A R C A D E   /   M U L T I

- Sega, Nintendo and Namco announced a collaborative development of a new arcade game board called TriForce. The TriForce is a GameCube compatible 3D arcade board, which allows developers to create low cost, high performance game titles for both arcade and home console. A prototype of the TriForce arcade board will be exhibited at the upcoming AOU Expo on February 23 in Tokyo Japan.

- Sega announced that they will focus on PlayStation 2 development for this year, about 50% of the upcoming game titles are destinated for the PS2 platform, and the rest are divided equally for XBox, GameCube and GameBoy Advance. Sega also mentioned a number of classic Mega Drive and Saturn hits will be "revived" on the PS2 this year, more details will be announced at this year's E3 Expo.

- Capcom of Japan has denied the rumor about releasing the future Biohazard installments to other platforms other than GameCube. The only Biohazard game that will arrive to multiple platforms is Biohazard Network, an online game developed by another Capcom R&D team.

H A N D H E L D S

- Taito will release the GameBoy Advance RPG Estpolis Gaiden: The Ruins of Silence in Japan on March 8, for 5800 yen. This time the game have multiplayer support, up to 4 players can link together for the same adventure. There is a new Disk Monster system, you can catch over 200 kinds of monsters in the game by using the capture disks. During the battle, you can release the captured monster to battle for you. The monsters will also grow stronger and evolve to other forms as they gain experiences. There are many interactive objects in the fields, you can push, lift, burn, cut down or break an object to find hidden treasures. The Step Move system from the previous games will return this time, for each move you make, the enemy will also make one move at the same time. Another new feature is the IP Gauge, the gauge will increase when you receive damages, when the gauge is full, you can fuse with your disk monster to become a battle beast, and launch powerful attacks against the enemies.

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P L A Y S T A T I O N   2

- Namco / Monolith Soft's upcoming PlayStation 2 RPG Xenosaga Episode 1: Der Wille zur Macht will feature 3 new mini games, in addition to the awesome AGWS Battle. The first one is a card battle game XenoCard, another one is a casino game Network Casino. In XenoCard, you can use cards you collected in the game and battle with other characters in the game, cards can be acquired by defeating enemies, as well as purchasing from weapon shops throughout the game. In Network Casino, you can purchase coins to play Slots, Poker and other gambling games, the coins can be exchanged for "Set Material", which can be used to develop your characters. The third mini game is the "Drill Game", in the game you can use one of your favorite drill to break the boxes in the room, some boxes will contain bonus items inside. There is a "mascot" character in the game called the U.M.N. (Usnusu Motos Network), a communication information service robot which looks like a cute little bunny. Xenosaga is scheduled for release on February 28, for 7800 yen. (from GPara)

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- Success has postponed the release date of their PS2 shooting game Psyvariar Complete Edition from March 7 to sometimes in spring.

Here are some new screen shots of Capcom's Onimusha 2. In this game there are several companion characters in the game who will give you advises and help you throughout the quest. Sometimes you will find "goods" in the game, if you pass the goods to your companions, the level of trust between you and the companions will increase.  (Source: NTTEG)

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- Here are some screen shots of Capcom's Capcom Vs SNK Millennium Fight 2000 Pro for PSone, the game is scheduled for release in Japan on April 18, for 3800 yen. (Source: NTTEG)

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G A M E C U B E

- Here are some new screens of Rebecca in action in Biohazard for GameCube, she will be playing a leading rule in a certain event.

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