http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/phantasy...index.html

For all consoles.

Just FMV, but if they fixed the combat and the monthly fee is low enough, perhaps I'll return to the online world of PS...

Well!!

What the hell? This looks like one of those crappy third-party Men in Black games for the GBA!

From GAF:

Quote:Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis Announced
Posted by Andrew McClure at 05:55:40 PM EST on 5.11.2004.

When rumors of a Final Fantasy VII sequal first surfaced (which was probably about five minutes after Final Fantasy VII was released) there was always talk of a game staring the Shinra G-men, The Turks. After Advent Children was announced most have given up on hopes for a game starring the Tarentino-esque hatchet men (and woman) but fear not for Square Enix has just announced Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis.





The game is a cellphone exclusive and it takes place six years before the events of Final Fantasy VII. The game will be about the Turks rise in the Shinra company. It appears to be an Action RPG with some turn-based elements. Also up to three players can join in if they all have the game installed on their cell phones.

It is unknown at this time if and when US players will get a chance to play this title. The cellphone platform has yet to be announced but all the other Square Enix cellphone titles have been for the Japan exclusive NTT DoCoMo. But keep those hopes up: Square Enix has stated that they want to support the cellphone videogame market on both sides of the pacific.

Source: 1UP.com

GT4, a new Metal Gear... the PSP is going to kick so much ass. Just look at these gorgeous screeens!









YOWZA. NOW we can see what the PSP is capable of!



From 1up.com:

Quote:Metal Gear Acid is the name of the new 3D Tactical Espionage Action game for PSP, according to a brief announcement on Konami's E3 media disc. However, that's about all there is to say about the game as yet -- it's an "all-new stealth adventure game," development is headed up by Konami JPN's Hideo Kojima, and that's about it for now. A release date is not available as yet.

The first few screens are, however, looking for all the world rather like a card game of some kind. Peruse those and look forward to more details when Konami chooses to bring Acid out from the shadow of its older PlayStation 2 brothers.

"We won't refer to it as a console."

"It is not just a box connected to a TV."

From psp.ign.com:

Quote:
May 11, 2004 - To say that Sony's PlayStation Portable handheld system dominated the company's E3 2004 press conference would be an understatement. Officially unveiled approximately 20 minutes into the presentation, the new game system was a big hit with the crowd and finally answered several of questions that most of us have been asking in the year since the hardware was first announced.


Scheduled to be launched in Japan at the end of the year (North America and Europe get it in the spring of 2005), The PSP is available in PlayStation 2 black with a 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD display that boasts over 16.7 million colors and a resolution of 480x272. Dimensionally, its numbers are 170mm x 74mm x 23mm with a weight of 260 grams. Basic portable functions like built-in stereo speakers, exterior headphone connector, brightness control and sound mode selectors are among the lineup of features, and the buttons mirror that of a PlayStation 2 controller almost exactly (Square, Triangle, X, and Circle face buttons, a digital pad, start, select, and an analog thumb stick populate the face, with two shoulder buttons on the top).

Additionally, the new system comes standard with USB 2.0 and 802.11b Wi-Fi wireless LAN connectors that allow for multiple PSPs to be simultaneously connected to one another. Data and software can then be downloaded either by using the wireless LAN connections or through the use of a Memory Stick Pro Duo. The PSP also adopts the small high-capacity optical medium Universal Media Disc, the UMD. This format not only allows for 1.8 GB of space, it also provides an extremely versatile format for games, music, and video. The press conference demo showed off the trailer for Spider-Man 2 (the movie not the game) as well as Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children which is coming to both the DVD and UMD formats. To protect the content, a robust copyright protection system has been developed which utilizes a combination of a unique disc ID, a 128 bit AES encryption keys for the media, and individual ID for each PSP hardware unit.



