The SEGA Generation
- Thread starter EternalMadness1997
- Start date
I hope 3DO lasts atleast long enough to make a third console. I started reading this timeline for a more successful Sega and now I'm rooting for the 3DO. I didn't see that coming, seems I have a special place in my heart for the underdog.
I agree with that sentiment. However, keep in mind that 3DO now have Halo on their side, so they may not be the underdogs for much longer, which may see them lasting to the modern day.
Given Bungie’s cultural inability to make games on time and budget IOTL… I wouldn’t count on them as saviours.
I don't want to give away a spoiler, but yeah. Not only would Bungie need to make Halo with the M2's now weaker-than-everyone-else hardware, they also need it out in time to compete with the Launch of GCN and the Launch of Project Ursa. Plus there's that what you mentioned so yeah 2001's gonna be the moment of truth whether they succeed or not.
It's been less than a month, I'd give it a little more time.
Exactly. Authors are people too, ya know. They need breaks in order to provide us with good quality TLs.
Sorry for the ongoing wait, I got distracted by trying to plan out some of my other timelines, and spent a chunk of today playing some Paradox Games. I'll be getting to the next posts soon, don't worry!
2001: Back in the Saddle
In light of how late this post is, I'm going to combine the "Games of 2000" with "Games of 2001" to cover ATTL material about individual games and such, so I can just post this already to make up for lost time.
NOKIA AND SNK - TO BE ONE IN THE SAME? PLUS MORE!
January, 2001
Mobile Phone giant and gaming company hopeful, Nokia, has been in headlines recently for not only their 'Project Ursa' console, but also for studios being founded and acquisitions being made. This time, the acquisition has not been completed yet, but is apparently underway.
This is the acquisition of SNK.
That's right, major arcade player and creators of the Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD and Neo Geo Pocket & Pocket Colour have not been in a very good financial position in a while and are on the verge of bankruptcy within the year - even despite their following.
This purchase, likely to cost Nokia a few million, is set to take place over the coming months and be finalized some time in March or April of this year. Once it is done, Nokia will own the entirety of SNK - including all of it's properties.
Many are saying this is a sure sign that unlike previous European entrant into the market, Philips, Nokia is definitely going to be putting up a real fight to win the so-called 'console war' with whatever their system will be in the end.
This is not the only move Nokia have made in order to strengthen their gaming capabilities. Last year, they opened up a studio close to their headquarters in Finland, and they also purchased developer DICE. In addition, they are apparently opening at least two more gaming studios as well, one in SNK's home city of Osaka and a second one to be based in Finland.
- Next Generation Magazine
NOKIA INTERACTIVE MEDIA
February, 2001
Nokia, mobile phone giant in the process of joining the video game market, has announced the creation of a dedicated video game & software development division - Nokia Interactive Media (NIM). Nokia Interactive Media will be based in Espoo, Finland and will preside over both of the Finnish-based gaming studios Nokia has thus far set up as well as DICE and in the coming months, SNK. It is presumed that SNK itself will make the basis for NIM's Japanese branch as well - which is confirmed to be planned and to be based in Osaka.
It is unknown at this time whether or not there will be an American branch of NIM, though it is presumed that such a thing will exist in the future should Nokia prove successful in the gaming industry.
They will also presumably handle the marketing, publishing, liscensing and distrubition of the upcoming 'Project Ursa' console.
NIM is to be headed by Kasperi Väisänen in Finland as the true head of the division, and Yoriko Nishimura in Japan.
Nokia so far has been very proud to be Europe's grand entrance into the gaming scene, or re-entrance if you're from the Netherlands and very patriotic about Philips. While Sega remains the gaming king in Europe, they just may have some competition in the region yet, and Nintendo & 3DO are definitely going to be feeling the heat pretty soon over here.
- Eurogamer Magazine
PROJECT URSA - THE SPECS AND SUPPORTERS
March, 2001
After months of speculation since the 2000 announcement, Nokia has finally released finalized specs for the Project Ursa console, though still have yet to announce it's final commercial name. These specs so far are setting the system up to be significantly more powerful than both the Neptune and even the GameCube - assuming of course that things will not change by it's scheduled release later this year.
The CPU is in particular very powerful, and is going to be a customized AMD Athlon "Thunderbird", clocked in at a powerful 700 MHz.
The GPU in turn is going to be a customized 3DFx Spectre, at 400 MHz.
It will sport access to 64 channels of 3D sound, 256 channels of 16-bit stereo audio, and will support MIDI, mono audio, dolby surround, Dolby Digital Live 5.1 in games, and even DTS support for DVD playback. Speaking of which, alongside CD-ROMs it will indeed follow the trend of DVD playback in modern consoles.
For RAM, a powerful 64 MB unified DDR SDRAM supplies RAM for the entire project.
If all of these specs are to be true, Project Ursa will be the most powerful system on the market, taking the title away from all of it's competitors.
In addition to the specifications reveal, Nokia also is beginning to gain third party developers signed on to it. Of the more profilic includes Infogrames, a fellow European developer who just recently purchased the remnants of Atari from Hasbro, as well as Electrionic Arts who are perhaps one of the largest and most profilic third party developers. Microsoft has also confirmed that they are working on setting up DirectX support for Ursa as well in assistance of Nokia, and will be supplying Nokia with some exclusive software. Ubisoft, another European company, has also confirmed they are supporting Ursa as well.
The only unfortunate thing at this point is that they still have yet to reveal the commercial name of this system.
- Eurogamer Magazine
CONKER'S BAD FUR DAY
March, 2001
Rare and Nintendo have been very naughty. They put fuzzy little Conker in a ranchy, raunchy world. Now only people 17 and older can play. Find out why at...
- Promotional Booklet for Conker's Bad Fur Day. While it was not a commercial success by any means in it's day, Conker's Bad Fur Day went on to have a strong cult following and in some circles was considered a Nintendo 64 classic.
SEGA CHAIRMAN DIES OF HEART FAILURE
March 16, 2001
Tragic news has struck the heart of the gaming industry.
Isao Okawa, a man known best in the industry as the chairman of Sega Enterprises, has passed away due to what doctors have said was heart failure. At 74 years old, he was pronounced dead at 3:47 pm on March 16, 2001. Funeral services will be held in Japan (presumably) at his family's decision.
Okawa was not only the chairman of Sega, but also the chairman of CSK, which he was also the founder of. Since 1968 he was chairman of this company, and since 1984 he and his company had held the majority of Sega's stock. A kind man, he cared very much for the well being of the corporation. Reportedly, he greatly approved of keeping the partnership with Sony alive and was very elated with how much financial improvement Sega had seen since partnering with the conglomerate.
As for what this means for the future of Sega & CSK, it remains unclear. The stock that Okawa held in the company currently - as far as we know - remains in CSK's hands. However, in the time before his death there were reports of closed door meetings with represenatives of Sony. Regardless of the outcome, this is a day for mourning on Sega and CSK's parts as the two companies have lost a key, founding figure that has held them together for decades.
Current President & CEO of Sega Enterprises, Hideki Sato, held a press conference in which he solemnly spoke of Okawa in a memorializing tone, and assured what he's done for Sega would not be forgotten.
Currently, Sega has retained it's dominant market share in the gaming industry with it's Neptune system, the successor to the Saturn, and it is not looking to stop any time soon.
- Los Angeles Times
GAMEBOY ADVANCE
March, 2001
Roadtrip, Advanced
It's not just another family trip to the mud flats, GameBoy Advance transforms a mind-numbing backseat into tongue-biting, seat-wetting excitement with a wider screen, enhanced graphics, backwards compatibility and multiplayer options. Now settle down, your father's trying to concentrate | LIFE ADVANCED
- GameBoy Advance advertisement. The successor of the GameBoy, the 'GBA' continued Nintendo's long held dominance over the handheld sector of the gaming market, long after they lost their home console dominance.
SONY PURCHASES SEGA IN $5 BILLION BUY-OUT
March 31, 2001
Sega is finished.
No, really. We are not decieving you. Sega is done for.
In a shocking turn of events, Sony has revealed that they have purchased 100% of Sega Enterprises from CSK and other share holders in a nearly $5 billion purchase. That's right, everything Sega from the consoles to the franchises to even the merchandising and film rights, belongs completely to Sony now.
No longer is Sonic the face of Sega, but now he's the face of Sony too. Already have Sony executives started putting decorations of the Hedgehog in their offices - okay that part is just speculation.
Hideki Sato, the President & CEO of Sega, delivered a surprising press conference in which he detailed the buy-out, in which he also announced he would no longer serve as the President & CEO following it, and Kunitake Andō of Sony elaborated on this in his own conference in which he detailed that Sega - due to it's similar purpose and businesses - will be largely merged with Sony Computer Entertainment over the coming weeks & months, with massive restructuring no doubt going to be the name of the game as this process goes on. Most of Sega's management is said to be either resigning or removed from their office as a result of this sudden change - though Shoichiro Irimajiri, Tom Kalinske and Stephen Race have been confirmed to remain under the Sony flag. All of the game developers like Sega AM2, STI and Sonic Team to name a few are also going to remain relatively unaffected as far as manpower and leadership is concerned.
Tom Kalinske, of Sega of America, said "I look forward to the future under Sony" in response to the now ongoing ordeal.
Robert Deirth, of Sega Europe, has yet to really release a comment or statement about it, but it's also been reported that they may retire from Sega soon as well - whether or not it's because of Sony's purchase or was a decision he made before has yet to be confirmed.
Regardless, this purchase is a shock to many - including Sega's rivals. Now, they are not dealing with a mere video game and arcade company, they are dealing with a full on corporate juggernaut.
Now, there is some bad news to tell in all of this too. As a result of this leadership change, some games are likely to be delayed for a time in order for the new management to review them for themselves - as Noboyuki said in his conference. No specific games were mentioned, but speculation is running wild.
In addition, Sony is going to keep the Sega brand alive despite what you might think. Though of course, there is effectively no such thing as a "President or CEO of Sega" anymore.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
KLONOA 2: LUNATEA'S VEIL
March, 2001
A Hero's Work is Never Done!
Klonoa, our long-eared pal, has stumbled on another incredible adventure. The mystical realm of Lunatea and its Kingdoms are in danger of losing their peaceful balance by the sounding of a dark Magical Bell from a forgotten land. Join Klonoa and a new cast of friends in this daring quest to save Lunatea and help unveil the mysteries of this enchanted world!
Only available for 3DO M2.
- 3DO Magazine
ANIMAL CROSSING
April, 2001
Welcome to town! It's time to move to Animal Crossing, the real-life game that's happening every second of every day, whether you're there or not!
- Back cover for GameCube release of Animal Crossing. In Japan released on the Nintendo 64, it would be released elsewhere for the GameCube. While not the most popular title, it grew a significant following as a member of Nintendo's vast library.
SONIC ADVENTURE 2: CONFIRMED TO BE DELAYED FOR CHRISTMAS, SONIC MOVIE SEQUEL ALSO CONFIRMED
April, 2001
News from Sega and Sony's side of the world: Sonic Adventure 2, the anticipated upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog title, has been officially delayed for a holiday season release as opposed to the original claim of it being released during this summer for the 10th Anniversary of the franchise.
Sony, the company now in charge of everything once or currently 'Sega', has claimed that the delay of Sonic Adventure 2 as well as various other projects is because of the ongoing reorganization of both Sega and Sony Computer Entertainment as the two divisions are being merged into one to become a singular, dedicated video game publishing, liscencing and development wing of Sony.
Fans of the series are a little dissappointed about this, though Sony at the same confirmed that a Sonic the Hedgehog film sequel has indeed been in production since at least after the first movie was a hit success, and that the movie may be ready for it's own summer '01 release. Needless to say, the fans suddenly ignored the announcement of the game's delay.
Details of the movie confirm that while the original director is not going to be returning, it will remain a fully animated feature, and Sonic Team remains heavily involved in it's creative direction - and Sony Pictures is of course handling the movie, considering they have officially adopted Sonic as the mascot of their whole corporation.
Sonic the Hedgehog has proven to be a big deal on a world scale. Not only does have that big macy's parade balloon and his major successes in gaming, but he's also got that big hit 1998 film and total tsunamis worth of merchandise sales so it should come to no surprise that Sony is taking their newly acquired mascot seriously (and probably seeing dollar signs in their eyes) and capitalizing on this growing success.
- Next Generation magazine
PROJECT URSA: COMMERCIAL NAME FINALLY
RECEIVED
April, 2001
After months of speculation since their announcement of entering the market, Nokia has finally revealed both the finalized design and finalized commercial name of Project Ursa, an announcement coming shortly after the reveal of the finalized technical specifications.
Nokia has unveiled that Project Ursa will be released some time during the later half of the year as the Nokia Raptor.
The final design is a sleek box coloured in shiny black, designed to look like something from the future. It looks streamlined but intimidating, and it has the Raptor logo on the top proudly on display.
