Late Night Consoling

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Gonna go see They Might Be Giants tonight, should be fun.
  • Sony to Stick to Non-Unified Online Strategy

    [ps3]

    Numerous sources are reporting on a story in the latest issue of Official PlayStation Magazine, revealing that Sony will be sticking to its guns and not providing a central online service for its next-generation PlayStation 3 console. The strategy is the same that it employed with the PS2, which required each publisher to set up its own online account system. Sony cited freedom for developers and publishers as a significant reason for the renewed decision. This is, of course, a markedly different approach than that taken by Microsoft with its much-lauded Xbox Live service, about to go into its second incarnation with the launch of Xbox 360. Nintendo, too, will be providing a central online gaming service with its Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, a service which launches November 14 for Nintendo DS and at a later date for Nintendo Revolution.

    The news comes as little surprise, as Sony officials have over the last several months suggested on multiple occasions they would choose to pursue a similar route to that of PS2.

    Sony has reason to believe its online strategy is worth keeping; PS2's online services had more registered users than Xbox Live did in this generation. However, this is largely due to the PS2's overwhelming higher install base than either of its two competitors. Proportionally speaking, Xbox had a better overall online adoption percentage, with estimates suggesting that about 10% of Xbox owners played on Xbox Live. It is also worth noting that Sony's online option is free at the basic level, allowing publishers to set their own charges if desired, whereas Xbox Live charges a monthly fee.

    In any case, each of the three companies is taking a very different approach to online in the next generation: Sony, with a completely unregulated system, Microsoft, with a paid and heavily regulated system, and Nintendo, with a free and regulated system.

  • DS to Train Your Brain, Nintendo to Make Games

    [ds]

    For those of you hoping to finally see what all the fuss is about regarding Nintendo's Brain Training (DS) software, which owned the sales charts for months in Japan and along with Nintendogs (DS) helped the sales of Nintendo's portable greatly, you're in luck. Nintendo will be translating Brain Training as well as the followup Brain Flex (DS) will be localized for North America and Europe. The titles, particularly popular with adult users, contain a plethora of increasingly difficult mini-games designed to stimulate and "exercise" the mind. It appears people are quite into it.

    There is currently no release date for the software.

    Nintendo also updated its release list for the next several months to include dates for such titles as the real-time strategy/pinball/hamburger title Yoot Saito's Odama (GCN) (seriously, you guys have to see this), Metroid Prime: Hunters (DS), Super Princess Peach (DS), Tales of Phantasia (GBA), and True Swing Golf (DS).

  • Famicom GBA Micro to Hit US

    [gba]

    Nintendo's outspoken executive marketing VP Reggie Fils-Aimes confirmed today that the company will be bringing its Famicom-styled Game Boy Micro to the US (and, presumably, the rest of North America?) on November 28. The unit, which will be called the 20th Anniversary Edition Game Boy Micro, is by far and away the best-selling version of the console in Japan, accounting for fully 60% of Micro sales in that country when the machine launched in September.

    The package will retail for $99.99, like its solid-color brethren, and will also include a $10 voucher towards the purchase of certain GBA titles.

  • Japanese Pop Star to Sing Dirge

    [ps2]

    It seems that a Japanese pop singer known as Gackt (he claims his full name is Camui M. S. Gackt, and that he was born July 4, 1540, though we're not sure his bank would agree) will not only be performing a song in Square Enix's upcoming Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (PS2), he will actually appear in the game along with vampiric main character Vincent Valentine. The game is just one of several recently released or announced spin-offs of Square's classic Final Fantasy VII (PS1). This one takes place about a year after the events of the recently released in Japan CGI film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and is apparently a gun-oriented action RPG, in keeping with its lead character. The scene featuring Mr. Valentine and Mr. Gackt will apparently combine live action footage with CGI.

    Dirge of Cerberus is expected to ship some time in 2006.

  • Misc. Q&As/Features

    IGN has a paraphrased interview from Japanese publication Dorimaga with Sega designer Yu Suzuki, head of the new AM Plus dev studio.

    If there's anything that makes me want to buy a video game console, it's people jumping rope.

Misc. Media/Previews

PS2

IGN checks out Media.Vision's Wild ARMs -- Alter Code F (PS2).

Screenshots: Magna Carta: Tears of Blood (PS2). Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (PS2).

