News/July 2002 Updated: 8/30/2002 Today Nintendo sent out an e-mail regarding their new show, Kirby: Right Back at Ya! Catch a Sneak Peek of Kirby: Right Back at Ya! and the Rest of the FOX BOX Line-Up this Sunday at 7:00 PM on Fox! You've seen Kirby kickin' it in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and now the pink hero has his very own TV show! Kirby, a Warpstar Knight-in-training, crash-lands on the Planet Popstar and accidentally ends up as the pink protector of the villagers. When King Dedede conjures up all his maniacal monsters, Kirby inhales their powers and gives them back a taste of their own medicine! Kirby: Right Back at Ya! premieres September 14 and airs every Saturday at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. For more information, check out Kirby's official online home at http://www.KirbyKirbyKirby.com. Rumor has it that there is a new Capcom game in development called 'Project Devil' directed by the producer of Devil May Cry. The game will have similar gameplay to DMC and the good news is, it's GameCube exclusive and will be officially presented at the Tokyo Game Show. There's also been confirmation from Capcom [at ECTS] that they're developing three [secret] exclusive GameCube games in total. Back to 'Project Devil', it cannot be Devil May Cry 2 since it is heading to PS2 and therefore would not be exclusive. Could this be a game like RE0 which is a prequel? Maybe a 'Devil May Cry 0'? More on the situation as it develops. Capcom Eurosoft today confirmed its plan to publish Auto Modellista, the first true cel shaded style racing game for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, this November. According to one of the producers of the game, Yoshihiro Sudo of Capcom, the game is not being worked on for GameCube, and isn't planned. However, As compensation for the feelings of all Nintendo fans out there, he says there are other exclusive titles coming to GameCube from Capcom. Online gaming is approaching a crucial moment in its short history according to new report just published by independent market analysts Datamonitor. The report, 'Global Online Games, 1st edition', says that while this market has relied almost solely on PC online gaming until now, Internet-connected consoles are right around the corner and hold the promise of launching online gaming into the mass-market. According to Datamonitor, even if console online gaming will not take off overnight, consumers are bound to move inexorably towards consoles. This will be the next battlefield between Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. The market for online games will reach $2.9 billion in 2005. Datamonitor estimates that the online gaming market will grow from $670 million in 2002 to reach $2.9 billion in 2005, mainly due to the fast growth of the console online gaming sector. You can read the full report here. According to the German gaming site Gamefront.de Sega's RPG title Eternal Arcadia Legend (Skies of Arcadia Legend in the US) will be released on November 28th in Japan. No American date has been set yet, but the game will likely be released sometime next Spring. Updated: 8/27/2002 The Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) announced today that every one of the 72 submarines in the American fleet now has a new state-of-the-art video game console, plus about 20 of the current top-selling video games, thanks to an unprecedented drive by the U.S. computer and video game industry to show support and thanks to American troops waging the war on terrorism. Updated: 8/26/2002 In the newest issue of EGM, new Nintendo rumors have arrived. According to the most recent Quartermann article, 'Meowth's Party'(shown at SpaceWorld 2000) and 'Pichu Bros. Party Panic' have both been apparently cancelled. No surprise there. Q-Mann also said that there was a strong rumor that Mario Kart would be able to go online. It was also mentioned that a potential version of Mario Party may also be net-enabled, as well as Animal Crossing and GameCube Wars(the GameCube sequel to Advance Wars for GBA). According to a recent interview with Squaresoft, they aim to have more than 400,000 online players by March of 2004. They also made several positive comments about developing for Nintendo GameCube and GameBoy Advance. You can read the full interview on Squaresoft's website. According to a new study, Mario has created a revenue of $7 billion over the past 21 years. According to the Hollywood Reporter, video games are giving Hollywood a run for its money, with Mario exemplifying himself as one of the leading men in the entertainment business. And according to movie indsutry analysist Bruce Nash, Mario has generated more revenue than Harrison Ford. Updated: 8/23/2002 With the release of Super Mario Sunshine only a few days away, U.S. gamers will finally get their hands on the gaming goodness that the Japanese and overeager importers have been enjoying for the last month. And while it’s been suspected that the wonderful phrase "Shine Get!" would be changed, the confirmation came at Nintendo’s Fall Gamer’s Summit from Bill Trinnen (a.k.a. Mr. Miyamoto’s uber-translator and NOA localization wizard) and from a quick test drive of the final U.S. version. According to Mr. Bill, the phrase, while being perfectly acceptable and cool to hardcore gamers, would likely seem odd and out of place to your more casual gamer. Game Informer revealed today that orchestrated renditions of famous video game scores are being planned for an event at The Hollywood Bowl amphitheater. The concert is set to happen at E3 2003. The event's organizers include music-head Tommy Tallarico