Matters of Import: Rumors, rumors -- and a little bit of news, too.

This is straight from the Daily radar!


Not too much news of particular import this week, though a PS2 price drop rumor\'s been circulating. It\'s just a rumor, of course, and likely not founded in any sort of truth. While Japanese gamers might not have been as quick to pick up on the console as their American counterparts, they suffer the same weaknesses as we do -- great games with beautiful graphics. With all the fine titles slated for this year and the next, gamers are going to have a hard time resisting the PS2\'s many lures -- even if that means paying the full price.
Here\'s the news...
What\'s The Big Deal?
Sega Hitmaker has confirmed that Crazy Taxi has been completed for the PS2 (and just a moment or two late, too.) It\'s scheduled for a summer release -- in Japan.

Capcom\'s shipped 860,000 units of Onimusha, making it the leading contender for first million-seller on the PS2. We\'re so excited for an American final we can barely breathe.

Namco will release a USB-compatible GunCon for the PS2 this fall, along with a new shooting game, to boot. No word on the title, but a likely candidate would be Vampire Night, a System 246 arcade title that\'s scheduled for a spring release in Japan. For those of you not in the know, the original GunCon was hands-down the most accurate (and therefore useful) lightgun the PSOne ever saw -- here\'s hoping for more of the same.

Rumor has it that the PS2 will be undergoing a price cut this summer, for all of the obvious reasons -- which is why we don\'t think it\'s actually going to happen.

Packing Action
ASK Kotensha\'s Air Ranger comes out on March 15. A mission-based, rescue helicopter sim, this PS2 game will enable gamers to pilot three different choppers.

Finally, it\'s been rumored that Atlus is working on Makken Shao for the PS2. The series\' first incarnation for the Dreamcast, Makken X, did quite well abroad; a sequel isn\'t all that unlikely.

RPG Me, Please
Enterbrain\'s RPG Emblem Saga has been pushed back to May 24, for quality reasons.

Enix has announced a new PS2 adventure game, entitled Endonatia. The game will feature real actors from Japan; more details will be unveiled at TGS this March.

All Singing, All Dancing, The Cute And The Weird
Jumping the gun just a wee bit, Taito\'s highly awaited train-conducting sim, Densha de Go! 3, will include a demo of... Densha de Go! 4.

PCCWJ will be releasing Super Microphone Cheung in April. This musical action game will allow players to use their voices to control the action. Could be cool, but probably won\'t work in English so well.

Potion: Relaxin\' with Final Fantasy is the title of Square\'s upcoming collection of FF music. Seventeen songs from FF III to FF VIII will be included.

I want the FF music collection now.

By Irvin

Originally posted by Unicron!



I want the FF music collection now.

By Irvin

That\'s great don\'t we all.

I want Final Fantasy X

Give me Final Fantasy X first. Then the music-collection

Those are nice \'rumors\'. Thanks there Billy

Interesting news indeed. Or rumors. Playstation 2\'s sells will go up trough the roof when the price-cut and Final Fantasy X sees the daylight. Think about it. FFIX broke all the records. There\'s MASSIVE pressure against FFX, and everyone\'s waiting forward to the game. It\'s a reason for many japaneses to buy PS2 alone.

PS2 sells quite well at the present, but it will get the same rate of sells as PSone when the price-cut is reality, not just a \'rumor\'.