Quote:March 05, 2004 - Japan's Nintendo Dream all-Nintendo publication contains in its monthly issues a Q&A corner in which many Nintendo-related topics are addressed. This month's edition was particularly loaded with interesting Nintendo related details.
Topics of merit include:
# Famicom Mini: Nintendo was apparently surprised by the success of the Famicom Mini series of classic NES titles for the Game Boy Advance. The company is of course considering adding more titles beyond the original ten. However, actually choosing the titles for the series is a difficult task, given the large variety of NES titles.
# Club Nintendo membership has gone up as a result of the Japanese release of Pokemon Fire Red & Leaf Green. Membership registration is currently running at 1.5 times that of the end of last year.
# Development on Mario Tennis GC is progressing well, but Nintendo is not at a point where it can discuss a release date.
# Nintendo does not have plans to unveil the successor to the GameCube at this year's E3.
# The Wireless Adapter that gives Game Boy Advance wireless link-up ability has quite a bit of functionality built into it. Nintendo is currently looking into ways to use the device, but as a start, the company will begin at the Pokemon Center some time around the end of February, a new service that makes use of the device.
# As previously confirmed, a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is currently in development. Also, while not officially confirmed, the company is working on a sequel to Animal Forest +, with the original's development staff stating "There's still a lot we want to do [with the game]." It's apparently just a matter of time before an official announcement takes place.
# Finally, some news for Japanese fans who want the Japanese version of the latest Treasure-developed title. Wario World is still coming out to the Japanese market. Nintendo is currently setting a time for the game's release.
Fans of Wind Waker, Animal Forest, Famicom Mini and the Wireless Adapter apparently have a lot to look forward to.
Oh and here's a shocking statement from Magicbox.
Quote: - Nintendo mentioned they do not plan to reveal any info on the successor of GameCube at E3 2004.
Oh and more shots of Homeland, that Japanese rpg-ish game we probably won't get...
Quote:Do you pretend you are the Hero of Time in your sleep? Are you the biggest Zelda fan on the block? Well, take a gander at what this Zelda fan owns...
When we read that Paul Hantschel, one of our forum users, owns a real-life replica of the famous Master Sword from the Legend of Zelda series, we couldn’t just leave well enough alone. So we contacted Paul and asked for some details on his little artifact.
Mr. Hantschel emailed blacksmith Rob Miller of Castle Keep, located in Scotland, with the initial concept and original artwork. Around a week later, Rob responded and requested detailed dimensions for every aspect of Link’s Master Sword. After a ten-month wait period and a £1,800 transaction (around $3,300), Rob began work on the sword of legends.
The blacksmith provided updates of his progress during the one-and-a-half-month forging process. With them he included photographs of the sword, which Paul has graciously shared with PGC.
That’s one great sword, if you ask us! Paul agrees. “Now I've just got to go to my local gravestone peddler and get a Pedestal of Time made up!”
Quote:The Advocate news in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is reporting about a federal case against Nintendo that claims the company failed to follow consumer protection rules. A family has gone to court with Nintendo after their son had a seizure playing a game. Their attorneys say that Nintendo’s games contain defects that present a “substantial hazard” of serious injury or death to those that can suffer from seizures while playing games. Some people’s brains are extremely sensitive to certain patterns and flashing lights and can have a seizure. Striped clothing, helicopter blades, and strobe lights can also have the same effect.
After three days of testimony Nintendo settled the personal injury claim in the case for an undisclosed amount. That’s only the beginning though, the judge has to decide whether Nintendo knew about an unusually high risk and didn’t do enough about it. Nintendo has been putting warnings on their packages about games possibly causing seizures for years, but there are several other guidelines and rules to follow.
Nintendo’s professional witness says "Video games don't cause epilepsy or seizures. They are caused by a pre-existing neurological condition." The defense also testified that Nintendo donated funds to the Japanese Epilepsy Association to help fund research into the connection of games and seizures.
The family is going to tremendous lengths in their demands, they’ve asked Nintendo to require there to be warnings about seizures on the screen while games are in use. They want Nintendo to rank all games according to seizure risk and reformat all their games to reduce the chance of seizures. And as if this wasn’t enough they also want Nintendo to fund a nationwide advertising campaign to inform the public about seizures from games and to institute a refund program so that anybody that wants to get their money back from Nintendo games can do so.
In total there were six complaints related to seizures from Nintendo's games in 2003, down from 22 in 1999.
Most Penalty Minutes, one game, both teams-Ottawa and Philadelphia, 419 Most Penalty Minutes, one period, one team-Philadelphia Flyers, 209, third period Most Penalty Minutes, one game, one team-Philadeplhia Flyers, 213 (Ottawa had a respective 206)
That's carazy! 419 penalty minutes in the City of Brotherly Love...ironic. Ottawa, The City that Closes at 8 PM, couldn't pull off the win though. Too bad. :(
It took the refs 90 minutes after the game to sort out all the penalties and whatnot. :D There were only three players left on the bench from each team at the end of the game...16 total from each team finished.
The official blow-out will be in a few short days, but here are some terrific-looking scans from Famitsu and other sources (found em at the gaming-age forums), as well as a super-cool gif:
According to several gaming journalists that have played the game it's going to be incredible. Matt from IGN places it just below Metroid Prime 2 as his most-anticipated game of 2004.
I have to admit that while I've never been a real RE fan I am very excited about this game. It looks like it's going to get rid of the main reasons why I don't really like the survival horror genre (crap controls, crap camera, and terrible puzzles).