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- August 18, 2002
Release Date For Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
The next game in the Harvest Moon-series, that will be released exclusively for the GameCube, is now announced to be in the Japanese stores by the summer of 2003. No American or European release dates have been mentioned yet, but let's hope that it'll come to us, too.
Source: gameforms.com
//Benny
Ikaruga For the GameCube
Ikuragi, which is a Shoot 'Em Up from Treasure (mainly famous for the Contra/Probotector-series, but has also released great games such as Axelay), has now been announced for the GameCube, and not only DreamCast as it was supposed to have been. It will be out in Japan in January next year and might also reach the American and European stores later the same year.
Source: gameforms.com
//Benny
- August 15, 2002
Sony Has Confirmed Online Play
August 27th will be the offcial date of release, with Sony sending 250,000 network adaptors to the US.
The first games supporting online play will be out by then (Since Bomberman's coming out later this
year, I can hope it will be online!). They hope to sell 400,000 by the end of the year.
It will sell for $40, which is cheaper than X-Box's Live starter pack. It will support both ethernet and
modem connections, coming in one package. There will also be no annual fees for online play, unlike
on the X-Box. Yay for that. The games themselves, however, might charge annual fees, or might not.
Depends on the game. Sort of like PC online games.
Users will need a seperate ISP account to use it, of course. If you don't have one, the disk that comes
with it will hold setup software for current ISPs.
The online game lineup doesn't look that good to me, so far. The first games coming out that support
online play will be three football games (Not to my particular liking), US Navy Seals, and Twisted
Metal Black Online. TMB online would be cool, but I don't know if I want to buy it AGAIN.
In autumn, ATV Offroad 2, Tony Hawk 4, NBA Live 2003, Tribes Arial Assault and some others will be
coming out.
Source: dancegames.com
//Russell
Final Fantasy For the GameCube
As most of you probably know already, Square is going to start releasing Final Fantasy games for more then just Sony's systems now (Yay), and they have recently announced their first FF-game for Nintendo's GameCube. It's going to be called Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicle and instead of fighting through text-commands as in most of the FF-games you fight in real time, like in such games as Zelda and Secret of Mana. So it's going to be quite different from their other FF-games, but Secret of Mana was a proof that they can make great games without using text-command based battle-systems, so this is definitely a game to look forward to.
It's going to be released sometime next year.
Source: TVspelsborsen.se
//Benny
Halo 2
On a gameshow-thingie in New York, not too long ago, Microsoft showed clips from the sequel to one of the past year's most hyped games, Halo. The new Halo game is going to include more vehicles, more monsters, online gaming, and updated graphics (of course). Definitely a game for you Halo-fans out there, and probably for other people as well. Unless it sucks, of course . . . but I don't think it does/will do.
Source: TVspelsborsen.se
//Benny
- August 14, 2002
No Skies of Arcadia For the PS2
SEGA had plans on releasing the RPG Skies of Arcadia for both the PS2 and the GameCube. The game, that was a big success for the DreamCast, is however not going to be released for the PS2. What reasons they have are unknown to me, but they're at least going to release the GameCube version later this year. Yay!
Source: TVspelsborsen.se
//Benny
New Bomberman Games
Hudson, the creator of the famous Bomberman-series, has announced that a new game starring the white helmet-wearing dude is going to be released for all big systems later this year. Something to look forward to for you mulitplayer-lovers.
Source: TVspelsborsen.se
//Benny
SNES RPGs For the GBA
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Earthbound were two very successful RPGs for the SNES. Super Mario RPG was the last work Nintendo did together with Square before Square left Nintendo for Sony (they're back with Nintendo now, but that's a different story), just as a little guarantee that it's a very good RPG. Anyway . . . Nintendo has recently announced that both of those RPGs are going to be released for the GBA sometime during year 2003.
Source: TVspelsborsen.se
//Benny
- August 13, 2002
Square Announces GBA Lineup
While it has been known for the past several months that Square has been planning to release a version of Final Fantasy Tactics for the Game Boy Advance, other planned games were unknown. Recently, Famitsu has uncovered what the other games to be released are. In addition to FFT, there shall be Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicle (which will be able to link with the Gamecube), Chocobo Continuation, and Seiken Densetsu. It is unknown at this time whether Seiken Densetsu will be a remake of a previous game in the series or a completely new game.
