News

Popular Japanese gaming magazine recently reviewed the upcoming Final Fantasy X sequel:

http://www.gamesarefun.com/cgi-bin....,33794,

The game was given scores of 9, 9, 8 and 8 by the magazine's four reviewers for a very respectable 34/40 and a Gold Award.  In comparison, the original FFX received a three scores of 10 and one 9 when it was reviewed.  

Games Are Fun also has some new screenshots of the game HERE


Source:Games Are Fun

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I don't think one can't base if he or she will enjoy a game solely based on how a magazine reviews a particular game. It is a good initial sign at least.  There are still those who are not even willing to even give this game a chance.  Hopefully, the review will help lighten some of these people up (specifically you 19 who voted "I think it'll be terrible" here: http://www.cavesofnarshe.com/polling/index.php?dispid=9&vo=9)

Pop Idol Yuna aside, I'm willing to give the game a chance.  Another one of the Final Fantasy games might have led to a better sequel in my opinion, *coughFF7cough* but I'll at least rent it.  I enjoyed FFX's story.  Plus they are bringing back the job system.  I think that just might be interesting.  We'll just have to wait and see how the game will end up turning out.  There isn't any reason (even if it is an "Oh my God" Final Fantasy sequel) to not give a game a chance before it has even been released to the public.

And a question for those among the "19" mentioned earlier:  Why will this game be so terrible? I have complete respect for your opinions, but I'm just trying to feel out the reasoning behind your feelings.  Discussions are always nice and encouraged. :-)

We've added a new topsites - we were the first member at the brand new topsites hosted by our friends at FFGurus.

You'll find the voting button at the bottom of every site page, nestled between our two W3C compliance buttons. It's also been added to all forum skins - look near the top of every page, on the right-hand side. The button looks like this:

I ask that if you like the site, please help us net some traffic by voting for us once a day when you come here to visit. As always, the more traffic we get, the happier the staff is to keep improving the site for you. Thank you!

EDIT: This is now confirmed. More details when I get home from Uni.

This is yet to be confirmed, but the next installment in the Earthbound series (which goes by the name of Mother in Japan) is again in development. This time it is for the Nintendo GameCube.

http://www.gamesarefun.com/cgi-bin....,24103,

For those who missed out on it,  Earthbound was quirky, comical RPG for the SNES that stared Ness, a boy on an adventure to save the universe (just your typical kid, right?).  It still remains a favorite of many RPG fans.

This installment of the series was originally in development for the Nintendo 64.  It was plagued by developmental problems and other issues though.  The game was canceled as a result.  There is no word on a release date in North America, but it is believed to be ready for gamers in Japan by August.

In other Earthbound news, Earthbound Zero and Earthbound (Mother 1 and Mother 2, respectively) are also planned for the GameBoy Advance.  Neither one is a straight ports; both are believed to have reworked graphics.

Source: Games Are Fun

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More Earthbound?  I think this is fantastic news.  I have neither a GameCube nor a GBA, but this makes me wish I had both.  I found Earthbound to be a breath of fresh air the first time I played it.  I was quite disappointed when I heard Mother 3 was cancelled for the N64.  I still don't think I'd get a GameCube because of this (it wouldn't change the fact that I can't justify spending money to buy a second console when I probably shouldn't have bought a PS2 to begin with),  but it is just another reason why the GBA would be a decent purchase.

This brings a good topic up for discussion.  Would anyone here buy a GameCube or GameBoy Advance solely on these games alone?  If not, would they help contribute to the purchase of either?  Or are you someone who just doesn't care about the Earthbound series?  As a bonus, you can substitute Zelda: The Wind Walker (with its release soon) for the new Earthbound game for the questions.

OPGaming.com reopened on March 1st, 2003, at around 5:00 PM Eastern time. The site was reworked since November by R51, Tiddles, and myself, along with my personal staff who helped fill in content. So what's new?

The Latest Gaming News & Media
Coverage for Gaming on ALL major Platforms, as well as old ones.
New Forums
An Extensive Games Database
Weekly polls
A huge, 64 character tournament, which is already underway.

Plus lots more to come. R51 told me to be a spammer, so yell at him, AFTER you check out the new OPGaming.com.

None of these really warrent an update in themselves, but some may be of interest to a few of you CoN-ers.

Starting off with some non-Final Fantasy or RPG news,  Konami has announced that Silent Hill 3 will be released in Europe first.  The tentative date is May 23.  Gamers in Japan and North America are the ones that will have to be waiting this time around.  European gamers usually have to wait months for PAL versions of their games.  Speaking of the North American version, though, its release is planned sometime in August.

For those that don't know,  Silent Hill 3 is popular action/horror series that is similar to the Resident Evil series (correct me if I'm wrong on this one guys.).
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Tidbit numero dos:  Final Fantasy Tatics Advance has already moved over 250,000 copies in Japan.  And it was only released on Valentine's Day.  One copy of FFTA was sold for every single GameBoy Advance SP (also released on that day) that was sold.  

Considering the popularity of the original FFT among North American gamers, it should be a hit here as well.
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Tidbit number three:  A new Zelda game is on the works for the GameBoy Advance.  Shigeru Miyamoto talked about in a recent interview.  The game will be developed for Nintendo by Capcom.  Besides being a developer of generally high regard, they have developed the three most recent Zelda GameBoy games (The two Oracale games for GB Color and the port of Link To Past for the GBA).  

The game has been actually development since 2001.

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Links to Tidbit source articles:
Tidbit 1: http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,2911343,00.html
Tidbit 2: http://www.ffinsider.net/news/news.php?id=324
Tidbit 3: http://www.gamesarefun.com/cgi-bin....,29872,

Lamest headline ever.

Anyway, three new art packages make their debut on the site today. We have two from Narratorway, both featuring Palom and Porom from FF4, and a layout from current queen of the Fanart Hall of Fame, A-Chan, featuring Faris from FFV. I will be adding all of these pieces to the main fanart section just as soon as I can. About half are already up.