Column #7
By: KeldonWarlord
Hello once again X-Headz and Game Brainers, You are wired into the best damn column on the internet! Well E3 has come and gone and I have ALOT of news to cover so I'll be like the poo and throw myself into the fan and start splattering.
I'll start with a whole slew GBA launch news first. Nintendo had a very busy weekend because they shipped out 500,000 Game Boy Advance systems all across the good ole U.S.A. Along all those systems, there were a total of 17 games to choose from for the new wonder. Nintendo has also went on record stating that they plan to have another 500,000 shipped to stores before the month of June passes by. Currently Nintendo owns 90% of the handheld market share across the world with very little competion from other companies such as Bandai's Wonder Swan and G3 cell phone companies. Nintendo sold 1.6 million GBA systems in one month when the system launched in Japan. Plus I got have to mention that the Game Boy also owns a 23% overall market share in the video gaming industry.
As I stated in the opening, E3 has come and gone. There were mixed impressions on which system actually made the biggest splash on the media and its related companies. Well I thought that all the next generation systems had plenty to show off and display the greatest aspects of there systems. Beleve it or not, even the Dreamcast had a nice small showing of games such as Shenmue II, Sonic Adventure II, Crazy Taxi II(even though its been released), Heavy Metal, Out Triggers, Alien Front Online, and a few more. The N64 was supposed to have Sin & Punishment and Animal Planet for show but all we got was Tony Hawk 2...hum...I think its more than safe to say goodbye to the N64....
Microsoft had the biggest showing at E3 with tons of major annoucements such as there launch date and price ( Nov. 8 and $299 BTW). They had around 20 different games on the show floor for play and another 14 hidden away in private booths for internal business only. During Microsoft's key address, the games Oddworld, Mad Dash, and a very impressive Halo were in playable form for the masses. The X-Box broadband technology was touched upon some as well. They stated that the servers for online X-Box gaming will be up and running by March of 2002. A rep from Microsoft also said that there will be between 15-20 games ready for launch day. Back on the subject of Nintendo....
Nintendo also had there key note speech announcing there US launch and price (Nov 5. and $199). They probally had the most surprising display since they had a nice amount of games to show and play on E3 floor. I was really getting into Pikmin though, it had a great soundtrack in its demo and looked to be a total blast to play! One surprise was the rumor turned true story of the Star Fox gang being brought into the Dinosaur Planet world. I'm really interested in seeing how that turns out! And now news on the devil himself....
Sony was the disappointment of the show with only the major annoucement of there merger with Aol/Time Warner and Real Networks to provide internet access and video for there PS2. Nothing really major wasn't shown for the system except some nice updates on already annouced games such as Silent Hill 2, Devil May Cry, Run like Hell, and Metal Gear Solid 2. Hum is there a theme with the first three titles I said or is it just me......
Capcom, the greatest 2d fighting game company out there, annoucned two surprising games for release in the coming months. Mega Man X6 for the Playstation (my fav Mega Man series), and Oh this one is big...Capcom vs. SNK 2: Millionaire Fighting 2001 for the Dreamcast and the PS2. I'm a huge fan of both series so I'll have my Playstation and Dreamcast ready with open arms once those two hit the stores....
There is a new product out in Japan thats got me interested in wanting to get a closer look. it appears that a company has released a funky see-through green controller that has a built in X68000 CPU and the hardware to hold 21 Mega Drive(Genesis in the states) ful, version games. Its called Mega Drive 21 of course, but check out the games included on this puppy. Sonic 1, Super Monaco GP, Flicky, Columns, Super Shinobi, WC Soccer, Ninja Sprit, Sonic Adventure Hero?!?, ninja Furiki Cat, Exploration Trap, Mappy, Watery Guy, Lix vs. Jerry, Ground Sinker, Sonic in Danger?!?, Ninja Gaiden, Peetan?!?, Space Striking, City Tiger, and Oira Jajamaru. Now that sounds like a nice mixture of great classic games along with some that I have no idea what the heck they are! I have no idea if the Mega Drive 21 will see the light of day in the States, but I wouldn't mind importing it at all.
In a breaking news story that hit the wired late last night, it appears that Sqaure is getting set to re-release Final Fantasy Tactics through Sony's Greatest Hits Collection. I guess they finally took notice how high the game was selling at sites like ebay and Cart Mart and decided they wanted a piece of that action once again. If your a fan of Strategy/RPG's, You must check this title out!
I found a very interesting interview with the lead producer of Team Ninja (the guys who make the DOA series) last night on the wired. A couple of interesting things came up in the discussion such as he stated that Dead or Alive 3 COULD NOT be done on the Game Cube or the Playstation 2. I'll have the full interview posted on the DOA 3 preview page later tonight for all to read!
I got some local site news for all to Hear. If you have been on and off the Ezboard ring we got going around here, you know that I have been in the process of contracting a merger with XBNV and my very own X-Box Corner. Don't worry fans, nothing major is gonna change around here. I'll still be around all my juicy info will be around, plus we gain a new server, the domain name xboxcorner.com, and three new staff members! Speaking of Staff members, If your interested in working for the NEW X-Box Corner, head on over to the X-Box Corner message board. While there don't forget to check out the Neoblahdust Ring of Stars! Theres a bunch of killer message boards grouped together for all to check out!
Well I guess that its for this round of Interesting tidbits and updated News and Rumors...Your story checks out, you may now leave....
The Top Five CD's That Are The Current Soundtracks of My Life
5. Pantera-Power Metal.. A VERY rare studio album that was never released, but trust me...It was worth tracking down!
4.Systematic-Somewheree in Between..With strong heavy rifts that could make a grown man cry, this bands stays true to the old-school guitar styles that made so many 70's hard rock shows(Led Zeppelin)popular.
3.Ours-Distorted Lullabies..All thew songs were written by the talented guitarist, Jimmy Gnecco.
2.Static X-Machine ..Oh I LOVE this Band! Now that they have Tripp Eisen from Dope, they can only get better!
1. Tantric-(Self titled) This has got to be one of the best albums I've heard in a good while.
Top Five Webpages of the Week
(Other than The Gamebrain Networks)
5. Mars Colony Music I mention them for bringing great video game music across the big pond....
4. ADV Films A true anime power house. Check them out!
3. American Musical This is a great place to check out for great deals on all the latest greatist musical gear!
2. Cart Mart I know I have mentioned this place before, but I must again for there hard work on helping keep the import scene alive!
1. Bleem I have to mention this site cause I fully stand behind there efforts. If you have no clue what i'm talking about you MUST visit there site NOW! Well after you read my column that is : )
My Top Five E3 Picks!
5. WWF Raw is War X-Box, As many of my friends know, I'm big on wrestling games. And as you can see in my preview, this one is gonna be Just....Too..Sweet!!!
4. Jet Set Future X-Box, Smilebit only had 10% of this puppy done at E3...But it looked AWESOME!!!
3. Devil May Cry X-Box/PS2, I have been looking forward to hearing more on this title and boy did we get a good look! Plus the added bonus of this being an X-Box title now made it all the more better!
2. Pikmin Game Cube, This baby came outta no where! And I fully beleve it to be the first killer app of the Game Cube
1. Silent Hill 2 X-Box/PS2, Oh baby this bad boy left a huge mark at E3! Read my preview of the game for more info.
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