Source: Gameforms
//Gary
Rockman and Forte on the GBA
Commonly mislabeled Mega Man 9, Rockman and Forte was originally released in 1999 for the Super Famicom, where it remained. A GBA port is now available in Japan for 4800 yen. It is unknown whether it will come to America.
Source: Gameforms
//Gary
RPG Maker Coming to the GBA
Enterbrain, creators of the RPG Maker series, have recently announced plans to bring the series to the Game Boy Advance this winter. There are currently no plans regarding American or European releases.
Source: Gameforms
//Gary
Knights of the Old Republic
In a blow to nerds everywhere, Mike Gallo, producer of LucasArts, posted on the official Bioware forums regarding the release date of their upcoming Star Wars RPG. The game has been delayed until Spring 2003 for the Xbox and Summer 2003 for the PC.
Source: GameSpot
//Gary
- August 12, 2002
Game Preview: Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner
Now it's time for a sequel to Konami's Zone of the Enders. I don't have much facts about the game other then it's going to be released for the PlayStation 2 and Hideo Kojima is still the one looking over the project making sure everything is done correctly. The director of the last Zone of the Enders, Noriaki Okamura, has been exchanged for Shuyo Murata, and let's hope that that was a smart move. The battle system has been updated and the player will now be able to destroy bigger hordes of enemies at a time than in the last game. The graphics are looking really good, too, especially the special effects.
Source: The Swedish Magazine SuperPLAY
Ace Combat's Enemy
SEGA's AM2 division is working on a new part of their Aero Dancing series, Aero Dancing 4: New Generation, that's looking better than ever. When the series started SEGA was focusing on air-acrobatics, but ever since it became such a success for the DreamCast the focus has changed to air-combat, and Namco's Ace Combat-series has now got itself a worthy opponant. The game will be available in European stores later this autumn.
Source: The Swedish Magazine SuperPLAY
House of the Dead III Screenshots
The new game in the House of the Dead-series seems to be a lot different from the other ones. Well . . . the zombies are still there, but where did the old house go? Ah well, just 'cause it takes place in a modern factory kind of thing doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be bad. It certainly doesn't LOOK bad.
Here are some screenshots for you to take a look at:
Screenshot 1
Screenshot 2
Screenshot 3
Screenshot 4
Screenshot 5
Screenshot 6
Source: SEGA.com
omfg!11 rare syte-updayt wtf??
You heard me. Rareware has FINALLY taken some time to update their site. It has been ages since they did that. Ah well, if you feel like reading their "Ask Uncle Tusk"-text, then go there and take a look. The address is Rareware.com.
Source: Myself
- August 11, 2002
New Versions of FFI and FFII
Square has announced that they are making new versions of the first two games in the Final Fantasy series. The game series didn't have its breakthrough in America untill Final Fantasy VI and in Europe not untill Final Fantasy VII. So Square probably wants everyone to be able to experience how the first games were. All the graphics are going to remain two dimensional but re-drawn and optimized for the PSX standard, the same goes for all the sound effects and music. If Square really wants everyone to see how the series started, out and not just make some easy money, then they should release it in America and Europe, too. They haven't commented on that yet, though, only that the games will be available in Japan this autumn for about 30 dollars a piece.
Source: The Swedish Magazine SuperPLAY
Tony Hawk, Tony Hawk, and Tony Hawk
Activision and the skateboard star Tony Hawk have signed a contract hich will last for 13 years which means that Neversoft will be able to create Tony Hawk's Pro Skater-games untill the year of 2015. During that period of time they should be able to make at least ten brand new title's with Tony Hawk in them. Let's just hope that the popularity of the series won't disappear during the next 13 years. Heh.
Source: The Swedish Magazine SuperPLAY
New GameCube and GameBoy Advance
Nintendo are going to release a special designed platinum GameCube and a matching GameBoy Advance in America later this year (or possibly in the beginning of next year, but that would suck). Along with the platinum-GameCube you'll get a copy of Super Mario Sunshine, and the price isn't too high so it might be worth buying. It will only cost 189 dollars, and you'll also get a memorycard included in the package.
