Mike C asks: Wonderful site, keep up the good work. Game Eye, Stage Debut, Gamecube LCD Monitor, SD Memory Card..... The list goes on. My question is why does Nintendo invent such cool products and then never release them? Is there any chance of seeing some of these things at E3?

TYP says: Tech companies in general develop many products that never see the light of day. These products usually are not practical or financially viable. I'm not sure why Nintendo displays things like Stage Debut or the LCD screen at E3. I can only assume the LCD screen was scrapped because it would cost more than Nintendo wanted to spend and charge, but the reason behind ditching the SD adapter is perfectly clear. Nintendo is shunned whenever it does release poorly-supported peripherals, and there is currently none less supported than the SD adapter. Naturally, poor support is often the company's own fault (e-Reader, BBA), since it seems to limit the products' availability to internal or close developers.

To be honest, I think it's simply too late in the system's lifecycle to introduce a new memory standard--no developer would be interested in supporting it. Heck, too many multiplayer PS2 games don't support the multitap, even though it was released at launch! With any luck Nintendo's next system will use SD cards for storage, although their DS media format might be used instead...

Zosha says: Well, Nintendo has promised to release a bunch of whacky peripherals well into the GC's lifespan. Perhaps we'll see some of them at the upcoming E3. This isn't the first time Nintendo's pulled the plug on a variety of hardware. The Virtual Boy is probably the biggest failure for the company. The 64DD never saw the light of day outside of Japan.

As for the SD adapter, I imagine that later systems will incorporate something similar to it. As far as I'm concerned, we're lucky we got the Memory Card 251. Nintendo is that cheap.

Mike S. says: Actually the SD Card Adaptor was released, how ever only in Japan. It can be used with a revision of Animal Crossing that allows players to take pictures and save them to the SD card.

As for the Game Eye and Stage Debut, I think those are more "proof of concept" ideas. Stage Debut isn't even really a game. It's more like a piece of software designed to show a picture of a character with a player's face (taken from the Game Eye camera) dancing around.

Jonny says: I personally believe that the GameCube LCD screen and some other previously seen accessories will eventually be released for GameCube. Nintendo wants to increase the system's capabilities, and the screen in particular is a great way to do it without splintering the market at all. As for the SD adapter, why do we really need it? It would have been better to release it as the primary GameCube memory solution back at launch, and then people could buy virtually any size memory card...but this late in the game, and with Nintendo apparently releasing a Memory Card 1019 soon, there's just no reason.

Stage Debut is loosely a sequel to the 64DD's Talent Maker, which was a real game that did see release on that experimental add-on. However, I don't think Stage Debut will ever be released as a standalone game, nor was it ever intended for such a purpose. It is a testing ground for all kinds of technologies and ideas, some of which have already been incorporated into Nintendo's real games. Supposedly there is only one programmer working on Stage Debut at any given time, and his job is to go all out and try crazy stuff. I think it's a great idea. What's puzzling is why Nintendo shows this internal tech demo year after year at trade shows. I guess they just want to show how wild and crazy they are under the hood...as if we don't already know.

Paul asks: Hi, is there any chance you could tell me if there is a way to buy a life sized model of samus from metroid prime as i had seen one the other day in a game store in Chester City Centre if so how much would it cost ?

Ty says: I think the only way you're going to get one is from whatever store has one, through bribery or deceit. This might be tough to do, since no doubt one of the employees has already gotten dibs on it. This is how it works out here in the states, anyway. Find this man and offer him several hundred of whatever currency your r-before-e country uses. Also, I would like to be the first responder to insinuate the idea of doing something inappropriate with it.

Jeff says: You could always just snag it in broad daylight and run like crazy. But really, there is an off-chance that no employee wants it. Why don't you just try asking? You would be surprised how many times it works.

Aussie Ben says: Yes! You could SNAG it! Just like Team Snag 'Em in Pokémon Colosseum! Ha ha! Oh, I'm quite the comedian. Seriously though, a friend of a friend of mine wanted the Rogue Squadron stand that was around near the GameCube launch. So... he just TOOK it! Right there! And he ran off comically!

I may have made that last bit up, but I swear the rest is true.

Steven says: A more extreme (and slightly illegal) tactic would be dumpster diving. Look in the dumpster behind your local games emporium to see what was thrown out. You'll usually find all sorts of goodies back there.

Then again, Metroid has been out for a pretty long time, so you probably won't find any that aren't already out.

TYP says: What. You want a "huggable" life-size Samus or something? I can't help you there.

Jonny says: Too bad Metroid isn't made by Itagaki, or you could get a life-sized Samus PILLOW.

Ty says: Metroid XBV sounds hot.

T asks: Now that Square (although in a slightly different form) is working with Nintendo again, what are the chances of a Chrono Trigger sequel appearing on the Gamecube, if a sequel is planned at all? I remember rumors about a gba title a while back, but that may merely be the internet equivelent of sea foam.

