"e PLAY PLAYSTATION GAMES ON YOUR DREAMCAST NINTENDO 64 ¢ PLAYSTATION • PS2 • DREAMCAST • HANDHELDS • ARCADE

ELECTRONIC

ca ЛТ f М G Á LATEST T MET. ЕЗ Е — М ON SOLID 2^

SEE PAGE 36

з Square Reveals All Еа About The Series’ e MADDEN PlayStation Finale

` FINAL priven2 FANTASY

& DINO GRISIS 2

SHOTS ANYWHERE FEATURED INSIDE:

* STAR WARS: BATTLE FOR NABOO * MEGA MAN 64

* FEAR EFFECT RETRO HELIX

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* THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

14024 06960

THE WORLD'S #1 VIDEO GAMES MAGAZINE FOR 10 YEARS

PlayStation $ ® +

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Mild Animated Violence

r PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Grind Session is a trademark of Sony Computer

Entertainment America Inc. ©2000 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Developed by Shaba Games. Vans and the Triple Crown of Skateboarding are registered trademarks of Vans, Inc.

THE ONLY ALLIES ARE ENEMIES...

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3 Unique ALEN SPECIES Whether you command the , nomadic Terrans, mysterious Protoss, or voracious Zerg, к you must devise totally unique ENTERTAINMENT ESRB strategies to master the е specialized units, abilities А c

Ф * ©1999 Nintendo/Blizzard Entertainment. Starcraft and Blizzard Entertainment are trademarks of Davidson & Associates, Inc. ™, & and the "N" Logo are trademarks of Nintendo of America, Inc. ©1999 Nintendo. - and technologies of each. ,

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EDITORIAL

The old west in a new world...

By Joe Funk ° joe_funk@ziffdavis.com

esults are in from a recent study and the news

is shocking: 32 13- to 15-year-olds were sent

out to buy M-rated video games, and every single one was able to purchase his or her game without being carded or questioned about their age.

That's not good — not good for you, me, us, them, everybody.

While we don't expect to see MASMRGTM (Mothers Against Selling M-Rated Games To Minors) chapter popping up anytime soon, this issue is something our industry must reckon with as the purview of gaming expands.

“We must honor this honor system we have established, or the Man will impose one upon us.”

We didn’t need a rating system so much when characters were a few quarter-inch pixels thrown together, but as the screen resolutions get finer and the detail gets clearer, a clear delineation becomes mandatory: We're no longer playing a bar of light in Pong or three-fourths of a circle in Pac-Man; instead, we're a terrified policeman killing limped- limbed zombies or bubble-busted thong-clad babes who can kick the crap out of a dinosaur.

Even our magazine is not free from the scrutiny. We must constantly shift the editorial and covers between what's hot, what sells, and what's appropriate. Balancing the three is not always easy. On many occasions, I've had to explain to an angry mother that video games are not just kids' stuff anymore. | contend that eventually the average age ofa gamer will be the average age of someone who

Michael Price

We misspelled Mike’s preferred means of martial arts last month (we called it Chen To-un “kunk fu” instead of “kung fu”), so he jabbed more editors’ noses into their brains. See—it’s typos that lead to real-life violence, not video games.

Starting with this issue, James “Milkman” Mielke is no longer just a contributor. He's now a fully developed, man-sized official EGM editor. And since he's such a fine- looking individual, we wanted to run his picture one last time for all of the ladies out there. Aw yeah.

watches movies. | fully expect that by the time

| turn 70, gaming will be evolved enough that

I will still be playing games appropriate for my age and interests and fading hand-eye coordination. Heck, we can see the demographics expanding right in front of us—can you say, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

The crazy things is, the fix here doesn't have to be the showdown at the OK Corral for video games that many people are making it out to be. | asked a dozen different video stores how and why they have a separate adults-only section. Their answer: to restrict access to minors for mature titles. Just as every game is not designed for every gamer, every movie was not made for every movie watcher. And So that's why video stores have had the trademark western-style swinging doors to separate the adult software from everything else. After decades of use it still works, and if introducing it into stores that sell video games is our worst-case scenario, then we should be obliged to tip our 10-gallon hat and saunter on through.

