INSIDE: ZELDA, METAL GEAR SOLID 4, SOCOM 3, AND MORE i | p p 3“ ET T - | ш- j A — F 2 EN / m 3 4 V ГГ аі | = — s ы. ча E і | / Өжет ier ЖЕН. А Е А ' LÀ. | | Гад.” Å 4 | | | y 1 | 4 2 | | 3 y W / да l The #1 Videogame Magazine] | fe. TE An E QW SOUL CALIBUR І УІ 09>% = 8 5 8 9 2 зо 0696 5 ons 2 | á Mild violence Say hello to EyeToy: Play 2, with 12 all-new games like GoalAttack, HomeRun, AirGuitar and 75 bonus games. The included EyeToy USB camera tracks your every move, putting you in the middle of the action. s Its the most fun you can have in your living room! / EyeToy USB Camera Й (for PlayStation. 2) included EyeToy; Play2 В www.us.playstation.com PlayStation.e LIVE IN YOUR W RLD. с> PLAY IN OURS: i ШЕ А PG 7 "v ZN СМЕ xeox puro асас ‘SOFTWARE t BROADBAND ONLY 25101 ©2005 Eidos. Developed by Avalanche Software, LLC and Ritual Entertainment, Inc. Published by Eidos, Inc. Creative direction by Hwy! Productions, Avalanche and the Avalanche logo are trademarks of Avalanche, LLC. 25 to Ше, Eidos and the Eidos logos are registered trademarks of the Eidos Group of Companies. The ratings icon isa registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. PlayStation ‘and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Online play requires Internet connection and Network ‘Adapter (for PlayStation 2) and Memory Card (3MB) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately). The Online icon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live, the Live logo, and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft АН other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. АЙ rights reserved, Game Experience May Change During Online Play. “PROTECT SOCIETY AS THE BOYS IN BLUE OR JOIN A GANG AND WAGE WAR ON IT” AT ritual A ENTERTAINMENT AVALANCHE SOFTWARE J әле обо] yojauueg ig^) Аюшаи pue гешаред 10 ѕуешаред Hunt and be hunted by aggressive AI that homes in on the slightest sound. isuodsad ou sexe) воиәшу uauureuaqu3 Jayndwog fuos, “y's yojaweg Jo sxreuapen дпбшод Kuos jo Уешоред e st 4051 auu au; "(Мезеледав роз yee) (Z uoneisfeld аро SIU 10) у эдпоэшеу opusjuiN ayy pue @ ‘NL OU] гоиашу шашип New dual gameplay: Play as the lead operative and cover from above as the elusive sniper. ndwiog Kuos јо сигешаред рәәјѕ!бәл әле 060| Аншез „са, aun pi pue WL обо wuopeid axemyos "fueduoo uawureyayu3 цозап UNAS "saujunoo защо Jo/pue "пад ш зиашиерауи3 шо} pag Build your operative's career on Xbox Live@ in the Persistent Elite Creation™ mode. оба! XOX ащ pue ‘Обо 24/7 AU} ‘2АГ7 ход ход "uos: в ащ ‘WOON *yosiqn молошоц елориед 1139 1210186 "ausi WES "Ij fepy жона "UOn9auuo auau! вәлпбә fed aumuo ч 9 "paiuasey зубн пу YOLLY 6002 @ UOISIAA зидой "opuajuIN 1002 © ‘ориззиим 10 sysewape are обо M 8) Ji эш pue цоаше Detect the threat using cutting-edge technology like heat sensors, nignt vision, and surveillance PDAs. Blood Language Violence Xeox CALL'^FR > 7 К А е» P CSS wa cheery online battle with ааа а few of your closest pals. You >= hunt down & few terrorists, blow off some heads with your sniper rifle, and use night vision to stalk each other in the dark. In the world of Rainbow Six, only one Pule of friendship applies: watch your back if you want to get out alive. a VERSION) Live е PlayStation.2 Play It On ubicom: RAINBOWSIXGAME.COM ‚ ы EIS BROADBAND ONLY Y. NDLY GATHERING... RESE 0 AND GET LER CELL: PANDORA TOMORROW" А Tom и Claneys | т Р Playsta 2. А | ? | Td Cid 5. 4 Visit www.esrb.org for updated rating information. Winner, Best RPG of E3 — Game Critics Award, GameSpot, IGN, GameSpy, Xbox Evolved, Console Gold, Daily Game, Games Domain “Oblivion is, at this time, the best-looking game I have ever seen in my life.” = Xbox.com “The biggest title for the Xbox 360», and the one I’m most looking forward ѓо.” — GamePro Magazine “One look at Oblivion will shatter your conceptions about what is possible in à video game” uera The RPG for the Next Generation CES à п 1 BETHESDA SOFTWORKS * AME STUDIOS a ZeniMax Media company uif 12 Tellus how much you hate us. PRESS START he latest news, previews, features, and gaming gossip 8 SEQUEL FACTORY | Why Mega Man Battle Network 79 ain't that big of a stretch GRAND THEFT AUTO: LIBERTY CITY STORIES. Takes place three years before GTA 3..м/һеп we still had a social life KING KONG This ain't going to be Donkey Kong for your Xbox 360 38 ZELDA WATCH Our new monthly section monitors. Link’s unusual hormonal change 40 ONLINE A SOCOM 3 online community just for 9 steamy chats about land vehicles 46 GIZMONDO Find out what the hell this thing isand whether it's worth $400 48: METAL GEAR SOLID 4 Alert the guards—Snake's sneaking 77” \ back into our living rooms ^ 50 NINTENDOGS Lay out that newspaper for your DS—these mutts are coming 58 NEXT-GEN CONSOLE REPORT We enter'the laband create our very own Nintendo Revolution controller 60 CELEB GAMER The Beastie Boys chat about how handhelds make their asses, numb 64 RUMOR MILL Tom Cruise, Lindsay Lohan, Master Chief—only quality gaming gossip GAME OVER Funny reviews and funny pages 126 SEANBABY’S REST OF THE CRAP 128 CROSSWORD/GRUDGE MATCH 130 ЕСМ RETRO/OLD SCHOOL 132 FINAL WORD 133. NEXT MONTH 134 HSU-& CHAN CONTRIBUTORS Founder Steve Harris 10 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com COVER STORY: , The ultimate fighting game is back! Soul Calibur Ill promises more bouncy boobs (two new girl characters); a build-your-own-badass feature, strange new weapons (like...umbrellas?), and did we mention more bouncy boobs? ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA GAME GROUP HEAD HONCHOS. Production Manager Teresa WY | tUPcom Р colt Newson Reg Е CIRCULATION г Marketing Direct iliam Michalopoulo: mag, Miguel | Territory Managers & Acct. Execs. Gaming Accounts To contact les рін & Adver call 4 o4 REVIEW CREW Multiplatform Fantastic 4 PlayStation 2 Xbox GameCube Geist PSP 5 Death, Jr. Nintendo DS Pac’N Roll Nanostray Extra Stuff Madden NFL 06 The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction 9 Batman Begins EyeToy: Play 2 Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir Sid Meier's Pirates! Sonic Gems Collection Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Advance Wars: Dual Strike Splinter Cell Chaos Theory Reviews Wrap-up Reviews Archive мК. МТЕМОО әр Ж Ме chat with the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto, the man behind Mario, Zelda, strange garden creatures, and more UNDER THE RADAR Previews of what could be the next sleeper hits Dragon Quest Vill Digital Devil зада 2 Gun Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse Shadow of the Colossus Radiata Stories Total Overdose World Reborn: Unification Popolocrois Lost in Blue е < A few months ago, I stated in my editorial that Sony's PSP portable would eventually be a higher mass-market seller than the Nintendo DS due to its sleek design and popular PlayStation branding. And even with the Nintendo faithful trying to take out my knees on a daily basis with their homemade Zelda swords, | still stand by this. | will say, however, that the DS is the better machine...for this not-so- mass-market gamer, anyway. From Kirby Canvas Curse to Meteos, from Advance Wars: Dual Strike to Nintendogs, the DS offers gameplay experiences you can't and won't find anywhere else. | always said the DS touch screen had some amazing potential (you never knew someday you'd be washing puppies with it, did ya? Did ya?? See pg. 50). Now we're seeing better and more clever uses of the DS' hardware features, and we only have more to look forward to. This really gets me excited about Nintendo's GameCube successor, the Revolution. Everything we're hearing about it says it won't be the most powerful console or the number-one- selling system (PlayStation and Xbox are stronger mainstream brands, and both the PS3 and Xbox 360 are Scheduled to hit stores before the Revolution—that's not the best of news for Nintendo). But if the DS is any indication, the company is fully behind innovating the way you play games, not just concentrating on more horsepower or better graphics. We don't know everything Nintendo is planning on offering yet (check out the interviews on pg. 26 and a just-for- the-helluvit theoretical Revolution controller on pg. 58), but chances are it will be fun. And if not...well, I'm sure | can keep myself busy for hundreds of hours just downloading and replaying classic Nintendo games on the Revolution. Super Metroid, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!, Super Mario Bros. 1-3, Kid Icarus, The Legend of Zelda: (fill in the blank)...\ can't wait. —Editor-in-Chief, Dan “Shoe” Hsu All content copyright © 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. Reproduction, ‘modification, or transmission, in or in part, by any means, ihout written permission from Ziff Davis Media Inc. is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved, ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com е 11 ranting, raving, sex, drugs, and videogaming 5 Like Pong, but older...and Baer In your “Most Influential People” piece (Issue #193), you listed Nolan Bushnell as the father of console gaming. You should have mentioned Ralph Baer, creator of the Magnavox Odyssey. The Odyssey came out before Pong, and Atari had to pay royalties to Baer and Magnavox for patent infringement. Ralph never gets any credit for his work. — Тіт Posey Good point, but FYI, we didn’t call Bushnell the “father of console gaming.” We credited him for creating Atari and bringing Pong to the masses. Ralph Baer does deserve a spot on our list, though. is a heel I'm sick of you people insulting wrestling in FFVII's your game reviews. It may not be real, but Sephiroth, you don't have to attack it. — Damien Clipp POST OFFICE Our attacks aren't completely real. We always let the oily manhandlers know beforehand so they can brace for emotional impact. Sephiroth When my wife was pregnant, | put headphones on her belly and played videogame songs, usually pieces from Sonic Adventure, Chrono Cross, or even the theme song from Killer Instinct. But the song I think the baby loved the most was an orchestral version of the Final Fantasy VII theme. When it was time for the baby to Come into our gaming world, labor stopped completely. It was like the baby wasn't ready or something was missing. So | took the headphones, put on the song, and when it was finished, the baby was ready to go. Guess the baby was excited to know more about Final Fantasy VII. —Jean-Marie Alneus Please visit www.plannedparenthood.org to find a contraceptive that's right for you and your partner. disgusted by کے‎ childbirth. MC | just finished my masterpiece, a flow that represents the classic NES era. Here's an excerpt: "Remember Justin Bailey? / Remember when ya found out Samus was a pretty lady? / Remember fightin' the Mother Brain and blastin' like 80 missiles at her bravely? / Remember goin’ straight-up crazy in four-player Gauntlet, baby? / Have you played the classics lately? / Who could forget the infamous Konami code МА that helped so greatly? / Sel Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Left, B, A, and Start. / | know the mother- ВО fin’ code by heart. It's official: Lyrical references to video- —dustin Drysdale Rambling and ranting from our message boards, boards.1UP.com (look for Electronic Gaming Monthly's forums) What left field, weirdo, or little known games are you looking forward to this year? See Under the Radar (pg.76). Хепопехиз182: Shining Force Neo (PS2)—in the hopes that it’s not nearly as bad as Shining Tears. NYCmagestic: Odama (GC), because we need different/quirky/odd games achieving success here in the United States. Bowflex. Body: If a game is so lousy that it can't get media attention, | tend to think that it probably isn’t worth my time. Поротап2: Sadly, my most anticipated title this year— Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)— 12 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com probably qualifies as “under the radar.” C Sirife97: Gunstar Super Heroes (GBA)—is anyone else thinking of going all handheld, or am | just crazy? Таптапт 596: Lost in Blue (DS) for sure. Just the Concept of surviving on a deserted island sounds like fun. And the DS will bring some new gameplay ideas. Xehirut: Trauma Center: Under the Knife (DS): 1 think being an amateur surgeon—without the liability of a malpractice suit or the bloody clothes— would be fun. NINTENDO YS Congrats, Pamela. Your thoughtful Letter of the Month has earned you and your cousin a random game (hopefully subtitled) from the EGM pile. games are over. Oh, and that code you know so well? Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, RIGHT, B, A, Start. Money = The next-generation consoles have been unveiled, and the fanboys are out in full force. I'm sick of them already. No one has seen the consoles in real life, just pictures and screenshots. But they already have their favorites and aren't afraid to talk them up. The comments they're making are beyond pointless. 1 own all three current consoles, and | can't wait for а! of the next-gen machines. —Drew Quandt Shut up and pick a side, Richie Rich inflation How does the industry expect the average gamer to keep up with technology costs? Judging by the “Console Wars” story in Issue #194, it seems the only way to play will be online and on a huge HDTV. I've got CONTACT EGM E-mail us at: EGM@ziffdavis.com Or write to: EGM Letters 101 2nd Street, 8th Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 For subscription help, contact: E-mail: subhelp@egmmag.com Website: http://service.egmmag.com Phone toll-free: (800) 779-1174 Old-fashioned way: P.0. Box 55722 Boulder, CO 80322-5722 BACK ISSUES? E-mail back_issues@ziffdavis.com to order old issues, tell it to shut up and carry your stuff. Super Break" JANSPORT* is a registered trademark of JanSport Apparel Corp, a subsidiary of V.F. Corporation. of different sports cars? You all seem to be experts on realistic physics in racing games, but | would imagine most of you probably drive import passenger cars, SUVs or, God forbid, a Hyundai or Kia. | would never drive anything but a sports car, and | don’t think Gran Turismo 4 feels at all like a real driving simulation. It feels more like how gamers would want cars to handle while playing with a DualShock. [The cars in] Forza Motorsport and Sega GT feel like real cars. And just for a last low blow to Gran Turismo 4: | own а 1978 Datsun 2807, and the manual transmission is a four speed, not a five speed as in 674. There is a Fairlady model equipped with a five speed, but it's not the same model [as the one] featured in the game. So much for "The Real Driving Simulator." BONUS GALLERY Going the extra mile for love of the game Project Pixelation Last summer | stumbled on a how-to for making old-school videogame sprites from Perler Beads (those colorful, cylindrical beads you melt together with an iron; you know, the ones you stop playing with when you're 6). Here are some of the larger sprites | made over Christmas break (note the pen for scale). —Christopher M. Wilhelm a 27-inch TV from 1996 and a 10-year-old stereo (that's two speakers, no fancy surround sound system). Now, | make decent money, but not enough to keep up with what will be the standard soon. Us working folks might be inclined to —Ryan LeCocq My stepbrother says that I'm a geek because | like videogames. He says that anyone who plays games is a loser. Basically, | hate him because he doesn't know anything, and Reviews Editor Demian Linn responds: “We’ll surprise ya, Ryan LeCocq—if that is your real name. Regular Review Crew contributor Greg Sewart used to race go-karts competitively and just about lapped me the last time we went karting. And before this whole videogame thing, | was a roadtester at а car magazine. But then Gran Turismo came out, and | realized | was in the wrong industry entirely." Private Pile | bought Full Spectrum Warrior a while ago and loved it. | also found out it was а training tool used for the Army. | was out of high school and looking for a job, so after beating FSW, | visited a recruiter for the United States Marine Corps. | enrolled, training to become an infantryman. I'm now in camp, getting ready to pass the Crucible. Most people | talk to think I’m an idiot for joining the USMC—and | am—but I'm more of an idiot for joining because of playing FSW! —Alexandre Perni spend the money for he’s a new- wannabe generation piaystation:2 skate technology аз E punk/sports long as that jock/rock technology star. doesn’t cost —J-Man the equivalent of a down TERE We were payment on a totally house or car. going to —Ryan Haack defend you, but your Obviously we stepbrother jumped us in EGM reader Huey knows better ways to spend twenty bucks than on these games... Why must there be sex and drugs in videogames? That's what the Internet, soul mates, and street corners are for. —Huey the bathroom (we’re still finding bits of our undies where they shouldn't be). Getting the feel Thanks for the info; we've been looking for real sex and drugs all night! How many of your reviewers regularly drive an assortment GAME DESIGN-O-RAMA Got proof that game design is best left to the pros? Send your concept (with art) to EGM@ziffdavis.com, subject: design-o-rama Shadow Ops: Fred Mercury Your challenge: Singing 12-part castrato harmonies in a band called Queen while | somehow staying in the closet | Your weapons: An iconic handlebar mustache, | a sweaty mesh T-shirt, a sparkling white grand piano, and an arsenal of killer guitar riffs Your mission: Save rock "n' roll from the clutches of tame metal bands, whiny | suburban punk rockers, and a chorus of | crybaby preteens | Your reward: Everlasting life in the pantheon of rock —Absalom Jones 14 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com We've hidden movie quotes in this issue—spot one and you can win our Game of the Month. If you find опе, go to EGM-GOTM.1UP.com. There you can send us a message (subject head: "Movie Quote: EGM #195”) with the quote, the movie it's from, and page number you found it on. Include your mailing address (no PO boxes!) and your full name. Three randomly selected readers will win a copy of the Game of the Month. ж. alitying services. With speeds he street or halfway around the > Tiates. ©2005 SBC Knowledge Ventures, L. р. All rights reserved. < © GAMES’ gamexstudios- 5 e = = = е 2 ea Violence P IUS IN THE DARKEST DAYS WHEN A LEADER MUST STEP INTO THE LIGHT. | of Dungeon Siege Il, you will gather warriors, build "ithéir skills and adopt exotic creatures. Only then can you battle the ancient sword of Zaramoth and the tyranny that sweeps Aranna. Whether you go it alone or choose a multiplayer campaign in this sequel to the million-selling Dungeon Siege, the fate of the world lies in your hands. www.dungeonsiegescom À % ‘ wenty-one. №, this isn't a T friendly reminder of how old you must be to legally drink a Budweiser. Rather, it's the number of Mega Man titles that Capcom has released since 2000. Think about it: That’s roughly four games a year starring the Blue Bomber. Now some may be of the opinion that such sequel overload is a surefire way to kill a franchise, but Capcom Director of Marketing Todd Thorson believes the publisher is simply giving gamers want they want. “The Mega Man franchise has consistently done well at retail due to a loyal and widespread fan base,” he says. “One of our latest games, Mega Man Anniversary Collection, is one of our best-selling yet at more than 500,000 copies [in the United States]." 18 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com > FACTORY Videogame companies аге producing franchise follow-ups at insane rates, with no work stoppage in sight While the case of Mega Man is extreme, it’s evident that most companies in the videogame biz are getting some serious mileage out of their popular franchises. Just flip ahead to the Sales Charts and Hot Ten sections of this mag and you'll find sequels dominating those pages. And after speaking with several analysts, publishers, and developers, it doesn’t look like this trend will stop anytime soon. As videogames have transformed into a viable (and highly profitable) medium since the days of Pong, the industry’s cor- porate structure has evolved right along with them. “Publishers are now big public companies with a responsibility to their investors,” says one financial analyst who wishes to remain anonymous. “Part of that responsibility entails having a plan, and to have a plan you need visibility.” That's where sequels come in, as investors feel more confident in a publisher whose annual portfolio includes at least a few titles with an established audience. Also, New System = New Ideas Looking to enrich your videogame expe- rience with more non-franchised, non- licensed titles? The release of three new consoles by the end of next year should help, as publishers tend to use a hard- ware launch to try out new brands. “Early in the life cycle of a platform there are few products for customers to choose from,” says Neil Young, vice with development costs on the rise, turn- ing a profit is becoming harder and harder, which causes companies to lean more heavily on their franchises. “A game on all three consoles would have to sell around 600,000 in its first year, plus another 600,000 over the next couple of years just president and general manager of Electronic Arts Los Angeles. "It's a great opportunity to have a top-five title that captures mindshare and will either get purchased by everyone who's buying a new console or give you an opportunity to capitalize on that mindshare with a sequel when the installed base [of the platform] is larger. 3D Render by Chuck Ernst >> WARREN SPECTOR, WHO CREATED THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED YET POOR-SELLING DEUS EX SERIES (XB), HAS OPENED JUNCTION to break even,” says analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan. “A million- unit seller isn’t what it used to be.” Even members of the development community understand that creating sequels makes financial sense. "This is a business and our livelihoods depend on being able to make and sell lots of games,” admits Ted Price, president of developer Insomniac. “If we're fortunate enough to develop a concept that becomes a franchise, we have a better chance to sell more games consistently— that is, as long as the sequels continue to surprise and excite players.” This November, Insomniac will release its fourth Ratchet & Clank game in four years, the weapon-heavy platformer Ratchet: Deadlocked (PS2). Beyond Good & Evil: made possible by Ubisoft capitalizing on its popular brands. Videogame purists may bellyache that today’s software selection lacks original properties like the "03 critical hit (and commercial flop) Beyond Good & Evil, but consider this: If it weren’t for sequels, companies couldn't create new brands. Gary Keith, Ubisoft’s director of brand management, explains: "[Sequels] give people more of what they love, and they help publishers build а war chest so they can afford to take risks on new game ideas.” The success of the Mortal Kombat franchise, for example, helped Midway fund four all-new titles last year, including the horrorfest The Suffering (which will receive a follow-up this September); plus, the publisher plans to launch another four original properties in "06. This strategy works for independent developers, too. BioWare, best known in the console market for creating the Xbox role-playing blockbuster Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, used that hit and multiple PC games to make its first non-franchised, non-licensed title, Jade Empire (XB). "[Creating new intellectual properties] has been the goal of the com- pany since we started BioWare 10 years ago,” says co-CEO Greg Zeschuk. “We also have two other new intellectual properties in devel- opment right now.” Well, not until gamers start asking for it. “If you want to blame someone for lus No fairy tale here— Fable (Xbox) is the only: non-sequel, non-licensed game to crack the top 50 sales chart in 2004, the number of sequels, blame the consumers,” ex-Naughty Dog (Jak series) President Jason Rubin told The Hollywood Reporter. “If Tony Hawk 58 is what gamers want, so be it.” Pachter agrees: “Publishers give [consumers] what they want, which is, apparently, World War ll-based first-person shooters." And don't forget Mega Man games. —Bryan Intihar ps Кон = Number of original properties (console or handheld) that finished in the top 10 of games sold during "04 in the United States 4 in the top 100 (Fable, Rise to Honor, True Number of original properties that finished in the top 50 (Fable) Number of original properties that finished Crime: Streets of L.A., Red Dead Revolver) sis ЕЕ. SS ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com 9 19 ‘Source: NPD TRSTS Video Game Service EGMINTERNATI@NAL You call yourself hardcore? На! PS2 NAMCO X CAPCOM Oh, great, did these companies merge, too? No, no—they just came together to create a game that will make hardcore video dorks sali- vate so much that they'll need a boat to float out of their parents' basement. This strategy- RPG (produced by the folks at Monolith Soft, the outfit behind Xenosaga) works along similar lines as the robot-combat-RPGs that litter Japan's game shops...except the characters are all from Namco and Capcom titles of years past. So you can do Pac-Man versus, say, Dante? It could be possible, given the convolut- ed plot Monolith's come up with to explain the massive crossover here. Licensing issues could make a U.S. release tough, but if Klonoa and, uh, Resident Evil's Leon Kennedy have taught us anything, it's to never give up! PS2 SHIKIGAMI NO SHIRO: NANAYOZUKI GENSOUKYOKU Namco X Capcom just isn’t fringe enough for me. Then how about a game that combines the two least popular genres on the planet—text adventures and overhead shoot-em-ups—into a single 7,140 yen (or around $65) package? The Shikigami series has so much backstory behind its bullet-ridden hide that the creators actually made an adventure game based on it. And your choices in this adventure affect the difficulty and enemy setups of the shooting sections. When did shooter plots get so complicated? Beats us—it's to the point where the developers even sell a separate DVD with artwork, inter- views, and original radio-drama bits. All this for a game in which you press a single button...a lot. Halo for Hollywood! WHAT'S PLAYING IN TH COMPUTE! GAMING WORLD When | was a kid, | was totally freaked out by King Vitamin. Not because of the dreams in which he ate my feet—1 could deal with those. Actually, it was the cereal box that did the damage. It showed the king, and he'd be holding a box of the cereal, and on that box was the king holding another box and on it was him and so on. That infinitely telescoping cereal box blew my mind every morning before third grade. Spore, the next undertaking of The Sims genius Will Wright, should be just as mind-blow- ing, just about as infinite, and the only thing bothering my brain is that | have to wait until late next year to play i Spore’s premise is simply brilliant: You start as a single cell creature, and if you survive long enough, you evolve. Nothing drastic, maybe you can fight other cells better, or maybe you get a flagellum and move faster. Simple editing tools that persist in all aspects of the game let you make highly personalized design decisions. Survive long enough and you'll evolve into a more complex creature, even- tually move to the land, become the dominant species on your planet, cre- ate a society to rule that planet, and move to space to conquer your solar system, the galaxy, and maybe even the universe. From the most drasti- cally humble beginnings you can grow to omnipotence. Also, the competing species will be drawn from an online database tracking the species created by all the other play- ers in their respective games. —Robert Coffey, Computer Gaming World Movieland has just gobbled up yet Later) penned the script and that another videogame franchise, and Ше movie is scheduled to hit it’s a big one: Halo. According to theaters sometime during 2007. The Hollywood Reporter, Universal | Also, reports abound that Pictures and 20th Century Fox will Microsoft and Halo developer join forces to make a film based Bungie are being very protective on Microsoft's blockbuster sci-fi of the project, which hopefully franchise that between its two means they'll keep Uwe Boll, Xbox installments has sold more director of videogame-to-movie than 13 million copies worldwide. duds such as House of the Dead While details remain scarce, we and Alone in the Dark, far away do know Alex Garland (28 Days from Master Chief. та мша наз озы шпа аша OO >> 90 MILLION AND COUNTING—SONY ANNOUNCED THAT ІТ HAS NOW SOLD 90 MILLION PS2S WORLDWIDE SINCE ITS DEBUT IN 200 20 « ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com ciate for complete details, Availability date subject to change. MARVEL, Spider-Man and all related characters: ТМ & © 2005 Marvel Characters Inc. All rights reserved. www, marvel.com CALL 1.800.800.5166 FOR THE STORE NEAREST YOU OR VISIT US AT WWW.EBGAMES.COM GANES. uum ACTIVISION. We take games seriously (>) press start GRAND THEFT ¢ AUTO: LIBERTY CITY STORIES Same town, different story псе upon a time, a man with 0 no name came to Liberty City. He was a very, very bad man, and he did many very, very bad things. So bad, in fact, his adventures (as chronicled in Grand Theft Auto Шоп the PS2 and Xbox) caused people in the real world to do bad things as Welcome to the Jungle...Again #5 Liberty City all right. All three major areas (Portland, Staunton Island, Shoreside Vale) are intact, which means this little PSP disc is packing in an insane amount of urban real estate. It's impressive from a technology standpoint but may be a bit disappointing for fans who've seen it all before. Because Liberty City Stories takes place only three years before Grand Theft Auto 3, not much has changed since we last visited the town. You will see some new (or rather, old) businesses. For example, on the PSP you'll see Paulie's Revue Bar, which will later become Luigi's Sex Club in GTAS. Throughout the city, you'll also find stunt opportunities for your cars, hidden packages, and rampages (during which you go hog-wild and shoot as many сіууіеѕ as you can within the time limit), just like in previous GTAs. well, which made all the grown-ups become mad at videogames for a while. This story isn’t about the man with no name, however, but rather one of his bosses in GTA3, Toni Cipriani (who is also a very bad man). Three years before the man with no name arrived in Liberty City, Mr. Cipriani himself Publisher: Rockstar Developer: Rockstar Leeds Release Date: October 2005 was just returning to town after being away for a long time, hiding from other bad men that пей hurt. Now Мг, Cipriani is back, ready to show every- one why Liberty City stories weren’t meant to be told to children. Here’s what you can expect from his adventures... —Dan “Shoe” Hsu m This town is big enough for two gun-happy, carjacking gangsters. >> GTA: LIBERTY CITY STORIES WILL FEATURE CELEBRITY VOICE ACTING AND SEVERAL RADIO STATIONS WITH LICENSED TUNES.... >> 22» ELECTRONIC. GAMING. MONTHLY * Ww TURCOM ULTIMATE m. E UltimateSpiderManGame.com | |. GAME BOY ADVANCE pico | PlayStation.e | Ж ACTIVISION. | Xeox ENES! NINTENDO) ESRB CONTENT RATING _www.esth.org vx CUBE BDS. activision.com Spider-Man and all related characters thereof are trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc, and are used with permission. Copyright © 2005 Marvel Characters, Inc. AI rights reserved. Game 2 2005 Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision is a " registered trademark of Activision Publishing, Ic Al ПМ reserved. “PlayStation” and the PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Хбох and the ox logos are either registered tragemarisor | WIRELESS trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the US. and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. ТМ, %, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. 2004 Nintendo Ali rights / ) (GAME reserved. PC CD-ROM logo ТМ and © 2003 IEMA. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. Al other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. (>) press start : СТА (CONT) Now Featuring Liberty City Stories jacked several post- GTA3 improvements, such as new cars, motorcycles, and GTA: San Andreas' trip skips (to save you time when replaying failed missions) and improved targeting system (with the ability to cycle through enemies), though you still can't shoot as effectively as you can in, say, every other videogame on the market. Unfortunately, you won't be building up. your character's stats as in San Andreas, and you still can't swim, as Liberty City wasn't designed for that. You will, however, get to dress up in dif- ferent outfits. Rockstar won't say quite yet what effect this has on gameplay. Two-wheelin’ in Chinatown. | Watch out for spit and ‘ad Story Time в These park joggers Although the city is a familiar concrete J are going down. jungle to most of us, the adventure is all new. As you'd suspect, Toni’s return to Liberty City isn’t a quiet one, with the Sindacco family, the police, and even the mayor's office “welcoming” him home like a parade gone horribly wrong. Мече seen two missions so far. In one, the don sends you to pick up some money at a warehouse, which blows up just as you get there. You must scramble around picking up all the loose change while picking off Triad gangsters. In another mission, you have to stop four waves of Sindacco thugs from blowing up a casino. It starts with two cars full of hit men, then an armored truck, and finally, a dynamite-packed van, which you have take over and drive out of harm’s way. In all, Rockstar promises “a lot” of missions that can add up to between 80 and 120 hours of gameplay. ж >> RUMORS HAVE BEEN CIRCULATING THAT GTA: LCS WILL HAVE MULTIPLAYER SUPPORT, BUT ROCKSTAR WON'T CONFIRM OR DENY THIS.... >> 24 © ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com UltimateSpiderManGa PC > CD-ROM [SOFTWARE] Language Violence ESRB CONTENT RATING _www.esrb.org Paysaiong | Ж | & | ACTIVISION. жвож ЕТЕКТЕН NINTENDOIS _ UBE. activision.com Spider-Man and ай related characters thereof are trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc., and are used with permission. Copyright © 2005 Marvel Characters, Inc. АН rights reserved. Game © 2005 Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. АИ rights reserved. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family ogo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, ox and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or | WIRELESS trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the US, and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft, TM, ©, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo, © 2004 Nintendo. AI rights J (GAME reserved. PC CD-ROM logo TM and © 2003 IEMA. The ratings icon is а registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association, All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. jas Westfalk and Alejandro Chavetta. >> THIS SEPTEMBER, MICROSOFT WILL RELEASE FABLE: THE LOST CHAPTERS, A “DIRECTOR'S CUT” OF THE XBOX ACTION-RPG THAT 26 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com ў DAMN HAPPY? Is it because he's got one of the coolest jobs in the world as the head of Nintendo's design lab? Or because his games have made billions of dollars? Or because he's seen the top-secret Revolution console? Or maybe because his wife is finally playing games? Let's find out... f all the different ways to introduce Shigeru Miyamoto, none seem adequate. He’s the creator of Mario: Sure, but what about Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Zelda, Star Fox, and Pikmin, not to mention the dozens of games, such as Kirby, Pokémon, and Metroid, he's consulted on over the years? He's the senior managing director and gener- al manager of Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development Division: That's technically correct, but what the hell does it mean? He's the “Spielberg of videogames": That has a nice ring to it, but did Spielberg establish any gen- res in the movie industry the way Super Mario Bros. defined the platformer? He's a god of game design: Most would agree, but somehow it doesn’t quite fit the humble family man who rides a bike to work every day. Maybe the best introduction is Shigeru Miyamoto needs no introduc- tion, at least to gamers who've enjoyed any of his work over the last 25 years. We know he’s important, his time is precious, and what he has to say about online gaming, the next Mario, and Nintendo’s upcoming Revolution con- sole is worth reading. —Mark MacDonald ЕСМ: We've heard that you’re working on a new project for Revolution. What can you tell us about it? : [Only that] we want new projects that utilize the inherent func- tionality of the system. І want to concen- trate on something really unique—but because it’s unique, it'd be premature to INCLUDES NEW CONTENT Н А$ ADDITIONAL QUESTS, REGIO! say anything about it right now. | get a lot of questions about Mario 128 and [other Revolution titles], but until the interface is announced, | can’t really talk about them. EGM: You mention Mario 128—two years ago when we talked, you said if you didn’t show Mario 128 in that next year, you would consider yourself a failure. And now here we аге.... SM: I'm sorry. [Laughs] Yeah, | got side- tracked with things like Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat and some other titles, and they took some of my energy away from the project. We have been continually working on different projects, different experiments with the Mario 128 engine. The name Mario 128 came from Mario 64 [for the Nintendo 64 and now DS]—with that name, we wanted to say, ‘Hey, we’re creating something brand new.’ So what we do on the Revolution, whether or not that's going to be [called Mario 128]...it's going to be a new Mario. ЕСМ: Since Mario 128 started as a GameCube project and has now been moved to the Revolution, has the game design changed as well? SM: Well, [when we] create a Mario game, there are [initially several] experiments. A lot of fundamental things have to be in place. And really, Mario 128 never really got past that stage. So rather than having an actual game design for it, it was more of a concept, like the types of things we want Mario to do. So we're obviously still using а lot of that material, but as far as the game design [is concerned], we’re swapping ideas and different concepts with the Mario Sunshine team and trying to see what we can come up with, trying to find the most interesting direction to take. EGM: We know the Revolution will be Wi-Fi [wireless internet] capa- ble out of the box, and later this year we will see the first online Nintendo DS games. After holding out for so long, why has Nintendo finally decided to embrace online gaming? SM: At Nintendo, we've always had to step back a little from network or online gaming. We didn’t like the business model [where] you've got a server, you pay a monthly fee, etc. There's all this setup involved—it did- n't seem all that customer-friendly. But with [the online plan we have], there's no fee. It's easy to use. There’s no setup for [the player]. This type of system really generat- ed a lot of interest within Nintendo. We wanted something that was safe, reliable, and didn’t cost the player anything. AND ENEMIES. PLUS, YOU CAN PICK IT UP FOR ONLY 20 BUCK EGM: It’s funny you say that, because when the other systems went online, Nintendo intro- duced “connectivity” [hooking a GBA to the GameCube], which seemed pretty compli- cated. Do you now think that was a mistake? Й: Connectivity was a very interesting lea, | still believe it [is] a very interesting idea. Unfortunately, the idea wasn’t com- municated very well to the consumer, and that's too bad— wish we had done that better. Part of [the problem] was the obstacles consumers perceived before they actually tried it. | think people felt, “How ат | going to connect these?" “It sounds really difficult,” “I'm not going to be able to look at both screens at the same time,” and so on. With the DS, we made up for some of those problems— when you buy the DS, it's got the dual screens, it's got the mic, it's got the wire- less. It's all built in, so the player doesn't have to worry about it. EGM: Was there any thought of revisiting the connectivity idea with the DS and the Revolution via Wi-Fi? SM: Of course we've thought about it. But our main goal is to create an environment that provides easy access for the player. ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com е 27 MIYAMOTO сом) чау “ ” So whether or not the DS will be used as a controller or what people will do with the Revolution—we're really not interested іп everything the Revolution can do. We don't want developers to build games around what the Revolution can do, we want them to build games around what is interest- ing—to use that functionality to their best advantage. So again, it will end up being whatever the developers think is best for their game. The main point of the Revolution is to create a console that allows game designers to create unique, interesting, fun game experiences, rather than being focused on just super graphics or something like that. ЕСМ: Let's switch gears and talk about you for a bit. Take us through your typical work day. Well, it varies a little, of course, but some mornings I'm up а! 7, some morn- ings I sleep in until 9...'m usually up by 9 at the latest. Then ГИ stay at work until at 28 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com least 10—sometimes until 1 in the morn- ing. Most of the time is taken ир walking around and checking in on all the different teams working on different projects. The biggest job per week would be meeting with the producers of these titles, check- ing on their progress, and deciding [if they are] on the right track or [if] things need to be adjusted. Then ГИ have meetings with [Nintendo President Satoru] Iwata to talk about things like Revolution or meet: with [the public relations department] to talk about advertising and marketing and how to marry those things with prod- ucts—that takes a lot of my time. EGM: What’s your favorite part of the job? Well, since Mr. Iwata became compa- ny president, I’ve been able to duck out of some of the more tedious management issues I've had to deal with in the past. So Рт really happy | can do more on the development side, meeting with teams and checking on their progress. EGM: What do your wife and children think about your work? I паме two chil- dren: One is in college, and one is a senior in high school. And unfor- tunately, they both now know where to look on the Internet if | get up at [the industry trade show] ЕЗ and do something embarrassing. [Laughs] [At an E3 press conference two years ago, Miyamoto appeared in a puff of smoke with a Zelda-style sword and shield to thunder- ous арр!аизе—Еа.] | try to keep my pri- vate life and work separate as much as possible. At home, we have a really cheerful life. о ЕСМ: Does your family play games? My wife has never really been into games—not even Tetris or anything. But Nintendogs has her hooked. We have three DSes sitting on the living room table right now, all being actively used to do things with the dogs. You may ask yourself why | only have three DSes when there are four people in my house. After all, I'm а big shot at Nintendo, on the board and every- thing, right? Well, the truth is my dad stole one. [Laughs] He took one and he’s play- ing [the import-only problem-solving game] DS Brain Training for Adults on his own. Compared to the past, games are really popular right now in my household. Рт hoping we can have the same sort of response with the Revolution really feel we're getting close to that. EGM: Any chance either of your children will fol- low in your footsteps? My daughter really likes videogames, but she has no intention of [doing what | do]. My son is looking more at advertising or design, but not related to games. ЕСМ: We've seen how your home life can influ- ence your work, like how your gardening hobby led to Pikmin. Recently, your family got a dog, and now we have Nintendogs on the way. [Once we got a dog], we met a lot of SHIGER-WHO? A Miyamoto Profile Like a 1-minute-long episode of Inside the Actors Studio, without all the ass kissing: Born November 16, 1952. Grew up outside Kyoto, Japan. His family had no car or television. ІШ Е = Б H ЕНІН: MEN NEN fe H E | н Е АН Hired at Nintendo in 1977; start- ed work on his first videogame (Donkey Kong, above) in 1980. His biggest rival: Professor Erno Rubik, inventor of the Rubik’s Cube. Two games he wishes he had thought of: (Dreamcast) “| really like well-developed соп- cepts. I think [Seaman creator] Yoot Saito is good at that.” [Saito is currently working on the medieval- Japan-themed pinball дате Odama for the GameCube.] THIS SEPTEMBER, THE CG MOVIE FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN WILL BE RELEASED ON BOTH DVD AND UMD (PSP) FORMATS.... >> алаарга SULL GALL а анана 4 For the hero in all of us. Milk's 9 essential nutrients give me the strength and energy I need to fight the forces of evil. Not drinking milk? Now that would be a crime. got milk? BATMAN and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics. (22005 Warner Bros. Ent. Al Rights Reserved, 2005 AMERICA'S MILK PROCESSORS > other dog owners. From young people to older people, having the dog enlarged our circle of acquaintances and friends. If you see people passing on the street who aren't walking their dogs, you don't have to stop and talk to them. But if [people] walking their dogs catch each other's eye, they will generally stop [and talk about their dogs]. And | really thought it was an interesting communication phenomenon— pet owners chatting with each other. So one thing | thought was, wouldn't it be interesting if dogs had some sort of a device on their collars that allowed them to exchange information with other dogs as they were walking by, like a business card? “Hi, I'm Fido.” “Ні, I'm Spot.” Anyway, we actually used the GameCube to make [a prototype dog game]. Of course, on the GameCube we had some great graphics—really realistic, really nice- looking dogs—but that’s where it stopped. EGM: Until the DS? SM: Looking at the Nintendo DS’ function- ality, with the touch screen, the mic and the voice recognition, the wireless com- munication feature—l'm like, “Wait a minute! This is the perfect hardware for this particular software title.” While this discussion was going on, a younger direc- tor was talking about making some kind of parrot game. His idea was you talk to the parrot, and the parrot talks back to you. But then we started thinking of localiza- tion issues—English for America, and then Europe, where you've got five languages, and it just sounded like way too much. But if we make a game work where you would record your own voice and it was played back, there’s no localization needed. So | said to the director, “Parrots аге nice. Let's do dogs.” [Laughs] But obviously, the director was really happy because his idea was still alive, and married with my idea, it was even better. EGM: Moving on to other games—we know Smash Bros. is coming to the Revolution, but what about the DS? SM: We're thinking about it. EGM: What about Luigi’s Mansion? 1$ that series over, or will we ever see another? SM: The [director] often says, "Make another one! Make another one!” And | want to use Luigi again. ЕСМ: Any chance we'll see another Pikmin? SM: Nothing's set in stone yet, but the interface we're creating for the Revolution is well suited for Pikmin—| think it would be a good match. Not much | can say other than that. EGM: Will we ever see anything more of Stage Debut [a technology demo that allowed play- ers to map their face on in-game characters]? ' ЗМ: Yeah, | want to do something with it. EGM: How does it feel to see all the nostalgia and > Miyamoto Profile (cont.) * Biggest disappointment of all the games he’s made: (GameCube) “It's such a great game and just not enough people played it, you know? I just wanted it to sell better.” © What game he's been playing a lot lately: (Nintendo DS, Japan only) “There’s a Japanese university professor who’s written a series of books of brain teasers and puz- zles. His idea is that the brain is a muscle that needs to be exercised just like anything else. He’s really popular right now. So they’ve made a videogame version of this—there’s some really fun stuff in there.” © If he could choose only three of his classic games to download to his Revolution’s virtual console, he would pick: (Super Nintendo) рег. Nintendo) (Nintendo 64) E Left to right: Mario, Zelda, and the surprise choice, Star Fox 64. >> А RECENT ANALYST REPORT PREDICTED THAT VIDEOGAME SALES WILL INCREASE FROM $18 BILLION IN 2004 TO $26 BILLION IN 2010.... >> 30 е ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com You Make The Comics! Easy to use Self-Publishing Software Turn your Video Gameplay into a Comic Book! Take screenshots from inside your favorite video games. Drag & Drop into easy-to-use comic book templates. Easily add text, effects and balloons to your characters story. Save your comic as a .PDF and share it online with your friends. Print and bring your Adventures to life. www.PlanetwideComics.com © 2005 Planetwide Games. www.PlanetwideGames.com. All Rights Reserved. (>) press start MIYAMOTO cont.) > goods based on your ear- lier games? SM: It's nice to see, as long as they're [of] good quality and [are] good products. It’s flattering. In Japan, there’s this group called Tongari Kids that have a rap song [called “B-Dash”] that uses some Mario ‘sounds. It's really popular right now, and there’s a lot of talk about it. EGM: What about this: If you could only save one of your babies from a burning building—Mario, Link, or Donkey Kong— who would you save? SM: [Thinks for a moment] Well, if | saved Link; I’m sure the other two could get out on their own. [Laughs] ,EGM: And Link couldn’t? SM: He's too cute. [I'd need to help him.] EGM: Your games often incorporate violence, but it's always silly or car- toonish. Would you ever consider making a truly violent or Mature-rated game? SM: Well, if violence was a key component within the game idea, | would have no problem making a game like that. But | don't want to make a violent game for the sake of violence, where violence is the fun part of the game. жй 82» ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com Iwata: Not too proud to come down and kick your ass at Mario Kart DS. MIYAMOTO’S BOSS: – - ontrary to what his games have led us to believe, Nintendo’s final boss doesn’t have giant spikes on his shoulders that shoot off like missiles, a tougher second form, or any flashing weak points (that we could see anyway). In fact, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata seems like a nice, regular guy. He did- mt even go into that whole, “I’m impressed you made it this far, but now...blah, blah, blah” speech when we sat down to talk about Nintendo's upcoming Revolution console: EGM: With the DS going online, you’re stressing it will be simple and free. Will that same phi- losophy carry over to the Revolution? селоны The Revolution's Wi-Fi connection must be as simple as the DS’. And we are not intending to charge peo- ple a fee [to play regular Revolution games online]. But [we also] talked about the “virtual console” concept, that the 20 years of Nintendo [games will be avail- able] for the Revolution via download. We're not saying that every single [one of those games] should be free. ЕСМ: Speaking of the virtual console, might older offline multiplayer games, like Mario Party, be altered so you could play them online with the Revolution? S: We [only] know that we [will] offer the past games for sure, But we are dis- cussing the possibility of having [older] games like Mario Party [playable] online. So if our discussion goes well, and if the technical aspects of Revolution also go well, that’s possible. ЕСМ: You’ve said the Revolution controller will be unique—do you >> BANDAI IS SHOOTING TO HAVE A GAME READY FOR THE PS3 LAUNCH. OUR MONEY IS ON IT INCLUDING ‘ Га пера ААА oA. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata worry about it alienating developers? Say Splinter Cell comes out for all the next-gen systems; might the Revolution controller be so different that it'd be tough to map the controls onto? $7: Well, of course, the idea is that the Revolution will sell and sell and sell so it becomes the standard in the industry. [Smiles] However, at least for the launch period...we designed the controller so it can play any of the different convention- al styles. After all, we are talking about it [playing games from our past machines via the virtual console]. So don't worry about that. ЕСМ: Why make the DVD player optional with Revolution? And how will it work—is it an attachment or a remote or what? 3: The majority of households already own a DVD player or two. We don’t want them to spend extra money just to have а console which happens to have DVD capability. And the DVD player isn’t going to be an attachment; it's going to go inside the machine so you won't even [be able to] tell the difference. EGM: You've promised Wi-Fi for the Revolution, but will it also have a standard Ethernet port? 57: [No, it] doesn’t have an Ethernet port. However, through the USB port, it’s pos- sible to have Ethernet [with an adapter]. Considering where the machine will be placed in the household, we [think it would be difficult] for people to route the typical [Ethernet] line to it. Also, we’re [considering] connecting the DS with the Revolution [via Wi-Fi]. EGM: Some people are saying Nintendo has given up trying to lead technologically and is focused on innovation. S% | don't think the Revolution's [graph- ics] will be inferior in any fashion to Xbox 360 or PS3. Even if you look at Zelda оп GameCube—1 don't think that looks inferior to what [the competition] is touting as "next generation" visuals. But we think there are more important. things for now than making the system [work with] a high-definition television. The majority of people won't be playing our system with an HDTV, [though] with the Revolution, 480p [resolution] will be standard. We are not making light of graphics and technology—we are trying to make the best-balanced machine that will appeal to the most people. 4%. «> KONAMI конам1” + тинтени BF ~ Will you be able to play old multiplayer games like Contra online with the Revolution? Perhaps. АМ” IN THE TITLE... >> Hylan Blvd. THE MAKERS OF NEW TAG BODY SPRAY CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR FLOODS OF OVER-EAGER LADIES. BE ADVISED TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND FOR CLEAREST SIGNAL, AND CARRY THIS CARD. ope r ore ж мет: у 2 а в“ 1-888-TAG-ASST Іп the event of a dicey and/or sketchy situation involving TAG affected females, call immediately. No joke. TAG WARNED XB360/PS2/XB/GC 9 Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier Release Date: November 2005 Jurassic park just got a lot hairier here’s only one thing that wor- ries us about King Kong: The last time we were this excited for a movie-based game, it was Enter the Matrix, and we all know how that one turned out. But after a few hours of hands-on play and a sit-down talk with Kong director Michel Ancel (creator of Rayman and the critical darling Beyond Good & Evil), a disappointment of Matrix proportions seems increasingly unlikely. Lord of the Rings and Kong movie director Peter Jackson handpicked Ancel to create the game version of his ape opus, and LOTR/Kong screenwriter Philippa Boyens worked with Ancel’s team, penning a narrative for the game that touches on key movie plot points while adding its own story arcs through Skull Island and New York City. You'll control both puny human Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody’s character in the film) and Коло; the Jack sequences are in first-person view, while Kong swings through the jungle in third person (see sidebar). As Jack, raptors and other less familiar monsters are constantly stalking you—the feeling of fear and vulnerability is intense and oppressive, even when you're fighting side by side with the movie's other human characters. King Kong—and yes, it really does look as amazing as these screenshots—is per- haps the most cinematic (in a good way) game we've seen yet. There are no cut- Scenes, no inventory screens, no health bars, nothing to make you think about the “дате” aspect of what's happening; you'll still get all the important info, but it comes from visual and audio cues, like your heavy, ragged breathing if you're injured. There's even an “old movie" option that'll let you play through the game in grainy black and white, recaptur- ing the feel of the 1933 original film. —Demian Linn | GOOD TO BE KING Kong's kind of like a big, hairy Prince of Persia—he'll bust out a май-гип, then swing from branch to branch with grace. “When you play Kong, you can’t fail by „| your moves,” says the game's director, Michel Ancel. “You will not fall like in [a] platformer. That’s not King-like.” But you will beat down ай kinds of | dinosaurs, and look appropriately dra- matic doing it. Ancel says his team has “integrated movie rules to avoid pau For a game about a giant ape, there sure are a lot of dinosaurs in King Kong.... camera cuts,” and though we don’t actu- ally know what that means, the quickly shifting camera angles almost never got in our way. Combat’s fairly simple, but fun—aside from general pummeling, Kong can scamper up nearby walls and then power-bomb dinos and execute fin- ishing moves (a body slam, a jawbreaker Maneuver, etc.) once they’re stunned. After running for your life as Jack, it’s пісе to be diui for a change. The man in charge of King Kong talks about working with Peter Jackson but doesn’t talk about his game’s big secret feature. “When you play as Jack, you are sur- viving—you’re using every element around you. [Skewering] some food on your spear could be a way to attract а predator in a trap or something like that. When you play as Kong, you don’t care about all those things. It’s not intellectual anymore; it's more about full power, destroying everything." "What's interesting is that they just send things for our inspiration. Sometimes when working with artists, instead of making a precise comment, || it's better to inspire—they give better work when they're inspired. Peter Jackson works like that with us; he inspired us with the story and [produc- tion ат.” “In some ways the game is quite lin- ear. But what is very interesting is that we tried to have a kind of sandbox И system—you can move from A to В in different ways. You can be [aggres- sive] or be іп a kind of stealth mode. | [Eventually you'll] unlock a big game- play feature; this feature will be very interesting for the player and will give another perception of the game. The way to unlock it is not just finding every treasure or every І- don't-know-what. It's not about collecting things—it's about replaying with a differ- ent style and a differ- ent experience." + i ЕСТВОМО GAMING MONTHLY tye 88 5. STALK YOUR PREY BY LAND, SEA, OR AIR USING ALL SORTS OF VEHICLES AND A STAGGERING ARRAY OF REALISTIC WEAPONS. ii UNLEASH YOUR PRIMAL INSTINCTS AND BECOME ji STRONGER, FASTER, DEADLIER. FIVE MULTIPLAYER MODES, INCLUDING THE UNIQUE PREDATOR MODE, LET YOU EXPERIENCE THE BEST XBOX LIVE BASS OFFER. CREATE YOUR OWN TROPICAL HELL AND SHARE YOUR MAPS ON XBOX LIVE. Visit www.esrb.org for updated rating information. PRE-ORDER NOW AND СЕТ | RAINBOW: SIE FOR FREE! ISIT FARCRYGAME.COM | R | | | К MOREA NEO ERN "ADAPT. ЕУОБУЕ. SURVIVE. Y.NAME'S JACK CARVER. GOD KNOWS HOW I WOUND UP IN THIS HELLHOLE. IT’S CRAWLING ITH:MERCS. THEY'RE HUNTING ME FOR SPORT. BUT THEY СОТ A SURPRISE COMING. I CAN FEEL MYSELF CHANGING. I CAN SMELL THE BAD GUYS’ BLOOD. THEIR SWEAT. AND I CAN KILL. ГМ GETTING REALLY GOOD AT KILLING. TRUTH IS, I'M STARTING TO LIKE IT. шен бай Yaya әле хет n gu |n ur иоделойлол yoso Jo sxreupes 10 злешаред ӧлә! шоу pay jo sxeurepe әле обо} шов pay U pue ‘W101; ШЕП ТӨЛЕШ soo ходҳ әщ pue обор 3417 3U} 9, xoqx *xoqx “yoso "Кивйшод зиэшиеизуия Yosigg Р Si 20] Чиа “ващипоз защо Jo/pue "6 пащишзизшшенезиз yosqn Jo syeWAapeN әле ofo) 08190 al го josign Aq padojanag `рәмәзән $уцбн пу тиашшенациз цози Link takes a walk on the wild side in Twilight Princess est Console Game. Best Action/Adventure. Best GameCube Game. It’s sti months before The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess’ fall debut, but Link’s next adventure is already earning kudos from its showing at the E3 game industry trade show last May. Great\news for Zelda fans, but even better news for Eiji Aonuma, producer of Twilight Princess and the main man behind the franchise ever sincê Majora’s Mask on the Nintendo 64. Maybe that’s why we found him in: such good spirits at E3, even aft three days of nonstop press intei We figured опе more Could --ма Shane’ е ЕОМ: We've seen Linkas a human interacting with, various animals—petting®: cows, sending a hawk to pick up items, carrying cats, etc. But what about when he transforms into a wolf? Will he interact with animals differently? The relationship that human- P Link has with animals is the relationship that any human has—it’s very much a master-and-pet type situation. But when Link transforms into the wolf, because he’s an animal, he'll be able to communicate with other animals. Who knows, maybe пе’! even be able to talk with [his horse]... EGM: The creature that rides on Link's back when he's a wolf—Midna— defines how he attacks. Will any other characters ride Link at any point? No, Midna is the only character [that does that]. But there will be ways to power- up and change her attacks. ЕСМ: In the artwork we've seen for Princess Zelda in the new game, she looks ready-for bat- tle, with armor and a sword. Will she ever fight alongside ELS Link, maybe ia like the final dA boss battle in | 7 The Wind Waker? [Long pause...then smiles and laughs] Well, when Link goes / into the Twilight realm he gets transformed into (|) this wolf, [right]? “/ Obviously, at some point he will encounter Zelda...per- haps when she sees what Link's been doing she will think that, by Princess Zelda: Armed co-operating and ready for battle? NAPOLEON DYNAMITE: THE VIDEOGAME? IT COULD HAPPEN, AS MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION RECENTLY OPENED UP A NEW BRANCH 38 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com with him, there’s a chance she could save Hyrule. So the natural progression would be to think that perhaps they'll [work together] in some way. EGM: Where does Twilight Princess fall in the overall Zelda timeline? It takes place [a few decades] after Ocarina of Time [№4], but this game is not specifically a sequel. That being said, we're thinking that, because it's several decades after Ocarina, it’s possible some of the characters from that game might still be alive in this world. We've already shown the goron [a race of stocky, brown earth-dwellers shown boxing with Link] in an earlier trailer; | think people can look forward to seeing if we include zoras [gray mermen and mermaids] as well... ЕСМ: We noticed a sign in the village listed times a shop was open. Will the game have a real- time day/night cycle, as in Majora’s Mask? Trying to re-create a [full real-time] system like that would require too much | Midna helps Wolf-Link by riding on back and attacking monsters, but Twilight Producer Aonuma hinted she ‘may have her own agenda... effort to maintain and control. If we were to try something like that again, we wouldn't be able to have [Link transform- ing into a] wolf, or the Twilight realm— we'd have to focus just on time. That being said, there will be a day/night system, both in the Twilight world and in the [nor- mal world]. When time pass- es from day to night, cer- tain things in the world will change, and that will affect gameplay. EGM: How do you m". swith Я from day \ tonight ^O ода if it’s not ass real ке particular time of day arrives and the player has to wait around—that's not very good game [design]. So in that sense, you have to have some mecha- nism for control. And we have been looking at different ways to do << that, and we have a plan for how we're going to do that in the game. EGM: What sort of differ- ences will we see at night? You might have seen scenes of Link holding a lantern at night, walking through areas of a village. In Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask the night was. time? Is uii m - fairly well-lit, enough for you there Both the goron to see, but in Twilight Princess a particular item апа (probably) zora ме want to have the night be you always use? There are areas of the game where we need to have it stay day- time or night for gameplay purposes. But we also don’t want to have a system where the player can't do anything until a races are back. very, very dark, to the point that, without a lantern, you can't see as you're walking around. Really give it. the idea that it's not safe to go out alone at night, especially if you don't have a lantern to guide yourself. DS Zelda Update! As the main man in charge of all things Zelda, Aonuma also has а role in Link's next portable adventure, already well under way for Nintendo’s DS handheld (expect an official announcement soon). “What | can tell you,” he says, “is that it’s going to use the touch screen for a very unique control system that people have never experienced in а Zelda game before.” How so? “I think one of the important elements of the Zelda series has always been that you feel like you’re in the world doing the things that Link is doing and touching the things that Link is touching,” he says. “This time you'll be able to use the touch screen and actually touch those items and objects yourself.” And while Aonuma confirms DS Zelda will not be a Four Swords title or a multiplayer game, he won't say a word about the graphics. 3D? 2D? Both? Cartoony? Realistic? He laughs: “You'll have to look forward to hearing about that." 44. For more regular updates on Zelda, check out i CALLED MIV GAMES, WHICH WILL WORK WITH SEVERAL INDEPENDENT DEVELOPERS TO CREATE ORIGINAL SOFTWARE.... ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ® www.1UP.com 39. @)NLINE J THIS MONTH Reporting for an improved call of duty x 30/30 хз s any cynical PC or Xbox gamer will tell you, a big reason why the SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs series has been so successful on PS2 is its lack of compe- tition. While tactical shooters are being run into the ground on other platforms, the few that make their way to Sony's console are generally along the lines of watered-down Kool-Aid—kinda muddy looking and a poor imitation of the real thing (see exhibit Ghost Recon). SOCOM has always been the exception. But with SOCOM 3 (coming this October to PS2), developer Zipper Interactive is looking to create an online military shooter that can compete with the big boys as well. Land and water vehicles? Check. 