Latest Articles (Page 3417)

THQ has announced the GameCube's next exclusive WWE title, WrestleMania XIX, due out in October 2003. The firm's latest wrestling game (probably designed by Yuke's but we're not 100 per cent certain of that) boasts some enhancements over X8 that seem like lessons learnt from SmackDown: Shut Your Mouth; namely a new story mode with a "sweet revenge" angle, in which players must restore their favourite superstar's status, a new grappling engine, location-specific damage and presentation/visuals to rival the PS2 title. Of course we can also expect more than 40 WWE wrestlers from the 2003 roster (including Rey Mysterio, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and the Rock).

Yes, we know we 'only' gave Halo 8/10, but it was still one of our favourite games of the year, and continues to be the Xbox's biggest-selling exclusive title well over a year after it appeared on European shelves. Naturally, we're more than interested in how progress is going with Bungie's sequel, and the lucky sods at Official Xbox Magazine got a sneak preview of the eagerly awaited E3 demo, and have devoted a huge section of the June 2003 issue to reporting on the fact, complete with exclusive artwork and imagery from the game.

There are some things in life you just have to accept; there's really very little point questioning them. Arguably, in a gaming sense, the riddle of why Rayman has no limbs must come high up on that list, as well as how on earth did this critically murdered franchise end up becoming the UK's biggest selling platformer? You think we're making it up don't you? Released at the same time as the launch of the PlayStation back in September 1995, the game is still selling around 2,000 copies a week, and has shifted around 1.5 million* copies in the UK alone. That's more than any Mario, Crash, or Sonic game has ever registered on the ChartTrack panel. The follow up hasn't fared quite so well commercially, but as with the original, once its price came down, the sales ramped up. Suffice to say, this is also selling about 2,000 copies a week at a knockdown price.

Nintendo is finally preparing to release the SD Card Adaptor for GameCube on June 27th in Japan, which was originally announced way back before the Cube even launched. This is useful because it will allow players to swap data between Cube and PC, and Nintendo is launching a piece of PC software called Animal Forest e+, also on June 27th, which will allow you to take pictures from Animal Forest and pass them on to your friends via the computer.

Our chums at Midway have provided us with its plans for E3, including the games which are tantalisingly “behind closed doors”. We’ve not seen any of the games mentioned before, so we’re keen to see whether the former arcade veteran can provide us with some excitement.

Factor 5 is set to demonstrate a GameCube version of Pilotwings during E3, or so the rumour goes (and it's quite convincing, actually). Factor 5 are of course erstwhile developers of the excellent Rogue Leader, which distinguished itself as the best early third party title on the system when it became clear that Luigi couldn't cut the mustard by himself. We'll obviously let you know if this is true from the show floor in a fortnight's time…

Infogrames is getting excited about the May 15th release of Enter The Matrix on every format under the sun, and has released the TV ad for the game to celebrate. We don't normally host these, but this one has some footage of the film as well, and when it comes to The Matrix we go a bit crazy. Like little kids hopped up on sugar. You can download it from us here (5MB).

Kemco is to publish Bits Studios' Rogue Ops, an action-adventure title about former Green Beret Nikki Connors (eh? She used to be a hat?), who is on a mission to destroy the terrorist organisation Omega 19 because she reckons they killed her husband and daughter.

NCsoft has become the latest company to reel off its E3 line-up ahead of the show, and it includes some games we haven't seen since May last year. The full line-up includes City of Heroes, Exarch, Guild Wars, Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle, Shining Lore and Kingdom Under Fire 2: The Crusaders. The latter is on Xbox, whilst all the others make their beds in PC-land. "At this year's Expo, NCsoft wants to present the future of online gaming as we envision it," said CEO Jin Kim. " We have an exciting lineup of products that will underline this vision and communicate to those who visit us that NCsoft is leading the way in creating and publishing innovative online games."

