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аде, the NHL Shield he word logos and marks, depicted herein p. 2005 МНЕ. AII rights reserved. Officially grks of the NHLPA and are used under ociation. All rights in the name . Ц the "PS" Ғапу одо емеоісіегеа - ent America бог Online play. requires.

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issue 197 - november 2005

LETTERS

20 Some of you can read and write. We've got proof here

PRESS 5ТАКТ

The latest news, previews, features, and gaming gossip

24 PSP«DS Find out what is next for these portable, adorable little fellas

28 EVERYTHING BAD IS GOOD FOR YOU We've said this for years, but Steven Johnson wrote the book on it

31 DOOM: THE GAME: THE MOVIE The Rock smells what hell is cooking in this motion picture

32 THE WARRIORS Rockstar's new method of unleashing old people's outrage

38 METAL GEAR SOLID ONLINE Our exclusive look at Snake's first adventure on the internets

48 GAME CAMP We found a summer camp where they celebrate gaming geeks

52 TAKE THIS JOB: PRODUCT MANAGER COVE R 510 RY:

They get the job done and they will go through you to do it

56 PENNY ARCADE EXPO We took a trip to visit with those funny chaps at Penny Arcade

58 EGM 200 ry И г) , 2% ‚| EGM's worst covers. Smell that? Launch time is nigh! We've assembled all the info you'll need о! ді iis. newest way of monopolizing the videogame market and your ba

We assemble the coolest things we've seen this month into one hot list

GAME OVER

Over? We say when it's over!

168 SEANBABY'S REST OF THE CRAP 170 CROSSWORD/GRUDGE MATCH 172 PS1 10TH ANNIVERSARY

. в The System 19 Ultimate Xbox All the specs, all the stats, all the 3 60 Giv e aw ау

scut, and all the skinny on the

systems and accessories We know what you want

177 NEXT MONTH 178 HSU & CHAN

ON THE COVER

Xbox 360 faceplate concepts from Microsoft

88 ће Games

From Perfect Dark Zero to Madden, all the titles you'll want launch day and beyond

and we got what you N need. We've put together \ a Xbox 360 prize | package like only EGM є у can. Find out all about

the goodies here

e—^

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS. Editor-in-Chief Dan "Shoe" Hsu.

‘Managing Editor Jennifer Tsao Senior Editor Crispin Boyer

Reviews Editor Demian Linn News Editor Bryan Intihar

Intern Kathleen Sanders DESIGN Sexton, Justin Speer

Art Director Monique Convertito Associate Art Director Stefan Belavy || Founder Steve Harris

Robert Ashley, Tom Byron, Che Chou, Executive Editor Mark MacDonald | Jason Cruz, Kevin Convertito John Davison, Randy Dodson, Jon Dudlak, Dana Jongewaard, David Kushner Previews Editor Shane Bettenhausen | James Lee, Matt Leone, Richard Li, үннен Johnny Liu, Nich Maragos, James. “Milkman” Mielke, Christian Nutt, Intemational Edtor John Ricciardi | Jeremy Parish, Andrew Pfister, Joe COPY DESK Rybicki, Ryan Scott, Seanbaby, Gerry Serrano, Greg Sewart, Michael

HEAD HONCHOS ‘Anne Marie Miguel

President Scott ©. McCarthy

Vice President of Sales Scott McDaniel Y of Operations and Business CIRCULATION

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Production Manager Monica Brent.

II Danihe resident and Editorial Director

Group Creative Director Simon Cox. SALES

Vice President of Sales Scott McDaniel Senior Director of Advertising Sales Marci Yamaguchi Territory Managers & Acct. Execs. Gaming Accounts

Copy Chie! Tom Edwards Copy Editors Greg Ford, Susie Ochs

jorthwest Regional Sales Director Amy Mishra

PRODUCTION. ith Senior Production Manager

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KS, KY, LA, MA, ME, Мі, MN, MO, MS,

Account Executive Jessica Reback Consumer Accounts Senior Advertising Coordinator Senior Director of Consumer Advertising | Tipler Ubbelohdo.

Account Executive Brent Martyn Sales Administrative Assistant uth Marc Callison Lynn Fortunato. ia and Arizona West Regional Sales Director Laura | Sales Assistant тиапу Ort Director Leslie C. и

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1UP.com Rita Kine Editor-in-Chief Sam Kennedy

st Account Executive Senior Manager of Cent Services AL, AR, CO, CT, DE. FL, GA, IA 10, IN, | Jessica Reinert ‘Alex Jakovieski

Senior Manager of Ad Operations MT, NG, ND, NE, NH, М). NM, NV. NY, | Automotive - Detroit ‘Adam Carey ‘OH, OK, OR, РА RI, SC. SD, TN, DX ÙT, | Regional Sales Manager Manager of Ad Operations VA, VT, WA, W, ИМ WY, Canada. Ken Stubblefield Steven Ng

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14% ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

EDITORIAL

Microsoft's new Xbox

360 console is almost

upon us. Let's make some predictions, Shall we?

1. Assumina both of these games launch on time, Perfect Dark Zero will be the 360's top-selling game, followed by Madden NFL 06.

2. Perfect Dark Zero will come together at the last minute and impress the crap out of everyone, just like Halo did on the original Xbox. Halo 2 playtime will drop: significantly as online gamers flock to: PDZ's frag-filled pastures. 3. Players will flock back to Halo 2 when thev realize PDZ's multiplaver is busted (unbalanced, cheater friendly, et cetera), It's just way too ambitious a game (see pg. 89) for Microsoft to get right on the first try without any updates or patches. I'll eat my old Xbox if PDZ ships totally balanced. | won't even add any seasoning, 4. Most early adopters will buy the more 1 C ELIEF EFFOF expensive, hard-disk-drive-equipped Xbox. By the time this issue went to print wi 360 (see ро. 75) since they're, well, early like the rest of the world, had our eyes adopters and want the best possible and hearts on New Orleans. If you are hardware. Microsoft will make a big deal interested in helping please visit Out of this and announce to the www.redcross.org. world, “See? We told you the $400 package would sell. Thus, the hard drive will be well supported by the development community.” Fast-forward three or four years, when the mass market has bought enough of the cheaper, no-hard-disk-drive 360s, and you will weep as you see your hard drive sitting lifeless, unused, and unloved. No more spinning for you, HDD. 5. Sony will scramble to get any, PlayStation 3 news that it can out there to 134 | combat Microsoft's better-than-expected ва - : Е е — sales of the 360. Sony will realize it now has a serious, legitimate contender for REVI EW CREW console top-dog honors.

6. Nintendo will sit back, chill as а rap

Multiplatform 143 Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil 156 Madden NFL 06 гари CUM

128 Indigo Prophecy Saga 2 156 PoPol oCrois КЕТПЕ, panes m eachan

128 Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks 144 We У Katamari TRSA just waiting patiently to show its next-gen

129 Evil Dead Regeneration 145 Genji: Dawn of the Samurai ien река пасы Revolution goods whenever it damn well

130 NBA 2K6 146 Devil Kings 160 Phoi nix Wri ht: Ac Att i pleases. PS3? Xhox 360? They don't

130 NBA Live 06 146 Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves е АЦА matter to the company who, against all

131 NCAA March Madi 06 160 Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 у AE

tone i 810655 Xbox 162 Lost in Blue odds, will continue to live in its own world.

Our ИО 150 Far Cry Instincts 162 Lunar 7, | will be late on a future deadline

138 Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the i Under Fi Е 3 Imperfects 150 Kingdom Under Fire Extra Stuff because | was up all night playing Perfect

138 Spartan: Total Warrior GameCube 164 Reviews Wrap-up Dark Zero, despite what I said above. If

140 The Suffering: Ties That Bind 152 Battalion Wars 166 Reviews Archive we're all lucky (well, you more than me),

140 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 PSP l'Il be plunging little bits of black and

PlayStation 2 154 Burnout Legends green plastic out of the toilet, to.

142 Shadow of the Colossus 154 Virtua Tennis Dan Hsu, Editor-in-Chief

‘Subscription Int Canada 30: E-mail subhelp@egmmag.com

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ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com 15

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ADVERTISEMENT. 7%

THINK YOU KNOW KONG? THI

НИНЕ ШЕ INES, Twenty Ye hungry Tyrannosaur rages through the’ for his dinner. Fear pierces your gut your trusty weapon is empty. Suddenly, huge ape hodysinms the T-Rex, sending it And a titanic struggle erupts before Welcome to Skull Island – and the штогде of Peter Jackson’s King Kong.

groundbreaking special effects for its

time. Peter Jackson's current

reimagining promises to do no less, bringing the perilous world of Skull Island to life 05 only Jackson can - Jackson ond famed game designer

Michel Ancel, that is.

+ + + + + + +

ING KONG FIRST MADE HIS CINEMATIC DEBUT in 1933, thrilling audiences with п powerful story and

“[Апсе] has just a great storytelling skill in making you so involved in the game as a

player that you actually become emotionally attached to the characters that you're playing with." — Peter Jackson.

+ And just wait till you feast your eyes on the stunningly detailed jungle of Skull

Rn AVID GAMER, PETER JACKSON STARTED Island. Thanks to clever layering of the largest number of 2D sprites, filters, and

DREAMING UP IDEAS юга King Kong video game as soon as he effects ever used in any video game - including meteorological effects like started the movie. But to make a video game as memorable as the movie, he water, fog, wind, fire, and smoke - you'll almost be able to feel the hot, humid needed a creative partner with a true talent for rendering both fantasy and emotion. jungle air. Blades of grass rustle convincingly around your legs. Sunlight patterns Then he played Beyond Good & Evil™, an epic adventure crafted by renowned game shift subtly. In short, this jungle doesn't just look pretty. It feels alive.

designer Michel Ancel. Right away, Jackson knew he'd found his man. And, judging by the jaw-dropping beauty and intensity of the gameplay, Jackson and Ancel have

succeeded brilliantly.

BREATHING LIFE INTO A LEGEND

Perhaps the greatest creation of all is Kong himself. Agile and powerful, Kong moves through Skull Island with remarkable force and speed. And take a close look at his fur; the dev team used intricate 3D effects to actually animate each separate strand. The overall effect is breathtakingly real.

Jackson and Ancel set out to create a game deeper and more immersive than

the film itself. So the game had to look and feel just as convincing as the “real” world captured on film. To achieve this, the development team used every trick in

the book - plus a few that aren't.

A rare technique called “inverse kinematics” adds frightening realism to the behavior of Skull Island's predators. This technique varies and synchronizes the animations used for each type of creature, depending on the creature's Al. For example, if you're detected by a T-Rex, you'll see the monster turn its eyes and head directly toward you, lunging over rocks and smashing through the jungle in a

convincing attempt to make you its dinner.

But techniques like inverse kinematics would mean little without a sophisticated А system governing the behavior of Skull Island's denizens. Some species attack alone, while others use clever pursuit tactics to attack in groups. Fortunately, your enemies aren't the only intelligent creatures on Skull Island. Your crew will protect you, suggest solutions to problems, and generally react as real humans - real

scared humans - would.

Where guns fail, brute strength often prevails.

A MASSIVE STEP FORWARD: INNOVATIONS ІП IMMERSION

Every technical decision for Peter Jackson’s King Kong has been made with an eye to thoroughly immersing the player in the world of the game. For example, you can still move and look around while scripted plot events occur, unlike nearly all other games. And the absence of a heads-up display makes the action feel more immediate. For example, when your character suffers an injury, you won't see any shrinking "health bar.” Instead, your vision will blur and turn red.

The game also offers new experiences that don’t appear in the movie. In addition to movie creatures, Jackson added beasts not seen in the film. Multiple pathways offer you a different experience every time you play, so that you'll never have to play the same game twice. The difficulty level scales fluidly according to your performance, growing more challenging as you improve.

Most impressive of all is the range of emotions evoked by the alternating gameplay possibilities. By inviting you to play as both Jack Driscoll and Kong himself, the game delivers an unforgettable mix of intensity, realism, and entertainment through a rare combination of first- and third-person play.

PLAVIING WITH POWER: HEROES GREAT AND SMALL

Conceived by Jackson and realized to phenomenal effect by the development team, the dual gameplay between Jack and Kong delivers a dramatic shift in perspective and power.

As Jack Driscoll, you're outnumbered and overpowered by predators bigger, stronger, and faster than you. To heighten the sense of fear and danger, you play Jack's role in first-person. You'll have to advance through a dense jungle, never knowing what lurks behind the next tree. Armed only

with the weapons you can carry, you'll never win just by fighting. To stay alive, you'll need other strategies, such as tricking predators into battling each other and using the environment to set clever traps.

At a key moment, you begin playing Kong in third-person. When the camera pulls back to reveal Kong's mighty perspective, you feel a rush of freedom and power. Delivered from the harried perspective of Jack, you inherit swift movements, powerful battle attacks, and the gratifying ability to smash, throw, and scale just about everything around you. But playing as Kong isn't just a walk in the park. Confronted by multiple enemies with clever attack patterns, you'll have to fight hard to defeat huge T-Rexes and outsmart swarms of smaller predators.

The alternating gameplay intensifies the emotions already inherent in the story. Ancel, like Jackson, never loses sight of his audience, meting out new challenges just when you want them the most. The result is nothing short of an unforgettable game experience. | |

PETER JACKSON'S

Visit www.esrb.org for updated rating information.

UBISOFT

stalkers, gimps, and gaming wimps

Xbox 360 Do the Big Three take power consumption into consideration when designing their chips? | used to play my Dreamcast four to eight hours a day and found no noticeable increase in my electric bill. But when | started playing my Xbox just as much, my bill doubled! | checked the instructions and | found that one hour on Xbox [uses as much power as] about four hours on Dreamcast (100 vs. 27 watts). The Xbox 360 has three faster CPUs and one faster GPU. | would expect this thing to be a power hog. If this keeps up, only rich people will be able to afford to play games for more than 30 minutes a day. —DMC C

Wes was kind enough to send us this, um...lovely illustration of how he feels about the Zelda delay.

We repeatedly requested a response from Microsoft on your power question

guild members always comment on my skill. Just today, someone told me, "You're the greatest." Now this might be a shocker:

but only got the just turned 13. | want older gamers to runaround. That look at younger gamers differently. | know means you'll there are some really annoying noobs out probably have to there, and yes, these punks give us

invade an oil-rich country to power

younger gamers a bad name. But I've run into a 41-year-old dad who insisted on

your 360. repeatedly calling me "gay" because | wouldn't party with him. So, uh, some respect please?

=p.

Demands

Respect This one’s just too easy.

| play multiple

online role-playing „еп Stalker

games. | am Jennifer Tsao, you won't be my friend on

always the creator and leader of my guild and the commander of my party. My plans

1UP.com, you heartless bastard —Robert Springer, aka Darth Spanky

At press time, our neighborhood social butterfly and managing editor Jennifer

are almost Tsao had some 1,018 friends on her 1UP Will the electric always flawless. blog (egmjennifer.1UP.com). The fact bill grow with My party that you’re not one of them can only be

next-gen hardware? members and

POST OFFICE

attributed to astrology, advanced

artificial intelligence, and/or a deep and abiding discrimination against Star Wars nerds. That or there was a bug or something that prevented her from accepting your friend request, because she told us she basically accepts everyone, no questions asked.

&

| know about ыр” өй your love for \ games, but don't you have a

hate for some videogames" characters for being really mean as villains or very impolite sometimes? |,

for example, y hate M. А

Saudi Readership

Rambling and ranting from our message boards, boards. fUP com (look for Electronic Gaming Monthly's forums)

к»

The Zelda delay: tragedy, or necessary evil?

TemplePilot: A tragic, necessary evil.

JaundiceJuice: If this delay means no narcolepsy- inducing end-game fetch quest like the oceanic world tour we got at the end of

Wind Waker, then it’s a good thing.

BurningMaster20002003: The GameCube just died.

Solid Penguin: When they delayed this game, they pretty much gave a indirect kick in the pants to all the Nintendo fans waiting. Hopefully, US AL make lots of improvements.

20 ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY » www.1UP.com

SalFPS: Zelda got delayed? I'm assuming they delayed Christmas as well....

Прати е: This means по failing grades until the second quarter of school.

‘Stott With the price Microsoft is selling Xbox 360 for, | need every dollar | can hold on to.

Erdricks Boxers: Мо Zelda. No Halo. No Final Fantasy. No GTA (except PSP). Gee, guess the mainstreamers might have to play something new.

ЕВ Unleashed: Рт going to slit my wrists while watching the trailer. | might write a poem about my sorrow. Or, | might shut up and wait.

Congrats, Wes! Your slightly creepy take

on delayed grat- ification earns you a game from the vault. Please keep it sanitary,

Bison, the final boss in Street Fighter, for being a godless and aggressive person while fighting against him. And | really don’t like Duke Nukem for being really impolite! And since kids are watching, | don't directly say about his deed, but he is, as you know, the guy who likes hanging out with really bad women —Wael Al-Abri, Riyaadh, K.S.A. [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia]

Checks In Sitting here in a correctional institution tends to give a man plenty to think about. Reading your ‘zine tends to make me wish | had a Game Boy in here. | got the TV and the CD player, and now all | need is some gaming goodness to help balance the tedium. Other than my job as a call-center rep, | don't

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BONUS GALLERY

Going the extra mile for love of the game

Gaming Wunderkind I'm the guy who put headphones on the belly of my wife and played some

videogame songs when she was pregnant

(EGM #195, “Sephiroth is Born”). | just

wanted to send you a picture of the result

of this “gaming therapy.” Look at what | have created: a future gamer!

—Jean-Marie Alneus

We were getting ready to make another mean joke, but the kid’s actually pretty cute. Nice work.

really have much to do, aside from talking to the occasional amusing caller. It tends to slow down as | sit here at my computer and stare at the screen.

| won't bore you with tales of the shower room or how insanely neurotic my сеше is (everything has to be spotlessly clean with him). But thank you for bringing a rare beam of gaming sunshine into my otherwise dull and pointless day.

—Terence Chi-Hui

Here’s the plan: White Boy Steve picks up sheets from the laundry room on Tuesdays at noon, sharp. He'll deliver your linen (GBA stashed inside) for a carton of nonfilter Camels. Only, you gotta let Carlos play Advance Wars, or he'll tip off the warden.

He Said Reader Ryan LeCocq [Letters, EGM #195] stated that Gran Turismo isn't а realistic racing simulator. | rebuild, restore, and race Datsun Z cars, and I'm here to tell you this guy has no idea what he's talking about. He said that 1978 Datsun 28075 didn't come with five-speed transmissions. Well, they did, and about 55% to 65% of the cars produced that year had them optionally

equipped (not including Fairlady Zs). Think before you try to discredit one of the greatest racing simulators of all time.

—Ru Haber, HaberZ Racing Inc.

As Abraham Lincoln once said: Owned!

Cries About Being a Nerd In the Next Month section at the end of EGM #195, you referred to the people who cried [while playing] Final Fantasy Vil as nerds. You guys should understand that calling gamers who got caught up in the story of FFVII “nerds” is misguided.

Videogames have gotten to a point where the most original story ideas out there come not from Hollywood, but from games. If it's wrong to shed a tear (which is all | did, not full on crying—honest) at a sad point in a brilliantly woven tale, then what should developers be striving for? Рт sure someone on your staff cried at some point in the game.

—Ryan Cendejas

Games have more original story ideas than Hollywood? We would hope so. And yes, Previews Editor Shane Bettenhausen has a special oversized Harry Potter

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

Destroy All Blumans

After 15 long years, the real intentions of Blue

Man Group have surfaced! Destroy All Blumans is this summer's newest blockbuster. Summon your fellow PVC beaters from outer space to do

pillow he cries into every time Aeris gets the sword (seriously).

Going Broke for

| plunked down $125 yesterday for my Xbox 360 preorder at EB Games only to find out the next day that they're doing bundle deals | really can’t afford, packaging the system with games | really don't have interest in.

15 it even legal for retailers to do such a thing? If they know their demographics, then they should know that the average gamer can't afford $700. | can barely afford the system plus one game! It reminds me of the separate line for the rich people at Universal Studios.

— Ryan Acosta

You might be interested in the new EGM Titanium subscription package: For the low price of $279, you get six awesome issues emblazoned with gold-leaf cover logos, each shipped in a crimson velour bag, every Dan Hsu editorial rubber- stamped with a realistic approximation of his signature. A serious value for serious EGM readers.

Metal Gear

The more | read about Meta/ Gear Solid 4, the more confident | am that | know where the game will take place. | knew it the very first time | read an interview in which [MGS creator] Hideo Kojima said: "It'll be someplace hard to hide." He's also said that it will be a sequel to MGS2. If you were able to understand the story of М652, it should be fairly clear that No. 4 is going to have to do with digital something-or-another. Others have guessed a desert or a city, but there are plenty of places to hide there. My guess? MGS4 will be...well, fake. It'll take place in а computer system.

— ре! Рега |

Sounds plausible, but we're still leaning toward Roanoke, Virginia's world- famous Mini-Graceland. 4%.

oo С

your seminefarious bidding. Spray the populace with various foods and paints, and watch them run away in baffled, sticky terror. Make music on the lamest of instruments. Work your way up the pop-art ladder until you succeed in committing the most heinous of crimes: producing butt-awful computer commercials!

за

Mini-Graceland looks pretty overgrown these days, but we doubt Snake (the mullet-rocking grizzly man above) could hide in the tiny pool out back.

ad

—Dirty-D

22 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

ENTER THE WORLD oF CLASSIC JAMES BOND

RUSSIA WI СИЕ sion. MIM

ALSO STARRING: Û SHAN LOTTE LENVA PEDRO "P AD LEE as W PL rine BY: ny (5 10 TR BEDING м

же

press start

jaming news, previews, phat camp, and other stuff

SEPARATE

Мїпїепдо апа Зопу 5 handhelds couldn't Бе more different.

ust а month ago, Nintendo unleashed the puppy-loving Nintendogs

To keep things rolling, Nintendo's throw- ing over 30 tracks into the mix—most are new, but the game will include

onto the market, and it’s rolling over the competition (Nintendo is reporting week-one sales of 250,000 copies). DS and PSP hardware sales are currently neck-and- neck in the United States, despite the fact that the DS released five months earlier, so it'll take more Nintendogs-

"књ... "вв...

Peer ewe

Mario & Luigi: PIT also “Stars the bros,’ wee versions.

some from past editions.

The GameCube hit Animal Crossing proved that games about aimlessly dicking around can be rewarding. The series heads to DS this December and, like Mario Kart, online play is its key feature. The touch screen also allows for big improvements over the last game’s clunky interface.

Mario & Luigi made for one GBA role-playing heavyweight. The DS follow-up, dubbed

style hits to put the

DS firmly on top. But with these upcoming games, that might not be a problem...

Nintendo's first online game is а back-to-basics reworking of the Mario Kart (November)

formula that’s worked so well for the past 13 years. The draw here, of course, is the networked multiplayer.

Partners in Time (November), follows the pair on an adventure to rescue Princess Peach...again. The real appeal here, though, is another dose of the last game's fractured sense of humor and action.

Sonic Rush (November) looks to be the most promising portable hedgehog yet, as the dual-screen view actually makes a big difference for clearing massive jumps and viewing branching paths. Also in November comes Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble. Look for a lot of puzzles utilizing the touch screen in this side-scroller. The highlight of the 2006 lineup for DS

Quickly becoming more than just a portable kennel

Sum

"Ug P

The DS gets all mature with Resident Evil.

has to be Ше New Super Mario Bros.—a game Nintendo was forced to make after running out of Mario games to rehash. Also, Resident Evil: Dead Silence (a remake of the original game in the series) offers a first-person view, and aside from using the handheld’s bottom screen for maps and puzzles, you'll have to "wipe" blood off it from attacks and blasting ene- mies in the head.

(DS continued on pg. 26)

>> FOR THE 23 FOLKS WHO НАУЕМТ PLAYED HALO OR HALO 2 (XB), MICROSOFT HAS SOMETHING FOR YOU: ON OCTOBER 4, YOU CAN

\ е ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • чно \

BUT EQUAL?

PSP

Will it ever live up to the hype?

№ Grand Theft Ai quite controversial) in portable form.

just as big (and

ony's first-ever handheld got 5 off to a slower start than we

were expecting...with months of mediocre software. Despite this, gamers seem unable to resist its slick

black charms, as the company is reporting almost 3 million units

shipped in the United States since its March debut. Can the PSP keep its momentum? This lineup should help.

The games

Things are finally heating up for the PSP. Leading the pack of exciting new games is Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (October). Taking place in the same town that saw all the depravity of Grand Theft Auto Ш (PS2/XB), the PSP edition features all-new interiors and shorter missions (the better to play on the go, of course) in the lively metropolis.

If you're looking for the PSP's first online killer app, though, you might want to give SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo (November) a shot. This handheld version will offer the same gritty third-person shooting thrills as its com- manding officer. Perhaps most interesting

is that Fireteam Bravo will communicate with the PS2’s SOCOM 3; objectives accomplished in one game can affect the battlefield in the other. Let’s hope the controls have improved since our first playtest this past spring. Feeling a little less violent? The

PSP should be the perfect place for The Sims 2 (November), a game designed to give you freedom—

(PSP continued on pg. 26) >

(СОМТ.) |

(CONT)

26 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

(DS continued from pg. 24)

We've already covered the first two online

games for Nintendo's dual-screen hand- held; Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing DS are both perfectly suited for online in

totally different ways. Problem is, the first-person shooter Metroid Prime:

# Untold Legends 2

(PSP continued from pg. 25)

while investigating alien abductions, you can still perform usual Sims duties, such as house remodeling and trapping hapless virtual people in cages until they wet themselves. That same month Star Wars Battlefront I arrives and, like the console version, it brings the fight to space.

As for next year, the PSP will get its first nonsports sequel: Untold Legends 2 (February), which will feature online co-op play. Next spring Sony will release its Jak spin-off Daxter, which should finally offer platformer fans the chance to get in touch

Slim pickings: Only Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing DS, and Metroid Prime: Hunters are currently slated to include network play.

Hunters (due early next year) is the only other game that's committed to having this feature. Let's hope this doesn’t become the DS’ version of “connectivity”: forgotten after a few hits.

Right now, the DS easily has the edge in

innovation, and third parties are giving their all to support the system. We can only hope this situation holds. With a wider array of original games, the DS will always have a place in the hearts of the hardcore, but will it ever achieve the mainstream success of Nintendo's Game Boy and Game Boy Advance?

The PSP version of Def Jam will feature rappers not found in last year’s console game, Fight for NY. Here’s hoping for Sir-Mix-A-Lot.

with their inner otter...weasel...thing. Plus, two EA franchises—the boxer Fight Night and brawler Def Jam—will hit PSP іп '06.

The PSP supported online gaming from day one, thanks to launch games such as Twisted Metal: Head-On. Yet this feature has been slow to show up outside of Sony-published titles. Games that could have ruled online, like the first-person shooter Coded Arms, are local play only, with few third-party online titles in sight. Fortunately, SOCOM should ease the pain.

With a lineup of high-profile games that bring ambitious 3D gameplay to a hand- held, the PSP will undoubtedly keep things cooking. But are sequels and spin-offs enough to maintain our interest? What the PSP lacks is more original titles like the techy puzzle game Lumines that take advantage of the handheld format. But as the PSP reaches critical mass, more cre- ative games should start popping up, as happened with the PlayStation 2. The PSP. should fare well into 2006 and beyond. 4% —Christian Nutt

The DS gamer has been playing Nintendo games since the '80s and isn't ashamed to keep doing so, even if they don't feature drive-bys. Gameplay is key, whether it’s time-tested (Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow) or innovative and fresh (Nintendogs). The DS gamer isn't afraid to experiment and is willing to forgive a lack of top-tier 3D graphics.

The DS gamer is really interested in classic gaming, preferring to play new editions of old franchises rather than the flavor-of- the-moment stuff found on the PSP. The idea of New Super Mario Bros. makes the hardcore DS gamer cream his jeans. But the DS gamer is a nurturer, with a pack of Nintendogs and an Animal Crossing town on the way.

Unlike Sony’s handheld, you can’t do a lot with the DS except play games. The DS gamer’s favorite secret activity? Going to a really big nerdfest—like one of those Final Fantasy concerts—and popping into PictoChat. Oh yeah, and using the system's Wi-Fi feature to play the puzzler Meteos on a plane, even though you're not supposed to. The DS gamer is secretly a rebel like that.

THE PSP GAMER

Main characteristics— this better be you

The PSP gamer is interested in visu- al stimulation. Who cares if a game is innovative and quirky as long as it looks great and plays well? The last five years of PlayStation 2 games were fantastic—the PSP gamer wants more of the same. He or she is also a stickler for technological n quality and mature content. 4

алые

this might be you

Music and movies are as enjoyable as games. UMD movies are a great way to kill an hour or two. A big-ass memory stick filled with music tracks and photos is the PSP / gamer's most prized possession. / Web browsing on the go rocks, too.

Subcharacteristics— \

Secret characteristics—

nobody knows it's you » The PSP's memory stick isn't just good for saving games—it's also for

[ч

loading the system with emulators that let you play classic Nintendo

and arcade games. Comics? Videos downloaded or ripped from DVDs? It all works for this media junkie, 4%.

ECKO'S GETTING UP: CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE (PS2/XB) UNTIL NOVEMBER

FROM ос» RUSSIA "ECHE, NERY s JAMES BOND

07

e've been told from a very young age that every minute spent gaming shaves а point off your 10, but author Steven Johnson argues the opposite in his new book Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter. He spells out what any avid Zelda player may have already sus- pected: Videogames are a workout for the mind. —Robert Ashley

EGM: So, the kid camped out in front of the televi- sion with his mouth open and his eyes glazed over isn’t brain-dead?

[People assume] that what’s happening to kids while they are watching television is the same as what's happening to them while they are playing а videogame. But there’s а huge differ- ence between a passive medium like television and a participatory one like videogames. When you see a kid staring at a videogame, you’re seeing concentra- tion and focus. You’re seeing them deal with a very complicated environment full of variables. Lots of problems to solve. That's the look of somebody who's paying attention, not the look of a zombie.

EGM: In the book you talk about the mental labor involved in playing games, but gaming does- n’t really feel like work. But I think that most gamers will attest to how frustrating games can be, that you can easily get stuck in a game. There’s a lot of grinding your teeth, trying to get things to work. That's shocking news to

>> ЕА ANNOUNCED THAT WORK HAS BEGUN ON THE HIP-HOP-STUDDED BRAWLER DEF JAM 3 FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF CONSOLES

28 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

How gaming builds your mental muscle

most parents and cultural authorities who don't know anything about games and just dismiss them. They have no idea how much time is spent being challenged and frustrated by games. Despite what every- one says, one of the things [gaming] teaches kids is patience. It teaches them that if you apply yourself and work through а problem, you'll be able to solve it.

EGM: Are some videogames better for your mind than others?

Definitely. There are some games that are all about exhilaration, a first-person shooter like Quake [for example]. But then there are the sports games where you're playing baseball, managing your team, and trading players at the same time.

There are the adventure games like Zelda that are full of problems and puzzles to solve. It’s these games where you feel your brain working at some level. It’s just working on something that you find enter- taining and interesting [as well].

EGM: Besides training us to be better gamers, what does gaming teach us to do? Will it help you in college or at your job? | think that kids who have spent time [playing] games have a comfort level with new [nongaming] software, sitting down and figuring it out on the fly. They're used to immersing themselves in games where you’re supposed to learn the interface and learn the rules of the game as you play it.

That's a real skill. If we're moving towards this increasingly virtual world, [the person who has] the ability to just pick up a new interface without having to sit and read the manual has а great advantage.

EGM: Do you ever play videogames?

Or do | just opine about them? [Laughs] | would describe myself as a pretty regular gamer through most of my life. But now | have two little kids, so | don’t have as much time. | play all the Will Wright [best known for creating the Sims franchise on PC] games when those come out, ‘cause | think those are pretty great. Truthfully, the games have gotten so complicated that | don’t have time to sit there and figure out every- thing you need to know to enjoy them.

GAMES TO ІМІ

(PS2/XB/GC) Author Steven Johnson 1 calls managing multiple variables (а character’s happiness, financial well- being, and social status) great mental exercise. We call it sadistic torture waiting to happen.

An extreme example of learning the rules while playing a game, Twisted! only hints at what to do in its “microgames” and gives you only seconds to figure out the solution.

(GBA)

T f (вс) Johnson uses Wind Waker as an example of what he calls “telescoping,” the ordering of priorities in a game. Рог instance, you have to water the bomb plant to get a bomb to blow up the boulder that's blocking the water to swim to the other side of the gorge. Мец... 4%.

>>

illustration by Jason Cruz

GNU IU

йөзү» ] каси

ЕОМІКТЕКНА ПТ ЖА, САМИ

Two new Nintendo titles from outer space

If you've never played one of Sid Meier’s Civilization games, you can come out of your cave now. The series’ clever mix of complicated SimCity- esque world building and turn-based strategy continues to enthrall PC gamers by the masses, and if you ignore Civ III's shoddy multiplayer expansion, these games have a great track record. Civ IV finally takes the franchise into 3D, with a vibrant living world, a modernized real-time-strate-

OSU! TATAKAE! OUENDAN gy-style interface, and the elimination

of its predecessors’ complicated menu system in favor of convenient, context-

Help! Im in big trouble! Then call the works similarly to that cult PlayStation 2 Sounds insane. It is, but like Gitaroo

ouendan—a trench-coat-wearing group classic: You'll tap to the onscreen Man, the music here (as well as the zu

of macho Japanese cheerleaders that beats while the personal cheering sec- manga-style vignettes that kick off each sensitive commands. К

helps you overcome any crisis (no tion helps a failing student cram for song) is infectious. It's also way too Some gamers may be скерига dug matter how ridiculous) with the power a test, a down-and-out racehorse Japanese for a U.S. audience—but they to Meier's hands-off approach (he's of peppy J-pop tunes. This fruity DS chase after a scooter-riding criminal, said that about Katamari Damacy (PS2), acting in an advisory capacity this game from the makers of Gitaroo Man and more. t00, 50.... time around), but rest assured that

the design team at Firaxis Games is addressing a number of criticisms. Civ IV will cater to a wide audience thanks to three game lengths, which means no more 20-plus-hour ses- sions for casual players—and far more than 20 hours for true Civ diehards. Combat units receive an injection of personality, as the new RPG-like progression system now nets your troops extra levels and abil- ities. And lastly, Firaxis is promising a good multiplayer experience, which features a team-based co-op mode

а istent turn-based ft NONONO the hardest of the hardcore. The con- PUZZLE CHAILIEN struction begins this November.

A sliding-puzzle game? Oh, joy. But this | one has goofy ant-sized aliens,

VRAC EDAR | WarioWare-style cut-scenes, and an == — obsession with junk food. Nintendo obvi- Assemble all manner of artery-clogging delights in the strangely fast-food-fixated Nonono. ously isn't feeding the development team rau well enough, because a good third of the game involves shunting food into holes

in order to make pizza, ramen, and

fried shrimp.

A game for brainy obese people? Not exactly. The cute characters will likely appeal more to Japanese grade-school- ers...or female Hot Topic shoppers, should

ico АЕ 6100: 45:15:46 the game ever come out here.

