Late Night Consoling
So here we are with the brand new design. In case it wasn't totally obvious, this was the big hurdle that was holding up the revamp of the Misc. Media section down there, as I wasn't going to attempt to do that until I knew how much LNC would be affected by the redesign. Which, it turns out, isn't a whole lot, but I did have to alter my templates a bit, and I'm sure I'll stumble across a few bugs here and there over the next couple of nights. Once we're settled in here, we can tackle the new Misc. section, and we've got some interesting possibilities to play with, so I'll keep you all posted.
Console Game of the Evening: F-Zero for the Super Nintendo. "It was an edge-of-your-seat racing game that was ahead of its time for the SNES. There were a number of good racers, but really nothing that had the physics or graphics at the time. An escapist's reality." (submitted by Evangelion).
| New GTA Duo Details Nothing here is very surprising, but nonetheless, new details have come out regarding the Xbox version of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto III/GTA: Vice City two-pack. Just as with the PC ports, the Xbox version will support custom radio stations, and they will also both support Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, 480p progressive scan video, and various other minor visual and gameplay tweaks and fixes. |
| PS2 Sales Down in Japan According to a report on gamesindustry.biz, Sony sold 1/3rd fewer PS2 systems in the first half of 2003 versus the first half of 2002. Before you start predicting Sony's demise, keep in mind that the PS2 is still by far the biggest platform in that territory. But this does lend some credence to the growing theory that this generation has hit its apex for hardware sales. |
| Shining Tears? Trademark registrations aren't exactly proof of a game's existance (remember when Square trademarked Chrono Break?), so I'm not putting too much stock in this yet, but Games Are Fun is reporting (by way of GameFront) that Sega has trademarked the name Shining Tears. With any luck this will be a full revival of the Shining series, as Shining Soul hasn't been met with a whole lot of enthusiasm. |
|
| Donkey Konga, Wario Ware, PSO III Reports Cube.IGN has posted a hands-on look at Donkey Konga, the Namco-developed rhythm title that sports its own drum controller. Their impressions are pretty positive, although they question the durability of the drums. Also at Cube.IGN are hands-on looks at the upcoming GameCube version of Wario Ware and Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution. |
|
| Gladius Q&A It's about the size of a postage stamp (okay,not really), but regardless, GameSpy has posted a Q&A with Linda Cardellini and Michael Rosenbaum, two reasonably well-known actors who provided voices for LucasArts' upcoming RPG Gladius. |
|
| Nintendo Sued by Wizards of the Coast Raise your hand if you saw this coming...Wizards of the Coast, who can't be happy now that they've been cut out of the Pokemon picture, has filed suit against Nintendo, The Pokemon Company and Pokemon USA. The suit is is said to allege, "patent infringement, breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, tortuous interference with a business relationship, unjust enrichment and other claims." Don't you just love that legal speak? |
|
| It's a Golden Shower Microsoft announced today that Grabbed by the Ghoulies has gone gold, and will be the first Rare-developed Xbox title when it hits store shelves later this month. In other golden news, Koei announced that Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends for PS2 has gone gold and EA announced that their multiplatform title The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King has gone gold as well. |
|
| Sam & Max PC Only Sorry kids, but following up on a story from Friday, 1UP has confirmed with LucasArts that the Armed & Dangerous pre-order bonus CD that contains the complete Sam & Max Hit the Road will be playable on PCs only. Of course, given that this is a fairly old game, you won't need to invest in a $500 video card in order to run it, but it would have been cool nonetheless. |
|
| New NBA Jam Content Available Team Xbox is reporting that Acclaim has released the first downloadable content for NBA Jam over Xbox Live. The new content takes the form of a new Halloween-themed team, which is comprised of such goofy characters as a witch, jack o' lantern and mummy. |
| Tenchu, Atari to Go Activision announced today that they have teamed up with TKO to create a new Tenchu game for cell-phones. Actually they say it's an adaptation of Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, but let's face it, it's a new game...the game will, however keep the same stealth-tactics that the series is known for. On a somewhat related note, Atari made their own announcement today that they are teaming up with Mobile Digital Media to port 20 classics, including Adventure, Asteroids and Yar's Revenge, to the Palm OS, Windows Mobile and Nokia Series 60 platforms. The games will be released as a single, cross-platform card. |
| Misc. Media/Previews GameSpot has a new preview of Need for Speed Underground (GC, PS2, Xbox) along with new media from Monster Rancher 4 (PS2), Driver 3 (GC, PS2, Xbox), NBA Shootout 2004, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, Destruction Derby Arenas, Time Crisis 3 and EyeToy: Groove (all PS2) and The Sims: Bustin' Out (GC, PS2, Xbox). Over at IGN they have new goodies from Project Gotham Racing 2 (Xbox), new media from Pokemon Colusseum (GC), Secret Weapons Over Normandy (PS2, Xbox) and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (PS2). Elsewhere online, Games Are Fun has new shots from Mario Kart: Double Dash and Donkey Konga (both GC) and Crimson Tears (PS2), GameSpy has new previews of Tak and the Power of Juju (GC, PS2), kill.switch (PS2, Xbox), Manhunt (PS2), Morrowind: GOTY Edition (Xbox), and Mission: Impossible: Operation Surma (GC, PS2, Xbox), The Magic Box has new shots from Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition and Mojib Ribbon (both PS2), CVG has new footage from Resident Evil: Outbreak (PS2), GameInformer has a hands-on look at kill.switch (PS2, Xbox) and new shots from Blood Will Tell/Dororo (PS2), HomeLAN has a hands-on look at Dinosaur Hunting (Xbox) and Team Xbox looks at Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (GC, PS2, Xbox). Also, Swinging Ape has launched their official site for Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (GC, PS2, Xbox), Nintendo has posted their new theatrical advertisement on their web site, and GameSpot has posted an entertaining photo journal of their recent trip to Japan. |
