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WWww.scea.com AN\ Gran Turismo is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. All manufacturers, cars, names, brands and associated imagery featured in this game are trademarks and/or copyrighted RrHONY materials of their respective owners. All rights reserved. © 2001 Sony Computer Entertainment inc. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment inc

It’s difficult to appreciate some of the greatest tourist destinations in the world when you're racing through them at 225 mph. But with over 30 different racecourses and cars from the world’s top manufacturers which are created according to the exact specifications of their real-life counterparts, you'll feel like you could. Besides, when the competition starts battling with you for every inch of space on the track, you won't have time to see the sights. However, you can test your skills in the intense arcade mode or the simulation mode, where true car fanatics can supe-up their cars to no end. So don't worry about packing all your things, because if you're good, it'll be a short trip.

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, Eidos Interactive,

Kain, the most evil video game character of all time, is back to reclaim the land of Nosgoth.

istered trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All rights reserved.

icon is a reg

Inc. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logo are either

Bare-clawed or with weapons, engage your enemies in close combat, then drain their corpses of blood.

Use your Dark Gifts such as possession, rupture and stealth to claim vengeance on your enemies.

Developed by Crystal Dynamics. ©2001 Crystal Dynamics. Blood Omen 2, Crystal Dynamics and the Crystal Dynamics logo are registered trademarks of Crystal Dynamics. Crystal Dynamics is a wholly owned subsidiary of Eidos Interactive, Inc. Ei

registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. The ratings

and the Eidos Interactive logo are all registered trademarks of Eidos Interactive, Inc. ©2001 Eidos I

HE'S BACK.

This game is intended for

mature audiences ONLY. ; www.LegacyofKain.com

By Dan “Shoe” Hsu * shoe@ziffdavis.com

EDITORIAL

A Tale of two Covers

ook on the cover of the magazine you are

holding in your hands. Unless something

went horribly awry at the printer, you will

see one of two images (both shown below).

If you see a bright and colorful Yuna (she’s

Final Fantasy’s new heroine) using her wide- Sweeping arms to cast a spell over the ocean waves, then you have our stunning “normal” cover, which was put together by our art director, Mike Reisel. He took a new image from Square’s illustrious artists and crafted the magnificent piece you see here.

“Why two wisuall If you see a wispy hand-painted picture with

flairs of amber and gold...if you see Tidus, our Final Fantasy X hero, protectively standing in front of Yuna...if you see a little Mog and Chocobo off to either side, then congratulations. You managed to land one of our exclusive, limited-edition covers. This chef-d’oeuvre was made special just for us by Final Fantasy’s — actually, video gaming’s— most famous artist, Yoshitaka Amano. You’ve seen his goods in past FF games (in manuals, box art, posters, etc.) or with DC Comics (his most recog- nized work being The Sandman: The Dream Hunters, a collaboration with Neil Gaiman). This special cover was only printed on less than 15 percent of our maga-

zines, so if you don’t have it already, you better run out and grab one fast.

Why the big fuss? Why two visually captivating covers for “just another Final Fantasy”? As you can see, Starting on page 112, this isn’t just another chapter of the long-running role-playing game series. This is Final Fantasy being revamped and re-created for a new generation of gamers and a new generation of hardware. This is a big deal, folks, and we’re here with an exclu- Sive sneak peek of the whole game, well before it even hit store shelves in Japan. New info and

never-before-seen screenshots await you inside. But the whole issue isn’t just about Square’s new dealie. We have loads of new coverage on the stuff you’re probably playing lots of right now, like Gran Turismo 3 and the always-hard-to- see-clearly Game Boy Advance. We also talk a bit about something you probably haven’t played a lot of lately (unless you’re old school, geeky, hardcore or all of the above). This month is the 1oth anniversary of the launch of the Super Nintendo Entertainment ‘System, father to my two favorite fantasies (among those that can be printed here), Final Fantasy V and VI, and one of EGM’s favorite consoles of all time. Take a trip back down memory lane with us on

page 126. Shoe

oe LIMITE BOAT HOS COVER > om he eh ;

teh

Prix

Cover #1 (starring Yuna): the one you probably got.

