- December 19, 2001 -

X B O X

- Takara announced an XBox port of their PlayStation 2 mech combat title J-Phoenix, the XBox version will have additional characters and graphic enhancements over the original version. J-Phoenix is scheduled for a March 2002 release.

- Enterbrain will begin to publish a new Japanese game magazine Famitsu XBox in Japan on January 30, 2002, for 590 yen. The magazine will only cover XBox related news, game previews, reviews, walkthroughs, and articles.

- Here are some new screen shots of Konami's Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams for XBox, the game features a 4 - 6 hours long sub scenario "Born From a Wish", in which you play as Maria, a mysterious female James met in the town of Silent Hill. (From IGN XBox)

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- Square has released new info on Final Fantasy X International for PlayStation 2. The game is scheduled for release in Japan on January 31, for 7800 yen. The International version will have English voice and Japanese subtitle. The appearance of the Sphere board, the location of items are also altered, and a new recall function is added. A privilege disc is also attached with the game, featuring a new scenario named "Eternal Nagi Paragraph", and interview of the producer.

- D3 Publisher announced that they have shipped 7 million units of the popular Simple Series game titles for PSone and PlayStation 2. The Simple 1500 Series and Simple 2000 Series have also exceeded 100 titles.

- Konami will release a new action RPG for PSone called Groove Adventure Rave in Japan in January 2002. The game is based on the popular manga Rave, featuring an original story and characters from the manga. In the game you can control 3 different characters at the same time through the RPD System, the leader of the team can give commands to the other 2 characters, but the action of the two supporting character will depend on the leader's reliability point (RP), they may follow the commands when the leader's RP is too low. There are also two original characters in the game, they are Eason - a commander of a criminal organization; and Angela - a mysterious girl who saved the life of the hero.

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- Sony has posted a new preview video of their upcoming PlayStation 2 RPG Wild Arms Advanced 3rd, the game is scheduled for release in Japan on January 31, for 6800 yen.

- Bandai will release Space Battleship Yamato: Recollection of Iskandar for PlayStation 2 in Japan on December 20, for 6800 yen. This time the field map and the battle scenes will be in 3D, but the characters will remain in 2D, with a lot more facial animation than before.

A R C A D E   /   O T H E R S

- Sun Amusement will release the cartridge version of The King of Fighters 2001 for Neo Geo home system in Japan on March 14, for 39800 yen.

- Here are the TRST Top 20 Best Selling Videogames in North America during November. (Source: GameSpot)

1. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2, Konami)
2. Grand Theft Auto III (PS2, Rockstar Games)
3. Luigi Mansion (GC, Nintendo)
4. Halo (XB, Microsoft)
5. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS2, Activision)
6. Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone (PS1, Electronic Arts)
7. Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II (GC, LucasArts)
8. Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone (GBC, Electronic Arts)
9. Madden NFL 2002 (PS2, Electronic Arts)
10. WWF Smackdown! Just Bring It (PS2, THQ)
11. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS1, Activision)
12. Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone (GBA, Electronic Arts)
13. Project Gotham Racing (XB, Microsoft)
14. Dead or Alive 3 (XB, Tecmo)
15. NBA Live 2002 (PS2, Electronic Arts)
16. Pokemon Crystal (GBC, Nintendo)
17. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PS1, Activision)
18. NFL Fever 2002 (XB, Microsoft)
19. Monsters Inc (GBC, THQ)
20. James Bond in Agent Under Fire (PS2, Electronic Arts)