and Producer/Composer Jack Wall. No word on times or tickets yet. More information on the concert can be found here. Resident Evil 0 was one of the games demoed in the afternoon at Nintendo’s Fall Gamer’s Summit. Although the version shown was very similar to previous demos (E3 demo and Japanese trial edition), Capcom revealed 1 new nugget of information. Just like its GameCube predecessor, Resident Evil 0 will span 2 discs. This is hardly surprising considering the game sports even better texture work than the Resident Evil remake as well as some gorgeous FMV sequences. Also, while all the action on the demo occurs on a train, it was reiterated that the train is only one area of the game. There will definitely be other areas to explore. Updated: 8/22/2002 Celebrating Mario's GameCube debut, fans jump into Guinness world record-breaking 3,265 pounds of spaghetti. Mama mia! Nintendo dished up more than 1.5 tons of "Pasta a la Mario" today at San Francisco's Little Italy and broke the Guinness World Record for The Largest Bowl of Pasta. Nintendo has given a hardware update on the plans for the broadband adapter on GameCube. While still sketchy when it comes to a U.S. release date, Japan is said to get the GameCube broadband adapter on October 3rd. As you may know, Nintendo has opted to sell the broadband and 56k modem hardware separately from the GameCube. The broadband release will come less than a month after the release of the 56k modem in Japan. The same is likely to happen in the U.S. The price of the broadband adapter will be about $30. Updated: 8/21/2002 Squaresoft today has confirmed that their latest installment to the Final Fantasy series, which is exclusive to the Nintendo GameCube, will break away from the traditional Turn-Based battle system and will now use a Real-Time battle system similar to the one used in The Legend of Zelda series and other Adventure/RPG games. In Gamespot’s recent Video Interview with the CEO of ID Software (who will be releasing it’s latest installment to the Doom series, Doom III on both PC and XBOX) he talks about how easy it is port the PC version to Xbox and that the Xbox’s architecture is very similar to that of the PC. While he states that Sony’s Playstation 2 will not be powerful enough to run the visually amazing game, he states, “there is some potential there, but there are a few technical questions we need to answer” when referring to any possibility of a port to the Nintendo GameCube. Since this is all just a little talk about the possibility don’t take it to seriously, but in the back of your head (and ours) it’s certainly something interesting to think about. While Activision hasn't said anything about releasing Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions on GameCube, the game was brought over from Xbox where it was originally planned to be exclusive, onto Playstation 2. According to Nintendo of America's website however, the game has been announced and will be published by Activision on GameCube. Knowing that Activision did bring the title over from Xbox, it is possible that a GameCube version could be in the works. The game page on Nintendo.com for Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions for GameCube is located here. Interplay Entertainment announced today their best-selling title Hunter: The Reckoning is coming to the Nintendo GameCube video game system this winter. Played from a third person perspective, Hunter immerses players in the nightmarish setting of Ashcroft, a town plagued by creatures of the night. Throughout the game's many gothic environments, players will face over 30 creature variants from bloodthirsty vampires to unstoppable legions of the walking dead. The countdown to the return of the premier first-person action icon has officially begun, as Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. today announced that its eagerly anticipated title, Turok: Evolution, has "gone gold" and into manufacturing in preparation for its "Turok Bloody Sunday - 9-01-02" launch across all next-generation systems. According to the new Famitsu Cube & Advance, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles will be focused on "Action", rather than the traditional FF-style of gameplay. Famitsu also mentions the fact that four people can play together and help each other. Updated: 8/20/2002 Advent Telecommunications, Inc., also known as Excite Interactive Media Development ("Excite"), a Los Angeles-based video game developer and distributor, announced today that it is serving SEGA Corporation with a complaint Excite filed with the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint alleges that SEGA is in breach of its written agreement with Excite concerning the formation and operation of their joint venture. More on the situation as it develops. Updated: 8/19/2002 If you've been watching the X Games VIII then you know what Dave Mirra brings to the world of BMX, but according to an online chat interview that he took part in, he no longer wants to be a part of Acclaim's BMX XXX title that is coming to GameCube, PS2, and Xbox. The game is the first ever extreme sports title to receive an M rating. This information was revealed by a question asked to him during the chat. GameStop Corp., the nation's largest video game and entertainment software specialty retailer, today reported sales and earnings for the second quarter ended August 3, 2002. GameStop sales increased 32.6% to $274.3 million in the second quarter of 2002, compared with $206.8 million in the prior year quarter. Sales growth resulted from a 22.9% increase in comparable store sales, as well as the sales from 100 