Cover #2: Limited-edition, by Yoshitaka Amano.

Chris Baker

Chris is a know-it-all writer who’s spearheading “Ever Wondered..?”, Our new answer session to gam- ing’s burning questions.

shane Betienhausen

A huge game deserves a huge feature. This ex-Gamers.com-er parachuted in to help scribe our massive Final Fantasy X piece.

David Kushner

Think games aren’t all they should be? David shows you how to put your money where your mouth is by making your own.

Ethan Einhorn

Now a seasoned EGM contributor, Ethan knocked out several game previews this month. His next order of business—NBA Street.

ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY (ISSN #1058-918X) is published monthly by Ziff Davis Media Inc., 28 East 28th Street, New York, NY 10016. Periodicals Class Postage Paid at New York, NY 10016 and additional mailing offices. Single issue rates: $4.99. The one year (12 issue) subscription rate is $24.97 in the U.S. and $40.97 outside the U.S. Checks must be made payable in U.S. currency only to Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Electronic Gaming Monthly, P.O. Box 55722, Boulder, CO 80322-5722. For subscription service questions, address changes, or to order, please con- tact us at: Web: http://service.egmmag.com (for customer service) or http://subscribe.egmmag.com (to order); Phone: U.S. and Canada (800) 779-1174 or (850) 682-7624, elsewhere (303) 604-7445; Mail: Electronic Gaming Monthly, P.O. Box 55722, Boulder, CO 80322-5722 (please include your mailing label with any correspondence as it contains information that will expedite processing); Fax: U.S. and Canada (850) 683-4094, elsewhere ((303) 604-0518; E-mail (please type your full name and the address at which you subscribe; do not send attachments): egm@neodata.com. The editors and the publisher are not responsible for unsolicited materials. Without limiting the rights under copyrights reserved herein, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the the prior written notice of Ziff Davis Media Inc. To reuse any material in this publication, obtain a permission request form at www.icopyright.com/ziffdavis/, or have a form faxed or mailed to you by calling (425)430-1663. Copyright © 2001 Ziff Davis Media . All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part with- out permission Is prohibited, For permission to reuse material in this publication (or on this Web site) or to use our logo, contact Ziff Davis Media’s Rights and Permissions Manager. For reprints, contact Reprint Services at 800-217- 7874. Olga Gonopolsky, Ziff Davis Media Inc. 28 E. 28th St., New York, NY 10026. Tel: 212-503-5438. Fax: 212-503-5420. olga_gonopolsky@ziffdavis.com. Electronic Gaming Monthly and EGM are trademarks of Ziff Davis Media Inc. TM and © for all other products and the characters contained therein are owned by the respective trademark and copyright owners. All materials listed in this magazine are subject to manufacturers’ change and the publisher assumes no responsibility for such changes. The Canadian GST Registration number is 140496720 RT.

Printed in the USA.

Audit Bureau of Circulations

SLT Number 14.09 GAMING Sentember 2001

| Editor in Chief

Dan “Shoe” Hsu ® shoe@ziffdavis.com

| Managing Editor

Dean Hager * dean_hager@ziffdavis.com

Executive Editor

Mark MacDonald ¢ mark_macdonald@ziffdavis.com :

| Features Editor

Crispin Boyer © crispin_boyer@ziffdavis.com

News Editor

Chris “C}” Johnston © chris_johnston@ziffdavis.com |

| Previews Editor

| Senior

Greg Sewart © reg sewart@zifidavis.com Associate Editor : Kraig Kujawa ® kraig_kujawa@ziffdavis.com

Associate Editor

| Associate Editor; Art

Jonathan Dudlak slonathan_dudiak@zifidavis.com irector eanne Kim ® jeanne_kim@ziffdavis.com

Trick? Editor

Terry Minnich ¢ tricks@ziffdavis.com

| West Coast Editors

ames Mielke ¢ james_mielke@ziffdavis.com an Chou @ hear ope Roe

Contributors:

