Canadians at e3

[BreakABone]

Well, the Toronto Sun took a look at some of the games being shown at e3 by Canadian developers as well as some predictions.

Canadian developers and others will be showing their latest creations in L.A. this week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

We'll find out when and if the many musings I have written about here are coming true or if the plans have changed.


I can update you on one tidbit of information I told you about regarding Toronto-based developer Pseudo Interactive working on a game for Sega.

Pseudo is working on the PlayStation 2 version of Vectorman. Blue Sky -- the same folks who made World Series Baseball for the Sega Genesis -- developed the first Vectorman title for Sega,

The game will take Vectorman (a robotic soldier) back to his third-person action shooter roots. Your job in this game will be to rescue Gamma 6 from the evil Orbot Volt.

Vectorman will have upgradeable and interchangeable parts and more than 15 different weapons.
I think they un-Vectored the Vectorman.


In other news, Grand Theft Auto will be making its way to the Xbox and the GameCube. The ports are well under way and we should learn more about the next GTA for the PS2 as events unfold at E3.
So are they confirming that the Xbox and GCN will get ports of the GTA III games? So fun...

And word on the new GTA at e3, yay

As for Electronic Arts Canada, they are hard at work on SSX 3 (working title), the sequel to SSX Tricky, for all three platforms. I saw it a couple of weeks ago and it looks good.

I also have seen the new version of Madden, which looks incredible!
Was already given.

We could get word this week about the big three -- Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft -- dropping the prices of their hardware and, possibly, some of their software.

Sony has already tipped its hand and dropped the price of the PS2 in the U.K. While that doesn't always signal a price drop here in North America, it's clear from that move that everyone is gearing up for the big E3 stage.

I wouldn't be surprised if each of the major hardware companies cut the price of their units by $50 to $100. So watch for the GameCube to drop to $149.99, the PS2 to $199-$249, and Microsoft to match whatever Sony does.
At first I was confused at the price point until I remembered that this is the Canadian price.

All the major players will be tipping their hands at E3 in terms of what they have planned for online gaming.

Some suggest Microsoft and Sony might even bundle their online services with their hardware platforms as early as this year to get even more users into the online experience.

Electronic Arts will be leading the way with some big announcements regarding Madden Online and the rest of its sports titles. As for Sony, it will have most of its first-party titles enabled for online play, including Game Day 2004 and SOCOM Navy Seals 2 (working title).

When we last checked a few months ago, the feud between Squaresoft (now called Square Enix Co.) and Nintendo was in full bloom.

Well, Nintendo recently announced the two companies have kissed and made up, clearing the way for three new titles developed by Square Enix and published and distributed by Nintendo.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles will be released exclusively for the GameCube, while Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Sword Of Mana will be released for the Game Boy Advance.


http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/TorontoSun/Entertainment/2003/05/11/84485.html

[Joeiss]

I think the biggest question here is, why the hell is the penguin reading Canadian websites?

[Seven7]

Yeah why is Penguin reading Canadian sites... :p
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. video game arm of Japanese conglomerate Sony Corp is "very comfortable" with the price of its market-leading PlayStation 2 video game console despite rampant speculation that a price cut is imminent, its president said on Tuesday.

Kaz Hirai, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said he also suspected that moves by competitors to bundle games in with their consoles were not really helping sales.

"We are very comfortable at the $199 price point," Hirai said. "The numbers are very healthy for the PS2 at the $199 price point."

At E3 last year, Sony and competitors Microsoft Corp and Niintendo all cut their hardware prices. Sony and Microsoft took the PS2 and Xbox, respectively, to $199 from $299, while Nintendo took its GameCube to $149 from $199. Because price cuts occurred last year at E3 and resulted in a significant sales bump, industry executives had been counting on another wave of price drops at this year's show.

"Whether Sony gets it at $199, $179 or $149, we're indifferent," he said. "All we need is that 10.5 million units."
Based on this I wonder if the US will get a price cut on PS2 this time as they seem comfortable with it at moment. But does that mean the same for Canadian consumers?.