411 Games Rumor Down-Lo 03.25.03

411 Games Rumor Down-Lo 03.25.03

411 Games Quote of The Week
This is something that made me want to say, “Capcom, put away the big phatty crack rock!”
— Lee Baxley (Review: Breath Of Fire: Dragon Quarter – PS2)

(411 DOWN-LO ONLINE 03-25-03: BEGIN TRANSMISSION…)

Hi, I’m Bebito Jackson, and I just beat up Urkel with a licorice whip!

It’s Tuesday. It’s Rumor day. It’s Down-Lo day. I’ve got a Spotlight, complaintative feedback, a sweet video, and rumors… oh BY GAWD we CAN’T forget the RUMORS. Yes, I’m back on your computer screens boys and girls and may God help you all…

Behold the “EXCLUSIVE” edition of the Down-Lo. Here’s the deal: The higher the DOWN-LO RATING the smoother these rumors go down with a meal of truth (scale 1-10). As always these are just rumors (which is why you read me in the first place), so don’t blindly believe everything you read, but don’t completely discredit it either. Enjoy. I do.


This is the Down-Lo.

A REASON TO BUY “REHASHED CRAP”
Ok class, who here is going to buy Sonic Adventure DX? Hands? Hmm. Not too many apparently. What? A couple of you guys are booing?… ok that’s not nice. Hey, everyone settle down! I’m not going to continue until the “Sega Sucks” chants stop. Thank you.

Look I know you guys, Sonic fans in particular are a little pissed at the recycled crapage that Sega’s been shoving at you lately. First Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, and now Sega is currently porting the original Sonic Adventure onto GameCube. But notice they added DX to the title to show that they’ve gone out of their way to bring major enhancements to this installment! *belligerent guy in the back row shouts, “Enhancements my petoot! It’s the same old garbage those Yankees have been springin’ on us for years! Yuji Naka needs to be castrated!”* Now hold on there big fella! There will be improvements and *”Yeah! Well what the bloody mary are they!?”* That’s what I was going to tell you. First off there will be *”Sega’s a bunch of pansies! Castrate em’ all!”* Sir, please try not to make such generalized statements. I’m telling you that *”Castrate em’ and cut off both their legs!”* Now that’s uncalled for. If you don’t settle down, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. *guy grumbles in his seat* Thank you. Like I was saying, first off the game is going to receive a slight graphical overhaul and *”Whip em’ all with a wet noodle!”* You see that’s it. Please excuse me for a moment folks…

*shot gun blasts and screaming*

Sorry about that. We should be uninterrupted from here on in. Where was I? Oh yes, improvements. We all know about the updated graphics, but last Friday Sega unveiled another addition that you probably weren’t expecting. According to an article at GamingUniverse Sonic titles that have appeared on the GameGear, Sega’s old handheld console will be featured in Sonic Adventure DX! How’s that for a bonus? In what was probably an attempt to generate interest in what’s essentially a three-year-old title, Yuji Naka himself made this announcement, speaking at Sega’s B-Club event in Tokyo. Right now it’s uncertain just how many of the GameGear games will be included. GU seems to think Mr. Naka meant that ALL of them will be in there, while other sources claim that it could be anywhere from seven on up. Here’s the full list of possible featured titles:

Sonic & Tails, Sonic & Tails 2, Sonic Blast, Sonic Chaos, Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2, Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic Spinball, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble

Another interesting piece of info of note is that the GameGear bonus games are expected to make use of the GBA link cable in some capacity, though the details of this were not fully explained. Imagine if you could somehow download these title to your GBA for gaming on the run restoring them all to their true portable roots. Now that would be sweet.