Chris Baker, Shane Bettenhausen, Sam Kennedy, Ethan Einhorn, David Kushner, Dan Leahy, Shawn Smith, john Ricciardi

| japanese Correspondent

Yutaka Ohbuchi European Correspondent Axel Strohm

Senior Art Director

Cyril Wochok ¢ cyril_wochok@ziffdavis.com

| Art Director

Mike Reisel ¢ mike_reisel@ziffdavis.com

Nahas Copy Editor er

Jenni hitesides

Manufacturing Director

Carlos Lugo Senior Production Manager Anne Marie Miguel Pre Media Manager Dave McCracken Pre Media Technician Mike Vallas : : Advertising Production Coordinator

Wen Laws. Assistant Production Manager Teresa Newson

Project Leader ‘ : Mark LeFebvre mak lefebvre@ziffdavis.com Customer Support Analyst : ‘ Peter Felonk ® peter_felonk@ziffdavis.com

Vice President/Game Group Dale Stran

Business Director Cathy Bendoff

t Circulation Director

joan McInerney

| Circulation Director

Shirley Viel ar Senior Newsstand Sales Manager Don Galen

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE NUMBER: 800-779-1174 (U.S. and Canada) WEB SITE: hitp://service.egmmag.com PLEASE SEND ALL SUBSCRIPTION QUESTIONS TO:

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DO NOT CONTACT THE EDITORS RE: SUB. PROBLEMS

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rol ARARR HS 987 878

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Suzanne Reider

15-357-4915 ® suzie@ziffdavis.com Regional Saide Wanteer eee Coast Territory

Marc Callison

Pe 630-382-9034 ® marc call son@ziffdayis.com District Sal

Sales Répresentative Tallie Fishburne : ; 4-0284 ® tallie_fishburne@ziffdavis.com

East Coast Territory

17-30 | Account Executive/East Coast Territory

Emily Olman

| 415-257-5226 ¢ emily_olman@ziffdavis.com | Regional Sale

s Manager/Pacific Northwest & Bay Area Peninsula lan Sinclair :

15-357-4925 ® ian_sinclair@ziffdavis.cam Account ERecuewe,

i aS Regional Sales Manager | Senior Account

Regio

é/ Pacific Northwest & Bay Area Peninsula | Mary Gry : : i -8782 © mary_gray@ziffdavis.com outhwest Territory Karen Landon : 180-942-6277 ¢ karen_landon@ziffdavis.com

int Executive/Southwest Territory Linda ee ei da_phitapil@ziffdavi 15-547-8781 ® linda_philapil@ziffdavis.com ‘i at Sales Manager7 exae, Washington, San Francisco Territory

Marci Yamaguchi

15-357- * marciy@ziffdavis.com | Accduat recieve Washi

xecutive/Texas, San Francisco Territory Meighan O’Rourke

ashington,

+

ghan_orourke@ziffdavis.com

15-357-4920 © mei Senior Mane ine Manager & Creative Director

Rey Ledda ee 47-8775 e rey_ledda@ziffdavis.com rdinator :

15- Marketing Coo

Annie Lipscomb

15-547-8248 ® annie_lipscomb@ziffdavis.com | advernens Coo ae

: Coordinator Tipler Ubbelohde

ssistan

415-357;4930 ° tipler_ubbelohde@ziffdavis.com i Sales f

Kristeen Laut

15-547-8778 ® kristeen_laut@ziffdavis.com Sales Aeacant as

Cheryl Farrell 3 : 415-547-8783 © cheryl_farrell@ziffdavis.com

Founder Steve Harris

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Throttle the competition with hard- core hand-to-hand combat.

