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The world is on the brink of civil war between the Humans and the Deimos over control of the Great Spirit Stones. The future of both civilizations and the world itself is placed in the hands of feuding twins separated at birth — the idealistic Kharg and the outsider Darc. Immerse yourself in an epic and tumultuous story, where half your battle will be choosing whichsidetotake. | www.us.playstation.com

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NHL FEATURES DIE-HARD HOCKEY FANS DEMAND HAVE BEEN COMBINED WITH MIDWAY SPORTS TRADEMARK FAST AND FURIOUS GAMEPLAY, DELIVERING AN ALL-NEW NHL HITZ PRO EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU'D EXPECT FROM HITZ AND DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU'LL GET WITH ANY OTHER HOCKEY VIDEOGAME.

= NEW 5-ПМ-5 AUTHENTIC NHL ACTION

= NEW TOURNAMENT STYLE ONLINE PLAY* = NEW WRAPAROUNDS AND DEFLECTIONS = REALISTIC 30 REACTIVE CROWDS

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A Game You Can't Refuse!

AFIA

www.mafia-game.com

© 2003 Illusion Softworks. Mafia, the Mafia logo, Illusion Softworks, and the Illusion Softworks logo are trademarks of Illusion Softworks. All rights reserved. Gathering and the Gathering logo are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox logo are either registered trademarks of trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries and are used GATHERING under license from Microsoft. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association

A hail of bullets from a Tommy gun or a shotgun stuck in your face over linguine at lunch. You choose a life with the Salieri family, the cops and feds will be the

least of your problems.

The city of Lost Heaven is at war as the Salieri and Morello mobs fight to control

the lucrative protection rackets, smuggling and women of Lost Heaven.

Join the Mob — you've got no choice, unless you think choosing death is a smart move! Mafia grabs you by the lapels and plunges you into the middle of a vicious and deadly turf war. The cops, the feds, the Morello family — each of them are out to get you and none of them care how they take you down.

Mafia has received universal acclaim across the world with its blend of action and plot driven narrative. With Mafia living out your wise guy ambitions could

not be easier.

Arriving on both PlayStation®2 and Xbox™, Mafia has been enhanced to deliver an awesome console experience that will make the Cosa Nostra look like a bunch of choirboys.

Blood

PlayStation.e M Violence

AMEINFORM

COVER STORY

JADE EMPIRE: INSIDE THE DYNASTY THAT BIOWARE BUILT Following up the fastest-selling Xbox title (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic) with all-new material is no small feat. Luckily, if anyone can deal with the pressure cooker of success, it’s probably famed Canadian developer BioWare. See what they have planned for discerning gamers.

«7

GAMING ОМ THE GO!

Portable gaming is finally getting a facelift, courtesy

of two companies with two very different executions | Although none of us are nearly as rich or talented or

of the idea. One is a phone; one is a Palm; both are tailored to gamers. See the plans, the titles, and the devices.

А

HEROES OF THE HARDWOOD

| in trouble with the law as some basketball players are, we still want to rule the court on our consoles.

| Enter GI's yearly roundup of roundball titles, and see what has changed and what has stayed the same (for better or worse).

DOOM DESCENDS ON DALLAS Although the event is called QuakeCon, this year was all about Doom. The fan convention turned into a large-scale debut of Doom 3's multiplayer mode, and we were there to check out all of the action.

12 GAME INFORMER

THINK YOU KNOW NFL BLITZ ? ——

IT'S TIME TO GO PRO WITH THE NEW NFL BLITZ PRO. FOR THE FIRST TIME AUTHENTIC NFL FEATURES DIE-HARD FOOTBALL FANS DEMAND HAVE BEEN COMBINED WITH MIDWAY SPORTS TRADEMARK FAST AND FURIOUS GAMEPLAY, DELIVERING AN ALL-NEW NFL’ BLITZ’ PRO EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU'D EXPECT FROM BLITZ AND DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU'LL GET WITH ANY OTHER FOOTBALL VIDEOGAME.

