Oddworld's owner, Infogrames. Oddworld's Lorne Lanning told Daily Radar, "Munch's Oddysee would have been an outstanding game on the PlayStation 2. However, on the Xbox, it's going to be even better. Even better-looking, better-playing, and it will have more characters in there on any one level." When asked if Munch's Oddysee will also be released for the PC, Lanning replied, "That's up to Microsoft." To read the rest of Daily Radar's interview with Lorne Lanning, click here. This decision was apparently made by Oddworld very recently. When asked by Master Gamer two weeks ago if he has had the temptation abandon the PS2 in favor of the Xbox, Lanning said, "Yes, but who's going to pay the bills until the Xbox arrives?" Ironically, Oddworld's announcement came just two days after the publication of Master Gamer's Oddworld Editorial, which urged Oddworld to abandon the PS2 in favor of the Xbox. Who knew Master Gamer was so influential? (awkward silence, followed by the sound of crickets chirping...) The Nikkei News Service reports that Square has been working on a Final Fantasy game for the Xbox since last summer. Nikkei reports that the online-only Final Fantasy 11 is the most likely FF game to be in development for the Xbox. FF9 has already been announced to be a cross-platform game, letting PlayStation 2 and PC gamers play the game together, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for the Xbox to be added into that equation. Sega is scheduled to hold its "Graffiti Is Art" contest this Saturday in San Francisco, California between noon and 4:00 PM. Five "artists" will be painting murals on wall-sized canvases supplied by Sega, and the winning "artist" will win $5,000. Ironically, at roughly the same time as Sega's contest, the city of San Francisco's anti-graffiti task force will be working on cleaning up graffiti just a few blocks away. San Francisco mayor Willie Brown wants Sega to move or cancel the contest and told The San Francisco Chronicle, "It's really, really irresponsible. I expect better from Sega." Sega's Heather Hawkins responds, "All of our permits were in order, and then the mayor's task force on graffiti found out about the event and got very upset that they had given us permits... They actually tried to revoke our permits, but we got our permits completely legally, so the event is still going on." Hawkins goes on to say, "We don't think that we'll be getting any repercussions, but we have been receiving some nasty phone calls (from city officials) today. It really amazes me that people who are fighting against something they believe to be disrespectful can be so disrespectful themselves. It's like they're almost worse than what they're fighting against." US District Court Judge David Hamilton has ruled that restrictions on violent arcade games in Indianapolis, Indiana can take effect immediately. Children under 18 in the city can no longer play Mature-rated arcade games unless they're accompanied by a parent (or, of course, an adult friend pretending to be a parent). City inspectors have already begun random checks at many of Indianapolis' 70 arcades. Any arcade owner found to be in violation of the new law will be fined $200 per day. If an arcade owner is charged with three violations in any 12-month period, their license will be revoked. Regarding his decision, Judge Hamilton said, "It would be an odd conception of the First Amendment... that would allow a state to prevent a boy from purchasing a magazine containing pictures of topless women in provocative poses, but give that same boy the constitutional right to train to become a sniper at the local arcade without his parents' permission." Core Design has announced that the next game in the Tomb Raider series will have an episodic format. When the game is released for the PS2 in late 2001, consumers will buy the game at a retailer just like any other game. The difference is that after the initial purchase of the game, consumers will be able to download new game scenarios using the PS2's broadband network. A Core spokesperson says, "The game will pan out much like a soap opera, with new characters, levels, and situations being introduced at regular intervals." Core also says that it is working on at least one game that will be exclusive to the Xbox. 3D Realms' Scott Miller has confirmed that Duke Nukem Forever will be released for the Xbox at some point. Miller said, "We'd be crazy not to make an Xbox version of DNF simply because it's so easy to make an Xbox version once you've got a PC version." However, Miller also reiterated that 3D Realms' long-term focus will remain on the PC, not the Xbox. Independent research firm PC Data reports that Dreamcast sales more than doubled between July 23 and September 23 thanks to the new $150 price point, the release of NFL 2K1, and the launch of SegaNet. Based on revenue generated in the past month, Sony currently has a 42 percent share of the US video game market, while Sega has a 40 percent share and Nintendo has an 18 percent share The interior minister of Malaysia has ruled that all Malaysian arcades must shut down within two months. Interior minister Abdullah Badawi said, "It has turned addicts out of the young... they need to go there every day or else they cannot sleep. Video games have turned into some kind of gambling activity and will not bring much good." Capcom has announced that it will be releasing three of its old survival horror games for the American Dreamcast. Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, and Dino Crisis 1 will all feature slightly enhanced graphics when they're released in the US this November. Also, all of the unlock-able mini-games and alternate costumes will now be available from the beginning of each game. All three games will have suggested retail prices of $20. Sierra is offering a (sort of) free expansion pack to anyone who buys the recent-released PC strategy game, Ground Control. If you send Sierra your proof of purchase and $5 for shipping and handling, Sierra will send you the "Ground Control: Dark Conspiracy" expansion pack at no additional cost. I've got good news and bad news for wrestling game fans. The good news is that THQ's first wrestling game for the PlayStation 2 is still on schedule to be released in late 2001. The bad news is that this game is based on the Smackdown game engine, not the vastly superior Wrestlemania- No Mercy engine. Nyko has released a Game Boy Color peripheral called the Blob Light, which looks like a green mass of slime and serves to light up your GBC screen when you're playing in a dark environment. Nyko's Robert Rienick says, "The Blob Light is unique in that it essentially brings an ordinary piece of electronics to life. Suddenly, the Game Boy Color