Late Night Consoling

August 22, 2003 8:00 PM

With mere days to go before Soul Calibur II arrives on my doorstep, I'm nearly drooling with anticipation. I'm very satisfied in my decision to go with the GameCube version of the game, and I keep having to stop myself from ordering one of those amazing arcade sticks that sTeve keeps raving about. Aside from the fact that it costs a bit to import those bad boys, what's really keeping me back is that I want to find out if the North American stick is decent. If so, I'd be much more likely to pick that up because of its cross-platform capability. Although in the event that I did import one of those Japanese sticks I'd probably order the PS2 variant and a GameCube converter box, since that would allow me to use the same stick for both my GameCube and PS2, but also my PC, since I have a USB converter box. Not that I need a new arcade stick for my PC, mind you. For those rare times when I need one I use my Saturn's Virtua Stick, which is one hell of a joystick and remains the ultimate way to play Virtua Fighter, Fighting Vipers or Fighters Megamix. Which reminds me...since I won't have Soul Calibur II until next week, I think I'll break out one or all of those games to get myself back in the fighting game spirit this weekend. And besides...I still get a kick out of playing a serious fighting game with the car from Daytona USA as a playable character (to say nothing of the glam-rock stars from Fighting Vipers).

	Extra Bonus in PS2 Version of Soul Calibur II Namco has announced that those who pick up the PS2 version of Soul Calibur II next week will get an extra bonus: a second CD with playable demos of several major games (including Tekken 4, I-Ninja and kill.switch) and high-res trailers for many others (including Time Crisis 3, Ace Combat 4 and Xenosaga Episode I). There's also some bonus content for owners of a few other games as well. On a related note, if you live in NYC, you can pick up Soul Calibur II (all versions) slightly before everyone else, as there's going to be an event at the EB Games at Union Square.
	New Manhunt Preview A new preview of Manhunt, Rockstar's recently revealed urban-action game is up at IGN tonight, offering (finally!) some clear screenshots from the game. Thanks pimpium for the tip.
	New Xbox Platinum Titles Announced Microsoft has unveiled the next batch of titles to be entered into their Platinum Hits collection of sub-$20 games. Among the 13 or so new games are Unreal Championship, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, Dead or Alive 3 and Medal of Honor: Frontline.
	Paper Mario for GameCube? According to a minor notice on The Magic Box, Nintendo of Europe has confirmed that a GameCube version of Paper Mario will be released in the first half of 2004. That seems a bit puzzling, and it's unknown if this is a straight port or not, and if so, if it's going to be a pre-order bonus (like The Ocarina of Time) or a full game. Either way, this is great news for those of you who missed the game on the N64: it's a blast.
	N-Gage Engage! Lots of N-Gage previews have hit the web over the last few days...GameSpy has opened up a whole sub-site devoted to the phone/handheld system, GameSpot has new hands-on previews of Tomb Raider, SonicN, Virtua Tennis, Super Monkey Ball, Red Faction, Puzzle Bobble VS, Puyo Pop, Pandemonium and MLB Slam, IGN Wireless has their own looks at Tomb Raider, Pandemonium, Super Monkey Ball, Virtua Tennis, MLB Slam, Sonic N, Puyo Pop and Puzzle Bobble VS and IGN Gear has a general look at the system itself. Also, Computer and Video Games has a news item up regarding Nokia's announcement about a huge announcement next month, although if I had to guess I'd say this is just their unveiling of their European plans, and not anything particularly new.
	New PS2 in Europe Computer and Video Games is reporting that Sony is going to be introducing a new PS2 model in Europe. The new model features compatibility with DVD-R movies (something the North American ones can already do) and will sport built-in IR functionality. They also were able to confirm that a limited-edition silver model will be released in Europe later this year.
	Mario Kart Improvements PlanetGameCube has posted a roundup of changes in the version of Mario Kart: Double Dash that was on display at Toy Test over the version that was shown at E3 back in May. Among the many changes is a serious increase in the speed (the reporter estimates it's at least twice as fast) and the addition of character-specific items.
	Eye Toy: Groove Announced Eye Toy: Play hasn't been released outside of Europe yet, but it's been successful enough overseas that a second title has been announced. Called Eye Toy: Groove, it's a rhythm game like DDR that uses the digital camera to monitor your rhythmic gyrations (or in my case, lethargic staring).
	New Splinter Cell Mission Soon Ubi Soft has announced that a new mission for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell will be released next month. It's called "Vselka" and is supposedly the most challenging one to date, even if it does sound a lot like the name of a great Ukrainian restaurant in the east village.
	Dark Chronicle Q&A Computer and Video Games has conducted a Q&A with Kentaro Motomura of Level 5, talking to him about their upcoming RPG Dark Chronicle, the next game in their Dark Cloud series. Update: Dark Chronicle is actually the Japanese name for Dark Cloud 2, which is already available in North America.
	Game Delays THQ has announced that Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior (PS2) has been pushed back from its original September release date to sometime later in the last quarter of the year. THQ also announced a slight delay for Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy which has been bumped from September to November. The good news is that the game is now going to be shipping for all three platforms, whereas originally it was to be GameCube and PS2 only. On a completely different note, SNK Playmore has announced that the home version of SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos has been pushed back from October to December in Japan.
	Misc. Media/Previews GameSpot has a new preview of Gran Turismo 4 (PS2), a new movie from Lethal Skies II (PS2), new impressions of Unreal II (Xbox), new shots from Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand (GBA), a first look at Super Bust-A-Move All Stars (GC) and a pair of Viewtiful Joe (GC) music videos which should be worth the hassle you'll have to go through to sign up for their (free) basic service in order to view them. IGN has a Pikmin 2 (GC) progress report, new shots from Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GC), a hands-on look at Tony Hawk's Underground (GC, PS2, Xbox), new movies from Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest (PS2) and new media from Spawn and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (both GC, PS2, Xbox). Elsewhere online, Games Are Fun has new shots from Karaoke Revolution (PS2), GameSpy has new previews of SWAT: Global Strike Team (PS2, Xbox), Arx Fatalis (Xbox), Billy Hatcher & The Giant Egg (GC) and Ninja Gaiden (Xbox). Also, The Magic Box has new shots from Mobile Suit Gundam Z: Aeug Vs Titans (PS2), Kenshin Dragon Quest (TV Game) and Mario Kart: Double Dash (GC), PlanetGameCube has the first shots from Activision Anthology (GBA), Gamers.com has new details and shots from Baten Kaitos (GC) and Sierra has opened up their official site for Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (GC, PS2, Xbox).

Console Game of the Evening: Contra for the NES. "Even when you used the infamous Konami code the game was still hard and fun. With a friend, 15 years ago or today it still rules!" (submitted by soggybagel).

jason bergman

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