Zosha says: A Chrono game on the GameCube is just about as likely as a port of that game going to Xbox. Any Chrono sequel will most likely go to PS2, or the upcoming PSP. Square-Enix has clearly made a choice in what console they are giving major support.

TYP says: I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a Chrono sequel or port on a Nintendo handheld. Despite Sony's hype machine, the PSP isn't a guaranteed success--especially with the recent talk of a steep price tag.

Steven says: Hey, the Nintendo DS would seem to be a nice machine for RPGs to run on. Depending on how well the thing does compared to the PSP, it wouldn't be too out of the question to see some S-E RPGs on it.

Of course, it's ultimately up to Square to decide whether or not they want to make another Chrono game or re-release an older one. Although it seems like a no-brainer, we first need to see whether or not they'll release one, and after we know that, we can start worrying about which system or systems it's going to be on.

Jonny says: Seems unlikely, but possible. Chrono Trigger is possibly my favorite game of all time...if you can find a used copy, it's worth the $50 or whatever they are asking these days. Chrono Cross was okay, but it felt sterilized and not nearly as fun or addictive as the original (and the story tie-ins were hokey at best). The cast of over 40 playable characters should be a good indication that none of the characters is as memorably as any one member of Chrono Trigger's cast. Frog is forever.

Pale asks: I recently read over on MagicBox that the european release of Colosseum is gonna be bundled with Pokemon Box. Are we gonna get a similar bundle?

Aussie Ben says: Yeah, I read that rumour too. I checked the full article at CVG and it turns out that Nintendo Europe hasn't even officially confirmed it yet. CVG claims that an inside source says that there will be a bundle with Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon Box and a Memory Card, but Nintendo Europe is denying it. Who to believe? It's all very vague, and it's not even confirmed that Europe will be getting said bundle.

Karlie says: Why Ben, you're a little behind. Nintendo UK have confirmed that Colosseum will be released with a free Memory Card 59 across Europe.

Jonny says: It's kind of a shame that Nintendo didn't include a card with the US release, as the game takes up over 40 blocks. Plus, Ben says the card that's included with the Japanese version is a clear black model, very cool looking.

Marine Ninja asks: Hey, N-space is developing Giest for the GameCube, are they a 1st, 2nd or 3rd party developer with Nintendo?

TYP says: n-Space is a 3rd party developer mostly known for its quick-cash franchise games, such as three Mary-Kate & Ashley and two Rugrats games, but they also made two Duke Nukem titles and some other stuff. Geist is the company's first collaboration with Nintendo, and its first 100% original game in over half a decade.

Don't let their dubious history turn you off from Geist, though. It was early last E3, but very good. And that's coming from someone who is mildly entertained by First Person Shooters, at best. I'm not sure of its origins, but my guess is this has been the team's baby project for years, and Nintendo came to the rescue with the much-needed publishing money.

When visiting their site I noticed a game called "Hope" listed as Under Development. I haven't found any information on this game...perhaps something will be announced at E3?

Robert says: It's probably totally untrue, but I've also heard a rumour that staff from Retro have been helping n-space out with Geist. If that's the case, expect something very special come E3...

Jonny says: I don't know if this helps, but n-space is located in Florida (which is pretty unusual).

Rob asks: I have a freeloader to play overseas games. It worked great with Doshin the Giant and Donkey Konga, but I'm having problems with Resident Evil O, and RE 2, and F1 2002. RE 2 and F1 2002 will only play in black and white even when I change the region with the Z button. RE 0 doesnt show any picture at all, just sound. You might ask, why did I buy import versions of the games when I can buy US versions? Answer: I bid on them on ebay and got them for fairly good deals. Since I had freeloader, I figured it wouldnt matter if they were imports. Any help you can give me would be great.

Mike Sklens says: I'm pretty sure you can contact Datel and send them your Freeloader to get an updated version. They release updates every now and then to fix problems the Freeloader has with certain games. It would have been wiser to mod your system though, the Freeloader is a shotty product to begin with.

Aussie Ben says: The latest version of the Freeloader is pretty cool. Fixes up all the problems I've had with running PAL games on NTSC consoles. Before I'd get crazy green seas and orange coloured Link in the Wind Waker. But that's all fixed now. I'm guessing it's fixed more NTSC problems as well.

Steven says: A mod is a lot less of a hassle to deal with, too. If you want to play Japanese games, flip a switch and you don't need to deal with it. If you want to play US games, flip the switch back. You never need to worry about disc swapping or buggy games. For the price of about one game, it's worth it.

egynlynn asks: I am looking for the game Super Bust-a-Move 3000. I want to buy the game, but I can't find it . All the sites that I have been on either say that it is out of stock, or that it does not exist. I have played the original game on other systems. I have a gamecube and want to play the game. Can you tell me where to find it?

Mike Suzuki says: Yeah, Super Bust-a-Move 3000 is pretty tough to find now. If all else fails, there's always EBay.