= NEW 11-ON-11 AUTHENTIC NFL ACTION = NEW TOURNAMENT-STYLE ONLINE PLAY* = NEW BLITZ STYLE RUNNING GAME = NEW INTERACTIVE SIDELINES

* NEW FRANCHISE MODE

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EDITOR'S FORUM No one left, and no new people came in. See what we think about the industry now that we've successfully initiated Jeremy.

СІ SPY The Game Informer paparazzi stalk the video game industry, bringing you candid photos of all the action.

DEAR СІ There's an eligible chick who thinks that gaming guys are crazy hot! No, honestly, we printed the whole letter, because everyone was so darned shocked. There's other good stuff there too, for those not on the make.

NEWS While maintaining a level of sarcasm and journalistic integrity somewhere between The Onion and The Chicago Tribune, we'll keep you up to date on the big industry announcements.

PREVIEWS The trees are starting to change colors, the nights are getting a little colder, and it’s time to start lusting for the upcoming releases. Soon enough, it will be winter,

14 GAME INFORMER

which always gives you a fabulously conve- ETC

nient excuse to hang inside and master the “1 want everyone in the world to have a gaming arena. video дате accessory like this, so they can feel the joy that | am feeling right now," is what Miss America should say instead of all that puppy business.

REVIEWS It's a hard knock life for a few much-hyped titles. See what we're recommending and what we're less than satisfied with. Surprises inside!

CHARTS What's hot? What's not? What's up? What's down? It's not NASDAQ, it's the Retail Sales Data and the GI editors’ Top 10 Games.

SECRET ACCCESS Ever wonder how we beat all those games each month? We don't get to cheat, but we will give you some pointers for titles that the general public can get their mitts on.

CLASSIC GI Classic Gaming Expo is always a won- derland of hardware and software nearly forgotten. We've got a rundown of the museum, the auction, and (of course) our classic reviews to trip the light fantastic.

GAME INDEX

Billy Hatcher & the Giant Egg .

Civilization Ill: Conquests . б Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon .

DDR Max 2 .. Dino Crisis З . Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure (GBA) Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure (GC)

Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure (PS2) Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure Disney's Magical Quest 2 Double Dragon Advance Dragon Ball 2: Taiketsu .

Elder Scrolls Ill: Morrowin:

Game of the Year Edition ESPN NHL Hockey (PS2) ESPN NHL Hockey (Xbox)

(Ps2) NASCAR Thunder 2004 (Xbox) NCAA GameBreaker 2004

R-Type: Final . Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando . Risk: Global Domination River City Ransom Roadkill (PS2) Roadkill (Xbox) Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown Rugby 2004 .... Shining Soul I

Star Wars Rogue Squadron ІІ: Rebel Strike ‘Starsky & Hutch (PS2) ... ‘Starsky & Hutch (Xbox) . Super Monkey Ball Syberia II . .

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Tenchu: Return from Darkness Tennis Masters Series 2003 . Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 (GC) Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 (PS2) Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 (Xbox) . Tomb Raider . Tron 2.0 .. Viewtiful Joe . Virtua Tennis .

ҒАР EID

GAME INFORMER UPDATE

ANDY McNAMARA andy@gameinformer.com

EDITOR-N-CHIEF

Last month | got a chance to fill you in on the relaunch of Game Informer Online. This month | get to tell you about some of the cool stuff it does for Game Informer maga- zine readers.

First, it gives you free daily news, movies, PC demos, codes, forums, and also an exten- sive review and code archive from the maga- zine. That stuff is pretty straightforward, but there is yet another bonus - Game Informer Unlimited. If you are lucky enough to be a Game Informer subscriber (and | know you are!), you can venture into this exclusive area of our website.

