Namco announce three new GC titles

Namco has moved to strengthen its multiplatform development strategy with the announcement of three further titles for Game Cube. Those games; Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, Smashing Drive and Dead to Rights, will join Soul Calibur 2 and a new version of Ridge Racer on Nintendo's console. Dead to Rights had been considered an Xbox exclusive, but apparently it will be exclusive for three months only, after which Game Cube and perhaps even PS2 versions will be released. Namco's announcement is great news for Nintendo fans - helping to reinforce the belief that Game Cube isn't just a so-called kiddy console. With the Resident Evil series already announced as a new Game Cube exclusive and games from Namco such as Soul Calibur 2 and Dead to Rights, there can be little doubt of Nintendo's motives; it wants to create interest amongst mature gamers to try and steal market share from Sony. The fact that Soul Calibur 2 has yet to be announced on either Xbox or PS2 is of paramount importance. At the moment, Sony control the Japanese console market unequivocally, and their sales figures speak for themselves. They also have something of a monopoly on mature gaming interest, brought through titles like Gran Turismo 3 and Onimusha. Although they can do little but choke on the success of Game Boy Advance, in terms of larger consoles, the PlayStation 2 has little competition. Whether the Namco and Capcom alliances are merely token gestures or part of a sustained plan to target older gamers remains to be seen. Related Feature - Gore Cube