Late Night Consoling
Over the weekend I took a nice leisurely stroll down to my local GameStop, as I had a large backlog of old games and DVDs to sell. Although I was seriously tempted to pick up Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, I'm sticking to my pledge of not buying any games until at least the first of next year. But that didn't mean I couldn't browse, and as expected, there were a ton of great games to tempt me. Aside from PoP, I found myself having to resist picking up Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, SSX 3, Tony Hawk's Underground, Super Mario Advance 4, True Crime: Streets of L.A, Fire Emblem...the list goes on and on. Heck, I even found myself eyeballing the GTA Double Pack for Xbox, and I already own both games for PS2! The next two weeks will see the biggest releases of the year, including Final Fantasy X-2, Legacy of Kain: Defiance, XIII, Armed & Dangerous...the list of course, goes on and on. So instead of credit, I walked away with a big wad of cash, which I'll be putting towards buying presents for other people (not the least of which is my wife -- today's our first anniversary!). I did get one thing for myself: my local GameStop had the Raziel and Kain figures from the Legacy of Kain line on sale for 50% off, so I was able to get the pair for under $8 total. Now that was a great deal, and the two look very cool here on my desk.
| Microsoft Jumping into Chip Biz for Xbox 2 ZDNet broke the story this afternoon that Microsoft, taking a cue from both Sony and Nintendo, is going to be producing a custom chip for the Xbox2/Xenon/Midway2/Ybox (yes, I really have heard all of those from different sources) using the technology they licensed from IBM, ATI and others. This really is a natural progression for the system, as by avoiding off-the-shelf components they can streamline costs, maximize performance and prevent hackers from using it as a low-cost PC all in one fell swoop. |
| ICO Sequel to be Announced Soon? Could we seen a formal announcement for the sequel to ICO in just a few weeks? That's what the Official UK PlayStation Magazine is claiming, and they would seem to have pretty reliable sources close to Sony. Still, don't believe anything until it's official. |
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| Halo 2 Will Most Certainly Not Be Out This Year (So Stop Asking!) Computer and Video Games has re-re-re-re-confirmed what we've all known since May: that despite rumors that we'll hear an announcement on the 15th saying Halo 2 will be out before the end of the year, it won't. Period. This kind of rumor sprung up because people really, really, really want it to be true, but it is, to use CVG's parlance, a load of rubbish. But hey, I'm with you. If I'm wrong, I'll be psyched, and actually have a reason to renew my Xbox Live subscription this year (as of right now, I'm letting it lapse). |
| Metroid Prime Done Really, Really Quick If you thought that the previous speed-run through Metroid Prime was nuts, you ain't seen nothing yet...the Speed Demos Archive (home of Quake Done Quick, which never fails to impress me) has posted a mind-blowing video in DiVX format showing one hardcore gamer completing the game in a mere 1:37. Oh, and did I mention that this is 100% complete? Now that's hardcore. Thanks Slashdot Games for the tip. |
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| Counter-Strike Interview CS Nation has conducted an interview with Jess Cliffe (hey, he has a first name!), the co-creator of Counter-Strike and a producer at Valve. The interview deals with the Xbox port of CS, which recently went gold and will be arriving in stores in the very near future. |
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| Xbox Backwards-Compatible Petition I can't really say I think this is necessary, but it's a good enough cause, so I'll give it a mention here...a petition has popped up online to ensure that Microsoft includes backwards-compatibility in their next-generation Xbox system. As far as I know this is already planned, but it can't hurt to sign it. Thanks Team Xbox for the tip. |
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| Rising Sun Q&A HomeLAN has conducted a Q&A with Kevin Perry, the lead designer at Electronic Arts on Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, their cross-platform shooter which should be showing up on store shelves as soon as tomorrow in some places. |
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| PS2 China-bound No specific details are available yet, but news leaked by way of Europe today that Sony is planning on releasing the PS2 in China. Nintendo recently announced a special Chinese console to be known as the iQue as a way of defeating the rampant piracy in that territory, so it's unknown if this will be an extra-specially secure PS2 or not. |
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| Goblin Commander Interview Team Xbox has posted a new interview with Daniel Russett, the design co-lead at Jaleco on their strategy game Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde. Goblin Commander is a rare console-only RTS, and Daniel talks about how the game will appeal to a console audience (he specifically talks about the Xbox, but this is a multi-platform title). |
| Rez Creator Talks GameSpot has a summary up this evening of a talk given by Tetsuya Mizuguchi at the Tokyo International Computer Graphics Festival. Mizuguchi is the creator of such games as Rez and Space Channel 5, and while there aren't any hints given as to his next project (which is being produced outside of Sega, since he recently split away from the company), but it does has some nice tidbits about his past projects for those that are interested in such things. |
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| More TIGRAF Also at GameSpot is a summary of another panel from Tokyo International Computer Graphics Festival (TIGRAF), which saw members of Monolith Soft, Square Enix, Capcom and Sega UGA talking about the art of CGI. |
| Misc. Media/Previews | |
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| GameSpot has a new hands-on look at Mario Kart: Double Dash and a new preview of Gotcha Force and IGN has new shots from 1080 Avalanche and new footage from Phantasy Star Online Episode III and I & II Plus. |
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| GameInformer has new impressions and media from Final Fantasy X-2 and new footage from King of Fighters 2000/2001, The Magic Box has some new shots from Resident Evil: Outbreak, CVG has new footage from Siren, and Square Enix has launched their official Japanese-language Fullmetal Alchemist site. And it's not exactly game-related, but NCS has a first look at the Final Fantasy figures from Square, which are very cool (too bad they'll be randomly released). |
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| Team Xbox has posted a new preview of Whiplash (PS2, Xbox). |
