Frodo”s alter ego introduces new Xbox
Who said you can’t learn anything by watching TV? That’s how we’re going to find out what’s coming in the next generation of the Xbox.
Microsoft announced last week that the first public unveiling of the next Xbox will come in a TV special to be carried around the world on MTV May 12 and 13. Actor-gamer Elijah Wood will host the half-hour program, which Microsoft says “will feature never-before-seen, action-packed gameplay of future Xbox games, a peek into the future of the Xbox Live online gaming service, backstage celebrity interviews and exclusive insider footage.” Whew!
Some details about the new console are already beginning to leak out. A story in Forbes magazine reported that pundits at the Goldman Sachs investment firm believe the next Xbox will come out around October or November – imagine that, just in time for the holidays – and will cost somewhere between $250 and $300. Microsoft reportedly expects to ship 3 million of the consoles to retailers by the end of the year.
Moreover, Forbes reported, there’s no indication that Microsoft intends to stop producing the current Xbox. That’s in line with what Sony has done with the original PlayStation, now repackaged, reduced in size and sold as the PSOne.
Goldman Sachs was quoted as saying it doesn’t expect Sony’s next-generation unit, the PlayStation 3, to debut in the United States until mid-2006. Some analysts have speculated that one of the reasons why the Xbox had so much difficulty catching the PS2 is that it came out a year later. Microsoft appears to be avoiding that mistake this time.
‘Legends’ lures multiplayers
“Untold Legends,” the only role-playing game on Sony’s new PlayStation Portable handheld, is the No. 1 seller at both EB Games and GameStop. That’s due in part to its unique content – mostly hack-and-slash adventure – but probably also to the fact that it’s the only co-op multiplayer game available for the PSP. So for friends and family who want to play with each other (as opposed to against each other) via the PSP’s wireless connection, it’s the only game in town.
Sony confirmed in trade newsletters that yes, “Untold Legends 2” is already in development.
Big mouth pays off
Daxter rules! Well, rules the PSP, anyway.
Jak’s big-mouthed sidekick from the best-selling “Jak and Daxter” series of PS2 games (excellent, by the way; check ‘em out) gets his own PSP game. That’s great news, especially if the production values are up to the top-of-the-line “Jak” series.
It’ll be an action-adventure game, as opposed to a driving-fighting game like other titles in the “Jak” series. And chances are it’s going to be excellent: The credits for developer Ready at Dawn include some talented folks from Naughty Dog (the people who develop “Jak” games for Sony) and Blizzard (they of “Warcraft” fame).
Also in the works: new PS2 versions of “Jak,” “Ratchet and Clank” and “Sly Cooper,” three of the console’s best platformer-fighting style games, all published by Sony.
Wizardly good news
More “Harry Potter” is on the way for fans of the series. Electronic Arts and Warner Brothers say that, once again, EA will ship “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” for pretty much every game platform in sync with the movie’s opening day in November.
In other EA news, get ready for more speed: “Need for Speed Most Wanted” is under development, this time with a police-chase angle. (You can drive for either side.) It’ll be out for all current platforms and a next-generation console yet to be announced, which means it’s a holiday title.