N-Run
What we lack in decent page design, we make up for with lackluster articles
and late reports.
Friday, April 02, 2004
Wacky Game Deals: A Few More Pricedrops
Electronics Boutique is currently selling both Gladius and R: Racing Revolution for $19.99. In addition, R: Racing Revolution generally comes with the Pac-Man Vs. disc.
Nintendo Game Design Seminar Program
In Japan, Nintendo will be offering college students a series of game design and development courses. Thirty students will be selected for the nine month (June through March) program, spread out as a weekly three hour course. Training and lectures will be given by Nintendo staff during the context of the seminar course. If you are interested, live in Japan, and are currently enrolled as a student, you could visit the seminar site and apply.
1019 Memory Card Confirmed
We missed it yesterday, but Nintendo confirmed that the 1019 Memory Card is being released later this year.
Remember, you can't move Animal Crossing, F-Zero GX, Pokemon Colosseum, Phantasy Star Online 1&2, or Phantasy Star Online 3 save files from one card to another... so don't get overly excited by the idea of "all the files on one card".
Sigh.
Thursday, April 01, 2004
Fire Emblem for GameCube
The latest issue of Japanese magazine Shohen Jump ran a short story on the next game in the Fire Emblem series, which appears to be heading for the GameCube. Intelligent Systems is developing the title, which appears to be stylistically similar to the GBA Fire Emblem games, even using an 3/4 "bird's eye" view during the battle map sequences. Roughly translated, the subtitle appears to be "Path (or trail) of the Blue Flame". The game is expected to have a Japanese release much later this year.
Nintendo Profits Down, Thanks to Yen
With the 2003 fiscal year at an end, Nintendo has announced that it won't be reaching the $520,000,000 in profits it had expected in January; instead, they've managed to earn $317,000,000. The difference is blamed on the devaluation of the dollar in comparison to Japanese yen, which greatly hurts Nintendo's stockpiles of dollars collected from the good old USA. Nintendo is still doing well as a company, but their treasure trove of USA greenbacks suffers a bit because of currency values.
Wireless GBA Adapter Coming
Nintendo plans to release the wireless GBA adapter with Pokemon Fire Red / Leaf Green as a free bonus. The adapter is known to work with the NES Classics Series, Pokemon Fire Red / Leaf Green, and Mario Golf: Advance Tour.
Nintendo's 2004 Releases
Nintendo released a preliminary list of 2004 GameCube releases today. According to this list, Pikmin 2 will arrive in August, Donkey Konga in September, and between October and December we'll see the release of Geist, Mario Tennis, Mario Party 6, Metroid Prime 2, Paper Mario 2, and Star Fox.
Other reports indicate that the GBA will be receiving Mario vs. Donkey Kong in late May, the NES Classics Series and Mario Golf: Advance Tour in early June, and Hamtaro 4: Rainbow Rescue in July. September will see the release of F-Zero 2 and Pokemon Fire Red / Leaf Green. Sometime between October and December, Nintendo will release Mario Pinball, Donkey Kong Country 2, Mario Tennis, Kirby, and Mario Party. The Mario Pinball and Mario Party titles are the only real surprises in the list, as the other titles have all been mentioned or hinted at before.
Paper Mario 2 Screen Shots
Gaming site GameScience recently ran a story with screenshots of the new Paper Mario GameCube game. The screenshots look much too valid to be an April 1st prank, so we're taking this as confirmation that Paper Mario is coming to the GameCube.
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Another Interview We Didn't Get: Killer 7
1up has an interview with Hiroyuki Kobayashi (general manager of Capcom's Studio 4) about the upcoming game Killer 7. It seems that the game will be primarly played from a third person perspective, but the fight sequences will all be in static first person -- that is, you won't be able to move about while shooting. More information can be found on 1up's website.
Wacky Game Deal: Skies of Arcadia Legends for $25
Gamestop is selling Skies of Arcadia Legends for $25.
Yes, news is slow today.
Kuju Rumors
Recently it came to light that Nintendo would be publishing an upcoming Kuju Entertainment game. This has led to all kinds of bizarre speculation, especially after some folks discovered that Konami and Kuju made a similar deal back in 2003. To make matters more murky, someone posted a message on a message board, claiming to be a Kuju employee looking for game testers -- then said "Castlevania for GameCube". Kuju, however, denies that they are making such a game... and evidence is much too slim and suspect to make disbelieving them worthwhile. So, unless we're wrong, don't expect a Kuju developed GameCube Castlevania anytime soon.