>> FUMBLE! 989 SPORTS HAS CANCELLED ITS STORY-BASED, NONLICENSED PRO FOOTBALL SIMULATION, ROAD ТО SUNDAY (Р52).... >>

30 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

-A-RAMA

What the hell could be freakier than ? Well, the Doom movie, hopefully...

0 wonder so many world-traveling hipsters К travel to Prague in the Czech Republi

holds the gateway to hell. Or at least it did temporarily, as Doom, the movie based on Id Software's demon-filled first-person shooter franchise, set up shop in the Eastern European metropolis for a few months this past year. One needs only to wander around the film’s lavish set to see that the necessary steps are being taken to, as the saying goes, please fans of the series. Sets are dead ringers for their in- game counterparts; we were privy to some laborato-

it

ries, a host of dingy, underground corridors, as well as

Karl Urban, Rohan warrior Eomer in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, sounds off on his role as Doom's leading man: “John Grimm is a thinking man’s soldier—and I'm hoping that he's going to espe- cially appeal to a lot of the gamers, who, you know...they're not these guys who are built like brick s***houses and stuff... they're just normal guys like you and me. And so | was really con- scious of the fact that | wanted to invest a lot of down-to-earth human traits in this guy.”

the location’s crown jewel—a cavernous auditorium- style building constructed to accommodate Doom's infamous wormhole (and undoubtedly the apocalyptic destruction that comes with such a thing).

While there’s no telling how good the movie’s actu- ally going to be before its release (October 21), it looks to be several steps above the typical game-to-movie translation—90 percent of which Director Uwe Boll (House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark) has personally trashed. Just how many steps above, of course, remains unknown...

—Evan Shamoon

Jon Farhat, Doom's visual effects supervisor, is quite can- did when he talks about the film’s money shot—a four- minute first-person sequence that happens near the finale: “In all of the point-of-view-based games, they've always seemed to be neglecting [the first-per- son factor], and we're hoping that by the time this thing comes in—John Grimm opens his eyes, and now you're in full POV—that the audience is like, ‘Yeah, this is what we thought Doom is and what it should be’ And I guarantee you it will be pretty intense.” We eagerly await the final result.

As supporting character Sarge (“1 get to play what I call my first BMFOP—the baddest motherf***er on the planet”), WWE superstar turned actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gets his hands on more than a few guns. "It's almost like reliving a childhood dream— being able to carry around these four guns," he says. "I've got a BFG, а rifle, а handgun, and this chain gun—which is basically one of those guns that’s mounted on top of a Humvee that our soldiers use, so if you can imagine taking that gun and putting a strap to it.... [Smiles] It’s awesome.”

One of the more impressive accomplishments of the Prague team is the startlingly realistic re-creation of some of Doom’s infamous monsters. Director Andrzej Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die) is using real models whenever possible in an attempt to minimize the use of green screens and give these hellspawn a more genuine appearance. But don’t think it’s all method acting—the baron costume (that ugly, festering scab of a creature), in particular, uses several dozen internal remote-controlled motors to simulate everything from heavy breathing to heavy drooling. $%

>> THQ HAS PUSHED BACK THE RELEASE OF THE OUTFIT (XB360) TO EARLY '06.

ШТ ТИШ

шыл

У АЯ

CEs CONNERY s JAMES BOND

0077

he fact that most of The

Warriors’ potential audience

has probably never heard of the cult classic 1979 film it’s based on, much less seen it, doesn’t phase Rockstar rep Devin Bennett. “Of course we want the dudes who [love] the movie to try it and think, ‘They nailed it," he says. “But we also want that 19-year-old kid who doesn’t know a thing about The Warriors to pick it up and fall in love with what we did with it.”

Turns out that for all the niche appeal

of the license Rockstar Toronto is work- ing with, accessibility is something of a

32 • ELEGTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

“

ар

E WARRIORS

motto for the developer. “Ме wanted to make something that anybody can pick up and look really cool doing stuff," says Bennett. Hence the decision to model the game оп the classic brawlers of old; in the course of an hour-long demo of the game, legendary beat-em-ups Double Dragon and Final Fight are both name- checked. The idea is to take that kind of classic gameplay and bring it into the 21st century with the Rockstar touch. “It’s not just endless waves of enemies you have to beat your way through,” says Bennett. “There are open environments, stealth [sections], side-scrolling

[chases]—you never do the same kind of mission twice.”

Oh, and if you are already a fan of the Warriors movie? You're in for a treat. The game is religiously faithful to the film (which is retold during the final third of this new version), using only characters from the script, the trademark female DJ voice for narration, and a New York City ‘subway motif for all the menus. “We just love the movie,” says Bennett. “We didn't mess with it at all.” Instead, the game Starts 90 days before the night of the film, establishing a backstory and answering fan questions like why Cleon

В >> XBOX 360 SUPPORT GROWS—ATARI RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THAT NEXT SPRING, THE COMPANY WILL RELEASE АМ XBOX 360 VERSION

Publisher: Rockstar. Developer: Rockstar Toronto Release Date: October 2005

first formed the Warriors, why the Moonrunners have a beef with the Van Courtland Rangers, and just who is that gang in the Hawaiian shirts.

As for those of you who haven't played a brawler since Streets of Rage and don't know The Warriors from The Goonies, Bennett realizes there's a lot of competi- tion for your attention. "It's tough because it [doesn't have an established name like] Scarface, and it's not King Kong, and it's not next gen," he says. "But you know what? It's a frickin' hell of a game, and there's nothing like it out there."

—Mark MacDonald

Three rules to live by if you want to survive life on the streets

Being in a gang means someone always has your back—unless they're lying unconscious on their own. In The Warriors, you always roll with at least опе fellow gang member (sometimes as many as nine) who you can give simple commands to via the D-pad, such as run, hold up, or trash everything. Even better, a second player can join in and take

Revive a fallen comrade (or save yourself) by taking the “flash” you can buy from a dealer or find іп the levels.

over that other member at any time for co-op game- play. Both players have complete freedom; if one wanders away, the screen splits to follow both char- acters separately. “We wanted to relive the experi- ence of pumping quarters into [an arcade game] with your buddy," says Rockstar's Bennett, "but bring it into the new technology [offered by] PS2 and Xbox."

= газ

You can pick up а controller and бе bashing heads in seconds, but Rockstar says it'll take time and practice, young grasshop- the famous scene in which our heroes flee

per, to truly master The Warriors' art of fighting. "We made a pretty simple fighting mechanic that's also really deep," says Bennett. “If you really learn how to use combat, you'll find a

fighting game [level of complexity]." Moves include reversals, throws, ramming enemies into walls, two-player tandem attacks, | Pans around to follow the action. and a powered-up rage mode activated once you do enough damage. Real weapons like guns and knives are scarce, but уои | area and wait until your pursuers get tired can always improvise with what you find lying around the inner- | Of looking or sneak up behind them for а

city environments: bottles, bricks, boards, even trash cans.

Kenny Rogers knew what he was talking about—you've got to know when to run. Whether it's chasing down a rival gang or getting away from the cops, being fast on your feet is crucial in The Warriors. Take

from the bat-wielding Baseball Furies; in Rockstar's retelling, it’s a minigame of sorts—you leap fences, pick door locks, and jump over obstacles as the camera

Sometimes hiding is important; find a dark

stealth kill. Sound familiar? “Someone who's played Manhunt will think, ‘Oh yeah, 1 know how the stealth system works,” says Bennett. “There's a creative thread that runs through all our games." ж

OF ITS UPCOMING XBOX 1 FUTURISTIC ЕІ

-PERSON SHOOTER T/MESHIFT.... >>

RUSSI а "т CHE: | AN CONNERY JAMES BONO

1007 |

МОМЕМВЕВ

007.ea.com

=> PlayStation.?

GAMECUBE

Suggestive Themes Violence

DEATH AS FAR AS

"WE HAVEN'T SEEM АП ACTION GAME THIS PROMISING SINCE GOD OF WAR? рт

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| ESRB CONTENT RATING www.esrb.

Spartan: Total Warrior © The Creative Assembly Limited, 2005. Developed by The Creative Assembly Limited. Spartan: Total Warrior is either the registered trademark or trademark of The Creative Assembly Limited. or trademarks of SEGA Corporation, All Rights Reserved. TM, ® and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Corporation in the U.S. and/or in other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association

Я ^ or. An orp а Chóser jods to win, you must prove your worth in the most epic jatt es ever ееп on console. RN ғ ‘ight alongside thousands of fearless warriors, amid blood-soaked battlefields hat stretch for miles. Nothing can stop you, not the might of Rome, the wrath of nythical monsters or the evil of black magicians. Master skills, god-given powers ind legendary weapons to follow your destiny from Warrior, to Hero — to Legend. VWW.sega.com

(9 ЕСА is registered in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Sega and the Sega Logo are either registered trademarks ntertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft

ОГ РОМУ“ 1- % pr. Ју

amd punch-throwing,

ice-spear-hurling,

Become Kameo and embark on an adventure where you transform.into 10 formidable elemental warriors. Use those powers to crush, clobber, char, freeze, elude, ensnare;-and destroy the evil boss Thorn and his\,

minions..Only you can restore peace to the-Ringdom. Kameo.com у H и M. ~ М + у ume cs XBOX < SS

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SS : 5 ы Ў | ANNOS ANNA © 2005 Microsoft Сотдога ол. RW rights résetved. Microsoft the Microsoft Game Studios logo, Kameo; Elements of Power, Rare, the Aare logo, Xbox, Xbox 360, the Xbox logos, Xbox е, and th 5

tiv& logo. аге either registeced-trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Gorporation.or Rare Limited in the United States and/or oth E ries. Rare Limited is а subsidiary of Microsoft Мр А 3 3 х ` $ Ж

EN = 5 \, >> SS ч. S EN RS

THIS MONTH

How to subsist in Metal Gear's new world

ere’s а move they don’t teach М you at deathmatch boot camp: If you want to incapacitate a deadly sniper, leave a too-alluring-to- resist porno mag lying around. Or better yet, sneak past him while disguised as a cardboard box. Yep, online warfare’s about to get gleefully absurd: Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (com- ing to PS2 March 2006) expands 2004's stealth epic by adding a new broad- band-only online multiplayer mode,

In our exclusive tour of the online modes in Subsistence, we admit to get- ting caught perusing our own share of the filth (for the articles), as well as fighting over a frog, saving baby ducks, and engaging in other wackiness you won't find in SOCOM.

--Мсй Maragos

WHO SAYS ARCADES ARE DEAD? SEGA RECENTLY REVEALED VIRTUA FIGHTER 5, HOUSE

38 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

OF THE DEAD 4, VIRTUA TENNIS 3, AND MORE....

TA | и We HEROES. FIGHT AS WA

LIVE AS LEGENDS.

GET YOUR TEAM TOGETHER FOR A FAST-PACED, HACK'N'SLASH ADVENTURE. NOW WITH ONLINE CO-OP, FOR THE FIRST TIME YOU CAN GATHER YOUR TEAM FROM ANYWHERE IN THE EARTH REALM!

NIIT | = Je A а а В 2222 LY Visit www.esrb.org S E V Е М 5 О R R О W S for updated rating ا‎ ды ну

PlayStation.c — Gosamespy WWW.GAUNTLETSEVENSORROWS.COM

information.

ONLINE: MGS3:

SUBSISTENCE соғ.

Subsistence brings the trademark MGS charm to garden-variety deathmatch and team deathmatch modes for up to eight play- ers. Gameplay here bor- rows heavily from MGS3, but a new adjustable camera (à la Splinter Cell) and a. retuned button setup help to modernize the proceedings. Most of the controls are the. same as in the single-player adventure (Square for shooting, Circle for CQC: close- quarters combat, and R1 for first-person aim- ing), but there are two important changes. First, the L1 button has a new job: Tapping it instantly readjusts the camera behind the character's back, providing a rough aim at your closest foe. It's not as accurate as a lock-on or autoaim, but in a tense situation, it's much better than switching to first-person view—especially since holding down L1 allows you to strafe and dodge as you fire. Second, though holding down the R2 but- ton will bring up the same familiar weapon menu, tapping R2 will no longer de-equip. your weapon for bare fists. Instead, it allows quick access to the three main weapon types: pistol/knife, grenade, and heavy weaponry. The quick-select weapons change according to what you last equipped, so if you had been using the chaff grenades and switched to the stun grenades via the regular Weapon menu, then the stun grenades will now pop up in the grenade slot when tog- gling between the three weapon types.

A MATTER OF CHARACTER

A few of the special skins you can unlock for your character—Konami isn’t saying just how yet, but we're guessing it's by earning some kind of achievement reward (i.e., snipe five guys in one round and you unlock Ocelot).

Revolver Ocelot

Toss on this skin and you'll snag а

special SAA weapon that allows for killer trick shots—bullets aimed at walls ricochet toward foes.

>> HEAD TO WIPEOUTPURE.COM TO DOWNI

40 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com.

If you encounter someone playing as this mysterious Russian pretty-boy, watch your package. His exclusive CQC move involves your crotch.

D CLASSIC PACK

Solkolov

An old Russian dude with a monocle might not seem like a rockin’ skin, but he actually sports stealth technol- ogy that makes him transparent.

IHICH INCLUDES TWO NEW TRACKS AND SKINS FOR THE PSP RACER

Babyface Reiko

Not every skin is from the MGS world. The hot-to-trot Reiko getup (of Rumble Roses fame) comes with a wicked CQC move (see pic).

Gear up for an outrageous mix of stunt Create and customize with the Track Editor. р 9 Share with friends through the PSP™

driving, puzzle solving and platform action. (PlayStation®Portable) system's wireless feature.

Play multiple modes, including wireless multiplayer, challenge, and bonus games.

Attp://psp.stationsony!com|

Е - = г= Spree [mM Lx

B PlayStation, Portable PUBLISHING

Diego, ОА ИИ ча the Platform Publishing logo are trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment Inc. GripShift © 2005 Prodigy Design Limited. GripShift is published under тай ШЕ ж йїп! and the Red Mile Entertainment logo are trademarks of Red Mile Entertainment, | ipShift and Sidhe are trademarks or registered trademarks of

4 MRED er license from Midway Games West Inc. "PSP" в a trademark and "PlayStation" and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer

(>) press start

+ _ і Ж ONLINE: MGS3: | SUBSISTENCE соғ;

CAPTURE MISSION

Capture mission is Subsistence's spin on the popular capture-the-flag mode in almost all online first-person shooters. The objective here is simple: Be the first team 10 retrieve one of the series' infamous Kerotan frogs and bring it back to your base. Then it's a matter of playing defense, as this kind of mission requires you and

your team to guard the secured frog for 20 seconds. If your team gets wiped out before the clock runs down, the opposing team can steal the frog back, and the wait to respawn can be pretty tense. Each suc- cessful capture-and-defense earns a point, and you can play either to a set point total or until an overall game timer runs out.

If you want to succeed at this mode, you'd best familiarize yourself with the maps. While many of the areas hail directly from MGS3's jungles and military bases, some are entirely original, like an expansive new urban environment and the evocatively. titled Kill House warehouses (packed with catwalks and crawl spaces).

WHAT'S CHANGED IN THE OFFLINE MGS3?

Anew third-person adjustable camera should please all those whiny Sam Fisher wannabes.

Tackle additional Snake vs. Ape missions, including a duel against a massive Metal Gear Ape.

Play through the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 (first time

in English) for the old MSX system.

THE END,

Enter duel mode and challenge any of the game’s zany bosses to another throwdown.

Visit the demo theater to rewatch cinema scenes and check out hilarious bonus clips.

SNOWBOARDING TRIO—GAMING ICONS MARIO, LUIGI, AND PEACH WILL BE PLAYABLE RIDERS IN THE GC VERSION OF SSX ON TOUR....

42 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www. 1UP.com

T NUR

ther in the dark.

rule of friend u want to ёрі out

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few of your closest pals. fs jown a few terrorists, blow о 4

ifle ome heads with your sniper г 4 в 1810 а use night У te inbow 81x,

f Ra In the world о e applies: watch your pack 1f y

In single-player, hunt and be hunted by aggressive AI that homes in on the slightest sound,

Фис Sio [PEC

Customize your operative and build your career on Xbox Live@ in the Persistent Elite Creation* mode.

Challenge friends to operative vs. mercenary firefights in the PlayStationo2 Rivalry mode.

MATURE 17+ Blood Language Violence

© 2005 Red Storm Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Rainbow Six, Rainbow Six Lockdown, Red Storm, and the Red Storm logo are trademarks of Red Storm Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Ubisoft, Ubi.com, the Soldier Icon, Persistent Elite Creation, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Red Storm Entertainment, Inc. is a Ubisoft

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PlayStation.2

Entertainment company. Software platform logo TM and © IEMA 2003. 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 in other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Online play requires internet connection and Memory Card (8MB) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately). The Online icon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. TM, © and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo, Mobile version © 2005 Gameloft. All Rights Reserved. Gameloft and the Gameloft logo are trademarks of Gameloft in the U.S. and/or other countries, *Only for Cingular и е 5O FT

Wireless, Sprint PCS, and Verizon Wireless customers.

TT “The duck is actually а symbol for proletariat

| ennui,” says MGS

| creator Hideo

| Kojima*. (“Ной an actual quote.)

RESCUE MISSION

Like capture, rescue centers on your team controlling one particular (and, in expected MGS tradition, particularly goofy) item. The difference is, here only one team can score by safely returning the rubber duck to base. The opposing squad’s sole job is keeping the duck out of the rescuers’ hands, which means all they've got to do to win is eliminate the other team with extreme prejudice.

Rescue mission features no respawns, S0 if you die, you're dead for good. But per- haps death isn’t so bad: You can still scam- per around the battlefield as a ghost after taking a bullet to the brain. In the version we played, ghosts weren't visible to other players, but a trailer prepared by Konami indicates that this may change, so even dead teammates might be able to help by creeping out the enemy. Spooky.

>> MORE FLICKS FOR THE PSP—THIS OCTOBER, NEW LINE WILL RELEASE SIX MOVIES ON UMD, INCLUDING BLADE AND FREDDY VS. JASON.

44» ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ® www.1UP.com

SNEAKING MISSION

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try sneaking firsthand—a real shame, since it’s potentially the most intriguing of Subsistence's online modes. This variant of rescue mission, which pits one player as Snake versus everybody else as guards, is so elaborate that it won't be available on all of the game's nine maps—Snake needs a lot of space to fully get his sneak on.

Obviously, with seven-against-one odds, the lucky Snake player will have a full arsenal of goodies at his disposal, including those aforementioned cheesecake mags, card- board boxes, and other creative distractions. Assuming Konami can get smooth, lag-free games up and running, this distinctly Metal Gear mode may be the central draw when the game hits next spring. 4%.

EGM.1UP.COM

Thanks to the many folks who helped create this thing we call the Internet, we're now able to provide you with additional con- tent outside these pages. Look for the section labeled EGM Extras, where you'll find reviews of games like FIFA 06, X-Men Legends Il: Rise of Apocalypse, and Rainbow Six Lockdown.

CHEATS.1UP.COM

Are you impatient? Do you lack skills? That’s OK, as 1UP.com will always be full of cheats to help people like you. Go to the URL above to learn how to see what your friends saw when they fin- ished the game months ago.

Featured Clubs: Halloween

Does October 31 involve more preparation and anticipation than any other holiday? You’re not alone. Those characters at halloween.1UP.com don’t call it cosplay and you shouldn’t either. Check out their ideas for gaming costumes under $40.

Gaming on the Cheap Unless you're an Olsen twin or a trust fund baby, the price tag on the Xbox 360 may have you nervously eyeing your credit limit. Thankfully, the very savvy shoppers at gamingonthecheap-club.1UP.com feel your pain. Stop by and share ideas on how to scare up the cash.

Featured Blog:

Rainbow Six Lockdown Does the latest edition of Rainbow Six got you all twitterpated? Then visit with fellow soldiers, watch in- game videos, and get your war on at rainbowsixlockdown.1UP.com. This blog is updated by the devel- opers themselves, who provide tons of valuable recon.

On Shelves This Season.

f Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, the Xbox logos, and the Xbox Live logo are either registered. trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other

. rights reserved. 2K Sports, tl 2K Sports logo,

| ana Take-Two Interactive Software are all trademarks and/or registered trademarks of

к Take-Two

Interactive Software, Ine.

(>) press start

HE SALES СНАКТ

BEST-SELLING GAMES

Not just for Beanie Babies and limited-edition Dukes of Hazzard TV trays, eBay has this crap, too.

NCAA Football 06 Fantastic 4 Destroy All Humans!

Lego Star Wars

Star Wars Battlefront

MVP Baseball 2005

Medal of Honor: European Assault Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Star Wars: Episode Ill ROTS Burnout 3: Takedown

XBOX

All the praise Mom got ог your little bro's Wario costume went о her head. She put а set of four Mario Bros, hats on eBay.

Zero bids! Aw!

NCAA Football 06: АП the fun of college ball without having to endure the BO in the student section.

1 NCAA Football 06 е PS2 • EA Sports

Я оре

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| 3 Hato 2 Мар Раск • ХВ • Microsoft

а ШІ Emerald • GBA • Nintendo

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NCAA Football 06

е destroy ait Humans! • 052 • THO Наю 2 Мар Раск Кно evel sotd Hin Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Е сате)? oo |7 | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas • XB е Rockstar Сопкег: Live & Reloaded per game!?) Destroy All Humans! В зо star wars • 052 • Eidos interactive Delta Force: Black Hawk Down Fantastic 4 Е] матов Club 3: DUB Edition • PSP • Rockstar Lego Star Wars Burnout 3: Takedown 10 Star Wars Battlefront е PS2 LucasArts Star Wars Battlefront

ae GAMECUBE PORTABLES 0 RENTALS No. 1 of 5,000 Xbox 360

FOR THE WEEK ENDING 8/14/05 = faceplates given away at a à NSW ETE TS Microsoft press gig went for more than twice what the others did. $612

"A

TREECKO бет bes 4 , ( | 2) | — Ó Fantastic 4 Pokémon Emerald • GBA Madden NFL 06 • PS2 Super Smash Bros. Melee Midnight Club 3: DUB Ed. е PSP 2 Madden NFL 06 XB Pokémon Colosseum Coded Arms * PSP Destroy All Humans! ® PS2 Super Mario Sunshine Fantastic 4 • GBA 4 Fantastic 4 е PS2 i a Animal Crossing Star Wars: Ep. И AOTC + GBA Midnight Club 3: DUB Ed. • PS2 гоча Sore пети Б to spruce up the office? How does Madagascar Kirby: Canvas Curse е DS Delta Force: Black Hawk Down ® XB deeds 3 BEP an acrylic Triforce/Hyrule sym- Kirby’s Air Ride Madagascar » GBA NCAA Football 06 е PS2 bol with your name engraved MVP Baseball 2005 Lego Star Wars • GBA 2 Medal of Honor: Eur. Assault е PS2 on it sound? Harvest Moon: Another Wnd. Life Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones • GBA Delta Force: BHD • PS2 533 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Mega Man BN5: Protoman • GBA Destroy АП Humans! е ХВ

EA STEPS BACK INTO THE RING NEXT SPRING WITH F/GHT NIGHT: ROUND 3 FOR XBOX 360. EXPECT RIVALRIES ТО PLAY A LARGE ROLE....

46 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www. 1UP.com

EXE ш, "| В

TENSE MULTIPLAYER REALISTIC SNIPING 28 SINGLE PLAYER | = < #4 SNIPER BATTLES. WITH ADJUSTMENTS FOR GRAVITY, AND Ш x у WIND, HEART RATE AND MORE. CO-OPERATIVE MISSIONS.

патсо

MATURE 17+

Blood and Gore

Intense Violence

LIVE

| | PlayStation.c Gray ВЕЩ хосх B SOFTWARE

РНАТ

A A

Its four weeks of roughing it in the wilds of game design, but the select few students picked for the annual trek to videogame camp aren't complaining. EGM raids their SoCal cabins....

t's апотег sunny July after-

noon in Los Angeles, and the

students а the University of

Southern California are enjoying the day as only they can. Neo- hippies float neon Frisbees between cas- cading fountains. A bottle blonde in booty shorts leafs through her biology textbook under a tree. An iPod jock browses retro T- shirts in an outdoor market.

But not everyone is lolling outside. In a darkened room on the fifth floor of the Olin Hall of Engineering, class is in ses- sion again. Rows of students sit in front of their Alienware computers as their

instructor paces in front. Behind him is an overhead projector showing a Lord of the Rings strategy game. “You've got two castles but no player has been assigned,” he says, “so you have to change the object tool to assign that castle to a spe- cific player. Any questions?”

“Yeah,” replies a young pupil with shag- gy dark hair and a backward baseball cap. “Why are there tanks in my map editor?”

This is no ordinary class—it's USC's Interactive Entertainment Summer Camp, the ultimate hot spot for would-be

gamemakers. Now in its second summer at USC, the four-week session gives high school students a crash course in game

production, from field trips to the nearby offices of publisher Electronic Arts to,

today, creating mods for Lord of the Rings:

The Battle for Middle-earth (PC). In return, students receive college credits and, more important, insight into this burgeoning art and industry. "Most of the kids come here thinking they’re going to just be playing games,” says instructor Andy Dunn, a vet- eran game producer, “but they end up dis- covering what it takes to make them.” Videogame education is nothing new.

What with their camp's notable lack of hiking and canoeing, these kids owed our photographer a spirited footrace at the very least.

LOOKS LIKE IT DOES INDEED PAY TO BE THE OI

48 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

GAME IN TOWN—EA RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THAT MADDEN NFL

Specialized schools—including the Nintendo-sponsored DigiPen in Redmond, WA, and Full Sail in Orlando, FL—offer degrees in game production and design. Universities such as Stanford, the University of North Texas, and the Georgia Institute of Technology offer tracks in game study as well. While these programs are for college students, USC’s videogame camp is unique for bringing high school kids into the fold.

“The goal is to help connect kids with their dream,” says Steve Seabolt, director of the EA Education Initiative, which pro- vides a scholarship for a qualifying

(PS2/XB/GC)

E This boy is closer to touching

a pretty girl here than he will be for the next 10 to 15 years.

female student at the camp (it costs $4,000, including room and board, to attend). “If we сап encourage them to pursue those dreams, some percentage of those kids will come pursue them at Electronic Arts.”

With only 27 spots available, though, not every kid's pixelated dreams can come true. Applicants must be at least sopho- mores with a minimum 3.0 grade point average, as well as a recommendation from a high school teacher. They also have to write an application essay. And that

CAMPING OUT

doesn't mean composing 500 words on how best to jack cars in Grand Theft Auto. "We want to know why they're interested in working in the industry," Dunn says. This year, campers came from as far as New York, Nebraska, and even Taiwan. Adam Beckett, а 16-year-old senior from Los Angeles who makes Tribes 2 (PC) mods for kicks, welcomed the opportunity to take his hobby to the next level. “I've always had an interest in game design,” he says, adding with a smile, “All my friends are kinda jealous that I'm here.” Ivona Edry, a 16-year-old senior from Seattle attending camp on the EA schol-

arship, came on the suggestion of her guidance counselor, who thought the pro- gram might appeal to her interests in computer science and business. While her high school buddies made summer plans to work and laze around the Puget Sound, Edry packed her bags. “Му friends,” she says, “were like, ‘Why are you going to videogame camp? It’s going to be all nerds!”

But as Edry and the other campers dis- covered, it takes more than a pasty-faced geek behind a computer to bring a game to life. The camp days are split between a morning lecture on videogame production,

Beginning your hike to USC

Photographs by Kate Romero

Your first stop on the trail to game camp—which runs from July 3 to July 30—is this hefty URL: www.usc.edu/dept/admissions/programs/summer/semi- nars_apply.shtml. You'll find an application, plus ай the dates and pricing details. Prepare for some sticker shock—the camp will run you just over $4,000 (EA offers a scholarship for female campers). Competition is fierce: You'll need to be a high school junior or senior with at least a 3.0 GPA and a recommendation from a teacher. You'll also have to dazzle camp administrators with your essay-writing skills. But if you make it in, you'll earn invaluable experience for that future career in game design.

WEEK. ТНА

THE MOST EVER IN THE FRANCHISE’S 16-YEAR HISTOR

ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com • 49

> and а hands-on afternoon workshop іп а lab stocked with PlayStation 2s, Xboxes, GameCubes, and dozens of games. Dunn says the lecture topics, which range from role-playing games to 3D graphics, are meant to "give them a sense of the bigger picture, and a better sense of how games are produced."

Building blocks

Though programming skills are not a pre- requisite, the lab introduces students to the fundamentals of the coding that makes games tick. To supplement classes on 2D graphics and audio technologies, students learn to code their own rudimen- tary game and write up a design docu- ment for a more ambitious dream project. Beckett proposed a title called Supermarket Smash-Up, a food-fight role- playing game set in a grocery store. Edry came up with The Love Game, in which players progress through acts of random kindness. “I don’t enjoy shooting people іп Halo 2,” she says. “I’m an optimist, so | made a game where you go around the

m Gaming during class? At videogame сатр, it's expected and basically ОК.

world and try to solve problems.”

But the camp isn’t just fun and games. Students have to read handouts and text- books—Game Programming for Teens and Game Design: The Art and Business of Creating Games—and pass midterm and final exams. The test questions range from multiple choice (“Which independent videogame company was created by dis- gruntled Atari employees?” Answer: Activision) to essays (‘Select one of these games—Final Fantasy, Halo, or WarCraft—and tell the design genre it

best fits into and why.")

It's still summer camp, though, and the kids (who live under the supervision of counselors in the USC dormitories) do get time to goof off. The campers take a trip to Disneyland, and they can borrow free videogames and consoles from a campus store. While playing a game during class might be grounds for suspension at your

average high school, at camp, it’s no crime.

Even if the kids are gaming during a lec- ture, says instructor Vincent Diamante, "It's kind of OK.” —David Kushner

т By the end of their four-week stay, students will have coded their own rudimentary game.

ICED THAT IT WILL PUBLISH STATE OF EMERGENCY 2 (PS2), WHICH IS SCHEDULED ТО АККІУІ

50 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

OVERHEARD

Nothing escapes our giant ear on the game industry— nothing!

ТОР 3 DELETED SCENES FROM “ADVENT CHILPEEN"

To МА ла Май 14

"Chat-room traffic on the Atari site indicates that Current graffiti vandals anticipate a growth in their numbers

with the game’s release.” —Keep America Beautiful President Ray Empson on the perils of the upcoming Marc Ecko's Getting Up

“The idea of à handheld rivalry with Nintendo is an

irrelevance. [The DS and GBA] don't appear in our planning. It's not a fair comparison; not fair on them, | should stress. That sounds arrogant, maybe, but it's the truth. Nintendo knows its target audience because it has really narrowed that down, and it's pretty much defined by a boy or girl's ability to admire Pokémon.

—For someone who doesn't see Nintendo as competition, Sony Europe VP Phil Harrison ‘spends quite a bit of time discussing the company on the eve of the PSP's European launch

“Honestly, ае all of YOU gamers ой drugs, or what?”

--Айотеу Jack Thompson, in а letter to videogame webtoon artist Scott Ramsoomair, mistakenly accusing Ramsoomair of initially contacting him via e-mail. Thompson has been involved in a number of game-related court cases and is an outspoken critic of the ESRB game-ratings system

“I tried to persuade him to go home, but he kept saying, ‘Just one more game,”

—Unidentified colleague of a South Korean man who died, apparently from an exhaustion- induced heart attack after playing computer games for over 50 consecutive hours

“You have entered unhealthy game time, please go offline immediately to rest. it you do not, your health will be

damaged and the benefits you can win will be cut to zero.” —MWarning that will pop up for Chinese PC gamers after five hours of continuous

online gameplay, according to a plan proposed by the Chinese government. The warning will be accompanied by the player's character losing powers

“Personally speaking, I'd jump at any chance to develop a 2D game for any console, or even the PSP, but those chances are getting fewer and fewer. | feel like the

[Nintendo] DS is the last fortress of 2D gaming.”

“They call me

‘Halo god.’ Half my deployment I’ve spent playing Halo 2.”

—Baton Rouge, LA, National Guard Specialist Chris Foster, on his tour of duty in Iraq

“360 great,

зса HT

Jal

in my ass."

“This is опе of those silly [marketing] con- cepts dreamed up Буа middle-aged nongamer who once worked at Procter & Gamble. To him or her І say,

'Stick to Tide and Pringles.”

—Founder of Bethesda Softworks (The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind) C.S. Weaver gives his opinion of the stripped- down $299 version of the Xbox 360

—ld Software CEO Todd Hollenshead paraphrases world-famous programmer John Carmack's initial impressions of developing for the next-gen systems

QUOTATION SOURCES FROM TOP TO BOTTOM: THE CHOSUN ILBO, BUSINESSWEEK.COM, GAMASUTRA.COM, NYTIMES.COM, NEXT-GEN.BIZ, GAMEINFORMER.COM, KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL PRESS RELEASE, MCVUK.COM, VGCATS.COM

>> ADD ONE MORE TO THE FANTASY CAMP—SQUARE ENIX ANNOUNCED THAT IT WILL PURCHASE PUBLISHER TAITO (PUZZLE BOBBLE)... >>

ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com • 51

TAKE THIS JOB: DUCT MANAGER

Our monthly look at the jobs you want— with tips from the guys who have Шет

FIORITO'S DETAILS

Experience: 19 years in the industry Notable games: The Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet & Clank series

Salary range: $60,000 to $80,000

Recommended education: Computer 5 art, business Location of most johs: West Coast Current level of demand: Medium

This guy (or girl) makes sure things get done. He coordinates traffic between dif- ferent departments and is usually the liai-

son between ithe publisher and developer. Ce

ВЕ ЕТЕТ GAMING MONTHLY + www.1UP.com

and assignments ке

Meetings, meetings, meetings. Fiorito must keep everyone at Insomniac on their toes. Mondays are the worst, demanding a full day of meetings to set the week’

On any given day, Fiorito must get progress reports from the development heads, keep the soundtrack on schedule, and help plan out new online elements. "Programmers program and animators animate," he tells us. “[Someone has] to bring that all together." After each of these meetings, Fiorito types out his notes and sets the schedule. Schedules р people account-

pace and keep up momentum.

able, grounding the development process in reality. They may be making games, but this is still a business.

Fiorito started off his gaming career designing flight-simulator levels, which led to level design on the Spyro series, then to product manager at Insomniac. As employee №. 6 there, Fiorito has wit- nessed the company's evolution from a single room into a studio 130 employees strong. “There is an element of chaos with this many people,” Fiorito says. “If everything went well, | wouldn't be here ps а product manager]^ —Johnny Ши

Spreadsheets To keep the different development groups on the same page, Fiorito is armed with schedules and One database, for 5 discovered evelopment.

throughout the gai

Organization

To keep others organized, Fiorito must keep himself organized. His desk—in contrast to nearly every other desk at Insomniac (or in the game industry for that matter)—is impeccably neat.

Burns

A disc “burn” con- tains the up-to- date compiled code for testing and evalua- tion. Everything from trade-show demo discs to games-media versions requires a burn properly timed in the development schedule.

People Ted Price, CEO of Insomniac, describes Fiorito as a “hub for development.” When push comes to shove, Fiorito must keep everyone on track. And thus, Fiorito’s most important tool is his team, the people of Insomniac.