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CONTENTS

Game Directory

September 2001 Issue 146

_ pre rR A Rn PPO DDO SPEAR UE ROOTED PETE SOTTO OTP

106 Advance Wars

147 Alone inthe Dark: The New Nightmare

Arctic Thunder

Castlevania Chronicle

City Crisis

Crash GBA

Dark Summit

Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 Diddy Kong Pilot

Disney’s Atlantis

Dragon Warrior III

Drakan Il

ESPN X-Games Skateboarding Eve of Extinction

F1 2001

Floigan Brothers

Gallop Racer 2001

Gekisha Boy 2

Genma Onimusha

Giants: Citizen Kabuto Gran Turismo 3 A-spec

Ico

Klonoa: Empire of Dreams

Final Fantasy X Square is taking its

story—not to mention loads of exclusive screens—Straight from the series’ creators. X marks the spot on page 112.

premiere RPG franchise in new directions on the PlayStation 2, and we have the full

LOADERS oe . penncoreers ne: °

° RR RRP DPT PRD IT TRIPOD OEP ITT SRR MITES REELED PRED

a ETI PPI ID EPI AL ERRATIC LILES LORE EISE DPD SPEIEEELIEEERIEEE DELILE LIE LEE LEELLE PEELE PLIES ETO ITE SNS

Editorial K Letters 16 News 32

Find out why everyone’s been prying open their Game Boy Advances and why they probably shouldn't. Also, get the scoop behind the making of Twisted Metal: Black and what really happened to Half-Life for DC.

Gossip 52 == GK OLE Ger

Previews 68

Contrary to popular belief, yes, we do have a Previews section. Just not when we have an E3 feature loaded with over 100 games. That was last month, but now we’re talkin’ about Metroid’s arrival on

GameCube and GBA, Spy Hunter and Madden 2002 on PS2, and even Spidey’s return to PS1.

Vin Diesel ain’t the only one gettin’ fast and furious. Check out our reviews of GT3, NASCAR Heat and oh yes, horsey simulator Gallop

Ktonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil Legends of Wrestling Luigi’s Mansion Madden NFL 2002 Mario Kart Super Circuit Metroid IV

Metroid Prime

NASCAR 2002

NASCAR Heat 2002

Sonic Adventure 2

Is one of the Dreamcast’s last hurrahs a great game worthy to ride into the sunset on? Find out on page 146 if the last Sonic game on Sega hardware runs rings around the competition, or just jumps

The Super NES Turns 10 Nintendo's classic 16-bit system debuted a decade ago this month, and we’re celebrating the

NBA 2K2 occasion with a five-page ode to this old through hoops. Racer. But don’t forget about games NBA Street friend. The memories begin on page 126. that use human horsepower: NCAA NCAA Football 2002 — Football 2001, NBA Street and N64 NFL 2K2 Tony Hawk 2.

NHL 2002

Onimusha 2 150 Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 -

renal @ The Final Word 154 Resident Evil Code: Veronica X The Final Fantasy movie made us Robocop reminisce about the series that’s Rugby shaped role-playing games since

the original arrived on the 8-bit Nintendo. Has the series changed for the best, or has it become just another game with a nice name?

Saiyuki: Journey West Silent Scope 2

Simpsons: Road Rage, The Soldier of Fortune

Sonic Adventure 2 Spider-Man 2 Enter: Electro Spy Hunter

Gran Turismo 3 A-spec The long, difficult wait is over. Our review of GT3 begins on page 142. But wait, there’s

& = PlayStation2 —

Spyro the Dragon: Season of Ice moral We alee kick aff | | Stretch Panic a new section called S C GameCube Super Smash Bros. Melee P The Inside Track this | Bx Xbox | Tanne ois ae A month. You'll find the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 Garage, Inc. Wanna get into game first edition spread ” ©) Dreamcast Top Gun development? Why not go indie? across both our GT3 = pik PlayStation |

Independent developers are the garage review and the back samara pen ; bands of this industry. We follow one of our poster this Nintendo 64 Who Wants to be a Millionaire 3rd Ed. intrepid start-up through the highs and month. Game Boy Advance. World Series Baseball 2K2 lows of do-it-yourself game design. Do WWF Road to WrestleMania they make it? Find out on page 132. Game Boy Color

| PlayStation

www.scea.com

you're at ome, there's |

sit-at-home contestant who faces mind bending

questions, orders in Chinese food and then, while

taking a bathroom break to ponder the advantages of certain lifelines over others, tealizes that you : could. always just push pause. ‘ond look up the

| answer on the Inteme, but knows that because

a) need to worry about

) making a fool of ‘yourself on ‘notional TV and : besides, just lke on the actual show, -you really

don’t snd. a chance of ever becoming q

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A STORY BEYOND TIME. AN ADVENTURE BEYOND BELIEE.

