Late Night Consoling

If you missed it earlier, the PSP will launch in the US on March 24 for $249 as a bundled Value Pack. A few other tidbits have surfaced since then. For instance, Chris Morris of CNN got a hold of Kaz Hirai and asked why the decision was made to release the system bundled with accessories. Hirai replied, "We didn't want it to be seen as a competitor to the other handheld gaming devices in the market. We wanted to offer consumers a completely new world, as we did with PlayStation and PlayStation 2. So we looked at what would be the right value proposition to consumers in North America and decided including all these accessories... plus the demo disk and [the ability] to enjoy 'Spider-Man' out of the box was the best value proposition."

The launch lineup was also somewhat revealed. 24 titles will be available within the first month of availability. You can read the full list here, but some of the standout titles would be Ridge Racer, Metal Gear Acid, WipEout Pure, Twisted Metal: Head On, and Dynasty Warriors. The games will sell for $39.99, however some may be lower in price.

Nintendo's public relations chief, Ken Toyota, talked a little about Nintendo's next-gen console, currently codenamed Revolution. He said, "E3 will be the starting point for the Revolution. [We haven't decided] whether we will show the real machine, videos, or unveil the concept. ... We want to receive some level of evaluation, but releasing too much information is also another issue. We don't have the slightest intention of making a machine that follows the same path as conventional game hardware. Right now, we are thinking of how we can accurately convey to people at E3 the different path that the Revolution will take and how it will change the way that games will be enjoyed."

He also made a few comments about the Nintendo DS in Japan, saying 22 percent of its users are female and 59% of DS owners are over the age of 19. Software sales haven't been as brisk as they hoped, claiming the inclusion of PictoChat is to blame since it didn't force any of the early adopters to buy a piece of software to use the device. Also, the Famicom Mini series, known in the US as the Classic NES Series, has sold 7.21 million units in Japan.

In what appears to be an effort to emulate Gran Turismo 4's release strategy, Microsoft has revealed that Forza Motorsport will see yet another delay. Forza, once anticipated for a holiday 2004 release, will now (hopefully) ship to retailers on May 3. Until then, enjoy GT4, I guess.

Take-Two Interactive's new label, 2K Games, will be publishing a videogame based on the Family Guy cartoon series. Details are extremely thin at this point, with the only description being offered is that it's a third-person action game played through the series' main characters. Upon reading this, the only thing that went through this author's mind was, "WHY WHY WHY?!"

NIS America announced that it plans to bring over Makai Kingdom to the United States. Like the company's previous releases, Makai Kingdom is a strategy RPG, and this time around players controll a dark lord as he fights to regain control of the kingdom (I think). In any case, it will arrive March 17.

Namco and Hori are tag-teaming up to bring fighting fans the ultimate bundle for Tekken 5. For $99.99, gamers can buy a copy of Tekken 5, a customized controller, and a six-disc case to hold every release in the series. Only 20,000 units will be produced and it'll be available on the same day as the standalone game; March 15. As a bonus, some retailers will include an art book with a purchase of the bundle.

Planet GameCube talks with Rare about It's Mr. Pants. GameBiz has an interview regarding Constantine. GameZone talks with a producer on MVP Baseball 2005. GameSpot has a behind-the-scenes look at the Rachet & Clank series.