Friday, 9/05/03
Pikmin 2 Officially Delayed
Olimar returns in May. Sigh. Well, the "official" time frame is "second quarter 2004", so it
could appear at any point between April and June. NoA's claims this is being done to ensure
quality.
Nintendo/Dr. Pepper Contest
Dr. Pepper and Nintendo are running a contest at the end of this year. The winner will get to
appear inside an upcoming Nintendo game. If Stage Debut ever comes out, it would seem like
an obvious choice; however, it is worth noting that the advertising campaign for the contest
shows a kid on a GBA SP screen, so it could well be an upcoming GBA title instead of a GC one.
N-Run Fails to Impress Big Companies
Nintendo ran an "Ultimate Fantasy Conference" this week, showing off a variety of upcoming
GBA RPGs, such as Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Fire Emblem, Sword of Mana, and
Mario & Luigi. Sadly, we weren't invited. However, it does seem as though nothing really
new came out of this conference, so we aren't terribly crushed.
N-Gage No Longer Funny
Hee hee hee. N-Gage. Hee hee hee.
The N-Gage is actually going to be released.
N-Gage. Hee hee hee.
Thursday, 9/04/03
Grand Theft Auto Goes Multiplatform -- But Not on GC?
Rockstar Games announced that both the Xbox and PS2 would be receiving a
Grand Theft Auto 3 and GTA: Vice City combo pack this year.
What makes this interesting is that during an interview earlier this year,
a Rockstar rep said that GTA would be coming to the Xbox and GC
sometime in 2004. At this point the GC version seems rather unlikely,
though.
GameCube Outsells PS2 In Japan
During the week of August 25th, the GameCube outsold the PS2 in hardware.
The difference in sales was merely 300 systems, though. Credit seems to be going to
the new Namco RPG Tales of Symphonia for the GameCube, which sold
193,500 copies during its first week on sale. While it seems unlikely that
Nintendo can keep this up, it's a slightly promising sign.
Wario Ware GameCube Notes
Everyone else ran this tiny bit of information, so we might as well run it
too. Wario Ware is coming out for the GameCube, to be released in
Japan near the end of October (as Made in Wario, of course). This
time around the game will have a multiplayer focus, hopefully like a nutty
spin off of the Mario Party games. Supposedly the game will also
feature "microgames" with odd instructions, such as "play this game while
squatting" or "use just your left hand", relying on the four players to
keep each other honest; if someone is failing to play by the rules, the
other three players can "buzz" them out with their controllers.
Pocket Bell for the GBA
While no is seems to be sure as to what this gadget is yet, Nintendo
has filed a new patent for a new GBA related device, tentatively named
"Pocket Bell". The device is some kind of telecommunications gadget,
offering potential "beeper" and wireless functions (although whether this
would be between the GBA and a network or the GBA and other game systems
is uncertain), and will feature some kind of miniature display on the
device itself (probably a simple text display).
What is interesting, and what no other site seems to have
noticed, is that the device (as displayed in the patent pictures) is
not a GBA cartridge. Rather, it's a device that plugs into the
EXT link port on top of the GBA, which means it can be used in conjunction
with other GBA cartridges (unlike the eReader, which uses both the cartridge
port and the EXT link port). Until we can find a good copy of the original
patent information, take a look at the images
Polygonmag.com is running.
XIII Preorder Gimmick
It appears that XIII, the upcoming action shooter, will have a
preorder bonus. Sadly, while the Xbox and PS2 versions will offer a free
demo disk as the bonus, the GameCube and PC preorder bonus is just a
soundtrack CD.
$20 Bomberman Jetters for the USA
It appears that Bomberman Jetters will be released in the USA
after all, and as a budget title. It's scheduled for a late October
release by Majesco, and should be available for preorder at most major
online game sites.
