 |
At the moment, it's unclear if Namco's first RPG for GameCube is exclusive. While Tales of Destiny 2 appears only on another system, Tales of Symphonia appears only on GameCube. Tales of... are Namco's own RPG saga, a response to Square's Final Fantasy; Tales of Phantasia on Super Famicom is probably the most famous of all the Tales. This Tales of Symphonia looks interesting but still quite early, when Namco announced the deal with Nintendo, it was planned for a July 2003 release. It seems they won't be able to meet this deadline. Let's hope they'll take the necessary time and deliver a true good RPG.
» Preview of Tales of Symphonia
The planning of Nintendo Japan has been updated with the release dates of Enter the Matrix and Sonic Adventure DX.
On a more relevant note, the following things have been added: 5 shabby pictures for Naruto, 2 new pictures for Mario Kart, 1 for Final Fantasy, and some big size screenshots to replace Pikmin 2 and Kirby Air Ride's thumbnails.
It's likely to be a mistake only, someone typing GX instead of GC, we prefer to tell you though. On the official Nintendo page for the E3, when clicking on F-Zero, we can briefly read "F-Zero GX" in the small title box. Could it be its official name ? If it's not, is Nintendo going to stick to this plain "F-Zero" title anyway ?
A new section of Samurai Nintendo has opened, it's called Code of the Samurai and gather all the possible information about our site. It's kind of boring, but who knows, you might be interested ! I hope to be able to set up a new message board very soon.
Two new reviews with just the pictures and infos, but no test: if you want a review, you'll have to give me the game, eheh, I'm too broke to buy any at the moment (safe Zelda of course, always have a few rupies for Zelda). So, today, our happy winners fight with laser and fist. On my left, Treasure-Atari-Infogrames's cool shooter Ikaruga. On my right, Tomy's suspicious fighting game from a license which makes a great deal of money but doesn't seem to produce great quality products, Naruto. Don't worry gentlemen, no fight will occur, they are both welcome in Samurai Nintendo's games files !
» Review of Ikaruga
» Review of Naruto
AT LAST. First (wonderful) pictures and (amazing) details about the long awaited Mario Kart for GameCube have been disclosed. Rush to our preview to see and know everything !
» Preview of Mario Kart Double Dash
Based on IGN's E3 list, here are some of the GameCube titles announced for the big show in a month:
'added' means we added some games to IGN's list, games most likely to be shown.
3DO
Four horsemen of the Apocalypse
Jacked
SRS
Blizzard
Starcraft: Ghost
Capcom
Dead Phoenix
Killer 7
Product Number 03
Resident Evil 4
Viewtiful Joe
unannounced secret project
added: Glass Rose (a horror game to be unveiled soon)
EA
Madden NFL 2004
NASCAR Thunder 2004
NCAA College Football 2004
Midway
ESPionage
SpyHunter 2
NFL Blitz: Pro
NHL Hitz: Pro
Namco
Baten Kaitos (GCN)
I-Ninja
R: Racing Evolution
Soul Calibur II
Tales of Symphonia
Nintendo
F-Zero GC
"Game Zero"
Kirby's Air Ride
Mario Golf
Mario Kart
Mario Tennis
Pikmin 2
Pokemon
Silicon Knights mystery game
added: Factor 5's mystery game
Star Fox Armada
Sega
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg
Sonic Adventure DX
Square
added: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
THQ
Disney's Pixar Finding Nemo
Tak and the Power of Juju
Sphinx and the Shadow of Set
WWE Wrestlemania XIX
Several important games and other announcements have been made in the past hours, here's a complete list of them.
Mother 1+2 / Earthbound 1+2 will be released on Game Boy Advance in Japan on June 20, this game contains both Mother 1 for NES (never released outside Japan) with enhanced graphics and Mother 2 for Super Famicom (known as Earthbound in USA, not released in Europe). Mother/Earthbound stars Ness, a young boy with psychic powers whom many players saw for the first time in Super Smash Bros.
Mother 3 is announced in the commercial for Mother 1+2, it will be released on GBA. No word on a possible GameCube title has been heard yet, hopefully we might get some good news at the next E3. Mother 3 - Earthbound 64 had been planned on the Nintendo 64 and the 64DD for a long time before being canceled.
Billy Hatch and the Giant Egg behind this childish title quite reminding of fairy tales, is the new project of Yuji Naka's Sonic Team. It's an exclusive gameCube title. Oh yeah, you can shout it: "At last an original title ! No more Sonic remakes ! THANK YOU !". Sonic Team had not worked on a true new concept since Nights on Saturn, long, long ago. The game's release is scheduled in Fall 2003 in USA. More info from the press release:
"Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is the story of a young boy who must save a once magical kingdom from the clutches an evil King who threatens to rule with an everlasting night. Gamers must learn to use the powers of a legendary suit and control magical eggs to restore light to the kingdom.
A vibrant, lightning-fast 3-D platformer, "Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg" challenges gamers to hatch dozens of magical creatures from special eggs as they explore themed, carnival-esque environments on their quest to save the kingdom. Playing as Billy Hatcher, players will roll the eggs though the world, using them to solve puzzles, fight enemies, and even ultimately hatch magical creatures that enhance their abilities, adding a unique strategic twist to the fast action."
Retro Studios has had a new president appointed, Michael Kelbaugh, to replace Steve Barcia at the head of the young developer team. Sadly, instead of an original project (Raven Blade ?) Retro is already working on another Metroid sequel.
I added separately a list of GameCube titles to be seen at the E3, it's based on IGN's list with a little addition.
GC games sales in Japan have been updated. Sorry for the delay though I doubt I have any visitor at the moment...
In Japan Weekly, the Historical Best-Sellers section is now opened. You will find a chart of the 100 best selling video games in Japan from the beginning of video games to the beginning of the new century !
The planning has been updated with the release dates for a few games including Rune II and Viewtiful Joe.
Here it is, the grand opening of our newly hosted site ! Thanks to the excellent Neopages hosting, Samurai Nintendo is back online after 2 months of wandering, doubt and little hope. It's been a hard journey, but it's finally done, I found a stable and wonderful place for Samurai N. I'd like to thank deeply Neopages and, more precisely, all the persons who make this great site, from the hard-working Roy and the obliging moderators to all the members of the community and the active visitors. Without Neopages, Samurai N wouldn't be back in such an improved shape !
Now, to celebrate our come back, I added 14 brand new reviews, including 7 games which did not appear in our site before:
- Doshin The Giant
- Eternal Darkness
- Mario Party 4
- Resident Evil
- Starfox Adventures
- Super Mario Sunshine
- Super Smash Bros. Melee
The 7 new games are:
- 18 Wheeler
- Aggressive Inline
- Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Red Card
- Spider-Man
- Turok Evolution
I also put some information about the Nintendo Puzzle Collection with a few pictures. Many surprises and a few changes are still to come in the site, there's a lot of work ahead. But now that I have a good host, I hope things can finally go smoothly. Gambatte Samurai !
|
 |
Tales of Symphonia
Japan Weekly: Planning Updated
Kirby, FFCC, Mario Kart, Pikmin 2 and Naruto: More pictures !
Code of the Samurai opened !
