Posted by Shirow Wolf on 04/16/08 at 14:25 EST Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returnshas been announced for the DS, coming on July 22. Described thusly, "Izuna and her gang are back - and just in time for a wedding! Lured by the promise of free food (Why else would Izuna attend?), the festive event becomes a puzzling mystery when Izuna's sidekick Shino suddenly disappears, off in search of her long-lost sister. And making matters worse, the foreign gods have also arrived on Japanese soil, and they aren't very happy with the meddlesome, unemployed ninja. With disgruntled deities on the warpath, a sidekick to track down, and a missing sister out in the wild, it could all shape up to be one of Izuna's more exciting adventures. Sounds like a lot of work for a girl out of a job!" -TheDragon Quest V redux has been announced for Japan on July 17. Come this sumemr then, Japan will have the new reduxs of DQIV and V, and there has been no word of a North American release for either one yet...DQIV was released in November, so we may see it this year yet, and possibly DQV as well. stay tuned. -Hideo Baba, Namdai's brand manager for the Tales of... series, has stated that Tales of Innocence for the DS will not be coming to North America. Huh. That's...kind of weird...If this changes, we'll let you know. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 04/14/08 at 21:49 EST Final Fantasy IV DS is being released in North America on July 22. The game has been released and re-released several times already, but this time, it has been completely redone in 3D, like Final Fantasy III for the DS was. It will also have FMV cut scenes, some of them with voicing (!), 'new bits of story', a new score by Nobuo Uematsu (!!), and more. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 03/20/08 at 09:53 EST -Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2: Grimoire of the Rift [Auy..Long title...] has been announced for North American release on June 24th. Described thusly, the story tells of " a young boy from the 'real world' who gets transported to the world of Ivalice via a magical book, and somehow becomes the leader of what's tantamount to a medieval posse. Although it's in the same setting as Yasumi Matsuno's original Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, Tactics Advance and A2 clearly offer a far more lighthearted experience than the political intrigue and heavy drama of Matsuno's Ivalice games." The Law System is described as now being 'more lenient' and offering better incentives for following the rules. -MegaMan Star Force 2 has been announced also for a North American release in June. Like the first game (and like Pokemon), there will be two variations: Zerker X Ninja and Zerker X Saurian. Described thusly, "The game follows the adventures of Geo Stellar and his crew two months after the end of the first Mega Man Star Force. The player will follow along as Geo battles the mysterious 'Rogue,' and his host of unidentified animated beings. 'Rogue' is not the only villain the game provides though, as a new organization is rising up, trying to use the power of 'OOPArt' to revive the 'Mu' civilization, and only Geo Stellar and Omega-Xis stand in their way." -Valkyrie Profile is now coming to the DS, with Valkyrie Profile: The Accused One. There is hardly anything known about this game, but the story is described thusly: "The main protagonist in the game, Wilfred, is out for revenge against the gods and Valkyries that he so despises. In a sort of catch-22, he is enabled to seek his revenge against the gods via a gift from Hel, Goddess of the Underworld. Traveling with the intrepid hero are his friend Ansel, and a soul from the underworld, Elise." Stay tuned for any announcement of a North American release. -On the wake of Persona 3 FES being announced for a North American release this summer, Atlus has announced that Persona 4 is in development, and will be released in Japan on July 10. The game is described as featuring "180+ Persona, multiple endings, and 60-70 hours of play time. Persona 4 shares many of Persona 3's fundamentals such as the Social Link system and graphical engine." Although story details have not been released, it is known that the game features "has a countryside setting designed to create a melancholic atmosphere". Stay tuned for any announcement of a North American release. -The just-released Mana Khemia is also getting a PSP port. It will be released in Japan sometime in the summer, but no North American release date has been announced. Stay tuned... -Sega and Obsidian are working on a new RPG, and this one is a little different. Unlike most RPGs, this one will not only be in our world, but it's also about secret agents. Alpha Protocol, for the 360, PC and PS3, revolves around "Michael Thorton, alienated by his own government, is a young talented agent who is the only one with the information required to stop an imminent international disaster. In order to complete his mission, he must cut off all relations with the people he has sworn to protect." Objectives can be completed in a non-linear way and players' actions will help determine how Thornton will change; as seen in Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. The game will be released sometime next year. Stay tuned... -Now here's a bit of an odd story, and it's confusing and annoying many fans. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is now out, and players began to notice after not too long that in the Masterpieces section, which featured demos of classic Nintendo games, Earthbound/Mother 2's demo was removed. Naturally, fans are wondering why on Earth Nintendo of America even bothered to remove it. Fans were hopeful when not only Lucas was announced for the game, and NoA let him alone, and then Ness was announced, and NoA had no problem with that, and with all the Mother 3 spoilers in 'Brawl, that made them more hopeful of a possible Mother 3 release. Nintendo of America has not seemed to have changed their minds, and do not want to bring over Mother 3. Also, it has been reported that Earthbound was coming to the Virtual Console eventually; but that was largely reported last summer, and there has been no word or evidence of it coming. The removal of this demo from 'Brawl leaves many wondering if NoA will even bring Earthbound to the VC now at all, despite the fact that many sources said they 'knew' that it 'is' coming 'eventually'. There doesn't seem to be any real, particular reason for NoA to bother to go in and remove a short demo of the game. But someone and NoA did say 'Remove this', and it was done. It may not sound like a big deal to most people, but keep in mind that the Earthbound/Mother series has a very strong, vocal fan base in North America, and they DEMAND NoA bring Mother 3 here. NoA is aware of this fan base and of their strong desire for Mother 3. They may be hearing the fans, but it doesn't sound like they are listening. So this move by NoA is important because of what it may represent symbolically to the fans, and of NoA's firm stance that they simply do not want to grant the wish of fans by bringing Mother 3 here, and that NoA may not even care about the Mother series at all. Starmen.net, as always, is there to listen to fans and to help them. They suggest calling Nintendo of America and asking for answers. Answers may not be provided, but the action of calling will keep sending a message to NoA. Stay tuned for any developments... Starmen.net's Report, and Contact Information ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 03/07/08 at 20:36 EST -The just announced Disgaea DS has been revealed to, in fact, be a port of the original Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, as opposed to the updated Afternoon of Darkness for the PSP. However, the DS game will reportedly "contain several improvements to the user interface". What those are is not clear... Disgaea DS is also announced to be coming here sometime in July. Stay tuned... ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 03/06/08 at 22:18 EST -Last year, Nippon-Ichi more or less revealed that Disgaea would be making it to the DS. Well, there is now confirmation that A Disgaea game will be on the DS; entitled Disgaea DS: Prince. However, there is no other information about the game. I would guess it's probably not a port of the original, but we'll wait and see. Stay tuned... -It has been announced that the upcoming Wii sequel to Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk, is coming to North America, but with the title Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. Described thusly, "Dawn picks up two years after the events of the original and follows two new characters, Emil Castagnier and Marta Lualdi. As these two venture out into the mysteriously ruined world, they will meet up with some of the cast from Tales of Symphonia, such as Lloyd and Colette. They also encounter Ratatosk, an entity claiming to be the lord of all monsters. Dawn of the New World not only picks up where Tales of Symphonia left off, it also features a monster recruitment system that allows players to capture over 200 unique monsters to train and use in battle. Monsters can also be evolved into newer, stonger creatures through feeding and training. Dawn's real-time battle system allows for free range movement in all directions around the battlefield. Unison attacks and an elemental alignment system have been added as well. With a roster of characters from Tales of Symphonia and monsters caught in battle, tons of party combinations are possible." But that's not all. The 360 is getting a Tales game: Tales of Vesperia. Described thusly, the "completely original entry into the Tales of series and will feature anime-style graphics as well as an upgraded battle system. People in the world rely on blastia, an ancient technology of mysterious power. Vesperia's story follows former knight Yuri as he learns the use of the magical blastia that have power of civilization. The game will also feature a new graphics engine along with character designs by Kosuke Fujishima. Combat offers a few new addtions, such as special attacks tied to individual weapons and new finishing moves that allow players to defeat enemies with a single attack. Players will also receive rare crafting items for executing finishing moves correctly." No word on release dates yet. Stay tuned. -Persona 3: FES, which was originally an expansion for the original Persona 3 in Japan, is being released here as well. However, you will not need the original game to play this; the original game is essentially included. It includes two new episodes: Episode Yourself and Episode Aegis. The whole package includes "new quests, events, Persona, costumes, synthesis, and an extra difficulty setting", and in Episode Aegis, "Aegis as the main character along with a new ending to the game". no word on a release date yet. Stay tuned.... ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 03/04/08 at 22:16 EST -Gary Gygax, who perhaps more than anyone else has helped shaped RPGs of all kinds into what they are today, has died. He was reportedly suffering 'from health problems for several years'. He was 69 years old, and survived by his wife and 6 children. He and his friend Dave Arneson created Dungeons and Dragons together, the first rule book being released in 1974. And gaming was forever changed. He has been called the godfather of pen and paper RPGs, but then, that went over into video eventually. Without that, one can only wonder how RPGs today would have developed. As 1Up says, " If you've ever built a character, rolled 'to-hit', gone to a game convention, or even just enjoyed the sensation of building a party and rampaging around somewhere killing monsters and scoring lewt in fantastic, imaginative settings, you owe Gary respect. His influence on the foundations of modern-day gaming is incalculable." He loved his fans, and enjoyed meeting them, and reportedly "it was one of his great pleasures to meet fans who told him that fooling around with characters, persona and dice ultimately helped them decide to becoming a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, or whatever else." The 4th edition rule book is set to be released on June 6. Gamers everywhere will perhaps pick it up for the greater reason of honoring him. