Sega gives release dates for three upcoming GBA titles. Sonic Advance worldwide at the U.S. GBA launch.

Sega certainly looks like it has been planning to support the GBA for some time! According to IGNPocket, Chu Chu Rocket! will be a Japanese GBA release title! I'd be suprised if this didn't support GBA's wireless net... Also, Puyo Puyo will once again show its face--this time on the GBA. It should be out in Japan in summer and before Xmas in the US. But the real kicker is that the blue blur himself will be unleashed in Sonic the Hedgehog Advance WORLDWIDE at the GBA's US launch. Mario AND Sonic at the US release?! I'm in platforming heaven.

N-Sider says "yes".

According to the N-Sider, yes Sega does have Dev kits for the GameCube. According to N-Sider, Sega has moved passed preliminary negotiations with Microsoft and Nintendo. They are apparently getting full cooperation from both industry giants. Sega has already ordered dev kits for both systems. N-Sider has this to say:

Sega's teams could already be working on some preliminary GameCube software. It should be very interesting what comes of this, particularly from Yuji Naka's Sonic Team, who already have two Game Boy Advance projects on their plate.

Contained within is all kinds of Sega related news including the announcment of Chu Chu Rocket for the Gameboy Advance.

Puzzle fans rejoice!! The mega-hit Dreamcast game Chu Chu Rocket has been announced for the Game Boy Advance. In Chu Chu Rocket, players have to heard tiny little mice thingies (Chu Chus) into Rocket and keep them from getting eaten by the Kapu Kapu (big stupid looking cats with swirly eyes)! If you've ever played Chu Chu on the Dreamcast you'll be overjoyed to hear this news. If you haven't played the game, shame on you. On a side note, the official name for Sonic the Hedgehog Advance is Sonic Adventure Advance. This makes me think it will be a new Sonic game as opposed to a port of an old Sonic game. Also, in the works for the Dreamcast (you know you love it!) are Jet Grind Radio 2 and Crazy Taxi 2 (hopefully with more cities and drivers). Crazy Taxi 2, along with 18 Wheeler Pro Amercian Trucker and Zombie Revenge will be hitting the Playstation 2.

EA "officially" confirms GameCube launch support

With EA heavily rumored to be on the GameCube bandwagon to the extent that its basically taken as fact, comes news that helps cement the publishing giant as a GCN supporter. EA CEO and Chairman Larry Probst said, "Gamecube is going to be an important platform in the next generation. You can surmise that we will be there when it is launched."

Translation? EA will be supporting the GameCube from the get go. Sure most of us have been expecting this announcement for a while know its good to know that its finally out in the open. GCN support seems to be getting better by the day and with companies like EA and Sega (we think so anyway) on board, Nintendo looks to be in a very good position come launch later this year.

Midway is bringing Arctic Thunder to all next-gen systems except the Dreamcast.

Another day, another GC title confirmed. Check it out:

Today, Gaming Age has confirmed that Arctic Thunder, one of Midway's latest arcade titles, has been confirmed for an X-Box, Gamecube and Playstation 2 release. Sadly, the Dreamcast won't be seeing this semi-sequel to Hydro Thunder due to the fact that Midway is applying their limited resources to the other consoles.

While it's not exactly a surprise to see Midway backing the GameCube, it's nice to see developer support shaping up.

This is too strange to summarize.

Perhaps this is what we need, something a little sillier than a boring ol' strategy guide lawsuit... I spotted this over at Fatbabies.

POKEMON FIRST, POKED BY THE DEVIL'S TRIDENT LATER

By FatInsider

Popular and fiercely defended franchise leads inevitably to goat's blood consumption

Over in the UK, a Birmingham fortune teller named Sylvia Irving has shuffled and shelved her tarot cards, and now peers into the future with the help of Cubone, Dewgong, and the rest of the kiddie-friendly other-worldly entities. What started as a bet (and no doubt according to the less sane "concerned parents" groups, an attempt to coax second-graders into the seedy dank underbelly of alternative religions) is continuing due to popularity as youngsters realize that their favorite card game can also be a powerful all-seeing eye with power beyond imagination.

Sega confirms the DC price drop (to $99) and introduces the "Smash Pack". Would you like some Sega classics with that Dreamcast sir? PICTURES!!!

OK, so in addition to what we posted earlier, Sega has announced that Dreamcast systems are confirmed to drop in price and will retail for $99 starting Febuary 5th. Justin Wood, my longtime buddy (& a staffer of Segadojo) told me a "Smash Pack" (which includes a Sega classics comp) should be available for $129 by this time as well. People, there is now NO excuse and no reason NOT to buy the Dreamcast. I loaned my brother my import DC until I got the FAQ up; as I'm getting close to finishing the update, I told him I wanted it back. He told me too bad -he has to finish Resident Evil: Code Verionica and Tony Hawk. Dreamcast is a great system and it sounds like it'll be going out with a bang.

The Younger Plumber attends the conference "Entertainment in the Interactive Age" and tells us all about it.

I know there are those of you who are confused about what the “Entertainment in the Interactive Age” conference was all about, so I’ll give a brief summary of what I experienced these past two days. The University of Southern California regularly holds special events with guest speakers, and this time around, the topic happened to be about electronic entertainment—specifically video games—and what is in its future. Various speakers talked about different forms of user interaction in video games. Some games, like The Sims, allow the player full control over the game and story. Many of the speakers focused on how intricate the story is to a game, whether it be created on the spot or predetermined. They wish to get in touch with the user’s more sophisticated emotions—not just anger and fear. Uniqueness is the key. Each player should have his or her own unique experience: no two paths should be exactly the same. In some games, user-made “mod”s can be downloaded and used in the game, extending the game’s life. Other games let the player make up his or her own adventure. In this way, there can be INFINITE possibilities. Many also talked about the online gaming community, while a few (like Ken Lobb) gave some insight as to how a developer goes about creating a game well.

Paper Mario gets an official release date. It's almost here!

I just took a "Planet break" to take in some anime on Cartoon Network (Outlaw Star is cool, yo) and saw an ad for Paper Mario during the commercial break. Looks like Paper Mario finally has a release date too, Febuary 5th, indicated by Nintendo's Gamelist. There's still a good deal to come to keep N64 owners happy. Desmond Gaban imported this one awhile back & has told me repeatedly the game is fantastic, quite lengthy and surprisingly really hard. Formerly "Mario RPG 2" this is one I've been looking forward to for a long time and I'm glad to see it will soon be coming out.

SOE announces its plans to become a neutral 3rd party. The Dreamcast chip set will also be licensed to a range of devices including Palm. Finally, Sonic Advance is announced.

Sega of Europe has announced the company's future plans. According to SOE, Sega has a two-pronged approach. One, to become a neutral third-party developer. Two, provide the Dreamcast chip-set technology to a range of devices. One of these devices include the PACE Set Top Box. SOE has also announced the first 2 games in development for other systems. They include a Space Channel 5 game for the Playstation 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog Advance for the GameBoy Advance!! Also, Sega is looking into developing for other consoles and will be making further announcements on it's partnerships soon. Sega will also still support the Dreamcast console. They plan to ship more than 100 Dreamcast games worldwide by March of 2002. On top of all this, Sega has announced a partnership with Palm. This will bring Sega games, both on and offline, to the Palm platform. Not much of this news is actually new, but now it is actually official. Only one major question really remains now. Will Sonic the Hedgehog Advance be a new game or will it be a port of a previous Sonic game?