Displaying stories with the tag "Atlus". Subscribe to this URL for an RSS feed of this tag. Want more news? Click here for the Shacknews frontpage.

Late Night Consoling

by Alec Matias Dec 17, 2004 10:00pm CST tags: Simpsons, Capcom, Sega, Atlus, Games: Console, Retro Studios

Take one final, long look at LNC as you know it. Over the weekend, haiku will put the finishing touches on the redesigned Late Night Consoling layout and it will go live on Monday. Like the rest of the Shack, it will be subtle but still much improved. So nice to be able to ditch these crummy tables and do things properly. Much props to the resident web designer; he has very serious skills.

The Hulk Returning to Consoles

The Incredible Hulk is going to take another adventure on consoles in the summer of 2005. VU Games announced that a new game is being developed by Radical Entertainment (The Simpsons: Hit & Run, the upcoming Scarface) and will have a story written by Paul Jenkins, writer of the Hulk and Spider-Man comics. The game will take a page from the recent Spider-Man 2 game (which took a page from GTA) and it'll allow the Hulk to travel wherever he wants in a huge city. The plan is to have an entirely destructible city.
DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball Sequel Coming

A game most deserving of a sequel is getting one. Team Ninja dictator Tomonobu Itagaki revealed to Game Informer that a sequel for Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball is in the works. They asked if he'd incorporate custom soundtracks to the game and he responded, "I'm considering it for the sequel to Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, but then I'll need a hard disc." Either he's switched the series over to the GameCube or this may very well be a next-gen title.
Stella Deus Coming to U.S.

Announced only months ago for a Japanese audience, Atlus has confirmed that they plan to bring the strategy-RPG Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity over to the United States. The plot revolves around a young soldier in search of a way to stop a deadly mist that has been ravaging everything in its path. It's currently planned for a summer 2005 release and you can head over to Atlus' website and vote for the cover art for the game.
Digital Devil Saga Box Set
[ps2]

Atlus announced that they plan to release their upcoming Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga in a box set format. For the retail price of $54.99, collectors will get the game, the box (which holds the game and its sequel coming later in the year), a soundtrack disc with over thirty tracks, and a "controller armor." It's expected to release in the spring of next year.
Resident Evil 4 Gets Dated for Europe
[Gamecube]

While American gamers will be laying waste to zombie-like enemies in early January, the European fans will have to wait a little bit to get their eager hands on the game. It'll find its way over there on March 18.
Misc. Q&As/Features
[Gamecube]

IGN has an extremely in-depth overview of the history of Retro Studios, the company behind the Metroid Prime series.

Misc. Media/Previews

PS2

IGN has an updated preview of Wanda and the Colossus and first details of both Drakengard 2 and Katamari Damacy 2 . Game Informer has new images and details for Tekken 5. GamesAreFun host a trailer for Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerebus at their site. 1up offers up a preview for God of War. Capcom's Japanese site has a new video for Devil May Cry 3. GameSpot has updated impressions of Cold Winter and, count 'em, 94 screens of Stella Deus.

Xbox

GamerFeed spends some time with the multiplayer mode of Iron Phoenix.

Portable

Game Informer contributes their impressions of the PSP and talk about the launch lineup (as does EuroGamer). 1up has hands-on impressions of MediEvil (PSP). IGN plays around a little with the Play-chan, the new GBA media reader.

Multi

Game Informer is hosting the new trailer for 25 to Life (PS2, Xbox). 1up takes a look at Area 51 (PS2, Xbox). TeamXbox delivers more screens of Mercenaries (PS2, Xbox). GameSpot posts the first image of The Incredible Hulk (PS2, Xbox, GCN). IGN has a progress report for NARC (PS2, Xbox), media for Super Monkey Ball Deluxe (PS2, Xbox), and screens of The Punisher (PS2, Xbox).

Multi

Console Game Of The Evening [Submit Yours!]

Decap Attack for the Sega Genesis: "Who doesn't love a game that involves throwing your head to take out the bad guys?" (submitted by Prozium).

"You know, is it just me, or did the Nokia N-Gage get a better launch lineup than the Nintendo DS? "38 Comments

Late Night Consoling

by Alec Matias Dec 01, 2004 10:00pm CST tags: Namco, Bungie, Electronic Arts, Square Enix, Atlus, Games: Console, Sony

Can't get enough of those Sony and Nintendo portables. While the 500,000 Nintendo DS units sold is a rather impressive feat, so is another Nintendo sales number: 800,000 GBAs sold in November. It's the gift that keeps on giving for Nintendo. Earlier today, Japan saw the release of the Nintendo DS and there's a neat little write-up over at IGN; let's just say it didn't produce the same fervor that DQ8 demanded. However, the event to watch is about ten days from now when Japanese gamers will have to battle it out to get their hands on one of 200,000 PSP's. I never thought about importing a PSP until just now, but I know it'd be next to impossible unless I'm willing to pay four times the retail price. I learned my lesson quite a while ago when I shelled out $600 for an import Dreamcast to play Space Channel 5 and Godzilla Generations. =(

