Late Night Consoling

July 15, 2003 8:00 PM

On a whim this afternoon I went and ordered the Xbox version of Capcom vs. SNK 2, which I had ordered ages ago from the now-defunct Dragon.ca and subsequently never received. Anyway, I was able to pick it up pretty cheap through Amazon.com's marketplace, and am looking forward to giving it a whirl on Xbox Live. Which raises a question I have for those of you who are active on Live...how big a problem has cheating been? We all know how annoying cheating has become when playing PS2 games like SOCOM online, but in theory Microsoft's centralized system should prevent this, or at least make it much, much harder. While I've dabbled in Xbox Live, I haven't really gotten fully addicted to any game yet, so it hasn't been a problem for me.

	Team Ninja Interview Gamers.com has posted two interviews with the always-entertaining Tomonobu Itagaki, which deal with Dead or Alive Online and Ninja Gaiden respectively. If you've ever read an interview with the extremely egotistical Itagaki-san, you know what to expect here, and he doesn't disappoint, with such gems as, "As you (James) already know, most full-3D action games have been ruined because of bad camera issues. Our camera engine has cleared all of the past hurdles with ease." Thanks Slashdot Games for the tip.
	NES Nostalgia Thanks to FARK of all places for pointing me towards this really fun stroll down memory lane...it's a detailed look at "the good, the bad and the ugly" from the NES years, and features looks at everything from those dust covers for NES carts to the dreadful Power Glove and the Nintendo Cereal System.
	Area 51 Q&A A new Q&A with Zach Wood of Midway is up at IGN tonight, talking with the producer about their upcoming online-enabled FPS Area 51. IGN also has the first gameplay footage to be released, although it's in Windows Media 9 format so Mac users like me are left out in the cold (whimper, whimper).
	New Xbox Live Downloads Soon Microsoft has updated their official Xbox Live site with details on the next round of downloadable content. Subscribers can look forward to new content for Brute Force and Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix in the near future.
	Boktai Multiplayer Revealed Details on the multiplayer modes that will be featured in Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hands can be found at Gamers.com tonight. The game will feature both a head-to-head combat mode and the ability to trade items, and if I had to guess I'd say this game will not support mutli-boot (given that every player needs the sunlight sensor, this would make sense).
	New Releases This Week A slim week this week with a single big exception...in stores tomorrow is The Italian Job for GameCube, Big League Slugger and Silent Line: Armored Core for PS2, NCAA Football 2004 for all three systems, and of course, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for Xbox.
	Misc. Media/Previews GameSpot has their hands-on look at Project Gotham Racing 2 (Xbox), new shots from ESPN NHL Hockey (PS2, Xbox), Dragonball Z: Taiketsu (GBA), Legacy of Kain: Defiance (PS2, Xbox) and Billy Hatcher & The Giant Egg (GC), as well as a first look at Xyanide (Xbox) and new footage from Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II (PS2, Xbox). Over at GamePro.com they have screenshots from Freedom Fighters (PS2, XBox and newly announced for GC), Whiplash (PS2, Xbox) and Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home (PS2, Xbox). IGN has their own hands-on look at Project Gotham 2 (Xbox), new gameplay footage from The Suffering (GC, PS2, Xbox), new media from Spy Hunter 2 (GC, PS2, Xbox) and a preview of Collin McRae Rally 4 (PS2). Elsewhere online, Computer and Video Games has new stuff from Super Mario Bros. 3: Super Mario Advance 4 (GBA) and Sudeki (Xbox) and The Magic Box has new shots from Magatama (Xbox) and SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos (NeoGeo/Arcade).

Console Game of the Evening: Samba De Amigo! for the Dreamcast. "The only console party game where it's more fun watching other people play than actually playing yourself. For maximum hilarity, two sets of the Maracas controllers are required - so Sega got $200 out of me." (submitted by DuvalMagic).