Growing publisher Majesco (whose work is usually distributed by Vivendi over here) has announced Advent Rising, the first in a trilogy of sci-fi titles underway exclusively on Xbox. The third-person action-adventure title is to be powered by Epic's Unreal Warfare engine and developed by GlyphX Games, with the game story and a separate book based on the game penned by science fiction novelist Orson Scott Card. Both the game and book are due out (in the US at least) in Q1 2004, with (presumably) a couple more of each due out later on.

Japanese firm Playmore is once again refusing to let the spirit of SNK die, by opening a new US office - SNK NeoGeo USA Consumer - somewhere in New Jersey. Far from just a snazzily-named US subsidiary (they already have a coin-op oriented SNK NeoGeo USA office in Cypress, California), the New Jersey outfit will focus on a couple of major upcoming games; 3D versions of Metal Slug and SNK vs. Capcom, both in development for PlayStation 2.

GameSpot reports that the lead singer of Deee-lite has filed suit against Sega because she thinks Space Channel 5 character Ulala is a rip-off. Of her. "Lady Miss Kier", as singer Kierin Kirby (sue her!) likes to be known, claims that Ulala's knee-high boots, make-up, miniskirts and backpacks are similar to her own, resulting in misappropriation of likeness, unfair competition, unjust enrichment and more. The lawsuit apparently also states that audiences will most likely be confused by the likeness.

Vivendi has signed up Warthog to developer a game based on Battlestar Galactica for PS2 and Xbox. We're told to expect a story-driven space action-adventure set at the end of the Cylon-Colonial Wars, 40 years prior to the setting of the TV series. Players will control Ensign William Adama in his critical first assignment aboard Galactica. The game is due out later this year in Q3, so presumably VU signed the developer up a good while back.

Sega's commitment to Xbox Live appears to be strong, with no fewer than five of its forthcoming titles for 2003 supporting Microsoft's online gaming service.

EA has finally taken the step and EG's resident Potter fans [Rob and Tom, not me -Ed] have been yearning for - they've decided to make a proper Quidditch game - Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup.

Weeeell. They had to screw something up, didn't they? It just wouldn't be a major Nintendo release without something going slightly awry. The Wind Waker's release date seemed almost reasonable (given the Metroid farce at least), the addition of a 50/60Hz selection screen to the main game was much appreciated, and the inclusion of the bonus disc in every single copy of the game - as opposed to a pre-order handout in a flimsy paper wallet - was inspired. But as it turns out, there is one snag: you'll need a 60Hz-compatible TV to run the Ocarina of Time/Master Quest disc at all. It simply does not support 50Hz PAL output according to a variety of sources.

Probably the poorest week of the year to date in terms of new releases has been matched by an almost stagnant UK Top 40, with Ubi Soft's Splinter Cell holding on to its place at the top of the All-Formats chart.

CDV has joined the long list of publishers to announce their E3 line-up ahead of the show, and amongst them are the firm's first Xbox titles; Vultures (a beat 'em up from Swedish developers Grin, of whom we are big fans) and The Kore Gang (a "jump'n'run game" from UDS and Zoink). Meanwhile on the PC, the epic-looking Breed (an FPS from British developer Brat Designs) will be the centrepiece of CDV's E3 presence, flanked by multiplayer space strategy title Galaxy Andromeda (Mithis), critically acclaimed RTS Blitzkrieg (Nival Interactive), and fellow RTSes No Man's Land (Related Designs) and Codename Panzers (Stormregion).

Ubi Soft is today announcing that its new Batman game is to feature a brand new character, called Sin Tzu. Scheduled for release this autumn on PS2, Xbox and GameCube, Batman: The Rise of Sin Tzu will mark the first time a videogame has ever debuted a new Batman character, which isn't honestly as huge a first as the press release makes out.