While it was commonly joked that the controllers would be basically phones connected to the console, Nokia actually has a pretty solid design. It is a good bit less 'busy' than the Neptune's controller, and matches the console perfectly. It has the typical letter buttons, a start and back button, two extra buttons that are just black and white, and of course too triggers on the back. It is as big - or small if you look at it like that - as it needs to be, and has a solid grip.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
SHREK
April, 2001
There was a time when swearing was a big no-no in films from the squeaky clean DreamWorks stable. But then we had "c***" in American Beauty, and now, in Shrek, their glucose-enriched computer animation comedy for all the family, we have "f**kwad". That is: the evil Lord Farquaad, who banishes all fairy tale characters from his kingdom, and the purpose of whose odd name can only be to contain that single entendre. It's hardly a pointer to the rest of the movie's tone; in fact it's a measure of Shrek's uproarious wholesomeness that it almost gets away with the sheer effrontery of that gag without anyone noticing.
Shrek itself is the name of a big, green, cantankerous ogre voiced by Mike Myers in a slightly scaled-down version of his "Fat Bastard" Scottish accent. And that name has a Germanic, Grimm brothers feel: Schreck, horror; or perhaps the kiddie phrase Schreckbild, or bogey man. Either way, he's a horrible, giant, oafish creature who stomps crossly about in a kind of medieval jerkin, terrifying the local villagers and doing gross things like removing a great conical plug of wax from his ear to serve as a candle.
But Shrek's grumpy solitude is invaded when the autocratic Farquaad decrees that all fairy tale creatures - dwarves, blind mice, mendacious wooden boys with growing noses, the lot - should be herded into a holding camp that happens to be Shrek's back garden. Farquaad offers to remove them if Shrek helps him with his love life. The ogre must journey forth and bring back the beauteous Princess Fiona - whose Waspy name is in evident contradistinction to Shrek's central European handle - for Farquaad to marry. In addition to this burden, Shrek has to endure the companionship of a feisty talking donkey, brilliantly voiced by Eddie Murphy in a very similar role to the character he played in the Disney cartoon, Mulan. Fiona's ineffably blonde and patrician tones are courtesy of Cameron Diaz, and the villainous Farquaad is John Lithgow, whose vocal characterisation is somewhere between Kelsey Grammer and Alan Rickman.
- Excerpt of Peter Bradshaw's review of the movie, from The Guardian. The review was written in June of 2001 but the movie released in April of 2001.
"Shrek is Love, Shrek is Life" - Various people throughout the internet over the years since this film's release.
SEGA NO MORE, SSCEE FORMED IN IT'S PLACE
May, 2001
After several months of reorganization following the March buy-out, Sony has completed Sega's transition into a fully Sony-owned gaming division, having merged it with Sony Computer Entertainment into Sony-Sega Computer Entertainment Enterprises (SSCEE).
In the process of this change, most of Sega's former offices have been either vacated or are completely transformed into managing different businesses, as Sony preferred to use the SCE offices for the gaming businesses. The former Headquarters for Sega of Japan for instance remains the home for most of Sega's original gaming studios and still manages SegaWorld theme parks & arcades, though is no longer actually used to manage the bulk of the gaming business. The Sega of America HQ has been virtually completely moved to merge with SCE's American HQ, though SSCEE has expressed interest in establishing an American division of SegaWorld in it's place. Other divisions of Sega have met the same fate, likely these moves are what took the bulk of this time.
Confirmed leadership of SSCEE include Shigeo Maruyama as it's new chairman, fresh off of SCE, and Ken Kutaragi - father of the Saturn & Neptune as it's new President. Sega's own Shoichiro Irimajiri and Hideki Sato also still hold positions on the board from what we know so far. Tom Kalinske & Stephen Race, with the former being a pioneer of the alliance in the first place, naturally are still in charge of the American divisions even though they have had to move from San Fransisco to Foster City.
Kalinske, a veteran of both gaming and even the toy business, has been responsible for the popularization of both Sonic the Hedgehog, Barbie and even Hot Wheels & Masters of the Universe (He-Man), has assured fans of Sega that this sudden change is good for everyone and that he "looks forward to the future of Sega under Sony. Things are going to be even better now, trust me."
On the European side of things, operations are staying in the Sega Europe headquarters and are reportedly going to be the least changed aside from leadership, since Robert Deirth has reportedly stepped down from Sega Europe though it's unclear if it was before or after. Many people from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe are going to be supplying their brains to what is now SSCEE's European wing.
This change of hands and management has been finalized just in time for this years Electronic Entertainment Expo, and it also has been confirmed that Sony plans on keeping Sega as a brand alive due to how commercially successful the name has been for it's merchandise.
- Los Angeles Times
SEGAWORLD - GROWING AND EVOLVING
May, 2001
Sony has been making headlines recently for it's recent purchase of Sega for $5 billion in March of this year, and also for the upcoming sequel to the successful 1998 Sonic the Hedgehog film, though now has announced that they are expanding and evolving the SegaWorld brand of arcade theme parks, planning to make them more traditional amusement parks comparable to Disney & Universal Studios in order to gain more attendance, as reportedly attendance of the indoor theme park model (both for Sega and for Disney) has and had been low.
SegaWorld London is announced to be closing down due to these reasons, while SegaWorld Sydney is going to be renovated to make room for outdoor attractions while still retaining a Sega theme. In addition, Sony has expressed interest in converting the former Sega of America headquarters into a SegaWorld USA location in San Fransisco, and they will be opening up a new location in Athens, Greece, to replace SegaWorld London. This location is going to in turn coincide with the construction of a resort hotel and will be in the style of a traditional amusement park akin to Disneyland or Universal Studios, making it dwarf the other SegaWorld locations in size. It will also become the largest amusement park or theme park in all of Greece.
This decision was made by Sony in large part due to the money to be made in the theme park business, as well as the decline in popularity of traditional arcades & indoor theme parks since the 1990's. In their press release they assert that each park will retain it's Sega theme and feature arcade games, but will also have all the elements of a traditional amusement park as well - but that they will find ways to make each location a unique experience.
SegaWorld Greece is currently under construction and SegaWorld USA is still yet to be truly confirmed. SegaWorld London and most other western locations are however shutting down due to the decreasing popularity of arcades outside of Japan, with SegaWorld's Japanese arcade & theme park locations remaining unaffected.
Sega World Sydney is also scheduled to undergo renovations, and will be closed. However, this closing will not be affective until October 1, 2002, Sony still leaving it open to reap Summer 2001 and Summer 2002 attendance.
- Los Angeles Times
E3 2001 - ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINTMENT EXPO WIKI GUIDE
E3 2001 was held at the Los Angeles center like many of the previous ones, and this was was one of the many packed expos as well. The Sony buy-out of Sega was still fresh in everyone's minds, and with it having happened it came to no surprise that yet again they shared a booth. Or, should we say, it was now just one massive Sony booth. Sonic was proudly on display, Sonic Adventure 2 had been delayed but was still being previewed, and his new movie was scheduled for a Summer release with trailers just starting to pop up.
Shenmue 2 however was one of Sony's hottest games at the show, which was a tough thing to be considering how many games the Neptune was set to have. Sony was basically king, if not emperor, of E3 at this point. Console games were dominating more than ever and none moreso than the Neptune. If you wanted to get somewhere in the market, you wanted your game to be on the Neptune.
Jak & Daxter also made it's first appearance at E3 2001, one of Naughty Dog's first titles after themselves had also been acquired by Sony earlier in the year (not long before Sega). It was one of the more impressive Neptune games.
Rockstar Games unveiled a few games at E3, 2001, and one of them was a totally forgettable title called Grand Theft Auto III. No one noticed it. The big talk was Metal Gear Solid 2 (which still had not shipped) and maybe Devil May Cry.
Speaking of Metal Gear Solid 2, it was basically 3DO's final lifeline. However, Konami at the show announced that they would eventually release the Metal Gear Solid series on the Sony & Nokia platforms, no doubt due to the declining sales of the M2. While MGS2 would be released for the M2 first it would not remain exclusive for long.
While Konami still suported 3DO, this still hurt them deeply and left them with Namco (who were making a new Klonoa game and Tekken 4 but nothing else of serious note) and their studio Bungie who were making Halo - which really would have been their saviour. Thing was though, they were showing Halo's PC build rather than it's M2 builds as Bungie was still unable to get it to work right on a M2 at all. For once, Laura de la Cruz actually let Trip Hawkins do most of the talking again, and he went on and on about the potential of an 'M3' and the future of the 3DO platform. Laura however, seemed visibly skeptical about the entire thing at this point.
The big talk of the show was hardware, and the Neptune was ruling while 3DO was dying.
Nokia made some minor mistakes but a lot of smart choices at the same time when they came out with the goods on the Raptor. It would launch in September 2001 for Europe, before being released later on in the US and then Japan. This was seen as a smart move because it would let them take advantage of the growing European market (considering they are a European company, everyone expected they would want to do that), and releasing it in Japan last made sense too because many believed Japan would be unwilling to truly accept a non-Japanese made console (3DO never actually manufactured their consoles). One of their mistakes was holding a press conference early in the morning the day before the show, with Sony having held a late-night party the night before. This left a lot of Nokia's guests more than a little hung over.
Nokia's tech demos for the Raptor also blacked out at one point, but at the very least the console stayed on and they were still able to get their stuff across. For the most part, their games looked very impressive. Having recently purchased SNK, they had a lot to show off. They revealed that they were considering backwards compatibility with Neo Geo CD, and that their upcoming handheld the N-Gage may have a service for SNK games as well. Having recently established Nokia Interactive Media, SNK was effectively the majority of NIM Japan.
In the way of games, DICE's work was of key interest, and the SNK games were a sure attention grabber. Nokia's effort to give themselves a mascot though did not go unnoticed though, currently the Raptor was being represented by, well, a Raptor. Straight out of Jurassic Park. However, Nokia were interested in trying things out.
Then there was Nintendo. They had originally promised a Game Boy Advance & Game Cube release for 2000, but they now were assuring all who would listen that they would be released in 2001.
Looking back, it is fair to say that while the industry still considered Nintendo a foil to Sony, the company's fan base was hugely eroded. Nintendo conducted E3 2001 the way they conducted every other E3. Nintendo held its annual pre-E3 press conference and showed GameCube demos that looked great.
During the conference, Shigeru Miyamoto came out to exuberant fan adulation. He carried with him the Wavebird controller, demonstrating that he could work games from halfway across the auditorium. The crowd erupted.
- IGN, 2012
"The Halo: CE demos on the M2 were horrible. They were literally so humiliating and ugly that I told Laura to show anything but them. They were buggy as hell and ran at a horrible framerate, plus the graphics were very outdated and not the best. I think with time we could have made it work on the hardware, but there was no way we were gonna have it ready as fast as Laura or Trip needed it done. Halo on PC was perfect and beautiful, Halo on M2 needed a hell of a lot of work." - Jason Jones, director of Halo: Combat Evolved
THE FALL OF 3DO
June, 2001
Things have taken a surprising turn for the little company that thought they could, 3DO. Their parent company, Panasonic, has announced that they are discontinuing the 3DO M2 platform and have canceled any plans for a successor console. President and CEO of Panasonic, Nakamura Kunio, justified his decision by citing financial losses that 3DO had been incurring since sales of the M2 had begun dropping just 2 or so years following it's launch, coupled with it's sales still being much less impressive than it's competitors.
In it's lifetime the 3DO M2 has managed to sell at least 12 million units following it's predecessor which managed to rank in 8 million units. Most of the M2's sales are attributed to it being the first console to support DVD playback, though people buying the M2 only for DVDs did not actually help the corporation due to the company - like most - selling consoles at a loss. While the M2 did have high sellers such as Metal Gear Solid and Gex, a lot of it's games just didn't compare to the competition according to consumer surveys.
In addition to this announcement, there is both restructuring and rebranding going on at Panasonic's gaming division as well. Trip Hawkins, founder of 3DO and it's chairman since founding (President and CEO too from 1991 to 1997), has reportedly left the company in the wake of the discontinuation - his Chairman position being taken up by Kazuhiro Hirota. Other sources however claim his leaving may not have been fully voluntary. Despie this, Laura de la Cruz remains the President & CEO of 3DO, and announced in a press release that she has high hopes Panasonic will do better as a third party developer than it did as a console developer. In the same press release, she announced support for Nokia's Raptor system and assured that M2 games will still be released into 2002 though the platform is effectively no longer supported.
"3DO will continue to have new releases into at least the next year" she said," But we don't plan on continuing the support for the console. There will be no M3. There won't even be 3DO anymore, only Panasonic Interactive Entertainment. The M2 shined brightly at first, but fizzled out too quickly for us to make a successor. I however, do look forward to P.I.E.'s future as a third party developer."
