Gaming Bits and Bytes

Resident Evil 4 is coming to PS2! Though announced some time ago that their flagship survival-horror title would be exclusive to Nintendo, Capcom has announced the PS2 version of the latest RE game. Perhaps it's in no small part to the fact that the partnership between Capcom and the Big 'N' hasn't been stellar in terms of profits, and has been rife with cancelled titles. I haven't played a good RE title in years since Code Veronica... can't wait for the RE4. The latest title, which is still unreleased, stars RE2 hero and former cop-turned-special agent Leon Kennedy as he goes on a mission to find a mysterious girl in a creepy, hostile village. He soon finds himself neck-deep in ruthless, murderous villagers, giant monsters, dark cultists and more blood and gore than you can shake a pitchfork at. Looks yummy! The PS2 version of RE4 is set for a late 2005 release.

Nobuo Uematsu, the musical maestro behind the tunes of Final Fantasy, has left Square of Japan, joining a new musical enterprise called Smile, Please. The new company creates music for various videogame companies.

The first Final Fantasy title for the PSP has been announced! It's titled Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, and it's an action RPG and the 4th entry in the 'Compilation of FFVII' series. Wow, Square is going all-out in their retro-revolution with FFVII. Just goes to show how sucky all the succeeding FFs (with the exception perhaps of FFX) were compared to FFVII. It's not yet known what the game mechanics are, or which FFVII characters will be starring in Crisis Core. Previously announced games/titles in the Compilation of FFVII series are the PS2 game FFVII: Dirge of Cerebus, the cellphone network game FFVII Before Crisis and of course, the CG movie FFVII: Advent Children.

It's November, so expect Tekken 5 soon in arcades. Actually, it's not sure whether the latest King of Iron Fist tournament will reach our shores' gaming pubs, but one can always hope, right?