Commented from Capcom's Okamoto, "Well, after BioHazard fans finished BH2, they've been waiting for a new one. But they don't have one to play, so they ended up replaying the Dual Shock version of BH1, and so fourth. I really felt sorry for that, and it should be about time." 

Bio Hazard 3's scenario will not be written by Flagship Co. this time (unlike BH2), but Capcom themselves. The game will have a high level and be based for heavy BioHazard fans. Production is well underway, and there is a slight possiblity of a demo version to be added in Capcom's upcoming "Dino Crisis". 
 

In related news, Capcom promises for BH:Code Veronica to be released within the year. While not yet revealed, Code Veronica is said to have a "startling" system. Partial production and scenario of Code Veronica is handled by Flagship Co. as well. 
 

Onimusha Announcement

On 4/16 at the Tokyo International Forum, Capcom announced their Japanese-style adventure game "Oni-musha". Asian star Takeshi Kaneshiro was at the announcement of the game, revealed to be not only the voice and motion capture actor for Oni-musha's main character, but a guest creator involved in its production as well. 

Oni-musha's game system follows that of Resident Evil, and the same scenario writer from Resident Evil 2 has worked on Oni-musha's storyline as well.  

While the main weapon are swords, other items present in the era are in the game as well. The main character of Oni-musha is Akechi Samanosuke, a 24 year old man who lives life as it flows. Many characters in the game such as Oda Nobunaga, Saitou Yoshitatsu, and Akechi himself are from actual Japanese history.  
  
The story begins as Nobunaga attacks the castle where Akechi lives at, and at the same time Akechi receives word that his sister-in-law has been kidnapped. Thus in order to find his sister and fight against Nobunaga, Akechi rises and battles. 

Oni-musha is scheduled for release in the Winter for the Playstation. 
  
  
 
 

Additional Images 
 
Announcement | Takeshi Kaneshiro | Shot1 | Shot2 | Sho3 | Shot4 | Shot5 (notice- that is an enemies' leg) 
 

FF-1st Contact

Additional game images for Fatal Fury- First contact, and Samurai Spirits! 2, have been released. Images of Metal Slug-First Mission, has been released as well. 

In FF-1st contact, while the line system has been abolished- chain attacks, taunts, and the power systems are still present. Alfred seems to be the hidden character of this game. 

In SS!2, Players can choose between the two character modes. As an addition to the NGPColor version, characters can gain cards when clearing the game, and the cards give out special abilities. Each character has 8 cards, and up to two cards can be used simultaneously. 
  
  
  
Additional Images 
 
FF Shot1 | FF Shot2 | FF Illust | MS Shot1 | MS Shot2 | SS2 Shot1 | SS2 Shot2 | SS2 Shot3 | SS2 Shot4 
 

Capcom's Funamizu

"I always said, if I myself were to make this style of a 2D fighting game, doing it with SNK would be the most interesting."   

"2D titles are decreasing both in the arcade and consumer. I hope SNK keeps up their job and stay as a good rival, but we'll help out with whatever we can do."  
 
 
Funamizu also commented that Capcom's Scheduled Street Fighter 3 for the DreamCast may take advantage of the DC's net' connection, and that while it is a bit early, he would enjoy to port "Street Fighter -3rd Strike" to the DC as well.  
  
 

GG2 Fashion

Sammy Co. revealed details in the upcoming sequel to the hit Playstation fighter game "Guilty Gear", originally from Arc System Works Co. Guilty Gear 2 is scheduled for release within the year at the arcades on Sega's Naomi Board as 2D game, not Polygon.  
  
In addition, new costumes of what can be speculated as new characters, were shown at the fashion show of an art designer Michio Inaba, who had worked on the game. 
  
  
  
Additional Images 
 
GG2 Fashion1 | GG2 Fashion2 
 

Black Matrix

Black Matrix Advanced will be based on the original Sega Saturn version with major upgrades in scenario and graphics, which were thrown in the original due to limit in size of a CD-ROM. Extra animation and mini-games will be added in the game as well. No date or price has been annoucned as of yet. 
  
  
  
Additional Images 
 
BM Heroine (SS version, SS Magazine) 
 

Maxi

Soul Calibur is scheduled for release in the Summer, shock-pack compatible. 
 

In addition, sample artwork done by the Soul Calibur art team has been released. These samples are for the  Soul Calibur illustration contest, for new characters and new costumes. 
 
http://www.namco.co.jp/home/cs/dc/soulcalibur/illust03.html 
http://www.namco.co.jp/home/cs/dc/soulcalibur/vs-illust01.html  
 
 
 

Additional Images 
 
Shot1 | Shot2 | Shot3 
 

DD2 for the DC

The sequel to the arcade hit Dynamite Deka (aka Die Hard) has been announced for the Dreamcast. The DC version will have additional bonuses such as an illustration gallery and is compatibility to the Visual Memory.  

