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 Eidos
Interactive has announced the shipping of the latest in the Tomb
Raider series, Tomb Raider Chronicles, which is getting a
simultaneous release for Dreamcast, PC and PlayStation. According to
Eidos, Chronicles will be “the last in this popular franchise
for the PlayStation, and marks an end to the Tomb Raider series
as we know it.”
The new title revolves around a memorial service for heroine Lara
Croft, and evolves from flashbacks and remembrances as viewed by
Lara’s acquaintances. It also includes a level editor that can be
used to alter the maps in Chronicles and previous Tomb
Raider games, as well as two new outfits for the beloved Ms.
Croft.
Eidos is also pushing Chronicles through various advertising
campaigns and promotion. Ads will appear in a “multimillion
dollar” campaign via online, print and TV ads. Additionally, Eidos
has struck
a deal with Timex to offer a branded TMX Grip Clip watch, and the
company is backing the Tomb
Raider movie that will star Angelina Jolie as Lara. Trailers
for the live-action film, which is currently in production in England
and set for a summer 2001 release, are scheduled to appear in theaters
this holiday season.
Sierra
Studios announced today that
the official expansion pack for Ground Control, subtitled Dark
Conspiracy, is now available for free. Consumers must simply go to
the Dark
Conspiracy website and fill out the order form. Some boxed
copies of Ground Control also include the order form. However,
all will have to pay the shipping and handling charges of $4.95.
LucasArts
has released a patch for the PC game Escape from Monkey Island.
Patch 1.1—approximately 1.12 MB—fixes some gameplay problems as
well as video card configurations. Click
here to find out more and download the patch.
Mattel
Media has released Sega
Rally 2 Championship for the PC. The game is also available for
the Dreamcast. However, the PC version features multiplayer modes over
the Internet. In total, Sega Rally 2 Championship has 21 racing
courses.
The retail price is $29.99.
bam!
Entertainment, Inc. has just released its second game in the Powerpuff
Girls series, Powerpuff Girls: Paint the Townsville Green
for the Game Boy Color. Players will assume the role of Buttercup in
this game, as she saves innocent citizens from the Fuzzy Lumpkins and
Gangreen gang. Each level is full of power-ups and dangerous combats.
Powerpuff
Girls: Paint the Townsville Green
retails for $29.99.
The
Video Software
Dealers Association released its VidTrac results for the week that
ended November 26. The top five games rented were:
1. Driver 2—PlayStation
2. WWF No Mercy—Nintendo 64
3. The World is Not Enough—Nintendo 64
4. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2—PlayStation
5. Mario Tennis—Nintendo 64
Tecmo
Inc. has provided some details on its Monster Rancher
Hop-A-Bout game for PlayStation, which is due out later this fall.
The title offers one- or two-player action through “thrilling and
perilous obstacle courses,” and provides the ability to alter the
courses as well. A Versus Mode creates head-to-head drama, testing the
players’ ability to get through the same course in the least amount
of time.
Monster Rancher Hop-A-Bout will have a suggested retail price of
$29.99, and have an ESRB rating of E (Everyone).
THQ
announced today that it would continue to increase the number of
products for the Rugrats license with Rugrats: Totally
Angelica for the PS One platform. The game is currently available
for the Game Boy Color. Players will be able to control Angelica in
her own “dress-up fantasy.”
The PS One version is expected to release in the spring of 2001.
In
Japan, Nintendo
reported a recovery in profits for the past six months of its
2000/2001 fiscal year.
Nintendo's parent-only current profit in the April through September
period have more than doubled, even though sales dropped about 26
percent as the yen's appreciation against the dollar decreased the
value of overseas sales, which account for about 78 percent of the
company's sales. Pre-tax profits for the period rose to 51.79 billion
yen (approximately $468.4 million), significantly more than last
year's 20 billion yen (approximately $180.9 million).
For Nintendo's full fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2001, it
forecasts a 78 billion yen (approximately $705.5 million) group net
profit on sales of 500 billion yen (approximately $4.52 billion).
For
the past few months, there has been little information about LucasArts’
massive online game based on the Star Wars universe. However,
LucasArts revealed today that the online game series would be titled Star
Wars Galaxies. In addition, the company announced that the
game’s official website—www.starwarsgalaxies.com—would
launch on November 30.
Simon Jeffery, president of LucasArts, stated, “We see this website
as an important step toward building a strong community for the Star
Wars Galaxies line of games…We firmly believe that consistent
and open communication with fans will be one of the keys to the
success of the Star Wars Galaxies experience.”
Verant Interactive has been chosen to be the series’ developer. The
only problem is that it will be a while until consumers will be able
to play this new game series as testing is set to begin in the late
part of 2001.
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