH. Or was that Sega, Nintendo, Capcom, Koei, Eidos and a Microsoft-spurned Rareware who were getting together to form SNICKER? No wait, wait, I've got it! It'll be SNK and EA to form SNEAK. Yep, that's the one, and I'm sticking to it.

	Capcom Signs with Sega.com So here's what Capcom did announce today...the company announced that they are partnering with Sega.com to license their "Sega Network Application Package" (SNAP -- and I'm not making that up), to power Auto Modelista's North American PS2 network.
	Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven Update Activision recently dropped by GameSpot's offices with a build of Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, and so a brief update on the game (along with some new media) can be found over there tonight.
	True Crime Preview In that same visit from Activision, GameSpot was able to take a look at True Crime: Streets of LA, and they have posted their impressions of the demo, along with new shots from the PS2 and Xbox versions.
	Hands-on Panzer Dragoon Preview Xbox.IGN has posted their hands-on impressions of Panzer Dragoon Orta, the long-awaited return for one of the best franchises in console gaming.
	Xbox Sales Surge It looks like Microsoft's having a great holiday season...in a letter to analysts, Microsoft said that it sold nearly half a million Xbox consoles in November, almost twice as much as October (although since it's from NPD, it doesn't include numbers from Wal-Mart). The best selling game was Splinter Cell, which racked up 224,000 copies in just two weeks.
	Activision's Sales Slump Proving that in this industry every company has its ups and downs, Activision chopped its profit and revenue outlooks for the next two quarters, saying that holiday sales of their best known brands are underperforming this year. Is it possible that after four installments the Tony Hawk series is floundering? For their sake, I'd hope not -- remember they've committed to this franchise for another decade (!).
	Xenosaga Modified for US Release Namco has confirmed that the North American release of Xenosaga has been modified from its Japanese counterpart ever-so-slightly. The scene in question, while not specifically sexual, may be misinterpreted by American audiences, and considering how young the android character in question looks, it would have been a bit creepy.
	GC/GBA Connection Incentive? According to IGN, Nintendo may be offering an incentive for developers to include GameCube/Game Boy Advance connectivity in their games. I certainly hope more games take advantage of this...I have both and the necessary cables, and haven't really had any excuse to use it yet (although I'm hoping to bust it out soon for Phantasy Star Online).
	Misc. Media New shots from Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution (PS2) are up at GameSpot, while IGN has new shots from Silent Hill 3 (PS2) and new movies from Yu-Gi-Oh for GameCube and links to new shots from the Xbox version of Phantasy Star Online are up at PlanetXbox.

Console Game of the Evening: 1990 Nintendo World Championship for the NES. According to GameSpy, this is the most collectible console game out there. In terms of rarity that may be true, but I'd bump Radiant Silvergun up simply because it's by far the best game on that list (and where's Panzer Dragoon Saga, anyway?).