32 players? Check. New modes and com- munity features? Sir, yes, sir. Taking on Xbox Live It may seem overly ambitious just for one game, but No. 3's community interface promises more than what we've seen in any PS? title, and it even looks to challenge Microsoft's acclaimed Xbox Live service in some ways. Yet according to Zipper Interactive Multiplayer Designer CJ Heine, the motivation for the new interface didn't come from Microsoft. Rather, it's the result of online fan support of the previous games. "We looked around on the Internet and saw players forming smaller SOCOM communities on various message boards and websites," he says. "We really wanted to pull all of that together and offer a place within SOCOM 3 where they could form a central community.” This community site will give players access to leaderboards, mail, message boards, FAQs, and so on. Also, many of these features will be avail- able via both the PS2 and any computer you come across. The ability to look up game stats on a PC may remind some players of the much-praised Bungie.net website set up for Halo 2, but Sony CEA Senior Producer Seth Luisi claims SOCOM’s support in this area will outmatch even that of the Xbox hit. “The community features that we’ve added to SOCOM 3 are far beyond those found in any other online action games,” says Luisi. “The SOCOM series has a his- tory of innovating community features that == A WINTER STORM TO INVADE SOCAL—BLIZZARD, PUBLISHER OF THE UPCOMING STARCRAFT: GHOST (PS2/XB/GC), WILL HOST A 40» ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com CLAN WARS Among SOCOM 3’s many new com- munity features is a “clan challenge” system that, among other things, cuts down a lot of the hassle involved in getting players together. “We wanted to streamline the process for clans to compete against each other, and the clan challenge system does this by automating many of the steps that clans would normally have to do on their own,” says Multiplayer Designer CJ Heine. “Things that have been auto- mated include finding suitable opponents to challenge, coordinating a time to play, and choosing any special game conditions.” Clans will also have their own ranking ladders this time around, where the squad's position will be based on overall team performance instead of individual statistics. And due to the increase in players allowed in a game at once, clans will now support up to 32 players. Apparently, SOCOM 3 will also feature one nasty game of Chicken. other companies are just now starting to copy, such as integrated clans, lad- der ranking [SOCOM 11, and skill levels [SOCOM ІП” Mode 6 and Mode 7 Supporting the game’s focus on сот- munity is control point, a new online mode built around the idea of team communication. Here, each team has to mark five specific locations on a map (control point is best suited for SOCOM 3's larger battlefields), but the twist is that it's not a tug of war. Instead, both GAMERS DAY ОМ OCTOBER 28 AND 29 IN ORANGE С! teams can have marks on the same location, so the mode turns into a race to see which team can get to all the locations first. “Rather than obligating players to defend claimed locations, players are always on the move to try and help in the fight for the next unclaimed control point location,” says Heine. “Players are going to find that the teams that emphasize communica- tion and practice multiple strategies for reaching each control point location will be very successful with this game type.” ТУ С Convoy, another all-new online mode, puts its emphasis on the vehicles, One team has to protect and guide a group of vehicles through a map, stopping to pick up cargo along the way, while the other team tries to prevent just that. “These cargo trucks are an easy target for the opposing team to destroy, and protecting the trucks will come down to how well the players on foot can clear out the enemy positions and let the players driving the cargo trucks safely complete their route,” says Heine. 4% — Май Leone ‘ORNIA. ІБІТ BLIZZARD.COM FOR MORE SPECIFICS ON THE EVEN WHATS UP AT [ EGM.1UP.COM Look for the section labeled ^EGM Extras" if want more info on that Gizmondo—or something actually cool, like videos of the King Kong dev team talking about the funky monkey. Also, read what other folks in the videogame biz have to say about the industry’s continued support of the “Sequel Factory.” becoming a man? Then visit our newly formed Zelda hub, which will be continually updated with new screen- shots and info, as well as exclusive Stories you won't find anywhere else. CHEATS.1UP.COM “Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right—what again?” 1UP.com needs your help and is politely asking for people to submit their own cheats. Don’t just keep "ет to yourself; share with your fellow gamers. Featured Club: 1UP's Crossfire Feisty debaters should check out tupcrosstire-club.1UP.com, as every week members of this club bitch about a new controversial videogame topic. Featured Blogs: Marc Ecko The fashion designer goes back to his NYC graffiti roots with his new game Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. See what he's up to at getting-up.1UP.com. Robin Wilson Remember the Gin Blossoms back in the '90s with “Hey Jealousy”? Ever wonder what they’ve been up to? Read their videogame-crazed lead singer's blog at theoutsider.1UP.com. 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Star Wars: Episode Ш ROTS Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Lego Star Wars God of War MVP Baseball 2005 Major League Baseball 2K5 > Агеа 51 : Apparently, Resident Evil’s Gran Turismo 4 T-Virus turned this limited-edition EA Sports Fight Night Rd. 2 Dreamcast completely red...and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 FEX! as hell. 1: $577.89 1 _Pokémon Emerald * GBA • Nintendo |2] Star Wars: Episode Ш Revenge of the Sith е PS2 е LucasArts [3| Star Wars: Episode Ш Revenge of the Sith e XB е LucasArts Га Forza Motorsport = XB « Microsoft em: Head online with this rare Atari Jaguar Voice Modem. Good A Star Wars: Episode Ш ROTS | 5 Midnight Club АМИ le | Lego Star Wars PS2 « Eidos 2 Forza Motorsport luck finding someone else to play 3 Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition ШШШ 17 | Star Wars: Episode Ш Revenge of the Sith е GBA Ubisoft Lego Star Wars 5300 5 Area 51 | 8 God of War» ps2 опу 3 Doom 3 Jade Empire [9 | MVP Baseball 2005 е Р52 е EA Sports $ Splinter Cell Chaos Theory 9 MVP Baseball 2005 пор Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition • ХВ г Rockstar 0 Major League Baseball 2K5 Source: NPD TRSTS Video Games Service. Call (516) 625-6190 for questions regarding this list. 2 RENTALS. FOR THE WEEK ENDING 6/19/05, GAMECUBE em: A little girl riding a gigantic bunny fighting a big ball named Fernandez? Only found in the NeoGeo import Waku Waku 7. 5 ce: $395 Pokémon Colosseum 1 Pokémon Emerald г GBA Medal of Honor: Eur. Assault ® PS2 2 Super Mario Sunshine. 2 Star Wars: Episode Ill ROTS ® GBA 2 Midnight Club 3: DUB Ed. ® PS2 Donkey Kong Jungle Beat Lego Star Wars ® GBA 3 Medal of Honor: Еш; Assault • XB Super Smash Bros. Melee 4 Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones е GBA 4 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas е XB The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker 5 Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee е PSP 5 Batman Begins • PS2 ttem: You got a grand to spare? Then go pick up Toon Panic, an MVP Baseball 2005 5 Need for Speed Und. Rivals е PSP 5 Star Wars: Episode Ш ROTS е XB E unreleased Nintendo 64 game. Animal Crossing 7 Untold Legends: BOTB • PSP НОО H j Never mind that there's ау Kirby Air Ride Star Wars: Episode Ш ROTS ® DS 3 Midnight Club 3: DUB Ed. е XB 3 а reason i сета, 9 Mario Party 6 Twisted Metal: Head-On е PSP 9 Madagascar е Р52 [. : $1,000 Ü 10 Mario Party Advance • GBA 0. Star n Episode ІШ ROTS е ХВ Е х >> UBISOFT HAS REPLACED THE “3” FROM THE NEXT GHOST RECON (XB360/PS2/XB/GC) WITI 44% ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com SUBTITLE ADVANCED WARFIGHTER. ... >> Е o o wo ш м Z IS THIS THING? does way more than play games. (It knows where you live!) But is the most versa- tile portable you never heard of worth buying? Ева sales pitch straight out of an infomercial. The Gizmondo hand- held—which hits stores August 11—plays games, movies, and music. But wait, there's more! Act now and it works as а digital camera. And it'll check your e-mail. And it lets you instant message pals. And it's a global-positioning gizmo. "We've taken every single hip device on the market and integrated it into one," says Carl Freer, managing director of Gizmondo Europe. But all these features come at not just one price, but two. Gamers can buy the Gizmondo for either $229 or $399—the dif- ference depends on if they allow so-called Smart Adds to download to their system. Think of them as commercials, for every- thing from new games to fast food to tennis shoes. Buy the cheaper Gizmondo, fill out 77 MAIL-BASED GAME-RENL ЕП GAMEFLY (KINDA LIKE NETFLIX BUT FOR VIDEOGAMES) EXPANDED ITS LIBRARY TO INCLUDE PSP 46» ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com your demographic details, and each day you'll receive three 30-second Smart Adds supposedly tailored to your tastes and even your location. Freer says the advertise- ments won't interrupt your games ог movies, and they'll often end with a bar code that local merchants can scan for dis- counts on the advertised item. “With bar- gains and coupons directly targeting a user's preference,” Freer says, “the Gizmondo will ultimately pay for itself if you...purchase the less-expensive Add- enabled model.” You can also choose to enable Smart Adds later if you buy the full- priced device. 125 easy to look at the Gizmondo—an oddly named system from unknown compa- ny Tiger Telematics (no relation to the Tiger that released Game.com back in 1997)— and wonder how it will ever compete with the $150 Nintendo DS and the $250 Sony PSP. “Shelf space is at a premium, and there are more platforms that require dedicated space now than there ever have been,” says Hal Halpin, president of the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association. But Freer is itching for a fight. “Sony and Nintendo are the major players,” he says, “but we intend to be the ones that shake things up and offer a new standard in handheld gaming that they can’t even dream of delivering to gamers with their current hardware.” And like the infomer- cials say: Wait, there's more. We rate each of this mystery system's functions and, more importantly, its games to help you decide if you should act now. — Crispin Boyer The Gizmondo's button layout is a bit awk- ward for first-person games, and the function buttons along the top are tough to press. Downloadable ads make for a cheaper Gizmondo package, but do you really want to watch commercials on a game system? DOING ITS THINGS: RATING GIZMONDO'S FUNCTIONS ні guys| Gizmondo is the first gaming system with a built-in digital camera, which snaps 640x480-resolution pics you can send to friends or transfer to your PC. A good thing? Picture quality is fine, but we're geeked about the camera's gyroscopic abilities, which sense the angle you're holding it at (as in GBA tilt- sensing games like Yoshi's Topsy-Turvy). Adventure game Agaju, still early in development, is the first title to use the feature. Aim the camera in the direction you want to look in the game's world, then snap pics of symbols to summon fairies. Gizmondo reps call it *augment- ed reality." We call it a gimmick that Could be fun in the right games. Like those BlackBerry on-the-go e-mail gizmos so popular with junior execu- tives everywhere, the Gizmondo can send and receive e-mails and instant messages that contain pictures, music, and video files. These features won't be free: The company is in negotiations with service providers. A good thing? The only way to stay in better touch with your friends would be if Gizmondo worked as a cell phone, too (it doesn’t, but the company isn’t ruling out that feature for a future model). Built-in text-prediction software makes typing out long messages less of a chore, but we still prefer the DS’ easier- to-use PictoChat messaging function. RESEN] Jurassic 5 — Jayou <404> Summer sun С3:4?2 goldfinger - superman с3:04> Creep <3:552 Gizmondo uses Windows CE as its орег- ating system (which comes with Windows Media Player), meaning it can play just about any music or movies that you normally enjoy on your home computer. Simply connect your Gizmondo to your PC via the included USB cable, then drag any movies or music you want to the handheld (you can also download tunes from www.giz- mondo.com). The Gizmondo stores the content on removable SD media cards. A full movie can fit onto а 512МВ card. A good thing? The music and movies played fine, although we'd rather watch flicks on the PSP's nearly twice-as- large, 16x9-ratio screen. Gizmondo is the only gaming system that reads beams from outer space to show exactly where you are, your prox- imity to other Gizmondo owners, direc- tions to the nearest 7-Eleven, and more. You can even transmit your location in an emergency (say, when gambling debts land you in a mobster's trunk). Mapping software sold separately. A good thing? The Gizmondo's GPS is its standout feature—one we hope will make for unique gameplay experiences. The first candidate is launch title Colors, a gang-warfare game that has you defending your turf from other real- world players. Of course, the game will only work if enough people buy it. HE LAUNCH GAMES Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Microsoft, and more publishers are all aboard to make Gizmondo games, but that doesn't mean you'll find many recognizable names in the system’s launch lineup of 15 to 20 titles (with anoth- The Good Trailblazer—A simple futuristic racer that has you using special turbo and jump tiles to achieve the best time. Perfect for quick-fix play in bursts. Sticky Balls—Laugh at the title all you want (and we have), but Sticky Balls is a fun puzzler that’s part pool, part Tetris, part geome- try lesson. Hockey Rage 2005—Like most Gizmondo games, Hockey Rage is sim- ple fun, if not exactly chal- lenging. And it's not too hard on the eyes, either. The Blah А Fathammer Classics—Three games in one (a racer, a shooter, and a puz- zler), but only the addicting block- dropper (above) held our interest. Gizmondo Motocross 2005—A run- of-the-mill dirt-track racer hampered Буа limited top-down view. er 80 or so due by the end of the year). In fact, many Gizmondo names sound downright weird (It's Mr. Pants, Momma Can | Mow the Lawn?) or even dirty (Ball Busters). The games themselves—the graphics of which The Just Plain Bad Pocket Ping Pong 2005—All the teeny-bikini skin of Tecmo's Dead or Alive series wrapped around a lame Ping-Pong game. We're turned off. Toy Golf—Tabletops and floors make for the hardest minigolf game we never want to play again. FLICKS. SIGN УР АТ WWW.GAMEFLY.COM. ITS BASIC PLAN LETS YOU TRY TWO GAMES OR MOVIES AT A TIME FOR $20 A MONTI look about as good as PSP titles—come on SD cards that sell for between $20 and $40. (The system ships with а card packed with demos.) Here's a look at what's worth buying—and what's not—come launch day. The Not Ready for Review Colors—Wage gang wars on your own real turf using Gizmondo's GPS feature. SSX 3—EA Big's supreme snow- boarding game hits Gizmondo. EA also has one other “major” franchise game in the works for launch. Ball Busters—lt's like squash but in 3D. And in the future. Interstellar Flames 2—When aliens attack, you attack back. Richard Burns Rally—Ultrarealistic off-road racing. FIFA 2005—Iin Gizmondo’s homeland, they call soccer “football.” Silly. Chicane—A street-racing sim starring British speed nut Jenson Button. 255: ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com е 47 METAL GEAR SOLID 4 Series creator Hideo Kojima drops hints about his PS3 debut onami recently fired its first shot in the looming next-gen console war by announcing Metal Gear Solid 4 as a PlayStation 3 exclusive. Although the game is likely two years away, series mastermind Hideo Kojima has crafted a slick teaser trailer (head to 1UP.com and search for “Metal Gear Solid 4” to scope it) that reveals a few hits of prime intel: The game takes place after the events of М652, you play as Solid Snake, and the theme of the game is “no place to hide.” In a series traditionally all about hiding, that could cause some difficul- ties. EGM sat down with Mr. Kojima for a brief chat about his next opus.... —Shane Bettenhausen EGM: Good job on the MGS4 trailer—it’s really quite funny.... Hideo Kojima: That makes me happy to hear, because the Japanese guys didn’t get it at all, including the members of my own staff. We had a preview event for Konami in Roppongi where we work, FAMILIAR FACES and no one said anything to me after it was shown. EGM: The whole “no place to hide” concept: Does that mean that the stealth aspect of the previous games won’t be in the next game? НК: It does not mean that you don’t need to hide. It will be a stealth game, like the ones we've produced in the past. You do need to hide. That is the purpose of the game. The concept behind “no place to hide” is as you saw in the trailer: There was a building and then it was bombed, and suddenly there was no cover. That's the concept...there is no safety zone. According to the environment, things will always be changing, and there might be conditions where there literally is nowhere to hide. EGM: You had men- tioned that there are several hidden hints in the trailer. We noticed a butterfly and a bird.... HK: Yes, there are other side meanings there... I'm just satisfied that | could give everyone a laugh. One of the goals in cre- ating this trailer was to go against the buzz about new hardware and how great next-gen graphics would be. | predicted that there would be a lot of new shooters with very realistic graphics, so | decided to lighten the mood and make everyone laugh with a trailer for a combat game. EGM: For MGS2 you went to NYC, and for The World of MGS4 Kojima also offered vague hints about just how revolutionary the world of MGS4 could be. He compared previous game environments to movie sets, stating that he now wants to simulate a real world. If he were to craft a forest environment for MGS4, he would want everything to work together in a realistically re-created ecosystem: Every tree grows from a seed, sheds it leaves, and dies. Ambitious... Although the story is closely guarded, Kojima has revealed the central cast of characters for MGS4. Spoilers abound for those too lazy to have played past games, so tread with caution. MGSS3 you went to the jungle. Was there a physical location where you traveled to research MGS4? HK: Not yet, actually. That’s a tricky question, because if | answer it, it'd give too much away. It's very difficult to go there; that's the only hint | can give you. And also, I'd like to say that for MGS4, it’s a combat game: weapon against weapon, or hand to hand with punching and kicking, but | think that a more important part of combat is the psycho- Vamp MGS2's bizarre bisexual vampire apparently didn’t die from that bullet to the head. So he’s back from the dead, but whose side is he on? Since his beef is with the Patriots (the Ши- minati controlling the government), he and Snake share the same agenda.... Meryl Snake’s sassy love interest from the first MGS returns at last (the canoni- cal ending of that game has her sur- viving the sniper wound, in case you Cruelly let her die when you played). Hopefully, she’ll be kickin’ ass at Snake’s side during MGS4. MGS2's much-reviled postmodern prissy-boy plays a role in MGS4, but thankfully, it's not a starring one. We’re not sure if the baby in the pic is his with the traitorous (yet still lov- able) Rosemary, or Olga’s infant res- cued from the clutches of the Patriots. Revolver Ocelot It's tough to figure out just whose agenda this dynamic triple-agent is truly pursuing, but he'll definitely lead our heroes to the location of the Patriots. Also, don’t forget that he has Liquid Snake's hand grafted onto his arm. And that it tells him to do things. ROS. INTERAC >> WE ALL САМ BE HEROES—SONY ONLINE AND WARNER ВІ 48 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www. 1UPcom TIVE ARE TEAMING UP TO MAKE A MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYE | се Publisher: Konami Developer: Kojima Productions Release Date: 2007 logical aspect. Meaning, there is an intense mental fear when you point a gun at someone. | want to represent that in MGS4...a more psychological bat- tle. That’s what real combat is all about. So, myself and my staff, we need to talk to a psychologist to better understand this concept. | want to absorb all the lessons from the shrink and control my staff with fear. [Laughs] EGM: Can you reveal the subtitle for MGS4? HK: Actually, we have many titles to choose between and haven't quite decid- ed on one. EGM: Will you be as hands-on as always with MGS4? You’ve been talking about passing control of the series along ever since MGS2.... HK: Yes and no. Well, no, actually, because there will be another producer and director on set. In the past it was just me passing info on to the staff, but now we'll gather together and try to create something new that is a product of all three of us. It’s a totally new way of producing MGS. EGM: What secret info can you tell us about Metal Gear Solid 4 that nobody knows...that your team won't kill you for telling us? HK: This is a Metal Gear Solid, yet the trilogy is now over, so we have to come up with a new story. There will be a strong story in the background, but what I can say is that we won't create it in the same way: cinema, action sequence, cinema. | want the action to be less localized, for events to occur across large агеаз... want to utilize the environment itself to tell the story line. Another new aspect is that Snake always had to sneak into an enemy fortress or field. We will change that in some way for MGS4, so you'll get a new experience for sneaking in. Solid Snake The gravelly voiced badass returns to action with a redesigned sneaking suit, a full beard, and a killer agenda. We assume that the basic mission of MGS4 will be for Snake’s rogue opera- tive group, code-named Philanthropy, to take down the Patriots. Snake's pal will once again offer invaluable technical support on the mission. Once he finds out that Vamp, the murderer of his beloved stepsister Emma (and by beloved, we mean creepy incestuous “beloved”), is still alive, we might see some geek rage... Big Boss iun us) We're not 100 percent sure that this creepy old naked dude is in fact Big Boss, but he certainly looks the part. And if it is him, what role will he play in the story line? We all certainly came to respect him after his starring role in MGS3.... Naomi (w think) We're guessing that this is Naomi Hunter from MGS (it could also be Fortune from MGS2—the jury’s still ош). Naomi's a bit player in the over- all series story line, but it's possible that the FoxDie virus she engineered in MGS is relevant again. ж : TE ONLINE ROLE-PLAYING GAME USING CHARACTERS FROM THE DC UNIVERSE. YOU'LL SAVE THE DAY ON PS3 AND PSP: od IN 2007.. = >> ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www. B. 7 11 Г | (>) press start INTER Puppy love...or puppy hate? hether you consider this 05 W сапіпе-геагіпо sim ап innova- tive paradigm-shift in non- gaming or a cheesy Tamagotchi rip-off, you can’t deny its popularity. It already has an enormous following in the Japanese market: During the week of their release, the pups helped the DS outsell the PSP and PS2 combined. Nintendo, hoping to repeat its suc- cess with dog-loving Americans, is prepping three versions of Nintendogs for the U.S. (each named for its cover model): Labrador Retriever, Chihuahua, and Miniature Dachshund. Each cart features five different breeds, and you'll have to wirelessly hook up with friends to collect ’em all. Nintendo deserves some props for actually improving the U.S. versions by adding three breeds absent in the Japanese originals: gold- en retriever, Siberian husky, and boxer. What follows is a quick look at the life of a happy, well-loved Nintendog (and a tragic glimpse of one raised by a less-caring owner). — Kimi Matsuzaki — | Dogs love a nice hike. Before taking your puppy on a walk, you are given a map to chart out the prospective trip | within the constraints of the dog’s energy meter. Question marks along | the route will trigger random actions— | from picking up a filthy stick to getting | jumped by bigger, meaner dogs. Don't miss the unexpected goodies along the way; give a quick tug on the leash and your pup will retrieve a present for you. If your puppy starts to bore you, fear not—there are smarter dogs at | the park to play with. Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Release Date: August 2005 Customize your pooch with a cornu- copia of cheesy items. You can obtain goods through a few different means: buy "ет at the store, pick them up while walking in the neighborhood, or receive them as gifts from visiting dogs via Wi-Fi play. Common items include collars, hair bows, bow ties, and flow- ers. Special rare items include Afro wigs, Mario & Luigi hats, thigh-high dominatrix-style stiletto boots, and more. Your Nintendog can sport only one item at a time, and you can sell any unwanted items at the Recycle store. When you decide that your puppy is ready to “bring it" (or when you're | beginning to run out of money), you can enter various competitions. Unless | you have the quick wrist-flick down pat, the Frisbee competition is by far the most difficult. Not only does your dog need to catch the Frisbee, but you need to know how to throw it far enough to net decent points. Newbies should try the far easier agility com- petition (a fun obstacle course), as well as a dog contest in which your | | puppy performs a trick chosen at the | judge's whim. m | | After winning competitions, you will have a wad of cash burning a hole in your pocket, so you might as well upgrade the bachelor pad. After drop- | ping the dough to upgrade your house, | the little green men inside of your DS | need 24 hours to complete the renova- | tions. You сап choose from such differ- ent house styles as early American and space age. ж 0% БЕ ВоМ2 GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com DA UNLIMITED Tecmo's renowned fighting series bounces onto the Xbox 360 this fall witi its newest installment, Dead or Alive 4. As you'd expect, the intense hand-to-hand action, massive destructible environments, and gorgeous | Sometimes it's refreshing to forget about the quest for cash and fame and just frolic with your dog. Bringing a Frisbee to the park is great—the training there helps your pup in the competitions, after all. Aside from the Frisbee, you can bounce a tennis ball off the wall of your abode, let your dog bat around a soccer ball, or blow soap bubbles for your puppy to jump up and catch. Your hound will also play with his furry | pals: While at the park, whip out your toys and become the life of the party. All dogs are unique—your pooch will njoy interacting with some canines, е! simply won't get along with others. | You'll notice distinct personalities | emerging, too: There will be that dog | at the park that upstages everyone by | catching the Frisbee and not allowing any other dog in on the fun or glory. | You might come across a dog who | decides to bully your puppy and con- | tinues pawing her while she’s down оп | | the ground. Your puppy may also find | true love, staying up until the wee hours of the morning gazing at the | stars with her sweetheart. If you're feeling lonely and want some visitors, simply place your 0$ in Sleep mode. Once another Nintendogs- | equipped DS comes within range, your | puppies can visit each other. If you get | a good visitor, the puppy may even come bearing a gift of a rare item. | who visited you becomes an unlocked | breed in your game. HOW TO UTTERLY RUIN YOUR NINTENDOG: Too cheap to spend seven bucks on shampoo? If you fail to give your puppy a bath, fleas will begin jump- ing off of its hideously stinky body. Then his friends will desert him and the competition judges will laugh in his face and tell him to go home. | Once the visit is over, the type of puppy | Want to make your dog sad? Turn your DS on and ignore him for a while....come back and, if you’re lucky, he'll have disappeared. He'll probably come back eventually, bearing a gift in an attempt to bribe you into loving him. Stuck with a dog you hate? Sell all the items he finds on his walks, along with the presents given to. him by his doggie friends. He'll be crestfallen, but who cares? All that cash goes to a good cause—buying a better puppy. $% (>) press start OVERHEARD New, larger format means 80 percent more ha-ha Following its Ed unveiling, Nintendo leaks more information regarding “Revolution:” “PlayStation 3 will play your PlayStation games. It’s not enough for us to go in there and say, 5 backward compatible, sort of? that doesn't work for us.” —Sony Computer Entertainment America President and СЕО Kaz Hirai knocks the Xbox 360's ability to only play certain older Xbox games “[The voice actors] have no leverage. In 99 percent of all games, the voice actors are irrelevant. You replace one voice actor with another nonunion actor, and no one will know the difference.” — Yankee Group analyst Mike Goodman's take оп voice actors’ demands for a royalty-based pay structure for videogame work “It’s good that other Japanese develop- ers are finally supporting Microsoft's system, but 1 want to tell them to —Tomonobu Itagaki, leader of Tecmo's Team Ninja (Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden), and apparently not a fan of Sneakers or Kakuto Chojin “It’s really hard to think of new ideas. Loox at Hollywood. Do you think they really wanted to make a Flintstones movie?” —EA Senior Vice President of Marketing Frank Gibeau responds to the idea that his company favors sequels and franchises over original games “25 to Life makes “What gets me out of bed and into the office every day is the thought of [Sony Computer Entertainment President] Ken Kutaragi’s resignation + letter, framed, hanging $ Г ” {| next to my desk. в —What Corporate Vice President for 5 Xbox J Allard wrote as part of an З exercise in which top Microsoft execs 8 were asked what motivates them Ө *| am in love with the PSP like Tom is т love with Katie. No, wait, that’s not true... —Game designer David Jaffe (God of War), who just so happens 10 be working on a new game for Sony's handheld system “How ironic—that’s the first time Paris was put into something instead of the other way around.” —Internet gaming forum member Erik Phairas responds to news that Paris Hilton's movie The Hiliz will come out for PSP What the Eff? —Sen, Charles Schumer, D-NY, who asked retailers in his state not to stock Eidos’ Mature-rated inner-city shooter “Because of the wind and the cold we had a Dell computer that got fried, a Polytechnic screen that went out, we had three of the four МРЗ players go bad. . . —Climber Neal Mueller, who made it to the top of Mount Everest along with partner Chris Grubb and 12 Nintendo DS handhelds PENNY ARCADE WWW.PENNY-ARCADE.COM QUOTATION SOURCES FROM ТОР TO BOTTOM, STARTING WITH LEFT COLUMN: THE SEATTLE TIMES, ASSOCIATED PRESS, EGM INTERVIEW, NEXT-GEN.BIZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS, WIRED, DAVIDJAFFE.MODBLOG.COM, GAMING AGE FORUMS, KOTAKU.COM >> RARE BACK IN NINTENDO'S CAMP? SORT ОҒ AS THE NOW MICROSOFT-OWNED STUDIO IS CURRENTLY STAFFING UP FOR DS PROJECTS... >> о 52 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com Thanks to -jinx- on the Gaming Age Forums М АИ 0 в в e DROOL WITH ENVY! 1UP.COM IS GIVING AWAY A FALCON NORTHWEST FRAGBOX! WITH AN 80 GB HD AND 1024 MB RAM, THIS IS ONE BLACK BOX THAT'S NOT ONLY PACKED WITH POWER—AMD 64 3000+ SOCKET 939 PROCESSOR AND NVIDIA GEFORCE 6600GT 128 MB VIDEO CARD— BUT ALSO SEXY ENOUGH TO MATCH YOUR FINEST DECOR. SO QUIT DROOLING ON THE MAGAZINE, AND 5 GO ENTER АТ http:;//pcgiveaway.1up.com. que ENTER NOW—THE CONTEST ENDS SEPT. 6, 2005! Where gamers call home. (>) press start bad girl Mia (played by actress Josie Maran) reaches for the stick shift. Publisher: EA Games Developer: EA Canada Release Date: November 2005 MOST WANTED Five facts (and one rumor) to get you up to speed with EA’s newest racer These cops mean business You're a hotshot street racer trying to build up cred by winning duels on the open road. Chicks want you, dudes want to be you, and cops...well, they want to arrest you. Most Wanted's law enforcement officials react quite realis- tically to your joyriding. "The cops will initially be very aware of public safety, possibly calling off a pursuit if speeds get too excessive," explains Most Wanted Senior Producer Larry LaPierre. You're not underground anymore “Later in the game, as your heat and Nitro-boosting through the rain-slicked, neon-filled nighttime cityscapes of the Underground notoriety increase, it's personal: They'll games was certainly stylish, but day-tripping is cool, too. Most Wanted serves up a massive, open-ended world with races taking place between sunrise and sunset. Expect a gritty, sun- come at you head-on at 100 mph, try to baked city with plenty of looming industrial complexes, obscure shortcuts, and way fewer ram you into oncoming traffic, and drop Burger Kings than in NFSU2. “Most Wanted takes things to an edgier, more illicit side of the spike belts to take out your tires.” action,” says LaPierre. “It only made sense for the environment to reflect this change.” >> NEGATIVE GHOSTRIDER, THE PATTERN IS FULL: MASTIFF WILL RELEASE A NEW TOP GUN FLIGHT SIM FOR THE NINTENDO DS THIS FALL.... >> 54» ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com PlayStation.e Ж хеох MORTAT KOMBAT PRE-ORDER ПОШ TO RECEIVE AN EXCLUSIVE MORTAL KOMBAT FIGURINE! PRE-ORDER REQUIRES A $5 DEPOSIT CALL 1.800.800.5166 FOR THE STORE NEAREST YOU OR UISIT US ат WWW.EBCAMES.COM се MIDWAY We take games seriously ™ E IT'S NOT WHO'S THE nasa nenguna ранния ишинер ишини речева presen geeneen зина = d im iuum di BUT WHO'S THE SMA TEST IT К go to navy.com STRIKE & RETRIEVE NIE МАМУ TRAINING EXERCISE IT’S MORE THAN JUST A GAME. „МАМУ © 2005. Paid for by the U.S. Navy. All rights reserved. = It’s all about the speedbreaker When you're speeding down a narrow road try- ing to beat a rival to a tollbooth checkpoint, you don't have time to react to, say...a police cruis- er barreling toward your windshield. It's the perfect time for the speedbreaker, a special ability that slows time to a bullet-time crawl. It's quite similar to Midnight Club 3's "zone mode,” only more forgiving...and available to all vehicles. "The speedbreaker really allows you to get in the zone,” LaPierre explains. “Рог example, you could use the extra time to thread the weak spot in the roadblock, blast through it, then transition back to full speed mayhem.” You have only a limited amount of this crucial juice, so use it sparingly...oh, and don't try it in real life. “Driving home last week the cars slammed on the brakes in front of me and my first instinct was to press my speedbreaker to avoid the accident,” laughs LaPierre. Some of these racers are mighty fine Wild On... hottie Brooke Burke spiced up Underground 2's raceways, but she's nowhere to be found in Most Wanted. Luckily, her replacement appears to be up to the task. Meet lovely Josie Maran—she'll be playing Mia, a down ’n’ dirty racer who propels you deeper into the world of illegal street racing. You might remember her from Van Helsing, in which she played that naked, red-headed harpy chick that you couldn't stop looking at because she lacked nipples. Man, that movie sucked. ТОКОВОТ, ТЕСМО'5 ROBOT-FILLED ADVENTURE, COMES TO PSP ІМ NOVEMBER.... race online The online action in the Underground games suf- fered from an awfully clunky interface. The devel- opers at EA Canada aim to fix that snafu for Most Wanted. “We want to make it much easier to set up races,” says LaPierre. “In Underground 2, it was frus- trating getting bumped back to the lobby and hav- ing to find the guy you just raced.” Currently, only 1- on-1 duels are planned for the online games.... It’s rumored that you can play as the fuzz... Back in NFS3: Hot Pursuit (PS1), you could step across the thin blue line and comman- deer cop cars. Can you rock the siren here? “We still have a lot of things we are trying to get into the game,” says LaPierre. “The one thing | will say is that if it is not exceptional, we will not put it in the game until we have it right, so...in short, maybe.” m —Shane Bettenhausen Because the U.S. Navy is outfitted with everything you need to earn your college degree while you serve. Take real college courses with real college professors, right on board your — acci ship. To learn more, go to navy.com or call 1-800-USA-NAVY. Constructing our own revolution tonehenge, Bigfoot, the 5 Bennifer flick Gigli—the world is full of mysteries. You can now add one more to that list: the Nintendo Revolution controller, “1 really want to change the game again with the controller for the Revolution,” Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told us this past spring. “I think you'll be surprised when you see it," Well, we're tired of playing the waiting game, so we've gotten ай Dr. Frankenstein and created our very own “revolutionary” joypad. Plus, we’ve enlisted the help of various developers to predict the likelihood of these rumored features actually making it into Nintendo’s next-gen controller, and how they might go about using each to spice up gameplay. —Bryan Intihar С À HEADSET “Barking out audibles on the line [of scrim- mage] in real time via your own customized calls would be great. Or maybe just telling your receivers to change their routes. | could see play-calling [for football games] in general going this мау” Odds: 2:1 — Kraig Kujawa, Midway (Blitz: The League) NEXT-GEN TURF WARS—NEWBIE DEVELOPER REAL TIME WORLDS IS MAKING A GRAND THEFT AUTO—FLAVORED MASSIVEL! 