Thanks to IGN Cube for their new interview with Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack about Metal Gear Solid:The Twin Snakes, as he talks about this Winter 2003-due GameCube 'enhanced port' of the original MGS, including overall changes ("...one of the biggest enhancements is the ability to do all of the things you could do in Metal Gear Solid 2 in the Metal Gear Solid 1 world... there are all sorts of different [new] ways to finish a level"), AI upgrades ("...totally ramped up. I think it's safe to say that if you look at the AI from MGS2 then we're at [MGS] 2 and a half now"), and the Metal Gear Solid 2/VR Missions bonus rumors ("There will be extras, but there won't be another game in there.")

Thanks to The Times Online for their article indicating that Eidos has announced that they will no longer develop GameCube titles. The article, based on comments made as the company announced their financial results, explains that "...there were no plans for Eidos, Europe's second largest games developer, to release any games for the struggling GameCube, which has sold about 1.8 million units in Europe compared with sales of 15 million for Sony's PS2." Eidos CEO Mike McGarvey commented: "The GameCube is a declining business... If other companies follow us [Nintendo] will have a hard battle to fight." This follows similar anti-GameCube comments by Acclaim a couple of months back.

Thanks to Gamesindustry.biz for their article discussing the latest Japanese console hardware sales, in which it's revealed that the GameCube marginally outsold the PlayStation 2 this week, by 35,600 units to 35,300 units, largely "thanks to the release of Namco's RPG Tales of Symphonia", whose success we mentioned a couple of days back. Unfortunately, the third major console fared less well: "The picture was a little less bright for the Xbox, which slipped behind the PSone in the rankings again - selling 650 units to the PSone's 960. In market share terms, it was only one tenth of a percentage point ahead of Bandai's SwanCrystal. Ouch."

Daetrin writes "GamesAreFun.com is reporting that Namco's Tales of Symphonia RPG for GameCube sold 200,000 copies in its first day of release in Japan. It also reports that Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles for GameCube has sold over 350,000 units since its Japanese release last month. Perhaps the influx of RPGs will help revitalize the low GameCube hardware sales in Japan?" IGN Cube has hands-on impressions of Tales Of Symphonia, and GamesAreFun also mention the "73,000 pre-orders in Japan" for GC farming RPG Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, which comes complete with a plush cow if you pre-order Stateside.

Thanks to IGN Pocket for their article pointing out that Nintendo's Pokemon franchise is celebrating its 5th anniversary in the States. According to the article, "Pokemon first launched on the original Game Boy in Japan in 1996. Since bringing the franchise to North America in September 1998, Nintendo has sold more than 110 million Pokemon games worldwide. Pokemon merchandise has generated over $15 billion in worldwide retail sales since 1998." With the HAL-developed Pokemon Pinball:Ruby And Sapphire out now for GBA, and Pokemon Coliseum for GameCube forthcoming early next year as a Pokemon Stadium-style companion for Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire on GBA, it seems Pikachu and friends are here to stay.

Thanks to Gamesindustry.biz for their report on the results of the annual ECTS Awards in London, documenting the ceremonies based around the E3-like English trade show. According to the piece, "Ubi Soft's cel-shaded FPS title XIII... [walked] away from the ceremony with the Best Console Game and Game of Show awards tucked under its arm. The company's multiplayer FPS title Far Cry also won the Best PC Game award, while Everquest 2 - published in Europe by Ubi - picked up the Best Online game award." Interestingly, the Edge Award, chosen by editors of the boutique UK games magazine, went to Capcom's Viewtiful Joe, while Half-Life 2 only came away with one prize, the London Games Week award.

Oxygen99 writes "There's a story on the BBC News website regarding the financial impact on game developers of the next generation of consoles. The article states that while the cost of producing games increases exponentially as new technology comes online, consumer prices stay approximately the same, leading to an unsustainable financial environment for many small developers. With many small development teams already hurting from the crippling costs of development for the X-Box, GameCube and PlayStation 2, what happens when the X-Box2 or Playstation 3 arrives? Are the days of small scale game development over? Will we ever see a new Jeff Minter? Will the games industry go down the route of the razor manufacturers where consoles are almost given away with the games?"