Simply put, Game Informer Unlimited is a demo disc online. Read about a game in the magazine that you want to know more about; then head to Unlimited to get bonus screenshots, movies, interviews, and much more all just for subscribing to this wonder- ful (if | do say so myself) magazine. А num- ber of our bigger stories in this issue (and all issues from now on) will feature Game Informer Unlimited logos alerting you to head online to get more about those titles.

In other news, the search for our new PC editor continues, but І have started getting people writing in begging for the position. All the letters are great, so hopefully we will have a new reviewer next month to mock and overwork. Until then, enjoy the amazing Jade Empire cover feature and make sure to watch out for next month's issue, where we blow the doors open on a never-before-seen Namco title that I’m pretty sure will surprise you.

Enjoy the online site, and - most impor- tantly - enjoy the issue. Cheers.

PS: Whoever wins the Ford Gran Torino contest on page 32 owes me a ride (and yes, you can actually win a car in this issue), because that is one sweet set of wheels.

| GLADIUS

| russe CROWE IS A MP

REINER | reiner&gameinformer.com

1 would really like to see what would happen if a developer took the setting and open-ended gameplay of Grand Theft Auto and applied the choice of being good

or evil from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Every mission would feature two goals. For instance, rather than robbing a bank, you could join the ranks of the police and stop the heist. Simple things like obeying the speed limit and stopping at red lights would affect your affiliation as well. If you don't feel like joining either side, you could avoid conflict altogether and take on the simple life of being a

cab driver or a pizza delivery person. Naturally, the дате would conclude in three completely different ways.

MATT | matt&gameinformer.com

Video games always have their share of meaningless buzzwords. For a while, “immersive” was all the rage, but now a couple of new contenders are on the rise. The first is “robust,” which was previously used only in reference to oak trees and fat guys, now describes everything from control schemes to save menus. think it means "good." Also notable is "bleeding edge," a more violent update of "cutting edge." However, if the edge is bleeding, it must have already been cut, which would make "cutting edge" more cutting edge than "bleeding edge" — but what

do | know? As a bonus, l'Il give you two of tomorrow's PR catchphrases today: “morphological” and “etherealistic.” We'll figure out what they mean later.

JUSTIN | justin@gameinformer.com

Look, everyone - it's an issue of Game Informer without any editors leaving or new editors joining up! That's a bit of a rarity as of late, huh? So anyway, | quit. Just kidding. This month's review crop brought about two traditions | love seeing: revived classics with added content (Double Dragon Advance), and games packed with insane amounts of depth and replay (Tiger Woods 2004). | also think Roadkill set the record for the most Fbombs іп a game, but it's only a matter of time before another title comes along and breaks it. How 'bout that new Gl web site?

КАТО | kato@gameinformercom i I'm really loving a recent trend in games — unlockables with depth. In the sports genre in particular, we've been treated with some great stuff in this department from Tiger Woods, ESPN NFL Football, and NHL 2004. While once | used to love unlocking cards in Madden (yawn!), now | fuss over getting the right wall hanging

in my GM's office (NHL) and Crib (ESPN). Tiger's even gone a step further and had its plethora of unlockables worth something. | knew | was addicted to this feature when | caved in and got my guy a hat (which | never wear in real life) because he got sponsorship bucks whenever he golfed with it!

LISA | lisa@gameinformer.com

I've been all mobile-gaming happy as of late. | don't know if it's because I'm traveling more and really missing the couch/console setup at home, but | really want more from my handheld baby. I've tried phones. I've attempted PDAs. But | really think that what is going to tweak my melon is a nice, updated, hybrid unit. I'm not naming names here, but we all know which handheld hasn't really done much by way of advancements in the last few years (a backlight but no headphone jack is not doing it for me). I'm an early adopter, and | want my crazysexycool stuff!

JEREMY | jeremy@gameinformer.com

Well, I've survived my first full issue of Game Informer, and I've only been handed five or six savage beatings! It's been tons of fun, but in the short time I've been here I’ve noticed an unfortunate trend. No, I'm not taking about Justin's refusal to wear pants. I’m taking about games with weak camera systems, Several games

| played this month (which shall remain nameless in this forum – they know who they are) would have scored much higher if the awful camera had been fixed. You need solid camera work to make a good movie, and you need it to make a good game as well. And popcorn. You need that, too.

