Late Night Consoling

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Here's a fun read for the evening; the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shinbun posed essentially the same three questions to bigwigs at Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo: what do you think of the competitors and will Sony still win, why did you or did not adopt a next-gen disc format, and what did you learn this past generation? The answers are definitely intriguing, giving each an opportunity to attack their competitors. Robbie Bach (MS) said the game division plans to start turning profits by June of 2007 and Microsoft will win this generation. Ken Kutaragi (Sony) said Microsoft doesn't pose a threat and their success this past holiday season isn't anything to get excited about. Satoru Iwata (Nintendo) boasted that their reduced-cost model will allow developers to make fun games. Plenty of fighting words going around!
  • Geist, Killer 7 Delayed

    [gcn]

    GameCube fans received a double heaping of bad news today. Both Geist and Killer 7 will suffer short delays. Geist, originally set for release in June, will find its way onto shelves sometime in August. Killer 7, also set for June, is now set for a July 7 release. The decision to delay Killer 7 was a marketing move. Killer 7 on 7/7. Oh, I'm sold now!

  • Chaos Theory Downloads Coming Soon

    [xbox]

    Owners of Splinter Cell Chaos Theory can expect some nifty downloadable content in the very near future. Three new multiplayer maps will be released; one versus and two cooperative. The versus map will come first (it was said to release by the end of May) followed shortly thereafter by the other two.

  • Pokemon Series Sells 100 Million Units

    [gba]

    With sales of Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen soaring past 6.09 million copies, the Pokemon series finally hit the 100 million units sold milestone. That number includes only portable versions of the game. This puts it squarely in second place behind the Mario series, which has sold 181.17 million units worldwide. You'd think Zelda would be third, right? Nope, it's fourth at 46.33 million. Surprisingly, Donkey Kong is third at 46.51, just barely edging out Zelda.

  • Burnout Revenge for Xbox 360?

    [xbox]

    Online game retailers EBgames.com and GameStop.com both updated their sites with a listing for Burnout Revenge for the Xbox 360. Listed to sell at $59.99 and shipping on November 1, it appears that it will be a launch title for the Xbox 360 and we'll start seeing the increased game prices right as the next console race begins.

  • Japanese Prefecture Limits GTA3 Sales

    The Japanese prefecture of Kanagawa has banned the sale of Grand Theft Auto III to minors with violators facing a fine of 300,000 Yen (about $3,000 USD). The game will have to be displayed away from other software. GTA3, however, has been on sale since September 2003 and has sold 350,000 copies, so the effect of this ban may not be very effective.

  • Japanese Gamers Eager for Revolution

    Japan's most popular gaming magazine, Famitsu Weekly, ran a survey with its readers to see what next-gen console they were most looking forward to and Nintendo's Revolution took the top spot with 42%. The PlayStation 3 followed with 40% and the Xbox 360 lagged severely with 18%, but that isn't much of a shocker. Electronic Arts also ran a similar survey on their official site and with over 53,000 votes cast as of this writing, Revolution leads with 50%, PS3 at 31%, and Xbox 360 at 20% (fuzzy math!).

  • Misc. Q&As/Features

    [ps2] [xbox] [gcn]

    Game Informer chats with the chief of Microsoft Game Studios, Shane Kim. IGN talks with the coverboy of Blitz: The League, former New York Giants linebacker Lawerence Taylor. They also summarize an interview with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata from a Japanese publication.

Misc. Media/Previews

PS2

The official site for Drakengard 2 has a trailer up. GamesAreFun has media on Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. The Magic Box shares images for Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams. GameSpot posts shots of Devil Kings.

Xbox

1UP takes a look at Ghost Recon 3 (X360).

Portable

Sega's site has a preview video of Sonic Rush (DS). Planet GameCube gives us screens for Scurge: Hive (GBA).

Multi

Game Informer has a trailer up of The Warriors (PS2, Xbox). GameGossip has a few images for The Godfather (PS2, Xbox). TeamXbox posts screens for Far Cry Instincts (PS2, Xbox, GCN). GameSpot tells us about The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (PS2, Xbox). IGN shares a new trailer for Batman Begins (PS2, Xbox, GCN) and media for And 1 Streetball (PS2, Xbox).

Console Game Of The Evening [Submit Yours!]

The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64. "This was Links first venture into 3D and though some didn't like the idea at first, everyone turned out to love the game. It's definitly a classic to be owned by all." (submitted by Korban).

