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Late Night Consoling

by Chris Remo, Sep 16, 2005 8:00pm PDT
Related Topics – Sega, Jack Thompson, CliffyB, Monolith, Infinity Ward, Konami, Square Enix, Sony, Capcom, Gearbox, Ubisoft, Rockstar, Namco, Atari, Frontier Developments

Seriously, if you sent me an email Wednesday or Thursday, send it again. I didn't receive it. :( Busiest, most exhausting week ever. Good lord. Time to collapse. Don't forget to check the Misc. Q&As/Features section! I think that segment gets passed over a lot.

  • TGS Game Announcements

    [ps2] [xbox] [gamecube] [ps2] [xbox] [gamecube]
    Tokyo Games Show is now actually getting underway, and with it come more game announcements. Here they are, grouped by platform and sorted alphabetically by title. Descriptions will be brief and in many cases nonexistent: - Alone in the Dark on PS3: Sony announced that Atari will be bringing the Alone in the Dark franchise to PS3, though a specific developer was not named. - Brothers in Arms 3 (PS3): Sony also revealed that Ubisoft will be bringing Gearbox's well-received Brothers in Arms franchise to PS3 with the third game in the series. - Fatal Inertia (PS3): Koei's Omega Force team, best known for the perennial Dynasty Warriors line, has a PS3 launch game in the works. Inertia will be a futuristic battle racing game. - Front Mission 5 (PS2): Square Enix announced and released trailer footage for Front Mission 5: Scars of the War, the newest in the popular strategy series. The game will hit Japanese PS2s this December. - Gradius on PS3: Not too surprisingly, Konami's long-running Gradius series will be appearing on the PS3. No details are available, but you'll probably fly a ship around and shoot things. - Jikkyo Powerful Pro Baseball: Konami will be bringing its big-in-Japan Jikkyo Powerful Pro Yakyuu kyu franchise to Sony's next-gen system. The series is known for its wacky take on America's Favorite Pasttime. - KOF Maximum Impact 3 (PS3): SNK Playmore announced King of Fighters Maximum Impact 3 for PS3 today. No details available. - Makai Wars on PS3: Despite a continued lack of signs of life regarding the PSP version, Nippon Ichi has announced that the strategy series Makai Wars will be coming to PS3. No specific details were revealed. - New RPG for PS3: Namco announced that a new RPG of some kind is in the works for PS3. No information is available. - New shooting game for PS3: Namco also announced that some kind of shooting game is also in the works for PS3. No information is available. - Tenchu game for Xbox 360: From Software announced a new Tenchu game, though did not reveal any details. The studio is currently also working on the already-announced Chromehounds (X360), [eM] -eNCHANT arM- (X360), and Armored Core 4 (PS3). - Baten Kaitos II (GCN): Namco and Monolith Soft are developing a prequel to the GameCube RPG Baten Kaitos. The game will take place 20 years before the first title, with a new set of characters as well as most likely some returning ones from Baten Kaitos. It will also feature new environments as well as revisted ones. - SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters DS: SNK has is developing a sequel to the fan favorite SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters for Neo Geo Pocket Color. The followup will be released next year for DS, and apparently features the work of SNK artist Falcoon. - Suikoden I&II (PSP): Konami is bringing the first two Suikoden titles to PSP. It seems there will be new anime-style cutscenes, but it is unknown whether the gameplay will be modified.