GAMECUBE

GAME INFORMER UNLIMITED When you see this logo on a game preview, review, or feature; you can learn more about it by heading to www.gameinformer.com and clicking on the Unlimited logo. There are tons of other bonuses there (including movies, interviews, and screenshots) exclusively for Game Informer subscribers, so even if a game you like doesn’t have the logo in the magazine, there is a good chance you can still learn more online.

GAMEINFORMER.

OCTOBER 2003 Volume XIII * Number 10 * Issue 126

PUBLISHER

Cathy Preston

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

‘Andrew McNamara

EDITORS

Executive Editor Andrew Reiner Senior Associate Editor Matt Helgeson Associate Editors Justin Leeper * Matthew Kato Lisa Mason • Jeremy Zoss Mascot Arthur

PRODUCTION

Art Director Thomas Blustin Production Director Curtis Fung Production Assistant Rachel Nimerfroh

GAME INFORMER ONLINE

Managing Online Editor Billy Berghammer Associate Online Editor Chris Cook

ADVERTISING SALES.

MINNEAPOLIS Rob Borm Director of Marketing and Midwest/East Coast Sales Manager (612) 4866155 Fax: (612) 4866101 rob@gameinformer.com

Amy Amold Advertising Coordinator (612) 4866154 Fax: (612) 4866101 amy@gameinformer.com

SAN FRANCISCO Doug Faust Vice President Advertising Sales (650) 728.5647 Fax: (650) 7285648 doug@gameinformer.com

LOS ANGELES Marc Minasian Southwest Regional Sales Manager (818) 991.9923 Fax: (818) 991-9923 mare@gameinformer.com

CIRCULATION CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT

For change of address or subscription inquiry ONLY: Toll Free: 1 (866) 844-GAME (4263)

Fax: (612) 486-6101 Email: customerservice@gameinformer.com Or send correspondence to: 724 North First St., Ath Floor Minneapolis, MN 55401 • Attn: CIS Dept

Circulation Manager Paul Anderson * (612) 486-6104 paul@gameinformer.com

Information Systems Manager Paul Hedgpeth paulhedgpeth@gameinformer.com

Manufactured and printed in the United States of America The Editor welcomes company product information for all video games. Such materials should be addressed to: Editor, Game Informer® Magazine, 724 North First St., 4th Floor, Minneapolis, MN 55401. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot be returned or acknowledged. Entire contents copyright 2003. Game Informer® Magazine. All rights reserved; reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Game Informer is a trademark of GameStop, Inc. Products named in these pages are trade names, or trademarks, of their respective companies. PUBLISHER LIABILITY FOR ERROR The publisher shall not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of ап advertisement. The publisher's liability for other errors ог omissions in connection with an advertisement is limited to republication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue or the refund of any monies paid for the advertisement. INDEMNIFICATION The advertiser and/or Advertising Agency agrees to defend and indemnify the publisher against any and all liability, loss, or expense arising from claims of libel, unfair competition, unfair trade practices, infringement of trademarks, copyrights, trade names, patents, or proprietary rights or violation of rights of privacy, resulting from the publication of the Advertiser's

statement.

Member Audit Bureau of Circulations

Violence

© Disney. GameSpy and the "Powered by GameSpy” design are trademarks of GameSpy Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. NVIDIA. the NVIDIA logo. NVIDIA The Way it's Meant to be Played logo and other NVIDIA marks are trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation

THE WORLD INSIDE YOUR COMPUTER.

A viral agent threatens computer systems worldwide. Countermeasure programs have identified you as the source. Battle to survive the sinister conspiracy that threatens

to corrupt one reality and forever transform another.

JeT BRADLEY THE USER

The word surrender does not compute.

