Cube.IGN has posted three in-game screenshots from Metroid Prime, the GameCube FPS in development at Retro Studios. The shots aren't direct-feed, but they do offer the first glimpse at gameplay, with two of the shots showing the first-person view, and one from a third person perspective. One thing of note is that the "helmet" effects that were mentioned last week don't seem to be featured here. Here they are: [shot 1] [shot 2] [shot 3].

Last night's post seemed to spark a great deal of discussion...tonight's should continue the heated arguments about the Xbox vs. GameCube vs. PS2 vs.Dreamcast vs. Lynx, Jaguar, SNES, Genesis...and anything else you guys can come up with.

- FGN Online is reporting that Namco will showcase two other GameCube titles at Spaceworld next week: Tekken 4, and a new Ridge Racer title.
- Speaking of Tekken 4, Core Magazine has posted a Q&A with new info about the game.
- According to Xbox.IGN, Soul Calibur 2 and three other Namco titles will appear on the Xbox as well as GameCube (thanks blaise).
- Talk about disappointing: it looks like Sonic Team's secret GameCube title is a port of Sonic Adventure 2. Looks like we'll have to keep waiting for a new NiGHTS game.
- And even more disappointing, Cube.IGN is reporting that Nintendo's new Mario game won't ship until next year.
- Still more pre-Spaceworld GameCube news: GameSpot has posted details on the system's memory card, which is still only 4 MB, half the size of the Playstation 2's (of course, it's also half the price).
- According to PlanetAvP, a couple of hackers have discovered evidence of an Xbox port of Aliens vs. Predator 2 in the recently released demo.

Console game of the evening: Tempest 2000 for the Atari Jaguar. Aliens vs. Predator is why I bought the thing, Tempest 2k is why I haven't put it away since.

Good lord, another post-ER story! For those that don't know, I'm a freaky-console fan, and I've been collecting nightly console links for a long time for different sites. So, desperate to find an outlet for my consolidated evening reading, we've come up with this here post. Enjoy.

- Cube.IGN is reporting that Namco will be showing Soul Calibur 2 for the GameCube at next week's Tokyo Game Show.
- Digital Extremes has posted an update on Unreal Championship, their upcoming Xbox title on their site.
- Some new (and quite impressive) direct-feed gameplay movies from the GameCube launch title Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II are up at both Cube.IGN and GameSpot.
- According to this PSX.IGN story, Sony has announced that they will be bundling their PSOne system with an LCD screen for $199.
- For those of you with six Playstation 2 consoles and six televisions (!), IOGEAR is now selling a six-port iLink (aka IEEE 1394 or FireWire) hub. This can be used with the few PS2 games that support iLink networking (including Gran Turismo 3).

An update on the status of Metroid Prime, Retro Studios' upcoming Gamecube FPS is up at IGN Cube this evening. The update features two new concept art pieces, but the fun part is in the text, where it describes how Metroid Prime is utilizing its first person perspective, and talks briefly about its impressive engine. Here's an excerpt:

Metroid Prime's first-person camera will appear as though gamers are looking out of Samus' helmet from the inside. To that end, all of the relevant power, ammo and item information, including necessary gauges and dials, will appear on the glass shield-visor of the helmet as if it was an LCD, or graphical user interface. Furthermore, the visor will reflect the conditions of the surrounding environments so if Samus looks up into a light, it will reflect off the glass of her helmet or if a room is damp, the moisture will drip down the shield and affect her view. Gamers will even be able to catch rare glimpses of the heroine's face as it is occasionally reflected onto the inside of the visor. One source described the unique view simply as "total immersion."

Well, I just picked up a GameBoy Advanced today and I have to say it's really, really fun. Castlevania absolutely rules, and we just got done playing some ass-kicking four player Super Mario Advance. Probably one of my favorite features of the device is the ability for only one person to have a cartridge and start up a four player game. The second favorite is the fact that the link cables all come with a daisy chain connecter in the center, so you don't need to buy a special multi-tap to play > 2 players. Biggest complaint? The lack of a backlight. Second biggest complaint? Using 'advance' instead of 'advanced' in the name (I was corrected that advance is not an infinitive). The name sounds like a bad translation, like when you see "Advance Option" on motherboard BIOS'es.

