Late Night Consoling

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So does anyone have any North American PS2 copies of Rez or Gitaroo-Man? If you've got one or both of those titles and want to pawn them off onto an LNC editor for a fairly reasonable price, shoot me a Shackmessage...

Also, let me know what you guys think about this New Console Releases section I've put in there. Is it something I should keep doing or does it take up too much space? I don't really like using actual news items just to announce that things have shipped, so this seems like a good alternative. In the future it would happen on Monday instead.

  • Zelda to Miss Holiday Season Release

    [gamecube]

    In a rather succinct press release, Nintendo has announced that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will not in fact hit its original Holiday Season 2005 release date. The game has long been expected to ship some time in November, but the publisher is now claiming that "the game will now launch in 2006 globally". Nintendo of America vice president of marketing and corporate affairs Perrin Kaplan stated that "the Zelda development team has requested extra time to add new levels, more depth, and even higher quality to Zelda...while this may come as a disappointment to many eager fans, it will absolutely enrich the game." GameSpot estimates that the game will not be released until Nintendo's next fiscal year, which begins April 1. One might infer that Revolution will not ship until well after that.

  • DS Gets a Discount; GBA Micro Release Set

    [ds] [gba]

    The onslaught of anticipated Nintendo DS releases is commencing next week with Advance Wars: Dual Strike and Nintendogs, and in preparation Nintendo has announced that the console itself will receive a $20 price cut to $129.99 on August 21, the day before the aforementioned games hit stores.

    Nintendo also revealed the Game Boy Micro's official release date of September 19, although no price point was given. The device, which plays all Game Boy Advance games, corrects a few GBA SP design shortcomings--it has a standard 1/8" headphone jack and adjustable screen brightness. Nintendo has still not offered any official word on whether they plan to launch the Play-Yan accessory in non-Japanese territories. The Play-Yan is a GBA cartridge which plays sound and video files stored on an SD card.

  • Xbox Execs Skip GC; PS2 Price Drop?

    [ps2] [xbox]

    Outspoken Xbox heads Robbie Bach, J Allard, and Peter Moore are apparently declining to make the trip to Leipzig for tomorrow's Games Convention. This suggests that Microsoft won't be making any big 360 announcements at the show, possibly waiting for their own X05 event in early October.

    GamesIndustry.biz also claims that a German-language Microsoft web page cites a price point for Xbox 360 as CHF 600 (Swiss Francs). This translates to 387 Euro and US$479. If the price is indeed correct, this would suggest a price of 399 Euro, which in many cases translates directly over to US$399. Many analysts have been speculating that in the wake of Sony's continued hinting of an expensive PS3, Microsoft might consider a higher price point than the US$299 that was previously assumed.

    Speaking of Sony, the same article also suggests that the PS2 might undergo a pre-holiday season price drop, a possibility described by senior sources in Leipzig as "common knowledge". UK retailers, however, were not aware of such a move. With GameCube already at $99 with a Smash Bros. bundle and the Xbox 360 launching soon, it is by no means unreasonable to expect Sony to take measures to make their aging PS2 a more attractive buy.

  • That Xbox Was Pretty Big

    [xbox]

    Apparently, "Xboxes are huge" jokes still aren't old with Xbox executives. A San Jose Mercury News article (free reg. required) has Microsoft's Peter Moore admitting that the Xbox "was 'a little big''--as he showed a slide that pictured a house-sized Xbox atop a large construction mover". Moore continued to note that it "couldn't fit through the doorway in most Japanese homes". That wacky Moore!

    On a less done-to-death note, Microsoft announced that contract manufacturers Flextronics, Wistron, and Celestica will build Xbox 360 consoles in three Chinese factories, which should give Microsoft the manufacturing flexibility needed to launch 360 simultaneously in Europe, Japan, and North America. Whereas Xbox had a 500,000 unit US retail launch with sales of 1.4M in its first calendar year, Microsoft hopes to launch 360 with a retail stock of 2-3M units, a stock which the company plans to continually replenish.

  • Sony Dev Details Shadow of the Colossus

    [ps2]

    The US localization producer for Sony's upcoming Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) has created a thread on the PlayStation.com message boards in which he answers some questions about the game and its relationship to the cult classic Ico, which was developed by the same team. Most relevant is this post, in which he categorically answers several questions posed by forum denizens. Some highlights:

    Shadow features an imaginary language that is in fact the same one used in Ico. The game will apparently give players "a number of questions which may lead you to want to play Ico again." The length is between 8-12 hours depending on the skill of the player, but it can take up to 20+ hours if played thoroughly, and the game will have unlockable extra modes. The game will support 16:9 and progressive scan.

    Fascinating!

  • Possible Announcements at Games Convention

    [ps2] [xbox]

    1UP speculates on a few possible announcements and demos that might occur at tomorrow's Games Convention in Leipzig:

    Microsoft is expected to discuss the launch of Xbox 360 in Europe. Hideo Kojima will discuss Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3) (though probably won't show actual footage until Tokyo Game Show). EA and Criterion are likely to have Black (PS2, Xbox) in playable form. Shingo Takatsuka will discuss Pro Evolution Soccer 5/Winning Eleven 9 (PS2, Xbox, PSP, PC).

  • Misc. Q&As/Features

    About a year ago a colleague and I did a rather silly and unprepared three-part interview with Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert. For some reason Part 3 has only just surfaced on Idle Thumbs.

    GameDaily chats with American McGee about Bad Day L.A. (Xbox, PC).

    Gamasutra has a Day in the Life feature from Coray Seifert of Large Animal Games.

