News From 04/09/01


Sony to Release New Playstation 2 model- Open Priced
(Bloomberg Japan)
(Bloomberg) Tokyo 4/9- Sony Computer Entertainment Inc (SCEI) has announced to release a new model of their home game console, Playstation 2. The new model will come equiped with a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) by default, and will be sold at an Open Price. The previous model released in 3/4/00, was priced at 39,000 Yen.


Namco announces Zenosaga- to be made by former Square Zenogears staffs

Image: NTT EG
Namco has announced a project in collaboration with Monolith Soft. Titled "Zenosaga", the game is being produced under the former Zenogears director of Square. Currently, the project is still a mystery- little is known about the game, including its genre. However, Namco has announced that director & scenario writer of Zenogears, Tetsuya Takahashi will be directing Zenosaga again. Character designs will be done by Kunihiko Tanaka and music by Yasunori Mitsuda, likewise to Zenogears as well.

The Formal production announcement will take place at Tokyo's Ebisu Garden on 7/8/01. Request for invitation to the event can be applied through Namco's site; 300 pairs of tickets (600 tickets in total) will be given away by drawings.

About Monolith Soft: Established in 10/01/99, Monolith Soft is a subsidiary of Namco consisting of executives, all either former or current employees of Square and Namco. The president of Monolish Soft is Hirohide Sugiura- a former Square producer. The vice president is Xenosaga director Tetsuya Takahashi himself, also a former Square employee.
[ Link: Namco- Zenosaga | Monolith Soft ]
[ Related: Kunihiko Tanaka- Net Onevisions | Yasunori Mitsuda- Procyon Studio ]


MMCafe Random Snapshot Series: #2- Japanglish
Taken from the racks of a Japanese convenience store. No need to explain... the picture is worth a thousand words. -H.Moriarty


[ Full Image ]


MSNBC reports on Japanese Developer's views on the XBox
MSNBC - a Microsoft-NBC joint venture, reports on the veiws of Japanese developers regarding the Microsoft XBox. Titled "Xbox faces uphill battle in Japan", the article describes what difficulties the home console may face in trying to break the japanese market, with interviews on Capcom Yoshiki Okamoto, Enix Keiji Honda, and Konami Hideo Kojima.
[ Link: MSNBC ]