Late Night Consoling
For the last couple of days I've been playing around with the GBA Movie Player, a third-party, unlicensed product that's available from on-line retailers like Lik-Sang. I'll hold off on specific impressions for my full review (look for that soon), but this morning I tried watching an episode of Futurama on the subway with this thing, and I have to admit, it was kind of cool. I'm not sure I'm totally convinced that Sony will be able to sell movies that can only be watched on the PSP, but I'm not as totally opposed to the idea as I was before. The problem with Sony's plan (if that really is their intention) is trying to convince people to spend $10 - $20 on something that can only be viewed on a miniature screen, and I'm not sure I can see that happening. I'm much more open to the idea presented by this Movie Player, which lets me convert existing digital content (in this case taken off of my TiVo) and watch that on the GBA. Still, a week ago I wouldn't have thought I'd be able to accept this either, so who knows...maybe Sony's model will work. Regardless of that, I still won't buy the thing if it's over $300.
| SNK USA Embracing Xbox In a move that will likely cause the fanboys out there to swoon, SNK NeoGeo USA announced today that they have joined Microsoft's third party program, and will release several games for the Xbox. The first two to be confirmed are ports of Metal Slug 3 and SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, the latter of which will include Xbox Live support. According to GameSpot's news update, SNK USA " plans to develop Xbox games based on its other franchises in the future and hopes to incorporate Xbox Live functionality...into many of them." Yeah, that's pretty darn cool. And because this is SNK USA that made this announcement, you don't have to worry about waiting for them to come out over here. |
| Tales of Redicula Over at The Magic Box is news that Namco has announced a pair of new Tales titles for GameCube and PS2, which continue the series' tradition of increasingly ridiculous names. For GameCube was announced Tales of Legendia, a sequel to Tales of Symphonia, while the PS2 will see Tales of Truthia. Also confirmed was a new Tales game for GBA, which I'm guessing will be called Tales of Count Chocula. |
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| Riddick Revealed Xbox.IGN is the first site to post a preview of Chronicles of Riddick, the Xbox FPS I mentioned in an LNC post last week after reading a similar preview in GameInformer magazine. The preview has the first details and screenshots to hit the web, so check 'em out and decide for yourself if it's drool-worthy or just another crappy licensed game (or somewhere in between, which is most likely). |
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| Volvo Using Rallisport Challenge 2 in Ad This article over at AdAge has the news that Volvo will utilize Rallisport Challenge 2 in an ad for their S40 Sedan, which is one of many, many cars in the upcoming XSN racer. |
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| XSN Price Drop? Speaking of XSN, according to a news update at Happy Puppy, the current lineup of XSN Sports titles from Microsoft (including Shack favorites like Links 2004, Top Spin and Project Gotham Racing 2) will all drop down to $29.99 on February 25th (thanks Games Are Fun). I haven't seen this news anywhere else, so take it with a grain of salt until the official press release, but if this is true, it might convince even me to give one or two of these a whirl. |
| Sony Patching PSX True to their word, Sony will be releasing two patches for their PSX multi-console over the next two months, which will return many of the features originally announced for the system, including faster DVD burning (all the way up to 24x), support for MP3 and TIFF files, support for the PlayStation BB network and DVD+RW support. This is of course, only for the Japanese release of the system, as a North American release date (and subsequent features list) hasn't been announced yet. |
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| Zodiac Update Fan page Zodiac Gamer has posted an e-mail from Byron Connell, one of the founders of Tapwave, who provides a status update on the Palm-powered Zodiac PDA/game system. Among other things, Byron mentions the new features that will be part of future software update. |
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| New Xenosaga II Details, Images An update over at RPGFan contains some new details on the characters, locations and 'mechs from Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Boese, along with a slew of new in-game screenshots and character artwork. Thanks Amankhan for the tip. |
| Fire Emblem History If you think the recently release GBA game Fire Emblem is the first game in the series, you couldn't be more wrong. Fortunately Nintendophiles has compiled an exhaustive ten-part history of the series, delving into the various games that never made it out of Japan, the developers and the related anime series. Thanks Slashdot Games for the tip. |
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| Black Details Computer and Video Games has posted a brief news update containing some minor details about Black, the upcoming first person shooter from Criterion Studios. There's really not much here, but since the only thing officially announced about the game is its title (which is subject to change), this is notable as being the only details we've seen so far (but there's still no screenshots). |
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| Developers Pledge Support for DS A story over at gamesindustry.biz reports that Konami and Namco have pledged to support Nintendo's upcoming DS system, while Electronic Arts is reportedly "evaluating" the system. While three developers doesn't quite match the flurry of developers promising to support Sony's PSP within days of its announcement, it's certainly a start. On a related note, that same gamesindustry.biz story points out that it is highly unlikely that the DS will incorporate Sharp's 3D technology, as some sites have alleged. |
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| Halo Update It's really only been a few weeks since the last one, but Frank over at Bungie has posted another weekly Halo update, offering some more glimpses behind the scenes during the development of Halo 2. Speaking of Halo, the game has now passed the four million copies sold mark worldwide. |
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| Dragon Quest V to Include Preview of DQ8 This isn't nearly the front-page news it is over in Japan, but nonetheless, Square Enix caused heart palpitations in Dragon Quest fans over there today when they announced that the upcoming PS2 remake of Dragon Quest V will include a bonus disc containing a trailer for Dragon Quest VIII. |
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| Steel Battalion Available Again If you're kicking yourself for missing out on Steel Battalion the first time around, you'll want to act quickly, because a limited supply of the game and its accompanying uber-controller is available for pre-order at various retailers, including EB Games and direct from Capcom. Thanks Dry_Hump for the tip. |
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| Mafia Interview Computer and Video Games has conducted an interview with Graeme Struthers, the vice president of Gathering, talking with him about the upcoming console port of Mafia. |
| Misc. Media/Previews | |
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| IGN has hands-on previews of Phantasy Star Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, GameSpy has a new preview of Pokemon Colosseum and Planet GameCube goes hands-on with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. |
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| GameSpot has new previews of Samurai Warriors and R-Type Final along with screenshots from Lupin the Third: Treasure of the Sorcerer King, IGN has a hands-on look at R-Type Final and new shots from SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos and GameSpy has a new preview of Naval Ops: Commander. |
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| New shots from Full Spectrum Warrior are up at GameSpot, IGN has new media from Otogi 2 and Guilty Gear XX#Reload, Games Are Fun has new shots from Tenchu: Return from Darkness, CVG goes hands-on with the now Xbox-exclusive Galleon and GameInformer has new shots from Ninja Gaiden. |
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| New shots from Kirby: Great Labyrinth of the Mirror are up at The Magic Box and 1UP is the latest site to post a hands-on preview of Metroid: Zero Mission. |
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| GameInformer has new shots from All Star Baseball 2005 and 100 Bullets (both PS2/Xbox), |