58 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com DS-ESQUE TOUCH SCREEN “Touch screens are the ultimate real-time strat- egy interface. Imagine if ‘Revolution Wars’ hap- pened in real time?” Odds: 1:1 —Randy Pitchford, Gearbox (Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30) TRACKBALL “It’s а little too retro for even Nintendo to go back to track- balls, but it could improve first-person shooters and real- time strategy games. And Missile Command would rock with it!” Odds: 20:1 —Dave Perry, Shiny CAMERA j "It's tough not to be seen as copying [Sony's] 7 EyeToy, but there’s no doubt it’s a cool input device for games. Maybe they could make one with stereo- 1 vision, so it can calculate points in 3D space. So you 4 could have games with gesture recognition, and others that get you up and sweating.” Odds: 1:1 —Dave Perry, Shiny (The Matrix: Path of Neo) PRESSURE-SENSITIVE GRIPS “Wow! All of my ideas on how to use such a feature are extremely dirty. | can't imagine Nintendo thinking the same way that | am...” Odds: 500:1 —Randy Pitchford, Gearbox MULTIPLAYER E-READER “Nintendo will open up a huge market with its downloadable content, but it could expand it even further by adding an E-Reader [card] slot as well. Imagine getting a videogame in а box of cereal!” Odds: 20:1 —Geremy Mustard, GlyphX (Advent Rising) MICROPHONE “Nintendo has already tried the standalone microphone before. It's a great input device if it’s really good at keeping out background noise. That said, I’m not so excited about lifting my controller to my face, so a headset seems like a better place for the microphone. Expect us to be ordering characters around in the game, and expect them to understand you better. Hopefully, some will have attitude and tell you to shut up!” Odds: 5:1 —Dave Perry, Shiny GYROSCOPIC CONTROLS “This is almost like analog controls to the next level. Obviously, games where you need to tip the controller (think Super Monkey Ball) are a no-brainer. But think about a stealth game and how ‘still’ you hold the con- troller coming into play. Another interesting idea is if you are a magic user and you have to actually move the controller in the air to cast a spell.” Odds: 5:1 —Chris Charla, Backbone (Death, Jr.) op INTERCHANGEABLE FACE BUTTONS “This is just crazy talk. The only thing | see here are legions of lawsuits from parents of kids who acciden- tally swallowed their 2 button. Also, I'd expect a ton of replacement part requests.” Odds: 126:1 —Kraig Kujawa, Midway А ONLINE GAME FOR XBOX 360 ТП! ALL POINTS BULLETIN. BUT DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH FOR THIS ONE; APB ISN'T DUE UNTIL 20 ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com е 59 (>) press start i / | CELEBRITY GAMERS: / BEASTIE BOYS; seme m EN othing Сап bring down the EGM: What do you guys iced-out medallion for my chest. It would three man-children that the think about music in be an eight-legged octopus with diamonds world has come to adore as videogames? Is it usually as suction cups. Jacob the Jeweler and | the Beastie Boys. Not even some bro- well chosen? have been talking about this. ken equipment, which on a recent Гада ту own music. | like to make afternoon in NewYork City has caused a playlist or put a bunch of CDs on ran- ЕСМ: Any of you three a two-hour delay for, the group. The "dom, and then turn off the game’s sound.|. ever get into handheld performers stood оп а darkened sound- like to put on the sexiest music possible games? stage hammering away on their for gaming. The problem with playing portable Blackberrys while awaiting the taping videogames is that you end up sitting on of their first MTV2 Video Mod, the ЕСМ: Who'd win in this the toilet for like an hour and a half, even network’s latest attempt to cross over basketball matchup: the if you have “finished” in a couple minutes. into the gaming world that remixes Beastie Boys from NBA i 1 had some problems when the today’s hottest music videos with Jam Tournament Edition Game Boy came out— spent too much videogame animations. So what kept vs. the Beastie Boys time playing Tetris. | had two storage lock- Mike D, MCA, and Adrock occupied from NBA Street V3? ers and | used to just go and spend time when their batteries died and the tech- I'm not really a fan of any of there, staring at my boxes. I'd move them ай nical difficulties continued? A spirited those games. | do like the way they have over the place; a box down in the corner, а conversation about Unreal Tournament us bulked up in NBA Street, though—we box in the center—just like in the game. dependency and their $10 million all look pretty jacked! And | think they may dream arcade game. have airbrushed in a few tattoos here and ЕСМ: So what’s your lat- — Matt Rodbard there, But what | really wanted was an est gaming obsession? >> ALL HAIL "KING TUUR"—THE GAMER FROM THE NETHERLANDS WHO GOES BY THIS HANDLE ON XBOX LIVE WAS RECENTLY CROWNED THE B A new Video Mod (like this one starring the Beastie Boys) runs every month on MTV2. n —Beastie Boys’ МСА For a while | turned into a little Unreal Tournament [РС] addict. | had just been hooked up with this full-blown com- puter, with three new video graphic cards and the whole nine. That game was nasty, with the different teams and s***, running through the tunnels with aliens trying to cut you up with razor guns. ! would play it till like the sun came up and then Pd be like, “Oh s***, | really gotta stop.” I'd like to say that I found myself being very concerned for [MCA] during this period. Seriously, it was like talking to someone going through a drug phase. HALO 2 WORLD CHAMPION AFTER DEFEATING JAPAN'S “AIMIT I'm more into flashlight tag, TV tag, and Tumble Town. ЕСМ: Aren’t we all? Anyway, how did you guys get involved with Video Mods? Originally we went to a gaming company and talked about doing a videogame version of our latest album. It seemed like an interesting idea since the gaming company had created these envi- ronments and made these characters. The company said it was too busy, but were like, “Yo, MTV makes those joints—hook up with them.” ЕСМ: What’s the videogame you’ve been waiting for someone to make? Рт gonna tell people, but consider this patented now. If anyone bites this $***, then I’m gonna come after you. But basically I’m going to take а car chassis and put video screens in for like the windshield, the windows, the rearview mirror—everything. So you're basically ” IN THE FINALS OF A DOUBLE-ELIMINATION TOURNEY ON XBOX LIVE Didja Know? In 1992 the Kaneko Company created a Beastie Boys arcade game that had goals such as retrieving the group’s microphones, avoiding flying eggs for 30 seconds, and keeping your balance on an enormous turntable while bat- tling a boss named “The Turntable King,” The game, however, never made it into arcades, as the Beasties wouldn't approve the project. (Good call, guys.) | surrounded with screens inside this car chassis, Then you can drive around really fast, but you also have a gun, and while you're driving around you can shoot at other cars or people. Michael Jackson might want to order one, maybe [directors Steven] Spielberg and [George] Lucas will want to order two. You know, it’s probably going to cost like 10 million dollars. 4% ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com • 61 (>) press start бы al al COUNTDOWN THE TOP ) НЕ L hat’s in a name? Well, that’s what this edition of the EGM 200 wants to find out. We perused our massive database of game tapes in search of the titles that stood out the most. Be sure to log оп to egm.1UP.com with your own ridiculous username and discuss. е Arcade % 1981 As the story goes, legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto dubbed " his landmark Ў, с агсайе дате “Donkey Kong” 4 е) because the titu- 4 $ lar character was one stubborn mon- NV key. A monkey...like a donkey. This proved „Û for the first time that ^V even Miyamoto’s bad - ideas are worth millions " and millions of dollars. o35200 035200 за 1:05 HELP? > ^ 2 а: (ия ue. PS1 • 1998 You gotta love a game that just straight-up Jaguar * 1995 It’s just like regular soccer, only nobody draws any yellow with happiness and sunshine...and there’s no f***ing way you'll ever stop him! = taunts you. Мг. Domino is a cute, fun-loving guy who loves to run around his magical levels filled cards and your тот’ there telling 4) 1 you how to get grass ) | stains out of your өз socks. Play nice. o 699995 ЕН GBA/Giz • 2005 ..and he’s here to stop Mr. Domino! 62 » ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY www.1UP.com PS1 • 1999 15 Ка game, or a sign that maybe it’s time to see a doctor? OK, this one is just way too easy to make fun of. QUARTERMANN PREDICTED LAST ISSUE, THE Elemental Gimmick Gear е DC е 1999 It's not very wise to put a word like “gimmick” in your title, especially when Ас i the other two words do absolutely nothing >, to tell you what type of game you're looking AJ at—though it did provide gaming journalists | How is it? Did vou find anything? with many delicious EGG puns. Looks 11ке this i4 the deepest NEXT INSTALLMENT OF TRUE CRIME WILL BE SET IN NEW YORK СПУ. GRAB YOUR BADGE AND GUN THIS FALL ON PS2, XBOX, AND GC.... >> 1) МІ "d. T ДВ, а iy пей Saturn • 1997 Our first thought: Is this the one about the perverted adventures of Bashful’s three uncles whom the rest of the family doesn’t really like to talk about? No, but it should’ve been. Tang Tang GBA • 2001 Not only is this game name ridiculous, but BRAHMA Force: The Assault on Beltlogger 9 PS1 • 1997 Things about this game we are able to reasonably deduce from its absurd title: 1) There's an assault of some sort; 2) it likely occurred somewhere in outer space; and 3) nobody has ever played it. leading—from start to finish, Tang Tang is completely “tang” free. The Typing of the Dead | DC • 2001 | When the great zombie outbreak | inevitably arrives, it won't be the | trigger-happy commandos we turn | to for help. Oh no, the President will pick up that phone and call Anderson Temporary Staffing Solutions, and a mighty legion of | keyboard-wielding secretaries will save the world for $5.15/hr. я T ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY * www.1UP.com е 63 © press start ` THE RUMOR MILL - Makes Tom and Kate look like back- -page news f you're a student, І apologize | in advance for what I'm about to say: The Q is absolutely tickled pink that summer is coming to a close. | can now start venturing outside without producing sweat stains that someone believes resemble a famous dead person, and so many anticipated titles—plus the first of the next-gen consoles, Xbox 360—will soon invade my game room. But hey, if you feel my apology wasn’t sincere enough, feel free to send me a nasty e-mail at quartermann@ziffdavis.com. Enjoy school, kids! —The Q Surf's up Those in Тһе Q's inner circle аге well aware of my inefficiencies in the water. Long story short: My three-legged golden retriever Prickly Pete has a better breast- stroke. That’s why Рт so giddy that EA's SSX series will soon give me the opportunity to become a surfing Zen master. No misprint here, folks: Along with snowboarding and skiing, the version of SSX being designed for next-generation consoles will feature surfing. And don’t be surprised if another extreme sport is added... Blocky, these Star Wars are So George Lucas has finally closed the book on his faraway galaxy. Does this mean the end of Star Wars games? In the words of Vader in Episode Ill: №0000! Actually, I'm hearing that the surprisingly popular Lego Star Wars is receiving a follow-up, and will take you through the major events of Episodes IV, V, and VI. Hopefully, this one throws a bone {0 older Padawans like myself and ups the difficulty. The Q eyes the Da Vinci Code videogame. М 64 . ELECTRONI GAMING MONTHLY “ www іргелі Handing over the reins Recently, Sega signed on developer Secret Level (Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter) to remake one of its legendary franchises (sorry, Sonic's bunch isn't quite ready to reveal its identity) for both PS3 and Xbox 360. Well, this is just the beginning, as word around the campfire is that Sega is looking to several gamemakers on this side of the Pacific to update some clas- sics, like Space Harrier, Daytona, and Golden Axe. Hmm, | wonder which one developer Silicon Knights (Eternal Darkness) is working on? A different kind of page-turner These days, no book is hotter than author Dan x Brown's The Da Vinci » Code. It’s а fixture on the best-seller charts and heads to the big screen next summer (starring Tom “Oscar” Hanks), and now, it seems you'll be solving this murder mystery on your console. Expect the Da Vinci Code game to land on store shelves around the time of the flick. Shadowrun breathes new life A few years ago, | wept tears of joy when | heard that Microsoft was bringing back the classic role-playing game Shadowrun. | Those tears quickly became sour as Gates’ crew nixed the Xbox project. Now, apparently, developer FASA (MechAssault) is in the process of retooling Shadowrun for Xbox 360, and if my minions are cor- rect, it'll be drastically different from the Super Nintendo and Genesis hits. What's so drastic, you say? Well, I'll save that for another day... | BELIEVE IT OR NOT Are longtime Xbox supporters BioWare (Jade Empire), Valve (Half-Life 2), and Id Software (Doom 3) jumping ship to PlayStation 3? Well, not entirely. Those in the know tell us that е these supertalented development studios do @ indeed have games in the works that will be exclusive to Sony’s next-gen console. But fear not, Xbots; we also hear that the three will support Microsoft's upcoming machine. Whether those particular titles are exclusive, how- ever, remains a mystery. 4% For centuries THE DARKWATCH mas % PROTECTED THE WORLD FROM EVIL, Now, As JERICHO CROSS, vou MUST JOIN f THiS SECRET SOCIETY TO SAVE HUMANITY... Bann YOURSELF. a Experlenice’a Single Player, S Avent ior Intense Viti р A Vast Arsenal of Powerful | Weapons - Each | With an Intense Secondary) plee Attack жвох PlayStation.e Ж dye (OHIGHMOON 16 PLAYERS МА XBOX LiVE JOIN US AT DARKWATCH.COM and Gore ©2005 High Moon Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Published and distributed by Capcom Entertainment, Inc. CAPCOM and the CAPCOM LOGO ў 5 are registered trademarks of CAPCOM CO., СТО. DARKWATCH and all related trademarks are trademarks ог registered trademarks of High Moon anguage Studios, Inc. or it's affiliates. “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft. Sexual Themes Xbox, Xbox Live, the Live logo, and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software ESRB CONTENT RATING — Wwweesrb.U | Association. АП other trademarks are owned by their respective owners Intense Violence press start _ е The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess GC • November 2005 Half-Life 2 XB е October 2005 Perfect Dark Zero XB360 е November 2005 Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories PSP е September 2005 7 Now that is 0082 next-gen muzzle XB360 * November 2005 — We've tried PDZ's multiplayer corrupt "hypercorporations"—there's little substantive data on shootin’ action, but its solo play remains a mystery. Aside from this prequel. You can actually glean more knowledge from Eric some basic backstory—sassy young Joanna (she's a Pisces) Trautmann’s promotional tie-in comic book PDZ: Welcome to the joins her bounty hunter pappy, Jack Dark, in a mission against War. His design philosophy? "Please, please, please don't suck." а New Super Mario Bros. DS ® Fall 2005 Final Fantasy ХИ PS2 е Spring 2006 E A 18 a 8 ЕШ FINAL FANTASY XII RESIDENT EVIL 4 XB360 е Fall 2006 PS2 * Spring 2006 — Around the time you're reading this, PS2 е November 2005 — Finally, we glimpse the first info on Square will be showing off FFXII at its summer gaming event the PS2 version of Capcom's brilliant reinvention of its flagship Soul Calibur Ш in Chiba, Japan. Along with appearances by the game's voice survival horror series. Here we see a newly added weapon in PS2 e October 2005 actors and composers, Square is planning to make a big action: the high-tech Plagas Removal Laser 412. Expect a full announcement concerning the long-delayed title. But don't get report on more awesome new content soon—and we don't just Resident Evil 4 too jealous, it's probably just the Japanese release date mean the new costumes and true widescreen mode that PS2 « November 2005 (expected to be late 2005). We won't see it till 2006... Capcom's already promised. >> HEAD ТО WIPEOUTPURE.COM TO DOWNLOAD “GAMMA PACK 2,” WHICH CONTAINS TWO NEW TRACKS AND SKINS FOR THE PSP RACE >> LEGENDS RISE OF APOCALYPSE X-Men-Legends2.com RATING PENDING September 2005 This title is available for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PSP™ (PlayStationGPPortable) system. Visit www.esrb.org uo : N-GAGE for updated rating Е NGA i Я 3 LIVE 7 OLLIE ки пс. All tights reser ик of Activision Publish 'oduced under license from Marvel Characters, Inc. Game © 2005 Activision Publishing, ис. Published Nor? and he PS. Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment ис. Memory а ) (each sol red trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States апа) к Duo™ may meets |- ACTIVISION: other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. ТМ, ®, Nintendo GameCube logo is a trademark of Nintendo. © К 2004 IEMA. The ratings icon Is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. 2005 Nokia. All rights reserved. Nokia, N-Gage and N-Gage 00 are trademarks or registered trademarks of enn ae wan iad i rem on erat ar nf hn a lance i a к activision.com OMING SOON “о a console near you SEPTEMBER ` 2005 Battalion Wars Nintendo • GC — This console cousin of the GBA hit Advance Wars brings cutesy real-time strategy to the living room. га Burnout Revenge EA Games • PS2/XB — Disgrace your driver’s ed teacher again—pick this up for some seriously undefensive driving. Hitman: Blood Money Eidos ® PS2 — This time your bald assas- sin can blow his hard-earned cash on info, weapons, and hopefully some Rogaine. Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes Microsoft е XB — Say hello to blisters, as this sequel utilizes every button on your controller to control massive armies. Evil Dead Regeneration THQ е PS2/XB — Previous efforts to capture the chain-saw-as-hand zeitgeist of Evil Dead have unilaterally sucked, despite the best voiceover efforts of Bruce Campbell. Maybe the addition of an undead midget sidekick will put this one over the edge. ae Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks Midway е PS2/XB — Mortal Kombat gets all bi-curious with this co-op brawler. Nothing wrong with a li'l experimentation. NHL 06 EA Sports е PS2/XB/GC — Don't bother waiting for hockey season to finally start—take matters into your own hands. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 EA Sports ® PS2/XB/GC — Play as PGA players lan Poulter, Mike Weir, and a bunch of other guys you've never heard of. = Ци Kang from Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks asks for spare change to cut his damn mullet. Ші oc Commandos Strike Force Eidos е PS2 — Commandos returns as а first-person shooter, but still no appear- ance from original commando Ahnuld. ind P Indigo Prophecy Atari e PS2/XB — Folk-rock lesbian crooners the Indigo Girls solve mysteries in this paranormal adventure game. Or not. MediEvil Resurrection Sony CEA e PSP — MediEvil returns with more undead humor as you play as jaw- less, one-eyed skeleton Sir Dan. Ultimate Spider-Man Activision е PS2/XB/GC — He’s 15 and busy with homework, the now-underage Mary Jane, and of course, crime fighting. IN чш Also in September 187: Ride or Die Call of Cthulhu Far Cry Instincts Marc Ecko's Getting Up Ubisoft е PS2/XB 2K Games е РЅ2/ХВ Ubisoft е XB Atari е PS2 24: The Game Crash Tag Team Racing LA. Rush Ninja Gaiden: Black 2K Games * PS2 VU Games * PS2/XB/GC Midway * РЅ2/ХВ Тесто • ХВ Burnout Legends Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2 Midway Arcade Treasures 3 Rainbow Six: Lockdown EA Games • PSP Konami е PS2 Midway * PS2/XB/GC Ubisoft « PS2/XB/GC © Crash Tag Team Racing 68 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ® www.1UP.com AMES ACQUIRED UK-BASED SWORDFISH STUDIOS, WHICH MADE THE 50-50 SHOOTER COLD WINTER (PS2) FOR THE PUBLISHER... а? = 5 3 3 a E: © з = 8 2 З 5 E 5 E: 5 3 Mountain Dew Baja Blast; only at Taco Bell.. Made exclusively for Taco Bell. to go with the spicy, crunchy, melty, grilled and marinated food you crave. THINK (ES OUTSIDE fce TACO THE BUN веха: In 2001 Captain lun Amerine was among the first troops to drop into Afghanistan. Now, in 2005, he and his fellow Soldiers are helping Ubisoft create the most authentic military console game ever. Таап territory, in the town of Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan. The Taliban, — having been driven out of the town by the local people, had regrouped and were advancing toward the town in a large convoy of approximately 400 men, Captain Amerine was leading an A-team of 11 men from the : Army's oth Special Forces Group. Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun leader with ~ whom Captain. Ametine was working, had assembled a group of 30 tos 40 indigenous fighters. Captain Ametine hoped that air strikes, coupled En extensive planning, would be enough to defend the town-and keep (zai alive. A | ^ zn in iit-Novernber 2001, Captain Jason Amerine was in the heart of piens Three years later, Major Jason Amerine (he has since risen in rank) MR T and a team of Soldiers Were given a Slightly different mission: to work i е "фа 3 with Ubisoft's game developers to create America’s Army: Rise of a 2 Е * T ; = ЫР 4 Soldier" Designed, developed and originated by the U.S. Army, the game we ab ai 2 те „еще military console game available. “America’s Army is the most realistic military game, because it was created by the actual source. Developed by real Army Soldiers and based on real Army missions, this game gives you the true Army Soldier experience.” —Major (r) Chris Chambers, Deputy Project Director Major Amerine, highly successfu He saw thi opportunity want to play, b communicate the In 2004 the S entered into ment wit an avid gamer, began his work with America’s Army as a Mission Development Officer on the | original PC game. $ mission not only as an to create games he would { also as a way to true Army experience. ecretary of the Army an exclusive licensing agree- Ubisoft to develop the first authentic Army console game. This was historical agreement, never before granted , More pointedly, the something of a as the Army had this license (and nparal However, i Soldier standards he Army During t with Ubi and a tea assets and resou it) to any console game pub maintained enticity and realism, soft deve elped to construct order of aut he creati their real-li “[Ubisof unique,” Major Amerine said went to them with my list of opers. “So the coo! being Spec е experi wanted things | wanted. And ми was they had very similar ideas. T did an incredible job—in a way it felt al Forces again.” aintained creati on of Rise of a opers, of Special Forces Soldiers ence in Special eled access to the Army’s vast ces that came with isher. to ensure Rise of a the Army's rigorous ve oversight. Soldier ajor Amerine ful to Forces. to make something of the deve missions fait at was really ey ike Major Ame prevent the us from creeping i of the biggest things you moving on the battlefield down,” he explained. “If al flaws in mi ine was also eager to itary games 10 Rise of a Soldier. “One earn about is to get somebody’s shooting at you, you want to get down. In a lot of reward you for jumping around and doing stuff that you'd get shot doi Creating strategies and objectives within the Rise gameplay actually mimicked e games t not getting ey actually down, but all this silly ng.” evaluating of a Soldier he decision- making process of a Sergeant during a mission: maps and 3D images were Elements within the game are digital replicas of environments, equipment and weapons found in Afghanistan. “In real-world tactics there’s no right or wrong...But those are choices you have to make on the battlefield. And in the game, it works exactly the same way.” —Captain Erich Fellenz, Mission Development Officer evaluated for cover and concealment, overwatch, and ability to support other fire teams—precisely the type of planning al Army leaders perform in their real-world missions. Knowing where to put your me and when to put them there “is something that comes from, quite honestly, years 0 experience in doing it on the ground,” says anding of an Army Soldier's life, the also unique and authentic enough to be velopers were sent to Fort Lewis in ап Army game. ashington state and Fort McClellan, One of the most distinctive aspects of арата, where they received training Rise of a Soldier is Career mode, which d experienced mock combat mis- allows players to experience just what ions. Weighed down with combat gear, it takes to become a high-ranking he developers were taught how to enlisted leader in the United States ssemble, load and fire an M4 Assault — Army. This feature is just as detailed as Army Special Forces Captain Erich Fellenz, ifle; they were also treated to a lesson every other in the game, having been Mission Development Officer for the game. room clearing and advanced urban informed by the experiences of the Being able to form a game based combat, complete with live (and loud) Soldiers working on the game. The on these real-life experiences is wha mmunition. All of this was done to — Soldier begins as a basic rifleman and gives Rise of a Soldier its edge. To ensure the console game was not only progresses by accumulating experience further their knowledge and under- optimized for console game play, but and developing value-based skills until av = 3 ск о oco m 5 оо eo e CAREER MODE Do you have what it takes to be a Special Forces Team Leader? “In Rise of a Soldier players can actually create a persistent character online and build him from match to match.” —Major (r) Chris Chambers, Deputy Project Director Career mode takes you through a career in the U.S. Army, from rifleman through Special Forces. At the outset of the single-player and multiplayer game, players create a Soldier from unique faces, home states and corresponding regional accents as diverse as the Army itself. The Soldier then, like a real Army Soldier, has a distinct way of interacting with others. Players rise through the ranks by completing Missions nd acquiring Experience Points. Experience Points are hen used to raise your in-game Soldier Skills. For example, raise your leadership points and you'll increase the skills of the Soldiers under your command; raise your marksmanship points and improve your accuracy. These skills are an authentic, although partial, reflection of what it takes to succeed in the Army and advance in rank. Missions are not evaluated by number of bad guys killed. They are completed when a player accomplishes a mission and has acquired skills up to Army standards. That means making smart decisions, staying calm under fire and working with the team in order to achieve the objective. As a Soldier moves through combat, the Combat Effectiveness Meter (CEM) provides a real-time assessment of your skill levels. For example, players' shooting effective- ness suffers as a result of poor movement and positioning and when they are under heavy fire. If a player is less physically fit or unable to provide necessary medical attention, this is also reflected in player performance. Players can improve their effectiveness by quickly rectifying their mistakes (e.g., get into the prone position if shooting) or by further developing their Soldier Skills. со = © PV2 ALPHA ONE Not signed in =. TEES R PRANK Private First Class fa] EMPERETCE reo TO NEKT RANK unr — HOME STATE California ACK иа "Sunburn" HEIGHT ет 195 lbs Medic Not signed in STATS A © PV2 ALPHA ONE ЧАП SOPMOD MODIFICATIONS The perfect combination of firepower and compactness, the МАА! ів ideal for close-quorters =- т « ACOG 4х 1) Harris Bipod M4QD Suppressor Forest 4 power scope which assists in torget acquisition е has what it ta players to develop ank, more missio the complexity о accordingly. Capta his progression a own career as a So by training, using kes to be a Special Forces Operations Sergeant. Missions are replayable, allowing heir Soldier Skills in heir current role. But with every rise in $ are unlocked, and the duties grows in Fellenz described d expansion in his dier. After his time in he Infantry, he trained to become a Ranger (“because raining | could eligible, advanced As for Major Ame accomplishing his hat was the hardest find”), then, once 0 Special Forces. ine, he succeeded in Mission Objectives aps to plan tactics, working closely wi h indigenous forces and, above all, providing leadership n Then-Captain Jason Amerine, pictured with Special Forces and indigenous fighters in Afghanistan (blurred to protect their identity), worked with game developers to accurately recreate the Army Soldier experience. . Violence and perfor remained f Hamid Ka of Afghanistan. Having ri U.S. Army as Soldiers Forces, the g honorab zai became sen through t se Soldiers, yo y. Tarin Kowt ree from Taliban control and e president e ranks of the and established themselves worthy of the Army's Special и can be sure, gave everything they had with Rise of a Soldier. the Soldiers working on Rise of a Soldier is more than just the development of a game, but a reflection of their lives and experiences as true Army Soldiers. Pre-order Americas Army: Rise of a Soldier at www.riseofasoldier.com. Г are trademar ited S 7 с 22 y rks or registered ny. Ri in their work Besides, for his project, б. SAM UBISOFT these games are out there THESE GAMES ARE the old Dragon Warrior games, you can now actually see your characters in battles...time to party lik it's 1989. ө 76 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTH“ ww uii Ubon) SD © m нм -7 ТА - T€ PS2 * November 2005 Gathered intel: How can the eighth game in a franchise be considered "under the radar"? Well, for a vari- ety of reasons, this role-play- ing series never really took off here in America. Although it's huge (as Dragon Warrior games) reached only the hardest of the hardcore RPG market. 