From The Chatty
  • reply
    May 31, 2005 8:11 PM

    Microsoft is trailing behind us, but they are not a threat. ...
    Beating us for a short moment is like accidentally winning a point from a Shihan (Karate master), and Microsoft is still not a black belt. Just like with their operating systems, they might come out with something good around the third generation of their release.


    Ken Kutaragi of Sony... what an ass. Sony is going down like Odoyle.

    • reply
      May 31, 2005 8:26 PM

      Wait.. that sounded pretty much true. How is this wrong? Sure he might be a little over exaggerated, which is to be expected from Kutaragi, but he isn't THAT far off from the truth. Just change some of those words to the less extreme and he's right.

      Still doesn't mean he's not bonkers.

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        May 31, 2005 8:29 PM

        Ken Kutaragi: Microsoft is trailing behind us, but they are not a threat. They are good at improving [on products], but we will be advancing to the next level with revolutionary technology. Beating us for a short moment is like accidentally winning a point from a Shihan (Karate master), and Microsoft is still not a black belt. Just like with their operating systems, they might come out with something good around the third generation of their release.

        It isn't a bad thing to have a high price. When we released the original PlayStation at 39,800 yen ($368), Nintendo's Super Famicom was in the 10,000 yen range ($100 range). Still, everyone went for the PlayStation. This time, ours [the PS3] will be like a BMW that's equipped with a Ferrari engine. Nintendo's [Revolution] will be something like a new model of a family car. Some people might want it, but if it was me, I'd want to advance to the next level.


        Once again Sony uses "revolutionary" technology while everyone else uses garbage.

      • reply
        May 31, 2005 8:30 PM

        All you need to look at is the first sentence. Microsoft is definitely a threat.

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          May 31, 2005 8:44 PM

          Thats very true, but at the same time, you need to look at it from the viewpoint of a japanese businessman. Basically anything american can't possibly make it.

          • reply
            May 31, 2005 8:46 PM

            ya I understand why he says those things. Has to give the perception that the PS3 will succeed and MS will fail blah blah.

            I have more of a problem when he goes on about how they use technology from the future in their devices which is just comical

            the american thing is funny to when the cpu and gpu are designed by 2 american companies :P

            • reply
              May 31, 2005 8:51 PM

              Yeah, but in the end MS is saying the same thing (but different still) about him and Sony.

              Oh and yeah the American stuff is getting more and more ridiculous every day.

              In the end it's all trash talk, which is normal in the console world last I remember.

              • reply
                May 31, 2005 8:56 PM

                actually MS has stated quite a few times that Sony is a threat and that the PS3 is really powerfull. They just think it's going to be hard to program for and expensive to produce and expensive to consumers.

                of course that's not the only case, both companies will take shots at eachother it's just the Ken guy acts like his penis is 12 feet long while MS has the penis of a 8 year old boy. The statements he made about the EE were bullshit and the statements he's making now about the PS3 is equal bullshit.

                I have no doubt it's powefull and it should be a monster in terms of raw FPU power but it's not using technology from the future while MS is using technology from 2002 like Ken wants you to think.

                • reply
                  May 31, 2005 9:11 PM

                  Thats the thing, the sure fire sign that you are scared is when you just bash your opponent. A good company says "this is what we do better."

                  • reply
                    May 31, 2005 9:14 PM

                    ya which is why I was very pleased with MS's discussion, demo and presentation about their live service and streaming audio/video from your PC.

                    It was cool to see actual functionality and not just more polygons. I have no doubt the PS3/360/Revolution will pump out very eye pleasing graphics and thats why I think things like functionality are more important then another 10k polygons.

                    It's one reason why I like my iBook so much. Sure it's not nearly as fast as my A64 desktop but OSX does some pretty damn cool things functionality wise even on the 800mhz cpu.

          • reply
            May 31, 2005 8:50 PM

            [deleted]

            • reply
              May 31, 2005 8:52 PM

              But that was only after we thought they wouldn't attack us either.

            • reply
              June 1, 2005 12:05 AM

              I know you are probably just trying to be funny but it irks me whenever somebody makes an atomic bomb reference like that about WW2. The Japanese government at the time of WW2 was simply the military and not the japanese people. Their govt was not looking out for the people...it was not a collective "they."

              I get frustrated when people speak in this manner because I have been over to Japan and I have visited the atomic bomb museum at Nagasaki.....it wasn't a pleasent experience but it was very eye opening. I think its sort of shallow to compare video game system rivalry to the atomic bombing. Just my opinion.

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