Indeed, 3DO is now known as Panasonic Interactive Entertainment, revealing Panasonic intends to remain in the gaming industry as a third party developer even despite still producing hardware such as other consumer electronics (DVD and VHS players, Televisions, Batteries, Cameras, Appliances, etc).
In the gaming community, 3DO was known as a member of the "Big Three", standing alongside competitors Sega and Nintendo. With games such as Gex, Tekken and later Metal Gear Solid on it's platform it garnered a strong following around it's two consoles, the M2 especially. However, it always was considered the weakest of the three, having sold significantly less than both Sega and Nintendo. The 3DO Brand's highest selling product is the M2, and it appears it will stay that way.
The 3DO M3, spoken of by now former chairman Trip Hawkins at E3 2001, has reportedly had all of it's prototype technology sold to Konami, Namco and even Nokia (presumably to Nokia Interactive Media Japan which now controls SNK). Soon the gaming world will see 3DO (or, PIE) games not only on the PC, but also on Nokia, Nintendo and Sega (Sony) systems.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
SUPER MONKEY BALL
June, 2001
Hey party animals!
Call your friends and warn your neighbors, it's time to have a ball! Go bananas with 90+ stages, multi-player madness and 7 cool ways to play! Equal parts "party"and "game", Super Monkey Ball could be the most "well-rounded" game you've ever played!
- Back cover of Super Monkey Ball, initially released in the arcades, it would be released for the Neptune in September and November of 2001 as well as May of 2002.
SONIC ADVENTURE: THE MOTION PICTURE
July, 2001
Sony Pictures has done it again with the sequel to the 1998 Sonic the Hedgehog film that rivaled both Disney and Don Bluth and proved that a video game film could work out after all! With Sony having taken over full control over both Sega and the entire Sonic franchise during the later months of production (just in time to announce the film's production and release), this is the beginning of a new era for the blue blur, and this move more than shows it.
Based around the game of the same title, the film adaptation successfuly recreates the storyline set by the late Sega Saturn era classic 'Sonic Adventure', setting Sonic in the modernized city of Station Square and showing off his modern redesign with pride. Sonic's day goes from normal to adventure when Chaos, the "God of Destruction" is released by Dr. Eggman and set loose on the world, inevitably crossing paths with Sonic. Chaos grows stronger with every chaos emerald, so Sonic's got a lot on his plate between trying to get all the Emeralds, prevent Chaos from getting all seven, and trying to bring down the Egg Carrier.
In addition, there's Tails who wants to be more independent from Sonic, Knuckles who's trying to put the Master Emerald back together, and Amy who's trying to help a small bird find it's way home.
Unfortunately, the original director for the first film does not return, though this makes sense given it is following a completely different installment in the Sonic franchise. This film, still produced by Sony Pictures, was instead directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi, who is well known for his previous work on the Dragonball Z series among many other animated films - albeit mostly Japanese releases. As with the previous film however, it is a completely animated production. This will however be one of Sony Pictures' last animated outings though, as Sony has announced that by 2002 they will open a dedicated studio for future animated productions.
Also, on an unrelated note, well semi-related note, Sony is capitalizing on their success with the Sonic franchise and looking to secure TMS Entertainment under their wing. Apparently they really are on an acquisition binge ever since March.
Overall, critical reception of the film retains positive, and it has proven to be a rousing Summer success! Though of course critics retain a higher opinion of the original movie than of this one, it's not off by very much at all!
As for the Sega - or, Sony - fanbase? They are of course absolutely going crazy over a new Sonic film from Sony Pictures being released! If you are up for another solid video game movie that both critics and fan can agree is a must-see, then get yourself a ticket to Sonic Adventure: The Motion Picture while it's still in theaters!
- Next Generation Magazine
"It's kinda odd how Sony waited until after the first two Sonic films to actually make an official animation studio." - Anonymous Commenter, Unknown date
4KIDS ACQUIRES DUBBING RIGHTS TO SONIC ANIME
June, 2001
4kids Entertainment, the same company that brought Pokemon to the shores of North America in dubbing and distributing it, have also now acquired the rights from Sony to dub and distribute the ongoing Sonic the Hedgehog based TV Tokyo & AXN Anime in North America and other regions. The 4Kids dub, which will be going by the name 'Sonic X' in a drastic change from it's Japanese title, will be airing on Fox Kids later in this year during prime saturday morning cartoon hours. Things ranging from editing to voice work will be handled by 4Kids themselves, and 4Kids and Sony are confident that the show will be a hit for American children, given how cherished Sonic is.
We're looking up for it too! And if any of you are or have children of your own, be sure to check that TV schedule!
- Sega Magazine
NINTENDO ACQUIRING RARE
July, 2001
2001 seems to be the year of acquisitions across the gaming world. In January, Nokia announced they were making moves to establish a dedicated gaming division in the wake of acquiring SNK, and Sony made headlines when they purchased Sega outright and followed it up with TMS as the money rolled in from the second Sonic the Hedgehog film release. Now, it is Nintendo's turn as they have announced they are officially making moves to bring Rareware completely into the family of Nintendo's studios.
This announcement was made to what was pretty much no surprise however, as almost all interviewed fans of the Big Red N actually said things such as "I thought they already were the same company".
Nonetheless, Nintendo's decision to hold on tight to the studio that helped it achieve a bigger prescence in Europe, especially as Native-European company Nokia is beginning to enter the market, makes perfect sense in the current state of the industry. For the most part though, this means nothing in the long term. That is to say, all of Rare's current hits are going to be staying Nintendo, and they will continue on with Nintendo games like business as usual.
This entire event itself has been treated by Nintendo as such too, with it being done very quietly and practically behind closed doors. Nonetheless, Rare's founders and leading figures were themselves not surprised by the move at all, in fact Chris Stamper is quoted saying:
"I'm honestly surprised they did not buy us sooner."
We were unable to get any represenatives of Nintendo to comment on the subject.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
ALIENFRONT ONLINE
August, 2001
The Invasion of the Earth has Begun!
The triclops have invaded the Earth with a simple plan: the eradication of all human life! Become a tank commander and obliterate the alien invaders, or join the elite triclops guard and crush any human scum that stand in the way. Regardless of which side you choose, you'll possess enough weaponry to completely destroy your enemies. One team will decide the fate of the globe!
- Back over of Alienfront Online. One of the game's selling points was it's real-time voice chat.
SHENMUE II
September, 2001
An Epic Quest in a Modern World
Seeking answers and vengeance, Ryo Hazuki arrives in the bustling metropolis of Hong Kong. Encountering new friends and foes alike, Ryo realizes he has much to learn and must master new martial art skills to prepare himself for his ultimate showdown with Lan Di, the man who killed his father. Each day brings Ryo closer to his goal of avenging his father's death and unlocking the mysteries of the Phoenix Mirror.
- Back cover of Shenmue II's Neptune release. Like it's predecessor, it was one of the higher selling Neptune releases and was considered one of the greatest games of all time.
SEPTEMBER 11 TERRORIST ATTACKS - THE WORLD IN SHOCK
September, 2001
Terror has struck the United States of America, and the world as a whole. In the early hours of September 11, 2001, America fell victim to a terrorist attack. The world trade center, a long time landmark that for years graced the New York City skyline, collapsed to the ground when planes were flown directly into the towers, leaving them to burn for long enough that they actually collapsed to a point they were little more than large piles of smoke and rubble, WTC 7 fell shortly thereafter.
At the same time, the Pentagon was attacked by lone plane itself in conjunction with one believed to have been heading for the white house, only to be brought down in a Pennsylvania field by courageous passengers rising up against the hijackers. Luckily, even if the plane had been able to reach it's alleged destination the President was far away from Washington D.C. at the time.
America has lost much more than just a few buildings however, thousands of lives have been both claimed and injured in these attacks. Buildings can be rebuilt, but the lives of those lost can not. This is without a doubt the worst tragedy in modern American history, if not even world history. The American government has not yet released a direct response to what is currently believed to be a terrorist attack carried about by the group known as Al Qaeda, but they have assured there will be investigations into the attacks. It is also more than likely we will be seeing a heavy increse in homeland security, especially for airpots, in the immediate future.
Victims of the attacks include hundreds if not thousands of people from the floors above the planes' crash areas, who were given the most nightmarish of fates - either jumping off to the streets below, burning or suffocating from the fire and smoke, or even being crushed when the towers began collapsing. Rescue dogs sent to the rubble were never able to recover any survivors, to a point that rescuers had to actually pretend to be survivors if only to keep their spirits up. It is unlikely anyone in the buildings at the time of their fall had been able to survive.
Similarly, there are no survivors for the other plane crashes as well, save for those in the wings of the Pentagon not struck by the plane.
The lives of these victims will forever be remembered and their losses forever mourned by not only their families, but also the United States of America as a whole. It is difficult to tell if any justice could be done to make up for the losses that occurred this September.
- New York Times
NINTENDO GAMECUBE RELEASED
September, 2001
One of the true competitors to the Neptune has arrived! That's right, Nintendo actually followed through and finally released the GameCube in Japan this week, and it's lookin' pretty good!
Coming in multiple colours - but the standard is indigo so it appears - the 'GCN'/'NGC' is the first cube shaped gaming system, and comes with two slots for memory cards, a top loading disc tray for the loveably small Nintendo game discs, and a beautiful and easy to handle controller matching the colour of your system! On the bottom attaches the Samsung Nintendo DVD Player attachment, which will be both bundled with the system and sold separately.
There are also plans for a 'Samsung Q' from what we are told, which is going to be the DVD add-on and GameCube as one single unit, which will be released in Japan this December.
Everything about the GameCube from it's name, to it's design, to it's beautiful controller and even it's power is something that only Nintendo, the company who once saved the industry and gave you Mario, could bring you.
The GameCube's core CPU is the IBM PowerPC codenamed "Gekko", running at a smooth 486 MHz, partnered with the 162 MHz ATI "Flipper" chip to supply graphics that rival even the great Neptune. For sound, the GameCube retains Nintendo's relationship with Yamaha, though it also supports Dolby Pro Logic. All of this makes the GameCube more than capable of the task of dealing with it's greatest competition. There isn't really much to the memory cards though, they really are just that, small cards that stick into the front of the console for the purpose of memory storage. However, while creativity lacks in the memory card department, the GameCube more than makes up for in the content it's supplying for games at launch - with more on the way for America and Europe of course.
Luigi's Mansion is not a mario game, but rather it is a Luigi game! That's right, for once it is the overlooked green brother that takes the helm when he won a mansion in a contest he doesn't remember entering, and naturally he finds out his brother Mario has gone missing in the mansion not long afterwards. Adding in that the place is crawling with ghosts and only a local crazy professor has the equipment to deal with them, and you're in for quite a treat - and a sure-fire Nintendo classic!
Wave Race: Blue Storm is the second major GameCube launch title in Japan, and as the title suggests, it is a racing game - from the heart of Nintendo! However, this time around you aren't racing on karts, cars or even trucks, instead you are racing on jet skis out in the open ocean, along the shore, or downriver. Witness gorgeous landscapes while at high speeds while you are busy riding on to victory! Witness the GameCube's superior water and weather effects as well as weather not seen before in gaming!
For the rest of the world, it's time to get ready.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
SOUL REAVER 2
October, 2001
Raziel returns with a vengeance!
Raziel emerges from the time portal and returns to different eras of Nosgoth's past in his relentless pursuit of Kain. Confronting the shadows of an unremembered past, he discovers a web of destiny stretching far into Nosgoth's dim, unrecorded history. As his destiny comes full circle, Raziel finds his personal vendetta transformed into a hero's journey, with the fate of Nosgoth hanging in the balance.
- Back cover for Soul Reaver 2's PC release. With the 3DO M2 discontinued, Soul Reaver 2 was released for M2, PC and Neptune and was one of the first games with the 'Panasonic Interactive Entertainment' branding.
TAILS' SPIN
October, 2001
From Traveller's Tales and Eurocom, comes the latest adventure in the universe of the world's fastest hedgehog. Only this time, it stars....Tails?!
That's right, Tails finally has his very own adventure!
When the Tornado crash lands on a mysterious island in the middle of the ocean, Tails unknowingly discovers a dastardly plot conducted by a voodoo witch doctor residing on the island - and though he could return to Sonic for help he decides it best to stick out on his own for once against the forces of voodoo, pirates, flying battleships and more.
Prepare to spin some tail(s)!
- Magazine advertisement for Tails' spin, the last Sonic title to be developed by Traveller's Tales, having been approved by Sega & Sonic Team prior to the Sony buy-out.
"This game was a trip" - Sonic Retro forum poster, 2011
VIRTUA TENNIS 2
October, 2001
Tennis has never been better
A fully updated line-up of the best players in the world including Nadal, Federer, Murray, Williams, Sharapova with Neptune Move mode and in stunning 3D!
A brand new World Tour challenges you to balance on-court and off-court reputation in your quest for tennis stardom.
Network play uses the latest tech to offer an improved all-round experience including rankings, match-making and party game mode.
