November 18th-30th (Yes, I know, N-Run has been off for a bit now.)
Newly Released Games
Over the past two weeks, Mario Kart: Double Dash and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
have been released, along with a slew of third party titles. With MKDD and MLSS out, most
gamers should now be able to visit Nintendo Zelda Collection
disc information site and register enough games to earn the disc.
Some of the many other titles released include...
GameCube Software: XIII, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Disney's Hide and Sneak, Gladius,
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System, Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, SSX3, Tak and the Power of Juju,
True Crime: The Streets of L.A., Go! Go! Hypergrind, and more.
Game Boy Advance Software: Onimusha Tactics , Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon ,
Double Dragon Advance, Gekido: Kintakro's Revenge, SimCity 200, Kien, and countless others.
Pac-Man Vs. Now Available
Many game stores now have Pac-Man Vs. games in stock, and are handing them out with the
preorder of I-Ninja. The game will also be included with the upcoming Pac-Man World 2
rerelease, and with R: Racing Revolution.
GameCube Online Efforts: Project Warp Pipe & Xlink
While Mario Kart: Double Dash is officially just a LAN enabled game, several crews of
hackers have been working on ways to hook this LAN connection to the internet. The
Project Warp Pipe team have released a beta version of
their software (Windows XP/NT/2000) to the public, and the
Xlink team plans to have their software working for GameCube LAN games by the end of the year.
Virtua Fighter Quest Update?
Sega's Virtua Fighter Quest was announced early in the GC's life, but no other information
has been given for quite a bit now. However, recently the Japanese magazine Dorimaga
has reported that it will be revealing new information on the game in their December issue, due on
or about the 12th.
New Kirby Game Coming... Little Else Known
While it shouldn't be a surprise, NCL's online game "magazine" Nintendo Dream recently
revealed that a new Kirby game is being developed.
Four Swords Release Announced
NCL has announced that Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords for the GameCube will be released
in February of 2004, and that the Tetra's Trackers game will be included on the disk,
along with a "battle mode".
European "Golden Joystick Awards"
Europe has their own supply of gaming award shows. This year's
Golden Joystick Awards honored Shigeru Miyamoto as their first "Hall of Fame" inductee. While
Miyamoto didn't travel to London to accept the honor, he did send a recorded acceptance speech.
Nintendo was chosen as "Publisher of the Year", and its games garnered several awards.
As a side note, Viewtiful Joe was declared the "Unsung Hero Game of the Year".
Pokemon Colosseum to Feature eReader Support
When Pokemon Colosseum is released in Japan, Nintendo plans to release a few sets of new
eReader cards to go along with it. Some of the cards can be scanned in to unlock extra battle
backgrounds or environments, while others will provide you with a new trainer to battle.
Donkey Konga Bundle for Japan
Nintendo plans to release a Donkey Konga GameCube bundle in Japan, with the game, the
drum controller, a memory card, and a GameCube system with a special Donkey Konga
name plate.
Nintendo Suffers A Loss
Nintendo lost 2.89 billion yen (roughly $26,500,000) during the first half of the 2003 fiscal
year. This is their first financial loss Nintendo has suffered in over 40 years, and it is blamed
on both an increase in value of the yen (thus reducing the value of Nintendo's foreign investments)
and lower than expected sales of the GameCube. However, Nintendo still believes it will enjoy a
net profit of about $550 million this year.
Golden GBA SP
Toys R Us is selling a special gold GBA SP & Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
bundle, priced at $100 -- the same as a standard SP.
The Return of Yamauchi
Former Nintendo overlord Hiroshi Yamauchi has become president of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu
Project foundation, a group dedicated to promoting and preserving the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
(On the off chance you aren't familiar with medieval Japanese literature, the Ogura Hyakunin
Isshu is a collection of 100 poems written by 100 different Japanese poets between the 7th and
13th centuries.) Yamauchi seems to be the chief financial sponsor of the foundation, which
would explain why he was made president. The foundation hopes to build a museum in Kyoto and
start an informational tour to be sent throughout Japan, rekindling interest in this ancient
collection of poems. When asked why he join the foundation, Yamauchi said that he thought it
was a wonderful effort, and that Kyoto needed more tourist attractions.
Mario Wax Figure Update
The Hollywood Wax Museum will be adding a figure of Mario, and it seems that Nintendo will be
holding a Mario costume contest at the December 9th figure unveiling. Show up at the museum
that day, before 10:30 AM, and prepare to be judged on your costume design. The winner will walk
off with a nice pile of Nintendo merchandise. More information will come when we manage to find
it.
