And gains "multi-player happiness"!

Picking up on an interview given by Dr. Wai Yen, Lik-Sang.com is reporting that the recently released iQue player is possibly set to see release outside of China.

Dr. Yen, former vice president of Silicon Graphics and ArtX, apparently refused to be drawn on further details, but it would make perfect sense for Nintendo to consider transferring the iQue player to other piracy-troubled territories such as Russia.

Though he keeps getting older, he'll always be "Younger" to us.

We'd like to take a minute of your time to point out the birthday of one our fantastic staff members, Michael Cole. As "The Younger Plumber", Michael is our resident guru on all things Luigi, Mario, and Sonic. He's also the host of our Radio Trivia contest, every other Friday night.

From the entire PGC family, happy birthday!

The little juggernaut just keeps on rolling.

DID YOU KNOW?

Nintendo's Game Boy Advance Hits 20 Million Milestone

February 13, 2004 - Selling an average of one Game Boy® Advance every second around the clock since its launch on June 11, 2001, Nintendo has hit a new record, selling 20 million Game Boy Advance systems in the United States. But just what does 20 million Game Boy Advance units mean?

Get the scoop on his new weapon.

According to Planet Mega Man (nice name, guys), the newest issue of Korokoro Comics in Japan has the first details and pictures of Mega Man Zero 3 (or Rockman Zero 3, as it will be named in Japan). There aren't many hard facts at this point, but we do know that Zero has a new weapon, the Recoil Rod.... Read more...

The current and former presidents of NCL discuss the state of the GameCube and the importance of the Nintendo DS's success.

GameScience has translated another great Japanese article, this time from the Nikkei Shimbun newspaper. NCL president Satoru Iwata and retired president Hiroshi Yamauchi comment on GameCube sales, its successor, online features, and of course, Nintendo DS. A few excerpts:

Iwata:

- We have been able to provide proof positive that the GC is not a dying platform

Quotes from Nagoshi, Naka, Super Takahashi Bros., and more.

GameScience has translated an article from Famitsu Weekly, in which Japanese game developers gave their initial feedback on the Nintendo DS. In a poll, 93% of developers said they have high hopes for the system, while about 60% of retailers and consumers had high hopes. (Note that Japanese developers have had development kits for the system since some time in 2003.)

You could say that Konami has seen the light.

Boktai was an ingenious game that used real sunlight to affect how strong or weak the enemies in the game were. It did pretty well in the States, but Japanese sales weren't as good because of bad weather during the summer.

That's not stopping Konami from producing a sequel. "Continued - Bokura... Read more...

Japanese gamers can get the Zelda bonus disc via the Club, as well as a new paint job for their GBA SP.

Nintendo's rewards program in Japan has recently added a few more things to their list of cool stuff gamers can earn for buying and registering Nintendo stuff.

The Zelda bonus disc that Americans and Europeans had little trouble getting for free (registering a game or two) will be a little tougher... Read more...

The magazine will have the first details in just a few days.

We can't tell you about Resident Evil 4 and Killer 7 until mid-March, but the new Game Informer magazine has hands-on impressions and new media from these two very mysterious and very highly anticipated GameCube titles. The new issue hits newsstands on Feb. 25, and subscribers may get their issues... Read more...

Big blue is still on the fence, but game development seems likely.

Discuss it in TalkBack!

Although Nintendo had only revealed their new Nintendo DS system a week or two ago, it was pretty obvious that the backbone of the system was well in place, meaning development kits were surely completed.

This appears to be the case, because according to a report... Read more...

Dust off your N64 and dig out your GameShark. You might want to see this.

While Planet GameCube is primarily a GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and next-generation Nintendo site, we find it hard to pass up the occasional juicy news story on some of Nintendo's previous systems. This is no exception.

Through some GameShark hacking, someone has found an abandoned multiplayer level design for Goldeneye on the N64!

"SP" plus "speakers" equals "SPeakers." Clever.

Radica launches second generation NXT speaker accessory for GBA SP

London, 11 February 2004: Radica UK Ltd, the manufacturer of peripherals under the highly rated Gamester brand, is to launch a second-generation device based on its Game Boy Advance Mini Woofer, an NXT based compact speaker system for use with the Game Boy Advance SP.

The latest release dates for the first and second quarter of 2004 in the UK. European dates are likely to be very similar for these games.

Below is the GameCube release schedule for the UK for the next half-year. Titles in bold are exclusive to GameCube.

February 2004

6th February :: Conflict: Desert Storm (Sales Curve)

6th February :: Rogue Ops (Kemco/Capcom)

6th February :: Sonic Heroes (SEGA)

20th February :: Pitfall: The Lost Expedition (Activision)

Bringing scary eyes to Game Boy Advance systems around the world!

KONAMI SHIPS YU-GI-OH!(tm) WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT 2004 FOR NINTENDO GAME BOY(r) ADVANCE(tm)

Highly Anticipated Videogame Prepares Fans for the Ultimate Yu-Gi-Oh! Tournament

REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. - February 10, 2004 - Konami Digital Entertainment - America, a subsidiary of Konami Digital... Read more...

The publisher continues to reiterate that it is working on a GameCube successor.

Following up statements to the press yesterday, Nintendo has released a statement regarding the Nikkei News analysis, which suggested that the company was not planning to compete with Sony and Microsoft and would instead release accessories to extend the life of GameCube.

Nintendo's newest comments simply echo what we were told earlier, but here they are anyway:

We present three very different views of Final Fantasy's arrival on GameCube.

As many of our readers already know, sometimes Planet GameCube features multiple reviews of major/controversial games. And sometimes those reviews will give very different perspectives of the same game. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is one of those cases in which our staff simply does not agree.... Read more...

After more than a month of laborious data recovery, it's time for the PGC boat to sail once more.

It's taken a lot of hard work to get here, but I'm now ready to announce that Planet GameCube is healthy and ready to move on from its extensive technical problems, which were incurred in late 2003.

Massive amounts of data were lost in the incident, all of which had to be re-entered manually... Read more...

Successor hardware still planned for 2006. Updated with official comments from NOA.

Earlier today the Nikkei News reported that Nintendo would not be releasing a new home console. According to the report, Nintendo would instead continue to support the GameCube by releasing various peripherals and games. These accessories would take the place of a new console by improving the gameplay and furthering connectivity with the Game Boy Advance.

EA chooses not to announce a version of the game for Nintendo's console.

Today Electronic Arts officially confirmed their publishing contract with Criterion for the upcoming Burnout 3. The first two games in the series were released on GameCube and sold well on the system, but EA's newest press release mentions versions for PlayStation 2 and Xbox only. This is certainly... Read more...

Big blue is still on the fence, but game development seems likely.

Although Nintendo had only revealed their new Nintendo DS system a week or two ago, it was pretty obvious that the backbone of the system was well in place, meaning development kits were surely completed.

This appears to be the case, because according to a report in the Nikkei Keizai, Sega has... Read more...