Source: The Swedish Magazine SuperPLAY
More Volleyball Games?
You probably already knew that a volleyball-game with the Dead or Alive-girls and an AM2 volleyball game are "under construction." And now it's time for yet another volleyball game to be released! This one will star the old platform hero Klonoa from the PSX game with the same name. I'm not sure for what console or when this game will be released, but it could get interesting. All sports-games including Mario-characters have been really successful, so . . .
Source: The Swedish Magazine SuperPLAY and MYSELF!!11
- July 19, 2002
A Few Words From the Webmaster
As you (probably the only person who will ever read this) have probably noticed I haven't written any news lately. The reason for that is work and personal problems. I'm going to do my best to prevent this from happening again.
Game Preview: BG&E
BG&E is an upcoming adventure game that'll be released for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox (and PC, but fuck computer-games). Behind the production is none other then Michael Ancel. "woh da f*kk iz mchal ancle??+++" you might ask. Well, he's working for Ubi Soft (the developers of the game) and is the man behind the extremely successful Rayman-series. The perspective in this game is third person, just as in Rayman, but this title is a bit more serious. You play as Jade, a female photographer, on a mission for a magazine. The mission is to photograph exotic animals and monsters. This might sound weird, but POkémon Snap was a proof that photograph-games can be very fun, and so far this game looks promising. At the moment it's about 50 per cent complete and when it was test-played by a staff-member from the Swedish magazine SuperPLAY it was only 40 per cent complete. But everything was still looking great. Smooth and well-made animations and monsters, and barely no loading times at all. Not even for the PS2. And Michael Ancel's goal is to make the game feel as free as possible. One thing that's meant to help that feeling on the way is the lack of "stages". Instead of completing a short stage and then move on to the next one you just play "one big stage". What I'm trying to say is that the stages doesn't take abrupt endings and then the beginning of the next one starts with a text kind of like this one: "Stage 267: The Jungle, Dawg". Anyway. Even though the name is pretty weird at the moment (it will probably be exchanged before the release) this game looks promising, but how good it is we won't know until it's released later this year on in the beginning of next year. Ubi Soft has been working on it for three years, so it SHOULD be released this year . . . I'll shut up now.
Source: The Swedish Magazine SuperPLAY
- July 13, 2002
FPS For the GameBoy Advance
Nope, that's not a typo, a first person shooter has actually being released for the GameBoy Advance. In 3D, of course. But according to Nintendo the groundbreaking graphics isn't the strong card of this game. It's the gameplay. The title of the game is Ecks vs. Sever and is based on the upcoming movie with the same name. There are a total of 12 missions in the game, but since you have to play most of them as both Ecks and Sever the amount of missions can be said to be 24, but in 12 different stages.
As if that wasn't enough for this tiny console you can also play multiplayer games with up to three friends! Four people that is . . . But everyone of you needs his/her own cartridge, though.
There is no automatic saving function in the game, though, so you have to use passwords. witch mkases it eaziarr 2 cheett!!1!11
Source: Nintendo.com
Good Rates For Super Mario Sunshine
The upcoming GameCube-game, Super Mario Sunshine, has now been reviewed by the Japanese video game-magazine Famitsu. It got extremely high grades, a total of 38/40, which looks good. We have to wait quite a while for it to be released in America and Europe, though. But hopefully not to long. It will be in the Japanese stores by July 19.
Source: The Japanese Magazine Famitsu
- July 12, 2002
A New SaGa-Game
Square has revealed that a new game in the SaGa series is on its way for PS2. The new game is going to be called Unlimited SaGa and is an RPG filled with new ideas. The most spectacular of these ideas will be the battle-system. In ordinary RPGs each character can make one move each in a round. But in this game the number of moves can be divided amongst the characters in your party. For example, let's say that you have three characters in your party and instead of letting all of them do one attack each you can make one of them make three attacks and the two others no attacks at all. Another new thing is something that reminds of Tifa's, from Final Fantasy VII, Limit Breakers. A slot machine-kind of thing is going to spin each time you make an attack to add something extra to the attack. I bet this will get good reviews in most magazines and a lot of people are going to like it. I don't think I'll be one of those people. I don't like the random-ness of a wheel, and the idea of just having one person do all the attacks is a thing that makes it feel less real. Some things aren't supposed to feel real in games (a good example is Final Fantasy VIII's character design) but the way of attacking is one of the few things that's supposed to feel real. Anyway . . . On with the game. The characters are designed by the very same person who designed the characters for Final Fantasy X, Yusuke Naora. It looks promising, in my opinion.
