Late Night Consoling

June 30, 2003 8:00 PM

So over the weekend I sold back some stuff and picked up a GameCube Game Boy Player. I've tried out a few games so far, and WarioWare looks and plays great on the GameCube, as does Advance Wars and Zelda: A Link to the Past. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow does indeed look a bit washed out, and I'm not sure I'm going to bother playing it blown up like that. This is clearly a game that wasn't meant to be viewed that way, and it does look a heck of a lot better on my GBA SP. But I was expecting that. My only real complaint so far has been with the GameCube controller. I absolutely hate the d-pad on there, even if it is identical to the one used in the GBA (so says Jack anyway, and I trust him on this) it's just so horribly placed that it's totally useless as a primary controller. I know I can just hook up my GBA with a link cable, but what can I say...I'm lazy. Those retro SNES-style controllers are really cool, and it's tempting to import one, but I think I'll just live with what I've got for now. But by and large the Game Boy Player is well made, and I can easily recommend it. Just be warned...certain games like Castlevania are going to look a bit washed out, and there's not a whole lot you can do about it.

	Blizzard Rumors Squashed This interview with Blizzard's Bill Roper over at HomeLAN was mentioned here earlier (eerily just hours before the announcement that the guy had left the company), but it deserves a mention here because in the interview, he effectively shoots down the rumors that StarCraft: Ghost will be an Xbox exclusive. He does say that they are using the Xbox as their primary development platform, but he says they still plan on releasing PS2 and GameCube ports of the game. Of course, he's no longer with the company, so one could make the argument that this proves nothing. Regardless, look for the GBA port of Blizzard's classic Blackthorne to be released later this year.
	Team Ninja Rumors Slashed In other Xbox rumor squashing news, GamePro is reporting that in a post to the official Japanese-language forums for the magazine Famitsu, Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki reiterated their support for the Xbox platform, and said that the recent shakeup at Microsoft's Japanese Xbox unit will not affect their plans in the future.
	Sega's New Game Set in Illinois? A very odd article from The Southern Illinoisan details how Sega is scoping out a town in Illinois as a location for "one of the biggest video game releases of 2004." What game is it? Who knows? But I think it's safe to assume that it's not Shenmue III. Thanks GameSpot for the tip.
	Shenmue III Petition Speaking of the game everyone hopes will get made (okay, maybe it's just me), a new petition has popped up online to try and get Yu Suzuki and co. to make Shenmue III. These petitions rarely work (I'm still waiting for this one to do some good), but hey it can't hurt.
	Microsoft Drops Prices in Asia Microsoft announced today that as of tomorrow, they are dropping the price of the Xbox console down to the equivalent of $179 in all Asian countries except Japan. This brings most of Asia right down to where we are here in North America. While it's still roughly $210 in Japan, GamePro points out that the new Dino Crisis set costs just $20 more, making it quite a bargain.
	Ys Eternal Story Details New details and screenshots from Ys Eternal Story are up at PS2.IGN tonight, offering the latest look at this updated version of Ys Books I & II. The game is set for release in Japan this August, although no North American publisher has come forward as of yet. Working Designs, are you listening?
	Misc. Media/Previews GameSpot has a new preview of Kya: Dark Lineage (PS2) as well as new screenshots from Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death (PS2, Xbox). IGN has a bit more tonight, with their own preview of Kya: Dark Lineage, a look at Driver 3 and a new trailer from Ratchet: Going Commando (all PS2), shots from Sphinx and the Shadow of Set (GC) and a look at Rainbow Six 3 (GC, PS2, Xbox), new shots from Ninja Gaiden and Steel Battalion: Line of Contact (both Xbox) and an update on NBA Jam 2004 (GC, PS2, Xbox). Elsewhere tonight there's not a whole lot going on, but nonetheless Games Are Fun has new shots from Konami's Karaoke Revolution (PS2) and Planet GameCube has a look at the limited edition Sword of Mana GBA SP (its color is called "mana blue"). And for a little bit of weirdness, Tecmo is now offering the limited edition Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball bikinis for sale in this country, complete with the requisite pictures of models showing them off.

Console Game of the Evening: Deja Vu for the NES. "The first noir video game I remember playing. You woke up in a bars's bathroom with a cracked toilet and couldn't remember who you were or why you were there. The game told a story that really engrossed me (when I was 12)." (submitted by Gonzo).

jason bergman

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khaosman

 reply
June 30, 2003 8:00 PM

anyone know if ncaa 2004 is xbox live capable?
- jason bergman
  
   reply
  June 30, 2003 8:07 PM
  
  If that's EA's game, then no it's not. No EA Sports games will be XBL this year.
  - prfectjon
    
     reply
    June 30, 2003 8:40 PM
    
    And this, among other reasons *coughsimscough* is why I fart in the general direction of EA. Madden is the only football series that I feel comfortable with (though Gameday held that title many moons ago), and without it on Live, I can't play good ol' foosball online. :-(
    - jake
      
       reply
      July 1, 2003 5:34 AM
      
      It's looking like Fever may actually not be poo this year. Combine that with the XSN integration and I may start to forget about EA.
  - khaosman
    
     reply
    June 30, 2003 11:01 PM
    
    yea it is, poo. its a fun game to play with people... needs xbl now :( then i'd have a better reason to buy it