News

...In under five months!

According to a press release today from Sony, 40 million total Playstation 2 consoles have been sold worldwide. Naturally, the United States has seen the most, with nearly eighteen of those forty million units.

Let's look at that from another angle, shall we? There are rougly a quarter-billion people in the United States right now. Eighteen million of them have a PS2. This is a taste over seven percent of the population as a whole - a staggering number for a video game console, especially one that is so young as the PS2 still is.

With ten million pieces moved in under half a year, it appears that the PS2 is just now hitting its stride in a way that the PSX started to do soon after the release of FF7. It seems more than feasable to believe that the PS2 could overtake the NES as the largest-selling console ever in a few years.

Source: GameSpot

Gamespot has just released its review of one of, if not the most anticipated NGC title yet, Super Mario Sunshine. The site gives it an 8.0, slightly less than I had come to expect based on all the hype. However, in reading the article, it's easy to understand why.

While it is a worthy successor to Mario 64, which was in itself an excellent game, some control flaws were evident to the reviewers that, if I were reviewing, would have docked the game hard. It appears that camerawork can be an issue at many points in the game, which has always been my personal complaint toward 3D platform games in general. However, overall, the game still looks like it's more than worth a playthrough to me.

Source: http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/reviews/0,10867,2878399,00.html

http://www.gamesarefun.com/newspro....,60636,

Plans are now in the works for a new RPG Maker for Game Boy Advance.  Details are kinda sketchy, but it sounds like the version may be inferior to current versions, but the ability to play it whenever would make quite a bonus for us RPG makin' geeks.  A playstation 2 version (set to be released in December) is also set to be shipped to the states, and is to be USB-Keyboard compatible for easy scripting.  This is definitely a big leap forward for people who make their own RPGs, and hopefully it brings more into the mix.  I know I might have to try that PS2 version...

Source: Gamesarefun.com

Corda has just brought it to our attention that Fierce Legends is on schedule to release the first demo of their FF6 Prequel within two months. Here are the highlights:

* Demo Screenplay is complete;
* Art and Music are in progress;
* Battle Engine is demo-ready;
* Logo is complete and will be public soon;
* Flash trailer is in progress.

To check out FLS, visit the
Affiliates section. Keep checking CoN for more updates!

http://www.gamesarefun.com/newspro....,12026,

The PS2 port of Skies of Arcadia has been cancelled. The game, however, will still be ported to the GameCube.

http://www.gamesarefun.com/newspro....,36928,

Ziff-Davis, the company that makes magazines such as EGM and Expert Gamer, is rumored (and pretty much confirmed) to have filed for bankruptcy. Supposedly this will not affect the magazines they publish, but it would suck if EGM died, because a whole lot of people get. Heh.