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2K doesn't have a soccer game, but Konami does. Pro Evolution Soccer was considered the best soccer game for quite some time. Fifa 09 gave EA the upper hand once again and the competition has forced both of the companies to put a fair amount of innovation in their upcoming titles.

Like... Castlevania! And Castlevania!

Four-arrows-on-the-ground Hero!

Any chance that the other game is Castlevania, Suikoden, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill (PLEASE let it be this one), or even something along the lines of Shadow of Destiny or Lost in Blue?

It was something the Japanese seem gaga over but I didn't recognize. Is that what Lost in Blue is? Can't remember, sorry. They have links to their latest annual reports (video) at www.konami.com and follow the investors link I think.

Oh, and playing many Japanese games with the sound off is a very bad idea. That's half the fun!

Aria of Sorrow made good use of the GBA's graphics and music together, but Dawn of Sorrow steps it up quite a bit, reaching the level of Symphony of the Night, wheras the GBA versions are more akin to Dracula XX for the SNES or perhaps more like Bloodlines for the Genesis (due to more liberal use of realtime special effects). If you look at the first GBA title, Circle of the Moon, they had great music sacrificing the graphics. In the second GBA title, Harmony of Dissonance, the graphics was great but the music sounded like the original Gameboy (chiptunes) instead of music that makes use of digital samples. The GBA had 3 Castlevania titles already so it got its fair share, and now the DS owners have something that takes advantage of that hardware. Gamers have been clamouring for a 2D offering on the PS2 simply because of the excellent graphics and music (and the thought of high res 2D Castlevania makes any hard core gamer drool). Castlevania SotN was heralded as one of the greatest PSX games because it had such high quality audio and graphics, was a lot of FUN, oh yeah, and by the way, it was 2D (amidst tons of 3D games).

The director of Dawn of Sorrow recently hailed the DS as the last bastion of great 2D games, which was supposed to be what the SEGA Saturn was supposed to bring us. The SEGA Saturn had hardware geared for excellent 2D with tons of hardware functions for sprites, and the DS is perfect for this when compared to the GBA which must be pushed to reach such levels of quality in sound and video. The GBA struggles to even produce high quality audio output when maximizing its 2D capabilities. Gunstar Super Heroes is a great looking/sounding GBA game, but Treasure is known for its tricks to make games look and sound great, just like Factor 5. With the DS, you don't have to squeeze blood from a stone, you can just stab with that little DS stylus and there's plenty of it.

Personally I can't wait to see what kinds of innovative 2D games developers will come out with. The PlayStation and N64 pushed the SEGA Saturn into the background too quickly for us to see what great 2D games would come after the SNES and Genesis, just as titles such as Donkey Kong Country, the original Gunstar Heroes, Batman & Robin for Genesis, etc, started pushing the boundaries of 2D. Screw another lame 3D Castlevania on the PS2 (which is coming up btw). Let's give 2D some more horsepower and see what she can do!

Karaoke Revolution

Not that I'm partial or anything :).

P.S. I agree with the sentiment that the article, while trying to be inclusive, comes off a bit like a bunch of sexist men who are trying to be inclusive. Most of the female gamers I know are Everquest players, Counterstrike addicts, Katamari Damacy lovers, die-hard Ninja Gaiden fans, Sims players, Castlevania afficianadoes... Basically players with tastes as varied as any others, who like good games and maybe not so into the grossly overt sexualization thing. While there are some things you can do to make a female audience walk away, the only thing you can do to really attract them is to make a great game.

A PC version of DDR was released three years ago. It's a bit hard to find now, but I believe you can still download a demo from Konami.

Want to run your CPU with DDR2? Well you gotta throw out all your socket 478 gear

I run my PS2 with DDR8.

Nintendo may call its new console a "Revolution", but it's not a real Revolution until Konami ports its flagship Bemani title.

Because the best CG work from Japan is made by SquareEnix, Konami, Tecmo, and Capcom.