More realistic than ever with improved graphics, gameplay and a new match momentm feature.
- Back cover for Virtua Tennis 2, released on the Neptune.
GEX 4
October, 2001
The Gecko is back in business! Television business, that is.
Rez is back at it again, and naturally only one Gecko has the ability to stop to his schemes again. Travelling back into the Media Dimension, Gex ultimately must face a far greater threat from Rez than what he's accustomed to. It's a new millenium, a new generation and most of all it's a whole new experience.
From Kung Fu to Sci-Fi, from Fantasy to Documentaries, from reality television to the oldschool, the Gecko is traversing the vast worlds of the Media Dimension through the various small screen genres. If you thought the previous games in the series were self-aware satire fun, and enjoyed it, then you're going to absolutely this installment because it amps everything up by the hundreds!
Are you ready to be one with the Gecko?
Available on Nintendo GameCube and 3DO M2.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
NORIO OHGA COLLAPSES ONSTAGE: CURRENTLY IN COMA
November, 2001
Norio Ohga, the man who led the corporate giant that is Sony beyond electronics into the world of theatrical films, music CD-ROMs, video games and beyond has collapsed last week as he was conducting an orchestra in Beijing, China. From what we know of the event he is fortunately still alive, though is expected to unfortunately remain in a comatose state for what is an unknown amount of time.
The cause of his collapse has been determined to be a cerebral hemorrhage. It has yet to be determined how likely it is that he will recover.
Norio Ohga has been working at Sony since roughly the 1950's or 1960's, with him having been appointed executive director of the company in 1964. He became Presidnt of CBS/Sony Records Inc. (now recognized as Sony Music Entertainment Japan) by 1970 - these appointments were when he was 34 and 40 respectively and as such were rather unprecedented in the history of the corporation.
It was by 1982 that he would become the President of Sony, and by 1989 the CEO. It was around this time that he purchased Columbia Pictures Entertainment (now Sony Pictures Entertainment) for $3.4 billion. A year earlier, Sony acquired the CBS Records Group (currently Sony Music Entertainment) from Columbia Broadcasting System. Ohga was also instrumental in the creation of Sony Computer Entertainment, supporting Ken Kutaragi and the partnership with Sega which would ultimately see Sony own & absorb said video game giant earlier this very year.
Ohga was also present at Sony during the creation of the compact disc or CD-ROM format, which has revolutionized the way media is distributed to the public in recent times and paved the way for things such as DVDs and beyond.
Since 2000, Ohga had been in a state of semi-retirement though officially remains chairman of the board for the company he has changed the course of history for. His company wishes him the best and hopes for his recovery.
- Los Angeles Times, 2001
NOKIA NEO - BETTER THAN EXPECTATIONS
November, 2001
Well, a major day for the gamers of Europe has come! For many, it's the day they've been waiting for! The release of the coveted Nokia Neo, originally called Project Ursa and just recently announced as the 'Neo' after a period of being called the 'Raptor', Europe's first home grown console since the Philips CD-i. Released in Europe first - perfect time, since the European gaming scene is a growing market, the Raptor has proven to actually surpass many of the expectations about it and is already making quite the name for itself!
With it's release, all of the 6th Generation consoles have been released to the world and are competing with each other - save for the M2, which has already been defeated.
As the new combatant of the console war, the Raptor has a lot to prove for itself with most who have tried to compete with both Sega (now Sony) and Nintendo having failed in the past.
The hardware of the Nokia Neo defeats both the Sony Sega Neptune and the Nintendo GameCube in terms of it's power, with the powerful custom AMD Athlon "Thunderbird" CPU running at a stunning 700 MHz - far more powerful than all other commercially available gaming systems. In addition, the GPU is a customized 3DFx Spectre - this console will likely be the last to use a 3DFx chip due to the latter's financial struggles in recent times. This chipset is also more powerful than all other systems of the time, as it has been clocked in at 400 MHz.
Users of the Neo will have access to 64 channels of 3D sound, 256 channels of 16-bit stereo audio, and will have support for MIDI, mono, dolby surround and Dolby Digital 5.1 during their use of the new system. For RAM, a powerful 64 MB unified DDR SDRAM supplies the memory for the entire system, as originally revealed earlier this year.
The design of the console is pretty sweet too. It is bigger than the other consoles, and thus has a lot of weight, but again it has a lot of power. Despite the size however, it remains very sleek and streamlined, coming in mostly Platinum, Silver and Black colourations like a beautiful rectangular box with an 'N' on it. Whereas it's rivals are all top loaders, it has a plain old disc tray for both it's games and it's music CD's, andNokia wanted the Neo to be more than just a gaming system, and it comes with it's own DVD Playback Kit as well as the ability to connect it to your N-Gage (when it finally comes out).
What good does connecting it to your N-Gage do? Well apparently you will be able to use your game console to communicate with people just like you can on your Nokia phones! In addition, Nokia is working with Microsoft to refine the Neo's online services, to compete with the illustrous SegaNet.
The launch titles for Europe are not great in number, as Nokia is still growing it's third party support base, but it does have:
Transworld Surf (Infogrames)
Splashdown (Infrogrames)
Rayman M (Ubisoft)
Batman: Vengeance (Ubisoft)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (Ubisoft)
Myst III: Exile (Ubisoft)
Shrek (Nokia Interactive Media)
Project Gotham Racing (Glu Mobile, Bizarre Creations)
Mad Dash Racing (PIE)
Cel Damage (Pseudo Interactive)
Arctic Thunder (Midway Games, Inland Productions)
Fuzion Frenzy (Blitz Games)
Deadly Skies (Konami)
Dead or Alive 3 (Team Ninja)
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee (Oddworld Inhabitants, Just Add Water, Art Co., Ltd)
Neo Geo Gold Collection (Nokia Interactive Media)
Cretaceous (Nokia Interactive Media)
Indeed, the love of Europe - especially Finland - for the Neo is growing! While Nokia's Neo, name changed to fit the new generation and go long with the N-Gage coming next year (plus, likely to be a sort of symbolic successor of the Neo Geos), still has a long way to go and a lot of third party developers to win over, it has a lot of the European power players in it's bank already.
Releasing in Europe first also has given it quite the headstart on the GameCube there, Nintendo may need more than just Rare to keep what presence they have there.
However, the games!
The game launch isn't as heavenly as the Neptune's Roman-esque triumph last year, but it's still rather decent! The Neo Geo Gold Collection is a must-have for any SNK lover, as it combines all the best Neo Geo/Neo Geo CD titles into one stunning collection, from The King Fighters '94, '95, '96 '97, '98, '99 and 2000 (2001 will be released later this year for Japan),to even Metal Slug 1 & 2, nearly all of the Fatal Fury games, Samurai Shodown I & II, and even more! Nokia owns SNK now, and they are going full throttle with it!
Cretaceous is another interesting Nokia gem, developed and promoted during the 'Raptor' phase. It is essentially a first person slasher rather than shooter, as you take control of a large and vicious raptor straight from the Cretaceous and basically wreck vengenace on mankind - so to speak. The story plays like a classic sci-fi b-movie, and it knows well how to have fun with it. In a way, the Raptor I suppose is the unofficial mascot of the Neo. Sony has Sonic, Nintendo has Mario, 3DO (PIE) had Gex, and Nokia has a vicious Raptor that tears you up something fierce.
As you can see above, the Neo has Rayman supplying the platforming goodies at launch, and an abundance of racing games, both of the cart variety and of the water variety! We've even got a plane-related game that hopefully isn't coming out too soon for it's own good.
Also no, Project Gotham Racing and the Batman game have nothing to do with each other, before you start asking.
As for upcoming games, P.I.E. has announced Halo will definitely be available for the Neo's American launch, and Battlefield 1942 is being developed as well for a release the same year. Nokia's also assured us that they have lots more than just that planned as well.
As a whole, things are looking up for the Neo already, it's already going to be battling hard with Nintendo's hold on Europe but as we've said before it will take time to see whether or not they can even attempt to challenge Sony's throne.
- Next Generation Magazine
"The Nokia Neo was amazing. It was just what the market needed, something to keep things from just breaking down to only Sega - Sony - and Nintendo with nobody else. I mean, don't get me wrong, Nintendo and Sony were doing good competition, but Nintendo wasn't showing any interest in really going fully deep into online gaming at the time, so we needed someone to compete with 'Sega' on that front - even if it would be difficult to compete with the ones who basically invented online gaming."
"Nokia was not taking any prisoners when they marched into the ring. Literally nobody thought they had what it takes to win but they weren't letting that take them down." - IGN Forum post, 2012
"I kinda preferred the Raptor name more to be honest, but I can see why they went with Neo. That Neo Geo symbolism nostalgia, plus the 'New Generation' thing. But yeah, it had a pretty decent launch. No Neptune launch, but definitely a decent one." - IGN Forum post, 2013
SONIC ADVENTURE 2 - DELAYED AGAIN
November, 2001
Not even a year into the era of Sony Sega Computer Entertainment Enterprises (SSCEE) and they already have given us a fair bit of bad news. Sonic Adventure 2, the game showed off at both previous E3's either by it's lonesome or with it's predecessor, has been delayed yet again even after previously missing the deadline for the 10th anniversary of the ever popular Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
Ken Kutaragi, the head of SSCEE, hasn't said explicitly why the game of one of their highest selling series has been delayed a second time, but did say it was something along the lines of "quality concerns" in the conference he held about the subject.
This being the time of year in which both Nokia and Nintendo are finally revealing what they have to throw at the corporate juggernaut that is Sony (who in case you missed the memo assimilated Sega into them earlier this year, along with the studio Naughty Dog), this kind of news is something most unexpected. However, perhaps delaying the game will make it surpass expectations. Or not. Only time will tell.
Nintendo is apparently having a field day with this news though, with Nintendo power remarking in a very back-handed comment:
"Mario is coming on the GameCube, don't worry. When he comes, you can bet he won't back out on you on the last minute like someone else we all know."
Sega (or, Sony?) replied swiftly:
"Sonic's going to arrive before you know it, a lot faster than any plumber could ever do for you"
It's like the 1990's all over again, isn't it? Guess 1996 never really ended.
Regardless, SSCEE has announced that while Sonic Adventure 2 is not going to be available in December, it will be available in February of 2002 (assuming no further delays). Until then, Sega Shuffle and the original Sonic Adventures will have to hold everyone over.
- Next Generation Magazine
METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY
November, 2001
Solid Snake is back in the latest installment of the critically acclaimed series from director, Hideo Kojima. Top-secret weapons technology is being mysteriously transported undercover of an oil tanker to an unknown destination. Armed with an arsenal of new weapons, supplies and stealth maneuvers, it's up to Snake to infiltrate the transport and keep this deadly weapon of mass destruction from falling into the wrong hands!
- Back cover of MGS2's Neptune release. The title was released for both the Neptune and the M2 and was like it's predecessor a highly received and highly sold title of the generation - only this time for both consoles.
JAK & DAXTER
December, 2001
Naughty Dog's at it again it seems! You may remember them for games such as The Bandicoots, Mecha Team and Crash Racing as well as many other Saturn era and Universal Interactive hits. Well, now they're back....with Jak & Daxter!
Enter a world like no other seen before, one of magic and adventure, with state of the art vistas and characters just as exotic. The best part is that the entire world is truly revolutionary, it's all one entire world, meaning there aren't any of those pesky loading screens breaking up the action! What's the game about though? Well, as Jak you will be testing your wits and skills as you embark on a quest to reverse your best friend's transformation into what's called an Ottsel. Oddly enough, it's not nearly as simple as it sounds since it involves precursor secrets, dark eco and all sorts of other things that we simply can't spoil here.
Either way, it's sure to be a hot seller for the hot selling console, so pick it up while you still can!
Only available for Sega Neptune.
- SegaZone Magazine
"Finally, Naughty Dog had begun a proper series, rather than the oneshots they had been doing before!"
SUPER SMASH BROS. MELEE
December, 2001
The GameCube has made it state side, and with it comes none other than Super Smash Bros, MELEE!
Remember the original Smash? Well now, it's time for an even BETTER fighting adventure! Far superior graphics combined with even better gameplay and even more characters and what is quite possibly the best multiplayer action only Nintendo could give you and you have by far the most must-have GameCube title of all!
All of the veterans from the first game return, not a single one left out, only this time they are joined by even more Nintendo all-stars!
Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, D.K. and now even Peach and Bowser are all in the frey together, with even Princess Zelda joining in on the action too! And that's not even getting started on the new Pokemon ready to fight (and more!)
Melee gives you all new everything, from an all new adventure mode to events and a stunning ammount of stages to unlock as you play along, you're going to be playing this one for hours.
Only on Nintendo GameCube
- Nintendo Power. Melee had been released in Japan in November of 2001
NOKIA AND SNK - TO BE ONE IN THE SAME? PLUS MORE!
