Tuesday December 21 2004:

Catching up with Digital Eclipse: Tron 2.0 Killer App - After creating three successful Spyro games for GBA VUG gave Spyro to Vicarious Visions for the Orange and Purple project and Digital Eclipse went on to create "Tron 2.0: Killer App".

There are two types of fiction I like, Fantasy and Science Fiction and Tron has both. "Tron 2.0" is a sequel to the movie made in the early '80s and takes place inside the same computer world of the ENCOM main frame. You have the choice of playing 2 different heros on 2 different paths through the story line like one of my favorite games "Threads of Fate". Like Spyro orange Tron 2.0 relies heavily on minigames. Unlike Spyro orange the minigames fit with the story. The main adventure is entirely linear and kinda short. Sometime it seems like you are just traveling between minigames but that is what the movie was like. It uses the same isometric engine as the Spyro games, but the battle system is a little more sophisticated than Spyro. the levels are more colorful then the movie but I'm sure after 20 years ENCOM was upgraded. Some of the jumps are a little too precise for what the controls let you do.

The are some technical advancements that would have been nice to have in Spyro. One is voiceovers in the cutscenes. The other is the 3D engine used in the Tank and Recognizer games.

There are many mini games available from the main menu. First there are the 3 battle games; Light Cycles, Tanks and Recognizer, each with several unlockable maps. All can be played against the computer or a friend via link cable. Then there are 2 arcade games from the 80s; "TRON" and "Discs of TRON". Finally there are 3 puzzle games unlocked by playing the story mode.

Though it has an 'E' rating "Tron 2.0: Killer App" is for a slightly older audience than Spyro. It shows us what kinda things Digital Eclipse could have done with Spyro if they were allowed to. The game though short is fun and the mini games add many hours of playtime especially if you have a friend to play against.

• Official Site
• Digital Eclipse
• 

Saturday December 18 2004:

Spyro: Ripto Quest Review - 7.9 out of 10: Spyro's second trip into the mobile world, Spyro actually goes on an adventure this time. Can't say much about the game myself since I lack a cell phone to play it.

Monday December 13 2004:

Various Reviews for Spyro: A Hero's Tail

Game Freaks 365 Review - 5.4/10

It is obvious that whoever wrote this review did not play the game or any Spyro games ever. I would respect an honest negative opinion but this review was formed from excerpts from other reviews and the back of the game package. The Writer claims to remember the Insomniac Spyros but doesn't have any knowledge of Hunter or Sparx the 2 most dominant characters besides Spyro himself. If you're not going to play the game don't write a review.

GameZone Reviews

• GameCube: 7.5/10
• Xbox: 7.0/10

Talk Xbox Review - 7.2/10

PSX Nation Review - 7.0/10

Gaming Age: C+

GamerDad: 4 out of 5 stars

Rebuttal: Reviewers Hate it, Fans Love it!

Ted Price of Insomniac has been quoted as saying "Spyro has become an abused stepchild." Bold words from the deadbeat dad that abandoned the poor dragon on the VUG doorstep 4 years ago. Since then Spyro was passed from foster home to foster home but now has finally found a home at Eurocom. Let's hope he will stay there.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the first 2 Ratchet and Clank games and the first Jak and Daxter, my beef is with the main stream rags, for while Eurocom and Travelers Tails break new ground and give Spyro and Crash a new beginning, Insomniac and Naughty Dog are getting perfect scores for rehashing last years hits. Could all the coddleing from the reviewers cause the Dynamic Development Duo to become complacent?

The user Ratings on IGN and Gamespot are far above those given by their paid reviewers. The message boards are full of satisfied customers. Many reviewers claim to remember how much better the Insomniac games were and them impress me with their utter lack of knowledge of said games. Many times will criticize Parts of the game not because there's anything wrong with it but just because they don't like it and then miss the real problems with the game. They claim Spyro's movement and controls are nearly identical to previous games when they are not. The overall feel is very different; not as quick but smoother than all previous titles. The new way jumping and gliding is handled allows for much more control. These not so subtle subtleties are lost on many reviewers.

Some reviews make me ask: "Did they even play A Hero's Tail?" as they seem to be rewritten versions of other reviews. Gamespot said "A Hero's Tail is all about minigames. Seriously, that seems to be the point of the game." This is true of Spyro Orange. Did they just assume AHT was a 3D version of Orange? The truth is minigames do not play a prominent role in this game, not nearly as much as they did in Spyro 3 and 4.