So let me ask again. Who here is going to buy Sonic Adventure DX? Ah! A couple more of you raised your hands this time, good. Glad that I could convince at least a few of you that *”Ya thought ya killed me didn’t ya, ya bloody maggot! Ya need to be castrated along with Yuji Naka!”* Excuse me again…

*single shot gun blast; loud thud*

This sounds very likely. Only question is which and how many of these GameGear titles are they going to squeeze onto that disc. My opinion? All of them. But look for more info on it soon.
DOWN-LO RATING: 10

YOU’RE DEAD RIGHT I DON’T CARE!
It’s going around town that Namco is in the works with a sequel to Dead To Rights! We can expect the game to appear on all three major consoles in 2004. As was said previously in the Down-Lo, Namco will now be concentrating development of its titles on the PS2. So the PS2 version is expected to drop first, then the Xbox version, and then MAYBE a GameCube version but that is dependant upon whether or not the system continues to sell well throughout the year. I’ll keep you updated with more as I get it.

No I won’t. Honestly has anyone even PLAYED the first Dead to Rights? Didn’t that thing flop? I know for a fact that the game sucked the big one so how can Namco justify making another one of these things? I don’t pay too much attention to game sales, thus perhaps despite the game’s crapiness the thing sold well? If so who bought this, and do you read me? If you do please explain yourself. You’ve just encouraged Namco to take valuable resources that could be used making another sequel to Soul Calibur and plop them on a franchise that should die a horrible death right after they kill off Tekken.

Whatever. Rumor has it that the game is going full steam ahead. The damage is done so I guess I’ll be leavin’…
DOWN-LO RATING: 7

THE EVOLUTION CONTINUES…
Can anyone tell me what the best fighter on PS2 is? No, it isn’t Mortal Kombat. Nope, not Guilty Gear either. NO! Not Tekken 4, what’s wrong with you? It’s Virtua Fighter 4… don’t you guys know anything!? Sheesh.

Well Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution is the semi-sequel to Virtua Fighter 4. It’s not entirely a new game but when it’s as good as VF you tend to be a bit more forgiving. It’s already been released in Japan retardedly on the same day as FFX-2 (Sega REALLY doesn’t any financial sense do they?). And now my rumor monkey has made me aware of plans that Sega wants to make sure they release this gem for the North American market. Speaking as one that already owns VF4, I’m torn as to whether I should drop the bucks for the new one or not. No, not really. I can’t back that up. I’ll be seeing if I can get the thing on pre-order tomorrow. (EB will let you pre-order anything. Even games that don’t yet exist.)

Wait for E3 or possibly a little before, to hear from an official announcement from Sega. Until then, expect it sometime around this fall.
DOWN-LO RATING: 8

OPEN UP YOUR WALLETS
Whoops! Somebody slipped up at Sega of Europe. BIG TIME. The French Website GameKult.com proved that the French are at least good for something when they posted Sega’s alleged European 2003 lineup. Some MAJOR surprises were on this baby, and the best way to show you is to just display the list in its entirety and break it down from there.

Here’s the full rumored list:
Phantasy Star Online – Xbox – 16th May
Virtua Fighter – PS2 – July
Otogi – Xbox – August
Puyo Pop – PS2, Xbox, GC – August
Phantasy Star Online Card Battle – Xbox, GC – October
Altered Beast – PS2 – October
Initial D – PS2 – October
Headhunter 2 – PS2 – October
Giant Egg – GC – October-November
Headhunter 2 – Xbox – November
Sonic Hero – GC – November
Sega Rally 3 – PS2 – Q1 2004
Mister Golf – PS2 – Q1 2004
Management Soccer – PS2 – Q1 2004

Wow. When called by phone today, Sega denied the posting as rumor and speculation. (Which is why you’re seeing this in the Down-Lo.) Stuff shirt aka corporate communications manager from Sega America, Gwen Marker commented, “SEGA’s official comment is that this information is a rumor and it is SEGA’s policy not to comment on rumors,” said Gwen Marker. “I can also confirm that SEGA has not yet announced its fall 2003 lineup for the U.S. market.” Marker added, “We will announce our E3 lineup before the conference begins, so you’ll know about blah blah blah, blah.” Whatever. We don’t want to hear that garbage. We want to hear the DIRT. And that’s what a source close to Sega who asked to not be identified gave us when he confirmed that several of these games are definitely coming stateside. These titles are highlighted in bold in the list above. Quite the lineup there, eh? Excluding games like Management Soccer and Virtua Fighter 4, which shipped to PS2 in North America last spring, I see at least three titles that I’m more than interested in buying, and I’m sure you have your own favorites. What also gives this list credence was the fact that not only were specific consoles given for each title, but also specific dates. “Hmm,” me thinks.