Another different thing that should be mentioned is the world map. It's basicly just an ordinary drawn map that shows your location. Can either be boring or innovative and fun. The game will be released in Japan this December, but we in Europe and America will have to wait for it a while longer.
Source: The Japanese Magazine Famitsu
Spyro For GameCube
On July 9 Universal Interactive announced that a new Spyro game is going to be released for the GameCube. I think most of you know who Spyro is. The famous dragon that has appeared in games for the PSX and GameBoy Advance, just to fresh up your memory.
In this new game the evil Ripto has stolen the dragon flies of Dragon Realm and it's up to Spyro, with a little help from his friends, to get them back. This game introduces both new vehicles and new skills, such as electric, ice, and bubble breath.
This game is probably going to be one of the best platformers for the GameCube, but might come in the shadows of Mario Sunshine. It will probably still be worth to buy, though.
Source: Nintendo.com
- July 10, 2002
Game Preview: Dino Crisis 3
The newest game in Capcom's Dino Crisis-series is a bit different from the others. In this game you're not as alone as you used to be, and it no longer takes place on the Earth. Now you're a marine who has to cooperate with other marines to investigate a colony in outer space where a number of experiments have gone wrong. The experiments caused the creation of a number of mutated dinosaurs, and they have now taken over the spacestation-thingie.
I don't know much about more about the game other then that the colony is extremely big and to move around you've got a jetpack as help. This game will either be very good, or just another game taking place in space. You'll have to see for yourself when this game comes out for the Xbox later this year or in the beginning of next year (you never know with video game-developers).
Source: The Swedish Magazine SuperPLAY
Game Preview: Sega Soccer Slam
This new soccer game for the GameCube is going to be something far from the ordinary. There are thousands of soccer-games out on the market today, and I'm starting to get sick of them. But this one looks like something funnier, but probably not for a very long time, though. It looks like a game that will be extremely funny for a short while but get boring after a couple of hours. But I've never played it and I can be wrong. Anyway . . . There are six different teams in the game with three players in each team. The players are not ordinary soccer-players. They are all very different from eachother with their own super powers and they look like something from a Marvel comic. One of them for an example is a big muscly wrestler. Like I said, all of the characters have their own special moves and powers that they can use against eachother. By playing in the quest-mode you can unlock more Stadiums to play in, and if you don't like playing by yourself you can always challange a couple of friends in either a one VS one match or an entire tournament. Personally I hope that this game will do well, it's a new idea and it would be a shame if it went to waste. But I'm not sure if the replayability value will be very high . . . but let's hope so.
Source: SEGA.com
- July 9, 2002
Video Games Damage Your Brain
According to a research made by a Japanese university not oo long ago the brain activity is much lower on young people playing video games than the brain activity of young people who don't play that frequently. Lower brain activity can lead to worse developement of the brain. The research was done on 250 people between the ages 6 to 29, and I'm officially screwed.
Source: TVspelsborsen.se
The First Suikoden III Review
Konami's game Suikoden III is now out for the PS2 in Japan. The first review was done by the magazine Hyper PlayStation 2 and they gave it 9.9 out of 10, so it seems to be worth all wait.
Source: TVspelsborsen.se
GameBoy MP3-player
Another add-on for the GameBoy family is on its way. This time it's an MP3-player for GameBoy Color and GameBoy Advance. It will have all the functions of an ordinary MP3-player and the developers, SongPro, hope to have it in the stores this autumn.
Source: TVspelsborsen.se
- July 8, 2002
The Official Turok: Evolution Web Site
Acclaim's newest game in the Turok-series, that will be released for the GameCube, PS2, and Xbox, now has got its own web site. You might wonder why I'm posting this here . . . Well, the site is really great and I think that every Turok-fan should check it out. The URL is http://www.turok.com/evolution/index.html.
