October started with something of a heart-warming moment for the fringes of gaming hardcore, with the news that Treasure’s seminal Nintendo 64 shooter Sin and Punishment is to see a re-release courtesy of the China-only iQue. The news triggers speculation of more Treasure remakes though to date, nothing has been seen.
By the 4th of October, Nintendo’s ongoing battle with the yen takes a swing in its favour as the currency slumps against the dollar. Following dire projections, the firm is able to up is expectations by 20%. “"Our GameCube hardware business was slightly hurt by price cuts by our rivals ... but we're considering launching a sales promotion campaign for the peak Christmas shopping season and expect to achieve our full-year sales target," said an NCL spokesman.
Also on the 4th Peter Molyneux apologises for Fable just days after the game’s launch. “If I have mentioned any feature in the past which, for whatever reason, didn't make it as I described into Fable, I apologise. Every feature I have ever talked about WAS in development, but not all made it. Often the reason is that the feature did not make sense.” We contacted a Microsoft spokesperson for a comment on Molyneux’s outburst, coming as it did just days after the game’s launch. “He’s said what? Oh shit… you’re joking right… oh shit…” was the comment we were asked not to publish.
Two days later and Microsoft’s Peter Moore decides to again speak out on the subject of Japanese gaming sensibilities. Following his release from the naughty corner, Moore attributed the Xbox’s failure to capture imaginations in Japan as an issue of size and design – promising that the next Microsoft console will be smaller and sleeker than its cumbersome predecessor.
Tetsuya Mizuguchi shows the DS’ answer to his PSP-exclusive Lumines, titled Meteos. It looks, um, arty!
The 7th of October brought the second greatest Reggie quote of the year. “Let me tell you something. Those little women at the Tokyo Game Show with those portable consoles strapped to them… What you didn’t see is that those women were having to go recharge the batteries every two hours!”
This was the first time that anyone had gone on the record from any company to speculate about the power life of the PSP. The fact that it comes from Nintendo, a firm that traditionally ignores its competitors, was surprising to say the least.
Fils-Amie continued, “We have gone on the record to state that the Nintendo DS will have battery life comparable to the Game Boy Advance SP. Nowhere will you find any mention of the other machines power life. And you have to wonder why…”
Days later and Sony is on the ropes to an extent. Although its machine is undoubtedly far more attractive, it is losing the PR battle badly. Lack of tangibility regarding the PSP compounds the information blackout forcing the firm to speak. Masa Chatani, Sony’s Chief Technology Officer, stated to Famitsu that "our plan to sell the PSP within the year is secure as well, so please be at ease."
On the 12th, Business Week decides to join the PSP guessing game. “In our view, PSP will not cannibalise sales from the new PS2 because the former is entering the market for handheld game devices and the latter is leveraging the market of the old home-console model,” the magazine stated. “Once PSP debuts in the U.S. - which we expect sometime between January and March 2005 - we look for total shipments (including Japan) to reach between 5 million and 6 million units. By end of fiscal year 2006, we project shipments of 10 million units worldwide.” The publication, on pricing, had this to day: “Since Sony will go head-to-head with Nintendo, which priced its new handheld gaming device at $136, we do not expect PSP to be priced at more than $200. Consequently, even if Sony sells PSP at the lower end of our projection, it could produce substantial incremental revenues in the second half of the fiscal year 2006.”
The next day and Sega give Conspiracy Entertainment, the firm that had consistently botched attempts to launch Sega Ages games, is booted by the Sonic firm.
On the 15th, Rockstar Games shoots itself directly in the foot. A PR blunder of staggering proportions sees the firm gift the first exclusive cover of the game to GamesMaster Magazine, a publication with a low-to-mid teen demographic. Rockstar issues the following disingenuous statement: “GamesMaster is the UK's leading multi-format games magazine read by a wide spectrum of gamers, including a loyal adult following. As such, it covers the biggest games releases, whichever age group they are aimed at when released. We agreed to a review of the game, in line with other reviews of 18-plus games that the magazine covers, with the strict requirement that they made it very clear in the editorial that GTA: San Andreas is an ‘18’-plus rated game. The responsibility of judging content of games is up to legally appointed bodies like the BBFC. Rockstar submits its games for certification to the relevant classification boards in each country in which we operate.” It is now thought likely that legislation will be implemented to counter barefaced aggressive marketing of adult products at children.