While Mr. Retailer will no doubt complain that such a system will hurt sales, any incremental gain of selling such titles to minors is not worth the harm we are doing to ourselves in the long run.

We must honor this honor system we have established, or the Man will impose one upon us.

And though the final word will never be spoken on this issue, check page 156 to see where Mark, Chris, Greg and some skateboard wannabe from the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine continue this discussion in the section named...oh never mind...

Andrew Pfister Our young Andrew is growing up fast. Why, just the other day his Voice broke. He also asked that dreaded question, "Where do babies come from?" We told him the cabbage patch. Seems like just yesterday he was fillin’ his diapers.

ELECTRONIC CAMING

= MONTHLY

Number 13.7 July 2000

Www.videogames.com Vice President/Group Publisher Dale Strang

опа! Director/Editor in Chief 8 E. ШК бе шд fdavis.com anaging Editor Dean Hager e dean_hager@ziffdavis.com Features Editor NS e 5 Crispin Boyer e СЕ boyerozittdavis con Consumer Hardware Editor — ۴ Shawn: Smith e shawn_smith@ziffdavis.com ‘eviews Editor Mark MacDonald e mark_macdonald@ziffdavis.com News Editor 2 Chris "CJ" Johnston e chris johnstonGziffdavis.com Previews Editor г Greg Sewart • greg_sewart@ziffdavis.com Senior Associate Editor , vU 5 Teig EP * kraig_kujawa@ziffdavis.com sociate Editor . Sam Kennedy * sam kennedyGziffdavis.com Tricks Editor 5 Terry Minnich e tricks@ziffdavis.com West Coast Editor К POR lames Mielke • james mielkeGziffdavis.com Contributions to this month's EGM were made by: John Davison • Fritz Fraundorf • Dan Leal y Andrew Pfister e Michael Price e Andrew Vestal Ninja from the бөр Dimension ushi-X e sushi_x@ziffdavis.com

Senior Art Director "^ rit Wochok ® cyril_wochok@ziffdavis.com Art Director. К x ^ im coraan, * jim_cordano@ziffdavis.com " Mike Reisel « mike. reiselGziffdavis.com

TOKYO BUREAU

Mixx. PRU UM Б Stuart EO & Bureau Chief Matthew Galgani, Producer Kiyomi Fukuyama, Editorial Manager Yutaka Ohbuchi, Japanese Correspondent

Managing Copy Editor Jennifer Whitesides

Production Director

3 (а ш М

епіог Prepress Manager

Peter Discoe x

Prepress Manager

Fe pave Месай n sistant Prepress Manager Mike valias B

Project Leader B ^ Mark LeFebvre • mark lefebvreGziffdavis.com Business Director .. Cathy Bendo! Circulation Director Joan Mclnerney Circulation Director Shirley Viel Senior Newsstand Sales Manager Don Galen

DEM NUMBER: 3234 FRATA Web Site: ttp: КАК Секта ron

ү Inquiries Contact: ame бој

О Beale, ith floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 lelephone: 415-547-8783 Group Publisher Cee Uniacke IN E 415-357-4910 * lee uniackeQziffdavis.com Group Associate Publishes Suzie Reider