new stores added during the first half of the fiscal year. The increase in comparable store sales was due to solid performance throughout the video game category, and was on top of a 33.1% comparable store sales increase in the prior year quarter. The continued strength in existing Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube systems, each of which realized a significant price reduction, resulted in higher than anticipated sales volume in the quarter. Updated: 8/18/2002 Starbreeze first brought word to IGNCube that they were making plans to develop Enclave on other consoles. Swing Entertainment, the publisher for Enclave, has now confirmed that with the following press release. Swing! Entertainment is planning on building on the success of their Xbox title Enclave and announces plans to make it available on three other formats. Enclave, currently positioned at number three in the Xbox charts has received critical acclaim across the media spectrum. Development has already begun to make Enclave available for the Sony PlayStation 2, PC CD-Rom (released by the end of this year) and Nintendo GameCube (released by turn of this year). Updated: 8/16/2002 Natsume has updated its website with a game page for Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life indicating that the game will reach the states in the third quarter of 2003 (the fall). It's currently also stated for a Q2 release in Japan. Famitsu has already release the first screens of Rune 2. You can see them by clicking here. Interplay has announced that they've received a Nasdaq Staff Determination letter indicating that they failed to reach the $1.00 minimum bid price for continued listing on Nasdaq. IGNCube reported earlier today that Infogrames of Japan has picked up publishing rights for the 2D shooter from Dreamcast, 'Ikaruga', for GameCube. Infogrames plans to release the game under it's Atari Games label in January 2003. The GCN version will apparently have improvements, including a new training mode. Updated: 8/14/2002 Finally, some news about Final Fantasy on the GameCube. Created under the pseudo-label Game Designer Studio, 'Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles' is one of the first Square games to be released for a Nintendo system in over five years. There are two versions, one for GameCube and one for GBA, and they will connect somehow. The first screens and movies of the game can be located on Square's website. The game is expected out sometime in 2003. Super Mario Sunshine releases in just a few weeks here in the good old U S of A. To celebrate it's launch, Nintendo is going to cook pasta! In fact, they're so excited, they're going to cook up the largest bowl of edible pasta in the world. In total, the pasta and sauce will weigh 2,700 lbs. The old record was just above 2,500 lbs. The pasta and sauce are being provided by Bucca di Beppo. But wait, there's more! Not only is Nintendo cooking up all this pasta, but they're also giving fans a chance to win a tropical vacation to Hawaii. All you have to do is dress up like Mario. The crowd will pick the best Mario look-a-likes and those winners will dive into the giant pasta bowl to try and win the trip and other Nintendo prizes. If you're crazy enough interested in this contest, all you have to do is get in the best Mario costume you can and show up at Washington Park in the Little Italy section of San Francisco on Thursday August 22nd. The event lasts from noon till 2pm. GameSpot reveal today that the name of the new character in Skies of Arcadia Legend - Piaster. Also, some new initial information on what improvements are being made to the game have been released. First, the story is being expanded slightly. The game, as previously stated, is getting a graphical update. According to Sega, these improvements will be quite noticeable during battles, and especially during magic attacks. Plus, there are new enemies in the game too. Updated: 8/13/2002 Activision, Inc. announced today that the company has entered into an agreement with the U.K. – based developer, Team 17, to publish the highly anticipated title Worms 3 and an additional yet-to-be-announced Worms title. Under the terms of the agreement, Activision has acquired multi-platform worldwide publishing and distribution rights for the game. Dengeki magazine has interviewed past and present Nintendo heads, including Hiroshi Yamauchi, Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto. It's a very good read. You can read a translated version of the interview here. Updated: 8/12/2002 Acclaim Entertainment's London office revealed Monday what is certainly a different marketing campaign for Turok: Evolution for the United Kingdom. Acclaim is looking for five people willing to change their name by deed pool to Turok for one year. So, instead of buying billboards, airtime, or print space, Acclaim UK wants your identity. Selected applicants will awarded £500 (five hundred pounds), an XBOX, and every Turok game ever published. Interested parties may find more information and apply exclusively at mynameisturok.co.uk. Updated: 8/10/2002 IGNCube is reporting that sources clos to LucasArts are saying that 'Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb' will be making it's way to GameCube. The game has already been officially announced for PS2 and Xbox, but will apparently be seeing a release on the 'Cube courtesy of software developers, The Collective. The game is similar to 'Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine' in style, but will obviously be much better. Updated: 8/9/2002 You can now find playable demos of much anticipated GameCube games that