January, 2001
Mobile Phone giant and gaming company hopeful, Nokia, has been in headlines recently for not only their 'Project Ursa' console, but also for studios being founded and acquisitions being made. This time, the acquisition has not been completed yet, but is apparently underway.
This is the acquisition of SNK.
That's right, major arcade player and creators of the Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD and Neo Geo Pocket & Pocket Colour have not been in a very good financial position in a while and are on the verge of bankruptcy within the year - even despite their following.
This purchase, likely to cost Nokia a few million, is set to take place over the coming months and be finalized some time in March or April of this year. Once it is done, Nokia will own the entirety of SNK - including all of it's properties.
Many are saying this is a sure sign that unlike previous European entrant into the market, Philips, Nokia is definitely going to be putting up a real fight to win the so-called 'console war' with whatever their system will be in the end.
This is not the only move Nokia have made in order to strengthen their gaming capabilities. Last year, they opened up a studio close to their headquarters in Finland, and they also purchased developer DICE. In addition, they are apparently opening at least two more gaming studios as well, one in SNK's home city of Osaka and a second one to be based in Finland.
- Next Generation Magazine
NOKIA INTERACTIVE MEDIA
February, 2001
Nokia, mobile phone giant in the process of joining the video game market, has announced the creation of a dedicated video game & software development division - Nokia Interactive Media (NIM). Nokia Interactive Media will be based in Espoo, Finland and will preside over both of the Finnish-based gaming studios Nokia has thus far set up as well as DICE and in the coming months, SNK. It is presumed that SNK itself will make the basis for NIM's Japanese branch as well - which is confirmed to be planned and to be based in Osaka.
It is unknown at this time whether or not there will be an American branch of NIM, though it is presumed that such a thing will exist in the future should Nokia prove successful in the gaming industry.
They will also presumably handle the marketing, publishing, liscensing and distrubition of the upcoming 'Project Ursa' console.
NIM is to be headed by Kasperi Väisänen in Finland as the true head of the division, and Yoriko Nishimura in Japan.
Nokia so far has been very proud to be Europe's grand entrance into the gaming scene, or re-entrance if you're from the Netherlands and very patriotic about Philips. While Sega remains the gaming king in Europe, they just may have some competition in the region yet, and Nintendo & 3DO are definitely going to be feeling the heat pretty soon over here.
- Eurogamer Magazine
PROJECT URSA - THE SPECS AND SUPPORTERS
March, 2001
After months of speculation since the 2000 announcement, Nokia has finally released finalized specs for the Project Ursa console, though still have yet to announce it's final commercial name. These specs so far are setting the system up to be significantly more powerful than both the Neptune and even the GameCube - assuming of course that things will not change by it's scheduled release later this year.
The CPU is in particular very powerful, and is going to be a customized AMD Athlon "Thunderbird", clocked in at a powerful 700 MHz.
The GPU in turn is going to be a customized 3DFx Spectre, at 400 MHz.
It will sport access to 64 channels of 3D sound, 256 channels of 16-bit stereo audio, and will support MIDI, mono audio, dolby surround, Dolby Digital Live 5.1 in games, and even DTS support for DVD playback. Speaking of which, alongside CD-ROMs it will indeed follow the trend of DVD playback in modern consoles.
For RAM, a powerful 64 MB unified DDR SDRAM supplies RAM for the entire project.
If all of these specs are to be true, Project Ursa will be the most powerful system on the market, taking the title away from all of it's competitors.
In addition to the specifications reveal, Nokia also is beginning to gain third party developers signed on to it. Of the more profilic includes Infogrames, a fellow European developer who just recently purchased the remnants of Atari from Hasbro, as well as Electrionic Arts who are perhaps one of the largest and most profilic third party developers. Microsoft has also confirmed that they are working on setting up DirectX support for Ursa as well in assistance of Nokia, and will be supplying Nokia with some exclusive software. Ubisoft, another European company, has also confirmed they are supporting Ursa as well.
The only unfortunate thing at this point is that they still have yet to reveal the commercial name of this system.
- Eurogamer Magazine
CONKER'S BAD FUR DAY
March, 2001
Rare and Nintendo have been very naughty. They put fuzzy little Conker in a ranchy, raunchy world. Now only people 17 and older can play. Find out why at...
- Promotional Booklet for Conker's Bad Fur Day. While it was not a commercial success by any means in it's day, Conker's Bad Fur Day went on to have a strong cult following and in some circles was considered a Nintendo 64 classic.
SEGA CHAIRMAN DIES OF HEART FAILURE
March 16, 2001
Tragic news has struck the heart of the gaming industry.
Isao Okawa, a man known best in the industry as the chairman of Sega Enterprises, has passed away due to what doctors have said was heart failure. At 74 years old, he was pronounced dead at 3:47 pm on March 16, 2001. Funeral services will be held in Japan (presumably) at his family's decision.
Okawa was not only the chairman of Sega, but also the chairman of CSK, which he was also the founder of. Since 1968 he was chairman of this company, and since 1984 he and his company had held the majority of Sega's stock. A kind man, he cared very much for the well being of the corporation. Reportedly, he greatly approved of keeping the partnership with Sony alive and was very elated with how much financial improvement Sega had seen since partnering with the conglomerate.
As for what this means for the future of Sega & CSK, it remains unclear. The stock that Okawa held in the company currently - as far as we know - remains in CSK's hands. However, in the time before his death there were reports of closed door meetings with represenatives of Sony. Regardless of the outcome, this is a day for mourning on Sega and CSK's parts as the two companies have lost a key, founding figure that has held them together for decades.
Current President & CEO of Sega Enterprises, Hideki Sato, held a press conference in which he solemnly spoke of Okawa in a memorializing tone, and assured what he's done for Sega would not be forgotten.
Currently, Sega has retained it's dominant market share in the gaming industry with it's Neptune system, the successor to the Saturn, and it is not looking to stop any time soon.
- Los Angeles Times
GAMEBOY ADVANCE
March, 2001
Roadtrip, Advanced
It's not just another family trip to the mud flats, GameBoy Advance transforms a mind-numbing backseat into tongue-biting, seat-wetting excitement with a wider screen, enhanced graphics, backwards compatibility and multiplayer options. Now settle down, your father's trying to concentrate | LIFE ADVANCED
- GameBoy Advance advertisement. The successor of the GameBoy, the 'GBA' continued Nintendo's long held dominance over the handheld sector of the gaming market, long after they lost their home console dominance.
SONY PURCHASES SEGA IN $5 BILLION BUY-OUT
March 31, 2001
Sega is finished.
No, really. We are not decieving you. Sega is done for.
In a shocking turn of events, Sony has revealed that they have purchased 100% of Sega Enterprises from CSK and other share holders in a nearly $5 billion purchase. That's right, everything Sega from the consoles to the franchises to even the merchandising and film rights, belongs completely to Sony now.
No longer is Sonic the face of Sega, but now he's the face of Sony too. Already have Sony executives started putting decorations of the Hedgehog in their offices - okay that part is just speculation.
Hideki Sato, the President & CEO of Sega, delivered a surprising press conference in which he detailed the buy-out, in which he also announced he would no longer serve as the President & CEO following it, and Kunitake Andō of Sony elaborated on this in his own conference in which he detailed that Sega - due to it's similar purpose and businesses - will be largely merged with Sony Computer Entertainment over the coming weeks & months, with massive restructuring no doubt going to be the name of the game as this process goes on. Most of Sega's management is said to be either resigning or removed from their office as a result of this sudden change - though Shoichiro Irimajiri, Tom Kalinske and Stephen Race have been confirmed to remain under the Sony flag. All of the game developers like Sega AM2, STI and Sonic Team to name a few are also going to remain relatively unaffected as far as manpower and leadership is concerned.
Tom Kalinske, of Sega of America, said "I look forward to the future under Sony" in response to the now ongoing ordeal.
Robert Deirth, of Sega Europe, has yet to really release a comment or statement about it, but it's also been reported that they may retire from Sega soon as well - whether or not it's because of Sony's purchase or was a decision he made before has yet to be confirmed.
Regardless, this purchase is a shock to many - including Sega's rivals. Now, they are not dealing with a mere video game and arcade company, they are dealing with a full on corporate juggernaut.
Now, there is some bad news to tell in all of this too. As a result of this leadership change, some games are likely to be delayed for a time in order for the new management to review them for themselves - as Noboyuki said in his conference. No specific games were mentioned, but speculation is running wild.
In addition, Sony is going to keep the Sega brand alive despite what you might think. Though of course, there is effectively no such thing as a "President or CEO of Sega" anymore.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
KLONOA 2: LUNATEA'S VEIL
March, 2001
A Hero's Work is Never Done!
Klonoa, our long-eared pal, has stumbled on another incredible adventure. The mystical realm of Lunatea and its Kingdoms are in danger of losing their peaceful balance by the sounding of a dark Magical Bell from a forgotten land. Join Klonoa and a new cast of friends in this daring quest to save Lunatea and help unveil the mysteries of this enchanted world!
Only available for 3DO M2.
- 3DO Magazine
ANIMAL CROSSING
April, 2001
Welcome to town! It's time to move to Animal Crossing, the real-life game that's happening every second of every day, whether you're there or not!
- Back cover for GameCube release of Animal Crossing. In Japan released on the Nintendo 64, it would be released elsewhere for the GameCube. While not the most popular title, it grew a significant following as a member of Nintendo's vast library.
SONIC ADVENTURE 2: CONFIRMED TO BE DELAYED FOR CHRISTMAS, SONIC MOVIE SEQUEL ALSO CONFIRMED
April, 2001
News from Sega and Sony's side of the world: Sonic Adventure 2, the anticipated upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog title, has been officially delayed for a holiday season release as opposed to the original claim of it being released during this summer for the 10th Anniversary of the franchise.
Sony, the company now in charge of everything once or currently 'Sega', has claimed that the delay of Sonic Adventure 2 as well as various other projects is because of the ongoing reorganization of both Sega and Sony Computer Entertainment as the two divisions are being merged into one to become a singular, dedicated video game publishing, liscencing and development wing of Sony.
Fans of the series are a little dissappointed about this, though Sony at the same confirmed that a Sonic the Hedgehog film sequel has indeed been in production since at least after the first movie was a hit success, and that the movie may be ready for it's own summer '01 release. Needless to say, the fans suddenly ignored the announcement of the game's delay.
Details of the movie confirm that while the original director is not going to be returning, it will remain a fully animated feature, and Sonic Team remains heavily involved in it's creative direction - and Sony Pictures is of course handling the movie, considering they have officially adopted Sonic as the mascot of their whole corporation.
Sonic the Hedgehog has proven to be a big deal on a world scale. Not only does have that big macy's parade balloon and his major successes in gaming, but he's also got that big hit 1998 film and total tsunamis worth of merchandise sales so it should come to no surprise that Sony is taking their newly acquired mascot seriously (and probably seeing dollar signs in their eyes) and capitalizing on this growing success.
- Next Generation magazine
PROJECT URSA: COMMERCIAL NAME FINALLY
RECEIVED
April, 2001
After months of speculation since their announcement of entering the market, Nokia has finally revealed both the finalized design and finalized commercial name of Project Ursa, an announcement coming shortly after the reveal of the finalized technical specifications.
Nokia has unveiled that Project Ursa will be released some time during the later half of the year as the Nokia Raptor.
The final design is a sleek box coloured in shiny black, designed to look like something from the future. It looks streamlined but intimidating, and it has the Raptor logo on the top proudly on display.
While it was commonly joked that the controllers would be basically phones connected to the console, Nokia actually has a pretty solid design. It is a good bit less 'busy' than the Neptune's controller, and matches the console perfectly. It has the typical letter buttons, a start and back button, two extra buttons that are just black and white, and of course too triggers on the back. It is as big - or small if you look at it like that - as it needs to be, and has a solid grip.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
SHREK
April, 2001
There was a time when swearing was a big no-no in films from the squeaky clean DreamWorks stable. But then we had "c***" in American Beauty, and now, in Shrek, their glucose-enriched computer animation comedy for all the family, we have "f**kwad". That is: the evil Lord Farquaad, who banishes all fairy tale characters from his kingdom, and the purpose of whose odd name can only be to contain that single entendre. It's hardly a pointer to the rest of the movie's tone; in fact it's a measure of Shrek's uproarious wholesomeness that it almost gets away with the sheer effrontery of that gag without anyone noticing.
Shrek itself is the name of a big, green, cantankerous ogre voiced by Mike Myers in a slightly scaled-down version of his "Fat Bastard" Scottish accent. And that name has a Germanic, Grimm brothers feel: Schreck, horror; or perhaps the kiddie phrase Schreckbild, or bogey man. Either way, he's a horrible, giant, oafish creature who stomps crossly about in a kind of medieval jerkin, terrifying the local villagers and doing gross things like removing a great conical plug of wax from his ear to serve as a candle.