Dynamite Deka 2 for the DC is scheduled for 5/27, priced 5800 Yen. 
 
 

Additional Images 
 
Illustration Mode | Visual Memory  
 
 

SNK vs Capcom interview

Within the interview, the following points were made evident. 

1- Release is Scheduled for next year, between the summer and winter. 
  
2- The DC version will be tied up with the NGPocket color version, and data will be transferrable. 
  
3- Unlike the Card game, the number of characters are limited. Chun-li is on of the scheduled character form Capcom's side as of now. 
  
4- While there is a problem of sprite size, the game will probably be released in 2D form.  
  
5- Both sides do not deny a possiblity of an arcade version due to the DC's compatibility to Naomi. 
  
6- The project is planned to be lead by Capcom's producter Funamizu, known famously for the Street Fighter Alpha and Three series. 
 
  
 

Metal Gear Solid Integral

Metal Gear Solid Integral is scheduled for release on 7/1/99, priced at 4990 Yen. 

Sega of Japan has released their decision on replacing the bugged shipment of the game for free to users with problems in gun calibration- contact Sega for more information or view *****. 
  
  
 

Ogre Battle 3 Fighting Screen

Named "Ogre battle3 -Person of Lorldy Caliber", the game takes place in a country called Lodis. Due to the pressure of the Kingdom, the peasants were forced to live in unpleasant conditions, and uproads begin. While at first they were small and pitiful uproads, this begun to change as a leader named Fredrick Raskin took step. The main character named Magnus works for the Kingdom, and thus the story begins as he fights against the rebelion beginning in the south.  
  
Ogre Battle 3's battle scenes consists of "legions" or teams, each with a maximum of 5 characters. The legions can be grouped or split depending on the situation of the game. In some encounters, the palyer can negociate the enemy to become a member instead. Some jobs in Ogre Battle include- Berserker, Fencer, Beat Tamer, Doll Master, Ninja, Archer, Valkirie, Witch, Clerik, Faire, and Gremlin. 

Like in the previous of the series, the player can move around the fleid to find hidden treasures, use the dowsing rod, and talk to people for information which changes depending on the situation. The "Pumpkin Witch" Denev is again present in the game, this time as the teachter for the game's tutorial. 

Ogre Battle 3 is scheduled for release in the summer.  
  
  
 Additional Images 
 
Event Scene | Denev Tutorial 
 

America: 
Date- 9/9/1999.  
Price- 199 Dollars. 

Europe: 
Date- 9/23/199  
Price- 199 Pounds/ 499 Marks/ 1690 Flans 
  
10-12 games are planned to be relased simultaneously.  The pricing of the machine itself is relatively less than that of Japan, where the DC is sold at a US equivalent of approximately 250 dollars. 
 

Shot1 | Shot2 

The Storyline of the new OVA takes place in between NeoGeo64's SS3D#1 and SS3D#2. Nakoruru is the main character of this anime, and other characters include Haohmaru, Genjuro, Galford, Rimururu, as well as Neo64's Shiki and Asura. 
  
  
  
Samurai Shodown OVA is scheduled for release on 6/25, running 30 minutes. The character images will be based on Nanase Aoi, an artist known well in printed media.  
For a sample of Nanase Aoi's artwork, Click Here. 
 
 

Grandia PS ver

Thus far it has been confirmmed that the PSX version is DualSchock compatible and will comply to the Pocket Station with a game "Pooi Jump!" where the player is to move the Pooi and jump over hurdels without getting clogged by them from the automatic scrolling. 
  
PSX's Grandia is schdueld for release on 6/24 at 5800 yen. 
  
  
 

Buriki One Ryo Sakazaki -Click for Full View Soucce: SNK of Japan's Site

Buriki One is scheduled for Arcade release by SNK, and is currently under beta testing in Osaka. 

A character interview can be seen in SNK of Japan's site, where Ryo explains that this is the first time in the Buriki tournament since he is fighting worthwhile opponents in other places and hence, could not come when invited in previous tournaments.  

http://www.neogeo.co.jp/buriki-one/interview/i_ryo/i_ryo.htm  
http://www.neogeo.co.jp/buriki-one/maruhi/ryo/ryo.htm 
 
 
Additional Images 
 
Full image Ryo ( Source: SNK of Japan's Site ) 
 

DC Ver- Soul Caliber -Click for Full Size

Additional Images 
 
Screen1 | Screen2  

Mitsurugi | Voldo | Ashtaros | Nightmare | Kirik  
Xiang-fa  | Maxi | Sophitia | Ivy | Taki 

Shot1 | Shot2 | Shot3 | Shot4 
Shot5 | Shot6 | Shot7 | Shot8 | Shot9 
 

Revealed be the works of  GNUPro  -Click for Full image

"The simulation technology delivered by Cygnus gives developers a running start at delivering production  quality titles simultaneously with game console production availability. The virtual hardware platform  represents a complete architectural simulation environment, including 128-bit CPU core, floating-point   co-processors, and DMA channels. This provides a complete environment that allows developers to create, test and debug gaming titles."

