Spent the morning breaking the Shack, as evidenced here, and followed that up with a marathon session of Knights of the Old Republic, finishing two planets. I simply love this game and playing through it again reminds me about two upcoming titles, Jade Empire and Fable. I believe each game really shined at this year's expo, quieting the doubters that thought Jade Empire was simply KOTOR in ancient China and that Fable was just another over-hyped Molyneux title. While each game shares the same base of developing a character through good and evil actions, they differ greatly on the primary focus. With Fable, I perceive, the main focus is on creating a large, dynamic world where things evolve and change as time progresses. Jade Empire, like most BioWare RPGs, seeks to create a truly memorable and cinematic story, putting plenty of emphasis on the player as the "virtual actor." In any case, there is plenty of opportunity for enjoyment in both styles and I, for one, can't wait till the end of this year. If you haven't done so already, I urge you to view the E3 demos (Jade Empire, Fable).

	Planet Moon Studios to go PSP-only The team that has brought us comedic titles such as Armed and Dangerous and Giants: Citizen Kabuto have announced they have shifted their developmental focus solely to Sony's PSP handheld. In an interview with GameSpot, producer Aaron Loeb comments, "The current market is hard on creativity, be it original titles or titles that depart too far from the beaten path, but the PSP will enable a developer like us to make cutting edge games quickly, alleviating the challenge all small developers currently face." The interview is quite interesting, with GameSpot consistently grilling Loeb on the decision to shift an entire's company focus to an unproven handheld.
	Nintendo Details Game Release Forecast GamesAreFun.com details a Nintendo announcement of its planned upcoming game releases for the next year. Nintendo confirms Fire Emblem and the new Star Fox for winter releases, but a couple new titles have arisen that are quite interesting. Most notably is confirmation that MOTHER 3 is still indeed in Nintendo's plans. MOTHER is better known as Earthbound here in the States, and MOTHER 3 is the sequel to what we Americans know as the SNES Earthbound. Other new titles are Mario Pinball and Donkey Kong: King of Swing for the GBA, and a new Super Mario Bros. and something called Nintendogs for the DS.
	Xenosaga Episode II Details Emerge Information on the changes and new features of the incredibly-titled Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose are up on The MagicBox. You're no longer able to dismount your robot during battle, but you are able to switch in and out different characters. Players can now perform combo-attacks as well as use the "Zone" command to hone in on the weak points of enemies, allowing the player to do added damage.
	Daredevil: The Man Without Fear Canceled Missing the simultaneous-release-with-the-movie train, Encore has officially ceased development on their Daredevil game for the PS2 and Xbox. The reasoning for the cancellation is for Encore to focus on being a games publisher rather than developer. Daredevil was their only title in production.
	New Info on Tekken 5 GamerFeed has some translated information from a Japanese gaming mag concerning the hot-to-trot Tekken 5 from Namco. Over 30 characters are planned for this sequel, with new ones being revealed, such as the returns of Eddy Gordo, Bruce Irvin, and Anna Williams. The biggie is Heihachi Mishima, although no information on his role has been confirmed. Other tidbits are that infinitely sprawling levels are present, the realism factor has been turned down (such as the use of fireballs), and a custom color mode will be added.
	Multiplayer Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles with Wavebirds This story is just too excellent to allow to slip through the cracks. Don't want to play Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles with a GBA? Would you rather use a Wavebird? Guess what, you can! And all it requires of each player is a GameCube with a GameBoy Player and their own television! A group of students and their professor, obviously very bored and with time on their hands, went to extremes to devise a way to avoid using that tiny GBA screen. The process is long and convoluted, so I'll leave it to you guys to check it out. Story courtesy of Slashdot.
	Misc. Media/Previews
	Lets kick it off with IGN taking a peek at Vib Ripple, a purely Japanese music video game. Keeping with the musical spirit, they also post a hands-on impression of Kareoke Revolution Vol. 2 (don't tell anyone, but I own Vol. 1 =( ). Now that you know it's possibly coming, here's a playtest of Sega Ages: Outrun.
	Plenty of GameBoy Advance media available tonight at Planet GameCube. Some highly-graphical shots of The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, couple screens of the GBA version of Madden 2005, and a 40MB trailer of Hideo Kojima's Boktai 2.
	The MagicBox bursts open with a ton of media for Nintendo DS software. First is Square's Egg Monster Hero, then the Sonic title from Sega, Bandai's Gundam Seed RPG, and finally, Konami's sure to be massively popular Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadour.
	EuroGamer chimes in with a hands-on impression of the upcoming DRIV3R sequel (PS2, Xbox). Planet GameCube delivers with new shots from Electronic Arts sports line-up, which will be hitting all systems: Madden 2005, NBA Live 2005, FIFA 2005, and NASCAR 2005. TeamXbox previews Dead to Rights II: Hell to Pay (PS2, Xbox), set for release later this year. GameSpy brings us a preview of Mega Man Anniversary Collection (PS2, GCN).