News

Courtesy RPGamer.com

Well, this news makes me drool.  Apparently, the original Wild ARMs is being remade to include five new playable characters, full 3-D graphics with realistic character models, voice acting, and presumably, a story rewrite to include those five new characters.  The original Wild ARMs, if people remember, was rushed out because the company wanted it to be the first game on the Playstation with 3-D battles, and they needed to beat Final Fantasy 7.  As a result, the game wasn't what it could have been.

____

A lot of details are lacking from this news article...unless I just completely missed it, they're not even saying what system this is on.  I'm assuming it'll be for PS2, which will kick butt, since the company has already shown what it can do with the fabulous Wild ARMs 3.  I will definitely hope and write letters to the companies to get this one released in the United States...dang...

EDIT: This is now confirmed. More details when I get home from Uni.

This is yet to be confirmed, but the next installment in the Earthbound series (which goes by the name of Mother in Japan) is again in development. This time it is for the Nintendo GameCube.

http://www.gamesarefun.com/cgi-bin....,24103,

For those who missed out on it,  Earthbound was quirky, comical RPG for the SNES that stared Ness, a boy on an adventure to save the universe (just your typical kid, right?).  It still remains a favorite of many RPG fans.

This installment of the series was originally in development for the Nintendo 64.  It was plagued by developmental problems and other issues though.  The game was canceled as a result.  There is no word on a release date in North America, but it is believed to be ready for gamers in Japan by August.

In other Earthbound news, Earthbound Zero and Earthbound (Mother 1 and Mother 2, respectively) are also planned for the GameBoy Advance.  Neither one is a straight ports; both are believed to have reworked graphics.

Source: Games Are Fun

*~*~*

More Earthbound?  I think this is fantastic news.  I have neither a GameCube nor a GBA, but this makes me wish I had both.  I found Earthbound to be a breath of fresh air the first time I played it.  I was quite disappointed when I heard Mother 3 was cancelled for the N64.  I still don't think I'd get a GameCube because of this (it wouldn't change the fact that I can't justify spending money to buy a second console when I probably shouldn't have bought a PS2 to begin with),  but it is just another reason why the GBA would be a decent purchase.

This brings a good topic up for discussion.  Would anyone here buy a GameCube or GameBoy Advance solely on these games alone?  If not, would they help contribute to the purchase of either?  Or are you someone who just doesn't care about the Earthbound series?  As a bonus, you can substitute Zelda: The Wind Walker (with its release soon) for the new Earthbound game for the questions.

None of these really warrent an update in themselves, but some may be of interest to a few of you CoN-ers.

Starting off with some non-Final Fantasy or RPG news,  Konami has announced that Silent Hill 3 will be released in Europe first.  The tentative date is May 23.  Gamers in Japan and North America are the ones that will have to be waiting this time around.  European gamers usually have to wait months for PAL versions of their games.  Speaking of the North American version, though, its release is planned sometime in August.

For those that don't know,  Silent Hill 3 is popular action/horror series that is similar to the Resident Evil series (correct me if I'm wrong on this one guys.).
***
Tidbit numero dos:  Final Fantasy Tatics Advance has already moved over 250,000 copies in Japan.  And it was only released on Valentine's Day.  One copy of FFTA was sold for every single GameBoy Advance SP (also released on that day) that was sold.  

Considering the popularity of the original FFT among North American gamers, it should be a hit here as well.
***
Tidbit number three:  A new Zelda game is on the works for the GameBoy Advance.  Shigeru Miyamoto talked about in a recent interview.  The game will be developed for Nintendo by Capcom.  Besides being a developer of generally high regard, they have developed the three most recent Zelda GameBoy games (The two Oracale games for GB Color and the port of Link To Past for the GBA).  

The game has been actually development since 2001.

---

Links to Tidbit source articles:
Tidbit 1: http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,2911343,00.html
Tidbit 2: http://www.ffinsider.net/news/news.php?id=324
Tidbit 3: http://www.gamesarefun.com/cgi-bin....,29872,

From http://www.rpgamer.com/

http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q1-2003/021103a.html

The Lufia series from the Super Nintendo and Game Boy Color is going to release another edition, this time on the Game Boy Advance.  It's called Lufia: The Ruins of Lore, and it actually brings back some aspects of Lufia 2.  In Lufia 2, there was a military nation, Gratze, that played a minor role in the game -- the biggest thing to note was that they were completely cut off from all other nations and were actually secretly plotting world domination (because, y'know, it's just something you can plot very easily).  

The Ruins of Lore picks up with a character inside Gratze that is rising the ranks, somewhat like Golbez did in FF4 to control the city of Baron.  In fact, the more I look at this story, the more it looks like FF4.  Ragule, the character from Gratze, is trying to awaken a very powerful beast, just as Golbez was trying to awaken the path to the moon.  A group tries to stop Ragule by locating magical stones (crystals, anyone?) that tell the location of the beast.

So if you're interested in playing an FF4 clone on the GBA, check out Lufia: The Ruins of Lore.  If you're not, you still might want to pick it up, because Lufia has yet to disappoint.

The first online game for the Gamecube, Phantasy Star Online Episode I and II was released on Oct. 30th. According to the review here:

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/reviews/0,10867,2896605,00.html

It does have a few drawbacks, such as a lack of keyboard at the moment in GameCube to communicate with players while online. The reviewer also states that the offline mode is a bit lacking on the storyline side.

However the game does boast interesting new character types, such as a metalic woman who can't use magic, but is immune to poison. There are also changes in other character systems, with Rangers and Hunters among others.

The reviewer gives the overall score of 7.8, rating the game as Medium.

Skies of Arcadia, originally on the Dream Cast, is now being re-released for the GameCube. In time for the new year, it will be out in North America sometime in January of 2003.

From what I can tell of the article, the game is still the same in plot and format, and is still a great RPG if you hadn't played it already on the DC. It may not be a Final Fantasy, but it's still worth a try ^-^


http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q3-2002/091302c.html