N-Run
What we lack in decent page design, we make up for with lackluster articles
and late reports.
Friday, April 09, 2004
New 2D Action Game: Alien Hominid
If you liked Viewtiful Joe, or purchased Blowout just to support the 2D game movement, you might be interested in Alien Hominid. We were just notified about the game today, and were surprised and pleased to find another two dimensional game coming to the GameCube (and, to a lesser extent, the Xbox and PS2). The website has some information and video clips of the game. You can also try the Flash version of the game, to see what you think.
More Rumors of New GameCube Peripheral
More rumors are appearing about some sort of mysterious GameCube peripheral that Nintendo may debut at e3. No news on what this cloud of vapor might be, but the rumor is out there. It is presumably not the Donkey Konga drum controller.
30 DS Titles at e3?
Hirokazu Hamamura, president of the Japanese periodicals company Enterbrain (publishers of such magazines as Famitsu), was recently interviewed. When asked about the Nintendo DS, he mentioned that up to 30 titles might be on display at this year's e3. He said that he's quite interested in the device, saying that it was unlike anything else currently available. He also confirmed that the DS features a touch sensitive screen.
Nintendo Top Japanese Game Publisher
Nintendo was the top game publisher in Japan for the 2003 fiscal year, selling about 6.5 million games, putting them more than 2 million sales ahead of their nearest competitor, Square Enix, who sold about 4 million titles. What makes this more significant is that Nintendo 6.5 million sales do not include any of the Pokemon games, which are published through The Pokemon Company now.
Final Fantasy I & II for GBA
Japanese gaming magazine Shonen Jump recently revealed a new Square Enix title in the works for the GBA -- Final Fantasy I & II. The graphically upgraded and enhanced games appear to be derived from the Wonderswan and Playstation ports of the early NES titles, but with some added features and areas. Notable extras include a Boss Battle mode featuring bosses from a variety of games in the Final Fantasy series, and some sort of "extra quest" centered around the characters who had died in the regular game. No USA release has been confirmed at this point.
Thursday, April 08, 2004
Not-So-Wacky Game Deals
For just $20 each, you can now purchase Billy Hatcher from Kaybee or Pitfall from Gamestop.
Yes, it is slow today.
GameCube Tales of Symphonia Headed for the PS2
Namco has announced an announcement regarding the Tales RPG series, and is scheduled to make this announcement on the 12th or so. However, Japanese gaming magazines (and several sites) are reporting that the news will be that Tales of Symphonia, the GameCube RPG, is being ported to the PS2. In addition, a new Tales game will be coming to the PS2 as well -- Tales of Rebirth.
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Hackers Develop Live Video Analysis Program for GC Soul Calibur II
It seems that a group of programmers have developed a real-time analysis and feedback program for the GameCube port of Soul Calibur II, called the "Soul Calimeter". The program accepts a live video feed of gameplay and tracks player status, progress, and more, even providing audio commentary. The program has not been released for public consumption, but it is a very interesting development. Find out more at the SoulCalimeter web page.
CBS MarketWatch Nintendo Interview
CBS MarketWatch recently interviewed NOA's Reginald Fils-Aime, executive vice-president of sales and marketing. Nothing overly exciting was mentioned in the interview, although he did say that Microsoft's $30 price cut on the Xbox didn't worry them. If you'd like to see the interview, it appears that IGN has a link to the footage.
New Square Enix Game for the GBA
Square Enix will be releasing a new Dragon Warrior title for the GBA this June in Japan. The game, entitled Dragon Quest Characters: Toruneko no Daibouken 3 Advance: Fushigi no Dungeon (or something along those lines), is a port of the similarly title PS2 game. It appears to be a part of series known in the USA as Dragon Warrior Monsters.
Ubisoft News
We mentioned that Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow would be getting an April release, and Ubisoft has recently announced that Rainbow Six 3 will be arriving on the GameCube sometime in June.
That's the good news.