008 can change all that. Prepare for a massive, complex quest that pushes the limits of the PS2. “We're putting as much in Japan (with energy as we can into over 40 million making this version perfect units sold to for the American market,” date), the previ- ous incarnations to come Stateside explains Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii, The changes from the Japanese version Jessica casts Kafrizzlel (that country's best-selling PS2 дате ever) include the addition of voiceovers, reworked menus, re-orchestrated music, and tweaks to the battle system. U.S. roleplayers weaned on angsty fare like Final Fantasy Vil might be a tad surprised, though: Beneath the modern trappings of 3D visuals and professional voice work, DQ8 still exudes a specific brand of innocence and purity that’s not accidental. “If you play a really dark RPG with moody visuals, then the player him- self will have a dark heart,” explains Horii. “To have a bright and lighthearted world and still be able to tell a satisfying story is really much easier on the user.” Nearest known relative: If you can stom- ach the chunky graphics and endure the challenging 100-hour-plus adventure, Dragon Warrior VII (PS1) will show you just how phenomenally deep role-playing games can get. Chances of survival: Excellent. With no new Final Fantasy until next year, RPG- starved PS2 owners should take a chance on this epic. —Shane Bettenhausen > Ж Some of the year’s coolest games lurk under most gamers’ radar f you’re into gaming, you can’t help but hear about the high-profile, big-budget block- busters destined for massive popularity—a new Zelda, Grand Theft Auto, or Halo won't exact- ly sneak onto shelves. Yet a lot of games do just that, coming to market LE complex skill system - allows you to customize your characters’ growth based on what battle actions you choose, with little fanfare...and little chance of catching on. It doesn’t always end in tragedy, however: Sometimes, one of these seemingly niche titles makes the daring leap into acceptance— Namco’s 2004 hit Katamari Damacy went from geek to chic almost overnight. Here’s a look at this year’s offbeat contenders... attacks! Even more out there Can’t get enough bleeding-edge gaming? Head to egm.1UP.com for info on more titles including Guitar Hero and Magna Carta. ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY. www. tUP.com:® 77. these games are out there DIGITAL DEVIL . SAGA 2 PS2 • September 2005 Gathered intel: This is the sequel to last year’s cult role-playing hit Digital Devil Saga, a fact cunningly concealed by the “2” in its title. Players who want to see what happens after the first game's cliffhanger ending can carry over their memory-card data to go into part two with all their hard-earned abilities and stats. New to the second game are additional playable charac- ters and a new world—with new and more devious dungeons—to explore. Nearest known relative: Final Fantasy X...if it were crazy hard. Digital Devil Saga has that series’ involving story and fully voice-acted cut-scenes to make the intense dun- geon crawling and party building go down a little easier. Those familiar with FFX’s sphere grid will also find common ground here, as DDS’ ability- building interface is quite similar. Chances of survival: It's not going to become the next monster hit, but the growing popularity of anime-styled games should make this a fairly suc- cessful niche game—most likely with the Evangelion crowd, since it's got all the religious portent and moral angst they crave. —Nich Maragos 78 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY. $. XB360/PS2/XB/GC * October 2005 Gathered intel: We'd probably get our asses kicked for calling Neversoft's (the guys behind Tony Hawk's Pro Skater) new shooter Grand Theft Auto: Dodge City, but we swear it’s flattery. Set in the brutal frontier states of post-Civil War America, this game casts you аз a young gunslinger on a mission of vengeance. Like GTA, Gun offers a vast, open-ended world to explore, diverse missions to undertake, and plenty of high-octane rides (well...horses, any- way) to commandeer. As the title implies, you deal in lead, and the gun- play combines slo-mo bullet time with precise timing-based combos to create a new breed of six-gun shoot-out. Nearest known relative: In terms of ‘subject matter, comparisons to Dead Man’s Hand and Red Dead Revolver seem unavoidable, but Gun is far more ambitious and free-form than its Western brethren. Chances of survival: Not everyone’s into the cowboys and Indians scene, but the huge, go-anywhere world might lure skeptics in. Plus, the gritty, serious setting (more HBO's Deadwood) should really connect with older gamers. We saw plenty of messy head shots, shot- gunned horses, and brazen strumpets (thanks to the “Whore Wagon”) in our short demo. One caveat, though: The Xbox 360 version we saw looked barely better than its XB cousin. —S.B. hthearted experience.” | = GameSpot D x < ве fal N ee - | D Sid Meier's legendary Pirates! is available for the Xbox* for the first time ever. Loaded with new E features in stunning 3D, you'll unleash your cannons on enemy ships, pillage the 17th century Í Caribbean and romance the fair maidens in exotic ports while searching for buried treasure: : 5 www.sidmeierspirates.com ; У: : | а ‹ E i Д > х risp Я i OVE GAMES. ет 1 © 2005 Take-Two Intafactive Software and its subsidiaries, All rights reserved, 2K Games, the 2K Games logo, and Take-Two Interactive Software are all trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc: © 2005 Firaxis Games, Inc. All rights reserved, Firaxis Gamps and Sid Meier's Pirates! are registered trademarks of Firaxis Games, Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live, the Live logo, and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other: countries. The ratings Icon is а trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other marks and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. these games are out there DS е November 2005 Gathered intel; The DS is a regular breed- ing ground for off-the-wall gameplay con- cepts, so Capcom’s Phoenix Wright should fit right in—here, you play the role of a young hotshot lawyer tasked with winning five controversial cases. How does one play а game about the law? Lots of (often quite funny) dialogue choices. It’s up to you to cross-examine witnesses, present evidence to the judge, and object when your rival crosses the line. Hilarious writing and slick, anime-style animation bring the bizarre package together. Nearest known relative: Straight-up adventure games like this are quite rare these days, but interactivity-wise it’s a bit like Ubisoft's Sprung, only funnier and with less hooking up in hot tubs. Chances of survival: Hot litigious game- play isn’t exactly an easy sell. But then again, NBC does have like 20 different ver- sions of Law & Order. Maybe this will reach some odd new demographic... —SB. [PHOENIX WRIGHT: ACE ATTORNEY FATAL FRAME 3: THE TORMENTED PS2 е November 2005 Gathered intel: Tecmo's third install- ment in its fan-favorite horror franchise retains the series’ trademark combat— battling ghosts with a special spirit camera—but adds some much-needed variety. “This game offers three different playable characters,” explains Producer Keisuke Kikuchi. “Each has different lev- els of skill with the Camera Obscura, so you'll have to vary your tactics depend- ing on the situation.” One new character, а young man named Kei, is such a poor shutterbug that he resorts to Metal Gear Solid-stealth to avoid detection by the game’s grisly ghouls. Nearest known relative: Obviously, it doesn’t stray too far from its predeces- sors’ shadowy path, but even series vets might get spooked here: Tormented is even more depressing and surreal than the last two games. “Each character has experienced profound loss and sorrow,” says Kikuchi. “Coping with this pain is so intense that their reality and night- mares begin to overlap.” Sounds like the series might be treading further into the psychological horror realm of Konami's Silent Hill series... Chances of survival: The series main- tains a loyal fan base, and this latest version finally expands the scope of the game, so maybe it has a shot at broader appeal. Then again, launching ир. against the PS2 version of survival-hor- гог juggernaut Resident Evil 4 certainly won't help its chances. —5.8. > E 8 5 5 Е Е Е 3 8 5 E Е B 5 3 Е E © 8 5 = o 3 5 © В 8 о В 5 5 Е я 2 2 CONTENT RATED BY ESRB fu Blood and Gore Intense Violence Mature Humor Sexual Themes Strong Language Use of Drugs Use of Alcohol SUSPECT: опа MH tail. a raging pec. Conker inking,-smoking, and chasing more 5% furry, tail than ever. Well, een b XeOox ive these games are out there STUBBS THE ZOMBIE IN REBEL WITHOUT A PULSE ХВ » November 2005 Gathered intel: A survival-horror game with zombies...not too original. But how about a game in which you play as the zombie, slurping brains to create an undead horde? That's different. Set in 1959, Stubbs skewers that era’s cheesy kitsch and dime-store novelty with a blend of slapstick goofs and pitch-black comedy. Stubbs tosses his own organs as hand grenades, rolls his head like a bowl- ing ball, and graphically gorges on brains. Nearest known relative: Stubbs is the brainchild of Halo cocreator Alex Seropian and runs on the Halo engine. While differ- 82 «ELECTRONIC GAMITIG MONTHLY el WW. TUP.com ences between the blockbuster shooter and this oddball eat-em-up are obvious, the game shares Halo's aiming controls. Stubbs can't shoot guns. That would be too straightforward. He can, however, pos- Sess a gun-toting human and fire away. Chances of survival: Stubbs is weird, but zombies are familiar fare for gamers. And don't underestimate the power of the Halo association. If Stubbs turns out both fun and funny, it could be a surprise hit. Plus, a dire lack of Xbox-exclusive games this fall puts this squarely in the spotlight. —Robert Ashley SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS PS2 • October 2005 Nearest known relative: Similar David and Goliath-style battles graced the swashbuckling adventure Galleon (XB), but Shadows true legacy stems from the cult-classic /co (by the same developer). Gathered intel: Seasoned action gamers have kicked thousands upon thousands of virtual asses, but how many victories truly meant something? Shadow of the Colossus strips away the sword-fodder that clogs other titles, allowing a young boy to hunt massive living statues with sword, bow, and steed. Bold in concept, but its true scope is unknown. Chances of survival: /co fans will want to see if Shadow can move them in the same way, others may not be willing to emotionally invest. —Justin Speer : We take games seriously™ these games are out there [RADIATA STORIES PS2 е September 2005 Gathered intel: The developer behind last fall's sleeper RPG hit Star Ocean: Till the End of Time returns with another monstrous quest guaranteed to consume at least 40 hours of your free time. Radiata Stories presents an imaginative, pastel-colored world where humanity struggles in a massive war against other beastly races. Like Star Ocean, this is a deep, complex role-playing game, but the combat has been specifically designed to lure in newbies—fast, action-oriented battles allow you to rack up huge combo attacks and combine party members’ spells for screen-filling special effects. | This prehistoric Xbox adventure is “оп hold" but may still return one day. 84 ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com Potete КАКА, а Со But the game’s real draw will be its unique system for recruiting party mem- bers. “You can find up to 150 different people willing to join your party,” explains Radiata Producer Yoshinori Yamagishi. “Each person has a real-time schedule that they follow that links up to the PS2's internal clock, so you have to stalk them and see what they do in order to figure out how to recruit them." For example, you might see a random dude drop his contact lens into a drain (we're not making that up, by the way), and you'll have to retrieve it for him in order to gain his support. Getting them all will | Chulip Good news: Natsume's oddball PS2 | kissing RPG should come out this fall. drive completists nuts...or at least sell a lot of strategy guides. Nearest known relative: The structure and gameplay systems echo those in Star Ocean, but the giant, living world reminds us of what was cool about Shenmue (Dreamcast). Chances of survival: It's coming out with very little fanfare, and the name isn’t a known quantity, so it's going to have a tough time getting noticed. Hopefully, RPG fans will do their home- work on this one. —S.B. M a Phantasy Star Trilogy M Expect a delay—the final game hasn't even come out for PS2 in Japan yet. OVERDOSE PS2/XB е November 2005 Gathered intel: It's certainly different: а South-of-the-border take on Grand Theft Auto in which you can kill an enemy with a drive-by door slam, slow- mo bullet dive out of your car à la Max Payne, shoot an hombre in the face and catch his hat on your head before pro- ducing Е! Mariachi-inspired twin machine-gun guitar cases to create a 12-kill combo with a Tony Hawk-esque scoring system—all to the sound of Mexican hip-hop. And if you screw it up, rewind it Prince of Persia style! Nearest known relative: Everybody's cousin. This game borrows liberally from a whole slew of hit games to craft a wild, weird shooter yet manages to retain its own quirky charm. Chances of survival: It may just be loco enough to work. The over-the-top action and sick humor stand out in а sea of overly serious shooters. —J.S. В The Shield Despite the TV show's popularity, this game appears to have been canned. #1 rated МНЕ game. —game rankings.com ProControl —cycle the puck, give-and-go, attack like the pros, even from behind the net! Get physical with the Enforcer System — wear down your opponent's scoring line. Hundreds of new Pure Motion" animations bring authentic in-your-face NHL action to life! Maximum Goaltending & On-The-Fly Coaching let you rule the rink from any position on the ice. ХА А Hit the ice like never before with NHL 2K6! With fast action and new cutting-edge features galore, no other hockey game comes close to Жаға matching 2K6. Skate, pass, shoot, defend—and enforce—with all the intensity and total authenticity of the real NHL! www.2KSPORTS.com SPORTS ied are registered trademarks of пе National Hockey League. All NHL logos COffcially Licensed Product of ће NHLPA. NHLPA, National Hockey League ment Inc. Onine play requires internet connection, Network Adaptor (ог PlayStation 2) and Memory Card (8MB) (ог rks or trademarks of Microsoft Corpo US. andlor in other countries and are used under license from Microsof. EVERYONE шев 4 PlayStation.e ہے‎ ESRB CONTENT RATING www.esrb.org Staton" and the f, Xbox, Xbox Live, these games are out there WORLD REBORN: UNIFICATION DS е September 2005 Gathered intel: Unknown developer NeoPong has wildly ambitious plans: World Reborn isn’t even out for GBA yet, and the Nintendo DS sequel is already in the works. Yet-to-be-intro- duced returning heroes Thiel and Mei again fight to save their world along- side a team of four other pilots and ships. Outfit your fighter with bristling special abilities, weapons, and sec- ondary fire for a highly customizable shooter that even has cooperative online play. Nearest known relative: Given the way the developers play up the con- nection to classic console games of old, we’re tempted to say something like The Guardian Legend (NES) for its mix of adventure and shooting sec- tions. But for those whose memories don’t reach that far back, maybe you should think Gradius V (PS2). Chances of survival: Never mind sur- vival, right now it’s not 100 percent certain this game will be born in the first place—NeoPong doesn't currently have a publisher lined up, and it’s the sequel to a game that isn't out yet on a different platform. Also, when it comes out, it will have to contend with com- peting DS shooters like Nanostray. --ММ. W For exclusive screens and audio from Unification, head to www.NintendoNow.com. за! 86 « ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY, ë wiw“ uPcoñ, POPOLOCROIS PSP е September 2005 Gathered intel: The PSP finally gets a proper role-playing game (c’mon, peo- ple, Untold Legends is just a dungeon hack) with Popolocrois, the first American entry in a long-running popu- lar Japanese series. However, those who bought Sony’s portable for its high- tech specs might be confounded to dis- cover that this is a compilation of two 2D games originally appearing on the PlayStation...1. Hey, but they're new to you, and the hand-drawn art style recalls simpler times. Nearest known relative: It's best to compare Popolocrois to another RPG for the kids’ set—Paper Mario (GC). Shockingly, this game is actually sim- pler than the plumber's quest: It encourages the use of autobattle by making it the default setting. Players over the age of 10 should turn that off. Chances of survival: Ordinarily, we'd expect a game like this (cutesy, old school, kind of for babies) to reach only the hardest of the hardcore RPG crowd. On the other hand, new soft- ware for the PSP is at а premium, and thousands of game-starved early adopters could make this one an inex- plicable hit. We'll see what Americans make of the odd little series once it's released next month... —N.M. LOSTIN BLUE | DS е September 2005 Gathered intel: Washed ashore on a desert island, a teenage boy goes about the business of staying alive, procuring food, shelter, and a castaway girlfriend. Lost in Blue turns the everyday tasks of survival into minigames, the perfect excuse to use all of the DS’ bells and whistles. You'll start a fire by rubbing sticks together (using the L and R but- tons) and blowing on the sparks (with the microphone). You'll milk a goat by pulling its udders with the stylus. You'll cook your dinner by closing the lid of the DS (like a pot) for just the right amount of time. Nearest known relative: This game is actually a sequel of sorts to Survival Kids, a little-known GBA adventure. But you never played that, so compare it to the mundane-yet-lovable Harvest Moon farming-sim series. Lost in Blue adds urgency to the idea with its desert-island premise. Think of it as а role-playing game with a lot of minigames (that just happen to be about goat milking). Chances of survival: Lost in Blue is packed with more novelties than an ice- cream truck, but it might grab the attention of DS quirk-seekers looking for their next out-there gaming fix. жй Language Sexual Themes Violence ion. Ou bie 5 4 С wwwthq.com © 2005 THO Inc. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Pandemic Studios, LLC. Pandemic and the Pandemic logo are trademarks and/or regis demarks of Pand r IQ, Destroy All Humans and their re e и for I trademarks тв А nus ed A те. У ох and the Yoox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or in other countries and are used under license (от |01050! their respective owners. fl mM To ompetition's cutthroat out there — ous gamers can't afford to sleep on the latest technology trends. Interact with 35,000 gamers and getan edge at New York's only consumer gaming and technology event, DigitalLife, the final word in electronic entertainment. We're dishing up the world's - hottest games апа gadgets. Cold, hard cash is yours for the taking too — come get some as we host the largest PC & Console tournament on the East Coast. Official Tournament Sponsor: жвож CREATIVE intel. Microsoft NOKIA TOSHIBA Connecting People pP ч AGG И 592 NEW YORK POST © com See а НТ AM ЗИВ ЕВ!ЕМГ DROOL WITH ENVY! 1UP.COM 1$ GIVING AWAY A FALCON NORTHWEST FRAGBOX! WITH AN 80 GB HD AND 1024 MB RAM, THIS IS ONE BLACK BOX THAT'S NOT ONLY PACKED WITH POWER —AN AMD 64 3000+ SOCKET 939 PROCESSOR AND NVIDIA GEFORCE 6600GT 128 MB VIDEO CARD— BUT ALSO SEXY ENOUGH TO MATCH YOUR FINEST DECOR. SO QUIT DROOLING ON THE MAGAZINE, AND ў GO ENTER АТ http://pcgiveaway.1up.com. que ENTER NOW—THE CONTEST ENDS SEPT. 6, 2005! Where gamers call home. LAR = | dE в, \ " у | | | à Sword fighter Soul Сац weekend shogun warrior incentive) to become сії by Shawn Elliott 90 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com Official U.S. PlayStation | Magazine, and even Computer Gaming World in our interoffice Soul Calibur Il tournament. It ain't pretty. m. We've got tons of Soul Calibur Ш stuff for you in this issue, but that's only the beginning. Look for “Soul Calibur Ш under “EGM Extras" on eg exclusive screens, videos, documen- taries, retrospectives, and lots more. Plus, see how the EGM editors did against the chumps at 1UP.com, сот for «рМ EXTR, cover story: # soul calibur Ill t's all perspective. In the samurai cinema classic Rashomon—a tragic tale told four ways by as many wit- nesses—who’s doing the watching makes all the difference. Take one sto- ryteller's word for it, and the sword fight at the center of the yarn is the stuff of legend, choreographed combat like in the movies. Listen to another, and it’s a bumbling embarrassment— thwack, thwack, whiff, and the partici- pants are as ready to run away as they are to risk their necks. Same story with blade-based fighting franchise Soul Calibur. No, seriously. To casual viewers, Soul Calibur’s combatants stab and slice, sock and block the same as those in any other game in the genre. Whomp on buttons, and with a little luck you'll win—no moves to memorize, no science to sweat, and somehow still a giddy good time with a good-looking game. Not so, say the vets. Accident is actually mis- calculation; it’s more chess at a hun- dred moves a minute, an elaborate series of psych-outs and counter- psych-outs made possible only when you know your warrior as well as the person you're playing against. To the pro, solo play is for practice. Nothing tops going toe-to-toe in head-to-head. No brawler series is better. Who's right? Both if PS2-exclusive sequel Soul Calibur Ill's creators have anything to say about it. Playing it safe “Once you've established a series like Soul Calibur,” says Director Jin Okubo, “you can’t change the core components. The challenge is to build on what works, + to bring something new and innovative to the table while staying true to the for mula and to the characters that fans have come to identify with.” To wit, this is a safe sequel. “It’s not ution,” says Producer Hiroaki Yotoriya р “Instead, меге tweakil in for an easier-to-play and even more | intuitive product.” In versus mode that means tighter venues. Walls, waist-high barriers, a surrounding abyss—you’re never more (continued on page 94) ing HIGH-CALIBER EDUCATION Four reasons newbies should play this series | Guard Impact _| Any fighter can deflect an incoming attack, opening up his opponent to retaliation. Timing is crucial, and there's a heavy price to pay for predictable par- rying, but the strate- gy doesn’t stop there. Although your foe is stunned once you interrupt his Strike, he can still stop your counterat- tack with a Guard Impact of his own. Get good, and you'll exchange well-timed parries for a cine- Й matic stalemate of clashing swords. ТҮШТҮ Eight-Way Run Sou! Calibur characters can both sidestep and move freely in any direction while still facing down their opponents. This feature made SC the first fighter to feel truly 3D and means matches don’t seem like they're happening within the con- fines of an invisible corridor. Air Control Here, when someone pops you into the air, you aren't a helpless pin- cushion, watching passively as your opponent practices combos on your soon-to-be corpse. Air Control. allows you to shift your weight in midair to either avoid your enemy's cleaver or remain in the ring. Ring Out Landing outside the arena is an instant loss. While some less-expe- rienced fighters will сай this cheap, it's very strategic. Characters have different moves to send foes sailing over the side. Conversely, Eight-Way Run, Air Control, and Guard Impact give you options to avoid going out. NEW CHALLENGERS SC3 Producer Hiroaki Yotoriyama sounds off on the game's newcomers... >> Setsuka Tira Zasalamel “Setsuka specializes in 33, counterattacks. Her reach is rather short, “We call Tira’s weapon the ring blade, She's a well-rounded and able-bodied assassin, “With that deadly. scythe he has in his 3 hands, Zasalamel ү \ > but she’s speedy. It’s | ideal for the intermedi- can pull opponents in * у^ 4 safe to say that ate-level player, and or push them away. ( + | n С she’s aimed appears as though He’s a well-balanced | $ к N 5 | 2 <->) toward advanced | she’s dancing when b à character who most | к — players." doing various moves." NS anybody can handle." МС рау 9 Е % = уроду t A 92 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com А же” "We | T. i "i : FLEEVIBE. Com cover story: soul calibur Ill (continued from page 92) than a few feet from a lickety-split loss. As before, back-to-the-wall beatdowns зар big stamina, whereas being forced from the ring means forfeiting the round. The barriers—rock and wood railings—are all new and add to the strategy: Some attacks send opponents sailing up and over "ет, others put "ет. clean through in a cloud of splinters and sheared stone. The trick is to guess where the other guy is going, to drive him in specific directions while he tries to do the same. “Soul Calibur's system (see sidebar: High-caliber education) has always rewarded reading your opponent,” says Yotoriyama. “If you’re holding a small sword and someone comes at you with a huge sword, you instinctively want to sway to the side or step away. It’s a nat- ural response, and it’s where Eight-Way Run [which frees you to move in any direction while still facing your foe] comes from. Also, duels have a defini- tive timing, a pattern of thrust, parry, and feint, which is where we get Guard Impact and move faking.” Mo’ modes Ооп fret if the nuances seem daunt- ing: Yotoriyama and company have newbies covered, In fact, Soul Arena mode—a variety of bouts with special victory conditions—is designed not only to draw the casual crowd, but to convert them into hardcore fighting fans in the bargain. “When a duel requires you to do this or that to do damage” Yotoriyama says, “it’s also teaching you new tricks.” Other parts are plain fun. Coin Collector matches (also part of Soul Arena mode) involve beating the change out of baddies like a schoolyard bully, then scooping up the loot as it scatters. Soul Squash is about bouncing an adversary between walls racquetball- style. Wisp Shoot fills the arena with wandering spirits, which you can absorb and fire at your foe. Finally, Dancing Statue pits players against a granite colossus in a David and Goliath-style duel. While Yotoriyama won't say whether we'll walk tall as the giant him- self, it’s possible he's among the game's (continued on page 96) а | 94 « ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com SOUL EXCEPTIONS The ones that didn't make it W Past gossip pegged 4 Devil May Cry star Dante ke 6 as a bonus brawler, After та -— / Ме n EE dee ek |, c mies, so why © > \ wouldn't its sequel? assures us that "Dante will not be in Soul answers the produc- er, laughing so hard үры 4 Putting the rumor to a rest, Producer | Hiroaki Yotoriyama Calibur Ш.” Where did j $ the scuttlebutt origi- 4 nate? “The Internet,” and long that we sus- pect something’s been lost | in translation. WHAT'S THE STORY? Why did all these people decide to beat on each other? Producer Yotoriyama sums it ир superquickly: “Soul Blade (PS1) was about the existence of an evil, soul-stealing sword called the Soul Edge. Soul Calibur (Dreamcast) introduced its foil, а good sword. Soul Calibur Il told the story of the evil sword’s return and how it took over the Soul Calibur. Soul ; ш Appearing in all three ver- sions of Soul Calibur Il, Necrid (created by comic McFarlane) was neither a ‘nor the greatest i idea—the | mock He-Man villain mimic- < ked a variety $ of the cast’s best moves, breaking the game’s balance in the process. Where's the big lug now? fi “Necrid?” Producer Yotoriyama muses, “Necrid has gone ‘on vacation.” Calibur IIl is essentially about what happens next.” More signif- icant than the two weapons, however, are the warriors who encounter them. “The most important part of а fighting game. is the characters who are fighting, and it’s crucial to give them motivation—why are they fighting, what are the stakes, what are their places in the big picture? 503 provides that.” www.capcom.com/beatdown MATURE 17+ : Blood Strong Language Violence CONTENT RATED ВУ ESRB uw қ ©САРСОМ CO., LTD. 2005, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Осама 2005. САРСО! а G | К (уном FISTS OF VENIGI CAPCOM CO.,LTD. and сама inc. "PlayStation" and ihe "PS" Family logo are rei стат лу «box; апейне Xbox logos are or other court or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States an Association. All (continued from page 94) whopping cast of 30 playable charac- ters—a lineup that includes every war- rior to lift a sword in the series, along with a trio of new bruisers: hula gal Tira, scythe dude Zasalamel, and parasol- blade prima donna Setsuka. (“We always start with a weapon,” says Motion Design Chief Kento Kojima, “then determine what sort of movement fits that weapon, and what kind of character fits the movement.”) Soul Calibur II's console-specific characters Link (GameCube), Heihachi (PlayStation 2), and Spawn (Xbox), however, aren’t reprising their roles, and no new Sony-appropriate stars are standing in. “But we think we're offer- ing something better,” says Yotoriyama. “Instead of a single guest character, we’re giving you tools to create your own.” If you’re prone to coordinate colors and flatter facial features with hip hairstyles, outfitting a hero in character-creation mode can take hours. Even if you aren’t the choosy sort, you still might find yourself asking, “Does that kimono complement these clogs?” It all starts with a specialization. The profession you pick determines strength (the damage your attacks do), vitality (the extent to which the enemies hurt you), hit points (total health), and agility (how fast your fighter runs around the ring). Next, you'll need to settle on facial structure and skin tone, tweaking eyebrows, lips, and the like until the suave swordsman or grizzled samurai geezer of your fan- tasies springs to life. Then comes cloth- ing, a head-to-toe assortment of shoul- der pads, helmets, shoes, belts, hats, sashes, armor, and accessories—all of which can be layered and colored as you like. Adjustments aren’t all superfi- cial either. Stick to a bright palette and your disposition will be outgoing; go for an ominous look and it'll get darker, as reflected in dialogue and victory dances. between rounds. Your character will continue to evolve in Soul Calibur ШЕ) Chronicles of the Sword story/ strategy mode (see sidebar). “You can make most any character imaginable,” (continued on page 98) 5-57 96» ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www. 1UP.com STRATEGIZING BY THE SWORD Consider Soul Calibur III’s Chronicles of the Sword mode a test of sorts. If players take to its combination of real-time strategy and Soul Calibur combat, series creators say they'll consider spinning a role-playing game off the series. Here's how this potentially fun genre=bender works: № Missions unfold on finely detailed, top-down | maps. Starting with a handful of fighters, your | created character included, you'll move each | around fortresses and over open terrain on a net- | work of trails. Mission objectives range from annihilating a rival army to rescuing a stranded unit; here, you'll capture a series of strongholds. 1 ABELIA Lv.24 [Infantry] Health [240/240] (Resting Verge) Come into contact with free-roaming opposing т forces and you're forced to fight. Winning the J standard Soul Calibur duel that follows earns you | | experience points, which—depending on your profession—power-up either speed, toughness, | strength, or stamina. Success in Chronicles of the Sword also earns you additional weapons | | and clothing options for character creation. 10550 7 [LOSE PNEXTEXP 11290 ^ {DRAW PLAYOND.COM (continued from page 96) Yotoriyama says. “And, of course, we think it’s a great way to introduce new players to the game, people who aren’t normally into the genre.” Я 0 ЛІ Yotoriyama’s strategy seems sound: Let the fanatics fight one another at the expense of studies, social lives, work schedules, and friendships, while offer- ing everyone else an outlet to enjoy the experience at their own level of under- standing. It's that same reluctance to leave anyone out to which he attributes the series’ continuing lack of online play: "We're very interested in [it], but at the same time, what the worldwide research we conducted showed was that the infrastructure is uneven, that not everyone has [high-speed Internet access]. So rather than implement online play which isn’t something everyone would be able to enjoy, we felt expanding the single-player con- tent and delivering an extremely com- pelling product would be the wiser direction to go with SC3.” At some point, however, we have to wonder to what extent the producer is picking and choosing answers. What about the PS2-exclusivity part, for instance? Won't that alienate the hundreds of thousands who supported 502 on Nintendo's and Microsoft's hardware? “It’s a timing issue as well,” he says. “When we looked at the extent of the content we were determined to deliver and the time frame in which we wanted to deliver it, we knew we'd have to concentrate on a single platform.” The team’s tight schedule carries other consequences, too. This SC looks a lot like the last—certifiably stunning, with flashes that follow blades as they arc through the air and almost artistic animation, but somehow less so than you’d expect from a sequel іп a series that has just gotten more gorgeous with each installment. Ditto for design: You can’t complain about the way one of the genre’s finest games works, except to say that it’s too little you haven't seen before. Whether or not it's all enough, of course, is another matter of perspective. EN 98 е ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com XIAOXIN Lv.18 (Bandit) Health {240/240) Weapon (Пагк! № With two soldiers overtaking one strong- hold, it might be wise 10 move your custom warrior to another. Before assaulting the fort, you can scan the garrison guarding it— seeing, for instance, | that the assassin with a short sword there is a less-than-ideal match for your lance—and strategize accordingly. ге г GERALD Lv.40 (Knight) Health [240/240] Weapon (Hell Design) № To seize а strong- hold, you'll need to stand on it for a set amount of time. Assign two or three soldiers to the spot and the enemy will have to take them all on, one at a time. Note that while losing once won’t knock you out of the mission, it will reduce your total hit Points for the remain- der of it. Each character in Chronicles of the Sword is also counted as cavalry, infantry, knight, or bandit (i.e., in addition to his assigned profession). This designation determines a warrior’s strengths and weaknesses on the mis- sion map—how fast he can cross certain types of terrain (cavalry and infantry), how efficiently he can turn strongholds (knights), and whether he can pass through occu- pied bases (bandit). “To figure out the best battle Strategy,” says Producer Hiroaki Yotoriyama, “you must be able to base decisions on conditions that change from moment to moment.” TOP ORCHESTRAS AND CHOIRS COMBINED WITH VIDEO FOOTAGE, LASERS, LIGHTS AND LIVE ‘ACTION TO CREATE AN EXPLOSIVE AND UNIQUE ENTERTAINMENT EXPERIENCE. PERFORMING MUSIC FROM @ HALO® 4% MARIDO" 48% KINGDOM HEARTS 4}. WARERAFT® ®) ZELDA* KD METAL GEAR SOLID* 4% MYST $ CASTLEVANIA? — KD plus 4 8/11 ATLANTA, GA 8/13 HOLMEL. NJ ^ 8/14 CAMDEN, NJ 8/17 TORONTO. ONTARIO z NORTH 005 TOUR ав ЧА i5 5 8/22 BOSTON, МА 8/24 CLEVELAND, OH = 005 8/25 COLUMBUS. ОН Р " 8/26 CINCINNATI, OH For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit B/27 CHICAGO, IL www.videogameslive.com or www.ticketmaster.com 8/28 DETROIT, MI Created and produced by Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall A Clear Channel Music Group and Mystical Stone Entertainment Production TRON® SONIC™ 80» CLASSIC ARCADE SEGMENT! | TOMB RAIDERS ` VENT RISING 4% AND MANY МОРЕ ``. - 9/1 DENVER, CO 9/3 DALLAS, TX 9/4 HOUSTON, TX 9/6 PHOENIX, AZ 9/7 SAN DIEGO. CA 9/9 MOUNTAIN VIEW, СА 8/11 IRVINE. СА МОЯЕ DATES COMING SOON * DATES AND LOCATIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE 27 CLEARCHANNEL г. cover story: КЎ soul calibur Ill ‚ > DRESSED TO KILL = A > Вий a better swordsman 1 , in character creation mode Hair From the traditional topknot to Prince Valiant's bangs to Princess Leia's buns, hairstyles come but never go. Underwear | : Armor chafes. Cover your character's sensitive spots in anything from functional chain mail to frilly peek-a-boo panties. е ча я (NINJA) A shadow warrior from Japan who carries out the master’s bidding with deadly Face ion. Ready to die in order to complete the ч 3 Mori наран аат пе 5 ) 3 First, select a facial structure from a staggering | A assortment encompassing most every ethnicity 1 і ý Я yeren evel oe. Changesthe colo of eyebrows, е: с? 100 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY » www.1UP.com Apply clothing and accessories in layers, dress- ing parts of the torso differently as desired. Masks, necklaces, collars, scarves, and sashes are available as well. Now that you've created and fully clothed your fighter, he needs a sword of some sort (see below). Producer Hiroaki Yotoriyama made sure his dynasty warrior's duds matched. If you'd rather your pirate rocked ninja arm guards, go right ahead. Socks and shoes go on separately; same goes for the gear on your shins, waist, and legs. Also, changing the color of each piece of appar- 7 E: el alters your personality. Sword Play Which one of the character creation mode’s 10 stock weapons you decide on (completing Chronicles of the Sword’s many missions unlocks others) will determine the attacks at your disposal. So far, each style (bo staff, sword and buckler, etc.) seems derived from Soul Calibur’s existing cast, but the developer explains that it’s still working on each weapon’s arsenal. 