Maximize your experience with

pentium

NVIDIA GeForce FX

in the United States and other countries. The Pentium mark is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. The ratings icon is а registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Th e GPU of TRON 2.0

Association, All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.

CANDID PHOTOS FROM THE SEAMY UNDERBELLY OF THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY

1 Kato shows Sony's Carrie Altuvilla and Ryan Bowling the magic of Vikings preseason football. Looks like the Game Katana did a little tailgating before the game 2 Howard Scott Warshaw, famous for making Yar's Revenge and infamous for making E.T., knows something you don't. He wouldn't tell us, either, so don't bother emailing us about it. Now, get out of here, you smelly nerds! 3 As a joke, we told Justin that *Casual Fridays" had been changed to *Dress Up Like Solid Snake Fridays." 4 Pac-Man world 8 record holder Billy Mitchell compares thumbs with Reiner. "www, Later, back at the hotel, they compared a few other things 5 ™ B New guy Jeremy poses with Amy Hennig from Crystal T Dynamics and Denny Chiu from Eidos 6 Infinity Ward's Grant Collier, and Activision's Tim Ponting and Mike Mantarro were nice enough to pretend they were having a good time for the GI Spy camera 7 AARRRRGH! Petey the Shark say Aquaman best game ever!!! Buy or | bite you!! Why shark talk like caveman? Me not know! 8 Atlus' Akibo Shieh and Gail Salamanca show the closest thing to a ninja at Game Informer the patented Double Dragon elbow. BAAAM! eam 7 6

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GAMES

PlayStation.? | ЕТТ MEF Starsky & Hutch™ & © 2003 CPT Holdings, Inc. Ford Gran Torino is a trademark used under license from Ford Motor Company. Original m developed by Minds Eye Productions. Xbox™ version developed by Supersonic Software Ltd. Published by Gotham Games and Empire Interactive Europe Limited, Empire and "S" are өй trademarks or registi trademarks of p o Europe Ld. in the UK/US and/or other countries. Gotham Games and the Gotham Games logo are trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, inc. "PlayStation" and the "PS ‘amily logo

are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, and the Xbox Logos are either registered trademarks, or з of Microsoft Corporation, in the CONTENT RATED BY V.S. and/or in other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All rights reserved. ESRB

COLLECTABLES >>>

| was just wondering if old Game Informer magazines are going to be worth a lot of money in the future?

Joseph Suarez Via hotmail.com

= Since some of the crew just came back from the Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas (check our coverage of the event in the Classic Feature on page 156), we can say with shock and befuddlement that one booth did have old copies of gaming magazines, including ours. Although the Vectrex dust cover commanded alarmingly more money than our first issue, the amusement factor was still pretty high. But, don't be that guy that says, “I don't need to save up for college/retirement/trust fund for my family members to use in case of my untimely demise, | have old Game Informer issues lying around."

GONZO FOR GORDON >>>

Why do you think that everyone hates Jeff Gordon? As a race fan for over 20 years, when | saw Gordon come on

to the scene | saw nothing but a driver who had a LOT of talent. Is that why “everyone” hates him? Because he wins a lot, drives better than most out there, and takes no crap from ANY driver? Please try to give me an intelligent reason to hate the guy.

Chris Via comcast.net

As a very loyal fan of GI, | am thinking of canceling my sub- scription due to the magazine's bias in the August 2003 issue. Bias against who or what, you ask? JEFF GORDON is who. You not only insulted him by calling him an *SOB," but also your headline says *EAT IT, GORDON." That was very degrading to a man of his abilities and achievements. Are you all Dale Jr., Rusty Wallace, and Mark Martin fans? Mr. Gordon is the youngest-ever Winston Cup Champion. He is third to only Dale Sr. and king Richard Petty. So, my request of you is that you back off of Gordon! Big Will Via yahoo.com

