Late Night Consoling
Many thanks to Thud for pointing me towards Mega64, an absolutely hilarious new live action web-based (plus airings on San Diego cable) series. Two sketches are available for download, along with a trailer for future episodes, and I can't recommend them any higher. The two sketches available are laugh-out loud funny, with real-world reenactments of gameplay from Shenmue and Metal Gear Solid (complete with very confused pedestrians) and again, I can't recommend them any higher. Go download now. The trailer shows scenes from future episodes featuring games like Sonic Adventure and Super Mario Bros...I can only hope they'll take on Xenosaga next.
| Ed Fries Quits Microsoft The industry was all abuzz today with the news that Ed Fries, the head of Microsoft's gaming division and a very large part of the success of the Xbox, has resigned from Microsoft. CNN/Money has the first post-Microsoft interview with Fries, who attributes his departure to the fact that the company is effectively between generations right now, and he decided that moving forward, he wants more freedom than he would have been given at Microsoft. Shane Kim, the COO for Microsoft Games has assumed Fries' post until a permanent replacement can be found. |
| Resident Evil 4 This Year It looks like Capcom is finally willing to commit to a release date for Resident Evil 4...the company announced today (via a typically ridiculous code system on their official Japanese web site) that the game will be released here in the US "in the winter of 2004" (which presumably refers to December of this year, not the current season). This replaces the "200X" date that was previously the only thing we had. |
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| Fable, Sudeki Bumped to Summer This isn't really surprising, and hints about both have been known for some time, but nonetheless, Microsoft changed the release dates today for Sudeki and Fable from the spring to the summer of this year. Still unchanged however are Kameo: Elements of Power and B.C., each of which is still listed as coming out in the spring. |
| Extremely Canceled According to HomeLAN Fed, Namco has canceled Extreme Force: Grant City Anti-Crime. I'm pretty sure I read this in a magazine recently (or at least hints about it), but this is apparently confirmed, and not just a rumor. Extreme Force was to be the prequel/spin-off game to Namco's Dead to Rights, the full sequel to which is still in development. |
| New Releases This Week Not much this week, but there are some big titles nonetheless. For single platforms there's only .hack://QUARANTINE (for those PS2 gamers who have managed to stick with the storyline this long) and FIFA Soccer 2004 for N-Gage, but also out this week are Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (PS2, Xbox), Star Trek: Shattered Universe (PS2, Xbox) and NFL Street (GC, PS2, Xbox). |
| Misc. Media/Previews | |
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| IGN has new movies from Baten Kaitos. |
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| A new preview of AirForce Delta Strike is up at GameSpot, along with new media from Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm. Also, IGN goes hands-on with Jungle Storm and has a new preview of MLB 2005, GameSpy has their own preview of MLB 2005 and an R-Type Final Developer Diary, GameInformer goes hands-on with Winning Eleven 7 International and we've got a new trailer for Suikoden IV in evil WMV or happy MP4 formats. |
| The first shots from Bandai's Fullmetal Alchemist (not to be confused with Square's game for PS2 of the same name) are up at The Magic Box tonight. |
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| GameSpot has an update on the PS2 and Xbox versions of Sonic Heroes (the GC version shipped last week), IGN has new media from Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (GC, PS2, Xbox), a new movie from NBA Ballers (GC, PS2, Xbox) and a hands-on look at Dream Mix TV World Fighters (GC, PS2) and GameSpy has a new preview of Silent Hill IV: The Room. |
