 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Square has announced to release their upcoming Online game for the Playstation 2- Final Fantasy XI, to be released in 5/16.
Final Fantasy XI will come pre-packaged with the "PlayOnline" disk, which will allow for online services such as mail and chat. While the basic services for PlayOnline are provided for free, service contents such as the mini-game "Tetramaster" will be for charge (Tetramaster: 100Yen/month). The "PlayOnline" services will launch on the same date as the FFXI release.
Final Fantasy XI is scheduled for release on 5/16, priced 7800 Yen. Its online service fee is 1280 Yen per month..
Short Comment- A little pricey, isn't it? - "Madman" H. Moriarty
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sammy Has announced to begin beta testing of their upcoming sequel, Guilty Gear XX from 3/1-3/3. The beta testing will take place in two Sammy operated arcade chain stores in Japan, "Sammy Street" 118 & 156. For more information on the beta test locations, check Sammy's section.
Guilty Gear
XX is scheduled for release in arcades in June.
Short Comment- For detailed information on GGXX, Chupiler has done an excellent work in collecting reports from the AOU show. Chupiler's GGXX report collections/translations can be found here in the BBS. - "Madman" H. Moriarty
|
|
|
|
|
|
Long running popular KOF themed site "K.O.F. Perfect" by Kyo Takagen, has returned under a new host since its disappearance with its account.
In addition to the site's famed NeoGeo Covers, the Art Of Fighting 2 CM featuring Jpop singer Ayumi Hamasaki, is present as well.
Short Comment- Man, everyone must've overloaded Kyo's account trying to DL that Hamasaki video. In case you didn't know, she's pretty popular. - "Madman" H. Moriarty
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sammy has announced to release "Guilty Gear Desktop accessory collection Vol.1 -Base Package", a PC desktop accessories collection.
Originally released last year during the "Hyper Dream 2001" event, the accessory collection include the followng:
-
Character-based program launcher
- Original icons & cursors
- Movie screen saver
- Desktop mascots (includes all characters)
- Original wallpapers & wallpaper manager
- Original Desktop clock (digital & analog types)
- Scheduler & Original Notepad
"Guilty Gear Desktop accessory collection Vol.1 -Base Package" is scheduled for release in 3/8, priced 4800 Yen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Japanese publisher "Village Center" has announced to release "SNK All Poster collection", a 112 page collection of artworks previously used in posters under the former SNK.
"SNK All Poster collection" will be the third in the "Artworks Book Series" by Village Center. As a special feature to the series, the publisher provides a unique printing service- readers may pick any art featured in the book, and request them to be printed onto daily household materials, ranging from mug cups to mouse pads.
"SNK All Poster collection" is scheduled for release in 3/22, priced 2800 Yen, ISBN4-89436-143-4 C0079. For additional art samples and a diagram of their service, check the site's section.
Short Comment- I'm sure that the service requires an extra fee. Rather doubt that they'll service outside of Japan, however. - "Madman" H. Moriarty
|
|
|
|
|
|
Short Comment- Xbox Launch, Sales, & Roundup in Japan |
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the XBox lauched in Japan. While I don't know why everyone seems to be anticipating for the console's failure, personally I don't hate it- especially its black based green coloring. It does have some serious flaws though, especially its size. Anyway, here's a quick round-up of how the X-box has been doing in Japan thus far.
1- Launch
This is a photo
of the PS2 & Xbox pre-launch in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo [ Photo ], one of the busiest places in Japan. The top photo is the PS2 launch, the bottom 2 are the Xbox launch. Wow, what a difference. It seems that people just weren't willing to do an overnight for the machine. While the Shibuya district (another busy place) gathered a much larger croud [ Photo ], it was all in anticipation of seeing Bill Gates. What can I say, the Japanese love Bill Gates as much as the Germans love David Hasselhoff. I can't believe I wrote that, let me scratch it out.
[ Credits:
Photo1: World Adventure (Special thanks to Chupiler & Ichirin no Hana) | Photo2: Impress Gamewatch ]
2- Sales
Sales of the Xbox is apparently not too bad, at least compared to the 3DO. But as a major console, it's not looking too bright. Of the 250,000 machines in the first shipment, 124,000 actually sold in the first 3 days. Considering that the Gamecube sold 300,000 during its first 3 days and the PS2 sold 720,000 on just the first day alone, this isn't exactly great sales. Still, 124,000 isn't all that bad a number in my personal opinion- though it might not be a contender for the top market, I'm sure that the Xbox has gained a niche in the market.
3- Aftermath
Not long after the machine was released, people began complaining some weird things. The complaints mostly heard are "my machine gets weird stripes on the screen!", and "the machine leaves weird scratches on my disk!". It's even made headlines on Yahoo News. There hasn't seem to be an official explanation yet by Microsoft on why they're happening, though they're "investigating on the problem". For some images of the disk scratches, check JumboMax - the photos are available from the pink boxed area near the top.
Well, that's it for the Xbox for now. Too bad there's no unique "Killer titles" other than DOA3, and even that's being flamed by the fans for the lack of save unit support, costumes and bounces. Worse off, consumers bought as little software together with the Xbox launch as they did with the PS2, despite the 12 simultaneous title releases. It's too early to tell the results of the console war, but it looks like Microsoft is off to a slow start.-H. Moriarty
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
