Late Night Consoling
If everything goes according to my self-imposed schedule, barring any last-minute problems, my big Shacknews Holiday Guide should run either tomorrow or Thursday. I hadn't actually planned on doing one this year, since there was no way I was going to be able to get it done in time for Black Friday, but someone asked me if I was doing one this year...and well, next thing I knew I was already halfway through it. You thought last year's was big? You ain't seen nothing yet. Seriously. My last count had nearly 150 items on it. And unlike those other pansy sites, I don't consider a cross-platform game to count more than once (although admitedly I do talk about multiple items at the same time). This one is big enough, and varied enough, that I think everyone should be able to find one or two gift ideas on it. Of course, I can only hope that I'm not too late to be of any use to anyone, but there's not much I can do about that. Look for it soon.
| Bungie.org Wants You Team Xbox has posted a letter from someone at Bungie.org who is working on a documentary about the making of Halo 2, and hopes to include Halo fans. The documentary is being made "for broadcast and DVD release with the game" and they are looking for "fans who create art, movies stories, characters, etc." as well as hardcore players. If you're interested in participating, send an e-mail to halo2doc at bungie dot org. |
| OMG Nintendendo is DOOMED!!!!!!!!!!!! Chris Johnson passed along this insane article at TIME Asia about Nintendo. While the article is written perfectly well, you can't help but feel that they're being a bit extreme in some of their conclusions. Particularly their claim that the GameCube is "an unmitigated disaster" and painting a picture of Nintendo as a company that's falling apart at the seams with no way of turning themselves around. I'll admit to being perfectly negative when talking about Nintendo in those areas they've screwed up in (*cough*online*cough*) but they're hardly as bad off as this article suggests. |
| Propeller Arena Remembered The Next Level has posted an article looking at Propeller Arena, the unreleased final Dreamcast project by Sega-AM2 that was cancelled in the wake of 9/11. The author was able to play a final beta copy of the game, and he provides lots of information about the game, and why releasing it so closely to 9/11 would have been a bad call on Sega's part. Thanks Slashdot Games for the tip. |
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| Unreal II Delayed Computer and Video Games has confirmed with Atari that the Xbox port of Unreal II has been pushed back into 2004. While no specific date is available for its eventual release, they do say that it is "currently penciled in for a February release" although that's hardly official. |
| Climax Working on PS3/Xbox2 Title Just a few weeks ago, the UK developer Climax said that their new Blimey2 engine was being made with the PS3 and Xbox2 in mind. Today they announced why: it's going to power "Avalon", which is the code name for a racing game that is already in "an advanced stage of development" and will eventually be released for PS3 and Xbox2. Naturally no further information is available yet, although one would hope that the developers weren't planning on entering crunch mode just yet, as it's going to be a while before these systems are released. |
| New DRIV3R Details GameSpot has posted some new details from DRIV3R, which were gleamed from Martin Edmondson of Reflections Interactive. There's nothing too exciting here, but they do say that there are 70 different vehicles you'll have access to, and that the game has been in production for more than three years now. |
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| Mario's Waxy Buildup Yes, it's true...Mario has joined the creepy wax sculptures at the Hollywood Wax Museum, alongside Tom Hanks, Michael Jordan and Marilyn Monroe. Wacky as Mario is, he's got to be better than the horrifying Whoopi Goldberg one that's in front of the Times Square wax museum. |
| Metal Arms Soundtrack Released Sierra today released for free the complete soundtrack to Metal Arms: Glitch in the System. The score is said to combine, "industrial rhythms with rushes of electronica, film-like mood pieces and hilarious dialogue from the video game" and runs nearly 30 minutes long. |
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| B.C. Lives According to Xbox.IGN, the Lionhead/Intrepid title B.C. is still very much in production despite the departure of Ben Cousins, the lead designer on the game. Assistant producer Andrew O'Dowd will take his place, and the departure of Cousins will not cause any additional delays. |
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| Warp Pipe Update The official Warp Pipe site has been updated with the first public releases of the Mac OS X and Linux versions of this GameCube tunneling software. Also posted as part of this latest update is a status report, in which the developer says they are working to support Windows 9x/ME, and hope to have support for 1080 Avalanche in the next release. Thanks Slashdot Games for the tip. |
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| Breakdown Interview Computer and Video Games has conducted an interview with Hirofumi Kami, the producer at Namco on their upcoming first person action/adventure title Breakdown. Among other things, the interview deals with the wacky first person hand-to-hand combat system. |
| New Releases This Week New for GameCube this week is Beyond Good & Evil, while for PS2 are Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, Mission: Impossible: Operation Surma and King of Fighters 2000/2001, for Xbox are Arx Fatalis, Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Curse: The Eye of Isis, for GBA are Activision Anthology and King of Fighters EX2: Howling Blood and for N-Gage are NCAA Football 2004, Rayman 3, Red Faction and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. And finally, for multiple platforms are Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone (GC, PS2, Xbox) and R: Racing Evolution (GC, PS2, Xbox). |
| Misc. Media/Previews | |
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| GameSpot has a hands-on look at Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution, while IGN has a stuff from Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen 2 and Tales of Symphonia. |
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| The Magic Box has new shots from Growlanser IV: Wayfarer of Time, IGN goes hands-on with Transformers: Armada and has still more stuff from Gran Turismo 4 Prologue and CVG has new shots from Resident Evil: Outbreak. |
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| New shots from True Fantasy Live Online are up at GameSpot tonight and GameSpy goes hands-on with Full Spectrum Warrior. |
| SNK has released a new video showing off King of Fighters 2003 (Arcade), and 1UP has posted their impressions of the game. |
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| New hands-on looks at Sonic Heroes (GC, PS2, Xbox) are up at GameSpot and 1UP tonight, and IGN goes hands-on with the remake of Bonk's Adventure (GC, PS2). |
