S3K asks, Is Louie the Cat a secret character in Super Smash Brothers Melee? I

heard if you hold the controller upside down pressing all the buttons repeatedly and

balance the GameCube on your head whilst humming the A-Team theme it will unlock Louie!

True or False? I tried it but I don’t think I had the GameCube balanced the right way

– Can you draw a diagram to demonstrate?

TYP Says: You know how Matt Casamassina got his mug into

Perfect Dark? Well PGC has some 133+ contacts as well! We asked Nintendo not to mention

this ultra-super secret code, but apparently someone leaked the w0rd out. This is quite

distressful for us here at PGC: we really don't want impressionable children tearing the

little Poke-rat a new one with a potty-mouthed cat, but I'd feel guilty keeping the

intricacies of the code a secret now that everyone knows of its existence.

Nintendo put Louie the Cat into SSBM figuring only PGC staffers would ever see him in

action, but perhaps it is time the world found out why SSBM was really rated

Teen.

Rick Says: If you think that is cool (and it is!), wait until you see

href="http://www.designfusioncorp.com/images/puppy2.jpg">Casey the Dog in Mario Kart

Online! :)

Jonathan Says: Louie is a unique fighter in

that instead of attacks, all his moves are taunts and poses. If you pause the game in

camera mode, Louie will flip onto his back and squirm all over whatever new gaming stuff

Billy just got in the mail.

Billy Says: Watch the "Poop on your keyboard" attack. Very VERY

lethal.

Daniel Says: Well, Billy made some false footage of leaving Louie behind when he

went to Japan, but now that "the cat's out of the bag," I guess I'll tell the

real story.

At Spaceworld, Billy handed Louie off to one of the Nintendo reps during the press day.

They took him back to Nintendo Headquarters where they motion captured him scratching

plush Pikachu dolls and pooping on various items. Then they sampled his voice and gave him

a few tidbits for his RUMARS column before he left. As you may remember, Billy took the

train to Nintendo's offices to pick him up, but after being horribly abused by Louie, they

refused to let Billy inside the building.

Sorry to hide the truth for so long, but now you know how it all really went down.

Max Says: Finally, Louie can now bring the pain to others besides Billy and the PGC staff!

Mel asks, Much allusion has been made to the demise of Japanese development house

AKI/Asmik Ace in lieu of the decision by TH*Q to develop the impending Wrestlemania X8

with Smackdown! programmers Yukes. The most oft-punted reason for this move was due to the

rumor that AKI itself was dissolved at the midpoint of last year.

However, the game designer's web page is still active (albeit completely and sadly

outdated) and no official comment has been offered by an accredited video game site or

magazine. Did the company that almost single-handedly made TH*Q a software superpower with

its wrestling games actually bite the bullet, or did it just move onto developments for

another platform? If it did die, then *how* did that happen? Seeing as the team created

nothing but high-octane titles in conjunction with a major American distributor and all.

Mike O. Says: I've heard two things,

mainly. Either they were dissolved and merged into Yukes (there are supposedly many AKI

members working on Wrestlemania X , or they are working on a wrestling game for EA right

now. I do not know which one of those is factually true, though I'm inclined to believe

the first, as I was given word regarding the merging from a good contact. But to be

honest, I really hope I'm wrong, as WMX8 is looking more and more to be like Smackdown

(which is TERRIBLE). That's a complete slap in the face to all wrestling fans who lived

and died by AKI's WCW and WWF N64 titles, so I'm personally hoping they're cooking

something up alongside EA at this moment.

Jonathan Says: I just thought I'd chime in and offer no useful information.

Strife asks, Well, Hollywood was graced yet again with another video game related

movie, and on the whole, I think it succeeded in capturing the essence of the series.

With this newfound interest in the series, I wonder if gamers will flock to GameCube to

purchase RE on this merit alone? Of course the quality of the title will surely captivate

audiences, but no doubt the popularity of the movie might have an effect?

I also wonder if this was calculated into Nintendo's strategy from the start. After all,

the series was dying out. Each one was becoming more of a shoot 'em up rather than

survival horror. Also, too many sequels means a lot of uninterested gamers. So, the movie

does reasonably well, reminds gamers of the series, and bam! they look for the next

game.The game they find takes the series back to it's roots. Where is it? Why it's on the

lunchbox system! How absurd! Gee, maybe GameCube isn't so kiddy after all. I wonder what

else is on the way for it?