	Baten Kaitos & Xenosaga for DS Two big-name RPGs are finding their way to the Nintendo DS. According to Game Informer, Namco updated their Japanese site with plans to port the critically-acclaimed RPGs Baten Kaitos and Xenosaga to Nintendo's newest handheld. No other details were revealed and we'll hopefully know more shortly.
	Namco Announces Mr. Driller 2 and Ace Combat Advance for GBA Namco made headlines again as they confirmed Mr. Driller 2 for a North American release as well as announced Ace Combat Advance, a portable version of its popular flight sim. Ace Combat Advance will be a vertical shooter, letting gamers pilot one of twelve planes to attack both land and air enemies. Mr. Driller 2 will sport new features over its Japanese counterpart and allows for two-player gaming over a link cable.
	500,000 DS Units Sold Nintendo is touting strong launch numbers for its Nintendo DS as the dual-screen device has sold over 90% of its stock, which is over 500,000 units. Nintendo appears on-track to hit its one million units sold by the end of the year as demand is quite high; some buyers on eBay are paying double the retail cost.
	Xbox Live Madden Tournament Electronic Arts and Microsoft jointly announced today the The Xbox Live Madden Championship, a huge online tournament that seeks to crown "The WorldÃ¢ÂÂs Greatest Online Gridiron Gamer." The winner will be flown out to Jacksonville to battle the EA SPORTS Madden Bowl Champion, Dwight Freeney of the Indianapolis Colts. Place your entry here to get in the game.
	Halo 2 Playlist Changes Bungie announced today that new changes to Halo 2's playlists are now available for download. There are quite a few changes, but most notable are two new playlists: Team Slayer and an unranked training mode for Rumble Pit. Other playlists have been tweaked along with general online settings. See the whole list here.
	Atlus to Release Super Army War As if there weren't enough news about Nintendo's portables, here's another. Atlus is set release Super Army War for the GBA in February, 2005. In Super Army War, players take control of either a helicopter or fighter plane to knock down enemy vehicles in old-school gameplay fashion. "It's like an ICBM waiting to explode in your pants!" said Akibo Shieh, Project Commander at Atlus U.S.A. It'll sell for $19.99 when released.
	No FF7: Advent Children This Year As if we couldn't figure this out ourselves, Square Enix decided to make it clear that their computer animated follow-up to Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children, will not be released this year. The new release date is just plain 'ol 2005. It would make the most sense to have it ready by spring/summer for the North American release of the PSP.
	Misc. Q&As/Features 1up talks with actress Michelle Rodriguez about her voice work in Halo 2. IGN discusses the future of Team Ninja with rising-legend Tomonobu Itagaki and also speaks with the original snake eater, Hideo Kojima.
	Misc. Media/Previews
	Game Informer pumps out more images for Shadow of Rome.
	Two new articles about Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords are at IGN. More images of GunGriffon: Allied Assault at GameSpot. A new trailer for MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf is at Game Informer.
	Nice, hot board game down-n-dirty action at GameSpy with these shots of Mario Party 6.
	GamesAreFun shares screens of Super Army War (GBA). GameSpot takes a "clandestine look" at Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (NG). Images of the Dynasty Warriors (PSP) adaptation are at GameSpy. First images of Ace Combat Advance (GBA) and a preview of Ridge Racer DS are at IGN.
	IGN spins out new media for Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (PS2, Xbox, GCN) and has the first details on Batman Begins (PS2, Xbox, GCN). Game Informer spends quality time with Darkwatch (PS2, Xbox). GameSpot previews Virtua Quest (PS2, GCN).

Console Game of the Evening: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom for the NES. "When you get right down to it this game was really only about two things: Children and a bullwhip. I'm not judging." (submitted by BrodieMan).

"finally namco, Mr. Driller 2! Also, the "added" features appear to be identical to features that ..."67 Comments

Late Night Consoling

by Alec Matias Sep 21, 2004 10:00pm CST tags: Namco, MMO, Square Enix, Sega, Atlus, Games: Console, Sony

What an exciting day; hard information on the two big hardware releases of this year. I must say; I'm extremely pleased that the DS will sell for $150 and not the $200 that so many sites were claiming. Plenty of you commented that $150 is the sweet-spot and I'd agree. I also think PictoChat definitely had to be a standard; playing with the program at E3, it definitely was nifty and I see it easily becoming the rage in schools across the country. Now we just need some details on the software so we know if we should buy it or not. As for the PStwo, which is not its official name yet, the size reduction is remarkable. Look at the picture in this article, the PStwo is smaller than most books on my bookshelf. What I would like to know is how they plan to address the hard drive issue; will they release an external adapter or is that it for the HD? I would assume Square Enix can't be too happy that all new customers can't pick up their MMORPG.