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 02/18/08 at 17:02 EST -Squenix has announced the...strangely-titled The World Ends With You will be released here on April 22, for the DS. Described thusly, "Set in a modern-day Tokyo, The World Ends With You takes players to the streets of Shibuya, the city’s trendiest youth culture center. The game incorporates Japan’s latest cultural trends including music, fashion, food, and design. Players will take the role of Neku Sakuraba, an antisocial 15-year-old boy who suddenly wakes up in the Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, Japan, with no idea of how he got there. To further add to his confusion, Neku receives a bizarre text message warning him that he will cease to exist unless he accomplishes a specific mission. Unable to comprehend what is happening, he begins his mission on the streets of Shibuya, a place where things are not always what they seem." Players will also be able to customize a little bit with character fashion and customized designed pins that grant powers. The soundtrack is described as ranging "from hip-hop to rock to electronic". -1Up features an exclusive interview with Nobuo Uematsu, celebrated composer of most of the Final Fantasy games (in the main series, anyway). It's...very long and thorough, but he discusses such things as goals he set in his life previously and inspiration for his work. -1Up also has a special feature looking at the past 20 years of Phantasy Star games. -It is official that Marvel Universe Online has been scrapped. People suspected as much anyway...As for why it was scrapped, Shane Kim of Microsoft didn't really specifically answer that question, but did say “I don’t think it’s necessarily a case of what went wrong...I don’t know that that’s the right way to put it. For us we look at our priorities and all of the things we have to do. It’s a tough space. It’s a very competitive space. And it’s a space that’s changing quite a bit. …When we first entered into the development and agreement of the development of ‘Marvel Universe Online,’ we thought we would create another subscription-based MMO. And if you really look at the data there’s basically one that’s successful and everything else wouldn’t meet our level or definition of commercial success. And then you have to look [and say]: ‘Can we change the business model for that? Is that really viable given how far we are in development? And so forth. Does Marvel want to do that?’ There’s a whole bunch of factors.” -HD-DVD is dead, more or less. Many movie studios, such as Warner Brothers, for example, are withdrawing support for the format. Wal-Mart will only sell Blu-Ray, and no more HD, in June (as well as Sam's Club), and NetFlix is dropping HD from among their rental selection. It's also no secret that BR sales have been doing much better than HD. It seems that the public has decided, and chose BR over HD. Toshiba, the owner of the HD format, has not officially thrown in the towel yet. They said recently "Based on its technological advancements, we continue to believe HD-DVD is the best format for consumers, give the value and consistent quality inherent in our player offerings." However, as it doesn't sound like the format can or will survive, Toshiba is expected to soon officially scrap the format. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 12/12/07 at 22:53 EST -The exceptionally-long-titled Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors now has a release date of February 26. It was first announced as being a Wii launch title, but ended up being delayed for quite a long time. Described thusly, "The game takes place in the kingdom of Avalonia five years after Deathbringer was defeated. The people have been enjoying what they believed to be never-ending peace, but strange monsters have begun to show up on the edges of the town. By taking up the Wii remote and Nunchuck, players will attempt to uncover the mysteries of Avalonia, discover why the queen is hiding her face behind a strange mask, and bring peace back to the land". There will also be " a 'Payback Mode' and four hidden bosses". ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 12/02/07 at 17:24 EST BIG NEWS TODAY! It has been announced that Activision and Vivendi Games will undergo fusion, and become Activision Blizzard. The name comes from the fact that Vivendi owns Blizzard, and they will also be the primary shareholder in the company, with 52%. The deal is estimated at being worth $18.9 billion, and it is also being reported that "Vivendi's operations and properties will fall under current Activision management". Robert Kotick, the CEO and chairman of Activision, had this to say: "By combining leaders in mass-market entertainment and subscription-based online games, Activision Blizzard will be the only publisher with leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment software industry and reach the broadest possible audiences." This deal will also effectively make them the biggest third party game company, with predicted earnings of about $3.8 billion, this year. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 11/15/07 at 21:15 EST -As we reported previously, Nintendo recently bought Monolith Software, the studio behind the XenoSaga games, and now their first game since this acquisition has been announced; Soma Bringer for the DS. The only real information available so far is the following paragraph: "Players select from one of seven characters, fighting against enemies called "The Visitors." You can assign different attacks onto the four buttons to use strategically during battle. As you gain experience points, you can distribute them onto your stats and combining abilities will also create new ones. Plus, Up to three players can join the game for some co-op play through the DS Wi-Fi feature." The game is due in Japan in February, and will probably be available overseas shortly after. -It seems that neither Marvel, Microsoft or Cryptic Studios will answer a simple question; is Marvel Universe Online dead? There are signs that point to the strong possibility that the 360 and PC game-to-be is. There was no announcement of progress/stalling on the game, even after NCSoft's significant acquirement of Cryptic Studios's City of Heroes IP, and "approximately 15% of Cryptic [...] was moving to Mountain View, CA and opening a new studio to operate within the NCSoft umbrella." After all this, a Microsoft spokesperson said "We have nothing new to share about Marvel Universe Online...Cryptic's recent sale of the City of Heroes IP to NCSoft has no bearing on the development of 'Marvel Universe Online'". Michael Lewis, Cryptic's President and co-founder stated "The decision to sell the franchise allows us to focus resources on our soon to be announced first-party projects". He also completely ignored a specific question he was asked by a blogger, about the game. He was asked "Is there any concern that your former customers will feel 'abandoned,' harming potential sales of Marvel Universe Online?", to which he answered: "We think Cryptic has a pretty good reputation with both the City of Heroes and City of Villains communities. In many ways both games are like children going off to college - we created them and raised them, but now even though they are not our responsibility anymore we still want what is best for them in the future. We worked cooperatively with NCsoft to create a smooth transition for all CoH/CoV users, and the fact that we worked closely with them to keep the entire CoH development team intact and with the project attests to our desire to provide our players with the best possible experience." The supposedly-upcoming Marvel Universe Online has not been mentioned by anyone involved. No one will talk about it, so its status is now uncertain. -Lionhead Studios is givng you the chance to really give them a vile insult, and be praised for it. They'll use it in the upcoming Fable 2. They announced recently: "We need a replacement for the tired old 'Arseface' from the original Fable, as the Hero Title which you receive when you get enough NPCs to hate your guts...The insults should be puerile, but not too puerile, sound at least somewhat original, and not cross a certain line (as an example, 'gobshite' has been rejected because, while it might sound funny and wacky to American ears, it's still a bit too strong for Fable and British ears)". See their blogpost on the link if you are inetrested, and think you might be able to win! -So who played Dungeon Explorer on the Turbo Graffix-16? *crickets chirpping* Uh, well, anyway, Hudson Soft is resurrecting the series for the PSP and DS, starting with the upcoming Dungeon Explorer Warriors of Ancient Arts. Detail about the game are not clear, but it is scheduled for a release of next February. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 11/08/07 at 19:26 EST -A Persona 3 anime will be coming next year, from Aniplex's A-1 Pictures. Called Persona: Trinity Soul, "the show is set 10 years after the events portrayed in the PS2 game and will center around three brothers 'in a future city where the dead have risen with their skins turned inside out'". Character designer Shigenori Soejima is back on board for this series as well. No word on an overseas release or not, but stay tuned.... -The just-released Hellgate: London is having service issues. The game's subscription service (which is optional. The game has a free-play option) has suffered from 'unspecified issues' that 'brought the service completely down on launch day' (Halloween). The service was brought back up, but then another report came up that claims some subscribers are being charged the $10 monthly fee multiple times, and other members not havign access to the exclusive subscriber content. One report said thus: "I applied for a monthly subscription. I then noticed I was charged two times on 11/03 $9.99, one time on 11/04 $9.99, and one time on 11/05 $9.99". Lead designer Bill Roper has been addressing this issue. one of his statements reading "While this wasn't an issue of incorrect charges being applied or insecure data issues, we needed to suspend subscriptions while we worked with our payment processing partners to address the problems", and he also states that "subscription transactions [were] not being correctly processed." Reportedly, the multiple-billing issue has been resolved, however. Flagship Community Manager Ivan Sulic stated "Just wanted to let you that 3% of the subscriber base had billing problems. Every one of those people has since been contacted individually and all the problems should have been resolved". -The upcoming Final Fantasy XI expansion, Wings of the Goddess, will see a new class; the Scholar. Described thusly, "During the Crystal War, these military tacticians often served as high-ranking officers in allied forces across Vana'diel. Extensive knowledge of ancient martial theory granted them the ability to wield dual schools of magic, between which they would alternate depending on the situation at hand." The expansion is set to be released November 20. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 11/01/07 at 19:35 EST -Out of no where, Disney has launched Pirates of the Caribbean Online, which is a download PC game. The game is like the also just-launched Hellgate: London in that the game has free play, but if you choose to, you can subscribe to it. The first month is $5, and then it's $10 monthly after that. Activities in the game "include making your own lead pirate, ship, and crew and using them to interact with characters from the film such as the always popular Jack Sparrow." -This is kind of a weird piece of news. A game, and an RPG no less, is getting TV coverage; on a channel that people actually watch [Ed: Sometimes. :P ]! A Mass Effect TV special will be on the Sci-Fi Channel, starting November 20 at 11:00 pm [Ed: I assume that's Eastern time]. That's the same day the game is released, as well. The special will run several times through the 25. During which, viewers can enter a contest to win a limited edition of the game. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 10/30/07 at 12:10 EST -I apologize for not posting this sooner. I did not know this until now.... You have one day left to pre-order Hellgate: London and you can get some incentives. As reported previously, you can be one of the first to join The Alliance server. But you can also get an embroidered Alliance patch, and you can choose from 'one of three exclusive armor dye kits' to change your character's armor color. There is also the Collector's Edition, which includes a variant cover, a 'Making of' disc, game soundtrack, a poster map, a 106 page comic by Dark Horse Comics, the 'exclusive in-game pet', the mantawraith, and the patch mentioned above. This will run you out $50. The standard edition of the game, for $40, only includes the poster map and an Alliance patch as extras. The pre-orderends tomorrow, since....that's when the game is due to be released. Spooky-Nootchies! -An interesting bit about the previously mentioned Parasite Eve 3, which will only be available on phones, and only in Japan (so far. Phone games usually don't make it here). The game has the unusual title of 'Parasite Eve 3: The Third Birthday', and reportedly the game "will be a dungeon crawler game and will be released in installments to mobile phone subscribers". Also, "the point of doing this is to leave the player wanting more and wonder when the current installment will end and therefore 'make each time as if it were the last time'". We'll probably never see this game here in North America, nor is it likely to be released just outside of Japan anyway. Some new games-to-film news. -Despite what director Neill Blomkamp recently said, it is now being reported that the Halo movie is not 'entirely dead'. Ken Kamins, a representative for Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, who were to serve as producers for the movie, claims that "the real reason [for the delay in production] was a dispute over Universal and Fox attempting to reduce the profit participation for both the filmmakers and Microsoft". He explained thusly: "What happened was this: Universal, on behalf of both studios, asked for a meeting with the filmmakers just prior to the due date of a significant paymen...Basically, they said that in order to move forward with the film, the filmmakers had to significantly reduce their deals. They waited until the last minute to have this conversation. Peter and Fran, after speaking with their producing partners and with Microsoft and Bungie, respectfully declined." "The only budget the filmmakers every spoke about was $145 million less the 12.5% rebate that you get from shooting in New Zealand, which would put it at about $128 million...Everybody is supremely confident in Neall[sic]. Part of what excited Peter and Fran was Neill's vision. We're very confident this film will move forward with the creative partners intact, who will take the film to production." Stay tuned.... -A completely computer-generated Resident Evil movie is in development by Capcom and Sony Japan, to be released next year. Entitled Bio-Hazard: Degeneration [Ed: For those who are not aware, 'Bio-Hazard' is the name of the series in Japan. Capcom USA changed the title, for some reason, for reelase here...], it reportedly will sport "groundbreaking visual effects and a brand-new storyline." So it sounds like it's not based on any of the games' stories specifically [Ed: Just like the U.S. movie series...]. It is unknown if this will be a theatrical movie or direct to video, or if it will be released overseas. Stay tuned... -Spyro the Dragon will also soon be a CG movie. The only real information right now is that it is being made by the Animation Picture Company, and will be in stereoscopic 3-D, the same kind of technology that James Cameron is using for his next movie, Avatar. Steve and Daniel Altiere are screenwriting. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 10/25/07 at 12:14 EST -Anyone remember the Ys games? *crickets chirping* *cough* Well, anyway, Interchannel-Holon has announced their plans to redux Ys I and II, for the DS. Reportedly, the games will "see new character animations, such as Adol swinging a sword instead of bumping into enemies and encounter all-new enemies and maps. The top screen will display the game field, while the bottom screen sports player stats." There will also be a wireless multiplayer mode and a boss fight mode. The games will not be together, however, and will be sold by themselves. They are reportedly coming to Japan next Spring, with no word of an overseas release yet. Stay tuned... -The upcoming Mass Effect for the 360 will have a limited edition coming. The content includes: "a 36-page fiction book, a 36-page art book, and a bonus DVD packed with...four Mass Effect documentaries, five trailers, ten songs from the original soundtrack, 16 dashboard themes, 18 gamer pics, and designer galleries with over 600 concept images." There is also a pre-order bonus disc, which includes: "a short documentary introducing the game, three songs from the original soundtrack, four trailers, eight dashboard themes, and 12 gamer pics." As usual, the standard game will run for $60, and the limited edition for $70. The game is expected to hit stores November 20. -Here comes another popular anime-to-RPG: Sega has announced Bleach: The Third Phantom for the DS. Sega is reportedly calling this a 'Strategy RPG'. It's scheduled to hit Japan early next year. No word on an overseas release yet. Stay tuned.... -Squenix is bringing over an online RPG (for PC) to North America; Concerto Gate. The game is a the sequel to Cross Gate, which is popular in Asian countries, but never made it overseas. The game has a feature called "'terra generating'... that will show changes done to landscapes over large period of time. Forests may disappear through extensive tree cutting and small holes dug to search for treasure may eventually grow into larger ones." OnNet USA is publishing this game in North America, and Beta testing should begin early next year. Oh and it will be a free game, too. :P -JACK ATTACKS: Here's some more Jack Thompson news. Thompson has filed a lawsuit against Best Buy, in Miami, claiming that Best Buy sells M-rated games to minors. He says: "Best Buy, despite promises made to the American people and to me personally, has continued to sell Mature-rated video games to children under seventeen years of age. Best Buy has been doing this at its cash registers here in Miami, Florida, and it is presently doing so, this very moment, at www.bestbuy.com, as it sells Mature-rated games to anyone of any age with no real age verification whatsoever. This constitutes a Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practice, under Florida and other states’ laws, because your company/client has been telling the public it age IDs buyers of such games who appear to be 21 or under while in fact it does not uniformly do so…" As GamePolitics reminds readers, "Best Buy’s online sales practices are similar to those of other video game retailers. The assumption is that most under-17’s do not possess a credit card." Also, "Best Buy’s website is probably the strongest in terms of content awareness among any of the major video game retailers. ESRB ratings are prominently displayed as are content summaries from watchdog group Common Sense Media." Speaking of the ESRB, Thompson has called them as a defendant in his case. Thompson said in part (Yes, using the third-person again): "The ESRB has been sued by Thompson because it is well known that it a) is owned and operated by the video game industry, b) does not even play the games it rates to conclusion, c) routinely mislabels games as to age appropriateness, per testimony before the U.S. Congress, and is engaged in representations to American parents that the age label are accurate and are keeping “Mature” games out of the hands of kids…" Also, for no apparent reason, Thomspon is also trying to attack Dr. David Walsh, President of the National Institute on Media and the Family. Walsh "publicly distanced himself' from Thompson, so relations between them are not good, as you'd imagine. But Thompson claims: "[The lawsuit] details the relationship between Best Buy and the alleged 'video game industry watchdog' organization called the National Institute for Media and the Family headed by David Walsh. Both are located in Minneapolis." We'll see where this goes, which will probably be no where. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 10/18/07 at 20:35 EST -BREAKING NEWS: A PS3 PRICE DROP IS COMING SOON!!! And it should be at least close to what you were probably expecting. Here's the story. The new 80gb PS3 has gone down to $500, effectively kicking out the 60gb unit. It seems that, like the 20gb unit, this one will be scrapped altogether. The lowest-end unit will be a new 40gb unit, and that will sell for $400. It will be for sale in North America starting November 2. However, the 40gb unit will not be backwards compatible, and also loses its wireless capability, card reader slots, and high-definition output. It isn't the kind of trade-off, or price drop, a lot of gamers were hoping for, but it's what Sony is doing, for now. -id Software's Orcs and Elves, previously only on phones, was announced as coming to the DS this year. Now it sounds like their first phone game, the Doom RPG, also may be coming to the DS. Ann Kang, of Fountainhead (who is releasing Orcs and Elves on the DS), had the following to say: "Well, we've been talking about that. We would like to bring it to the DS...[T]here's a real significant change that we'd like to make, and the interesting thing is that the DS is a much younger audience gaming platform. And Doom being Doom, we're not sure whether a mature rated game would do well on the DS." Stay tuned.... ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 10/08/07 at 20:12 EST -Reportedly, another upcoming game-to-film is an RPG; EverQuest. Although, according to the article, "Rumblings of an EverQuest movie first surfaced in 2000", there seems to be more progress being made now. Avi Arad, former head of Marvel Studios, is working as producer, with Michael Gordon writing. The movie's story is being kept a secret for now, and is tentatively set for a 2009 or 2010 release. Stay tuned.... -Meanwhile, another recent game-to-film in development is reportedly 'entirely dead' now; that would be Halo. Director Neill Blomkamp reportedly has stated "The film is entirely dead...Whatever happens with that movie, assuming that movie gets made, will be a totally different configuration. It's not so much me as the entire vessel sank." The movie was working as a joint effort between Universal and Fox, but reportedly the deal simply fell apart because of too many disagreements between the two parties. Blomkamp shared some thoughts regarding what he intended to do with the movie: "I wanted it to feel like the most brutal, real version of science fiction in a war environment that you've seen in a while...And Universal was on board with that. I don't really remember what Fox thought about it, but Universal seemed down with it. It would have been cool, it would have been a unique take on things, science fiction in a dirty, organic way." Whether or not the movie will be retsarted again remains to be seen. -Speaking of Halo, it is official that Bungie has departed from Microsoft. Part of the severing describes that "while the developer's future games will for now be published Microsoft and released exclusively on Xbox 360, they now have a creative independence that wasn't there before". Brian Jarrard from Bungie talked briefly with 1Up, regarding some details about the situation, however, he says that some details cannot be discussed, in regards to their new business arrangement. He also informs that Halo 3 is not the last Halo game they are working on; there is the upcoming Halo Wars strategy game. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 10/07/07 at 20:39 EST Oy vey! Apologies for the lack of news in so long!!! Things...have been in the way lately.... However, not a lot of RPG-related news has been out there lately. -It has been revealed that heroLucas from Mother 3 is in Super Smash Brothers Brawl! Ness, from Mother 2/Earthbound, was in the last two Smash Brothers games, and it seems Lucas may be taking his place. However, it is not known if other Mother/Earthbound characters will appear in this game as well. Stay tuned... -Booty, ahoy! Japan is getting a special Star Ocean PSP, which will come with Star Ocean: First Departure, the redux of the original SNES game that never made it to North America. It will be released on December 27. No word on an overseas release, of course....But you could always import it. -Atlus has announced two upcoming games. Etrian Odyssey 2 for the DS. New uddates will include character creation, new icons to the map creator, and quick save function [Ed: Which is ALWAYS great in a game, especially an RPG. :D ]. There will also reportedly be some graphical and artisitic improvements from the original. New classes include Doctor Magus, an offensive mage with healing magic as well, the Gunner with elemental bullet attacks, and a Pet. The game is reportedly 70%, and also has not been announced for a North American release yet. Stay tuned... Also coming is Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone for the PSP. The game is reportedly an 'update' of the original GBA game, Yggdra Union. Also no word on a North American release. Stay tuned... -Mistwalker has announced two upcoming games as well. First, Away: The Kidnapped People is coming to Japan on January 28, and features music by Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu, design work by Naoto Oshima, creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, Blinx and Nights. So what's the game about? Don't know! :O Also no word on a North American release.... The second project is Blue Dragon DS, although it's unknown how this fits with the original 360 game. It's set for a Japanese release of next March, but yet again, no word of a North American release. - The Writer's guild of Americawill be getting into games, and present their first Video Game Writing Award on February 9. Who's nominated, even? That's unknown at this time, but stay tuned... -It seems that another upcoming game-to-film is Gears of War. GamePro recently spoke with Stuart Beattie, the writer of the movie (and also writing the also-in-development-Spy Hunter movie). Here are some things he had to say: "The perception of videogames in Hollywood is changing slowly...Hollywood likes to do what's proven. They've already proved that books work, and plays can work, and recently that comic books can work. But they've yet to have a film be as successful as say Spider-Man, that's based on a videogame. We had the same thing with Pirates of the Caribbean. They didn't want to base a film from a theme park ride. But now that it's done and it's been successful they're looking for what other theme park rides could possibly work as films." "While there are more and more videogame movies being made because there are more and more videogames being made, there still hasn't been that one that has hit it out of the park yet...At the moment, I would say the perception of videogame movies in Hollywood is: they are interested, they're intrigued, but they're still not completely sure if it can actually work." As far as the Gears of War movie itself goes, he stated: "There's no way to build that world any other way [than green screen], really...That's a huge world. It's a planet and it's a bubble and it's a building. It's an epic sci-fi war and an enormous film. To get it made at all, the only way to make it for a price is to be on a soundstage. But the game also has that look, which is really interesting, so I think it will dovetail really nicely." No word on a release window fo the movie. Stay tuned... -JACK THOMSPON NEWS: So, first, Thompson replies to Judge Adalberto Jordan's disapproval of Thompson filing gay porno in with his documents and presenting them to the court. After the Judge ordered Thompson "to explain why he shouldn’t be subjected to discipline in the matter, which could include a contempt of court finding", Thompson reportedly 'peppered' the court with responses, and the Judge became even more fed up than he expressed previously. He stated in part: "Mr. Thompson is hereby advised that the number of documents he has filed in this lawsuit is unreasonable and will not be tolerated… in the last week alone, Mr. Thompson filed 13 different documents in response to a single show cause order....Despite what Mr. Thompson may think, this case is not a war with the world regarding the state of its moral standards (if it is, I clearly do not have jurisdiction). Therefore, he cannot continue to use this case as platform to battle everything in society with which he disagrees." Thompson then filed a 14-page motion in an attempt to remove the Judge from this case. One of the things Thompson did was accuse the Judge of lying, saying in part: "Thompson, upon receipt of [Judge Jordan’s order], is embarrassed not by his conduct but that a federal judge could actually concoct such a fib...[Thompson] did not assume this court would make up facts and misrepresent the law." Yes, Thompson is again referring to himself in the third person. [Article] And now, Thompson wants the Judge to be a defendant. He said in part: "There is no question that this court, like any federal judge, enjoys immunity for the performance of its purely judicial duties… But what the court has foolishly, recklessly, tortiously, and illegally done in filing what amounts to an ethics complaint against Thompson, and fraudulently so, is expose itself to personal liability… "Therefore, since this court has now insinuated itself into an expanded use of 'discipline' to try to silence and punish Thompson for clearly First Amendment speech… Thompson informs this court of his intent to include Adalberto Jordan as a named defendant herein…" Yep. Thompson using the third person again, as he always does. The last update to this story indicates that "Judge Jordan has now issued a stay on his order that Thompson go straight to the ad hoc disciplinary committee. The judge wrote that he will decide following next Tuesday’s show cause hearing." Thompson has dropped out of another case that we previously reported, however. This is the case, presided by Judge Paul Huck, in which Thompson accused gaming site Kotaku and parent company Gawker Media of a conspiracy against him. He voluntarily withdrew from the case, however, presenting the simple statement "The Huck case is superfluous, as the other case is the one that has the relief I want and need." 'The other case' must be the Jordan case. We should hear more about that this week. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 09/20/07 at 10:37 EST -Squenix has announced 3 new Kingdom Hearts titles in development, and none of them are for consoles; they are all for portables. Also, as Squenix has already said, none of them are 'Kingdom Hearts 3', and they seem to jump around in the timeline. The games also have....some unusual titles. First there is Kingdom Hearts Coded, for phones (so it will probably never be released in North America), Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the DS, and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep for the PSP. The very unusual title, 358/2 Days, 'will apparently make sense once you play the game', and 'will take place somewhere around the events of Kingdom Hearts 2'. Birth by Sleep reportedly takes place 'in the distant past', and "Coded appears to be set somewhere during the course of the first KH and its sequel, indicated in the trailer with a line of text reading 'time has gone by'". There's very little information about these games right now. Stay tuned.... -Sony's Home service for the PS3 has been delayed until next Spring. The reason given by Sony is "because Home is a worldwide service, and Sony would like to appeal to as broad of an audience as possible, by offering a wide variety of services. This will be accomplished by responding to the feedback and testing that has been happening recently with the software." -Jack Thompson probably WILL end up going back into court, but apparently because he won't leave Take Two alone, as the settlement commands. This time, Thompson has declared that there is a segment in Grand Theft Auto IV about HIM, stating in a letter to Take Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick, "[...]the first killing mission of the 'hero' of the game, Niko, is to kill a certain lawyer. When Niko comes into this lawyer’s office, having used subterfuge to do so, Niko pulls a gun on the lawyer who says, 'that the firm supports the second amendment and that ‘Guns don’t kill people. Video games do.’” He...continues to say "The fact that the lawyer, killed on Niko’s first mission, would bring up video games, makes it clearly a reference to me…" *cough* He ends with the following demands and declarations: "You have until five o’clock P.M. this Friday… to inform me that you are going to delete the above references and any other references that could reasonably be construed to be references to me in Grand Theft Auto IV and any other video games that are pending release… Now you have descended this low - using one of your games to threaten my physical safety… Failure to comply with the deadline… will result in my having to take necessary and proper means to stop release of the game which targets me personally… given the copycatting of violent games…" Stay tuned, and we'll see what happens here.... ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 09/10/07 at 19:45 EST -South Park's 10th season premiere episode from last year, 'Make Love, Not WarCraft', won an Emmy for 'Outstanding Animated Program'. The episode looks at World of WarCraft, in which the 4 boys play the game and are repeatedly killed by another player; even when they have not agreed to player-vs.player combat. This player(whose character name is never given) begins to systematically kill everyone in the game, and as one Blizzard execuitve said, it marked 'the end of the World....of WarCraft.' The 4 boys decide to take this player down once and for all, and level up excessively by literally killing....millions of boars, since they were afraid to go anywhere else to level. Blizzard themselves also have a special item (which doesn't really exist in real life) to give the boys to help in their quest.... The 10th season was recently released on video, and also comes with a trial disc for World of WarCraft. -Squenix President Yoichi Wada recently stated that Sony needs to more properly identify what exactly the PS3 is, 'or suffer some negative consequences' [Ed: Actually, Sony has given an idea of what they think the PS3 is. They said, as previously reported, that 'it's a computer']. Now Wada was obviously not making threats to Sony. He went on to say "Sony first unveiled the PS3 as a mighty home electronics product. Then, after some badgering from game companies, it shifted the position of the console closer to a game machine...