If you seen the Onimusha 3 opening, it is mind blowing. I would glad to see a feature film that uses the cinematography style of the opening. Robot Communications worked on the opening.

No wonder why the article mentioned that Japanese feature film CG work is relatively 'unknown', the best CG people work on video games instead.

Ummmm, not even close. Consoles have a very strong presence in the RPG market, and console RPG's most likely outsell PC RPG's several times over.

You can already do that now with flight sims and driving sims etc, but certain things just can't used like that because the input device technology is not sufficient.

Into which category do you believe dancing simulations fit? The latest one for PS2 uses a 3'x3' platform for the feet and a camera for the hands.

Konami does sell a PC version of DDR, you can even download a free trial version.

There was actually an audio-only game released in Japan for the Saturn and Dreamcast, Kaze no Regret. Sadly, it is Japan only,

Harmonix Music also makes Karaoke Revolution, a game which could have far more accessable menus, but once the player gets through the menu structure the game is all about singing, which anyone can do (though generally poorly).

I did it because I was short on cash and Dance Dance Revolution wasn't available for any other platform.

It's surprisingly addictive.

First came the dancing games, DDR, then the DJ games, Beatmania, then some more crap simulation games. As if the other games don't make people look dumb already, now we'll start seeing people waving their arms in the arcades with these mice.

To the best of my knowledge, only Gamespot and DDRFreak have covered this, but Konami also unveiled the next DDR game for the U.S. region, DDR Extreme. Here's the official site, and GameSpot's coverage. I first saw the news on DDRFreak.

For those of you about to lament the unfortunate use of "Extreme", it should be noted that this is more of a "greatest hits" collection of the best, most challenging, or most popular DDR tracks throughout the series' seven-game lifespan, as well as imports from other Bemani series such as Guitar Freaks and Pop'n Music. The game should also introduce new gameplay mechanics such as "mission mode", but details are as of yet unknown.

Don't look at me like that, somebody here must want to know this.

Yes it's karaoke, but whoever has played this games knows it's an incredibly good party game. The fact that it essentially marks your singing ability (or, in my case, lack thereof) makes it original. It's never been done on a console before, and it's executed admirably.

If you haven't heard of it, check it out at Konami's website, you'll need a PS2 and a USB mic (the one from SOCOM works admirably).

Karaoke Revolution

I once read a very well respected Japanese developer said (I think it was Yuji Naka) [Some companies]"...make games at the desk." He was refering to game companies making games to make money, not to create something fun to play.

Electronic Arts is in the video game industry making sound business moves and producing disposable rubbish for an eager consumer base. They are no longer Electronic Artists and they no longer make great video games. This shows in the huge amount of crap they spew out each year.

Other companies were getting to be guilty of the same thing, but they seem to have realized it and are trying to make a turn for the better. Capcom, for instance, has pledged a shift towards quality and innovation, and shortly afterwards announced 6 new fairly unique looking titles.

3DO claims to be making a similar shift, and has cancelled many projects to focus on a few unique titles. Trip Hawkins even forked over his own personal money to help fund the company further along. How many CEOs do you know of who would do that? (Well, the President of Sega did that, too, then died shortly afterwards.)

Many of the more respectable publishers and developers are making this shift towards quality, but Electronic Arts openly clings to "tried and true" titles, even if it means saturating the market with crap.

I don't rant about it like I used to. I just stopped buying the shit. After all, there are other great video game developers out there.

As long as we are adding games to the list. Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance hit the streets on the 8th. Tribunal expansion pack for Morrowind is out also. Both are wonderful games.

Some of arcade games are becoming physically exhausting to play. Police 911 from Konami leaves my legs sore from all the squats you have to do to avoid getting shot.

I think this comic sums up the arcade experience pretty well.

Konami (the same people behind Dance Dance Revolution)has been putting out quite a few games that can burn some calories.

Police 911 uses an image tracking system to move your on screen character based on your actual body position. In order to reload during the otherwise typical gun game you need to duck behind something. In order to duck, you have to squat/duck in the real world.

