News From 04/13/01


Tecmo to depend on Xbox and Pachinko for current fiscal
- DOA3 to be relased simultaneously in Japan and USA
(Bloomberg Japan)

Image: Impress Co..
(Bloomberg Japan) 4/12- Tecmo aims to release "Dead Or Alive 3" simultaneously in the US and Japan, and sell 1 million copies by March 2002. Tecmo will also be developing Pachinko machines, starting with "LUXOR" for major Pachinko company Sammy. Tecmo aims to become an OEM for multiple Pachinko companies, developing 6-7 Pachinko machines and 2 Pachinko slot machines in the fiscal of 2002.

Tecmo announced their recurring profit estimates for the fiscal of 2001 to decrease by 25.6%, standing at 9.5 Billion Yen. According to an interview conducted to Tecmo vice president Arihiro Nakamura by Bloomberg Japan, the decline comes from Tecmo shipping only half the volume of copies originally scheduled for their hit series "Monster Farm". Releasing only 250,000 copies of the Playstation2 game was a drastic sales strategy, in order to cope with SCEI's delay in shipping out the Playstation2 hardware. While their "Dead or Alive 2" series sold well, it did not compensate for these losses.

For the fiscal of 2002, Tecmo aims to gain a stable income by becoming a leading game developer for the Microsoft XBox and increase sales in the US and Europe, while joining the Pachinko & Pachinko Slot machine industry and gain new sales in Japan.


Bill Gates Interviewed on XBox and other Issues
(Nikkei Electronics)

Nikkei Electronics has released an interview with Bill Gates, centering on issues related to Japan, especially Sony.

Excerpt:
Q: Microsoft joined hands with NTT Communications regarding Xbox, meaning that Microsoft will be charging money to consumers via communications carriers. This appears to be a new approach that Microsoft never tried with a personal computer.

A: Is communications free? You have to pay to use an i-Mode phone. You have to pay when you have cable TV. What about the phone? People have to pay for communications. The reason why Microsoft charges money from communications fee is because the business model is different from that of personal computers. All the products in the world is either subsidized or non-subsidized. PC hardware and TV are not subsidized, so the hardware price includes development fee, etc. On the other hand, cell phones and game consoles are sold at low prices, instead of which you have to have some royalty on the software in order to fund the R&D. This is the subsidized model.



Planet Publishing to release "SNK CHARACTERS 2 -All About Illustrations"
(Planet Publishing | Full Image)
Planet Publishing has announced to release " SNK CHARACTERS 2 -All About Illustrations". The second release in the "All About illustrations" series, this new SNK illustrations book will feature 128 pages of full color artworks (size A4).

"SNK CHARACTERS 2 -All About Illustrations" will include illustrations of Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, Savege Reign, Last Blade, Buriki One, Metal Slug, SNK Gal's Fighters, SNK vs Capcom, Cool Cool Toon and more. Newly Drawn illustrations will be featured as well.

"SNK CHARACTERS 2 -All About Illustrations" will be released in 4/27, 2800 Yen; ISBN# yet unkown.


Short Comment: Final Fight One Cover art, must've been drawn by former SNK Artist...
( NTT EG | Full Image )

Image: NTT EG
Here's the cover artwork for Capcom's upcoming GameBoy Advance title, Final Fight One- Found it while checking out NTT-EG.

Now, humm... .. . .... . .. I've swear that I've seen this artstyle somewhere else. Like from... from an artist named Shinkirou who worked at a Company that rivaled Capcom in fighter games. The Future Is Now? -H.Moriarty