4%. ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.conr * 101 ADVERTISEMENT po М 3 d N = 1 Ü ND) NA. P T Мощ 2 aN ‘A ‘Monster inthe Ма king ust how big a phenomenon is the Dragon Quest™ series? On previous launch dates, thousands of Japanese schoolchildren were mysteriously absent from school, and count less salarymen inexplicably called in sick. And somehow, all of them wound up visiting their local game store so they could be first to play the latest Dragon Quest title... ыы RS S 2. age as айша аялы, Іп order to curb this disturbing game-related wave of truancy and counter- productivity, Square Enix™ (formerly Enix) elected to release future Dragon Quest games only on weekends—and the Japanese government and ministry of education let out a collective sigh of relief. The epic role-playing game series known as Dragon Quest has captured the hearts and minds of game fans of all ages for almost 20 years. Beloved since its 1986 debut on the Japanese Famicom (NES), the Dragon Quest series has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide and spawned a number of sequels, music CDs, comic books, T-shirts, toys, and two animated TV shows. It even led to a game where players roll pencils with Dragon Quest charac- ters’ attacks and stats printed on each side. “Dragon Quest Battle Pencils” became popular mid-class diversions, evolving into a phenomenon that resulted in angry principals banning them in schools across the island nation. ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST title in the franchise, Dragon Quest VIII, sold over 3 million copies in Japan within the first three days of release. Now, the thrilling PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system adventure is crossing 3 the Pacific to take over America, courtesy of Square Enix, maker of the genre-defining FINAL FANTASY” series and the world’s number one creator 3 of role-playing games. Set to launch in November, the U.S. version of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey. of the Cursed King™ features a slew of improvements and additions, including spectacular voice acting, brand-new animations, greatly enhanced music and 221. sound effects, and a highly refined graphical interface that makes playing a snap: In short, the Quest just got a whole lot more epic... Е = rir azon to ТӨЛ А WORLD WITHOUT BOUNDARIES وتم Y ou are the hero, and your quest awaits! Gather allies and venture into battle to thwart the malicious jester known as Dhoulmagus. Be brave, but THE KING OF RPG/S know that your journey will not be an easy one; the foul Dhoulmagus possesses a magic scepter powerful enough here's no denying that Square Enix knows to curse an entire kingdom, transforming its people into \ 7 role-playing games; 60 million people worldwide? plants and its rulers into beasts. have enjoyed the company’s definitive FINAL 1 Live the glorious adventure, with beautiful cel-shaded FANTASY games. : graphics and characters created by famed Japanese comic _ For Dragon Quest artist Akira Toriyama, creator of the Dragon Ball series. VIII: Journey of the || Battle a myriad of enemies both amusing and dangerous in Cursed King, turn-based combat, and customize your allies’ tactics, Square Enix part- 5 attacks, and spells. Explore а lush, streaming 3D world nered with some fraught with wondrous items to find, challenges to complete, of the game indus- dungeons to explore, and monsters to slay. With hundreds try’s finest talents, of hours of gameplay lying in wait, you'll quickly realize including the why the world of Dragon Quest has already captivated esteemed series’ е one nation... creator Yuji Horii, composer Koichi Sugiyama, and $ developer Level-5. An all-star team ensures that this LAA] Alcohol Reference PlayStation 2 adventure is one magnificent RPG— and a King worth paying homage to. № PlayStation.e SQUARE ENIX. i WWw.square-enix.com Fantasy Violence Mild Language Simulated Gambling Epa Suggestive Themes | © 2005 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. © ARMOR PROJECT/BIRD STUDIO/LEVEL-5/SQUARE ENIX. All Rights Reserved, © KOICHI SUGIYAMA. Chajgcte Art and Design Бу. АКВА TORIYAMA. DRAGON QUEST, JOURNEY OF THE CURSED KING, SQUARE ENIX, and the SQUARE ENIX logo are the trademarks of Square Еп! Co., Ltd. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family Logo are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is а trademark of the Entertainment Software Association, 5 GAME DIRECTORY MULTIPLATFORM 106 Madden NFL 06 108 Fantastic 4 108 The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction 109 Batman Begins PLAYSTATION 2 110 EyeToy: Play 2 110 Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome 112 Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir XBOX 112 Sid Meier's Pirates! GC Geist Sonic Gems Collection Death, Jr. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition 05 118 Advance Wars: Dual Strike 119 Рас М Roll 120 Маповігау 120 Splinter Cell Chaos Theory EXTRA STUFF 122 Reviews Wrap-up 1 124 Reviews Archive 5 1% IEW ot everybody likes Madden. Not everybody likes Madden as Game of the Month, either. “It's а rehash—a roster update”; we'll get irate e-mails that manage to say exactly that, except in 2,000 words. Some of those e-mails might even come from nonsporto EGM staffers. Sure it's a rehash. So is Advance Wars: Dual Strike and EyeToy: Play 2, two titles that also earned awards this month, They’re all rehashes of fundamentally great games—made better, in most cases. But with sports sims, there's a very simple reason the good ones score 104» ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com well year after year: We паме ап objective measuring stick. Everybody's seen football games-on television, and almost everyone has played football, if only in the backyard. How сап а videogame that does a pretty good job of re-creating that experience— and makes it fun to play—not be scored accordingly? In other news, one of the three superhero games we reviewed this issue bowled us over with its incredible...Hulk-ness. Tossing around cars and smashing buildings as а green, irradiated Lou Ferrigno is actually as fun as it sounds. review crew а quiet month in which we find ourselves ready for some Football MADDEN NFL 06 y KA AARON KOEHN Y ner т ҒӘ The winner of our Review Crew ВЕЙ: nd Survivor contest was put on a € ЇЙ E Ef strict superhero-game-only diet this % ^ month. The subject did not react well, proclaiming х “meh!” to that new Batman game and "bluargh!" Fantastic 4. Read all about it on pages 108 and 109. 7.0-10 GOOD Вай Platinum — | Gold—for | Silver— | The highest- | The lowest- straight 10s. | games with | for games | scoring rated game For games | an average | withamean | game each | with unani- that are life- score of 9.0 | score of 8.0 | month gets | mously bad Al changing. | or higher. | or higher. a star. scores. 5.0-6.5 Е к p ESRB KEY (Also check out www.esrb.org) Everyone: Тее! Saccharine fun for the whole family: The PG-13 of game ratings. Fisticuffs, dancing elves, rampant sharing, and hilarious sexual misunderstandings, and possibly Smurfs. madcap antics. Everyone 10+: Mature: Saccharine fun for family members For the 18-and-over crowd. Intense over 10 that may include mild violence violence, gore, pixilated sex, drugs; between cartoon squirrels. parents no likey. At EGM, we evaluate only games that have been deemed final and reviewable by their publishers. Three editors rate each game independently, and we use the whole scale. 5.0 IS AVERAGE. DAN “SHOE” HSU, Editor-in-Chief Likes (again): Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Meteos Dislikes: Too much portable gaming = Bad eyes Blog: egmshoe.1UP.com MARK MACDONALD, Executive Editor Likes: Shooters, adventure, new Halo 2 maps Dislikes: Recent drought of good PSP games Blog: egmmark.1UP.com JENNIFER TSAO, Managing Editor Likes: Real-life football (seriously!) Dislikes: Videogame football (sorry, sportos!) Blog: egmjennifer.1UP.com CRISPIN BOYER, Senior Editor Likes: Neon, videogames about pirates Dislikes: Fluorescence, piracy of videogames Blog: egmcrispin.1UP.com 7 7 SHANE BETTENHAUSEN, Previews Editor Likes: RPGs, karaoke, fighting games, Burnout Dislikes: Mondays, pickles, terrorism, pennies | Blog: egmshane.1UP.com DEMIAN LINN, Reviews Editor Likes: Playing Marty Turco in NHL 2K6 (lost in OT) Dislikes: French toys (see the blog) Blog: egmdemian.1UP.com BRYAN INTIHAR, News Editor Likes: Action, adventure, sports Dislikes: The nickname "Sporto" Blog: egmbryan.1UP.com ROBERT ASHLEY, Staff Reviewer Likes: Games in bed, aka the new reading Dislikes: Games on toilet, aka the new thinking Blog: brainfreezebob.1UP.com SHAWN ELLIOTT, Staff Reviewer Likes: Soul Calibur Ill, Tokyo, sharting Dislikes: Jet lag, people editing his text Blog: egmshawn. 1UP.com GREG FORD, Staff Reviewer Likes: Madden, buried pirate treasure \MES LEE, Staff Reviewer Likes: Hockey, making Gretzky’s head bleed Dislikes: RPGs and chocolate Twizzlers Blog: egmwiley.1UP.com PATRICK MAURO, Staff Reviewer ес: Playing the new Madden (in the nude) CHRISTIAN NUTT, Staff Reviewer Likes: Multiple new „ласк announcements Dislikes: PSP—what happened? Back to Ridge Blog: ferricide. 1UP.com JUSTIN SPEER, Staff Reviewer Likes: The profundity of strategic card battles Dislikes: Joanna Dark's new look Blog: zepyulos.1UP.com W You may also see reviews written by the folks over at OFFICIAL U.S. PLAYSTATION MAGAZINE and 1UP.COM. Do not be alarmed, these people are all right. ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com е 105 the license late last year), I’m sure some sportos worried that it would give the company an excuse to kick back the Lay-Z-Boy, open a cold one, and put the Madden series on autopilot. Well fear no more—the megapopular gridiron franchise defi- nitely did not take this season off. The tweaks start with 06's new QB vision con- trol passing system. A cone represents your quar- terback's view of the field, and you'll receive а major accuracy bonus if you throw the pigskin to a receiver in that highlighted area. While the feature fosters a sense of realism, it also unnecessarily complicates your aerial attack (see sidebar). But the rest of 06 is right on target. For starters, the ground game is vastly improved, thanks to wider running lanes and the added ability to run over defenders with a quick flick of the right ana- log stick (C-stick on the Cube). You can now call smart routes, which make a designated receiver here. (I found myself in position for a lot more interceptions.) And if you aren't a fan of setting concession prices in franchise mode, the ego-filled NFL superstar mode will happily occupy your time (check G. Ford's review for all those details). Now, if only the developers can fix those new passing mechanics for the Xbox 360 version.... 6. FORD: Madden 06 is still excellent despite the fact that, as Bryan said, its biggest innovation real- ly amounts to an unnecessary step in the passing game. lm more impressed by the little tweaks— precision passing (see below), smart routes, the “truck stick” for those Jerome Bettis moments— that improve the overall experience. The second biggest innovation, NFL superstar mode, contrasts nicely with the deep but long-in- the-tooth franchise mode. Following a created or imported (from NFL. Street 2 or NCAA 06) player as ~ he takes an 10 test, gets drafted, hires agents, and WTH even plays football on occasion may not excite every gamer, but it's a creative alternative to the usual stuff. Regardless, when you get between the lines, the action doesn’t get any better. PATRICK Wi: Another year, another Madden, and another step toward the perfect football game. Seemingly minor tweaks—35 new offensive for- mations, offensive line audibles, and a fake snap button to draw the defense offside—dramatically enhance the NFL experience. Running the ball feels more realistic with the new truck stick, a high-impact change (literally) that allows the ball carrier to flatten defensemen, while the new back juke will leave overaggressive defenders scattered about the field. | just wish | could use the precision passing feature yet not worry about that passing cone. Only the steep learning curve for the new passing system keeps this Madden from perfection. 4%. 106 + ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Tiburon Players: PS2 1-2 (3-8 w/Multitap, 2 online), XB 1-4 (2 online), GC 1-4 ESRB: Everyone WWW.easports.com G — PlayStation.2 GAMECUBE 1 па Го | | t Ср № \PANTASTIC 4 7 Chale ( т T ; ; а ү? гемеш Crew: multiplatform — ; Ne шы. Hulk, seconds before he’s crushed by the giant cheeseburger boss (see below). Roll credits, no sequel. PS2/XB/GC Quite smashing Good: Hulk get mad, smash everything Bad: Player get mad in one or two frustrating missions Favorite Hulk Pastimes: Kicking car field goals, soldier baseball JUSTIN: If you're going to put the Incredible Hulk in a videogame, give the guy some room. Ultimate Destruction puts the mean, green comic-book hero in open, Grand Theft Auto-style areas and lets players know the joy of smashing. The Hulk barrels through traffic like a line- backer, stomps up and over buildings with crashing momentum, and leaves huge dents in everything he touches. The Hulk has dozens of ways to do damage, each gaining more destructive power if you brutally mash the move's button in for a few seconds. The resulting carnage is insanely gratifying to one’s raging id. Instead of asking us to sneak around science labs as the guy who turns into the Hulk (like the last Hu/k game), Ultimate Destruction leaves Dr. Bruce Banner's internal struggles right where they belong—in cut-scenes. Instead, you focus on battles with soldiers, helicopters, tanks, combat mechs, and fellow out-of-control mutants. In summary: Hulk mad! Hulk smash everything! Good call. CRISPIN: Turns out the Hulk ain't so dumb. He's stolen ideas from fellow JUSTIN CRISPIN THE INCREDIBLE HULK: ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION 9.0 75 9. Marvel comic icon Spider- Man, whose Spider-Man 2 game gave players full control over the webslinger's goo-shooters and set him loose ina sprawling New York City. Ultimate Destruction follows suit, diligently repro- ducing Mr. Green's unlimited strength and unleashing it in smashingly fun urban and desert playgrounds. And while these environments aren’t as pretty or dynamic as Spider-Man’s metropolis, the missions themselves are usually more exciting (especially the bonus games that have Hulk batting soldiers for distance records or trying to leap across the city without touching the ground). Story mis- sions do get repetitive and control gets slippery when you push Hulk to full bore, but unlocking new powers kept me in the destructive mood. OFFICIAL PS MAG—TOM: Ultimate Destruction is quite possibly the best superhero game to date. A slow start soon gives way to God of War intensity that takes off and never looks back. It works because the Hulk looks and acts exactly as you'd expect him to: full of gamma- generated rage. He leaps across the huge, open-ended environments, wall-runs up the sides of buildings, and executes fight- ing combos and feats of strength that only the Hulk could pull off. Tossing a tank to bring down a Titan Hulkbuster is simply an awesome moment. Hulk fans will appreci- ate the story line that includes such stal- warts as General “Thunderbolt” Ross, Doc Samson, the Abomination, and even the Devil Hulk. Quite smashing, indeed. Developer: Radical Players: 1 Publisher: VU Games ESRB: TOM www.hulkgames.com 108 е ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com FANTASTIC 4 Could use more Hulk Street Fighter's Ken called—he wants his flam- ing Dragon Punch back. Before radiation started cranking out superheroes like an assembly line, there was the Fantastic Four. And now that every comic-based movie is being partnered with a teenage videogame side- kick, we have a not-so-fantastic game. Playing as the stretchy dude, invisible girl, human barbecue, or badass Rice Krispie treat still equals loads of button mashing for you. Thankfully, when you're fighting against the plethora of villains, such as Mole Man, Puppet Master, or a guy named Dragon Man (bitten by a radioactive dragon, presumably), the boss fights will have you strategizing and switching between characters. For exam- ple, you'll use ranged fireball attacks against Diablo and stretchy punches to the ass against gigantic moloids (don't ask). But it’s mostly mediocre. Fantastic 4 desperately tries to break up the button mashing with lame minigames, like hack- ing a door by doing preschool puzzles, which just made the game feel like a fan- tastic chore. Plus, the two-player co-op had me battling for the camera—both players can move it, so don’t play with an idiot. Still, I'm a lover compared to Aaron. If you’re going to call yourself “fantastic,” you sure bet- ter be. But I’ve got some much less flat- tering “F” words to describe this particu- lar foursome. This game is bug ridden and shoddy looking and has very loose controls, which are made worse by an incompetent camera that occasionally spins around you like it’s attached to a crashing helicopter. Laughable voice act- THE VERDICTS (OUTOF 10) JAMES AARON Good: Get to play as Jessica Alba, tons of boss fights Bad: Can’t make Alba’s clothes invisible, lots of button mashing Lamest Use of Super Power: Turning into a tire ing during between-level cut-scenes does nothing to alleviate the frustrating gameplay you've just endured, nor does it further the incoherent story. If playing as a superhero is your thing, I'd recommend buying some tights before buying this mess. Dang, Aaron. I think Fantastic 4 is loads better than the average movie-based game—and like the movie, it’s light, entertaining fare that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Rather than lazily follow the movie's plot, it draws villains from the early years of the FF comic books; sure, the nonmovie lev- els may have little to do with the overall plot, but to longtime FF fans it’s a blast to see Mole Man, Puppet Master, Annihilus, and even Blastaar. While it's short—most will finish in under eight hours—the lev- els are competently designed and the four characters are well balanced and convincing (the Human Torch is, um, coolest). | didn’t have trouble with the shared camera control in two-player, either. FF isn't the slapdash mailed-in effort it easily could have been. s" 8 Publisher: Activision Developer: Seven Studios Players: 1-2 ESRB: Teen www.activision.com PS2/XB/GC BATMAN BEGINS Splinter Cell for dummies THE VERDICTS p" | ч 0 5.0 5.0 МАВК BRYAN AARON A Nut Ww wit Ww Wt Vw Batman, hovering above a mediocre performance. Publisher: EA Games Developer: Eurocom Players: 1 ESRB: Teen www.ea.com Good: Sharp graphics, fun driving missions Bad: Simple, repetitive gameplay Nice Bonus: Unlockable making-of documentaries MARK: Fantastic graphics, solid controls, stealth gameplay, lock-picking minigames, an optic cable to peek under closed doors, and a tight, black outfit—Batman Begins sounds а lot like Splinter Cell. It's not a terrible comparison, and | might even give Begins the edge in terms of story; the game follows the film closely and benefits greatly from the original cast’s excellent voice acting. But then the comparison falls apart, and Batman drops the batarang: It's too simplis- tic. While the game gives the illusion of Splinter Cell-style freedom in how you want to take out your enemies, Batman only really ever has one course of action: knock something over, scare the bad guys into dropping their guns, then come in punching and kicking. EA was obviously trying hard not to alienate anyone from the gigantic movie audience—maybe too hard. Once you recognize the formula, the game quickly starts to feel repetitive. Other minor complaints (fidgety camera, stupid guard А1.) balance out with highlights (Burnout- like driving missions, cool moves in com- bat). The result is enough to appease casu- al players looking to relive the movie but not more discriminating gamers. BRYAN: They should've called it Batman for Beginners. Seriously, this Splinter Cell wannabe (complete with i Hollywood good looks and top-notch voiceovers) doesn't just hold your hand, it practically picks you up, straps you into a bat-shaped baby carriage, and pushes you along. Searching for a point of entry? Don't worry, the game will always indicate where it is. Can't remember how to deliver that final blow to some dimwitted, no- name foe? Relax, simply wait for the "fin- ish" icon to appear onscreen (no, really). It's almost like Begins was specifically designed for people who are new to this whole videogame thing. Still, | bet even newbies will label the Dark Knight's inter- active return too much of a cakewalk. RC SURVIVOR—AARON: This Batman installment reeks of Metal Gear Solid pla- giarism (more so than Splinter Cell, to me) like the batsuit reeks after a bat-chili ben- der. The familiar Metal Gear radar (with the enemy’s line of sight) is here, but mated with an inept combat system. Batman’s got sweet gadgets as usual, but where to use them is so predetermined it gives the game а painfully linear feel. Begins’ big pro is how great it looks, especially the lighting effects, which are contrasted nicely by the dark atmosphere, but | still found myself wishing the game would go the way of the old batsuit nipples and disappear. ACADEMY of ART UNIVERSITY FOUNDED IN SAN FRANCISCO 1929 BY ARTISTS FOR ARTISTS А Games,3D Animation, 2D Animation, 3D Modeling, Character Animation, Background Painting, Storyboard & VFX/Compositing 79 New Montgomery St., San Francisco, CA 94105 е Nationally Accredited by ACICS, NASAD, FIDER (BFA-IAD], NAAB - Candidate Status (M-ARCH) PlayStation 2 MAKAI KINGDOM: CHRONICLES OF THE SACRED TOME Devils, details, and delightful comedy 1 Area info В 84 Рот (з) wel THE VERDICTS (OUTOF 10) JUSTIN SHANE Granny gettin’ the Led out. HE VERDICTS (ТО) JENNIFER ROBERT TIO • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com CHRISTIAN PATRICK K. Publisher: NIS America Developer: Nippon Ichi Players: 1 ESRB: Teen www.nisamerica.com Publisher: Sony CEA Developer: Sony CEE Players: 1-4 ESRB: Everyone 10+ www.us.playstation.com Casting the player as an arrogant, power-hungry overlord, Makai Kingdom is a turn-based strategy game that indulges the stat-obsessed megalomaniac in every- one—or at least in fans of developer Nippon Ichi’s other work (Disgaea, La Pucelle, etc.). To conquer Makai's challenges, you'll build an entire army from scratch using an eclectic mix of netherworldly soldiers, including healers, samurai, gun-toting infantry, and fearsome walking produce. Forget the actual battles; this is where the Strategy is. Rather than choosing units for their capabilities, you'll find yourself plan- ning ahead to unlock powerful new types of warriors, exploiting replayable stages and serial reincarnation to create your army. But don’t feel bad about it. Battle tac- tics can be boiled down to hit first and hit hardest. The depth comes in unraveling the huge, messy clump of game systems and statistics and bending them to your will. Once you've done that, raise your fists and laugh maniacally till you hit level 9,999 or you're no longer amused— whichever comes first. Sure, developer Nippon Ichi does a fine job serving the hardcore tactical RPG crowd with a never-ending series of devilishly complex titles...but seriously, JENNIFER: My arms hurt—EyeToy: Play 2 got me using them in unnatural ways. The latest collection for Sony’s motion-sensing camera peripheral asks players to saw, strum, whack, and smack through a dozen quirky minigames, and even taken with a healthy dose of skepticism, Play 2 is fan- tastic. EyeToy titles always have a gim- micky vibe, but in this case that preconcep- tion is wrong. Almost all of the games here are interesting, challenging, and enjoyable. Everyone will have a different favorite— mine was Secret Agent—but what's unde- niable is the variety and genuine innovation within each game. Playing DIY, you saw wood, build brick walls, put branches in a chipper, and more. The stupid-sounding- but-actually-amusing Mr. Chef has you assembling burgers, shaking milkshakes, grating cheese, and smashing tomatoes. Each of these activities requires a unique motion or tactic, and the many stages keep things more entertaining than the static minigames from the first Play. Of course, the game is best played in groups, whether in the multiplayer mode or simply messing around in the noncompeti- tive Play Room. Sore arms? For an unusual gaming experience like this, it’s worth it. ROBERT: Every time a new EyeToy game comes out it feels like we're checking in with the lab to see how the progress is EY guys, how long will we have ZA Y to put up with these graphics? Makai Kingdom, like Phantom Brave and Disgaea before it, looks like it crawled outta 1997. Luckily, the rewarding gameplay (sporting a welcome refinement of Brave’s “confine” system and a new town-building aspect) still shines. Once again, it's all about char- acter customization and experimentation, and a wonderfully lengthy quest (with the usual sampling of optional hidden dun- geons) will keep diehards occupied for weeks. Plus, it’s hard to hate on an ugly game with a great personality—Makai’s demon lords are veritable kings of comedy. Even in a genre known for being highly abstracted, Makai Kingdom seems practically without context. It all feels so, well, irrelevant—pushing around a bunch of tiny characters and dealing with their assorted toys provides loads of intel- lectual satisfaction, but I found it hard to make a real connection. The story, which actually has a great tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, bears on the gameplay only in the most offhand way. | can see why the developer has racked up die-hard fans, but | feel like I've been playing а game designed to appeal to tax accountants. Makai Kingdom is clever and exceptionally full, but | just didn’t feel it, personally. coming. As the camera gets more sensitive and responsive, the promise of controlling characters with body move- ments (already done fairly well in AntiGrav) looks better and better. For now, we get another set of camcorder minigames. Actually, many of these games are far from “mini.” With a better song selection and more frets to work with, Air Guitar could be a great stand-alone game. Same goes for Mr. Chef, a strangely compelling cooking game. So it’s frustrating when these fun games just end all of a sudden. | appreciate that Play targets casual players, but | wish it had more challenging options—1 played through most of the games on my first try. ‘1UP.COM—PATRICK К: EyeToy may be but a simple web camera, but simplicity has its charms. The first Play consisted of basic minigames without much substance. The sequel could have easily used the same strategy and been successful, but it's more ambitious. Motion is the hook in Play 2: players must constantly move and contort their bodies, drag items across the screen, and so on. Kung Fu and other favorites return alongside video messaging, a slew of visualization gim- micks, and new, more complex games. It still lacks depth, but Play 2 strongly rivals Karaoke Revolution for best party game. Microsoft®, Xbox", Xbox Live®, and the Xbox* and Xbox Live® logos are eithér registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/orjother countries. NAME: Mail this completed form along with your original sales receipt to: RUSE 5 = Ер т ЕВ Games Rebate Center / 770 Pilot Road, Yao escasas LAR. ЗУЛУ ADDRESS purchases at forms will b Ging ла — —— STATE: : е ion. Not valid on previous ў ection may vary by store. No EMAIL sponsibility < е Enter your email address to receive voucher status updates, news and special offers. - е Enter your email address to receive voucher status updates, news and special offer иа и SU GE USO ААБ DGIO Sn DG леу READ E Xe EEG A NARADA DIANA LIAO SAILS GALL 1-600-600-5106 FUR ІНЕ SIURE NEAREST YUU ЛӘП US АГ т We take games seriously ™ = GAMES electronics boutique’ sbgam review сгеш: pse/xb Е205728205 PlayStation 2 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST 2: CURSE OF THE CRIMSON ELIXIR Catch this one in reruns Good: Enriches the characters of the popular anime Bad: Short, easy, simplistic In Anime Terms: Filler episode CHRISTIAN: Game publisher and all- around media juggernaut Square Enix once again turns its popular anime series into an action-roleplayer, and it still feels like Kingdom Hearts light. At about seven and a half hours in, | realized | was approaching the game’s climax. Before | reached nine hours, the credits had rolled. It may say Square Enix on the box, but Alchemist 2 is designed to suck in casual fans of the TV series—not hardcore role- playing types. So criticizing it feels about as fair as picking on the dyslexic kid dur- ing reading class. It isn't just that it's short—everything in the game is blind- ingly obvious. Treasure chests are “hid- den” in plain sight. Not once are you given a choice of where to go or what to do. If you can make it through a Final Fantasy, you'll decimate here. The game isn’t without charm, though. I've only caught a few episodes of the show, but | like the characters—and they’re in fine form. The graphics do a good job of re-creating the series’ look, and the combat goes beyond button- mashing. Fullmetal Alchemist? Maybe. Full-price Alchemist? No way. If you want = а meaty alchemic role-play- ing game, conjure up Atelier Iris instead. SHANE: Appearing a scant six months after the first Alchemist PS2 adventure, this new chapter improves its forerun- ner’s formula in many ways: An effective new visual style mimics the anime’s dis- tinctive look, deeper combat gives you control over a large arsenal of moves and combos, and a mostly original story line gives fans something to chew on. But the game still feels way too straightforward, short, and limiting—it’s more of a beefed-up brawler than an RPG. And with a gameplay concept as cool as alchemy, it's a shame that the developers include so few uses for it. Maybe the third chap- ter (already in the works) will finally do this license justice. OFFICIAL PS MAG—SCOOTER: While Alchemist 2 is a better game than its predecessor, it's only a minor upgrade. It looks and sounds like an episode of the anime (largely due to the smart use of cartoonish graphics and voice talent), except it plays much like the previous game. Sure, the newer transmutations and combat options (like main guy Ed creating swords out of thin air) are spiffy, but sidekick A.I. is still hard to control, the fighting is mindless, and the rest of the game is still linear action-RPG fare. It's a fun little distraction for fans of the anime, but not much else. If the previous game was a case of turning lead into copper, this one is akin to transmuting lead into shinier copper. Publisher: Square Enix Developer: Racjin Players: 1 ESRB: Teen SCOOTER www.square-enix.com 112 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com SID MEIER'S PIRATES! Pieces of great И Ships но: Up to four players сап exchange broadsides In the decent (but not online) multiplayer mode, Good: Simple and addictive