We all hate Jeff Gordon? Out of the millions of NASCAR fans, l'm sure there are probably five or six of us that are fans of four-time Winston cup champion Jeff Gordon. You know, we “24” fans are used to this kind of discrimination; but normally it comes from a testosterone-challenged, red- neck, beer-swilling, has-to-sneak-up-on-a-mirror-to-get-aook- athimself, fifth grade educated good ol’ boy. So now | sup- pose we can add the keyboard-clicking, toggle-switch-fid- dling, computer geek that wouldn't know a sprint car from a stock car to the ranks of the prejudiced. | see how it is. Well, | have two things to say: One, if you see the number 24 car getting smaller, it's because he's already at the fin- ish line; and two, bite my ass (and | use the “my” for the collective five or six Jeff Gordon fans around the world). Laura A. Ridge Via email

= Gordon fans have truly united over this cause - and most did it through graphic depictions too vile and pro- fane to print in even this mag. Sadly, the point of our missive was that the rivalries (as Big Will so eloquently demonstrated) are going to be present in the upcoming release. All you NASCAR diehards go out and buy the game - then you defend his honor as much as you like in the digital realm. Besides, Kato just writes negative stuff about Jeff Gordon because Andy is a fan. [and | think he is just tired of losing to ol’ 24 all the time - ed.]

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lve b ; 1 opinion for abe e Woe

honesty We just bee) 42> being lazy, Anyways, |

KOTOR CONUNDRUM >>>

The review of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was way too kind. As a role-playing game, KOTOR is medio- cre, and in no way did it deserve a 9.5. The menus and equipment screens are ridiculously inconvenient, and | found the battle mode to be a confusing and complicated endurance exercise. As a Star Wars game, it really sucks. The plot and characters are so sickeningly unoriginal and cheesy | think І could have written it better. You're a guy who runs around with a wookiee (who has a life debt to you), an astromech droid, a protocol droid (who comes from Tatooine by the way) and a bunch of other boring car- bon copy characters we've already seen countless times before. They even have a Yoda creature on the Jedi coun- cil! What's up with that? | thought George Lucas already wrote this story. You should review these titles from more of a “gamer” standpoint.

Jon Klippstein Ft Wayne Indiana

1 just want to tell you how much | appreciate you guys. | take all of your reviews to heart when deciding what to buy. For the first time since Grand Theft Auto, | have found a game to spend not hours or a few days on, but literally weeks, and it’s all thanks to you. Honestly, I'm not a Star Wars fan at all and would have never even dreamed of picking up one of those (in most cases) extremely lame games, but your review of Knights of the Old Republic caught my eye. | went out and bought it that day, and haven't stopped playing it since. My copy of GTA is col-

lecting dust because of this game. Wonderful story, great battle system, and you can do almost anything you want. I've beaten it twice and yet I'm still playing it! So thank

you so much. If it weren't for that review, I'd still be killing NPC's endlessly with uzis and rocket launchers instead of

lightsabers and Force powers. Robi3rd

Via email

= While Jon was the lone dissenter with regard to

KOTOR, we were very nearly not able to put out issue 125 because most of the office suddenly had “family emergencies” after the game came out. It was really weird, because all the catastrophes involved a great aunt named Bastila and a cousin that insisted on referring to elders as “meatbags.” Small world, isn't it?

SUMMER ACTIVITIES >>>

Adam is gone to marching band camp for the next two weeks. Please do not email until after the 25th. | am tak- ing care of the email for him while he is gone.

Thanks, His Mom

= Did everyone in the free world get this message? None of us have cool stories that start with, “Опе time, at band camp..." but our new favorite reader, Adam, will surely have a yarn or two to spin after the 25th. Go Adam!

Send your comments to Game Informer. Snail Mail: Game Informer Magazine • Attn: Dear Gl * 724 North First St., 4th Floor * Minneapolis, MN 55401 Email: deargi@ gameinformer.com

20 GAME INFORMER

INTRODUCING A BRAND NEW VIBRANT GRAPHICS! A UNIQUE DOUBLE-HERO CHARACTER PLAYABLE CHARACTER: AXL мах OF 20 & 3D ACTION SELECT FOR STRATEGIC BATTLES

a \ PlayStation.?