[The future of the PS3] would be tough if its marketing strategy is not straightened up." -Director Roger Avary (Beowulf, writer of Silent Hill, director of the upcoming Driver movie) recently talked about the Return to Castle Wolfenstein movie, in pre-development. He simply describes the movie as "a WWII 'guys on a mission' movie, which means you're going to be blowing s*** up, storming bunkers, busting dams, derailing trains, and killing Nazi's". However, he also wants to "strike a balance between the over-the-top elements of the Wolfenstein franchise with a certain quotient of reality." A statement that may make a number of fans cringe or otherwise have severe doubts about this film was when Avary said the following: "When performing an adaptation one needs to be willing to disassemble and recreate from scratch, as Kubrick famously did with The Shining...And whenever someone whines to me about breaking canon, be it with The Rules of Attraction, Silent Hill, or even [the forthcoming] Beowulf, I remind them that the original book, videogame, or poem will always exist in its original form for their enjoyment, but that a movie has special needs and compromises that occur due to a variety of real-world constrictions." Avary also enigmatically stated, in regards to who might star in the film, "All one needs to do is look at the box art on the Return to Castle Wolfenstein game and you can see who I see in my mind for the role." You can see the cover on the link. [Ed: I..personally think that statement is far too ambiguous. I can't see with certainty who he's thinking of; it could potentially be a number of actors. It really says nothing.] The movie may start actual production next year, and thus, the earliest the movie would probably be released is 2009. -The Zapper returns for new generations. The Wii Zapper will ship out November 19, close to the 1 year anniversary of the Wii's release, for $20. The accessory will also come with a game! It will have Link's Crossbow Training. Described thusly, "Link's Crossbow Training drops players into a world in the style of The Legend of Zelda®: Twilight Princess. Players assume the identity of hero Link, who progresses through a series of tests to perfect his crossbow marksmanship. Start with stationary bull's-eyes and graduate to moving targets before defending Link against all kinds of enemies." Other upcoming games that will support the Zapper include Medal of Honor Heroes 2, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, and Ghost Squad. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 09/09/07 at 17:08 EST There is an important message for all Mother/Earthbound fans out there, demanding Mother 3 (if not also the re-release of the other games). Chris Kohler from Wired magazine has written something insightful and crucial on his blog entry entitled 'To Earthbound's Long-Suffering, Dedicated Fans'. He says in part: "The message has gotten out there. Nintendo of America has heard you. Hell, Miyamoto has heard you. That's no longer the problem. They just need to find a scenario in which releasing the game actually makes sense financially. The book [Starmen.net's Earthbound Anthology] itself poses two possible solutions: the rumored compilation for DS, and digital distribution....It's still totally possible, but only because of the continued efforts of these fans -- without their constant drumbeat, this would have passed without notice." So it sounds like--- NINTENDO OF AMERICA IS LISTENING TO FAN DEMAND, AND CONSIDERING BRINGING MOTHER 3 TO NORTH AMERICA. So what can YOU do? Well, Kohler also says 'Nintendo's saying that people need to buy Earthbound on the Virtual Console when that comes out.' So...that makes it sound definite that it is coming on the VC, as starmen.net was foretelling. You can still write letters to NoA and call them, and let them know your support [see starmen.net for details on their EB Siege project). But what sounds really crucial is getting Earthbound (Mother 2) when (apparently) it is available on the VC. So if you have a Wii, GET THE GAME. Stay tuned for more on this story.... ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 09/06/07 at 11:14 EST -Squenix has released some of the first details for Star Ocean 4. However, one of the most significant details, the game's platform, has still not been revealed for some reason. What has been revealed is that, as in previous games, players will get to pilot a ship through space, but there will be 'more than just a few planets' to explore in this game. The hero's name has been revealed to be Edge Maverick [Ed: ... ] and the main heroine is named Reimi. The player's party will consist of 5 characters and the battle system is reportedly 'not [...]the same' as that of the previous game. There will also be the return of Private Actions. Stay tuned... -Eidos has revealed a strange-sounding new RPG for the Wii, Monster Lab. Very enigmatically, the game has been described 'as a mix of Pokemon and Rayman Raving Rabbids with a visual style reminiscent of that of Tim Burton.' The game calls for the player to create monsters 'from a selection of over 300 items and 150 body parts.' The battle system has been described as 'unique in the sense that each body part of the monsters can attack individually and can consequently target specific body parts of their foes.' The game is expected next summer. stay tuned.... -Jack Thompson just can't stay out of trouble, or the news. His life goal seems to be to destroy Take Two Interactive. Even though Thompson has been forbidden by law to harass the company, due to their recent legal settlement, he is basically violating that agreement. In part of an e-mail to Take Two, he stated "Congratulations on receiving a 'Mature' rating for Manhunt 2. You’ll live to regret it (trust me), so enjoy it while you can." That's a threat right there, and Take Two could likely take legal action against him. In that particular letter, he went on to say "I want to bring to your attention the fact that at www.rockstargames.com anyone of any age can order Manhunt 2 and receive it, with no age verification whatsoever. Asking a 14-year-old if he’s 17 is not age verification, now is it? You also know that the use of a bank card as an age verifier is a violation of all bank card agreements, right? Govern yourselves accordingly, if you can." He exchanged e-mails with Gena Feist, Take Two's Vice President and Associate General Counsel. She replied to him "We demand that you cease making these false statements about our online sales practices. Your dissemination of knowingly false statements for the purpose of adversely affecting Take-Two’s business is actionable and we reserve all of our rights under the settlement agreement and state and federal law. Not only are your statements clearly false, but they were made in an email publicly disseminated to both the FTC and the press. Please be assured that I am happy to answer any questions you have concerning our practices in a private communications. It is for this very reason that our settlement agreement designates a legal contact for you at Take Two. If you continue to make false statements to an audience of press and public officials, however, we will have no choice but to take action against you." She finally told him "We entered into the settlement agreement because we did not want to engage in unnecessary litigation with you, but I assure you that we will enforce the terms of the agreement if necessary and that any suit will include a claim for our legal fees under paragraph 11." We'll see what will happen. Take Two could probably rightfully take more legal action against Thompson to get him to stop. Again. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 08/30/07 at 11:02 EST Sorry about the lack of news posts...There really hasn't BEEN any real RPG-releated news lately. It's been VERY slow out there.... But here are a few bits and bites: -Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker will have a pre-order bonus of a"combination DS charm, keychain, and map. Moreover, the map doubles as a screen wipe for the DS if necessary." The pre-orders are available from GameStop, Game Crazy and Amazon, and will be released November 6. -Dragon Quest IX has been delayed in Japan, and will not be released this year as originally planned. Reportedly, "Square Enix claims they need more development time to make sure the quality of Dragon Quest IX is up to par". What this means to us in North America is that the game should have a delayed release here as well. Although no release window was ever given, and there still is not one yet, one can expect a subsequent overseas release. If the game is released in Japan next year, then depending on when exactly next year, it may or may not make it out here next year. We may indeed get Dragon Quest IX in 2009. Stay tuned... -Luminous Arc 2: Will has been announced for the DS. The first game was just released out here. There really isn't any real information about this game yet, and no North American release has been announced, but stay tuned.... -This is a very weird game-to-film story. If you thought that two King of Kong movies about the same story was weird, get this. Reportedly, a film is being made on the old (OLD) arcade-to-NES game Joust. I am not making this up. The production company is CP Productions, and claims this movie will be "the first of a number of classic videogame-based projects to become films" by their company. The movie's producer, Michael Cerenzie, enigmatically calls the movie 'Gladiator meets Mad Max'. *cough* Also reportedly, "CP Productions hopes to revitalize the franchise[Ed: It WAS a 'franchise'???] with the launch of a new Joust graphic novel written by Steven-Elliot Altman. Unsurprisingly, Midway is also looking at getting a new Joust game out of the door to coincide with the film as well." Cerenzie also gave a very strange comment: "You need these kids to come in on Friday with a film's opening today because they're texting their friends right after the movie and you no longer have until Sunday." Uh...okay. He also stated "We'll work to keep the creative team intact throughout the process. We won't have eight writers and six executives trying to put their thumbprint on the film. The vision of the filmmakers will be kept pure." The movie is due out next June. -Joystiq's DS Fanboy has interviewed Reid Young, of Starmen.net, the Mother/Earthbound fan site who has made a lot of news lately, especially with their EB Siege Campaign. Here are his thoughts regarding Mother 3 being released in North America: "Honestly, I think our chances of getting Mother 3 stateside are pretty slim unless EarthBound sells incredibly well on the [Virtual Console]. We've had our ears to the ground for a year, and from what we've been told, Mother 3 was never even seriously considered. Instead, Nintendo has spent time, resources, and money on games like ... Magical Vacation. Lame! Nintendo always plays their cards very close to their chest, though, so we could be wrong, and of course we hope we are. To answer your question, though: 1)The Virtual Console and/or Wii Ware. They make distributing games so much easier and less expensive -- no need to risk money on advertising, printing, carts, distribution, etc. Either platform would be a perfect venue for a game whose performance Nintendo is apprehensive about, like Mother 3. 2)The EB Siege. I really think it's driving home the point that the Mother series deserves another chance. 