	Nintendo DS Price, Release Date Announced The first concrete details regarding the Nintendo DS are here. The portable will launch in North America first on November 21 and retail for $149.99; the price point we were all hoping for and just in time to capitalize on post-Thanksgiving sales. PictoChat, the program that allows users to chat and doodle wirelessly, will be hardcoded into the system. Nintendo revealed that your DS will come out of sleep mode if detects other users nearby, allowing for random chat encounters. A multiplayer demo of Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt will ship with every unit as well. NOA reaffirmed that it will be backwards compatible with the GBA but will not support multiplayer gaming for GBA games. The Nintendo DS will launch in the US first, then Japan a week or so later, then it'll make its way to Europe and Australia.
	PStwo Revealed! At a business briefing in Tokyo, Sony officially pulled back the curtains on its redesigned PlayStation 2, and to put it simply, the thing is slim! Internal volume has been slashed by 75%, the weight halved, and it's about 60% slimmer than its big brother; a few sites compare it to the size of a hardcover book. This time around, the network card is built-in, supporting both dial-up and broadband users. Interestingly, the PStwo currently does not accomodate a hard drive and Sony says some software is incompatible with the system; are those only the HD games or are there others?
	Kutaragi Talks PS3 The entire briefing wasn't about the PStwo. Ken Kutaragi, CEO and father of the PlayStation, made a few remarks about the PlayStation 3. First, Blu Ray is the definite format of the console. Blu Ray is similar to DVD but holds up to 54GB of data. Even though Blu Ray is the standard, the PS3 will still read DVDs and CDs. Nothing else was specified about the console.
	PSP News There was also PSP news at the Sony press conference today, as the company announced 46 more titles are in development bringing the total to a whopping 105. Companies like Atlus (Persona RPG), Namco and SNK (3D fighting game based on the King of Fighters series) are among the companies working on games for the handheld device. A price point wasn't announced though, and neither was a release date. However, the hardware is done and Sony is just looking for enough games to launch with. IGN offers some hands-on impressions of the device as well, and they have two pics of Japanese game packing here.
	Deadlight Unveiled The website of Stolen developer Blue52 now sports this game page, unveiling the development of the multi-platform action game Deadlight. You play Dan McCormick, an oilrig worker who happens to come across the ocean liner SS Hyperion which has been lost for twenty years. It's up to you to find out the truth about what happened to the passengers. Screenshots from the PS2 version can be found here.
	Misc. Q&As/Features The guys at Computer & Video Games chat with Kevin Hendrickson of Climax about Tron 2.0: Killer App. Team Xbox talks Iron Phoenix multiplayer and Live 3.0 features with Sammy Studios' Tim Hess.
	Misc. Media/Previews
	IGN has a few details and a hi-res screen of Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, and they have some screenshots from Tekken 5 as well. GameSpot has a few movies from Monster Hunter and Game Informer checks out EyeToy: AntiGrav.
	IGN has new movies from Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2, screenshots and movies from Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors and movies from Dead or Alive Ultimate.
	And again we head to IGN, where you can find a few new movies from Baten Kaitos.
	On FileShack we have the latest Call of Duty: Finest Hour movie (Xbox, PS2). 1UP goes hands-on with The Urbz: Sims in the City (Xbox, PS2, GCN). IGN has a few snaps from Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (Xbox, PS2, GCN) and two basketball court shots from NBA Street Vol 3 (Xbox, PS2, GCN).

Console Game of the Evening: Shadow of the Beast for the Sega Genesis. "The Amiga release was the best, but the Genesis did it justice. The game is stupid difficult, but the visuals and unique mood bring you back for more. Like Ikaruga, once you get the hang of it, it's hard to put down." (submitted by inkninja).

"For those who watch TEchtv on cabe..and satellite.. Did you know abou the info of being able to ..."55 Comments

Late Night Consoling

by Alec Matias Sep 03, 2004 10:00pm CST tags: Bungie, Capcom, Atlus, Games: Console, Sony, SOCOM

*Wipes sweat off his brow* A hurricane bearing down on me AND a huge LNC? Man, I'm stressing! So much stuff going on in this industry right now as the year begins to wind down. Of course, Acclaim's closing has given us plenty of stories to talk about. Two games are saved so far, Juiced and Worms 3D, so now lets see what happens with The Red Star. In the mean time, I'll be battling a hurricane Saturday evening, so don't be surprised if there's no LNC Monday as I most likely have lost power again. It took about four days after Charley for restoration; hopefully it won't be much longer than that.