4. DYNAMICS

Fake letters from Contributing Editor David Hodgson jokingly pretending to be a reader who's “a big fan of David’s ‘Where Are They Now?’ series”: 1

e Love letters to Associate Editor/Art

Congratulations. You win an InterAct GameShark for PlayStation 2, PlayStation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64 or Game Boy Color.

system Wars

Buying a game console has become like buying a new car! With each year, as hardware costs rise, it seems that the allegiances of gamers to specific console manufacturers settle into more firmly solidified, blind partisanship. Internet forums and magazine letters columns are looking more like the bumper stickers on Ford and Chevy trucks every day. So what? Aside from replacing more objective looks at the relative strengths and weaknesses of a given system with the sloganeering of console manufacturers’ ad campaigns, such single-mindedness would seem to actually hurt us, the consumers.

While we were all scrambling to get our hands on a PS2, we not only let a

It surprises me to see people write that Sony has ended the console wars before they’ve even begun. And while it appears that Sony’s system finally has some truly exceptional games on the horizon, two other contenders arrive with tempting offerings.

What is the non-partisan gamer

to do? Shawn Elliott selliottg23@aol.com

Yeah, it’s a bit silly how normal, everyday gamers turn into vicious

street thugs when talking about their favorite systems. One

reader even wrote in, angry about our last issue’s less-than- enthusiastic write-up on the Xbox. He proclaimed that Microsoft’s machine is going to be the best thing ever. We shut him up real quick with

system with, in my opinion, one of gaming history’s finest libraries (the Dreamcast) go under, but we also encouraged Sony to continue boasting about its market dominance with nothing more to show for itself than a handful of rushed-to-market, disposable titles.

Shortly after Sega announced it would cease manufacturing the Dreamcast, | too jumped ship and traded my DC for a PlayStation 2. Sorry mistake that, so far. Phantasy Star Online, Quake II] Arena, Shenmue, Soul Calibur, Jet Grind Radio, NFL 2K1...all gone so that | could play what? Two semi-enjoyable hours of Zone of the Enders and a three-hour run through the murky, overrated Red Faction? Sigh.

a, “How on earth would you know that, not having played the thing yet?” See this month’s Question of the Moment to read some of the more intelligent comments on the upcoming system wars.

But that’s human nature. You become protective of the things that are endearing to you (although how the unreleased Xbox became endearing to that reader, God only knows). This fall will probably bring out the worst in everyone, with three consoles from which to choose....

So what is the non-partisan gamer to do? Buckle up and get ready to start spending some of your hard- earned dough! Buy everything! Buy! Buy! Buy!

Director Jeanne Kim: 78

Nutso Over Amano

| just got the latest issue (August, EGM #145) in the mail and after reading your editorial, | truly hope you guys are going to reward your faithful subscription holders with the Amano cover of the next issue. Please! | will be VERY disappointed if | don’t get one, and |’m unwilling to pay for an extra copy of something | already have. Please, please use your almighty influence to make this happen. Duncan Crawford skulboy@earthlink.net

Unfortunately, we don’t really have much of anything “almighty” (at least that’s what our significant others tell us). We don’t have influence over jack, much less control of a randomly distributed issue. Sorry! If you don’t see the Amano cover edition of this issue in your mailbox, then your only alternative is to trek to the nearest shop to look for it.

Dear Honorable Crispin,

Before | was confirmed on June 10, | was given the daunting task of finding a confirmation name. As | was going through the List-o-Saints, | stumbled across the name...(dun dun da!)...“Crispin.” Instead of the expected, “Hey that’s neat...what does the name mean?”, | said, “Sweet!! Just like Crispin Boyer!!” Needless to say, my parents got kind of perturbed, but nonetheless, my full name is now Josef Anthony Crispin Locastro.