Short facts about the game:
This game takes the Turok series back to its roots in the jungle. No more modern cities or skyscrapers, just trees, caves, monsters, huts, and (of course) dinosaurs. The weapon arsenal is meant to be the most impressive one yet. All weapons aren't available on the site yet, though. Just eight of them. This is because the game is still under production and not done yet.
Click here for an early kick ass screenshot.
Source: Turok.com
Game Preview: Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
This new game from THQ seems to be umm . . . Boring. Heh . . . A big horse herd has been scattered after a thunderstorm and now the lost horses has to be found and guided home. Yes! Even Spirit is lost!!1!!11 omffgG!!1 I doubt this GameBoy Advance game will be any good, but who knows . . . It might be quite a surprise! Anyway . . . The game is based on the movie with the same name and all the environments, characters, and stuff are taken from it. You also have to take care of the horses to keep them happy, and, I will quote a thing from THQ's web site, "Jump over challenging obstacles, collect special items or race other animals to reveal secrets!" omg!!1 Did I mention that I doubt this game will be any good? Jumping over obstacles . . . It was fun in Track & Field 2, according to some people, so who knows . . . But I still don't think it's going to be good! *Keeps repeating that sentence over and over*
Source: THQ.com
Game Preview: RTX Red Rock
This is probably the first time ever that LucasArts makes a game that doesn't have anything to do with Star Wars. Yay! In this game you play some guy who has to travel to Mars to save a colony from mean aliens. There is a lot of violence in the game (in classic action-manners) but also a lot of puzzles that have to be solved. The main character looks, from what I have seen, pretty boring and doesn't really look like a cool space-hero. But maybe that's good. He might just be an ordinary guy who's the colony's only hope for some reason. *Shrugs* The game will be released in the spring of 2003 for both PlayStation 2 and GameCube and if you like futuristic action-games it might be worth checking out.
Source: The Swedish magazine SuperPLAY
- July 7, 2002
Game Preview: Breath of Fire V
Soon we'll get to start a new adventure with yet another Ryu in the fifth part of the Breath of Fire series. An ekological disaster has struck the world and survival is hard. The surroundings in Capcom's new BoF-game are gray, dark, and have a general dead look upon them. The characters in the game are animated in cartoonish 2D which reminds a lot of the ones in Paper Mario. I doubt that Capcom will let us down with this fifth game, and I'm looking forward to its release on PlayStation 2.
Source: The Swedish magazine Super PLAY.
Game Preview: Super Monkey Ball 2
Later this fall we'll get to see a new Super Monkey Ball game from SEGA, Super Monkey Ball 2. The first game was a major success and I would've been surprised if SEGA didn't make a sequal. This game will be, just like the first one, developed by Amusement Vision and released for GameCube. The game contains 150 new stages and guarantees hours of gameplay.
Source: SEGA.com
Game Preview: Xenosaga
The sequal to Xenogears will soon be here! The new Namco RPG will be released for PlayStation 2 in a not too far away future. The story takes place in a distant future when the human race long ago had left the planet Earth to explore other parts of the Universe. With tons of mini-games, great looking FMVs, and a fantastic sci-fi storyline (according to Namco) at least 50 hours of gameplay is guaranteed. If you liked Xenogears you are probably going to enjoy this, at least if you can believe Namco. But honestly . . . Would they say "This game is going to suck"? I don't think so . . . So you'll just have to see for yourself if it's good or not. Heh . . .
Source: Namco.com
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July 6, 2002
Hiroshi Yamauchi Retires
It's now official that Nintendo's VD Hiroshi Yamauchi is going to retire. How this is going to affect Nintendo we can just wait and see, but let's hope that it won't affect the company in a negative way.
Source: The Swedish magazine Super PLAY.
Game Preview: Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball
It's now time for the half naked girls from Dead Or Alive to play some XTREME(!!!!!!!11!!11) volleyball. The game will be released for Xbox (and yet I'm writing about it) within a year, and I think it's quite obvious what it's all about. The lonely men at Tecmo has spoken well of the game (as they always do about their new games), and they say it's going to be much better than SEGA's Beach Spikers. To varify that statement we'll just have to wait and see, but my guess is that even if it would suck it would probably sell pretty well thanks to the title and the women in bikinis.
Source: The Swedish magazine Super PLAY.
Rareware.com, Dead?
