Uh, yeah... I know I kinda sorta disappeared... however, after Cypherstation was revived (successfully this time :holyshit: ), I decided to check and see how this place is doing. Still the same ol' Tendo City as I remember it. ;)
Quote:June 13, 2003 - In a report by Yahoo Asia News, Nintendo admitted that software sales for its current-generation GameCube console have been sluggish.
"Our software has not been widely accepted by consumers," said Ken Toyoda, Nintendo of Japan's public relations head.
Toyoda also noted that it's difficult to develop software that can appeal to both beginner and expert players.
What, not going to say again that people are less interested in video games? :)
Quote:Access Corp. LTD has announced that it will be making it's NetFront internet software available as middleware for the GameCube to publishers and developers very soon.
Access is alredy the internet middleware provider for Sega's Phantasy Star Online Episode 3: CARD Battle.
Access is also the company that provided Konami the internet middleware tools for its upcoming Power Pro Stadium 10 Japanese baseball game on the GameCube and PlayStation 2, which has downloadable rosters available for it on both versions.
Access has stated that besides the normal TCP/IP stack that is the most common protocall among all internet software, that their NetFront internet middleware tools for the GameCube will also have a format called AVE-TCP, which is IPv6 compatible; as well as a wireless protocoll known as WAP Wireless Profiled TCP, WAP 2.0.
Hopefully with the release of this news, more online capable games will become available for the GC in the future!
..and so far, I'm only about 1 hour into it. But I can say, it already seems much better than #2 (which I found to be overall, lacking). At the moment, the storyline has yet had time to mature to the same level that was present in #2 from near the start of the game, but there have been a few interesting revelations that make you wonder just what the storyline will be about.
Gameplay is largely the same. Knife, pistol, pipe, etc. etc. Though I have been surprised by the almost complete lack of puzzles at this stage in the game. But again, I expect that to pick up as well (although, given how short the game apparently is..)
The graphics are indeed as good as we've seen in the screenshots. WEith amazing textures (for the PS2 at least). Even though the enironments are small, they are impressive. Of course with the lighting systems, there are times you notice inconsistancies. Such as when you enter a sunlit room, your shadow will be on the wall, even if you are pointing your light at it. Also, there really isn't that much difference between in-game graphics, and cut-scene graphics.. other than animations.
Anyways, I'm largely positive about this game at this stage, and while the story doesn't appear to be as good as #2 (which was the best thing about the game - hopefully it'll pick up) the atmosphere is great. I've already had the shite scared out of me on a number of occasions. Although it seems to be a lot of monsters in corridor - run to next room for safety - search room - run back through corridor with monsters - go inside next room. Meaning it doesn't maintain the intensity the whole time.
Anyways, those are my impressions, I'll update once I'm further into the game. :)