	Just Add Monsters' "Revolutionary" Title Revealed In an exclusive interview with EuroGamer, JAM gave the first details regarding its "revolutionary" title that has been in the work for 18 months and set to be a next-gen console launch title. The game is called Heavenly Sword and is an intense combat action title. JAM's design director, Tameem Antoniades, described it as, "...Half-life with swords against obscene amounts of enemies." He also added, "...the core gameplay is all about ultra-stylish combat against overwhelming odds. The combat is already surpassing the likes of Ninja Gaiden in terms of depth, style and variety and we still have a long way to go."
	Worms 3D Looking for a Publisher Team17 had the upcoming Xbox title Worms 3D Special Edition all wrapped up and finished when the game's publisher, Acclaim, went belly up. The company's Marty Brown gave us a status update on their message boards. "Given that our previous US publishing partner (Acclaim) is now bankrupt and is no longer trading, I can confirm that we are currently in negotiation with several US publishers regarding publication and hope to have news on that very soon. We apologise for any disappointment, particularly for the people who had pre-ordered Worms3D on Xbox (which is complete), the delays in it's publishing are entirely out of our control."
	ESPN NBA 2K5 Follows Suit; Will Retail for $19.99 Oh, like you didn't know it was going to happen! Due to its success with their NFL and NHL games at the value price point, ESPN Videogames announced that ESPN NBA 2K5 will also sport the low $19.99 price tag. The game is currently slated to hit stores in October, just in time for the NBA season's tip off.
	Atelier Iris ~Eternal Mana~ A Go for the US Not long ago, on the NIS America message boards, they made it clear they intended to bring Atelier Iris ~Eternal Mana~ to the US if they could get approval from Sony. Well, in a post on the board today, it appears they got it. The post exclaims, "Sony has approved Atelier Iris ~Eternal Mana~ for the release in the United States! I want to take a moment to thank PEG from Sony and all our fans for the support. Every posting on our forums has definitely made an impact on Sony's decision. NIS America would like to thank all of you for supporting us from the start! Again thank you very much and congratulations to everybody!" Details on price and release date will come in a few weeks.
	Three New DS Titles Japanese developers are hard at work on bringing us new Nintendo DS titles as news of three new games filtered out of Japan. First, the studio behind the RPG Giftpia, Skip, are hard at work on their first DS title. Director Kenichi Nishi posted on his blog, "I'm working 12 hours a day, but the staff are putting in even more effort. This place is starting to look like a field hospital..." Next comes another surgery game (Atlus recently announced one), this time from developer Spike. Titled Tendo Dokuta, the game uses anime style graphics and has players first spend quality time with patients, try to diagnose them, grope them to check injuries, and talk with them before opening 'em up with a knife. Finally, Nintendo themselves are in the developmental stages of a new puzzle title. A producer of popular video board game series, Akira Sakuma, was recently touring the Nintendo studios with a co-worker when he took notice of a certain title. In an update of his personal blog, Sakuma comments, "I got to see a puzzle game that's currently in development [for the DS]. Doi just wouldn't stop playing the game, saying, 'I can't stop playing this game... it feels like popping bubble wrap!'"
	SOCOM II Update Sony announced they will release an update next week for SOCOM II that will fix a myriad of issues. Most importantly, it will fix an exploit that allowed players to increase their online stats. To alleviate the exploitation, Sony is resetting the server stats. The update also addresses disconnect, voting, and clipping problems.
	Steel Battalion: Line of Contact Patched Capcom has addressed two major issues for its online mech sim, Steel Battalion: Line of Contact, in a recently released patch. First, they fixed an exploit where users could duplicate rare and expensive upgrades for their mech. They then corrected some latency issues that made online gaming for some near impossible. The patch will automatically download over Xbox Live.
	"Bungie Weekly Update" Discontinued! No, not really, just joking! Like clockwork, we have another wonderful update from the magical land of Bungie! They're currently in what they call "Final Push" mode; meaning, getting everything done within a month. Frankie talks a lot about deadlines; everyone has one. Animation, music composition, audio effects...the works. There is one thing done for sure: the manual. I can now rest easier.
	Misc. Q&As/Features TeamXbox talks with the producer of FIFA Soccer 2005, Danny Isaac. HomeLAN Fed speaks with some guys over at Sammy Studios about the upcoming fighter Iron Phoenix. IGN chats with Rob Gee, project lead at Raven, about X-Men Legends.
	Misc. Media/Previews
	A video walk-through of the country-side of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is up at GameSpot. They also have shots of Enthusia. 1up gets their mitts on Blood Will Tell and reports in. Game Informer has a new movie for the $14.99 Gungrave: Overdose. GameSpy does the preview thing with Shadow Hearts: Covenant.
	GameSpy is the latest to talk about the Halo 2 demo currently showing in Europe.
	We get some hands-on impressions for Mario Tennis from GameSpot.
	GameSpy details the latest on Mega Man Zero 3. GamerFeed goes hands-on with Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen. Images of Chronicles of Eden Vol. I: Vangarde's Tale are at GameSpot.
	At FileShack, we have a 70MB video of NBA Live 2005 (PS2, Xbox, GCN). GamerFeed takes Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (PS2, Xbox) for a spin. Game Informer gives us new media for X-Men Legends (PS2, Xbox, GCN), Mortal Kombat: Deception (PS2, Xbox, GCN), Outlaw Golf 2 (PS2, Xbox), and ESPN NBA 2K5 (PS2, Xbox). EuroGamer previews the game revealed last night, Roll Call (PS2, Xbox). Planet GameCube shares previews of Street Racing Syndicate (PS2, Xbox, GCN) and Call of Duty: Finest Hour (PS2, Xbox, GCN). TeamXbox shows off two new flicks of Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone (PS2, Xbox). GameSpot delivers impressions of The King of Fighters 2002 & 2003 (PS2, Xbox), video of The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (PS2, Xbox, GCN), details on Viewtiful Joe 2 (PS2, Xbox), and screens of both Oddworld Stranger (PS2, Xbox) and Crash Twinsanity (PS2, Xbox). IGN previews Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (PS2, Xbox, GCN) and Predator: Concrete Jungle (PS2, Xbox). GameSpy wraps it up with shots of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (PS2, Xbox, GCN) and a look at Mega Man X: Command Mission (PS2, GCN).

