Gaming News Round-Up: September 17th, 2004

Today's end-of-week round-up includes Tokyo Game Show titles for Square Enix, a classic Codemasters title given away gratis, and news of Japanese announcements for the impending Nintendo DS. - An updated line-up has been revealed for Square Enix's booth at the Tokyo Game Show, including the newly announced PlayOnline PC MMORPG, Fantasy Earth: The Ring Of Dominion. The title, only confirmed for Japanese release thus far, is billed as an RPG with detailed strategic elements, including team-based play, and is scheduled for a 2005 release. Other notable new games to be displayed at Square Enix's TGS booth include Romancing Saga: Minstrel Song, a remake of the classic Super Nintendo RPG for the PlayStation 2, and Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special, a board game featuring characters from the company's two main franchises. - UK publisher Codemasters is celebrating its 18th birthday by releasing its first ever title for free in PC emulated form. The company has put a free download of BMX Simulator, Codemasters' first ever game, published in 1986, on its site. The title originally topped the UK charts on its release, and was written by Richard Darling, who founded Codemasters along with brother David. - Nintendo has announced that it plans to show its DS handheld to the Japanese press for the first time on October 17th in Tokyo. This seems to imply that Nintendo will not reveal the most important information about the DS at next week's Tokyo Game Show, rather waiting until this press conference to discuss matters such as launch titles, precise worldwide release dates, and exact pricing. Both Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata will be on hand at the October Tokyo press conference, and the 'formal presentation' will doubtless explain much more about Nintendo's innovative handheld.