Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing out that IGN Cube have hands-on impressions of Nintendo's latest 'communication game', Giftpia. This seemingly odd but addictive mushroom-chomping title is directed by Square veterans, and IGN ventures that "Giftpia may be billed as an RPG, but it's really more of an adventure.. there are no stats beyond your health meter, no random battles.. in a sense, Giftpia borrows a lot from Nintendo's Animal Crossing." Hopefully this'll include Animal Crossing's compulsiveness, as well as its saccharin-sweet style - in any case, the Japanese version of Giftpia is already released, and IGN mentions that "..shown off in English at this year's E3, Giftpia is almost guaranteed to see a US release."

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to an IGN story claiming that the Gamecube's successor will launch as early as Spring 2005. This date, sourced from anonymous development houses, seems earlier than expected, and IGN mentions that "..asked if they had received any official documentation for the machine, all software houses contacted said no." But equally, any console getting a head start on the next generation will have a significant advantage, and as IGN suggest, "Nintendo has repeatedly stated that it would not be the last hardware manufacturer out of the gates with its next console."

psyco484 writes "A new Megaman title, Megaman Network Transmission, is being released in the US this month for Gamecube. Gamespy has further details on this cel-shaded side-scroller. Is there still room for side-scrollers, in this age of incredible 3D worlds with incredibly realistic world physics?" Actually, this 3D graphics/2D gameplay Arika-developed title is already out in Japan, and the ever-resourceful Toastyfrog has a helpful review of it - but is this where you want to see the Megaman series going?

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to Gamespot's new interview with Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima. It was conducted at E3, and he discusses his light-sensitive GBA game, Boktai, as well as the Metal Gear Solid remake/enhancement for Gamecube, Metal Gear:The Twin Snakes. Kojima particularly notes Japanese film director, Ryuhei Kitamura, who is directing the new real-time cut-scenes for the game, and says "Mr. Kitamura really respected and honored the original work... but what you'll see later on in the game is totally different. You'll be shocked." He also talks a little about Metal Gear Solid 3, saying "This time we said keep it nice and simple and go back to the basics."

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a new preview of the abstract Gamecube shoot-em-up, Unity, over at TotalVideoGames.Com. Unity is being created by the infamous Jeff Minter at his one-man ungulate-loving Welsh development house, Llamasoft - Minter is especially well-known for his psychedelic shooter remakes like Tempest 2000 and his interactive VLM ('virtual light machine') programs for the Atari Jaguar and the ill-fated Nuon. Fortunately, Unity is being made for a non-dead platform, and has help and backing from Peter 'Populous/Black+White' Molyneux's company Lionhead. On a related note, iainsimons points to a rare public appearance by Minter to talk about Unity - at an Indian restaurant in Nottingham, UK, no less. We hope there's no llama curry on the menu.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the 2003 list of nominees from the Game Critics Best Of E3 Awards. This conglomeration of journalists from most of the major magazines and websites will announce the winners on June 10th, but the nomination statistics show some interesting trends, with the army tactical combat game Full Spectrum Warrior the most-nominated title, and the PC leading the nominee breakdown by platform, closely followed by PS2, Xbox, and then Gamecube.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing out a Computer And Video Games article interviewing Yuji Naka, boss of Sonic Team and creator of Nights and Sonic The Hedgehog. He discusses the shown-at-E3 Sonic Heroes, the forthcoming Gamecube exclusive Billy Hatcher, and also deals with the fact that a Sonic Team employee jumped ship to work at Naughty Dog with notably sharp words - "Some of the details [on the original Sonic games] ..were done by the guy who's working on Jak and Daxter right now. He was involved until Sonic 3, and after that for eight years he didn't do anything in Sega, so he was quite useless in Sega. We really didn't need him." Elsewhere, Naka interestingly reveals that Billy Hatcher started life as a four-player fighting game.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to Gamespy's new guide to the hacking section of Enter The Matrix. This extra section of the game brings up a DOS-style interface, even on Playstation 2/Xbox/Gamecube, and lets you 'hack' to get pictures, movies, and extras from the million-selling but still controversial Atari-published title. Reminds us a little of the low-profile but excellent PC/Mac hacking game, Uplink?

