News on latest local release dates from Nintendo, Acclaim's comment on the classification rejection for BMX XXX and why AFL 2003 is now AFL 2004.Seeing it's getting closer to the Christmas flood of games (after the usual yearly drought), Nintendo Australia has updated their site with updated release date information. Along with release dates now going up till April 2003 rather than the end of this year, the following games have been listed with these dates:
GAMECUBE
Eternal Darkness - 7th November Star Fox Adventures - 15th November Mario Party 4 - 22nd November
GAME BOY ADVANCE
Game & Watch Gallery Advance - 7th November Metroid Fusion - 29th November The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - 6th December
There are more dates on-site, so be sure to check them out. Also listed on Nintendo's site (finally) is Animal Crossing, but with no date at this stage. It's currently listed as TBA, along with Metroid Prime. Animal Crossing's profile also has this information:
GET CONNECTED! Connect to Game Boy Advance using a Nintendo GCN GBA Cable (sold separately) to travel to a new island and design new clothes. When you're ready for even more, you can connect an e-Reader (coming in 2003) and scan Animal Crossing e-cards to get special presents - maybe even classic NES games!
This game has just been released in the US. There is no confirmation yet as to if/when this game will be released in PAL format for Australia - but we will keep you posted of any announcements!!!
Let's hope that that if there are any major changes to the game, such as season or holiday alterations, the item codes will still be usable with the US version of Animal Crossing so that international trading is possible.
You may remember a while back that AFL 2003 had been announced for release on the Nintendo GameCube. Unfortunately, Acclaim hasn't been able to release it - here's a quote directly from Acclaim's PR explaining why:
"Unforunately we had to cancel AFL Live 2003 for the Nintendo Game Cube this year. We and the game's developers were concerned that the tight deadline we had set ourselves would compromise the quality of the product for this console and dissapoint both AFL fans and Nintendo Game Cube owners. This was clearly unacceptable. Instead we will be focussing on the next AFL title, AFL Live 2004, for a release on all next generation formats, and ensure that we can bring the best possible AFL experience in a game to Nintendo Game Cube owners late next year."
Acclaim Australia has also been in the news (as I'm sure you've already heard) after BMX XXX was rejected for release in Australia by our ratings board. I asked Acclaim whether they would try to submit a toned down version of BMX XXX (this was done around last year when Grand Theft Auto 3 was rejected for classification). Acclaim stated that although there is a toned down NTSC version coming, BMX XXX probably won't make it to Australia at all.
And, seeing Phantasy Star Online is causing such a stir here at PGC, I thought I'd finish off with when it's currently due out in Australia. The current release date for Phantasy Star Online in Australia is (wait for it) December 1st, 2003. I'll see what information I can dig up on it and the modem/broadband adaptor release date.
Cheers everyone.
Topic: Australian Nintendo News Update (Read 2256 times)