The reviewers of AHT and Twinsanity have not been kind and yet the fans seem to love the games. What's going on here? The simple answer is that Spyro does not have massive firepower and many reviewers can't accept anything else. It seems Spyro: A Hero's Tail is just another dopey kids platformer/collectathon while Jak and Ratchet are for sophisticated adults who like to blow stuff up and don't like to collect things. In Ratchet and Clank you buy weapons, in fact there are lots of weapons, to buy with bolts that you find, and then there are gadgets that you earn or find. Of course you want better weapons so you need to acquire gold bolts, 40 gold bolts to be exact. No collecting here. Platformer fans like to collect things. Spyro AHT is in fact less of a collectathon than previous games. Gems are now infinite, so no more searching for that last red gem to finish the game. There are 3 main "collectables" (Dark Gems are more of a destroyable) and they serve more specific purposes rather than one mass collectible where all that matters is the number of them you have.

I recently played demos of both R&C 3 and Jak3 and I was unimpressed. The one level in the Ratchet demo is so uninspiring I wanted my money back for this free demo. The scenary did not have the detail of the previous games. The HUD was awful looking and hard to read due to a bad choice of colors. The Captain Quark game (A Mini Game?) was actually more entertaining. The Jak demo was better. The dune buggy was fun and the scenary was beautiful but not as cool as Jak1. The Demos did not give me an overwhelming urge to go out and buy the games. I will assume whoever chose what would go into the demos did not chose the most representative elements.

When I got the Spyro and Crash demos earlier this year I had quite the opposite effect, much like when I played the demo for the original Ratchet. I enjoyed playing those demos over and over and couldn't wait to get the games.

In conclusion, reviewers are just people with opinions, often uninformed opinions.

Monday November 29 2004:

Spyro & Crash Desktop Theme- For Windows and Mac Download Here!

Thursday November 18 2004:

A Hero's Tail Commercial Spotted on Cartoon Network Source: goldsparx04

Spyro 5 will be released on Nov 30 in India

Spyro:AHT mini-site at Target

Monday November 8 2004:

Win Spyro or maybe a Scooter - To celebrate the release of "Spyro: A Hero's Tail" UrbanScooters.com will be giving away 60 Leopard Shark electric scooters as a grand prize. You can also win a copy of "Spyro: A Hero's Tail"!. Click HERE for more details.

Saturday November 6 2004:

TeamXBox Review - 6.4 out of 10. "Spyro: A Hero's Tail does do a nice job of providing younger players with enough of a challenge while not becoming too kiddy for older players who still enjoy Spyro's humor and gameplay."

Friday November 5 2004:

Spyro Demo in OPM - In the December 2004 Issue of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (OPM) there is a demo of Spyro: A Hero's Tail. I saw it today in a local store. Unfortunately it's the issue featuring the latest GTA game.

Source: videoman7, mozepy

Gamespot Review - 5.8 out of 10. Anyway they have lots of new media! And they are different for each console!

PS2: 12 Screens, 2 Videos
GameCube: 15 Screens, 2 Videos
Xbox: 12 Screens, 2 Videos

Thursday November 4 2004:

A Hero's Tail Released for reals - Best Buy and Target both say the 4th is the release so they should have it today. I have heard that Toys 'R' Us had it yesterday.

Released in Europe? - There are several European game news sites showing a press release (from VU in Paris) that says "Spyro: A Hero's Tail" shipped today to "...retail stores nationwide". The question is which nation?

Twinsanity SoundTrack: Free and Legal Download! - I know it's not Spyro but this is too good to ignore! VUGames has the Cash Twinsanity soundtrack available as a FREE download! There are 30 songs in 256Kbit mp3 format. They are all zipped together in a 122 MB file. The soundtrack (by Spiralmouth) is one of the best I have ever heard and well worth the download. Here's hoping they do this with Spyro also, especially the older games.

OPM Review - 2 out of 5

GMR Review

Wednesday November 3 2004:

GameZone PS2 Review - 7 out of 10, "...but this title looks good and plays well."

IGN Review of AHT - 7 out of 10. "A Hero's Tail is a definite improvement over Enter the Dragonfly"

nintendojo Preview

Tuesday November 2 2004:

Spyro: A Hero's Tail released! - Target is saying they will have it on Nov 4. You may want to call around before you head out to buy it.

