- November 6, 2001 -

P L A Y S T A T I O N   /   P L A Y S T A T I O N   2

- Here is a new poster image of Square's Final Fantasy XI.

- Here are even more screen shots of GameArts / Enix's PlayStation 2 RPG Grandia Xtreme, the game is scheduled for release in Japan on January 13, 2001.

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- Kadokawa Shoten will release the PlayStation 2 RPG Abarenbow Princess in Japan on November 15. This game features a number of unique systems in battle, such as the Proactive and Double Kill. In Double Kill, if both you and the enemy use attacks which carry the same element, then the attacks will cancel out each other, but if your element has an advantage to the opponent, it will have double the attack power. Sometimes before the battle begins, you can speak with the members in your team, the things you say may affect their ability to battle. For example, a character may have additional skills that he can use in battle, such as super attacks; or they may even lose their skills if they lose their trust on you.

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G A M E C U B E

- Here are some new screens of Sega's GameCube soccer game Virtua Striker 3 Version 2002, the game is scheduled for a January 31, 2002 release in Japan. One of the improvement over the Naomi 2 version is the elimination of the slow downs, which annoyed many people in arcade. Other features include real name J.League soccer players and real name soccer teams from 64 countries.

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- Employee from Toys R' US reported that Nintendo is trying to charge their stores $2000 US per GameCube kiosk, to setup a playable demo unit of GameCube in store; instead of providing them with free kiosks like Sony and Microsoft did. This move has made many employees very unhappy at the company.

- Hudson will release Bomberman 64 for Nintendo 64 in Japan on December 20, for 5800 yen. Probably the last title for N64, Bomberman 64 features a collection of Bomberman titles, including the action game Bomberman, the puzzle game Panic Bomber, and a collection of mini games called Bomberman Park.

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A R C A D E   /   O T H E R S

- Nintendo has revised the profit projection for the current fiscal year. They expect to have a 29% increase in operating profit, due to a large reduction in GameBoy Advance production cost, including a steep decline in the cost of LCD display and semiconductor. Nintendo's stock price has also increased by 4% after the announcement in the day.

- Square announced they are expecting to have a 10 billion yen loss in Final Fantasy The Movie. However, due to the increased sales of their PlayStation 2 software, the operating loss is expected to decrease from 10 billion yen to 3.6 billion yen. Square has shipped 2.5 million copies of Final Fantasy X in Japan, and they are also expecting successes to their year end titles, such as All-Star Pro Wrestling II and Kingdom Hearts.

H A N D H E L D S

- Sammy has revealed the latest info on their GameBoy Advance fighting game Guilty Gear X Advance Edition. This time the game will have a new King of Fighters alike 3 on 3 mode; during the battles, the other undefeated characters in your team can come out to give additional attacks to the opponent, as well as guarding the main player when he / she is under attack, and counter attack the opponent when you are stuck in a combo attack. However, when you call out a character in your team, you will lose half of the energy in your super combo meter. Guilty Gear X Advance Edition is scheduled for a spring 2002 release.

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- Megatron announced a new WonderSwan Color SRPG game called Gransta Chronicles, the story takes place in a medieval world where the continent is divided into north, south, east and west. 200 years ago a white devil who invaded the land was sealed in the center of the sea by a courageous man. 200 years later, a large group of monsters and evils have suddenly show up at the Tower of Black Mage, which is close by the center of the sea. A lot of soldiers and men were trying to enter the Tower of Black Mage and nobody ever returned. And now it's your turn to discover the mysteries inside the tower. Gransta Chronicles is scheduled to release in Japan by the end of the year.

- November 3, 2001 -

- The Dengeki Console Ranking Top 50 Chart is updated. Japanese plays a lot of gambling games, this week a new PS2 slot machine game from Sammy has topped the chart, outselling both Nintendo's Pikmin and Konami's J. League Winning Eleven 5.