GameSpy's exclusive interview with Yuji Naka reveals the future of Sonic, where babies come from, and just what the deal was with the Hidden Palace.
Talk about a big year for Sonic Team! Not only are Shadow the Hedgehog, Phantasy Star Universe, and Sonic Rush all in the pipeline, but we've also seen an onslaught of other new announcements from them: Where do Babies Come From, Puyo Puyo Fever Chu, Sonic Riders, and an all-new, next-gen Sonic game. We were able to sit down with the head of Sonic Team and Sega Global Entertainment Software R&D, Yuji Naka, to discuss both the future and the past of Sonic Team -- and were treated with several surprises!
Ending weeks of speculation about which upcoming video game platform will give gamers the most bang for their buck, today at the German Games Convention, Microsoft Corp. revealed that consumers can get their hands on Xbox 360™ — the most powerful and feature-packed next-generation video game and entertainment system — for as little as $299.99 U.S./€299.99/£209.99 starting this holiday season. For gamers who want to experience the ultimate digital entertainment thrill ride, Microsoft also announced a model with hundreds of dollars worth of accessories for $399.99 U.S./€399.99/£279.99, giving consumers the definitive entertainment experience at an unbelievable value right out of the box.
After an embarrassing rookie season in Japan, Microsoft and its latest Xbox console bounced back at its Tokyo Xbox Summit 2005, where it proudly announced every single Japanese publisher is along for the Xbox 360 ride. Ridge Racer is coming, so is Final Fantasy and mega-popular Winning Eleven. Things look upbeat.
But why should you care whether Xbox 360 succeeds in Japan? Well, it's important if you like diversity in your Xbox game collection - a range of developers are working on games in an even more varied set of genres. In short, there's a reason why Japan-powered games like Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil 4 are on PS2 and GameCube (and not Xbox) - it's not worth releasing an Xbox version in Japan when only 500,000 have one in their homes.
There are enough reasons (we have ten) to believe things will be different next round, and Xbox 360 will eat away at PlayStation's dominance in Japan. Yet there are those who still believe Japan will never embrace a non-Japanese game console (and we've got ten reasons why these arm-chair analysts are correct.) Warm up your typing fingers as we give you ten reasons why Xbox 360 could kick ass in Japan, and ten reasons why it could bomba bomba in Kutaragi's backyard.
' Xbox-Hq.Com now hosts the official support forum.. If you need any help at all please visit the Sunday Chip forums on Xbox-Hq.Com '
It’s with great pride that clevermod.com announces the release of it’s flag ship product ‘Sunday Chip’. Sunday chip combines affordability and innovation while rolling out a refined product that sets up easily for the weekend installers, daisy fresh noobs and mod chip experts alike. To accommodate everyone’s need’s Sunday chip’s PCB was designed for 2 styles of installs. The Base install retails for $10. The IR remote add on is an additional $12. Our aggressively affordable pricing combined with the real world features and clevermod reliability quickly push Sunday chip to the head of the pack even against more established chips with their loyal following. Our best features aren’t found anywhere else at any price because they are clevermod exclusives, not some rehashed clones.
Base Install Features:
* 512k SST flashrom (socketed plcc32) sets up as 2 x (256k) banks or 1 (512k) bank.
* Lattice high speed CPLD controls LPC comms, Life support, and banking.
* Life support system for multiple flash ROMs on the LPC (1.6) and reduces a 72ma load from the Xbox MCPX chip. Increases life expectancy on the 1.6 Xboxes.
* Shipped with customized legal flash bios 3 (2 versions) to boot and flash via HTTP, DVD-ROM or hard disk. Our flash bios can restore serial EEPROM’s on any machine, lock hard drives and with 2 versions it loads on all versions of the Xbox.
* CPLD banking means dual banks for 256k with recovery or 1 512k bank for X2-50xx.
* Live compatible from the front panel (Mod enable and disable).
* Sunday flash v1.2 XBE software for safe bios updating from the Xbox kernel featuring recovery.
* Flash bios 3 XBE’s for safe bios updating from a Linux kernel featuring Linux reliability.
* Supports all the bios features, LBA48, eject fix, IGR to alternate dash etc.
* It’s a reliable mod chip that boots on all versions consistently. Header pins and banking hardware included.
IR Add-on features:
* Custom PIC chip controller ‘through hole’ design for easy foot print population.
* IR receiver module compatible with 3.3v or 5v.
* Decoding PIC learns any key press from any Sony or Equivalent controller.
* Optional key chain and larger universal remotes are available.
* Adds these no touch IR remote features:
-Power on in MS bios mode (perfect for Xbox live).
-Power on in mod chip bios mode for homebrew hacking.
-Eject the tray (mod chip mode if powering on).
-Toggle banks (2 x 256k mode).
See a video demo of these features on the product page in related files at clevermod.com.
Support:
Clevermod is devoted to world class scene driven support and we back this up with a 30 page user’s guide, product videos and a devoted support forum.