News

The past few months, Nintendo representatives have building up excitement about a radically new and innovative console that is neither the successor to the GameCube nor the Game Boy Advance. Originally Nintendo planned to keep the console a secret until the E3 Expo. It appears that the company has change its mind as it has revealed the console, tentatively named the Nintendo DS, in a recent press release.

This console truly is going to be different than any other previous console. It will feature not one, but two back-lit 3-inch TFT LCD screens and two separate 32-bit ARM microprocessors. It is thought the two screens will be used to give the gamer both an overview and a zoom-able close-up view.

As stated earlier, it is not the successor to the GCN or GBA and will not be marketed as such. Little is known about the software at the current time. It will not be backwards compatible with any previous Nintendo system though.

Source: Gamespot

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First off, let me say that I'm willing to give anything a chance. However, this whole console seems like a massive gimmick to me. I can't see my puny American mental capacities allowing me to focus on two screenes at the same time. I would imagine it is going to be difficult to even develop games for the machine.

It's good that Nintendo is trying to be innovative. Console gaming almost died in the early 80s (I'm looking at you Atari in particular [note my time period might be off]) because of lack of innovation. I just wish the innovation seemed like less of a gimmick. Hopefully it will do better than Virtual Boy, the other Nintendo console which was seen as nothing more than a gimmick by many.

Apex Digital and Infinium Labs, companies new to the gaming market, have each designed a console to compete with the industry giants: Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft.

Apex's machine, called the "ApeXtreme," will be released within the next four months and will carry a price tag just under $400.
Details about the ApeXtreme can be found at PCReview.co.uk.

Infinium has yet to give a specific date for release of the "Phantom;" however, the Phantom debuted at the Ultimate Gamers' Expo in Los Angeles last August. The console's expected price range is from $300 to $500.
Details about the Phantom are available at Infinium Labs.com.

Both the ApeXtreme and the Phantom use a modified version of the Windows XP OS and support broadband Internet connection.

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Neither of the machines sound like anything amazing to me; so far they have minimal publisher relationships. However, at least one of the two consoles will have some degree of support for running games designed for PC play, which is an interesting attempt at melding desktop to console gaming.

One other noteworthy piece is the price of each console--compared to the $99 Gamecube, it's hard to see how these virtually unknown companies can compete.

A Sony representative has revealed some details concerning the design of the Dual Shock 3, the controller of the Playstation 3.

Maybe not shocking is that there are only a few changes made from the Dual Shock 2 in its design. One change that a trigger button is most going to be added under its right handle. Wireless capabilities are also going to be added in order to better compete with Nintendo's Wavebird controller. Other than this though, the controller is basically going to remain the same as the Dual Shock 2 as the latter was with the PS1 controller.

Source: Games_Are_Fun

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Sounds good so far to me. The Dual Shock 2 is a decent controller. No reason to drastically change a good thing. The additions are nice are handy too. Even with the addition of the trigger button, I think the N64 controller is still going to be my favorite to use with First Person Shooters (besides a keyboard and mouse) though. The N64 controller just feels right for them.

Courtesy Gamespot

It has been reported that sales of the Playstation 2 console have exceeded 5 million and are continuing to increase, particularly with the holiday season. The article leaves much to the reader, however, about how this will affect game releases in the UK.

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I know from our UK forumgoers that very rarely does a game get a release in the UK before it does the US, let alone at the same time as the US. This news should demonstrate to game producers that the UK is a bigtime market for games and there's no reason to put off a UK release until later. All it does is frustrate gamers and make them lose confidence in the developers. The only game I can think of off the top of my head that was released in the UK before the US was FF:Origins. The only other game that I can think of that had an excuse for a delayed European release was FF9, where some dialogue was changed to add the UK's unnecessary vowels and all that jazz. What does everyone else think?

Sony has scheduled release of it's Playstation 2 unit in China for December 20, despite massive potential for game piracy, according to CNN.
Sony will be the second company to begin console sales in China; Nintendo recently introduced it's iQue to the Chinese market and expressed intent to begin GameCube sales in the country as well.
The Chinese Playstation 2 will sell for about USD$240, and only two or three games will be available for the system upon launch.
In an effort to thwart game piracy, which is rampant in the Chinese market, Sony intends to sell it's Chinese releases of games at competitive retail prices of about USD$20.

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I find it interesting to keep an eye on this emerging "official" Chinese gaming market, as opposed to piracy; I wonder if it will take flight?

Capcom has announced that it has posted a profit of 919 million yen ($8.5 million US) for the first six months of its fiscal year.

As we reported last April, Capcom suffered a suffered a loss 19.5 billion yen ($163 million US) total last year. In spite of the profits, sales have continued to fall (in particular Megaman X7 has had sold under their expectations). Their arcade coin-op division made up for this, however.

Capcom expects sales to pick up in the second half of its fiscal year with the upcoming releases of Resident Evil Outbreak and Onimusha 3.

Source: Gamespot

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Maybe the lackluster sales of Megaman X7 will encourage Capcom to branch out a little further, especially if Resident Evil Outbreak falters as well. That or release a Capcom Vs. Fighter with some higher resolution 2D sprites instead of the same old recycled ones from the mid-1990s (Look at the Sammy's Guilty Gear series for some good 2D sprites). I'll be sort of hypocritical now by saying that I am looking forward to the Megaman compilation, however.