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January 21, 2000 Sega has announced that over 1.5 million copies of the Dreamcast hardware were sold in the US last year. Unit #1.5 million was sold on December 24. Sega hopes to sell an additional 500,000 units in the first three months of this year. Sega also revealed that one Dreamcast was sold every ten minutes in December, and the average Dreamcast owner already has three games for the system. Capcom hinted at a new Resident Evil game for the Nintendo 64 in an interview with Master Gamer last summer, and now the game has been officially confirmed. The game is called Resident Evil Zero, and its story line takes place before all of the other Resident Evil games. Capcom's Yoshiki Okamoto said that players will control Rebecca Chambers for much of the game. He also said that Resident Evil Zero will be the most difficult Resident Evil game yet, and he said he's planning to get rid of the item box inventory system. Resident Evil Zero is scheduled to be released this summer, but that release date might change since the game is currently only about half-finished. About 20 people recently protested outside of Midway's headquarters in Chicago, Illinois after the city of Chicago gave Midway a $2 million grant. City officials decided to give Midway the money so that they would keep their headquarters in Chicago, where Midway is responsible for more than 700 jobs. The protesters were upset that the city gave money to a company that sells "violent war toys for children." In response to the continued excellent sales of Pokemon, Nintendo's Peter Main said, "While many industry observers focus on more powerful technology, it's clear that the game players still care most about great game entertainment." Of course, Main has to say things like this since he works for a company that derives 90% of its profits from 8-bit software. If things were the other way around and Nintendo has the newest system on the block, Main would undoubtedly be bragging about Nintendo's superior technology. Many video game web sites recently reported that Raven Software (the developer of such PC games as Heretic and Hexen) is making games for the PlayStation 2. This isn't really news, because just about every video game company in the known universe is making games for the PS2 (except Sega and Nintendo). A new device called the Songboy will turn the Game Boy Color into a portable MP3 player. The Songboy cartridge (which costs $80) allows you to connect to the Songboy web site and download songs. There are just two catches: Downloading songs won't be free, and the sound quality will be low since it will be running through the Game Boy Color. If you're interested, you can pre-order the Songboy at www.songboy.com Sega's latest round of advertising focuses a lot more on the Internet than it does on ads in print magazines. Most of Sega's new print ads feature no screen shots whatsoever and say, "Screen grabs suck. Check it out online at sega.com." One of the games that falls under this new marketing angle is Crazy Taxi, which now has its own web site at www.crazytaxi.com. The web site requires Shockwave Flash to be accessed, so you won't be able to access it through the Dreamcast's web browser. Crazy Taxi will be released for the Dreamcast next month. Nintendo recently acknowledged that Microsoft's rumored X-Box console might provide competition for Nintendo's Dolphin, but they said that they don't expect the X-Box to be released until 2001. Of course, these same Nintendo employees still claim that the Dolphin will be released this year, so their word means absolutely nothing. CyberLife, the makers of the Creatures series for the PC, has been re-named Creature Labs and is now working on a new PC game. The new game is a 3D real-time strategy game code-named Beasts. Creature Labs' cutting- edge AI programming ability will probably be what separates Beasts from the pack of strategy games on the market. Due to drastically decreasing sales of Nintendo 64 hardware and software, many video game retailers are discounting the N64 and its games in order to clear out their N64 stock and focus on PlayStation and Dreamcast games. In particular, many Best Buy stores are selling the system for $90, and many Target stores are selling the system for $80. Baseball star Sammy Sosa has signed on with 3DO to promote High Heat Baseball 2001. Sosa will also help promote 3DO's upcoming softball game, entitled Sammy Sosa Softball Slam (the first softball game since Dusty Diamond Softball for the NES). Sosa previously endorsed EA Sports' Triple Play 2000. Nintendo recently announced that Rare's platform game starring a squirrel named Conker is not dead, and it will be released this fall. The game was originally unveiled at the 1997 E3 show alongside Banjo-Kazooie. It was originally called Conker's Quest, then Twelve Tales, and