Late Night Consoling
This is the Game Developer's Conference in San Jose, although sadly all the good buzz seems to have disappeared in the last couple of weeks. I'm not expecting any big announcements from Microsoft (as was originally anticipated), and it's highly unlikely that Sony will bother showing anything from their PSP now, and potentially take the sail out of their big E3 unveiling. Pretty much the only thing that I am excited to hear about -- and it's only hear about, since I won't be there (even if I could go, I wouldn't...despite the influx of press people in the last few years GDC strikes me as one of those events, like SIGGRAPH where the press should just shut up and let developers talk amongst themselves) is Epic's next-generation Unreal technology. If you missed it, take a read through of this Tim Sweeney Q&A over at HomeLAN, as it goes over what will be shown at the conference, and it sounds wild. Basically they're going to be talking about and showing (by appointment only, but hopefully footage will make its way online) their engine that is intended for use with the PS3, Xbox2 and PC video cards that aren't even remotely out yet. It's very exciting stuff, and it's a really early glimpse at what games for Sony and Microsoft's next platforms might look at. Again, hopefully we'll see that online, as otherwise I'm sure we'll have to suffer through reports like OMG ITS AMAZING. And that's just what Reuters will say.
| Metroid Prime, Wind Waker Sequels at E3? gamesindustry.biz is reporting that at their pre-E3 press conference, Nintendo will announce the sequels to Metroid Prime and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Both of these titles have been known to be in development for some time now (especially the Metroid sequel) although whether or not they'd be shown at E3 has been the source of much speculation. Note that while likely, this isn't official yet -- the only thing we know for sure will be at Nintendo's pre-E3 press conference is their DS system. |
| PSP Tools Announced at GDC As I mentioned above, this week is the Game Developer's Conference, and today came a flurry of announcements by middleware providers for PSP-related tools. Criterion Software announced a new version of their RenderWare technology for the platform (as well as a next-generation version for future consoles), Metrowerks announced CodeWarrior Developer Studio for PSP and SN Systems announced some tools of their own for the system. We still don't know officially what this thing looks like, but hey, there's clearly a big demand on the development side of the industry. |
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| Guerilla <3 Sony Guerilla Games, the developers of the upcoming PS2 exclusive title Killzone has announced that they have signed an exclusive deal with Sony Europe to develop titles exclusively for Sony platforms. Presumably this doesn't include their upcoming title ShellShock: Nam '67, which is still (as far as I know) in development for PS2, Xbox and PC. |
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| Four Swords Date Official Nintendo announced today that The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords will be released in North America on June 7th. Also, the game will include a Game Boy Advance link cable, just like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles did. The game will sell for a full $50, which seems a bit much to me, since this is 1/3rd less of the game released in Japan (although admittedly that third looked really bad). |
| PS2 Linux Kit for $99 I haven't heard too many positive things about this, but regardless, the PS2 Linux Kit is now on sale for a mere $99, and considered "a slightly limited edition" as there are no plans to restock this when supplies run out. Thanks Slashdot Games for the tip. |
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| Larger GameCube Memory Card on the Way? GameInformer is reporting that Nintendo is planning on releasing a new, larger capacity memory card. The card is said to be 1,019 blocks, which is roughly four times as big as Nintendo's current Memory Card 251, which will be good news for anyone tired of filling the entire card just to play sports games. |
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| No GT4 Prologue in America Also at GameInformer is a confirmation from SCEA that Gran Turismo 4 Prologue, the preview release of GT4 that was released in Japan last year, will not be released in North America, despite its recently-confirmed European release. Instead, SCEA will focus exclusively on the release of the full game later this year. |
| Misc. Interviews/Q&As 1UP has conducted an interview with Martin Edmondson, the producer of DRIV3R (PS2, Xbox), who seems to have conducted more of these interviews than anyone else in recent memory. Also, HomeLAN has posted a Q&A with Jeremy Heath-Smith, the co-creator of Tomb Raider and the co-founder of Circle Studios, who fields some general questions his new company. |
| Misc. Media/Previews | |
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| GameSpot is the latest site to post a hands-on look at The Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords and Planet GameCube has a brief look at Custom Robo. |
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| GameSpot has a hands-on look at Astro Boy and new shots from Bujingai: The Forsaken City, The Magic Box has (quite blurry) new shots from Dragon Quest VIII, CVG has new shots from Killzone, GameInforrmer has a trailer from Siren and Square Enix has posted a pair of new commercials from Dragon Quest V on their official Japanese language site. |
| New shots from Sonic Advance 3 are up at GameSpot tonight, while Pocket.IGN has their Famicom Mini: Bomberman import review and new shots from Yu-Gi-Oh! Sugoruko no Soguroku. |
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| GameSpy has a new preview of Showdown: Legends of Wrestling (PS2, Xbox), CVG has a flood of shots from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (GC, PS2, Xbox) and 1UP has a new preview of DRIV3R (PS2, Xbox). |