3)EarthBound on the VC. It's going to get a lot of downloads; if Nintendo considers translating Mother 3, it will be because of EarthBound's popularity on the VC." As far as when he personally thinks a VC Earthbound will be released, he says "We were expecting to see it after E3, but once the Metroid month started, we uncrossed our fingers. Now that Metroid is out of the way, the fingers are crossed again. I'll be surprised if we don't see it in the next few weeks." Earthbound has not been announced for a release on the VC yet, but he and starmen.net expect it to be 'soon', as he said. And as he said, he thinks that Nintendo of Americas will apparently only consider bringing Mother 3 here if Earthbound does well on the VC. So spread the word. Part 1 Part 2 ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 08/14/07 at 10:35 EST -XSeed has announced that the upcoming Wild ARMS 5 (The Vth Vanguard in Japan) will have a special edition when it is released here on August 28. It will come with an 80-page book, The Art of Wild ARMS, that features art from all games spanning across its 10 year history. Only the first-run of the game will feature this, with the others not including the book. If you want one, you may want to pre-order it. -Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has been delayed from this October, to March 25 of next year. Developer Funcom reports they 'needed more time to polish the title', and company CEO Trond Arne Aas, stated "We naturally regret that we have to push back Age of Conan. However, after careful consideration, and analysis of recent Beta feedback, we believe that the new release date is in the best interest of the gamers, our company and our owners". -Microsoft has announced they will give game producers the option of requiring hard-drive space for play server-based games to be played. They reportedly will ask the companies for 'a set amount of hard drive space to set aside for each game'. Ian Lewis, a software engineer at MS, stated "We can't guess how much space you're going to need for your updates, and, if anything's going to keep you from expanding indefinitely, it won't be us, as much as market forces...Feel free to require 30GB for your game; that's just going to make your potential audience a lot smaller." Although companies will be allowed to expand on their set size, they still need to have their games run on an initial, set size. They also clarified 'the inherent conundrum' regardining subscription-based games: 'Xbox Live requires users to purchase Gold service to participate in online multiplayer, then requires another layer of subscription for the game itself. For server-based games ("MMOs"), however, Silver users are only required to fork over the game's subscription.' ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 08/09/07 at 13:06 EST The 360 has indeed undergone price drops in all of its models. But....not by a lot. It breaks down like this: "Xbox 360 Elite: $449.99 ($30 drop) Xbox 360 Premium: $349.99 ($50 drop) Xbox 360 Core: $279.99 ($20 drop)" ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 08/05/07 at 17:56 EST News from BlizzCon 2007: -Blizzard makes a brief, not-too-specific update about the upcoming WarCraft movie. It is tentatively scheduled, as of now, for 2009. No director has been named yet. As for the story, "Originally Blizzard wanted it to be set in the universe of the first RTS Warcraft game with a basic Orcs versus Humans storyline. That was scrapped because of notions that it may be too similar to Lord of the Rings, and that Blizzard felt the Warcraft name has reached its current level of popularity with its MMO, World of Warcraft, as opposed to the RTS games from before, which include three Warcraft titles and various expansion packs. As it stands, the story will incorporate a series of major events from about one year before World of Warcraft, and will be principally told from the perspective of the Alliance." As far as characters go, "Character likely to make an appearance include Bolvar Fordragon, Thrall, and Cairne Bloodhoof. Arthas, a famous character from Warcraft 3, will more than likely not be in the film." Stay tuned... -Blizzard also did mention that no World of StarCraft game is in development, although Blizzard has discussed such ideas. -Not a great deal of the newly-announced expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, was available at BlizzCon; the death knight class, for example, was not available. But a glimpse of what is to come was shown. -Blizzard also discussed some planned improvements for player-VS.-player adventures in World of WarCraft. There was apparently no mention of Blizzard's other project they announced they are working on....And of course, nothing on Ghost; because that's what it is now. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 08/04/07 at 11:02 EST As fans were hoping for, the next World of WarCraft expansion has been announced at BlizzCon: Wrath of the Lich King. Described thusly, "This second expansion will focus on the return of Arthas Menethil, a.k.a. the Lich King, ruler of the Scourge, and one of the most powerful beings in all of Azeroth. This semi-sequel to the saga of Arthas (from WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne) is intended for experienced players with a couple level 70 characters in their pockets." New features/upgrades include: "Level Cap: 80 Skill Cap: 450 Continent: Northrend Number of Zones: 10 (tentatively), for levels 68 and above Profession: Inscription Class: Death Knight (first-ever Hero Class) Features: Outdoor PVP zone with siege weapons and destructible buildings." Yes, there is a new character class, the Death Knight, and it is also a Hero Class. There is also a new profession, Inscription, and described thusly, it "will let players customize individual spells and abilities in their spell book -- to change the cooldown timer on a Fireball, for example, or alter the crit rate of a healing spell." More information will be coming in the September issue of Games For Windows magazine. As you would expect, there is no release window for this expansion. However, Blizzard has said their intention is to have one expansion a year. We saw The Burning Crusade this year, so at the earliest, this one may be released next year. Stay tuned.... ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 07/31/07 at 12:32 EST -Yoichi Wada, President of Squenix, said earlier this year that some Dragon Quest reduxs would be coming before the release of Dragon Quest IX. He wasn't kidding. It has been revealed that indeed 3-D reduxs of Dragon Quest IV-VI are coming to the DS. A magazine ad from an upcoming Shonen Jump has revealed the project. There's no word on a Japanese release, or if the games are being released here, but it should be safe to assume they will be here. Stay tuned... -The fans chose Darth Revan, from Knights of the Old Republic, to be made into a figure from Hasbro. Hasbro is also releasing Darth Malak, from KotOR, with Revan. At the San Diego Comic-Con last week, Hasbro revealed they are also making Darth Nihilus, from Knights of the Old Republic II! However, unlike Revan and Malak, Nihilus will be released in a trio figure set, as part of Hasbro's Evolutions line. Nihilus is part of the Evolution of the Sith set. It isn't clear from the slide when the set is being released, but probably late this year or early next year. -A documentary about the controversial Super Columbine Massacre RPG is being made, and a trailer is online now. No release date for the movie has been given, and it probably won't get a very wide theatrical release. Perhaps a video will be released, however. -Lionhead Studios is 10 years old, and they are helping to celebrate with some video diaries; the second of which features game footage from Fable 2. -Parallel Processing Corporation has filed a lawsuit against Sony, over the PS3's Cell processor. The company claims that Cell is a copyright infringement on one of their 1991 patents, for "synchronized parallel processing with shared memory". They apparently want a lot of monetary compensation and the "immediate impounding and destruction of all Sony products that utilize Cell technology, or simply, PlayStation 3" [cited from the article, not the lawsuit]. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 07/26/07 at 19:51 EST Atlus has announced that Persona 3 has a new release date of August 14. It was supposed to be released this week, but was delayed due to an issue with the art book that's being enclosed with it. They explained thusly: "The manufacturing issue with the art book was brought to our attention mere days prior to the initial ship date, and was a scenario both unforeseen and beyond our control. Our disappointment and frustration is tempered by the knowledge that the final product will live up to our standard of quality and also the expectations of our fans...While many are willing to sacrifice the art book in favor of the game alone, the package we have spent the last few months designing, one intended to honor the series and reward fans for an eight year wait, would be irreparably compromised if we were to revise or abandon the deluxe package. Without the art book, the outer box would lack the structural integrity to endure shipping; all extras would need to be discarded. Again, this deluxe set was created for the fans of Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, and we are determined to see the special release through to the end." ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 07/23/07 at 20:17 EST -DC is set to publish World of Warcraft comics sometime this Fall. There will be a special sneak preview comic at the San Diego Comic Con, on the 26-29. The series will be written by Walter Simonson and with art by Ludo Lullabi. The first 6 comics will have covers by funnybook artist Jim Lee and Blizzard Senior Art Director Samwise Didier. Stay tuned... -Persona 3 will unfortunately not be out this week. Atlus says that the art book has 'an issue' that has prevented it from being ready on time. The game is otherwise ready to ship, but Atlus does not want to ship it with the book incomplete. A company representative said thusly "Presented with the choice of compromising on the quality of the art book, or shipping the game without said extra, we decided to have the art book redone with a higher quality binding, which will cause a very short delay in the ship date of the title". Stay tuned... -In this sad story, Raven Software artist Glen Angus reportedly died last week. He worked on X-Men Legends II and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. But there is another part of this story that makes it sadder, but also perhaps hopeful. Angus's 2-year-old son Teddy has been diagnosed with severe autism, and needs expensive therapy. Before he died, he posted the following message on his site: "I sincerely hope you like this image[he created an art piece in hopes of helping raise aid] and find it stirring enough to help me out. I know a lot of you, and have tried to help inspire many of you in the past. I do not intend to presume you owe me anything for that -- I simply implore that you take a couple minutes out of your day, vote on this piece to get it more views, tell your friends to visit and follow the link that I have provided below to politely voice your opinion in asking the government to lower the time it takes to get children like my son help. Also to show your support for an upcoming mandate that will push insurance companies to cover children with autism's therapy, for which they currently do nothing. It doesn't have to be much -- a sentence or two and a copy to this link. You do not have to be from Wisconsin or even this country to show your support. Please consider. Here is the link." You can also send donations to Angus's family here: Glen Angus Memorial Fund c/o Park Bank P.O. Box 8969 Madison, WI 53791 ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 07/22/07 at 19:32 EST -It's not uncommon for games to have special limited editions. Typically they come with special incentive items. Well, Atlus is taking the idea of the limited edition to a whole different level than what you usually see in games. Growlanser: Heritage of War (AKA Growlanser V: Generations) will be a limited edition game. Described thusly, it will include "a 100 page, full-color artbook featuring character artist Satoshi Urushihara, a multimedia disc featuring music and artwork from the game, a keychain, two lenticular cards, and three commemorative pins." Mason Hyodo, the Project Leader, had this to say: "We are pleased to be able to offer Growlanser fans this special release...This is a series long known for its exceptional fan service, and we have endeavored to create a package that Growlanser followers will be proud to own and display. As a result of the quantity of the extras that will be included with every copy of the game, we have decided to limit the title’s release to a single print run. Growlanser: Heritage of War will be a true Limited Edition game." No release date has been set for the North American release yet. Stay tuned... -Namdai has revealed several Tales of... games in development for various platforms. *Tales of Innocence, coming next year, will be for the DS. *Tales of Destiny: the Director's Cut is coming for the PS2. It is unknown what new additions/changes will be made to this game.... *Tales of Rebirth is being ported to the PSP (it was originally on the PS2, and not released in North America). *Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk will be for the Wii, and is a sequel to Tales of Symphonia (which was a 'Cubesclusive in North America). Namdai has also announced that the DS will be the leading platform for all-new Tales of... games. Are they perhaps taking a hint from Squenix? Stay tuned for more news on these games. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 07/17/07 at 13:36 EST - The MegaMan Star Force anime will air on Cartoon Network in August, and debut on their Toonami Jetstream web site on July 23. -Disgaea 3 has been announced to be in development from Nippon-Ichi Software, and coming to the PS3. The game is set to be released in Japan sometime this Winter. It's a natural assumption it will be released in North America sometime after that. Stay tuned.... ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 07/15/07 at 10:27 EST Here's the RPG or console-related news from E3 you need to know: -IGN features a hands-on look at Fable 2. They discuss the combat system (all you need is 'X') and an interesting new feature; in this game, you are immortal. Truly, you do not die in this game. Described thusly, "You have a choice to lose experience, gold, or reknown in order to get up. If you wait long enough, you'll get up on your own, but the longer you stay on the ground, the more permanent scars you attain. These scars will affect how people react to you in the game -- and shows your friends that you get your ass kicked a lot. " There is no release yet for Fable 2, so stay tuned.... -This is bad news for game players.Sony reports that the recently-announced PS3 (slight) price drop is only temporary. Here is the statement: "We are offering the full-function 60GB PS3 for $100 less than the original price and we have ample supply to meet consumer needs for months. We think this is great news for the PlayStation fans. Throughout the remainder of the year, we will constantly be evaluating market conditions and will develop strategies to further meet the needs of consumers in this market." Additionally: "The 60GB PS3 will be available in North America for $499 until supplies of that unit are depleted. We have ample inventory to meet the immediate needs of consumers in this territory for several months to come. We won't be making any further announcements regarding our PS3 model hardware strategy in North America until the 60GB model is exhausted and market conditions are evaluated." So it sounds like....Sony does not plan to make any more of the 60GB unit; when those are gone, people who do not yet have a PS3 will have NO choice but to pay $600 for the 80 GB unit. This does not sound like good news. If you don't have a PS3 yet, but want one, you may want to think about saving for one, and buy the cheapest one you can..... -So is Microsoft going to drop the price of the 360 anytime soon? Possibly, yes. They did not answer that question directly, as they said "July is a very odd time to announce a price reduction", and that "this holiday is very important for Xbox 360 to win, and the company needs to move toward a mass-market price". Stay tuned... -id Software's fantasy RPG, Orcs and Elves, originally on phones, is now coming to the DS,and reportedly will “feature higher graphical fidelity, more levels, items and monsters as players explore a massive Dwarven kingdom riddled with ancient treasures and fierce enemies." Additionally, Orcs and Elves II is coming to phones. Described thusly, it "continues the story where the first game left off. As evil begins to spread throughout the lands after the fall of the King, players must assume the role of a novice thief who has stolen the legendary wand Ellon, an item they must convince to be helpful in their bid to restore order. The title will feature new creatures, friends and foes, and span seven 'interactive environments including towns, collapsing caverns and haunted forests.'" Both games are scheduled sometime by Christmas time. -A new PSP is coming. Sort of. The new edition is only "slimmed...by 19% and made...33% lighter". There will be two new colors; 'piano black' and 'ice silver'. The new unit will also have a new feature that allows for UMDs and games to be played on a TV, and reportedly "the output for the new PSP is very high-quality", but...there were no screenshots to demonstrate this. The 'ice silver' unit will also come with a 1GB memory stick, the Daxter game, and a Family Guy UMD (they don't identify which one); available in September. There will also be a special Star Wars unit with Darth Vader printed on it, and will come with Battlefront: Renegade Squadron [the game is improperly identified in the article]; available in October. Both will register for $200. -RPGamer talked with Squenix regarding Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess, and features hands-on looks at Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Tabula Rasa, Eternal Sonata, and a 'guided tour' of Fallout 3. -Joystiq gives their impressions of the upcoming Playstation Home service for the PS3, and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 07/10/07 at 14:28 EST -It's official; the PS3 is undergoing a price-drop. The 60GB unit that is; down to $500. And, the 80GB unit, which appeared to be a South Korea-exclusive, is indeed coming to North America, and will take the price place of the 60GB unit. So the 80GB unit will be $600. The 80GB unit will also come with the game Motorstorm. This is expected to all take place next month. Sony's revelation completely contradicts their statement last week that they have 'no immediate plans' to deliver a price drop. Players also should be aware that the 80GB unit has limited backwards-compatibility. The box simply states: "This product has limited backwards compatibility with PlayStation and PlayStation 2 format software ... visit www.us.playstation.com for system software update." -Something is wrong with the 360. There are a lot of reports lately of units dying; this is signified by what has been referred to as 'the red light of death'. Microsoft has claimed only about 3-5% of their units have this problem, which is not a lot, really. Microsoft spokesman Peter Moore has said "I can’t comment on failure rates, because it’s just not something - it’s a moving target. What this consumer should worry about is the way that we’ve treated him. Y’know, things break, and if we’ve treated him well and fixed his problem, that’s something that we’re focused on right now." But now people are starting to wonder, as GamePolitics discusses. The cause of the problem may have been uncovered, by a United Kingdom service repair company, Micromart. One employee stated: "It is our belief that the only sensible way to repair it is to replace the motherboard with a new one without the inherent problems ...We believe the fault is an overheating problem due to dry joints. We tried introducing flux to change the context of the compound but our efforts weren’t successful. We made a request to Microsoft for support, information and availability of replacement motherboards but didn’t receive a reply. We decided it wasn’t in anybody’s best interests to continue the sham that this fault is easily repaired.” However, Microsoft has released a statement claiming: “There is not a single root cause of problems or systemic issue with any of the Xbox 360 consoles. The nature of the console itself is very complex, as it’s a consumer electronic product that contains more than 1,700 different components and 500 million transistors". But another possible explanation for the console failures has been proposed; surge protectors. According to one report and witness, "The Xbox 360 is highly sensitive to reductions in power, and even the slightest cut in power can cause things like the fans and even the DVD laser to malfunction. Surge protectors can cause this, and probably 90% of the consoles they see have all failed in 6-12 months of being plugged into a surge protector." Perhaps a more definite answer will surface in time. Stay tuned.... ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 07/03/07 at 11:51 EST -Two Jack Thompson stories. Thompson claims the Florida Bar Association recommended he have a psychological evaluation and a 91-day suspension of his law licence. The Florida Bar has not verified this claim at this time, but they are seeking a hearing with Thompson, due to several compliants about his professional conduct in various cases he has pursued. Thompson e-mailed the following to GamePolitics: "Mediation failed today because there was no mediation whatsoever… [Florida Bar official] Ms. Tuma not only did not move off her [suspension] demand one iota, not one smidgeon, but she instead upped her demand by requiring that Thompson undergo a battery of psychological tests as part of the fabulous deal The Bar offered him… Ms. Tuma [sic] last demand going into the mediation was a 91-day suspension, and she opened and ended with that and a shrink’s couch. This is bad faith… This 'mediation' was a charade… Finally, [Thompson] requests a status conference herein as soon as possible so that we can… shut this Star Chamber down. Thompson is not the one who needs a psych evaluation. " GamePolitics also points out that according to Thompson's book, Out of Harm's Way, he was "compelled him to undergo such an examination. Thompson reports that he passed and subsequently sued the Bar, settling for $20,000 in monetary damages." An update regarding the not-so-resolved conflict between Thompson and Take Two Interactive. Take Two has recently claimed that Thompson's actions to get Manhunt 2's release stopped violate the recent court settlement between the two parties. Thompson stated in a recent court filing: "Thompson has been sent a letter… by Take-Two’s record counsel herein, Blank Rome, threatening Thompson with all sorts of legal mayhem arising out of his alleged breach of the settlement agreement by virtue of Thompson’s… merely writing a letter to the Governor and the Attorney General of the State of Florida alerting them to an incredibly violent video game called Manhunt 2… "[Thompson] Agreed to stop filing suits properly invoking Florida’s public nuisance law… Thompson also agreed to stop contacting directly commercial entities with whom Take-Two does business to persuade them not to sell these adult games to children… Thompson DID NOT… agree not to contact government officials… no settlement agreement… that prohibits a citizen from contacting any government at any level about anything is enforceable because such a restriction on the First Amendment rights of citizens is contrary to public policy." Yes, he still refers to himself in the third-person. Take Two may have a problem on their hands then, as the agreement doesn't seem to accomplish what they really wanted, and seems to have loopholes Thompson obviously wants to exploit. As far as the recently-reported secret meeting Thompson had with Take Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick, Thompson said this: "Shortly after the settlement… Strauss Zelnick summoned Thompson to New York for a face-to-face meeting in a multimillion-dollar condo on Central Park West. The purpose of the meeting, as far as Zelnick was concerned, was to send a message to Thompson: 'Litigation is war, and we will do whatever we need to do to win.'" As GamePolitics reviews, the conditions Thompson did agree to were that he: "1.) will not sue or threaten to sue to block sale or distribution of any game published by Take Two or its subsidiaries (i.e., Rockstar). 