Console Game of the Evening: Megaman 2 for the NES. "Clearly the best of the NES series and if you disagree then you are wrong. No androgynous robots here." (submitted by BrodieMan).

"I liked Mega Man 3 better. Don't know why, perhaps I just suck at MM2 but I loved every stage and..."48 Comments

Late Night Consoling

by Alec Matias Aug 05, 2004 10:00pm CST tags: Konami, Atlus, Games: Console

Argh, I'm so conflicted. With Madden NFL 2005 just around the corner, what does a multi-console owner and Madden fan do? Does he go with the Xbox version since most his buds only play over Xbox Live or does he pick up the PS2-only Collector's Edition and relish all the nostalgic goodies? I think this decision is going to come down to the wire for me. In the mean time, I'll check out the first review of Madden, courtesy of IGN. I'll save you the trouble of browsing through seven pages; highlight the blank space to see who wins this year's digital pigskin trophy! Madden beats 2K5. Shocker!

	EA Rolls out EA Sports Premium Pass EA announced today they are offering a new free service to Madden users called the EA Sports Premium Pass presented by Dodge. Premium Pass, for use on both the PS2 and Xbox, is a online set of tools to enhance the online experience; things such as personalized career pages, highlighted text in your user name, early registration for Madden Challenge, members only medals, and a whole bunch more. The catch is, however, you must supply EA with a credit card number. If you don't, the service will cost $19.95 over PayPal. This clearly shows that this will not always be a free feature and we can expect to start paying for advance online features for future EA titles.
	Surgery Fun Coming to DS New details have emerged surrounding the previously announced Caduceus from Atlus. Now fully titled as Caduceus: Surgical Operation, the game will be, according to Atlus, a "sci-fi surgery action game." Gamers will make use of the stylus to do things such as cut open patients to remove deadly parasites. Not only that, but players will make use of the voice recognition of the DS to calm or encourage the patient. Although there is no word on a US release, it will hit Japan in spring 2005.
	New Shining Force Game Being Planned The nosey staff of GameSpot peeked into the online diary of a SEGA public relations representative, Tadashi Takezaki, and found an interesting nugget of information; a new Shining Force title is in the works. "The new history of the Shining Force series is going to start today. We've started a project for the next-next-next title (fourth release). I'll work hard as the head in charge of overseeing the series and make sure the series is released consistently, so that fans can enjoy it for a long time."
	Silent Hill 4 Preorder Bonus Eager gamers that preorder Konami's fourth installment of the Silent Hill series, Silent Hill 4: The Room, will be treated to a soundtrack of the game. The disc will contain 20 tracks, 13 of which are exclusive to the United States, as well as some special remixes.
	Misc. Q&As/Features 1up interviews portable gaming pioneer R.J. Mical. GameSpot talks with Cory Ledesma, associate producer of WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw. Game Informer speaks with Chip Lange of EA about the additions to the EA Sports Nation.
	Misc. Media/Previews
	More shots of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Ghosthunter, and Jak 3 are available at GameSpot. GamerFeed works up a sweat in this preview of Dance Dance Revolution Extreme. GameSpy dishes us a preview of Gradius V (so does Game Informer).
	IGN gives us a new trailer for Killer 7. GameSpy divulges everything they know about Metroid Prime 2 Echoes.
	Previews of Tron 2.0: Killer App (GBA) and Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey (NG) and can be found at GameSpot. They also have impressions of Pocket Kingdom (NG). GameSpy treats us to shots of the new Fire Emblem (GBA) adventure and plenty of images of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA).
	EuroGamer gives us first impressions of Winning Eleven 8 (PS2, Xbox). GameSpot has screens of Get On Da Mic (PS2, Xbox). GamerFeed previews the radical gameplay shift of Mega Man X Command Mission (PS2, Xbox). 1up takes a swing at Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (PS2, Xbox, GCN). New screens of The Punisher (PS2, Xbox) and videos of Burnout 3: Takedown (PS2, Xbox, GCN) are at IGN. GameSpy previews Spyro: A Hero's Tail (PS2, Xbox, GCN), has images of Fight Club (PS2, Xbox), and chest-passes shots of NBA Street V3 (PS2, Xbox, GCN).

Console Game of the Evening: Snake Rattle & Roll for the NES. "Eat some dots, grow big, find a tongue extension or two. Another one of Rare's early masterpieces!" (submitted by SilverSnake).