SES IBS AND Engr CA

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lavis.com

Founder - Steve Harris

ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY (ISSN #1058-9184) is published monthly by Ziff Davis Media Inc., P.O. Box 3338, Oak Brook, IL 60522-3338. Periodicals Class Postage Paid at Lombard, IL and additional mailing offices. Single issue rates: $4.99. The one year (zssue) subscription rate is $24.97 in the U.S. and $40.97 outside the U.S. Checks must be made payable in U.S, currency only to Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine, POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Electronic Gaming Monthly, P.O. Вох 55722, Boulder, CO 80322-5722. For subscription service questions, c (303) 665-8930 (U.S. Only) and (303) 604- 744s outside the U.S. or visit us at our subscription Web site at rtp; /service.egmmag. com. We periodically make lists of our customers available to mailers of goods and services that may interest you. If you do not wish to receive such mailings, pleasewrte to us and include a copy of your mailing label. Please include your subscription label when writing to us. It contains valuable information about your subscription that will help us. Please allow 6-8 weeks before receiving your first issue as well as for any subscription changes to take place on any existingsubscription. The editors and the publisher are not responsible for unsolicited materials. Without limiting the rights under copyrights reserved herein, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the the prior written notice of Ziff Davis Media Inc. To reuse any material in this publication, obtain а permission request form at www.icopyright com/ziffdavis/, or have а form faxed or mailed to you by calling (425)430-1663. © 2000 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All RightsReserved. Electronic Gaming Monthly and EGM are trademarks (of Ziff Davis Media Inc. TM and © for all other products and the characters contained therein are owned by the respective trademark and copyright owners. All materials fisted in this magazine are subject to manufacturers’ change and the publisher assumesno responsibilty for such changes. The Canadian GST

Registration number is 140496720 fT. Printed in the USA.

Electronic Gaming Monthly - 8 - www.videogames.com

endangered species. list and FUR FIGHTERS on your most wanted. A ek kind of game has

Viggo. It’s a raging romp of

feline conspiracies, ‘blazing

animal combat and unrelenting ® eaver shots!

Animated Violence ae a А PC ; Comic Mischief д

Suggestive Themes а 5 i

{еайын Inez A Rights Reserved: Developed by: Siue Creation адада Tradematks af Seta Eriterprses, Lf: © а SI:

сай

p | 3 7

"Virtual-On: Oratorio Tangram is one of the most visually impressive Dreamcast titles yet."

Animated Violence

“The title hard-core gamers have been waiting for!” — GameFan

DORDRRY

The wildly popular arcade game comes to your Sega Dreamcast" in a perfect detail-by-detail sequel. You won't believe how exact, how frenetic and

explosive it is... until you take on a 60-foot enemy.

Fantestic futuristic weapone! with your extinction on its mind.

Virtual-On: Oratorio Tangram ` © Sega Enterprises, Ltd., 1998-2000 Characters © Sega Enterprises, Ltd /Automuss Character Design: Katoki Hajime. Sega, Sega Dreamcast and Virtual-On: Oratorio Tangram are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Sega Enterprises, Ltd, This game is licensed for use on the Sega Dreamcast System only. Published and distributed by

Activision, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision, Inc. All rights reserved. Sega, Dreamcast and the Dreamcast logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA Enterprises, Ltd. The ratings icen is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. AJ other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.

CONTENTS

Game Directory

14

4 Wheel Thunder

18 Wheeler

Aero Wings 2: Air Strike Aladdin in Nasira's Revenge Alien Resurrection

All Star Baseball 2002 Armada 2

Army Men: Air Combat Army Men: World War Buffy the Vampire Slayer Cannon Spike Carmageddon

CART Fury

Chrono Cross

ер Fighter Dino Crisis 2 Donald Duck: Quack Attack Drakan 2 Driver 2

94 Dropship

Duke Nukem: Planet of the Babes Ecco the Dolphin

Evolution 2: Far Off Promise Expendable

F1 World Grand Prix

Fear Effect Retro Helix

Ferrari 360

FIFA 2001 Major League Soccer Formula One 2000

Gauntlet Legends

Gekido

Grind Session

Grand Theft Auto 2

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature Mibleed

In Cold Blood

88 Indy Racing 2000

Kurt Warner's Arena Football Unleashed last Blade

Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Macross Plus

Madden NFL 2001

igForce Racing

Mario Tennis 64

Max Steel

Mega Man 64

Mega Man Legends 2 Metropolis Street Racer Midnight Club

Mr. Driller

MTV Sports: Skateboarding NASCAR 2001

NBA Live 2001

NBA ShootOut 2001

NCAA Final Four 2001

NCAA GameBreaker 2001 NFL GameDay 2001

NHL 2001

NHL FaceOff 2001 Nightmare Creatures 1 Onimusha: Warlords OutTrigger

Prince of Persia 3D

Primal Image

Reel Fishing Il

RPG Maker

Rush 2049

Sakura Taisen

Smuggler's Run

Sno-Cross Championship Racing Sonic Shuffle

Spec Ops Stealth Patrol Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo Star Wars Racer