Of course the biggest of these “surprise” titles, would have to be Sonic Hero. Just recently Famitsu.com reported that Sega’s Sonic Team is keeping busy this year, with three or four new titles ready to debut towards the end of April. Sonic Hero is probably one of the two new Sonic titles which Sega discussed earlier this month at the debut of the new Sonic animated TV series. It is VERY likely that this is the new game which Yuji has stated in the past would reboot the Sonic series veering away from the “adventuring” of the last two Sonic titles and emphasing more on action.

All I have to say is this year’s E3 should be very exciting indeed. Heck, I’m a cynical jaded game internet journalist and even I’m getting pretty excited about Sega’s lineup. How can you not with Altered Beast, Sega Rally 3, Phantasy Star Online Card Battle, and Sonic Hero coming at us? I will be waiting with abated breath, and you should too. Especially because all signs point to this list being the real deal. We’ll see at E3.
DOWN-LO RATING: 7

WAIT, WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?
Ok what the blood clot is going on here?! I thought I had this whole Metal Gear Solid thing figured out and then BAM, I’m sucker-punched with this? Let me share with you what I found and let’s see if we can make any sense out of it. I’m sure by now you are all aware of the fact that a Metal Gear Solid game was announced for GameCube a few weeks back. Miyamoto’s gums were flapping while visiting Paris letting loose this info, and then a little while later it was confirmed by Konami. Contrary to popular belief no specific title was announced but just that it would be a MGS game. However at the time it was assumed by everyone (including me), that it would be a remake of the original MGS with some bonus extras for good measure. Well we all know what happens when we assume…

The Official French Nintendo Magazine (yes, the French are useful yet again) tells that the game is in fact Metal Gear Solid 4! If that’s not enough to completely blow your mind, Nintendo has apparently gained the title as a freaking exclusive! EXCLUSIVE. Is this not insane people? Talk about your coming out of left-field stories… All of this and we STILL haven’t heard about Metal Gear Solid 3 yet!
Hmm, wait. That brings up a good point. Maybe the Official Nintendo Magazine editors really meant MGS3, and it was all just a big typo mix-up. Yeah, that’s the ticket. As matter of fact, I’m going to clear this up right now. Yo monkey! *rumor monkey runs over* Dial up the editors of Official Nintendo Magazine for me. *monkey runs to get phone* Good old Bebito is going to get to the bottom of this right here and now. Metal Gear Solid 4, bah! *monkey hands Bebito the phone*

Alright. Hello? Official Nintendo Magazine? Yes, this is Bebito Jackson from 411 Games and you guys made a HUGE mistake. In your latest issue, you accidentally put Metal Gear Solid 4 as a GameCube exclusive when obviously you meant MGS3. Uh-huh… It’s called the Down-Lo… I see… Right… Yup… Well of course… Good… That’s what I thought… I’m glad we agree. Thank you for your time. *hands monkey the phone*

……..

It wasn’t a typo.

Official French Nintendo Magazine is confirming that they indeed meant MGS 4, and that it is a GameCube exclusive. Oh and that’s not all. If ONLY that were ALL. It was also indicated that the GameCube may also STILL receive ports of the original MGS or MGS 2. Dear sweet mother of great Caesar’s ghost. If this is true, then there’s almost no excuse not to get the GameCube now.

But the question begs, what’s up with Metal Gear Solid 3? Who knows at this point. It’s most certainly in development but when and for what console still remains a mystery. Konami should spill the beans just in time for E3 that’s for sure. But for now, let us all marvel in the fact that Nintendo has obtained Metal Gear Solid 4 as a GameCube exclusive. Who would have ever known? To tell the truth… I still almost don’t believe it, but this all seemed to be on the up and up so we’ll find out soon enough….
DOWN-LO RATING: 6

And that’s the Down-Lo.

Thanks to IGN, Gamers.com, Evil Avatar, GamerFeed, and Spong.com for this week’s stories.


