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 Nintendo
and Namco have formed a partnership to develop software for Nintendo
GameCube and the Triforce arcade board. At a joint press conference,
leading
Nintendo software designer Shigeru Miyamoto commented, "We are
expanding our collaborations... We are trying to utilize the game
developing expertise of other companies." By the end of 2003, Namco will
release six titles for GameCube and eight for Game Boy Advance. The joint effort will
expand beyond just software development. Nintendo will handle the
publishing of and the marketing for a number of Namco's GameCube and Game Boy
Advance titles beginning in October.
 The
headline of this entire partnership may however come down to one game
alone... Star Fox. Jointly developed by Namco and Nintendo, Star Fox is
scheduled for an April 2003 release on Nintendo GameCube. While Rare's
Star Fox Adventures takes the series in the direction of an action
adventure platformer, Namco's game will be entirely focused on traditional
Star Fox space shooter combat. Development of Star
Fox for GameCube is well underway according to Namco officials though
initiation of Triforce development is still pending. However, the roles each company would take in
development of Star Fox was not made entirely clear.
Namco is just one of a number of developers that Nintendo has announced
new relationships with in a new strategic development strategy. A few
months ago, a breakthrough partnership between Sega and Nintendo was
announced with Sega's Amusement Vision and Nintendo's EAD jointly
developing F-Zero for the GameCube and arcade. By outsourcing sequels of
established brands to second and third parties, Nintendo aims to find a
focus in creating innovative new game series. According to industry
insiders, this is just the beginning. |
 Beyond
Star Fox, GameCube will see a number of great titles from Namco in 2003.
Soul Calibur 2, which was initially thought to be a holiday release is now
scheduled for January '03 (at least in Japan). Ridge Racer fans will be
glad to hear that a series follow-up will land on GameCube in March of '03.
Meanwhile a Tales Series game will see a release in July '03, which should
please any RPG fan. A still secret GameCube-exclusive RPG is also in
development at Namco for December '03. Below is a detailed list of Namco's
upcoming GameCube and Game Boy Advance releases. Please note that all
dates are for Japanese release...
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 GameCube |
Game
Boy Advance |
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Mr.
Driller (11/02) |
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Baseball
Advance (06/02) |
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Soul
Calibur 2 (01/03) |
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Mr
Driller Ace (08/02) |
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Ridge
Racer (03/03) |
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Klonoa 2
(08/02) |
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Star Fox
(04/03) |
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Tales of
the World (10/02) |
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Tales
Series (07/03) |
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Klonoa
Action-RPG (11/02) |
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GameCube
RPG (12/03) |
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Tales of
Phantasia (12/02) |
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Triforce is a 3D computer graphic board for next-generation arcade
machines that applies the architecture of the GameCube. Nintendo, Namco, and Sega announced joint development of the
Triforce arcade board in January. The goals of the agreement were to
expand arcade video game market, create a cost-effective environment
for arcade video game development, and establish a totally new game
system that will bridge game play between the home and amusement
facilities.
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| Namco/NCL |
Yoichi |
Miyamoto |
Atsushi |
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| Star
Fox |
Tales |
Tales |
Tales |
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May 08, 2002 |
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Rick - Editor in
Chief, GameCubicle |
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