P L A Y S T A T I O N   2

- Sony has announced a list of new PlayStation 2 game titles that are scheduled for release in summer and after, many brand new titles are revealed, including Ninja Assault, Power Smash 2, XI Explosion, The Lord of the Ring, Harry Potter & the Secret Room, MotoGP3, Tales of Eternia II, and Time Crisis III.

Summer

Aruze
Pachisuro Aruze Kingdom 8

Capcom
Pride

Namco
Taiko no Tatujin (Japan drum music)
Ninja Assault (Gun shooting)
Pac-Man World 2 (Action)

Sega
Power Smash 2 / Virtua Tennis 2 (Sports)

Sony
XI Explosion (Puzzle)
Sarugetchu 2 (Ape Escape 2) (Action)
Fantavision for Two (Puzzle)
My Summer 2 (Adventure)
Popolocrois Story III (RPG)

Taito
Densha de Go! New Journey

Fall and Winter

Capcom
Clock Tower 3

EA Square
Harry Potter & the Secret Room (PSone & PS2)
The Lord of the Rings

Hudson
Bombermand Land 2
Momotarou Dentei XI

Namco
Axis
GunBarl Collection (Point Blank in US)
Moto GP3
Soul Calibur 2
Tales of Eternia II

Sony
Arc The Lad: Spirits of the Dead Dusk

Within 2002

Enix
Star Ocean 3: Till the end of Time

Konami
World Soccer Winning Eleven 6
Genso Suikoden III
Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 9
Tokimeki Memorial: Girls Side
Japan Professional Baseball 2
Winning Eleven 2002 (PSone)

Namco
Baseball Game
3D Racing Game (Ridge Racer 6?)
Time Crisis III

- Sony Computer Entertainment has officially announced their plans for the PlayStation 2 broadband service, aka PlayStation BB. The PSBB service will begin operating in April in Japan, allowing users to download games, music, movies, webcasts, and digital contents. With a bundled Broadband Navigator program, users can download playable PSone or PS2 game or application software from the internet, as well as storing e-mail contents and instant messenger data to the PS2 HDD (hard drive). It is also possible to download and play digital music and streaming media (RealPlayer) from the net.

- Here is a list of PlayStation 2 online titles that are currently under development:

• ARIKA - The Dungeon of Doruaga
• ATLUS - unnamed MMORPG (Personal thoughts: Shin Megami Tensei Online?)
• CAPCOM - Auto Modellista, Biohazard Online
• FROM SOFTWARE - Armored Core Sigma
• GENKI - Shutokou Battle Online (Tokyo Xtreme Racing Online in US)
• HUDSON - Bomberman Online
• KOEI - Nobunaga's Ambition Online
• KONAMI - unnamed music and sports game
• NAMCO - Clockwork Online, unnamed Action Adventure, 3D Flight Shooting and sports game
  (Personal thoughts: Klonoa Online, Ace Combat Online?)
• SEGA - Guru Guru Onsen, Hundred Swords, unnamed simulation and racing game
  (Personal thoughts: Derby Owners Club Online, Sega GT Online or Sega Rally Online?)
• SCE - Arc the Lad Online, Kumauta, Gran Turismo Online, Everybody's Golf Online
• SQUARE - Final Fantasy XI
• Takara - unnamed online board game (Personal thoughts: EX Game of Life Online?)
• TECMO - unnamed massive multiplayer online action adventure game
  (Personal thoughts: Ninja Gaiden Online?)

- In Japan, the internet service provider NTT Broadband will be offering the PS2 online serivces for 1500 yen per month, or an 18 month prepaid package for 18000 yen (or 1160 yen per monthly). Sony announced that they are also planning to integrate the PlayStation 2 hardware into other electronic appliances, such as DVD Players and digital video recorders.

- Square has revealed new info regarding to the Crystals in Final Fantasy XI. There are 4 kinds of crystals in the game:

• Fire Crystal - burn or warm up the target
• Water Crystal - extinguish or melt the target
• Ground Crystal - put weight on a target or join the targets
• Wind Crystal - lighten or dry the target

- Here are some images of Konami's PSone soccer simulation game Captain Tsubusa: The New Legend, the game is scheduled for release sometimes this spring.

- Hori will release a Tekken 4 Stick for PS2 on March 28 for 3980 yen, coincide with the release of Namco's Tekken 4. In addition, Hori will also release an Onimusha 2 Memory Card + Card Case for PS2 on March 7, for 3500 yen. The Onimusha Card Case can hold up to 4 memory cards.

- Here are some new screen shots of Koei's upcoming PlayStation 2 tactical simulation RPG Sangokushi Senki, scheduled to release in Japan on February 14, for 6800 yen. This game combines gameplay of Tactic Ogre and graphic quality of Shin Sangoku Musou; the Strategy Link System allows you to use various tactics to battle against different kinds of army forces, such as fire, ambush, falling rocks and traps.