EVERYONE

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© CAPCOM CO., LTD. 2003 © CAPCOM U.S.A., INC. 2003. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CAPCOM and the CAPCOM LOGO are red trademarks of CAPCOM CO, LTD. MEGA MAN is a trodel The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. “PlayStation” ond the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sol

ENVELOPE ART

"OLDER" GAMERS HAVE LIVES

At a robust 24 years of age, | consider myself way beyond my video game-playing prime. While my spending for video games is way up (I have a career now), long gone are the days of locking myself in a room with some friends and some coffee to try and beat Final Fantasy 1 in a weekend or Mario Brothers 3 in a day. І would keep games for years (I was still playing Double Dribble as my primary basket- ball title until 1992). At one time, | knew every move and combo in Street Fighter Il for every character, now | can barely master Mitsurugi. These days, my gaming sessions are much shorter, 1 1/2 hours at the most — and my atten- tion span is not there. Rarely do | see games through to the end and | sometimes sell games on eBay after | am stumped for 15 minutes. | guess | miss the days when fly- ing Wing Commander or X-Wing Missions morning to night LeVar Williams was fun for me. *Hulk not on steroids!" "Yeah right, bub."

I wish | could attribute it to my being more mature person with more important things to do, but I'd be lying. In college my gaming took a dramatic upturn, with Rogue Spear and StarCraft, and Quake tourneys on the LAN. But since graduation, | don't even have the patience to get all my licenses for GT3. | cannot explain it.

When | do buy games today, they have to be simple or Short games. Most purchases of mine are sports and rac- ing titles that can be put down in a couple minutes. | only buy action or hack n' slash types if | can get the strategy guide to accompany them. | no longer have time for games with puzzle solving - | have a checkbook for that.

| was just wondering if you experts had any opinions about age, attention span, and gaming.

OCTOBER WINNER! Jas Carpenter She comes when you call her. What a woman!

Brian M. Nostalgic Gamer

Not being comfortable calling ourselves “experts” оп any subject, we decided to contact someone who had actually pursued a post-secondary education in the ques- tion at hand. No reputable sources would return our calls, so we harvested all the quarters that could be separated from the fuzzy Skittles under our car seats and had a long talk with Zoltan, the Fortune Telling arcade machine. Here are is the short form of our interview:

US: Can adults still play video games?

Bolivar Pincay

With Mars in retro- Carlos A. Salinas | The sign behind the turtles doesn't say Game Informer. It's actually Green grade? Surely you jest. Worst case of flaming hem- Hummer. What the hell does that mean?

orrhoids ever!!! US: Okay, let's reword the ques-

tion. Are older humans capable of playing games for long periods

of time? Enter the Game Informer Envelope

Art Contest. All you need to do is draw, paint, scratch, spit, or carve the best darn envelope art you can think of and send it to us. Please include your name, phone number, and return address on the back of the envelope. If you're the monthly winner, we'll feature your work in GI and you'll receive a video game prize from the Game

Some day your prince/ princess will come, but not now.

US: Can you answer us seriously one of these times? We're run- ning out of change.

The odds gods favor it about 70-30.

US: Well, for crap's sake. What do you think about age, atten- tion span, and gaming?

We Higher Beings find little reason to expect this.

Informer vault.

Send to:

Game Informer

Envelope Art Contest. 724 1st St. N., 4th Floor

Shortly thereafter, the conversation spiraled out of control, and many were left with tearful remembrances of a time when gamers had no spare quarters and arcades were little pockets of heaven livening up the suburbs.

To answer Brian's question (since Zoltan was no help), қ эн Mpls, MN 55401 yes adults can and should play games. Your shortened Chijuyo attention span doesn't mean that games aren't fun any- “| told you...Enough with the projectile armpit juice! Put down your arm or more, does it? So play and be happy. your friend gets it!"