"MADDEN VS ESPN Quick review of both games on a point by point basis: Presentation: ESPN Th..."69 Comments

Late Night Consoling

by Alec Matias Aug 03, 2004 10:00pm CST tags: Capcom, Sega, Atlus, Games: Console, Sony, Blu-Ray

Have no fear, unlike other Shack staffers, DOOM3 will not distract me from my editorial duties! Sadly, tonight's LNC features a couple downers. No original Mortal Kombat for Midway's second treasure chest? Resident Evil 4 in 2005? Bummer. Although, I love how the "Winter" wording has been causing much confusion amongst gamers this year. Between KOTOR2 and Resident Evil 4, I can't remember this much speculation of whether a title will arrive before or after New Year's Day. It's a pretty nifty marketing tool, though.

	Sony to Use Blu-Ray for PS3 In a report, Forbes discovers new details regarding Sony and its involvement with the Blu-Ray technology. According to the report, Sony is planning to utilize the tecnology for use with its PlayStation 3 console. Blu-Ray is a kind of storage medium that can store 23GB of data, enough to hold a high-definition movie.
	MK: Deception Gets Limited Midway has announced plans to offer a Limited Edition of the latest entry in the long-running fighting series, Mortal Kombat: Deception. There will be five unique box art covers (one of which will be exclusive to the PS2 featuring Sub-Zero) and plenty of other interesting pack-ins: an arcade-perfect version of the original Mortal Kombat, 40 minutes of footage showing the history of Mortal Kombat and its characters, and a serialized Kollector's Card sporting one of five MK fighters. The sets will retail for $59.95.
	Galleon Sets Sail; Dynasty Warriors 4 Gleams Gold Atlus revealed that the swan song of Confounding Factor, Galleon: Islands of Mystery, has shipped to retailers and will sell for $39.99. At the same time, Koei announces that Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires has reached golden status and will ship August 31 for $19.99.
	ESPN NHL 2K5 Officially $19.99 EBgames confirmed it two weeks ago, but official word has finally come down from SEGA. ESPN NHL 2K5, much like its NFL cousin, will sell for the value price of $19.99. On top of that, the release has been bumped up a week to August 31.
	Resident Evil 4 Delay Finalized Capcom announced today what many of us have been speculating for weeks; the GameCube-exclusive Resident Evil 4 won't be released this year. Always planned as a Winter title, it was thought to hit store shelves in time for the holidays, but Capcom has announced January 11, 2005 as a "finalization" to the release date.
	Midway's Arcade Compilation Gets A Change-Up The upcoming Midway Arcade Treasures 2, a collection of Midway arcade classics, has undergone a bit of a change-up. Gone are Steel Talons, STUN Runner, and most importantly, the original Mortal Kombat. To take their place are Kozmik Kroozr' and Wacko. The decision was made to remove Mortal Kombat so that it can be found as a bonus in the collector's edition of Mortal Kombat: Deception. MKII and MK3 are still part of the line-up.
	Misc. Q&As/Features Good 'ol Tomonobu Itagaki pops up on our radar again, this time landing at TeamXbox. Rob Fahey of gamesindustry.biz asks, "Do we really need games like Manhunt?"
	Misc. Media/Previews
	GameSpot begins with a hands-on of the import demo of Mega Man X8, shots of Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires, images of Formula Challenge, and a trailer for Shadow Hearts: Covenant. Game Informer does it all in this media blowout of Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders. 1up does a quick and dirty run-down of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. New screens of GTA: SA are at GameSpy. The Magic Box pulls through with screens of Sega Ages 2500: Virtua Fighter 2 and Blood Will Tell. IGN has an updated hands-on of Gran Turismo 4.
	New videos of Conker: Live and Reloaded are at IGN tonight. GameSpy offers their own preview of Blinx 2.
	IGN tells us the "Full Story" of WWE Day of Reckoning.
	A hands-on of Mega Man: Command Mission (PS2, GCN) is at GameSpot. They also look at Juiced (PS2, Xbox, GCN) and provide shots of Terminator 3: The Redemption (PS2, Xbox, GCN), Mortal Kombat: Deception (PS2, Xbox), Fight Club (PS2, Xbox), and ESPN NHL 2K5 (PS2, Xbox). TeamXbox gives FIFA Soccer 2005 (PS2, Xbox, GCN) a first look. 1up has a trailer of NFL Street 2 (PS2, Xbox, GCN). IGN has footage of FlatOut (PS2, Xbox), a hands-on of Robotech: Invasion (PS2, Xbox), and images of Street Syndicate Racing (PS2, Xbox, GCN). GameSpy has some of the first images of the console version of Vietcong: Purple Haze (PS2, Xbox).

Console Game of the Evening: Zoop for the Super Nintendo. "Great puzzle game with a great concept and amazingly catchy music, unfortunately it was marred by poor controls." (submitted by stelth).