Rainbow Six 3 is supposed to have, at least, a split-screen multiplayer mode. According to rumors from a few sources (such as IGN), Pandora Tomorrow will have no multiplayer modes on the GameCube. No online. No split-screen. Nothing.
The problem is that this is still just a rumor. What makes it so curious and suspect is that other sites got direct confirmation of online gameplay in the GC version just a few months back. Either one of these sites is wrong (IGN, Computer and Video Games, etc..), or Ubisoft changed their plans.
We'll find out more eventually. We hope.
BBC To Show a Nintendo Documentary/Expose
BBC3 will be broadcasting an expose documentary on Nintendo this coming April 12th and 13th. Airing as part of the Outrageous Fortunes series (covering companies with significant global name recognition and dominance), the feature will trace the history of the Nintendo corporation, and delve into its current successes and troubles. Libby Potter interviewed Miyamoto, Arkawa, Howard Lincoln, and many others, attempting to find out more about Nintendo's corporate culture. Potter will also be attempting to find out more about Nintendo's stance on seizures induced by games, and whether or not Nintendo covered up knowledge of hazaradous game design. BBC3 has a website with more information about the documentary feature.
Nintendo to Release New Golf Game?
It appears that Japanese release lists are showing a new golfing game coming from Nintendo. The game is roughly translated as Legend of Golf/Golfer and appears to be a GameCube title. Nothing else is known at this point.
Sega Tidbits
It seems that Sega will be making some announcements about a few of their upcoming titles shortly. Sometime next week, Sega will make some sort of vague announcement concerning Virtua Fighter: Cyber Generations, the quest game based on the Virtua Fighter franchise. In addition, Japanese gaming magazine Dorimaga claims that Sega will be making some sort of important Phantasy Star Online announcement sometime in the near future.
Nintendo Creates Special Fund For Acquistions and Mergers
NCL is setting up a special monetary fund again, somewhat like Yamauchi's infamous "Fund Q". What makes this different is that Nintendo itself is setting up the fund, and that it plans to use it for such things as acquisitions and mergers of other companies. This was first reported by Japanese magazine Toyou Keizai Shinpousha, although more news is assuredly coming sometime in the near future. Speculation is currently running rampant as to what the nature of the acquistions will be: will Nintendo be purchasing small developers, bringing in new technology teams, or merging with a large media or technology corporation?
It is worth noting that there are several Nintendo development partners not currently owned by Nintendo, and that this could just be centered on making them all first party. However, at this point in time there is really no way to tell what Nintendo plans to do with the fund.
Metroid Movie Plans by John Woo
John Woo has recently acquired the film options for Nintendo's Metroid series, and appears to be actively intent on releasing a Metroid film before 2006. Woo may be directing the film. Other members of the production team include Brad Foxhoven and Terance Chang. The Metroid film rights have been optioned before, but Woo and his team seem very intent on actually producing and releasing a film. The Hollywood Reporter has some additional information about this news, along with quotes from the people involved.
Monday, April 05, 2004
This Week's Releases
If you feel like throwing your money away to the game companies, you'll have precious few opportunities this week.
GameCube: Wario Ware, Inc.: Mega Party Game$ and Space Raiders.
Game Boy Advance: Er... nothing we can find...
Japanese Fire Emblem Site Appears
NCL has started up the Japanese Fire Emblem game site, although it doesn't really feature all that much as of yet. There is some character art up, in case you'd like to see where the artistic design for the game is going.
More Famicom Mini Titles?
NCL's online Nintendo magazine, Nintendo Dream, recently revealed that Nintendo is considering adding more titles to the Famicom Mini series. The series of Famicom ports has sold over 900,000 copies in just one month, so future releases seem quite likely. It seems that one of the primary reasons for the release of the Famicom Mini series is that fact that the Famicom officially ceased production last year.
April Release for Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
Ubisoft recently announced that the GameCube version of Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow will be released sometime late this month. There is still no word on whether or not the GameCube version will feature any online components.