Mike O. Says: No, I don't think Nintendo got the

Resident Evil franchise because of the extra incentives the movie could bring. In fact, I

don't think the movie is going to boost sales at all. You'd have to be a very, very, VERY

casual gamer not to know about Resident Evil, so it's not as if the movie will bring the

attention of the series to any gamers. And though I haven't played the series from start

to beginning, I think you might find it difficult to get someone to agree with you that

Resident Evil 3 does not focus on the survival aspect, in my opinion.

Nintendo secured the Resident Evil franchise exclusive (excluding Resident Evil: Online

for the PS2 and possibly other consoles) for one reason, and one reason only. There was no

way it could have been a bad deal. You've got one of the most popular third party

franchises this side of Metal Gear, practically exclusive to your system. The series sells

AMAZINGLY well in all THREE main territories, which is quite a feat, and that doesn't look

to be ending anytime soon. Plus, it does address the mature games question when it comes

to the GameCube. It was a very smart move on Nintendo's behalf even though Mila kicking a

dog in the face isn't going to make much of an impact.

Rick Says: This is another case of a reader not quite understanding that the

movie was released in the US market, and will likely be out of theaters by the time the

game hits. Meanwhile, Biohazard is underachieving in Japan. The deal was struck in Japan,

so I can't imagine that the two are even remotely related.

It's a great game. The movie is pretty good. But thinking Nintendo got the game as an

exclusive just because they thought the movie would be good free promotion is probably 5%

of the total reasoning. The fact that the game has a major following would be more likely to be a significant factor.

Max Says: Yeah, there's probably no official connection whatsoever. Still, the flick helped me work up an appetite for the new game on GameCube (lucky me, I got the import) and certainly may cause a similar effect in other gamers.

Monkeyman Bob says, What do you think the game Mafia is about? Its from Take 2, and

it sounds like something along the lines of GTA3 or State of Emergency.

Mike O. Says: I own both

of the titles you've compared it to, and though I haven't checked up on much info

regarding Mafia, I can assure you it won't be the same type of game as State of Emergency.

Though I'm sure someone could answer your question in more detail, my guess is that Mafia

will be more plot driven in comparison to GTA3. GTA3 did have a nice storyline, but it

wasn't really complex. It was kind of there just to provide variety within the missions

themselves. I'm also (guessing) that Mafia won't be as car based as GTA3, as I can really

see a... almost Hitman-esque third person action/adventure style engine working great

within that style of game. If you must warrant a comparison, GTA3 should be much closer,

but we'll have to see how the game turns out. And don't expect to see the tits you've seen

in the PC previews in any of the console games.

Adam Says: Can you imagine how cool this

COULD be?

Just imagine a video game where you ARE Tony Soprano. You do everything he does. It's

everything you'd want to do in a video game, and not in real life.

Word.

Jonathan Says: It's from Take Two and it

sounds like a mature game. That's enough for me. Even if the game sucks, the fact that

it's being released on GameCube bodes well for GTA4's chances on the system.

Billy Says: I just hope it has some solid

gameplay. I've got GTA3 and to be honest, I don't think it's all that. I was bored within

a couple of hours.

People are so excited they can run around and shoot people. Christ, I've been doing that

since Wolfenstein and Doom.

State of Emergency wasn't anything better. I do like the mob aspect that Mafia could have.

There was a PC game called Hitman I used to play a lot. It had a lot of personality. If

those are the lines that Mafia goes with, I'll be happy.

Spiker asks, what ever happened to that SD memory card thing from Nintendo?

I thought that ganging up with Panasonic to bring a much better memory solution was great

but from the looks of it they seem to have broken up.

Mike O. Says: Don't get ahead of

yourself. If you're looking for a good memory card solution, I suggest buying Interact's 8

MB memory card and a Nintendo Mem 59 Card (unless you already have one). See, I have two

59 cards and the Interact card. I save all of my games on the Interact card, and back up

the important ones on my Nintendo cards. If the Interact card was to become corrupt, I'd

lose my NBA Street unlocked characters, but I'd have my Smash Brothers saves safely backed

up. Or you could wait for Nintendo's 250 block card.

As for the SD card, it is coming. Just don't be so sure that it will be used as a memory

card...

Rick Says: I have a feeling that you won't

see it released until the Modem and Broadband adapters are released. You need SOMETHING to

store all that downloaded data on, right?