Additional Images

- Koei will release Haruka 2: Romance of Eternity for PlayStation 2 in Japan on February 28, for 6800 yen. A war simulation + love adventure game ported over from PC, in which you play as a young heroine, your duty is to protect the capital from the attack of the enemies, at the same time you can date with one of the 8 male generals.

Additional Images (10)

G A M E C U B E

- Tomy announced a new GameCube action game called Zoids VS, based on the popular TV cartoon of the same name. In this game you control the different mechs to battle with the opponents, there are over 40 different Zoids to choose from. The gameplay is similar Virtual On and Armored Core.

- Nintendo of America announced that they have shipped 2.7 million units GameCube worldwide in 2001, 1.25 million units were sold in North America and 1.3 million units were sold in Japan. For GameBoy Advance, Nintendo has sold 4.7 million units worldwide last year. Here are the best selling Nintendo software in US in the year of 2001:

GameCube
1. Super Smash Bros. Melee - 643,996 units
2. Luigi Mansion
3. Star Wars Rogue Leader Rogue Squadron II
4. Pikmin
5. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

GameBoy Color / GameBoy Advance
1. Pokemon Crystal - 1,400,422 units
2. Super Mario Advance - 1.227,442 units
3. Pokemon Silver
4. Pokemon Gold
5. Mario Kart Super Circuit

- Take Two Interactive announced that they are porting the popular PS2 racing game Smuggler's Run 2 to GameCube, the game is scheduled for release sometimes in Q3 this year.

- Nintendo of America announced the release dates of two GameCube titles, Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet will be released on June 10, and Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem will be released on June 24.

M U L T I

- The US Game Release Schedule has been updated!

- The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has announced the nominees for the Game Developers Choice (GDC) Awards. The event will be held at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) from March 19-23 in San Jose, California. Here are the nominees:

Game of the Year
Black & White (Lionhead Studios)
Grand Theft Auto III (DMA Design/Rockstar Games)
Halo: Combat Evolved (Bungie Studios)
Ico (Sony Computer Entertainment)
Max Payne (Remedy Entertainment)

Original Game Character of the Year
Dante (Devil May Cry)
Daxter (Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy)
Ico (Ico)
Max Payne (Max Payne)
Munch (Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee)

Excellence in Audio
Erik Kraber and Jack Grillo for sound design (Clive Barker's Undying)
Harry Gregson-Williams for composition (Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty)
Josh Randall for sound design (Frequency)
Marty O'Donnell and team for sound effects (Halo: Combat Evolved)
Thomas Engel for sound engineering (Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II)

Excellence in Game Design
Fumito Ueda and team for game design (Ico)
GTAIII team for gameplay (Grand Theft Auto III)
Lorne Lanning and Chris Ulm for story/writing (Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee)
Peter Molyneux and team for game design (Black & White)
Shigeru Miyamoto and team for game design (Pikmin)

Excellence in Level Design
Craig Filshie, William Mills, Chris Rothwell, and James Worrall for level design (Grand Theft Auto III)
Fumito Ueda and team for level design (Ico)
Ghost Recon team for level design (Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon)
Scott Campbell, Dave Jaffe, Kellan Hatch and team for level design (Twisted Metal: Black)
Toshihiro Nagoshi and team for level design (Super Monkey Ball )

Excellence in Programming
Kazunori Yamauchi and team for physics in Gran Turismo 3: A-spec
Andy Gavin for programming in Jak & Daxter
Jason Jones and team for programming in Halo: Combat Evolved
Richard Evans for artificial intelligence in Black & White
Sherman Archibald, John Carmack, and Ryan Feltrin for graphics in Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Excellence in Visual Arts
Dan Arey and Evan Wells for animation in Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Fumito Ueda and team for art direction in Ico
Kazunori Yamauchi and team for modeling in Gran Turismo 3: A-spec
Lorne Lanning and Farzad Varahramyan for art direction in Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
Tetsuya Mizuguchi and team for art direction in Rez

Rookie Studio of the Year
Adrenium Games (Azurik: Rise of Perathia)
Bohemia Interactive Studio (Operation Flashpoint)
Croteam (Serious Sam)
Pseudo Interactive (Cel Damage)
TimeGate Studios (Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns)

Game Innovation Spotlights
Black & White (Lionhead Studios)
Cel Damage (Pseudo Interactive)
Frequency (Harmonix Music Systems)
Grand Theft Auto III (DMA Design)
Ico (Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.)
Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns (TimeGate Studios)
Majestic (Electronic Arts)
Max Payne (Remedy Entertainment)
Rez (United Game Artists)
Super Monkey Ball (Amusement Vision)