To give props to the Spyro creators I must mention that Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal was also released today.

Monday November 1 2004:

Some Ratings - There are 2 magazine already making their opinion known. The demo alone deserves better scores! GMR Magazine: 5 out of 10
Game Informer: 6.5 out of 10

Friday October 29 2004:

Hand's On Preview at IGN - A bit sarcastic but hopeful. For those worried about load times: "At least this one seems technically capable of achieving decency as it boasts smooth graphics, absolutely no loading..."

9 New Videos at IGN for "A Hero's Tail"

Thursday October 28 2004:

11 New Screens at IGN for "A Hero's Tail"

Monday October 25 2004:

And some more art! - this will be the last of the series of concept art I have been showing you lately. The shop in the screen below looks quite a bit different from the Shop in the demo. I'm not sure if this is an earlier or later version.

• Screen 3
• Art 11
• Art 12
• Art 13
• Art 14
• Art 15

Saturday October 23 2004:

A Hero's Tail Voice Cast - I had a nice conversation the other day with Mike Gollom who supervised the voice casting for "A Hero's Tail". Mike has been doing audio work for television, cartoons, movies and video games since the mid '80s and has worked for Universal, Warner Brothers and now works for Technicolor. He did sound design work on the early Spyro and Crash Bandiccot games.

Here is a partial list of the voice cast and some or their previous work:

• Jess Harnell - is the voice of Spyro this time, Jimmy Neutron: Win, Lose and Kaboom, various Star Wars games, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (Lo-Lo - The Air Elemental), ChalkZone, Lilo & Stitch
• Tara Strong - Fairly Odd Parents (Timmy Turner), Rugrats (Dil), Powerpuff Girls (Bubbles), Final Fantasy X (Rikku)
• Michael Gough - Shrek 2(VG), The Hobbit(VG), Various Star Wars Games, Various Star Trek Games, Spyro the Dragon
• Fred Tatasciore - Baldur's Gate - Dark Alliance II, The Cat in the Hat(VG)

Friday October 22 2004:

Spyro A Hero's Tail Official Website! - The new site is very well designed and entertaining. It is full of new screen shots, video clips and wallpapers.

The PAL version of "A Hero's Tail" has Gone Gold - due to be released November 12 in Europe.

Wednesday October 20 2004:

New A Hero's Tail Media! - At VU Games there is a new trailer that features voices from all the playable characters and the Professor. Sparx sounds like he's had some speech training. (thanks to SpyroCreator for pointing this out.)

• New Video

There are 6 new screens at IGN.

• Screens

Hero's Tail release date - The release date is actually Nov 2. The newsletter from VU was wrong.

Tuesday October 19 2004:

WorthPlaying AHT Preview - This very positive preview reveals quite a bit about the games playable characters. The author seems to think Sparx is a fairy. There's a ton of new screens and some are kinda funny! Source: dark52

More on Spyro Ripto Quest - It looks like the French company Kaolink is working on "Spyro Ripto Quest". They have a few screenshots on their site and this game is really looking like the Digital Eclipse Spyros. There's the Foot Rhynocs, a frozen fairy, a periscope Rhynoc, a storm cloud, and Douglas the Yeti. To see them go to their site, click on "MOBILES" and then click on the Spyro box.

Monday October 18 2004:

Some more art from A Hero's Tail:

• Screen 2
• Art 6
• Art 7
• Art 8
• Art 9
• Art 10

Friday October 15 2004:

New Hero's Tail release date - The release date has been moved from Nov 2 to Nov 9 which means we will have to wait an extra week. I say take as long as you want guys to get it right. Source: The Insider

Spyro Goes Mobile...again! - That's right, another cellphone game. This time it's being developed by Digital Bridges and it will be directed towards boys and girls (they must of heard the complaints). I don't know if this is related to the Wonder-Phone game I reported on in May. The game will be called "Spyro: Ripto Quest". It looks a lot like the Digital Eclipse games, it even has the red buttons that where used to open the vaults in Attack of the Rhynocs. The game seems much better than the in-fusio disaster.

