Late Night Consoling

To clarify my post from last night...yes, I'm playing the European import version of Shenmue II...after all the trouble I went through to port my save over, I damn well better be. Playing it on the Dreamcast is a bittersweet experience...I feel sort of like when I played Paper Mario...I know it'll be the last new game I play for the system. Still, it's not hard to see how this series can grow on the Xbox. The possibilities of the endless space on the hard drive (imagine all the extra crap it could keep persistent), the level of detail in characters and environments, and the joy that is Dolby 5.1 audio, may be enough to get me to play through this game all over again when it comes out later this year. Assuming, of course, that I have a reasonable assurance that the series will continue on that platform - I ain't playing it on the Xbox, only to discover later that it's switching permanently to GameCube (and no, I haven't heard anything to suggest that as a possibility).

• What better way to kick off tonight's LNC than with some new shots from Soul Calibur II, which is really looking great.
• Okay, you can relax now: there is only one version of State of Emergency, and it's uncensored.
• Here he is, a full movie of Michael Jackson in the unimaginatively titled Space Channel 5 Part 2. Say what you will about the guy (that magazine cover he's on this month gives me the willies), but I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Moonwalker was a great game.
• A whole lot of concept artwork from Kingdom Hearts is up at PS2.IGN tonight, showing off the various Disney and SquareSoft characters from the game.
• Also at PS2.IGN is a hands-on look at Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter.
• GameSpot has posted a hands-on look at Shadowman: 2econd Coming (sure it's a goofy name, but it's still better than Shadowman Part 2).
• Ubi Soft and Kalisto announced today Nightmare Creatures 3, which will be released for multiple platforms next year. I guess Kalisto really didn't fold after all...I wonder if they still have the Highlander license?
• Sony's saying that a new release of the PS2 with the hard drive and ethernet adapter included isn't financially viable. Instead they're planning on marketing those add-ons to current PS2 owners. I don't know about anyone else, but they have a looong way to go to convince me that buying those two things is worth the money.
• Xbox.IGN has conducted an interview with Peter Molyneux, talking with him about his various projects, including the aptly named Project Ego (which I'm very, very interested in seeing, but very skeptical about at the same time).