With MGS2 behind me, I'm slowly progressing through Grand Theft Auto III, although I'm planning on putting it aside this weekend to jump into Shenmue II. GTA3 is really the perfect game to play between other games. It's so free-form that weeks can go by and I'll still be able to remember exactly where I was when I left off. At this rate it'll be a year before I actually finish it, but who cares? I'm having a blast nonetheless.

• Speaking of GTA3, it looks like the game's officially been banned in Australia. Take Two has said that they're going to modify it to pass the country's ratings board, but can anyone imagine a less-violent version of the game?
• This story at GameSpot suggests that Microsoft is planning a slow rollout of their Xbox online network, and will launch with puzzle games and little else (hopefully it'll at least be Bejeweled). More important than that is the news that Unreal Championship is undergoing a massive rehaul and may not be released until late next year.
• Jack's probably sick of looking at the thing by now, but nonetheless here's a look at a GameCube debug unit. Check out the funky hard drive. In other GC news, Panasonic's Q DVD/GameCube unit has shipped in Japan and is retailing for around $300.
• This was pretty much known already, but Agent Under Fire is headed to both the GameCube and Xbox.
• Xbox.IGN has posted some new movies from the Xbox port of Silent Hill 2. The game looks exactly the same as its PS2 counterpart, which certainly isn't a bad thing considering how good it looks already.
• Good news for Microsoft, I suppose: Yamaha is using the Xbox to demonstrate their home theater systems in Japan.
• More on the continuing saga of Square...Square Pictures, their movie studio that was built to make The Spirits Within is being sold.

Console Game of the Evening: Fighting Vipers for the Sega Saturn. It's got cheezy music, some of the biggest hair seen since the 80's (which never actually ended in Japan, apparently) and it still manages to be a really fun fighting game. Go fig.