2.) will not communicate to Take Two or anyone doing business with T2 (like, say Wal-Mart) any accusation that the company committed any wrongdoing by selling its games. 3.) will make any future contacts with T2 through its attorneys" -IGN talks with Daniel Palix, producer of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, for the 360. As for how this game will differ from the PC edition, he states "We kept the fundamental core gameplay of the original multiplayer, based on five classes and a campaign game mode. Apart from that, we totally reworked about all that could possibly be reworked or tweaked (skills, maps, effects…) in order to maximize the fun factor, teamplay, and accessibility. For instance regarding the fun factor, we decided to switch from a level-up system to a profile creation mechanic. We did this because we felt it was interesting to let players get all the skills they love from the beginning, rather than to have them level up for several rounds to gain them. So now you just pick up a class and a set of skills (not all of them, of course), and off you go to dive into battle. This fundamentally changes the way the game's multiplayer is played and leaves room for many other innovations that we're working on. " As for if there is a reason why you should get this one, if you played the PC game as well, he answers "The one-year development of the project offers a reworked game experience in many aspects. In the single player, the new classes let you live the game experience in new ways. Four extra maps extend the adventure by almost two hours. And a variety of cool new weapons were added. The multiplayer is also totally different experience with new game modes, new maps, new game mechanics. All in all, it's a reason in itself to rediscover the game. The visual aspect of the game is also up to the impressive capacity of the X360 console. " See the link for the entire interview. -A collector's edition of Two Worlds will be coming this summer at the game's launch. It includes: "A bonus disc that contains: - Artwork/Sketches - various concept art images, large variety of weapons and characters - Artwork/In Game - large variety of various in-game art images - Videos - In-game movies and a motion capture shoot overlayed with in game motions - Wallpapers - A variety of high-res wallpaper files of Two Worlds - Music - 6 Two Worlds songs in both .mp3 and .wav format - Webkit - Images and assorted content for budding fanboys to make fan sites on Two Worlds/Zuxxez/Reality Pump Collector Edition Map Two Worlds specialty edition hardbound 48 page book that will be based off of the game and include unique artwork." The PC edition contains one additional feature: " bonus cards with 16 digit number codes to unlock exclusive weapons such as: bow, spear, fire sword, and armor". -There is a list of new information regarding Fallout 3 at Joystiq. Among them: "The game takes place 30 years after the events Fallout 2. The events of the much-maligned Fallout: Brotherhood and Fallout: Tactics never happened in the universe of Fallout 3." "The game will feature 20 licensed songs from the '40s that will be played through radio stations accessible via your on-arm PIP-Boy and radios peppered throughout the game world. There will be no drivable vehicles in the game, but you can travel between locations through subway tunnels. There are children in the game, but the team isn't sure yet if they will be killable as they were in the previous Fallout games. The game will have no multiplayer mode and no demo is currently planned. The game will feature nine to 12 endings based on how you've played it." See the link for the complete list. -Sony claims their primary PS3 production problem is over. *cough* Well, as it was reported, Sony was having production issues with the PS3, which lead to uncertain launch dates, and delayed European release dates. The part involved was the actual blue laser for Blu-Ray players. A Sony representative stated "Production problems have now ceased, we're in full production as far as Playstation 3 is concerned and there's a steady chain of supply in North America, Japan and Europe." As the article mentions, it IS possible that this could lead to an eventual reduction in production costs, which then lead to a unit price drop. But we'll have to just wait and see for that one. -Uwe Boll continues to make bad movies based on games. He will now direct BloodRayne 3: Warhammer [You didn't even know there WAS a BloodRayne 2, did you? Yes, there is. It's due in November....]. He also calls the upcoming Postal "one of the best films of all time". You decide whether or not you think he's being serious, or if he's actually trying to just jab his critics....which are, pretty much everyone. And if you ever wondered what happened to the Dungeon Siege movie, that was supposed to come out this year (and in two parts...), according to the Imternet Movie Database, it's been pushed back until January 18. If...anyone cares. -The next Guild Wars expansion, Eye of the North, will be released August 31, for $40. Described thusly, "Set largely in the dungeons and caverns of the lands of Tyria that players first explored in Guild Wars: Prophecies, Eye of the North has 18 dungeons, 150 skills across all 10 Guild Wars professions, 10 new Heroes, 40 new armor sets, and even more items, weapons, and titles. The expansion will be playable to gamers who have the full version of any of the Guild Wars titles: Prophecies, Factions, or Nightfall." ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 06/21/07 at 14:37 EST -Many fans will probably say 'It's about damn time'. There is a Sonic the Hedgehog RPG coming to the DS. But guess who's making it? BioWare. No foolin'! The team behind Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur's Gate, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect are creating this RPG. Fans have long-demanded a...much, much better Sonic game than the ones Sonic Team and Sega have been putting forth.....And now with an RPG this time, and BioWare's great track record of making successful and pleasing games, hopefully fans will get everything they want. There is no other information at this time, not even a title, but the game is expected next year. Stay tuned... -Squenix's online store will soon be open to U.S. residents. There you can buy things such as toys and 'jewelry and collectibles'. The site is not done yet, and has no announced opening date, but stay tuned. ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 06/19/07 at 14:37 EST -ADV has announced they are bringing the XenoSaga anime to North America. The short series, which is derived from the first XenoSaga game (Episode One: Der Wille zur Macht), consists of 12 episodes and will be brought on 3 releases. The first volume is scheduled to ship on September 11. ADV describes the story thusly: ""Four thousand years have passed since humans abandoned the planet Earth. Humanity is now on the brink of destruction, hunted down by a vicious alien race known as the Gnosis. The last hope of mankind rests in the hands of scientist Shion Uzuki and her creation KOS-MOS, a battling android with unfathomable capabilities. Shion and her creation are taken in by the crew of the Woglinde, a battleship of the Galaxy Federation. Unbeknownst to the crew, the Woglinde houses the Zohar, a mysterious object that attracts the Gnosis. When the Woglinde is attacked by the Gnosis, KOS-MOS is activated and begins to pursue her own mysterious plans." ( Read This Entry )

Posted by Shirow Wolf on 06/14/07 at 10:52 EST -You may have noticed Squenix's lack of games for the PS3, 360, and Wii, either on the shelves or in development. Less than a handful of games have been announced to be in development for all 3 consoles. Squenix President Yoichi Wada enlightens us as to why that is. He calls the PS3 and 360 'over-engineered' and have become out of place in the gaming market today. It's no secret that Squenix does not favor the PS3, as they said last year they don't want to give it too much or too little support. The 360 is really not selling well at all in Japan, so one can imagine the lack of desire to support it. The handhelds are where it's at, he says, and notes the superb sales of handhelds (the DS is conquering Japan) and games. "There is a new breed of gamers in the market – we have to make games for all kinds of people...In the old days, we could just focus on the PlayStation or the GameBoy, but the environment has changed completely", he states. His faith in handhelds should particularly be noted in the fact that Squenix is putting Dragon Quest IX, the next entry in the most popular game or RPG series in Japan ever, on the DS. One should also note all of the PSP Final Fantasy games coming, and a few more DS entries. However, he says maybe in 'a year or two years' things will be different in regards to the new consoles, and then perhaps they will put forth more games for them. -GamePolitics has learned that Jack Thompson has met secretly with new Take Two Interactive Chairman Strauss Zelnick, for reasons that are not yet known. Thompson reportedly only told GP that the meeting did occur; Take Two meanwhile made no comment about the subject. This may strike readers and gamers as strange, considering Thompson's recently failed suits against Take Two; the first in which he attempted to stop the release of Bully, and the second in which he accused Take Two of being involved in a massive conspiracy with gaming sites to repress Thompson. The ruling basically declared that Thompson must leave Take Two alone, but now he is reportedly meeting with the new chairman. Stay tuned... -This will give some gamers and fans a great relief, in at least one way. Paul Anderson is not directing the Castlevania movie. However, apparently Anderson's script is still being used. Reportedly, this is what it involves: "[...]a Transylvanian knight leads his men into a gothic castle to seek refuge from the Turkish army. The knights soon discover the castle is controlled by the original vampire. The script sets up a generational clash between Vlad the Impaler and the Belmont family, a clan that unleashed the original vampire and battles to defeat him." The new director is Sylvain White, director of...Stomp the Yard. -Another update concerning the alleged scratching of discs by the 360. Last week, the European Comissioner for Consumers Meglena Kuneva demanded Microsoft address the issue of the 360 severely damaging discs, first suggested by a Dutch show called Kassa. Kuneva demanded the acknowledgment occur within the week, and if Microsoft did nothing, she stated shewould take legal action, if possible. MS has released a statement, explaining they "are working in an open dialogue with Commissioner Kuneva to clarify our position and all the efforts we are taking across the EU, and in fact globally, to address any consumer concerns." However, MS told another web site, the Market for Home Computing and Video Games, an additional statement, explaining “If used properly, Xbox 360 consoles do not damage discs... there is no single root cause or systemic issue with any of the Xbox 360 consoles.” However, MS has reportedly retracted that last statement, for reasons that are not clear. They did continue to say "As we have said previously, there is no widespread issue regarding scratched discs as is alleged by Kassa." Stay tuned.... ( Read This Entry