March 29, 1999
Capcom's next original Resident Evil game may not be the Dreamcast's
Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Rumors are circulating around the Internet
that Capcom is working on one more RE game for the PlayStation, tentatively
titled Resident Evil X. Supposedly, the game will be a prequel, taking
place just 24 hours before Resident Evil 2's story line began. The game
may be based on the Resident Evil 2 engine and feature all the Resident
Evil 1 characters we all know and love (possibly including Barry Burton!).
Resident Evil X could be released for the Japanese PlayStation as soon as
November.
Elsewhere in the Resident Evil universe, Resident Evil: Code Veronica
for the Dreamcast will not be released for the Japanese Dreamcast until
December 24, which pretty much eliminates any chance of US gamers seeing it
this year. Capcom is also supposedly working on an original Resident Evil
game which would be developed for the Nintendo 64 first and other systems
later. All of these games are fine and dandy, but how come none of them
are called Resident Evil 3, you might be asking? Is Capcom going to avoid
releasing the official number three game in the series for six years like
they did with Street Fighter? There is no concrete information available
on Resident Evil 3, but reports have surfaced that the game will be
released for the PlayStation 2, and its rumored Japanese launch date is
December 3 of this year (assuming the PlayStation 2 will be out in Japan by
then, and in reality, it probably won't be).
In the meantime, Capcom is going to squeeze all they can out of Resident
Evil 2, which has sold approximately 4.5 million copies worldwide since its
release last year. RE2 will be brought to the Nintendo 64 in its entirety
by the end of the year on a huge 64MB cartridge (for the purposes of
comparison, the previous largest N64 cart was Zelda 64 at 32MB, and one
Dreamcast GD-ROM holds 1,200 MB). In typical fashion for a Nintendo system,
gamers will be able to change the color of the blood in the game, and can
even turn it off completely if they wish. Much like the PC version, the
N64 version will automatically re-position the game's items after you've
beaten it once to give you motivation to play again. And lastly, rumor has
it that Resident Evil 2 will also be ported to the Dreamcast.
If you're confused, here is a game-by-game breakdown of all upcoming RE
games. For each game, I tell you its title, its system, whether or not it
has been officially announced by Capcom, and possible Japanese and US
release dates.
Resident Evil 2 for Nintendo 64
officially announced: yes
release date: Fall 1999 in the US and Japan
Resident Evil: Code Veronica for Dreamcast
officially announced: yes
possible release date: December 24, 1999 in Japan, probably not until 2000
in the US
Resident Evil X (tentative title) for PlayStation
officially announced: no
possible release date: November 1999 in Japan, probably not until 2000 in
the US
Resident Evil 2 for Dreamcast
officially announced: no
release date: unknown, but presumably before Code Veronica since it's just
a port
Resident Evil 3 for PlayStation 2
officially announced: no
possible release date: December 3, 1999 in Japan, late 2000 in the US
(obviously not until the PlayStation 2 is released)
Resident Evil something or other to be developed for the N64 first, other
systems later
officially announced: no
release date: unknown
In a way, I'm glad to see so many Resident Evil games on the horizon,
but another part of me feels that Capcom is over-saturating the series just
like they did with Street Fighter. The anticipation for each individual
Resident Evil game will certainly be lower this way then it was when they
released one RE game every year or two.
Electronic Arts, the largest third-party video game maker in the world,
has officially pledged its support for the Sony PlayStation 2. EA's
executive vice president Bing Gordon was recently quoted as saying, "EA
will be supporting Sony's new console system and plans to be the major
software vendor for them on PlayStation 2." In other PlayStation 2 news,
Sony has confirmed that the system will have a modem of some sort. Sony
claims the system will have "unparalleled connectivity capabilities," but
refrained from going into the slightest bit of detail.
At least three national video game retailers are openly telling
consumers that the Sega Dreamcast will cost $200 when it is released in the
US this September. The three retailers making these claims are Babbage's,
Toys R Us, and Software Etc. Sega of America has still not made an
official announcement regarding the system's price, but company president
Bernie Stolar did recently confirm that the system will come packaged with
a 56K modem, an upgrade over the Japanese Dreamcast's 33.6 modem. Stolar
also confirmed that the system has the ability to eventually be upgraded to
DVD, but Sega will only offer the DVD upgrade "when the time is right."
In addition, Stolar said he expects that 250,000-300,000 gamers will pre-
order the system in the US before its release. For comparison purposes,
about 100,000 PlayStations were reserved prior to its US release in 1995,
and that system went on to do pretty well...
Not all the news coming out of Sega recently was good, though. Yu
Suzuki, creator of the Virtua Fighter series, has announced that his
flagship Dreamcast game Shenmue has been delayed again. Shenmue is now
scheduled for release in Japan in at least two different parts the first of
which is due for release in August, the second in December. Ultimately,
what this means to US gamers is that the odds of seeing Shenmue on the
American Dreamcast in any form this year are small and are only shrinking
with each passing week.