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©2005 Take-Two Interactive Software and its subsidiafles, АН fights reserved, 2K Sports, the 2i обир”: Take-Two Interactive Software аге all trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. The NBA and individual NBA member team identifications used on or in this product are trademarks, copyrighted (Өт of intellectual property of NBA Properties, Inc. and the respective NBA member teams and may not be used, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of NBA Properties, Inc. © 2005 NBA Properties, Inc, Microsoft, Xlll ок Live, the Xbox logos, and the Xbox Live logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Cogit lent Inc, Online play requires internet connection and Memory Card (8MB)(for PlayStation 2)(each sold separately). The Online icon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc, The ratings icon is a trademark of the Enti sociation. Screen shots shown are from Xbox" version of the video дате.

Dominate the:

` | PAINT BACKCOURT

` | PERIMETER

У< ALL OF THE ABOVE

Pull off runners, fade-aways, finger rolls and dunks with the hot new Shot Stick.

Set up alley-oops, give and gos, or kick it out for the open three with Dual Player Control.

Fight for rebounds, deflect passes and go for steals with new Strip n Rip System controls.

il Become a real "playa" and take your game to the #1 if ated NBA game ue аз” streets at the legendary Entertainer's Basketball — GameRankings.com Classic at Rucker Park in Harlem.

NBA 2K6 lets you dominate the action from anywhere on the floor with unprecedented control. Rule the court with new features like the innovative Shot Stick, and run authentic NBA offenses with breakthrough Dual Player Control! www.2KSPORTS.com

NBAG

а PlayStation.e ES

SPORTS

'05

Hey kids: Can you find Penny Arcade

creators Gabe and Tycho in this collage?

So-called tabletop games somehow magi- cally work without electricity or a TV!

Fans of the gaming webtoon geek out in Seattle

veritable zoo of gamers of every

Stripe—including the video, card,

and tabletop types and even quite а "ем of the rare female variety—packed а convention hall just outside Seattle in late August to celebrate their hobby and their host, Web cartoon Penny Arcade (www.penny-arcade.com). Known as PAX (and not to be confused with the Kevin Spacey bomb K-PAX), the annual conven- tion, now in its second year, felt like a com- bination industry trade show, fan gathering,

and giant game party, with just a hint of music festival tossed into the mix. More than 10,000 attendees took part in console

and computer game tournaments, Q&A ses-

sions with the creators of Penny Arcade, pro-player challenges in Soul Calibur and Halo 2, and performances by game-music rockers like the Minibosses.

But the highlight of the show was the Omegathon, a gaming decathlon of sorts (but with only six events). Twenty ran- domly chosen gamers competed in

games like Karaoke Revolution, Katamari Damacy, and the final secret title (which was not announced until just before the match began), the Atari 2600 classic Combat. The champion, Luke “Coreside” Armstrong, won a near-complete collec- tion of 8-bit Nintendo games and para- phernalia along with a supercharged PC system. Not bad for three days of “work,” especially when the work was sitting on his ass playing games. But then, who are we to talk....

ZELDA WATCH

Waiting for Twilight

Nintendo announced that it will delay The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess until after the end of the company’s current fiscal year. This means the soonest the game will come out is April 2006. Citing requests from the dev team for more time to add “new levels, more depth, and even higher quality,” a Nintendo spokesperson acknowledged in a statement that the news “may come as a disappointment to many eager fans.” The delay means Nintendo has virtually no big GameCube titles for the holiday season. (Super Mario Strikers and Fire Emblem, anyone? Not bad, but they're no Zelda.) And because of the new release date (and with little new info in sight), our monthly Zelda update is taking a hiatus. In the meantime, visit zeldawatch.1UP.com, which will surely let you know the next

time someone on the dev team passes gas.

56 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www. 1UP.com

>> NINTENDO IS NOW OFFERING А NEW $99 GAMECUBE BUNDLE THAT INCLUDES THE SYSTEM AND SUPER SMASH BROS. MELEE.

Tackle over 180 levels in the most exciting 3D puzzle adventure on PSP™ (PlayStation? Portable) system.

EVERYONE

| Comic М | => |

ESRB CONTENT RATING _ www.esrb.org

Collect gems and grab power-ups to boost your puzzle-solving abilities.

epp

PlayStation. Portable

OSO edm SN A: Race against time through 6 surreal worlds filled with obstacles, traps, deadly hazards and cunning enemies.

Developed By

J

Yl PLATFORM

PUBLISHING.

© 2005 Sony Online Entertainment Inc. SOE and the SOE logo are registered trademarks and Frantix is a trademark of Sony Online Entertainment Inc. Platform Publishing and the Platform Publishing logo are trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment Inc. "PSP" is a trademark and "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Memory Stick Duo™ may be required (sold separately). The ChubbChubbs! and characters TM & © 2002 Sony Piciures Imageworks, Inc. 'ACADEMY АМАНОЗ® is the registered trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other

Glock render by Chuck Ernst

| e hear it's different for books, but when it comes

| to magazines, they’re all judged by their covers. And looking

Fabio EGM #3, August 1989 У Back іп '89, Fabio wasn't the

back at almost 200 EGM issues, we have to judge some of ours as real- ly quite crappy. Hey, everybody makes mistakes...they just don't always print 800,000 copies of "ет.

ex-international sex symbol he is today. He was just some guy on the box art of our Game of the Month, Ironsword: Wizards and Warriors Il (Nintendo Entertainment System). Since our photography budget was about $10 back then, we used the /ronsword box art (cost: $0) for our cover image and the rest is his- tory. Before you knew it, Fabio was all over the news, running into low-flying geese while riding roller coasters and second- guessing the identity of his snack spreads.

out a Ren &

EGM #89, December 1996 Sure, having a hor- rible cover is always a gutsy move, but we went

atrocious Street Fighter art, and boy did he ever come through. Then we printed them both. It was like a big “screw you!” to the whole world that we still feel a little good about. We're like, “Remember #89? Hahahaha!”

through the looking glass with EGM #89. We asked a guy to draw two covers of

publisher Capcom also o hated it.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Do something a little different for our Resident Evil Cover; you know, push the

boundaries, man. But it turns

Stimpy-esque = art style didn't №

fit with RE. Not surprisingly, RE ШІ

EGM #121, August 1999

EGM #153, April 2002 These days at the maga- zine, whenever we think about doing a first-review || cover, someone always № says, "But what if the game really sucks like State of Emergency?” That could never happen, of course, unless the game in question also features a short, fat man with a tattoo on his beer belly that we can put on the cover.

EGM #70, May 1995

Try to look past the incredibly clumsy airbrush work on Mortal Kombat 3’s Sheeva (did our artist buy Fisher-Price’s My First Airbrush that day?) and hone in on the word bubble. “Come and get some!” it says. Come...and...get some. And that’s why we don’t do word bub- bles anymore.

BIG GRIDIRON BUCKS—EA HAS RAISED THE GRAND PRIZE OF ITS ANNUAL MADDEN CHALLENGE TOURNAMENT TO $100,000...

58 e ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

(spe <

GOING BEYOND THE CALL?

DSL Іпегпеһізу/9 А Services. Content by Yahoo!. Yahoo! is a registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc. SBC, the SBC logo and other product names are „Хадетакс of SBC Knowledge Ventures and/or its affiliates. ©2005 SBC Knowledge Ventures, L.P. All rights reserved.

(>) press start

ІНЕ TOP 10 WORSTEGM COVERS сон.

EGM #75, October 1995

It’s not just that we had Jean-Claude Van Damme and that dude who played Kano in the Mortal Kombat movie on the cover, it’s that, like two sweaty genies, they were somehow materializing out of a Sega Saturn and PlayStation. This also qualifies as one of EGM’s top-10 raddest covers.

EGM #175

The top 15

games of the

millennium?

The one we

were three

EGM #53, December 1993 years into?

We saw the box art for Eternal Pong Suny (se 3 B things happen when you col-

Champions (Genesis) and the борда on a Show with MTV.

room was dead silent, until

EGM #55, February 1994 someone said, “That wolf man TUER

As a concept, ап МВА Jam EGM #105 is freaking wicked! Print it! EGM #120

cover really wasn't so hor- ; Ship it!” Another top-10 rad- Ше

3 ы Арт! 1998 МАМЕ (now

rible. Slapping the NBA A cover with Tekken 3 dest covers contender. WWE) covers,

logo on there and then fighters looking all consti- ues:

Calling it а day, though... pated? It was an April К? күзү

that's pretty bad. Fool's joke. Yeah, that's it... like she was straight out of a

David Lee Roth video.

EGM #43 Bubsy of Bubsy | = (Genesis/Super NES) infamy. 3 With а word bubble that said, “Holy hairballs, | made the cover of EGM!” Яв.

EGM #23, June 1991 Bruce Willis. On the cover. For the game based on Hudson Hawk. A nation wept.

WHAT A DEAL—SONY CEA HAS DROPPED THE PRICE OF KILLZONE, JAK 3, AND RATCHET & CLANK: UP YOUR ARSENAL ТО $20....

60 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY www.1UP.com

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

$ресїа! appearances hy

TEKKEN"'S Paul and Law je

g 100 missions, 60 playable characters, 30 weapons

From the creators of TEKKEN® and Soulcalibur® comes the ultimate street brawler: the first multiplayer fighting game to unleash never-before-seen action at 60 frames per second. Issue commands to your partner to deal double-team combos for maximum damage. You better come looking for a fight. urbanreign.com

Mild Language ЕЕ L . PlayStatione — патсо’ AVAILABLE NOW

URBAN REIGN” 5 ©2005 NAMCO LTD., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association.

Mild Language Violence

ги игле. BROADBAND ONLY

During

ПМ М

Memory Stick Duo” may be required (sold separately). Online play requires internet connection and Memory Card (BMB) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately). Тһе Online icon is a trademark of: Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Microsoft, Xbor, Xbox Live, the Live logo апд не Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in thë United States and/or olher countries and are used

under license from Microsoft. ТМ, ©, Nintendo GameCube logo is a trademark of Nintendo, $ 2001 Nintendo. All rights reserved. PC CD-ROM lago. TM. and ^ 2004 TEMA. The ratings icon Ise registered trademark, of the.

Entertainment Software Association. © 2005 Nokia, All rights reserved. Nokia, N-Gage and N-Gage OD are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nokia Corporation. GameSpy and the “Powered by GameSpy" design are "m trademarks of GameSpy Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. АН other trademarks arid trade names are the properties of their respective owners. activision.com

` Assemble previously unimaginable teams from 16» playable X-Men" and evil Brotherhood characters.

к d ме

3 а ЖҰ Co-op online and off with ир to 4 players.

ee

A secret prophecy has fallen into Apocalypse™’s diabolical hands, Unite the X-Men with their sworn enemy—the Brotherhood—and

liberate Earth from the ultimate tyranny.

X-Mon-Eedeitása.com September 21, 2005

THE RUMOR MILL

Gossip so sweet it’ll make your teeth ache

or me, the arrival of a new

console is like having a signif-

icant other—they both break my piggy bank, but at the same time, uh...0K, I can’t think of any other way that they’re similar. Moving on, I’m glad the Xbox 360 will at least help keep my rumor mill full of delightful gossip for years. As always, send your e-mails to quartermann@ziffdavis.com and, if you don’t mind, tell me how you plan on breaking the news to your sweetie that you need $600 for Microsoft’s next-gen system and a few games. This old man could really use the advice. —The Q

e

Changing teams

Every now and then, yours truly makes a mistake (hard to believe, | know). But at least Рт а big enough per- son to admit it. So, here it goes: A few issues back, | mentioned that the role-play- ing geniuses at BioWare were busy working on a sequel to their martial-arts-happy Jade Empire for Xbox. Apparently, | got the system wrong. Look for Jade Empire 2 to karate chop—wait for it—PlayStation 3. Just don’t expect this action-RPG for a

long while...

>> AFTER MULTIPLE DELAYS, OPERATION FLASHPOINT:

64 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

М7,

Воо! Very few things freak me out, but playing a Silent Hill game (with its blood- drenched bunny suits) has, on occasion, sent me crying for my momma. So imag- ine my concern when I heard that those sick Silent Hill dudes are now develop- ing an entirely new horror franchise for Xbox 360. This one should make its debut sometime early next year, and the folks who have already seen the game say it's downright scary...and | mean that in the best possible way.

When aliens attack...again Have you played through Halo 2 for the 50th time? Well, stop—no matter how many times you finish it, the ending will still suck. Anyway, if you're looking for a quality first-person shooter, you may want to go back and pick up Area 51. And do so quickly, as Midway is already prepping a follow-up for the next- gen consoles, dubbed—surprise, sur- prise—Area 52. Also, expect some big gameplay sur- prises similar to the first game's mutatious twist.

LITE WILL FINALLY $

Online timeline

Sony may be winning the console war, but man, the company is really dragging its ass when it comes to creating an online network that's comparable to Microsoft's Xbox Live service. It seems the wait may soon be over, though, as I'm hearing that Sony will unveil its grand online plans (including user transac- tions, multimedia functions, and a bunch of other fancy-schmancy fea- tures) right before the Xbox 360 goes on sale this November. Now, how ‘bout committing to a launch date for all this stuff, Sony?

Family matters

To all the folks who bought those Family Guy DVDs (which in turn, convinced the impatient suits at Fox to bring back The 075 fave animated series), | say thank

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

A

Look for the PS3 to employ Jade Empire's brute squad.

Family Guy: ready to light up your console.

you. And now it seems Sunday nights won't be the only time РИ be spending with Peter, Stewie, and the rest of the Griffons: A Family Guy videogame is coming out for the current crop of con- soles in the first half of next year. | only hope those responsible for that trash called The Simpsons Skateboarding aren't behind this one.

Now that the Xbox 360 is coming out at $399 (or $299 if you go for the cheapo package), will the PlayStation 3 have a similar price point?

Probably. Even though rumors persist that Sony might slap a $500 tag on its next-gen System, everyone we talk to (especially

those folks who work on Wall Street) believes $400 is a more realistic price. And as one financial contact

ш $400? $500? Either way, PS3 will cost a pretty penny.

UP THE XBOX (WITH ONLINE PLAY) THIS

(who wishes to remain anonymous) tells us, “The price of the PlayStation 3 will probably have a lot to do with how hot the Xbox 360 is selling at that time.” ла.

(ва

COMINGSOON | = а El

Qm uuum = т mosse |

=> 7 ‘www HUDSONENTERTAINMENT.com

7 2 \ | \ _ ©2005 Hudson Entertainment, All rights. » -Bee logo, and Bomberman are trademarks or registered trademarks of Hudson Soft. "The Nintendo DS logo is a trademark of Nintendo. © 2004 Nintendo. Nokia, N-Gage, and N-Gage QD are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Nokia.

„АП other trademarks or registered t ас e properties of their respective owners.

EVERYONE

10+ Mild Lyrics АТ, О |

ESRB CONTENT RATING _www.esrb.org

© 2005 Microsoft Corporation, АН rights resérved. Microsoft, the Microsoft Game Studios logo, PGR, Project Gotham Racing, Xbox 360, the Xbox logos, Xbox Live, and the Xbox Live logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corparatiori in-thp-Upitéd States and/or other countries. Developed by Bizarre Creations Limited. © Bizarre Creations Limited 2005. All rights ved.

Burn rubber in New York. Power-slide through turns in Tokyo. Pick up kudos catching air in London. Project Gotham Racing 3 puts you behind the wheel of the world's fastest exotic cars. Racing in the world's most exotic cities. Like a fuel-injected bat outta hell.

Produced under license of Ferrari Spa. FERRARI, the PRANCING HORSE device, all associated logos and distinctive designs are trademarks of Ferrari Spa. The body deslgos'ot tte Fercart trademark and trade dress regulations. The trademarks, copyrights and design rights іп and associated with the following Lamborghini vehicles аге изей under licerise-from Lamfbprohi

THE HOT 10

Ten more things for you to waste your time and/or money on

OSU! TATAKAE! OUENDAN

DS • Out now in Japan

This bizarre Japanese import kicks the rhythm-action genre on its ass with inventive stylus control, a sweet J-rock soundtrack, and a gleefully absurd plot. For more info, check out EGM International this issue. (Good news: We hear some U.S. publishers are interested...)

FINDING NEW USES FOR YOUR GAMECUBE

What else are you supposed to do with it now that Zelda’s been delayed until next summer?

A lot of developers "care" |

SOCOM BLOG

about their “community,” but Zipper Interactive puts its website where

its mouth is at socomblog.typepad.com.

VIDEO MODS

Watching videogame char- acters dance and sing along to “today’s hottest music” on the MTV2 show is like seeing a horrible clown-car accident on the highway: You don’t know whether to laugh or cry or throw up, but you can’t look away.

STUBBS THE ZOMBIE 5 XB * November 2005

Obviously built upon the Halo engine by an ex-Halo team member, this zombie actioner manages to actually...feel kind of like Halo! (This despite the fact уоште eating brains and unleashing massive farts.) Don't be surprised to find your- self raging through the co-op mode with a pal later this year.

INDIGO PROPHECY Р52/ХВ • Out now

Give this unique sleeper a shot.

THE HALO MOVIE Summer 2007. Written by the

28 Days Later guy. Overseen by Bungie. According to Hollywood insiders, it has an ending. So far, so good.

>>

68 е ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

Symphony of the Night

(PS1) reappears after an eight-year exile as a playable character in

the new Castlevania: Dawn g of Sorrow for = Nintendo DS. E You'll have to $ beat the

game before unlocking his vam- piric visage, though...

ALUCARD RETURNS The dapper silver-haired hero of fan-favorite Castlevania:

>>

THE CITY HAS ITS DEMONS... m T no You:

TES THAT BIND You're out of prison but still not free. Now the battle rages on two fronts: in the city - and in your mind.

ê, Inc. MIDWAY and the

i 2 Monstrous а ас g hordes of right with you

tion pa pas. off... Fight ертіп Survival,

www.sufferingtiesthathind.com

Blood and Gore Intense Violence

Sexual Themes РС У CUR : 3 М Strong Language X € 2 PlayStation ce | Use of Drugs |

хеох

44

LAY ONE OF THE MOST ENDURING

A => || 2% ws e Playstation.2 | | 2 + |... CTIVISION. rS = E

activision.com

© 2005 Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision and Call of Duty are registered trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. АН rights reserved. Developed by Treyarch. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo аге registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Online play requires internet connection 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 other

countries and are used under license from Microsoft. TM, ® and the Nintendo GameCube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo. All rights reserved. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the | Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.

LEGENDS IN MILITARY HISTORY.” ё"

3

Ју the'Big Red One, America's most legendary infantry division, to experience “athe cinematic intensity and chaos of battle as never before on consoles.

=

- www.CALLOEDUTY.com

(>) press start

COMING SOON

24: The Game 2K Games е ХВ — If Jack loses, the ter- rorists win. We know you hear that all the

Aeon Flux Majesco е PS2/XB — Flux heroine Charlize Theron leaps, shoots, and sports

One of the innumerable Dynasty Warriors charac- ters prepares to hack and/or slash your face off.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

Square Enix • Р52 — In Japan, this huge RPG reigns as the #1 PS2 game of all time.

time, but this time it’s for real.

skin-tight latex in this movie tie-in.

even more ancient Chinese family feuding with this hack-n-slash pseudosequel.

Guitar Hero Red Octane • PS2 — Put all of those hours spent watching VH1 Classic to good use with your own scorching version of “Iron Man.” You shred tunes on the included guitar controller, and gameplay borrows heavily from Konami’s Guitar Freaks arcade series.

Е S

Star Wars Battlefront II LucasArts • PS2/XB — Pass those end- less hours stuck on your uncle's moisture farm with online shootin' and flyin'.

The Matrix: Path of Neo

Atari • PS2/XB — You аге Mr. Whoa him- self this time, and we hope there is a path that doesn't lead to two lousy sequels.

Karaoke Revolution Party Konami е PS2/XB/GC — Here's hoping that it's a bloodless revolution. Invite som pals over, grab the mic, and rock out.

Suikoden Tactics Konami « PS2 — All the really complex, methodical parts of RPGs put in one place to keep them safe from normal people.

hee B Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire EA Games ® PS2/XB/GC — Ms. Rowling's ubiquitous boy wizard joins his pals for another Ze/da-inspired action-adventure.

Magna Carta: Tears of Blood Atluse PS2 — Despite the misleading title, expect a swords-n-sorcery RPG, not a history lesson on constitutional law.

е

Without Warning

Capcom • PS2 — Here it is. This is it. This is your warning. If you choose to play this espionage action-thriller, it’s all you.

Atomic Betty Mario Kart 05 Panzer Elite Action The Sims 2

Namco • GBA Nintendo • 05 JoWood • PS2/XB EA Games • PS2/XB/GC/PSP/DS

Crime Life: Gang Wars Mario Party 7 Ratchet: Deadlocked Space Invaders Evolution

Konami XB Nintendo • GC Sony CEA е PS2 Rising Star е PSP

Jak X: Combat Racing Need for Speed: Most Wanted Shadow the Hedgehog WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006

Sony CEA * PS2 EA Games е PS2/XB/GC/PSP/DS Sega е PS2/XB/GC THO е PS2 NFS: Most Wanted next-gen booty.

72 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

>> A VAGUELY MODERNIZED REMAKE OF MIDWAY’S MONSTER PUNCH-A-THON RAMPAGE WILL HIT PS2 AND GC NEXT SPRING.... >>

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74 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

Table of

What you get Turning it on

Reasons to buy a 3 Reasons to wait

Top five launch games Everything else

есоо

Your ultimate launch-day guide to Microsoft's next system, its features, and its top launch games—plus, five reasons you should buy а 360 now and five reasons you should wait... >

by Crispin Boyer and Kathleen Sanders

Alcohol Reference Fantasy Violence Simulated Gambling

Mild Language А SQUARE ENIX. Suggestive Themes р PlayStation.2 www.square-enix.com

ESRB CONTENT RATING — www.esrb.org

© 2005 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved, © 2004, 2005 ARMOR PROJECT/BIRD STUDIO/LEVEL-5/SQUARE ENIX, All Rights Reserved. DRAGON QUEST, JOURNEY OF THE CURSED KING, SQUARE ENIX, and the SQUARE ENIX logo are trademarks of. Square Enix Co., Ltd, “PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association.

Published by Square Enix, Inc.

сре JOURNEY BEGINS NOVEMBER 22, 2005

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SODAGICIAN

EXAM VT

cover story: 360 hardware

m

XBOX 360:

Which launch package comes with what? We show you where your money goes...

THE

Here's what

The Xbox 360 Console—The sys- tem comes with a

Xhox Live Silver

The free level of the broadband-only

CORE SYSTEM · $

Also derided as the ‘Тага Pack" on online message boards for its lack of a hard drive (sold sepa- rately for 100 smackers), the core system includes the basics needed to play offline Xbox 360 games оп a standard television. Just be ready to answer yes to those “Continue without saving?” queries in games. You don't get a memory card (they sell for $40 extra), which you'll also need to access Xbox Live. And no backward compatibility with Xbox 1 games for you, either (a function that requires the hard drive). We expect this system will sell well with clueless Christmas-shopping moms lured by the low price and unfortunate early adopters who miss out on the premium package (see right).

get:

Опе Wired Controller—it plugs into any free

THE PREMIUM PACKAGE

Touching down at $100 above the price of the origi- nal Xbox, this deluxe setup is a better value than

Standard AV

the core kit and really the one to buy for hardcore gamers. As in the core package, you get the Xbox 360 unit—except with Pimp My Ride-style metallic detailing—as well as the basic Xbox Live Silver membership to Xbox Live (free Ethernet cable included). Plus, you get a host of essential peripher- als that would cost you $3,478.36 if you purchased them separately. (Actually, they’d run you $240. But that’s still a good chunk of change.)

Cable—Tough turkey if you want

What an extra Beniamin

"chill" (Microsoft's Xbox Live service, USB port on the crisp S-Video or word, not ours) Silver lets you make system. As with the even sharper HDTV gets уа: The faceplate, just like a profile, message separately sold resolutions—this pachs this extra stuff: the unit in the pre- and voice chat with wireless con- cable supports only mium pals, download trollers, you can basic red/white/ Media Remote (sold separately for й C Kit The demos, and shop for turn your Xbox 360 yellow cable com- $30)—Navigate DVDs, music, and г. only dif- goodies. It requires on or off by holding posite output. Xbox Live without having to dig 27. 2 ference: а memory card or the glowy Xbox out the controller from > “>, | по hard the hard drive to Guide button in а undecyourGouch, | drive. use, and you can’t the center of D ` | | play online games the joypad. а, > unless you upgrade to the $50-a-year Gold service (360 ^ „2 КЕГЕ comes with a 30- clicker you use for day Gold trial). Mama's Family. t's midnight, and Peter troller...and that's pretty much it. Or drive support from developers, who Halpin, president of the Interactive

Moore is in a danger- ous place: the Internet message boards. The corporate vice presi- dent of worldwide marketing and pub- lishing for Xbox is up late scanning boards abuzz with word of the compa- ny's fall launch strategy for the Xbox 360, sequel to the Xbox. Turns out that, unlike with Xbox 1, not all 360$ will come with a packed-in hard drive. In fact, the system will be sold in two packages: A $300 core kit that. includes the console, a standard con-

you can step up to the deluxe $400 version that comes with a 20GB hard drive and other goodies (see the breakdown above). The two packages, along with a host of pricey acces- sories—the hard drive on its own sells for $100—will launch this November. “Тһе feedback has been overwhelm- ingly positive," Moore tells us follow- ing his message-board nightcap.

But certainly not everybody is psy- ched with the news. The hardcore crowd is griping that Microsoft's strat- egy is essentially eliminating hard-

can’t count on all Xbox 360 owners owning the drive (360 defenders are quick to point out that Sony’s PlayStation 3, due as early as next spring, won't come standard with a hard drive, either). Stores are stuck selling two packages instead of one— and saddled with the no-fun proposi- tion of explaining the differences to parents who'll likely snap up the cheaper core system anyway. “In chatting with our buyers, it seems that two [versions] aren’t optimal from a merchandising perspective,” says Hal

Entertainment Merchants Association, “but they feel that consumers are savvy enough to understand the differ- ence in value...”

So just what is Microsoft thinking? And which version should you buy? And which launch games are worth getting? Or should you just wait until PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s next sys- tem, the Revolution, launch next year before deciding anything? Don’t spend all night on the message boards look- ing for answers—we have them all right here...

The Wireless Controller

+

BELLS/UUHISTLES

(sold separately for $50)—Instead of the wired pad packed in the core system, you get this wireless variety, which has a range of

None of this stuff comes with either unit, but you might want some of it any- way, because people will think you're cooler, and your self-worth and identity

30 feet and runs for 30 hours on two AA batteries.

Component HD AV Cable (sold separately for $40) —бо{ ап HDTV (or HD-ready monitor)? Then you'll need this cable—which also connects to standard composite inputs—to play your games in dazzling high-res 720p mode. If your television doesn't support 720p (and many older HDTVs don't), the Xbox 360's video scaler will adapt the signal to run in your tube's 1080i mode. f

Headset (sold separately for $20)—You won't need this to chat online (you can use your old Xbox headset or any cell-phone head- set, or even a USB keyboard if you don’t feel like talking), е #6 comfy model includes a mute button and volume control.

The Detachable 20GB Hard Drive (sold separately for $100) —This shiny lit- tle gizmo—which clips onto the top of your 360 and holds 320 times more data than a memory card—is a must-own for serious Xbox Live users who plan on downloading lots of content. You'll need it to play original Xbox 1 games in the 360's backward-compatibility mode. Massively multiplayer online games like Final Fantasy ХІ require the drive. You'll need it to update games that end up requiring patches. Some titles, such as launch game Thee Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, make optional use of the drive for faster load times. Oh yeah—it also comes preloaded with puzzle Xbox Live Arcade game Hexic HD (see page 116), several bonus back-

ground themes for your Xbox 360 dashboard, and other undisclosed good- ies, including possible demos and music. You can plug

—

Taking it home

Microsoft wasn't always dead set on releasing a cheaper, hard-drive-free 360 package. When we first saw the Xbox 360 earlier this year, company reps assured us the drive would be packed in. They even played with the idea of releasing one package with the drive for $350 and being done with it. But in the end, says J Allard, corporate vice presi- dent for Xbox, they wanted to offer gamers a choice. “We need to get more gamers," he says, "and part of that is going to be on the low end, with the more price-conscious consumer who

USB mass-storage devices into the 360, but only for music- and pic- ture-streaming purposes.

depends upon their approval. (Oh, and a few things here save batteries.)

е Memory Card ($40)—If you didn't get the hard drive with your system, you'll want this 64MB gizmo to save games or access Xbox Live. You'll need a memory card if you buy the core package, so why not just

| spend $60 more for the premium hard-drive package?

| * S-Video AV Cable ($30)— Gamers who've stepped up to tele- visions that sup- port sharp S-Video

| signals but not HDTV-ready com- | ponent inputs will | need this cable. |

* Rechargeable Battery Pack ($12)—An extra battery for the wireless pad so that

you'll always have

enough juice to

stay wire free.

* Wireless Networking Adapter ($100) | Bought the wireless adapter for your original Xbox? Good news: You can use it for the 360, but this sexier adapter supports newer protocols more Suited to streaming music and high-def | video from Xbox Live.

isn't going to want [to go online], who isn't going to want to download a bunch of stuff. They're going to want it, frankly, because it plays movies and music and games, and they're only going to buy five games, and they're not the type of gamer who will ever read EGM”

Xbox 360 Do's

Do: Sign up to Microsoft Passport (www.passport.net) and link your

Xbox 1 Gamertag to your Passport account. That'll make it easier to transfer your old account to the Xbox 360 (just enter your Passport and Gamertag into the console and you're done). You don't have 10 sign up this way—it just eliminates a few steps from the process.

Hey, no reason to get personal. And while Microsoft hopes its pricing options will grow the gaming market (the com- pany is shooting to sell 10 million 360s worldwide by the time the competition launches next year), some gamemakers don't appreciate the effort. “The Xbox

|

апа Поп`ї<

360 doesn't make my life any better,” says Gabe Newell, managing director of Half-Life creator Valve, “апа, in fact, it makes it a lot worse... You're telling me I can't rely on the hard drive?"

Other developers are rolling with the punch. We've known that [it] wouldn't have a hard drive since day опе,” says Todd Howard, executive producer of launch-day role-playing epic The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, “We knew that announcement was coming. | think every person was like, ‘Oh my God— what does that mean for Oblivion?”

It meant something that should give >

ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com е 75

m

cover story: 360 hardware

XBOX 360:

A six-bladed guide to what you'll see when you switch on your 360...

You early adopters love the smell of shrink-wrap and Styrofoam first thing in the morning. Smells like... technology. And the only thing better than that new- console stank is plugging the thing in and watching it hum to life. Switch on the 360 without a game and you'll find a dashboard composed of six pages— called blades (eat that, Krull!) —that let you tweak every aspect of the system. Here's what does what...

System Blade

Let's get the boring one out of the way first. Here's where you'll tweak all your console's settings, from its high-def output (480p to 1080i) to memory-card and hard-drive management to ratings restrictions for the kid gamers in the house (such as password protection for Mature-rated games and R-rated flicks). The System blade comes with a network troubleshooter to walk you through tricky Internet connections. Download and run a special program called Windows Media Connect for your Windows XP-powered PC and it'll let you use a USB flash device to transfer all your network settings to your 360. Fear not, technophobes: Your 360 will give you instructions on how to do this.

9 ‘Sign out

| Games Blade

The first blade you see at power-up if you're not con- nected to Xbox Live, the Games page gives you easy access to Xbox Live Arcade games (such as Hexic HD, which is included on the hard drive), plus trailers and demos downloaded to your 360. Your profile will even Store common game preferences—such as an invert- ed control axis for first-person shooters, difficulty options, transmission settings in racing games, etc.— 50 you don't have to tweak them in each new game. The Games blade also packs a history of all titles you've played on your system and your achievements for each. Think of these achievements as trophies for meeting specific objectives in Xbox 360 titles. Beat Perfect Dark Zero on the Perfect difficulty, for instance, and you'll earn an achievement icon visible to everyone who checks your profile on Xbox Live. All 360 titles— online or not— are required to have at least five achieve- ments, with a

maximum of 50. The; Xbox kive/A

пет

Xbox Live Blade

If your system is hooked online (even if you're using the free Silver membership that comes with the 360), it'll start on this blade—your go-to page for friends management and communication. From here, you can add new friends, initiate voice chat with them, or send them voice or text messages. And see that Gamerscore, currently at zilch? (Major Nelson here clearly has some work to do.) That score rises as you complete achievements in all your Xbox games, even offline ones. Although privacy settings let you hide your achievements and the list of games you own (no point advertising that you play Yourself! Fitness 360), your Gamerscore is always visible to everyone on Xbox Live, ensuring healthy one-upsmanship and giv- ing an at-a-glance gander at how hardcore a poten- tial opponent might be. “If you go into someone’s profile and they've got 2,800 points and have only played three games," says Xbox Live Group Program Manager Jerry Johnson, "that's someone who's seri- ous about playing games in depth. If somebody's got 2,800 points but has played 40 games, you can tell they don't spend a lot of time with each title."

jor Nelson. Games @amerscare

| Achievements

(continued on pg. 78)

the message-board naysayers some hope. Although Oblivion will work just fine without the hard drive, the game will detect its presence and use it to speed up load times. Other developers, too, are pressing ahead with plans to support the drive despite knowing not every 360 owner will have it. Massively multiplayer role-playing game Final Fantasy ХІ, due next spring, will require the drive. And you'll need it to play Xbox 1 games in the system's backward- compatibility mode. Microsoft, in fact, is convinced that the deluxe, hard-drive- equipped package will sell much better

76 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

than the core version anyway. "Up to 80 percent of the systems sold will be at. the higher price point," says one indus- try analyst. ^I hear some retailers don't even want the [$300] package."

And, really, spending the extra $100 for the deluxe system is a no-brainer. You'd need to spring for a $40 memory card to save games or go on Xbox Live if you got the cheaper system anyway. And anyone planning to take full advan- tage of even the free, basic Silver level of the Xbox Live broadband-only online- gaming service will want a hard drive in order to store downloadable demos,

trailers, skins, game-updating patches, and other freebies. “Му belief is that if you don’t have the hard drive, you won’t be on Xbox Live,” says Moore. “I think $399 is a great price point for what you get. $299—1 don't know why you'd buy that if you're a hardcore gamer."

In the end, despite developer and gamer gripes, analysts figure Microsoft's choose-your-own-package. approach is a smooth move. “I think that the two-price strategy is intended: to allow Microsoft to claim that it didn’t raise the price from generation to gen-

Xbox 360 Do's and Don'ts

Don't: Buy any more songs from Apple's iTunes if you plan to stream

them onto your Xbox 360—the console won't recognize music pur- chased from that service. If you use iTunes, you're better off buying CDs and ripping them to your PC. Microsoft is offering a free down- loadable codec that lets the 360 play CDs ripped to iTunes.