On the 19th, Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 4 hammers EA’s FIFA in the UK charts bumping the title from the top spot.
Next day and one of the reasons Rare has been completely unable to produce anything of any quality for years is uncovered. It would seem that the firm is still licking its wounds over it inability to maintain its erstwhile reputation as a tight ship. Speaking on the possibility of development for Nintendo DS and PSP, we are told, “Not this again. Alright, well, I'd have thought one was more likely than the other, but on the other hand I'm not aware of any sealed deals, so anything I say is pure speculation (and therefore a world exclusive 100% confirmed fact front page story on SPOnG).” A rather backhanded way of thanking us for our world-beating Rare exclusives over the years.” Had Rare bothered to take time out from burning its better franchises and read SPOnG, it would have noticed that we were the sole media outlet rubbishing all next-generation portable chatter at the studio.
Meanwhile Rockstar sees San Andreas code leaked onto the Internet. “The proper authorities are investigating the theft and are continuing to investigate all possible leads.” This was underlined with the emphatic remark, “We take the theft of our intellectual property very seriously.”
On the 21st, Sony, after promising the stripping of online play would ensure a 2004 PAL release for Gran Turismo, reneges. The game slips to Easter 2005 on-line play is not re-instated.
The 25th and after a prolonged period of speculation over the possible future for Argonaut games, which had recently ceased trading on the London Stock exchange and had shed over 100 employees, as well as closing down its Sheffield studio, it would now be going into administration and be up for sale. Another sad loss for the UK development scene.
On the 27th Sony decides to finally break its PSP silence. The machine will debut at will retail for 20,790 Yen (approximately £105) and its battery will last around 5 hours. Next day company president Ken Kutaragi goes on record regarding the portable loss-leader status: “We have to get the momentum going first on PSP sales,” he says.
A day later and it’s announced that the PSP will be region-free for gaming. A move that opens the floodgates for widespread importing of the machine in time for Christmas. Movie regionalisation remains unclear.
By the 4th of October, Nintendo’s ongoing battle with the yen takes a swing in its favour as the currency slumps against the dollar. Following dire projections, the firm is able to up is expectations by 20%. “"Our GameCube hardware business was slightly hurt by price cuts by our rivals ... but we're considering launching a sales promotion campaign for the peak Christmas shopping season and expect to achieve our full-year sales target," said an NCL spokesman.
Also on the 4th Peter Molyneux apologises for Fable just days after the game’s launch. “If I have mentioned any feature in the past which, for whatever reason, didn't make it as I described into Fable, I apologise. Every feature I have ever talked about WAS in development, but not all made it. Often the reason is that the feature did not make sense.” We contacted a Microsoft spokesperson for a comment on Molyneux’s outburst, coming as it did just days after the game’s launch. “He’s said what? Oh shit… you’re joking right… oh shit…” was the comment we were asked not to publish.
Two days later and Microsoft’s Peter Moore decides to again speak out on the subject of Japanese gaming sensibilities. Following his release from the naughty corner, Moore attributed the Xbox’s failure to capture imaginations in Japan as an issue of size and design – promising that the next Microsoft console will be smaller and sleeker than its cumbersome predecessor.
Tetsuya Mizuguchi shows the DS’ answer to his PSP-exclusive Lumines, titled Meteos. It looks, um, arty!
The 7th of October brought the second greatest Reggie quote of the year. “Let me tell you something. Those little women at the Tokyo Game Show with those portable consoles strapped to them… What you didn’t see is that those women were having to go recharge the batteries every two hours!”
This was the first time that anyone had gone on the record from any company to speculate about the power life of the PSP. The fact that it comes from Nintendo, a firm that traditionally ignores its competitors, was surprising to say the least.
Fils-Amie continued, “We have gone on the record to state that the Nintendo DS will have battery life comparable to the Game Boy Advance SP. Nowhere will you find any mention of the other machines power life. And you have to wonder why…”
Days later and Sony is on the ropes to an extent. Although its machine is undoubtedly far more attractive, it is losing the PR battle badly. Lack of tangibility regarding the PSP compounds the information blackout forcing the firm to speak. Masa Chatani, Sony’s Chief Technology Officer, stated to Famitsu that "our plan to sell the PSP within the year is secure as well, so please be at ease."
