News from 03/16/2001

Sega's Isao Okawa deceases at age 74
 
Founder of CSK and its subsidiary Sega- Isao Okawa, died at 3:47 PM today due to cardiac arrest. He was 74. Okawa founded CSK in 1968 and purchased Sega (Services and Games) from Paramont in 1984. The CSK group currently consists of 90 subsidiaries including Sega itself. Okawa's business philosophy which he often quoted, was that "Business should last for only 1 generation. What was gained from business, should be returned to business". His philosophy was proven only 2 months before his death, with his 85 Billion Yen of assets donated to Sega.

Okawa's funeral is scheduled to be held privately. His successors will be all the employees under the CSK group.
[ Related: CSK Release 1 ] [ Releated: CSK Release 2 ]
Capcom to display Street Fighter 2 Advance and Final Fight at TGS; Images Available
 
Capcom has announced that their two Game Boy Advance releases; Street Fighter Advance and Final Fight,will be available for showing at the Tokyo Game Show. Street Fighter Advance -based on Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, is scheduled for release in July. Final Fight is the port of the game from 1987, and is scheduled for release in 5/25.

Street Fighter 2 Advance
[ Image 1 ] [ Image 2 ] [ Image 3 ] [ Image 4 ] [ Image 5 ] [ Image 6 ]
Final Fight for GBA
[ Image 1 ] [ Image 2 ] [ Image 3 ] [ Image 4 ] [ Image 5 ] [ Image 6 ]
Namco's Pacman to be available for Sipping
 
Namco has announced that their mascot character Pac-man, will be used as a design and advertisement promotion for Asahi Beverage co.'s "Asahi Chara".

"Pac-man, a character known for eating the "baits" lively in the game, can be used as a symbol for the modern day food culture" explains Asahi. Pac-man will appear on Chara's label and TV commercials beginning 3/26.
[ Link: Namco ]
Aruze to become special sponsor for "K-1 WORLD GP 2001"
 
SNK's parent company Aruze, has announced to become a special sponsor for the upcoming "K-1 WORLD GP 2001" tournaments, starting from the first battle at Tokyo on 3/17. The tournaments will continue on to fights in Osaka(4/29), Nagoya(7/20), Las Vegas(8/24), Fukuoka(10/8), and the final battle back at Tokyo(12/8).

K-1, a worldwide kickboxing tournament, boasts such famous fighters as Mike Bernardo and the late Andy Hug. Former Heavy Weight Boxing champion- Mike Tyson, is also in negotiations to battle in K-1, possibly as a special guest. Aruze will sponsor the K-1 tournaments, as a part of plans to become a global entertainment group.
[ Link: Aruze ]
SNK begins Super Real Mahjong Poll, Downloads available as well
 
SNK has begun a Poll for the most popular character in the Super Real Mahjong Series in their site,as a campaign and commemoration for the release of the Neo Geo Pocket Color port "Super Real Mahjong -Premium Collection". The most popular character will be freshly drawn for a poster by the original creator of the series, Ryou Tanaka (Also known as the TV animator for the Virtua Fighter series).

In addition, a new Downloads section is now available in SNK's site. Wallpapers are only available at the current moment- Icons and Gif animations will be released in the future.
[ Link: SNK ]
"Ayanami Raising Project" Quicktime movie released (Non-streaming)
 
Gainax has released the non-streaming version of the demo movie for " Neon Genesis Evangelion -Ayanami raising project". The file can be downloaded from the game's official site. Two other files are planned to be downloadable from the official site as well; an aquarium Ayanami recording from the website, and a voice log diary from the game. The aquarium log will be available from 3/23 and the voice diary from 3/30.
[ Related: Gainax ]
Short Comment- Soccer!!! Sega Consoles!!! PSO ver.2 looks fun
 
Here's a few images from Phantasy Star Online ver.2 ... Soccer? Consoles? If I had the game, surely I'd be playing it a lot. -H.Moriarty

Soccer
[ Image 1 ] [ Image 2 ] [ Image 3 ]
Consoles
[ Image 4 ] [ Image 5 ] [ Image 6 ] [ Image 7 ]





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