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© 2005 Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision and True Crime are registered trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Developed by Luxoflux. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox Logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or in other countries. ТМ, and Nintendo, GameCube are trademarks

cover story: 360 ћагашаге

XBOX 360:

Marketplace Blade Access this online store through the Xbox Live blade and you can browse content—demos, trailers, downloadable 4 Featured Dountoads levels and characters, etc.—for every game on the system. | и O oar ERE “You don’t have to have a game to see its content,” says Johnson. “This is like a storefront that shows everything | available in Xbox Live." Enter the Marketplace through ап az Dine | Xbox 360 game, and you'll find goodies related to that spe- cific title. The Marketplace also lets you manage Xbox Live account info (you can upgrade to the Gold level of service, for instance) or accounts for subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing games (which won't require E the Gold service in addition to their monthly fees). einem a Eventually, the Marketplace will become a cottage industry for player-made content (custom auto paint jobs, home- made courses, etc.). Microsoft is still figuring out the logistics. “You have to realize, the ratings boards like the ESRB put a wrench into that stuff," says Microsoft VP J Allard. “I mean, are we going to have to rate a user-made tattoo?”

бате Downloads

Demos and Trallers.

Download History

Redeem Prepaid Card or Promotional Code.

Media Blade

Here's where you'll access the system's beyond-gaming bonus features, which include the ability to replace soundtracks with your own music in any game (finally, you can pump up role-playing adventures with Vanilla Ice tunes), watch slide shows of your personal photos, or Stream high-def video from your computer (a feature that works only with Media Center PCs, unfortunately).

You have myriad methods to get all this stuff to your 360. Using a USB cable, you can simply plug portable music players (including Apple's iPod and Sony's PSP) into the 360 and voila—up pop your tunes neatly divided into their playlists. (Note that you'll need to download a free codec to your 360 to listen to iTunes ripped from CD in the AAC format. You'll find the codec in the Marketplace on the day the system launches.) Or you can insert music CDs directly into the 360 and rip them to the system's optional hard drive. The 360 will go online and retrieve song and album data.

Loading photos is just as easy: You can insert a CD filled with JPG images, plug in your digital camera via USB, or access your PC's pictures via your home network. (You'll need to download the free Windows Media Connect pro- gram onto your PC before your 360 can access it. The Media blade will give you the Web URL for the program.) The point of all this digital-data convergence (besides making a nice blurb on the console's box): to turn Xbox 360 into your home's mission control for all multimedia content. “Our consoles are connected to typically the best television in the house and the best stereo in the house," says Greg Gibson, director of Xbox console development. "Get your content to it however you want, and we'll give you the best output."

та

(cont.J

The Xbox Gamer Guide

The final dashboard page—and the one you'll likely see the most—is the Gamer Guide, which combines the functions of several blades and superimposes itself over whatever game you're playing when you jab the glowing Guide button on your 360 controller (answering incoming chat requests with the Guide button also pops up the Gamer Guide and initiates communication). The Guide gives you quick access to your message inbox, lets you see which friends and recent players are online (including the games they're currently playing, right down to what levels they're on—info you can hide with privacy settings), offers customization options for your dashboard theme and Gamer Picture avatar (the little pic you pick as your Xbox Live avatar), and lets you browse your music library. The Guide also shows your Gamer Card, which leads us to the numero uno reason you should buy an Xbox 360 on day one. Go ahead and turn the page.

Osnon Rox System Guide.

> eration [the original Xbox sold for the

Trying it on

So let's pretend you get your hands on an Xbox 360 on launch day. Want games with that? Moore says to expect between 25 and 40 for the system by the end of the year. At the same time, he says, "there's no benefit to having 40 titles on

same amount as the 360 core system], " says Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. "They are interested in demon- strating a pricing advantage over Sony, and it's pretty clear that [the PlayStation 3] will price at $400 or higher."

Xbox 350 Do's and Don'ts

ment from Bill,” says Microsoft's Peter Moore. "He knows that soft- ware, particularly creative software, will be ready when it's ready."

Don’t: Count on Halo 3 launching the same day as the PlayStation 3, despite Microsoft overlord Bill Gates' comment that the game would be ready to combat Sony's next box. “That wasn't a launch commit- у J

78 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

day one. They get lost. They get stale on the shelf very quickly.” Our own math gives a clearer picture. We've tracked 20 games ready for the “launch window,” the period between the system’s ship date and Christmas. Of these, we esti- mate fewer than 10 will be ready on day one—even the three Microsoft first-party games (Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo: Elements of Power, and Project Gotham Racing 3) aren’t guaranteed for launch. Skip ahead to our previews section to see what launches when. “The key,” says Moore, “is having a portfolio at launch that meets the genres I think those day-

one guys are looking for: driving, first- person shooters, maybe a [role-playing] game, action-adventure, and sports." While the launch lineup seems ever- changing (which has us furrowing our brows), it's all systems go for Microsoft's enhanced Xbox Live online service for the 360. Everyone who buys the system will get a free basic Silver subscription, which shares your Gamer Card profile and achievements with everyone on the service (see the Games Blade section in the “You Turn Me On” section), allows you to purchase goodies and download free demos from the Xbox >

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cover story: E 380 НЕ

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Five reasons you a 360 on day one...

You're Addicted to Xbox Live Remember the Gamer Card thingie we mentioned last page? It's a basic batch of player info that's visible to

everyone on the Xbox Live broadband-only gaming service, regardless of privacy settings, and it's the linchpin You're a of the new Live experience. The card shows your mug (or whatever image you choose to represent yourself), Graphics Whore your Gamerscore, and your reputation, a five-star meter affected by how you play in your chosen Gamer Zone. So maybe we're not What's it all mean? Your reputation and Gamer Zone determine how you're matched up with other players. Zones come in four flavors: the any- completely blown away thing-goes Underground, the keep-it-clean Family zone, the play-for-keeps Pro area, and the casual-gamer R&R zone. Refuse to abide by your by the visuals in the chosen zone's vibe, and you'll earn lousy feedback from other players, which will eventually kick down your rep and make it harder to get first wave of 360 matched with opponents. Likewise, you can bestow negative feedback on a-holes (which seem to make up the majority of the online population) games (see next page), who are clearly in the wrong zone. Your reputation will drop almost immediately if you start to get lousy feedback (unless an opponent refuses to but if you want to play play with you because you're too good; you'll never be penalized for being a skilled player). It the very best-looking takes between eight and 15 pieces of positive feedback to lift your reputation back up, so don't be versions of third-party a smartass, OK? Er, unless you're in the Underground zone. Then carte blanche. games like Gun and The upshot of it all: If it all works as advertised, playing with strangers on Xbox 360 should be a \ 4% y quum Need for Speed: Most less racist, insulting, annoying, fear-for-the-youth-of-America experience. "We're trying to help | N | gu Wanted, you'll need people make friends," says Ken Lobb, head of the Microsoft studio overseeing Perfect Dark Zero. a || М сы this system.

It Does Other Things You've Got Your You're a Shopaholic "The 360 is the best digital media amplifier that Own Style Right from day one, you'll find downloadable demos, trail- you can buy this year," says J Allard, corporate It's Microsoft's gift to ers, dashboard themes, and other goodies in the Xbox vice president for Xbox. "And it's just kind of the so-called remix Marketplace, your online shop for all Xbox 360 content. The chucked in there for free and mentioned on generation (Microsoft's Marketplace's monetary system is based on points: First the side of the box." Digital amplifi- words, not ours): a 360 you buy some (purchased in $5, $20, or $50

er? Whazzat? Like the original that's customizable from chunks, with each point worth basically a Xbox, the 360 plays DVD flicks its swappable face- penny), then spend away. You can buy these (now in sharper 480p progres- plates to its points online or in stores (they'll come on Sive scan) and custom sound- dashboard ) | cards with an authorization number). But not tracks (for any 360 game, not themes to its ! || 1 everything in the Marketplace’ll cost ya. The just select titles that support customizable > plan is for all launch titles to come with free them), plus, it'll run slide shows playlists. 4 dashboard themes and Gamer Pictures. "This of your pics. The 360 can get this Because you | 1 is a way for us to distribute things, not necessarily. Stuff from anywhere—cameras or MP3 players have to be | | just sell things," E | you plug into the system, JPGs stored оп CD or you. 7 says Xbox Live streamed off any PC in your home network, etc. j А Group Program “I've got tons of storage оп my PC,” says Manager Jerry Microsoft's Peter Moore, "but | want to watch 1 Johnson. “Expect to 2

find a lot of free ee

and listen [to that stuff] through where | spent The many faces of 360: 5 stuff here." Mutant Storm: Buy if on Xbox Live:

my money—my TV and home-theater system.” Each faceplate will run you $20.

» Live Marketplace, enables voice chat upgrade to the Gold level of service if which come with a headset, rebates on anytime voice chat, tweaked player- with anyone online at any time (even if you want to play any games online. games, points to spend in the online matching system, Marketplace of con- he or she’s watching a DVD movie or Microsoft is not raising the price of the Marketplace, and free Xbox Live Arcade tent, and casual-play Xbox Live Arcade playing a single-player game), and gives annual Xbox Live membership—it’s still titles—are pricier. A three-month Gold games—is the 360's big gun in the war you access to any massively multiplayer $50 а year if you sign up for the Gold Starter Kit is $40. А 12-month kit: $70 (it ^ against Sony and Nintendo (both of online role-playing game that requires a service online or buy a prepaid card comes with a heftier rebate and more which are vague about their next-gen separate subscription. You'll need to from a store. Xbox Live starter kits— Marketplace points). Your current Xbox online plans). And Microsoft not only fig-

Live membership will carry over to the ures gamers will be hooked once they

а 4 360 and run the rest of its course. You try Live's features, it also claims the ser- Xbox 360 Do's and Don'ts also get a free 30-day trial to Gold when місе will change the way games are both Во: Continue playing with your clan buddies in online Halo 2 match- you buy the system, and Microsoft plans. played and made. "You're going to be es. You won't have to leave them behind after you buy a 360. The to offer free Gold weekend promotions. able to find nuggets and learn new system's backward-compatibility mode supports online play with The company is going with the free- things about your games from the com- ime шы ја оне. Паре а taste strategy for а reason: It thinks the munity,” says Allard. “РИ go online and g ШЕП; new Xbox Live—with its talk-to-anyone- ^ see a buddy who has two achievements >

82 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www. 1UP.com

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cover story: 360 hardware

m

Five reasons you should on buying a 360...

To Avoid the Pricey Bundle Deals If you haven't preordered your Xbox 360 by now, you probably won't get one on launch day. "We're going to make as many as we can," says Xbox Corporate Vice President J Allard, “апа we won't create artificial scarcity—that's BS. But it's an incredibly ambitious system -з that we've done with our partners. There's a lot of cutting-edge stuff coming together." Your sole option at this point: Hilariously expensive Xbox 360 presale bundles from online retailers www.ebgames.com and www.gamestop.com. Even the core, hard-drive-less system will run you $600 with five predetermined launch-day-ish games, an additional wired controller, and a memory card. Then prices and options range up to a $2,000 behemoth (aka the “divorce-guilt remedy for wealthy and emotionally absent parents kit") that drowns you in a glut of Microsoft emblazoned mer- chandise, every accessory, three additional wireless controllers, 20 , games, a one year warranty, and an orphaned Chinese infant.

You're Not Sure About Those Day-One Games , Even after figuring in wishful thinking, it looks like the

Xbox 360 will hit with no

more than 10 games on its launch day. See 'em in our Xbox 360 previews starting on page 88; all day-one titles are marked. Half of 'em are sports games (the big one being Madden NFL 06), and none screams "killer app." At least

№ па The real rub: These stores do not guarantee you will get the systems the original Xbox had Halo. Right 4 - ® e or the games on launch day, but a few do offer extended warranties now it's up in the air whether Halo- ~ 2 | for the hardware, which is a good idea when dealing with historically caliber shooter Perfect Dark Zero will

glitch-ridden first-batch consoles. ship the same day as 360.

You're Not Sure About That Hard Drive By not packing the detachable 20GB hard disk drive into every Xbox 360 and selling it separately for a pricey $100, Microsoft has split its market between the HDD haves and HDD have-nots—a risk for devel- opers planning to support the drive. That doesn't mean games won't take advan-

The Graphics Just Aren't Advanced Enough for Ya Ever since we first saw Xbox 360 games back in March, we've felt underwowed by their visuals, which on a bad day look like good Xbox 1 games. Microsoft says to keep our

Is This Thing Future-Proof? Gigabit Ethernet. Blu-ray high-definition DVDs. Ultrasharp 1080p resolution. If you techie types haven't passed out from your raging erections, you're probably wondering if the 360 will cry uncle when the PlayStation 3—whose

tage of it; launch title Oblivion uses it for speedier load times, and you'll need it to play online role-playing games like Final Fantasy ХІ. “Ме wanted to give gamers a choice," says Allard of the decision to sell a cheaper, hard-drive-free 360 package. Well, you did: They can choose to avoid the system until it's clear that the hard drive is ( used for more ~ than online down- loads and playing Xbox 1 games.

expectations in check. “As we get closer to

reality, the visual quantum leap is going to be smaller by defin- ition,” says Allard. Great, but that doesn’t explain blah-looking ports like Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.

If you’re waiting to see if first-generation PlayStation 3 titles pack more dazzle, don't, say developers. We're told to expect a similar level of visual quality from PS3 launch games. Allard says, ultimately, it’s the new gameplay features (especially those tied to Xbox Live)—not graph- ics—that'll make Xbox 360 games special. “There wasn't a 30-second trailer that would have made any of us say Grand Theft Auto is going to sell 20 million copies," he says.

Wasteland: Meh.

Ethernet port is 10 times quicker, DVD capacity is about three times greater, and max resolution is sharp- er—hits next year. “We’re not in this for big marketing num- bers,” says Director of Xbox Console Development Greg Gibson. "We're in it for real customers with real applica- tions and real televisions.” Gibson insists the PS3's pumped-up features are irrele- vant to gamers, adding that Microsoft has upgrade plans in the works should features like high-definition DVD become important.

> [special goals unique to each 360 title] I'm missing іп a game. And l'Il say, ‘Hey, how'd you get that one?’ It’s like when [strategy] guides first took off. Game makers will be able to dial up the diffi- culty because an outlet like this exists.”

Adds Moore: “The games themselves

are a means to an end, not an end them- selves, They really build community. I’m

the beginning of this story? It’s not arbi- trary. “There were 10 million PlayStation 2s [sold] before we launched [the origi- nal Xbox],” says Allard. “We couldn't catch up. It’s kind of like having a 30- point lead in the third quarter.”

Whether Xbox 360 sales reach that

number globally by the time PS3 launch- es is up to you, of course. But Allard thinks that if the system doesn’t reach critical mass, it won’t be for lack for try- ing. “If you name 25 of the best game creators in the world,” he says, ^we're going to have 23 of them on Xbox 360.”

(Who's missing? Mario series creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Gran Turismo mastermind Kazunori Yamauchi.) It’s the kind of focused effort that has analysts giving the 360 a better than fair chance. “This is a clash of the titans, but 1 give the nod to Microsoft, who has bil- lions of cash in the bank and a very focused strategy,” says one analyst.

Xbox 360 Do's and Don'ts

not sure Sony gets that.” “Sony, in general, is a mess right now. They are climbing out of a hole and they Parting shots need the PS3 to save their ass.”

Ah, Sony—the leader in hardware sales and Microsoft’s mortal foe. Remember that 10-million-sold magic number from

Now there’s a comment you can expect to see quoted on a message board near you. 4%.

pics to your 360 for your Gamer Card avatar or photo slide shows.

Don't: Bother getting all gussied up for your close-up. The Xbox 360's digital-camera gizmo— which will allow for high-resolution video chat—won't be hitting the system until next year. You'll still be able to plug in any digital camera or storage device (via USB) and transfer

84» ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com

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Violence

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так BACK SUNDAY Cone PUNK ctassics!

‘Activision is a registered trademark of Activision Publishing, Ine. Al rights reserved. Tony Hawk is a registered trademark of Tony Ha activision.com Entertainment, Inc. Game Boy Ad er Station" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Online play requires internet connection. and Memory Card (8MB) (ог PlayStati у), The Online icon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc, TM, © and Nintendo, are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2 ndo. Xbox, Xbox 360,

and the Xbox Live logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S, and/or other countries. АП rights reserved. The ratings icon is a regis nter'ainment Software

n. Al other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respectiv

ONE MAN'S _ CREATION 15 ANOTHERS

oe € 5 QUAE The battle begins anew in SOULCALIBUR It when Nightmare returns to à world inhabited by classic and new warriors. Create and play with а face, hair, armor and weapons you wantin “character Creation” mode. Employ strategy and classic combat to lead — the world of SOULCALIBUR like never before. pP А е

character choosing the your original character and the team to victory in “Chronicles of the Sword” mode. Experience po > + > ; j Mes WD 1 & ъ ` HEALTH (Cro) m Li & Tobikagel R = 4 Explore the SOULCALIBUR world in “chronicles of the Sword” А and test your abilities in à real-time simulation. t до қ Battle classic SOULCALIBUR warriors like mitsurugi or square — à à off against newcomers such as Zasalamel, Setsuka and Tira. Н or p 2 — “А " i х х ч bi A увис төнө Upper Torts E Į \ А 3 adel position hy £ i Create your own character and battle other р players of legendary SOULCALIBUR warriors. t T N oo, sili Е.

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+ cover story:

360 previews

XBOX 360

People do crazy things when a new game console launches— take, for example, spending $50 on crap like Fuzion Frenzy and Kabuki Warriors (both stinkers from the original Xbox's debut). We're here to keep you from wasting cash on next- gen rejects: These five games sparkle with promise...

88 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

~ Ф.-

| Bullets smack the | t wall behind Ken Lobb, manager | of the Microsoft studio over- seeing some of the Xbox 360's biggest launch games, but he's too busy watch- ing paint dry to notice. Lobb is giving us an in-game tour of a tundra-packed mul- tiplayer level in Perfect Dark Zero, devel- oper Rare's forever-in-the-works Xbox 360 prequel to its hit 2000 Nintendo 64 first-person shooter. Our opponents: game testers in nearby cubicles, who stalk us mercilessly despite Lobb's cur- rent pacifistic purpose. “Just look at that paint texture," Lobb says, pointing with the tip of his gun at a glistening red dab

Publisher: Microsoft Developer: Rare

Release Date: November 2005

smeared on the wall of a rustic temple. “This game looks so good, sometimes | get distra—oh dammit.”

Man down. A tester just bull's-eyed Lobb from 30 yards. Suddenly feeling vul- nerable without our tour guide, we dive into a combat roll—one of the game's new tricks—round a corner, and flatten ourselves against a wall, ready to pop out and return fire (another new feature). Say, look at the subtle 3D texturing on this wall. Pop! We go down. Dammit.

With three months to go until launch, Perfect Dark Zero is up and gunning and looking lethal. Which is a good thing, because it was precisely looks that killed

early buzz for à the game. When DIEA

EGM debuted the first

screenshots of Zero back in our July issue, readers, message-board posters, and even our own editors founds the game’s visuals underwhelming—especially for Microsoft's premiere Xbox 360 launch game. The developers bristled, claiming Zero was a work-in-progress that looked better in motion. After taking Lobb’s bul- let-riddled tour, we agree that the visuals have improved. Zero is looking more and more like a proper next-generation title, although it’s really the game’s features that made it No. 1 on our best-bet five. >

Cred _ As we mentioned in the hardware discussion, every Xbox 360 game will offer special “Achievement Awards,” a virtual trophy case of your game accomplishments that other Xbox Live users can view. For example, in PDZ, you'll score an award for trying out all of the myri- ad multiplayer modes.

ОЈ

ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com е 89

T

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couer story: 360 previews |

#

Mei CENE Perfect Dark Zero оп Day Hell If Microsoft Knows... Officially, Perfect Dark isn’t a launch-day game for the Xbox 360. Rather, it’s in the “launch window,” that slice of holiday madness between the system’s launch and Christmas. So whether you come home with Zero or zilch on launch day is up in the air. "We're not going to ship games before they're ready,” says Xbox Corporate Vice President J Allard. “The Perfect Dark franchise is too important to us to compromise it.” He adds that Rare knows what's at stake. “If you have that killer launch game, you will be heroes,” he says. “What we ship with Perfect Dark is going to be very special, and

>

Why it made the list: If you read our A to Z Guide to Perfect Dark Zero in our July issue, you already know why Zero is No. 1. It’s the most ambitious online first-person shooter ever made for con- soles, Let’s recap: Aside from novel fea- tures such as the already mentioned evasion move, you get gadgets that let you hot-wire enemy vehicles, maps you can scale in size depending on how many players you have, a noise-sensing radar spoofed by silenced weapons, 28 guns with secondary functions (and sometimes tertiary ones), and an innov- ative health system that levels the field for newbies and elites.

Playing multiplayer (which, unfortu-

i: nately, has been limited to 32 players

online rather than the original 50 Rare was gunning for) reveals a dozen nifty details. We tried one gun whose зес- ondary function projected а hologram of

_ our character а few feet ahead—a per-

92۰ ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

fect way to distract opponents while teammates гасе to flank any enemies taking shots at your doppelganger. Savvy players will find a weapon to dif- fuse any situation. The good ol’ RCP90. submachine gun diplays a threat detec- tor that'll expose holograms for what they аге, as well as reveal players who use the plasma rifle’s secondary invisi- bility function. And remember Perfect Dark’s laptop gun? It returns, once again turning into a stationary turret. But beware: Enemies wielding the RCP90 can reprogram your turrets and turn them against you.

You'll even find strategy in going bare-handed. Players who put away their guns run slightly faster than weapon-wielding opponents—and they can swipe enemy weapons with their fists’ secondary attack. “1 saw one tester,” says Executive Producer James Veevaert, “he’d run up to people without

everything now is pointing to it being a very special day one.”

| 5,5

а weapon, steal theirs, kill them, then throw it down and run to the next per- son, steal their weapon, kill them, and 50 on. It was so cool and such а hard- core way to play.”

What could possibly go wrong? A lot of stuff, actually. Zero's multiplayer modes, which include special dark-ops mis- sions that have players taking on roles, are ambitious and will require heavy play balancing. We also hope the num- ber of supported players doesn’t drop once again. The latest version we tried got a bit choppy at times, but Rare is promising that the final game will run at 30 frames per second (about as smooth- ly as Halo 2, but not the blazing speed we'd expect of a next-generation title). And we've barely gotten our guns dirty in the single-player game, which tells how Joanna Dark landed her secret-agent gig and involves her pop

and a huge cast of characters. These characters become more important in the intriguing two-player cooperative mode. In the co-op level we tried, set іп a skyscraper-crammed futuristic city, one player controlled Joanna Dark while another guided one of the secondary characters and got to see а vast section of the level that was unavailable in the single-player game. For instance, the Dark player protected the second char- acter from afar with a sniper rifle—an objective in the single-player mode— but the second player actually entered а building and completed tasks that Dark never got to do while solo. “You will have separate objectives and link up and split up throughout the level,” Veevaert says of the cooperative mode. | “It’s just adds a whole different experi- ence.” And, yes, those drying-paint tex-

_ tures look пісе in single-player, too.

—Crispin Boyer >

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cover story: 360 previews

m

The latest install- ment in Microsoft's snazzy street-racing franchise rolls сто the factory showroom as ап audio- visual showcase for the Xbox 360.

Why it made the list: “Do you want a game that really shows off how cool your new Xbox 360 is?” asks PGR3 Project Manager Chris Lee. “Just look at the game—from both a high-end audio and high-definition video standpoint, it really pushes the boundaries.” Must be hard to be humble when your game looks like this. PGR3 aims to be the prettiest, fastest, and most accessible racer in the already competitive 360 lineup. “We believe that life begins at 170 mph,” states PGR3 Product Manager Kathie Flood. “We don’t give new play- ers a mediocre car to start out with— nearly every single car is available from the outset, and they’re all fast.” It’s all about freedom: Take any car and race it on any track at any time. PGR3 will still

№ “People see our screenshots and call them bulls**t,” says PGR3 Producer Chris Lee. “But I promise you that they're real.”

offer unlockables, but Microsoft wanted to make sure that mainstream gamers could have a blast with minimal effort. “It’s still deep enough for hardcore rac- ing fans,” says Flood. “But at the same time, it’s broadly accessible, with the perfect blend of realistic physics and thrilling arcadey fun.”

Microsoft also hopes that PGR3 will be a landmark title in terms of building a constantly evolving Xbox Live commu- nity. Eight-player online races and leaderboards are expected, along with an innovative spectator mode, in which thousands of onlookers watch the world’s top players compete in champi- onship races.

What could possibly go wrong? Although Microsoft seems adamant that PGR3 will make it to store shelves with- in that mythical “launch window,” the version we viewed still had some slow- down issues to overcome.

—Shane Bettenhausen >

94» ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com YE

1

Publisher: Microsoft Developer: Bizarre Creations Release Date: November 2005

emm

| Cred

Mero Due to offer specific achievement awards for complet- ing single-player challenges and races in PGR3 but couldn't offer us any concrete examples. We're T hoping to get one for best donut.

Say hello to EyeToy: Play 2; with 12 all-new games and 75 crazy bonus games. The included EyeToy” USB camera tracks your every move, putting you in the middle of the action. It's the most fun you can have in your living room!

EyeToy

USB Camera

| (for PlayStation, 2) included

Game Disc

www.us.eyetoy.com PlayStation. =. о

Screens simulated. EyeToy: Play 2%. Game ©2005 Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Developed by London Studio. EyeToy and EyeToy: Play 2 are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. All rights reserved. PlayStation and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer

Mild violence Entertainment Inc. "Live In Your World. Play In Ours." is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

RATING PENDING

Visit www.esrb.org for updated rating

information.

REVOLUTIONARY GAMEPLAY

The Cross- to harness

transmissions allow players to communicate with уы апа control Ghost squads, recon drones and air

strikes. In

to see what teammates see, set rally points and direct unmanned drones.

THE SOLDIER OF THE FUTURE

Countersn walls to el that shoot of other hi let players

based on actual military research. m

WITH THE TECHNOLOGY OF з

YOU

Com is the first communication device the power of the U.S. military. Satellite

multiplayer, players have the technology

ipe rifles that blow through iminate targets, assault rifles around corners, and a host gh-tech weapons and equipment employ advanced technology

MAY LIVE TO SEE 2014.

CUSTOMIZED ONLINE PLAY

Online mu Players ca that reflec

tiplayer is completely customizable. n design over 1,000 game modes their interests and create unique

identities to bring online.

UNIQUE MULTIPLAYER CO-OP CAMPAIGN

Exclusive the team

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must be implemented to progress through

this robus

war in Nicaragua. Team tactics and strategy жб campaign. ео

Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Red Storm and the Red Storm logo are trade- marks of Red Storm Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Red Storm Entertainment,

Q Warfighter, the Soldier Icon, Ubisoft, Ubi.com and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft

Inc. is a Ubisoft Entertainment company. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live, Xbox 360, the Live logo and

ХВОХ 360 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.

+ couer story: + 360 previews

he basics: The current king of the World War II first-person

| shooter hill (sorry, Medal of Honor, your reign is over) continues its dominance with this sharp-looking fol- low-up. Not to be confused with the cur- rent-generation sequel Big Red One, C0D2 mimics the upcoming PC game of the same name: You command American, British, and Russian forces through grueling battles in the European and East African theaters of war.

Why it m е list: How’s this for a sales pitch: “Call of Duty 2has been designed from the ground up as the No. 1 Xbox 360 shooter,” claims Vince Zampella, chief creative officer at COD2

developer Infinity Ward. “It’s an intense game with a huge, immersive world, deep team-based gameplay, amazing enemy A.l., next-gen graphics, and unbelievable special effects.” Nothing wrong with being a little proud of your baby, eh?

Seriously, though, С002 seems to offer a pretty sweet package—chal- lenging, realistic squad combat across many of WWII's most dramatic battles. And while the first COD popularized a tightly controlled, scripted approach to level design, this sequel opts to put more gameplay choices in the player’s hands. “We wanted to give you a more open, realistic experience,” says Zampella. “Levels now offer multiple

Publisher: Activision Developer: Infinity Ward Release Date: November 2005

nonlinear objectives that you can com- plete in any order.” Also, those famous on-rails scripted sequences now happen with or without you, so depending on your position, you may see some crazy stuff going down from across the battle- field...or right in front of your face. “In one level, part of your squad comman- deers a large antitank gun and blows up а huge missile silo,” Zampella explains. “You can see this from anywhere on the level—we don't lock you in place, and this way you’ll want to replay levels to see these events from different angles.” Although the single-player experience (sporting more missions than its prede- cessor) remains the focus, С002 will also offer a meaty online multiplayer

compo- nent. As

of now, Infinity

Ward can only confirm eight-player

simultaneous action, but it’s aiming for a higher number in the final release.

go J? Not eems. We've played an early version and everything seems to be falling into place nicely. COD2 should be one of the safest bets on launch day. Oh, and it’s definitely going to be on shelves for day one...we can’t say that for its main competition, Microsoft's Pertect Dark Zero. --5.В.

9 Cred If you complete single-player mis- sions on the very hardest difficulty setting (Veteran), you'll get some hard-earned achievement awards. If you see players online sporting that brass, you want them on your side.

=

THE ELDER SCROLLS IU:

OBLIUIOfU

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Developer: Bethesda Softworks Release Date: November 2005

he basics: Fans of the previ- Ж ous Elder Scrolls role-playing

epic, Morrowind (XB), still swear by its open-ended gameplay, deeply customizable characters, and immense game world. Then again, those reverent fans tend to һе а pretty hardcore lot: A lot of lightweight questers gave up on the gargantuan undertaking somewhere between Ashurnabitashpi and the shrine of Ularradallaku. If you're brave enough to enter Oblivion, a sparsely populated social calendar is a must.

Why it made the list: The purists might cry foul, but we’re stoked that develop- er Bethesda Softworks wants this installment to be more accessible to average Joes. “Everybody likes the size of our games, but a lot of players were

lost and confused,” says Oblivion Executive Producer Todd Howard. “With Oblivion, we're still offering a massive world, but we’re going to hold players’ hands a little more.” Now you'll actually know if you’re doing a primary, plot- advancing quest, an optional subquest, or just screwing around wasting time.

Also, expect Oblivion to deliver more drama and excitement, even right from the outset. As in Morrowind, character creation is up to you...but this time, rather than answering a long-winded survey, you start the game by staging a prison break. The way you use weapons, spells, and different skills to escape helps the game determine the sort of player you are. Б

Morrowind's combat was universally regarded as boring, so it was important to Oblivion's team to punch up that

т For the kids, pulse-pounding combat (eft). For the oldsters pretty covered bridges (right).

aspect of play. “Ме really wanted to make а game that we wanted to play,” says Howard. “We've added а ton of new action-oriented attack moves, and combat isn’t about random die rolls— you're going to run around and bash people a lot."

A colossal RPG of this caliber seems пре for а harvest of Xbox Live Marketplace doodads (see page 78 for the scoop on this service), and Bethesda agrees. Players in possession of the 360 hard drive will be able to purchase exclusive equipment using Xbox Live points. “Marketplace 360 is going to be a big deal for us,” says Howard. “One of the first mods we're offering is horse armor: We have hors- es you can ride around on in the game and we had this idea kind of late in the process—wouldn’t it be cool if you could buy armor for your horse?"

What could possibly go wrong? Despite the fact that its developer guarantees that ме" see Oblivion on

shelves alongside the 360 hardware on day one, a few nasty bugs are still infecting its mammoth fantasy. “There is a unicorn in the game, and the other day when I was playing | found it dead,” explains Howard. “The Minotaur killed it; he’s supposed to protect it, but his A.I. is just too aggro.” If the game’s inhabitants can’t get along, is there any hope for players? Massive patches, bug-fixes, and even recalls happen surprisingly frequently in the realm of PC games, but nobody wants to bring home a busted, buggy, and potentially crash-ridden console game on launch day. —Kathleen Sanders >

Earning Cred

brotherhood, and Arena.”

Oblivion's Achievement Awards directly relate to the game's largest quests. “You'll be able to get a total of six different awards,” explains Executive Producer Todd Howard. “Each medal relates 10 one of the six main quest lines—fighters, mages, thieves, dark

ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com • 99

licrosoft | ENSEM

game studios: то ото

Publisher: Тесто. Developer: Team Ninja Release Date: November 2005

s: Tecmo’s renowned 3D

fighting franchise has remained a ШШШ loyal Xbox staple for years, and the latest installment pushes the series’ lush visu- als even further. Scantily clad vixens engaging in jiggly catfights have never looked better.

st: Many hardcore fighting purists still Gonsider pe or Alive inferior to Virtua Fighter and Soul Calibur in terms of complexity, but even the most jaded pugilist has to give DOA props for its full-featured online play (introduced last year in Dead or Alive: Ultimate). Of course, the father of Tecmo’s sexy series regards this title with his nor- mal level of humility. “There is no other fighting game in the world that can compete with 0044” explains DOA creator Tomonobu Itagaki. “I am also not good-natured enough to call something that doesn’t even support online fighting in the year 2005 a fighting game.” (Cough, Tekken 5.) DOA4 will up the online ante with planned four-player matches over Xbox Live. (DOAU offered one-on-one only.)

And although it's not terribly chic to be a graphics whore...the DOA titles provide fast 'n' dirty thrills for those gamers in search of sexy visuals (of sexy gals). Realistic clothing, wicked motion blur, and vast, multitiered arenas should make this the pretti- est DOA to date.

And for those fans hoping for deeper gameplay, this game may actually deliver. Itagaki and his team plan to rework the subtler aspects of offense, grap- pling, and reversals іп ПОДА. Also, expect more sig- nature moves for each fighter and maneuvers that more closely reflect each character's personality.

g ? Probably not much: It's not as sif р0д4 could tum ош to be crap—the series has a solid pedigree, and this sequel doesn't significantly alter the recipe. The previous DOA titles could prove a tough act to follow, though: While DOA4 looks great, so did DOAU. Fans expecting ап astronomical visual leap from Xbox to 360 might feel a tinge of disappointment upon seeing the similar- looking character models here. --5.В.

i

Hmm, this stage ks kind of familiar...

Сгед

“т a bit confused about these so-called achievement awards," admits 2044 creator Tomonobu Itagakí. "Having said that, though, I'm pretty sure that they’re in the game.”

102 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY e www.1UP.com

XBOX 360: the r

T 1! == ©

=

If shooting, racing, and football just aren't your thing, maybe Sega's offbeat crime-adventure hybrid Condemned will keep you cozy this winter. In the words of Producer Dave Hasle, “Criminal Origins is the unique combination of a gritty first-person action game set in the tense atmosphere of a psychological thriller.” Prepare for a blend of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay gameplay (first-person exploration and fisticuffs with grimy hobos) and CS/-inspired sleuthing (get ready to spray some lumi- nol and dust for prints). You do holster the occasional pistol, but strictly limited ammo makes this feel more like a sur- vival-horror escapade than a run-n-gun first-person shooter.

Not pictured: The titular ape.

Publisher: Sega Developer: Monolith Release Date: November 2005

€

‚№ The awful new face Of terror: Derelicts ad pipes.

Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Release Date: November 2005

The man behind the Lord of the Rings flicks will make the oversized ape cool again with this can't-miss holiday film, and he's working closely with Ubisoft to assure that the videogame version of his brainchild doesn't suck.

Kong offers two distinct types of gameplay: First, you portray heroic Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) as he tackles unruly jungle beasts in a first- person shooter-adventure hybrid. These paranoid encounters with bloodthirsty dinos give way to an altogether different experience: acrobatically swinging, jump- ing, and grappling as mon- strous Kong himself. Think Prince of Persia, only you're the size of a house. ‘Amazingly, this lovely 360 game looks nearly as sweet on Xbox and Р52....

