Late Night Consoling
I spent part of this evening playing one of my all-time favorite games, which I hadn't touched in some time: Wipeout XL (also known as Wipeout 2097 in some places). The original Wipeout was solid, but with the sequel, Psygnosis really hit the nail right on the head, and this is a game that has aged exceptionally well. It's still brutally fast, the maps are still extremely fun to zip around, and the audio remains as cool today as it was when it was first released over seven years ago. Playing this made me think about the other games in the series that I've played. I picked up Wipeout 64 when that came out, and that was a solid game (although the audio was a bit lacking) and I was practically the first in line to purchase Wipeout 3 when it came out. Wipeout 3 was a good game. It added some things that I liked, and there was more to do in the game, which was nice, but XL has a purity to it that's tough to top. The one game in the series I never did play was Wipeout Fusion, which considering how much I liked the rest of the series would seem a bit odd. The ho-hum reviews aside, I'm just not that motivated to pick up Fusion, even though I've seen it used for under $10. Ultimately, XL is really all I could ever ask for in a racing game, and it's unlikely I'll ever play one that tops it. The speed and sheer fun of Wipeout XL really spoiled me for other racing games. Someday (hopefully), someone will make an online-enabled Wipeout (or equivalent) and I'll just go nuts for it. (Yes, I know the PC/Mac versions can be played online, but it's not the same).
| Marvel vs....EA? The canceled Thrill Kill aside, Electronic Arts isn't exactly the company that springs to mind when you think of fighting games, but nonetheless, they announced today that they have acquired the rights to create new fighting games that will feature Marvel Comics characters duking it out with a new batch of EA superheroes. The deal includes the rights to virtually every Marvel character (including the X-Men and Spiderman), so that side should be well stocked, and it's pretty clear that this will feature newly created characters (which Marvel will own the rights to make into comics out of ), but still, one can't help but imagine what the EA All-Star lineup would include. I mean, who wouldn't want to see a match up between Wolverine and John Madden? Okay, maybe not. But James Bond would be awesome (even if the rights issues would prevent that from ever happening). |
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| MechAssault 2 Announced Yesterday Microsoft announced MechAssault 2, the inevitable sequel to the well-received action game that was the highlight of the Xbox Live launch. The two screenshots that have been released show a pretty significant visual upgrade, but outside of that, the game is taking a cue from Battlefield 1942, and will now feature the ability to pilot a wide variety of non-mech vehicles, including tanks and VTOL aircraft, and you'll be able to steal enemy mechs as well. Expect this to be featured pretty heavily at E3 in May. |
| Sega Working on PSP and DS Titles, THQ on PSP Although most publishers are only now hearing about Nintendo's upcoming DS system, Sega confirmed to a Japanese news outlet that they have been in possession of development kits for the platform since late last year. Also confirmed in that same report is Sega's PSP support, although it's unknown if they'll have any titles ready for the planned launch later this year. On a related note, THQ has confirmed plans to "aggressively" support the PSP at launch. |
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| Metroid Reviewed x4 1UP has gone a bit crazy for Metroid...instead of just posting their Metroid: Zero Mission review, they decided to go back and review the original Metroid (which Zero Mission is a remake of), as well as Super Metroid for the SNES and the frequently overlooked Metroid II: The Return of Samus for the original Game Boy. |
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| Lots of Steel Battalion: LoC Details A pretty in-depth preview of Steel Battalion: Line of Contact is up at GameShark.com. The author is participating in the Line of Contact beta, and as a result there are lots of details here about how the online gameplay works, including some things that haven't been reported elsewhere yet. Thanks John H. for the tip. |
| The Games That Never Were GamePro has posted a fun article looking at some big-name games that for various reasons, never made it out the door. Among the gems here are the canned Madden NFL '96 (can you imagine EA trying that now?), Star Fox 2 and would you believe Virtua Hamster? Clearly thinking along similar lines is the first installment of a three-part article at IGN looking at some big-name PS2 games that are currently MIA, although many of these (like Ace Combat 5) will probably see the light of day at some point |
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| No NiGHTS Sequel...Yet Sorry Sega-fans...1UP is reporting that Takashi Iizuka of Sonic Team has clarified his cryptic (and terribly translated) quote about the possibility of a sequel to NiGHTS Into Dreams. He now says that,"While I would love to create a sequel to Nights some time in the future, there are no plans for such a project at this time." Well damn. |
