Quote:Famitsu reports that Chunsoft's Japanese RPG entitled Homeland will have online play. The game will be sold as two discs, one is for offline and the other for networked use. However, it isn't the kind of online gaming that you might envision. Players don't connect to an outside server. The GameCube itself becomes the server and players then can connect to it. The one who is hosting can't play normally, but instead has some controls over the game. It doesn't cost anything and the homebrewed server will be able to hold up to 30 people.
Personally I like "The Creeping Fear" the most, as it fits in perfectly with all of the other SW titles. Very 50's sci-fi serial feel to it, very Flash Gordon-esque, very fitting (since SW was partly inspired by old sci-fi serials and Flash Gordon).
"After three long years of relentless fighting, the Clone Wars are nearly at an end. The Jedi Council dispatches Obi-Wan Kenobi to bring the deadly leader of the Separatist droid army to justice. Meanwhile, back on Coruscant, Chancellor Palpatine has grown in power. His sweeping political changes transform the war-weary Republic into the mighty Galactic Empire. To his closest ally, Anakin Skywalker, he reveals the true nature of power and the promised secrets of the Force in an attempt to lure him to the dark side."
Pretty damn cool, huh? Palps will have plenny 'splainin' to do.
Quote:NPD Group has a report out on the profitability of online game consoles. Other information released from unofficial sources have projected online gaming sales to increase pretty well in the next generation, but NPD is the only one to have information for the current generation. So has Nintendo been right in skipping online gaming? The number of online games sold in 2003 was 23 million and the sales amounted to over $1 billion dollars. That's nearing a 200% increase over the previous year. Online games have sold 33 million units in total since 2000.
There's a very large asterisk to these numbers though. Since developers put offline modes into online-enabled games many of the "online" games sold might not be played online at all. Easy examples of that would be Sega's Phantasy Star Online series for GameCube. "It's important to note that the increase in sales for online-capable games does not mean that the masses are moving to online gameplay," said Richard Ow, senior industry analyst, The NPD Group. "In some cases, consumers aren't necessarily aware they're buying games with online capabilities, but whether they're aware or they aren't, the onus falls in the laps of the software developers to provide games with multiple playability features."
The majority of online game sales are for the shooter and sports genres. In 2002, sports games accounted for 70% of online games. That has decreased to 51% last year with shooter games taking a large chuck with 22 percent. Other genres are beggining to find a good nitch, 15% for racing and RPG has 4% of total. GameCube isn't known for being strongest in any of these genres and it's easy to see why Nintendo hasn't gone with a large online plan because of it.
"The challenge to the console gaming industry can be more attributed to the expanding demographic," explains Ow. "According to The NPD Group's Consumer Panel, more than half of the console gamers are 17 years old and younger, which means these gamers, who do not have access to credit cards, must rely on their parents to fund their online gaming habits. This is one of the reasons why most development teams tread cautiously in the world of online gaming. However, by providing first-rate titles with rich graphics, compelling content and online as well as offline capabilities, gamers of all ages and income levels can take advantage of these games."
Posted by Ethan Pearson, Founder, Director
I know that N-Philes is trying to make this seem not quite that great, but as of late 2003 there have been over 750,000 paying subscribers to X-Box Live, and I'm certain the number of people playing online PS2 games is even higher because of the EA games. Nintendo is not going to go online until they're absolutely convinced that they'll turn a sizeable profit from it, and by the time that happens Sony and MS will be years ahead of them with Nintendo playing catch up once again. Will they ever learn?? Even if online gaming proves to be a failure down the line (which it won't), they cannot risk being left behind once again! They still have a chance to catch up with everyone, maybe. If the N5 launches with an online model and some big online titles, they could be alright. But will that happen? *sigh*
Also, N-Philes' point about Nintendo not being good at making shooters possibly being a cause for their reluctance to go online is absurd. If Nintendo gave any of their big franchises online modes they could easily do twice as good as Rainbow Six 3 or Mech Assault. Mario Kart DD already sold much better than RS3 did, and can you imagine just how much better it would have done if it had decent, user-friendly online support? Or how about Four Swords Adventure, Pokemon Colloseum, Mario Party, Mario Golf, F-Zero GX, etc. etc.??
Quote:Last week, rumours hit the internet about a new Final Fantasy game for the Gamecube after a Japanese magazine published concept art from a game called "Final Fantasy: Guilty Wing" said to be in development by Square-Enix. The aforementioned rumours were then said to be false by a number of sites and publications...
...but it seems they were wrong! This months issue of V-Jump magazine has published art from the game under the same name and confirms that this game is currently in development!
No further details are available on the title at this time, and we would hope that mre information will be released closer to E3. However, apparently it states in the magazine that the game, which will be exclusive to Gamecube, will possibly be set in the Final Fantasy VII universe -which many fans believe represents the epitome of Final Fantasy. Will this be in the mould of a fully fledged Final Fantasy game? Or will it break away and try something new like Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles? If the not-so-good sales of the above are anything to go by, we can only hope that the Cube will soon have its' very own classic Final Fantasy game!
New FF game on the GC?! Possibly set in the FF7 universe?! *has a heart-attack*
Quote:It seems, almost logically, that as games get better their memory card usage increases. While not always the case a lot of games are now requiring a lot of memory card space.
Originally Nintendo released the Memory Card 251 to counter this, but there are still problems for people with some games. But fret not, Nintendo have a solution.
Nintendo are to release a memory card with 1019 memory card 'blocks' so you can save any game on them. While no official price or release dates have been announced it will probably be shown at E3 and released shortly after, if not before.
This definitely something that we've needed for a while.
1. I just bought a Gamecube game for the first time in about 14 months. (the awewsomeness that is NHL 2004, which brings my grande total to a whopping 9 games) How does that make you feel?
2. Are there any cases in which you can hold Gamecube games? You've got zippered cases for CDs DVDs, PS2 games etc. Do they have any for the tiny Gamecube discs?
That is all.
edit-I think this is the very first post that I've made in the Tendo City forum. Amazing.