<=

Publisher: Activision Developer: Neversoft

This ambitious merger of open-ended, Grand Theft Auto design and a brutal Wild West setting could be gaming’s next big thing. You're a brooding cow- boy with a brave new world to explore: the American West at its most lawless and enchanting. You'll discover your manifest destiny while fighting from horseback across vast prairies, hijack- ing strumpet-filled stagecoaches, and surviving deadly saloon shoot-outs.

Release Date: November 2005

Gun hails from a veteran develop- ment team (Neversoft, the guys behind the megapopular Tony Hawk games), and we're definitely impressed by the scope of the дате, Still, we’re а bit let down that the 360 version doesn’t look too terribly different than the Xbox one. But even if the visuals aren’t mind- blowing, at least solid design and gameplay should make it one of the deepest launch titles.

Bound for

OK, these titles haven't been officially confirmed yet, but trust us—they’re on the way.

1 Halo 3 * Microsoft Splinter Сей 4 е Ubisoft Fable 2 е Microsoft Forza Motorsport 2 • Microsoft Rygar 2 * Tecmo E Shadowrun • Microsoft “ Mercenaries 2 * LucasArts True Fantasy Live Online * Microsoft Marvel RPG * Microsoft

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198% St. Sauveur, D-Day +10

I’ve been out of Baker's shadow for no nore than three days now and already I'm feeling the weight of my fear. The fear that around every corner somebody's lying in wait. The fear that any wrong

choice could end up killing what I'm trying to save. Well, somebody's got to lead this fight. And 1f І call this right, пу men — the men who have fought next to me — will get out of this hell alive.

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TAKING COMMAND ISN'T EASY. TAKING THE CONSEQUENCES IS EVEN HARDER.

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XBox PC: Versionai@-2005 Gearbox Software, LLC АН rights reserved. Published and distributed by Ubisoft Entertainment under license from Gearbox Software; LLCyPlayStation 2 versión © 2005 Ubisoft Entertainment. Ай Rights Reserved, Brothers In Arms Eamed In Blood is a trademark of Gearbox Software and used under license. Ubisoft. Ubi.com, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Gearbox Software and the Gearbox logo are registered trademarks of Gearbox Software, LLC. Software platform logo TM ТЕМА 2003. 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. "PlayStation" and the “PS” Fa a а of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Online play requires internet connection and Memory Card (8MB) (for PI (each sold separately). The Online icon is trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. ATI Technologie 1 апа RADEON are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ATI Technologies Inc.

| се

MOST

EA's street racing phenomenon evolves again with Most Wanted— a far different beast than the previ- ous two best-selling Underground games, This time, the road rage takes place on brightly lit highways in gritty, industrial environments, and you’re more interested in blaz- ing past the cops than installing neon ground effects. Moving up the ranks of the cops’ “black list” requires plenty of offensive driving, and you'll learn to navigate the nooks and crannies of the game's massive, open-ended environments before ascending to the coveted “most wanted” spot.

Since this game also hits the current-gen consoles this fall, the 360 version doesn't deviate too far from the source. Even so, expect upgraded visuals, slightly more realistic physics, and more respon- sive enemy А.1. compared to its last-gen cousins.

FOR

VUANTE

Developer: EA Canada

| Publisher: EA Games Release Date: November 2005

MILLER

Namco’s oddly titled shooter casts players as Crow, a badass hitman tasked with taking down a deadly ter- rorist in a futuristic East Asian metrop- olis. Assassinations and car chases point to a deliberate Hitman-meets- Grand Theft Auto recipe, yet the Hong Kong aesthetic and trigger-happy gameplay should hopefully separate it from the sea of mediocre GTA clones of

Publisher: Namco. Developer: Namco Release Date: November 2005

the past two years.

Of all the “launch window” games still slated to hit shelves by year's end, this one’s particularly dubious. Visually, it’s all over the place: Some environ- ments look lifelike while others appear Sparse, and the character models seem to be hewn from plastic. Of course, graphics aren’t everything, and perhaps the final product will come together.

sa 2

№ Gears of War е Microsoft

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter • Ubisoft

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F. Coven story:

360) previews

Publisher: Microsoft: > ААПЛЕО: Dee

Release Date:

— EE ЛЕП Т S vas OF POUUER

“It's not a collect-a-thon,” Microsoft's Ken Lobb says about this colorful fairy-powered adventure from Rare—a develop- er notorious for making games based on nab-every-doodad busywork. That's not to say Kameo, which has you guiding a sassy fairy who morphs into different monsters, doesn’t give you things to grab. She'll find coins to buy more health and fruits to power up her creatures, but it's all optional.

So instead of collecting, the focus here is on puzzle solv- ing and combat. Lots of it. You'll plunge on horseback into four massive battles—the largest in videogame history—set on fields crammed with thousands of jostling enemies. It's a powerful display of the Xbox 360's hardware hutzpah. We're. just not so sure grown-up gamers will be down with game's kiddified visuals and story line.

Publisher: Activision Developer: Id/Raven Release Date: November 2005

i ps b ине. WURKE 4

show gameplay?

Does developer Id Software really need to keep making both Doom and Quake? Couldn't you just shoot aliens and demons in the same game? Actually, in the wake of Doom 3's dark, claustrophobic vibe, maybe a trip to Quake's plan- etside shootin’ is in order. This time, you're invading the nasty Strogg homeworld, and you're not alone—a Halo- esque group of A.I. squadmates fights alongside you. Expect a deeper story line, plenty of cinematics, and a twisty plot that finds your hero amassing ‘superhuman powers.

Factor in some сте. ДЫ. ative new weapon- 4 Ј 3 ‘

24) гу, vehicles, and 3۵ E hearty online multi- player, and this dark horse could make a big impact on 360.

ТОЧ HRUVM'S | ЕЕ RfUlERICRIU else Dat WWASTELAMD

While you were out, Tony Hawk games got all high- concept on us—here, you're a Podunk skate brat trying to bust into the gritty L.A. skate scene. The series’ trademark humor remains safely intact, but Wasteland does sport a more realistic tone than the cornball THUG games. Pioneering skaters, artists, and

72 skate-scene musicians add а bit of history to the

{ grindin’ action. Los Angeles also provides an impres- sive, interconnected, free-roaming environment. No

. levels here, just sandhox-style Grand Theft

Auto-inspired missions you can complete at your

wn pace. It’s solid fare as usual, and the 360 ver-

п edges out its current-gen relatives in the visual

lepartment...though not by as much as we'd hoped. >

108 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY

Experience true-to-life swordplay and motion capture Journey through graphically stunning by one of Japan's leading swordfight composers. i environments as the historic tale unfolds.

Developed by industry veterans who continue to innovate the genre.

DO IY Хара Ue Ne ВУ м

Like brushstrokes on an ancient canvas, the landscape of Japan lies peaceful and serene.

Yet beneath this veil of mystical beauty lies a tortured people ruled by the sword of a brutal

samurai clan, casting a shadow over the future. But there is hope, for within two

warriors’ kindred hearts burns the unquenchable fire of redemption. And soon their enemies

will learn a beautiful but painful truth: the art of revenge is always painted in blood.

www.genji-thegame.com

MATURE 17+

Violence

Blood and Gore PlayStation.?

LIVE IN YOUR WXRLD. PLAY ІМ QURS?

of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "Live In Your World. Play In Ours." is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

couer stor m 360 previews

Й са Ү АЯНООЕШ Г

fits in the: game, поў 8

Е

и What's next-gen football without fans, cheerleaders, and...uh, pirate ships?

Seeing is believi an actual in-game screensho Madden NFL 06. It may not blow you away, but it looks much pret- tier in motion, After playing the 360 Madden for a while, we found it hard to

m.

Ballon22 ж

The Sidelines

Just as in a real NFL game, the sidelines will be littered with players, coaches, cam- eramen, and pom-pom-waving cheerleaders. But no longer will these out-of-bounds folks stand there like emotionless figurines. “Players and coaches won't just react when you score," explains Associate Producer lan Cummings. "Say you've just broken away from the pack on а kickoff return. You'll run by the sidelines and your The Animations 4:

coach and teammates will excitingly jump up and down." The Eagles' Donovan McNabb pulling back from center to signal « И j

an audible, Indy’s Peyton Manning fooling a defender with his "ч % и 4 ve Y.

double-handed pump fake, Kansas City's Priest Holmes perform- ing his "can't touch this” taunt after reaching рау dirt—these are just three.of the roughly 4,000 animations in the next-gen Madden (which is about double the amount

found in current-gen versions). "We're rebuild- k ing the animation system from scratch,” А says Cummings. "And for every team, we have at least two or three players who have specific animations."

But it's more than just-a numbers game; this one will also include hun- dreds of actions that are absent from (or technically not possible in) previous editions. So now you'll see the offense | rush up to the line of scrimmage in a | panic to spike the ball, receivers cry for pass interference, and yes, you can finally jump over the pile at the goal line. The list goes on and оп.... )

The Play-by-Play

Sorry, Johnny Ballgame, but it’s time for you to zip it. With the move to a new con- sole, EA has replaced the duo of John “I state the obvious" Madden and А! Michaels with а no-name announcer who'll call the action like he's working for your team's local radio station. And since this guy has ties to your squad, he'll sound a lot more emotional when you make a spectacular score...or a boneheaded turnover. But the game ain’t totally Madden-free; you can still ask him for advice when picking plays.

Eo а А Дум

| You to use the tricky vision control passing system. Good call, guys. |

The Weather

Don't be surprised if you see NASA thanked in the game's credits, as EA used those brainiacs’ resources to obtain weather data for each NFL city. This info also enabled the developers to make sure the sun hit each stadium at the appropriate angle, meaning that “shadows actually fall where they do іп real life,” says Moye. In addi- tion, expect snow and rainfall (along with the parts of the field that are getting the toughest workout) to now affect surface degradation. _

112 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

- PSM

COMING THIS FALL TO PSP"

(PLAYSTATION*?PORTABLE) SYSTEM

information. PlayStation. Portable

Visit www.esrb.org for updated rating | 44 (уң “ ћ,

отша төн

The Sounds “We're taking you out of the booth and onto the field,” says Audio Director Aubrey-Hodges. Using NFL Films’ vault of miked-up player tracks, EA has. added sounds that you never hear while watching. football on television. So when Peyton Manning calls an audible, you'll actually hear his voice. When the Ravens’ Ray Lewis makes a ргеѕпар defensive check, it'll sound just like him. And when the Eagles' Terrell Owens brags to the opposition about how they can't stop him, well, you get the drill. Yet that's just part of the audio equation. “Tackles will really sound like tackles,” says Hodges. “Blocking will really sound like blocking.” And if you own a surround sound system, you can hear a chasing defender's footsteps (and his heavy breathing) behind you. Awesome.

Madden Makeover

“We can Players will now в: EA did Players will sport

now adjust how mus- have different-sized shoulder pads 3D head scans of roughly 200 different accessories cular or not muscular Corresponding to their position (so 200 key NFL (gloves, wristbands, extra-large

each body part is,” says big pads for fatty lineman, itty-bitty players, plus the cups, etc.). Sadly, no hand-warmer | Producer Jeff Luhr. ones for skill players). head coaches. pouches. ("Next year,” EA says.)

Why Mext-Gen Ain*t ALL That

| а | Beautiful visuals, all-new animations, a true-to-life atmosphere—how can the | next-gen edition of Madden not be the ultimate football prize? Well, aside from {һе game’s online play and 30-year franchise mode, this version’s feature set is 1 pretty bare bones when compared to the current-gen installment. You won't find |

the robust owner or superstar mode here, and forget about а create-a-player | Е option and classic teams. So don't trade in your PS2, Xbox, or GameCube copy of PEE Madden NFL 06 just yet.

14 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

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>

XBOX 360:

Microsoft's next-gen console will have plenty of balls

eason No. 45 cosplayers hate sportos: They always де the most games at the release of a new console, and 360 is no different.

If you missed our exclusive NBA Live 06 preview last issue (#196), you should know that EA’s basketball sim will storm the court with a much more physical game, a dynamic camera system, plus an achievement system that rewards you for winning the MVP trophy and NBA finals,

NBA 2Кб and NHL 2Кб are also slated to appear in the launch window, but we're a little weary: The only thing 2K Sports can tell us about either title is that both will feature all-new cloth anima- tions. We can hear your excitement.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 will receive some much-needed upgrades, and it'll be mostly noticeable around the links (as in actual fans). The next-gen golfer will also feature 16 achievement awards such as ranking No.1 in one of the game modes.

Still don’t know who David Beckham is? Well, then you might not care that FIFA 06 will have almost quadruple the number of animations, which translates into distinctive running styles, freestyle Kicks, and player reactions,

Outside of mainstream sports (at least for videogames), Top Spin 2 will offer smarter opponents, and shredfest Amped 3 goes big with huge mountains (six times larger than the previous game's) and an ambitious story mode.

next-gener:

graphics.

Expect Tiger's Courses оп championship Sunday to be full of cheering fans (it's about time).

Top Spin 2: A good reason for those country-club snobs to buy an Xbox 360.

soundscapes. Should

» Arcade: You Just Spent $400 to Play Beseweled

Come Xbox 360 launch day, you may find yourself overwhelmed by all the whiz-bang next-gen

visuals and trippy quadraphonic

this hap-

pen, make like a soccer mom and visit the all-new Xbox Live Arcade (incompatible with origi- nal Xbox). Here, you can down- load various action, puzzle, and

5 Ре"

Back ~ contin

parlor games that you save on either the Xbox 360 hard drive or a memory unit. Demos are free, and the full games (most of which offer online multiplay-

er) will run between $9.99 and $19.99 each. Other titles avail- able on launch day include Joust, Bankshot Billiards, and Marble Blast Ultra.

-—|

Wik: Fable of Souls: Thrill to this simple 2D platformer-puzzler hybrid starring a hideous troll doll with a long prehensile tongue. No relation to hit game Fable.

Mutant Storm Reloaded: Save humani- ty from endless waves of deadly alien scum in this classic arcade-style shooter. Aliens...shooting...it's kind of like Halo!

Hexic HD: Every Xbox 360 hard drive comes preloaded with this popular tile- based puzzler from legendary Tetris cre- ator Alexy Pajitnov. h

беше(етент

T Combat" . pre-Qrder Battlefield 2: КЕ с ,

redit When You

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Get $5 more trade credit when you trade any Nintendo GameCube™, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, or Xbox? action game toward your pre-order

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Visit us at for the store nearest you! / For more game information visit

а oni | — PlayStation.2 4 ome eunea BROADBAND ERE

and Memory Card (8MB) (for PlayS marks of Digital lusion ered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the US. ‘Computer Entertainment Inc. The Online пе Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks spective owners, EAT" is an Electronic Arts™ brand. ©2005

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* 4 Rechargeable Battery Packs

| XBOX 360 ACCESSORIES TRAVEL CASE

A metal, lockable hard case that can hold one game and comes packed with:

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118 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

NEW AXE SHOWER GEL

PRESENTS

= "A STRATEGY PREVIEW FOR UBISOFT FARCRY INSTINCTS” M

Some say Jack Carver settled down in Micronesia because he was on the run from past mistakes... And while it's true that the dishonorable discharge and the price on his head made it hard to earn an honest living, that had never

Stopped Jack before.

A few years and lot of boat trips later and Jack can almost imagine that life was always this simple. Maybe that's why he doesn't smell trouble when Val Cortez shows up at his dock with her cameras and her swimsuit and a day-pack full of cash. Or when she asks him to take her to the dacutan islands, a remote archipelago that the locals know enough to avoid...

Now his boat and livelihood are so much burning debris, Val's dis- appeared, and everywhere he runs Jack finds more wackjobs in fatigues trying to shoot him or blow him up or run him over. On top of that, he's cornered in a merciless tropical jungle, where a violent death lurks just an inch below the natural beauty. | даск has to either embrace the wilderness and make its brutality his own, or he'll face extinction at the point of а mercenary gun.

JACK CARVER

Carver was forced to disappear from the States when his merchandise was used to snuff the nephew of a top New York mob boss. Now lying low in the South Pacific, he ekes out а living delivering “fishing gear” to various importers, and he oan still smell а deal a mile away. When

an attractive journalist approaches him with plenty of currency just to take her to the remotes |" Jacutan archipelago, he leaps at the chance. с

It will feel like open season in а 100% open environment: Do whatever it takes to exterminate the mercenaries, in any situation. Take cover in the undergrowth, set traps, and kill by stealth. Battle from extreme long range, from gun-mounted vehicles. Fight in close quarters or through the wilds of the island. Here are just some of the challenges you will face.

GRUNT

Dressed in simple attire and fatigues, these mercs are your basic grunt enemy, filling the Jacutan islands like ants on a | fallen ice-cream cone. During combat, a grunt's primary concern is to find cover in order to gain an edge in the gunfight.

| Difficulty: ++

SNIPER Decked out in Ghillie suits, these mercs are highly trained in long-range weaponry. They are

"| extremely effective killers and should be regarded as considerable foes. | Difficulty: +++

hn

SCOUT

The mercenary scout role is to move ahead, spot and assess any potential danger the unit might encounter, and then return the intel to the squad leader. His weapons of choice are the Benelli M3 shotgun for close-quar- ter battles and the M4 assault rifle for when the target is at a distance.

Difficulty: ++

ТАН. GUNNER

The tail gunner ensures that no potential threats are able to sneak up on the unit. He carries a variety of goodies, like M82A1 anti- personal Claymore mines, that he can rig as booby traps against pursuers. These dangerous mercs are highly trained in the || use of explosives and midrange weapons.

Difficulty: ++

SQUAD LEADER

The squad leader hands out orders and orchestrates the unit's maneuvers using the information relayed by the scout. Taking

Я out the squad leader is like cutting the head off a chicken.

Difficulty: ++

WWW.BRADYGAMES.COM/FARCRY

BRADYGAMES

Equipment that looks and feels real: Plunder an arsenal of responsive, realistic weapons and vehicles including P90s, MP5s, mortars, ATVs, gunboats, hang gliders and much more. Turn the mercenaries’ stockpile into the instruments of their own destruction.

A SMALL SAMPLE OF AVAILABLE EQUIPMENT

Light BUTTERFLY KNIFE

Small, compact, and rapidly deployed, this small knife will be the first weapon that Carver finds.

GLOCH

The Glock 18 is an extremely reliable weapon capable of a high rate of fire. Its extended magazine is able to handle 31 rounds, which can be very effective. Akimbo possible.

Heavy MP5

Small, lightweight, accurate, the MP5 is perfect for close- quarter battle. This is one of the first weapons you will ind in the game.

Akimbo possible. pag

t may not have the range of an assault rifle, but because of the caliber it uses, the Р9О can still defeat standard CRISAT helmets and armor vests at reasonable distances

50-100 meters). Akimbo possible.

CARBINE

he carbine is perfect for covert operations. It enables

= um the individual soldier operating in close quarters to engage targets with accurate, lethal fire. It’s also equipped with a zoom for long-distance kills.

Deadly

MACHINE GUN

The M249 S.A.W. is a lightweight, gas-operated, maga- zine or disintegrating metallic link-belt fed, individually portable machine gun capable of delivering a large vol- ume of effective fire.

MORTAR STATIONARY WEAPON

The mortar excels in tactical environments for defense, retrograde, patrolling, rear area security, and special operations. Its 40 mm bullet causes a lot of damage.

Land Vehicles

HOVERCRAFT

The hovercraft is slow, hard to maneuver, and doesn't accelerate very fast, but it’s the most versatile vehicle available. The military-equipped hovercraft is ideal for areas where land and water terrain are plentiful.

Air Vehicles

GLIDER

Frequently used by the mercs for emergencies, the glider will let the player descend to the ground smoothly.

Sea Vehicles

PATROL BOAT

The patrol boat is big, sturdy, and armed with a .50 cal Browning M2; it’s useful for getting across contested water in a hurry. It is not amazingly fast, but it can take a great deal of damage.

Co nd

One of the coolest features of Far Cry Instincts is the Map Editor. It allows you to create your very own multiplayer maps, which can be used individually or published on Xbox Live? for use with others. While the possibilities for map creation are unlimited, we аге going to show you just how powerful and easy to use the built-in Map Editor is. We are going to create a simple, yet functional and entertaining sample map right from the mind of Shawn LeBlanc, the Programmer/Designer for the Map Editor portion of Far Cry Instincts.

"ne THE BASICS With these early parameters there are nine possible combinations at the very start of the map creation process. For the sample map, select the Tropical map template, and the Military brush set.

of three brush sets. These brush sets аге;

TROPICAL а) MILITARY ЕТГІ: RUINS E ж”. 1 мам =: RESEARCH

Once the map template and brush set have been decided, the terrain must be - EMEN created. After the terrain is placed and modified to your satisfaction, the next Е thing to do is add in the physical objects like trees, shrubs, fences, tents, and other incidental objects that aren't directly related to map strategy. Once this is all in place, you must place the Health Kits, the Armor, the Flag positions, the respawn points, and the vehicles; in other words, you must place everything that does affect gameplay and strategy. Once this is done, the map can be used. However, you will probably want to take another pass over the map to add the grace touches.

CREATING THE MAP

This simple map has two islands, two bridges, two blue and two red respawn points, and two flag positions.

Lay out the Land | ГА As mentioned previously, select the |. Bm [5] Tropical template and the Military brush

set. From here, go directly into the Map | Editor, where you can begin to create

Make the second island close enough that the two islands сап be connected by bridges.

Once the two basic land the land masses. Use the left trigger

ДА ın woot LS f М - | в masses are created, you can to enter МЕЗ mode. The right trigger n smooth them out (B button) selects Terrain mode. ow and raise (Y button) or lower

erm өл. (А button) them as much as

you want until you have the exact islands you envisioned.

— же”; Use the Y button to raise the terrain ЁЗ B» | inside your cursor; note that you should make your cursor fairly large to create the initial land masses. Move the cursor around and create two islands that are similar in size and close enough to each other that a reasonably long bridge can [iue ET EN connect the two.

Make the cursor large and raise your land mass on the first island.

Use the tools to smooth things out and create exactly the land mass you have envisioned.

Advertisement |

Place the Flags and Respawn Points 777” 2%... Now that the islands аге set up, place the ы Blue Team and Red Team flags and respawn points on the islands. Try to place them in roughly equal proximity to key island loca- tions on both sides so that one team doesn't have an advantage over the other. Two respawn points for these maps is optimal, but four would not be out of line.

Populate the Island with Objects Now that you have the basic layout and you know where the respawn points and flags до, #5 time to populate the island with trees, shrubs, tents, rocks, кер} whatever your heart desires. The only

Place the flags and respawn points.

caveat is that you always place objects with a eye on gameplay balance. That is, don't put a fence around one of the flags and not the other, for example.

This is also the time to place key bonus items such as Health Kits, Armor, Mega Armor, and weaponry. For powerful weapons like the Rocket Launcher, it can be a good idea to place the item in the middle of the bridges between the two islands, or even on a mini-island in between the two main land masses. This way whoever gets there

Place objects such as Health Kits. first wins the prize.

This is also the time to erect fences and other barriers (again, equally on both sides) that will direct the flow of player movement into choke points. If you don't want to include these sorts of things, then don't, but for the map created here, there are short fence segments on both sides.

Fence segments direct the fighting into choke points or “hot spot.”

Build the Bridges

This map includes two bridges. The two bridges in this map have excellent lines of sight to each other, so some land masses were added between the bridges to make things a little more interesting. Lay down your bridges across the islands | with an eye on play balance. In other words, don't put a bridge too close to a path to one of the player's flags.

Place two bridges.

BASED ON A GAME Ez RATED BY THE ESR

We placed land in between the bridges in order to eliminate sight lines between the two.

Place Vehicles and Weapons

You're almost done. Now is the time to place whatever vehicles you want on the island. Since this map is a water-based map, two Water Scooters were included. For the land portion, a Humvee and a pair of ATVs were included. While the Humvee doesn't have much ground to drive over, its gun is a powerful and handy weapon that can give whichever team occupies it an advantage.

ШАС. о РЕНЕ

Also place a land-based vehicle or two as well.

Place a Water Scooter or perhaps a boat.

Apply the Grace Notes and Explore Your Map

That's it, you're done! The map can now be used. You could now move around and apply the grace notes, cleaning up or altering the map as you see fit. You can also hop into the map and actually run around to give it a go. Cruising around a map you just created is plenty of fun, but when you actually play the map with your buddies, the fun really begins!

Е

Qum oos LL. пунили ан

Yov're done. Hop into the map and go for a spin!

СЕТ" ж

farcrygame.com

Far Cry, Far Cry Instincts, Ubisoft, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in ће U.S. and/or other countries. Rainbow Six, Red Storm, and the Red Storm logo are trademarks of Red Storm Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Red Storm Entertainment, Inc. is a Ubisoft Entertainment company. 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

revieW CLE

а ball-rolling game, а surgery дате, а Lawyer game, and asRleptomaniacal raccoon

GAME DIRECTORY

Multiplatform 128 Indigo Prophecy 128 Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks 129 Evil Dead Resurrection 130 NBA 2K6 130 NBA Live 06 131 NCAA March Madness 06 134 Burnout Revenge 138 Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects

140 The Suffering: Ties That Bind 140 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06

PlayStation 2

142 Shadow of the Colossus

143 Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2

144 We ¥ Katamari

145 Genji: Dawn of the Samurai

146 Devil Kings

146 Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves

Xbox 150 Far Cry Instincts 150 Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes

GameCube 152 Battalion Wars

PSP

154 Burnout Legends

154 Virtua Tennis

156 Madden NFL 06

156 PoPoLoCrois

Nintendo 05

158 Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow 160 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 160 Trauma Center: Under the Knife 162 Lost in Blue

162 Lunar: Dragon Song

Extra Stuff 164 Reviews Wrap-up 166 Reviews Archive

THIS MONTH IN REVIEWS...

astlevania is ап unstoppable (PSP), and the pseudosequel to cult- е force. The last four portable classic Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, all

‘Vania games have ай walked came within half a point of Dawn of away with Game of the Month honors Sorrow. But if you like a dark horse, (including this issue’s Dawn of Sorrow), Indigo Prophecy—from long-dormant despite the fact that Dracula himself developer Quantic Dream (maker of seems to have retired as the main Omikron for Dreamcast and PC)—is the villain. The latest pulls a Buck Rogers biggest surprise by far. One reviewer and takes place in the year 2036, for called this riff on the nearly dead point- crying out loud—and yet still manages and-click adventure genre “one of the to be absolutely great, thanks to deep, most unique games this year.” challenging gameplay, old-school yet And if you’re wondering about all faultless graphics, and perfect controls. extra the faces on our Review Crew this

But it almost didn’t win. Burnout month, blame Christmas. The videogame

Revenge (PS2/XB), Burnout Legends silly season is just beginning.

126 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

THE RATING SYSTEM & AWARDS

straight 10s.

For games that are life- changing.

юг games with an average score of 9.0 or higher.

with a mean score of 8.0 or higher.

The highest- scoring game each month gets a star.

The lowest- rated game with unani- mously bad ore:

ESRB Ratings The ESRB's game ratings range from "Everyone" 10 “Adults Only.” Visit www.esrb.org for the full lowdown.

THE REVIEW CREW

DAN “SHOE” HSU, Editor-in-Chief Likes: System launches, Castlevania DS

launches Blog: egmshoe.1UP.com

JENNIFER Т5А0, Managing Editor Likes: Bosses named

General Tsao, Dungeon

Siege II (PC)

Dislike VD format

wars, natural disasters

Blog:

egmjennifer.1UP.com

SHANE BETTENHAUSEN, Previews Editor Likes: Castlevania, cannibalism, colossi,

calculus, cacti Blog: egmshane.1UP.com

BRYAN INTIHAR, News Editor Likes: Action, adventure, sports, your momma Dislikes: Zelda: Twilight Princess being delayed,

your daddy

Blog:

egmbryan.1UP.com

JONATHAN DUDLAK, Staff Reviewer Likes: Death by zombie,

ninja, or cyclops

Dislikes: Death by

spikes, lava, or

explosion

Blog:

едт. jonathan.1UP.com

JAMES LEE, Staff Reviewer Likes: Maria Supernova

on PSP...and in ту

pants

Dislikes: Writing about likes and dislikes

Blog:

egmwiley.1UP.com

PATRICK MAURO, Staff Reviewer Likes: Virtua Tennis and

Madden on my

handheld, break dancing Dislikes: Things that

don't involve sports

Blog:

What, me blog?

KATHLEEN SANDERS, Staff Reviewer Likes: Yelling "STAT!" at

my DS, samurai justice

Dislikes: One-shot kills,

cowboy justice, Celebrity

Justice

Blog:

cookiecups.1UP.com

JUSTIN SPEER, Staff Reviewer Likes: Choosing his own adventure, having an

impact

Dislikes: Novelty for

novelty's sake

Blog:

zepyulos.1UP.com

MARK MACDONALD, Executive Editor Likes: Action, adventure, action-adventure, killin’

colossi

Dislikes: Optional hard

drives, Katamari co-op

Blog:

egmmark.1UP.com

CRISPIN BOYER, Senior Editor Likes: 5.1 surround

‘sound, the heady aroma

of new consoles

Dislikes: Damn cables everywhere, non-HDTVs

Blog:

egmcrispin.1UP.com

DEMIAN LINN, Reviews Editor Likes: Styrofoam

peanuts, that new.

console smell

Dislikes: Bundle packs, second mortgages

Blog:

egmdemian.1UP.com

ROBERT ASHLEY, Staff Reviewer Likes: Falling asleep

while cradling his DS

(while in surgery)

Dislikes: Waking up next

to his PSP

GREG FORD, Staff Reviewer Likes: Double jumps, four-day weekends, platformers

Dislikes: Single јипу working vacations

Blog:

egm_ford.1UP.com

NICH MARAGOS, Staff Reviewer Likes: RPGs, rhythm

games, root beer

Dislikes: PS1 RPGs re- packaged and slapped

on PSP

Blog:

debaser.1UP.com

CHRISTIAN NUTT, Staff Reviewer Likes: Shining Force

Neo, Meteos, and

Meteos

Dislikes: Playing bad

games instead of those

Blot

ferricide.1UP.com

GREG SEWART, Staff Reviewer Likes: The return of the

NHL, anything NASCAR, 2م‎ fast women

Dislikes: What happened

to the new Lunar (DS)

Blog:

stewy.1UP.com

№ We also like to call our foolhardy friends over at OFFICIAL U.S. PLAYSTATION MAGAZINE and 1UP.COM to help us out in times of great desperation. They wash their hands often and avoid eye contact, so everything's cool.

ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com • 127

гелеш сгеш: multiplatform

PS2/XB

MORTAL KOMBAT: SHAOLIN MONKS

Dynamic duo

MK horseplay: It’s always fun until somebody loses a spine.

75

MNT

THE VERDICTS

75 8.0

G. FORD [t

INDIGO PROPHECY

Publisher: Midway Developer: Midway Players: 1-2

ESRB: Mature

www.mkmonks.com

Nostradamus didn't predict this one

When the bathroom is also the crime ‘scene, sometimes it’s better just to hold it.

THE VERDICTS (QUT OF 10)

128 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

8.59.08.5

Publisher: Atari Developer: Quantic Dream Players: 1

ESRB: Mature

www.indigoprophecy.com

Good: Solid fighting system, entertaining multiplayer Bad: Objectives can be unclear; simple puzzles

Unlockable Fun: Mortal Kombat Il

G. FORD: You'd be excused for taking one look at this game and running for the hills. Fact is, the Mortal Kombat nonfighters (the Mythologies and Special Forces of the series) haven't exactly brought honor to the mostly fighting-game series. But Shaolin Monks—an action/adventure/brawler star- ring series vets Liu Kang and Kung Lao— shows how to correctly execute a spin-off.

Right off the bat, it’s easy to get a hang of the game's fluid pace and responsive controls. In fact, the fighting and combo systems are so well designed that you'll find yourself naturally creating combos almost immediately. (The combo system is similar to God of War's string-hits-together approach, though more forgiving.)

Co-op play is particularly enjoyable and actually rewards you with unlockables. And it wouldn't be an MK game without some fan service, so expect plenty of character cameos, familiar stages, and fatalities. Were it not for the sometimes-unclear objectives (coupled with a tough-to-follow map); puzzles that almost always involve throwing an enemy into a wall, spikes, and the like; and some minor annoyances, this one would be award worthy.

1UP.COM—CHE: For a hardcore 3D fight- ing fan and a grouchy ol’ Mortal Kombat cynic like myself, Shaolin Monks is the

kind of game this series has

needed for years. What makes this title Click is that, for a 3D action brawler, the controls here feel surprisingly similar to its fighting game counterpart; mash buttons to impress friends and loved ones—or actually learn the combat system and rack up insane combos with gratifying air jug- gles. Monks doesn't pretend to be an ultra- deep fighting game, realizing instead that the key to being fun lies in granting play- ers the power to shatter opponents into bite-sized chunks. Sure, there's the inevitable déjà vu from trendsetters like God of War, and the game itself can be finished (multiple times) over a weekend, but taken on its own merits, Monks is an excellent departure for the MK series.

1UP.COM—MATT: It actually makes a lot of sense to shift Mortal Kombat into the action genre. The extensive backstory, the hidden collectibles, the larger-than-life boss char- acters—these series hallmarks fit naturally into this kind of game (perhaps more natu- rally than in a fighting game, even). Add in a fluid combat system that's better than some full-fledged fighting games out there, and it's all very impressive. The main story is pretty cheesy and short, but the combat and aforementioned God of War similarities make this a pleasant surprise.

Good: Subtle player actions have real impact; makes you think

Bad: Big action sequences feel like button-pressing minigames 0ш of Character: Conspicuously noninteractive sex scene

As а mystery/adventure/thriller in videogame form, Indigo Prophecy has you playing both sides of a supernatural murder mystery with your analog sticks. The game focuses on individual actions instead of the broad strokes, giving you control of situa- tions other games present as passive cut- scenes. Interrogating a witness, hiding evi- dence at a bloody crime scene, or pouring a glass of wine all require your deliberate touch—influencing the story moment-to- moment like this is amazing. Basic charac- ter movement can feel somewhat awk- ward, alas, but it's a minor annoyance.

You'll handle traditional game activities like martial arts duels or running for your life via timed button presses (think Resident Evil 4 or Dreamcast’s Shenmue) and punishing, button-mashing stress tests. These aren't the highlights of the game, but you'll push through to experience what's next. The involving plot gets messy as you near the end, but it’s worth finishing.

Even with its frustrating imperfections, Indigo is unquestionably innovative and genuinely interesting. The adventure genre (hell, the industry in general) should take notes. If your mind’s open, let this one in.

Indigo Prophecy finally delivers on the promise of “interactive movies” more than 10 years after the term was coined. By blending ideas from

Shenmue, old-school point- Е i and-click adventures, rhythm games, and survival-horror, it blazes a trail that will cer- tainly appeal to older gamers thanks to its Strong narrative and Hitchcock-influenced cinematic feel. It's not without fault, though. The otherwise well-written story sadly degenerates as it unnecessarily accelerates toward the end, and gets lost in its own pseudo theology and techno mysti- cism. And did we really need not one, but two stealth missions to spoil the pace? Overall, though, /ndigo’s a unique, beauti- fully presented, and genuinely mature experience that shouldn't be overlooked.

