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Gamers' reactions to Nintendo's press conference haven't been pretty, as many have expressed disappointment on message boards about the lack of announcements for the core titles that Nintendo is known for.

However, IGN may have the answers that gamers have been searching for, as their interview with Nintendo's design genius Shigeru Miyamoto has yielded a ray of hope for the future.

When asked about the possibility of Pikmin 3, Miyamoto said that there wasn't anything that could be announced now, but that Nintendo would "probably do something with it" and that the Pikmin team would perhaps "have something to talk about before too long."

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Here's a little something interesting for Resident Evil fans this morning. According to the latest podcast featuring Chris Kramer, Senior Director of Communication and Community for Capcom (I imagine that he handles the hate mail and forums), over at Major Nelson's place, it's highly possible that Resident Evil 5 will see release this year.

And I quote:


If you'd rather skip the radio-like melodrama you'll find the above comment at the 30.00 mark.

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Video footage of a recent interview of Ted Price and Colin Munson of Insomniac Games regarding Resistance 2 (dated for 2008), the sequel to the best (or second best, depending on your love for Call of Duty 4) shooter on the PlayStation 3, has hit the Web.

Hit the jump to view all three of them, but keep in mind that the quality level is a little low.

The game is said to feature:

• A huge co-op component featuring eight player story-driven campaigns over PSN (two player local) alongside single-player campaigns.
• Sixty player competitive modes with a focus on squad-versus-squad combat set in huge United States landscapes.
• New enemies including Chameleon and Stalker with total cloaking ability
• Multiplayer class system. Three basic templates - tank with heavy weaponry, special ops for distance (bullseye modified with zoom) and medic.
• Online matching - standard difficulty discarded for scaled challenges for team skill.
• Partially randomised geometry making levels different with each play through.
• Insomniac have been listening to players complaints about the first game and are also further tapping the power of the PS3 to give more enemies onscreen and improved AI. They are also working on a solution to the long checkpoints and health system.

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According to MCV in an exclusive interview with Square's European and US division's John Yamamoto, Square Enix is strongly considering the purchase of Western development studios, in particular European ones.

Said Yamamoto, who claimed that Square Enix is not currently negotiating any buy-outs, "We are now more focused on developing product that will help our expansion in the Western markets and of course this includes more fully localized titles than ever before."

He continued, "In addition, we understand the importance of more global simultaneous releases and this too is a priority. Finally, we are also carefully examining options available for adding product from Western developers to accelerate our growth outside of Japan."

Yamamoto detailed acquisition as "an option" that would help in this endeavor.

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The vibe from the Sony camp is definitely positive since the holidays, with chief executive of SCE Kaz Hirai recently commenting to Reuters that it is possible for Sony to begin turning a profit on the PlayStation 3 console over the next fiscal year.

Hirai stated, "The next fiscal year starts in April and if we can try to achieve that in the next fiscal year that would be a great thing. We are going through the budgets right now. That [profitability] is not a definite commitment, but that is what I would like to try to shoot for."

Hirai explained that the cost of making the machine - specifically the cheaper 40GB model - is what is helping Sony reach this goal. Here's a nice summary:

"Component costs are coming down, and the number of components ... we are seeing a reduction. The 40 gigabyte PlayStation 3 obviously has fewer components, and uses less power, which means that components required to dissipate heat, for example, can be smaller, so there is some cost reduction there... So costs are coming down significantly."

Makes one wonder why they didn't offer the 40GB model from the start.

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Nintendo is reporting that it is having problems "planning for the coming months" (one can only assume they mean advertising campaigns, game development, and manufacturing) due to a crazy demand for its Wii console and DS handheld.

Said Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, in a recent Reuters interview: "The level of demand we are facing complicates all of our future business planning. All of that becomes a much tougher exercise until we have supply and demand curves that intersect."

Regarding certain retailers who get it in their heads to bundle the Wii with games that nobody wants yet has to buy in order to get the Wii (I hate you people), Fils-Aime commented that "Retailers have already been given feedback that we are not big fans of that. We think it masks some of the price advantage we have versus our competition and, frankly, the consumer should decide what they want."

When asked if Nintendo was in fact threatening such retailers, Fils-Aime responded, "We don't have to remind retailers of the strength we have right now. We are simply making an observation and that reinforces our point quite nicely with retailers."

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Here's some interesting news you might have missed due to, I don't know, the holiday rush to buy as many cheap gifts as you can for people you only see once a year. According to shacknews the PlayStation 3 gamer's most requested feature - "in-game XMB" (cross media bar) - is "hopefully coming sometime in the future" (tells you a lot, huh?) as word has it from Eric Lempel, the PSN director of operations.

Here's the Q&A regarding in-game XMB, which for the uninitiated is essentially the PlayStation version of the Xbox Live feature that allows friends to manage contacts, message, and voice chat during play.


The interview goes on to question Mr. Lempel about other PSN qualms - slow download times for in-demand content, the lag time in content availability in comparison to the Xbox Live service, and so on - and the explanation seems to be that "the PlayStation Network is free and all PlayStation Network members get new content at the same time, unlike the new tiered model from the competition, which delays the release of content for non-paying members."

Check out the full interview at the link. Those who have been following the in-game XMB "demand" at official Sony forums might feel a little encouraged that Sony is in fact considering various implementations of the feature - but it's a long way from "looking at" the options to actively working on them. We'll keep you advised as to their progress.

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GameSpot has posted an interesting interview of XBL group marketing manager Aaron Greenberg regarding the new Xbox Originals program set to launch for the Xbox 360 on December 4, alongside the console's next firmware update.

The Xbox Originals program enables gamers to download Xbox hits for a flat fee of $15 (1200 Microsoft points), with the first available titles including Fable, Halo, and Psychonauts. Hit the jump for some excerpts and a link or hit the link below.

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According to a Famitsu interview of Kaz Hirai, SCE's President and CEO, as translated by 1UP, Hirai is "not satisfied" with the current state of PlayStation Home, the online service meant to vastly improve the PlayStation 3's multiplayer experience. He stated that "[Home] is a very big project for the PS3 and we want to make sure that we deliver to our hearts content. We hope everyone will look forward to its spring release next year."

Hirai also commented on the company's decision to remove backwards compatibility features from the new 40GB version of the PS3, stating that they "concluded that it is only one of many features of the PS3. What is more important is for the users to play PS3 games on the PS3, so our top priority is for them to be playing Bluray games and downloadable contents."

Finally, regarding potential PS3 price drops, said Hirai, "When there are more games on the console and the unit itself has also shipped a fair number, one trend is that we are able to reduce the costs... This is a common trend so the PS3 doesn't need to go against [it]."

Hit the link to view the translated interview.

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PALGN has posted an interview conducted with Naughty Dog's co-president, Evan Wells, regarding Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for the PlayStation 3. It covers the added difficulties the company faced in developing the title (as well as switching from PlayStation 2 to PlayStation 3 hardware), why ND decided to leave out any multiplayer options, the game's AI and use of the Sixaxis controller as well as a slew of other details.

Toward the end of the interview Wells also comments on the company's loss of the Crash Bandicoot franchise (apparently seeing other developers work on CB is "a little bit like watching your daughter do porn" - and yes that's a direct quote) and the possibility of crafting another Jak and Daxter title. Hit the jump for an excerpt or go straight to the interview at the link.

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