THE DOWN-LO SPOTLIGHT
I’m pretty sure that the majority of you guys actually miss this segment of my column. *pretends as if you read beyond the rumors* So by popular demand the Down-Lo Spotlight strike is OVER. For new readers here’s the deal. Since I’ve become sort of a super-celebrity here at 411 Mania *cough* I’ve decided to use my star power to give the rub to other talent here at 411’s many sections. It will be in the Spotlight that I present some of my favorite writers and columnists from 411 Mania by means of interview and gaming discussion. Got it? Good…

Let’s not waste any time, because I’m sure all of you want to know, just as badly as I, what games my fellow writers like to play. So let’s find out together. Enjoy. I do.


(DOWN-LO SPOTLIGHT IS ON JAY BOWER: 411 WRESTLING)

There’s no way you’ve not heard of Jay Bower. Just in case you live in a cardboard box, inside an isolated shack, inside the Lost Woods, he’s the new head News guy for 411Mania’s Wrestling section and former star writer for TheSmarks.com. He was tough to get a hold of, but eventually was nice enough to sit down with me and chat about gaming and the like. Check it out:

This is the Down-Lo Spotlight.

Bebito: What’s up Jay! How are you doing?
Jay Bower: Whats up Bebito, thanks for thinking highly enough of me to feature my thoughts in your column, I appreciate it. I am doing pretty well, burnt out from the rigors of life and on edge about the war, but aside from that all is well.

Bebito: Yeah. The War’s got most of us a little jittered. My advice is to try to avoid watching the news… enough of that will drive you insane. Besides, if it’s not Fox News it’s all a bunch of lies anyway. Let’s get started. Where you from, bro?
Jay Bower: Originally I am from the backwater town of Ft. Myers, Florida. Population 100,000 or so, not much to do down there but it’s not too bad. Spent two years living in Jacksonville Beach, Florida now I am close to graduating Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Bebito: Congrats. How old are you?
Jay Bower: 22 as of several days ago, I’m still waiting for my birthday spankings Bebito ;)

Bebito: After the interview Jay, after the interview… What exactly do you do here at 411 Mania?
Jay Bower: You can find me each and every Sunday penning the 411Mania News-Center, probably the best column with a hyphenated name on the site in my humble opinion. I’ll also throw out an occasional music review if I am feeling really crazy.

Bebito: Most of my readers remember the now closed TheSmarks.com (it wasn’t THAT long ago after all). How’d you end up working for Scott Keith there?
Jay Bower: Well, I did some odd columns for a few sites around the internet, all the while sending Scott numerous “can I write for you?” emails and occasionally mowing his lawn. I was a frequent poster on the message board along with some current 411 and SmartMarks.com staff and eventually Scotty K ranted me and asked if I wanted a tryout column. After that I just never really left.

Bebito: How did you grab the News Report spot for the Wrestling Zone?
Jay Bower: Well, I saw a few empty days and the Smarks was folding, so Widro recognized my unbridled talent and gave me the spot if I promised to not miss a week.

Bebito: Great guy that Widro is. So how much are you into gaming?
Jay Bower: I would say I am somewhat into gaming but not as much as my brother and my roommate. With school, work and a full time schedule as an internet wrestling celebrity, I am lucky if I have half an hour a day to sit down and play a game, but when I do I love it.

Bebito: Unfortunately I’m getting into that predicament as well. Between work, managing a home, and spending err, “quality” time with my wife, I have little to no time to play videogames. But gaming is like Jello. And everyone knows that there’s always room for Jello. What game systems do you own?
Jay Bower: Currently in house we have an original NES, a Super Nintendo, a Turbo-Grafx 16 with Turbo CD adapter, a Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Boy, Dreamcast, X-box, Nintendo64 and a Playstation2 we picked up at Christmas.

Bebito: Not bad. What’s your favorite one out of all of them?
Jay Bower: You know, despite the flash and power of today’s systems, I don’t think a system as playable and fun as the Super Nintendo exists.