But Shrek's grumpy solitude is invaded when the autocratic Farquaad decrees that all fairy tale creatures - dwarves, blind mice, mendacious wooden boys with growing noses, the lot - should be herded into a holding camp that happens to be Shrek's back garden. Farquaad offers to remove them if Shrek helps him with his love life. The ogre must journey forth and bring back the beauteous Princess Fiona - whose Waspy name is in evident contradistinction to Shrek's central European handle - for Farquaad to marry. In addition to this burden, Shrek has to endure the companionship of a feisty talking donkey, brilliantly voiced by Eddie Murphy in a very similar role to the character he played in the Disney cartoon, Mulan. Fiona's ineffably blonde and patrician tones are courtesy of Cameron Diaz, and the villainous Farquaad is John Lithgow, whose vocal characterisation is somewhere between Kelsey Grammer and Alan Rickman.
- Excerpt of Peter Bradshaw's review of the movie, from The Guardian. The review was written in June of 2001 but the movie released in April of 2001.
"Shrek is Love, Shrek is Life" - Various people throughout the internet over the years since this film's release.
SEGA NO MORE, SSCEE FORMED IN IT'S PLACE
May, 2001
After several months of reorganization following the March buy-out, Sony has completed Sega's transition into a fully Sony-owned gaming division, having merged it with Sony Computer Entertainment into Sony-Sega Computer Entertainment Enterprises (SSCEE).
In the process of this change, most of Sega's former offices have been either vacated or are completely transformed into managing different businesses, as Sony preferred to use the SCE offices for the gaming businesses. The former Headquarters for Sega of Japan for instance remains the home for most of Sega's original gaming studios and still manages SegaWorld theme parks & arcades, though is no longer actually used to manage the bulk of the gaming business. The Sega of America HQ has been virtually completely moved to merge with SCE's American HQ, though SSCEE has expressed interest in establishing an American division of SegaWorld in it's place. Other divisions of Sega have met the same fate, likely these moves are what took the bulk of this time.
Confirmed leadership of SSCEE include Shigeo Maruyama as it's new chairman, fresh off of SCE, and Ken Kutaragi - father of the Saturn & Neptune as it's new President. Sega's own Shoichiro Irimajiri and Hideki Sato also still hold positions on the board from what we know so far. Tom Kalinske & Stephen Race, with the former being a pioneer of the alliance in the first place, naturally are still in charge of the American divisions even though they have had to move from San Fransisco to Foster City.
Kalinske, a veteran of both gaming and even the toy business, has been responsible for the popularization of both Sonic the Hedgehog, Barbie and even Hot Wheels & Masters of the Universe (He-Man), has assured fans of Sega that this sudden change is good for everyone and that he "looks forward to the future of Sega under Sony. Things are going to be even better now, trust me."
On the European side of things, operations are staying in the Sega Europe headquarters and are reportedly going to be the least changed aside from leadership, since Robert Deirth has reportedly stepped down from Sega Europe though it's unclear if it was before or after. Many people from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe are going to be supplying their brains to what is now SSCEE's European wing.
This change of hands and management has been finalized just in time for this years Electronic Entertainment Expo, and it also has been confirmed that Sony plans on keeping Sega as a brand alive due to how commercially successful the name has been for it's merchandise.
- Los Angeles Times
SEGAWORLD - GROWING AND EVOLVING
May, 2001
Sony has been making headlines recently for it's recent purchase of Sega for $5 billion in March of this year, and also for the upcoming sequel to the successful 1998 Sonic the Hedgehog film, though now has announced that they are expanding and evolving the SegaWorld brand of arcade theme parks, planning to make them more traditional amusement parks comparable to Disney & Universal Studios in order to gain more attendance, as reportedly attendance of the indoor theme park model (both for Sega and for Disney) has and had been low.
SegaWorld London is announced to be closing down due to these reasons, while SegaWorld Sydney is going to be renovated to make room for outdoor attractions while still retaining a Sega theme. In addition, Sony has expressed interest in converting the former Sega of America headquarters into a SegaWorld USA location in San Fransisco, and they will be opening up a new location in Athens, Greece, to replace SegaWorld London. This location is going to in turn coincide with the construction of a resort hotel and will be in the style of a traditional amusement park akin to Disneyland or Universal Studios, making it dwarf the other SegaWorld locations in size. It will also become the largest amusement park or theme park in all of Greece.
This decision was made by Sony in large part due to the money to be made in the theme park business, as well as the decline in popularity of traditional arcades & indoor theme parks since the 1990's. In their press release they assert that each park will retain it's Sega theme and feature arcade games, but will also have all the elements of a traditional amusement park as well - but that they will find ways to make each location a unique experience.
SegaWorld Greece is currently under construction and SegaWorld USA is still yet to be truly confirmed. SegaWorld London and most other western locations are however shutting down due to the decreasing popularity of arcades outside of Japan, with SegaWorld's Japanese arcade & theme park locations remaining unaffected.
Sega World Sydney is also scheduled to undergo renovations, and will be closed. However, this closing will not be affective until October 1, 2002, Sony still leaving it open to reap Summer 2001 and Summer 2002 attendance.
- Los Angeles Times
E3 2001 - ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINTMENT EXPO WIKI GUIDE
E3 2001 was held at the Los Angeles center like many of the previous ones, and this was was one of the many packed expos as well. The Sony buy-out of Sega was still fresh in everyone's minds, and with it having happened it came to no surprise that yet again they shared a booth. Or, should we say, it was now just one massive Sony booth. Sonic was proudly on display, Sonic Adventure 2 had been delayed but was still being previewed, and his new movie was scheduled for a Summer release with trailers just starting to pop up.
Shenmue 2 however was one of Sony's hottest games at the show, which was a tough thing to be considering how many games the Neptune was set to have. Sony was basically king, if not emperor, of E3 at this point. Console games were dominating more than ever and none moreso than the Neptune. If you wanted to get somewhere in the market, you wanted your game to be on the Neptune.
Jak & Daxter also made it's first appearance at E3 2001, one of Naughty Dog's first titles after themselves had also been acquired by Sony earlier in the year (not long before Sega). It was one of the more impressive Neptune games.
Rockstar Games unveiled a few games at E3, 2001, and one of them was a totally forgettable title called Grand Theft Auto III. No one noticed it. The big talk was Metal Gear Solid 2 (which still had not shipped) and maybe Devil May Cry.
Speaking of Metal Gear Solid 2, it was basically 3DO's final lifeline. However, Konami at the show announced that they would eventually release the Metal Gear Solid series on the Sony & Nokia platforms, no doubt due to the declining sales of the M2. While MGS2 would be released for the M2 first it would not remain exclusive for long.
While Konami still suported 3DO, this still hurt them deeply and left them with Namco (who were making a new Klonoa game and Tekken 4 but nothing else of serious note) and their studio Bungie who were making Halo - which really would have been their saviour. Thing was though, they were showing Halo's PC build rather than it's M2 builds as Bungie was still unable to get it to work right on a M2 at all. For once, Laura de la Cruz actually let Trip Hawkins do most of the talking again, and he went on and on about the potential of an 'M3' and the future of the 3DO platform. Laura however, seemed visibly skeptical about the entire thing at this point.
The big talk of the show was hardware, and the Neptune was ruling while 3DO was dying.
Nokia made some minor mistakes but a lot of smart choices at the same time when they came out with the goods on the Raptor. It would launch in September 2001 for Europe, before being released later on in the US and then Japan. This was seen as a smart move because it would let them take advantage of the growing European market (considering they are a European company, everyone expected they would want to do that), and releasing it in Japan last made sense too because many believed Japan would be unwilling to truly accept a non-Japanese made console (3DO never actually manufactured their consoles). One of their mistakes was holding a press conference early in the morning the day before the show, with Sony having held a late-night party the night before. This left a lot of Nokia's guests more than a little hung over.
Nokia's tech demos for the Raptor also blacked out at one point, but at the very least the console stayed on and they were still able to get their stuff across. For the most part, their games looked very impressive. Having recently purchased SNK, they had a lot to show off. They revealed that they were considering backwards compatibility with Neo Geo CD, and that their upcoming handheld the N-Gage may have a service for SNK games as well. Having recently established Nokia Interactive Media, SNK was effectively the majority of NIM Japan.
In the way of games, DICE's work was of key interest, and the SNK games were a sure attention grabber. Nokia's effort to give themselves a mascot though did not go unnoticed though, currently the Raptor was being represented by, well, a Raptor. Straight out of Jurassic Park. However, Nokia were interested in trying things out.
Then there was Nintendo. They had originally promised a Game Boy Advance & Game Cube release for 2000, but they now were assuring all who would listen that they would be released in 2001.
Looking back, it is fair to say that while the industry still considered Nintendo a foil to Sony, the company's fan base was hugely eroded. Nintendo conducted E3 2001 the way they conducted every other E3. Nintendo held its annual pre-E3 press conference and showed GameCube demos that looked great.
During the conference, Shigeru Miyamoto came out to exuberant fan adulation. He carried with him the Wavebird controller, demonstrating that he could work games from halfway across the auditorium. The crowd erupted.
- IGN, 2012
"The Halo: CE demos on the M2 were horrible. They were literally so humiliating and ugly that I told Laura to show anything but them. They were buggy as hell and ran at a horrible framerate, plus the graphics were very outdated and not the best. I think with time we could have made it work on the hardware, but there was no way we were gonna have it ready as fast as Laura or Trip needed it done. Halo on PC was perfect and beautiful, Halo on M2 needed a hell of a lot of work." - Jason Jones, director of Halo: Combat Evolved
THE FALL OF 3DO
June, 2001
Things have taken a surprising turn for the little company that thought they could, 3DO. Their parent company, Panasonic, has announced that they are discontinuing the 3DO M2 platform and have canceled any plans for a successor console. President and CEO of Panasonic, Nakamura Kunio, justified his decision by citing financial losses that 3DO had been incurring since sales of the M2 had begun dropping just 2 or so years following it's launch, coupled with it's sales still being much less impressive than it's competitors.
In it's lifetime the 3DO M2 has managed to sell at least 12 million units following it's predecessor which managed to rank in 8 million units. Most of the M2's sales are attributed to it being the first console to support DVD playback, though people buying the M2 only for DVDs did not actually help the corporation due to the company - like most - selling consoles at a loss. While the M2 did have high sellers such as Metal Gear Solid and Gex, a lot of it's games just didn't compare to the competition according to consumer surveys.
In addition to this announcement, there is both restructuring and rebranding going on at Panasonic's gaming division as well. Trip Hawkins, founder of 3DO and it's chairman since founding (President and CEO too from 1991 to 1997), has reportedly left the company in the wake of the discontinuation - his Chairman position being taken up by Kazuhiro Hirota. Other sources however claim his leaving may not have been fully voluntary. Despie this, Laura de la Cruz remains the President & CEO of 3DO, and announced in a press release that she has high hopes Panasonic will do better as a third party developer than it did as a console developer. In the same press release, she announced support for Nokia's Raptor system and assured that M2 games will still be released into 2002 though the platform is effectively no longer supported.
"3DO will continue to have new releases into at least the next year" she said," But we don't plan on continuing the support for the console. There will be no M3. There won't even be 3DO anymore, only Panasonic Interactive Entertainment. The M2 shined brightly at first, but fizzled out too quickly for us to make a successor. I however, do look forward to P.I.E.'s future as a third party developer."
Indeed, 3DO is now known as Panasonic Interactive Entertainment, revealing Panasonic intends to remain in the gaming industry as a third party developer even despite still producing hardware such as other consumer electronics (DVD and VHS players, Televisions, Batteries, Cameras, Appliances, etc).
In the gaming community, 3DO was known as a member of the "Big Three", standing alongside competitors Sega and Nintendo. With games such as Gex, Tekken and later Metal Gear Solid on it's platform it garnered a strong following around it's two consoles, the M2 especially. However, it always was considered the weakest of the three, having sold significantly less than both Sega and Nintendo. The 3DO Brand's highest selling product is the M2, and it appears it will stay that way.
The 3DO M3, spoken of by now former chairman Trip Hawkins at E3 2001, has reportedly had all of it's prototype technology sold to Konami, Namco and even Nokia (presumably to Nokia Interactive Media Japan which now controls SNK). Soon the gaming world will see 3DO (or, PIE) games not only on the PC, but also on Nokia, Nintendo and Sega (Sony) systems.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
SUPER MONKEY BALL
June, 2001
Hey party animals!
Call your friends and warn your neighbors, it's time to have a ball! Go bananas with 90+ stages, multi-player madness and 7 cool ways to play! Equal parts "party"and "game", Super Monkey Ball could be the most "well-rounded" game you've ever played!
- Back cover of Super Monkey Ball, initially released in the arcades, it would be released for the Neptune in September and November of 2001 as well as May of 2002.