now it's being called Conker's Bad Fur Day. Sega has delayed their upcoming hockey game NHL 2K. It was previously scheduled for a February release, and now it's set to be released in April, May, or June. The game is being developed by Black Box, which was founded by several of the people who developed the classic NHL Powerplay '96. Eidos is going to release Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation for the Dreamcast in March. The Dreamcast version will be the same as the PlayStation and PC versions, with the exception of slightly better graphics (so they will look like 1997 graphics instead of 1996 graphics). This will be just the second time that a Tomb Raider game has been released for a video game console other than the PlayStation (with the other being the original Tomb Raider for the Sega Saturn). In the press release announcing this news, Sega Europe's CEO got more than a little carried away when he referred to Tomb Raider as "the strongest software property ever created." Due to the continued success of the Rainbow Six franchise, Red Storm's revenues made a huge jump in 1999. The company generated about $15 million in 1998 and about $60 million in 1999. The Dreamcast version of Rainbow Six continues to be delayed on a weekly basis, with the current release date being February 17. Nintendo recently announced that the Game Boy Advance will be released in the US on November 1. This is the system's first announced release date, and we all know that every Nintendo product has to be delayed at least once. The question is: Will it be a minor delay, or will the system slip into 2001? Gran Turismo 2 shipped with tons of bugs, many of which will be fixed in future production runs of the game. For the several hundred thousand people who already own the game, you can call 1-800-345-SONY to get a free replacement disc. According to Sony, "A customer service representative will be able to help you identify if you have purchased a disc with software glitches, and a replacement disc will be sent within three to five business days." A British developer has spoken out about his company's struggle to get their Nintendo 64 game published. Philip Oliver of Interactive Studios said the following about his company's N64 game Dragon Sword: "The Nintendo market has become so de-valued that it could be hard to find a publisher. It's galling that we've got a good, complete game that might never be published, but the simple fact is that people feel they're risking money to take on an N64 game." Electronic Arts has released a code to unlock WCW's Souled Out pay-per- view in WCW Mayhem. No word yet if there's a code that lets you demote Vince Russo in favor of Kevin Sullivan, or a code that lets you release Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guererro, Perry Saturn, and Shane Douglas. Rumors are flying that Columbia Pictures is working on a lot more movies based on video games in addition to the previously announced Final Fantasy movie. Games that Columbia is rumored to be considering include Heavy Gear 2, Parasite Eve, Space Channel 5, and EverQuest. 989 Studios president Kelly Flock said, "The head creator at Squaresoft is very interested in EverQuest, but there are no negotiations or discussions that I'm aware of." Flock is infamous for once saying, "Liquid AI is the stuff that ran down EA's leg when they saw GameDay." Wolfpack Studios has hinted that they may be bringing their online RPG Shadowbane to the PlayStation 2 and/or Dreamcast. Wolfpack says that they are drooling over the possibilities of the PlayStation 2, and they also said the following about a possible Dreamcast version of Shadowbane: "If the Dreamcast continues selling as it has been, we'll probably look at it as a viable platform, especially when people begin to use the modem. The fact that we're supporting the PC and the Mac at the same time speaks volumes that our code base is portable." Shadowbane could be the third online RPG for the Dreamcast; the first two are going to be Frontier (from the makers of Asheron's Call) and Phantasy Star Online (developed internally by Sega). The PlayStation version of Unreal was previously cancelled because it was determined to be technically impossible, but now it's in development again, this time by a British company called Pterodactyl. The PlayStation version will have some sort of multi-player mode, but the focus of the game will be on the single-player mode. Pterodactyl claims that the game will feature over 45 "completely new, good-sized levels." The PlayStation version of Unreal is set to be released in Europe this November. No US release date has been announced. The Nintendo 64 version of Nightmare Creatures 2 has been cancelled. However, it will still be released for the PlayStation and Dreamcast in March. Konami has acquired the game's publishing rights from Activision. Believe it or