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Late Night Consoling

by jason bergman, Jun 17, 2003 8:00pm PDT
Related Topics – Capcom, Sony, Games: Console, SOCOM, Simpsons, ELSPA

I finished up Splinter Cell the other night (see review here), and while my primary game at the moment is the Bloodmoon add-on for Morrowind (soon to be available on the Xbox in the GOTY edition...if you're a fan, check it out...this add-on is a lot of fun, and definitely better than Tribunal) I've also taken a few trips into WarioWare, which is quite possibly the best GBA game to date. It's a truly unique experience...stupid fast, and stupid fun. I find myself concerned that this game, which has over 200 mini-games in it, might actually be too short, which I guess is a testament to how fun it is. If you're a fan of older console games, don't skip this one...lots of the games in here have a real retro-charm to them, and the fun thing is that even when there's a game I don't like, it's over in three seconds, so who cares? It's a hoot.

GameCube PS2 Xbox Game Prices Going Up? This article over at MSNBC quotes one analyst who thinks the cost of major titles will actually be going up in the near future. The reasons cited are all logical ones, such as the increased cost of development and so on, but don't start worrying just yet. As is pointed out in that same article, sales have been climbing steadily, allowing publishers to charge less for these games, not more. And while SOCOM did indeed retail for $60, that "cheap headset" it comes with is the same one Logitech is charging $40 for by itself, so that's actually quite a bargain.
PSOne A Sony handheld in 2000? According to a Nikkei report (relayed at GamePro), Sony apparently had a handheld system, roughly the size of the original Game Boy Advance, set to go three years ago. The system played games stored on Memory Sticks, and the idea was that people would pay to download games off in-store kiosks. This was developed by Sony proper, not SCE like the regular PlayStation systems (the PSX being the new exception), and was canned after it was decided to focus all of their efforts on the PS2. Apparently Capcom and Square were already developing software.
PSOne PSP Game Pricing Revealed? GameSpot is reporting that at the ELSPA Games Summit in London today, SCEE president Chris Deering gave a keynote in which he mentioned some possible pricing for games for the upcoming PSP handheld system. He says that the majority of games will be in the $24 - $35 range, with some going as high as $70, and that since the UMD format is cheaper to produce than DVDs, movies could go for as little as $12. He also says that while there won't be any territorial lockout for games (yay!), there will be region encoding for movies, just like DVDs.
Xbox More Downloadable Stuff for MechAssault After making users wait months and months for the first batch of downloadable goodies, Microsoft has wisely decided to speed things up a bit, and so they have already released another content download for MechAssault. A full list of the new stuff was posted to the comments last night by CA_Flynn, and to get this stuff all you need to o is log in to Xbox Live.
Xbox Unreal II for Xbox? Both EBGames and GameStop have started listing an Xbox port of Unreal II: The Awakening. While that's not an official announcement, usually when both of those sites start taking pre-orders the game's definitely on the way. Also adding some weight to this story is the fact that both sites list a release date of 12/9.
GameCube No Experience in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles? This was actually posted last week, but I only just stumbled across it today...a handful of details from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles can be found at RPGamer, and among them is a description of the differences between the solo and multiplayer modes (playing solo is literally solo -- no AI party members) and the news that the game has no experience points. You'll get money, items and magic for defeating monsters, but that's it. Jeez, this game just keeps sounding less and less like a game I'd have any interest in playing.
PSOne Policenauts Re-Released in Japan Here's a pleasant surprise...Slashdot Games points to this French-language story that showcases a PSOne re-release of Hideo Kojima's Policenauts, a little-seen but oft-mentioned Saturn game from the creator of Metal Gear Solid. The original was never released in North America (or even officially translated into English!) so hopefully we'll get a shot at finally seeing this game over here.
PS2 Upgrade Your GameShark MadCatz, the new owners of the GameShark franchise, have announced an upgrade program for owners of an Action Replay, CodeBreaker or GameShark2 for the PS2 to their newly released GameShark2 Version 3. The upgrade costs $19.99 and is only available through their website.
GameCube PS2 Xbox Futurama Interview Computer and Video Games has conducted an interview with Klaude Thomas, the producer on the upcoming Futurama game. Klaude talks about its authenticity and the level of involvement the people behind the show have had, which is apparently quite a bit, as the show's writers wrote the script and all the voice actors are in the game.
GameCube PS2 Xbox Hulk Codes Already Found Well that figures...as a few people pointed out last night, some enterprising gamers have already found the codes for the Hulk game that will be hidden in the movie opening on Friday. I still think this is a cool idea, even if GameSharks make it easy to find this stuff.
GameCube PS2 Xbox GameBoy Advance New Releases This Week Last week was totally dead, but this week's a bit better...new in stores this week is DragonBall Z: Legacy of Goku II and Rock n' Roll Racing for GBA, MegaMan Network Transmission for GameCube , Resident Evil: Dead Aim, Big Mutha Truckers, Unlimited SaGa and RTX Red Rock for PS2 and Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick, Midtown Madness 3 and Soldier of Fortune 2 for Xbox.
GameCube PS2 Xbox GameBoy Advance Misc. Media/Previews GameSpot has posted impressions of Sprits and Spells (GC) and Rogue Ops (Xbox) along with new screenshots from Ratchet & Clank 2 (PS2). Over at IGN they have yet another new preview of The Hobbit (GC) and screenshots from the GameCube versions of Buffy: Chaos Bleeds, Charlie's Angels and Gladius, new shots from Resident Evil: Outbreak, a new preview of kill.switch and new footage from NHL Hitz Pro (all PS2), their hands-on look at The Simpsons Road Rage for GBA. Elsewhere Games Are Fun has the first image from the impressive-looking Biohazzard Collector's Box and a link to another Viewtiful Joe commercial (both GameCube), and GamePro has new screenshots from the PS2 and Xbox versions of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, as well as new shots from the Xbox port of Dynasty Warriors 4.
Console Game of the Evening: Battle of Olympus for the NES. "It was very similar to Zelda, except based solely on greek mythology. Full of greek gods, cyclops, three-headed dogs, minotaurs, sirens, and a trip down to hades leaves memories that I shall never forget." (submitted by lord cecil).


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Comments

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  • #108
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    By: tigeN x
    Reply
    Having XP points in a game isn't automatically good or bad. Zelda 1 didn't, Zelda 2 did. Having XP is a bad idea if the game is so stingy with them you have to "XP farm" for long periods. I have better things to do with my life than that. And if you don't have to XP farm, then you are getting enough just by going through the game normally; so not having them wouldn't change much.

    XP is just one way of providing progression of power. Zelda or Metroid are proof there are other ways. If designed correctly it can be more fun that way since you can focus on other gameplay aspects than just the fighting (which in FF-style random encounter games gets old fast).
    Jun 18, 2003 11:03am PDT