Source: Gamespy

Tuesday October 12 2004:

Spyro Merchandise - If you are looking for some Spyro toys and such I found these recently:

Soft-Toy.co.uk	Lamb Novelty	Home Theater Express
Plush Spyros with Skate Board or without.	Inflatable Spyro, Get 'em by the dozen!	Pop Corn trays and Cups

Source: Koshi (told me about the movie tray)

Some Screens I missed - TeamXbox has some screens That have been up since September. thanks SpyroCreator for pointing them out. Make sure you check out all four pages.

Monday October 11 2004:

Concept Art and a screen from A Hero's Tail - I got some cool stuff you may not have seen:

• Screen 1
• Art 1
• Art 2
• Art 3
• Art 4
• Art 5

Saturday October 9 2004:

Japan gets a special Christmas - This December 9 Spyro Orange and Crash Purple will be released in Japan under the names "Spyro Advance: Wakuwaku Tomodachi Daisakusen" (スパイロ アドバンス わくわくトモダチ大作戦！) & "Crash Bandicoot Advance: Wakuwaku Tomodachi Daisakusen" (クラッシュ バンディクー アドバンス　わくわくトモダチ大作戦！) for 4,800 Yen each. Those who want both though can purchase "クラッシュ バンディクー＆スパイロ クリスマススペシャルパッケージ " (Crash Bandicoot & Spyro Christmas special package) for only 7,980 Yen. I wonder if other nations will get similar deals.

It seems the games already have a bad rep in Japan assuming this quote was translated properly: "The pleasant mini- game is quantity, ill-smelling it is!"

Source: Sega Direct

Tuesday October 5 2004:

Spyro: A Hero's Tail Goes Gold - GameSpot reports the game has gone gold meaning it has been approved by SONY, Nintendo and Microsoft and is in it's final version ready to be manufactured Source: GameSpot, nosnibor28

Spyro Cameo in Twinsanity - Spyro briefly appears in the latest Crash Bandicoot game: "Twinsanity".

Monday October 4 2004:

Spyro Movie Rumor? - Is there a Big Screen (or even little screen) Spyro movie in the works? The only evidence I've seen is on this list. My sources say there has been no serious discussion on it. My Opinion:

Should there be a Spyro movie or television series? Fantasy adventure movies are pretty big with the release of "The Lord of the Rings" over the last few years and "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" to be out next year. Though less popular than Crash Bandicoot I think Spyro is more cinematically friendly than the orange one. I could see Spyro in a movie much like "Shrek" with a similar sort of animation and comedic style. I don't want to see another "Care Bears" or "Pokemon" look alike.

Friday September 17 2004:

Miscellaneous details on A Hero's Tail - The game has been submitted to Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony and should officially go gold by the end of the month. Many details have been added in the last month and it should be good for 16 to 20 hours of gameplay. It will have 14 main levels, 16 mini games and 4 Boss levels

Watch for website updates in the next couple of weeks and TV ads at the beginning of November.

The Game should be released in the US by Nov. 2nd and in Europe by Nov. 26th.

There will be a strategy guide, possibly available in Oct.

Eurocom has finally added a Spyro section to their site and they have 5 screen shots I have not seen before.

Thursday September 16 2004:

A Hero's Tail Demo Available in UK! - This is according to Grizedale on GameFAQs: "Demo avail in UK as of 15/09 in Official PlayStation 2 mag"

Wednesday September 8 2004:

GBA SP only 79.99 - Nintendo Lowered the Price of the Gameboy Advance SP on Monday to 79.99. You can still get original GBA for $69.99.

Source: Nintendo

Monday September 6 2004:

The Origin of Spyro - Featuring the art of Charles Zembillas this site has over 150 pictures showing how Spyro was created.

Thursday September 2 2004:

GameSpot gives a quick hands on and some cool pics - The are a couple pics with a yeti that looks kinda like Bentley but not so nice. Gnasty Gnorc is back and Blink also goes by Blinky.

Wednesday September 1 2004:

New Screen Shots from "A Hero's Tail" - If you have played the Demo, there is a pic of the spot where the Dragon Elder was but now there is a young Dragon in the same spot.

Source VUG

Sunday August 1 2004:

The winners of the Spyro meets Crash giveaway

Fan Art:

• DingoDilelover
• Jessica

Fan Fiction:

• Sean
• John

Quiz:

• Lee
• RageMario

Random Drawing:

• N. Hill
• Spyroney

Friday July 16 2004:

Spyro meets Crash giveaway over - winners will be announced soon

Tuesday July 13 2004:

Spyro: A Hero's Tail cover art revealed! - It was created by Drew Struzan who made movie posters for Star Wars and Harry Potter

Crash #17, Spyro #24 on UK Charts(dead 01-18-2008) - Woo Hoo!