"It sucks that MK was dropped but it really is ok guys. That just means less to distract you from ..."36 Comments

Late Night Consoling

by Alec Matias Jul 29, 2004 10:00pm CST tags: Square Enix, Sega, Ubisoft, Atlus, Games: Console

It appears we're about to be inundated with Nintendo DS goodness in the very near future. Last night was a nice pre-show; the final design pictures, Atlus announcing five titles, Square Enix looking into DS development... now we just need to get a finalized price and release date. That's where the retailer meeting on August 1st comes in; it would be the perfect forum. It would also be nice if we see actual titles Nintendo has in the works for us aside from the E3 tech demos. I'm not going to pay $40 for a baby Mario freefall adventure.

	Beyond Good & Evil First Part of a Trilogy? In an interview with French game site OteraGame, Michel Ancel of Ubisoft commented that Beyond Good & Evil is the first episode of a trilogy. That is the reason why gamers experienced an abrupt ending; Ancel didn't want a concrete conclusion, but one that is abstract. Now, does this confirm they're working on a sequel? He never says so, but Ubisoft is a large company and Ancel is important to them.
	Virtua Fighter Returning to PS2 Only this time, SEGA takes a ride in their way-back machine to revive Virtua Fighter 2 as the latest addition to their Sega Ages 2500 retro line-up. Luckily for us, to prevent any kind of loss in quality, Sega has handed the developmental reigns over to AM2, the original developers of the game. AM2 will include two modes of play; the original arcade release and the updated version, Virtua Fighter 2.1.
	Wario Ware Gets GBA Sequel 1up discovered that in the recent calendar listings of Japanese magazine Famitsu Weekly, a new Wario Ware game is set for an October 16th release. The only thing known so far is that it will be titled Mawaru Made In Wario, with "mawaru" being Japanese for "turning." More should be revealed at Nintendo's August 1st press event.
	Final Fantasy VII Compilation? The sleuths at 1up also found that Square Enix has applied to the Japanese trademark and patent office the name "Final Fantasy VII Compilation" along with an image bearing those words. What this means is still unclear, but we know there are two new FFVII-related projects confirmed (Advent Children, Before Crisis) and a possible third on the horizon. Square Enix needs to get it over with and announce FFVII-2.
	Misc. Q&As/Features GameSpot talks to the team behind Alien Hominid.
	Misc. Media/Previews
	We're treated to import impressions of Guilty Gear Isuka, videos of Viewtiful Joe, and screens of Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (that made me go WTF) at GameSpot. GameSpy previews the firefighting rescue game, Hard Luck: Return of the Heroes.
	GamerFeed kicks up their preview of Blinx 2: Masters of Time & Space. GameSpot summons new images of Dungeon Lords and The Guy Game.
	Screenshot blowout at IGNCube as we're delivered 55 images of Resident Evil 4.
	Game Informer gives us the lowdown on Street Racing Syndicate (PS2, Xbox, GCN) with these impressions and movies. GameSpot gets visited by creatures from outer space to deliver a hands-on look at Alien Hominid (PS2, GCN) and screens of Area 51 (PS2, Xbox). TeamXbox goes hands-on with The Red Star (PS2, Xbox) and has new screens of Terminator 3: The Redemption (PS2, Xbox, GCN). IGN has sketches and models of X-Men Legends (PS2, Xbox, GCN) and shots and movies of Def Jam: Fight for NY (PS2, Xbox).

Console Game of the Evening: Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64. "One of the best fun racers of all platforms. DKR came as a suprise (to me) and was so much more fun than Mario Kart. The different vehicles added so much dept to the game, as well as the story." (submitted by scion).

"YAY, plz make a FFVII-2 because it would continue a really good story line. It was the strongest ..."51 Comments

Late Night Consoling

by Alec Matias Jul 28, 2004 10:00pm CST tags: Konami, Activision, Electronic Arts, Square Enix, Atlus, Games: Console

The purchase of Criterion by EA has definitely shaken things up. This is the industry's largest company taking full control of the leader in middleware software solutions. That's pretty big. Right now, both sides are trying to downplay the issue that this could negatively affect companies; but one has to ask, what other greater incentive is there in this purchase than controlling a crucial piece of software roughly 20% of the industry relies on? If this idealistic dream comes true where Criterion and EA will share information, combine resources, and create something truly epic, then the buyout could be a great thing. But most of us are pessimists and we see this as an opportunity for one company to start holding all the cards. Let's hope that Criterion holds true when they say, in the words of CEO David Lau-Kee, "Our intention is to continue exactly as we have before."