Bebito: Hard to argue that. What games are you playing now?
Jay Bower: Well, I have finally hopped on the GTA:Vice City bandwagon, but honestly I mostly play older games. Donkey Kong Country, Uniracers and a few other titles for the Super Nintendo, the Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past re-release for GBA, Virtua Golf for the Virtual Boy, Ghosts n’ Goblins for the NES and Y’s Book II & III for the Turbo CD are getting MUCH more playing time than any of the dozen or so X-Box/PS2 titles that me and my roommates have in house. Honestly, I think the loss of simplicity is killing today’s games and I have always been a more is less advocate who would rather play a good 2d platform game than 3D some mech title where you have to strap on a robot suit.

Bebito: I couldn’t agree more. My most enjoyable gaming experiences came from the 16-bit era. They don’t make games like than anymore. *feels old* Thank goodness for the GBA. So which games coming out soon, are you most looking forward to their release?
Jay Bower: I am a little iffy about the visuals, but a new Zelda game always catches my interest.

Bebito: Alright, well according to Widro this is the tough question. In your humble opinion, what is the greatest videogame ever created?
Jay Bower: Well, I think the greatest game that I have ever played was Final Fantasy VII. NOTHING has ever drawn me in like that game. I spent four hours a day for three months mastering the intricacies of the game, becoming emotionally attached to the characters and just becoming absorbed in a universe that Square created.

Bebito: Yeah, despite opinions about the series as is now, FFVII was the bomb during it’s time. Ok Jay, I ask this in every one of my “gamerviews” and it’s kind of a gimmick question, so humor me. Toejam and Earl used to be AWESOME back in the day. They’re back out on Xbox, and I want to know: Do Toejam and Earl still got the funk?
Jay Bower: Oh man, is there an emergency exit to this interview? Ha. Honestly, I never really got into the Toejam and Earl so I guess my answer would be that they never had the funk to begin with, therefore they can’t have it now. I say spring back Spot, the 7-Up mascot. Now HE is a character I would buy into!

Bebito: WHAT?! They never HAD the fu… Man. You were doing so good until you said that. But I can’t fault you too much because then you brought up the way too cool Spot. You’re sending me on a roller coaster ride here, man. Let’s do the Word Association before you toy with my emotions again.

WORD ASSOCIATION TIME:
I say a word, and you tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Ready?

*****

(Videogames) – Good shit!

(Nintendo) – Dying

(Sega) – Still hanging on.

(Xbox) – Big as a f*cking Piano. Like Christian, has so much potential and ability but hasn’t got that big push from game developers yet.

(PS2) – Best all around current system.

(Grand Theft Auto) – Multifacted greatness.

(Sonic The Hedgehog) – Bring back Knuckles.

(411) – The best.

(Triple H) – DOUCHEBAG

(Ashish) – No thanks, I’m not into the drugs.

(Widro) – Stand up guy.

(Scott Keith) – RANT RANT RANT!

(The Scotsman) – Wouldn’t advise f*cking with him.

(Bebito Jackson) – Forgotten member of the Jackson 5.

(Jay Bower) – see Triple H.

*****

Bebito: A Jackson 5 crack? Never did I expect you to take the easy way out Jay. *shakes head* Alright, this is where I allow you to plug yourself. Tell everyone why he or she should read your work and how great it is and all that jazz.
Jay Bower: Well, if you aren’t doing so, check out my Sunday News Updates, aptly titled the 411News-Center! Why should you do this? Well, I use FUNNY PICTURES, sarcasm and some good old fashion japery to compensate for the fact that I just can’t write that well! That’s Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!

Bebito: Now this IS a rumor column after all and to emphasize this, I’ve been diggin’ up dirt on all of my Spotlight guests… According to my sources, rumor has it that back in the day you and our very own The Scotsman were involved in a pretty heated internet feud. What’s the Down-Lo, bro? Spill it…
Jay Bower: Well, it was back in the day when both of us were running somewhat successful websites of our own. We started exchanging heated words, threats were made and I soon realized I was in way over my head. It was fun at first but when my best shot was saying I was going to kick his ass and his was breaking into my computer through my firewall and pulling out pictures of my parents, emails to my quasi girlfriend and other embarrassing items, I figured it was likely time to wave the white flag.