As all the large retail outlets got a ton of them today, I'm sure a bunch of you guys have picked them up. So this story is mostly being posted for you guys (and girls) to talk about it and share your thoughts.

Here's some wackyness you only see when a company pulls the plug on their console system. Sega and Sony have agreed to work together on getting the Dreamcast and Playstation2 to play together over the internet. Thanks Matt.

According to this PR on the Biz Wire, the Commander Keen game for the Game Boy Color is in stores now for $29.99. There are 3 unique alien worlds and more than 35 different aliens in this sidescroller, continueing the adventures of Billy Blaze.

What you thought the monthly fee for playing multiplayer games was a fad? Pshaw! It's spreading to console machines even! According to IGN Sega's upcoming Phantasy Star Online v2 will be charging a montlhly fee for people who play the game on their consoles at home: (Thanks Chuus)

Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2" will incorporate an online payment structure. Pricing information for the U.S. version of "Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2" has not yet been released. While "Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2" can be enjoyed offline, gamers can now access new features, modes and quests through the game, [snip]

Geoff at GameSlice has a fairly lengthy article about the console showdown between Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft that happened during E3 2001. Geoff thinks the next gen console war hasn't been decided just yet.

Ooooh.. everyone loves a good public pissing match between big companies. This article on FT.com (Thanks Blues)  has a few quotes from the Sony guys talking about how Microsoft is doing on their X-Box console which didnt really get as much positive response at E3 as was expected by a lot of the press.

Microsoft was finished before it even got started. They have no games," Mr Kutaragi said in an interview with the Financial Times. "Microsoft has put itself out of the game. Retailers in the US are already disappointed."

The Microsoft guys responded kindly taking the high road with some good old fashion backhands taking shots at Sony while claiming they wont take shots at Sony.

"We did expect some reaction from the competition, but for Sony to react in such a way means we must be doing something right," head of UK Xbox marketing Richard Teversham told CVG. "Ultimately, whoever brings innovative games to market that people want to play will win.

I'd like to see the Sony reaction to GameCube too... Those guys are always fun to watch. :)

This report filed on Friday is a pretty good read looking at the online future for console systems and if there really even is one. There are quotes and discussion from reps for Sony Microsoft and Nintendo. Both Sony and Microsoft have run into issues with trying to get their machines online and working with broadband having changed their strategies and Nintendo has opted to not ship with online capabilities but use a follow-up release.

Sony Corp the market-share leader with its PlayStation series, envisions its consoles becoming all-in-one consumer entertainment systems, complete with the ability to play movies, music and browse the Web.
[...] and MS:
``We've designed Xbox to be a great online platform out of the box,'' said Robbie Bach, the top executive in charge of Microsoft's Xbox and gaming division. ``We don't think it makes sense for you to have to go out and buy a lot of components.''

I dont really see any of the three machines really making a big impact online right away. If one of the machines comes out with a Diablo port though you'll see a hell of a lot of people signing up. Would be interesting to see Blizzard try and patch a GameCube or PS2 game though :)

When I get home on Sunday night the full write-ups for E3 will start coming in however since a lot of people have been requesting a quick 'run down' of how things have looked so far I figured Saturday afternoon is as good a time as any to share. Here are how the console systems looked:

- Playstation2: Hey some actual cool looking games? Say it aint so! Saw a few titles that may finally make the machine worth while.
- X-Box: First impressions were not good. I came to the show expecting MS to kick some butt with all the developer support they have been announcing, they came in a distant 3rd in the console race as far as showing here though.
- GameCube: Looking good! No Metroid showing but everything they had looked quality stuff and of course a couple of the typical kiddy games. Nintendo has a good thing going and GameBoy Advance looked pretty cool too.