	EA Buys Criterion In a surprising move, Electronic Arts announced today the purchase of UK-based developer Criterion. This not only gives EA the intellectual properties Burnout and Black, but more importantly, the widely-used RenderWare platform. No financial details were revealed, but it was clearly outlined that EA has acquired all aspects of the company. Criterion CEO David Lau-Kee commented, "Combining EA's tools and technology libraries with the existing RenderWare technologies will create a superior platform for game development." Another upside is that this deal gives EA an inside edge on next-generation console development as they are now in complete control of Criterion's RenderWare 4 platform, their next-gen dev system.
	Nintendo Reveals Final Design of the DS The Japanese giant today pulled back the curtains on its upcoming Nintendo DS portable device and gave us a first look at the final design of the handheld. Sporting more angular cuts and a slimmer body, the device casts away its blocky, rounded form. On top of that, the buttons have undergone a few changes; moving around and getting an enlargement. Also, the speakers now use stereo sound. Despite showing off the finalized version, Nintendo made no mention of a price or release date, just informing us that they'll make an announcement soon.
	Atlus to Bring Five Games to Nintendo DS Japanese company Atlus announced plans today to bring five games to Nintendo's upcoming DS product. Headlining the pack is Shin Megami Tensei DS, but other familiar series will see a release such as Snowboard Kids and Choro-Q (sometimes called Gadget Racers). No other information was made available, such as if any of these were launch titles.
	Square Enix Considering DS Recently, Final Fantasy I & II was released for the GameBoy Advance in Japan. Inside, gamers found a questionnaire card asking them what ports they would like to see brought to the Nintendo DS platform. Choices included FF III-VI, the Saga series, Chrono Trigger, Seiken Densetsu, Front Mission, the Chocobo series, and Hanjuku Hero. Oddly enough, all titles from the Dragon Warrior series were absent.
	Area 51 Delayed Until 2005 Midway's Area 51, which garnered a decent amount of praise at this year's E3, has been pushed back into 2005. Said Midway president David Zucker, "Area 51 is a superb game, and we believe it will receive much more attention in a launch period with comparatively less crowding, such as the first half of 2005." In other words, they don't want to go up against Halo 2, DOOM3, and Killzone.
	NFL Street 2 Announced Following up on Monday's announcement of NBA Street V3, EA announced that development is underway on NFL Street 2. The game is undergoing a redesign, adding new moves and features such as wall moves and style catches. The game is in development for all three consoles and will be released early 2005 under the EA SPORTS BIG label.
	Next Spider-man Game Confirmed At their "Activate" event, industry player Activision confirmed that they are working on a Spiderman title for 2005. Dubbed Ultimate Spiderman, the game will follow Spidey through the Ultimate line of Marvel comics. No developer was mentioned, but it is assumed Treyarch will reprise their role.
	Misc. Q&As/Features 1up has a Q&A with one of my favorite composers, Danny Elfman, regarding his contribution to Fable. Rob Fahey of gamesindustry.biz interviews two men influential in the decision for EA to purchase Criterion, David Lau-Kee and Bruce McMillan.
	Misc. Media/Previews
	GamerFeed has a hands-on impression of Viewtiful Joe. GameSpot gives us a preview of Hot Shots Golf Fore! and an import preview of Gradius V. GamesAreFun hosts a handful of shots of Jak 3. Images of Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal are at GameSpy. IGN has exclusive movies and details on Shadow Hearts: Covenant, a video of Gungrave OD, goes hands-on with Shaman King and Spy Fiction, and delivers images of Crescent Suzuki Racing: Superbikes and Super Sidecars.
	Some screens of Tron 2.0 Killer App are at GamerFeed this evening. TeamXbox chimes in with their hands-on of Dead or Alive Ultimate. IGN has a few details and a direct feed of Conker: Live and Reloaded, four flicks of Blinx 2, and images of Forza Motorsport.
	The crew at IGN sits down for over twenty hours of the newly-titled Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and gives us the low down.
	IGN gives us two videos of The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age.
	A video focusing on the defensive side of Madden NFL 2005 (PS2, Xbox, GCN) is at GameSpot. There are also two vids of ESPN NHL 2K5 (PS2, Xbox), screens of X-Men Legends (PS2, Xbox, GCN) and shots of Need for Speed Underground 2 (PS2, Xbox, GCN). GamerFeed has the first shots of NBA Street V3 (PS2, Xbox, GCN). TeamXbox hosts images of Call of Duty: Finest Hour (PS2, Xbox, GCN) and a preview of Area 51 (PS2, Xbox). Konami hosts a new video for Winning Eleven 8 (PS2, Xbox). GameSpy previews Robotech: Invasion (PS2, Xbox), hosts screens of Test Drive: Eve of Destruction (PS2, Xbox, GCN), and images of The Punisher (PS2, Xbox). IGN beams us up with new screenies of Destroy All Humans! (PS2, Xbox), direct feeds of Mortal Kombat: Deception (PS2, Xbox), movies of The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (PS2, Xbox, GCN), and videos of Burnout 3: Takedown (PS2, Xbox, GCN).

Console Game of the Evening: Road Rash 64 for the Nintendo 64. "Racing + Weapons + hitting cops off bikes = 'nuff said" (submitted by allowat76).

"Does the DS have a normal headphone jack? As much as I love my SP, I hate the passthrough power ..."72 Comments

The Hulk Returning to Consoles

DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball Sequel Coming

Stella Deus Coming to U.S.

Digital Devil Saga Box Set

Resident Evil 4 Gets Dated for Europe

Misc. Q&As/Features

Misc. Media/Previews

PS2

Xbox

Portable

Multi

Multi

Console Game Of The Evening [Submit Yours!]