Thanks to the Sega website for publishing official word that the Phantasy Star Online servers for Dreamcast will be shut down from October 1st. The page concludes: "On behalf of Sonic Team here at Sega, we would like to thank you for making PSO an unforgettable experience. You have brought us much joy and many wonderful memories. We invite you to try PSO on GameCube and Xbox and share your knowledge and skills with other PSO gamers so your legacy will continue to live on." This news follows the shutting-down of Sega's other Dreamcast online servers back in June.

Thanks to GameSpy for their (similar, and in descending score order) Xbox, Gamecube, and PlayStation 2 reviews of the newly-released Soul Calibur II, plus a detailed Soul Calibur II: Pile-On! article, where-in "...a battle royale of GameSpy's biggest SCII fans pick apart a hit." Opinions? One editor suggests: "It's a fabulous game, but the original Soul Calibur wasn't just an excellent game: it started a new age for fighters. On the other hand, SCII - no matter how good it is - is just an incremental upgrade, a fairly routine fighter sequel."

Thanks to several sources for illuminating Nintendo's first-party software plans for the next few months. There's a preview of Kirby's Air Ride over at GameSpy, discussing the "very odd" GameCube racer which only uses "...the analog control stick for steering, and the A-button... for everything else." Nintendo has also confirmed Paper Mario for a GameCube release, say IGN Cube, following on from the excellent N64 version. Also, Nintendojo has news that 1080 Avalanche and StarFox 2 will also feature multiplayer LAN gameplay, as well as the already-confirmed Kirby and Mario Kart - the site suggests elsewhere that "GameSpy promised to enable Internet play for any Nintendo LAN games to be released via GameSpy Arcade", so... fingers crossed? Finally, IGN has a hands-on preview of Pikmin 2 - go, go Captain Olimar!

Thanks to GameSpy.com for their ongoing series of articles on fighting games, including 'A Brief History Of 3D Fighters' - Part 1 and Part 2. As the article notes, "It's been ten long years since 3D fighters first appeared. In that time, we've seen the genre toddle from flat-shaded polygons and floaty jumps to extremely realistic texture-mapping and gameplay depth that can exceed some of the best 2D fighters". although the piece points out "...things have been somewhat slow [within the genre] in recent times." There are also histories of the Virtua Fighter and Soul Calibur series, all thanks to the recent release of the budget-priced Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution for PS2, and next week's release of Soul Calibur 2 for PS2/Xbox/GameCube.

SuperRob writes "Planet GameCube apparently has an exclusive (until ECTS, that is) on the post-E3 changes to Nintendo's Mario Kart: Double Dash for GameCube. Notable updates are weapons specific to each character, a new battle mode, and a huge speed increase (the top complaint about the game from E3)." There's more info at fan site Mario Kart Central, which has even started mapping the new game tracks for this keenly-awaited sequel before release - it's currently due in America on November 17th.

Thanks to GameMarketWatch.com for their article discussing a survey linking console DVD use and game purchases. Some manufacturers don't see the point of a bundled DVD player: "'Why would we ever include DVD playback in our videogame system?' was the question posed in a recent Business 2.0 article by George Harrison, Nintendo's VP of Marketing. 'If someone buys a DVD and watches it on the Nintendo GameCube, we wouldn't receive any revenue from that. We'd rather have them play our games.'" But the survey shows a possible advantage to DVD playback for hardware manufacturers: "The Centris poll results... suggest that DVD capability has the potential to drive game software activity, since respondents that used their game consoles to watch DVD movies were also the heaviest purchasers and renters of games."