  • Microsoft Continues Pushing HD Era

    [xbox]
    Though the Revolution-revealing keynote by Nintendo's Satoru Iwata has been the biggest news of TGS thus far, Microsoft's Robbie Bach also delivered his own address before Iwata's. Microsoft seems to be sticking to its guns with its HD Era pitch, with the keynote title being "The Dawn of a New Era" (you know, the HD one). Another main point was the dovetailing between Windows PCs and Xbox 360s, which will work together in order to form the centerpiece of consumers' digital lifestyle. That good old CliffyB, who seems to be rapidly becoming Microsoft's favorite Xbox 360 poster boy, also came to the stage to give his schtick on Epic's upcoming Gears of War (X360). Bach also explained the workings of Xbox Live, though the information all seemed like details that have already been outlined. He also paid his compliments to Nintendogs (DS), something that even portable Nintendo challenger Sony has acknowledged positively, as being a good example of customizability in video games. The Xbox 360 apparently also aims to deliver customers with a customizable experience. As far as the PS3, Bach claimed that the system will be roughly comparable to Xbox 360 in terms of power, but that Xbox 360 will deliver a better personalized and online experience, making it the superior console. He also claims that Xbox 360 will be more than just a game system. This is a claim that has also been made by Sony regarding most of their gaming products; Nintendo has rarely if ever made similar statements regarding their systems. Of course, Bach was also sure to reiterate his company's devotion to the Japanese market, claiming that while Microsoft did not see much success there in the last generation he expects a very different situation starting with Xbox 360's release.

  • PS3 Itself Absent from TGS

    [ps2]
    IGN reports that amongst all the trailers and announcements, there are not actually any playable PS3 consoles at Tokyo Games Show. When questioned regarding the prospects of the system itself being on display in the near future, Sony provided no response. So, we'll see. The system won't be out for a while, though, so there's plenty of time.

  • Jack Thompson Still Easily Irritable

    Everyone's favorite wacky attorney Jack Thompson has slammed Rockstar Games for a fictional website set up by the company. The suggestively-abbreviated Citizens United Negating Technology website is linked from Rockstar's GTA: Liberty City Stories website. The GTA:LCS site also includes an email from "JT@CitizensUnitingNegatingTechnology", explaining that "Only last week, I was using the Internet to look up some information for my 15 year old niece, who is a keen water skier and state wide sailor. Trust me when I say this - searching under the subject matter "Teenage girls water sports" is not for the faint hearted." It also notes that "the Internet is an unambiguous evil," and "the only things worse than the Internet are computer games and liberals." Thompson in response:
    "Take-Two/Rockstar has created and paid for an actual Internet website for the purpose of furthering the notion that its most abiding and most effective critic, Jack Thompson, is himself a sexual pervert. When you click on the fake email, you will find that JT (Jack Thompson) likes to surf the Internet for pictures depicting deviant sex acts by teenage girls. Additionally, there is at the site an audio ad featuring a man whose name is "Jack" who is found naked by a mother in her son's room. Bisexual paedophile Jack Thompson is the combined message."
    The other combined message is "extremely annoying and hilarious Jack Thompson."

  • The Outsider on Next-Gen

    [ps2] [xbox]
    Frontier Developments, the studio behind the RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise and Dog's Life (PS2) (which was actually pretty fun), is developing a new action thriller for next-gen systems, most likely PS2 and Xbox 360. The announcement was not made at Tokyo Games Show. The game will be politically-oriented and will apparently strive to give players a wide range of choices in their actions. A more detailed description is here, in which David Braben, chairman of the independent studio, claims that the game will be one of a new breed of games going beyond effects-driven action titles.

  • Misc. Q&As/Features

    Eurogamer talks to Nintendo's Jim Merrick about the recently-unveiled Revolution controller. GamesIndustry.biz interviews Marko Hein, head of Nintendo's European Developer Business. Game Informer chats with two members of the Castlevania team: Koji Igarashi, producer of Dawn of Sorrow (DS) and Curse of Darkness (PS2, Xbox), as well as composer Michiru Yamane. IGN gets the full packaging of GBA Micro, detailing just what comes in the unusually-shaped box.