Thanks to Shacknews for pointing to the Computer and Video Games site, which has an interview with Eiji Aonuma, the project director of Zelda:The Wind Waker for Gamecube. Among the subjects discussed are a Wind Waker sequel, of which Aonuma says: "..as I did between Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, I will use the same engine and the same graphics of Wind Waker for its sequel. However, I do plan on powering everything up a bit." He suggests the sequel should be playable for E3 2004, and also discusses other subjects, including the choice of cel-shading and puzzle design for the original Wind Waker.

Courtesy of PlanetGamecube, we have their recently-typed-up E3 interview with Denis Dyack, the boss of Silicon Knights (Eternal Darkness), who are currently working on Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes for Gamecube. This enhanced remake of the original Metal Gear Solid for Playstation is due out for Xmas 2003, and Dyack gives some hints as to how the original's content may be enhanced - "If you think about the first game and how it's all set up, and then think about the dynamics of the second game, it should be a completely new experience."

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a Nintendojo report discussing the price drop, to $39.99 in the US, for a number of forthcoming Gamecube games. It appears that Nintendo has reduced its royalty rate for all third-party publishers, so not only can publishers like Eidos, Rockstar, and Acclaim choose to put some titles out at $39, Capcom and Sega seem to be releasing all their titles at that price (including Viewtiful Joe, Billy Hatcher, and more.) Seems like good news for gamers.

Thanks to several readers for pointing to a Bloomberg Japan report reporting a likely fall in Nintendo's profits, as they lose market share to the Xbox and sell less Gamecubes compared to this time last year. They're still on course for a profit of hundreds of millions of dollars, mind you, but the article does say that "some investors criticized Nintendo for failing to announce any significant plans to boost its game business.. at last week's Electronic Entertainment Expo." Investors also seems worried about increased competition for the Gameboy Advance, in the form of Sony's PSP handheld.

Scott Taulbee writes "Bob Mandel of AVault has given us his interesting views on why playing games does not reduce productivity, but rather is a stimulating alternative to 'snoozing, daydreaming, overconsuming food and beverages, or sitting like a mindless slug waiting for time to pass.' He suggest that '..compared to other forms of recreational activity that could be enjoyed during work breaks, computer gaming has the greatest chance to hone skills useful for productivity in the workplace.' Should we all take this article to our bosses with requests for installing a GameCube on every desk?"

Thanks to Shacknews for pointing to a CNET News report discussing the declining amount of titles being planned or released for the Nintendo Gamecube. It quotes an Activision spokesman as saying "I think it's good for the industry as a whole if you have three strong players, but that's not the direction it's going." Is the Gamecube third-party software support on its way out?

Getting close to finishing up our three-day stint at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, this time we turn our attention to the Namco booth. So read on for info about Spawn, I-Ninja, and the can't-come-out-soon-enough Soul Calibur II..

Continuing our 'brief impressions'-based look at the major titles and major publishers at E3 in Los Angeles, here's a look at SquareEnix's booth. Read on for info about a cornucopia of Final Fantasies, plus the new Star Ocean and the mysterious Drakangard...

Thanks to a multitude of sites for pointing to a new Nintendo press release announcing they're bundling the Gameboy Player with the Nintendo Gamecube system, starting June 23rd. The Gamecube will keep its US price of $149 for this added-value deal. For those unsure about what the Gameboy Player is, the press release explains it's "..a platform less than an inch thick, which acts as a base for the Nintendo GameCube. By simply inserting Game Boy cartridges [GB/GBC/GBA] into a slot in the Game Boy Player, consumers can use their Nintendo GameCube controller to direct action on the TV screen."

Slashdot Games is continuing to report on the E3 expo in Los Angeles, and we're working our way around the major booths, doing brief overviews of the major titles on each. Check out earlier stories for looks at Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, and Sega, but now we turn our attention to Capcom. Read on for info on Gregory Horror Show, Onimusha 3, Viewtiful Joe, and more..

Slashdot Games is still camped out at E3 in Los Angeles, and having finished hands-on reports on the Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo booths, we're going on to look at some of the other major exhibitors. Next up is Sega, so read on for more info about new Phantasy Star Online, Sonic, Worms, and Virtual On titles, plus the rather smart Billy Hatcher with his Giant Egg.

Slashdot Games is here on the show floor at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, and over the next three days, we'll be doing brief hands-on impressions of the major games in each booth. First up is Nintendo, following up our earlier press conference summary with a chance to see and play the games in detail. Here's what we found at Nintendo, including Mario Kart, Metal Gear, Starfox, and.. Wario insulting us?