On the 12th, Business Week decides to join the PSP guessing game. “In our view, PSP will not cannibalise sales from the new PS2 because the former is entering the market for handheld game devices and the latter is leveraging the market of the old home-console model,” the magazine stated. “Once PSP debuts in the U.S. - which we expect sometime between January and March 2005 - we look for total shipments (including Japan) to reach between 5 million and 6 million units. By end of fiscal year 2006, we project shipments of 10 million units worldwide.” The publication, on pricing, had this to day: “Since Sony will go head-to-head with Nintendo, which priced its new handheld gaming device at $136, we do not expect PSP to be priced at more than $200. Consequently, even if Sony sells PSP at the lower end of our projection, it could produce substantial incremental revenues in the second half of the fiscal year 2006.”
The next day and Sega give Conspiracy Entertainment, the firm that had consistently botched attempts to launch Sega Ages games, is booted by the Sonic firm.
On the 15th, Rockstar Games shoots itself directly in the foot. A PR blunder of staggering proportions sees the firm gift the first exclusive cover of the game to GamesMaster Magazine, a publication with a low-to-mid teen demographic. Rockstar issues the following disingenuous statement: “GamesMaster is the UK's leading multi-format games magazine read by a wide spectrum of gamers, including a loyal adult following. As such, it covers the biggest games releases, whichever age group they are aimed at when released. We agreed to a review of the game, in line with other reviews of 18-plus games that the magazine covers, with the strict requirement that they made it very clear in the editorial that GTA: San Andreas is an ‘18’-plus rated game. The responsibility of judging content of games is up to legally appointed bodies like the BBFC. Rockstar submits its games for certification to the relevant classification boards in each country in which we operate.” It is now thought likely that legislation will be implemented to counter barefaced aggressive marketing of adult products at children.
On the 19th, Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 4 hammers EA’s FIFA in the UK charts bumping the title from the top spot.
Next day and one of the reasons Rare has been completely unable to produce anything of any quality for years is uncovered. It would seem that the firm is still licking its wounds over it inability to maintain its erstwhile reputation as a tight ship. Speaking on the possibility of development for Nintendo DS and PSP, we are told, “Not this again. Alright, well, I'd have thought one was more likely than the other, but on the other hand I'm not aware of any sealed deals, so anything I say is pure speculation (and therefore a world exclusive 100% confirmed fact front page story on SPOnG).” A rather backhanded way of thanking us for our world-beating Rare exclusives over the years.” Had Rare bothered to take time out from burning its better franchises and read SPOnG, it would have noticed that we were the sole media outlet rubbishing all next-generation portable chatter at the studio.
Meanwhile Rockstar sees San Andreas code leaked onto the Internet. “The proper authorities are investigating the theft and are continuing to investigate all possible leads.” This was underlined with the emphatic remark, “We take the theft of our intellectual property very seriously.”
On the 21st, Sony, after promising the stripping of online play would ensure a 2004 PAL release for Gran Turismo, reneges. The game slips to Easter 2005 on-line play is not re-instated.
The 25th and after a prolonged period of speculation over the possible future for Argonaut games, which had recently ceased trading on the London Stock exchange and had shed over 100 employees, as well as closing down its Sheffield studio, it would now be going into administration and be up for sale. Another sad loss for the UK development scene.
On the 27th Sony decides to finally break its PSP silence. The machine will debut at will retail for 20,790 Yen (approximately £105) and its battery will last around 5 hours. Next day company president Ken Kutaragi goes on record regarding the portable loss-leader status: “We have to get the momentum going first on PSP sales,” he says.
A day later and it’s announced that the PSP will be region-free for gaming. A move that opens the floodgates for widespread importing of the machine in time for Christmas. Movie regionalisation remains unclear.
Comments
fluffstardx 4 Jan 2005 18:14
1/2
...
Nothing about the big Halo 2 theft then? The one that sent a whole gaming community off to hunt for pirates?
Nothing about the big Halo 2 theft then? The one that sent a whole gaming community off to hunt for pirates?
DoctorDee 5 Jan 2005 13:11
2/2
fluffstardx wrote:
...
Nothing about the big Halo 2 theft then? The one that sent a whole gaming community off to hunt for pirates?
Nothing about the big Halo 2 theft then? The one that sent a whole gaming community off to hunt for pirates?
So much news... so little time.
And what with Stef, getting his suit pressed, shining his shoes, looking for his passport, buying rings... it probably slipped his mind.