Misc. Media/Previews

PS2/PS3
Capcom's Okami (PS2) [1UP]. Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts II (PS2) [GameSpot]. Square Enix's Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (PS2) [GameSpot, GameSpy]. Level 5's Rogue Galaxy (PS2) [GameSpot]. Namco's Tales of the Abyss (PS2) [GameSpot]. Genki's Ikusagami (PS2) [IGN]. SCEI's Siren 2 (PS2) [IGN]. Namco's Soulcalibur III (PS2) [IGN]. Polyphony Digital's Vision GT (PS3) [IGN]. Incog's Warhawk (PS3) [GameSpot, IGN]. Capcom's Devil May Cry 4 (PS3) [GameSpot, IGN, 1UP]. Factor 5's Lair (PS3) [GameSpot]. Sega's Sega Rally 2006 (PS2) [GameSpot]. Ubisoft's Project Assassins (PS3) [GameSpot]. Koei's Ni-Oh (PS3) [1UP]. Omega Force's Fatal Inertia (PS3) [Eurogamer, 1UP].
Xbox/Xbox 360
Square Enix's Final Fantasy XI (X360 [GameSpot], also PS2, PC). Team Ninja's Dead or Alive 4 (X360) [GameSpot, IGN]. Rare's Kameo: Elements of Power (X360) [GameSpot, IGN]. Q Entertainment's Ninety-Nine Nights (X360) [GameSpot, Eurogamer, IGN]. Namco's Ridge Racer 6 (X360) [IGN, 1UP]. Bizarre Creations' Project Gotham Racing 3 (X360) [GameSpot, Eurogamer, IGN, GameSpy]. Epic's Gears of War (X360) [GameSpot, IGN]. From's [eM] -eNCHANT arM- (X360) [GameSpot]. Genki's Shutokou Battle (X360) [GameSpot]. Taito's World Airforce (X360) [GameSpot]. Game Republic's Every Party (X360) [GameSpot]. Omega Force's Dynasty Warriors 5 (X360 [GameSpot], also PS2, Xbox). Capcom's Dead Rising (X360) [GameSpot]. Yuke's' Wrestle Kingdom (X360) [GameSpot]. Konami's Rumble Roses XX (X360) [1UP].
Portable
Sonic Team's Sonic Rush (DS) [IGN]. Sonic Team's Feel the Magic XY/XX 2 (Where Do Babies Come From?) (DS) [GameSpot, IGN, GameSpy]. Sega's Monkey Ball DS (DS) [IGN]. Namco's Boku no Watashi no Katamari Damacy (PSP) [GameSpot, 1UP, GameSpy]. Capcom's Rockman Rockman (PSP) [GameSpot, 1UP]. Q Entertainment's Every Extend Extra (PSP) [1UP]. SCEJ's Loco Roco (PSP) [IGN]. Capcom's Street Fighter Alpha 3 (PSP) [IGN, GameSpot]. Climax's Landstalker (PSP) [IGN]. Capcom's Extreme Ghouls 'n Ghosts (PSP) [IGN, 1UP]. Kojima Productions' Metal Gear AC!D 2 (PSP) [GameSpot, IGN, 1UP]. Capcom's Goku Makaimura (PSP) [GameSpot].
Multi
Sonic Team's Puyo Pop Fever 2 (PS2 [GameSpot, DS [GameSpot], PSP [GameSpot]). Sonic Team's Sonic Riders (PS2 [GameSpot, 1UP], Xbox [GameSpot, 1UP], GCN [GameSpot, 1UP]). Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 2 (X360 [GameSpot, IGN], PC). Raven's X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse - Spotlight on Toad (PS2 [GameSpot], Xbox [GameSpot], GCN [GameSpot], PSP [GameSpot], PC [GameSpot]).


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Comments

31 Threads | 81 Comments
  • #26
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    By: Wombat Woo x
    Reply
    I still dislike the design but it is rather ingenious to copy a TV control. Everyone is familier with the remote and this thing has a fraction of the buttons. Even Great Grandpa should be able to sit down and play.

    For what is percieved to be their main audience, children, this is also a great design. I have overseen my nephews gaming for years now and while they can handle an NES pad with the greatest of ease, each successive console generation proves to be more difficult. Cumbersome controls and a ton of buttons don't mix well with little hands. However they both can handle a mouse very well, the oldest showing great RTS skills. The revolution control should fit like a glove for them both.

    TLDR: Any age group can use the control. Simple design but will still allow complex gameplay.
    Sep 16, 2005 8:38pm PDT