Bebito: Wow. Who and what started the whole thing. Feuds like that don’t just pop out from nothing…
Jay Bower: Well, the memory is a little hazy but I think I took offense to him printing an email that I sent him, prompting me to IM him hostily, leading to an IM conversation that made it’s rounds around the net like the town whore. From there the whole thing escalated for a while until I found him holding a tank and some ballistic missles and me holding a mildly sharp #2 pencil and a rubber band.

Bebito: Are you and Scotsman on good terms now?
Jay Bower: Well, he offered to help us with the code of our new site and had enough dirt on me to bury me yet didn’t post it so he’s alright in my book.

Bebito: Alls well that ends well (that and utter total defeat). Thanks for joining me today, Mr. Bower. One more question and I’ll leave alone. There’s a running gag here at 411 Games (at least I think it’s a gag) that I supposedly suck. Honestly though Jay, do I suck?
Jay Bower: Only after a few long islands I hear, only after a few long islands. In all sincerity, Bebito Jackson is the reason I visit 411Games! And you gave me an end of the year award so of course you’re the man. BEBITO 4 Life!

See now how could I NOT like this guy. Let me get straight to the point. Jay Bower is among my Top 3 Favorite writers here at 411 Mania. The other two? His rival The Scotsman and the legendary Chris Hyatte. Yup, he’s hot like THAT. Just a word of warning, don’t ever read his column while drinking milk strictly for the sake of those standing around you that will mostly likely get soaked from the nose spraying dispensed as a result of his hilarious writings. That just wouldn’t be pretty. So if for some strange reason you’re not reading him already, don’t be a retard and take a second to check out The 411Mania News-Center! every Sunday in the Wrestling Zone. He has the Bebito Jackson Official Seal of Approval for goodness freaking sakes! Those things aren’t easy to come by! Read him. You’ll be happy you did.

You can email Jay Bower at: JayBower242@aol.com
And you can check out his latest column: HERE.

(This wasn’t that bad, perhaps I still have it.) Be sure to check out the Down-Lo Spotlight next week, when I’ll have Cody Webster from 411 Music in the hot seat. It should fun. Those guys at Music are all cool beyond words. As a matter of fact, I wanna kick some shouts to my homeys Cody, Evocator, Jeff, and Claire Flynn Bolye. What’s up doggs! EAST SIDE!

(THE DOWN-LO SPOTLIGHT IS OFF)


(411 DOWN-LO MAIL: YOU HAVE 3 UNREAD MESSAGES…)

Keep the feedback coming yall! “Write me, or I’ll run for President!”

WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T AGREE WITH ME?!
whaddup biggity bebito. love the column, been readin it since its been around.

About the new square games though, i f*cking hate them. I think you said it best when you said if you want to “play an anime” go play xeno saga. Final fantasy 10 had to be the biggest let down for a game i’ve ever played with its HORRIBLE voice acting, and just lame ass gameplay ans xenosaga seems to be following suit.

i consider xenogears to be probably my favorite game of all time (tied with ikaruga and KOF 2001) and even though it DID have alot of story based elements (mostly second disc) it still had assloads of exploration and stuff to do. Xeno saga, from all the accounts ive heard, is just the same linear bullshit that i sat through with final fantasy 10 till i gave up on because not only did i hate the characters and voice acting, i hated the fact i was playing an interactive movie.

And many reviews of FF X-2 have said its just like X except even more unbelievably cheesy and boring.

And after watching TWO MINUTES of the xenogears cinemas on the tech tv review, and almost turning off the tv because of them; i’m afraid i’d throw my ps2 out the window if i had to sit through 70 hours of those cinemas.

so im glad that you are enjoying xenosaga, but I along with many others are going to stay clear of these square movie/games.

*off to play front mission 3- back when square knew what they were doing and could tell a good story without relying on 40 hours of CG and shitty voice acting*
(FILE FROM… Mike V)

I love it when my readers do *insert verbs here* action phrases in their emails. It makes me feel trendy.