South Park Rally

Space Channel 5 Starlancer

Street Fighter EX2 Plus Strider 2

Test Drive Le Mans

Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2 Tomb Raider

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Toonsylvania

Trade & Battle Card Hero Virtua.

lis. WDW Quest: Magical Racing Tour Wild Arms 2 World Is Not Enough, The Xtreme Sports

July 2000 Issue 132

Final Fantasy IX: Back to Square One You've no doubt read lots of info and speculation on Final Fantasy IX on the Web and in other magazines. We have, too—and noticed nearly everybody's getting the facts wrong. We went to Square's offices, played the game, and interviewed its creator to bring you the only complete and accurate info you'll find anywhere on this PlayStation finale that brings the series back to its roots. pg 126

was

Spec Ops See if this $10 PS game is worth the dough. page 144

Ecco the Dolphin This game is downright beautiful. page 65

Wild Arms 2 Find out how Sony's RPG epic rates with the Crew. page 146

E3 Excitement Check out our

show floor coverage of this gargantuan video game trade show.

page 30

12

@ Editorial 8

@ Letters @ News

Q Gossip

20 30

Jammed full of E3 info. We also talk with Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi about FFIX and the series’ return to the fantasy elements of its earlier games.

44

Ow == 2B Ш 5

@ Tricks © Get Some © The Final Word

Previews 60

DC: Ecco the Dolphin, Metropolis Street Racer, 18 Wheeler; N64: Madden 2001, Mega Man 64; PS2: Onimusha, EA's huge PS2 lineup; PS: Alien Resurrection, Dino Crisis 2, Driver 2 and many more.

Review Crew 138

Check out our reviews of GTA2 and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater on DC; Wild Arms 2, Nightmare Creatures П and Grind Session on PS; Last Blade on NGPC; Carmageddon on GBC and many more.

149 154 156

There’s all kinds of crap on the news about violent games,

the ESRB ratings system, and politicians who think they know what they're talking about. We voice our thoughts and concerns.

|

B© Dreamcast | Bis = Nintendo, | | | == PlayStation2 | BE PlayStation | & Е Game Boy Color

| TÎ NeoGeo Pocket Color | а 4 Arcade |

Tobacco advertising. It’s like peer pressure with a

e © و‎ “ www.thetruth.com Jarred Brighton, Utah e

° Superior rally racing * Powerful track editor

* Crossroads, short cuts and double road super stages

0 [EVERYONE

UM mm Aden Sega® Dreamcast. i3

Test Drive, Test Drive V-Rally and Infogrames are trademarks or registered trademarks of Infogrames North America, Inc. Test Drive V-Rally © 2000 | Infogrames North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Developed by EDEN STUDIOS. Sega, Sega Dreamcast and the Dreamcast swirl are trademarks of Eg ES EX BY SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. = 0— ——

ive by the Sword;

(Also pillage, plunder, hack, slash

The Rock Monster, Yalta Desert “From stone to sand, by

the force of my blade.”

LEGEND OF TH

ADE MASTERS

Die by the Sword.

and conquer by the sword.)

Trial of the Worms, Wizard's Cave

“Green is for the precious life that I take from thee.”

| Date with Queen Arachnid, Forest

her exoskeleton

ough as her will

ЙА M m

Otanka € "Fire in my strike Т

T

* Quest-Based Action RPG For AII G

Beautiful Anime-Style Landscapes

* Immersive 5D Environment and ng Camera

Breakthrough Interface for Inventory agic Spells

Sega(9 Dreamcast p. | ЭР

acord) тшшш

GAMES

©2000 Ripcord Games. All rights reserved. Ripcord Games, the Ripcord logo and "Buzz" icon are trademarks of Ripcord Games, LLC. Sega, Dreamcast and the Dreamcast logo are trademarks of SEGA Enterprises, Ltd. Ronin is a trademark of Ronin Entertainment Company. The rating icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Congratulations. You win an InterAct controller. You will be receiving a Barracuda (PS), an Alloy Arcade Stick (DC) or a SharkPad Pro 64? (N64).