Jonathan Says: As I've said a hundred thousand times, the SD card may not even

function as a standard memory card at all. Nintendo has never really said much about their

intentions for the card, but it seems clear to me that SD is primarily planned for

rewritability and for, as Rick says, online use.

Billy Says: Personally I'm hoping it's used for both. I've got 6 freaking memory

cards right now. They are small, and could easily be lost. I don't want to take any

chances with 3rd party cards. Nintendo's new sized memory cards are appealing, but I'd

like one all around solution personally.

With the dawning of the 1gb SD cards in Japan this year, I hope Nintendo has plans for it.

Carl asks, I have a question about Light Guns I know that those sorts of games

are quite a rarity nowadays, but I'm still curious. Even when games that use them haven't

been announced, I'm sure peripheral companies are already design specialty controllers

like lightguns, steering wheels, fishing rods, and mice. Have you heard of any companies

that have working peripherals that are merely waiting for the right game to be released?

Mike H. Says: We know that Interact has a light gun in development or somewhat

ready to release to the market, but they are waiting for games that would require a gun

first.

The same can be said of probably any other 3rd party accessory manufacturer. When the

games come, the accessories will as well.

Otherwise, you get angry like Rick did with his

href="http://www.planetgamecube.com/reviews.cfm?action=profile&id=71">ASB 2002 review

when there was still no memory card on the market large enough to store all of the data

from the game. :)

Mike O. Says: Hahaha, that baseball thing is hilarious, I never noticed that. As

for your question, I'm sure the people at Interact have designed a GameCube lightgun, or

at least proposed the design. The thing is, Interact designed a PS2 light gun, and

actually advertised it in places like EGM before the PS2 launch. Then the launch came. And

PS2 lightgun games, well, didn't. And then Namco released two PS2 lightgun games (Vampire

Nights and Time Crisis 2)!! And it turns out they're only compatible with the Guncon. So

basically, it's been over 2 years since the PS2 launch, and STILL no light gun games. Or

fishing games for that matter. I'm sure Interact has designed everything from a 256 MB

Flash Wireless Vibrating Memory Card to various animatronic beavers which take advantage

of their patented GameCube-to-Beaver linkup cable, but there's not much point in even

thinking about them until a fishing, light gun, or beaver dam sim game is released.

Rick Says: You call THAT angry? Buddy, you ain't SEEN angry yet! :)

Quite frankly, I'd be thrilled to see LightGun games stay in the arcades. The industry

could use these types of games that can't be very well simulated at home, in order to keep

this industry afloat.

Plus, home LightGuns are notoriously inaccurate, don't work correctly with many TVs

because of the technology they use and generally don't have quite the same feel as arcade

units.

But to answer the question more directly ... YES, there are Lightguns already in

development. Whether we'll actually see them or not depends entirely on the development

community. But I think that many developers agree that lightgun games are slowly falling

by the wayside.

Adam Says: Welcome to the only thing that SUCKS about a 61" HDTV. My

lightguns won't work AT ALL.

Heh, I'm sure you all feel REALLY bad for me don't you...

Jonathan Says: IMO the only light gun worth using is Namco's GunCon. I'd love

for Namco to bring some GunCon titles to GameCube, and maybe that's not so out of the

question. Remember that Namco is involved with Triforce, so maybe there will be GunCon

titles on Triforce that can be ported easily to GameCube for use with a home version of

GunCon (or GunCon 2, whatever).

Billy Says: I love light gun games. I have the original Sega Dreamcast gun from

Japan (got it for 15 bucks used last year in Aki) and love it with HOTD2 (Japan version

only).

GunCon is bad ass. It's an excellent gun, albeit bright and orange for the US version

(boo).

Most first party light guns are great and track well. I'd love to see a successor to the

Super Scope 6 on the GameCube. How about a sequel to duck hunt? After playing Biohazard,

you could really have some gory animations. :)

God, I'm a sick bastard.

Max Says: I love light gun games. The #1 reason I got my import DC was for HOTD2 and the guns. With Sega & Namco helping out with the Triforce, here's hoping we see some shooting games from them for Cube. I've heard rumors Namco might be planning something on that front, but we'll have to wait and see...

Brian asks, I was reading a PlayStation dedicated magazine today (I know, I'm

horrible) and was shocked to read a quote from one of the main developers of the PS3. It

said something to the effect of, "the medium for the PS3 will be the internet."