VU Reorganizes(dead 01-18-2008) - 3 regional Presidents will report to the CEO.

Wednesday June 30 2004:

Yahoo Games Reviews of Orange and Purple - they both get a 6 out of 10
Spyro
Crash
(Yahoo has changed to a 5 star system, both games now have 3 out of 5 stars)

Monday June 28 2004:

Planet GameCube Reviews of Orange and Purple(now Nintendo World Report 01-18-2008) - These have got to be the worst reviews yet!
Spyro: 4.0
Crash: 3.5

A more positive review from The Post-Standard(dead 01-18-2008)

Thursday June 24 2004:

New Hero's Tail screens at IGN - See Spyro, Hunter, Sgt. Byrd and Red the Dragon.

Source: IGN

Wednesday June 23 2004:

eToychest gives Spyro Orange one "chubby thumb downwards" - They also rate it at 35%.

GameSpy gives Spyro Orange 3 out of 5 stars - Multiplayer: Good

GameSpot says Spyro Orange is for Novices - It got a rating of 5.9 out of 10 while Crash Purple got 7.7

Tuesday June 23 2004:

Former chief executive of VU arrested and released - Mr Messier was being questioned as part of an investigation into "financial misappropriation", Paris police said.

Source: BBC

Monday June 21 2004:

VU lays off 350 - 39 percent of its total North American work force. They have also shut down one of their studios; Sierra, a game company that has been around since the dawn of computer gaming.

Source: VUGames & siliconvalley.com & Gigex(dead 01-18-2008)

Thursday June 17 2004:

GameZone review of Spyro Orange - 6.5 out of 10. "The platform elements become yawn-producing after a few hours play, ... A decent game, but not one that stands out from the crowd in any meaningful way."

Source: GameZone

Monday June 7 2004:

Enter to Win A Spyro: A Hero's Tail/Crash Twinsanity Demo - I have eight of these Demos to Giveaway (Thanks to Ellerit) so I have created the first Spyro Universe Contest with 4 ways to win: Best Fan Art, Best Fan Fiction, Spyro & Crash Trivia Quiz and Random Drawing.

Click HERE for more info.

Saturday June 5 2004:

Download the Orange and Purple TV commercial - Right here!

Friday June 4 2004:

Spyro and Crash commercial on Nick - I caught the tail end of a Spyro Orange/Crash Purple commercial on Nickelodeon today.

Thursday June 3 2004:

IGN's review of Spyro Orange - This quote from Craig Harris really sums it up for me:

"Spyro Orange is definitely better than the average Game Boy Advance fare, but it is a significant step backwards from what Vivendi Universal gave GBA owners in the past."

Spyro

Wednesday June 2 2004:

IGN reviews Crash Purple but not Spyro yet - They give it a 7.0. They say it's only 8 hours to finish the adventure but the mini games are fun and add replay value. The game does not save high scores?

Crash

Tuesday June 1 2004:

Official Release date of Orange and Purple - Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy and Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage should be released today. Check your local stores for the games and watch your favorite print and web magazines for reviews.

Sources: VU Games, IGN

This is also the first official day of the Kraft Foods Promotion though the specially marked boxes were available at a store near me for about a week.

No Cover art yet for our Hero. - There is still no official box art for Spyro: A Hero's Tail but two online retailers have made there own mock-ups. EBGames has gone for the plain white while GameStop has opted for the basic black look. My personal preference is shown below though I think VU Games design department may have more creativity than the three of us.

Friday May 28 2004:

GamePro Hands on Orange and Purple - GamePro's hands on Previews express lack of interest in a few short paragraphs and a handful of screens.

Spyro and Crash

Thursday May 20 2004:

Spyro, Crash and Kraft Foods - Starting June 1st watch for specially marked boxes of Nabisco Fruit Snacks and Jell-O Pudding Bites for Spyro and Crash themed trading cards. Each card will have a code. You can use these codes to access up to 8 different games at Crash and Spyro Adventure World. Sign up now (FREE) and you can play 2 games right now, one is a RPG like game and the other is Crash's Nitro Kart Rally.

Source: Game Spy

A very positive preview from Yahoo Games - Be sure to get the video!

Wednesday May 19 2004:

Download Spyro: A Hero's Tail Trailer - I think I see gnorcs in there. If there are gnorcs then maybe there will be Gnasty. Source: VU Games

Tuesday May 18 2004:

A rather negative preview from 1up

Friday May 14 2004:

Spyro and Crash in Nintendo Power - The June Issue (#180) of Nintendo Power has a couple pages on Spyro Orange and Crash Purple in it. It has "Tales of Symphonia" on the cover.

New A Hero's Tail Videos - Looks like Sgt. Byrd is gaining weight and we get a good look at Blink too.

Source: IGN, Gamespot

Wednesday May 12 2004:

E3 2004 Starts Today! - The Electronic Entertainment Exposition (E3) is one of the biggest events for the Video Game Industry world wide. Watch for info on new games and hardware and especially Spyro!

Pics form the Show

1. Picture on the top is of people trying out a demo of Spyro: A Hero's Tail. The shirt on the left says "Mess with the Dragon Get the Horns". This Picture was taken by Ellerit, a moderator at the VUGames forums.
2. The pic on the bottom is of a huge Crash and Spyro banner. VU seems to pushing Crash and Spyro as a team this year. A Demo disc was available at E3 containing demos of both Crash: Twinsanity and Spyro: A Hero's Tail. Picture comes from e3expo.com

New Media

Nintendo.com - A sweet video of AHT plus some gameplay videos of Spyro Orange and Crash Purple. New screens all around!

• Spyro: A Hero's Tail
• Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy
• Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage

GameSpot.com - an article on AHT, Some new Screens and Videos

• Spyro: A Hero's Tail PS2, Xbox
• Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy
• Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage

A couple insightful Articles: AHT will be 4x bigger than ETD with 20+ realms.

• IGN
• GamePro

Friday May 7 2004:

Vivendi NA has new President - Philip W. O'Neil is his name. Do the VU shuffle everyone!

Source: Gamasutra

Thursday May 6 2004:

New Spyro Orange Pics - including some of the trading cards.

Source: LunchPR
Spyro
Crash(dead 01-18-2008)

VUs E3 Lineup Announced - Yes it includes Spyro!

Source: IGN

Saturday May 1 2004:

Enter to Win a drawing of Spyro and/or Crash - You could win one of 10 framed sketches by an artist who actually worked on Spyro Orange and Crash Purple.

Source: Nintendo.com

Wonder-Phone working on mobile Spyro game! - I knew it. I said it might happen when Crash Nitro Cart was announced! Go to Wonder-Phone website and go to their games section and you will see a picture of Spyro with the words "COMING SOON" floating in front of it.

Friday April 30 2004:

A Word from Vicarious Visions on Orange and Purple - IGN talks to the developers of Spyro Orange and Crash Purple. One cool thing is they will both be on 128Mbit cartridges; twice the storage of previous games. There is something about making games for Nintendo's next handheld but I don't think they meant specifically Spyro.

Source: IGN, new Images and Videos

Thursday April 29 2004:

Official Orange and Purple Site Launched - Download all kinds of screens videos and wallpaper.
Spyro Orange/Crash Purple Official Site

A Screen I haven't seen elsewhere at Warcry

Source: Warcry(dead 01-18-2008)

Wednesday April 28 2004:

Screens and Concept Art - Lunch PR

Tuesday April 27 2004:

Press Release for A Hero's Tail - The official Press release from VU says the game will be on PS2, Xbox and GameCube.

Source: GameSpot

A Hero's Tail Screens

IGN
VU Games

Web Updates

SpyroTheDragon.com
GameFAQs(PS2)

New Videos for Spyro Orange - including a combined Spyro and Crash trailer.

Spyro
Crash

Monday April 26 2004:

A Hero's Tail, Officially Official - The first details and screens have been revealed by GameSpot. Plays as Spyro, Hunter, Sgt. Byrd, Sparx and Blink the Mole (the Professor's nephew). We also have a new villain to fight: "Red! , a dragon who was banished from the elder dragon council".

Source: GameSpot

Saturday April 24 2004:

IGN Previews Spyro Orange and Crash Purple - Some have asked if Spyro Orange and Crash Purple will be like Pokemon games: clones of the same game with only minor differences. The answer from these articles is a resounding NO!. They will be two separate, though closely connected, adventures. Expect lots of mini games and link features.
Spyro
Crash

Tuesday April 20 2004:

First Spyro Orange Videos at IGN - See some of the mini games. Also there are new Crash Bandicoot Purple screens and videos
Spyro
Crash

Tuesday April 13 2004:

Spyro Orange gone gold! - This means the game is finished and being prepared for manufacture.

Thursday April 8 2004:

False Alarm? - Wal*Mart has removed all references to Spyro 5 and the supposed title. Maybe they changed the title? Maybe the game isn't even coming? Maybe they just pulled the entries from their database because they lack any official information?

Saturday April 3 2004:

Spyro 5 Strategy guide - Wal*Mart is taking pre-orders for a Spyro 5 Strategy guide that will ship on 10/12/2004, nearly a full month before the game

Source: Wal*Mart

Friday April 2 2004:

Possible Spyro 5 title - Wal*Mart, who is already taking pre-orders, has a title for the Gamecube version of Spyro 5. The title given is "Spyro 5: A Hero's Tail". Make's you wonder if Spyro has a new ability involving his tail. Please don't say he flies with it.

Source: GameGossip

Monday March 29 2004:

Fansite Kits at VUGames.com - These kits contain oodles of high quality pictures of Spyro and Crash. There are pics of main characters, box art, logos, posters and wallpaper for several Spyro and Crash games. The Spyro kit has material for Spyro Orange as well as all the other post Insomniac games. The Crash kit does not contain anything for Crash Purple but focuses mainly on Crash Nitro Cart.
Spyro 83.5MB , Crash 133MB

Wednesday March 24 2004:

Spyro 5 at Wal*Mart - Wal*Mart has Spyro 5 listed for Xbox and PS2 and is taking preorders for $39.82 each. They give a ship date of 11/09/2004.

Source: glennie

Tuesday March 23 2004:

Spyro 5 announcement? - I guess I missed this on the 17th because none of the big game sites seem to know about it. Spyro 5 is officially announced for PS2, Gamecube and Xbox according to two site who both name Vivendi as their source.

Sources: Vandal, Nintendojo

Monday March 22 2004:

Spyro V on IGN - No info except a release date of 12/30/2004 GameCube
PS2
XBOX

Thursday March 11 2004:

Box art for Spyro Orange! - The box art for Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy and Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage have been revealed on GameStop.com. They are taking pre-order for $29.99 and giving a release of Jume 1, 2004.

Source: GameStop.com
Spyro
Crash

Friday March 5 2004:

Amazon is ready for Spyro 5 - Amazon.com has the following items listed without any further information:
Vivendi Spyro 5 PS2
Vivendi Spyro 5 GC
Vivendi Spyro 4 GBA (Obviously Spyro Orange)

Friday February 27 2004:

Further Evidence of Spyro 5 - Nintendo.com is listing a game called Spyro the Dragon V for Game Cube

New Media for Spyro Orange

Nintendo.com: Wallpaper and screens
gba.n64europe.com: Screens

Thursday February 26 2004:

Spyro and Crash Fusion screens - Vivendi Universal UK has screens for Spyro and Crash Fusion

Wednesday February 25 2004:

Spyro Orange and Crash Purple screens - Want some screens? Go to VU games and IGN. Thanks Neptunes and Darren
IGN: Spyro, Crash
VU Games: Spyro, Crash

New Forums - Wanna talk about Spyro Orange? Want more info? Check these:

GameFAQs, NeoSeeker, GameSpot, GameRankings

Monday February 23 2004:

Spyro: Fusion and Crash: Fusion? - If you see these names around they are what Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy and Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage will be called in Europe. Real creative, don't you think?

My view on this is different names in different regions just causes confusion. We are living in a global community, get with the program VU!

Source: Lunch PR

Here we go again - Vivendi Universal has made an alliance with Wonderphone to make mobile phone games. Crash Nitro Cart is in the works but I'm sure Spyro will follow. I hope Wonderphone does better than in-fusio.

Source: Wonderphone

Concept Art - Nintendo.com has concept art of Spyro and Crash.

Saturday February 21 2004:

Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy links to Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage - Now officially announced, the next Spyro and Crash games for GBA will link together for multiplayer action. Crash and Spyro will share more than a link cable. Spyro will be going up against Neo Cortex and Crash will be facing off with Ripto. Spyro and Crash will also appear as NPCs in the other's game.