From а gameplay stand- point, /ndigo isn’t much to write home about. Most of the interaction consists of exploring static environments for clues and items, while action sequences consist of Simon Says minigames. But then again, Indigo's writer/director David Cage intends for the game to be experienced like a movie—and as such, Indigo's mechanical Shortcomings seem more forgivable. The problem is that, even as a movie, Indigo's sci-fi pulp pastiche is so full of plot holes that you're left with nothing but disappoint- ment at the end. Such a bummer. Still, Indigo is one of the most unique games this year and something you've got to experience for its audacity alone.

S2/XB

EVIL DEAD КЕСЕМЕКАПОМ

Ash backward

Good: Ash (above). Evil: His. wisecracking sidekick (inset).

Publisher: THQ

Developer: Cranky Pants Players: ESRB: Mature.

THE VERDICTS (OUT OF 10)

CRISPIN JON D. CHRISTIAN

www.evildead3.com

Good: Great-lookin’ Ash, some funny quips

Bad: Grating sidekick, repetitive missions

Cool Extras Tidbit: An Evil Dead documentary is in the works

Move the-Evil Dead movies and star Bruce "Ash" Campbell as much as the next guy in line for his book signing at Barnes & Noble. So a small part of me (say, my right hand) gives this third installment in a line of truly evil Evil Dead games an automatic thumbs up for its delivered-with- gusto Bruce Campbell voice acting, unlock- able interview clips, and accurate-down-to- his-mega-chin Ash character model.

But then the gamer side of me steps in and lops that possessed hand off at the wrist, because while Regeneration is the best Evil Dead game yet, it's still not quite. the howlingly fun experience this license deserves, Set as a side story to the Evil Dead II film, Regeneration has Ash blasting and chainsawing deadites everywhere from a loony bin to a ghost town to a blood-sloshed other dimension. The combo-powered combat is repetitive but satisfying—especially once you find the nifty grapple-hook gun and flamethrower. Now, if only your pip-squeak sidekick—a perpetually reincarnating "little person" you can drop-kick onto enemies or into deadly traps—wasn’t so grating. Chuck in. repeat-20-times egg-finding quests (yes, egg-finding!) and a totally weak finale, and. you have a mediocre game that only obsessive-collector Dead fans would give their right hands for.

Ел

Ah, the shrimpy wisecracking sidekick—a clear signal that you're fresh out of substantial ideas. Ash’s lickspittle Sam takes Evil Dead from tongue-in-cheek to mouth-in-gutter while forcing gameplay down the path of “hero with helper” clichés. The game's scenarios and combat ideas are ripped right from Resident Evil 4, The Suffering, and. Devil May Cry, which is admittedly good fod- der—it makes the game something of a guilty pleasure if you’re up for a no-brains, ghoul-smashing romp. But even promising finds (I had higher hopes for the grappling gun) turn out to be one-dimensional won- ders that help make up a very linear quest.

After two pretty abysmal attempts to bring Evil Dead to consoles, publisher THQ has finally gotten it right. This game isn’t exactly original—you run around, blasting and chainsawing zom- bies—but it’s fast paced and has a few clever touches. The best has to be Ash's undead sidekick Sam (never mind Crispin and Jon D.), since he serves to break up the monotony of the combat (you use him to solve puzzles) and gives Bruce Campbell someone to play off of for one-liners. The game is funny and fun, if a little basic. Pick it up (it’s just $20) if you want a quick burst of action that isn’t a head-scratcher.

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ИВА 2К6

This year's winning team

Wow—what a comeback. After а so-so performance last year (well, if you ask this reviewer, anyway), the МВА 2K series has made all the necessary Steps to once again become the best baller out there.

And it begins on the court. Just play a few quarters and you'll quickly notice a much smarter (and more realistic) А.1.; the Kings' Peja Stojakovic will work off screens and drain three-pointers while the Heat's Dwyane Wade will drive the lane for the bucket. 2K6 also introduces some easy-to-master gameplay tweaks, including right analog stick shooting (which makes sinking jumpers just feel right) and controlling two players at once with a few simple button presses. From an audiovisual standpoint, this game sends it home with authority. Arenas full of electricity replace last year's sterile venues, and when it comes to graphics, | challenge you to find a better-looking sports sim from this generation. Its ver- sion of franchise mode is even entertain- ingly interactive; you can now put your players through minigame-esque training drills to improve their skills. Now next

5 Сау не paint with Shaq and he's dunkin’ that ball, gimpy toe or по.

(P52/X8)

CTH 12 ЕЕЕ?

year, just toss іп а slam- dunk contest and three-point shoot-out like МВА Live's....

Talk about a franchise over- haul...you'll have to relearn the game from scratch, as almost everything has changed in 2K6, right down to shooting and dribbling the ball. The new shot stick really sets 2K6 apart from the rest and gives you a great sense of controlling your shot versus simply pressing and releasing a button. This innovative addition lets you hang in the air and draw fouls, and it ups the hoops experience in a big way. One thing that didn't change is the perfect NBA pace of play. No hoops game captures it like this one. Even without the ESPN license, the presentation looks sharp. One complaint: too many jump balls.

I'm a hardcore bas- ketball fan, so 2K6 had me immersed immediately. The upgraded graphics help, but it's the ingenious shot stick that really dominates the feel of the game. Pull down on the right analog stick and release at the apex of the shot for a jumper or free throw; hold down the Aggressive button (formerly known as Turbo) in conjunction with the stick when near the basket and you'll perform a layup or a multitude of different dunks, depending on the direc- tion of the stick. It's a control style we haven't seen in any other hoops title.

2K6 also borrows the VIP system last seen in NFL 2K5, which lets you track your playing tendencies and even those of your opponents. Nice.

THE VERDICTS (OUT OF 10)

ВКУАМ

PATRICK

GREG M.

Publisher: 2K Sports Developer: 2K Sports Players: PS2 1-2 (3-10 Multitap, 2-10 online), XB 1-4 (2-8 online) ESRB: Everyone www.2Ksports.com

130 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

PS2/XB/GC

NBA LIVE 06

Rattles off Ше rim

252/8 ОМУ)

Kobe Bryant uses some poor dude as a step stool.

BRYAN: МВА Live 06 suffers the same fate as last season's Pistons—it performs well enough to get back to the big dance, but a few key mishaps send ҒА5 baller home without the crown.

So what does it get right? For starters, the new “freestyle superstar” classifica- tions, which provide certain players with poster-worthy moves, really help differen- tiate the NBA's finest from the scrubs making the league minimum. Also, execut- ing one of these maneuvers—whether it be a no-look dish with Phoenix’s Steve Nash or a “get that crap outta here” rejec- tion with Shaq—is simple. Staying with the on-court action, the transition game is much improved. Players fill the lanes and continue toward the basket after receiv- ing the rock, rather than stopping dead in their tracks like in last year’s game. And finally, Live is no longer the ugly duckling of the b-ball community (though it still has a ways to go before catching up to NBA 2K6 in the looks department).

But like | said, this one has minor problems. The camera doesn’t swing around fast enough after a change of possession, causing some turnovers and missed fast-break opportunities. Plus, the dynasty mode, slam-dunk contest, and three-point shoot-out have all basically gone untouched.

PATRICK: The chief issue with this fran- chise—stars that play like clock-punch- ing journeymen—is history now that the freestyle superstars feature brings the game’s greats to life. Ben Wallace defends with the tenacity of his real-life

THE VERDICTS

BRYAN PATRICK

counterpart, and Ray Allen

really lights it up from beyond the arc. Bryan’s also right about the transition game—players go where they’re sup- posed to on the break.

But Bryan complains that last year’s huge addition, the All-Star Weekend, is mostly unchanged—l'd argue that unchanged or not, it still remains the best nonsimulation mode in any of this sea- son's hoops games. And РИ make а pre- diction: Next year's Live will have a shot Stick à la 2K6's.

1UP.COM—GREG М: Chalk me up as another fan of the new freestyle зирег- Stars feature—it's great to see Nash, LeBron, Shaq, and the other heavy- weights dominate with their superior playmaking, power, and monster dunks. The players look better than they did last year, too, even down to details like Tim Duncan’s pigeon-toed free throw stance. But is Live enough of an improvement compared to last year, and is it worth the extra cash over 2K6? Not for this guy—I'd go for 2K6's slightly more bal- anced take on hoops. LATER

RR

га

Players: РЅ2 1-2 (3-8 w/Multitap, 2 online), XB 1-4 (2 online), GC 1-4

ESRB: Everyone www.easports.com

GREG M.

PS2/XB

NCAA MARCH - MADNESS 06

pish nets for cutting

THE VERDICTS (OUT OF 10)

PATRICK BRYAN

Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Canada Players: PS2 1-2 (3-8 w/Multitap, 2 online), XB 1-4 (2 online)

ESRB: Everyone www.easports.com

Successful college coaches know. how to make adjustments depending on the situation. МСАА March Madness 06's new defensive play-calling system forces gamers who want success to make similar adjustments on both ends of the court.

The series’ hyped new feature, the “lock- down stick,” really allows you to take charge on defense. Position a player with the left analog stick, then use the right stick to put pressure on your man or deny the pass. This definitely beefs up your defensive options, and though you might think the added emphasis on D would lead to low scores and ugly basketball, that’s not the case. The upgrades encourage up- tempo action and scores that make sense, even when announcer Dick Vitale doesn't.

Added depth and using assistant coach- es to help with recruiting make the dynasty mode a bit more interesting, but the new team-chemistry feature adds nothing. 1 do like playing as Shaq versus the late Hank Gathers in college classics mode, though.

A frenzied student section, suffo- cating full-court presses, Dickie V. shouting about God knows what—that's college basketball, all right. And it's exactly what you can expect from EA's university hard- wood. While last year's edition brilliantly

‚ЖЕЕ replicated what it's like when E you've got the rock, 06 (thanks to the new lockdown stick) adds the ability to play in- your-face defense. Plus, March Madness keeps its rep as having the brainiest b-ball АЛ. out there; computer-controlled squads aren't afraid to trap your freshman point guard at key moments. This one also shares two things in common (one good, one bad) with its big brother NBA Live 06: The visuals have been nicely spruced up, but the camera is too damn slow after a possession change. Still, 06 is letter-worthy.

Unlike a lot of college basketball titles throughout the years (cough...ESPN College Hoops...cough), NCAA March Madness 06 isn't just a pro baller with a university paint job. This one has a look and feel all its own, with the emphasis being on team play and defense. And I’m with Patrick and Bryan: The new lockdown stick really helps you put the clamps on an offensive player, and it's so simple to execute. The ice-skating effect from previous editions (players looked like they were gliding across the court rather than running) isn’t as evident this time around, and scoring doesn’t come automat- ically; the computer also takes advantage of the lockdown stick, so you’re going to have to do your homework and call plays.

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review crew: multiplatform

Insurance adjusters will cry

What a disappointment— Burnout 3's announcer, Stryker, and his 100-cringes-per- minute commentary have been axed, and now a grouch like me has almost nothing to complain about. The Stryker-less Burnout Revenge is the kind of incredibly fast, incredibly fun arcade racer that even driving-game haters can't help but love.

It is great. But it is also not very different from Burnout 3, which came out just one year ago. The basic mechanics are the same: weave through traffic at subsonic speeds, earning boost for dan- gerous maneuvers and knocking your fellow rac- ers into the weeds. The biggest change is traffic checking—head-on collisions still result in а slow- mo smash that borders on car-accident porn, but smack same-way traffic and cars skitter and slide into chain-reaction crashes. №5 a key tactic that's good for earning boost as well as taking down rivals, and even though it makes the game consid- erably easier, it's also undeniably fun.

You know something else that's fun?

Explosions. Formerly Crash-mode-only, crash- breakers are available in the later race events too, 50 if you wreck, you can trigger an explosion and (hopefully) take out nearby rivals. Like all of Revenge's tweaks, it's a minor one—but Burnout wasn't anywhere near broke, so we're not too sur- prised that the fixes amount to a buff and polish.

Crumpling steel, shattering glass, sparks from metal grinding on asphalt...these aren't fin- gernails-on-chalkboard moments but rather, the twisted-metal beauty of Burnout. And then you have that sense of speed—the sweet, eye-searing sense of speed that only Burnout can deliver. No other driving game can redline your adrenaline to such dangerous levels.

The last Burnout is a helluva tough act to follow, however, and as such, Revenge may disappoint some fans. Everything feels and looks really famil- iar, especially in the online modes, which are most- ly the same as before. But Revenge still ekes an

EN 7

Got a Burnout 3 or Madden NFL 06 game save? If so, set up your Revenge profile on the same memory card and you'll unlock special cars. A Madden 06

| save opens up the Madden Challenge van in Crash mode, while a Burnout 3 save unlocks the Dominator Assassin. Both cars pack a more explosive punch than the default Crash mode саг. 44.

шш ы

‘= ФУСВЕАТ! жж»

+ os

= (1 ) AFTERTOUCH

A new golf-game-swing-meter-like mechanic now determines your initial boost in Crash mode, adding (a little) strategy.

“awesome!” out of me for its new track designs with branching paths and high-flying ramps that only add to the excitement and intensity that’s already there. Yee-haw.

Burnout Revenge is hard to rate. On almost every level, it’s superior to Burnout 3, yet it lacks the impact of that game, which had so many pieces come together to create arguably the best arcade-racing experience ever.

But Revenge's beauty is bounteous. The addi- tions of track-opening shortcuts, an intuitive rating system, and the ability to hit same-way traffic are significant and integrated flawlessly. | have a list of tiny complaints—l'd still like to see fewer loading screens and some sort of map or indication a track is nearing the end—but the fact is, | relished each minute with this game. Just as | did with Burnout 3. Revenge offers the visceral thrills and constant level of satisfaction that few games reach, practi- Cally eliminating my desire to ever put it down.

Good: You won't want to put it down Bad: Not much different from the last game

New: Hit another car from behind...and you won't crash

134 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

[TES

DEMIAN

SHOE

G. FORD

What's the Diff? Revenge looks ~ amazing onthe а PS2, and not ж really much better on Xbox. We'd still get the Xbox ver- sion because it supports cus- tom sound- tracks and if we're paying for Live, we might as well use it. Both ver- sions offer voice chat.

Publisher: EA Games Developer: Criterion Players: 1-2 (2-6 online) ESRB: Everyone 10+

burnoutrevenge.ea.com

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...save your kingdom from certain destruction

Hows that for your first week on the job?

You only got into the Radiata Knights because your dad was famous. You just might prove yourself worthy... if your smart mouth doesnt get you killed first.

Dive headfirst into a highly detailed, interactive world that could only be realized by the creators of the Star Ocean™ series. Explore your surroundings by kicking everything in sight, from furniture to sheep to people. Pick fights with monsters and townsfolk alike,

but choose your battles wisely.

Meet all sorts of eccentric characters With the innovative Link System, Explore a fully interactive and along your journey coordinate your party members and animated environment unleash devastating team attacks in fast-paced, real-time combat

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гешеш сгеш: multiplatform

PS2/XB/GC

SPARTAN: TOTAL WARRIOR

Get your warrior on

№ Spartan: It's like a flashback to the great Cabbage Patch Kid hysteria of 1983.

7.5 9.0 8.

THE VERDICTS ITOF 10)

JUSTIN ROBERT

PS2/XB/G

MARVEL

TOM

(©з) mm

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Creative Assembly Players: 1

ESRB: Mature

www.totalwarriorgame.com

NEMESIS: RISE OF THE IMPERFECTS

Imperfect Strangers

(OUTOF 10)

THE VERDICTS

JON D. CHRISTIAN

JAMES

138 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ® www.1UP.com

Publisher: EA Games Developer: EA Canada

Players: PS2/XB 1-2 (2 online),

GC 1-2 ESRB: Teen

www.eagames.com

Good: Battlefields that look like battlefields, no shortage of challenge, Bad: Can feel unfairly difficult, some not-so-hot boss fights

God of War Cameo: Ares, as himself

JUSTIN: Spartan: Total Warrior is a total action game that looks totally impressive, but it feels like something is partially missing. Even though battlefields seem alive with possibility, your path through each level and every spectacular moment of glory along the way is preordained. So while you'll feel like a hero multitasking between slaying wall-scaling invaders, pouring boiling oil on engineers, and firing catapults at an advancing stone giant, you're not changing the course of battle— you're following it.

Still, being the driving force behind the game's spectacular and dramatic set pieces can be a powerful experience. It сап also be controller-smashingly difficult. The controls and moves are well suited to taking on literal legions of enemies, but incredibly chaotic battles and fatalistic design can combine to kill you off a dozen times in the space of an hour. After three or four failed attempts at glory, you'll start feeling a lot less heroic. A free-roaming City section that does nearly everything wrong and a couple of flat boss encoun- ters also take away from what's otherwise a great action game, but Spartan still has some epic qualities.

ROBERT: Darting around the busy streets of Athens silencing would-be snitches.

Good: Thoroughly interactive fighting arenas Bad: Gameplay is button-mashing drudgery

In Short: EA teaches new dogs old tricks

Who was that masked man? No, seriously—who was he? Heavyweight pub- lisher EA decided to inject its own home- brew heroes alongside classic Marvel cru- saders into this beat-em-up arena fighter (think Dreamcast's Power Stone, not Marvel vs. Capcom). New supermen are well and good, but the resources it took to create “Johnny Ohm” (whose tag line should have been “resistance is futile!") could have been put into making a much deeper game starring existing Marvel folks.

The fighting arenas are slick and fully interactive; found objects like parking meters and antenna towers all become weapons. But the combat creativity ends there. Faceless-cyborg-smashing melee battles are repetitive, uninspired, and glitchy. And with each story line presented in a series of minimissions averaging 3 to 4 minutes apiece, you spend a lot of your time switching characters and saving and loading instead of just playing the darn game. Despite some balance issues that give jacked-up projectile chuckers a hefty edge оп short-range strikers, the versus game is a decent way for comic fans to spar with as many superheroes as they’re willing to unlock. But for me—no thanks. | take my Marvel with a Capcom attached.

How does something like this even happen? EA splurges on this awe-

Charging across an open bat-

tlefield with my battalion in tow. Slicing through hundreds of soldiers in the open pit of the Roman Colosseum. Spartan: Total Warrior is full of these memorable scenes and hell-yeah moments. It’s always chang- ing gears—from epic battles to smaller, intense brawls, always introducing new elements, always briskly moving to the next expertly crafted level. And the com- bat...have you ever thrown a brick through a plate glass window? Every decapitating sword swipe through a Roman horde has that satisfying crunch, like 100 ceramic vases lined up for batting practice. The subtle autoaim and simple but deep con- trols provide just the right bat.

OFFICIAL PS MAG—TOM: Once | got past the blah story and uninteresting main character, Spartan treated me to an action thrill ride from start to finish—it’s one of the most polished games I’ve played since The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. From the excellent control set and weapons-upgrade path, to the vast levels and awesome combat, Spartan is a certifi- able PS2 must-buy. The game's difficulty is a bit harsh, though—even on the “easy” setting most levels are really tough. But, like a marathon, finishing Spartan will leave you both exhausted and satisfied.

some license, which brings together a gaggle of classic comic heroes and even a full slate of original characters, but the so-called story mode is a narrative- light, repetitive bashfest. Thanks to the detail-free graphics and a severe lack of gameplay ideas, this game runs out of steam after an hour or two. The fights may be intense, but they're also cheap as hell.

Nemesis doesn't work well as a 1-оп-1 fighter, either. It’s so simplistic you can squeeze every drop of fun out of it in one evening. What a waste—and a disappoint- ment for comic fans.

| hate you guys.

This newish take on the fighting game genre pits Marvel heroes like Elektra and Daredevil against each other as if they were arguing about whose movie was worse. The story jumps all over the place (you'll find yourself suddenly playing a vil- lain who's an evil ballerina cyborg), as does the difficulty: As Wolverine, | strug- gled against a mind-controlled Storm but was repeatedly kicking a seemingly defenseless Daredevil in the crotch with Elektra the next minute. But it's not about single player—Nemesis kicks costumed ass when you play head-to-head. Fighting on top of the Daily Bugle as Wolverine against the Thing is like a wet dream come true for this comic geek.

2 $ > E

>

SERRE | REL

review crew: multiplatform

PS2/XB

THE SUFFERING: TIES THAT BIND

King of the damned

When you've got blades instead of hands and feet, getting blown away by a shot- gun is really your best- case scenario.

7.5 5.06.0

GREG S. G. FORD

'S2/XB/GC

TIGER WOODS

JAMES

PGA TOUR 06

Still (mostly) grrrrrreat uis

DOWN 9.8 in

io

B PUTTER _ 60 FEET

Putting: More challenging and realistic, sure, but also

rewarding once you get the swing of things.

"m m

EAL PUTT CANER} |,

o

THE VERDICTS (OUTOF 10)

e Com

140 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

16 | ав ШИШ i

Publisher: Midway Developer: Surreal Software Players: 1

ESRB: Mature

www.sufferingtiesthatbind.com

(СШІІЗ) (СШІІЗ) (PS2/XB ONLY)

E

Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Sports Players: PS2/XB 1-4 (2-4 online), GC 1-4

ESRB: Everyone

www.easports.com

Good: Creepy, disturbing atmosphere, challenging action sequences Bad: Forgettable story, lame find-the-switch puzzles Doom's John Carmack Called: He wants his ideas back

GREG S: The haters will tell you that The Suffering: Ties That Bind is just a retread of the first game, that it's mostly style and relatively little substance, with puzzles that are nothing but switch-pulling busywork.

And they're right on all counts. But much like Doom 3, Ties That Bind is more than the sum of its parts. Thanks to the unique behaviors of its various imps, demons, and human scum, each battle tends to require a different strategy. You'll want to duck and cover when battling human soldiers or syringe-chucking main- liner demons, but stay on the move and use long-range weapons when you've got to deal with brutish (and hungry) gorgers.

The story does wear a bit thin, but the supremely frightening atmosphere will keep you from caring that much. There's just something inherently freaky about blasting holes in hellspawn while a junkie cowers in the corner, with the faint cries of an infant in the distance. The Suffering is truly disturbing.

So let the haters hate. The bottom line is that The Suffering: Ties That Bind is a gory good time. And that's really all that matters.

6. FORD: Gritty dark alleyways. Ghostly apparitions running rampant. Voices in the dark. Ties That Bind certainly nails the creepy, shock value mood it’s going for. In

Good: Major tweaks to putting system

fact, the rampant swearing

and grotesque images will undoubtedly turn off some players. The real problem with this game, though, is its janky game- play mechanics. Whether in first or third person, controlling main-guy Torque rarely feels smooth, leaving you a step behind and often perplexed as to where and how you got hit. Couple that with bland set- pieces that could be from any other recent run-of-the-mill action game, and you're left with a bunch of empty scares.

JAMES: | wouldn't be surprised if the developers of The Suffering were seated right between the makers of Max Payne and Doom during Videogame Making 101 and had a hard time keeping their eyes on their own damn paper. This game has the Max Payne-esque run-down city environ- ments (but more cramped), trippy flash- backs (that are way too frequent), and even the same bottles of pills for health packs. Then it apes Doom with deformed mutant hell creatures jumping out from every dark corner. Even though Рт easy to please when it comes to shotgunning the faces off ugly monsters, and the twisted story line got my attention, Ties That Bind has a hard time putting it together, like when you find yourself fighting creepy crawlies that are armed with Uzis. Huh?

Bad: Really doesn't need a gamebreaker meter If Only: You could play as Caddyshack's А! Czervik

Tiger seems to be a perennial contender (both the game and the guy), and this year Tiger 06 gets marginally better through some basic additions. The most obvious, the new putting system, brings more realism to the green. No more simple but tedious guesstimating based on caddy tips—30-foot putts aren't as easy to sink as 3-foot tap-ins anymore now that Tiger makes you read the green yourself and adjust your (now analog) stroke accordingly.

Drives and approach shots are a bit different, too—you can use the right ana- log, or “shape stick,” along with the left to pinpoint where the club strikes the ball, so you can hit fades and draws (abbreviated slices or hooks for you hacks) and get cre- ative. Then there’s the new Rivals mode, which pits you against some of the game's greats. You'll take on Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus (among others) in their respective primes, using equipment from those time periods.

Other minor improvements include cre- ated players that can finally talk and four- player online rounds. | don't understand why EA Sports decided to graft on the gamebreaker concept from its Street series, though—the gamebreakers are as ineffectual as they are silly.

Bogey, bunker, bulls***—spend an afternoon with me on the real links and

you'll hear these words 1 quite often. Yet it's a different (and much cleaner) story when | tee off in this year's Tiger. Thanks to the added ability to strike the ball high, low, or on its sides, | now have even greater control over the Titleist's final destination. And don't let the new putting system scare you; while reading the green with the onscreen grid isn't as sim- ple as 2005’s caddy tip system, | still recorded more than my fair share of birdies (and some eagles). Too bad 06 doesn't address my continuing complaint with this series: lifeless courses. Hey, they gotta save something for the XB360 version, right?

For years I've been saying that the only significant prob- lem with the Tiger games is the putting interface. So what did they do this year? They made putting harder by removing caddy tips and employing the same analog swing interface as tee shots. It's more real- istic, sure...but considering the rest of the game involves chasing Tiger Woods through time (in Rivals mode—1 wish | were mak- ing that up), I’m not really sure of the importance of realism here. | do like the use of the right analog stick to control ball Striking, but overall the game feels like a step in the totally wrong direction, to me at least. The fundamentals аге still quite solid, but overall | vastly prefer last year's version.

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%

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With a steady hand and a keen eye you can extract

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Mild Language

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ESRB CONTENT RATING wwwesth.org

review crew: playstation 2

Loo M The reasons some people won't enjoy Shadow of the Colossus are as easy to spot as.

one of its 40-story-tall monsters. Yes, the entire game is 16 David-versus-Goliath boss fights 3 (you're David), with nothing—and | mean & nothing—in between except long horseback rides j | through an impossibly vast, sprawling world in which you'll search for your next opponent. The | graphics are gorgeous but choppy, at times chug- ging along with entire mountains suddenly pop- | ping into view. And even with constant manual adjustments, the camera swings so wildly at times it's hard to tell what's going on.

But none of this says much about how it actu- ally feels to play the game, and I'm not talking about the controls, Unlike so many of its market- driven, focus-tested peers, Shadow has a soul, a creative vision that provokes real gut-level emo- tion. Take, for instance, the thrilling “Eureka!” moment when you piece together, through obser- vation and experimentation, exactly how you're going to get on top of a hulking colossus. Your guts will twitter when you scale beasts often 100 times your size—moving mountains of crumbling

stone and matted hair—and experience the exhila- ration of bringing them crashing down using only a bow, a sword, and your wits. Shadow is a perfect example of how videogames, at their best, can transcend technical flaws and physical limitations to become something greater. If it never quite matches its ambition, it's only because Shadow dares to reach beyond what we currently expect from games.

Shadow offers the most riveting first hour you've ever played—from the serene opening cin- ета (that you direct with your controller), to your initial horseback trek through the gorgeous coun- tryside, and climaxing with the first brutal, visceral Colossus battle, it's absolutely brilliant. The 10 pro- ceeding hours impress, as well...yet, at the same time, the game’s glaring technical problems and perplexing design choices continually force you to second-guess the ingenuity and subtle beauty you're beholding. It's not that the graphics are bad: In fact, they're absurdly ambitious. The aging PS2 simply can't keep up, so ever-present slowdown, pop-up, and glitches assault your eyes.

Shadow’s gameplay leads to head-scratching, too: Its desolate, empty world, purposefully con- voluted control scheme, and unexpected ending all add to its otherworldly mystique. But even as the complaints pile up, the game’s amazing, deeply effective impact never diminishes.

Let's be clear: Shadow is not /co, even though it hails from the same development team. It shares a certain atmos- phere, but it’s a more visceral and less cerebral game—much of the challenge is working with the complex controls (significantly more complex than /co’s) to bring down 16 colossi. Figuring out how to beat them can occasionally be a bit of a mental stretch, but mainly the game consists of riding to a colossus, climbing up the colossus, and stabbing the crap out of the colossus. All that said, it’s an incredibly engrossing experi- ence, and so starkly beautiful and odd that it is completely justified in being called art. It's unlike anything else you've ever played, and so you may love it or you may hate it. Count me firmly in the "love" boat.

this, and thanks largely to its revealing final act,

Like /со, much of Shadow’s appeal comes from its mini- malist plot. All you know is you're hunting colossi to appease a booming voice that has promised to resurrect a dead girl you brought to an ancient temple. Despite

Shadow's story becomes one of its strongest assets. $h

Pay

Publisher:Sony CEA

Developer: Sony CEE

Players: 1 е ESRB: Teen JOE

us.playstation.com

Good: Thrilling, inventive gameplay Bad: Choppy graphics, tricky camera Soundtrack: Of the Year

SHANE

2 е 5 x 5 > we T Б

MARK

142 = ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www. 1UP.com

PlayStation 2

SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI:

DIGITAL DEVIL SAGA 2

Dark side of the sun

Fine, young, post-modern cannibals like to get riii

Dude, you seriously need to lay off tho booze!

ррей on Friday night (center).

THE VERDICTS (QUT OF 10)

CHRISTIAN

JUSTIN

Publisher: Atlus Developer: Atlus Players: 1 ESRB: Mature

SHANE

www.atlus.com

I've loved Atlus’ role-playing games for years...but with the release of Digital Devil Saga 2,1 demand that more of you start taking notice of them. Simul- taneously packing one of the most fascinat- ing RPG stories in years and taut, stream- lined gameplay, it's a robust game that will live up to anyone's standards.

Set in the immediate aftermath of its prequel—but cleverly designed to let new- bies jump right in—the game tells a bleak tale of a world destroyed by a sun turned black, and people forced to assume the forms of demons to survive its harshness. This is the first RPG since Final Fantasy X where | always felt a drive to get to, instead of through, the next cut-scene.

0052" battles are turn-based but tense—if you don't strategize, you're toast. You might die at any time, but can almost always win by figuring out the most effec- tive tactic. Meanwhile, the game’s improved Mantra system offers some of the most addictive character customization on the PS2. This is an RPG anyone can get behind, with depths to plumb that | simply don’t have space to mention. Give it a shot.

Like the first chapter, Digital Devil Saga 2 nearly perfects the traditional con- sole RPG formula, polishing up everything with a shiny electronic/demonic lacquer. Stats are there, but micromanagement isn’t. Random turn-based battles are a

fact of life, but they’re brisk and strategic with a real sense of momen- tum. And when a tough fight lies beyond a closed door, your characters “feel a strong presence,” giving you a chance to psych up, heal up, and save your game before charging in.

Of course this won't mean much if you don't appreciate a good Japanese RPG. If you do, though, play the first game first—it does a better job of standing on its own, and the techno-religious story line only gets more convoluted here.

Here's just what the fans of the first DDS ordered: another dose of wildly esoteric role-playing featuring well-dressed demons, rampant cannibalism, and oodles of Hindu mysticism. Don't expect the whole game to be self-consciously weird, though; beneath the stylized visuals and experi- mental soundtrack lurks a fairly traditional, Final Fantasy X-inspired RPG. Returning fans will spy a few small improvements to gameplay, but it's more or less a direct continuation of the game you played six months prior. And on the subject of serial- ized role-players, 0052 isn't quite the repeat repetition offender that the .hack series was, yet Atlus could still have easily grafted these two titles into one larger game. But they're still both worthwhile escapades for RPG fans seeking quality outside the mainstream.

Main guy Serph models the new half-human, half-demon Berserk mode (left).

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by Rick O'Connor

гемеш сгеш: playstation е

"№ Great ball of fire: You'll have to keep rolling up fuel to keep the fire burning (above).

Um.

JENNIFER: Action ball rolling,

apparently, is here to stay. It isn't quite yet a genre unto itself—that won't be the case until another two or three games come along that mimic Katamari’s unique and highly original gameplay, where you roll a ball around various environments and pick up objects to complete particular goals. As your ball grows, you can roll up bigger and bigger objects, and the changing perspective you gain throughout each level—you progress from picking up erasers to rolling up skyscrapers—is probably the coolest aspect of the game.

% takes everything that was wonderful about last year’s hit game and...actually doesn’t change ай that much. The levels feel familiar, as does the most awesome soundtrack in gaming. The cut- scenes are a bit spiffier, but the game's overall look is exactly the same puffy, pastel-colored paper-doll-with-foot-long-pompadours animation. Perhaps it feels more like an expansion pack than

Let$Move ХОК

Ld The Prince

Good: They totally didn't change what wasn't broke

Bad: They added something (two-player co-op) that's a little broke Our Favorite Rolled-Up Object: The Colosseum

144» ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ® www.1UP.com

Ihe biggest ball of them

a true sequel, but since this is one of the most satisfying pick-up-and-play games out there, more of the same isn't much of a problem. Those needing something truly new can now play the entire game in the co-op two-player mode, which can be fun or frustrating depending on how well you communicate with your buddy. Even 50, 9 serves as a unique kind of videogame crack; it's scary when а 10-minute level feels way too short—and not because you can't finish the goal in time, but because you just want more. Which, by the way, | do. Right away, please.

MARK: We У Katamari succeeds in exactly the same ways as its predecessor: elegant dual-ana- log-only controls; iconic, colorful graphics and a stylish interface; quirky, catchy music; and the satisfaction of progressing from rolling up. clothespins to running down screaming people to eventually swallowing whole buildings. In fact, the only disappointment here, besides the frustrating

new co-op mode (trying to coordinate movement just adds another layer and slows the дате. down), is how little has changed. More formula- tweaking stages, like the one that puts you in a race or another that challenges you to keep your ball on fire, would seem appropriate for such an innovative series. Luckily, the title is right—we do heart Katamari, so the same simple, silly fun 15 welcome just the same.

DEMIAN: | wish ¥ boldly rolled where we've never rolled before a bit more often—because when it does, like when you're gathering storm clouds in midair so rain won't spoil a school field trip or when you're rolling up fireflies so a bookworm can read by their collected light, it's great. All the other times, when you're bouncing around yet another random living room floor amassing paper clips and stray sushi, it’s just good and fun and weird. Like the last game. And nuts to co-op—this katamari ain’t big enough for the two of us.

Free Interpretation

What we heart so much about the Katamari universe

ш Thé future king during his “seedy street hustler” phase.

Katamari's cut-scenes, though less obtuse than the last game's, are a Rorschach test of sorts. The story’s broad strokes are (we think) as fol- lows: The eventual King of All Cosmos is born and is trained by his father, the current King (and grandpa of Katamari’s main ball roller, the Prince). Then he fights with his father and goes away, eventually coming back when the father is on his deathbed. Then the newly crowned King falls in love and has his own baby, the new Prince, thereby completing the Circle of Life™. Basically, Rocky meets the Prodigal Son meets...Romeo and Juliet, except with the father dying and not the kids. xi

JENNIFER MARK DEMIAN

Developer: Namco Players: 1-2 ESRB: Everyone

(OUT OF 10)

2 2 е 5 5 > = ЕБ

| Publisher: Namco

katamari.namco.com

E PlayStation 2

GENJI: DAWN OF THE SAMURAI

Fleeting moments of Zen

_ Mad monk Benkei; Has the big stick down; по! so good at speaking softly.

Arelatively straightforward action game with breathtaking Japanese scenery, Genji stars a samurai named Yoshitsune and a monk named Benkei who whack and hack their clan's enemies to rid the land of evil and a poor plot.