SONIC ADVENTURE: THE MOTION PICTURE
July, 2001
Sony Pictures has done it again with the sequel to the 1998 Sonic the Hedgehog film that rivaled both Disney and Don Bluth and proved that a video game film could work out after all! With Sony having taken over full control over both Sega and the entire Sonic franchise during the later months of production (just in time to announce the film's production and release), this is the beginning of a new era for the blue blur, and this move more than shows it.
Based around the game of the same title, the film adaptation successfuly recreates the storyline set by the late Sega Saturn era classic 'Sonic Adventure', setting Sonic in the modernized city of Station Square and showing off his modern redesign with pride. Sonic's day goes from normal to adventure when Chaos, the "God of Destruction" is released by Dr. Eggman and set loose on the world, inevitably crossing paths with Sonic. Chaos grows stronger with every chaos emerald, so Sonic's got a lot on his plate between trying to get all the Emeralds, prevent Chaos from getting all seven, and trying to bring down the Egg Carrier.
In addition, there's Tails who wants to be more independent from Sonic, Knuckles who's trying to put the Master Emerald back together, and Amy who's trying to help a small bird find it's way home.
Unfortunately, the original director for the first film does not return, though this makes sense given it is following a completely different installment in the Sonic franchise. This film, still produced by Sony Pictures, was instead directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi, who is well known for his previous work on the Dragonball Z series among many other animated films - albeit mostly Japanese releases. As with the previous film however, it is a completely animated production. This will however be one of Sony Pictures' last animated outings though, as Sony has announced that by 2002 they will open a dedicated studio for future animated productions.
Also, on an unrelated note, well semi-related note, Sony is capitalizing on their success with the Sonic franchise and looking to secure TMS Entertainment under their wing. Apparently they really are on an acquisition binge ever since March.
Overall, critical reception of the film retains positive, and it has proven to be a rousing Summer success! Though of course critics retain a higher opinion of the original movie than of this one, it's not off by very much at all!
As for the Sega - or, Sony - fanbase? They are of course absolutely going crazy over a new Sonic film from Sony Pictures being released! If you are up for another solid video game movie that both critics and fan can agree is a must-see, then get yourself a ticket to Sonic Adventure: The Motion Picture while it's still in theaters!
- Next Generation Magazine
"It's kinda odd how Sony waited until after the first two Sonic films to actually make an official animation studio." - Anonymous Commenter, Unknown date
4KIDS ACQUIRES DUBBING RIGHTS TO SONIC ANIME
June, 2001
4kids Entertainment, the same company that brought Pokemon to the shores of North America in dubbing and distributing it, have also now acquired the rights from Sony to dub and distribute the ongoing Sonic the Hedgehog based TV Tokyo & AXN Anime in North America and other regions. The 4Kids dub, which will be going by the name 'Sonic X' in a drastic change from it's Japanese title, will be airing on Fox Kids later in this year during prime saturday morning cartoon hours. Things ranging from editing to voice work will be handled by 4Kids themselves, and 4Kids and Sony are confident that the show will be a hit for American children, given how cherished Sonic is.
We're looking up for it too! And if any of you are or have children of your own, be sure to check that TV schedule!
- Sega Magazine
NINTENDO ACQUIRING RARE
July, 2001
2001 seems to be the year of acquisitions across the gaming world. In January, Nokia announced they were making moves to establish a dedicated gaming division in the wake of acquiring SNK, and Sony made headlines when they purchased Sega outright and followed it up with TMS as the money rolled in from the second Sonic the Hedgehog film release. Now, it is Nintendo's turn as they have announced they are officially making moves to bring Rareware completely into the family of Nintendo's studios.
This announcement was made to what was pretty much no surprise however, as almost all interviewed fans of the Big Red N actually said things such as "I thought they already were the same company".
Nonetheless, Nintendo's decision to hold on tight to the studio that helped it achieve a bigger prescence in Europe, especially as Native-European company Nokia is beginning to enter the market, makes perfect sense in the current state of the industry. For the most part though, this means nothing in the long term. That is to say, all of Rare's current hits are going to be staying Nintendo, and they will continue on with Nintendo games like business as usual.
This entire event itself has been treated by Nintendo as such too, with it being done very quietly and practically behind closed doors. Nonetheless, Rare's founders and leading figures were themselves not surprised by the move at all, in fact Chris Stamper is quoted saying:
"I'm honestly surprised they did not buy us sooner."
We were unable to get any represenatives of Nintendo to comment on the subject.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
ALIENFRONT ONLINE
August, 2001
The Invasion of the Earth has Begun!
The triclops have invaded the Earth with a simple plan: the eradication of all human life! Become a tank commander and obliterate the alien invaders, or join the elite triclops guard and crush any human scum that stand in the way. Regardless of which side you choose, you'll possess enough weaponry to completely destroy your enemies. One team will decide the fate of the globe!
- Back over of Alienfront Online. One of the game's selling points was it's real-time voice chat.
SHENMUE II
September, 2001
An Epic Quest in a Modern World
Seeking answers and vengeance, Ryo Hazuki arrives in the bustling metropolis of Hong Kong. Encountering new friends and foes alike, Ryo realizes he has much to learn and must master new martial art skills to prepare himself for his ultimate showdown with Lan Di, the man who killed his father. Each day brings Ryo closer to his goal of avenging his father's death and unlocking the mysteries of the Phoenix Mirror.
- Back cover of Shenmue II's Neptune release. Like it's predecessor, it was one of the higher selling Neptune releases and was considered one of the greatest games of all time.
SEPTEMBER 11 TERRORIST ATTACKS - THE WORLD IN SHOCK
September, 2001
Terror has struck the United States of America, and the world as a whole. In the early hours of September 11, 2001, America fell victim to a terrorist attack. The world trade center, a long time landmark that for years graced the New York City skyline, collapsed to the ground when planes were flown directly into the towers, leaving them to burn for long enough that they actually collapsed to a point they were little more than large piles of smoke and rubble, WTC 7 fell shortly thereafter.
At the same time, the Pentagon was attacked by lone plane itself in conjunction with one believed to have been heading for the white house, only to be brought down in a Pennsylvania field by courageous passengers rising up against the hijackers. Luckily, even if the plane had been able to reach it's alleged destination the President was far away from Washington D.C. at the time.
America has lost much more than just a few buildings however, thousands of lives have been both claimed and injured in these attacks. Buildings can be rebuilt, but the lives of those lost can not. This is without a doubt the worst tragedy in modern American history, if not even world history. The American government has not yet released a direct response to what is currently believed to be a terrorist attack carried about by the group known as Al Qaeda, but they have assured there will be investigations into the attacks. It is also more than likely we will be seeing a heavy increse in homeland security, especially for airpots, in the immediate future.
Victims of the attacks include hundreds if not thousands of people from the floors above the planes' crash areas, who were given the most nightmarish of fates - either jumping off to the streets below, burning or suffocating from the fire and smoke, or even being crushed when the towers began collapsing. Rescue dogs sent to the rubble were never able to recover any survivors, to a point that rescuers had to actually pretend to be survivors if only to keep their spirits up. It is unlikely anyone in the buildings at the time of their fall had been able to survive.
Similarly, there are no survivors for the other plane crashes as well, save for those in the wings of the Pentagon not struck by the plane.
The lives of these victims will forever be remembered and their losses forever mourned by not only their families, but also the United States of America as a whole. It is difficult to tell if any justice could be done to make up for the losses that occurred this September.
- New York Times
NINTENDO GAMECUBE RELEASED
September, 2001
One of the true competitors to the Neptune has arrived! That's right, Nintendo actually followed through and finally released the GameCube in Japan this week, and it's lookin' pretty good!
Coming in multiple colours - but the standard is indigo so it appears - the 'GCN'/'NGC' is the first cube shaped gaming system, and comes with two slots for memory cards, a top loading disc tray for the loveably small Nintendo game discs, and a beautiful and easy to handle controller matching the colour of your system! On the bottom attaches the Samsung Nintendo DVD Player attachment, which will be both bundled with the system and sold separately.
There are also plans for a 'Samsung Q' from what we are told, which is going to be the DVD add-on and GameCube as one single unit, which will be released in Japan this December.
Everything about the GameCube from it's name, to it's design, to it's beautiful controller and even it's power is something that only Nintendo, the company who once saved the industry and gave you Mario, could bring you.
The GameCube's core CPU is the IBM PowerPC codenamed "Gekko", running at a smooth 486 MHz, partnered with the 162 MHz ATI "Flipper" chip to supply graphics that rival even the great Neptune. For sound, the GameCube retains Nintendo's relationship with Yamaha, though it also supports Dolby Pro Logic. All of this makes the GameCube more than capable of the task of dealing with it's greatest competition. There isn't really much to the memory cards though, they really are just that, small cards that stick into the front of the console for the purpose of memory storage. However, while creativity lacks in the memory card department, the GameCube more than makes up for in the content it's supplying for games at launch - with more on the way for America and Europe of course.
Luigi's Mansion is not a mario game, but rather it is a Luigi game! That's right, for once it is the overlooked green brother that takes the helm when he won a mansion in a contest he doesn't remember entering, and naturally he finds out his brother Mario has gone missing in the mansion not long afterwards. Adding in that the place is crawling with ghosts and only a local crazy professor has the equipment to deal with them, and you're in for quite a treat - and a sure-fire Nintendo classic!
Wave Race: Blue Storm is the second major GameCube launch title in Japan, and as the title suggests, it is a racing game - from the heart of Nintendo! However, this time around you aren't racing on karts, cars or even trucks, instead you are racing on jet skis out in the open ocean, along the shore, or downriver. Witness gorgeous landscapes while at high speeds while you are busy riding on to victory! Witness the GameCube's superior water and weather effects as well as weather not seen before in gaming!
For the rest of the world, it's time to get ready.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
SOUL REAVER 2
October, 2001
Raziel returns with a vengeance!
Raziel emerges from the time portal and returns to different eras of Nosgoth's past in his relentless pursuit of Kain. Confronting the shadows of an unremembered past, he discovers a web of destiny stretching far into Nosgoth's dim, unrecorded history. As his destiny comes full circle, Raziel finds his personal vendetta transformed into a hero's journey, with the fate of Nosgoth hanging in the balance.
- Back cover for Soul Reaver 2's PC release. With the 3DO M2 discontinued, Soul Reaver 2 was released for M2, PC and Neptune and was one of the first games with the 'Panasonic Interactive Entertainment' branding.
TAILS' SPIN
October, 2001
From Traveller's Tales and Eurocom, comes the latest adventure in the universe of the world's fastest hedgehog. Only this time, it stars....Tails?!
That's right, Tails finally has his very own adventure!
When the Tornado crash lands on a mysterious island in the middle of the ocean, Tails unknowingly discovers a dastardly plot conducted by a voodoo witch doctor residing on the island - and though he could return to Sonic for help he decides it best to stick out on his own for once against the forces of voodoo, pirates, flying battleships and more.
Prepare to spin some tail(s)!
- Magazine advertisement for Tails' spin, the last Sonic title to be developed by Traveller's Tales, having been approved by Sega & Sonic Team prior to the Sony buy-out.
"This game was a trip" - Sonic Retro forum poster, 2011
VIRTUA TENNIS 2
October, 2001
Tennis has never been better
A fully updated line-up of the best players in the world including Nadal, Federer, Murray, Williams, Sharapova with Neptune Move mode and in stunning 3D!
A brand new World Tour challenges you to balance on-court and off-court reputation in your quest for tennis stardom.
Network play uses the latest tech to offer an improved all-round experience including rankings, match-making and party game mode.
More realistic than ever with improved graphics, gameplay and a new match momentm feature.
- Back cover for Virtua Tennis 2, released on the Neptune.
GEX 4
October, 2001
The Gecko is back in business! Television business, that is.
Rez is back at it again, and naturally only one Gecko has the ability to stop to his schemes again. Travelling back into the Media Dimension, Gex ultimately must face a far greater threat from Rez than what he's accustomed to. It's a new millenium, a new generation and most of all it's a whole new experience.
From Kung Fu to Sci-Fi, from Fantasy to Documentaries, from reality television to the oldschool, the Gecko is traversing the vast worlds of the Media Dimension through the various small screen genres. If you thought the previous games in the series were self-aware satire fun, and enjoyed it, then you're going to absolutely this installment because it amps everything up by the hundreds!
Are you ready to be one with the Gecko?
Available on Nintendo GameCube and 3DO M2.
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
NORIO OHGA COLLAPSES ONSTAGE: CURRENTLY IN COMA
November, 2001
Norio Ohga, the man who led the corporate giant that is Sony beyond electronics into the world of theatrical films, music CD-ROMs, video games and beyond has collapsed last week as he was conducting an orchestra in Beijing, China. From what we know of the event he is fortunately still alive, though is expected to unfortunately remain in a comatose state for what is an unknown amount of time.
The cause of his collapse has been determined to be a cerebral hemorrhage. It has yet to be determined how likely it is that he will recover.