Thanks to C+VG for their report revealing that Nintendo's e-Reader device for GBA will not be released in Europe. This official confirmation from Nintendo comes after "e-Reader was [originally] confirmed for Europe back in May", and adds to the pain of European gamers still waiting for the multi-language PAL version of Animal Crossing for the GameCube, despite the fact the PAL Australian release is now announced for October, and Aussies still get the e-Reader. Why does Nintendo continue to give consumers a raw deal in Europe?

Thanks to Smartmoney.com for their report into GameStop's second-quarter financial results, which revealed "a 31% surge in videogame software sales", although a drop from last year's hardware-discounted highs, and "better-than-expected performance in stores." According to the report, "...the company said videogame-software sales were 'very strong' for the quarter, with leading titles such as 'Enter The Matrix' from Atari Inc., 'NBA Street: Volume 2' and 'NCAA Football 2004' from Electronic Arts Inc. and 'Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic' from LucasArts." Most interestingly, GameStop indicated they're expecting "...further hardware price reductions 'or similar promotional activities' during the third quarter", a move that may include the rumored $99 GameCube price drop which IGN Cube are confidently predicting for the end of September.

Itchy the Killer writes "FiringSquad previews The Simpsons Hit & Run (XBox, PS2, GameCube), which is a strange marriage of The Simpsons and Grand Theft Auto. They seemed to think that it works." A lot of times when games are made based on huge pre-existing franchises, they suck so bad mankind is forced to redefine the boundaries of suckiness. That said, this game actually looks like I would play it, which says a lot.

Thanks to IGN Cube for their article on the Universal Soul Calibur II Arcade Stick, which is being released by Nuby and Namco on August 31st, just after the launch of the ravenously-awaited Namco fighting game sequel for PS2/Xbox/GameCube. IGN explains: "The interesting detail about the arcade stick is that it works with all three consoles - no extra assembly required. All gamers need do is plug the appropriate end into the console of their choice and they'll be up and running." So you can use the same joystick to play Link, Heihachi, and Spawn, if you're insane enough to buy Soul Calibur II for all three platforms, as well as repurposing the stick for any other famous fighting games that take your fancy.

Thanks to IGN Cube for their rumor report claiming that Nintendo's new Donkey Kong title for GameCube, recently announced as being developed by Namco, is a conga drum-based rhythm title called Donkey Konga. Although unconfirmed, IGN claim: "On March 10, 2003, Nintendo registered the trademark for Donkey Konga. This, say sources, is the tentative name for the new title, which dumps its platformer roots in favor of exploring the music genre." Another point in this rumor's favor is that Namco has created the very popular Taiko no Tatsujin drumming title for PlayStation 2, complete with custom drum controller, and it's sold over 900,000 copies so far in Japan, but there's no official word from Nintendo or Namco yet.

Thanks to C+VG for their interview with Toby Gard, original creator of Lara Croft, as he talks about his horrendously-delayed console action title, Galleon. This title, which was started after his company Confounding Factor was formed in April 1997, and was at one point in development for the Dreamcast, is now due on the Xbox, with GameCube and probably PS2 versions to follow - Gard says of development: "It's just been incredibly difficult. It's taken enormous will power for us to keep going; it's been a huge struggle for a long time. Our biggest problem is that we're too small... There's less than ten people here now, and that's just crazy." He also comments briefly on the latest Tomb Raider title: "I don't know about that - you've played it, haven't you? It crashed after ten minutes when I played it, which is a bit of a shame really."

Thanks to Planet GameCube for their report on how the newly released Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is faring in the Japanese press. This GameCube action RPG, which came out on August 7th in Japan, but is now delayed until February 2004 State-side, scored 32/40 and a Gold Award in the often strict Famitsu Weekly, and a Famitsu reviewer commented: "The one player mode feels a bit lonely as the gameplay tends to become routine. However, the game becomes more interesting in the multiplayer mode, where players can execute combination magic and work together to beat the boss. The fun factor is doubled." There's more info via hands-on impressions at IGN Cube, who seem to like the single-player campaign somewhat better.