Because of my cross-country jaunt last weekend, I wasn't able to crack into my new copy of Soul Calibur 2 until yesterday. But crack I did, and it does indeed rock. Incredibly, I don't mind the GameCube controller at all, and I absolutely detest that d-pad on there (which is my preferred stick 'o choice for Soul Calibur). I suspect that's largely due to the high-intensity of the gameplay, which doesn't leave me with any time to whine about the gamepad I'm using. The real test will be when my PS2-to-GameCube adapter arrives and I can do a side-by-side comparison of the two to see which one I like best. I ended up ordering that not for Soul Calibur 2, but rather the GBA Player, as my stopgap solution of using the SP as my controller was starting to annoy me. The d-pad on the DualShock is vastly superior to any other option for the GameCube, and it will be nice to play GBA games without accidentally pressing in the wrong direction every few seconds. Again, the nature of Soul Calibur 2's gameplay means that even if I do accidentally hit the wrong direction, there's no real time to dwell on that. Reagardless of my choice of input device, the important part is the gameplay, and Soul Calibur 2 delivers on that in spades.

	GTA3, Vice City Two-Pack Announced As part of their quarterly earnings report this morning, Take Two announced a new two-pack of Grand Theft Auto 3 and GTA: Vice City that will be released for PS2, and at long last, the Xbox as well. The game(s) will ship on October 22nd in North America.
	Take Two Buys TDK Also announced by Take Two this morning was their acquisition of TDK Mediactive, which among other things gives them the rights to the Shrek and Robotech/Macross licenses. For analysis of this and the above story, check out this article over at CNN/Money.
	PlayStation 3 Editorial Following up on last night's article that speculated about the complexity of the PlayStation 3 and what this means for developers (particularly smaller ones), programmer Jake Simpson (formerly of Raven, and currently at EA) sends along this editorial he's written at his personal site. Jake speculates that the complexity of the system's parallel processors may make cross-platform development significantly harder, something which could either make the PS3 the platform with the most exclusive titles or blow up in their face entirely.
	GBA Pager Device? A diagram and some vague hints about an upcoming add-on for the GBA can be found at Video-Fenky tonight. The exact function of the device isn't exactly clear, but it appears to clip on to the top of the unit and utilize wireless pager technology in some manner.
	GameCube WarioWare Details There's not a whole lot here, but some details from the upcoming GameCube version of WarioWare are up at Pocket.IGN. The Japanese name of the game will be Atsumare! Made in Wario (Made in Wario was the Japanese title of the GBA game as well), and it will contain new multiplayer modes and other enhancements, including one very bizarre game where you're asked to play while squatting, although obviously there's no way for the game to know if you're doing this or not. The game will be released on October 24th over there, and a few more details can be found at GameSpot (scroll down to the bottom of the page).
	Hideo Kojima Interview While attending ECTS, Computer and Video Games was able to sit down with Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima, and they have posted their interview for all to read. The questions all deal with MGS3.
	Prince of Persia Interview Another in their series of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time interviews is up at IGN tonight, this time talking with Patrice Desilets and Alex Drouin, the game's Creative Director and Artistic Director respectively. Given the artistic background of these two, the questions deal with the game's extremely impressive animation system, which really needs to be seen in action to be appreciated.
	XIII Pre-Order Bonuses Ubi Soft announced today the details of their pre-order bonus program for XIII, their upcoming cel-shaded FPS. Those who pre-order the PS2 or Xbox versions of the game will receive a demo CD that contains both single and multiplayer content, while those pre-ordering the GameCube or PC versions will receive a soundtrack CD. Both bonus discs will ship late this month, while the game itself will ship on October 9th.
	New Releases This Week With so much good stuff released last week this week was bound to be a bit slower...but regardless, the two big titles this week are ESPN NFL Football (PS2, Xbox) and Dynasty Warriors 4 (Xbox). Also out is Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure for all four platforms.
	Misc. Media/Previews GameSpot has a new trailer from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (PS2 and now Xbox as well), new footage from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (GC, PS2, Xbox), a new preview of Mega Man X7 (PS2) and new shots from BeyBlade: Super Tournament Battle (GC) and Activision Anthology (GBA). IGN has hands-on previews of Sword of Mana (GBA) and NHL 2004 (GC, PS2, Xbox) as well as an updated look at Pikmin 2 (GC). Elsewhere online, GameSpy has a new preview of Lupin the 3rd (PS2), The Magic Box has new shots from Kunoichi: Shinobu (PS2), Shadow Tower Abyss (PS2) and Puyo Puyo Fever (GC, PS2, Xbox and would you believe Dreamcast?), PlanetGameCube has new impressions of Mario & Luigi (GBA), Mario Kart: Double Dash and Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike (both GC), CvG has shaky-cam footage from Gran Turismo 4 (PS2) and Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (GC, PS2, Xbox) and Gamers.com has screenshots from the intro movie from Tales of Symphonia (GC). Also, Eidos has launched their official Legacy of Kain: Defiance site.