I've started to think that Rareware's web site is rather dead . . . It hasn't been updated since January 24, 2002. So if you're an extreme Rareware-fan and HAVE to have news as often as possible I suggest Nintendo.com. Or my site!!! Mwaha!
Source: Myself.
THQ Announces Tetris Worlds For GameCube
It's now been stated that THQ are going to release "the next generation of Tetris" for GameCube. THQ have saved the best parts from the old Tetris and created six new variations of gameplay in six different worlds. They have also left the 2D graphics and made it in 3D, I'm not sure if that move was smart but let's hope that THQ has figured something out and not just ruin it by making it in "cool 3D".
Source: Nintendo.com
- July 5, 2002
The House of the Dead - The Movie
Even though most movies based on video games have sucked (according to most of the people) or never brought in enough money to the developers of the movie and the game the people in Hollywood don't seem to have given up the hope of movies based on video games, and now it's The House of the Dead's turn. The company who has decided to make a movie of Wow Entertainment's game is Mindfire. Mindfire has plans on making it a trilogy and maybe make an entire series based on the game. But I don't have much faith in the project though . . . The plot seems to be an exact copy of all the other modern horror movies. A gang of teenagers have went to an island to visit a rave but the island has been taken over by zombies so now they have to survive. *Shrugs* Not very interesting . . .
Source: The Swedish magazine Super PLAY.
A New Sonic-Game
SEGA has announced that they're making a new game with Sonic the Hedgehog. Yay! . . . I hope. I'm not sure of what console it's going to be made for, but I've heard rumours that it might be Xbox (*Shivers*). But what does SEGA actually mean with a NEEEEEEEW Sonic game? "Let's release Sonic Adventure 2 to a couple of more consoles!"
Source: The Swedish magazine Super PLAY.
Sony Entertainment = A Bunch of Stupid Idiots
Konami is working on a new Goemon-game. And I think, that just like most of the other Goemon-games, this one is going to be great. Buuuuuut . . . When Konami asked for permission to release the game for PS2 they got a "no". What the hell? And the reason why Sony Entertainment refused to let them release it for PS2 was that the graaaaaaaaaphics weren't good enough for them. Stupid bastards . . . Is graphics everything? NO! Sony sucks ass if you ask me . . . They want Konami to make it better or they won't let them release it, 'cause it just can't have a fewer amount of polygons than the games to Xbox or GameCube, now can it!!1!!?++ Damn Sony . . .
Source: The Swedish magazine Super PLAY.
Source: The Swedish magazine Super PLAY.
Squaresoft Buys Quest
Quest, the game developing company, is most known for Ogre Battle and Ogre Tactics. Ogre Battle was a strategy game released for SNES and is very good. I haven't played Ogre Tactics so I can't comment on it . . . Anyway. Squaresoft has now bought the entire company (Yay?). The former Quest-members' first project will be to make the game Final Fantasy Tactics for the Game Boy Advance.
Source: The Swedish magazine Super PLAY.
The Police of Thailand Is Now Prooved To Be Extremely Stupid
A while ago a five-year-old girl in Thailand commited suicide through hanging for no obvious reason. Her mom said that it might've been 'cause of all the cartoons the girl was watching. The girl had several times told her mom that she wanted to disappear like the characters in the cartoons. But the police came to their own conclusions . . . She killed herself 'cause she was frustrated due to the fact that she couldn't beat the game Bomberman.
Source: The Swedish magazine Super PLAY.
Game Preview: Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters-Melee
A new game based on Godzilla is under construction. The developers of the game is Pipe Works and it will be released by the French company Infogrames. In the game you will be able to take part in a huge fight as one of 11 monsters. What does Godzilla have to do with this, you might ask? Well . . . Aliens have gained control of Godzilla's longtime rivals and you have to stop them before they take over the earth. I guess you have to play as Godzilla in the Adventure Mode, but there is also a Destruction-mode, Versus-mode, and Melee-mode. In a multiplayer battle up to four contestants can take part and 'cause massive damage and destruction to nearby buildings and enemies.
The game will soon be availiable for GameCube and looks promising if you're several people that are playing, but might be boring if you're playing alone. But who knows?
Source: Infogrames.com
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//Benny
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