New Character, Ran   -Click for Full image

Additional Images 
 
Nagare | Event Chara1 | Event Chara 2 | Ran & Nagare  
Ran | Marathon Shot | Rare Illust Cards | Swimsuit Akira 
 
 

Comic Party

Comic Party is Scheduled for May, in PC platform. 
 
 

Additional Images 
 
Printing Set Selection Screen | Comic Market Screen | Schedule Note Screen 
Sales Shot 1 | Sales Shot 3 | Sales Shot3 | Drawing Shot 2  
Event Shot1 | Event Shot2 | Event Shot3 | Event Shot4

Sakura -Click for Full image

As noted earlier,  the ever popular Ryu, Ken, Sakura and Chun-li are confirmed to be in the anime. The plot seems to be centered on the secrets  to  Gouki/Akuma's dark power, and a doctor related to him. Staffs from the  anime "Berserk" and "Ghost in a Shell" are participating in the creation of  this OVA. 
  
  
Additional Images 
 
Ryu/Ken | Chun-li  
 
 

From 4/1/99 to 4/6/99, The Madman's Cafe was temporarily changed to "Madman's Culinary" as an April Fools Joke. All the recipes and information used in the temporary site are for real, except for the accidental missspell of Raffles Hotel, inidcated by an avid viewer (special thanks to Kilvear).  In addition, there was an interesting.. "bonus" hidden on the site.  
  
To view the April Fools once more, check this link. 
  
Note: While the Front page was being shown an April fools joke, some maintenance was being taken place in the background.. note that some pages loads faster.. noteably the index. 
  
 

TGS SEEN IN THE EYES OF A MADMAN 
 
SNK 

CAPCOM 

SQUARE 

NAMCO 
 
SONY 
 
ETC -Coming!    News obsolete, Killed off. 
 
SEGA DC -Coming!    News obsolete, Killed off. 
 
BANDAI WONDERSWAN  -Coming!    News obsolete, Killed off. 
 
 

SNK vs Capcom Officially Announced 
The creation of the game indirectly related to the "internet". 
At the Tokyo game Show- 3/20, SNK released official announcement of the rumored game "SNK vs Capcom" for the NepPocketColor. This is the first official announcment made by either of the two companies. A meeting was held at 3:00PM at the SNK booth to explain in detail.  
Scheduled: Card Game (Summer)   , Fighter Game (Winter) 
Details of the meeting and evidence of the game's announcement will be posted at the Madman's Cafe within 24 Hours, with additional information on SNK's booth as well. 
  
  
Capcom 
While Capcom's booth mainly had in presentation the expected- SFA3 DC ver, MvsC DC ver, tape of RE:Veronica, Dino Crisis video, etc etc.., their most unexpected scoops came in the form of big screen TV presentation.  
While Capcom's Jojo's Venture was an expected title to be shown in some form at the TGS, it was their announcement of an anime for SFA and the creation of Justice Academy 2 which were the largest scoops for the show. 
  
  
Namco  
While Namco's booth was swarmed with machines of Ace Combat 3 and Soul Calibur, it was their announcement of their new shooter "Star Ixion" which stirred the most commotion upon aware visitors- especially Namco shooter fans. Also in the making: Dragon Buster sequel "Dragon Valor" and a... local Comedy game starring "Yoshimoto" comedy actors of Japan. 
Namco also took a step in a portable machine direction. Bodyfat Analyzer. 
  
  
Square 
Square announced the usual fantasy RPGs Legend of Mana for the PS and Saga Frontier as well as their Sequel to Front Mission, but their unique titles were "Racing Lagoon" and "Cyberorg". Racing Lagoon is a racing game (as the title suggests" and Cyberorg is an "American-type" action game very unorthodox from the usual trends of Squaresoft. 
  
  
Jaleco 
Not a major company but I just needed to bash/mention them for their.... BeatMania Wannabe. 
  
  
Sega 
No extreme unexpected titles. Sega announced their decision to tie up with webTV from 4/23.  
   
 
Sony 
Absolutely no news on PS2, nor huge surprises in lineup.