My Complaints!

• The games are being developed by Vicarious Visions alone. VV is responsible for all the Crash Bandicoot games to date. I'm sure they did a fine job on Crash (wouldn't know) but is that any reason to abandon Digital Eclipse who successfully reinvented Spyro in handheld form for 3 highly successful, critically acclaimed, and award winning games.
• The games are side scrollers! 2D LIVES! But really? Side scrolling would be fine for some levels or a mini game but can we endure an entirely side scrolling Spyro adventure? Especially after the masterpiece that Attack of the Rhynocs is.
• Ripto is getting OLD! Spyro actually gets to face Neo Cortex so it's kinda like a new villain but Ripto has been in too many Spyro games and now we're going to bore poor Crash to death with him.

other features

• up to 4 players
• Party Games
• Wager Games
• Card Trading

Sources: IGN, GameSpyDaily, PlanetGameCube

Thursday February 19 2004:

Radical development with Vivendi - Radical Entertainment has signed a deal to work exclusively with Vivendi on "6 multi-platform titles based on new and existing entertainment franchises". This means something. Not sure what though.

Source: Gamasutra

Crash on N-Gage - Crash Nitro Cart is being ported to N-gage, Nokia's handheld game device. Might we see Spyro on N-gage in the future? Probably not.

Source: GameSpy Daily

Thursday February 12 2004:

Mark Cerny honored by IGDA - On March 24 2004, International Game Developers Association will present Mark Cerny with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Who is Mark Cerny? He is a game producer and designer who worked on Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, Crash Bandicoot and, most importantly, all 3 of the original Spyro the Dragon games.

Source: IGN

Tuseday February 3 2004:

Spyro Links with Crash - An anonymous source revealed to me that the next Spyro game for GBA will link to the next Crash Bandicoot game for GBA. Imagine Spyro and Crash, side by side.

Sunday February 1 2004:

Spyro is VU Games' #4 Franchise! - The Page I mentioned on the 8th no longer has the list of coming releases but now has VUGames top franchises. Spyro is #4 with 12 Million units as of July

Source: Vivendi Universal

You saw it here first! - Shortly after I reported that Spyro was in VU Games' list of 2004 Releases a handful of other game sites had stories referring to the same list.

Sources: Games Asylum, Ferrago, Gamespot, and Gamecube Europe

VU Games changes it's leadership - The people at the top of VU Games are playing musical chairs. Will this be good for Spyro? Who knows? But it looks like VU Games may not be for sale anymore.

Sources: GameSpot and GameSpyDaily

Thursday January 8 2004:

Spyro 5 in the Works! - Finally we have something official on the next Spyro games. I found this by searching Google. Under Games Main releases for 2004 we see Spyro 5 and PS2, XBox, and Game Boy Advance listed for platforms.

This raises a few concerns. I hope they don't intend to make the same game for the consoles and GBA. We all know that the GBA game would become a vague approximation of the console games. I personally like the current 2 series plan. Second, I don't think Spyro would work well on XBOX. GameCube still works better for a game like Spyro.

It is good to know that the series will continue.

Source: Vivendi Universal

Monday January 5 2004:

Two Years of Spyro Universe - We have come to the beginning of another year. So far Spyro has had 2 successful trilogies, a less the spectacular next-gen debut and a horrific cel-phone game.

This last Fall we saw the release of Attack of the Rhynocs for GBA. This game has received the best reviews of the GBA series. Unfortunately there seems to be a intentional shift towards younger gamers and less challenging gameplay. This is even more apparent in the infusio celphone game which was also intentionally skewed toward girls. Not that the original Spyro was unfriendly toward kids nor inappropriate for girls, but the more demographically focused games become, the less loved they are by long time fans and often those they are trying hardest to reach find them overly contrived.

Attack of the Rhynocs is a well made game and takes Spyro further into the realm of RPGs than any previous titles. It is also the first Spyro with a significant 2 player feature. I hope Digital Eclipse continues to make Spyro games for GBA and that they will be allowed to move up to higher capacity cartridges.

Currently there is no official word, that I have heard, of any future Spyro games being released. Many fans are looking forward to a second PS2 Spyro, and since it has been more than a year since the last one maybe we can expect it to be totally built from scratch. Caroline Trujillo, Producer of AOR and formally of Insomniac Games, will hopefully be producing any future Spyro titles.