Norio Ohga has been working at Sony since roughly the 1950's or 1960's, with him having been appointed executive director of the company in 1964. He became Presidnt of CBS/Sony Records Inc. (now recognized as Sony Music Entertainment Japan) by 1970 - these appointments were when he was 34 and 40 respectively and as such were rather unprecedented in the history of the corporation.
It was by 1982 that he would become the President of Sony, and by 1989 the CEO. It was around this time that he purchased Columbia Pictures Entertainment (now Sony Pictures Entertainment) for $3.4 billion. A year earlier, Sony acquired the CBS Records Group (currently Sony Music Entertainment) from Columbia Broadcasting System. Ohga was also instrumental in the creation of Sony Computer Entertainment, supporting Ken Kutaragi and the partnership with Sega which would ultimately see Sony own & absorb said video game giant earlier this very year.
Ohga was also present at Sony during the creation of the compact disc or CD-ROM format, which has revolutionized the way media is distributed to the public in recent times and paved the way for things such as DVDs and beyond.
Since 2000, Ohga had been in a state of semi-retirement though officially remains chairman of the board for the company he has changed the course of history for. His company wishes him the best and hopes for his recovery.
- Los Angeles Times, 2001
NOKIA NEO - BETTER THAN EXPECTATIONS
November, 2001
Well, a major day for the gamers of Europe has come! For many, it's the day they've been waiting for! The release of the coveted Nokia Neo, originally called Project Ursa and just recently announced as the 'Neo' after a period of being called the 'Raptor', Europe's first home grown console since the Philips CD-i. Released in Europe first - perfect time, since the European gaming scene is a growing market, the Raptor has proven to actually surpass many of the expectations about it and is already making quite the name for itself!
With it's release, all of the 6th Generation consoles have been released to the world and are competing with each other - save for the M2, which has already been defeated.
As the new combatant of the console war, the Raptor has a lot to prove for itself with most who have tried to compete with both Sega (now Sony) and Nintendo having failed in the past.
The hardware of the Nokia Neo defeats both the Sony Sega Neptune and the Nintendo GameCube in terms of it's power, with the powerful custom AMD Athlon "Thunderbird" CPU running at a stunning 700 MHz - far more powerful than all other commercially available gaming systems. In addition, the GPU is a customized 3DFx Spectre - this console will likely be the last to use a 3DFx chip due to the latter's financial struggles in recent times. This chipset is also more powerful than all other systems of the time, as it has been clocked in at 400 MHz.
Users of the Neo will have access to 64 channels of 3D sound, 256 channels of 16-bit stereo audio, and will have support for MIDI, mono, dolby surround and Dolby Digital 5.1 during their use of the new system. For RAM, a powerful 64 MB unified DDR SDRAM supplies the memory for the entire system, as originally revealed earlier this year.
The design of the console is pretty sweet too. It is bigger than the other consoles, and thus has a lot of weight, but again it has a lot of power. Despite the size however, it remains very sleek and streamlined, coming in mostly Platinum, Silver and Black colourations like a beautiful rectangular box with an 'N' on it. Whereas it's rivals are all top loaders, it has a plain old disc tray for both it's games and it's music CD's, andNokia wanted the Neo to be more than just a gaming system, and it comes with it's own DVD Playback Kit as well as the ability to connect it to your N-Gage (when it finally comes out).
What good does connecting it to your N-Gage do? Well apparently you will be able to use your game console to communicate with people just like you can on your Nokia phones! In addition, Nokia is working with Microsoft to refine the Neo's online services, to compete with the illustrous SegaNet.
The launch titles for Europe are not great in number, as Nokia is still growing it's third party support base, but it does have:
Transworld Surf (Infogrames)
Splashdown (Infrogrames)
Rayman M (Ubisoft)
Batman: Vengeance (Ubisoft)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (Ubisoft)
Myst III: Exile (Ubisoft)
Shrek (Nokia Interactive Media)
Project Gotham Racing (Glu Mobile, Bizarre Creations)
Mad Dash Racing (PIE)
Cel Damage (Pseudo Interactive)
Arctic Thunder (Midway Games, Inland Productions)
Fuzion Frenzy (Blitz Games)
Deadly Skies (Konami)
Dead or Alive 3 (Team Ninja)
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee (Oddworld Inhabitants, Just Add Water, Art Co., Ltd)
Neo Geo Gold Collection (Nokia Interactive Media)
Cretaceous (Nokia Interactive Media)
Indeed, the love of Europe - especially Finland - for the Neo is growing! While Nokia's Neo, name changed to fit the new generation and go long with the N-Gage coming next year (plus, likely to be a sort of symbolic successor of the Neo Geos), still has a long way to go and a lot of third party developers to win over, it has a lot of the European power players in it's bank already.
Releasing in Europe first also has given it quite the headstart on the GameCube there, Nintendo may need more than just Rare to keep what presence they have there.
However, the games!
The game launch isn't as heavenly as the Neptune's Roman-esque triumph last year, but it's still rather decent! The Neo Geo Gold Collection is a must-have for any SNK lover, as it combines all the best Neo Geo/Neo Geo CD titles into one stunning collection, from The King Fighters '94, '95, '96 '97, '98, '99 and 2000 (2001 will be released later this year for Japan),to even Metal Slug 1 & 2, nearly all of the Fatal Fury games, Samurai Shodown I & II, and even more! Nokia owns SNK now, and they are going full throttle with it!
Cretaceous is another interesting Nokia gem, developed and promoted during the 'Raptor' phase. It is essentially a first person slasher rather than shooter, as you take control of a large and vicious raptor straight from the Cretaceous and basically wreck vengenace on mankind - so to speak. The story plays like a classic sci-fi b-movie, and it knows well how to have fun with it. In a way, the Raptor I suppose is the unofficial mascot of the Neo. Sony has Sonic, Nintendo has Mario, 3DO (PIE) had Gex, and Nokia has a vicious Raptor that tears you up something fierce.
As you can see above, the Neo has Rayman supplying the platforming goodies at launch, and an abundance of racing games, both of the cart variety and of the water variety! We've even got a plane-related game that hopefully isn't coming out too soon for it's own good.
Also no, Project Gotham Racing and the Batman game have nothing to do with each other, before you start asking.
As for upcoming games, P.I.E. has announced Halo will definitely be available for the Neo's American launch, and Battlefield 1942 is being developed as well for a release the same year. Nokia's also assured us that they have lots more than just that planned as well.
As a whole, things are looking up for the Neo already, it's already going to be battling hard with Nintendo's hold on Europe but as we've said before it will take time to see whether or not they can even attempt to challenge Sony's throne.
- Next Generation Magazine
"The Nokia Neo was amazing. It was just what the market needed, something to keep things from just breaking down to only Sega - Sony - and Nintendo with nobody else. I mean, don't get me wrong, Nintendo and Sony were doing good competition, but Nintendo wasn't showing any interest in really going fully deep into online gaming at the time, so we needed someone to compete with 'Sega' on that front - even if it would be difficult to compete with the ones who basically invented online gaming."
"Nokia was not taking any prisoners when they marched into the ring. Literally nobody thought they had what it takes to win but they weren't letting that take them down." - IGN Forum post, 2012
"I kinda preferred the Raptor name more to be honest, but I can see why they went with Neo. That Neo Geo symbolism nostalgia, plus the 'New Generation' thing. But yeah, it had a pretty decent launch. No Neptune launch, but definitely a decent one." - IGN Forum post, 2013
SONIC ADVENTURE 2 - DELAYED AGAIN
November, 2001
Not even a year into the era of Sony Sega Computer Entertainment Enterprises (SSCEE) and they already have given us a fair bit of bad news. Sonic Adventure 2, the game showed off at both previous E3's either by it's lonesome or with it's predecessor, has been delayed yet again even after previously missing the deadline for the 10th anniversary of the ever popular Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
Ken Kutaragi, the head of SSCEE, hasn't said explicitly why the game of one of their highest selling series has been delayed a second time, but did say it was something along the lines of "quality concerns" in the conference he held about the subject.
This being the time of year in which both Nokia and Nintendo are finally revealing what they have to throw at the corporate juggernaut that is Sony (who in case you missed the memo assimilated Sega into them earlier this year, along with the studio Naughty Dog), this kind of news is something most unexpected. However, perhaps delaying the game will make it surpass expectations. Or not. Only time will tell.
Nintendo is apparently having a field day with this news though, with Nintendo power remarking in a very back-handed comment:
"Mario is coming on the GameCube, don't worry. When he comes, you can bet he won't back out on you on the last minute like someone else we all know."
Sega (or, Sony?) replied swiftly:
"Sonic's going to arrive before you know it, a lot faster than any plumber could ever do for you"
It's like the 1990's all over again, isn't it? Guess 1996 never really ended.
Regardless, SSCEE has announced that while Sonic Adventure 2 is not going to be available in December, it will be available in February of 2002 (assuming no further delays). Until then, Sega Shuffle and the original Sonic Adventures will have to hold everyone over.
- Next Generation Magazine
METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY
November, 2001
Solid Snake is back in the latest installment of the critically acclaimed series from director, Hideo Kojima. Top-secret weapons technology is being mysteriously transported undercover of an oil tanker to an unknown destination. Armed with an arsenal of new weapons, supplies and stealth maneuvers, it's up to Snake to infiltrate the transport and keep this deadly weapon of mass destruction from falling into the wrong hands!
- Back cover of MGS2's Neptune release. The title was released for both the Neptune and the M2 and was like it's predecessor a highly received and highly sold title of the generation - only this time for both consoles.
JAK & DAXTER
December, 2001
Naughty Dog's at it again it seems! You may remember them for games such as The Bandicoots, Mecha Team and Crash Racing as well as many other Saturn era and Universal Interactive hits. Well, now they're back....with Jak & Daxter!
Enter a world like no other seen before, one of magic and adventure, with state of the art vistas and characters just as exotic. The best part is that the entire world is truly revolutionary, it's all one entire world, meaning there aren't any of those pesky loading screens breaking up the action! What's the game about though? Well, as Jak you will be testing your wits and skills as you embark on a quest to reverse your best friend's transformation into what's called an Ottsel. Oddly enough, it's not nearly as simple as it sounds since it involves precursor secrets, dark eco and all sorts of other things that we simply can't spoil here.
Either way, it's sure to be a hot seller for the hot selling console, so pick it up while you still can!
Only available for Sega Neptune.
- SegaZone Magazine
"Finally, Naughty Dog had begun a proper series, rather than the oneshots they had been doing before!"
SUPER SMASH BROS. MELEE
December, 2001
The GameCube has made it state side, and with it comes none other than Super Smash Bros, MELEE!
Remember the original Smash? Well now, it's time for an even BETTER fighting adventure! Far superior graphics combined with even better gameplay and even more characters and what is quite possibly the best multiplayer action only Nintendo could give you and you have by far the most must-have GameCube title of all!
All of the veterans from the first game return, not a single one left out, only this time they are joined by even more Nintendo all-stars!
Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, D.K. and now even Peach and Bowser are all in the frey together, with even Princess Zelda joining in on the action too! And that's not even getting started on the new Pokemon ready to fight (and more!)
Melee gives you all new everything, from an all new adventure mode to events and a stunning ammount of stages to unlock as you play along, you're going to be playing this one for hours.
Only on Nintendo GameCube
- Nintendo Power. Melee had been released in Japan in November of 2001
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I'm looking forward for the delayed Sonic Adventure 2 coming out in February 2002.
I have a question for a Possible Earlier Cross-platform Play... did they plan for Neptune considering how in OTL That Nintendo and Microsoft had a team up with each other... why don't they team up with Nokia or something like that?
I had no idea Nintendo and Microsoft teamed up IOTL. To be fair though, Microsoft psuedo teamed up with Nokia here, so...I guess I just didn't know. Alternatively, could just be Nokia and Nintendo teaming up here since Microsoft is not directly in the game. How big was this team up?
Update:
Sorry for the wait again
The document I wrote everything in glitched out a while back and literally just went completely blank, so I've had to literally rewrite everything about 2002 all over again, probably not going to do a "Games of" segment, probably going to just combine such content into the main posts if I have the ideas for it.
Sorry for the wait again
The document I wrote everything in glitched out a while back and literally just went completely blank, so I've had to literally rewrite everything about 2002 all over again, probably not going to do a "Games of" segment, probably going to just combine such content into the main posts if I have the ideas for it.
Yeah, I'm trying to finish the next post. It's pretty big. I'm actually what is the final segment of it, so at this point I'm just procrastinating multi-tasking with too many things at once to really finish this in a timely manner. That said though I'm always open to getting more ideas for this TL.
I also almost suffered everything going blank again, but I think my mistake the first time was saving it in such a state. I closed it without saving the second time, then rebooted the pc, and thank the gods it was actually back to normal.
I also almost suffered everything going blank again, but I think my mistake the first time was saving it in such a state. I closed it without saving the second time, then rebooted the pc, and thank the gods it was actually back to normal.