not, the original Nightmare Creatures sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. Electronics Boutique lists Daikatana's release date as February 18, but Eidos says that this is not true. Eidos is understandably frustrated with Ion Storm's inability to finish the game. An Eidos spokesperson said, "We don't want to announce a release date until we're sure we can stick to it." Somebody should have said that to John Romero in 1997. NEWS BRIEFS National Console Support is now selling translucent color shells for the Dreamcast. Each shell costs $30, and you can currently choose from black, white, blue, and green (more colors will be available in the future). Check it out at www.ncsx.com Grandia 2 has been given a summer release date for the Japanese Dreamcast. Square has announced that they are working on a wrestling game and a baseball game for the PlayStation 2. No word on either game's chances of being released in the US. Ubi Soft has cancelled the Nintendo 64 version of Hype: The Time Quest, but the PC version is still in development. A Rockstar Games executive recently said that Earthworm Jim 3D was probably the company's last Nintendo 64 game. However, Rockstar still plans to support Nintendo in the future with games for the Dolphin. Midway has officially confirmed that they are working on a sequel to Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, and they're looking for suggestions on their web site (www.midway.com). Nearly three million PlayStation systems were sold in the months of November and December. There are now 25 million PlayStations in US homes (that's one in every four homes). The PlayStation is now the best-selling video game system ever, surpassing the NES and Game Boy. Acclaim was hoping to have ECW Hardcore Revolution ready on February 17 for the PlayStation, N64, and Dreamcast. Now it appears that the Dreamcast version might not make the February 17 date, but it should still be released shortly thereafter. Despite the fact that it has only been available for about two months, WWF Wrestlemania 2000 for the Nintendo 64 has already sold over one million copies worldwide. All future SNK products will be funded by the Japanese company Aruze, but it's not yet known whether Aruze will take full control of SNK. SNK's Neo Geo Pocket Color continues to sell respectably, although nowhere near as well as the Game Boy Color. The next Duke Nukem game will be Duke Nukem: Planet of the Babes for the PlayStation. Like Duke Nukem: A Time To Call, Planet of the Babes will be a third-person action game from N-Space. It will be released in April. MTV has acquired the rights to make a TV series based on Sega's odd dancing game for the Dreamcast, Space Channel 5. The game will be released in the US later this year, and the TV series will debut in early 2001. Tecmo has confirmed that they are indeed working on another Monster Rancher game, but they wouldn't reveal what system it will be for. The first two Monster Rancher games were for the PlayStation. Rockstar Games' latest title is a Muppets game for the Game Boy Color. Now that's rockstar-like... Epic Games is working on a PlayStation 2 version of Unreal Tournament which may or may not ever be released. Remember, Epic was working on a Dreamcast version of the original Unreal for quite a while, but it was never released. Multi-colored Nintendo 64s will be for sale at retailers nationwide starting on February 21. The units will come in smoke gray, grape purple, ice blue, watermelon pink, fire orange, and jungle green. All of the units will come with a matching controller and will still cost $99. The rumors that ASC Games was going to shut down two weeks didn't end up being true. The company is still in business, but they did downsize several departments. SALES CHARTS The top ten best-selling games for all systems in 1999 were: 1. Pokemon Blue for Game Boy 2. Pokemon Red for Game Boy 3. Pokemon Yellow for Game Boy Color 4. Donkey Kong 64 for Nintendo 64 (click on the blue text for Master Gamer's review of the game) 5. Pokemon Pinball for Game Boy Color 6. Pokemon Snap for Nintendo 64 7. Gran Turismo for PlayStation 8. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64 9. Driver for PlayStation 10.Spyro the Dragon for PlayStation The top ten list was completely dominated by Nintendo, but almost entirely because of Pokemon. Most of games #10 through #20 on the list are PlayStation games, and Sony dominated the overall top 100. Still, it must feel pretty good for Nintendo to be able to honestly say that they published the top six best-selling games in 1999. Sources for news: Fastest Game News Online, GameSpot, GameFan, Blue's News, GI News, Next Generation, Adrenaline Vault, The Magic Box, Happy Puppy, PSX 2 Online, IGNPSX, Nintendorks, IGN 64, The Sega Zone, Sega Otaku, Gaming Age, The NPD Group, www.hamsterdance.com
© 2001 ivan@mastergamer.com