Just for trivia’s sake, Crispin is a curly haired saint. He was a religious advocate by day and a shoemaker by night...back in the 16th century.

Josef Anthony Crispin Locastro burger_dog17@yahoo.com

Features Editor Crispin Boyer responds: I’m flattered you picked my name for your confirmation, but are you Sure you want to go through with this? | mean, do you have any idea how many different ways those cruel kids down the street can make fun of a name like Crispin? Crisper,

Taran

52 Se N &

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PlayStation.c

E-mail us your thoughts, your wishes, your gripes, your innermost weirtiness...or your pictures, crazy LETTERS screenshots or photos of bizarre game-related moments. By the way, “daring” us to print your letter

is the quickest way to get it thrown in the trash.

Crispy Creme, Crispy Wheats and to play that game again. If it is coming Raisins—I’ve heard them all. out, would Zelda || be coming out as Allow me to suggest a few well? How about Link’s Awakening for tougher, more street-sounding the Game Boy Advance? names such as “T-Bone,” Allen Fangor “Heywood Jablowmee” or afangor@dellepro.com “Dandy Andy.”

Indeed, Capcom, developers of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, was working on a GBC

| heard that The Legend of remake of the original 8-bit Zelda. Zelda for the [8-bit] Nintendo was Executive Producer Yoshiki Okamoto ae coming out on the Game Boy told us at E3 that it was completed, Mewes Color with extra stuff. Is this but not released because of St. Crispin Boyer, true? | don’t have a NES any problems brought on by the GBC’s circa 1989 ' ‘ more (| regretfully gave it away oddball screen size. (Players for my N64), and | always wanted couldn’t see entire rooms at once

Here are the Review Crew’s new scores for THQ’s GT Advance Championship for the Game Boy Advance. Remember... the scale goes from o to 10, with a 5.0 being middle-of- the-road average.

Greg Sewart:

8.0 “Jol oSt0 9x6S kKyl

(originally 9.0)

j

> SUPER CIRCUITS

Dean Hager:

8.5

(originally 9.0)

Che Chou:

0

(originally 8.5) :

Note, these new scores force us to take back the EGM Silver award we gave GT Advance the first time around.

©2001 Target Stores. The Bullseye Design is a registered trademark of Target Brands, Inc. All rights reserved.

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©2001 Target Stores. The Bullseye Design is a registered trademark of Ti

Have Tony's skills in the palm of your hand with 3D action on

your Game Boy* Advance handheld system.

Rip it up on Nintendo® 64 with Tony's Park Editor and Create-A-Skater features.

The sequel is here on Nintendo® 64 with more riders, new levels and crazy new tricks!

iT

PRODUCTS RANGE FROM RATING PENDING TO EVERYONE

NINTENDO

~~ QD *Hearious C®rX | Visions 2D GE

CONTENT RATED BY

© 1999-2001 Activision, Inc. and its affiliates. All rights reserved. Published and Distributed by Activision, Inc. and its affiliates. Activision is a registered trademark and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Pro Skater are trademarks of Activision, Inc. and its affiliates. Tony Hawk is a trademark of Tony Hawk. Nintendo and Nintendo 64, are trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. © 1996 Nintendo of America Inc. Game Boy Advance is a trademark of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo.

eS $0O-80 + FS NOSEGRINO + < ee L Hig | : a RAIL DROP > oe , | PAKIGIOCCILER+ VAR! Xs Preccncirr

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_ New Game Boy” Advance graphics Full 3D environments for you to skate Skate as the legendary Tony Hawk or ‘makes this the ultimate handheld in and pull off insane combos and one of 12 other top pro skaters. skating game. signature moves.

Nintendo® 64 September 2001

Skate like one of 13 top pros including Skate head-to-head with your friends Design your own mega park in

the legendary Tony Hawk or create in sick new multi-player modes Real-Time 3D, using any combo

your own custom skater. including Trick Attack, Graffiti, HORSE of ramps. funboxes, rails and more. and the newest addition Tag Mode.