Blue’s News has pointed out a new semi-official Raven Shield map available for download. Well, we say “semi-official,” but what we actually mean is that it was created by Benoit Richter, one of the game’s level designers, in his spare time. Good old Benoit. Anyway, you can grab the map called Zen from Raven Shield Platoon.

THQ and Relic have teamed up for a two game publishing deal. The first of the games to be released as part of partnership is currently in development and should release in 2004. The deal is said to be a move on THQ’s part to "compete more aggressively in the high-end PC market."

Dell (got one, have you?) has decided to try and compete with the likes of Alienware for the high performance games PC niche. The new Dimension XPS line is geared specifically towards the likes of us, and is described as their most expandable and powerful system to date, with optional RAID arrays, a taller, funkier case (a clear nod towards Alienware's offerings), USB 2.0 and Firewire support, and a 460W power supply.

Nintendo's Mario Kart: Double Dash webpage (singular) has been sneakily updated with news that the game will feature some measure of network play. "Pack eight players into your living room and turn up the fun when you connect two Nintendo GameCubes via the Broadband adaptor," the final line of the description now reads. There's no mention of online play, but given that the Cube should be quite cheap by the time Double Dash turns up, and the portability of the console, it seems quite possible that this might actually get used - and won't simply end up the Cube's equivalent of i.Link. Assuming the game's any cop, of course.

EA has finally issued a press release laden with details on SSX3, the follow-up to our favourite snowboarding game, SSX Tricky. Instead of obvious courses with an intricate network of trick-oriented shortcuts, developer EA Canada is aiming for a completely free roaming, seamless game this time out, jamming a lot more onto the slopes of the colossal mountains of old.

Sega Europe has just sent through its E3 line-up, spanning multiple systems. Although some of the games are not yet confirmed for Europe, we'll offer you the list in full. And here it is, major (new) titles at the top. There aren't necessarily all the games which Sega plans to show off, but they're the ones they're prepared to mention ahead of time.

Nicely Crafted Entertainment will be attending this year's E3 alongside the Department of Trade and Industry, apparently, showing off massively multiplayer RTS Time of Defiance on the DTI's stand (number 2340) - as well as offering a glimpse of one of their next projects behind closed doors. "Nicely Crafted has never been to E3 before so this marks a big step in our company's history," says creative director Ben Simpson.

It's always delightful to see modern games successfully converted to Nintendo's handheld format, punctuating the steady stream of forgettable 16-bit re-releases with the sort of programming that drives front room content. Although it's fair to say that most gamers can list Monkey Ball's influences off the tops of their heads, it remains one of the more exciting games to appear on GameCube, and we've been itching to try out UK-based developer Realism's "Junior" port ever since we found it tucked away on the Nintendo stand at E3 11 months ago.

Mega Man has been there throughout our gaming lives, but we've never had a huge amount of time for him. While it's true that his games are relatively good fun, up until recently the formula was set in stone, sealed in a ten-inch thick steel casket and buried 400 miles below the surface of the earth, and we got bored of it with Mega Man 7 on the SNES. But thanks to the Legends and Battle Network series, we're starting to enjoy life as a blue-suited, laser-armed loony with a thirst for justice once again. So you can understand our initial frustration with Mega Man & Bass, which is reading from the old script.

To sell games on the GBA you've either got to be a) Nintendo or b) have a huge licensed/character franchise property to draw upon. Needless to say, last year's Crash Bandicoot XS has been one of the elite few commercially successful titles on the handheld platform - shifting around 100,000 copies in the UK to date. It's a rarity for us to be in possession of a GBA review cart, so it's safe to assume that Vivendi has high hopes for this 'keenly-awaited' sequel, but will fans of the grinning, apple-gobbling Marsupial want to splash out another thirty odd quid?

Few games could have ever been more suited to handheld gaming than MicroMachines. Guiding all manner of tiny racing vehicles around increasingly improbable locales may look a bit old school in this more demanding era, but releasing a spangly version on the GBA makes perfect sense.