News Hound: This Week In Gaming Issue 7 Page 1

News Hound: This Week In Gaming Issue 7

One man and his dog, went to mow a meadow. The dog got bored, ran back home and became a journo...

What's Hot
Yes my friends its that time of the week when we have to take a look at what's great in the ever changing world of video gaming. So, prepare yourselves as I delve deep into the news and forage out the best bits...

Zelda Sequel | Only just announced this is something major from Nintendo showing that perhaps there is quite a bit of life left in the GameCube yet. Most Zelda games take a few years to develop; in this case lets say it takes two years. If it does then we can expect it to be one of the last games to appear on the GameCube, as Nintendo will want to move on and keep in competition with Sony and Microsoft. As for the announcement of the game itself it would seem that Nintendo are not willing to do anything drastically new. They will be using the engine from the last game and I can only imagine this being a game similar to Majoras Mask, a title that was good, but never great. So, when are we getting that realistic Zelda, this pundit is saying never.

A clear plan | It might of taken a while but it would seem Nintendo have finally made their minds up about where they want to go. Recently the company have turned so many corners that they have simply gone around full circle, but with a few interviews and clearly a lot of planning, Iwata and men have created their battle plan. More games, less time, not going online in a hurry, advertise and milk franchises for all they are worth all sat alongside perhaps the most interesting thing, strengthen bonds with third party developers. This has already been done with EA, a company who are now confident [having seen Nintendo's plans] that the GameCube will come from behind to win the war and it would seem that the giants from Japan are trying to get other high profile developers to work for them and thus support the GameCube, very interesting indeed.

The boy done good | Well, Zelda might have slipped down the charts like a stone but it showed that Nintendo can, and are prepared to release big games well. Staying at the top spot is a hard enough task for any games, let alone one appearing on a supposedly 'inferior' platform. Whilst it might be all but gone now Nintendo have proved a point, they can shift a game and they do it well, the fact that they don't do it often enough is the problem. Seeing as this is me trying to be positive I think I will shut my hole now, leaving you with this thought: what could Nintendo achieve if they really tried?

What's Not
Of course not all news is good news, and an old saying is very much the case with this bunch of stinkers; 'No news, is good news...'

Financial | Not so good this week was the announcement that Nintendo have not done all that well in the world of excessive numbers and balding men shouting that we like to call 'finance'. I'm not going to pretend to have a deep understanding of this, so I took a look at some sites, asked some people and now I can explain what has happened. A fall in profit of 36.8% is perhaps the most pungent showi
ng a dramatic fall from Nintendo, also of concern was the large dip in share value, down by about 12%. This is a major blip for Nintendo, ergo they need to look at improving for the next year.

Adverts | Not being the type of person who watches excessive television when I went to the cinema to see the latest Matrix film I saw something that made me cringe. The adverts commenced, the popcorn was devoured and I suddenly see the screen fill with the logo of Nintendo. 'Good lord' I exclaimed, an advert! Of course this would have been great, but people started to laugh at it. The GBA console started to spin about and a strange sounding Japanese man announced various things that nobody seemed to understand. The fact that he sounded like he had severe constipation and kept on squeaking was beyond the point, this was embarrassing. You'd think that Nintendo might of worked this out by now....

I play, ergo I'm a fool | Getting annoying now, and it's the damn Yanks again. Whilst taking a look around various gaming forums worldwide I stumbled across numerous American sites. Looking at the forums it would appear that there is something wrong. Topics like 'I fucked my XBOX' and 'PS2, I'm gonna ram it up you're a-hole' not very nice now is it. Why can't people just talk about games, what is the need to use the f-word all over the place, why must we suffer with people talking about various things that whilst not being taboo certainly do not need to be discussed in this manner. Now I'm not being a snob, I am merely stating that people should grow up and listen to themselves once in a while, they might finally see the people that they are.

In the Kennel: The Weekly Analysis
A chance to sit back and put everything in perspective. How will the happenings in the industry effect gamer and industry alike. Much like biting someone's leg has a consequence as does every piece of news. This is the breakdown...

Well, its May, and looking at the release schedules it would seem that the games drought is starting early this year. Any major games are now coming out in the September period and for the next few months [unless you are an import gamer] we will have to put up with what we have. Whilst that might be a bad thing, I am going to make a stand. Why in the hell should we have to put up with this? Do other industries shut down in the summer? I don't think so. Just because it is meant to be 'sunny' and we should be going outside doesn't mean that there is no place for games. This is yet another sign that gaming is still not developing and moving forward. Whilst last year we heard the news that gaming sales were higher than ticket sales of Harry Potter, this is hardly amazing when a game costs

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News Hound: This Week In Gaming Issue 7

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