Viewtiful Joe Producer Promoted... Sort Of
Capcom is in the middle of a restructuring in Japan, closing down some teams and creating a brand new one. Clover Studios is the name of Capcom's newest production studio, and its CEO and president is Viewtiful Joe producer Atsushi Inaba. Many other members of the 64 person staff have recently worked on titles for Nintendo platforms (such as the Zelda: Oracle games and the Resident Evil series), so there is the possibility that Clover Studios will be doing some GameCube or GBA development. Capcom itself seems to be in a bit of a dry spot, having recently announced that it expects to face an $89,000,000 loss this year.
Paper Mario Sequel Coming
According to a wide variety of sources and news outlets, Nintendo plans to release a "Paper Mario 2" game something this fall in Japan (where it will be entitled Mario Story 2). Intelligent Systems (makers of the original Paper Mario, as well as the Advance Wars and Fire Emblem games) appears to be the developer. The game will retain the 2D paper cutout style of Paper Mario; in fact, the current story is that at some point in the game, Mario will be able to fly about in a paper airplane form.
Everyone seems very insistent on the fact that Mario will be able to fold up into an airplane and zip about. It's rather worrying.
Monday, March 29, 2004
First Party 1019 Block Memory Card -- Confirmed?
Electronics Boutique now has a listing for "MEMORY CARD 1019", with the publisher listed as Nintendo. It seems that Nintendo might well be releasing a high capacity memory card this June, and for a mere $30 as well.
Wacky Game Deals
Toys R Us (and their Amazon store) is currently running a "buy two, get one free" promotion on a limited number of Player's Choice titles. These games include Pikmin, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Mario Sunshine, Starfox Adventures, and Metroid Prime. The promotion is scheduled to end on April 3rd.
Circuit City is currently selling both Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Pokemon Colloseum for $50, but they give you a free $10 gift card with your purchase. Boktai is a mere $20, with free shipping.
Target is offering an instant $10 rebate on several GameCube games, including Pokemon Coloseum, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Sonic Heroes, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, NFL Street, Madden 2004, NBA Live 2004, 007: Everything or Nothing, MVP Baseball 2004, Spongebob Squarepants, Need for Speed Underground, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004, and Scooby Doo Mystery Mayhem. In addition, a few of these games have $5 off coupons as well; these are Sonic Heroes, 007: Everything or Nothing, and NFL Street, bringing the price down to $35 at Target.
Designer of Cubivore Sentenced
According to Video Fenky, Gento Matsumoto has been sentenced to eight months in prison after a repeat offense of driving without a license. Matsumoto is the creator/designer of the GameCube title Doubutsu Bancho (released in the USA as Cubivore).
Weird, isn't it?
International GameCube Promotions
In Europe, Nintendo and EA will be selling special GameCube bundles for EA Fifa Football 2004 and Need for Speed: Underground. The bundles include a black GameCube and the specified game, packed in a box that is plastered all over with game art. The GameCubes appear to be standard black systems. More information can be found on Electronic Boutique's German site, or at the German gaming site G-Freaks.
Nintendo of Australia has announced that folks purchasing a GameCube will now receive both The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition and a free Player's Choice title (Metroid Prime, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Starfox Adventures, Pikmin, or Luigi's Mansion.) The promotion is scheduled to end on April 30th.
Pikmin 2 eReader Support Confirmed -- For Japan
NCL has announced a series of eReader cards for the upcoming Pikmin 2 game. The cards will bring up some sort of puzzle challenge on the GBA when scanned in, although the nature of the GBA to GC connection isn't quite clear to us at this point. The series will consist of 30 cards, which will be sold in six different 5 card packs (two yellow packs, two red packs, and two blue packs). It is uncertain as to whether eReader support will be retained in Pikmin 2 when it is released outside of Japan.
Games of the Week
Games scheduled for release this week include...
Game Boy Advance: Home on the Range.
Well, next week looks better.
Really.
NES Classics and NES GBA SP
Nintendo has officially announced the NES GBA SP and NES Classics series, ending all sorts of odd speculation. Much like the Famicom Mini series in Japan, the NES Classics series consists of eight original NES games emulated on GBA cartridges. The games will retail for $20 each, and feature the ability to save your high score, progress, or (in the case of Excitebike) custom levels. Nintendo plans to release a special NES themed GBA SP as well, designed so as to closely resemble the original NES controller. Both the system and the games are scheduled to arrive on June 7th.
NES Classics Series: Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Excitebike, Ice Climber, Pac-Man, Bomberman, and Xevious.