Our heroes gain power through defeating enemies and buying equipment, but their real trump cards are magical stones that slow time, stripping the game down to its basic essence: knowing when to hit the Attack button. With slo-mo engaged, a button icon flashes to indicate the precise moment when an attack will result in a graceful killing blow. You'll stay focused until you screw up or all your enemies lay dead at your feet. There’s an elegant beau- ty to this kind of swordplay, and it comes across as very Zen.

But as your enemies fall like cherry blos- soms in a stiff wind, you might start to feel somewhat disconnected. Yoshitsune is ris- ing into the air with the grace of a freaking swallow, and here all you're doing is hitting the Square button. The game plays smooth- ly and is lovely to look at, but there's little depth under the reflective surface.

main characters. Sure, run- ning circles around baddies as Yoshitsune is fun, but laying the smack down with mad monk Benkei offers a nice change. Shared experience points ensure that neither gets too powerful, though you can beef up your hero of choice through ability points and equipment. Plus, replaying levels as the alternate character usually lets you crack character-specific secrets, which nets you bonus items and gives the game some legs. Some legit complaints exist—Trecy- cled bosses, invisible walls, reappearing enemies—but Genji’s a solid slash-em-up.

The ratio of crappy samurai games to good samurai games is about 8:1—1 was hoping Genji would restore a lit- tle balance to Bushido. Alas, underneath the pretty environments and fluid control, Genji is really nothing more than a button masher. The slo-mo death blows require twitch reflexes, but the gimmick wears thin well before Genji's five hours of playtime are up (though both Justin and G. Ford took way longer—my theory is they suck). Maybe the game would be tougher if you

Publisher: = з R o E GR ER BIS didn't have piles of cash to blow on healing Е: Players: 1 For a game that doesn't do any- items and weapons. Add in routine drudgery Бе ESRB: Mature thing particularly new or spectacular, Genji to get to save points and dull cut-scenes, 2:8 Я я s > к

- certainly kept me entertained. | particularly and the little chinks add up to a full-blown = JUSTIN G. FORD KATHLEEN www.us.playstation.com enjoyed the interplay between the two hole in this warrior's antique armor.

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гемеш сгеш: playstation 2

PlayStation 2

SLY 3: HONOR AMONG THIEVES

Smooth raccoon criminal

Developer: Sucker Punch Players: 1-2 ESRB: Everyone 10+

8.5 8.0 9.0

G. FORD JENNIFER DANA

THE VERDICTS (QUE OF 10)

| Publisher: Sony CEA

www.us.playstation.com

PlayStation 2

DEVIL KINGS

The devil is in the 100-hit combos

Вт Publisher: Capcom Б Developer: Capcom 52 Players: 1

кл

ЕМ лз JAMES RICHARD ЕНЕ

146 * ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ® www.1UP.com

Good: Great platforming and stealth gameplay Bad: Some missions and minigames miss the mark You Do Look Silly: Wearing the packed-in 3D glasses

6. FORD: Though not carrying the same cachet as Sony’s Ratchet and Jak series, the 5/у games have always been just as solid, and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves continues the tradition. This time, the jet-setting Cooper gang is on the hunt for Sly's family fortune, an adventure that spans six multimission episodes. It’s typi- cal Sly—a mix of stealth and polished platforming gameplay, with dozens of (mostly entertaining) minigames breaking up the action—and some key additions to keep things interesting.

The game’s biggest faults are the rare uninspired collect-a-thon missions and an inconsistency in the quality of some lev- els—the outback stage pales compared to the marvelous Sid Meier's Pirates!-esque high-seas stage, for example. The good far outweighs the bad, though.

As for the new stuff, the optional 3D Stages (time to put on the included 3D glasses) wash out the graphics and are hard to play for extended periods of time. The new characters each offer a welcome unique feel, though, and the two-player co- op and competitive action delivers harmless fun, which aptly describes the overall enjoy- ment you'll get from this entertaining game.

JENNIFER: I've always loved the look and personality of the Sly series, and with

each iteration, the run- sneak-and-occasionally-pummel platform- ing has gotten more and more refined. This time around, | really enjoyed the con- tinued variety in the missions, which range from rhythm-action puzzles and simple, elegant exploration to rolling side- kick Murray up into a bouncing ball, stomping scorpions with a two-ton truck, and sneaky pickpocketing. | also loved globe-hopping through the gorgeous, wide-open levels. The kiddie story isn't quite my speed, and some of the irritating jumping puzzles and missions are strictly for those with nothing better to do. But the forgiving respawn system makes it acces- sible, and hey, sometimes you don't have anything better to do.

OFFICIAL PS MAG—DANA: While not very innovative, the Sly series has always been а hallmark of good production values and fun gameplay—it's hard to argue with fol- lowing a solid formula. Though none of the new playable characters have an exten- sive move set, they're still fun in their lim- ited way, and | particularly enjoy the way developer Sucker Punch has structured the missions so that you're switching back and forth among characters a lot. All in all, this raccoon's game is still fun—no need to call Animal Control just yet...

Good: Flashy combat that never slows down

Bad: Battles tend to feel the same, no co-op mode

The Wackiest: Faux history lesson ever

With numerous next-gen console games preparing to pump out thousands of disposable digital soldiers, battlefield brawlers like Dynasty Warriors aren't going out of style anytime soon. Publisher Capcom adds another few thousand bodies to the pile with Devil Kings, a game that bears all the signature marks of its maker: It's technically solid, obsessed with combo counting, and maybe a little too concerned with its over-the-top style.

Controlling а superpowered parody of а historical figure from Japan’s warring states period, you'll hack through hundreds of enemies in pursuit of more power, more moves, and ridiculously huge triple-digit combos. Your mission isn't to win battles as much as it's to find out just how much ass the shotgun-and-samurai-sword-toting Devil King or an 8-year-old girl with a huge mallet can kick. With straightforward Stages that typically lay out a field full of foes and ask you to hack from point A to point B, you don’t need to worry about defending the gate or helping out allies unless the game explicitly tells you you're going to lose if you don't. It's fun for what it is but lacks long-term appeal.

| wish | could say | love Devil Kings as much as the game loves the damn Square button on my controller. You'll be mashing on that attack button to fight off

countless soldiers. and fight- “Ë

ing carpal tunnel syndrome afterward. The game is quite difficult at the start but gets easier, although the bad guys' quips will drive you nuts throughout (a sample: “1 see millions of butterflies").

Eventually, the joys of being a one-man army wear thin even for this short game, though | admit, between the opening anime Cut-scenes and bosses with silly accents, | did enjoy playing as the Devil King—espe- cially when using his special attack that has him whipping enemies with his cape as if it were a wet towel in a high-school locker room, but maybe that’s just me.

Wait a minute, is this Dynasty Warriors? Рт fighting a billion enemies at once, executing 300-plus-hit combos, and my character isn’t even breaking a sweat! While Dynasty is the pio- neer in mind-numbing action, Capcom has brought a bit of flair to differentiate Devil Kings from the competition. The action- packed combat—which has a speed and style similar to Devil May Cry's—moves faster than Dynasty's, and you're rewarded for those huge combos with even more devastating attacks. Unfortunately, it feels a bit dull after performing your 50th 200-hit combo. Still, Devil Kings’ fine graphics and interesting level design make it a decent addition to the stale hack-n-slash formula.

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GAME BOY ADVANCE

ider-Man and all haracters thereof are trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc., and are used with permission, Copyright © 2005 Marvel Characle| and the "PS" Family Оке registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are either registered trad and the Nintendo Gama logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2004 Nintendo. All rights reserved. PC CD-ROM logo TM and © 2003 IEMA. The ratings

rights reserved. Game © 2005 Activision Publishing Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. "Playstation trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. TM, ©, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS gistered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association, all other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners,

| ВЕ РВЕРАТОВУ

Encounter more Spider-Man characters than ever before.

Winner, E3 People’s Choice Award

Pe GameSpot.com

|

_ ACTIVISION. AVAILABLE Now! ае уатсап ОІТІМАТЕЅРІРЕВМАМСАМЕ.СОМ

| NE fi

EID 7

review crew: xbox

LITE FAR CRY INSTINCTS

Nothing conveys urgency like an extra exclamation point—included free!

Bad: General pervasive ugliness Cheesy: Elves in armored leotards

ROBERT: With enemy troops at a com- fortable distance, | send my archers around the woods to catch them from behind. My spearmen follow, protecting us from reinforcements. | whip my troop of heavily armored knights into forma- tion and head straight for the fight. Swords clash. The camera swoops in for a closer view of the action as | clear the field with simple combos, throwing ogres to the ground left and right. But just as the battle swings my way, new enemy troops break through, flooding the screen with characters. Suddenly, it’s the animation taking a beating as the battle slows and I’m locked in mortal struggle with the camera. What started as a manageable, organized fight descends into chaos.

Heroes wants to be a great war game. It wants to serve up epic battles and oceans of enemies, Dynasty Warriors- style massive action, and real-time strate- ду. But it can't back up these ambitions on a technical level. The meltdown that results when too many characters fray and the camera freaks out often геп- ders the game unplayable. We weren't

THE VERDICTS

- CHRISTIAN

ROBERT

KINGDOM UNDER FIRE: HEROES

Outnumbered by villains

Good: Mix of action and strategy elements

able to test online play, but | can't imagine it faring much better.

CHRISTIAN: | didn’t get to play the first Kingdom Under Fire, but | read the reviews, and most of them said the same thing: cool game, crap interface. Now | get my hands on the sequel...very cool game, very crap interface.

I love how Heroes expands on Dynasty Warriors by letting you command your troops and adds real strategy elements that that series lacks. The clever leveling system also adds genuine depth.

All of this, however, is betrayed by weak controls and confused, mashtastic action gameplay. Add in the fact that you can’t see elevation on the minimap and the strategy gets hosed. The game has a lot of good ideas, but it should have been sent back for more serious retooling.

GREG S: Robert hit the nail on the head; Heroes could be great if not for the tech- nical issues. My main beef is that the cool strategy bits become pretty much useless if you end up fighting more than one enemy army at a time. The camera— which goes haywire frequently—is com- pletely useless for doing things like set- ting your archers in a good position or even seeing where your next enemy is during the actual fighting.

All the neat strategy gameplay and upgradeable characters mean squat when everything falls apart during the missions. Heroes has loads of potential that can hopefully be realized on the Xbox 360.

Publisher: Microsoft Developer: Phantagram Players: 1 (2-6 online) ESRB: Mature

www.xbox.com

150 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

It’s a jungle out there

00 ¥50 v This gun fires tiny jeeps.

Good: Huge environments, lots of vehicles

Bad: Brain-dead enemies

Do It Yourself: User-friendly map editor included

Ubisoft needs to send its game enemies to game-enemy college. Lessons learned there include how not to stare blankly at walls with your back turned toward the rest of the world, why you shouldn't run straight into machine-gun fire, and (sigh) why you shouldn't hang out near explosive barrels. So Far Cry Instincts’ А. won't revolutionize the first- person-shooter genre, but the rest of the game is still pretty damn cool. You really feel like you can go anywhere you want, any way you want (walk or swim or swipe a jeep, ATV, jet ski, hang glider, gun boat...) in these supersized environments, yet you won't get lost as often as you ought to, thanks to clever level design. Some of the stages do tend to drag on, but then the story line picks up the slack by drip-feed- ing you supernatural powers (like night vision or superjumping) that slowly turn you into more animal than man—a dual- machine-gun-wielding, rocket-launcher- using, ass-kicking animal, that is. Multiplayer, although only four modes deep, is a lot more fun than you'd expect. It’s not as smooth or pretty as Halo 2's, but | couldn’t get enough of Predator mode, in which a few superpowered play- ers try to take out a team of mercenaries before they can power up a transmitter.

The PC version of Far Cry, with its numerous unreasonably alert ene- mies and lack of a quicksave feature, left me scarred and bitter. Thankfully, Instincts’ new story twist grants you mutant “predator” powers that provide the game with what it was missing—fun.

Superspeed is a happy perk during some of the longer levels, and since your health regenerates, you don’t have to spend time pussyfooting around. Sniping your foe through tree foliage because your mutant senses can detect his В.О. is a joy.

The frustrating checkpoint save system remains and the Dr. Moreau plot doesn't make any sense, but it feels more forgiv- able with a pile of enemies you've mauled to death under your mutey feet.

| also played Far

Cry on the PC, and though the locales were pretty and the vehicles were fun, | was totally soured by the incredibly cheap АЈ. which had no problem spotting—and then shooting—me from 200 yards.

Instincts comes across as an apology for this, thanks to the health-regeneration ability and a more powerful melee attack. But even though the cheap-shot factor has been toned down, it’s still fundamentally flawed, as the incentive to stay stealthy disappears when you realize the АЛ. usu- ally sees you comin' a mile away. Shame, because when Far Cry's not frustrating, it's a good time.

THE VERDICTS (OUT

SHOE KATHLEEN

ANDREW

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Players: 1-4 (2-16 online and system link)

ESRB: Mature

www.farcrygame.com

The adventure Nintefffo DS players have been waiting for has E !

TEEN

M uu.

Blood and Gore Fantasy Violence

ESRB CONTENT RATING _www.esrh.org

/ The Magic бегі: destroy your enemies w vith the touch screen Enhanced Tactical Souls: collect more souls to upgrade your abilities'and^w eapons Wireless’ Verstis-Mode: race another player through custom maps Wireléss Soul Exchange: trade acquired souls w ith other players

NINTENDODS

K ew Konami eom ава св.

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гелеш сгеш: gamecube

-

GameCub

BATTALION WARS

War is heck

You charge into the enemy stronghold with a battalion of tanks, flamethrowers, bazooka men, helicopters, riflemen, and antiaircraft missile launchers. You point to a bogey chopper and tell your missile launchers to take it out before it blows up your tanks. You then turn to the machine gun nests and tell your flamethrowers to smoke "ет, You personally take control of a bazooka unit to. shoot at enemy armor. You then cross your fingers, hoping that, after all the explosions, dead bodies, smoking wrecks, countless bullets, and general chaos, it’s your team raising its arms in victory,

It's real-time-strategy warfare made simple, complex, and messy, all at the same time. Instead of a Pikmin-style ring or a PC-style click-and-drag to select units, you use your C-stick to pick a squad and tell it to either stand still, shoot at a par- ticular target, or you can take full control of a unit. It works in theory, but when the stuff hits the fan, your hand-eye-brain coordination better be running at max capacity or else you'll be cursing the game,

Eg ~

Good: The easy stages aren’t bad Bad: The hard stages are frustrating Dumb: No multiplayer

152 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

reloading the same stage for the umpteenth time. because you didn't micromanage the right unit at the right time. It’s a lot of frantic switching between squads and analyzing the battlefield situation at the same time, all the while wishing the game would just slow down a tad and give you a minute to think, Even for this seasoned real-time-strategy veteran, Battalion Wars was a bit too frenzied.

It's a brilliant plan: combine the tactical thrills of real-time strategy with the visceral plea- sures of an action-shooter. I'm happy to report that, overall, the mission is a success; whether you're leading a column of tanks, dodging bullets on the ground, or directing chopper air support, Wars" controls and handy C-stick troop management sys- tem perform well under fire, once you adjust to the quirks. Even the cartoony graphics and goofy char- acters serve their purposes, making it easy to rec- ognize different soldier types in the heat of battle. and lending the story a certain charm.

But these Wars do suffer a few key casualties. Weaknesses—your dumb troops aren't effective without direct orders, the game lacks a checkpoint system, and keeping units of the same type sepa- rated is almost impossible—limit strategy and turn the more challenging levels intro frustration.

On the one hand, Battalion Wars is a welcome change from all the serious war games (SOCOM, Ghost Recon, etc.) that have risen to prominence ín these globally dour times. Here lies the thrill of combat without the gory carnage, the multiplayer cheating, and the tumult of rockets’ ted glare as virtual bullets whiz by. On the other hand, the overly chirpy Saturday morning cartoon voice-acting drove me a little nuts, and | found the controls to be on the fussy side. It's usually a struggle to lock on to your target of choice, and the camera fails you more often than not in the typical- ly hectic vehicular segments. A lot of potential, but potential unfulfilled in this patchy debut.

The History of War

Battalion Wars started off life as a real-time, GameCube edition of Advance Wars (GBA/DS). You can see the kiddie aesthetic influences, from the cute, squat soldiers to the toylike tanks. Even the characters look and sound like they belong right at home with Advance Wars" cast of chattering idiots. Luckily, Nintendo changed this game's title from Advance Wars to. Battalion Wars to separate it from the excellent turn-based strategy series. 4%.

For the ultimate in micromanagement, you can direct individual units within a squad (below left). Doing so takes your attention away from the overall battle though, which isn't smart.

Military Intelligence? The АЛ. is the real problem here. You can control individ- ual units, but the other troops that fol- low you around...if you don’t tell them what specifi- cally to do, they won't always be so gung ho about engaging the enemy in the smartest way. That means you have to micro- manage the hell out of your grunts or watch them die a lot.

SHOE

Publisher; Nintendo

в Developer: Kuju 8 2 Players: 1

5 E е е [ ESRB: Teen

we

m

е МАКК MILKMAN www.nintendo.com

THE EXCITING SEQUEL TO SERVAKEE-QE-EBE SHARD—AÀ VAILABEE Ост. 2005

WIZARDS.COM / PROMISEOI ГНЕМТТСНКІМС

гешеш сгеш: psp

4% /4 Whoever said slow

and steady wins the race is a lying jerk-off.

Pocket rocket

Good: Controls, speed, general Burnout-ness

Bad: We already pine for Burnout Revenge's gameplay Sure Would Be Nice: If it was online, and not just local Wi-Fi...

DEMIAN: Man, I’m starting to run out of good things to say about demolition racer Burnout—not that it isn't great; it's just that pretty much everyone already knows how and why it's great. It's fast, it's vis- ceral, it's intense...and now it's on PSP.

Legends cherry-picks the best from the first three games in the arcade rac- ing series: classic tracks, Burnout 25 Pursuit mode (you play a smokey chas- ing down a runner), and Burnout 3's basic gameplay. That's a pretty solid lineup, but after playing Burnout Revenge (see раде 134), | already miss that game's new traffic checking— smacking same-way traffic to create chain-reaction accidents and take out rivals—and alternate-route-filled stages.

But none of that stops Legends from being probably the best racer on PSP. The loading times aren’t too bothersome, and it’s lengthy and packed with unlock- ables, including cars you can earn only by racing other Legends owners in Wi-Fi multiplayer—but, unfortunately, we couldn’t test the Wi-Fi modes due to a shortage of game discs.

THE VERDICTS (QUTOF 10)

DEMIAN G. FORD

154 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

BURNOUT LEGENDS

SCORE 777 )

6. FORD: Further proving

that Burnout rocks in any capacity, developer Criterion delivers this gem to PSP. In fact, I've gotta say I’m shocked by how well Burnout Legends turned out. Here's a series that is jaw-dropping on home consoles yet loses very little in the transition to the small screen. The speed, the takedowns, the resulting white knuckles—so much is done per- fectly here as Legends nails that smooth feel we've grown to expect. Most impor- tant is that even at the game's high speed, seeing oncoming traffic and upcoming turns rarely proves trouble- some. | did find it somewhat disorienting to go back to avoiding same-way traffic after playing Burnout Revenge, but the return of Pursuit mode acts as decent compensation.

OFFICIAL PS MAG—JOE: The thing that really impresses me about Legends is the way the developers managed to translate the breakneck pace of Burnout 3to a handheld. Sure, it's a little bit slower than its PS2 counterparts, but I still felt that ridiculous sense of speed. Even more impressive is the fact that the controls are as tight as anyone could hope for. The only real disappointment is that event type Pursuit is a bit of a snooze compared to the immediate, visceral thrill of taking an opponent down. Chasing and Slowly tearing apart your opponent is a bit too slow for my taste. Beyond that, it's a top-notch handheld translation—and expansion—of one of my favorite PS2 games ever.

E

Publisher: EA Games Developer: Criterion

Players: 1 (2-6 via local Wi-Fi) ESRB: Everyone 10+

201

www.eagames.com

ar? | VIRTUA TENNIS: WORLD TOUR

Not quite love-all

E z 7

Good: Smart A.I., familiar and simple controls, fun multiplayer Bad: Really nothing new, leveling up stats is tedious Bargain: Only $10,000 to have Sharapova as a doubles partner

1 know from playing Dreamcast's Virtua Tennis that hitting tennis balls at gigantic bowling pins (one of that title’s minigames) can captivate me for hours. And the thought of doing so on my PSP made me as happy as if | had just found out Anna Kournikova had a twin. Unfortunately, the game doesn't serve up the kind of addictive Virtua Tennis l'm used to. The familiar World Tour mode, in which you have to struggle for a No. 1 ranking, is now based around a high- maintenance competition calendar. And strangely, you'll play as both male and female characters that share everything— rank, money, clothing accessories—as if they were a weird married couple. The wacky minigames (like dodging tennis balls and collecting flags) are back, but much like your climb to the top, they're slow going and no longer as much fun. Thankfully, the multiplayer is just as much fun—but you'll be quoting potty- mouthed John McEnroe at your ball hog of an АЛ. doubles partner. You'll also find cool new playable characters such as Federer, A. Rod, and, more importantly, “the legs of Slovakia” Hantuchova and Sharapova. The game's slick graphics even do them (and their gams) justice.

Boo to you, James. Next time you serve, I'm going to whistle unmerci- fully. Virtua Tennis fabulously re-creates everything that’s awesome about tennis. It's Pong on steroids, with lifelike graph- ics, technically deep controls, and awe- some sound effects—1 love hearing my player's feet shuffle on the court and that

satisfying thwop of a well- hit ball. And like real tennis, it’s a game anyone can pick up and at least pretend to play, but practice and skill are every- thing. The game shines in multiplayer, in which psychology is as important as technique. So why isn’t my score just a little higher? The single-player story mode has some fun and addictive minigames, and | like how the game rewards you even for failed challenges by awarding skill points. But it all takes a bit too long, and the calendar of tourna- ments is tedious.

The best tennis franchise in videogame history looks pretty much like the game you've played on platforms past. In World Tour mode you'll build ир your players' attributes via completing a series of minigames—they not only are addictive but also teach you the ins and outs of the different strokes. Then you enter tournaments to win cash and climb the rankings—! liked the process much more than James, but he's right that Virtua is at its best in multiplayer via Wi- Fi. It’s easily the most fun sports game I've played on the PSP.

JAMES JENNIFER

THE VERDICTS (OUTOF 10) о о о

PATRICK

Developer: Sumo Digital Players: 1 (2-4 via local Wi-Fi)

Publisher: Sega ESRB: Everyone

www.sega.com

The next big thing | usten том іп entertainment is snare но

surprisingly small. ешге ж

Memory STiCKPRO GUD |

| 41.0 Мав Gere).

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Today's handheld game devices are awesome. But if you want to do тоге than games — like get into digital audio, watch videos, view photos, or send instant messages — you'll need memory. SanDisk Memory Stick PRO Duo™ and SanDisk SD™ cards аге the best way to save game levels. They're also great for down- loading digital audio, cheat codes, characters, skins and more.

е | Z| Which is why we say the future of gaming is all in the cards. Sais www.sandisk.com/egm STORE YOUR WORLD IN OURS™

‘SanDisk ond the SanDisk logo сив trademarks of SonDisk Corporation, registered in he United States and other counties. Store Your World In Ours is о trademark of SanDisk Corporation. SanDisk is an authorized licensee of the SD trademark. Stick PRO Duo and. Men, re trademarks of Sony Corporation. Other brand nomes mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be oftheir respective holders. © 2005 SanDisk Corporation. АЙ rights reserved.

review Crew: psp

LIA MADDEN NFL 06

In playoff contention

Е VERDICTS

BRYAN G. FORD

А! 12 members of the Wes Welker fan club, this pic is for you.

70 7.0 9.0]

PATRICK M.

LIA POPOLOCROIS

Publisher: EA Sports.

Developer: EA Tiburon

Players: 1 (2-4 via local Wi-Fi, 2 online)

ESRB: Everyone

www.easports.com

Old-time roleplayer goes small-time

d 8

2 Фе 2s Ss ® LÀ LÀ we =

156 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

So that's what 10 years ago looks like.

Publisher: Agetec Developer: G-Artists Players: 1

ESRB: Everyone

www.agetec.com

Good: Tons of game modes Bad: Loads at really weird times

Transfer: Your franchise saves to the PS2 version and vice versa

BRYAN: Unlike the home editions, Madden's handheld performance over the years has mirrored that of the Arizona Cardinals. That's not good, people. But thankfully, the move to PSP has helped bring the portable franchise back to respectability.

On the field, this one plays just as well as (and sometimes better than) the console version. It moves extremely fast, the flashy animations help spice up the somewhere- between-PS1-and-PS2 visuals, and you сап now pass with precision (throw the ball high, low, and ahead of or behind the receiver) without worrying about the con- sole version's finicky vision cone. And Madden is stacked with modes: You've g loads of quick-hitting, minigamelike training drills (punt return is my fave), it's playable online, and if you own the PS2 version of 06, you can transfer your franchise saves between the two systems—why don't more sports series utilize the PSP like this?

Still, Madden does suffer some first- year growing pains on the platform. Loading a game takes a while (almost a minute), and it stutters at odd moments (after you pick a play, right before an interception), thus dragging out each four- quarter experience. And next year, the developers gotta find a way to let you challenge plays.

G. FORD: l've gotta hand it to the PSP's inevitable Madden entry for making a decent rookie showing. When the game's in motion, you can't help but be impressed. The player models, while jaggy, move smoothly and swiftly, and the solid controls are classic Madden (although there are no buttons for pump fakes or throwing the ball away). But when the play ends, the cracks start showing. What's with the weird hiccuping load times after every play? Also, that kicking meter needs to be bigger and less herky-jerky, and the lack of replays hurts. Still, on the field, 06 mostly nails the Madden feel, which makes the prospect of helping my Pats defend their title while I'm on the go very appealing.

PATRICK M: Madden on PS2 already takes up enough of my life—now that | can con- tinue my franchise game on PSP, I'm a prime candidate for a Madden intervention.

Despite the lone analog nub on PSP (ver- sus the dual analog sticks on the console versions), the controls are surprisingly smooth and intuitive. The console Madden's QB vision control system also got the ax, but | can’t say | really miss it. As Bryan noted, you can still lead your receiver or place the ball low to avoid an INT, which is nice. Madden fans, time to buy a PSP.

Good: Finally, a real role-playing game for PSP

Bad: It's made for 6-year-olds

Fashion Faux Pas: Forest witch Narcia's terrible hat

If nothing else, this release of PoPoLoCrois—a remixed version of two old PS1 games—will please the few diehard RPG fans who've always wanted to sample the series, Unfortunately, unlike other long- delayed role-playing game series such as Arc the Lad and Shin Megami Tensei, this one wasn’t exactly worth the wait.

PoPoLoCrois for PSP is actually the first two games in the series merged together; it’s a solid RPG without major flaws, but it's also dull and unchallenging. Intended for young kids, it errs too far on the side of uncomplicated story and dead simple bat- tle systems. The game plays out a lot like the similarly kid-focused Rhapsody, a PS1 RPG from 2000 that you probably don’t remember unless you like games about singing puppets.

Though you'll find little depth or hidden content here, the fact that PoPoLoCrois is on a portable system means you can at least play it in short bursts—and hey, unlike most RPGs, it doesn’t even have much of a story for you to worry about for- getting in between sessions.

The distressingly inter-capped PoPoLoCrois finally weaves its weird way to America, where it doubtlessly plans to lie about its age. Antiquated as the source material may be (parts of it date back to 1996), the game’s not entirely out of place

in the PSP library. With basic, turn-based gameplay, charming storybook visuals, and an easygoing vibe, it’s an RPG well suited for intermittent play on the go. Well, in the- ory, at least. Some nagging issues quickly transform the fantasy romp into a throb- bing headache. Problems include a sloppy, blurry graphical glitch when the camera scrolls, copious bouts of loading (try three seconds to load laughably lame spell effects), and imprecise analog control, all of which whittle away the simple plea- sures of protagonist Prince Pietro’s quest.

It feels wrong playing this decidedly old-school game on the slick, seemly PSP. The simplistic graphics and turn-based gameplay don’t wow on any level. Nor does the story, the iffy controls, or the broken map and nonexistent quest systems, which give you no clue whatso- ever, at any point, where you're supposed to be heading or why.

But even with no wow factor, some things about the game are downright pleasant: You can save anywhere, your party members are easy to manage, and the combat system is quick to learn. (And hey, | liked the spell effects, Shane!) Too bad about all that aimless wandering, which would be annoying on its own but is even more bogged down by the frequent battles and their requisite load times.

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review crew: 95

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Rad dawn

In many ways, Dawn of Sorrow actually trumps Konami’s quintessential “Metroid-vania” that started it all—Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for PS1. Here, girly-man hero Soma Cruz amasses more varied equipment (everything from swords to rocket launchers), masters more pow- ers, and weaves his way through a perfectly paced, respectably difficult side-scrolling adven- ture. Everything fits into place: Vibrant graphics (peppered with a stylish 3D backgrounds), tight controls, inventive boss encounters (expect very few repeat performances by classic series vil- lains), and a haunting musical score combine to form a remarkable gameplay experience.

And if you’re a slightly addictive personality...say, a recovering crackhead or fresh-out-of-rehab Pokémaniac, Dawn’s soul- collection aspect will make your head explode. Sucking up enemy souls grants Soma such star- tlingly cool abilities (which can be upgraded by gathering additional copies of said souls) that you can really get caught up in catching ’em all. Factor in a treasure trove of unlockable modes and multiple reasons for replay and you're bound to be їп а hazy, twitchy Castlevania stupor for а good month.

For my money, Dawn of Sorrow is the DS’ sec- ond must-buy title after Meteos. Unlike most of the oddball DS software it shares shelf space with, Dawn isn't some think-outside-the-box experiment in synergistic touch-panel technology (in fact, its tacked-on touch-screen bits feel pretty weak), but hell, who's complaining? Quality lasts; gimmicks fade from memory. Sure, it's an awful

Good: As addictive, challenging, and engaging as a console game

Bad: More evolutionary than revolutionary

Coolest Weapon: Throwing giant platters of beef curry

158 е ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

VANIA: N OF SOR

lot like its Game Boy Advance forerunners, but don’t listen to the critics—that’s a very good thing.

As reliable as Dracula’s castle reappear- ing every 100 years, Dawn of Sorrow is every- thing we've come to expect from the excellent handheld Castlevanias: responsive controls; beautiful, crisp 2D graphics; and old-fashioned gameplay that'll keep you up way past your bed- time. It’s a formula that’s changed little in almost а decade (since Symphony of the Night), but the many refinements here do make a difference, especially the ability to collect multiple monster souls to increase powers and upgrade your weapons. It keeps you gladly swatting at ene- mies as you crisscross the castle and, along with awesome new playable characters and plenty of secrets, makes it impossible to put down Dawn of Sorrow until long after the first time you see the credits roll.

Musty hallways. Skeletons, bats, and flying Medusa heads. The slick weapon that’s just out of reach because | haven’t scored the double-jump boots yet. Wait...haven't | visited this castle many times before? Yes, Dawn of Sorrow walks down the same design path as its GBA predecessors, but that’s just fine because it has the same excellent pacing that makes explo- ration, combat, and leveling up so compelling.

If you don’t have that urge to collect stuff, you won't get the best mileage out of this game. | didn’t spend hours beating up on the same mon- sters over and over just to get a new soul like Shane “Mr. Yawn of Sorrow” over there, so my end experience wasn’t as deep as his. But still, Ра recommend this game just for its dedicated map on the upper DS screen. Castlevania veterans understand why....

Alucard and Pals

After glimpsing the first of Dawn’s multiple end- ings, you'll unlock Julius mode, in which you tackle the game as a trio of vampire hunters— Julius Belmont, sultry shopkeeper Yoko Belnades, and Drac’s legendary son (and Symphony of the Night star) Alucard. You can switch between the three unique protagonists on the fly, and each character sports his or her own special powers. Kudos to Konami for including this stellar unlockable bonus. h

THE VERDICTS (QUTOF 10)

SHANE

MARK SHOE

“| said we're using the buddy sys- tem. Now hold my hand, damn it.”

Multiplayer Маша? Dawn's sole multiplayer mode (a series first) isn't exactly the tag- team vampire- whipping party you might have hoped for. Instead, you and a pal each fill a pre- designed level with enemies from your soul collection and then race to see who can complete the other's stage first. It's a fun diversion at best.

Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami Tokyo Players: 1 (2 via local W-Fi) ESRB: Teen

www.konami.com

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review crew: ds

PHOENIX WRIGHT: ACE ATTORNEY

It pleases the court

They ай t don't th

The-defendant, Action-star who phys the- titi athe Stsel-Samur:

=

70 6.5 8.5

SHANE JENNIFER ANDREW

Developer: Capcom Players: 1 ESRB: Teen

THE VERDICTS (ОЏТОР

| Publisher: Capcom

www.capcom.com

CH TRAUMA CENTER: UNDER THE KNIFE

И slices, it sutures, it...doesn’t suck

Doctor! You have to drain-the blood That's it! N

before proceeding with treatment!

17

| before it reopens!

NI

E

| N

x Publisher: Atlus Developer: Atlus Players: 1 ESRB: Teen

THE VERDICTS (OUT OF 10)

CHRISTIAN

KATHLEEN ROBERT

www.atlus.com

160 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

Good: Fantastic translation, clever jokes Bad: Repetitive, occasionally frustrating Prerequisites: Literacy, patience

SHANE: Commonly referred to (in my exp rience, at least) as “that lawyer game,” Phoenix Wright arrives as a relative mys- tery. | mean, how exactly does one simulate the act of...er, lawyering? Somehow, Capcom’s managed to pull it off reasonably well. In terms of gameplay, Wright bears a close resemblance to old-school adventure fare like cult-classic Snatcher (Sega CD)— lengthy dialogue trees, plenty of menus, and lots of furtively moving a little cursor in hopes of finding something to interact with. OK, so that sounds awfully dull, but here, it's not. And fortunately, the entertaining, well-localized story and climactic court- room “battle scenes” (basically logic, mem- ory, and comprehension puzzles) keep Wright interesting. That said, it’s certainly not a game for everyone. Solving Wright’s epic courtroom dramas takes considerably longer than you'd expect. Also, the game doesn't reach its stride until the fifth and final case (the only one designed specifi- cally for DS; Wright started as a GBA game). This wildly complex, surprisingly serious übercase sports several creative new touch-screen gameplay segments that nicely complement the narrative. A full game like that would have been truly sweet.

JENNIFER: Wright made me grateful to live in the United States, where if anyone ever

Good: Innovative and slick, very polished

Bad: Tough, unforgiving, and repetitive Female Patients: Have no nipples. Sorry, Dr. Pervert

A surgery game on the touch- sensitive Nintendo DS—it's exactly what Nintendo promised us when it unveiled this machine: crazy new game experi- ences we never expected.

Trauma Center casts you as a rookie doc- tor, Derek Stiles, fresh out of his residency and finally able to perform surgery on his Own. It's a clever setup, and the story, while a bit goofy (a mysterious disease called GUILT! Surgical powers inherited from a Greek god!), is pretty entertaining.

