This week, we were treated to a new video of Strider 2, which comes the arcades first this fall and coming later to the PlayStation. While it's a shame that Capcom decided to make the title pseudo-3D (the original 2D Strider looked a lot cleaner and artistic), the video at least rekindled my interest in the title, and I once again have hope for it. I was one of the lucky (actually, unlucky) ones who had gotten to play the title at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) earlier this year, and I had been sorely disappointed. I had hyped myself up so much for the title before the show, making it one of the titles I had to check out first, that it was a shock to see something so poor.

　　While the video did restore my faith in the title, so did some news I just received Friday from one of our Japanese correspondents: The same team at Capcom that developed the Warriors of Fate series is developing Strider 2. The WoF games were similar to the Final Fight series, but only one of the games ever made it to the US, and that game was only for the arcades. Oddly enough, Capcom ported a PlayStation version of the game from Japanese into English for the US market, but for reasons unknown to us, Capcom never released it here. In any case, I'm pleased to hear a reputable Capcom team is behind the project, not a few computer science interns doing this as extra credit work. (The idea was easily conjured while I played the game at E3).

　　We also reported this week that Eidos Interactive's Omikron has been cancelled for the PlayStation. Apparently, the developers didn't find the PlayStation hardware sufficient for such a massive game. However, we have good reason to believe now that the game may be headed to the PlayStation 2. Eidos can't comment, but sources from within the company have stated that there is a possibility of it happening.

　　We also reported this week that a new Zelda title is being developed for the Game Boy and that it will contain scenarios from Flagship, the team that worked on such titles as Resident Evil and Dino Crisis. Since our initial report, we've also come across a new finding: Its official title will be Zelda no Densetsu: Fushigi na Kinomi (The Legend of Zelda: Mysterious Tree of Fruit).