This Week's North American Console Releases

PS2

EyeToy: Play 2 (SCEE London Studio | Tue.)

Xbox

Metal Slug 4 & 5 (BrezzaSoft | Tue.)

GameCube

Geist (n-Space | Mon.)
Hello Kitty: Roller Rescue (Xpec | Mon.)
Sonic Gems Collection (Sega | Tue.)

Portable

Death, Jr. (Backbone Entertainment | Tue. | PSP)
Sigma Star Saga (WayForward | Mon. | GBA)
Several retro ports for GBA: Board Game Classics; Centipede/Breakout/Warlords; Connect Four/Perfection/Trouble; Gauntlet/Rampart; Marble Madness/Klax; Millipede/Super Breakout/Lunar Lander; Paperboy/Rampage; Pong/Asteroids/Yar's Revenge; Risk/Battleship/Clue; Sorry!/Aggravation/Scrabble Junior; Spy Hunter/Super Sprint (DSI Games | Mon. | GBA)
Lizzie McGuire 3: Homecoming Havoc (Climax | Tue. | GBA)
That's So Raven 2: Supernatural Style (A2M | Wed. | GBA)

Multi

Darkwatch (High Moon Studios | Tue. | PS2, Xbox)

Misc. Media/Previews

Xbox

Here on the ol' FileShack we have some gameplay video from the Xbox 360 version of Monolith's Condemned: Criminal Origins (X360, also PS3, PC). IGN has a preview and some video of Ubisoft and Crytek's Far Cry Instincts. GameSpot previews Creative Assembly's Spartan: Total Warrior.

Portable

GameSpy previews Koei's Dynasty Warriors Advance (GBA). GameSpot goes hands-on with the GBA version of A2M's Teen Titans (GBA, also PS2, Xbox, GCN).

Multi

GameSpot has an "association mode spotlight" for Visual Concepts' NBA 2K6 (PS2, Xbox, X360). They also take a hands-on with Treyarch's Ultimate Spider-Man (PS2, Xbox, GCN, DS, GBA, PC). GameSpy previews Raven's X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (PS2, Xbox, GCN, PSP, PC). IGN details progress on Criterion's Burnout Revenge (PS2, Xbox, X360).

Console Game Of The Evening [Submit Yours!]

Warzone 2100 for the PSOne. "A 1998 3-D RTS with massive artillery duals and literally hundreds of units thanks to mix and match weapons and chassis = Gaming Heaven" (submitted by GreenCrescent)

From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 16, 2005 8:02 PM

    If anyone gives you Rez or Gitaroo-Man for a reasonable price, I will PUNCH YOU SQUARE IN THE FACE, REMO

    • reply
      August 16, 2005 8:08 PM

      No kidding...I want in on REZ

      • reply
        August 16, 2005 8:26 PM

        Same here, I need some Rez action.

        You'd think that Sega/Sonic Team would see the great interest in this title and rerelease it or something. (I know it doesn't qualify for a Greatest Hits, but still...)

        • reply
          August 16, 2005 8:46 PM

          I think it is up to Sony...it sold really poorly, so I don't think they are all that into it.

          Truthfully, tho, the reason they aren't into it is probably because no buyer would want to put it on their shelves. If they sold old titles direct from a website, I bet they could still make good profits doing that and take a bite out of the used games biz (which they get no money from).

          But I'm crazy, so don't listen to me.

      • reply
        August 16, 2005 8:36 PM

        Rez is awesome, I have it on my hd loader. Rez and Lumines (aka ...Tetris on Crack) rock...no pun intended

        • reply
          August 16, 2005 10:06 PM

          My favorite moments in Lumines are the bonus multiplier sound effects that are ripped directly from Rez.

          There's really no reason that Rez couldn't be done on the PSP.

    • reply
      August 16, 2005 8:11 PM

      I remember, when I got rid of my old PS2, and all my games, I traded them all in at the Gamestop I worked at.

      Sure enough, a year and a half later, when I got a PS2 again (once there were new games I wanted), my copy of Rez that I had traded in was still there, and I managed to buy it back.

      Never again will I risk losing such an awesome game.

      • reply
        August 16, 2005 8:19 PM

        I wish I had never played Gitaroo Man, otherwise I would not know what I am missing by not dropping $80+ for a used copy on ebay. I still check every week or so, but I realize it is stupid to think I might ever get it for less on ebay.
        Rez, though... The DC version suits me just fine ^_^

    • reply
      August 16, 2005 8:42 PM

      Especially REZ I bought a copy for my now X girlfriend that store I bought it from had 2 copies at 30 bucks each I should have bought both but how was I to know we were going to break up?

    • reply
      August 16, 2005 9:13 PM

      I agree. One face punch.

    • reply
      August 17, 2005 5:15 AM

      He did say "fairly reasonable price." He realizes that he's going to have to pony up a decent amount of cash for one of the trance vibrators.

    • reply
      August 17, 2005 7:00 AM

      last time i checked a store here in sydney still had about 15 copies of rez on the shelves

      • reply
        August 17, 2005 7:18 AM

        Yeah, PAL ones and Japanese copies are everywhere :( I'd take a Japanese one, but man, Swap Magic is a pain and I know I'll fuck up hardware modding anything.

    • reply
      August 17, 2005 7:37 AM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      August 17, 2005 12:57 PM

      I still remember finding a new copy of Rez at one of our local Gamestops several months ago. It was sitting on the bottom shelf, the cover having seen better days, and marked down to about thirty bucks, IIRC. I grabbed it and as he was ringing me up, the clerk remarked "Man, I thought we'd never get rid of that thing.". I bit my tongue.

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