Quote:Bandai has announced a new Cowboy Bebop action/adventure game for the PS2. Based off the hit anime of the same name, the entire cowboy bounty hunter cast will be in the game to take care of hackers, drug-dealers, and terrorists. Players can use Spike, Jet, or Faye to fight through over 50 outlaws. The final game will have unlockable playable characters feature the upbeat jazz music of Yoko Kanno.
Check out the first concept art and Quicktime video below.
I doubt this will be anywhere near as amazing as my idea for a Bebop game (as unrealistic as it may be), but I'm still pretty excited about it. The video left me unimpressed and I think going a full cel-shaded route would have been better for the look of the game, but I'm still crossing my fingers. I just hope it's going to be more than a beat-em-up. :S
For the past few days, the internet, as a whole, has been VERY slow for me. I can't see it being on my end. Some sites, like this one, still load fine (most of the time), while at the same time others like Penny Arcade have serious lag. It's VERY annoying, so I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this, and if so, if they knew if it was some large scale problem on the part of a lot of servers online.
I'm relieved, mostly. It's been so long that I'd been seriously worrying about it...
However, it looks like it's surrendered the genre crown to the Total War series, and moved to a more RTS-ish environment (though not totally as it explains). Oh well, it sounds good... less in depth, and different, but still good. I need to get it sometime.
I'll quote it but click the link anyway! There's a video of a PSP game!
Quote:Andy House demos PSP at GDC keynote
SCEA exec sheds light on how Sony intends to build on its power base of hardware supremacy.
Death Jr. Click stream for a larger view, or double-click for full-screen.
SAN JOSE--Sony Computer Entertainment America senior executive Andrew House stepped on to the San Jose Civic Auditorium stage this afternoon and delivered a convincing, authoritative, and encouraging statement to developers attending the 2004 Game Developers Conference. His message was scarcely profound--most of the questions worth answering, such as when the PS3 would be released and at what price point, what games would accompany next year's PSP launch in North America, and the specifics of how Sony would support the just-released hard drive, were left conveniently out of the discussion. But what was covered kept attendees firmly planted in their seats.
The main message House conveyed was that Sony and SCEA planned on supporting developers by continuing to ratchet up the installed bases of their PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles and planned on seducing gamers, both hardcore and casual, with additional EyeToy applications and an increased number of online titles.
House referenced the installed base of 100 million PlayStation units worldwide and 70 million PS2 units worldwide, commenting on the much steeper growth curve behind the adoption of PS2 hardware--which is currently 38 percent ahead of the original PlayStation at the same time in its release cycle.
House also stressed the upcoming importance in creating community among the online gaming community (calling online console gaming "the next frontier") and the fact that Sony comes to the budding world of networked console gaming with millions of hours of experience in that area--since SOCOM II's launch in November 2003, in fact, gamers have logged 47 million hours of combined online gameplay, House said.
As far as the upcoming PSP launch goes--and after Digital Eclipse's Chris Charla demoed its in-development PSP title Death, Jr.--House said that "with consumers showing a huge demand for portable gaming, the timing could not be better" for its PSP launch. He predicted that the device would be recognized as being as revolutionary as the PlayStation when it launched and that its ability to offer music, video, games, and productivity applications would make the unit a surefire hit. "And it will have hardware cache...it's a Sony," House added. Looking even further into the future, he claimed it would be the PSP that would lead Sony in the direction of an "interconnected future."
In the single tip of his hat to the PS3 launch time frame, he did concede one strategy Sony was committed to--its own. "Competitive movement is not a factor in the PS3 launch strategy." It was a statement many in the audience suspected could not be applied to Sony's competitors.
Well I already have plenty of dislike for them (while not being able to completely abandon them because of how much I love Star Wars...), but one thing keeps piling on top of another... dropping adventure games for not making enough, cutting back internal production in favor of mostly outsourcing (and less quality from internal stuff), that game quality slope they've been sliding down since about 1999 (in '02 they proclaimed great things about coming back, but have ... erm not exactly delivered ...), the cancelling of Sam & Max II, and now this... Lucasarts is following so many other big American publishers and chopping their Cube support. Hmm, Acclaim, Midway, Lucasarts... and ... less than equal ... support from EA, ActiVision, etc, etc... as I've said before, Japan may have boosted its Nintendo output from the N64 but America has cut it quite dramatically...
Rumor? True. But it's got too much sense behind it to be ignored.
Quote:RUMOR #2: LucasArts is ceasing development for the GameCube.
Source: GameSpot's very own and ever-active forums.
The official story: "I have not heard anything of that nature." -- LucasArts' Heather Phillips.
What we heard: Spurred by lengthy forum feedback, we tracked this rumor to its original source, a recent GamesIndustry.biz piece. The article talked about the general decline of support for the 'Cube among third-party publishers outside of Japan. LucasArts was singled out because of the success of its Rogue Squadron series, one of the few successful adult-oriented, nonsports franchises for the Cube. However, a look at LucasArts' game roster does indeed show a dearth of GameCube titles in the works, even though upcoming PlayStation 2 and Xbox games like Mercenaries and Star Wars: Republic Commando are listed.
Bogus or not bogus?: Officially not bogus. The company line reveals that LucasArts still supports the GameCube. But what good is an official endorsement if there are no products in the pipeline?
... Is this a good time to mention that rumor of a Rogue Squadron collection for X-Box?
Quote:ey publishers quietly scaling back GameCube support
Rob Fahey 15:47 24/03/2004
E3 likely to look a bit barren on the Cube third-party front
Third party support for Nintendo's GameCube continues to wane, with the console set to be bereft of a game based on the Euro 2004 football tournament while Lucasarts has confirmed that it has no more titles in the pipeline for the system.
Both Electronic Arts and Codemasters are working on multi-platform football games for Euro 2004 (EA has the official license, while Codies have the England team license), but neither company will be bringing its game to the Cube.
Although Electronic Arts says that its commitment to the Cube "remains strong" despite the decision not to do a Euro 2004 title, and that it will be releasing a number of games for the platform this year, Codemasters has joined the ranks of publishers with nothing in production for Nintendo's home system.
Also joining the swelling ranks of publishers without any Cube titles in their portfolios (which already includes the likes of Acclaim and Eidos) is Lucasarts, which currently has no titles for the platform on its internal schedules. This is more of a blow to Nintendo than the other publishers, since Lucasarts was responsible for the successful Star Wars: Rogue Leader games on the Cube.
Another publisher, Ubisoft, currently has no GameCube titles on its schedule but says that it will be announcing a number at E3 - and of course, a Cube version of Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow will appear at some point in future, as will a PS2 version.
While support from Japanese publishers remains strong, with Capcom and Namco both committed to the system while Square Enix and Konami are also producing a limited range of exclusive titles for it, western third-party support for the Cube is facing a serious decline this year.
This leaves the system relying largely on Nintendo's own portfolio, buoyed by titles from key Japanese publishers, and the company is expected to unveil a new range of software at E3 including sequels to Metroid Prime and Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.
Capcom and Namco (Konami? Seems about as low-level of support as they gave the N64... and Square? One game so far.) vs Acclaim, Midway, Lucasarts, Eidos, and limited support from EA and others... The N64 isn't loooking quite as bad in comparison anymore... :(
