Well, nearly enough for an army, or at least a small regiment anyhow. "This year, Konami has its most high-profile line-up ever in its history" enthused Kazumi Kitaue, Chief Executive Officer, Konami Digital Entertainment, and he's not joking. Cop a load of this:
Dancing Stage Fusion - For the PS2 and EyeToy, the press release explains that "Technique, style and timing are required as players move their arms, body and feet to the beat of the music". All of the qualities I don't possess, then. Allowing you to look twice as much of a berk as the previous Dancing Stages, Fusion has a 'Hands and Feet' mode, as well as the obligatory EyeToy 'Clean the Screen' and, for "gamers with style" (hmm), there's a 'Watch me Dance' mode enabling the player to watch their performance on the screen. Sustitute 'dance' with 'cringe' and/or 'fall over' and you've just about summed up my predicted performance to a soundtrack comprised of Junior Senior, DJ Sammy, Moloko, the Sugarbabes and the ubiquitous Kylie Minogue among others. Good fun all round though.
Dancing Stage Unleashed 2 - Finally a dance game arrives on the Xbox, and with an all-new line up of songs, new gameplay modes and Live capabilities allowing you not only to challenge strangers across the country to a dance off a la Saturday Night Fever, but also to upload content and download new songs and characters to keep the gameplay fresh. Hurrah!
Karaoke Stage 2 - Rounding up the music genre games with 35 new chart hits and a new 'Medley Mode' for players to link up to five song clips together (thus enabling you to sound like a compilation CD ad, I guess), it's more singing-far-too-loudly-and-out-of-tune-in-your-living-room amusement for the PS2 owner.
Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django - More eco-friendly goodness as Django goes vampire hunting with more solar-powered weapons, new characters and improved role playing; helping parents everywhere get their sickly looking pale children outdoors with the built in solar sensor on the GBA cartridge.
Frogger (Working Title) - Three cheers for the return of the classic 'avoid making a flat-looking frog even flatter' game that we all remember (discounting the other titles in the Frogger franchise, of course)! Promising to be better than the rest, this new sequel is set to feature innovative gameplay, new characters, dynamic environments and many more levels, and is 'hopping' to appear (sorry) on the PS2, PSP, GameCube and Nintendo DS.
Gradius V - The famed series returns on the PS2, with the Vic Viper spaceship illustrated in amazing new graphics, spanning eight levels and boasting an internet high-score rankings feature, new Options control, and 2-player simultaneous play, which, although not that exciting in itself, is apparently a first for the Gradius series.
King Arthur - The previously reported game-of-the-film action adventure for the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube, with 3 medieval modes of battle, photo-realistic environments, and five playable characters including Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere. And any game that lets me pretend to be Keira Knightley gets my vote.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - We all know about this one already, and this PS2 title's team are impressively being joined by screenwriter Kyle Cooper (Seven, The Hunt For Red October and The Fifth Element), to create an interactive opening sequence for the game.
Nano Breaker - Koji Igarashi's new PS2 futuristic action game for 2005 features a myriad of gameplay options and lets players loose with a 'Plasma Blade', allowing them to slice and dice their way through an army of monster machines. Oo-er.
Neo Contra - An all new 3D isometric view title for PS2 players, with new and improved shooting action, weapons, a Hit-rate score system and nice cinematic sequences, the latest in the Contra series looks quite promising.
Phantom Crash 2050 - Arcade style gaming on a post-apocalyptic battle field in the first online mech combat game for the PS2.
Rave Master - Planned for the PS2 and GBA, October 2004 will see the Japanese hit series launch in North America, as gamers take the role of teenager Haru Glory, whose ability to wield a legendary sword endows him with a quest to defeat the evil 'Dark Brings'. Makes a change from squeezing spots and slamming doors, then.
Shaman King: Master of Spirits - With characters from the TV series and also exclusive to the game, in 2005 GBA players can guide Yoh Asakura in his ambition to stop a diabolical shaman resurrecting the 'Guardian of Demons'. Sounds a bit scary.
Silent Hill 4: The Room - In October 2004, PS2, Xbox and PC players can find themselves boarded up in their own apartments with no escape, and a weird tunnel in the bathroom leading to a horrible haunting world filled with gruesome creatures and strange characters (a bit like Romford on a Saturday night, perhaps?). Clever changes of viewpoint from 1st person in the real world to 3rd person in the alternate and an eerie narrative enhance the unsettling feeling that emanates from the game. Sounds a lot scary.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 - Everyone's favourite heroes in a half shell return (although to be fair, I'm not aware of any other heroic Testudines) on the PS2, Xbox, GameCube, GBA and PC. The usual shredder-fighting milarky is the premise, but the best thing is that gamers can unlock the classic TMNT arcade-games of their youth! Pizzatastic!
Enthusia Professional Racing - A previously confirmed racing game with 'enhanced physics' (let's hope not of the scientific kind I floundered in as a lazy 16 year old) and pixel-perfect graphics, complete with a 'Visual Gravity System' allowing gamers to 'feel' the G-forces exerted by high speed driving. Silly faces all round then.
Rumble Roses - Ladies' Wrestling without all the butch women; PS2's Rumble Roses is graphic, beautifully rendered all-girl wrestling as it appears in your fantasies: populated only by lovely female models. Sadly no custard as far as I'm aware, though.
Shaman King: Power of Spirit - Of the same ilk as the GBA Shaman King title, the PS2 version is a fun mix of adventure and fighting strategy. We hope.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monster Coliseum - this turn-based strategy board game for the PS2 will appeal to all fans of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Franchise, and is touted as 'the most strategic board duelling game ever created.' That's some pretty serious boasting, there.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Destiny Board Traveller - Up to four players can link up for simultaneous duelling action on the GBA, with more than eight characters to choose from. A mix of the card trading game and a board game apparently.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Power of Chaos: Joey the Passion - Never fear, Joey isn't crucified to absolve mankind of their sins - instead enabling new 2-player LAN play, enhanced strategies and hundreds of new cards, as well as the option to import acquired cards from other Yu-Gi-Oh! games. Yu-Gi-Oh My!
Suikoden IV - The newest adventure in the renowned RPG series comes complete with significant enhancements to the world and characters of the game, a unique combat system, dynamic camera angles and lighting, and full character voice-overs to titillate the PS2 gamer.
Ys: The Ark of Napishtim - In the sixth game of Japan's most popular PC RPG series, Adol Christin explores a solitary tropical island in the Great Vortex of Canaan to encounter exciting plot twists and new characters on the PS2 and PSP.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction - the sequel to the successful Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards, players must now prevent the world from being consumed by darkness. With 800 cards, including the Egyptian God Cards (Oh my Egyptian God!), players can battle over 100 duellists on the GBA.
And, believe it or not, this is apparently not an exhaustive list. More news from Konami as it is announced.
By Keri Webster