gameplay Bad: Some minigames get repetitive Crew a Real Brig of War At: www.ladywashington.org Ship blasting, town sacking, cutlass slashing, lass romancing, trea- sure hunting—if it's part of pirate pop culture, it’s plundered by Pirates!, a slightly tweaked port of the acclaimed PC action-role-playing game. But whether Pirates’ life really is for thee depends оп how much you adore its grog-soaked subject matter (and | do), as well as your level of patience for playing the same few minigames over and over. Like the classic computer game on which it's based, Pirates! is more an amalgamation of fun little challenges strung together by a booty of miniquests and an overall plot to avenge your fami- ly’s nasty fate. Sword fights and ballroom dancing boil down to timed button press- es. Sacking towns just takes a few min- utes of strategic placement on a chess- piece battlefield. None of #5 hard (pick a trickier difficulty level, time period, or nationality to dodge a total cakewalk), and most of it’s fun...for a while. Eventually, my impatience with the same little games set in like seasickness, but the quests and fleet of ships and play-as- dastardly-as-you-dare piracy kept me from hopping overboard. An open-ended game like Pirates! is dangerous for a player like me, someone who has that strange need to collect every shiny bauble a game hides and complete all insignificant side mis- sions. | went two go-rounds to finally fin- ish its primary revenge missions. But | didn’t mind, because its eclectic minigames and do-anything structure hooked me big time. Once you learn the rules and choose the right difficulty, the sword fighting, city sacking, and ship blasting prove divine. Dancing and sneaking...not so much, and а waypoint system akin to that of GTA: San Andreas to keep your adventures in order would’ve been handy, but any pirate life has its compromises. At this point, Ра like to stress that a score of 6.5 is above average. Because Pirates! is definitely an above- average дате— 1 was totally hooked on it for a while, even staying up late to pil- lage just one more town or sink one more hapless Spanish trade galleon. Unfortunately, sometimes | was also up late playing the “dance with the gov- ernor’s daughter” minigame, the mind numbingness of which infects Pirates! like an aggressive strain of scurvy. I love the game’s open-ended format and even its basic premise, but most of the minigames (not just the dancing опе— Рт also sending the rapier battles and stealth bits to the stockade) are repetitive and, well, a bit crap, honestly. It’s worth playing, but save your doubloons until you can get it for a steal. Te а EU om (QUT OF 10) THE VERDICTS CRISPIN 6. FORD DEMIAN Developer: Firaxis Players: 1-4 Publisher: 2K Games ESRB: Everyone www.2kgames.com It is Time. Time to take it to the next level. Time to put your money where your mouth is. Time to have fun. Time to compete. Do you have what it takes? VISIT US AT EGAMINGLEAGUE. COM + Player registers for a tournament by choosing a console, and a particular game. + The number of rounds will be determined by the number of participants in a given tournament. + Players are organized into groups of 10. + Tournaments will grow in increments of 1000 players. Each player plays every other player within this group. + Player standing in EGamingleague will be based on a point accumulation system. (ie. Most rounds won, most games won, + Players will participate in a minimum of 9 games each time they register. Each 9 game set is called a round. highest points scored, etc.) + Player with the best record in each round advances to the next round. +A World Cup Championship tournament, made up of the best EGamingleague gamers, will be run once a year. + Prizes are awarded to the winners of each round. + The grand prize for the World Cup Championship may be as high as $1,000,000. will be awarded accordingly. Round one prize will be $10, round two $100, round three $1000, round four $10,000.) + The World Cup Championship winners will be featured in magazine, websites, and possibly television GameCube Possession is nine-tenths of the game in Geist, an off-kilter first-person adventure that has you playing a spirit on a possessing spree. You hit the ground gunning at the outset, guiding an oper- ative sent to shut down a mysterious company that’s harvesting ghosts and brainwashing them so they become terrorist spies. Fortunately, this early dose of first-person blasting is short; Geist’s primi- tive shooting sections are less fun than sitting through that mid-'90s live-action Casper flick. Most enemies are morons, little more than human turrets who can’t wait to get blasted (comical death ani- mations ensue). Life—or, rather, the afterlife—improves once you become a wandering spirit who can possess enough random objects to fill a Home Depot. Dish racks, soda cans, light bulbs, ceiling fans, explod- ing barrels—they're all up for spectral grabs. So why inhabit a bowl of dog food? Each object often has a “scare” function that frightens nearby ani- mals or humans, which you can only possess once you get their knees knocking. It's a killer idea that might have worked in a game from a more accom- plished developer, or if n-Space (maker of Duke Nukem and Mary-Kate & Ashley games) had more time. Geist, however, is a sloppy mess of nonsensi- cal plot points, dumb puzzles (which often boil down to trial-and-error guessing), and yet more bland blasting sections toward the end of the game, when this whole ghost train really derails. Two games cobbled together on one disc, Geist is more Frankenstein than ghost. It's got the body of any late-'90s PC shooter (ho-hum graphics, lame animation, generic weapons and enemies) and a head filled with the step-by-step item-hunt puzzles of adventure games best left forgotten. As for the brain, there isn't one: Enemy А... is laugh- able. Moments when the intriguing elements of this paranormal shooter synch up do exist—like when you hop from sentry turret to security guard to exploding crate, possessing each in turn and pitting = Scaring сап be hard work: Sometimes you must tap the Scare button to raise hairs. ‘© When did ghost busting become God of War? These towering stone golems are Geist’s only fun—and most out-of-place—hosses. them against one another—but they are few and far between. Oddly enough, everything works bet- ter in the unique multiplayer modes, with you and your friends (and cannon-fodder bots, if you like) providing the steady mix of strategy and chaos that n-Space couldn't manage for the one-player game. It's one step forward, three steps back for Geist. | like the idea of jumping from body to body (to mop bucket) and wreaking spiritu- al havoc upon my enemies, and in the context of hopping into soldiers for different weapons and abilities, it’s fairly well done here. But once you fig- ure out the basic puzzle design (find objects to possess, use them in the right order to scare dude, then possess dude), the routine gets old fast. It's nice not to have to worry about ammo, but enemy soldiers show little intelligence, so you don't need a lot of firepower to take them down. And the inter- esting, sometimes trippy story is hampered by sub- standard visuals and low production values. 4%. My Afterlife as a Manhole Cover...and Three Other Random Possessions From Geist Manhole Cover Highs: Protect pedestrians from falling into human waste; leap dozens of feet into the air to scare evil scientists. Lows: You spend your life in close proximity to turds, which makes for a limited social scene. 114» ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com Bowl of Dog Food Highs: You can ter- rify a dog with its own food, thus opening up the canine for possession. Trust us: The dog’s more fun to control. Lows: You're frequently licked clean by a dog. And we all know where that tongue has been. Motorcycle town, plus pull Highs: Can give friends lifts around totally sweet wheelies. Lows: This sequence does not live up to the comic potential of failed TV pilot Heat Vision & Jack. (Never seen it? Google it immediately!) Hot Shower Girl Highs: She’s hot. And in the shower. Plus, possessing her gives access to a hospital wing, where you rescue your former partner. Lows: If you can’t spend the rest of the game checking yourself out in the mirror, what's the point? THE VERDICTS (QUT OF 10) CRISPIN Publisher: Nintendo Developer: n-Space Players: 1-4 ESRB: Mature MARK ANDREW www.nintendo.com SONIC GEMS COLLECTION A diamond, two opals, and lots of cubic zirconia With all the proper, mainstream Sonic games sitting pretty in the best- selling Sonic Mega Collection, Sega had to dig pretty deep into the annals of obscuri- ty to compile this sister compilation. It’s a woefully uneven mix, but one that true Sonic fans will probably still want to own just for Sonic CD, aka the best Sonic game ever. Don't listen to the haters: This game is utterly fantastic. By adding an actual reason to explore the colossal, creative levels—Sonic can journey to the past to create a “good future” in each stage— Sega morphed the series’ trite run-n-jump gameplay into something phenomenal. Regrettably, none of the other games here approach that level of greatness. Sonic the Fighters (making its first home appearance) feels like a dated, dumbed- down Virtua Fighter, while Sonic R offers the unlikely combination of clunky on-foot racing and a horrendous house-music soundtrack. A handful of mind-numbingly poor Game Gear games round out the package. Sega Genesis cult classic Vectorman (and its sequel) make for pretty sweet unlockables, but the Japanese Gems Collection also dishes up the three Streets of Rage games, which Sega re- moved to score an “E” ESRB rating. Weak. When a game collection is anchored by a classic—say, Pac-Man— you know that even if the Ч filler is less than stellar, you've still got a rock to fall back on. The problem with Sonic Gems Collection is that its anchor, Sonic CD, while beloved by many (includ- ing Shane over there), is more of a wild card. | applaud the change-each-level’s- future concept, but І found the process of completing the steps to achieve these objectives often frustrating. The rest of the games range from mildly enjoyable (Sonic Triple Threat, Tails Adventures) to gim- micky bad (Sonic the Fighters, Sonic R) to just plain bad (Game Gear's Sonic Spinball and Sonic Drift 2). Among the stronger showings on this spotty Sonic collection are the unlockable Vectorman games. I'm all for retro com- pilations, but Sonic Gems is the third Sonic collection in as many years. At this point, we're mainly down to the dregs; sure, Sonic CD is cool (if not as great as the fan- boys—er, Shane—think) but most of the "905-ега games just aren't fun. And the Tails titles are garbage that | wouldn't even want to play on Game Gear, let alone on GameCube. Even the unlockables are lame; Japan gets Streets of Rage and we have to settle for Vectorman? Hey, Sega, you have dozens of titles that fans would kill to see. How about giving the blue guy a rest, and those other classics a little love? 4%. Props to Sega for reviving Sonic the Fighters, but where are lost gems Chaotix and SegaSonic? Publisher: Sega Developer: Sonic Team Players: 1-2 ESRB: Everyone. THE VERDICTS (OUT OF 10) SHANE 6. FORD JEREMY www.sega.com Sonic’s future view can be seen in Sonic R (left) and the special stages from Sonic CD (right). >> Moin Campus - Tempe, AZ >> West Campus - Phoenix, AZ Collins College offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in Game Design and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Arts with a major in Game Art. 1-888-356-7777 www.CollinsCollege.edu Add a пеш dimension (0 ОГ life. Collins College is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). Financial Aid is available for those who qualify. Career services assistance. Collins College West is a branch of Collins College. Not all programs available at all locations. by Rick O'Connor (2 гелеш Crew: psp LIN MIDNIGHT CLUB 3: DUB EDITION Worth the wait? Developer: Rockstar Leeds/ San Diego Players: 1 (2-6 via local Wi-Fi) ESRB: Everyone 10+ 70 8.5 75 DEMIAN G. FORD JAMES гш DEATH, JR. Warmed over THE VERDICTS (QU OF 10) | Publisher: Rockstar www.midnightclub.com Repetitive? Well, Shoe now has a squeaky Circle button on his PSP due to Death, Jr’s constant button-mashing.... Publisher: Konami Developer: Backbone Players: 1 ESRB: Teen THE VERDICTS (0070! КОВЕКТ SHOE CHRISTIAN www.deathjr.com 116 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY www.1UP.com Good: The entire console game shoehorned into the PSP. Bad: If you've played it on the big TV, there's no going back No Sense of Speed: When you're staring at a loading screen DEMIAN: Midnight Club for PSP is missing one thing: Muzak. Nothing would complete the "on hold" experience of the game's minute-plus load times like the song stylings of Kenny G—perfect to contem- plate suicide to. But in between all the painful waiting, DUB is a great street-racing game—the same great game you may have already played on a console. Like, exactly the same. You still race through Detroit, San Diego, and Atlanta, upgrading, tuning, and picking out your favorite spinner rims. It's long. It's fast. It's frustrating when you mess up a quarter mile from the finish line and have to restart for the third time. And it looks absolutely beautiful on the PSP, although you'll want to crank the game's brightness all the way up. DUB also sup- ports six-player Wi-Fi races (everyone has to have their own copy of the game, unfor- tunately), along with other multiplayer modes like tag, but not full online racing. The thing is, DUB just doesn't make that much sense as a handheld game when you could be playing it at home on a far bigger screen, without load times that make you want to cry. "ve long been а fan of Midnight ing style—with its emphasis on intense city driving, telephone poles be damned—so | was happy to see the tradition successfully carry over to PSP. This game’s not perfect: It has fre- quent, killer load times, and strangely, when you wipe out, you reappear facing the wall or whatever it was you hit. But still, it's a mighty impressive title that stands out on a system with an abun- dance of good racers. The game's open- ended setup works well in the shortcut- filled, uniquely detailed cities, and the special moves breathe life into the tweak- and-upgrade-till-you-bleed street-racing genre. Definitely a ride worth taking. JAMES: This ambitious PSP game has got all the original console game’s pimped-out cars with strange special powers, like slowing down time or shooting out sonic booms. But | would’ve just been happy with stronger headlights, as 1 had to up the brightness on my PSP, wishing it wasn’t Midnight Club but Mid-Afternoon Club as | started in the dark city of San Diego. There's less oncoming traffic to compen- sate for the smaller screen, and | didn’t quite feel the classic Midnight Club sense of speed like Demian did. But thankfully, all the races from the console version are here, so whether you’re new or old to the series, DUB for PSP has plenty to keep you busy for a long time. Good: Death and despair as humorous subject matters Bad: Monotonous shoot-a-thon with a horrible camera Source Material: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Psychonauts In the wasteland of racing games and regurgitated franchises currently on offer for the PSP, Death, Jr. looks like an oasis. It’s not an update, an offshoot, or a sequel—and the game’s characters have a touch of Tim Burton’s gothic-horror- meets-Saturday-morning-cartoon style. But unfortunately, this oasis is a mirage. Death, Jr. is basically a third-person shooter. You watch the action from behind DJ as he plows through an assortment of monsters with his arsenal of guns and trusty scythe. Or that’s how it would work—if the in-game camera weren't completely inept. It has a knack for stick- ing in place (resisting your L button calls to regroup behind DJ) and dumbly staring at а wall as your health drains away. The game has you mindlessly shooting away as you crawl along from one firefight to another through boxy, dull levels. Many of the stages are actually similar to those in Psychonauts for Xbox and PS2 (Meat World = Meat Circus, Suburbia = Milkman Conspiracy, Asylum = Asylum), but with none of that game’s subtle detail or charm. And don't even think about storytelling, which rears its head here just long enough for a fart joke. Death, Jr. is DOA. Руе never gotten motion sickness from playing a game...until now. Death, Jr’s stages are dingy and dark (even with the PSP’s and in-game brightness levels maxed out), the view- point’s constantly whipping around like an indecisive spaz, and the motion’s all blurry and спорру—1 couldn't stand playing DJ for more than 30 minutes at a time. OK, so you're the masochistic type who's willing to sacrifice his eyesight at an early age. Well then, you can look for- ward to a better experience further into the game when you get all the big guns (and the options to upgrade them into even bigger guns). But still, with the bland levels, generic PS1-era platform gameplay, and cheap enemies, you shouldn’t bother. Between the Tim Burton style and the Jhonen Vasquez (Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Invader Zim) screwed- up-kids-in-school motif, | was hooked the first time | saw Death, Jr’s concept art. | just wish the developer's reach hadn't exceeded its grasp. It's a fun game, no doubt, but it's way too focused on combat. PSP may be big and beautiful compared to Game Boy, but airplane glare left me unable to dodge and weave as precisely as the game requires. Death, Jr.'s tons 0” guns can make for frantic fun, but when the enemies have unerring aim, it's cheap- er than Christmas cards on December 26—especially when the controls are floatier than a Thanksgiving Day balloon. № FEATURING A BUILT-IN RECHARGEABLE BATTERY, AMPLIFIED | STERED SPEAKERS AND SYSTEM STAND ENCLOSED IN A ©) BRUSHED ANODIZED ALUMINUM CASE, THE NYKO THEATER [ EXPERIENCE GIVES YOU А PERSONAL, PORTABLE HOME THEATER EXPERIENCE ANYWHERE, ANYTIME WITH YOUR PSP. “ | | Г | 1 | | | NYKO www.NYKO.com review crew: ds MISSILE ADVANCE WARS: # The top screen can show game data or a second front to advance war on. DUAL STRIKE Is that a tiny battalion in your pocket? That sub just sank my battleship! Fine—lll send that sub to the ocean floor with my cruiser’s torpedoes. But then that cruiser has to watch out for long-range missiles from shore. But | can take саге of those with my new megatank, if that stealth bomber doesn’t drop its load first.... The ultimate in rock-paper-scissors turn-based strategy returns—this time on the DS—and unlike Advance Wars 2, this sequel has a whole lot new going on. The six new units really make this feel like a significant upgrade over AW2, which showed off only one new AT-AT-like tank. Having one or two vehicles on every front (repair boats on the water, black bombs in the sky, etc.) forces AW vets to think up new offensive and defensive strategies. And you can now fight battles on the two sepa- rate screens, send units from one front to the other, swap between commanding officers to optimize their powers, upgrade those COs with new skills gained from experience, capture communication towers to increase your power... It’s all great for fans of the series looking for something new, but it may be a bit too advanced for greenhorns. The difficulty ramps up in no time, and the new modes (combat and survival) can make a newbie swear off tiny-tank strategy games forever. Regardless, something this deep and fun at the same time is a rare treat, especially on a portable system. РИ be replaying this one for months... : Shoe’s right about Dual Strike’s complex- ity—rookies will need to sleep with the manual The new combat mode, coincidentally or not, plays a lot like the Atari 2600 game of the same name. With a limited budget, you buy units and then send them out one by one to destroy foes or capture buildings (move with the D-pad, shoot by tapping the stylus toward your foes). Advance Wars vets'll find it to be a fun little distraction, especially in multiplayer. If you’re a rookie, however, it'll probably seem way too simple...and stupid. Good: New modes, units, and ways to play Bad: Accidentally selecting the wrong things with the stylus Not Aight: New character Jake is a bit too hip and in our faces 118 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com (QUTOF10) THE VERDICTS SHOE In survival mode, you'll have limited funds, rounds, or time to complete a set number of stages. under their pillows to get a grip on all the unit types, CO powers, and how terrain modifies com- bat. But dogged beginners will discover what the pros already know: All that complexity makes for fascinatingly deep, strategic battles. You'll feel like you deserve a silver star just for beating the CPU. | absolutely hate the between-battle anime-style talking heads, though—new guy Jake is the worst, always going on about “owning” and serving “hot bowls of smackdown soup"—and while the stylus speeds up combat somewhat, it’s too easy to slip up and end a unit's turn accidentally or tell a facto- ry to make the wrong unit. A winning combination of style and substance, Dual Strike's true beauty lies beneath the surface. It’s the expanded port- folio of vehicles and strategic subtleties and wealth of new commanding officer combos that really make this game sing. While the actual bat- tlefields and unit graphics haven't evolved much and the Jake character sounds like an Eminem wannabe, the new survival and combat modes (eight can play combat using one cart, by the way) more than compensate. Result? Super- addictive strategy gaming. 4%. DEMIAN MILKMAN Going Wi-Fi Dual Strike untethers play- ers with wire- less multiplayer support. We got dropped only once during our hours of playtesting, though we were sitting quite far apart from one another (about 30 to 35 feet away). You сап send ргерго- grammed mes- sages to each other, 100, 50 break out the dirty-language dictionarie: Developer: Intelligent Systems Players: 1-4 (2-8 via local Wi-Fi) Publisher: Nintendo ESRB: Everyone www.nintendo.com [= PAC'N ROLL Rolling up in style сшшшшаэ Publisher: Namco Developer: Namco | | Players: 1 | | | ESRB: Everyone JENNIFER THE VERDICTS (OUTOF I JANE www.namco.com Good: Creative, challenging gameplay Bad: Steep difficulty curve, juvenile story SHANE: Cleanse the memories of the weirdly endearing (yet ultimately insub- stantial) Pac-Pix from your mind: Pac’N Roll is a more worthwhile DS game. While it initially seems straightforward—roll our rotund hero through mazes by dragging the stylus across him on the DS’ bottom screen—it quickly matures into a serious and creative platforming adventure. As special moves, power-ups, boss encoun- ters, and tricky jumps enter the equation, the gameplay ramps up to nearly Super Mario 64 levels. In fact, the level designs eventually get a bit too ambitious for the control scheme: The moving platforms, tip- ping scales, and jump pads of level 5-3 will give an ulcer to all but the most skilled players. Luckily, a variety of enter- taining modes (time attack, challenge, classic Pac-Man) will keep you busy until you can conquer the tougher stages. Overall, Pac’N Roll is a nice-looking, solid action-adventure that—most impor- tant—feels like a real game, not some wacky tech demo. Don't be scared away by its baby-game look: The complexity and difficulty of the later levels strikes a stark contrast to the cornball story line that unfolds (very slowly) in a series of picture- book cut-scenes aimed at 4-year-olds. If you're old enough to read, you're old enough to skip all the cinemas. Bastard Child Of: Marble Madness and Super Mario 64 JENNIFER: Pac doesn't quite roll with the big boys here—especially now that last month's Kirby Canvas Curse has set a new standard for touch-screen platforming. The level design is by no means terrible, and controlling Pac-Man feels intuitive and natural. Boss battles are decent, and Pac has a couple of interesting power-ups that keep the gameplay from being too rudi- mentary. But Pac'N Roll lacks that certain something that would have elevated it from just meh to truly memorable. | found myself playing the game simply because I had nothing better to do, not because | was particularly into it. ROBERT: | like my Pac-Man games abstract, a skeleton to hang a simple game on. While Pac’N Roll goes through the motions of story and adds the annoy- ing villain Golvis to its cast, the game itself never strays far from simple fun. The sty- lus-on-trackball interface feels like driving a car via remote-controlled robot, like one too many degrees of separation between you and Pac-Man. But it works and lends novelty to a familiar game. Pac'N Roll lacks the sweaty-forehead urgency an arcade-style game needs, at least until the more elaborate later levels. Time limits could have added that tension, but РИ set- tle for the unlockable time attack mode. Eagle Rock Entertainment is 3x PAE ТТ first music company to fully embrace Sony's new UMD format for PlayStation Po table it of their first wave of music and concert titles. Taking advantage of the high-capacity (1.8 gigabyte) space on the UMD and the high resolution e sic fans will now be able to bring their favorite concert along to sit back and watch on those long flights or road trips. "STRIKING THAT FAMILIAR CHORD AVAILABLE IN STORES 8/30/05, Ф review сгеш: жк. SHIPS ЕЕЕ | ENERGY scORE DOO 030 300 EST SCORE, E Lots of bullets and strangely phallic enemies (top right). It's a shooter, all right. CHE NANOSTRAY SPLINTER CELL CHAOS THEORY No. Just, no ‘ аи: Um в Up to four can play versus mode with just one cart, but two-player co-op requires two copies. Гел Straight shooter Good: Cutthroat two-player modes Bad: You can beat the whole game in under an hour It'd Be Nice: If you had three hands to play this game Е SHOE: On a certain level, any traditional 2D shooter can be fun. You shoot things, you dodge things— like the sound of that. The difference maker is the gim- micks, like the weapon attachments in the R-Type series or the black/white dynamic in /karuga (GC). Without "ет, who cares? Nanostray’s “gimmick” is the use of the DS touch screen in the laziest way possi- ble. You can select different weapons by touching the appropriate icon, hit a sym- bol to scan a boss for weak spots (which you can find by just shooting them), or activate anti-power-ups to screw up your opponent in two-player—all stuff that can be done without a touch screen. Plus, you won't want to lift your fingers from the regular buttons to touch the screen any- way (unless you like dying a lot), so! found myself sticking to one weapon type uc. for the entire game. Which, by the way, takes like 20 minutes to complete. So Nanostray still plays like, well, most shooters, which makes it all right. Make sure to give the two-player mode a shot: It's a lot of fun working against each other instead of cooperating. MARK: Nanostray should come in a plain white box labeled VERTICAL SPACE SHOOTER—it's as generic as games come. That's not to say it's terrible; it apes the thumb-twitch dodge-and-fire action of old-school Japanese arcade shooters well enough, but it lacks the clever play mechanic, personality, or style needed to encourage mastery or even replay. The weapon selection is weak, the power-up system simplistic (one might argue nonexistent), and the whole thing is over before you know it. The wait for a great DS shooter continues... SHAWN: Flash-frozen shooter Nanostray is short enough to scroll through in the time it took to stop at a convenience Store back when this sort of game was about the only sort of game. Perfect for a portable? Sure, if you're only playing once. You could say it's predictable ever after on purpose—made for memorizing the patterns of crossfire—but it takes a certain sort to play for points alone, and Nano's past-blasting isn't neat enough if you're not nostalgic. Even its touch screen weapon-select switches—the game's attempt to teach a dogged genre new tricks—would’ve worked better as actual buttons. 5.0 5.0 SHAWN ШІ Publisher: Majesco Developer: Shin'en Players: 1 (2 via local Wi-Fi) ESRB: Everyone www.nanostray.com 120 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com Good: Includes all the levels and multiplayer modes Bad: Everything else. Seriously: everything Explains a Lot: Based on the N-Gage version As a fan of stealth-action in gen- eral and the Xbox Chaos Theory in partic- ular, playing the DS version is like reunit- ing with an old friend...who’s gained weight, lost his hair, had his limbs chopped off, his brain sucked out, and been through one of those car-crusher things. And smells. Like cat pee. | will grant Chaos Theory only two things before a “but” so huge it must be italicized: It's impressive how much of the full console game it includes (the moves, long levels, and multiplayer modes), and about 30 seconds of my co-op game with Shoe was accidentally fun (I shot him in the ass). But every other aspect of DS Splinter Cell is like a lesson in bad game design. The control scheme: awkward as hell. The touch screen camera is screwy enough, but it requires constant attention, taking your hand off the buttons that open doors, grab guards, pull out your weapons, and so on (which is annoying in single player and effectively kills multiplayer entirely). The graphics: blocky and sloppy. If they weren't so murky and dim, the way they chug along frame by frame may have induced vomiting. Enemy A.l.: nonexistent. 1 could go on, but | won't. Let's ай just try to forget this game ever happened. The camera controls are not as bad as Mark is making them out to be. The touch screen is a great way to make up for the lack of two analog control sticks in a full 3D game where your view is more important than the gun in your holster. But why the developers didn’t put the rest of the controls (crouch, open doors, etc.) on (OUT OF 10) THE VERDICTS MARK SHOE the touch screen, РИ never understand. This porta-Cell captures the console games' intense hide-and-seek-or-die mood fairly well (way better than the Game Boy editions did), but it’s way too ambitious for the technology. On paper, it has all the modes and gameplay Га want from a portable spy thriller, but the slug- gish and blocky graphics only make me want to find a desk job instead. If the keys on my key- board were as accurate as the controls in Chaos Theory, this review would, at mini- mum, have the symbols *, @, and # in it. And I’m not trying to curse, despite the game's best attempts to make me. No, I’m just dealing with this brutal combination of touch screen camera control, poor colli- sion detection (which totally could have been saved if there was a melee attack in the game), and lack of precise movements. Chaos Theory provides glimpses of an extremely cool stealth game, where you can mess with the enemies by using aural and visual distractions like in the console version, but the controls are always sec- onds away from bugging you. Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Gameloft Players: 1 (2-4 via local Wi-Fi) ESRB: Teen MATT www.splintercell.com /; STARRING LARENZ TATE NOEL G GUERILLA BLACK DRIVE. BLAST. RULE. MATURE 17+ Blood Strong Language Violence BROADBAND ONLY © 2005 Ubisoft Entertainment. Ali Rights Reserved. 187: Ride or Die, Ubisoft, Ubi.com, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the 1) 5. and/or other countries. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Online play requires internet connection, Network Adaptor (for PlayStation 2) and Memory Card (8MB) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately). The Online icon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live, the Live logo, and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or in other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. credibly detailed and dynamic with nd over-the-top car acrobatics.” -TUp.com UBISOFT REVIEWS ЎҰКАР-0Р The games that were too little, too late... .