22 GAME INFORMER

MIDWAY

Ж THE APOGALYPSE WIPED OUT EVERYTHING.’ ч.д E EEH GANGS, GUNS, cans Ed

Drive to survive through more than 30 chaotic missions.

~ “Twisted Metal: Black Jmeets bar | m fl'Auto..." =т=

mLlectronic Gaming Monthly Control an arsenal of more than 30

vehicles and 17 potent weapons. alfiyoujrelalfaniof/car, combat... WrrhislisIthelonly]game in town."

- GameSpy

Take the ultimate challenge in 2-4 player deathmatch.

PlayStation.

MICROSOFT GETS HIGH HEAT

IN 3DO FIRE SALE

Street Racing Syndicate

In an auction of its game assets, bankrupt publisher 3DO sold off a number of its intellectual properties, leaving giant Microsoft with the rights to the valuable High Heat baseball franchise. Meanwhile, Crave picked up the Army Men series, and Ubi Soft got hold of the Might and Magic and Heroes of Might and Magic brands.

ЗОО СЕО and ex-Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins was able to retain a few games (such as Jonny

Moseley Mad Trix) and 3DO's Internet patent. However, the fate of the company's most-promising unreleased

asset, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, is unknown.

According to Reuters, 3DO picked up only $4.6 million in the

auction, and Microsoft may be paying more in the future. The Xbox creator's rights only extend to the High Heat engine, and

do not encompass any MLB league or player association rights.

Apparently, even if Microsoft adopted the High Heat moniker or

applied its engine to the company's already-existing Inside Pitch

franchise, new licenses would be needed.

High Heat Baseball 2004

ATI TO DO XBOX 2

In a coup against rival chipmaker Nvidia, ATI scored the contract to manufacture the graphics proces-

sor for the next iteration of Microsoft's Xbox. The agreement will be based on a royalty system, with ATI receiving both funds for development and additional payments when shipments begin. In recent years, ATI ( ұ has become a major force in chip manufacturing. It makes the processor for Logo is used under license and is [are] a Nintendo's GameCube, registered trademarks] or trademarks} and is currently under Ss and aer cores“ contract with the company to produce future compo- nents for the hardware maker. Whether this means a new GameCube or other products is not known. According to ATI, its partnership with Nintendo will not be affected by the deal with Microsoft. : Nvidia made the chips for the first Xbox, but the relationship between the two companies turned rocky after an arbitration dispute over the cost of the components. Until ATI's announcement, it appeared that the pair would work together again on Xbox 2 after the matter was settled.

24 GAMEINFORMER

NEW PUBLISHERS FOR EX-3DO PROPERTIES * Microsoft — High Heat Baseball ($450,000)

* Crave - Army Men ($750,000)

* Ubi Soft — Heroes of Might and Magic, Might

and Magic ($1.3 million)

* Namco - Street Racing Syndicate ($1.5 million)

* JoWood - Jacked ($90,000)

NINTENDO TO RELEASE...SOMETHING

True to its nature of keeping gamers in the dark, but intrigued, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata declared

that the company was developing a “пем product" which it promised to unveil in the spring of next year. “Ме are preparing a new product which will be surprising and unique," he said at a news conference.

It appears that this mysterious new item from Nintendo would be hardware-related and not a game. When

asked about whether this move was in response to Sony's 2004 PlayStation Portable, Iwata replied,

“Basically, Sony's multi-function handheld device will not have a big impact on our business, but we are -

Crazy editor's rendition of Donkey Konga

whether Sony releases a new product or not — preparing for our future and we'll be able to tell you specifics next spring."

One thing that the company is disclosing information on is the new Donkey Kong game to be developed with Namco. Called Donkey Konga, the spring 2004 (in Japan) GameCube title will be a music rhythm game that utilizes a special conga drum controller, similar to Namco's Taiko Master in Japan. Details on pricing and packaging for the unit have not been announced.