Xbox

Movies: Dead or Alive 4 (X360).

Portable

IGN goes hands on with Nintendo's Mario Kart DS (and so do 1UP and GameSpot). GameSpy checks out Sonic Team's Sonic Rush (DS). IGN takes a look at Nintendo's Metroid Prime Hunters (DS) and Brain Flex (DS).

Screenshots: Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS). Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble (DS). Resident Evil: Deadly Silence (DS). Tony Hawk's American Sk8land (DS, also GBA). True Swing Golf (DS). Electroplankton (DS). The Hustle: Detroid Streets (PSP).

Multi

IGN checks out Midway's Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows (PS2, Xbox, PC).

Movies: Black (PS2, Xbox). Gun (PS2, Xbox, GCN, X360, PC).

Console Game Of The Evening [Submit Yours!]

Batman Returns for the SegaCD. "I loved the driving segments in this game. Very well done...shame about the rest of the game." (submitted by Silent Wolf)

From The Chatty
  • reply
    November 3, 2005 8:01 PM

    hey Remo, i haven't seen you mention Starcraft: Ghost being cancelled for the Gamecube.

    • reply
      November 3, 2005 8:10 PM

      yar, i was gonna mention this also.

    • reply
      November 3, 2005 8:19 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      November 3, 2005 11:34 PM

      when did that happen?

    • reply
      November 4, 2005 12:17 AM

      that's going to affect what? ummm, 0.00001% (exaguration) of the gaming community? xbox & ps2 > gamecube.... :P

      • reply
        November 4, 2005 12:25 AM

        lol, good thing you posted that during an off hour and in LNC, cause you'd be getting an ear-load if you said that where everyone would read it

        • reply
          November 4, 2005 12:29 AM

          is it? hehehehe

          in my area, the population of game cubers are rare like the ompah loompahs compared to owners of xbox and ps2 :P :D

          • reply
            November 4, 2005 12:57 AM

            Wonder what this means....

            September 2005 NPD Sales

            XBX Rainbow Six: Lockdown - 126,024
            PS2 Rainbow Six: Lockdown - 37,277
            GCN Rainbow Six: Lockdown - 567

            PS2 X-Men Legends 2 - 78,209
            XBX X-Men Legends 2 - 78,182
            GCN X-Men Legends 2 -20,789

            PS2 NBA Live 06 - 184,498
            XBX NBA Live 06 - 83,126
            GCN NBA Live 06 -10,261

            PS2 NHL 06 - 56,456
            XBX NHL 06 - 31,113
            GCN NHL 06 - 6,478

            • reply
              November 4, 2005 1:06 AM

              That those are hardly the type of games people generally buy for Gamecube?

              • reply
                November 4, 2005 1:07 AM

                If by that you mean third party games, you are correct.

                • reply
                  November 4, 2005 1:10 AM

                  Well, particularly things like sports games and games with a strong online component.

                  • reply
                    November 4, 2005 1:19 AM

                    Well, all of their 1 million sales + titles have been published by Nintendo with the exception of that Sonic game at launch and Resident Evil might be pushing a million now. I'm not entirely sure on that.

                    These were the top 3 GC titles from September:

                    Mario Superstar Baseball - $8.1M / 164,170
                    WWE Day of Reckoning 2 - $4.3M / 86,708
                    Madden NFL 06 - $1.5M / 32,486
                    Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness - $1.3M / 26,229
                    Incredible Hulk - $1.3M / 26,449

                    It's easy to see here how the Nintendo published title trounces everything else. I would normally agree with you on the sports and online thing - although it's funny that for September the top three titles were technically sports titles. I was surprised by that.

                    • reply
                      November 4, 2005 1:28 AM

                      Yeah, it is somewhat surprising, but then again Madden is Madden any way you slice it. Also, Day of Reckoning is a Cube exclusive, and the developer has a pretty strong following from what I can tell (had lots of people coming into the store asking about it, personally I know jack shit about wrestling games).

                      I'm most surprised actually about how well Mario Baseball is selling. The fact that it's not only #1 on the Cube charts but in the top few on the multiplatform charts was very unexpected. I'm not sure what that's all about. There are other baseball games on the Cube and I don't think Mario Baseball is nearly as strong a Mario sports title as, say, Mario Power Tennis, which is fucking incredible but which I don't think sold this well.

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