The surgery itself requires perfect mem- ory of what to do when and absolute preci- sion with the stylus. Something | never expected is just how much the game relies on reflexes—you have barely enough time to complete the trickier operations. I've lost count of the patients | let die. It's a tough game, and fighting the clock, my memory, and my reflexes wasn't always all that much fun.

This helps make Trauma Center intense, but it also makes it frustrating. Still, it’s a clever, creative game, and DS fans will love how it takes advantage of the sys- tem’s unique features. | respect the inno- vation found here, but | wish the game were a little more forgiving.

With Trauma Center, the fourth wall isn’t just broken, it is clamped, drained, and excised. Offering up a plot

casually accuses me of murder, at least | get a jury trial. In Japan, all it takes is the false testimony of one questionable witness and you're hosed—that is, if Wright is accurate. Which it probably isn't. It also isn't exactly a game; it’s more like an inter- active mystery novel. But it reminds me of that old beloved board game Clue. Anyone with half a brain could figure out the answer in Clue through a couple quick rounds of elimination, but it was still pretty fun because of the stories, props, and char- acters. Wright is much like that: memo- rable characters, loads of personality, an engaging story with plenty of intrigue...all it needs now is a bit more gameplay.

1UP.COM—ANDREW: | enjoy а good mur- der mystery: Law & Order, CSI, that other CSI, Matlock...."Whodunit?" is perhaps my favorite question to ask people, even when nothing was done. And because | never was able to get into law school, Wright has quickly become my favorite DS game.

Its beauty is not just in the novelty of investigating crime scenes, interviewing difficult witnesses, and taking part in the complex back-and-forth cases that dramat- ically unravel in the courtroom. What's great about Wright is that, unlike most other games, it really gets you thinking critically, and not just within the rules of a game.

that melds your grandmammy's favorite daytime stories with the most basic of Resident Evil premises, you star аз а preternaturally gifted young surgeon who has to sever, suction, and suture his way through various patients who are suffering from an otherworldly disease.

Managing each surgery requires an addictive balance of tools and timing. Certain actions must be exact, and getting it right can be aggravating—some opera- tions took many, many tries, but | complet- ed them. No one is going to die today! Do you hear me, God? Not on my watch!

Г. After a few ordinary stitch-ups and tumor removals, Trauma Center takes a turn for the weird. Granted, we’re already talking about a surgery game here, but | mean bizarre: An outbreak of an unknown disease finds our surgeon laser- blasting alienlike creatures in the organs of his patients. But for all its oddness and originality (administering stylus cootie shots and sloppy squiggle sutures), the game never strays far from the familiar arcade-style shooter. It's all memorizing and repeating patterns.

Trauma Center would have been a lot more interesting and fun without the chat- ty assistants constantly interrupting with instructions. Still, it's fresh quirk for the weird kids, myself included.

МА РУНДЕ nrlaTo АРА, [42 ICAL DYES uf та

и Es 26 real missionsifcluding 2». Pearl Harbor and Iwo Jima.

Epic battles with over 150 on-screen planes. ПОТ 36 authentic WWII aircraft.

POWERED BY

Violence Strong Language х TIT PlayStation.e

© 2005 IR Gurus Interactive Pty Ltd and Thatgame Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Published and distributed by Ubisoft Entertainment under license from Red Mile Entertainment. Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Red Mile Entertainment and the Red Mile Entertainment logo are trademarks of Red Mile Enterta mnt, Inc. Heroes of the Pacific is a trademark of Ben Palmer and is used under license. GameSpy and the “Powered by GameSpy" design are trademarks of GameSpy Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. "PlayStation" and the "PS'

Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Online play requires internet connection 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. Software platform logo TM and © IEMA 2003. в" [z1 [| 5 с ЕТ

2%

гемеш сгеш: 5

—

Where's the fire? Building one requires blowing until your face is blue.

LOST IN BLUE

Good: Fishing for dinner at sunset Bad: The actual fishing minigame Do Not Eat: The red mushrooms

ROBERT: This is teenage-boy fantasy for the kids who dug Huckleberry Finn more than Lord of the Rings. Stranded on an island with a cute girl, fending for your- self by hunting, fishing, and exploring, you make your living by gathering the bare necessities. The minigames this entails are novelties at best and annoy- ances at worst: digging for veggies with the stylus, blowing on sparking tinder (via the DS microphone) to start fires, jabbing fish with a spear (the stylus), etc. But taken together they add up to some- thing special, a slice of domestic bliss as you hunt, gather, and make your cave cozy with driftwood furniture.

That said, the early hours of the game

are tiring. You'll find yourself straining just to keep your pair of castaways nour- ished and rested. Breaking out of this

ROBERT CRISPIN -

_ JEREMY

hand-to-mouth monotony takes patience and (too much) effort. But once you acquire better tools, the pace relaxes and you can concentrate on exploring and enjoying your island paradise.

CRISPIN: Water...need water. Must find firewood. Starving. Just have to spear a few more fish to eat. Read the despera- tion in these words: It sums up the first hours of Lost in Blue—a unique, fasci- nating, and at times relaxing desert-isle adventure that begins with a frustrating life-and-death struggle. As in the flick Cast Away (except with a hot-chick com- panion instead of a volleyball), you start your tropical exile with zilch and must learn how to survive off the land while unraveling the mystery of an island that may or may not be inhabited. Once you've figured out how to keep your gal alive on her own and she gains gourmet- cooking prowess, life becomes a beach.

1UP.COM—JEREMY: Lost in Blue's stranded-Sims formula works, although the joys of exploring your new island home are dampened by the day-to-day grind of keeping your status indicators out of the red. The interface could use some help, too: For instance, the com- mand to feed your companion (important if you want to keep her from dying and Stuff) is buried three menus deep. Expect to spend a lot of time performing the same button presses over and over. Still, while it could use a little streamlining, Lost is quietly satisfying—once you get over the "constantly dying" thing.

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Konami

Players: 1 е ESRB: Everyone

www.konami.com

162 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

LUNAR:

DRAGON SONG

Bark at the moon

Good: Above-average graphics for the DS

Bad: You lose hit points when running, archaic battle system

Play: Lunar Legend on your GBA instead

GREG $: How could they have screwed up Lunar this badly? | don't mind the devel- opers messing with one of my favorite role-playing game series—after all, the originals are more than 10 years old—but when they go so far backward as to make the game feel archaic, it's really upsetting.

Fans probably remember the cool dis- tance-based battle system of the old Lunar games—well, not only have the developers excised that from Dragon Song, they've even taken away your abil- ity to actually target specific enemies. That's right: Throw your intricate strate- gies right out the window, because all targets will be chosen at random.

And | hope you like menus, because even the most basic actions in the over- world involve dozens of them. But maybe that’s just to keep the overall theme of quiet frustration going, since movement is agonizingly slow and commanding your party to run from place to place actually costs you hit points. (Most levels are massive...so that’s a lot of fun.) When its fundamentals are botched this badly, not even Dragon Song’s semidecent story can save it.

JUSTIN: Lunar fans won’t complain about the handsome art and catchy soundtrack, but what in the name of Lunar goddess Айпепа happened to everything else? You lose HP for running? For running? Monsters can break your equipment with lucky hits, and you have to alternate between two battle modes—with absolutely no gameplay difference between them—to get either experience

THE VERDICTS (QUTOF 10)

TIN

points or material gains. With boring, superslow fights that require you to hold down а button just to bring them up to regular old slow, you won’t appreciate the double duty. Dragon Song has a few interesting ideas, but many of its twists result only in aches and pains. CHRISTIAN: Ten years ago, | picked up my copy of Lunar: Eternal Blue for Sega CD, the series’ last original game. A decade on, RPGs have changed a hell of a lot. So has Lunar...but not for the bet- ter. It’s still a tale of kids caught up in an epic fantasy adventure, but the new ideas mostly just slow things down, rather than bring Lunar up to speed.

While the story here is charming but forgettable, Lunar is still a very attractive and overall competent game, despite annoying glacial pacing and a bizarre split between leveling for items and lev- eling for experience points. Fans will be satisfied and DS owners looking for an RPG will have something to play...but leader of the genre? Those days are over for this series.

Combat: not as strategic as it used to be.

Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: JAM

Players: 1 (2 via local Wi-Fi) ESRB: Everyone 10+

CHRISTIAN

www.ubi.com

IES.

POSSIBILIT

Encounter unique stories Adventure without limits The choices you make by playing eight with the free-roaming influence events within different characters scenario system future stories

SQUAREENIX. pg

DOLBY|

www.square-enix.com PRO LOGIC п Published by Square Enix, Inc.

Mild Fantasy Violence

Mild Suggestive Themes

PlayStation.2

®

гелеш сгеш: шгар-ур

REVIEWS |

The games that were too little, too late...or already reviewed (Ninja Gaiden)

р

ХВ * Тесто • ESRB: М

Ninja Gaiden Black is essentially a director's cut of last year's Ninja Gaiden, which remains one of the most hardcore and, at times, masochistic action-adventures ever. Players were armed with a complex array of twitch-based combos and fancy weaponry to combat

Е some of the most frustratingly difficult bosses this gen- = eration; even the normally cannon-fodder minions

demanded complete concentration to overcome. But it was a rewarding good time, and we certainly recognized the game for handing us our asses.

Black offers remixed levels and tweaked enemies, as well as new weapons, techniques, costumes, and diffi- culty settings (even scrubs can finish Black on ninja dog mode...though they may not feel good about it in the

[ол |у:

Cs

< Ў 3 я N 2% = | % \ E a M t AS

morning). Developer Team Ninja has also included a bunch of fighting scenarios to test your reflexes; the final tiers аге so difficult, it’s almost inconceivable that а mere mortal could finish every mission. A discount price ($30) makes Black very tempting for fans and casuals alike—if you missed Gaiden the first time around, now's your chance to be humbled good and proper.

REVIEWED ОМ 1UP.COM

Multiplatform Rainbow Six: Lockdown, FIFA Soccer 06, Conflict: Global Terror, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger: Night of the Quinkan, X-Men Legends 2: Rise of the Apocalypse

PlayStation 2 Sniper Elite, Gretzky NHL 2006, S.LA.L: Steel Lancer Arena International

Xbox Shattered Union, Serious Sam 2

PSP FIFA Soccer 06, NBA Live

GBA Mega Man Zero 4

164 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

All the reviews we couldn’t fit in print

Rough month. Sometimes the three reviewer system bites us on the collective ass, and this is one of those times. We simply did not have the manpower to review every game coming out while this issue is on newsstands, so we had to make some very painful cuts. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, though, you can consult 1UP.com for reviews of every game on this list, and most of them are written by EGM contributors to boot.

PSP * EA Games * ESRB: T — Is it good that this PSP fighter lacks the console version’s weak single-player campaign? (See page 138 for the full scoop on that.) Yes and no. You certainly won’t miss it, but the downside is you have to go crazy on repetitive fights to unlock all the characters.

Consider Nemesis only if a friend picks it up—and is willing to unlock all the characters and give you the save file. And still be your friend.

Extreme PS2 е Konami е ESRB: E10+ - - - Feeling the pressure from the competition, the DDR team added new features like dance master mode (a simplistic series of challenges in which you “buy” new songs, characters, and so on with credits earned through rhythmic acumen) and online play.

line: Concrete goals make for a more accessible experience, and the better-than-ever song list doesn’t hurt.

PS2 « . sun СЕА • ESRB: Е — Less like а дате and more like a fancy gym membership, Kinetic Schedules your workouts, charts your progress, and mixes aerobics, yoga, and martial arts moves. The personal trainers even harp at you like the real thing: "Tighten your torso muscles!"

im line: Kinetic is short on the carrot (fun activities) and heavy on the stick (schedules, trainers, nagging).

Во

SWEATIN' TO THE OLDIES

Everything old is...well, still old, but now lumped together on one disc!

Capcom Glassics Ce jl lec Р52/ХВ • Capcom e ESRB: Т — Of all the retro compi- lations this month, only Capcom's does its subjects justice. And that’s no small feat: Weighing in at 22 titles, this collection packs a ton of games truly deserving “classic” status, such as 1943, Forgotten Worlds, Super Ghouls "М Ghosts, Final Fight, and three itera- tions of Street Fighter Il. You need this one in your library.

1 е

XB е тесто * ESRB: Е HET made its name with great console (not arcade) games, and this compilation makes it easy to see why. Sure, there are 15 titles in this collection, but since none of them is particularly good, save Tecmo Bowl and Solomon's Key, that just means Tecmo Classic Arcade offers a lot of different ways to be mediocre. And where’s Ninja Gaiden? Skip it.

PS2/XB/GC • Midway • ESRB: E — Hope you like driving, because that's all there is to do here. It's cool to see a compilation include Dreamcast- vintage titles like SF Rush and Hydro Thunder, but after the high standards set by the first two Midway Treasures, the narrow focus and limited selection (only eight games) found here feels dis- appointing. But Super Off Road still rocks. $

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REVIEWS ARCHIVE ДР =

Collect them all and trade with your friends!

fast one.

SYSTEM VERDICT fout 01:10) АМА

PS2/XB. W Egregiously urban car-combat game that finds new ways to insult you at every turn 4.0 45 45 Arc the Lad: End of Darkness PS2 18 An "action" role-playing game with less action and more dialogue reading 60 55 40 Advance Wars: Dual Strike DS I The DS is ideally suited for this addition to an awesomely addictive strategy series 9.0 8.5 9.0 Advent Rising XB № 50-50 sci-fi story, but you won't get past its numerous bugs and sucky controls 4.5 4.0 65 Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana PS2 WI Has а difficult-to-pronounce name, but a worthy RPG with simple, enjoyable battles 8.0 7.0 7.5 Batman Begins PS2/XB/GC E Superstar voiceovers and cool cars can't overcome dull game design 60 50 50 Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance PS2/XB W A brawler with а good windup but lousy execution and no follow-through 45 40 45 Bomberman DS 05 Wi Have a blast (get it?) with some classic multiplayer fun or the decent single player 8.0 6.5 8.0 Coded Arms PSP Wi First-person shooting comes to PSP...then shoots itself in the foot with this crap 4.0 6.0 35 Colosseum: Road to Freedom р52 E Thought Russell Crowe was a pissed-off gladiator? Try playing this repetitive game 7.0 45 5.0 Conker: Live & Reloaded XB W The squirrel's single-player game should have stayed caged in the Nintendo 64 5.0 7.0 80 Darkwatch PS2 Wi Good atmosphere, but otherwise a mundane cowboy-vampire shooter 6.0 65 6.0 Darkwatch XB Wi Better looking and online, but otherwise a mundane cowboy-vampire shooter 65 7.0 65 Death, Jr. PSP ША lousy camera and dull levels kill off any chance for fun this platformer had 40 60 40 Destroy All Humans! PS2/XB № The missions get old, but launching cows and anal probing never do 70 75 65 EyeToy: Play 2 PS2 т Minigames that double as upper-body workouts. Hey, you're on the TV! 80 75 80 Fantastic 4 PS2/XB/GC W Fantastic, eh? This brawler's a little full of itself if you ask us 60 40 7.0 Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones GBA ША great strategy-RPG sequel, but just more of the same stuff from the original 80 75 9.0 FlatOut PS2/XB W You can learn a lot from a dummy: Avoid this car wreck of a driving game 6.0 4.0 4.0

Frantix PSP W A puzzle game with a balance of moderate mental stimulation and zero actual effort 7.0 7.0 6.0 Fullmetal Alchemist 2 PS2 W Diet Kingdom Hearts; with better RPGs to play, there is no excuse for less than great 5.0 6.0 6.0

GripShift PSP т Ride your brake around ugly tracks and play with a track editor that isn't so awful — 7.0 65 3.0 Hot Shots Golf: Open Тее PSP тп addictive golf game, even though its cuteness nearly sets off our gag reflex 70 70 70 In the Groove. PS2 E Dust off the headband and spandex: a decent dancing game with more crappy techno 7.0 7.0 55 The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction PS2/XB/GC Ш Go green and wreak havoc; explosive rage issues have never been more fun 90 75 90 Juiced PS2/XB. № Trails the pack, but with АЈ, teammates and betting on races, И earns our respect 7.0 6.5 7.0 Killer 7 PS2/GC ША shooter that tries harder for artsy-fartsy style rather than gameplay 55 50 60 Kirby: Canvas Curse 0$ п That pink blob's ingenious DS game has us proud of our writers’ cramps 85 9.0 9.0

Makai Kingdom PS2 IM Hardcore tactical-RPG fans will love this like they love obsessive organizing 75 80 75 Mario Superstar Baseball GC ША steep learning curve keeps Mario and crew short of the majors 75 70 75 Medal of Honor: European Assault PS2/XB/GC IW No online multiplayer; new features are nothing to write home about. 75 65 6.0 Medievil Resurrection PSP I A frighteningly unfunny action-adventure game that might help you kill afew hours 6.0 8.0 4.5 Meteos 05 W Мо knew a puzzle game in which you rub space rocks would be so addictive? 9.0 9.0 9.0 Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition PSP W Long load times keep the tiny version of Midnight Club out of pole position 70 85 75 MotoGP 3 хв E Intense, technical, hardcore bike racing—just like in the last one. 75 80 75 MVP Baseball 2005 PS2/XB/GC W Slick minigames help make this the best hardball sim yet. 85 85 90 Namco Museum Battle Collection PSP W Easily one of the best classic-game compilations ever, plus it's portable 8.0 7.0 8.0 Nanostray 0$ I This 2D shooter excels at being deeply, depressingly mediocre 50 50 50 NASCAR 06: Total Team Control РЅ2/ХВ № Good fun for those who love to talk to their дате while driving in circles 90 7.0 65 NBA Street Showdown PSP W Decent b-ball, but it just double-dribbles the console version of Vol. 2 onto PSP. 65 70 65

NHL 06 PS2/XB/GC W EA's hockey series finally battles Из way back to respectability 70 75 75 NHL 2к6. PS2/XB № .. while shoddy goalies let the 2K Games team down 75 70 60

Pac'N Roll 05 W An entertaining but ultimately soulless and occasionally aggravating platformer 75 65 65 Pokémon Emerald GBA W Catch those little bastards all over again, if you're into that sort of thing 70 75 70 Predator: Concrete Jungle PS2/XB W Predator vs. crappy camera: Whoever wins, we lose by playing this bland дате 5.5 45 45 Radiata Stories PS2 WA witty but року and slapped-together RPG 75 75 75 Rengoku: The Tower of Purgatory PSP W Insanely repetitive—it’s more like BattleBots hell than purgatory 3.0 20 20 Samurai Western Ps2 E Yawn as you hack and slash as a samurai who deflects bullets...with his sword 407050 Smartbomb PSP ї Need to get crappy shareware games and Minesweeper on your PSP? Look no further 3.0 3.0 2.5 Sonic Gems Collection GC W Plural form is misleading—the only gem is Sonic CD, which is the best Sonic to date 6.5 5.5 6.5 Spider-Man 2 DS W If your spider sense is on the fritz, let us warn you to avoid this ho-hum adventure 6.0 5.5 3.0 Spider-Man 2 PSP E Kirsten Dunst looks nice, but the camera has a hard time focusing on anything else 6.0 7.0 6.0 Splinter Cell Chaos Theory DS DS W Let's all just try to forget this game ever happened 15 45 55 Star Wars: Episode ІІ Revenge of the Sith PS2/XB и Play this repetitive game and you'll understand why the dude went to the dark side 4.5 5.5 6.0 Star Wars: Episode Ill Revenge of the Sith DS W Maybe in a galaxy far, far away, this side-scrolling crap is still considered awesome 4.5 4.0 4.0 Trace Memory Ds ША point-and-click adventure that doesn't manage to include any actual adventure 5.5 65 65 Twisted Metal: Head-On PSP W This fighting game with cars is OK, but the series is due for some maintenance 7.5 65 6.0 Urban Reign Generic, patchy combat and no co-op make this fighting game hit or miss 75 50 35 Viewtiful Joe 2 18 More of what you (hopefully) know and (should) love from Joe's first outing 8.0 8.0 85 Wipeout Pure Remind yourself to blink while playing this great, intense racing game 8.0 8.0 85 WWE Day of Reckoning 2 Wi We reckon there isn't much to say about an average wrestling game 50 50 7.5

*Games in red are previous Game of the Month winners.

166 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

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Fast BOmm Fan Excellent heat dissipation Precision Flat-Milled Base

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SEANBABY'S ONE MAN'S НАТКЕО;

Oh snap, how Raven can this $" get?

ive months ago, ! reviewed ER That’s So Raven for те GBA,

and | vowed never to let it happen again. So why am | now devot- ing an entire page to the former Cosby Show kid/tween sensation's newest GBA nightmare? | blame ту war against magicians, the people respon- sible for these abominable game. First, they turn ordinary hats into filth- squirting bird portals, and then they conjure the circumstances required for a faithful Game Boy adaptation of a children’s sitcom to exist. They strut around with their prestidigitation and their fruity capes and wands...hey magicians, when you saw a woman in half, she’s meant to stay sawed in half. И our laws of physics aren’t good enough for you, why don’t you levitate to a world where they are?

As it turns out, | got too close to the truth, so here | am reviewing That’s So Raven 2: Supernatural Style. And т іп the form of a chicken. —Seanbaby

Mall security guards will strangle you if you venture too close, just like in real life.

|

E., f

|OH SNAP THE PLO

| Since this game n place in a world

| where the biggest threat is teen pregnan- Cy, it really relies on its dialogue and pow- erful plot twists to hook the player. And it began with me, Raven, trying to get a date for the big concert. Enjoy this great premise while you can, because once there are TWO companies trying to design games for little girls, the Getting a Date

| for the Big Concert level will be as tired

| as the Platforms Floating in Lava level.

| The story takes a turn for the unex-

| pected when instead of asking me out,

Devon runs away awkwardly. | spent 20 minutes boringly somersaulting through the school, and now | can’t get any brown sugar off my man? Snap! Plus, while acquiring an umbrella power-up that gave me the ability to go nicely with my jacket, | had a supernatural vision that Devon was making out with Chels! Well, luckily for the skin attached to Devon’s and Chels’ faces, they were just slow dancing, so Devon could impress me. | had no con- trol over the dialogue, but when the game made me say “Oh snap!” three times and

/ SNAP! Both Deven AND Chelsea aeted weird... What if my vision is right after

then reassure Devon with “Know what Рт sayin? Keepin’ it real,” | nodded proudly, since that's exactly what | would have said anyway.

| OH SNAP THE ENEMIES! Steel yourself, because you’re about to meet the deadliest cast of villains since

| Captain Crunch battled a race of creatures with the ability to dampen break- fast cereal. They were called the Soggies, and to this day, no breakfast on the

high seas is safe.

Jocks | If Raven gets too close | to the jock, his sweaty, young muscles will flex in a seductive display. If she moves even closer, letting desire take hold and turn her more into animal | than woman, he will PUNCH RAVEN IN THE FACE. Which will probably get a nomination as Plot Twist of the Year at the Holy Crap! Awards.

Nerds

| The nerd will follow | || |

you, which slows you down because you're a dirty, filthy tease and | p have to strut to torture him with your fine, all-grown-up-now mochalicious- ness. He loses interest eventually...his signed copy of Dragon Trevor’s Guide to Hobbits and Halflings already knows how he needs to be touched.

Bitches

| The deadliest of Raven's foes are the bitches. The blond one will

| hold up her hand with attitude if you get too close; the other one will form hers into a knife and drive it into your pelvis. Time it just

| right and somersault past them before their attitude gives you fatal

| injuries. Somersaulting is, of course, the traditional high school way to regain iaa | when insulted by someone from a rival social clique. It's called "recoupin"" and it | works like this: When you're being tormented, somersault. Enjoy!

168 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www. 1UP.com

PUDDING SUMMER SWEEPSTAKES!

АМО VIDEO GAME AWARO.

L D THC OH SNAP, THE CONCLUSION! For its dramatic use of repetition in dialogue, That's

ceives the respected | Bill Cosby Si Into The Back | To School Marketing Window:

| With Pudding Award and

| | Sweepstakes.

GET TOGETHER. ROLL SOME DICE. HAVE FUN.

Um

` PLAYDND.COM

GRUDGE MATCH

f Fight to the Un-Death —

NINTENDO GAMECUBE.

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THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

(Solution on page 177)

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Ghosthood сап һе ап awkward time іп a fella’s Ше. But thanks to the magic of videogames and '90s chick flicks it can also be a thrilling ride full

of vengeance-driven murder and supernatural make-outs. In this month’s Grudge Match, we pit Geist versus Ghost to see who's really ruling purgatory.

ACROSS 1. Try to hit a pop fly? 6. GTA enemy, for one 7. Distance around Halo divided by the distance across it 8. Simpsons Road Rage Homer-ism 9. Like Top Spin's Roddick? 11. Mega Man X armored boss 13. Link's Awakening helper bird 15. DeeJay's Street Fighter homeland 17. The Getaway Citroen van 21. PS2 Gundam prefix 22. Castlevania power-up 23. Xbox Rygar winged demon 27. Sanrio’s periodic game star _ Kitty 29. Dr. Mario 64 character 30. FFVII Freeze spell, potentially 31. Early name for Atari console 33. PS2’s Stargate _-1 34. Mortal Kombat knock-off ninja 36. Like a Ghosts ‘N’ Goblins boss? 41. GT4 speedy Subaru 42. NeoGeo 2D shoot-em-up 45. World Class Track event 46. Lau’s Virtua Fighter daughter 47. 3D0 Dennis Miller “game” That's News to_ 48. State of Emergency developer 49. Part of Sonic Gems collection

DOWN 1. Officer in military games? 2. NCAA Football 06 _ Vandals 3. Opposes GDI in Command & Conquer 4. Between “F” and "K" in Sesame Street ABC 5. Gaming PDA brand 6. Aptly named Saturn reptile 7. The Thing outerwear 10. Unplayable CD-ROMs? 12. San Andreas model city, for one 14. Halo 2 multiplayer map 16. PS2 rhythm title American 18. Forza leftover? 19. Served їп arcade’s Tapper 20. Round of MLB 2005 24. SMB3 World 5 Koopa boss 25. He-Man's female counterpart _-Ва 26. What an Xbox 360 video recorder might replace 28. Loser's place? 32. Chrono Cross protagonist 35. бате зсоге 37. Gets ready to fire 38. Hanging from NBA 2006 rims 39. Came from the desert on Turbo-CD 40. Shorter title for Halo’s Keyes? 43. Xbox Indiana Jones locale Peng _ Lagoon 44, PSP media

170 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

“wal Disembodied soldier î runs amok in science compound

Getting your body back

John controls the bodies of hot geeky chicks

Dog food

WORTH FIGHTING FOR

PRIZEWORTHY POSSESSIONS

PLOT

Patrick Swayze is а megahunk

The life of a 13-year-old boy... er, Demi Moore

POWERS

Sam moves a tennis shoe, with some practice

Whoopi Goldberg

SHELF NEIGHBOR

Get on da Mic

Ghost Dad

“BAD GUY”

Is an evil corporation that stole your body

15 also the voice of Tarzan in Kingdom Hearts

WINNER: GEIST

Like his character in the 1990 movie, Patrick Swayze goes down for the count without much of a fight. Regardless, this Grudge Match teaches us a valuable lesson: The afterlife kinda blows...

does your phone pop?

Your mobile phone can carry so much more than a dial tone. Make it pop with hot games, cool images, fun ring tones and great sounding music. Take a scroll through mobile entertainment at popmobile.com.

obile

popmobile.com

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game over

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LAYSTATION TURNS 10

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Sony celebrates а decade of domination

his September marks the 10th anniversary of the PlayStation’s U.S. launch.

That's 70 in dog years—although you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who would actually refer to Sony’s first-ever console as a dog. Far from it, as the PlayStation (or PS1, for short) quickly stomped the competition to become the

seen, enjoying global success to rival even that of the mighty NES.

As the PlayStation’s successor, PS2, enjoys its fifth year of ruling the industry, and gamers (and their wal- lets) brace for the PlayStation 3, we look back at the slim gray console that made Sony a name to be feared in gaming.

best-selling console the world had ever

IN THE BEGINNING...

—Jeremy Parish

B.P.: Before PlayStation

The PlayStation wasn’t Sony’s first entry into the hardware market. In fact, the company once had a strong partnership with rival Nintendo, provid- ing the incredible sound chip responsible for so many Super NES musical masterpieces. But things went sour when the Big N decided that the Super NES CD-ROM add-on (code-named Play Station) would offer Sony too big a slice of those sweet, sweet software profits and aban- doned the Play Station in favor of Philips’ lame- duck CDi system. On a scale of one to 10, we give Nintendo’s decision a “boneheaded.”

172 • ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY е www.1UP.com

Youthful indiscretions

Sony has gained a reputation for being a software publisher par excellence, but anyone familiar with the company’s NES and Super NES offerings (under the Imagesoft label) had little reason to be opti- mistic about the PlayStation's prospects. Cliffhanger was the worst game of 1993—a far cry from PS1’s Parappa the Rapper and Tomba!

Strong Start

The PlayStation launch kicked ass and took names long before Nintendo’s “Reggie” dude arrived on the scene. The secret? Great adver- tising—and plenty of that all-impor- tant buzz. Sony sponsored MTV's 1995 Video Music Awards, beat the Nintendo 64 to shelves by a year, and outperformed Sega's Saturn on both price and 3D technology.

The Sad, Strange Tale of Polygon Man

Nintendo had Mario, Sega had Sonic, and even NEC’s TurboGrafx-16 made a vague effort for a mascot with Bonk. But Sony earned a place in history by making PlayStation a success without its own mascot character—something unthinkable at the time. That's not to say it didn't make the attempt: Early PlayStation ads featured a pointy purple head named Polygon Man. Mercifully, Sony quickly came to its senses; by the time the system arrived in the United States, he had been swept quietly under the rug. Farewell, Polygon Man. We'd miss you, except you sucked.

THE GAMES

Library of Awesome

Everyone knows that it's not the hardware that counts (much)—it's all about the games. And the PS1 had no shortage of great games right from the. start. Ridge Racer proved the system could push

world's first great 3D platformer, and Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain marked the beginning of a new era of mature console-game design. Not that every first-gen game has stood the test of time. Played

arcade-quality visuals, Jumping Flash! was the

the lame 3D fighter Battle Arena Toshinden lately?

Flattened

20 or not 2D? That was the question on the mind of many PlayStation fans as Sony devel- oped—perhaps unfairly—a reputation for hat- ing two-dimensional graphics. Many claim the suits making decisions for PS1 didn’t want the console to be seen as primitive and refused to release 2D games in the United States. Admittedly, these people have a hard time explaining the proliferation of great 2D games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, Suikoden, Mega Man X4, and others. If the tinfoil hat fits...

Wham! (Make It Big) While the PS1 was a great place for veteran game com- panies to explore new ideas and update franchises, it also introduced us to fabulous new stars, Developer Insomniac (of Ratchet & Clank fame) tested the waters with a decent shooter called Disruptor before creating one of the PS1’s most successful platformers, Spyro the Dragon. Meanwhile, former Sega stalwarts Naughty Dog and Core hit the big time with Crash Bandicoot and Tomb Raider, respectively. Sure, Crash and Lara aren't what they used to be, but we'll always have our memories.

Lost in Translation

The PlayStation played host to a burgeoning import scene, which was admittedly mostly a bunch of nerds who couldn't wait a lousy six months for a version of the latest Final Fantasy they could actually understand. But those who dug deeper into the import scene found sever- al great games that never made it to the United States, from 1995's Gunstar Heroes (Genesis) rip-off Gunner's Heaven to 2001's ZanacXZanac. Thanks to eBay, it’s still not too late to catch up, but expect to pay dearly for some of the harder-to-find titles. But hey, you weren't using that arm and leg anyway, right?

Defector

Sony scored major points with some significant coups: Both halves of the mod- ern-day role-playing game giant Square Enix renounced their former allegiance to Nintendo, citing the limitations of the Nintendo 64’s cartridge format as a deal-breaker. Between their Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest franchises, these two companies almost single-handedly ensured the PS1’s victory in Japan. Quite a few other companies followed suit: Capcom, for instance, reserved its best stuff for PS1 (and sometimes Saturn), leaving the Nintendo faithful with little more than outdated ports and, uh, Magical Tetris Challenge. >

ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY ® www.1UP.com ® 173

) game over

PLAYSTATION TURNS 10 cov

"THE SCENE

Do It Yourself

Think the PS1's library sucked? Sony gave aspiring developers а chance to do something about it—at least in Japan, anyway. The Net Yarouze was a special PlayStation system that allowed budding creators to create their own games for the system. It was expensive, sure, and all amateur programs had to fit within the system’s meager 2MB of memory, but it was a rare effort by a console maker to reach out to the gaming community. (And it makes it all the more tragic that Sony seems so averse to homebrew development on its PlayStation Portable.)

Emulation: The Sincerest Form of Flattery?

The PlayStation was nearly as powerful as a top-end computer at the time of its

release, but it didn't stay that way for long. And as PC hardware improved, we witnessed the inevitable attempts at emulation. Sony was surprisingly unamused when commercial PS1 emulators hit the market—but the company was helpless to stop them in court, since their creators took pains to go legit. Still, the Japanese giant сате out the winner: Bleemcast (which lets you play PS1 games on Sega's Dreamcast console) fizzled under the weight of its ambitions, and Connectix's Virtual Game Station (like Bleemcast, but for PCs) died mysteriously after Sony bought the rights to it.

Mod Squad

Console manufacturers really hate it when gamers buy software intended for other countries, a practice they prevent by making U.S. consoles incompatible with imports. Modding—that is, adding a chip that bypasses the system’s regional lockout—became all the fage among PS1 import maniacs. Sony respond- ed by changing the PS1’s innards every few months and adding detection routines to games that would prevent them from being played on a modded sys- tem. Admittedly, Sony had some cause for concern, since mod chips also allowed less scrupulous gamers to play bootlegs—but mainly it created a comical back-and-forth battle between Sony and a small army of hackers determined to one-up the electronics powerhouse.

174» ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY • www.1UP.com

A Noble Fallen Foe

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of another game console: PS1’s original competi- tor, the Sega Saturn. But there’s a reason we're commemorating one and not the other—simply put, PlayStation stomped the Saturn. That does- n't mean it was a bad system, though. While its 3D power was lacking, it pushed some of the most beautiful 2D games ever. Ultimately, the Saturn died due to managerial incompetence and a lack of clear direction...and it didn't help that most of the best software was stranded in Japan. RIP, Saturn. жй

OLD SCHOOL

10 years ago in ЕСМ Ето Twisted 76 ЕБЕСТРОМС Ga Metal canine To repulse coulro- E phobics (people who fear clowns,

you uneducated swine), we slapped | = Twisted Metal оп ` - the cover.

Game of the Month: Jumping Flash! (PS1) Sadly, Jumping Flash! had nothing | to do with the Whoopi Goldberg comedy Jumping Jack Flash. Still, this platformer wowed us with its then-revolutionary 3D visuals.

What’s Analog? We broke the news on Nintendo's double secret project, Ultra 64 (now

| known as Nintendo 64), and its turbo |

secret feature, analog technology. It seems "analog" makes the con- troller as sensitive to touch as you are...if someone were to touch you.

Madden Has Loved

| You Long Time How perennial is the perennial hit Madden? Well, a decade ago, we offered exclusive Madden 96 strategies. Fast forward to today and EA's blockbuster professional football franchise continues to

| offer delicious gaming turducken (see pic).

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| |

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