See page 159 for official rules.

The Opposite Of X(BAND)

Several years ago, there was an excellent product out that introduced me to the world of online gaming.

(I didn't have a very good computer at the time). Those of us who took part in this little world of multiplayer gaming all remember how much

fun it was, and how sad we were to see it go. That's right, I'm talking about XBAND.

It was made for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. | spent hundreds of hours a month on that network. Hey, 10 bucks a month for unlimited access? How can you beat that? I made friends, | made enemies, we had

alliances, we had clubs, we had clans,

XBAND

Soon.

was great, and it sucked that Catapult shut it down. But wait...XBAND's

Web site, www.xband.com, closed down with the network. Eventually,

it was set up to redirect you to

“The few of us who played XBAND made up a small community. We all knew each other, it was like our own little world... ”

we traded tricks, we had fun. Now | know all of you are saying, “Duh, get on the Internet [and] you can do all of that with a LOT more people. But that's the problem. The few of us who played XBAND made up a small community. We all knew each other, it was like our own little world away from school and homework and stuff. Plus, we could play all the games that weren't on the computer (I was one of the best Killer Instinct players in New Jersey). Online, you don't get to play most of the classic platform games, and there are so many people it's hard not to get lost in the crowd. XBAND

Sorry to let you down, but we checked and it seems that the site up at xband.com is a placeholder right now. The domain is owned by an ex-Catapult employee, as MPath lapsed on keeping up the site. MPath acquired Catapult a few

mplayer.com (if memory serves me right). | think the creators of mplayer were the same creators of XBAND or they merged with another company, | don't know the exact details. All I know is one thing. Go to www.xband.com now and see what you get...no explanation of when, or how, or what system, just a large sign that says, “XBAND soon..." and some chick with the trademark XBAND X on her shoulder. Which brings me to my question...is it coming back? Well, we can dream can't we? Kevin Domenic kdomenic@ix.netcom.com

years ago and dabbled with PC gaming, but shifted into Internet voice communication and are now called HearMe. XBAND making a return to online console gaming isn’t in the cards. But perhaps an XBAND tribute Web site would be...

Responses that begin with DUH!: 2

eReaders who said something has been "itching" them: 1

*Letters about hair color: 1

*Readers who want us to fight other magazines: 1

*Readers named "Fro": 1

Big Brother (Bill)

Having seen the ups and downs of the video game industry for these many years, | might have a layman’s understanding of how resilient it can be, but after reading about Microsoft’s intro of the X-Box, | can’t but wonder if this might be a death knoll for this industry. As | understand, Microsoft’s mantra has always been “If you can’t beat them buy them!” and this is exactly what it will do. Once having introduced its machine to the masses, it would probably go about investing and buying out developers and publishers so as to standardize on its platform and Windows CE OS. If rumors are to be believed, even now they are in talks with some Japanese developers, the main [rumor] being Square and Namco [will] buy them out. | have never held loyalty to one console maker, having enjoyed games from every platform, but if Microsoft gets its way, all of us will be forced to play games it produces on machines it makes. | hope this day will never come but having seen(smelt):) a multibillion- dollar market, Microsoft is about to go on a feeding frenzy.

P.S. | have been an EGM reader since the days of Steve Harris and have enjoyed your magazine thoroughly. It just keeps getting better and better. Thank you.

Ravichander rav66@pacific.net.sg

Microsoft could be compared to Sony before it launched the PS in 1996. Sony bought a stake in Psygnosis (where would the PS be without Wipeout?) and encouraged as many companies as possible to make games for them. That’s no different than what Gates & Co. are doing now. There have been rumors that Microsoft is throwing around some mad dollars to buy a software developer such as Square or Namco— but the likelihood that those companies would succumb to it is pretty low.

. THE SHOES CAN HANDLE IT. — CAN YOU?

