E3 Summaries

Gamespot :: atE3.com :: Planet GCN :: Nintendojo

Pre-E3 Conferences (May 16)

Nintendo (GCN):

• "The Nintendo Difference" seems to be the catch phrase Nintendo is throwing around
• Launch: November 5, 2001, in the US; September 14 in Japan; 2002 in Europe
• Price and availability will be announced next week (24th)
• Games will ship in standard DVD cases (just like PS2 and XBox)
• The Panasonic GCN/DVD player will come to the US, but not until some time in 2002
• GCN CPU upgraded from 405Mhz to 485Mhz
• The 'secret' function of the controller is that the analog L and R once pushed in can still 'click' further to perform another action
• Nintendo officially confirms over 47 titles (1st, 2nd, and 3rd party) for GCN with more expected in the coming days
• Rare's Dinosaur Planet becomes Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet
• Sega will be bringing 10 games to GCN including PSO v.2 and the 2K's
• Saffire is no longer going to make games for GCN and instead will focus on XBox
• e3.nintendo.com now has movies and game shots of Luigi's Mansion, Smash Bros. 2: Melee (which includes the Ice Climber Kids), Metroid Primed (a prequel), Pikmin (Miyomoto's secret "Lemmings"-like project), Kameo: Elements of Power (Rare's secret project), Wave Race: Blue Storm, Eternal Darkness, Raven Blade (Retro's secret RPG), and more

Sony (PS2):

• Will release a network adapter (modem/broadband) in November for $39 that will have connections for a 40gig harddrive
• Announced deal with AOL to bring such things as AIM and the Netscape browser to PS2
• Also announced deals with RealPlayer, Cisco, and Macromedia (Flash) to bring content to its online PS2 strategy
• Some online titles announced: Twisted Metal Online (addon for TM: Black), Tony Hawk 3, Tribes, Frequency, Navy Seals
• Final Fantasy X, Devil May Cry, MGS2, Virtua Fighter 4, and Soul Reaver 2 are all PS2 exclusives (for a year or longer)
• Key games shown: Jak and Daxter (platformer from Naughty Dog), SSX Tricky, NBA Street, Madden 2002, Silent Hill 2, and of course, MGS2
• GT3: A Spec will release July 10 in the US and Sony will release a PS2 + GT3 bundle for $330
• Sony said they will continue with their 70:30::3rd:1st party ratio for system support

Microsoft (XBox):

• Launch: November 8, 2001, in the US
• Price: $299
• Games: 15-20 at launch
• Units: 600-000-800,000 available at launch
• Online to be a major part of the XBox experience
• Sega already said it was bringing 11 games to XBox and now says that includes the 2K3's
• Microsoft has said they will produce 30-35% of the system's content to go along with the 200 3rd parties they are currently working with

Hybrid's Pre-E3 Gamecube Statement