As gamers anxiously tear into the games they found beneath the tree and publishers chew their nails while watching holiday sales figures, the real workhorses of the video game industry, programmers and artists, are already toiling toward 2004.
Some are already coding for 2005, when it is heavily rumored that one of the big three — Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft — will launch a pre-emptive strike and roll out their next console.
Once gamers are truly beyond 2003’s “Beyond Good and Evil” and the streets of “Manhunt” are empty, vidders hungry for the Next Big Thing need not sit on their hands for very long. SEGA is starting 2004 off with “Sonic Heroes.” While previous Sonic titles have been released on the GameCube, “Heroes” marks the first time the blue blur will appear on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game is pure action and speed, as gamers control teams of three manic mammals from the “Sonic the Hedgehog” universe and send them through a series of worlds so bright and colorful the game should ship with sunglasses.
However, “Sonic Heroes” likely will also mark the end of SEGA’s aggressiveness in the console game arena. The Japanese pachinko giant Sammy recently acquired a large stake in SEGA and would like to see the gamemaker concentrate on the arcade business and stop producing niche games, such as the gorgeous, but criminally weakselling, “Panzer Dragoon Orta.”
Not that anybody will have time to play SEGA’s other early 2004 games — “Nightshade” and “Phantasy Star Online III” – once Microsoft rolls out “Halo 2.” The Bungiedeveloped sequel to the game that put the Xbox on the map wowed crowds at the last E3 convention, and further sneak peeks show it may be the game to beat in 2004 for its sheer epic scope. Of course, the visuals aren’t too shabby either, since the Xbox is pretty much accepted as the most powerful machine.
But besting “Halo 2” in looks is “Ninja Gaiden,” Tecmo’s rekindled take on its classic ninja actioner series. Coming in mid-February (after teasing gamers for two years), the title features absolutely astounding graphics that finally approach the level of “Toy Story” — a benchmark Sony promised with the PS2, but never delivered. (Fun as they are, those “Grand Theft Auto” games aren’t going to win beauty contests anytime soon.)
Capcom has several huge titles planned for 2004, from the online edition of its “Resident Evil” franchise to proof that Tom Cruise was hardly the last samurai. “Onimusha 3” and “Onimusha Blade Warriors” allows vidders to pick up samurai swords (and control French actor Jean Reno) and slice ‘n’ dice evil.
Despite the unfortunate revival of Konami’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and the no-show of TDK’s “He-Man” game, ’80s toy nostalgia continues into next year with Atari’s “Transformers Armada” game. Finally, gamers can hop into the cab of Autobot leader Optimus Prime and stick it to the greatest after-school cartoon villain ever, Megatron.
Nintendo’s dominance in the hand-held arena was challenged by Nokia’s N-Gage, which launched with a spectacular thud last October. However, the Game Boy empire will have to put up much bigger dukes when Sony releases the SP (PlayStation Portable) in late 2004. Sony says the disc-based go-go device will feature visuals far beyond the Game Boy Advance on a superior screen. However, the price tag ($299 has been bandied about) could keep the two handheld machines in separate leagues.
While it seems that Nintendo to some extent has conceded defeat with the Game- Cube, don’t expect it to relinquish control of the hand-held arena without a good scrap.When Sony announced the PSP at 2002’s E3, Nintendo’s president Saturo Iwata playfully thanked his competitor for the 18-month head’s-up. Nintendo also plans to make up for last year’s lackluster E3 showing with a huge announcement at the Los Angeles game convention this May.
Whether it will be a new console, a new hand-held or an entirely new device (never underestimate Nintendo’s ingenuity) is unknown. But you can already see the mad rush for Nintendo’s booth when the show doors open.