More GBA Pokemon Rumors
Denki GC made an announcement awhile back that a mystery GBA title would
be coming that would sell at least a million copies. Rumors were bandied
about that this title would be everything from a new Mario game to some
weird Pokemon title. Everyone's favorite obscure game site,
Video Fenky has reported that a Japanese childrens magazine claims that
"Pokemon Red & Green" will be coming soon. While this could just be a
wildly inaccurate guess, it's an interesting comment.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance PR Hotline
Nintendo has set up a toll free number to advertise the upcoming
FF Tactics title. If you call 1-866-PLY-2WIN, you can hear little
blurbs from the game characters.
N-Gage Features "NEW" Games
Hee hee hee. N-Gage. Hee hee hee.
The N-Gage will have Super Monkey Ball, Puyo Puyo Pop, Rayman 3,
and many other exciting games that have been out on the GBA for several
months now. Meanwhile, the GBA will be getting Final Fantasy Tactics
.
N-Gage. Hee hee hee.
Wednesday, 9/03/03
Harvest Moon Preorders Climb
In Japan, that is. It currently has over 70,000 preorders in the country. Supposedly the
original sales expectations were 35,000. That number seems low, even for a GC game in Japan,
so we're assuming that preorders were expect to be around 30,000. Regardless, it looks like
Harvest Moon should do well in the land of the rising sun.
Sega Plans More Games
In Japan, Sega announce a few new GC and GBA titles this week. For the GC, expect a slightly updated
Phantasy Star Online 1 & 2 Plus (it features some of the online quests and the GBA download
quests available as offline quests; it is supposed to be a budget release), Puyo Puyo Fever (for
all systems), and
Island of Kaiju (an GC only action adventure game; you can create and raise
your own monsters using some kind of "Kaiju editor" created at Tokyo University -- we have no
idea what this means, but Sega seems to have been impressed enough by it to secure exclusive
video game rights to it). All three games
feature GBA link up features. Sega also has a GBA game entitled Lilliput Kingdom that
seems like the kind of game never to come out here in the USA. In the game,
you have to run a Japanese telivision station. More to come if we ever get
more information.
Yoshio Sakamoto (Metroid, Wario Ware, Game Boy) Interview
While there really isn't any new news coming out of this, it is an interesting article.
Go visit C&VG
to read the article.
Rumors Abound - Pikmin 2 Delayed?
There seems to be a new rumor that Pikmin 2 has been delayed from it's original late
October release to a May 2004 release, based on the fact that the EBgames site shows a 5/2004
release for it. However, Nintendo hasn't confirmed this, and all other online game stores still
have the October release date for it.
N-Gage Estimated at $300
Hee hee hee. N-Gage. Hee hee hee.
The SP currently retails at $99, and it hasn't had a price drop yet.
N-Gage. Hee hee hee.
Monday, 9/01/03
Rogue Squadron 3: Rogue Leader Demo Disc
In case you couldn't find it last week, the Rogue Squadron 3 demo disc should now be
available in stores. When you preorder the game, you will receive the demo disc containing the
Battle of Hoth, a RS3 trailer, a Gladius trailer, a film clip of RS3 artwork, and the
original Atari vector graphics Star Wars Arcade Game. If you feel cheap, Best Buy has
been selling the disk by itself for $5.
New Dragon Warrior Spin-Off for GBA
Square Enix is releasing a new Dragon Warrior game, featuring the slimes. You get
to start your own little slime game and roam the slime world, fighting other slime gangs,
getting slime treasures, and having a typical slime time. In better news, supposedly Square Enix
is still debating moving the unfinished Final Fantasy III WonderSwan port to the GBA.
Europe Gets PN03 Before Us
Good news or bad news? You decide!
Extra ECTS Awards Info
Nintendo was voted "Best Publisher Of The Year". As a side note, Nintendo has been publishing
several big third party titles in Europe.
N-Gage Offers 6 Hours of Gaming on a Charge
Hee hee hee. N-Gage. Hee hee hee.
The GBA SP lasts between 10-18 hours on a charge.
N-Gage. Hee hee hee.