BURNQUIST / CABALLERO / CAMPBELL / HAWK GLIFBERG / KOSTON / LASEK /MULLEN / MUSKA REYNOLDS / ROWLEY / STE, ME NER / J.THOMAS

_pomemareeecaremmarnavanssncgeaseanesenesenseasetsonn, (mamateien Pane LEAR) { SPORTS REVOLUTION } —_—

activisionO2.com

like they could in the NES original, so they would miss staircases, bomb- able walls, etc.) He also said the decision to release it or not is now up to Nintendo, but he doubts it will ever see the light of day. Damn. Maybe they’ll rework it (or Super NES’ Link to the Past) for the GBA though....

o Ievtrmennnammmtnt priennerenntrtntn merino

evceerht mnt tramp sinerevar getesattnmesomatnarnte formtmrenrat - : i

NGO DISLIKES SMOKE. 7@

: 3 124 ¢ |

peerverten tear 4

The Legend of Zelda (NES): A real classic and a thetruth.com friend.

An interesting side note: As you may or may not know, the Oracle series was originally slated to be a three-game series, so what happened to the third cart?

Okamoto told us the hassles of making three GBC games linkable to each other proved to be too much for Capcom to handle. (“The debugging would take forever,” he told us.) So they took Miyamoto’s suggestion and scrapped the third Oracle game. It was never completed.

Pool Boy or WP?

I’m a Brazilian guy and would like to thank you because since | started reading your magazine (#19), | loved it so much that | learned english just to read it. Now ten years later | work ina five star Hotel in Rio de Janeiro because | speak the language that your magazine introduced me. [SIC]

siso@mailbr.com.br

We would say we’re flattered and impressed, but we have no idea what kind of job you hold at this hotel.

Not-So-Gay Letter

Hi guys...love your work but issue number 145 bothered me a little bit.

MORE LETTER FACTS

e Letters that got resent to us with an apology because the original wasn’t spell-checked or

proofread: 4

e Letters we automatically dismissed because they really needed spell-checking or proofreading: 13 ¢ Average number of entries for “Eat My Shorts”

contest: 800+ a month

-cooeuseesnetenneeeeenneee enone enenenoe enna tEnnNE epneESRrnEEEREEESEREDESP DEERE SOR P RETR ITO RITS SERS ROIS RD I ROOT PI RORT DE ROP ORI RENTER ERROR ERI STROM I Raa RR RRR

On page 58, the Best GameCube Game award went to Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II. | don’t have a problem with that; | think Star Wars is great. But what | do have a problem with is the nice little slur you managed to Sneak into the text.

The line is as follows: “...the GC game that impressed us most packed Spaceships and John Williams tunes, not coins and gay Mario music.”

Could you explain yourselves? What did you mean by that? Does Mario music frequently engage in homosexual behavior?

| demand an apology for your furthering of the “acceptable” prejudice. l’m not gay and | don’t know any gay people. But as a decent human being, |’m not going to sit and read your magazine when you have your little slurs hidden in every issue Or SO.

“Jessica” address withheld

P.S. The editor who wrote that bit should read Homophobia: Analysis of a “Permissible” Prejudice... www.cyberpsych.org/homophobia/

The Oxford Dictionary has its first (and therefore, most common) definition of the word “gay” as:

gay /gay/ ° adj. 1. lighthearted and carefree; mirthful.

So we’re not really sure what you’re raising a stink about. “Gay” is a perfectly cromulent word.

Molar Activity

How does the Game Boy Advance stand up to bite attacks (from humans, dogs and other living creatures)? | remember renting a game with a cheating Al system for my Game Boy Color. | got so mad, | bit the screen. Luckily, | bit above the actual screen, but | still bit the screen’s plastic.

Direct, to the point, here they are. This month’s shorts:

Did you tell Capcom to release my Mega Man compilation? ’m gonna pee my pants if | have to wait any longer!! sayankowski@ webtv.net

Send us a picture so we can show everyone how serious you were!