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LETTERS

EGM@ziffdavis.com

Send us your thoughts, your wishes, your innermost weirdness. ..or your pictures, crazy screenshots or photos of bizarre game-related

I've noticed some déja vu happening in video games. Think of the Dreamcast as the Saturn. Sure it has many good games and great graphics now, but compare it to the other consoles and they look like crap. PlayStation2 resembles, you guessed it, the PlayStation. A weak launch lineup, a huge price, and the media backing it. And just like the PlayStation, the games over the horizon look great. Now to the Dolphin: Just like the N64, it promises to be twice as good as the competition. But with the only games named so far to be Harry Potter and Pokémon, it looks like it will lose many a gamer because of its kiddie games. And the X-Box resembles the ill-fated Philips CD-i. Great technical readout, and made by a giant electronic company, but no support by gamers. And who do | think will win the console war? If the PlayStation2 was cheaper | would pick it, but with a $400 price tag and $80 a game, it will break the bank. I'm cashing in my funds toward a Dreamcast, and | hope that Sega doesn't screw up this time.

Imthegoatman@aol.com

Whoa, slow down there. Don’t presume the outcome until everyone’s shown their cards. In

Five Games You Couldn't Do Without

If you were stuck on a desert island and could only have five games with you, which would they be? E-mail us your lists at EEM@ziffdavis.com. Mark the subject line Desert Island Games.

some ways, it does seem like 1996 all over again, but the industry has changed. Nintendo’s done with cartridges, Microsoft is bigger and more powerful than Philips was (and very little is even known about X-Box or Dolphin), Sega is serious about winning, and Sony is back at square one trying to get people to buy new hardware. Give it a year or two...

MTVMG+MP3?

| love my MTV Music Generator...and | love the songs | make with it. Any ideas how | can take ’em from my memory card and convert them into MP3s so | can upload to the Net or listen to them? Thanks. Fro lock@gamespotmail.com

There’s no way to do it directly from the memory card, as the file on the memory card simply tells MTV Music Generator what sound files to use from the disc. The only way we can think of to get the audio from your PlayStation onto your PC or Mac for MP3 conversion is to record it. Get a splitter cable from Radio Shack, run it from your PS into the audio of your computer, and you should be good to go. Of course, you'll need the proper software. Just make sure the samples you’re using are royalty-free.

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

| |

612 Final Fantasy VIII Chrono Trigger

Medal of Honor Final Fantasy VII Grandia

Soul Calibur Final Fantasy Anthologies Slayers Wonderful Civilization II StarCraft 64 Pocket Monsters Silver GoldenEye 007 Mario Party 2 Final Fantasy IV loudkid27Gwebtv.net ambic@frontiernet.net rounds@oz.sunflower.org Out Run Tekken 3 Star Ocean 2

Virtual On Dead or Alive 2 Street Fighter Alpha 3

Space Harrier

Zelda: Ocarina of Time Marvel vs. Street Fighter netlink1@concentric.net

Final Fantasy VIII

Sonic Adventure

RE Code: Veronica sailormoont013Gaol.com

Final Fantasy VII

Medal of Honor

Crazy Taxi

jbreuri0222G yahoo.com

“with a $400 price tag and $80 a game, it (PS2) will break the bank. I'm cashing in my funds toward

a Dreamcast, and I hope that Sega doesn't screw up this time."

“Апу ideas how І can take (MTV Generator songs) from my memory card and convert them into MP3s...2”

Will you sign up for SegaNet and get a free Dreamcast?

1 already own a Dreamcast!!! AAAHHHH!!!