Sup MV. I remember ya bro. I (for the most part) agree about FFX. I still enjoyed it (because I’m a freaking rpg nut), but it doesn’t hold a candle to some of my all-time favorites like Shining Force, Phantasy Star, and Panzer Dragoon Saga (games you played more than watched).
As for Xenosaga, if you couldn’t sit through two minutes of it during Tech TV (I didn’t think anyone else watched that but me), then I wouldn’t recommend buying the game. It’s all in how you approach it however. Going in off the bat, I knew I was going to be watching for as almost as long as I was playing. Once I accepted this, it was much easier to just sit back and enjoy the events unfold. The best way to explain it is imagine if you were watching Dragonball Z or maybe even Star Wars, seeing the story trot along at a pretty normal pace, but then all of a sudden when the action picks up, a controller pops out of your TV and you can take control of the cool parts yourself. That’s Xenosaga. Can’t hate ya for Front Mission though.
Oh by the way, Square didn’t develop this one. Part of the Xenogears team left Square and went to Namco and that’s who developed Xenosaga. You may have already known that though. I had to point that out because I’m a tool. Peace, bro.

OUT OF THE LOOP
Hey I was wondering if there will be a Kingdom Hearts 2 coming out. I would appreciate it if you could let me in on any info you have. thanks
(FILE FROM… ChrChambe9)

See this is what happens when you miss even ONE edition of the Down-Lo. Yes there is a new Kingdom Hearts coming out. I rumored it for the second time in the 3-11-03 version of this very column. Here’s some info interesting info that wasn’t talked about in rumor:

According to reports from Japan this morning (03-10-03), SquareSoft and Disney are at work, making a Kingdom Hearts sequel for PlayStation 2.

What’s more, the new game is believed to be entirely online, using Square’s groundbreaking PlayOnline network gaming system. – Credit: Spong.com

There you go. Now NEVER miss another Down-Lo again. You should be ashamed of yourself…

IT SUCKS TO WRITE AFTER ME
Bebito,

Thanks for the bronze metal. I appreciate it.

Also thanks for using two of the news stories that I was going to! (Xenosaga Ep. 2 and Skies 2) j/k I figured you’d use them, so I included a bunch of filler stuff. It’s been a pretty slow news week, so I added plenty of stuff that nobody will care about! :) Anyway, that’s why I make sure to read your column before finishing mine, because you get so much juicy stuff. Anyway, talk to you later.
(FILE FROM… Lee Baxley / 411 Games)

You’re welcome for the bronze, Lee. (Note To Stanley: Even Lee misspelled it, so back off!) You’re doing a sweet job and making for a nice change of pace around here. Keep it up as well as you’re even more amazing reviews.

It’s horrible writing mid-week though, isn’t it? By the time it gets to you Ron Yip and I have slurped the gaming news well dry. Heck, sometimes after Stanley and Yip there’s nothing left even for ME and they’re not even really rumor reporters per se. Why do you think I have to supplement my own columns with tons of crap that nobody cares about too?

(411 DOWN-LO-MAIL: SIGNING OFF…)


THE DLV OF THE WEEK
Want a reason to own Sega’s next masterpiece Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution? I got your reason right here buddy. Watch and be in awe:

(DLV OF THE WEEK: Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution)

Expect major changes around here next week. To be honest it’s been hard for me to get excited about writing this column lately, especially because I’ve been doing it faithfully every week since I debuted nearly 6 months ago. I don’t think anyone in the Games Zone can even claim they’ve done that. Due to my superhuman efforts to bring you the juiciest fruitiest rumors each week, it seemed that I had “lost my smile”. Much to the dismay of my fellow writers, I was ready to hang it up and retire. Then Chris Pankonin, boss of these here parts, said two words that changed everything. “Free Reign.” That’s right, I can write WHATEVER I WANT. Don’t feel like doing rumors? Then I’m not doing rumors. Don’t feel like doing news? I already don’t do news! It’s my prerogative from here on in people. Not to say that I will completely abandon rumor mongering altogether but the way the Down-Lo looked this week probably won’t be the way it looks next. Or maybe it will. I’ll see what I feel like. Keep on it on the DL till then. Peace, I’m out.

(411 DOWN-LO OFFLINE: END TRANSMISSION…)


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