A list of upcoming third-party games for the Dreamcast has reportedly
leaked to retailers across the country. Games on the list included
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, Time Crisis 2, Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, Mortal
Kombat 5 (which Bernie Stolar himself confirmed), South Park, Age of
Empires, and more. Sega would not confirm the existence of any of the
games except for MK5.
Shigeru Miyamoto revealed in a speech to his fellow game developers at
the Game Developers Conference that he is currently working on a Game Boy
game entitled Talent Maker, which was originally intended to be for the
ill-fated 64DD. Through the use of the Game Boy Camera, Talent Maker will
allow gamers to place an image of their own face onto the main character of
the game, and then make the character do silly things like dancing.
Miyamoto concluded his very long speech at the Game Developers Conference
with the following statement: "I want game designers to be the designers
who make technology their tools, and use it to express their own
individuality, their own unique-ness and their own rhythm, as well as the
entertainers who make this world a more enjoyable one. It is with this
extravagant hope that I wish to end my speech. My friends, let us design
unique, fun software with new appeal. Let us take on new challenges so that
the world of gaming is not left behind as a separate, closed off world.
And in the process, let’s see if we can’t make a little money."
Shigeru Miyamoto also confirmed what many gamers have wanted to hear for
years: Nintendo is developing a new Metroid game. Miyamoto has no day-to-
day role in the development of Metroid 64, but he does pop in on the team
making the game every once in a while to see how it's progressing and offer
his advice. The next Metroid game may or may not get a 3D upgrade like
Mario and Zelda did, and it may or may not be for the Nintendo 64 (it could
be for Nintendo's next system). As for a possible release date, your guess
is as good as mine.
The latest video game lawsuit has been filed by Virgin Interactive
against Crave Entertainment and former Virgin executive Christian Gloe.
Virgin alleges that Gloe left Virgin to work for Crave and proceeded to
entice numerous contracted Virgin employees to abandon the company and go
work for Crave. Numerous charges were filed against Crave and Gloe,
including breach of contract, trade disparagement, destruction of evidence,
interference with prospective economic advantage, breach of fiduciary duty,
intentional interference with a contractual relationship, and trade-secret
misappropriation. Whew!
VM Labs has announced several new developers for its NUON system, which
will be built in to various DVD players starting sometime later this year.
The developers mentioned in the press release were Adrenaline Interactive,
Total Arcade Software, The Golden Gate Game Company, Attention To Detail,
Fungus Amungus, The Collective, Tiertex Design Studios, High Voltage
Software, Interactive Studios, Sunstorm Interactive, Lifelike Productions,
Realtime Associates, Logicware, Paradox Development, and Team 17 Software.
These 15 companies are not exactly the highest-profile developers in the
world, and have produced a total of one hit series among them- Team 17's
Worms series. Unfortunately for VM Labs, Team 17 has publicly stated that
they won't really be supporting the NUON. A Team 17 spokesperson made the
following statement: "We got a development kit after ECTS last year. We're
certainly not working on it at the moment, though. The team here is totally
focused on the Dreamcast. We didn't know that press release was going to be
issued; maybe they're just trying to generate interest."
Sierra's Dreamcast plans are uncertain, but rumor has it that Half-Life
will be out for the system by Christmas. Supposedly, a Dreamcast version
of Homeworld, Sierra's upcoming real-time strategy game for the PC, is also
on its way to the Dreamcast, although it probably won't be released until
next year.
SNK has announced that the Neo Geo Pocket Color (the company's portable
gaming system) will be released in the US this April for the price of $80.
The full retail release of the system may not take place until after April,
but you will at the very least be able to buy it from SNK's web site
(www.snkusa.com) come April. The Neo Geo Pocket Color can be hooked up to
the Sega Dreamcast's Virtual Memory Unit (VMU) and has the support of at
least one high-profile third-party developer: Capcom. The launch games for
the system will include SNK's usual fighting games (King of Fighters and
Samurai Shodown), plus Baseball Stars Pocket (yes!).
Infogrames Entertainment has announced its purchase of Gremlin
Interactive, a major European video game publisher based in Sheffield,
England. The deal is valued at over $40 million and includes both Gremlin
and all of its subsidiaries (including DMA Design, the developers of Grand
Theft Auto, Lemmings, and more).
John Romero, who co-created Doom and Quake 1 and went on to found Ion
Storm, was recently quoted as saying the following regarding the mass walk-
out of Ion Storm employees last year: "I'm very glad they left; we needed
to get rid of them. Now we have some very professional guys working for
us." No word yet on whether or not Romero is also pleased that Ion Storm's
flagship game Daikatana is over two years late...
A commercial PlayStation emulator for the PC has just been released.