-ог on cell phones Sigma Star Saga GBA е Namco • ESRB: Е — It’s an adventure hybrid in which role-play- ing-game-style random encounters suck you into side-scrolling shooter sequences a bit too frequently. An enjoyable custom weapon system becomes overkill against enemies that | rarely even return fire, making Sigma more about near-passive “leveling up” 4 than reflex-fueled finesse. |; Bottom line: Attractive, intriguing, and, possibly worth playing, but Sigma fails, to capture the essence of the Mobile Suit Gundam vs, Zeta Gundam e PS2 е Namco ESRB: E — Like the previous Gundam action games (all developed by Capcom, as is this one), MSG vs. ZG is based heavily on its dark Zeta TV-show counterpart, which many fans consider to be one of the series’ best seasons. Bottom line: Aside from superficial fan service from the vintage TV series, the game is essentially the same clunky shooter you’ve played twice over—if you've played them at all. Even Gundam-diehards would proba- bly be happier just watching Toonami. Armored Core: Nine Breaker PS2 е From Software * ESRB: T Call it Gran Turismo for giant robot aficionados; Armored Core: Nine Breaker (ninth in the AC series) is all about customizing your supersized metal man for battle. There’s no longer any plot, just a string of oppo- nents and unlockable robot parts. Bottom line: A good time for the mech-curious and full-on robo- fetishists alike. Nine Breaker's more than 400 replacement parts offer plenty of robot possibilities for serious hardware freaks. Bl Pink Gundam vs. chartreuse Gundam: Good taste loses. RPG Waker 3 « PS2 Agetec ESRB: E10+ — Well, since there won't be a new Final Fantasy this year, creative types can take matters into their own hands with this surprisingly powerful role-playing tool kit. Bottom ling: Getting even a rudimen- tary game up and running takes at least an hour, but the interface has actually come a long way since the previous RPG Maker. Likewise, the audiovisual presentation also looks a lot better...as in, actually like a PS2 game. Plus, this game makes good use of that pricey HDD unit you bought.... space shooter. N*GAGE TRIPLE TEAM What's goin’ on on N-Gage? Wrasslin’, sneakin’, drivin’...side talkin’... E Shoot him în the head pixel! i 174 mph, huh? You sure? АЕ. тыла 20 WWE Aftershock е NG е THQ • ESRB: T Undertaker, Triple H, and the gang are back, looking like they were drawn by your kid brother. Even for an N-Gage game, Aftershock’s incredibly ugly. You can counter, punch, or grab, but it doesn’t take much to master the weak controls. Bottom line: Aftershock is a button masher with horrible music and bland single player. It's like play- ing with those deformed Bashin’ Brawlers dolls. Splinter Сей Chaos Theory • NG е Ubisoft ESRB: T — If you're dying to play Chaos Theory оп your cell phone, you're in luck. Too bad all of Splinter Cell's complicated controls, like night vision (press 3) or crouch (press 9), are mapped to every frigging but- ton—it's like playing a stealth game on an ATM. Bottom line: It’s ambitiously in 3D, but with a frustrat- ing camera and controls, Sam Fisher can try sneaking onto our handhelds...but we'll totally spot him. Glimmerati e NG e Nokia e ESRB: М — This is one of the best and most ambitious N-Gage games yet. With an engaging story line of high-society rac- ing, it’s like GTA meets Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. But instead of taking out gang bosses, you'll drive the boss’ girlfriend to the airport. Bottom line: If you own an N-Gage, this is a must have. The racing controls are simple and addictive, plus the posh hot-chick racers really class it ир. ah 122 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com d wacky and ahoy! 7 colorful stages full ` 6056 from,16 ШЕ characters — вас of crazy gimmicks» Pick up and use pirates and 32 Suppo * objects to fight your Гоез!» with more than 20 regular moves!” | Coming, September, 2005 / Also look forthe collectible card game coming soon! ps SEEN СА д> j E quc d PRODUCTS RANGE FROM 4 ВАМ | EVERYONE 10+ то TEEN | © (ey) DAI Доубвенерос ات یک‎ Avance 5 5 Emm Pg o | ES ШЕШЕ ботев shots, and gf ne play features apply46 PlayStation®? and Nintghdo GameCube" vorsion nly. www.BANDAIGAMES.com ‘One Pider © 2005 Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha/foei Animation © 2004-2006 Bandai. BANDAI logo is a fgistered trademark of Bandai. All Rig Cartoon Violence Farnily ldgo gre regístered trademarkaét Sony Computer Entertaigmentino; МФ Game:&oy Advance and Nintendo GameCube are tı The гайб icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Şêftware Association. CARTOQN NETWORK and logo are tfBdemarks of and © 2005 Сапоой $ Wl Nobody is safe trom Killer 75 treaky visuals—not even old men in wheelchairs. The overhead bin for our travel-size reviews SCORES GAME SYSTEM VERDICT (out of 10) AWARD Arc the Lad: End of Darkness PS2 Wi An “action” role-playing game with less action and more dialogue reading 60 55 Advent Rising xg M 50-50 sci-fi story, but you won't get past its numerous bugs and sucky controls 4.5 4.0 Area 51 PS2/XB т This fun, creepy shooter is satisfying even with Duchovny's monotonous voiceover 8.0 8.0 Atelier Iris: Eternal Мапа Ps2 Wi A difficult-to-pronounce name, but a worthy RPG with simple, enjoyable battles 8.0 7.0 Bomberman DS 0$ W Have a blast (get it?) with some classic multiplayer fun or the decent single player 8.0 6.5 Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 PS2/XB т Salute ВИЗ brainy AJI. and squad tactics—it’s the best WWII shooter yet 85 90 Close Combat: First to Fight XB E Belongs in no man's land because of bland gameplay and shell-shocked A. 50 55 Coded Arms PSP W First-person shooting comes to PSP.. then shoots itself in the foot with this crap 40 6.0 Cold Fear PS2/XB W its a lukewarm zombie game, but the exploding head shots are rad 60 75 Cold Winter PS2 W 007 meets MacGyver (sans mullet) in this above-average violent shooter 70 65 Colosseum: Road to Freedom PS2 W Thought Russell Crowe was a pissed-off gladiator? Try playing this repetitive game 7.0 45 Conker: Live & Reloaded XB и The squirrel's single-player game should have stayed caged in the Nintendo 64 5.0 7.0 Dead or Alive Ultimate XB и The bouncing boobs of DOAS 1 and 2 look way nicer revamped for Xbox 70 75 Dead to Rights Il PS2/XB I This boring sequel about a cop and his dog is great.. for us to poop оп 40 60 Destroy All Humans! PS2/XB W Missions get repetitive, but launching cows and anal probing never get old 70 75 Dynasty Warriors 5 PS2 W Another sequel to play as a Chinese Rambo, but it's an addictive hack-n-slash 80 75 Enthusia: Professional Racing PS2 W Even hardcore Gran Turismo fans should take this racing sim out for a spin 80 85 Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones GBA Wi A great strategy-RPG sequel, but just more of the same stuff from the original 80 7.5 FlatOut PS2/XB W You can learn a lot from a dummy: Avoid this car wreck of a driving game 60 40 Haunting Ground PS2 W Even the bouncy boobs can't make us think this is a top-notch survival-horror game 7.0 Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee PSP W An addictive golf game, even though its cuteness nearly sets off our gag reflex 70 In the Groove PS2 W Dust off the headband and spandex: a decent dancing game with more crappy techno 7.0 Juiced PS2/XB W Trails the pack, but with А. teammates and betting on races, it earns our respect — 7.0 Killer 7 PS2/GC W A shooter that tries harder for style with artsy-fartsy graphics rather than gameplay 5.5 Kirby: Canvas Curse 0$ W Our little pink blob has us dusting off that stylus in this ingenious DS game 85 Lego Star Wars PS2/XB W Some fun disassembly is required when you use the Force to take apart battle droids 7.0 Medal of Honor: European Assault PS2/XB/GC и No online multiplayer; new features are nothing to write home about 75 Meteos Ds W Who knew a puzzle game where you rub space rocks would be so addictive? 90 Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition PS2/XB W This time around, cars have superpowers and move faster than a speeding bullet 8.0 MLB 2006 PS2 W The series tries to go for a hit, but it's stil just a bunt compared to the competition 7.0 Mortal Kombat: Deception вс W This bloated sequel has so тапу extra game modes that there's even MK chess 6.0 MVP Baseball 2005 PS2/XB/GC W Slick minigames make it the best hardball sim yet 85 NBA Street Showdown PSP W Decent b-ball, but it just double-dribbles the console version of Vol. 2onto PSP 65 Pac-Pix 05 W Get ready for more DS drawing—all that doodling in school will finally come in handy 7.0 Pariah XB W The shooter has cool weapons and a semi-interesting story, but it's no Halo Killer 9.0 Pokémon Emerald GBA W Catch those little bastards all over again, if you're a fan of the genre 7.0 Pokémon Dash Ds Hin this mediocre Pokémon spin-off for tykes, rubbin' really is racing 50 Predator: Concrete Jungle PS2/XB W Predator vs. crappy camera: Whoever wins, we lose by playing this bland game 5.5 Psychonauts XB 18 Cure more crazies than shock therapy does in this great platformer 80 Rengoku: The Tower of Purgatory PSP W Insanely repetitive—its more like BattleBots hell than purgatory 30 Red Ninja: End of Honor PS2/XB W Gameplay so horrible that it actually ruins a videogame that has hot ninjas in panties 45 Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2 PS2 E Коко the gorilla can communicate more easily than gamers can in REO's online рау 5.0 Rise of the Kasai PS2 IM The stealth kilin's easy when your numskull A.1. partner's not getting in your way 60 Samurai Western PS2 Yawn as you hack and slash as a samurai who deflects bullets. with his sword — 4.0 Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga PS2 It’s Final Fantasy X plus Hinduism plus Mad Max, but with a cliff-hanger ending! 80 Smartbomb PSP ї Need to get crappy shareware games and Minesweeper on your PSP? Look no further 3.0 Spider-Man 2 05 ІШІ your spider sense is on the fritz, let us мат you to avoid this ho-hum adventure 6.0 Spider-Man 2 PSP W Kirsten Dunst looks nice, but the camera has a hard time focusing on anything else 6.0 Star Wars Republic Commando XB W Guide a squad of three smart stormtroopers who actually shoot the bad guys! 70 Star Wars: Episode ІІ Revenge of the Sith PS2/XB W Play this repetitive game and you'll understand why the dude went to the Dark Side 4.5 Star Wars: Episode ІІ Revenge of the Sith DS W Maybe in a galaxy far, far away this side-scrolling crap is still considered awesome 4.5 Tekken 5 PS2 W The гоп Fist tournament may be getting a little rusty, but it comes with great extras 8.0 Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix | PSP W The additional features make you want to keep grinding in the Destruction Tour 9.0 Twisted Metal: Head-On PSP W This fighting game with cars is OK, but the series is due for some maintenance 7.5 Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict XB. W Fast-paced deathmatching that's ideal for gamers bored with Halo 2 85 Viewtiful Joe 2 PS2/GC W More of what you (hopefully) know and (should) love from Joe's first outing 80 WarioWare: Twisted! GBA Spin your GBA like a nutcase in this collection of new three-second microgames 9.0 Wipeout Pure PSP W Remind yourself to blink while playing this great, intense racing game 80 Worms Forts: Under Siege PS2/XB т Weird fort building and stupid AJ. make Worms gross again 65 WWE Wrestlemania 21 XB W The A.. is so bad that this game is even unworthy for а fake sport 35 Yoshi Touch & Go 05 W Draw clouds with the stylus and control the environment for Mario's green steed 7.5 “Games in red are previous Game of the Month winne: 124 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com NINTENDOS, NINTENDOS, NINTENDOS, We take games seriously ™ SEANBABY'S NERD MANUAL Classifying Homo sapiens Dorkitus is not satirical. It does not use irony ог nstead of talking about games this month, Рт cataloging sarcasm ever, for any reason. If you see types of gamers. It’s called yourself in Nerd Manual, everything it Nerd Manual. Nerd Manual will help says about your people is true, nerd. readers avoid or defeat specific types As research for this article, | spent of nerds. Please note that Nerd Manual months studying nerds...the way they В005МОКА 247 Games played: These nerds play online games under the names of badly spelled marijuana references. Whether it’s in Halo or SOCOM, they communicate entirely in insults, and the only thing they hate more than n0Obs is everything. № “This one time? My boy had helllllla kind nugs, bra!” Appearance: This nerd may sound like a bathroom wall that grew a shrieking mouth, but he looks like a suburban kid emulating the style of TV criminals. This creates the fashion statement, "I'm a tiny undercover cop who's bad at his job." Diet: Budsmokas can feed off the same pizza for up to 2d6 days. Also, if their online trash talk is to be taken literally, their own crotch is a viable food source—at least for others. Special abilities: Advanced grumpi- ness. Whether they win or lose a match, they'll find a reason to be furious with everyone else's participation in it. Doctors say that after several weeks, this level of rage will cause an artery to burst, so many theorize that these nerds perform an intense hour of kitten snug- gling each day to avoid brain explosion. Weaknesses: Due to the nature of their social rejection, this type of nerd cannot form conventions or website clubs around their hobby and will never be found in colonies larger than 194. Because of this, | feel very safe saying they are all pansies and that, in fact, | had sex with THEIR mothers last night. raise ferrets, the way they struggle to find their glasses after they fall down, the way they write Doctor Who-on-Go- Bot fan fiction. Speaking of, here’s an excerpt from some of my own: “The clanging of his robot hips against my STARWOID Games played: Starwoids will play any Star Wars videogame but can’t devote all of their time to them since that presentation on how a Star Destroyer could beat Knight Rider isn’t going to PowerPoint itself. Appearance: Plastic armor only comes in size human, so some of the larger Imperial sol- diers are forced to disguise themselves as “fat guy in Yoda shirt.” Despite this, jungle teddy bears and Chewbaccas can still sense them and will attack. Some Starwoids occasionally dress in Jedi robes and use Photoshop to put lightsabers into their hands, but new speculation reveals that they might do 50 only because | think it's so funny. Diet: These people will eat whatever trash George Lucas and his movie-generating computer puke into their mouths and like it. Special abilities: They're capable of surviving on a movie-theater sidewalk for 3d8 weeks without nourishment, and when they are equipped with a Qame over advanced dweebs and eggberts, third edition time booth fascinated my Doctor Who brain. Mostly because, wow, that hot robot was a motorcycle like five min- utes ago. Suddenly, Cap’n Crunch arrived with breakfast and an erotic surprise.” —Seanbaby № “No body, no death. Boba wouldn't go out like that.” broom handle and a video camera, a roll of a natural 20 will open a dimen- sion door to the plane of Funniest Internet Video Ever. Weaknesses: Sand. It, you know, gets everywhere. Not like you, baby. Mustrations by Nate van Dyke 126 « ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com TSS Games played: These cos- tume-wearing freaks (Japanese game or anime only, thanks) are mostly into role-playing games but may dabble in other gen- res На game comes packaged within a story boring or fruity enough. Nihongoloids actually become invested in those cut-scenes none of us watch, and they can be moved to tears when their Final Fantasy group encounters an especially emo- tional plot twist. Away from videogames, NIHONGOLOID cartoons, and hiding from predators. Also note: It’s acceptable for a grown male member of their culture to discuss and trade monster cards with 10-year- old strangers. Witnesses to this should по! feel obligated to call the authorities, but maybe should anyway. Appearance: Their clothes and territory are both marked with screaming, adorable creatures. Like space nerds, these nerds can often be found dressing up like their favorite fictional characters. However, Nihongoloids are unique in that it’s not unusual for men in their culture to dress not only as a cartoon character, but as a girl cartoon character. This car- ties no stigma among their people, as their sex organs have long since been removed and dried. Biochemically, they Diet: Nihongoloids live mainly on table scraps of Japanese culture. They can eat earth food, but only if it has Voltron on the box. Special abilities: Beware the Hob- Nihongoloids. They are smaller in size but have a Dragon Ball Z fanaticism of +4d20. They are especially dangerous since during an encounter with a char- acter with no interest in their magic karate show, their mind will violently reject this fact. On every unsuccessful saving throw against spaz, a Hob- Nihongoloid can generate 344 hate letters to any game magazine without a 30-page DBZ cover feature. Weaknesses: They take double damage from any reality-based attacks, such as 4-UM TROLL Games played: These vary from nerd to nerd but are always associated with an irrationally extreme emotion. The same game that devastates one message-board- forum troll’s entire life may very well be the one true love of another. What these nerds have in common is that their opin- ions one way or the other causes them to hate everyone else who has ever lived. Appearance: Due to the forum troll’s reclusive nature, no one has ever seen one. Based on traces found in message boards, however, experts speculate their fat asses sound like this when they try to move: ^Blglggblargoooo! SLOP SLOP!” Diet: Forum trolls survive solely on brief acknowledgements that they exist from people who don’t like them. For every forum poster who disagrees with their wildly disagreeable madness, the forum troll gains 196 hit points. If the disagreeing party seems angry at the idiocy of the forum troll, it gains another 1d6 hit points and secretes a fungus from its armpits. № “WHAT? You don’t they enjoy can still achieve stimulation through ani- іне realization that no one outside their know what Pocky collectable- mated television, but it requires the club knows what the hell Go Go Panda is?! Kekekekeke!” card games, ^ indescribable—and tentacles. Detective is. This fungus is treated as a level 9 gray pudding with an Intelligence of 4d6. Special abilities: If the surrounding characters all make their Ignore Dumbass saving throw, a forum troll has the ability to switch identities and go back into the forum to disagree with themselves under a different name. Weaknesses: Forum trolls must make a saving throw against suicide if no one on the message board seems to care that they hate Mario Golf. This saving throw is at a -4 penalty if someone points out that they spelled “Golf” with too E “hello емегу1. many inches of somethin9 rulz, exclamation yet other things points. risk are teh suck.” ELECTRONI/ GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com е 127 ACROSS 1. 5. 9. 10. 12. 13. 14. 15. 18. 21. 23. 24. 26. 27. 29. 32. 33. 36. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. Who Batman begins as Destroy All Humans’ invading race Japanese developer _ Factory Portal Runner lion's name PS1 3D platform-shooter Alice's brother in Xenogears Medal of Honor bad-guy alliance Grand Theft Auto 3 sequel city Printed on an Metal Gear Solid 2 cardboard box Halo 2's odd ball Follow-up to Dreamcast's Metropolis Street Racer Soul Calibur swordsman Splinter Cell government org ToeJam's cousin in ToeJam & Earl 3 Alternative to а KO win in Soul Calibur Short for “nonplayable characters” Mario race car Soul Calibur's му isn’t a guy— she’s a_ Madden’s Giant Manning Undetermined release date (abbrv.) Big brute of Street Fighter Ш What "the price" is in an Atari game-show game Sign up for Xbox Live again? DOWN 1. Badass Defender (Xbox) creatures 2. Leon's fair-weather friend Wong 3. Used to buy games in Japan 4. United States and Canada in game releases, for short 6. Commodore moon blaster _ 64 7. Early Rockstar PS2 title 8. Half of lame duo in old Nintendo Power comic 10. You fight in Goro’s in Mortal Kombat 11. Soul Reaver predecessor Blood _ 15. MGS3 colonel 16. Tenchu ninja dropping 17. Like Moon Patrol's setting? 19. Powerful Phantasy Star spell 20. Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude’s minigame icon 22. Jet of Rise to Honor (PS2) 25. Series that 2 DOWN appears in, for short 26. Saucy squirrel (now on Xbox) 28. Pikachu colored? 30. Friend of Mr. Mosquito? 31. NCAA 06 SoCal school 34, Game Boy heavyweight boxer 35. Drive a big one in 18 Wheeler 36. Time Crisis peripheral 37. The Lord of the Rings RPG The Third _ 40. '80s cartoon turned дате _-Man 128 е ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ® www.1UP.com GRUDGE MATCH Welcome to Earf! DESTROY ALL HUMANS!| | WAR OF THE WORLDS We don't know much about alien life, but our singular view of the universe tells us that everyone up there is vying for a piece of our sexy planet. To destroy all humans would require a war of the worlds, however, so let's see which of these gets it right. INSPIRATION > т E ff - Mars Attacks!, 505 2 | sci-fi gems e Loosely based on the í book's cover art ( ALIEN WEAPONRY Extreme anal probe fries our brains Heat rays melt our primitive flammables STORY LINE How invasion impacts қ Earth’s best-looking inhabitants Furons harvest DNA while teleporting our mir junk around Crypto talks (and looks) like Jack Dakota Fanning Nicholson dresses like ап alien FURTHER STUDY Spin the 1978 WOTW disco-rock opera. Boss! Download Crypto desktop clutter for your PC WINNER: DESTROY ALL HUMANS! Disclaimer: Selecting a winner in this Grudge Match doesn’t mean the EGM staff condones human annihilation by our extraterrestrial readers. But if the s*** goes down, we have a list of grade-school bullies we'd like you to hit up first. WHAT IF YOU COULD и with Gadgets £ тит io Do It Al а v: j x nont ла, IN SYNC MAGAZINE? PLUS, WHEN YOU PICK UP SYNC’S AUGUST/SEPTEMBER “WIN IT” ISSUE AT ANY BARNES & NOBLE STORE FROM AUG. 9 THROUGH 16, YOU’LL HAVE A CHANCE TO SCORE BONUS GADGETS. A в шшш» д \ лы UE ДО GVI чә Е” М 8 ы 22...) booa p] spi тм ® RESI | I ars 21) | "s «что ҸҸ ч “ Wu The prehistory of fighting games - ighting games have been around for a while, and with the upcoming release of Soul Calibur Ш (PS2), it’s clear that the genre’s soul still burns. Any gamer worth his weight in Super NES carts knows all about Street Fighter II and the evolution of Atari 2600 ° 1981 At the time, Activision couldn’t stop gushing about how realistic Boxing’s graphics looked. Which they did...if you were from the planet of Rock "Em Sock "Ет Robots. Even so, this top-down sim was a decent take on the sport. You know, considering Pong was state-of-the-art back then. Arcade • 1984 The same year Ralph Macchio won our hearts in The Karate Kid, Data East made martial arts cool among the game-nerd set. Karate Champ was about tournament rules, which meant fighters were awarded points for clean hits in a nice orderly fash- ion. Primal Rage it wasn't. to trace the prehistory of fighters. 223 fighting games since Capcom dragon-punched gamers into one-on-one bliss. But it's not like these games sprang suddenly into existence in 1991. Grab your archeology gear as we delve into gaming's fossil record —Jeremy Parish Arcade • 1984 Мг. X has kidnapped the lovely Sylvia and set an army of warriors (and snakes...and midgets) upon the hero in this brawler. Players punched, leapt, and sweep-kicked their way through endless waves of foes in order to rescue her. Apparently, Mr. X really, really liked Sylvia. Apple Пе 1984 Before he made Prince of Persia (the original PC version, that is), Jordan Mechner created Karateka, which played like Kung-Fu Master but intro- duced this little thing called a “story” to fighting games. Unlike in the Street Fighter or Tekken series, though, Karateka's plot actually made sense. Arcade * 1984 This fighting game went one up on Karate Champ by offering more var- ied enemies. Opponents attacked in waves, aggressively lashing out with increasingly deadly weapons. The player, of course, was unarmed. Just think of this as Soul Calibur’s incred- ibly unfair great-granddad. Arcade/NES • 1987/1988 This one took the walk-and-punch action of its predecessors and added catchy new features like special attacks. The NES version dropped the co-op play, but it did pack a new fighting mode that allowed two play- ers to go at it with larger versions of both the heroes and villains. Arcade • 1987 Yeah, you’ve probably noticed that number at the end of Street Fighter II, but did you ever wonder what it was a sequel to? The answer is this primitive fighting game. Sure, it had familiar characters (Sagat, Birdie, Ken), but per- forming special moves was insanely difficult, especially with the flaky pressure-sensitive buttons. Plus, you could only play as Ryu—lame. 130 е ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com On the Cover: Mortal № Kombat 3 | Nothing says “We heart MK3” more than having the fighter on two con- secutive covers—just to talk about Scorpion's new teleport punch. Фхо5 Bee ү, P Game of the Month: | Rayman (PS1) Î Known for its great music апа graphics, the original Rayman ended the debate of whether the PS1 could do side-scrollers. The franchise started off strong, as the first two Raymans received mostly 9s (out of 10) from the EGM Review Crew. |! Playing the Name Game № Peripheral manufacturer STD asked EGM readers to help name its new № line of PS1 and Saturn controllers. Almost 3,000 entries were received. Hopefully, one or two people recommended that the company first think about changing its own name. 2 З, Tough Actin’ Tinactin We talked football with Mr. Pigskin І himself, John Madden. And we № found out that listening to him І speak about the great sport for an hour is equivalent to watching a week's worth of ESPN Classic. [23 WCG BER GAMES WORLD А Championship d NationalFinal / / С Hammerstein Ballroom, Manhattan Center Studios in NYC September 8-10, 2005 j Official Games e FIFA Soccer 2005™ | e Half-Life": Counter-Strike * Need for Speed™: Underground 2 * StarCraft®: Brood Маг“ e WarCraft? Ill: Frozen Throne™ * Warhammer? 40,000: Dawn of War" е Dead or Alive? Ultimate e Halo 2“ * * -7 http://us.worldcybergames.com Premier sponsors Official suppliers Official Media Partner 1 J | n y Official Partners ® е asked our community man- ager Kimi Matsuzaki to pick two 1UP members to be spe- cial guests on Final Word this month. She just had to make sure that the two were established bloggers.or forum posters—and that they smelled nice. Kimi found the only two who fit that description: Matt “xtcdukes” Schaldach and Sara “DirtyDiva” Nicholson. We throw them to the Final Word wolves to get their thoughts on this or that... Eenie meenie miney mo, oh Nokia, you must go! I’m sorry; all three major players in the console race lend different strengths, but Nokia? | know they had good intentions, but it’s time for them to count their losses and fold their hand. N-Gage = poop. It could be my stuck-in-my-ways. old age talking, but | thought the questión was about an actual game and its subsequent sequels. If that were true then my choice would have to be the Halo series. (Please send all hate тай to EGM’s round file.) | Guest-starring: you liked the first one, but...is it just: me or is Halo 2 pretty тис just like the first? Two'guns? No ending? Big deal. Kill the series before it'turns into а shadow of its initial greatness. Oh wait, it already has. But to take your path on this, | would have to,agree. Where's the fun in playing on a taco? Ah...pass the dunce cap—my mis- take. | would never say to kill the Halo series because | still have hope that it can make a great comeback on the Xbox 360. Then again, if they just'released all of the previous maps in multiplayer mode, I'd be happy. If we're.talking games, El РО say TimeSplitters,has to do. Those ар games were just сгар. Damn you, Е@М, for making me pick. These best«of-all-time lists spark nothing but arguments and letter bombs. So for want of a.new mailbox, | have two picks for current-gen systems: Animal Crossing (GC) and Katamari Damacy (PS2)—two games that came out of left field and have contributed to many a sleepless night in search d that perfect chair or the biggest ball of junk the King of Cosmos has ever seen: As far asithe game that reigns supreme over all others? Well, that has tobe Tetris. Everyone’s abusing poor N-Gage...even our Final Word guy. The game that reigns supreme.:. Tetris. Never before has a game spawned so many clones. Without Tetris there would be no Lumines. It is the epitome of what gam- ing is all about. Pick it up. Play it. Smile. No, no, no! That was my pick! I'm sorry, you have to pick another. Hmm, there are so many great games out there. Metal Gear Solid was such a pioneer in Story-driven action. Ghost Recon was so great as both a strategic Shooter and a great online game. The Grand Theft Auto series has геаПугризпед the boundaries of all that’s acceptable. Of course, Halo was just a phenomenal all-around game. En Зочтапу greats for different rea- Sons. | don’t want to pick just one and you can’t make me! Oh, OK, how about Lemmings? Lemmings? As your all-time favorite. game? C’mon! Try harder. Are you just * throwing that out there? It's Seems like such a from-the-hip choice. На На, по...! just can't pick a favorite, so the first thing that came into my head was Lemmings. | ride New York City Transit too much. PSP! PSP! | kept telling myself that | would wait until all the bugs had been worked out, but it just didn’t happen. After whining throughout lunch that | felt like | was missing out, a coworker insisted | go get one just to shut me up. The UMD movies are incredibly clear even on such a smalliscreen. kam so completely hooked orf Lumines that I’m getting close to break- ing the million-point barrier. Someday... Also, | haven’t been a big fan of Nintendo offerings since the Nintendo 64. Nothing about the D$ wows me. Рооггроог Nintendo. | for one love my DS. It séems to be gaining steam now. l agree atdaunch the PSP was the no- brainer choice, as long as you didn't mind Sony throwing up a big middle finger to anyone's. concerns regarding button place- ment, dead pixels, and memory stick costs, but just because a system has great graphics doesn't make it better. As for the memory stick, | don't care about that because | don't need the PSP to be ай МРЗ player or a photo display. Also, graphics don’t completely make the game, butythey do make it better. If they didn't, we'd all still be perfectly happy bouncing single pixels across the screen. But | am happy pushing pixels. Tetris: best game ever, remember? But do you see what I’m saying? Sony comes out with this do-all machine and for what? So they can say they did. Гат sick of these catch-all systems. Most peo- ple don’t even buy them for that purpose anyway. | mean who actually decided to purchase a PSP because of the MP3 or movie capabilities? Stick to games, guys; it's what we're here for. 4%. NEXT MONTH: OCTOBER ° ISSUE *196 ON SALE SEPTEMBER 6 FINAL FANTASY VII ANSWERS TO ADVENT CHILDREN - BEFORE CRISIS · | МӘН on page 128 CRISIS CORE - DIRGE OF CERBERUS emember Final Fantasy И/? The role-playing game that made a generation of nerds cry returns with an onslaught of follow-ups for the PS2, the PSP, the big screen, your cell phone, and maybe...the PlayStation 3? Yup, we'll have screens, info, more screens, and more info on all things Final Fantasy Vil, including the PS3 tech demo seen a few months back. Is it a real game or not? Find out next month in Electronic Gaming Monthly. We’ll also have previews of next-gen sports games, Star Wars Battlefront Il, True Crime: New York City, Half-Life 2 for Xbox, and more! (All planned editorial content is subject to change.) 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Associate of Science & Bachelor of Science Degree Programs h l < | 4 LL $ IL. Real World Education school of сота 800.226.7625 fullsail.com 3300 University Boulevard Winter Park, FL 32792 Financial aid available to those who qualify Job placement assistance Accredited College, ACCSCT game over HSU AND CHAN'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE — WWW.APE-LAW.COM/EVILMONKEY GREETINGS, VIDEO GAMERS! LOOK FOR FULL-LENGTH HSU & CHAN COMICS ATYOUR LOCAL COMIC SHOP! (OR ORDER ONLINE АТ WWW.SLAVELABOR.COM.) IF Youve ONLY PLAYED THE GAME, YOU ONLY KNOW HALF THE STORY / DID YOU HONESTLY THINK THESE MUTHICAL CONTESTANTS JUST SHOWED UP ONE DAY AND FOUGHT EACH " OTHER STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BLUE QV" CPM 8 FIND “AMERICAN IDOL" CAN BARELY | А CONTESTANT WHO DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A PUBESCENT TEENAGER , GARGLING WITH MARBLES, AND ITS ON NETWORK TELEVISION! CALIBUR CAN ВЕТ THE SOUL дент HAS To SIFT THROUGH SERIOUS RIFF RAFF BEFORE SOME SER RONE WORTH SLAPPING ON А GAME CONSOLE! 7 RIS TAKE A PEEK, NOW, АТ THE С PARADE OF SHAME THAT 15 THE SOUL CALIBUR QUALIFYING ROUNDS ! EVE PROTECTION RECOMMENDED! О instill fear in his opponents Blackbeard style by weaving reeds into his beard and setting them on fire. Unfortunately, he had also used on the day of the a generous amount of AquaNet hair spray to accent tournament, Fung discovered that his students had his fearsome appearance. already made off with the triangle, the cowbell, the tambourine, and even the bike horn, leaving him To his credit, those who witnessed his subsequent and no choice but to do battle using the far less-coveted total immolation reported being “quite horrified.” “olock and stick.” Danny "Deborah" Shlezinger entered the Soul Calibur A spirited match between newcomer Geldman and a tournament under the impression that it was “a pageant leading contender came to a violent end 15 minutes in, of some sort.” Danny, who was merely a transvestite when a combination of sweat and the heat of the day with no remarkable fighting skills, was admitted to St. caused the sticky glue that was holding the contender's Mary’s hospital in stable condition costume to her body to finally give way. “We saw the costume and.just assumed he could fight,” Taking advantage of Goldman's subsequent distraction, said competitor Shinji, adding that he found Mr. the contender leapt forward and оеа him good. Shlezinger’s girlish shrieks during the match to be Goldman was admitted to the infirmary with extensive “oddly satisfying.” bodily lacerations but was in good spirits otherwise. 134 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com “One of the best tennis games ever created is finally coming to the PS2.” on the tour. The-rankings are in, and Top Spin is on top of the tennis video game world. Serve and volley with 16 of the tour’s top players like Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova as you compete in tournaments around the world. Create a virtual version of “you” with Eye Toy", refine your shots with a coach, and i» match skills with the pros on every kind of court surface as you make a run at the Championship! PORE orts, the 2K Sports logo, and Take-Two Interactive Software are all trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Take-Two oftware, Inc. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are ref ‘of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Online play requires internet connection, Network Adaptor (for PlayStation 2) and (МВ) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately). The Online i fof Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. www.topspingames.com EVERYONE 2%%) onuine. BROADBAND ONLY fayStatione press ok ТӨЛІ рам MENU = | 220$ ` Water. JAMDAT Mini Golf is a Hole-tn-One! Putt | ПРА | тта your way through an exotic paradise Full № j | 1 М | of hazardous obstacles and secret К! j VB a shortcuts. Enjoy beautiful graphics, fun Д E I ес! Зак | REET music, and realistic physics. Use а simple СЕ” Шой a SEL | interface to move the camera around |j 1 амоат" and aim for that perfect shot. 1 (62005 JAMDAT Mobile, Inc. 5 ff : Ali Rights Reserved x е Mini Golf, Mini Screen, Зи —— “Кы 5 Майе уин! оме (97