10eyes@bellsouth.net It’s FREE!? Heck yeah! јопӣауіѕ149@ао!.сот No, because if I’m going to do online gaming, | want broad bandwidth. | don't think the technology that Sega is using for this is adequate. I'd rather wait for the PS2. jbfoerschler@farmland.com DUH! Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are wrong about this strategy not working (from comments made in the Sega Strikes Back article, same issue). A free Dreamcast? Do you have to ask? Oh уа!!! pdcarey@worldspy.net No. | have cable modem and a Dreamcast...I’m set for life! rjohn223@home.com | would first read the fine print and find out how long | would have to stay on the contract, which there probably will be one. The price of the SegaNet would probably balance out to how much the Dreamcast would cost due to how long | would sign up for SegaNet. But who cares?!! It’s a free Dreamcast!!! wariow3@aol.com Duh! Two words. Free. Dreamcast. acorna@acorna.hippy.com | will, because Sega has cared about their customers all along. And I'll buy DC games with my $200 rebate. | heard you can preregister at sega.default.net Sega cares; Sony wouldn't do that, they are selfish. caseyavrett@worldnet.att.net Only if they make it so you can trade Seaman with all your friends. bigglesworth3626@yahoo.com HA HA HA HA HA, like | would pay $527 for two years of sega.com while | could buy a Dreamcast for $200! НА HA HA HA НА!!! mtsales@mindspring.com

Next Month’s Question of the Moment:

Are you glad Final Fantasy IX is returning to the series’ fantasy roots or do you like the futuristic stuff?

Send your short but sweet responses to: EGM@ziffdavis.com with the subject heading: fantasy

p б | Winterfresh.

You can write EGM at:

EGM Letters P.0. Box 3338 Oak Brook, IL 60522-3338

Please note: We reserve the right to edit any

correspondence for space purposes. If you don't want your name, city/state or e-mail address printed, tell us so (but please include your phone number and mailing

LETTERS

Expand Now Or Die?

| was reading that Sega isn't likely to release a device designed to improve the Dreamcast because of the failure of the Sega CD and 32x. But don't they realize that's the only way to really compete with the PS2, the X-Box, and Nintendo's pretend Dolphin that no one knows anything about? Also, the Genesis was never meant to be expanded, but look at the N64 and how Nintendo improved it dramatically just by adding 4 Megs of RAM. Think of what Sega could do if they added, Say, 32-64 more Megs, a graphics accelerator, and maybe a small hard drive, like the X-Box. Chris Clark FunkyBlue64@excite.com

If you’re talking about DVD— Sega’s already got the proprietary GD-ROM format which holds more data than a regular CD. The benefit

1 have one question, what in the hell is UBER? poppa-

a.c@worldnet.att.net What do we look like, a German-to- English dictionary?

Shouldn't this page be updated? UmpaLupa71@aol.co No.

I'm blue da ba dee da ba dye, da ba dee da ba dye, da ba dee da ba dye, | have a blue house with a blue window...

Cody Fowers C_fowers@yahoo.com Hmm, well, we've dispatched the authorities to said blue house.

e-mail: EGM@ziffdavis.com

Brad the helicopter pilot, Mikhail, Sherry Birkin, that guy in the prison in RE: Code Veronica, Steve Bunside, and that's not all. Every mutant DOES NOT have hair. Bald: Tyrant, Tyrant 2, Mr. X (that guy in RE2), Nemesis, Alexia (2nd form). And every other sub- bosses. The following people do not follow my "hair rule": Nicholai, Chief Brian Irons, Ada Wong. As you can see, it's all a matter of hair color. When we will hear about the next RE on PS2 and when we will see the first screens, we will just have to look at the hair color of a new character to see if he's a bad guy or not. Jean-Francois Morin Quebec, Canada

To quote Crispin, “What you say is very interesting, in fact, you're very interesting."

address for Letter of the Month consideration).

Hey EGM crew! I have a question about the Pocket Games magazine. | was looking at the new edition and | noticed that there were at least 10 pages that came out of your Pokémon edition (#124). | was wondering if you are making part of this mag, or are they just making some very bad plagiarism? If they are big fakes, | recommend you go over there and beat the crap out of them!