has a distinct personality." Either that, or there's just a cheap-looking, plastic blob hanging over it... Enix has officially announced that its PlayStation RPG Dragon Quest 7 will be released in the US and Europe sometime in 2001 with new name of Dragon Warrior 7. Japanese magazine Famistu reports that the US version of the game will be censored "for religious and cultural reasons," but Enix denies this allegation. An Enix spokesperson says, "As a matter of policy, when we bring games over to the US... we don't make changes because they irritate hardcore fans and detract from the game." Imagine Media has signed a three-year contract to publish the Official Xbox Magazine starting in late 2001. The magazine's Editor in Chief will be Mike Salmon, former Editor in Chief of PC Accelerator and Senior Editor of Game Players. Salmon and his team of writers will also be responsible for creating a demo DVD that will be packaged with the magazine each month, as well as the official Xbox web site. THQ now has the exclusive publishing rights to all new Tetris games until 2004. THQ's first Tetris game will be released PlayStation 2, PC, and Game Boy Advance in late 2001, with additional versions to follow for the Xbox and Gamecube. In a related note, THQ is trying to leverage its relationship with the WWF in order to acquire the license to make XFL football games. A somewhat disturbing art collection is now on display at Arizona State University's Art Museum. Created by Jon Haddock, the exhibit is called "Screenshots" and features numerous Photoshop drawings done in the exact style of Maxis' popular PC game, The Sims. These drawings depict such events as the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the shootings at Columbine High School, the beating of Rodney King, the entire Elian Gonzales "saga," and many more events. Click here to see the exhibit for yourself. DELAYS Aidyn Chronicles for Nintendo 64 (which is an RPG) old release date: Fall 2000 new release date: January, February, or March 2001 Oddworld Munch's Oddysee (formerly for PlayStation 2, now for Xbox) old release date: June 2001 new release date: the same day as the Xbox launch Unreal Tournament for Dreamcast old release date: Fall 2000 new release date: January 2001 WarCraft 3 for PC old release date: first half of 2001 new release date: second half of 2001 NEWS BRIEFS Over 100,000 people have already signed up for SegaNet, and the average member plays NFL 2K1 for two hours every day. Eidos Interactive is now claiming that after months of negotiations with numerous parties, the company is no longer for sale. Eidos offered to sell itself to Infogrames for around $1 billion, but Infogrames apparently wasn't willing to meet that ridiculously high asking price. Print advertisements for Banjo-Tooie have begun to appear in various video game magazines, which would seem to imply that Nintendo is pretty confident about meeting the game's current release date of November 20. The Bloomberg news agency reports that Capcom is considering the possibility of delaying the first Resident Evil game for the PlayStation 2. Bloomberg claims that in order to maximize sales of Onimusha for the PS2, Capcom could delay Resident Evil PS2 until 2002. The latest indication that Electronic Arts does indeed plan to support the Xbox is the fact that Black Ops president John Botti recently said the company is developing a Knockout Kings game for the Xbox. EA is the owner of the Knockout Kings franchise. Believe it or not, Tetris has helped researchers at Harvard Medical School discover new information about how the human brain works. Click here for the full story on Yahoo News. Smuggler's Run will be released for the Japanese PlayStation 2 this December with the new title "Crazy Bump." Somebody should inform Mick Foley about this, because he is the world's all-time leader in crazy bumps... America Online and Sega are working together on a product called AOLDC, which will allow AOL members to access the service using their Dreamcast. No target release dates have been mentioned for AOLDC. Sega has confirmed rumors that Phantasy Star Online will be playable offline if gamers wish to build up their characters' levels. However, it will be impossible to complete the entire game without going online and playing cooperatively with other gamers. Take-Two Interactive has changed the name of its upcoming PlayStation 2 pool game. Formerly known as Cool Pool: Billiards Master, the game is now known as Q-Ball: Billiards Master. The video game industry is still reeling from this ground-breaking announcement... With the release of Gran Turismo 3 still months away, Sony has already announced the existence of Gran Turismo 4 for the PlayStation 2. Sony also claims that the game will feature online gameplay. The PlayStation 2 version of NFL GameDay 2001 is supposedly alive and well within Sony and will be released on November 14. Namco recently announced that it expects to post a net loss for the year 2000, which has caused the company's Japanese stock price to plummet to under $23 per share. Infogrames has cancelled the Nintendo 64 version of 40 Winks. The game was actually done and ready to be released, but Infogrames chose not to release it due to the almost-dead N64 game market and the fact that the game bombed on the PlayStation. SALES CHARTS The following sales charts are based on unit sales for the week of October 1 to 7. Dreamcast 1. NFL 2K1 (click on the blue text for Master Gamer's review of the game) 2. Ultimate Fighting Championship 3. Street Fighter 3: Third Strike 4. Sonic Adventure 5. Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2 old games still in the top ten: none other than Sonic Adventure PlayStation 1. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 2. Madden NFL 2001 3. Spider-Man 4. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5. Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX old games still in the top ten: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Gran Turismo 2 Nintendo 64 1. Ogre Battle 64 2. Madden NFL 2001 3. Pokemon Puzzle League 4. Star Wars Episode I: Racer 5. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater old games still in the top ten: none other than Star Wars Episode I: Racer PC 1. The Sims: Livin' Large 2. RollerCoaster Tycoon: Loopy Landscapes 3. The Sims 4. RollerCoaster Tycoon 5. Baldur's Gate 2 old games still in the top ten: Age of Empires 2 Sources for news: Fastest Game News Online, GameSpot, GameFan, Blue's News, GI News, Next Generation, Adrenaline Vault, The Magic Box, Daily Radar, Sega X, PSX 2 Online, Nintendorks, IGN, The Sega Zone, Sega Otaku, Gaming Age, The NPD Group, PC Data, www.cowdance.com
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