Unfortunately, Sony did not announce a price point for the system so how much the unit will cost is still somewhat of a mystery. We expect officials to announce a more formal pricing structure at the upcoming ECTS or Tokyo Game show events; but we wouldn't mind if something a little meatier came down the pipeline before then. Click on our media page below to view the first official images from the system and stay tuned to IGNPSP for more throughout the day.

http://cube.gamespy.com/articles/513/513341p1.html

Didn't see these posted in the other threads anyway... (these are from Nintendo's webpage.)

Quote:During the Nintendo press event at E3 Satoru Iwata took the stage to talk about Nintendos' future. He stressed the importance of the Nintendo DS in the fortcoming 12 months, but he also made some allusions to the successor to the Gamecube.

Calling it "Something you will be excited about" he refused to give any technical details, he confirmed that the new machine was definitely being worked on and that it will offer an "Unprecedented play experience something that has never been offered before" He also promised that it would bring about a "revolution" in games players lives.

Is this all hot air or something truly spectacular or just a heap of buzz words to incite the masses into hysteria? Only time will tell, but you can guarantee that we here at Cube-Europe will be watching -from the edge of our seats, of course.

http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&...d&cat=iraq

Quote: BAGHDAD, Iraq - A video posted Tuesday on an al-Qaida-linked Web site showed the beheading an American civilian in Iraq (news - web sites) in what was said to be revenge for abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

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AP Photo </center>
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[url=javascript: rs(]Reuters Photo[/url] </center> </td> </tr> <!-- SlideshowPhotoEnd --> <tr valign="top"> <td width="1%"></td> <td width="99%"> [url=javascript: rs(]Slideshow: Video Shows Beheading of American in Iraq[/url]</td> </tr></tbody></table>
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<table width="158" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" border="0" bgcolor="black"> <tbody><tr><td><table width="158" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" bgcolor="white"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td><center> </center> <table width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="0"> <tbody><tr valign="top" align="center"> <td> Latest headlines: </td></tr></tbody></table> <!-- recent_timestamp 1084307286 122 secs not stale 28800 secs --> <table width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="0"> <tbody><tr valign="top"><td width="1%">·</td> <td width="99%"> Major Developments in Iraq
AP - 2 minutes ago </td></tr></tbody></table> <!-- recent_timestamp 1084307192 216 secs not stale 28800 secs --> <table width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="0"> <tbody><tr valign="top"><td width="1%">·</td> <td width="99%"> Newsview: Iraq May Be Liability for Bush
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AP - 4 minutes ago </td></tr></tbody></table> <table width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="0"> <tbody><tr valign="top" align="center"> <td> Special Coverage </td></tr></tbody></table> </td></tr></tbody></table> </td></tr></tbody></table>
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The video showed five men wearing headscarves and black ski masks, standing over a bound man in an orange jumpsuit — similar to a prisoner's uniform. The man identified himself as Nick Berg, a U.S. civilian whose body was found Saturday near a highway overpass in Baghdad.



"My name is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael, my mother's name is Suzanne," the man said on the video. "I have a brother and sister, David and Sarah. I live in ... Philadelphia."



After reading a statement, the men were seen pulling the man to his side and putting a large knife to his neck. A scream sounded as the men cut his head off, shouting "Allahu akbar!" — "God is great!" They then held the head up to the camera.



The slaying recalled the kidnapping and videotaped beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002 in Pakistan. Four Islamic militants have been convicted of kidnapping Pearl, but seven other suspects — including those who allegedly slit his throat — remain at large.



The chief of Iraq's war crimes tribunal, meanwhile, said trials of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and others will begin next year, although U.S. officials disputed the statement.



Berg was a small-business owner from West Chester, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb, his family said Tuesday.



"For the mothers and wives of American soldiers, we tell you that we offered the U.S. administration to exchange this hostage with some of the detainees in Abu Ghraib and they refused," one of the men read from a statement.



"So we tell you that the dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib and others is not redeemed except by blood and souls. You will not receive anything from us but coffins after coffins ... slaughtered in this way."



