Many thanks to Maarten for covering for me on Friday while I was off visiting family on the lesser coast. In keeping with my retro kick of late, my GBA game of choice for this trip was the Phantasy Star Collection, and I played quite a bit of the first game in the series. I love the original Phantasy Star...I always have. It was my first console RPG, and playing through it is a really fun stroll down memory lane. One thing that surprised me is how good the game still looks. Obviously it's not going to give Final Fantasy X a run for its money, but considering that this is a game that's some 16 years old it still looks pretty darn good. As a first generation console RPG it suffers from many of the same problems as the original Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest/Warrior, but this is every bit as much fun as those are (in Final Fantasy Origins for PSOne and Dragon Warrior I & II for the Game Boy Color respectively), if slightly more simplistic. While I would have liked to see Phantasy Star IV on this cart along with the other three, there's a huge amount of gameplay here for something that can be picked up for $20 or less and it's tough to argue with that. Oh, and with its bright colors, this is a game that really looks great on the GBA SP.

	Will the PS3 kill small developers? This article over at the beeb raises an issue I've considered a few times myself: if the next generation of console systems will demand even more expertise and resources to develop for than the current crop, where does this leave smaller development studios who are already struggling? Ian Shaw of EA is quoted as saying that, "Games that take four or five years time now could take 10 years to develop" which by my rough calculations means that Duke Nukem Forever will take around 30.
	PS3 Backwards Compatible && NVIDIA != PS3 It's sort of been assumed that this would be the case for ages now, but gamesindustry.biz has confirmed that the PlayStation 3 will be backwards compatible with the PS2 and PSOne. Also, declaring the subject "rubbished" (oh those wacky brits) the site has also confirmed with an NVIDIA source that the company will have nothing to do with Sony's next console, contrary to what one analyst claimed last week.
	PSP Phone, Camera Add-ons? Also at gamesindustry.biz is a story where Sony's Ken Kutaragi apparently confirms that both mobile phone and digital camera add-ons will be released for the PSP handheld system. The actual quote listed says the system will be a "valuable communications device" which doesn't say all that much. Also keep in mind the kind of wacky claims we heard for previous Sony systems, which were likewise supposed to be the center of our digital lifestyles and cook a mean steak with a side of fries.
	ATI Giddy for Xbox 2 In yet another leading story from a British source tonight, The Inquirer (which has been known to run a mix of reliable and totally unreliable information) is reporting that ATI's deal with Microsoft for their next console system is limited to providing the general technology for the GPU, and not the kind of all-inclusive deal NVIDIA had for the original Xbox, which had the company providing the technology as well as manufacturing major components of the system. This also opens the floor up for another company to provide the audio technology for the system.
	Where for art thou, Chrono Break? Despite rumors that have been circling for ages now, not a peep has come out of SquareEnix regarding the next game in the Chrono Trigger series. In what is probably going to be very disappointing news for Chrono-fans, Yasunori Mitsuda has commented on the subject, saying that he would "very much" like to work on it -- were it ever to be made. Which naturally says that either the game is moving forward without him (which would be a serious crime, especially since he's no longer working on the Xenosaga series) or more likely, that it isn't in production at all. Fans may recall that Square registered the trademark Chrono Break some time ago.
	Hideo Kojima's Future with MGS Apparently during a Q&A session at ECTS, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima said that if any future Metal Gear games are made after the upcoming MGS3: Snake Eater, he would take a more hands-off approach instead of acting as director. Of course he also said there wouldn't be another game in the series after MGS2, so he may change his mind again.
	Madden Sells Crazy Numbers With a great deal of pride, Electronic Arts announced today that Madden NFL 2004 has sold more than two million copies since going on sale just two weeks ago, making it their fastest-selling title to date.
	Sega Announces New GameCube Titles As part of an otherwise really bland Tokyo Game Show lineup announcement, Sega today announced two new GameCube titles: Island of the Kaiju: Amazing Island, a game in which players can raise monsters for use in action games and later download them to a Game Boy Advance, and Phantasy Star Online Episodes 1 & 2 Plus, a new release of the already-available online title, which includes missions that were available for download for a limited time. These missions can now be played in the offline mode, and this allows gamers to unlock the GBA games NiGHTS and Puyo Pop without an online account.
	Nintendo Interview Computer and Video Games has conducted an interview with Yoshio Sakamoto, the head of Nintendo's R&D1 studio, the team responsible for lots of big name games over the years, including the original Metroid, Kid Icarus and WarioWare. There aren't a whole lot of specific game questions here, but he does comment on the past, present and future of Nintendo's handheld hardware, as well as other things like his involvement in the next Metroid Prime (he's more involved with Metroid Zero Mission for GBA) and his thoughts on Sony's EyeToy peripheral.
	Resident Evil Outbreak Interview Also at CvG is an interview with Tsuyoshi Tanaka, the producer of the upcoming Resident Evil Outbreak, which is the first game in the series to feature full online gameplay.
	So does this mean it's going to be called True Crizzizle? Activision has unveiled the list of contributors to the True Crime: Streets of L.A., and topping the list is Snoop Dogg. Unlike most games, this will feature a slew of original songs by these artists, and a double CD album is planned for later this year in association with Vybe Squad, LLC and Universal Music.
	New DDR Announced Konami of Japan has announced yet another Dance Dance Revolution game. Called DDR Extreme, this mega-game contains some 100 songs and a new challenge mode.
	Jak II Interview HomeLAN has conducted an interview with Evan Wells of Naughty Dog (plus a brief appearance by Tina Casalino of SCEA), talking about their upcoming title Jak II.
	Misc. Media/Previews GameSpot has a new preview of Spawn (GC, PS2, Xbox), a new trailer from Legacy of Kain: Defiance (PS2, Xbox), a new trailer from Dungeons & Dragons Heroes (Xbox), new details from Siren (PS2) and hands-on impressions of the Star Wars Arcade bonus disc that is available as a pre-order bonus for those who purchase Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike(GC). IGN has new media from Star Fox 2 (GC), hands-on impressions of Tales of Symphonia (GC), a new in-depth look at Tony Hawk's Underground (GC, PS2, Xbox), a look at the first batch of Sega 3D Ages titles to be released in Japan (PS2), a new preview of Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu (GBA), and the first look at the new Dragon Quest/Warrior game for GBA, which is not what fans probably hope it is. Elsewhere online, GameSpy has their own preview of Tony Hawk's Underground (GC, PS2, Xbox) and a new preview of Memorick: The Apprentice Knight (Xbox), The Magic Box has shots from Nebula - Echo Night, Maximo vs. The Army of Zin and Wild Arms Alter Code: F (all three for PS2), CvG has new media from Sega GT Online (Xbox) and Killzone (PS2), and HomeLAN has new previews of SWAT: Global Strike Team (Xbox) and Roadkill (GC, PS2, Xbox).