MoCap Boxing has you put on a pair of weighted gloves and actually punch and block in a first person boxing match. This will tire out more than just geeks. I've watched as macho buffed guys with their girlfriends walk up to the machine and brag about how easy it will be. Within minutes they are barely able to keep their arms up.

If game designers can keep coming up with creative and well done games like these maybe the arcade is not as endangered as it has appeared.

Konami (the same people behind Dance Dance Revolution)has been putting out quite a few games that can burn some calories.

Police 911 uses an image tracking system to move your on screen character based on your actual body position. In order to reload during the otherwise typical gun game you need to duck behind something. In order to duck, you have to squat/duck in the real world.

MoCap Boxing has you put on a pair of weighted gloves and actually punch and block in a first person boxing match. This will tire out more than just geeks. I've watched as macho buffed guys with their girlfriends walk up to the machine and brag about how easy it will be. Within minutes they are barely able to keep their arms up.

If game designers can keep coming up with creative and well done games like these maybe the arcade is not as endangered as it has appeared.

Konami (the same people behind Dance Dance Revolution)has been putting out quite a few games that can burn some calories.

Police 911 uses an image tracking system to move your on screen character based on your actual body position. In order to reload during the otherwise typical gun game you need to duck behind something. In order to duck, you have to squat/duck in the real world.

MoCap Boxing has you put on a pair of weighted gloves and actually punch and block in a first person boxing match. This will tire out more than just geeks. I've watched as macho buffed guys with their girlfriends walk up to the machine and brag about how easy it will be. Within minutes they are barely able to keep their arms up.

If game designers can keep coming up with creative and well done games like these maybe the arcade is not as endangered as it has appeared.

The principles are easy; you pick a dance track to listen to, and as the song plays, steps scroll up from the bottom of the screen. Your controller is actually a gigantic platform with four directional arrows on it, which you step on in time to the music. All you have to do is match the right arrow to the one scrolling by on screen. Easy, right? I mean, come on, we've all got incredible hand/eye coordination due to all our years of video gaming! No problem.

..heh. The game's physically intense and a great workout, in addition to being far more fun than it has any right to be.

Here's the mandatory link to DDR Freak, which has some basic information on the game. And for the Python friendly out there, check out pyDDR, a DDR clone for Python.

Acquiring a PS2 is a much larger deal than you think. A nuke by itself is mostly harmless, it's either too big to be snuck into a target, or too small to be more useful than a suitcase full of bio/chem. However, once you've got a PS2, you're just 7 gut-wrenching levels away from getting a full blown delivery system.

Get dance dance revolution for the playstation.

For those unfamiliar with the game, basically you have a pad with 4 arrows, up down left right. On screen you see 4 static arrows at the top of the screen and then some colored arrows floating upwards toward them. You press the arrow on the pad when the colored and static arrows overlap.

It's a great form of exercise, it even includes a diet mode where you set the amount of calories you want to burn and itll make you play until you reach your desired goal.

heres a site with some more information: www.ddrfreak.com

I imagine they'll use Xbox hardware for the "commodity" games, and they'll continue to use their custom hardware for the "A" games.

I expect you're right. I spent a year and a half at Konami when they still had operations near Chicago. The "commodity" arcade platform at the time was essentially a Playstation with a coin slot. The hardware was nearly identical to the home console, and the same development tools were used. This was in the 96-97 time frame. (The "premium" platform was based on 3DO hardware.)

Stuffing a home console into an arcade machine isn't exactly a new idea.

get policenauts over to the U.S. http://www.konami.com/forums /read.php?f=12&i=348&t=348">

they make excellent web servers!

Do you want Policenauts in English? Sign the PETITION

now i can play my metal gear solid on my dreamcast... aahhhh.

ethics n 1: motivation based on ideas of right and wrong

If I know the boss is wrong isn't it my obligation to do what's right?

Nightmare Creatures is coming