Entitled "bleem!" the emulator is compatible with most PlayStation games
and even enhances the graphics if you have a 3D graphics accelerator. Sony
has not yet filed a lawsuit against the makers of bleem! but don't be
surprised if they do sometime in the near future considering their lawsuit
against Connectix.
Fox Interactive will be promoting Aliens vs. Predator, its upcoming
first-person shooter for the PC, in a unique way. A coupon for a free pair
of Big Dogs boxer shorts will come with 10,000 copies of the game. Fox's
Scott Marcus claims that the game is so scary, you'll need the extra pair
of underwear.
A false rumor recently circulated around the Internet which stated that
Square would be developing a Star Wars RPG for the PlayStation 2. After
the rumor had already sent thousands of Star Wars and Square nuts into
violent convulsions, both Square and Lucasarts firmly denied the rumor,
saying it was "unfounded" and "absolutely untrue."
If you're a fan of Street Fighter, you're probably wondering "Where the
heck is Street Fighter Alpha 3?" After all the talk of SF Alpha 3 being
the best arcade port Capcom had ever done and the most innovative Street
Fighter game in years, the game appeared to drop off from the face of the
Earth. But fear not, SF fans, Capcom is pretty much done with development
of the PlayStation version of SF Alpha 3, and the only reason the game
isn't out right now is because Capcom wants it to support the Sony
PocketStation (which is used in SF Alpha 3 for the variety of mini-games it
has to offer). Unfortunately, there's still the question of when (or if)
the PocketStation will be released in the US, so Capcom temporarily put the
game's release on hold until Sony got their PocketStation act together.
However, Capcom can't keep the game on hold forever, and will release the
game in late April or early May with or without PocketStation support.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 will also be released for the Japanese Dreamcast,
and possibly for the American Dreamcast as well somewhere down the line.
Square has finally announced the sequel to one of its classic RPGs, a
sequel we've all been waiting a long time for. Unfortunately, it's not a
sequel to Chrono Trigger, but it is a sequel to Secret of Mana, which is a
very big deal in its own right. The Secret of Mana sequel is entitled
Legend of Mana, and retains the hand-drawn graphics (as opposed to
computer-generated graphics) of its predecessor. Now where the heck is
Chrono Trigger 2?
Titus Interactive has bought a stake in the financially troubled
Interplay for about $10 million. In addition to the stocks it bought with
its own money, Titus now has the option to secure all of the Interplay
stocks currently owned by Universal Interactive Studios. These two
transactions combined could give Titus up to 34% of an ownership stake in
Interplay. The two companies feel that they are a good fit for each other
because Titus is primarily a console game developer and Interplay is
primarily a PC game developer, so they can complement each other's styles
without clashing over competing products.
The online gaming service Case's Ladder has announced that it now has
over one million registered members, up drastically from the 20,000 members
it had one year ago. Case's Ladder was founded in 1996 as a host of
Command & Conquer games, and it now gives it members free rankings for
dozens of dozens of games. It is also the service Interplay chose to host
its massive Descent 3 tournament, in which the top finisher will win a
whopping $50,000.
GT Interactive is re-locating its corporate headquarters from New York .
to Los Angeles, California. Apparently, GT's new CEO Thomas Heymann lives
in the LA area and has a clause in his contract which says that if GT
doesn't re-locate to the LA area, he could get out of his contract.
Those of you who were disappointed to hear that PaRappa would not be in
Um Jammer Lammy (the unofficial sequel to PaRappa the Rapper) will be
pleased to hear that he is in the game after all as a hidden character.
Once PaRappa is unlocked, you can choose to play as him and rap, or play as
Lammy and play a guitar. Um Jammer Lammy is due for a US release later
this year.
The top ten selling video games in January (for all systems) were:
1. WCW/NWO Thunder for PlayStation
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo 64
3. Goldeneye 007 for Nintendo 64
4. South Park 64 for Nintendo 64
5. Metal Gear Solid for PlayStation
6. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron for Nintendo 64
7. Frogger 3D for PlayStation
8. Pokemon Blue for Game Boy
9. Crash Bandicoot: Warped for PlayStation
10. Crash Bandicoot 2 for PlayStation
On a points basis (with the first best-selling game earning its system
ten points, the second best-selling game earning its system nine points,
and so on), the N64 won with 29 points, followed by the PlayStation with 23,
the Game Boy with 3, and the PC with 0. Despite the N64's sales victory in
terms of the sales of individual games, it is important to note that the
PlayStation still sold many more pieces of software overall.
Sources for news: Fastest Game News Online, GameSpot, GameFan, Blue's News,
GI News, Next Generation Online, Adrenaline Vault, VideoGames, Happy Puppy,
Gamesdomain, GameCenter, PlanetQuake, PSM Online, IGN 64, The Sega Zone,
Gaming Age, www.hamsterdance.com
Master Gamer News- March 17, 1999
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