This scares the hell out of me; but not for the reasons you may be thinking. You see, for

many years now it has been my dream to own and operate my very own video game store right

here in my hometown. If this statement means what I am afraid it means, it means that my

dream is already doomed because there will be no type of physical media to sell to my

customers starting in 2005. Please give me your speculation on what you think the future

may hold. Do you think there will still be a physical medium (DVD) for years to come or

will the internet take over the frickin world in ways I never thought possible?

Mike H. Says: It's been my personal speculation for some time

that tangible media would start to disappear, and gaming would become a service. I have

this feeling now because even a Nintendo Rep had said during a TV interview several years

ago that it was their goal someday.

Now, I don't know if anyone believes it's going to happen by 2005. The bandwidth and pipes

just aren't there yet. A majority of households still don't have the technological

capability through cable, and those that do don't have nearly enough bandwidth to make it

practical. This is why TV "on demand" has never caught on yet. There are still a

LOT of hurdles to be overcome. Until ALL the technology catches up to at least 70% of

households, tangible media will stay.

The PS3 may tie into the internet much more strongly than PS2 does/will, but I don't see

it replacing discs yet.

Mike O. Says: Man, there is so much to discuss regarding this topic, but I'm

going to keep it short. Ken Kutagari (PSX, PS2 head man) is a very creative person,

there's no denying that. The PS2 itself, is definitely not... conventional, when it comes

to design. But his vision for the PS3, personally, I think is over the top. Basically,

he's proposing that the PS3 be hooked up to the internet, and you download the games...

basically. Now this opens a HUGE can of worms when it comes to retailers. Even though

consoles like the PS2 and GameCube are $200 or $300 dollars, retailers literally only make

maybe 5 bucks when they sell one. The big profit is in the memory cards and accessories,

and, to a lesser but still important extent, the games themselves. I'm not going to tell

you what to do when it comes to planning your financial prospects in the business world,

but I definitely understand your concern. We're just going to have to wait and see how

well broadband takes off in Japan and North America, because selling a broadband REQUIRED

machine to a country of which only 10% of internet users (remember, that's internet users,

not gamers) use broadband, would practically mean murder. I know this is the PlayStation

brand name we're talking about here, but I just could not imagine something like that

working successfully in a mere 3 or 4 years. There would have to be a DRASTIC change

within the (entire world's) internet community for that to happen.

But look at it this way. If you do open your store, at least you'll know Nintendo won't do

the same thing. :)

Rick Says: This will never happen until the world is connected to a backbone

bigger than what we have now. People have funny ideas about "services", and

demand a certain quality level commensurate with having it on a regular media.

Today's Internet is just too slow. Even 100Mbps Ethernet is only 100Megabit until you get

out to your broadband device. Then it slows to around 10 Megabit, then slows again every

time it hits another server. Add to this just general Internet "lag" and other

factors, and you can simply not rely on it for transmitting entire software packages. Too

many users would be disappointed in the quality and timeliness.

Even Kutaragi has mentioned that 100Mbps isn't really "broadband", and that

until we have fiber-optic connections in our home, this really isn't feasible.

Playing games over the internet is largely doable since the packets are small. DELIVERING

games over the internet in real-time would be a disaster right now. Don't worry, we're at

least a couple generations of consoles before this will even be possible.

Adam Says: This is complete BS.

Collections and collectors are a part of our BEING. It will NEVER go away. Ever. In 100

years, no matter how fast the internet is - people will always want a tangible thing to

say they OWN. From movies to music to games.

It's as stupid as saying books will be gone in 100 years. Never gonna happen.

Dude, make your store.

Jonathan Says: Sony's upper-level management is on crack. They plan for you to

be able to download games for your PS2; that won't ever happen. Maybe it'll be feasible by

the time PS3 comes out, but still only with a small portion of the population, and few

people who even have the capability would be interested. Personally, I want a hard copy of

my games, and most other people probably feel the same way.

Billy Says: In 10 years I'll be flying my electric hovercraft to the store and

picking up my hard copy of games.

There will be no death to box art.

TYP Says: I think Nintendo would rather make a game featuring naked Luigi than

distribute its games in such a pirate-friendly manner.

David Says: I definitely agree with Adam. I want to own a real copy of the game. Period. Additionally, the hardware still needs to get into the hands of the consumers, and stores are very important for that. Taking this route will cause a great rift between Sony and retailers which would be a very foolish thing to do. This is light years away if ever. It requires a change in infrastructure as well as thinking. Perhaps it'll happen in Japan sooner than any where else, but it should be quite some time before that happens here. If ever.