PS2 probably edged out Nintendo in just sheer quantity of titles showing but GameCube is of course like half a year from release still. X-Box was a bit of a disappointment but I'm gonna give them another look later.

Now that E3 is about underway, annoucements come rolling in. Here's some regarding the big three console players. First, Microsoft's X-Box is to be priced at $299.99 to compete with Sony's PS2 pricing. It will be hitting shelves Nov 8. Sony is also encroaching on Microsoft by announcing a number of online alliances, todays being Cisco for IPv6 and MacroMedia for Flash. (anyone remember the last Cisco gaming alliance?). Finally, there's the news that there will be a combination GameCube/DVD player put out by Panasonic for 39,000 yen (approx $315). The price of the standard GameCube hasn't been announced yet.

Someone post the best GameCoy Color games. I've decided all the game review pages out there covering GameBoy stuff are crap (surprise) and trust you guys more to at least not schmooze some game because you're buddy buddy with the publisher. Is Metroid2 any good? What's a good plane trip game?

The World Is Not Enough, the game that started out as a James Bond PC game based on Quake3 technology continues to evolve. First they announce the PC version, then they announced a PS2 version, then they announced that the PC version was canned, and now the PS2 version has been cancelled and the work that was done on the game will be merged into a new game being called Agent Under Fire. The new game will be exclusive to the Playstation2 though, doh. You can check out a few hands-on articles at GameSpot , Daily Radar , and PS2.IGN. Here are the screenshots of the original PC game which was announced so long ago.

Missed this one yesterday but hey most likely the majority of you guys never heard of it anyways. Indrema has been canned. It was a new console system that was being built on linux and has a purty silver case.

According to Cube.IGN Retro Studios who are currently working on the FPS Metroid title for GameCube has had some more layoffs. Pretty sure Jack still has his job and the layoffs were from other teams though.

Crazyness for the evening, a deal has just been signed for a Soul Calibur movie. The budget has been set at $50million (!) according to the official website of the director signed for the deal Sammo, Thanks Eurogamer

It's official--Sammo will be directing "Soul Calibur", based on Namco's video game. Namco is the company that brought us Pac-Man and Tekken (among other games). There isn't much information available yet since the agreement between the producers and Namco was signed on March 29, 2001, but the budget will be around $50 million US! With its medieval setting, shooting locations will probably be Eastern Europe and China. The film will probably have an international cast to reflect the global popularity of the game. Hopefully this film will get Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao involved in some capacity--a reunion of sorts. And of course this is what fans have been dying for all along. Rhythm & Hues will more than likely be the CG effects house for the project because of their relationship with Namco.

CNet has a quick article from yesterday asking the simple question of "Are consoles squeezing out PC games?" that quotes a few industry experts. I'd say erm.. maybe? My shot in the dark guess is that the platforms will just keep getting closer and closer together until we see an almost unification of sorts. The X-Box is a big step in that direction really.

But PCs will continue to play an important role in the gaming world, partly because it's much easier for small developers to work on a PC title. Console development requires expensive programming tools, as well as intricate licensing and approval procedures--all of which retard the growth of new ideas, PC developers maintained. And PC hardware can be much more flexible in bringing a developer's concepts to life.

This is something amusing for people anticipating the big releases of the X-Box from MS and the GameCube from Nintendo. According to Fuckedcompany the folks at Nintendo recently sent out a letter (Thanks the archvile) to retailers basically asking them to please not promote MS X-Box system. They made it sound all smooth like of course, here's a bit of it:

The curious question then is why, retailers would join with a potential future industry participant [ed: Microsoft] eight - ten months or perhaps longer; before his unspecified product arrives, to essentially sell against these current and continuing impulse sales by installing an array of point-of-sales materials which essentially suggest to their customers to wait (until when?) for this alleged new product

Translation: "Hi this is Nintendo, please dont promote or do presales of the X-Box? Thanks!"