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| Another Halo Update Battleground: Halo is the host of the latest Halo update from Frank@Bungie. As with the previous updates, it contains some hints at the current status of Halo 2, along with lots of things of interest for Bungie fans only about the inner-workings of the company. |
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| UEFA Euro 2004 Announced EA Sports and he Union of European Football Associations have announced that EA will produce an official game centering around the Euro 2004 tournament taking place this summer. As I am 100% ignorant of soccer in every way imaginable (even more than most sports), I have no idea if this is a big deal or not...but those soccer fans are an excitable bunch, so I'm going to take my chances and post it here regardless. |
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| New Resident Evil 4 Details A handful of new details from Resident Evil 4 are up at GamerFeed tonight. Among the revelations reported in their news update is word that Leon Kennedy is the main character (although there will be others from previous games in there as well), you can now hold a weapon in each hand and Zombies have multiple hit-zones on their bodies and can detect you based on sight, smell and sound (smell?). |
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| Sony Acquires...Sony? This is one of those wacky financial stories that doesn't make a whole lot of sense at first glance...Sony Corporation has announced that they have acquired the 0.26% of Sony Computer Entertainment they didn't already own. SCE is the subsidiary that produces the PlayStation systems (except for the PSX), and that 0.26% was owned by PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi, who nets a cool $40 million from this transaction. |
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| Worms 3D on Xbox Live Team17, the developers of the quirky Worms series, have confirmed that Worms 3D will contain support for Xbox Live when it ships next month. This should come as a relief for fans of the series, who were holding out for Xbox Live support. |
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| Ninja Gaiden Emulates NES Games We already knew that the first three Ninja Gaiden titles will be featured as bonus unlockables in the upcoming Xbox game, but according to GamerFeed, Tecmo has confirmed that these will be the NES versions of the game, and not the arcade versions as was previously thought. |
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| Jak, Ratchet Sequels Underway? We've all heard these rumors before, but nonetheless IGN is reporting that more murmurs have surfaced to suggest that Jak III and Ratchet and Clank III are in production at Naughty Dog and Insomniac respectively. As I said, we've heard this before, but IGN's report goes on to say that the new Ratchet will be darker because of new team members from the Legacy of Kain series, and that Jak III will be even more open-in-design than its predecessor. |
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| Misc. Interviews IGN's Jet Li interview talks with the actor about his participation in the upcoming PS2 title Rise to Honor, GameSpy interviews Yojira Ogawa of Sonic Team about Phantasy Star Online Episode III, Team Xbox has an interview with John Whitmore from the Men of Valor team, Way of the Rodent has an interview with old-school legend Eugene Jarvis (thanks Slashdot Games), CVG talks with Keiichiro Toyama, the director of Siren, and HomeLAN's 007: Everything or Nothing interview talks with Joel Wade, the producer of EA's latest Bond game. |
| Misc. Media/Previews | |
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| GameSpot goes hands-on with Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, IGN has new media from Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution and MGS: TTT and The Magic Box has new shots from Custom Robo: Battle Revolution. |
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| A hands-on look at Destruction Derby Arenas is up at GameSpot, IGN goes hands-on with The X-Files: Resist or Serve and has a Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest FAQ and new media from Nightshade, GameSpy has a preview of Crimson Sea 2, The Magic Box has new shots from Armored Core Nexus and GameInformer goes hands-on with Monster Hunter. |
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| GameSpot has new shots from Conan: The Dark Axe and IGN has new media from Psychonauts and True Fantasy Live Online and new Wrath Unleashed and Sudeki diaries. |
| GameSpy has a new preview of Astro Boy: Omega Factor. |
| The Magic Box has new shots from Samurai Spirits Zero Special, the latest update to the latest Samurai Shodown game in Japan. |
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| GameSpot has hands-on impressions of the PS2 versions of 007: Everything or Nothing (GC, PS2, Xbox) and The Suffering (PS2, Xbox) as well as impressions of MTX Mototrax (GC, PS2, Xbox) and new media from Fight Night 2004 (PS2, Xbox), both IGN and GameSpot have hands-on looks at Pitfall: The Lost Expedition (GC, PS2, Xbox), IGN has a 007: Everything or Nothing FAQ, GameSpy has a new preview of Future Tactics: The Uprising (GC, PS2, Xbox), CVG has a new look at DRIV3R (PS2, Xbox), GameInformer has new media from Fight Night 2004 and Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (both PS2, Xbox) and Team Xbox has a preview of NBA Ballers (GC, PS2, Xbox). |
