Late Night Consoling

GameSpy talked to everyone they could at the Game Developers Conference to learn all the info available regarding Microsoft's next console and they shared that info with their readers. Most of it is old hat; three 3GHz PowerPC cores, standard DVD drive, optional hard drive.. but some new hardware facts are that it will have 256MB of RAM, memory units varying between 64MB and 1GB in size, and a camera. The camera is USB 2.0 and can take 1.2 megapixel shots and act as a VGA webcam.

Microsoft is requiring all developers to make games be Xbox Live aware and "to plan their games for high-definition. The baseline is 720p at 1280x720 for gameplay and video clips, 16:9 aspect ratio, 5.1 Surround Sound, and anti-aliasing. These features are the current minimum requirement." All games can use custom soundtracks and support the MP3 and WMA formats. A profiling system is being put in place that tracks a myriad of items: controller settings, in-game achievements, parental controls, your Gamertag, reputation, among other stuff.

Sega unveiled a new Sonic-related title by showing off a trailer for Shadow the Hedgehog. Players take control of Shadow, a Sonic-replica created by Dr. Eggman. Shadow moves quite similarly to Sonic, but this time around, he's carrying a big gun. The trailer asks, "Hero or villain? You decide," possibly hinting to a gameplay feature of controlling the behavior of Shadow ala KOTOR. No platforms were revealed but the trailer ended by indicating it'll release this holiday season.

2K Games has tapped its Frog City Software studio to develop a new real time strategy game based on the good 'ol drug-days of the 70s and 80s. Called Snow, the game "will challenge players to oversee every aspect of the drug trade, all of which require calculated thinking in order to make your business prosper while at the same time keeping it safe from the authorities and other rival kingpins. This will surely make for an intense, paranoid and most importantly, strategic gaming experience," said 2K Games' Christoph Hartmann.

Q Entertainment's Meteos will be coming stateside care of Bandai. The game is a puzzler where you use the stylus to move bricks around to form horizontal or vertical columns of three colors which then launch themselves at incoming meteors and pushes them back into space. Yea, it sounds weird, but it scored a 38/40 from Famitsu, which means it is was given two tens from Japan's most respected gaming magazine.

Square Enix has been pumping out quality cellular phones game over in Japan and today they announced two more. Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding and Musashi: Mobile Samurai. Luckily for us, these will be coming stateside in a matter of weeks. The FF7 game is a port of the snowboarding mini-game found within the original Final Fantasy VII whereas the Musashi game appears to be an original action title. Square Enix president Ichiro Otobe commented to GameSpot that he believes it'll be years until the U.S. gets a more engaging Final Fantasy title for cell phones since our technology lags far behind Japan's.

Don't call it dead yet! Nokia has big plans for its hybrid cell phone/game device. The company is currently redesigning the hardware, considering making a CDMA version. "We're looking at new colors, a new look and feel for the QD in the next few months," said Gerard Wiener, director and general manager Nokia's games business. There's also discussion of a price-cut being implemented. "The timing is right for us to be pushing a little harder on the operator channel," Wiener said.

A while back, we found out Mistwalker was working on a RPG for the Nintendo DS. A few details came out today giving us a better picture of what to expect. It's a simulation RPG that'll take advantage of multiple players, possibly up to five. A few sketches found the way onto the net here. Kinda has a Crystal Chronicles vibe going on, doesn't it?

THQ announced a new lineup of games that they are calling Dual Packs. These are GBA cartridges that feature two full-length games. They announced three compilations based on the series Spongebob Squarepants, Scooby Doo, and Power Rangers. The prices range from $19.99 to $29.99 and will start being available this month.

Game Informer talks with Nobuo Uematsu and wraps up last night's Dear Friends concert. GameSpot also chats with the legendary composer.