will be released in the next couple months at your local Electronics Boutique or Gamestop. Stores such as Electronic Boutique include playable demos of many up-coming 'Cube titles including: Star Fox Adventures, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Monkey Ball 2, and Beach Spikers; all playable at your local EB. A movie of Animal Crossing is also available. And Super Mario Sunshine isn't the Japanese version, it had been translated to English as you can see some of the subtitles in English as well as hear some voices. A study conducted by researchers from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, St. Mary's University at Minneapolis and the Minneapolis-based National Institute on Media and the Family was presented to an international behavioral development conference Aug. 6 in Ottawa, Canada. The study showed that watching lots of violence on television and playing violent video games not only makes kids more physically aggressive, it makes them meaner and more distrustful. You can read the study and it's findings in it's entirety here. News regarding E3 2003 is already beginning to leak. Nothing major, but the ISDA revealed today the dates for the E3Expo. The world's largest interactive entertainment trade event will take place Wednesday, May 14th through Friday, May 16th at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Conference sessions will begin May 13th. Updated: 8/8/2002 Some new news regarding the situation between Nintendo and Rare appeared today. On the history page of Rare's website, if you read the numbers there and do the math, you'll find out that Nintendo owns a total of 37.8% of Rareware. If you read deeper into the history of Rare you'll also find that if Rareware does indeed go third-party, Nintendo would make money off of any titles sold off of a Nintendo platform. Could this be why Rare is taking so long to decide in whether to go 3rd-party or not? Throughout the past couple months, there has been arguments that with the launch of the GameCube, Mario should be more mature. There were even rumors that in the new Mario game, Mario would be drinking and possibly smoking. Well, obviously none of that happened. However, an advertisement for Super Mario Sunshine in the Japanese issue Playboy Magazine seems to reveal the more "mature" Mario everybody has been pushing Shigeru Miyamoto for. Click here to see the advertisement. Note: Don't get your hopes up. Earlier today, Rareware Ltd. mysteriously removed Donkey Kong Racing for GameCube and Donkey Kong: Coconut Crackers for GBA from their list of upcoming titles. For some reason, Diddy Kong Pilot for GBA is still on the list. Unfortunately, this adds fuel to the fire of rumors that Rare is indeed going 3rd party. If this is true, then that would mean Nintendo has already pulled the Donkey Kong franchise from Rare, meaning both sides already know their 1st-party alliance is withering. UPDATE: It seems the reason Donkey Kong Racing and Donkey Kong: Coconut Crackers were removed, were due to an error while Rareware were revamping their site. Rare's titles will be appearing and disappearing throughout the day. Nintendo of Canada is sponsoring a charity event whereby 10 copies of Super Mario Sunshine are being auctioned away at eBay's Canadian site. Of course, these aren't just any old copies of SMS, they are signed by the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto himself. Click here and bid at your own risk. Updated: 8/7/2002 GameFront made several important announcements earlier this morning. Apparently, Famitsu is reporting that a Mega Man game is in the works for GameCube. Also, Skies of Arcadia will be editted because the censors are targeting at a slightly younger audience. Therefore, scenes of in which characters smoke or drink alchoholic beverages will be cut. And finally, Rune 2(Lost Kingdoms 2) is also in development. It is scheduled for a Winter 2002 release date in Japan. However, due to the lack of success of Lost Kingdoms in the U.S., it is unknown if the sequel will come stateside. IGNCube reported earlier today that the adventure game, 'Enclave', previously Xbox-exclusive, will be making it's way to GameCube, PS2, and PC later this Winter. Enclave is known for it's graphical achievements on Xbox. Updated: 8/6/2002 Today, Manabu Yamana, one of the leading Programmers of the Dragon Quest Series, announced that he had found a new firm called Genius Sonority, sponsored by Nintendo's "Q Fund", that will produce RPGs of the GCN and the GBA. Ziff Davis recently did a study. Apparently, the GameCube video game console has opened a wide lead in its user base over the rival Xbox, but the Xbox is closing fast as the two jockey for position to challenge the industry-leading PlayStation 2, according to a study issued on Tuesday. Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s GameCube is installed in 4.8 million homes, compared to 3.8 million for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox, the Ziff Davis Media Game Group reported in a study of some 2,000 video game players. IGNCube revealed earlier today that THQ has cancelled the GameCube version of 'Toxic Grind', an action skateboarding game in the vein of Dark Summit. The game will now be released exclusively on Xbox later this year. Midway revealed at Midway Gamers' Day that 'Freaky Flyers' will spread out over 2 discs. Each character has a separate storyline that has accompanying FMV. Due to the fact that Freaky Flyers will include a whopping 90 minutes of FMV, they needed the extra space to cram all the video in. Activision announced today that the company has signed world-renowned skateboarder Bob Burnquist to an exclusive multi-year video game licensing and sponsorship agreement. Burnquist will continue to appear alongside Tony Hawk in Activision O2’s flagship action sports franchise, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Additionally, as an Activision-sponsored athlete, Burnquist’s helmet and skateboard deck will feature Activision O2 logos beginning at the 2002 Summer Gravity Games on NBC. Zed Two Game Design Studio announced today the details of their latest project, Pillage. Pillage is an original, action strategy game where a gang of brave warriors must fight an evil band of creatures and avenge the destruction of their tribe. The game is currently under development for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 and PC with all versions scheduled for release in late 2002. Updated: 8/5/2002 Atlus confirmed the rumors today by announcing that they are indeed publishing Animal Leader in the U.S. Midway announced today 'Nitrocity', an extreme driving game. Seemingly based on the movie "Fast and the Furious", Your goal is to become the "King of the Streets" by racing, gambling, and wooing the ladies. This game seems to be Midway's answer to Grand Theft Auto. Nitrocity is set to be released on all platforms sometime in the first half of 2003. Cable & Wireless global telecommunications group, today announced it has been selected by Nintendo of America Inc., to provide Internet services for the company's Nintendo.com site through its Internet Services business, known as Exodus in the US. At A press conference regarding the release of Super Mario Sunshine in Japan on July 19, Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, said a few words. Basically he said that every time he makes a Mario game, he wants to do something different. He also said that he is comfortable with the GameCube controller and he feels that players will be too when they are playing as Mario. He said that he believes that he has raised the bar again on 3D action games. Finally, he reminded everyone that he will be 50 years old this year, and that Mario has become his lifework. Updated: 8/2/2002 IGNCube is reporting that Rock Solid Studios is developing a video game based on the giant sand worm monster movie, "Tremors". Rock Solid's website describes the game as a game that "...is a third person action adventure set in the desert around the town of Gold Rock, where Graboids - gigantic landsharks threatens mankind as we know it". The game is currently set for a 2003 release date on all platforms. According to sources throughout the web, it is being reported that Atlus, developer of the recently announced "Cubivore" for GameCube, will be publishing Animal Leader in the U.S. Atlus has yet to confirm this, but Japanese instruction booklets of Animal Leader include screenshots of Cubivore. More on the situation as it develops. Sega release 6 news screenshots of their port of the highly acclaimed Dreamcast RPG, Skies of Arcadia. Not only will the "port" include updated graphics and smoother gameplay, but also a new female playable character as well as a name change: "Skies of Arcadia Legend". The game is set for a tentative Spring 2003 U.S. release date. Sega of America confirmed today that Sonic Mega Collection will indeed be coming to the U.S. SMC is supposedly expected for a November 2002 release date. This shouldn't have come as much of a surprise, what with the wild success of Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Dennis Publishing today announced the return of the Golden Joystick Awards, the UK’s premier awards for computer and video games. The new-look awards, which will be voted for by game fans throughout the UK, will be presented by TV presenter, Radio 2 DJ and celebrity game fan Jonathan Ross at a glittering awards ceremony at London’s Dorchester Hotel on Friday October 25th. Fourteen of the 15 awards on offer will be voted for by members of the public, either through the dedicated voting website at www.goldenjoystick.com or through Dennis Publishing’s leading games portal at www.computerandvideogames.com. Midway Games announced today that they have teamed up with Stan Winston Studio to develop an action/adventure game, tentatively titled "AREA 51". Combining elements of precision sniper attacks and hand-to-hand combat, AREA 51 takes three distinct characters on individual and cooperative missions, in an attempt to unlock the extra-terrestrial mystery behind the Nevada desert locale. AREA 51 is currently in development and scheduled to ship in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox video game system from Microsoft and Nintendo GameCube. Updated: 8/1/2002 Sega of Japan has now officially announced that the Playstation 2 version of Skies of Arcadia has been cancelled. This comes after news of a new character and improvements from the Dreamcast version. Sega's reasoning behind it was that the best would be "poured out" on the Gamecube version; and although they realized that the PS2 userbase was counting on the game, they thought it best to only release the game on the Gamecube. Rockstar Games announced today the acquisition of Vancouver developer 'Barking Dog Studios'. In fact, Rockstar and Barking Dog have already unveilied their first title called, "The Warriors", a game based on Paramount Pictures' classic 1979 gritty gang drama of the same name, directed by Walter Hill, in which the Warriors are mistakenly accused of killing a big time gang leader named Cyrus. Soon, they have every gang in New York City out to get revenge. The Warriors must make their way from one end of the city to their turf on the other side.