The video bore the title "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shown slaughtering an American." It was unclear whether al-Zarqawi — a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) — was shown in the video, or was claiming responsibility for ordering the execution.



The Web site on which the video was posted is known as a clearinghouse for al-Qaida and Islamic extremist groups' statements and tapes.



Photographs of Iraqi prisoners being humiliated have reverberated throughout the Arab world and have intensified anti-Western sentiment.



The head of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, said the soldiers accused of abuses would be brought to justice.



"I find the behavior of these American soldiers completely unacceptable and outrageous," Bremer said in an interview with Associated Press Television News. "I share the outrage of the Iraqi people and the people of the world as to what these guys did. They don't represent America, and they don't represent the face of the American military."



Seven soldiers from the 372nd Military Police Company face charges in the mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. The first one to go to trial, Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits of Hyndman, Pa., faces a court-martial in Baghdad next week.



The head of Iraq's war crimes tribunal said Tuesday the United States has pledged to hand over Saddam and dozens of other suspects from the ousted regime to Iraqi authorities by the time some sovereignty is restored June 30. U.S. officials disputed that any decisions on timing had been made.



Salem Chalabi said in Kuwait that trials would begin next year and that judges would receive "files" on the suspects at the end of this year.

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"We will put 100 people ... including Saddam Hussein, on trial," he said. The suspects, he added, "will be delivered to us by the coalition before the transfer of power."

Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said he did not know anything about handing over Saddam. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher also said that as far as he knew there was no decision on when or in what time frame to hand over the ousted Iraqi leader, who has been in U.S. custody since he was captured Dec. 13.

Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for his use of chemical weapons against the Kurds in the 1980s, could be one of the first to stand trial, Chalabi said.

The United States estimates that Saddam's government killed at least 300,000 Iraqis. Some human rights groups say the number is closer to 1 million.

No charges have yet been filed against Saddam or other suspects from his regime, but human rights groups have said the tribunal expects to try leaders for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Berg, 26, had been missing since April 9 — the same day insurgents attacked a U.S. convoy west of the capital.

His family said they were informed Monday by the State Department that Berg was found dead in Baghdad. His mother, Suzanne, said he was in Iraq as an independent businessman to help rebuild communication antennas. He had been missing since April 9, she said.

Suzanne Berg said she was told her son's body would be transported to Kuwait and then to Dover, Del. She said the family had been trying for weeks to learn where their son was but that federal officials had not been helpful. "I basically ended up doing most of the investigating myself," she said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said one Russian energy company worker was confirmed dead and two others abducted Monday when gunmen fired on their car south of Baghdad. An Iraqi serving as a bodyguard and translator was wounded, said Yevgeny Loginov, spokesman for the Interenergoservis energy company.

Gunmen attacked a U.S.-run civilian convoy operated by workers hired by a subcontractor of Kellogg Brown & Root in the western desert about 230 miles west of Baghdad. A motorist said he saw six burned vehicles, including one Iraqi civilian car caught in the crossfire.

Halliburton Corp. spokeswoman Wendy Hall said "to our knowledge, all drivers have been accounted for." She said the workers had been hired by a subcontractor for Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton.

April 9 also was the day that seven American contractors working for a subsidiary of Halliburton and two military men disappeared after their supply convoy was attacked on the outskirts of Baghdad. Four of the Halliburton workers and one of the military men have since been confirmed dead. Halliburton worker Thomas Hamill escaped his captors May 2 and returned home to Mississippi on Saturday. The other two Halliburton workers and the other soldier remain missing.

Two military men also vanished; one was later found dead and the other, Pfc. Keith M. Maupin of Batavia, Ohio, was taken captive and remains missing.

Anti-Western sentiment flared following the crackdown on Shiite extremists and the three-week Marine siege of Fallujah west of Baghdad. Sentiment intensified with the publication of photos showing U.S. soldiers abusing and humiliating Iraqis in Abu Ghraib.