Jay Jcoolb@juno.com

Thanks for the heads-up on those thieves, we’re gonna challenge them to a dance-off, like in the Beat It video...just kidding. Pocket Games is produced by various members of our Ziff Davis gaming mags gang.

you'd get by increasing FMV quality with DVD over alienating half your WINNER BRS audience (as not everyone would Rod Beltran WILE MISS buy an upgrade) is marginal. They ПЕЕ AN Close, but YOU, SHOE need to do all they can with what hae , DU GOOD LUE they've got. An expansion at this Congratulations, your no controller IN YOUR time would be admitting a DC prize is on the way- Bad luck to these FUTURE: weakness. Besides, the games an ASCII Specialized guys...better luck next are what matter, not the graphics. Control Pad for the time. Feel free to e-mail Bring it on! PlayStation. It us artwork as well. More

features rapid-fire of our messages are e-

controls for all mails these days-so don't Blond-Bad buttons and slow miss out!

motion for those Matt Steele Brown-Good intense moments. Georgetown, TX

It’s been a long time since this has

been itching me. | just bought Code: Veronica and met with the Ashford twins. Now | have noticed something. Every main bad guy in the Resident Evil series has blond hair! You don’t believe me? Blond: Albert Wesker,

The ASCII Control Pad

Put your creative skills to the test by decking out a #10 envelope (the long business type) with your own unique touch. Send your letter art to:

FO BER 3336 Oak Brook, OB 09722.-3338

William Birkin, Annette Birkin, Alfred EGM Letter Art — Ashford, Alexia Ashford. There you PO Box 3338 3 go. Also, every good guy/girl is red- Oak Brook, IL

haired or brown-haired. Red: Claire Redfield, Barry Burton, Leon S. Kennedy, Ben the Journalist. Brown: Chris Redfield, Carlos Oliviera, Rebecca Chambers, Enrico (Alpha team leader),

60522-3338

(All entries become the property of Ziff Davis Media Inc. and will not be returned!)

Roland Sabalza Seattle, WA

Electronic Gaming Monthly - 24 - www.videogames.com

The #1 Arcade Hit Has Found A New Home...Yours!

The blockbuster arcade hit, PeterJacobsen's Golden Tee Golf™, is coming home to the PlayStation® game console! Realistic gameplay, immersive environments and all new enhancements will keep you coming back for more again and again!

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e Exclusive Tournament mode

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AGT INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE COMPANY « PLYMOUTH, MN 55447.

Available at all fine game retail stores, or order online at

Peter Jacobsen's Golden Tee Golf ©2000 Incredible Technologies, Inc. Published and distributed by WizardWorks. A GT Interactive Software Company. PlayStati registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective Owners. _

ANYONE MAKE IT TO-DAWN?

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ACTION/ADVENTURE MULTIPLE DECISIONS. SEARCH. SOLVE. GOES HIGH-SPEED. MULTIPLE OUTCOMES. AND DESTROY.

Lose yourself in a heart-pounding Every decision becomes crucial as Search computers and bodies to find 3-D thrill-ride that stretches across you change routes, engage enemies, clues; then dispose of terrorists using _

30 different cities and 12 countries. and alter the outcome. 10 different military weapons.

P www.activision.com е; ® Pies end A FzZ, ACTION-PACKED CDs МӘ ОТТЕ ACIIVISION.

Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn © 2000 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn is a trademark of Activision, Inc. Published and distributed by Activision. Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision, Inc. Ali rights reserved. Licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment America for use with the PlayStation game console. PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All other trademarks or trade names are the properties of their respective owners.

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PlayStation

YESTERDAY, KEN MET DORIS WHEN SHE WAS IN HEAT.

THIS ISN'T DORIS.

ARE YOU IN HEAT?

НЕНТ мєт

play games online

Press Start

By Chris Johnston chris_johnston@zd.com

The Hottest Gaming News on the Planet

Final Fantasy Legend

An Interview with Hironobu Sakaguchi

ut simply, Hironobu Sakaguchi js Final

Fantasy. He invented the series, he’s

directed every installment since the

NES original; and now he’s charting new territory with his Final Fantasy flick, due summer 2001. On top of that, Sakaguchi is readying FFX for the PlayStation2 — which, via Square's Play Online program, will interface with an online strategy guide and let players participate in auctions for rare items—and he's laying the groundwork for the massively multiplayer ЕЕХІ. We sat down with Sakaguchi, who's also the chairman and CEO of Hawaii- based Square USA, to talk about all things Final Fantasy.