Do you know when the Wonder Swan Color is coming out in the U.S., and do you know when a Dragon Ball Z game is coming out? Bung78@aol.com

WSC: It’s not. DBZ: The Legacy of Goku, an action- adventure game with some role- playing elements, is in the works for the Game Boy Advance. Infogrames and WizardWorks will be releasing it this winter. These guys will be releasing more titles based on the DBZ licenSe in the future.

Question of the Moment What Are Your Thoughts

on the Upcoming System Wars?

Let’s just say that PlayStation 2 is America and GameCube is Hiroshima and Xbox is the big atomic bomb that will end the whole war. richieballz@yahoo.com

Let’s see. GameCube vs. Xbox vs.

PlayStation 2 vs. Dreamcast. DC beats

PS2, Xbox beats DC, GC beats Xbox. Ottercool@ignmail.com

GameCube: $199.99. Xbox: $299.99. The realization that the PS2 will kick their booties in the console wars: priceless. There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s the PS2. slimshadyfang9@hotmail.com

When will Nintendo grow up? Those games are Still kiddy. Look at Pikmin, Smash Bros., Kameo.... Forget it. Nintendo just won’t change.... friendlyguy28@mail.com

Le’s put this in Perfect Dark terms:

Nintendo has an RCP-120 and everybody

else is unarmed. Nintendo wins. Excalibur2043@aol.com

| think the Xbox is going to follow its American-based ancestors’ footsteps (like 3D0 and Jaguar) and die a quick death within two years. | predict the PS2 will come out on top with the GameCube giving it some healthy competition. force5555@hotmail.com

Dreamcast still rules all! CubsRule58@aol.com

l’d rather have an Xbox or a GameCube than a PlayStation 2. But Sony has Square. Hence, they have me. It’s out of my hands.

iwishiwasafi@hotmail.com

Next Month’s Question of the Moment: What is your favorite Final Fantasy, and are you excited about Final Fantasy X? Send your short but sweet responses to: EGM@ziffdavis.com with the subject heading:

My Fantasies

The Metro

= e) 0 {e) ae O ® S S < iv o < Eo Oo o cab) [@)) > = te: = rr = iL

OPM MNAN ANAS , ’ PIPL LABOR LP EL PEPE LOD at dear nieade

1S OR NORA OH ta

«Moby *Fatboy Slim =x° Propellerheads

and more

Visit www.esrb.org

or call 1-800-771-3772 for more info.

Whatever

Haul ass in ruthless, multi-player combat racing.

Thwart opponents with traps, trickery and explosive attacks.

Race a motley crew of characters through treacherous, obstacle-filled terrains.

is

An original game design created specifically for the Xbox” video game system.

Ne www.maddashracing.com

Mad Dash Racing, the Mad Dash Racing logo and related characters are all trademarks of Eidos Interactive. Published by Eidos Interactive. Developed by Crystal Dynamics. Crystal Dynamics is a wholly owned subsidiary of Eidos Interactive, Inc. Crystal Dynamics and the Crystal Dynamics logo are registered trademarks of Crystal Dynamics, Inc. Eidos, Eidos Interactive, and the Eidos Interactive logo are all registered trademarks of Eidos Interactive, Inc. ©2001 Eidos Interactive, Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logo

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e-mail: EGM@ziffdavis.com read them all. Also, everything you send us is ours to keep!

Also, one time, a wire scratched the Screen...right across the middle, leaving a visible gouge. | tried polishing it for a few, frantic minutes. Apparently | polished it so hard that the plastic melted back into its Straight-outta-the-box condition. Everything looked brand new, except for my aforementioned bite, which still remains to this day.

Xuncu Morton ucnux@yahoo.com

To be honest we aren’t sure how the Game Boy Advance will stand up to bite attacks. We’re having trouble getting people to play with “Jesus”—our name for the white Japanese GBA that started working again three days after we flushed it in a toilet—much less wrap their lips around it. And to those who were wondering: