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MAGAZIN METAL GEAR SPECIAL ISSUE
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ТНЕУ МЕ ВЕЕМ WAITING FOR YOU
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Now you can experience the explosive continuation of the FINAL FANTASY VII story.
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| CONTENTS
Bess SOCOM 3
PlayStation
Мета. genc
КОЛО
PS3 NEWS
Cover Photo: Kuniyoshi Kaneko
Ф Фу INPUT
Ummm, some of you didn't agree with the 100 games we selected—and you told us.
ж
FACTORED IN Factor 5 is working on one of the PS3's most anticipated launch titles, Lair. We stop by to find out how they do it.
TRENDSPOTTER: ROBOTS Baby, you're so metal.
PAUSE
What to do in your gaming downtime.
CALENDAR The month for you and your PlayStation(s).
METAL GEAR ACTION The latest on Subsistence and Acid 2.
RPG REVOLUTION Nine games to help you pass the months until Final Fantasy XII.
A FISTFUL OF UMDS
PSP games are coming!
PARTING SHOT Look, kids—it's Gran Turismo 4 with bikes!
Ца | DAT
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One Combat Elite:
WWII Paratroopers
Flow: Urban Dance Uprising 50 Cent: Bulletproof
True Crime: New York City Aeon Flux
Total Overdose
MVP 06 NCAA Baseball Wild Arms 4
Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows Shining Force Neo
Mega Man X Collection Pac-Man World 3
Shadow the Hedgehog Ape Escape 3
Nicktoons Unite!
Shrek SuperSlam
Zatch Bell! Mamodo Battles
Pac-Man World 3
The Sims 2
Ape Escape Academy The Hustle: Detroit Streets Tokobot
SSX on Tour
E Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
THE YEAR IN PICTURES 2005 was a very good year—mostly. Come reminisce with us.
PSONEDERLAND
Second verse, same as the first...
A BRIEF HISTORY OF VIDEOGAMES AND SEX Hot Coffee wasn't the first, or the last.
PSONEDERLAND Second verse, same as the first...
BEHIND THE GAME: GUITAR HERO The developers talk about what it was like to make the best musical game ever.
9 ESSENTIAL MILITARY GAMES Throw away that enlistment form—you'll get all the camo action you need with your PS2.
IMPORTANT IMPORTS Some of the best games for PlayStation never officially came to the States.
Q
IN MY DAY 360: Hype or not hype?
FEBRUARY |
-hack//G.U. 972 50 Cent: Bulletproof 974 Аеоп Flux
079 Аре Еѕсаре 3 070 Call of Ошу 2:
Big Red One
070 Combat Elite: WWII Paratroopers 056 Disgaea Il: Geo Tactics
072 Flow: Urban Dance Uprising
077 Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows
ose Grandia Ill ina Guitar Hero
057 Kingdom Hearts И 078 Mega Man X Collection
O45 Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
056 MS Saga: A New Dawn
076 МУР 06 МСАА Baseball
ogo Nicktoons Unite! п?в Pac-Man World 3 053 Phantasy Star Universe
пен Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
055 Shadow Hearts: From the New World
078 Shadow the Hedgehog
077 Shining Force Neo
ово Shrek SuperSlam ова Steambot Chronicles
Suikoden V Total Overdose ова Tourist Trophy
073 True Crime:
New York City 075 Wild Arms 4 ово Zatch Bell!
Mamodo Battles
==
ова Аре Escape Асадету
050 Bounty Hounds aea Daxter osa Ехи пе Field Commander nes Fight Night Round 3
DeL Generation of Chaos
ова The Hustle: Detroit Streets
osa Me & My Katamari
050 Меда Мап: Мамегіск Hunter X пеп Меда Мап: Powered Up
050 Metal Gear Acid 2 052 Monster Hunter Freedom
osz Pac-Man World 3 овг Ригзий Force osz The Sims 2 085 SSX оп Tour 063 Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max
053 Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
ова Tokobot O61 Untold Legends 2: The Warrior's Code
SSX on Tour
ourist Trophy
Not enough Metal Gear to satisfy your craving for Snake? Then head on over to metalgear.TUPcom for more video, retro- spectives, and interviews than your little head will be able to comprehend. Start Бу. watching a second all-new interview with Mr. Kojima. When you're finished with that, head on over to a special-edition Retro/ Active, which traces a time line of all the events from the Metal Gear games. Next check out the comprehensive previews detailing all known information on the three-system trifecta of Metal Gear Acid 2,
23
ue Crime: NYC
Call of Duty 2
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, and Metal Gear Solid 4.
Also stay tuned to www.1UPcom for all the latest info on Sony's PS3 announce- ments and displays at January's Consumer Electronics Show. Check it out for the latest trailers and information.
And every Friday, get a peek into what life is like as a videogame journal- ist with the weekly episode of The ТУР Show, which is conveniently located at the1UPshow.TUPcom.
Viva la Internet!
WELCOME ТО OUR WORLD
There's only one maga- zine that can provide you with the awesome- ness of PlayStation 2 demos—and that's the 0fficial U.S. PlayStation Magazine, which you're holding right here in your hands. This month, test-drive the latest installment of one of the most popular series for the PlayStation 2 when you play SOCOM 3. Get a look inside Jack Bau- er's head in the world of 24. Try the intense combat of Battlefield 2, or take to the skies in Heroes of the Pacific. And then go for a little face-off of soccer good- ness with both FIFA Soccer 06 and Winning Eleven 9 International.
SOCOM 3
SOCOM just keeps getting better. Lock and load with this single-player sampler showcasing the game's strategic muscle to see how sweet it is.
WATCH IT!
METAL GEAR SOLID 4 Catch a glimpse into the next generation with the infamous Solid Snake in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4. Yes, it is as good as you've heard. 4
24: THE GAME
CTU field agent Jack Bauer answers your burning questions concerning what happened between seasons two and three of the TV series 24.
SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG Move over Sonic, Shadow is here with guns blazing. His mis- sion: Obtain chaos emeralds and learn the secrets of his past. 4
BATTLEFIELD 2, MODERN COMBAT Check out a sample of the single-player action in Battlefield 2, complete with a vari- ety of vehicles and
weapons. 4
SOUL CALIBUR и
If you haven't picked up this king of all fighting games, then do yourself a favor: Check out the open- ing cut-scene and ask yourself why.
A
2 <
ма
Z
P
HEROES OF THE PACIFIC
Calling all World War II aviation buffs—load this demo, take to the skies, and defend Pearl Harbor in this high-flying demo.
PlayStation.
COL.
THE SIMS 2
Live out your fanta- sies or play God? The choice is yours. Hear all about it straight from the folks who made the new Sims 2game.
(m)
FIEROS _ FIFA SOCCER 06 This month we put two of the most pow- erful soccer games оп one disc for you to sample. Which game will be king? You make the call!
APE ESCAPE 3 Find out what's in store for you in the latest Ape Escape game. (Hint: The relationship with the Metal Gear Solid team continues.)
PlayStation.e
Winning Eleven |
WINNING ELEVEN 9 INTERNATIONAL Someone told us, “Winning Eleven es y sera por siempre el mejor simulador de futbol del planeta!” Do you agree?
WILD ARMS а
Take а реек at the next chapter in the popular Wild Arms series, including lots of details on the game's story and characters.
FEBRUARY
TRAILER GOLD
Oh snap! The Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer, in all of its glory, is on the disc. This is the full, real deal, better than the crappy downloads of incredibly small size you get off the Internet. It not only runs at 60 frames per second with full subtitles, but also has the often cut off segment at the end, during which Snake and Otacon talk about the powers of the Cell processor (complete with footage of both the ducks-in-the- sink tech demo and the Killzone PS3 trailer). This is the definitive version of the MGS4 trailer.
The trailer is pretty self-explanatory, and we won't spoil too much of it (for the seven of you who didn't download a shaky-cam version off of metalgearduder.com). Anyway, there’s not much more we can say after the extensive trailer-dissecting craziness we did in the PS3 Watch article for Issue #99. Facts and speculation that have shown up
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щете 3)
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Ta
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since the trailer first aired are as follows: The wee robot that Otacon uses to talk to Snake looks a lot like a Metal Gear МК. II (from Kojima’s Sega CD game Snatcher). Also, Kojima admitted to liking the phrase “Solid Eye System” that Metal Gear Acid director Shinta Nojiri came up with and basically swiped the term for use in MGS4. The Metal Gears are rumored to be called “Gekkou” (Japanese
for “moonlight”) this time around, and if you pay atten- tion, you'll notice that there are no civilians in this trailer, despite the setting being an actual city instead of a military base like in previous games. This is a subtle hint that the effects of war have screwed up the planet so much that even cities are unsafe from its effects. But enough jibber jabber—just pop this disc into your PS2 and revel in the PS3 goodness.
+! =]
COMING NEST MONTH
PLAY IT!
TEEN TITANS
SHADOW HEARTS: FROM THE NEW WORLD ONMUSHA: DANN OF DREAMS
SONIC РОЕРЅ
TOCA PACE DZER 3
DZAKENGARD 2
STATE OF EMERGENCY 2
EVETOY: OPERATION SPY SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG
WATCH IT!
NBA BALLERS: PHENOM
APE ESCAPE 3
DINER: PARALLEL LINES
FULL SPECTRUM МАРСЕ: TEN HAMMERS
Demo Disc Producers
Gary Barth, Cori Lucas, Manuel Sousa, Chris Tan Marketing Team
Steve Williams, Eric Lempel, Jesse Caid Executive Producer
Andrew House
ОА
Sam Bradley, Edward Тооту Account Coordinator
Justin Flores
Programming and interface artwork by
Lifelike Productions, Inc.
Lead Programmers William Bohan, Ron Midthun, Avery Lodato
3D Artists Jason Robinson, Philip Williamson, David Hayes
President Katherine Williams
Technical Director Tim Edwards
SPECIAL THANKS
Maimoona Block, Kirsten Costello, Christine DeNezza, Tom Gillan, Gerald Martin, Sean Thomas, Jim Williams
4
DISC PROBLEMS? _
Did you buy a copy of our magazine that did not contain a demo DVD? Simply send the receipt in an envelope marked “OPM Replacement Disc” to OPM Disc Producer, Ziff Davis Media, 101 2nd Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, with the name and address of the store plus your phone number and address and we'll send you the disc. Make sure you specify which month the corresponding disc belongs to in order to ensure you get the right one.
If you have a malfunctioning or nonworking demo disc, call EDS at 1-800-627-6458. They will provide instructions to obtain repair or replacement services.
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) warrants
to the original purchaser of the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine that the demo disc included is free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of purchase. SCEA agrees for a period of ninety (90) days to either repair ог replace, at its option, the SCEA product. You must call EDS at 1-800-627-6458 to receive instructions to obtain repair/replacement services. This warranty shall not be applicable and shall be void if the defect in the SCEA product has arisen through abuse, unreasonable use, mistreatment, neglect, or breakage during shipment. THIS WARRANTY IS IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES AND NO OTHER REPRESENTATIONS OR CLAIMS OF ANY NATURE SHALL BE BINDING ON
OR OBLIGATE SCEA. ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES. APPLICABLE TO THIS SOFTWARE PRODUCT, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE LIMITED TO THE NINETY (90) DAY PERIOD DESCRIBED ABOVE. IN NO EVENT WILL ЗСЕА BE LIABLE FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM POSSESSION, USE, OR MALFUNCTION OF THE SCEA SOFTWARE PRODUCT. Some states do not allow limitations as to how long an implied warranty lasts and/or exclusions or limitations of consequential damages, so the above limitations and/or exclusions of liability may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights that vary from state to state.
Exams
THIERRY NGUYEN
isn't logged in to the real world anymore.
He enjoys the comforts of И/опа of WarCraft. Dana can't use e-mail or IM to contact him, and instead has to log on to the Dethecus server and message “Nimanranch” for communication.
k.
JAMES MIELKE discovered, in his visit with Mr. Kojima, that the two of them share a lot of musical tastes. However, even Kojima was not a big enough fan of the Pet Shop Boys that he was part of a fan club. milkman.1UP.com
‘GIANCARLO
kobunheat.1UP.com
том BYRON
wants everyone То know that 2005 has ended опа high
note for him. He's incredibly jazzed about the Hideo Kojima feature (a real human on the cover of a video- game magazine? Preposterous!), he's having a bla: playing through the most excellent Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (Game of the Year contender!), and he's made the playoffs in his fantasy football league, even after the loss of Donovan McNabb. Can life get any better than this? Well, duh: The PlayStation 3 is coming in 2006. W00T!
LOGAN PARE has been watching way too much South Park lately. He recites dialogue from the show and interrupts meetings by asking, “Who killed Kenny?!" Recently, we have noticed he is even starting to look like he actually belongs on
the show.
чагамм
is really starting to get excited about PlayStation 3 stuff. Having seen some of the models in Lair, he has decided that fake dragons are better than all of those real dragons that live down the street from him. No offense, real dragons.
СНЕ! KOHLER found Ape Escape 310 be helpfully therapeutic in working through a traumatic childhood episode in which a mon- key attacked him іп а pet store. Take that, you dirty monkeys.
ROBERT ASHLEY
comes from Texas, where they grow their game reviewers tall and snarky. He also makes music in not one, but
multifunctional like that. robertashley.1UP.com
two different bands. He's
E DANA JONGEWAARD has been trying out her hip-hop persona in the office, and has been oblivi- ous to the ridicule and pleas of her coworkers to stop already and go back to being the hopelessly uncool person that she always has been and always will be.
RYAN чик
has a message for
the anonymous edi-
tor (*cough* Scooter! *cougli*) that wrote
this month's Game Envy piece: “FFX/ junkie Melkor invites the WOW masses to the FFX/ world, where they'll finally get to put on their Pull-Ups training pants.”
GREG SEWART hails from the same country cold comes from: Canada. He worked for ОРМз sister mag Elec- tronic Gaming Monthly for years before joining, and then leaving, the game-design community. stewy.1UP.com
#5 “
JOE вУВСК! suffered а catastrophic hard drive failure at home this month. You know, the hard drive that had all of his utterly irreplaceable writings, pictures, and music on it. So much of his memory was locked in that machine that now he can't remember who he is. Can you help?
ZA
Асесамоео сначетта followed through оп his inclination to take full advantage of an open bar. The end result of this? He was forced to work in this position for several days after the annual company holiday party. Thank you, tequila, whiskey, vodka, and gin....
CONTRIBUTORS
ART Nathan Fox Kuniyoshi Kaneko Yasu Nakaoka Michael Sexton EDITORIAL Zoe Flower Nich Maragos Jeremy Parish John Scalzi Andrew Vestal
CommunityService, Unfinished by YouWorkForThem
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[THE MAGAZINE Т7 тс N RIE 027. | Editor-in-Chief Tom Byron
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Editorial Contributors Robert Ashley, Zoe Flower, Greg Ford, Chris Kohler, Nich Maragos, James Mielke, Jeremy Parish, John Scalzi, Greg Sewart, Andrew Vestal
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Copy Editors Greg Ford, Susie Ochs
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“Hi. How ya doing? Just a reader of your magazine, and | just got done reading this 100 games of the PlayStation systems that you must have played before you die [Issue #100], and | cannot believe that you would not put Legend of Dragoon on that list. Or | can't believe that you would have only one Legacy of Kain game on that list, maybe not even the best one of them all. That's really wrong. And you're bad.”
Your "Essential 100" was a wonderful idea for the 100th issue. But | was shocked to find that a certain two games were not listed: Final Fantasy VIII and Legend of Dragoon. You can argue with me about FFVIII and you might win, but Legend of Dragoon should be on the list. Last time | checked it was No. 1 on a list of games that most gamers demand a sequel of. All in all, | think you did a pretty darn good job on your list, and congratulations on your 100th issue!
First off, let me thank you for printing this wonderful magazine for PlayStation otakus like myself everywhere. Now let's get down to business. In your "Essential 100" list, megaku-
dos for including games like Rez, Soul Blade, and Gran Turismo. Alas, you forgot some of the best, yet very underappreciated, games out there. How can you leave out games like DBZ: Budokai, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Xenosaga, and lastly, Legend of Dragoon! That game is just as good if not better than Final Fantasy VII! Besides, FFVII is waaaay too overrated. Peace out!
Jonathan and Bobby, yours are just a few
of the letters, e-mails, and calls we received admonishing us for not including Legend of Dragoon in the Essential 100. In the end we felt that while Legend of Dragoon is in fact a fine game with the most luscious graphics to be found on the PlayStation, it just falls short of being a great RPG—or at least not as great as the ones that did make the list. Jonathan is right: Legend of Dragoon continues to be the game OPM readers feel is most deserving of a follow-up.
чы c
Seeing the list of PS1 games on the "Essential 100," | decided to dig out some of my old PS1 games and found Bushido Blade. It was the first game | got for my PlayStation, and l just started playing it again. | forgot how much fun the game was.
Congratulations on reaching 100 issues.
This means that | reached a milestone also. Although | decided to part ways with your first 12 issues of ОРМ on eBay, | [have kept] my OPM demo discs. That's right, | managed to collect all 100 of them, and l've attached а couple of pictures to prove it. Again, congratu- lations, and keep up the great work. One more thing: Those were two great interviews [with Kaz Hirai and J Allard, Issue #100].
Hey, guys at Official PlayStation Magazine. Just wanted to say happy 100th issue. l've been with you since the first issue; as you can see, I’m running out of room оп my wall for your demo discs. Enclosed is a photo of my homage to your mag. Once again, keep up the good work. Happy 100th issue.
I'll never forget when it all started. The month: October. The year: 1997. Browsing a news- stand for some PlayStation reading material, my brother brings home a treasure:
Brother: Hey, check this out.
Me: What is it?
Brother: A new PlayStation magazine. It
comes with a demo disc.
Me: Wha?! Load it up right now!
While my brother sampled the playable demos of Fighting Force (crash, bang, pow!), Ace Combat 2 (ooooh), PaRappa the Rapper (уау!), and Intelligent Qube (wow), | stood there in front of the television set, trans- fixed, clutching your premier issue (maybe it was the cover art of a scantily clad Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell that did it for me). As | flipped through the pages, | knew I was holding something special (no, not Motoko). | was no longer being bored by the bland photographs, low-grade artwork, terrible articles, and asinine filler material other video- game magazines had ruined me with. There was no dodgy info or vague videogame rumors. OPM was something different, some- thing new, something worth reading. OPM respects its readers!
FEBRUARY
DSS NATAS SIM +
WE THAINT WE THAW
Respen bravely jump-starts the Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland discussion: “I really like this game. | love the story, characters, etc., and the skating is still fun. The bikes are fun, too, because of the dif- ferent control scheme. There are only a couple of things | didn't like that much. The game is way too easy. Also, | don't really like how there are corporate sponsors everywhere you look.”
ChickenNext weighs in: “| would like to officially claim my title as the biggest Tony Hawk game fan on the OPM boards, and | had mixed reactions to THAW. It's a great game, sure, but it doesn’t last. And as you said, Sick difficulty is ridiculously easy.”
SlayerJake adds, “Overall it is a great game, but I’m so damn tired of Tony Hawk games that it got boring fast. If they would change the gameplay completely and make the skating superrealis- tic with great physics and graphics, then maybe | would try it again, but right now I’m kind of like, 'Meh.'"
But ChickenNext wonders: “Where the hell are all the pros? Even worse, WHERE THE HELL WAS TONY?! IT’S HIS FREAKIN’ GAME!”
GAMES AlE TALKING ABOUT
STRAIGHT FROM THE OPM MESSAGE BOARDS
FROM МЕ ТО YOU
Dear Everyone: You'll recall that last issue we did а bit of a makeover of the magazine’s design and also reorganized a few parts. So far, your response has been very positive. Thanks, everyone.
On the very last page of this issue, Joe Rybicki has started a new column called "PS"—clever, eh? Joe, as longtime readers know, has been on the editorial staff from day 1, and he was here in the before time, when the mag was known as PSX. Like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Joe is wise, fights only for the side of good, and has seen just about every- thing. Read his column now, and then come back. I'll wait.
Ah, you're back. Good. | also hope you notice what we're doing with our interviews. They're bigger, more featurelike, and focus prop- erly on the people, not the products, of PlayStation gaming. No one is more excited over the Hideo Kojima interview than 1 am. He is truly the master, and | hope you all enjoy what he has to say.
And in this space each month, |, or one of the illustrious OPM staffers, will answer your questions, comment on the issue (and the issues), or start a fight. You never know what will happen.
Таке саге.
Тот Вугоп
Special to Rory: Wikipedia.org is right about Kojima’s affection for the seminal new wave band Joy Division. He's also a huge fan of New Order, the band that resulted from JD front man lan Curtis" suicide. I'm a JD and NO fan, too. | guess that makes me, you, and Kojima soul mates (not that there's anything wrong with that).
PENNY Ema |=
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Wong dies? ГҮ?! but... top oP the Empire State Building.
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When ОРМ made the change to Р52, зо did l. Sure, | was sad that my PlayStation would eventually be laid to rest, but hey, paired with the PlayStation 2, OPM was on to bigger and better things! Every month, your great reviews, credible articles, and swag demo disc really fueled my PS2 hunger.
So here l am now, 100 issues later and about 50 PS2 games richer (| know, a small collection compared to most people's, but I'm happy). | haven't missed a single issue of OPM. Issues #2 to #99 are pressed neatly on my bookshelf with their demo discs deserving their very own CD binder. Issue and disc #100 will soon join them. Where's Issue #1, the one that started it all? | have a special place for it. | had it matted and framed with its demo disc, and it hangs on my office wall, a constant reminder of my love for OPM.
Thank you, OPM.
Гуе noticed that in the last few months, little bits of Xbox info have been sneaking into OPM (Official PLAYSTATION Magazine for those of you who didn't know). Гуе been subscribing for years, starting with Issue #17, and I'm normally not one to complain, but the new issue [OPM #100] with the huge
four-page interview with J Allard took it just а step too far. Now, I’m not saying that | don't like J or trying to come off as a fanboy. What 1 am saying is, if | wanted news on the Xbox or to hear what Allard has to say, | would subscribe to [an Xbox magazine] or go to TeamXbox.com.
Do you go to your local Toyota dealer to find out info on the new lineup of Fords? No? Well then, | don't expect to be looking through a magazine, which | subscribe to, that is devoted to PlayStation and see Xbox news or interviews with its promoters.
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine is and
will remain your No. 1 resource for all things PlayStation, and nothing's ever gonna change there. But don't you agree that interviewing J Allard (in the same issue as Sony's very own Kaz Hirai) was a bold and courageous move? Didn't you see value in it as an important апа relevant commentary on the challenges of next-gen gaming? Wouldn't you like to see Sony adopt an Xbox Live model for the PS3? No? Um, OK.
Ое ЗЕРЕ;
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Тат a huge racing-game fan. | have been playing racing games ever since Enduro on the Atari 2600. My favorite all-around racing game is Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2. It's got a decent selection of cars, varied track locales, and a damage option, and it's fun to play (sorry, Gran Turismo 4 fans, racing for hours on one race is not fun). When | heard the news that EA was releasing a new game in the franchise that combines Hot Pursuit and Underground, | couldn't wait
to play it. But alas, when | fired it up, | was disappointed. Not to say it isn't good, but it's just Underground in the daytime with cops. The chases are fun, and the cop Al is much improved (to the point of frustration), but | am sick of this urban, customize-your- car-to-the-point-of-abomination, street-rac- ing-for-pink-slips crap that most racers are striving for. Hopefully EA can refresh the series оп PS3, but for now | think ГИ pop in
Hot Pursuit 2. Z . 5
“Му biggest disappointment by far is the total lack of online play on the PS2. For some reason, on consoles only the Xbox and Xbox 360 versions of Most Wanted fea- ture ап online mode. That's just lame.”
4.9%
READER SCORE
сем SCORE
Want to have your say about a recent
score!) to орт
ne? Think you can do better than us? Seni
THE мета“; PATH
Man, | was just breathless when | played The Matrix: Path of Neo. If | had to, | would rate this game 4.5 out of 5 because the gameplay is amazing. But the developers at Shiny could have put some better graphics in this game—it would have been better
to wait until the PS3 came out. | enjoy the smooth controls. (Spoiler alert!) | especially enjoyed the part when the Wachowskis came out and introduced the final boss battle. But all in all this is a great game; the controls are easy to learn, and the moves that you can do are amazing! Shiny has done it again, and you must buy or rent Path of Neo because you are all the chosen ones to play this game!
READER SCORE
4.5%
“Despite all this [terrible lock-on system, framerate problems, clipping], Matrix fans will be hooked. For everybody else, it's worth a peek, but this path isn’t meant
for you.” Ар
уоиг ibject "READER REVIE!
сем SCORE
“My Id: Oh. My. God, That's Kimi Matsuzaki. Kimi Matsuzaki, the lady and ruling queen of 10Р, You have to go say some- thing, anything, to her! My Superego; Are you nuts!? You can't just talk to Kymmiko like you're some kind of famous person! She probably has some nimrod walk- ing up to her in public every single day. Just keep walking, апбоу, keep walking. (At this point, Kimi noti me staring at her, which caused те to freeze up on the spot and lamely try my best to look cool and inconspicuous.) 19: Oh, man! Kymmiko just looked at you! Wave at her or something! Superego: No, you idiot! Just run! Id: No, no, act cool! Just] keep taking pictures of the games! (So | continued my origi- nal mission of taking pic- tures. | made sure to not take a picture of Kymmiko| for the simple reason that | am not some kind of
tabloid photographer, nor will | ever be. I don't need that kind of karma.)'
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Jak X Combat Racing is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Created and developed by Naughty Dog. Inc. ©2005 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo аге registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Live In Your World. Play In Qui а registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Online icon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Online play requires Internet connection, Network Adaptor (for PlayStatione2) or PlayStations? with internal network connectonand Memory Card (8MB) (for PlayStations2) (each sold separately)
H boy fram а village Ehe war spared, а troubled girl on the run. fi traveler and an artist. Together they will save the world.
Welcome to Wild ARMs Ч, the latest chapter in the popular Wild ARMS series. Featuring а пеш cast of characters, an original storyline and many пеш innovations. Use Ehe пеш НЕЯ battle system to integrate strategy, action, and speed into battles.
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watching him. 30 ЕЕЗ PUT TEE за THE WATCHDOG 7 sz ITS WAR Censorship rules. RPGs launch their assault on де 1Л-ТПІЛІГІ North American shores. Cats get drunk too.
44 CALENDAR
55 PSPLENTY The month ahead.
Portable awesomeness is on ва PARTING SHOT the way. Bust a wheelie!
22 | ORT Feseuney 2005
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Тһе office building at Lucas Valley Road—which houses developer Factor 5?—looks fairly inconspicuous from the outside. The cement exterior conveys the sense that there are a bunch of accountants or desk jockeys inside, whittling away at stacks upon stacks of forms and other paperwork. Little would you know that it's quite the opposite on the inside, where a team of nearly 100 people—including program- mers, artists, designers, and other talented individuals—is working on one of the most high-profile games for the PlayStation 3 launch: Lair. The crazy thing is, Lair isn't getting all this attention simply because of its subject matter or because of some license that would automatically guarantee it massive amounts of hype. No, Lair is high profile because Factor 5 is high profile.
This is the same developer that ostensibly got the most out of the GameCube hardware—or at least more than most other developers— with its very first game—a launch game, in fact, by the name of Star Wars Rogue Squadron Il: Rogue Leader. It's the same game that pro-
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Julian Eggebrecht, president and creative director, poses with Thomas Engel and Hol- ger Schmidt, who are original members of the Factor 5 team and are currently the director of technology and the director of develop- ment, respectively.
ЕЕГ ЕЛЕК? ЗЕЕ ГОРЕ
Photos by Michael Sexton
pelled Factor 5 into the spotlight and made the company synonymous with technical wizardry. How many other developers do you know who produce work that gets compared side by side with that of Industrial Light & Magic?
But it wasn't always this way. As with most developers, Factor 5's foundation was laid in garage development, when the company started out as Factor 3. “We started in high school in the late "806. We wanted to do something cool on computers because we couldn't really do any- thing on consoles at the time,” says Julian Eggebrecht, president and creative director of Factor 5. “This was all in Germany, and we started work on the Commodore Amiga. There weren't any games specifically written for the hardware—they were all shoddy ports. We met on the weekends and all huddled together in a living room and [got to work on these games].”
One of the team’s first projects was a clone of the popular shooter R-Type, but it would quickly move on to more ambitious projects, such as Turrican, that were influenced by a number of other popular games at the time. “It was partly influenced by Metroid, but the main
[NIE
You can't really see it, — but these fellows here are testing Lair on Play- Station 3 development kits using a regular Dual Shock controller.
THE ART OF LAIZ
2 san
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influence for Turrican comes from Super Mario Bros.,” Eggebrecht recalls. “In Germany, the Nintendo sold about 0.5 units [laughs], and I'm sure Nintendo wouldn't contest that because the [NES] simply wasn't aimed toward the German market. So, the concept behind Tur- rican was, why don't we take the jumping in Super Mario Bros.—which was so much fun—and merge it with an arcade game from Data East, along with Contra and Metroid?"
Turrican went on to be incredibly successful in Europe—so suc- cessful that Factor 55 publisher, Rainbow Arts, asked if the team could also do a version of the game for home consoles. "That was always our dream," says Eggebrecht. "That's when we started to get [inter- national] recognition, and around that time Sega was one of the first companies to realize that the European market was huge, but Nintendo didn't wake up [to that fact] until later. So our publisher asked us to do a Genesis version and a Super Nintendo version of the game."
Instead of taking the easy route of just asking Sega and Nintendo for development kits of their respective systems, Factor 5 did what any other technologically savvy developer would've done—it just built its own. “It didn’t exactly cross our minds to contact them,” says Eggebre- cht. “But we had a buddy in the German secret service and we basi- cally told him [to] hack it, and we came up with our own development kits. We wrote all the tools, the compilers, and handlers.”
It's that kind of motivation and effort to really get to know hardware that's been Factor 5's hallmark, but the company really wouldn't begin to hit its stride until its relationships with LucasArts and Nintendo were well established. While LucasArts and Factor 5 were growing
га | OFM Еевецдгу 2006
у We had a chance to see the real- time demo of Lair running up
close, and it's easily one of the most impressive displays of visual technology we've seen yet from a next-generation game. Most impressive are the individual beads of water you can 5 and cascade along the sca of the two dragons doing battle in midflight. In fact, even Ken Kutaragi, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, was shocked to see this particular
special effect. You can also pick out muscles, bone, and transparencies in the wings. Actually, the entirety of the dragon models looks spec. tacular, as it should seeing as how Phil Tippett, the man responsible for designing the dragon featured
in the movie Dragonheart, lent his talents to Lair. The models he сге ated for the game were scanned in, allowing Ше датез artists, sitting in the room pictured here, to add multiple layers of detailed textures to the dragons.
their relationship, it became immediately clear that for it to grow any further, Factor 5 had to move to the United States. The problems with staying in Germany while developing a game such as Rebel Assault for the consoles were not only caused by the time difference between Germany and the California-based LucasArts, but also by the mas- sive amount of data being used for the дате--а full 650 megabytes to be exact, which may not seem like all that much these days, but
it fills nearly an entire CD, and back then the Internet just wasn't fast
enough to transfer files that big back then. FedEx bills started to pile up
because it was the only practical method to send builds of the game
back and forth. It got to be too much, so LucasArts told Factor 5 to pack
up and move on out to sunny California to continue its work on the
Star Wars franchise and build its reputation as a developer even more.
“LucasArts was nice enough to say, ‘Why don't you transfer your whole company over [from Germany]?'" Eggebrecht recalls. “At the
time, we only had 10 people—it's one thing to come over separately, and another to bring the entire company over.” Fortunately, Factor 5
managed to get all of its equipment over in just two containers, but the days of less than 20 employees and very little equipment would soon be over.
КҮЗДӨ тежелген"
DODGED В BULLET
Factor 5's first game, Denaris, was such a rip-off of the original R-Type that the owner of the В-Туре franchise, Activision, wanted to sue Factor 55 publisher, Rainbow Arts. But since Activision didn't have any teams that could do a decent port of the game for the Amiga, it asked Factor 5 to do the port in three months’ time to avoid being sued.
ye
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THE STAR NAPS YEARS
The idea for the first in a series of Star Wars games from Factor 5 didn’t come from some sort of divine vision or anything glamorous like that. Rather, it was mostly based around the idea of a fractal landscape gen- erator (essentially an easier method for generating landscapes), which is pretty much the reason you would expect from a technologically oriented team. “We did a lot of research into that,” says Eggebrecht. “They said, ‘OK, you want to work on Star Wars, but be careful with it,’ and they knew we wanted to do a game based on all of the [trilogy's] greatest moments."
LucasArts' response to that second bit of information wasn't as posi- tive. The publisher told Factor 5 that no one wanted to play a game based on all of the greatest moments in the original Star Wars trilogy, arguing that those movies were too old for anyone to really care about. "So we kept Rogue Squadron as close to the movies as we could," says Eggebrecht. "But we used our original story and had a lot of back and forth between here and LucasArts, so the game came together really in the last minute.”
Still, it's worth pointing out that Factor 5 wasn't all about pushing the limits of the hardware it was working on. The first Rogue Squadron game also demonstrated the team’s ability to address the inherent problem with flight simulators—namely, how inaccessible they can be. Rogue Squadron's simplified controls and flexible camera system opened up 3D flight games to an even broader audience than Ninten- do's own Star Fox games did, becoming not only a multimillion seller
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in the process, but one of the best-selling Nintendo 64 games of all time.
The sequel to Rogue Squadron would follow a similar path but on a different console. By the time the GameCube was announced, Factor 5 had solidified its ability to work with hardware more efficiently than most developers could. While still finishing the Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo game for the Nintendo 64 and the PC, Factor 5 was already starting work on the sequel to Rogue Squadron. “We were dying to work on the [original trilogy] again,” says Eggebrecht. “But
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THE FLYBY OF THE ASSAULT ON THE DEATH STA LAUNCHED FACTO = INTO THE SPOTLIGHT.
work on [Rogue Squadron II] was totally clandestine. Nobody knew about it except for LucasArts President Simon Jeffries, and we got our demo together of the flyby [scene].”
It's this flyby of the Rebel assault on the Death Star that launched Factor 5 into the spotlight. People were so completely shocked by the quality that they compared it to work done by Industrial Light & Magic for the Special Edition versions of the original Star Wars films. It was that good. "We did the same thing," says Eggebrecht, referencing a picture-by-picture comparison. Even the special-effects team working on the films was impressed. In fact, in the DVD version of the original trilogy, many assets from Rogue Squadron ll, including the Yavin han- gar and several of the ship models, were used in the menu screens.
сетш сот | 25
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Making the jump from the GameCube to the PlayStation 3 is about
as drastic as it gets. While the GameCube is a powerful machine in
its own right (as shown by Factor 55 work on Rogue Squadron Il and Rogue Squadron Ill), its power was tapped fairly early in the console's life cycle. The PlayStation 3 is a different beast in that it will take some time to first get to know the system and then to max out its power—a challenge perfectly suited for Factor 5. But the developer had some opportunities to prepare along the way. “We were using the Xbox for a while as a transition to the new consoles, because the Xbox had some features that the GameCube didn't have because of the Nvidia card," says Eggebrecht. "We knew what the next generation was going to
be about, and as a member of the development community, we were expecting the worst, but the dream came true. [The capabilities are] exactly what we were prophesying."
From there, Factor 5 went back to what it has been about since the beginning. Instead of waiting, the team goes ahead and starts learn- ing about new hardware on its own before it is even really revealed. This more than likely has come in handy during the development of Factor 5's PlayStation 3 launch game, Lair. But there's more to making à launch game than just being first. It's an opportunity to make a state- ment as a developer—a statement Factor 5 is more than prepared to make. "The gameplay has to be very intuitive and accessible. Yes, we
26 | OFT Еевешагу 2006
have а certain emphasis оп graphics, but graphics alone won't do it,” says Eggebrecht. “Also, you have to find a balance between physics and gameplay, so you need to choose your battles wisely. That's the thing about launch titles—if you don't pick your battles right, [then you will encounter problems].”
Can Factor 5 upstage itself and bring a whole new level of visual quality to consoles? The answer is simple. The shift from the hard lines and metallic surfaces of Star Wars to the organic look and feel of the dragons from the Lair demo presents the team with all-new
opportunities to reveal levels of detail that were previously unattain- able on consoles. “It comes down to subject matter. There’s a reason why [Lair] is what is,” Eggebrecht adds. “That's where the jump in graphics is going to happen.”
Ultimately, the decision to become a PS3 developer boiled down to finding the best fit. “It came down to talking to Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, but Sony just [made the most convincing argument]," Egg- ebrecht says. “I'd love in the future to work on another Star Wars title, [but] working on an original IP is so much more exciting. It was tough finding a publisher, but Sony was totally cool about it.” |
The Battle for an ancient Relic Begins with the Hunt foc the “Mecines”..
adcift on on endless, raging ocean, senel coolidge ond his sister shirley find themselves drawn ashore о mysterious ship. Known as the Legacy, it is an ancient relic that conceals countless dangers — including those who lie in wait for shirley.
то save his sister, senel and his party uncover the deepest secrets of а legendary ship, and in the process, discover the ties that bind them all.
rake strength from friendship. roke pride in Jove. rake everything that you believe ın __ ond turn it all to power.
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The lights, the trees, and the shopping for videogames that companies have flooded into the mar- ket in the hopes of selling them to crazed consumers who will buy anything! It was this time of year that | was yet again quar- antined in U.S. Customs with some of my favorite camouflage-clad friends, who were trying to deal with the glut of travelers visit- ing family (and malls). With camo being one of my favorite new fashion trends, | didn't feel quite so intimidated in front of Agent Vasquez as he interrogated me about my plans to visit New York City on the eve of a certain new console launch. And so, we got to chatting.
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of the last bastions of pure imaginative expression. | just clamped my hand over my mouth and nodded sympathetically
like a teenager taking sage advice. But on the plane, | couldn't settle down. Vasquez's opinion infuriated me. | am so tired of the constant demonizing, finger-pointing, and Hot Coffee ridiculousness that this industry endures. Why can't people see things the way | do? It was a few days later, while see- ing shoppers pull each other's hair out for the last Xbox 360 on the shelf (not unlike some sort of zombiefest out of Resident Evil 4), that | realized Agent Vasquez only reacts to what he sees. How can someone grasp
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Now, Agent Vasquez is а Бизу тап. Не “chats” with hundreds of people а day who have strange professions or perhaps dodgy-looking passport photos (| have both!). When my mouth uttered the word “videogames,” it was as if a giant red siren went off in the airport and Agent Vasquez was ready for battle. “You kids these days!” he said (I didn't bother correcting him as to my '70s-era birth date). "You don't want toys anymore. You just want these video- games, and there's no more imagination! | have parents coming through here all day, and their kids just want their Nintendo everything." He did not find it funny when | suggested that perhaps PlayStation was a more interesting pursuit.
Of course, Vasquez had a gun, зо | wasn't going to express my passionate
THE INDU
the concept of the art and creativity the industry offers when all he sees is the latest machine caught up in a mass consumer frenzy that most resembles the actions of a religious cult of brainwashed fanatics?
As | look over a list on my coffee table of beautifully artistic games—Prince of Persia, Peter Jackson's King Kong, Shadow of the Colossus—| realize Agent Vasquez doesn't have a clue as to the creativity and imagi- nation these games inspire. And now it seems that the more mainstream a console becomes, the less likely he ever will. So as the PS3 begins its release to much fanfare this spring, | will be thinking harder about why l want it in the first place and just what it is that inspires me to purchase one. If you haven't figured it out yet for yourself, then remember to use your imagination.
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robots may seem cool now. They can fetch our drinks, repair vehicles, absorb the pow- ers of other robots, blow things up, form a robotic ladder, or expound upon the consequences of smoking. But these little suckers are waiting for the perfect opportunity to spring a trap...a robotrap if you will. One day your own personal robot is going to invite you into the kitchen for some delicious cookies, and when you take your first bite into that chewy chocolate chip cookie, that robot is going to whack you over the head with some salmon from your freezer and then use your head as a candy jar! Robots are everywhere.
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SONY SWALLOWS GUERRILLA GAMES
GAME EIN IN
WHAT WE WANT ON THE PLAYSTATION: WORLD OF WARCRAFT (PC)
The PlayStation world is sorely lacking in massively multiplayer online gameplay (EverQuest Online Adventures didn't draw in enough users, and Final Fantasy Alis only played by Japanese kids and Ryan Vulk), and if Sony is serious about having a powerful online presence for PS3, the company needs something like
World of WarCraft. Blizzard has refined the core gameplay of its online RPG to a near-perfect state, and as a result, WOW is the MMORPG that is easy for total newbies to play, yet has enough
complexity, strategy, and yes, phat loot for RPG veterans to bite into. Whether you're level 5 or 55, you'll always find monsters to kill, quests to complete, and massive dungeons to raid in order to get awesome items. WOW recently cel- ebrated its first anniversary, much to the chagrin of various spouses who've lost their loved ones to the allure of things like “level 40 mount” or “epic weapon” or “SM run.”
Our free advice to Sony: Find a way to get WOW on the PS3. |
WHO WEEDS WHEELS WHEN YOU UE GOT AIR?
Surf the Turbulence!
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Catch Massive
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SEGA is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. SEGA, the Sega logo, the SONIC TEAM logo and Sonic Riders are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA Corporation. © SEGA Corporation, 2006. All reserved. г ‘and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Ine. зата sn ine sce es tre aur Rates dem or maan NEL ооо оное ТМ, © and the Nintendo Gamecube logo are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2001 Nintendo. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association.
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савее CRON
Devendra Banhart
ОК, so imagine a bunch of hippies sitting around in
| a circle singing about white monkeys and yellow |
| Spiders, ог picture Woody Guthrie оп speed, and you
| pretty much have a good idea of what Devendra Ban- hart is all about. Actually, you won't really understand
| until you check out the website (www.cripplecrow.
| сот) and view one of the bizarre music videos. They should put some kind of warning on this stuff.
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THIS IS ALICE MUSIC 9
Various Artists
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| Normally, we wouldn't promote compilations like this since they tend to be crap, but this one is actu- ally good, and all of the proceeds go toward a good А cause. This СО includes new acoustic recordings of TH %
popular songs, including Maroon 55 “She Will Ве Alice: 97 3 Loved” and Lenny Kravitz's “Lady.” The money from
each CD sold will be given to San Francisco Bay Area | breast cancer organizations.
VOODOO KNIFE DISPLAY
Raffaele lannello
| Tired of using that same old wooden
| knife holder? Well, why not try using | | one that will not only be the talk of the town, but will also strike fear into your enemies? The Voodoo Knife Dis- | play has slots for several knives and | | pretty much looks like something а | | ninja would have in his or her kitchen | и ninjas had kitchens. |
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QUALITY OF LIFE
Relentless Company
Want to get a primer of what tagging is all about THE РОШЕН GUIDE before Mare Еско Getting Up hits store shelves? TO SCI-FI МОЧЕ Look no further than Quality of Life, a film shot in vari-
ous locations around San Francisco that chronicles the exploits of graffiti artists struggling to practice | | their art, have lives, and avoid getting taken down by | | the man. Check out the trailer at www.qualityoflife- | | themovie.com |
SHARP AS TOAST T-sHI2TS
John Scalzi Mr. Toast | Covering 103 years of science-fiction films, this new “Chester A. Arthur Is Totally А. Awesome” says book from OPM contributor John Scalzi has been оп | Garfield: опе of the many humorous, politically themed shirts | the radar of geeks everywhere—most notably for the original cool cat from Sharp as Toast (www.sharpastoast.com). Other | “The Canon,” a list of 50 essential films that’s per- | | favorites include “Keep It Coolidge” and “Nix-On, | fectly ripe for message board debate. Also included | | Nix-0ff,” as well as а Propaganda Panda T-shirt. | are sci-fi films from around the world and profiles of | Sure, 90 percent of the population will have no idea | the most influential people in the genre. А great way | what these shirts are referring to, but that's the | to up your nerd IQ. beauty of these things, now isn't it?
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Sony recently announced that in addition to all the other creamy feature goodness that PlayStation fans are expecting out of the PS3, the company is adding another— parental controls, which allow individuals to set the PS3 to not play games above a certain ESRB level. Don't want Junior play- ing whatever iteration of Grand Theft Auto will come out for the PS3? Block M-rated games. Sony's announcement makes the next-gen consoles three for three in the parental control department, as the Xbox
is our man keeping an eye on things
for the benefit of all gamers, You сап see more of his thoughts at
ber of years ago people were getting vapor- ous about sex and violence on TV; there- fore, since 2000, all new TVs with screens larger than 13 inches have been equipped with a V-Chip: a programmable feature that lets parents block TV programs above a certain rating level. In September 2004, the Kaiser Family Foundation polled parents to see how many of them actually used the V-Chip at home. The answer: 15 percent. Parents have had the ability for six entire years to control through technology what
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360 ships with such controls and Nintendo has announced a similar feature for its upcoming Revolution rig.
How do | feel about this? If the game industry wants to promote the idea that parents should be in charge of their kids’ gaming, then it helps to give parents the tools to help them do that job. | can’t imag- ine that the parental controls will be deeply popular to the 12-year-old who wants to play a massively violent FPS, but—hate to say it—so what? It sucks to be 12, for many reasons, and this will just be another one. From the industry's point of view, this is a proactive and simple fix, the sort of thing it can point to in government testimony and say, "See? We're doing our part.” It also leaves the adult-gamer market unmolested, which is critical when the average gamer age is inching toward 30.
But as a practical matter, will these parental controls mean anything? A num-
their kids see on TV—they just don't, more often than not. But parents are still worried about what their kids see on TV.
So here's the question: Right out of the box, parents will be able to control what their kids play on the next generation of consoles. My personal feeling is that the majority won't, no matter how easy Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo make it for them to do so. And that's a real shame, since par- ents won't stop worrying about the games their kids play. Parental controls are the right move, but they won't stop the debate about videogame sex and violence.
Of course, you can do your part: Any time you hear someone complain about violent games, remind them of the parental controls available to them. If they complain that these things are complicated to use, you might ask them who they trust to make decisions for their kids: themselves or the government? And then watch them squirm.
FLAYSTATION BITS
WHATS IN YOUle във?
ALE WARD Creative director at Criterion, currently working on Black
GAMES: The game | am playing at
the moment is Sony's excellent Pursuit Force. l'm a big fan of old arcade rac-
ers, and this is а great homage to а lot of my favorites. If you're old enough to remember Tait the PSP game for you
MOVIES: I've just received The Island on DVD, so I'll be ripping that
to my memory ater today. It may have bombed at the box office, but |
absolutely loved it k out the
5 Chase НО, then this is
Burnout-esque car chase in there! If it's UMDs you're interested in, then I've just been given a copy of Ong-bak apparently all the stunts are REAL.
MUSIC: Madonna's Confessions on à Dance Floor —anything that samples ABBA is great in my book
ШЕН: | regularly point my browser to the Usenet discussion group rec I'm a huge pinball fan, and this is a great place to go for all sorts of pinball info. | just bought my latest table three days ago, and | am excited to finally own Williams' amaz- ing Medieval Madness. |
games.pinball
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23
CRAFT YOUR KILLING STYLE WITH STEALTHY SPEED SEIZE THE REINS OF A CHARIOT AND BATTLE EMBRACE YOUR CURSED SOUL AND UNLEASH THE KILLS AND CREATIVE FREE-FORM FIGHTING. THROUGH THE OPEN-ENDED CITY OF BABYLON. DEADLY DAGGERTAIL AS THE DARK PRINCE.
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THE OPM INTERVIEW:
INSIDE THE MIND: BE ЕЕЕ MAN BEHIND METAL SEAR
The date: December 1, 2005; the place: the Roppongi district of Tokyo, where foreigners mingle with the natives shuttling to and fro amidst the tumult and chaos of restaurants, bars, electronics shops, hostess clubs, and upscale boutiques that define the area. The set- ting on this brisk and sunny day was Hideo Kojima's residence in the Mori Building, ensconced within the greater Roppongi Hills complex, which houses—among other things—Konami's worldwide headquar- ters. The reason for our meeting: to learn more about the man who made Metal Gear solid (his reference to bringing the series into 30), to find out what makes him tick, where he got his eye for detail, and
what inspires him get out of bed every morning to make videogames.
Hideo Kojima has been at the forefront of modern videogame design for nearly 20 years now, from the ripe old days of the MSX System to his recent eye-popping Metal Gear Solid 4 demonstra- tion for the PlayStation 3. He's continually pushed the boundaries of Japanese game design further than any other developer, save for
v 2005
perhaps Shigeru Miyamoto, and he is without equal in his cinematic approach. He has influenced legions of would-be stealth-survivors, from Tenchu to Rogue Ops to Splinter Cell, and has nurtured a small handful of potential successors to the Metal Gear throne in Shinta Nojiri (Metal Gear Acid) and Shuyo Murata (Zone of the Enders). Kojima is, without question, one of the most important figures in the videogame industry, bringing in heavy hitters like Harry Gregson- Williams to score the soundtracks to his games and cinematic title wizards like Kyle Cooper to set the tone.
While the gritty nature of most of his games suggests a no- nonsense director at the helm, a sharper eye will spot the sly sense of humor continually at work underneath the surface. So in order to discern how games like MGS3: Subsistence happen into existence, we arranged a meeting with Копат!з visionary, kicked traditional game-related questions to the curb, and had ourselves a real conver- sation with him to find out what makes Hideo Kojima Hideo Kojima.
Hideo Kojima, con- sidered by many to be the preeminent videogame auteur,
was photographed at the Bijutsu Club in Tokyo on December 6, 2005.
ГОРМ You've been making some of the most groundbreaking video- games for nearly 20 years now. What makes you want to get up and keep making games every day?
I HIDEO KOJIMA [Sipping his coffee] You know, videogames being interactive, it's a kind of service industry. The key to being a videogame creator is to provide different kinds of service. And in order to provide all kinds of service, you have to know people, and in doing so, l obvi- ously have my own personality, and then | have my friends, family, ге!- atives, and all of that. And then | assume virtual personalities through what I’ve seen in the past, and then using all these different personali- ties, real and virtual, | try out my own game in order to adjust it for all those people out there who would be playing my game.
The thing is, yes, | do have these different personalities, but there are millions of people out there, so what | have, all these personalities within myself, are not enough for me to tweak the game and create games. So | have focus groups and gather people and see how they play the game. Since it's a service industry, there's really по end. | can keep on offering things, and as | grow older, | can even provide a better service through what I've learned and experienced in the years of my life. The thing is, there really is no end, and that's what makes me go оп. Из like a restaurant in the food industry, where you can provide a service to people. With films and games, it's fun to write the script and the story and then also do the directing, but with videogames, because it's interactive, there's this element of providing service, and in doing зо, | basically have to know more about humans, about people, and it's this process of learning about people, knowing more about people, that makes me a bigger person, a broader person. And that's why it's some- thing | can't really stop doing. It's something | enjoy doing.
I OPM Where do you get most of your stimuli from? Do you get it from music, from movies, from books you read?
| HK If you check out my blog, you'll probably know what stimu- lates me, but the thing is, l'm working all day long. It's not like | can go on around-the-world travel; it's not like | go on risky, dangerous adventures or anything. | basically go to work like anyone else to get paid. Even while | spend most of my time in the office working, | get to meet different people, | get to listen to different music, | get to see different movies. Basically, it's doing my thing every day, living and going into the office. If | have my sensors оп, | just run into things and absorb what | run into. It's not like | have to do anything special to get stimulated.
It might be a little hard to understand, but when | walk down the street, if | see a stone in the middle of the street, that's a stimulus. People probably walk by, but I'll say, “Why is this thing sitting in the middle of the road?" Or even like your slipper. [Motions to the inter- viewer] "Why is this guy wearing one slipper and not the other?" These things might not be stimuli to other people, but these things to me are seeds of stimuli.
ГОРМ In your blog it's easy to tell that you're very observant of the little details. So | can see why you'd notice that I'm only wearing one slipper. In the past you've mentioned how your parents moved when you were a child, causing you to lose all of your friends, and that this made you somewhat introverted. Did this lead you to focus on details more?
LHK It's just my personality, | think. My wife says she doesn't like people with my personality. [Laughs] It's very exhausting, because when we go out to dinner together, for a meal, | always complain about the food, and she doesn't enjoy that. | really don't know why these things stimulate me. | catch these things; things concern me. Maybe in that sense I’m still a child that hasn't grown up but has aged—l'm like а big child. It's not like | really question everything. It's not like, "Why is this like that?" It's not a bunch of whys. More like every time | run into something | start thinking about it, thinking about the background story that sits behind that thing or person or whatever. And when | meet someone, l start thinking about what kind of family he or she has, or what kind of life he has been living so far, and it's these things that 1 start thinking about.
I OPM What would you say have been the most influential things in your life? | know you like Joy Division, so maybe it was their album Closer that moved you. Or maybe it was having a child of your own.
I HK You know, people ask me that, like what was the first movie that impacted you the most, and | really can't answer that because l've been impacted every day by a lot of things. So it's just a lot of things that have influenced me big time, but you mentioned my child. That obvi- ously was a big influence in my life. That really divides the B.C. and A.D. within my life. That was a big impact.
The thing is, when | was a child myself | was one of these—first of all I'm going to give you the Japanese term kagi-ko, which literally means "key child"—what it is means is both of your parents are work- ing, so the kid basically has the key to the house. And after school you go home and your parents aren't there, so you open the door with the key yourself and go in there and no one's in the house. Kagi-ko isn't even really used anymore in Japan; it's a very old sort of idea.
Kids basically have the keys hanging on straps; moms give them the key, but the straps end up being too long, so when they go up on the horizontal bar, they end up wrapping around. [Laughs] But as a kagi-ko, no one's there, so l'd go home and watch TV and | felt very lonely. Sometimes I'd look at my mom's big mirror and would start cry- ing. That probably has a big impact on me right now. I’m still a lonely guy; | feel solitude all the time, even when I’m with people. While | do feel lonely, | do sort of enjoy solitude as well. | like to hang out with people, but when | hang out with people, | end up noticing that people are different from me, and | feel more solitude. But then when my son was born, | guess that really changed things. | don't feel that absolute solitude any more.
For example, you mentioned Joy Division; they have a song called “Isolation.” Like punk music, in that kind of music, while they feel frustrated, they direct their frustration outside. In their songs they basi- cally want to destroy society and rules; it's like an exploding force. But then came alternative rock, alternative music, where the energy sort of implodes. Everything goes internally. When ! bumped into that kind
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of music, | really felt happy in the sense that “Oh, there аге people like me in England as well.”
Like Tears for Fears: The guys were going to shrinks, and the shrinks said, “Why don't you make music?” and that's how they sort of came about. So people like them. Their music has had a big impact on me.
| OPM It's interesting you mention that. Tears for Fears’ first couple albums, The Hurting and Songs From the Big Chair, were exercises originating from their Janovian primal-scream therapy sessions. Тһе song “Shout” specifically was the purest example of that.
I HK ОК, we should go to karaoke next time. We'll sing the song. | haven't been singing lately. [Laughs]
I OPM If you had to pick a song to sing right now, what would it be? | HK The first song would be "Don't Cry" by Asia. The problem is, even when | sing the song, the people who go with me aren't familiar with it, so it's pretty sad. There's a lot of stimuli out there, though. Putting music aside—movies and books, | love all kinds of books and movies. | have diverse tastes.
I OPM What would we see on your DVD shelf and bookshelf right now?
| HK That's a tough question. That choice I'd be making would change every day.
ГОРМ What would you be in the mood for right now?
| HK Today is not necessarily the best answer, but | just bought the DVD of The Butterfly Effect, and | haven't watched it yet, so I'll probably go watch it.
I ПРМ And a book?
I HK There's this Japanese writer called Masaki Yamada, and his latest book, called Mystery Opera, is a book I'm reading. And I've bought the latest book by Paul Wilson, but | haven't read it yet. | go to the book- store and CD store every day. | commute using the train, and there's a
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big bookstore оп Ше way where | change trains. It's what | enjoy doing every day. I’m not of the generation where people surf the Net to see what's coming out soon. l just go to the store. | have these feelings; | sort of know that something's coming out, so l go to the store.
It's like meeting people when | go into a bookstore. There are like 10,000 books there, and | end up picking one; the chances are miracu- lous. Even when buying music, this is something | do: It's called “jacket buying” or “cover buying.” | basically have no idea what the music is, but | just like the cover of the record, and | buy it. Most of the time, or more than half the time, the music ends up being bad. But | just cher- ish this actual physical meeting of people and products.
1 OPM Would you lament the day software publishers dispense with packaging and design altogether, as companies like Valve move toward a download-only generation? Obviously, the tons of special editions and limited packaging you release for your games (at least in Japan) reveals how much you appreciate good design.
ИНК You know, downloading stuff is like meeting the internal organs of a person. That's not what | want. You sort of want to wonder what this person is about, what kind of person he or she is. Same with books: You pick it up and try to figure out what it's about; maybe you're eager to read it. Or even if it's music and you have no idea what it's going to sound like, but you pick it up and imagine and expect things. And | think that's what adds to the whole experience, instead of just getting the internal organs like you see in these pictures [points to framed pictures of X-rays of skulls hanging on his wall], the inside.
The packaging is part of the product as well, and the service. Another thing | don't like about things with the Internet in addition to downloading is, there are people out there who read people's reviews before going to a movie. You read someone's review and say, "Hey it sounds good; I’m going to go and see the movie." That | don't like.
“DOWNLOADING STUFF IS LIKE MEETING THE INTERNAL ORGANS OF A PERSON.”
I'd rather see the movie myself first and then try to see what people thought about it. | think that if this kind of culture prevails, people will end up not making their own decisions, or people will basically depend on [other] people's tastes. By doing that you won't be able to brush up or improve your own senses and tastes. It is a dangerous trend where people will not go out for themselves or feel or decide instinctively what is good or bad if they depend on other people's tastes.
I OPM Do you think people would be doing themselves a disservice if they read my review of MGS4 before going to buy the дате?
1 HK Well, if more people are going to buy the game after read-
ing your review, please. [Laughs] | know т contradicting myself.
The thing is, on the Internet, there’s so much data, like rankings. For example, you see the top-10 box-office movies or top-10 best-selling CDs. It's just information like numbers and data, and people say, "Oh, this is popular; I’m going to go buy it." It definitely is a way to choose things, you know, seeing the best-selling CDs and saying, “I’m going to buy this because it's selling well." That definitely is a way. People really should depend on their own senses, on their own abilities, to try to sense what's good and bad.
I OPM Since you obviously do a lot of interviews, what is the most annoying interview question that keeps coming up?
I HK ОК, this is like a Japan-only question, but I’m called Kojima-kan- toku. Kantoku means "director," but director in Japan usually means a movie director. The title comes after the name, like Kurosawa-kantoku or Kojima-kantoku. "Why do people call you Kojima-kantoku?" That question | hate.
I OPM Do they ask that a lot? | HK | was asked that yesterday. The Japanese media, that's like the first question they ask me.
I OPM Is that supposed to be a sign of respect? Maybe they're trying to brown-nose you before the interview?
I HK | think it's the opposite. The thing is, the word kantoku is usually associated with film directors, and in Japan | think people view film directors as superior to videogame directors. The word in English is the same, a film director or videogame director. | guess in Japan, vid- eogame directors are not referred to as kantoku, so | guess they think, "The film directors are way up there; why are you called kantoku along with them?" It's a way of disrespect, sort of.
I OPM It's funny you should say that. With the exception of some highly respected film directors, like Kurosawa, among others, the Japa- nese film industry isn't generally considered top tier, usually because of films' miniscule budgets compared to what Hollywood can produce. The Japanese videogame industry, on the other hand, is generally considered top-notch, with high-quality CG, game graphics, innova- tion, etc., and with most of the big franchises coming out of Japan. The Japanese film industry doesn't usually grab too much attention outside of Japan, while the Japanese game industry most certainly does.
| HK Please write that! Keep writing about that to change things. Don't use me on the cover; put that on the cover! That message there.
1 OPM Have you heard of [film critic] Roger Ebert's assessment that videogames can never be viewed as art? How do you feel about that?
I HK | don't think they're art either, videogames. The thing is, art is something that radiates the artist, the person who creates that piece of art. If 100 people walk by and a single person is captivated by whatever that piece radiates, then it's art. But videogames aren't trying to capture one person. A videogame should make sure that all 100 people that play that game should enjoy the service provided by that videogame. It's something of service. It's not art. But | guess the way of providing service with that videogame is an artistic style, a form of art.
For example, look at a concept car. You don't have to be able to drive a car, but if it's called a car and it has artistic elements in the visu- als, then it's art. But an actual car, like a videogame, is interactive, so it's something used by people, so it's like a car where you have to drive it. There are 100 people driving a car; they have 100 ways of driving it and using it. It could be families driving the car. It could be a couple driving a car. The owner of the car could be driving along the coastline, or they could go up into the mountains, so this car has to be able to be driven by all 100 of these people, so in that sense it's totally not art.
I OPM Ву that same token, if you had a Picasso on the wall, you may totally enjoy his work. | imagine you would if you had one hanging
up. But | may hate Picasso; | may prefer the Bauhaus movement. So if we have different opinions, maybe we're not physically "using" it for anything specific; we're still using our minds to evaluate it, just like the performance of a car or a videogame. That's not going to stop art from being art, but videogames can still be artistic.
| HK Let me say this in a different way, so | can better explain the nuance in what I'm trying to say. That building there [points to one of the adjacent Roppongi Hills towers] has an art museum called Mori Museum, but any museum will do. Art is the stuff you find in the museum, whether it be a painting or statue. What I’m doing, what vid- eogame creators are doing, is running the museum—how do we light up things, where do we place things, how do we sell tickets? It's basi- cally running the museum for those who come to the museum to look at the art. For better or worse, what | do, Hideo Kojima, myself, is run the museum and also create the art that's displayed in the museum.
I OPM So do you think the user's involvement in affecting the out- come of a game affects a game's artistic credibility, because it's left to the user to "finish" the painting?
1 HK Not necessarily. Online games maybe, because what you're doing is basically providing them the arena, the play tools, and leaving every- thing up to the player, so for online games, maybe yes. What | do with my videogames, and specifically Мега! Gear Solid, is provide a canvas and paint and the paintbrushes to everyone who buys the game. Obvi- ously, some people can draw well or paint well while some people can- not. | basically provide them with the tools and make sure these people are satisfied with their painting. They're like, "Man, I'm a marvelous artist. | can paint! | can draw!" 1 make sure they get the satisfaction when they play my games, that they're able to draw something that they're very satisfied with at the end.
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ГОРМ Games like Shadow of the Colossus and Ico are the games most often referred to as art in videogame form, due to their distinct visual quality. Many people point to those games as art. Do you think there are exceptions, such as these games, where you could look at them and say, “OK, those are art“? Or do you think all games fall under a blanket assessment?
I HK | think they're good games, but | think they're just another game. In [Shadow of the Colossus], you ride a horse. It's a horse; it looks like a horse. But in art, | can paint this cup [/ifts up his coffee cup] and call the painting Horse. That's art. The music and the graphics used in a game—they have artistic elements, | agree. But everything else is very intuitive. It'S easy to play in the sense that the horse looks like a horse and you obviously know that you have to ride the horse, so what I think it does is provide a service.
Maybe let's say there's a game out there where there's a boss that you cannot defeat. It's made that way. Normally, when you beat the boss in a game, there's a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, but if you can't beat the boss at all, if what you're left with is a sense of loss, then maybe that could be defined as art. You know Taro Oka- moto—he's dead but a very famous Japanese artist. | don't know the official English translation of it, but one of his pieces is called The Refusing Chair. Ws something that sort of looks like a chair, but it's got bumps on it, so you can't sit on it, but if you do, it's going to hurt your butt. With videogames you have to make sure you can sit on the chair. That's why you want to think about art and videogames. | think the lousiest videogames can be considered art. Because bad games with no fun aren't really games, by definition.
ГОРМ Speaking of the Mori Museum, there's an exhibit going on there right now on Hiroshi Sugimoto. One of the placards on a photo- graph of a mathematically inspired sculpture has a quote of Sugimoto's that says, "Art resides even in things with no artistic intentions." So it's reasonable to suggest that a game has just as much opportunity to be art as an apple on a plate.
ИНК You know, with videogames becoming something that anyone can play at any time because they've become so popular and main- stream in our lives, | think contemporary artists out there could use videogames and create art—like The Refusing Chair, the unplayable videogame. It's there, it looks playable, but you just can't control it.
ГОРМ Recently you had a chance to meet up with Frank Miller when he was in Japan to promote Sin City, the movie. Do you like Frank Miller's work?
I HK My favorite one is Hard Boiled, for which he only wrote the script and story. | love this stuff because although it is an American comic, it's got a French flavor.
I OPM What was it like meeting him?
| HK He was a very nice guy. He's a big fan of Japanese manga and comics, really, and his style is very different from typical American comics; you can see it in his cuts and the layout. And since he likes Japanese comics, he sort of does not use a lot of colors...
I OPM ...or backgrounds.
ИНК Right. And with Japanese manga, the person who writes the story and does the art is usually the same. So it's really that person's piece of work. But most American comics, until Frank Miller, were more like a production line, where you have the storyteller, the scriptwriter, the artist, and, if you need, another artist to finish it up. But with Frank Miller, he wanted to do it Japanese style, where he did everything. He's like the first person who did it in American comics.
When he started doing that, doing everything himself, he was really bashed in the industry for not doing it the American way. But with his success, he really opened this new path where one person could do everything and make it that person's work, instead of putting it on a production line. Like the main characters of his comics, many of them end up dying. That's not American. In American Hollywood films, they never die, the main protagonists. He basically opened this new path in the American comics industry
I OPM Are you familiar with Frank Miller's graphic novel Ronin? 1 HK [Laughs] | know it, but | haven't read it yet.
ГОРМ It's sort of a parallel to Miller himself, since he started out working for the major companies, like Marvel and DC, and then struck out on his own.
| HK Frank Miller is a fan of a Japanese samurai series...what's it called in the States?
I OPM Lone Wolf and Cub? He helped bring that series to the United States. Like how Quentin Tarantino might executive-produce a Robert Rodriguez film, Frank Miller got Dark Horse Comics to translate and publish Lone Wolf and Cub for the States.
| HK He did? That's interesting.
I OPM Back to your earlier years -- you were you an only child? | HK | have an older brother. He's two years older.
І ПРМ So are you and your brother very different then? | HK | think so, and | always thought so, but | really don't know.
I OPM Did he have a key around his neck, too?
| HK [Laughs] Не must have, but | remember | was always the опе using my key to get in the house, so he was probably still at school. He is only two years older, but when he was my age, [the age] when | felt very lonely, my mom was not working. My parents' generation, many years ago in Japan, the husband, the father, went out and worked, like America in the 1950s. Like now, even in Japan, women work. There are equal-employment rights, and people can take maternity leave, etc. But 30 years ago when Japan was going through a major economic boom, that's when women started to work, maybe not full time, but that's when kids started wearing their straps and became kagi-ko.
Now, most kids' parents both work, but back then, it was only a small portion, only a few kids in each class had both parents working. That's why І felt even more lonely, like the kagi-kos formed a "kagi-ko alliance," like, "We're very lonely; we have our keys around our necks. When | was small, in elementary school, if it was sunny in the morn- ing but ended up raining in the afternoon, most kids' moms came to school with another umbrella to pick them up, but my mom was work- ing, so she never came. So | ended up having small umbrellas in my bag. But then if | took it out and used it, it looked like, "Oh, Hideo, your
УРА
Ж
TAO OKAMOTO One of Japan's most famous postwar art- ists, Taro Okamoto lived from 1911 to 1996, creating many compelling sculp- tures and images that hav кїп Kojima's mind.
Techno supergroup Underworld and, more specifically, their art-house col- lective ТОМАТО conceived an import- only PlayStation 2 game that is less а game and more a collage of sound and images, but not in а Rez-like way.
“BEING THE SECOND CHILD IN THE FAMILY, | QUST
HATED BEING THE OPPRESSED ONE.”
mom's not coming." | didn't like that; it was embarrassing, so | ended up walking home in the rain without using my umbrella.
ГОРМ So you'd go home soaking wet to prove a point?
ИНК [Laughs] Yeah, a little bit, | guess. You could say that. Being the second child in the family, | just hated being the oppressed one. 1 always wanted to fight back. When my mom said, "Do as your big brother does, follow the rules." No way. [Laughs]
Our interview came to an end and our photographer began to situ- ate Kojima in his apartment. It is a modestly and spaciously appointed affair, with a couple of red leather chairs set against a mostly stark- white backdrop. Lots of Kojima memorabilia accents the room, with Zone of the Enders statues bookending the huge Hitachi widescreen TV resting in his living room and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater promo- tional materials making up the bulk of the rest of the display.
But it's the little things that really offer a peek into Kojima's life:
a 12-inch single of New Order's “Fine Time" and a signed and num- bered certificate commemorating a Joy Division cover designed
by Factory Records' influential Peter Saville. As the photo session wrapped up, we shook hands with Kojima and thanked him for invit- ing us into his home for this special meeting, a meeting that brought us closer to him not only as a creative force in the game industry, but as a human being, as a man. While he threatens with each and every installment of the Metal Gear series to move on and let someone else take the reins of gaming's favorite stealthy son, it will always be Kojima looking out from behind Solid Snake's eyes. How could it be otherwise? He's gaming's original one-man army. |
моа ART MUSEUM The 54th floor of the Roppongi Hills main tower holds the lavish Mori Art Museum, which hosts exhibits ra ing from da Vinci's cryptic works to Hiroshi Sugimoto's high-concept photo collections to Vivi- enne Westwood fashion retro- spectives (v tokyocityview. p1 pimg1.ipg).
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TLIC Ц
ФИН-РЕ „ТОП
GAMING NEWS FROM THE EAST
А few months ago, “adult” UMD movies became available in Japan for the PSP, which showed that Sony was willing to—if not endorse—at least quietly accept dicier content that gave its system an, um, competitive advantage in the adult gamer market. After the runaway success of the first set, a new batch arrived this November with an exciting new feature: dirt-cheap pricing. Titles such as Naughty Driving School Instructor and High School Girl Master Hunter carry an MSRP of 980 yen (about $9) and can be found in stores for as little as 830 yen.
This is good news for more than just stingy perverts. If UMD movies are being sold with an MSRP of less than $10, then UMD publishers are making a profit at that price. Pornography is always at the vanguard of new technologies, so if $10 “adult” movies are possible today, then $10 “real” movies and superbudget greatest-hits games can't be far behind. Some analysts were concerned that Sony's proprietary UMD format would be expensive to produce almost indefinitely. But less than a year later, Sony has the manufacturing lines and production capacity to make $10 UMDs a reality. Good to see it's worked out all the kinks.
This is a story about three boys from Moldova (established in 1991 with a population of 3.3 million) who found international fame and fortune through somewhat unconventional means. Their boy band O-Zone wrote a Romanian pop song called "Dragostea Din Tei," which roughly translates to "Love Among the Linden Trees." The song quickly rode its brain-searingly catchy chorus to the top of the European charts.
Two Internet memes soon brought the song to distant shores. In America, the song became known as the "Numa Numa Dance" thanks to a webcam video of an overweight boy cutting loose from his computer chair. In Japan, the song inspired a completely
separate, unrelated Internet meme. Posters on the megalithic message forum 2ch (ni-channel) made a Flash animation called “Maiahi” that stars 2ch’s ASCII-art cat mascot, Mona. In the animation, Mona acts out what the Romanian lyrics "sound" like in Japanese. Shoehorning Japanese lyrics into a Romanian song led to some fairly absurdist scenarios, including guest appearances from Picasso, a llama, and even Street Fighter II's Dhalsim. This animation inspired dozens of parodies and remakes and soon reached the attention of the mainstream media, much like how the “All Your Base" meme swept America.
Here things take a turn for the surreal. Rather than shrug off the animation as a fluke, O-Zone and its new Japanese label, Avex, embraced it wholeheartedly. O-Zone launched its Japanese career based on a black-and-white, ASCll-art Flash animation from a Japanese message forum. The Flash animation played on the
Shibuya 109, the several-stories tall skyscraper television towering over the world's busiest crosswalk. For the Japanese market, several famous DJs remixed the song, and the band launched its Japanese- language website at maiahi.com. This fall, Avex started selling tiny stuffed ASCII-faced cats, complete with beer bottle and reddened cheeks, from ubiquitous kiosks looping "Maiahi."
Nowadays, the line between subculture and mainstream culture isn't just thin—it's nonexistent. Games that can capture the public's attention, such as Nintendo's quirky Nintendogs, can break out beyond the core gamer audience in a matter of weeks. By embracing the quirky phenomenon that propelled it to Japanese fame rather than rejecting it as "uncool," O-Zone was able to build on an existing fan base that already knew and loved its music...or at least crazy ASCII cats.
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i play. i win. i gloat. i kick back. i catch а movie. i hear some tunes. all thanks to one little card.
Turn your PSP" (PlayStation® Portable) handheld entertainment device into a fully loaded multimedia machine. How? With a SanDisk? memory card. It gives you the power to play music, view pictures, watch movies and of course save countless game data, all with one device. It's the undisputed champion of flash memory, relied on more than any other.
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It's Super Bowl Sunday, not that you nerds care.
It's also National Weatherman's Day, not that you nerds ever go outside.
Today is Darwin Day. Try and dis- prove Mr. Darwin's theory of evolution by doing something stupid and seeing if you survive it.
MONDAY
OPM wishes a happy birthday to the guy whose song titles we keep using as headlines—Axl Rose was born 44 years ago today.
Hoover's your daddy? Let's hear it for old, rich white guys with a shout- out for Presidents” Day.
у 2006
TUESDAY
МЕ GAMES
>.
4а:
NEW GAMES
WEDNESDAY
NEW FLICKS
Today is the day that Willy Wonka gave the famous tour of his choco- late factory. Go eat
an Everlasting Gob-
stopper!
THURSDAY
Groundhog's Day! If you're a ground- hog, congratula- tions—you get the day off.
Give thanks to
William G. Morgan,
who invented vol- leyball on this date in 1895.
Kim Jong И claims today is his 64th birthday, but he actually turns 65. And to think—he doesn't look a day
FRIDAY
NEW FLICKS
Red alert! Avoid all movie theaters, as Curious George, a lame remake of The Pink Panther, and Final Destination 3 come out.
ша
Who's Ше Alpha Dog? Justin Tim- berlake wants you to think it's him, but we know the truth: It's Scooter.
NEIN FLICKS
SATURDAY
The world’s first sci-fi television pro- gram aired today in 1938. It was based on the play R.U.R., which coined the term “robot.”
Sean Astin was born today. Today is also the day that the Colt revolver was patented. Sadly, there is no connection between these events.
SON Y.
New software from SONY
www.sony.com/mediasoftware
The easiest way to move music, movies and more to your PSP™ system
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Media Manager
PSP" (PlayStation® Portable) Media Manager software is the fastest and easiest way to move media to your PSP™ system for portable playback and sharing. Experience the full mobile entertainment capabilities of your device: it's your digital photo album, video player, portable music device, podcast manager and game console, all rolled into one. Just connect your personal computer to your PSP" system, and let the PSP" Media Manager software (boxed version includes 6 foot USB cable) provide the ideal PC interface for converting and moving media directly to your player.
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beef up the origi- nal experience by adding a slew of new features to the соге game (RE4's jump to PS2, Xbox's Ninja Gaiden Black), it looks like Kojima is trying to set an example Бу going all-out with MGS3: Subsistence. We know for sure that in Japan Subsis- tence will come with three discs: "Sub- sistence," which is the third-person-cam- era-enhanced version of MGS3: Snake Eater; “Persistence,” where you'll find š the Metal Gear Online multiplayer mode, 1 plus additional extras (the secret theater Е and the Metal Gear games); and “Exis- tence,” which features all of MGSS's cut- scenes edited into a continuous three- Е 4E а hour movie. Тһе Ехіѕїепсе disc 15 for 5 1 gamers who want to experience MGS3's ` Б story without having to, uh, actually play m MGS3. At press time, it's still unknown а whether the American release will vec S include Existence disc as well.
We got some hands-on time with the Subsistence disc (enough to get to the fight with the Fear), and we're pleased with the new third-person camera. For comparison's sake (like what you can
see in the screens on this page), you can ] тн I MOYABLE AMERA MAK just hit R3 to toggle between the original AWARENESS MUCH OSIER...
bird's-eye view and the new third-person < ы = РІ camera. While we always assumed that Ес зе am Е ща
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we underestimated its impact.
For one thing, the bird's-eye camera didn't convey the proper scale since, well, it was from a bird's perspective. Parking the camera right behind (or
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around) Snake makes the game environ- % ments feel much more lush and immer- | E Ж” - sive. All of that swaying grass that Snake Е Z would hide in looks much taller and feels ame T Ж downright согу once your view is level ЮР with Snake's. dd
Because you can spin the camera Ж around (а la Splinter Cell's), situational 4 Ж awareness is much better. Previously, — p, the camera had a very limited range of > Р movement, апа you had їо таке use of | `
either the first-person view or one of sev | eral gadgets to find baddies. While you can still do either, it's now pretty easy to
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makes the game easier at points, as you
can now see most soldiers before they
can see you. However, when you go into buildings (like the Graniny Gorki Lab),
putting the camera right around Snake i in an enclosed space makes things a bit harder to control, as the walls limit your situational awareness. The bird's-eye
view is actually better suited for these situations. But overall, the camera makes
such a significant difference that we
cut our playtime off at the Fear so that B we can savor the rest of the game later.
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For the first time, the “authentic” Japanese versions of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake will be available in the States. Metal Gear suffered a hor- rible translation (e.g., "I FEEL ASLEEPI") and some odd changes in its first trip Stateside, while Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake never came out here. Over in Japan, both games were recently released in cell- phone format, and we're guessing that the enhanced cell-phone versions are the basis for these upcoming U.S. versions. For Metal Gear, the cell-phone version added both new difficulty settings (an easy mode) and Boss Survival mode, which lets you fight all
the bosses in succession. Additionally, the famous "Infinite Bandana" from the MGS series makes an appearance. The cell-phone version of Metal Gear 2also received the additional difficulty setting and boss modes, as well as tweaked appearances of characters. In the original MSX version, character portrait icons on the radio resembled movie stars, but now these portraits are based on MGS illustrator Yoji Shinkawa's designs. Additionally, the cell-phone version of MG2 has minor gameplay tweaks, such
as item icon changes, changes in land-mine usage, and visual indicators that display variances in sound when walking over certain types of terrain. On top of all this, both games will sport a fresh translation that is more in tune with Kojima's vision.
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During our interview with Kojima, we snuck in a query about the Rumble Roses girls in Metal Gear Online:
ОРМ Why did you decide to add Reiko from Rumble Roses to Subsistence?
We know you like putting girls in your games, but why her in particular?
HK Akari Uchida, the producer of Rumble Roses, came to me [one day] and said, “Can we collaborate in some way?” The thing was that...the guys on my team [the MGS3 team in particular] said, “No, we don't want to work with that game.” So it didn’t happen, but 1 always had it in mind that Mr. Uchida wanted to work with the MGS team. So when we were working on the online stuff for Subsistence, | wanted a hidden character, another character that you could control. | thought, “Oh, there's that deal with Mr. Uchida,” so | said, “Why don't we work together now?" and | called him up. Actually, | wanted to go to Mr. Кадак! of Тесто [first] to use maybe one of the DOA characters, but then [| remembered] the deal with Mr. Uchida that | couldn't fulfill back then, so | said, “И just go to him."
FEBRUARY
IPAIDEN AN
When we talked with Mr. Kojima, we asked him some questions about his most controversial character, Raiden:
OPM What is it about Raiden and you nowadays? He's in that [secret the-
ater short] in Subsistence, "Metal Gear Raiden" [Kojima also referred to it as "MGSS3: Snake Eraser" at TGS—Ed.], where he appears in this amalgamation of cut-scenes but is screwing everything up, which results in the colonel shout- ing "TIME PARADOX!” every time he does so. He's the most severely punished character in that scenario. You never intended for him to be the source of such derision, but now that he is, you've picked up the baton and run with it and are clearly enjoying yourself by doing it. When did you decide, "OK, I’m gonna mess with Raiden, too"?
HK The thing is, | don't hate him. | fool around with him because [my team and |] like him; we spent a lot of time putting him together. But the fans ended up not liking him, and that | accept. Since | want my fans to enjoy my games, [I said to] myself—who came up with the character—"Why not fool around with him?" I tried to cast him in some cool role in [Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty], but it just didn't work. That's why now l'Il make him the clown in the movies.
OPM And you recast him as Raikov in MGS3. So for Subsistence, who decided to make Raikov—at least in the online portion of Subsistence—impervious to men's magazines? [A popular tactic in Subsistence multiplayer is throwing down Playboy-style magazines to distract the enemy—Raikov is immune to their allur- ing effect—Ed.]
HK | decided. [Laughs] The whole thing with Raiden/Raikov in MGS3 is that there are actually many people in Japan who like Raiden. There are people who want to play as Snake, but there are also people who want to play as Raiden. But
| wasn't going to do the same thing as [т] MGS2, where you [have] to play with Raiden, because | know [some] fans do not like him. That's why | basically put Raikov in the game, so you could see Raiden, and [why I] also offered the mask, зо people who wanted to play as Raiden can have Snake wear the mask.
ОРМ Since you have this virtual cast of characters, do you foresee bringing Raiden back for MGS4?
HK Raiden is going to be in Metal Gear Solid 4. But it doesn't mean you're going to control Raiden.
OPM Is it the real Raiden who will appear in MGS4, or just a character who looks like him?
HK It is that Raiden, not someone who looks like Raiden. But I’m going to announce here, I’m going to make [it very] clear, that once you finish playing MGS4, you're going to like Raiden very much.
ОРМ It's interesting to see how you're putting such effort into salvaging Raid- en's reputation. It's like Saving Private Raiden.
HK The thing is, | always knew | was going to do that with Raiden in MGS4— that's why | can humiliate him as much as | want to with "Metal Gear Raiden," because | knew that | was going to make people like him after MGS4. Knowing that there's going to be that comeback, | could do whatever | wanted to him in “Metal Gear Raiden." |
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PEELING AWAY SNAKE'S NEST PSP ADUENTURE
Konami Kojima Productions Spring
Metal Gear Acid 2 from Kojima Productions doesn't just feature polished visuals (in the form of neon-glow- ing, cartoony graphics)—the turn-based tactical card game also features several tweaks based on user input and other all-new gameplay elements. An intriguing new "real-time" aspect brings a new level of tension to sneaking around security cameras and guards—if they see you before your turn ends, you're screwed; the baddies will now actively track and follow you as a result, and you can't redo your move (before, even if you were spotted, as long as you ended your turn in a hiding place, the enemy basi- cally didn't see you). Hey, just be more cautious next time.
Acid 2 also deals out more than twice as many cards as its predecessor during the course of the game; some massively impact gameplay while others are just there for fun. As you prog- ress, you'll be able to upgrade cards, which lets you specialize in favorite tactics and customize your play style. Load up on the big guns and tough body armor to blast your way through a level, or deal yourself a stack of trap and support cards to take a stealthier approach. Certain cards will transform into more-powerful cards as you upgrade them, but be aware that you'll often trade power for speed or vice versa. Equipment slots on the playable char- acters allow them to wear armor or automatically counterstrike when attacked (you're going to be grateful for that; trust us).
The environments also play a part in the mission levels to an unprecedented degree, posing new challenges for the player. One mission takes place in a train yard, with trains going by every few turns. It's tough enough dealing with your opponents, but don't let them distract you too much—if you happen to get caught on the tracks while a train goes by, it's curtains for Snake.
The game also has a whole new mode that will appeal to fans of the MGS series: a single-player "Arena mode" that pits Snake against bosses from past games, such as Revolver Ocelot (both old and young) and Vamp (from MGS2). But don't go into these battles unprepared, because these guys are tough. Winning will earn you special cards.
Finally, there's the new scope peripheral that ships with every copy, tentatively called "Solid Eye," a device that warrants a little explanation. It's basically like a pair of stand-alone 3D glasses that can be mounted on top of the PSP for "Theater mode." With it, you'll be able to watch the movies that come with the game, including the eight-minute MGS4 trailer. Oh, and there are (3D!) girlie magazines in the game, too—this time in the form of short movies that you can unlock with various cards. You see, Snake is a lover as well as a fighter.
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the lack of online options in RPGs, with the field limited
to Final Fantasy XI, EverQuest Online Adventures, and various online multi- player features in games like Champions: Return to Arms. Sega did an admirable job of creating an addictive multiplayer online action-RPG, Phantasy Star Online—except PSO was on pretty much every system except the PS2. Now, with Phantasy Star Universe Sega is making up for the lack of a PS2 Phantasy Star.
The single-player story involves Ethan (you) fighting space baddies called “the SEED” who're tearing through the Graal star system. Ethan zips around the sys- tem, fights monsters, and does all sorts of heroic stuff during the approximately 40-hour adventure.
After that, you can jump into the online game, which takes place five years later. You choose a race—human, newman (er, space elves), cast (robots), or beast (melee shapeshifters)—get your own little pad, and go to the lobby to create a party. With up to five other play- ers, you zip around looking for dungeons to explore and boss monsters to fight and loot. PSO veterans will be pleased with additions like strafing, dual-wield- ing, drivable vehicles (!), and target lock- on to make combat more manageable. So far, PSU feels like a good reason to keep your Network Adaptor plugged in.
Pub. Dev. Release
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has been one in which a pretty good RPG on another plat- form makes an unremarkable transition to
of Grandia and the Dreamcast version of Grandia Il were generally superior to their Sony counterparts, the next Grandia is built for the PS2, and it shows.
The screens show the general improve- ments to the graphics, but the game's true charm is evident in the combat system. After being reacquainted with the battle system, we felt immediately comfortable
and went on to check out its improvements.
A quick refresher: It's a semi-turn-based and real-time system where the player waits in real time for a chance to issue a command. Then there is a brief window between issuing a command and execut- ing it; being attacked during this interval can either counter the move or outright cancel it, which forces the subject to wait
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for a chance to issue а command again. The result is a slick battle system that adds a new tactical layer of trying to cancel ene- mies' attacks while making sure they don't cancel yours. One major improvement is the use of aerial combos—if you time them correctly, not only can you knock an enemy into the air (via a cancel), but another party member can attack the enemy in midair, resulting in a slick special attack that causes increased damage. Consider it a visual reward for pulling off a powerful attack.
Also, Grandia Ш might have the quirky distinction of featuring the goofiest family connection in an RPG yet—frankly, it sur- prised us when we asked about the sassy young redhead who makes smart-aleck quips with the main character, Yuki, and the producer answered, "That's his mother.” If nothing else, Grandia IIl shows that young mothers and their sons can have a grand RPG adventure as well.
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SHADUN HEATS: FROM THE NEW WORLD
XSEED Nautilus March
series has made quite a name for itself as of late. Shadow Hearts: Covenant (the second title) seems to have been the series’ breakout game in many respects—thanks in large part to its odd charm and different take on the typical RPG combat system. What other game has a dog wearing a trucker hat in reference (or maybe not) to Terry Bogard from The King of Fighters or a couple of fancy lads who demand that you bring them semipornographic cards? None that we can think of, and fortunately, Shadow Hearts: From the New World seemingly carries on with the madness, this time in a whole new land of wonder known as the United States of America.
That's right. You'll be traveling these here United States in From the New World—hitting New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, and the Grand Can- yon—in what appears to be the 1920s, give or take a decade (or several). So Times Square looks much as it did dozens of years ago, but now with a Native American named Shania—who can apparently shape-shift into a spirit form—roaming the mean 1920s streets of Brooklyn. The main character, Johnny Garland, isn't quite as fantastical. He's basically your run-of-the-mill 16-year-old boy detective who, while on a case, witnesses something that would make most people have a heart attack and die on the spot—although that wouldn't make for much of an RPG, would it?
B
FEBRUARY
FILE БҰп----т-
== ТЕАМКПОТ. ВЕЕТ ЕЕ
Atlus Dev. Irem Spring
missing from giant robot videogames? The ability to
play harmonica and dress ир in rad overalls, that's what. Good thing we have Atlus on duty: Its upcoming action-adventure, Steambot Chronicles (Ponkotsu Roman Daikatsugeki Bumpy Trot in Japan) lets you dress like a bumpkin and pretend to be a street musician in between punching the crap out of bad guys with your massive, powered armored robot suit.
Steambot puts you in control of a young man who finds himself washed ashore after an attack at sea, and the only way he can put things right is to take control of a mech suit and pound his way to victory. Your hero and his armor are highly customizable, and every upgrade or modifi- cation you make affects both your performance and appearance.
The quest is open-ended and varied, and between battles (which use a dual-stick configuration somewhere between Virtua On's and Katamari Damacy's) you'll find yourself playing a variety of instruments in a wide array of rhythm-based minigames. Quirky? Sure, but it's fun, too...the best kind of quirkiness.
ПОЛАПОАМАСЕ]
40874
ЕЕ = КЕГЕ MARCH OF THE РАМЕ
Pub, NIS America Dev. Nippon Ichi Release August
Disgaea 2: Geo Tactics is coming, and it's promising to be as big as the first game. It features the same geo panel system—but with new penal- ties like instant death—as well as geo symbol monsters that move geo panels around...or destroy them. Also new is the Dark Court add-on to the Dark Assembly (the bizarre Senate portion of the first game), where you'll have to defend party members against charges brought against them midbattle. New stackable characters allow towers of combatants to attack as one. You'll be controlling both Adel and Etna, who are working together to restore the cursed world of Valdime—he wants to save it, she wishes to conquer it.
-HACK//GU BOWING LIP IS HARD TO DU
Pub. Bandai Dev. CyberConnect Release Spring
Director Hiroshi Matsumaya of CyberCon- nect claims that the "GU" т .hack/GU stands for “grow up." He's hinted that while several other meanings for the letters will show up, the heart of the game is about how the fictional in-game MMORPG, "The World," has grown and changed since the last .hack series. Besides whatever growth the characters undergo, this next .hack looks like a step up for the series.
In a similar-but-different vein to the previous .hack tetralogy, .hack//GU will be a trilogy. Except .hack//GU Volume I: Resurrection is already about 80 hours long (making it longer than all four previ- ous .hack games combined). Matsumaya wouldn't say much about the story, except that The World is now filled with not only player killers, but also player killer killers (or PKKs). Details on the new combat sys- tem and the story itself (you seem to play as Haseo, a PKK who gets schooled by a PK named Tri-Edge, who himself greatly resembles the previous .hack games" hero, Kite), however, are scarce.
MS SAGA: A NEW DAWN NOT ANOTHER GUNDAM ACTION GAME
Pub. Bandai Dev. BEC Release February
Rather than force another clunky action game down the throats of Gundam fans, Bandai’s next Battle Suit game is (sur- prise!) a traditional turn-based RPG.
In MS Saga, almost anyone is able to own a Gundam, so you find and recruit noble pilots to help you in your cause. MS Saga will feature fully customizable mobile suits from the Mobile Suit Gundam, G Gundam, and Gundam Wing series.
SUIKODEN М FIFTH TIMES THE CHARM, YEAH REALLY!
Pub. Konami Dev. Konami Release Fall
The Suikoden series started off pretty darn great on the PlayStation and then stumbled a bit on the PS2. The slow
yet promising Suikoden lll gave way to the way-simplified (to the point of feel- ing almost like a “my first RPG” type of game) Suikoden IV. So far, Suikoden V looks like it'll try to recapture the overall feel of the first two games. For example, while /V limits combat to four characters in your party, V will go back to letting you have six out at a time. Additionally, the perspective is now from above, which makes V look a bit like a fancy 3D-ified version of Гог Il. Hopefully, this return to basics will help Suikoden V make a mark in the RPG market.
TTM LAIN
СОММАМО
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Pub. Dev. Release
Sora and Simba, together at last. Nomura loves him some lions and has put Pride Rock into the game. While we've already told you Donald turns into a flying bird (à la Zazu from the original Lion King) and Goofy becomes a tortoise, we now see that Pete becomes a shifty-looking lion. It's pretty cool to see Pete adapt to the Disney world along with Sora and his buddies.
Additionally, Sora will again be visiting Jack and his crew in Halloweentown (does that make Nomura one of those hipster punks who always wears Night- mare Before Christmas clothes?). Except this time,
the world will follow the movie's plot a little more closely; unlike in the first KH, Santa Claus makes
an appearance in Halloweentown, and Sora and Jack will have to save him from Oogie Boogie. We haven't seen a spooky Pete, but it's safe to assume he'll be deaded up for this level, and we'd like to take this moment to reflect on how KH2 looks so snazzy that screens of the Halloweentown level look a lot like movie stills from the original Nightmare Before Christmas. Come back next month to check out more worlds and characters, and maybe some hands-on with the Japanese release!
FEBRUARY
$ |Hwmg == И ШЕЙ ASA
А COUPLE MONTHS BACK, МЕ LAMENTED ОЧЕР HOW THE LAND OF THE RISING FUN WAS GETTING A WHOLE BUNCH OF COOL PSP GAMES, FROM WEIRD LANGUAGE-TRANSLATORS LIKE TALK- MAN TO OLD-SCHOOL GAMES LIKE GOKU MAKAIMURA (EXTREME GHOULS ‘N’ GHOSTS), WHILE DUR PROSPECTS WERE MUCH МОРЕ SLIM. WELL, SOMEONE LISTENED, BECAUSE THERE’S A HOST OF SLICK GAMES COMING TO DUR SIDE OF THE OCEAN. INE’ PE CELEBRATING THEI2 ARRIUAL BY DEDICATING A TINY
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| Pub. Namco Dev. Namco Release February
We're going on the record as saying that the hubbub over the control scheme for the PSP version of Katamari is just the result of a bunch of people who need actual problems to worry about. While it takes a little bit to get used to the different mechanic (your left thumb uses the D-pad and your right uses the Circle, Square, Triangle, and X buttons), it works remarkably well once you've had a few minutes to adjust, and you'll soon find yourself rolling happily through the tiny little environments.
Other than a few other basic additions (new cousins, some new environments, and a horrifyingly awesome new spread-eagle pose for the king that will haunt you in your sleep), this is the same Katamari you learned to love, now on your PSP. While it lacks a co-op option like the one added to We Love Katamari, you will be able to have competitive roll-offs with up to four players through Wi-Fi. Our favorite little addition, however, is in the credits. Now, as the names bounce across the screen, you can play a 2D side-scrolling version of katamari rolling, in which you jump over obstacles and avoid dropping your katamari down holes.
г Are three-metered balls on a small screen as big as they are оп a large? L
FEBRUARY
EXIT
Ubisoft Taito
February
With hurricanes, terrorism, tsunamis, and earthquakes threatening to make good on that guy оп the street corner's claim that the world is ending soon, a game like Exit seems timely. No, you won't be saving the earth from doom in this game, but you do take on the role of a "professional rescuer" who can save people from any danger. As the black- clothed Mr. Esc (yes, after the very key), you'll move from disaster to disaster, res- cuing poor schmucks from fires, quakes, and other fun times. Exit is an old-school 20 side-scroller (appropriate considering #5 coming from the old-school master Taito), with you moving crates, climbing over ledges, shimmying up and down ropes and ladders, and, of course, run- ning and jumping. One slip—taking a long tumble, being hit by falling debris, or getting burned—and you're dead. The 100 emergencies include old standbys like earthquakes and fires, and to help you get past some of them, Mr. Esc has the magical ability to turn victims into helpers (in order to push around really heavy crates).
If you think Exit sounds even the slightest bit familiar, you're right. In particular, the move-the-crates mechanic feels familiar, and that's because it goes way back to the 1980s with the Sega Genesis game called Shove It! (or Soko- ban, as it was known in Japan). Shove It! is the classic crate pusher, where all you do is move boxes around to advance to the next level (there was also another variant of Sokoban, Boxxle, released for the Game Boy). Yeah, sort of like Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. № you want to check out Sokoban or Shove It, just search for them on Google and then push and shove to your heart's content.
Exit, Ubi says is just the working title. Rescue! works better.
PIHAK еве ЛЕШЕ ASA
MEGA MAN
PRISED ЦЕН
MEGA VAN
EREK HUNT Ee es
Capcom Dev. Capcom Spring
you can’t do a lot with a franchise as old as Mega Man outside of the standard remake treatment, but somehow, Capcom has found a way to make not only the original Mega Man interesting again, but the original Mega Man X game as well. Both games feature completely revamped graphics, sound, and all the other bells and whistles you'd expect to find in an updated classic. Naturally, they also include new features, so it's certainly worth your while to check them out if you're a fan of the series.
In the case of Mega Man Powered Up, based on the original Mega Man, there's a level editor that lets you build your own levels from scratch using the game's included tools. There's also a challenge mode where you can complete up to 100 minimissions. With Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, based on Mega Man X, you can now play the game from the perspective of one of the Maverick robots (basically, one of the bad guys) to get а whole different perspective on the Меда Man universe.
Little Blue Bomber Getting remade like crazy Just for your pocket.
Pub. Sony CEA Dev. Ready at Dawn Release Spring
Remember when Jak was locked up for a couple of years before the start of Jak I? Well, if you were wondering what Daxter was up to, ponder no more, since this game fills you in. Besides looking for Jak, Daxter becomes a pest exterminator. This cover job gives him free reign to zip around Haven City and look for clues about where Jak is being held.
Besides platforming gameplay, Daxter sports another neat fea- ture: PSP-to-PS2 interoperability. Plugging in a Daxter-equipped PSP to your PS2 unlocks secret vehicles in Jak X, while Jak X returns the favor by unlocking secret levels within Daxter.
Decent platforming Plus PS2 connection Is pretty darn sweet.
BOUNTY HOUNDS
DIABLO IN THE STARS
Pub. Namco Dev. Namco Release April 4
OK, let's say you want some fast action-RPG fun, but you're a little weary of the whole swords, sorcery, and magic fantasy malarkey. Bounty Hounds, which involves crazy space aliens and mercenaries brandishing nasty guns, might hit the mark. Technically, it's more like a third-person action game with light RPG elements, but those elements focus on what matters most: character stats and "phat loot" (aka over 500 weapons and pieces of armor). What's also pretty snazzy is that you can dual-wield these weapons, so you can use a couple of rifles to snuff out baddies from afar and then switch to knives for cutting up fools that get too close.
A knife in one hand Ап Uzi in the other Makes for fast action.
FEBRUARY |
FIELD СОММАМОЕК
р. Sony Online Entertainment Sony Online Entertainment March
movies are filled with crusty old commanders directing less-crusty young guys around the battlefield like chess pieces, and that's kind of what you feel like as you load up Field Commander (minus the impressive bristling mustache, of course). The tutorial level walks strategy-game newbies through the basic maneuvers needed to conduct a successful campaign.
There are multiple gameplay options—play through the cam- paign, get in a quick battle, take on another player head-to-head (in true old-school coolness, there is a hotswap mode where players pass one PSP back-and-forth between turns), or else spend your time creating your own missions. You can start from scratch or modify a mission map, and when you're done, you can upload the missions to a central site for others to play on.
Like Advance Wars but poe
са —
СЕМЕВАТІОМ ОҒ СНАОЅ
Nippon Ichi Dev. Idea Factory Release February
/ this a lot, and the people we hope are listening haven't acted yet: When is a known RPG like Final Fantasy or Sui- koden hitting the PSP? We have a few action-RPGs on the platform, but no comfortable, old-school RPGs to speak of. While there is still nothing huge, we can take comfort in knowing that the strategy-RPG fans at Nippon Ichi are putting out a strat-RPG for the PSP.
Basically, you choose one of 10 kingdoms and manage your empire. Build up your cities and then send an army out to conquer other territories. Each kingdom has specific attributes; some are economy experts, while others have mighty armies. After building up castles and outposts, you then work on recruiting command-
is ers to lead massive (30 units versus another 30) turn-based battles peli agi to ba your partner against everyone else.
Accept offer?
"Pd 4 Manage time and land
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UNTOLD LEGENDS 2: THE WARRIOR'S CODE
Sony Online Dev. Sony Online March
Untold Legends was one of the best-selling titles at the
PSP's launch, but it took some critical hits for long load times and bland graphics. We can report, however, that load times (which TI went on so long the screen sometimes went dark) are shorter this Attack of Opportunity! " ËJ, Attack of Opportunity! ` time around, and characters and environments are showing a much higher level of detail.
One of the best additions to the game is a new special ability fea- ture. Killing enemies will slowly fill your special ability gauge, and once it's full, you can shape-shift into a different—and more power- ful—form, allowing über-kickassness to take place. And we like being über-kickass. All that's left is for the team to create a story that steps
beyond generic RPG territory. Corporal отн 4 Фе С меси? ин
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LEAPING LAW ENFORCEMENT
b. Sony CEA Dev. Bigbig Studios March
are all pansies—they can only steal a car when it's stopped! Pursuit Force’s hero kicks things up a notch by leaping majestically between moving vehicles hurtling down the streets, highways, rivers, and storm drains of Capital City at up to 150 mph.
Pursuit Force puts you in the role of a member of its titular police squad, which is charged with taking down the five gangs that have made Capital City a decidedly unsavory place to live. You'll generally start out in a police vehicle, but in order to take out these tough gangsters you'll need to pull your vehicle alongside them and leap into their cars.
The game mixes things up to an almost ridiculous degree, interspersing driving (of cars, trucks, and even boats) with shooting (from cars, helicopters—even on foot) at a lightning- fast pace that approaches even Burnout in terms of sheer speed. In our recent hands-on session, switching between driving, shooting, and leaping proved surprisingly intuitive. The on-foot segments (which we did not see) could prove to be a weak link, but if the rest of the game is any indication, we're not too worried.
ION CHEF WITH CATS
b. Capcom Dev. Capcom Release Spring
may not have been an enormous hit on the PS2—due to the PS2's less-than-spectacular online push— we're still hoping it finds success on the PSP. Alas, it's only going to use ad hoc multiplayer, which means that other play- ers have to be in the vicinity. Fans of the PS2 version will also be happy with the revamped hub, where weapons, armor, and all sorts of other items can be stored. Plus, you'll notice that the amount of armor and weapons has been increased.
But perhaps the most notable new feature is the Felyne Kitchen. Yes, much as it sounds, it's a kitchen filled with cats, but not just any ordinary cats—they're those mischievous Monster Hunter cats. Basically, they can prepare a variety of foods for you to try—each item produced in the kitchen will have a different effect on your character during a quest. In addition, the cats' cooking skills will improve as you use them more, and each cat adds a "special ingredient" to the mix. No, we don't want to know what that special ingredient is.
3
Brute Force, ^N
FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 3
EA Games Dev. EAC March concern about the PSP's lack of a second analog stick
rears its head with the impending release of the next Fight Night title, but similar to what we've seen with Me & My Katamari (see page 59), the Fight Night developers have figured out a pretty work- able solution for moving a two-analog-stick-centric control scheme over to the PSP.
For the punches, which in previous games have been mapped to the right analog stick, the team has adopted a Tekken-esque approach, where each face button is mapped to a specific arm move: Triangle for a left straight punch and Square for a right straight punch, and X and Circle for left and right hooks, respec- tively. While it's not perfect, it’s a suitable adaptation that shows the developers at least put some thought into going to the PSP.
One analog nub Plus triggers and face buttons Works fine for boxing.
B
STREET FIGHTER ALPHA 3 MAX
Capcom Dev. Capcom February
t have the chance to check out the excellent Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper for the GBA (arguably the best portable fighter and an amazing technical achievement), then you absolutely have to check out Alpha 3 Max for the PSP. Capcom has added plenty of new features, the most notable of which is a tag team mode called Variable Battle mode. Much as in the Vs. series of Cap- com fighting games, this mode lets you tag in and out of a battle with two characters. Ҥ your health is getting low, tag out and the new character will take your place.
The three newest Street Fighter characters—Yun, Maki, and Eagle—will also be included in Alpha 3 Max. But more importantly, there's ad hoc multiplayer, where players can fight each other in a round-robin tournament.
Dude, Street Fighter 3 But now with more cool punches And tag team battles.
FEBRUARY
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ЗУРНОМ FILTER: DARK MIRROR
Sony CEA Sony CEA March
up much enthusiasm about a Syphon Filter game since the PS2's underwhelming Omega Strain. But the prospect of getting in some day-after-tomorrow espionage action on the go, we must admit, does have us intrigued.
Sony is promising smarter enemies, more techno gear with which to take them out, and a more realistic look...but what really has us interested is the eight-person multiplayer (ad hoc and infrastructure). The game sports four game types and appears to be taking a cue from Splinter Cell with the addition of gadgets designed especially to mess with human competitors, such as claymores and sound decoys. Best of all, the highest-ranked player online gets to play as Gabe Logan, with a special assortment of weapons and gadgets.
We're just hoping the single-player game stacks up.
Bright ball of red flame, Screams and smells of barbecue: Taser held too long.
> GELEK.
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| Pub. Sony CEA Dev. Polyphony Digital Release Spring
ртр ae hi Tul REN NES. =
zunori Yamauchi is busy running Polyphony Digital and thinking a lot about Vision GT, his trusty right-hand man Takamasa Shichisawa is pouring his passion for motorcycles into Tourist Trophy. Of course, we can talk about the 80-plus bikes made by 12 manufac- turers or how many of the courses are from GT4 (as is the core game engine) but modified to be motorcycle appropriate. Ви instead, we'll just show you how Polyphony Digital still does a damn good job of making a nigh photo-realistic racing sim on the PS2.
ва | DAM Feeeunev 2006
я NU RUSO PIRE ИЖЕ Е ТЕСТЕР ШЕН: 15 |
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Coming Soon...
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PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE ТІЛІП THRONES
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No more blargs, octagons, or whatever you've called them—now we're sticking with straight-up numbers. And any game that receives five of ‘em is something truly special that deserves a spot in your collection. On the other hand, a 2.5 is merely mediocre. And a 0.5? Well...at least they're fun to rip apart.
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50 Cent: Bulletproof
Aeon Flux
Ape Escape 3
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One Combat Elite:
WWII Paratroopers
Flow: Urban Dance Uprising Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows Mega Man X Collection MVP 06 NCAA Baseball Nicktoons Unite!
Pac-Man World 3
Shadow the Hedgehog Shining Force Neo
Shrek SuperSlam
Total Overdose
True Crime: New York City Wild Arms 4
Zatch Bell! Mamodo Battles
ова ова ояг ояг 085 ова
Аре Escape Academy
The Hustle: Detroit Streets Pac-Man World 3
The Sims 2
SSX on Tour
Tokobot
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Pus. Ubisoft реч. Ubisoft exea М мер $49.99
ремгсе OF PERSIA: THE TAO THRONES |
A DIEEAM COME ТШЕ 4
Sequelitis isn't as much of a problem in the videogame industry as it is in Hollywood. Sure, there are occasional missteps, but advances in technology and programming techniques tend to make newer games better than their predecessors. Perhaps that's why when a game comes out that’s noticeably worse than its forebears, it's such a disappoint- ment. Jak Il is one example. Suikoden Ill is another. And Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is a big one.
It was especially disappointing for me because | just absolutely adored The Sands of Time. It's one of my favorite games ever, in fact, and that made it a doubly difficult act to follow. So when Warrior Within showed up on the scene with its adolescent death-metal atti- tude, paper-thin character development, and monotonous gameplay, it turned me right off. | would still talk up The Sands of Time, but when it came to Warrior Within, Га just tell people, "Don't bother.”
| won't be saying that again. Because as disappointing as the game might be, you absolutely need to play it to get the most out of The Two Thrones. As hard as it may be for fans of the original to believe, the mind-numbing, time-switching slogging and repetitive battles of War- rior Within are absolutely, 100 percent redeemed by The Two Thrones.
| cannot recall ever seeing such a stunning example of a developer so competently and thoroughly addressing criticisms about a game. The key here, | think, is balance: There's a perfect mix of combat and platforming, of light and dark, of humor and gravity. Moments of measured story development are balanced by moments of ass-kicking
frenzy. New scenes and characters are balanced by familiar faces and settings. And the Prince's “edgy” (read: annoying) machismo that per- meated Warrior Within is balanced by a wry self-doubt similar to what
“THE баек PRINCE SEGMENTS SET UP A I2EOGLEY SPECTACULAIZ PAYOFF:
we saw in The Sands of Time—and a new, welcome maturity (in the true sense of the word).
And then there’s the balance inherent in the Prince’s new dual nature. The Two Thrones takes the idea of the alternate-character “Mask of the Wraith” subplot of Warrior Within and weaves it into the entire game. Every so often, the Dark Prince takes over the Prince's body, equipping him with new acrobatics and devastating new attacks—and even when he’s not in control he frequently comments on the Prince’s environment in an interesting sort of internal dialogue. Switching up your weapons and abilities is an innovative way to break up gameplay, and it lends itself to some fascinating story elements— which, of course, | can't possibly spoil for you. Suffice it to say that the Dark Prince segments work well (even if they do occasionally feel a bit too scripted) and set up a really spectacular payoff at the end.
As an aside, let me say that The Two Thrones’ ending is one of the most provocative and satisfying in all of gaming—as long as you've
played the previous two games. (If you haven't completed The Sands of Time, for example, the very last scene will be utterly lost on you. But if you have, you'll want to stand up and cheer. At least, | did.) The final boss is challenging but perfectly balanced, and the denouement is just beautifully executed.
But for my money, the most welcome shift in balance comes in the area of combat versus platforming. The Sands of Time is arguably a bit too light on combat, while Warrior Within is definitely too heavy on the battles—to the point of utter monotony. The Two Thrones gets the balance just right, mixing up long, satisfying run-jump-swing-climb segments with brief, but powerful, battles. Even more impressive is the addition of the “speed stealth” mechanic; while at first it sounded like little more than a marketing catchphrase, this system (now dubbed “speed kills”) actually works really well and helps customize the game to your preference.
ІЛІ explain: By moving carefully and remaining undetected, you'll get the opportunity to take out enemies via a timing-based minigame in which you have to tap the Attack button at key moments. Get it right and you're treated to an impressive, cinematic kill (sometimes clear- ing out multiple enemies). Miss the timing and the enemy will block your attack, requiring you to revert to more-straightforward combat.
If you get really good at seeking out and exploiting opportunities for the stealth kills, you'll have minimal hand-to-hand combat to contend with—but if you'd prefer to master the sword-fighting combos instead,
FEBRUARY
you can ignore the stealth kills entirely. The only problem with this sys- tem is that occasionally an unfortunate camera angle can cause you to miss the visual cue (a glow on the Prince’s dagger) that tells you when to hit the Attack button. Aside from that, it’s a solid, elegant system that's incorporated well throughout the game (especially when thrown in for variety in the boss battles).
Honestly, other than the fact that you really do have to play the disappointing Warrior Within to get the whole story, there's almost nothing to complain about here. The Two Thrones is an eminently sat- isfying game in its own right, and a more than worthy sequel—already it's going head-to-head with God of War in game-of-the-year debates around the office. Regardless, to my mind it's the best Prince of Persia yet. If you play just this one, you'll think it's excellent. But if you've played the last two, you'll think Из а masterpiece.
Tops even The Sands of Time for pure satisfaction. You'll need to play the last two games to get the most out of it, though.
SCORE = =
EVERYTHING | know some folks complain that The Sands of Time is too short—and as far as
I'm concerned, Warrior Within is probably too long (by the way, isn't it funny how seeing the “dark” thing done right makes that game look
even worse?). The Two Thrones gets the bal- ance just right, clocking in ata solid 15 hours.
TIME AFTER TIME If The Two Thrones has any area for improvement, it’s in the use of the Prin time powers. Though the rewind and time- slowing abilities are useful and important, the advanced tactics are still fairly unhelp- ful and unnecessary, and no new abilities are introduced.
Activision Dev. Tre:
CALL (OF | DUTY >. BIG IZED ONE ,
the “WWII FPS OMG!” drill. A cinematic roller coaster full of shouting and guns and explosions! A whirlwind tour through the biggest war in history! A touch- ing tale of brotherhood in the trenches! All wrapped up in a pretty videogame package.
And there really is a sense of scale and drama in Big Red One—you definitely get the idea that World War Il was not exactly а pleas- ant thing to be caught in the middle of. Planes crash, buildings crumble, friends die. The earth shakes and the skies crack asunder. It's all very big and scary and intense.
But then you get far enough in the game that you're forced to replay small sections of levels repeatedly, and the fear and intensity are replaced by an awkward awareness of how this big, cinematic experience comes with some incredibly stringent scripting.
And trudging through levels that are so exhaustively, painfully scripted just begins to feel like a tour of duty in itself after a while. Seeing an open half-track driving by, full of German soldiers packed in like fascist sar- dines, seems like a delicious opportunity... until you discover that you can't really shoot any of those bastards until the track arrives at its preset destination and the soldiers all dis- embark and get set up to come at you. That's the kind of thing that can really pull you out of the experience.
That's unfortunate, because Big Red One provides one of the most intense and varied experiences in the genre. You're not just driv- ing tanks and manning turrets here; you've got tanks and turrets and antiaircraft guns and demolitions and even a really neat stint in the belly of a bomber, manning both the bomb sights and several different guns.
Trouble is, the game is obviously pushing the PS2 pretty hard—so graphical glitching and slowdown abound, and animation of just about everything is almost always painfully jerky. So while there's always an awful lot going on onscreen...none of it looks particu- larly good.
All in all, this is about what we've come to expect from a competent World War ІІ FPS: frequent moments of drama and tension and cinema interspersed with some fairly run-of- the-mill shooting.
Unusual variety for a WWII FPS, very cinematic Too-tight scripting makes the game feel unpleasantly restrictive
SCORE = | C =
сатсас ACCLAIM
COMBAT ELITE:
WWII PARATROOPERS
GAME OF INFAMY
' SouthPeak Interactive BattleBorne
T $39.99
of те perils of game reviewing: to make these reviews timely, we often get games before they come out. We review them in good faith, and you read us in good faith. Snappy-doody so far—except when, in the time period between us send- ing the review to the printer and the printer sending out our magazine, the publisher, oh, | dunno, declares bankruptcy and the game doesn't come out.
So, yeah, despite me reviewing Combat Elite back in Issue #83, the game didn't come out until this year with the help of publisher SouthPeak Interactive. We were this close to running the same review, as we assumed that the intervening year was spent more on contracts and publishing and whatnot, and less on changing the game.
Except...what was a good-hearted but ultimately mediocre attempt at putting the gameplay of a Diablo or Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance in the setting of the Second World War (where neat things like improving soldiers’ skills clashed with the problems of emphasizing ranged combat in a genre preoccupied with melee combat) actually became worse.
How? Because now it has the most idiotic aiming scheme in any WWII game.
Perhaps in an effort to correct the often- cited problem of “you shot guys offscreen with the lock-on,” the developers have opted to make it so you always aim toward the top of the screen. Meaning, if a Nazi is on your left side and you face left and lock on, you'll aim your gun toward the top of the screen and completely ignore the guy next to you. And the guy behind you. No, rather than snap onto those guys, you have to move the camera so that they're between you and the top of the screen and THEN lock on. So com- bat becomes an exercise in camera position- ing rather than, uh, normal skill.
Who knows, maybe Combat Elite stopped being “Diablo with Nazis” and decided to be a game where you literally make the world revolve around you to shoot guys. In that case, bravo! But unless you're looking for some sort of bizarre narcissism RPG, just skip this.
No matter how decent the rest of the game is, the aiming scheme kills it.
SCORE 1 | = =
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The Konami Music Series. The ultimate in interactive singing and dancing. Hot new hits like Crazy in Love. And stone cold classics like Play that Funky Music. Choose your direction.
TXT 2 WIN. Text in “music” to ddrkr (33757) to win games and gear.
Mild Lyrics Suggestive Themes
ESRB CONTENT RATING www.estb.org
PlayStation.
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In an age when celebrities brand themselves like shoe companies and stamp their names on products spanning the vast megamall of modern media, videogames have become a choice promotional vehicle. Early attempts at game crossovers were rough (think Britney's Dance Beat, or worse, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch: Make My Video). But 50 Cent's assault on gamers, Bulletproof, shows a grow- ing sophistication in the celebrity-game genre, at least on the surface.
Bulletproof is a third-person shooter in the style of Dead to Rights or Max Payne, though what you'll notice first are the game's impres- sive cut-scenes. 50 and longtime collaborators Eminem and Dr. Dre turn in stellar voice-act- ing performances, and the visual direction of the scenes is inspired, veering into strange hallucinations and making use of trippy music- video effects.
But all hell breaks loose when you take con- trol. The gun battles that account for 99 percent of the game are extremely flawed. Bulletproof's aiming controls—no matter which configura- tion or sensitivity settings you choose—are as sloppy as they come. It is virtually impossible to hit a moving target with any regularity, a problem compounded by the behavior of your targets. Enemies have a tendency to run, con- stantly and erratically, like tweakers on a four- day crystal meth binge. And they seem to have
T Ete pF
psychic powers, able to detect your presence from across the room, fleeing as your target crosshairs find their faces and landing every impossibly distant potshot from across the room. It's horribly frustrating. Add to that lev- els riddled with dead-end hallways, confusing repeated scenery, and puzzles that are always either stupidly obvious or completely unintui- tive. | mean, whose idea was it to have 50 run around activating fright elevators in the proj- ects? Even more out of place are the game's "counter kills," an assortment of grizzly death scenes 50 can inflict on foes when you tire of fighting the shooting controls. | can dig ultra- violence in the right context (say, Manhunt), but Bulletproof is just courting controversy with porn-cam head shots and jugular slashes. Mr. Cent, please don't kill me, but your game is the opposite of fun.
Bulletproof gets the nonessentials right—the cut-scenes, unlockable promo vid- eos, and music—but everything else is crap.
SCORE 1 | 5 =
GIMME THE LOOT
Bulletproof is the only
Dance Dance Revolution freaks still going at it? Are you still getting complaints from your downstairs neighbors for perfecting your double-mat technique at three in the morning? Are you still on the all nachos and DDR diet? Are you still driving around town visiting every broken-down arcade, hoping to show off your routines to a new crowd?
Maybe it's time for something a little different, as in only slightly different. Flow: Urban Dance Uprising is the latest DDR. clone vying for the attention of dancers. The mechanics of the game are what we're all used to. As directional arrows in the game pass by, you tap the corresponding arrow button on the dance mat. The various arrow patterns onscreen lead you to create dance moves offscreen or—depending on your level of coordination—look like a complete and total jackass.
The main difference—and it's actually quite minor—between Flow and the com- petition is the game's emphasis on break- dance moves and hip-hop tracks. How does the game make you break-dance? Well, it doesn't. If you're one of those crazy people who memorizes every move in a song and then adds your own "real" dance moves to the mix, then | guess you could try to throw a headspin or backflip in while you play. Otherwise, Flow features the usual hokey- pokey with animated break-dancers doing their thing in the background.
The only thing that really sets Flow apart is its music. While DDR occasionally throws a hip-hop-flavored track in with the J-pop, Flow is 100 percent Brooklyn block party, circa 1981. You've got your Sugarhill Gang, your Kurtis Blow, your Eric B. & Rakim (OK, зо it's not all 1981), and a host of retro- minded modern artists. The game is the same old steps, but the music, for once, made me want to dance.
Flow is close enough to DDR to warrant a patent infringement lawsuit, but its playlist of all hip-hop tunes makes it a decent alternative to DDR's modern disco tracks.
SCORE = =
722 | DAIT Fee 2006
1 PUB. Activision оғ Luxoflux eee М м
р $49.99
FEBRUAR |
TI2LIE LAME:
МЕЛ “Чек CITY
THE ТЕШЕ саме IS A LACK ПЕ POLISH
1 original True Crime was a respectable stab at the free-roaming action genre pretty much created by Grand Theft Auto, despite its bizarre, Big Trouble in Little China story twist (though who doesn't love flaming demon skulls mixed in with their police drama?) and occasional glitch. And now we have True Crime: New York City, which takes the same formula, adds a bunch of new features, and goes all urban culture on your ass. Again, the game is a respectable stab at the genre GTA built, but one so rife with bugs that it's really hard to appreciate what it offers.
There's a lot to like here, really. You've got the entire island of Manhattan in which to do what you please. Go joyriding, be all goody-goody and lower the crime rate, shake down civilians and plant evidence, enter any number of buildings for vicious fisticuffs or shoot-outs—the list goes on. And it's all pulled together by a decent story and mostly solid controls.
Unfortunately, the list of bugs is just as extensive. True Crime suffers from a jittery framerate, horrible vehicle physics that
results in bizarre things like motorcycles ramming semis off the road, a target- ing system that makes the one in GTA feel intuitive, bad collision detection, and—worst of all—complete lockups. On a couple of occasions, the game froze, forcing me to reset the system.
True Crime has that horrible rushed- to-market feel you tend to get with a lot of holiday releases. The underlying game is solid and would have been great had Activision taken the time to iron out the myriad bugs and glitches. Unfortunately, a lack of quality control busts this game down from a must-buy to a rental in the first degree. | С 5
= Endless technical glitches and bugs kill the otherwise solid play
coi
SCORE
The True Crime and Grand Theft Auto games take a lot of shots at one another. Listen closely to main character Marcus when someone asks e a cab
"THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH"
"ONE OF THE BEST LIVE SHOWS IN ROCK."
"А THRILL TO WATCH"
PARENTAL
ADVISORY EXPLICIT CONTENT
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Tower com
м | REUIEWS_PSZ
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FIT THE BILL NICELY.
| Pus. Majesco Dew, Terminal Reality eses Т mser $49.99
AEON FLLIes
A BALL FULL OF CHARL
A hyperstylish animated series that's filled with slick action, sexual outuendo, and the death of the main character in every episode sounds like a pretty unique foundation for a game. It's too bad, then, that the Aeon Flux game finds itself caught between two sources of inspiration: the original animated series and the current Charlize Theron movie. And it's not just the setting that's caught between two identities—the game design itself wavers between two game types.
At first glance, AF resembles a more styl- ish BloodRayne (which is probably due to the fact that it uses the same engine). It has lots of third-person melee combat, and said combat is chock-full of basic combos and acrobatic attacks that fill up your “style gauge,” which in turn helps you pull off powerful combos, making combat look more like a night at the ballet rather than a traditional videogame brawl. Besides the combat, there's some suit- ably acrobatic platforming that isn’t difficult to actually pull off but sure looks cool.
When Aeon isn't twirling around above some dude's head while snapping his neck, or rappelling down future-blimps, or jumping from yellow glowy pole to yellow glowy pole, she curls herself into a giant metal ball and rolls around the level. Yes, you read that right: At times, AF stops being futuristic BloodRayne starring Charlize Theron and becomes Metroid Prime starring Charlize Theron. These sequences just feel out of place and totally break up the solid pacing of the action/plat-
forming/basic puzzles. In addition to becoming a giant metal ball, Aeon also remotely controls a tiny ball that she can sneak into certain areas for puzzle-solving purposes.
Along with the game's schizophrenic feel (thanks to the whole "ball and not-ball” gameplay), the use of the AF license is a mishmash, as said above. Each mission stands completely alone, and you'll occa- sionally find Aeon in totally contradictory positions as she progresses from one to the next (such as killing Trevor Goodchild in one mission, and being his wife in another), and The in that respect, AF resembles the animated series. Except it has the look of the movie. So fans of the movie will be confused by the lack of a central story, while fans of the series will be irked by the lack of Móbius-influenced art. In the end, though, Aeon Flux is a surpris- ingly solid movie-licensed title—despite its
THERON LICENSES WE'D LIKE The Italian Job Rerelease it driving g:
Mighty Joe Young Think King Kong, but replace Naomi Watts
Charlize!
2 Days in the Valley
somewhat odd use of a balled-up Charlize The gi etween Theron. Charlize and Teri Hatcher done D ve style!
Solid action, decent graphics and Arrested Development platforming г. Е find ne 5!
Inconsistent feel їп regard to the license, the whole curling-up-into-a-ball
thing = =
SCORE
TOTAL OVERDOSE
MEX PAYNE
' Eidos Deadline Games M $39.99
Just as the cuisine of that fine south-of-the- border country Mexico combined itself with the cuisine of the southwestern U.S. to form the culinary classification Tex-Mex, so have the developers at Deadline conspired to jam Mexico, hip-hop excess, GTA freedom, Prince of Persia time mechanics, and Max Payne gameplay into the stew that is Total Overdose. The result is pretty much the digi- tal equivalent of Taco Bell—wholly artificial, yet somewhat comforting in its mediocrity.
The overly convoluted story begins with a DEA agent's death, followed by his son's subsequent investigation and the under- cover work of the son's twin brother. By the time you get past the more-complicated- than-it-should-be introduction, you're put into a third-person gunplay game with a little bit of vehicular free roaming, a dash of side missions to break up the central story, and an attempt at a whole lot of sizzle. Ramiro Cruz is gifted with a move that slows down time when he is in midleap with guns blazing, a propensity for doing weird cart- wheel flips off of walls and head shots in midflip, the ability to collect rewind power- ups, and the tendency to yell out groan- inducing names for combo moves (like “Burrito Blast!” or "Gringo Frenzy!"). While the moves and power-ups are somewhat original, the core gameplay remains merely serviceable. As mentioned earlier, when you're not performing core story missions, you can get extra power-ups and abilities (such as dual wielding) by doing side mis- sions like blowing up burrito carts, shooting people dressed like death in some bizarre Day of the Dead celebration, or racing cars around town.
Despite the solid action, several flaws prevent the game from being anything more than goofy fun. The NPCs have a tendency to leap into the air for no apparent reason, the car physics feel off, and the cool moves are too much work for little gain (why do a crazy backflip head shot when a simple shot- gun blast to the gut does the same work?). Just like a fine chalupa meal at Taco Bell, you're getting exactly what you paid for, no more, no less.
As much cheese and fulfillment
as a gordita combo meal.
SCORE
2006
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with pre-order and purchase ~-
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PRE-ORDER NOW!
We take games seriously™
y | REUIEWS_PSZ
OLLING PARTS
(Pup. Xseed реч. Media Vision esee T msep $39.99
WILD AMS 4
TIME есе
always been the appendix in the body of the modern RPG genre. The dull, clichéd series served a Purpose at one time, in the brief window of the PlayStation’s life span when nothing else existed to serve RPG fans. Games like Suikoden and Final Fantasy VII made it irrelevant, yet it's quietly, uselessly survived ever since. Now, with Wild Arms 4, the appen- dix ruptures.
Just about every tired Japanese RPG standby you can imagine shows up here, trotted out one more time by developers who can't think of anything better. The shadowy council, the hero's destroyed village, the evil empire—these and other familiar bits and pieces are ripped off from better-loved anime and games. Into this bland stew, developer Media Vision has tossed an original ingredi- ent: an insipid, nonsensical theme, restated by 80 percent of the game's dialogue, that insists that childhood is the only time of purity and adults are malevolent, alien creatures inca- pable of doing good even if they try. (Not that many of them do.)
Just as bad is the tortured battle system, which indicates that Media Vision recognized the need to innovate but didn't have a clue how to begin. The hex grid scheme mainly makes every battle slow, with many turns
AHelter Skelter
wasted getting your party into range of the enemy—it certainly doesn't make the action any more difficult or interesting, since there are at least two game-breaking strategies available to the player early on.
Only boss battles, which usually throw in a new wrinkle to overcome, pose any challenge. The elite Brionac forces are generally the high- light of Wild Arms 4 since they supply the only interesting or clever parts of the story. Even so, these parts are few and far between, mak- ing up only about an hour's worth of decent content in a 30-hour game.
Having long since outlived its usefulness, the Wild Arms series has gone, with this entry, from merely banal to actively irritating. With such a wealth of RPGs getting translated now- adays and more companies than ever eager to get into the act, it's about time this appendix was removed.
Xenosaga, FX, LOTR: The Third Age, and any other RPG on PS2.
SCORE 1 ‚ = =
Though WA4 d y put Xseed' foot forward, it mar the debut of a ne! publisher, made up of
former Square Ei
e on it.
MVP 06 NCAA BASEBALL
CAN MVP LITTLE LEAGUE BE FAR BEHIND?
П ЕА Sports ЕА Canada Е $29.99
So it's соте to this: MVP 06, losing the MLB license, finds itself on the road to...Omaha. Wha—? OK, in all fairness, Omaha is home to the NCAA College World Series—certainly the ultimate goal for many an aspiring pro- fessional ballplayer—but after MVP 2005, which was last season's best baseball sim and features all the players in the МІВРА, it's a noticeable drop-off (though college die- hards are likely thrilled with the prospect of playing with metal bats and 128 teams).
In order to keep hardball fans appeased, EA Canada has added new features to an already great baseball engine. The biggest is the intuitive analog swing system, which has you pulling back on the right analog stick and then flicking it forward to swing, producing satisfying results. The fielding tweaks don't fare as well. Using the right analog stick to throw to corresponding bases isn't nearly as smooth as simply pressing a designated button. Expect double plays to be down, while fielding miscues and frustra- tions will be up. (It should be noted that you can revert to previous years' systems should you so desire.) Fortunately, the series' hall- mark pitching meter returns, keeping the chucking game as fun as always.
The dynasty mode proves interesting—in addition to achieving team goals, you'll need to recruit athletes to replace outgoing seniors. Another time sink: the addictive hit- ting and pitching minigames, although it's disappointing that they're virtually identical to last year's (how about a fielding one?), and the incentive for playing them is sapped by a lack of unlockables (the equipment you open up in the dynasty mode is nothing to get excited about).
In all, MVP 06 NCAA delivers a great baseball sim, though it might take a bit more work for you to enjoy it—in terms of getting used to no-name players and potentially: adjusting gameplay options to your liking. But hey, no one said life in Omaha would be easy. | С
A successful new swing system, entertaining dynasty mode and minigames The lack of the MLB license, fielding
problems دإ
SCORE
`
то HACK ое TO SLASH? THIS IS THE QUESTION OUP BRAVE лагепе PONDERS WHILE CLEARING THE FIELD.
(Pug. Midway реч. Midway esee T мѕер $49.99
GAUNTLET:
THIS ІЛАг22102 NEEDS FOOD
И doesn't always pay to be a genre-defining game. You don't, for example, see people passing up Burnout sessions to play Night Driver or Pole Position. Street Fighter sits on the back burner these days while the latest and greatest, Soul Calibur Ill, handles practi- cally all PlayStation 2-mediated conflicts. Like- wise, Gauntlet, the original evil-horde-clearing hack-n-slasher, has been surpassed by young upstarts like Dynasty Warriors and Spartan: Total Warrior. What's a classic franchise to do? Commit to the huge effort of an all-out reinvention and beat the upstarts at their own game? Um...no.
Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows goes the easier route of visually updating the series’ time- tested formula, and maybe that's for the best. There's just something cool about the way soldiers, ogres, and fantasy freaks of all kinds stream out of the game's patented "gen- erators," those strange creature-spawning structures that, with much satisfaction, can be taken out with a few swipes of an ax. Unlike its modern competitors, Gauntlet steadfastly resists realism. Enemies simply writhe in pain when they're struck, which might seem a little cheap but keeps the action fast and thought- less, just how | like my Gauntlet.
Seven Sorrows' real hook should have been the RPG-style leveling-up options. As you make your way through the game's vari-
SEMEN SOleeOWS
ous locales, you raid treasure chests for loot and earn points to put toward advancing your ass-kicking abilities. But while you can buy new attacks and beefier stats, Sorrows’ short length prevents the upgrades from mattering very much. You would expect a game this simple to go on for a good 10 to 15 hours to back up its Tolkien-ripped scenarios with an actual epic. But even dawdling players will fin- ish Sorrows in less than six hours.
You'd also expect that a six-hour-long game named after its bosses (the “Seven Sorrows”) would bring its “A” game to boss battles, but they all feel like the same generic hackfest. The best way to play this new Gauntlet is at a game night with a few friends and some drinks. It's a bite-size nugget of nostalgia and mindless fun.
Prettied-up classic Gauntlet, great for а multiplayer romp Much shorter than you might expect,
lacking climactic boss battles
SCORE
FEBRUARY
DOOMED
Seven Sorrows marks the return of game
jend John Romero (Doom, Quake) to the world of bi screen
a stint of turning out
cell phone titles. Gam.
ers everywhere are relieved.
SHINING FORCE NEO А NEO DIRECTION FOR THE SHINING FORCE SERIES
' Sega Neverland T $49.99
available now are more fun to watch than they are to play, but Shining Force Neo manages to pull off the opposite effect. If you were just looking at it, you'd probably see the "My First Conven- tion" anime character designs, hear the overly chipper voice acting, laugh out loud at the silly plot, and assume you weren't missing anything.
Inside, though, is a pretty accomplished dungeon crawler with a special emphasis on the quality of the loot you get—and since amassing better loot is the primary objective in a game like this, that's no small concern.
new equipment is visible when you put it on, which helps to sell your character as a badass when he's got some of the better weapons in the game.
The key to a game like this is to make combat feel really good, which is some- thing Shining Force Neo does a lot better than those middling Champions of Norrath games. When you swing your sword, it feels like it has impact, even if you're only hitting a barrel.
The interface is a little weird, giving you the ability to quickly switch between items but not weapons, which would have been helpful since sometimes you need specific types of weapons to proceed. The system never quite becomes second nature, but once you get used to it, you won't mind so much. At the very least, you can switch to a different control scheme if the default one bothers you.
Shining Force Neo may not be a strategy- RPG like the other games bearing the Shin- ing Force name, but if you don't hold that against it, you'll be rewarded with a well- executed action-RPG.
Solid action-RPG with addictive gameplay Lame story, ugly character art
=
STL 77
SCORE
SHADOW THE НЕОСЕНОС
THE HEDGEHOG JUMPS THE SHARK геив. Sega DEY. Sonic Team eses Е10+ wiser $49.99
Ever since Sonic Adventure hit the Dream- cast in 1999, the Sonic series has been in a tailspin, finally crashing with 2003's medio- cre Sonic Heroes...or so we all thought.
Enter Shadow the Hedgehog, the new- est, edgiest entry in the Sonic universe, featuring a gun-wielding rodent amnesiac. Here, the title character races through a handful of pretty standard Sonic-esque levels, hopping on things, dashing through other things, and generally doing every- thing as quickly as possible.
Except now, he’s packin’. And while it’s debatable whether the idea behind Shadow carrying a gun is a good one, there's no denying that the execution of said idea is completely broken, taking an already sloppy game to the point of no return.
See, the idea in most levels is that you have a choice to be good or evil, based on which group you attack—humans or aliens. The problem is that your guns lack а lock-on feature, and the game doesn't dif- ferentiate between friend and foe, making the entire experience one of the most frus- trating around.
Not that choosing sides matters much, since the enemies on the ground all attack you no matter which side you happen to be fighting for. It's hilarious to hear the croaky voice of the alien eye telling you not to harm their forces as four of them attempt to fry you for no other reason than you happen to be in range.
And that's Shadow in a nutshell. A couple of good ideas, a couple of bad ideas, but all executed so poorly that the game almost feels unfinished. Combine that with a control and camera system that's been getting pro- gressively worse for the past six years or so, and it's official: The hedgehog has jumped the shark. | Greg Sewart
VERDICT The questionable inclusion of a hedgehog with a gun is so poorly executed that it's actually better to avoid picking up a
гар
МЕСА МАМ X COLLECTION ТОО МОСН МЕСА
ірив. Capcom оғ. Capcom eses Е msep $29.99
1 is a robot—er, man of many talents. So many talents, in fact, that he
has appeared in dozens of games and in an offshoot series known as Mega Man X, in which that rascal Dr. Wily has been replaced by the evil and much more sinister Sigma. Robots that were once allies of Mega Man are now his foes. Anyway, no one really plays the Mega Man X games for their sto- ries, despite what the incredibly long-winded and stupendously boring chatter scenes may Suggest, so we'll just get down to it—these are all Mega Man games. You still fight sev- eral robots. You still gain their powers and use them against other robots. You still beat the several robots and then go on to face the head honcho.
There's just not much to it. Of course, all of these games are fun action games if you're hankering for a little of the classic platforming and shooting action that only a Mega Man game can deliver, and the soundtrack—generated by that oh-so-amaz- ing Super Nintendo sound chip—for many of these games is still really top-notch (with the exception of that atrocious J-pop rock theme in Mega Man Х65 intro—though the cut-scenes are still kind of cool).
So, ultimately, you have to be a huge Mega Man nut if you want to get these games—especially since many of them are newer than the games released in the original Mega Man collection, meaning that all-important element of nostalgia just isn’t quite there. And unfortunately, Mega Man Battle & Chase, essentially a Mega Man car-combat game, just doesn't do enough to make the package that enticing, whether you're a hardcore fan or not. Let's just be thankful there hasn't been a Mega Man Leg- ends collection. | Giancarlo Varanini
In 1998, a guitarist
by the name of Dave “Timely” Winer had the good sense to commis- sion a custom-built Pac- Man guitar with a blink- ing headstock in the shape of a power pellet and a body carved into the traditional Pac-Man pie; the guitar, sadly, never got Dave laid.
Shadow the Hedgehog made his debut as Sonic's rival in 2001's Sonic Adventure 2. F Cool music, old-school Mega Man action Some games are still kind of new, which lessens the nostalgia factor; all Mega Man games are pretty darn similar
SCORE
۶
PAC-MAN W
FEVER NOW MORE OF A CHILL ірив. Namco реч. Blitz Games
зов Е msep $39.99
EDICT Pac-Man plays minor-league Mario for the two people left in the world who still can’t get enough key puzzles and
Easter egg hunts. SCORE
SCORE 78 | DAT Feseusey 2006
Sony CEA оч. Sony СЕ! в E10+
APE ESCAPE =
MONKEY GEAR SOLID
Ape Escape franchise hasn't been having the best run lately. Pumped & Primed fizzled, On the Loose was underwhelming, and Acad- emy sucks (see page 84). Thank goodness for Ape Escape 3, which ditches the whole minigame tangent and gets back to business: the monkey-capturing business.
This time around, the lunatic primates have taken over the airwaves and perverted a vari- ety of TV shows with their monkey madness. So rather than spending all your time kicking around a jungle, you'll jump into a variety of different scenarios: a hot spring, the Old West, a ninja-infested temple, and many more.
You'll quickly find yourself outfitted with.
a variety of different gadgets that will help you round up enough apes to clear the level. In addition to the trusty monkey net, there's radar, a slingshot, and even a radio-controlled car for long-distance beatdowns. Your ape- snagging preteen heroes will also learn how to transform into new outfits that grant power- ful new attacks and abilities. As the gunslinger you can fire a volley of bullets nonstop; as the ninja you can scale walls and tiptoe across ropes. Since the monkeys aren't afraid to attack you this time around, that extra fire- power becomes necessary.
The dual-analog interface is intuitive, the level designs are clever, and the gameplay works, mostly. The boss fights against giant monkeys aren't exactly head-scratchers (just beat on them until they fall apart), and control- ling the variety of vehicles (cars, rowboats, giant robots) can be a headache.
But Ape Escape 3's presentation is what really hurts the whole package. The graphics are mediocre, especially for a first-party game late in the PS2's life cycle. The voice acting is painfully stilted. And the translation is woe- ful—a game that relies so much on humorous monkey scenes deserves a more polished English rewrite.
Kids might get addicted to Ape Escape 3, but grown-ups will find it to be more of a brief, if pleasant, diversion. | Chri
DO Different outfits keep things varied; collecting monkeys is addictive INK DON’T Visuals and voices аге strictly amateur-hour; the translation sucks
SCORE 3 | =
ZZ m
4
FEBRUAR |
The Metal Gear Solid- themed minigame in Ape Escape 3 (which you have to beat the game to unlock) is the other half of the crossover that began in last year's MGSS, which features a rather challenging mode in which Solid Snake chases down the Ape Escape monkeys.
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FEBRUARY
SHREK SUPERSLAM NOT SO SUPER
Pus. DEU. 5f
ESRB MSEP
In case you couldn't figure it out from the title, this is a melee fighter in the same vein as Super Smash Bros. As one of 20 charac- ters from the Shrek universe, you beat up on any of the other 19 characters from the Shrek universe.
The fighting itself is simplistic, and but- ton-mashing will serve you just fine, but there are a few combos to ferret out and master. Sadly, the movies’ smart humor is missing, and most of the dialogue is imma- ture at best.
The story mode is pretty lackluster—it's simply a short string of unrelated fights with a little bit of trash-talking at the start. The better single-player mode is Mega Challenge, which has you working to beat. a series of specific challenges. You can also set up melee fights with up to four charac- ters (either fighting in pairs or every man/ cat/donkey for himself), and there's a train- ing room that teaches basic techniques.
The meat of a game like this, however, is multiplayer. While there are only two modes available (melee and king of the hill), it's just a lot more entertaining to play against someone real so you can trash-talk—after all, isn't that the whole point of a fight- ing game? Multiplayer holds ир decently enough, but unfortunately, the size (and often busy design) of the levels means it can get tough to keep an eye on your character throughout the fight.
Shrek SuperSlam probably won't hold the attention of one child very long, but if you've got multiple game-playing kids in the house, it might be worth your invest- ment, if only because that way the kids can contain their standard sibling fisticuffs to. virtual arenas rather than acting it out for real. | Dana ewa
Don't play this alone—or if you're
„older than 12. e. г
NICKTOONS: UNITE! THE POWER OF FOUR esos E SEP <
Young kids tend to really, really love the shows they like, which is why companies would be really stupid not to license out the properties of children's shows. Nickelodeon decided to do that concept one better by putting the main characters from four of its biggest cartoons (SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly OddParents, Jimmy Neutron, and Баппу Рһапіот) all in a single game.
SpongeBob, Jimmy, Timmy, and Danny have joined forces to stop the Evil Syndicate (which is composed of the main villains from each of the four shows). Multiplayer is available for up to four players, who can jump in and out at any point in the game, ог you can switch off among the characters as a solo player with the press of a button. It's a simple game—so simple that it's really not good for anyone over the age of 9 or 10—but it's not bad, and the way it's struc- tured makes it perfect for parents to jump in and out to help when kids get stuck. The overall graphics are good, and the game's Sections are split evenly among the worlds of the four TV shows.
Some sloppy things do pop up, however. The camera is mostly decent, but there are some awkward angles. Controls can be imprecise, and occasionally the dialogue is just written and not spoken, which could be problematic for nonreaders. And the enemies and overall section structure are pretty repetitious.
Repetitiousness, however, probably won't matter to the kid who is asking you to make the same goofy face or read the same story over and over...and over. While Nicktoons: Unite! doesn't hit the sweet spot of being equally fun for all ages to play (like We Love Katamari), it's very suitable for the Nickel- odeon set. | Dana Jongewaarc
Good for young kids, particularly „fans of the show.
SCORE
35
ZATCH BELL! MAMODO BATTLES
MORE CREEPY, BIG-HEADED KIDS FIGHTING EACH OTHER
PUB. с DEU.
Езген | MSRP
Yet another pretty—but shallow— anime-based fighting game from Bandai that „offers some good fun for about an hour.
SCORE
Ec
UITAL LINK Head to www.zatch- bell.com to play Boing! Boing! Folgore, a Dance Dance Revolu- tion clone featuring the bizarre Italian рег- former from the show, where you can watch him tweak his creepy little heart-shaped nipple covers.
PlayStation.e
SNEAKY MARKETERS Inserting a memory card with saved games from SpongeBob SquarePants, Tak: The Great Juju Challenge, or Barnyard (all pub- lished by THQ) unlocks various items (such as alternate outfits, con- cept art, and cheats) in Nicktoons: Unite.
SCORE 80 | DAIT Fegeuaev 2006
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SIMPLE, SWEET, AND ЪГОООООЙ
you can tell
someone to go pee and have it be entertain- ing. And that's potentially the biggest strength of The Sims 2 on PSP—the baby-sitting of human functions has been minimalized. No longer are you sending Bob Newbie to go shower/eat/work/etc. every two minutes.
Instead, you're fulfilling a constant stream of minigoals. These myriad checklists provide a speedy treadmill upon which to progress in the game. Whether it's fulfilling a want or checking off an objective, there are always many options for your Sim to be pursuing. One of my frustrations with The Sims on con- soles has always been a chicken-and-egg type of situation—my Sim is depressed because she hasn't fulfilled certain goals, but she's too depressed to fulfill these goals. Now all of that frustration is gone. There is always some unemotional want that | can complete to perk up my overall mood, whether it be picking up trash or selling something to a merchant.
What also helps speed things up are the minigames that are involved in both con- versations and skill-building activities. While incredibly simplistic, doing the Track & Field Circle mash helps pass physical fitness time зо much faster than just watching your Sim struggle with a barbell.
Sadly, however, the game clips along much more slowly than it should, thanks to some excruciating load times. In the beginning of the game it is merely annoying, but as you progress and your save file grows, a single basic conversational exchange (in which your Sim is given one choice for response) can take up to 30 seconds for your PSP to process. It's painful, painful, painful.
Also a potential frustration for avid Sims players is the serious downgrade of replay- ability. While previous games have sandbox modes, letting you conduct your own perverse experiments in human nature, the PSP version has its lone story mode to play through, with the same results each time.
In terms of gameplay, the game surpasses its console counterpart, but the technical snags drag it back down. | Dana Jongeward
—
THUIN THLIV
2 Content J Technical performance
за
SCORE
4
Pac-Man World 3
is the first Pac-Man game in which the little yellow guy actually gets a voice. It reminds us a lot of the Home- star Runner character Stinkoman, which fans of the site know is not a compliment. (Ahem:
com/sbemail57.html.)
FREE ии Опе of the hallmarks of the Sims series, the ability to let your Sim do his own thing, is not present іп the PSP version of the game. Hard determinists like Baron d'Holbach, who believed that people were incapable of free will and that what was destined to happen would hap- pen, would approve.
AV ORLD OF HURT
1 Матсо Blitz Games
. "s o pu کک „по Name because lan World 3. Alth ER |
пара
“its console counterpart an ee Кы р | f
latformer, all the little problems of its bic J rother get magnified on the Small screen. At first, everything | looks fi | Pac-Man. You can run and eat, jump оп forms, punch o it monsters, and | chow | ts, all п. glorious 3D. ú former enemies Pir ky and | lyde to help you through puzzles.
Гг you fall off cliffs а lot. The analog control is floaty, also making you fall off cliffs a lot. It's difficult to discern depth cues, which also...you get the idea. шоо а series of platforms that is easily па
on PS2 becomes en on PSP. `
know pee 2.
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etter |.
3D platformers need to be designed for portables from the ground up or not at all. Pac-Man World 3 was not designed for portables from the ground up.
SCORE
ecd.
г SNES
[excusive
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Z ly | REUELUS PSP
GEAT APES Head to www.ape-o- naut.org/famous/ for
a list of history's most famous monkeys. Gordo, the first monkey in space! Nim Chimpsky, the first ape to learn American Sign Lan- guage! Bubbles, Michael Jackson's “friend!” Undignified? Sure, but
it beats starring in Ape Escape Academy.
APE ESCAPE ACADEMY
MORE LIKE SPECIAL ED трие. SCEA SCEI
E10+ $39.99
WarioWare, but on the nkeys! Play a bunch of random. > mark off places on a tic-tac-toe |
hen “graduate” when you complete |
tows! How charming! What could go
interstitial screens featuring fessors and about 10 sec- efore and after every game
UN M When you finally start. па /
Ts eect
simplest к : defending ап air hockey
, boxing, playing soccer. The games are з more frustrating and stupid than fun,
еп worse is when Academy shows you [ vm Asian nation's flag—Cambodia's, — —then asks you to identify it. Do you
г my favorite: a seemingly f multiplication problems.
L 'aduated fifth grade, thanks. At E multiplication tables are somewhat elf- if-explana' tory. Most of the games aren't, instructions given during the excep- ly lengthy loading screens are no help. li this adds up to the fact that you won't iduating from Ape Escape Academy
me 001 , because you are almost
GL, GENE POOL
There haven't really been any truly exceptional pool games for home con- soles, but Pool Paradise оп PS2 is a very solid effort. It's loaded with lots of weird minigames and extras, but the underlying game is quite solid.
Oh, and if you're racking int to restart the level? ally reset the system. will instead fling your
have to her Ti not you
Ape Escape Academy is a lesson
ШЕ
іп bad gaming. SCORE
THE HUSTLE: DETROIT STREETS OU CAN, IN FACT, KNOCK IT
Activision osy. Blade Interactive ла $29.99
| one of the worst games
е | played i in a long time. “But wait!” you -
say. "How is it possible to screw up a pool game?" And once you strip away the clunky presentation, awkward controls, silly career mode, ugly graphics, and insanely long load times...wait, no, it's still crap.
About the only thing this game has going
for it is a wide variety of pool games, 10 in all, including perennial U.S. favorite snooker. (Well, that and the fact that the game keeps your battery-life icon up in the corner at all times.) Trouble is, actually playing these | games is just short of physically painful. Turn off the awful пй-госк soundtrack (though inexplicably the game continues to load the songs) and the player animations (though observer animations are still active) and
the game becomes generally playable...but that's not exactly high praise.
Also perplexing is the choice of voiceovers. Observers interject with some of the most random observations l've ever heard in a game. You'll hear explosions of “Стар!” and “This is bulls***!" and "Are
| you holding the right end of the stick?” at | times that appear to bear no relationship to the action on the table. My favorite, though,
is this oft-repeated gem: "Hey, new boy!
“You wearin’ mittens?" Er, what? But hey, at _ least you can turn that off too!
An intimidation system makes things seem interesting until you realize it has almost no bearing on anything else in the
‚ game; it simply speeds up the target for | your shot meter—but it's never enough of a | change to bother paying attention to.
Bottom line: If you ignore (or turn off) 'erything except the most fundamental game of pool, the game's not awful. That's ing | can say about it.
OORA
"а rather play the Java-based pool game on Yahoo.
SCORE
tive, alm id “Of your dirty work just has its own innate | charm. In reality, that's the only substantial Similarity between Tokobot and Pikmin,
РИ ЕУ ЕЕ
МЕ
токовот WHAT САМТ ТНЕҮ D
ге. Тесто с Тесто зЕ mser $29.99
4 Йо Tokobot isn't unlike atto o Nintendo’ s Pikmin—having diminu- mindless characters do most
because whereas Pikmin is more of a real- time strategy game, Tokobot is more of a straight-up action-platformer—though not quite as intense as most platformers.
The idea is that you use these small robots to help you throughout the levels. In the early portions of the game, the Tokobots’ abilities are fairly limited—you can only do а
few attacks and a couple of acrobatic moves
with them. These initial move sets take some getting used to simply because you have to not only switch the Tokobots into different formations in order to use them properly but also be concerned with timing and how many Tokobots you have. Com- bat can be particularly problematic since it takes a second or so to swing the Tokobots around like a massive baseball bat. Don’t get the wrong idea, though. It’s never totally unmanageable, and you should have no
problem coming to grips with the mechanics
within a short period of time, but it wouldn't have hurt if the Tokobots were a little quicker or just a bit more responsive.
The level design also involves pretty stan- dard (and maybe too simplistic) platforming action, so if you're looking for something as action packed as, say, Jak or Ratchet, then you're definitely barking up the wrong tree. But if you're looking for a somewhat new angle on the old platforming formula with a
little taste of Pikmin thrown in, then Tokobot “is worth checking out.
4
Nice twist on familiar genre, vibrant graphics Tokobots are initially awkward, level
design a little boring at times
SCORE
за
FEBRUARY |
04:21.40
Pug. 5 DEU. Есен
Msep
HAMSTPUNG BY COURSE DESIGN
EA's breakout snowboarder has grown and developed nicely over the past few years, but as far as faithfully capturing the feel of hyper-unrealistic winter sports on the portable level, things are still a little tricky for SSX.
Like its console cousins, On Tour for PSP introduces exactly two new features to the SSX family: a hip Ғасаде featuring study-hall notebook doodling and skiers, the snowboarder's archnemesis. But at its heart, On Tour is the same old SSX.
Which would be totally fine, as long as course design were up to the standards. set by Tricky and SSX 3. Sadly, it isn't. The available tracks lack variety, are uninspired, and sometimes even seem as though they're designed to work against players rather than encourage them to “be one with the mountain." Шодіса! and poorly placed ramps, obstacles, and turns play havoc with On Tour's suggested trick lines (e.g., a grind rail that leads you directly into a large and unfortunately placed rock). It's not that SSX courses all need to contain the spastic excess we saw in Tricky; SSX 3's mountain still inspired a Zen-like feeling without resort- ing to a snowpocalypse design. On Tour's mountain simply lacks soul.
But that isn't the PSP's fault, and EA
ment, it would feel like playing SSX on the PS2. But if you're an SSX vet who's used to blasting the turbo as soon as you land a major trick, having Square pull double duty as the boost and grab can really mess with your timing. Com- plicating matters further is a camera that likes to occasionally get too far over your head, so as you swoop through ravines and high-banked turns, you'll have no idea what direction you're headed.
It's too bad, because On Tour is a good first effort, and a lot of the pieces are in place. The loading times are quite toler- able, the game looks very good, and a few hiccups aside, the framerate is rock solid. The only things that prevent it from feeling like a true SSX game are minor control issues and major course design flaws. But as with anyone who starts out snowboarding, the learning process can be tough—there are high hopes for next season's snow. | Andrew
Pfister liste Е
“77 ЖЕДЕЛ Тһе game is technically sound, but inferior track design keeps this one from the greatness of its
‚ predecessors.
SCORE
2,090,000 The number of results returned in a Google search for “SSX.” Most interesting unrelated results: Surayaba Stock Exchange, Space Ship Experimental, and Swarthmore Sphero- mak Experiment.
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4
did а mostly marvelous job making Оп Tour feel natural on the new hardware. Were it not for one critical button place-
(© 2006 Full Sai, Inc. AN sights reserved. The terms “Full Sail,” “If you" dream, we take your dream seriously: “Full бай Real World Educati logo are ether registered sorvice marks or service mar
[Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter] FIS
TIM ешетогм“в CORPSE ВЕРЕ
TELO FEET INDEED өз сізтнсаса >
For the legions of goths and postpunks who have tattooed entire scenes from The Nightmare Before Christmas on their bodies and have elevated Jack and Sally into the pantheon of cinema's great romantic couples, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is the official unofficial sequel to their favorite movie. It's got all the right things going for it: Tim Bur- ton's elaborately creepy visual sense, Danny Elfman laying down his Brecht-light stylings, the herky-jerky stop-motion animation that gives it a sense of authenticity, and of course, more death and morbidity than you can shake a stick at. Heck, even the hero looks like Jack Skelling- ton, just with a new head and suit. \ Апа indeed, everything that made Nightmare а goth classic is pres- ent and accounted for in Corpse Bride—there's just less of it. Burton's visuals are more restrained, both in the land of the living (which is colorless) and in the land of the dead (colorful but claustrophobic); EIf- 4
man’s songs and score are less memorable (which is possibly an unfair comparison to make, as Nightmare's score is one of the best of the last
20 years); and even the twitching stop-motion has been smoothed out ` with some computer tweaking. There's nothing wrong or bad here; it's № just пої аз much аз опе would hope for. d %
What does work is the corpse bride іп question, who the film's һар- less hero Victor (Depp) accidentally weds while rehearsing his vows to areal live girl. The bride, played by Carter, is vivacious and funny, and disturbingly sexy for a stop-motion puppet, even if one arm is all bones апа а maggot that sounds like Peter Lorre keeps popping out of her СНЕ” WE eye socket. She's the one anyone with sense would choose. Expect her to pop up in tattoo form really soon now.
FEBRUAR |
ПНЕ ARISTOCRATS
[Every comedian you've ever heard of] 4
One hundred comedians tell the same joke, over and over and over again. This is funny? Well, it depends on the joke, and the joke in question here—the title is the joke's punch line—is unspeakably filthy (or almost unspeak- ably filthy, since it does indeed get spoken), and it's the one comedians tell each other to See who does it best. No matter what, after you've seen this film, you'll never think of Bob Saget the same way again
n | WEDDING CRASHERS
| Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson |
There's simply no reason on God's green earth that Wedding Crashers should have made $200 million at the box office. $100 mil- lion? Sure, why not? Like all really successful recent comedies, this one has at least two of the Vaughn/Wilson/Stiller comedy triumvirate; you could show a movie of these three silently eating pizza and it would gross $80 million in
a walk, so tacking on an additional $20 million for them acting is no stretch. But $200 mil- lion? No way. So what happened? My theory is that after so many years of constrained PG-13-ness, audiences were зо hungry for ап unapologetically R-rated comedy (sex! Boobst- Cursing!) that they overly rewarded this one. Don't get me wrong: Watching Vaughn and Wilson charm their way into weddings and then into the bosom of a Kennedy-like family is all very amusing. But not that amusing.
ITHE CONSTANT GARDENER
[Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz | 4
Every now and again the movie industry likes to remind itself that it can create gripping entertainment for people with triple-digit 108. And when it does rouse itself so, you get something like this, a surpassingly smart and angry film in which Fiennes is a British diplo- mat whose wife's murder in Africa is just the beginning of some very nasty business down the continent. You can actually feel your brain grow as you watch this. Wild.
SCOPE 3
IHUSTLE & FLOW
[Terrence Howard, Ludacris | 4
It's a story as old аз the movies: Ап ambitious hustler (Howard) tries to make a break for himself in the entertainment industry even as his old life clings to him. In his case, however, he's a pimp/dealer who wants to be a rap- per. Which, you know, is a little different than working in a steel mill. The story's old, but the take is fresh, and Howard mirrors his charac- ter by trying to make the most of his chances. Good job.
DUD RELEASES IRED EYE Д [Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy] — 4 Wedding Crashers Show of hands, here: If the guy sitting next January 10 _ to you on an airplane was named Jackson The Constant Gardener Rippner, wouldn’t you, you know, move your Hustle & Flow seat? Good, good. Rachel McAdams, however, Red Eye would not, and suddenly we have a film—and Transporter 2 a pretty sharp thriller to boot, as McAdams January 24 deals with an increasingly absurd situation by The Aristocrats staying totally grounded and realistic. Why, Flightplan
she’s a lot like Jodie Foster in that other film about a plane! Only hotter. So much hotter.
IFLIGHTPLAN
[Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard | 4
А woman loses her child on a plane—or did she? Time to check the overhead bin. Jodie Foster has the enviable ability to make any film she's in seem smarter and more logical than it is; that's an excellent thing for Flight- plan, because the moment you step out of the film and ask yourself whether the plot genu- inely makes sense, the whole thing collapses like a jostled soufflé. But when Foster's on the case, man, you believe it.
Roo Ш EET ШЕ
ITHE LEGEND OF ZORRO
[Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones | 4
It takes some doing to make Antonio Ban- deras and Catherine Zeta-Jones, two of the most lushly beautiful people in the universe, seem like people you'd want to gnaw off your own leg to escape from, but guess what? This film manages it. It's an accomplishment of a sort, but probably not the one intended. What а shame, because | liked the first Zorro movie with these two just fine. Maybe you can just freeze-frame and ogle your fantasy of choice. я
|
ITRANSPORTER 2
January 31 20 The Legend of Zorro Tim Burton's
Corpse Bride
UMD PELEASES January 3
Dumb and Dumber
Elektra
[Jason Statham, Kate Маша | GaroldandiKumarGoto The Transporter was not a film | thought White Castle demanded a sequel; Jason Statham driving Rush Hour and killing does not a franchise make. But no Rush Hour 2 | one asked me, and here we are, with Statham Wedding Crashers | doing more driving and more killing in a January ЕЕ somewhat more ridiculous fashion than the Hustle & Flow last time. Pointless? Check. Violent? Check. MirrorMask Stupid? Check! Kind of fun? Well, yeah. It's Red Eye hard to fault this film for being loud and stu- Transporter 2 pid: What else could it be? , January 24
7 The Island
SCORE
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БЕММІМӘ UP THE PLAYSTATION WAYBACK MACHINE
2KS IN PICTURES
A VISUAL LOOK BACK AT A VERY BIG YEAR
UIDELIBAME SEN
HOT COFFEE WASN'T THE FIRST, OR THE LAST
INSIDE y
паз PSI-DEIPLOGND Everything new is old again.
100 BEHIND THE GAME: GUITAR HERO We chat with the folks behind the rockingest PS2 game yet.
102 ESSENTIAL MILITARY GAMES Fall in for a roll call of some of the most crucial military- themed titles on PS2.
104 THE BEST GAMES YOU'VE МЕМЕ PLAYED You haven't seen everything the PS1 has to offer until you've seen these Japanese classics.
4
=
сет Егет | 89 OS
RELAY
year мо. 10 in Che Pla tion world was а bi system launch? che
c 4 Genre-defining game re- Bases? Check. Hardware announcements, Тал monopoly-making dea check, Check, . with US as we revisit highs and lows.
THE YEAR IN PICTURES
ВО | DAIT Fesa
агу 2006
FEBRUARY
КО?
On Ше heels of its agreements with the NFL and Arena Football League, Electronic Arts announces an exclu- sive 15-year deal with ESPN. Experts estimate the agreement is worth $850 million in cash and advertising com- mitments. Here, Tony Gonzalez, Byron Left- wich, and Michael Stra- han hang out at ESPN Zone in New York City at the Madden NFL 06 launch event.
w
Kaz Hirai and Xzibit show off the PSP's musical abilities at Sony's Consumer Electronics Show press conference, Notably absent from the presentation: any information on price or release date.
| =
Responding to EA's foot- ball monopoly, Take-Two announces that it has negotiated with Major League Baseball to be the only third-party developer allowed to make licensed baseball games.
A | ВЕРНЫ
Sony finally gives gamers the info they've been waiting months for: The PSP will have a price tag of $249.99 and be on sale starting March 24.
2)1:3 1
Dante гедеетз himself
by renouncing his foppish
ways with the release of
Devil May Cry 3.
Е M
God of War arrives in
Stores, providing excel-
lent sales and setting a
trend of chains seared
to wrists (yeah, we're
looking at you,
Dark Prince).
ве | сет Fe
After a number of delays and feature cuts, Gran Turismo 4 finally reaches stores shelves, to underwhelming response.
The NBA announces that it will not partner with one company but rather share
the love with (and take a cut of the profits from) the major third-party publish-
ers. Here, Earl Boykins of
the Denver Nuggets participates in the PlaySta- tion Skills Challenge.
The PSP is released with midnight launch parties on both coasts. Here, a happy San Francisco buyer holds up his new purchase.
Ë Е £ š Ë 5 8 š 2 H E 8 5 E Е
Sony is ordered to
pay $90.7 million to Immersion for patent infringement on the rumble technology used by the DualShock controller. Sony files an appeal, which is still in process as of
press time.
ЕЗІ ЕЙ Ir |
The first PlayStation marks 10 years since coming to North America. Happy birthday, little buddy.
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Hideo Койта (pictured second from left) and his trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4
on PlayStation 3 steal show at TGS.
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After an embarrassing inci- dent with some Hot Coffee, Rockstar finally confesses that there is hidden code in Grand Theft Auto: San
Andreas depicting digitized
sexual acts. The ESRB changes the game's rat- ing, making it the first AO game on PS2.
=] < Су Automobile accidents increase tenfold as Burnout Revenge and Burnout Legends hit store shelves.
ШП B The PlayStation is awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Achieve- ment in Technology and Advanced New Media.
FEBRUAR |
| REALAN
г | SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs is released and immediately sets а new record for simultaneous users online. The new 32-player battles no doubt help a bit.
Grand Theft Auto is made to fit in the palm of your hand with the release of Liberty City Stories.
Soul Calibur в release shows us that yes, the soul indeed still burns.
агу 2006
The PS2 port of Resident Evil 4 comes out, thereby render- ing your GameCube unnecessary.
PlayStation 2, the little Emotion engine that could, celebrates its fifth birthday in North
America.
FEBRUARY
ШТА
Guitar Него brings out the rock star in all of
us. Axes are slung,
goats are thrown, and jaws drop in astonish- ment at the ridiculous complexity of “Bark at the Moon” on expert.
U.
ын ^^
By Jeremy Parish
Пек
Portable warfare abounds in SOCOM: Navy SEALs Fire-
team Bravo.
When he's not trying to reclaim his vanished youth with obsolete games, Jeremy works as 1UP.com’s features editor and charming mascot. Check out his blog at toastyfrog.1UP.com.
Looking back at how all things PlayStation fared in 2005, | can't help but find myself filled with a sense of nostalgia. Not nostalgia for 2005, mind you, but for all the times we've seen these headlines before. The more things change, the more they stay the same and all that.
р. SONYS NEW CONSOLE GOES TOE-TO-TOE WITH NINTENDO}
Ten years ago, Sony tossed its hat into a ring dominated by Nintendo—console gaming—and walked away the victor. This year, the company challenged Nintendo for control of the portable mar- ket with the PSP. Suddenly, handhelds became cool and Nintendo is now often dismissed as an aging, out-of-touch dinosaur. Sound familiar? The one difference: Nintendo’s actually holding its own quite nicely this time around.
г. PERIPHERAL ABANDONMENT PROMPTS FF DEPARTURE
Sony's decision to stop manufacturing the original PS2 in favor of 2004's new slimline model meant no more HDD support. It wasn't the most brutal betrayal of 2005—that honor goes to Capcom for ditching Steel Battalion and its $200 controller. But it's definitely the most significant, as the main customers hurt by this decision are Final Fantasy XI owners. In response, Square Enix quickly decided to shift its FFX/ support to the Xbox 360. Final Fantasy's defection to PS1 because of hardware issues was a major reason the N64 bombed, so Sony had better hope history doesn't repeat itself.
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones proves that the third time is again the charm.
[3. METAL GEAR DEMO STEALS THI HONI
The highlight of E3 2000 was an amazing Metal Gear Solid 2 trailer that had us convinced that the PlayStation 2 was as powerful as
Ken Kutaragi's hyperbole promised. It wasn't, but we didn't find that out until we were out $300 and Sega's worthy Dreamcast had been crushed by the PS2's hype. Fast-forward to this year's Tokyo Game Show, where an amazing MGS4 trailer for the PlayStation 3 blew us all away (and was in no way diminished by the fact that Snake looks exactly like my grandfather now). Nothing on display for the Xbox 360 even came close. But word on the street is that the 360 is just as powerful as the PS3—will it avoid the Dreamcast's fate? Maybe Hideo Kojima's recent acknowledgment that the trailer could easily have run on the 360 will curtail the rampant fanboyism. But probably not.
ШЕЕ ЕШ ӨТЕ OPPORTUNIST HATES GAMES,
As long teens are willing to fork over money for new forms of media their parents don't understand, activists will rise up to crusade against that media. It used to be Joseph Lieberman putting the
hate on gaming. Before that, Al Gore's wife, Tipper Gore, advocated warning labels on music. And in the ‘50s, Fredric VVertham nearly
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killed comic books by calling Batman and Robin gay. In comparison, the latest bugaboo (blustery Florida lawyer Jack Thompson) seems laughable. In fact, he may have worked himself into obsolescence already. But don't worry—like the Hydra, two more self-aggrandizing politicians will rise to take his place.
So yeah, 2005 felt pretty familiar. Here's to 2006: Bound то Бе another new year full of the same old crap. Cheers!
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If Tomb Raider invented the polygonal boob fetish, Dead or Alive perfected it. Packed to the brim with 3D kung fu-fighting blow-up dolls, it's a game obsessed with the little details, namely, the physics ‘of realistic bouncing breasts. Optional costumes encourage a kind of testosterone-injected game of dress-up—kinda creepy, really.
PEEro Helix PS1
Retro Helix features not one but two sexy (if you're into the blocky cartoon style) protagonists, Hana and Rain. Here's the thing: They're lov- ers, and they totally make out. The Basic Instinct of vid- eogames, Helix was the first (and only) game to feature a lesbian lead, and one of many mediocre games to sell itself on novel sex acts and partial nudity.
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vibrator attachment PS2 (Japan)
In America, the experimental music game Rez was limited to a small batch of discs, but lucky Japanese gamers got the option to add on a strange peripheral, the trance vibra- tor. While not explicitly a sex toy, the small USB attachment buzzed along to the beat of Rez's trance music, which built slowly in each level toward an ecstatic climax. The attachment inspired many adventurous female gamers to go where games had never gone before.
Sex doesn't always sell. Hoping to capitalize on the growing market for boobs, BMX XXX gave extreme- sports fans what they never asked for, topless female bike riders. And if the combination of bikes and breasts wasn't weird enough, developer Z-Axis threw in a set of unlockable striptease videos.
The Leisure Suit Larry games for the PC were practically a rite of passage for giggling teenage boys of a certain era, but Magna Cum Laude was the first title in the series to make it to a console. Basically a collection of sex-themed minigames with humor along the lines of a teenage sex сотедуз (think American Pie), Magna Cum Laude answers the long-pondered question, What would it be like to control a sperm cell in a game?
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GUITAR HERO
KEEP |: ROCKIN IN THE FREE WORLD
Z .GREG LOPICCOLO We are totally thrilled. Everyone on the team is
a huge rock fan, so we were just making the game we wanted to play, but we didn’t know if our audience would get it until it hit the stores. We're psyched that lots of people share our adolescent rock fantasies.
JOHN TAM The response has been overwhelming, actually. Con- tacts all over the game industry have told consistent stories of how departmental productivity has been reduced to a crawl because of Gui- tar Hero dueling-guitar sessions. We are really happy at the critical suc- cess because of the risks involved with building such an ambitious title.
UT Guitar Freaks really does tap into the rock scene in Japan and feels to me like a completely different kind of product. The compari- sons are only on the surface. People that play both know that they are really different. Since Guitar Freaks is loaded with Konami house-band music, it may not strike a similar chord with an American audience unless the product sees many changes.
GL We knew we wanted the core to be split between classic rock songs and some newer songs so that everyone would have at least a few songs that they were familiar with. We're hoping that some of our younger players will get turned on to music they perhaps didn't know about, like Blue Oyster Cult and Edgar Winter.
OPM
GL We got quite a few submissions, which ranged in quality from... odd...to a number of really good, legit songs.
ОТ Ме narrowed the final list to about four very strong candidates.
І personally could have gone with any of them and believe that they would all have been very playable. In the end we decided to go with the song that was loaded with personality and playability and worked well with the aesthetics and attitude presented in Guitar Hero.
GL The final choice was unanimous between the RedOctane and Har- monix teams, though; "Cheat on the Church" by Graveyard BBO is just so rock, it was an easy call.
ntroller is
for t oller
potential audience?
FEBRUAR |
GL We didn't worry too much about limiting our audience. It does make the game more expensive, which I’m sure affects sales some- what, but you really need the guitar controller for the game to work.
UT The restrictions of being on a specialized controller are totally out- weighed by the experience that Guitar Hero provides as a whole.
GL The harder levels have more notes and chords, and use more but- tons so that you have to shift your hand in hard and expert songs to cover all the positions. The higher difficulties are also less forgiving of missed notes; you'll get booted quicker if you screw up. We have found that the game feels more like playing real guitar at the harder difficulty levels, since there is more of a one-to-one correspondence between notes you play and notes in the original part.
UT Most of the OA staff has cleared the game on expert. It's not super impossible for fans of the genre but may be near impossible for most regular gamers.
GL So get back to practicing!
SINE DON T ІЛЕ тоа MUCH ABOLIT ами ма ОШе ALIDIENEE.”
UT A few of the guitarists close to the product talk about using it to practice strength training and fingering exercises...
GL It’s not really intended as anything more than a fun game, but if you've never played any guitar, it will probably help train your hands to function independently. I’m guessing that someone who played a lot of Guitar Hero would have a slight head start on learning real guitar. | wouldn't want to oversell it, though.
ПРМ
GL We talked about this, but it would have been more work than we had time for. It would be cool, though, and will be considered if we end up doing any sort of sequel. There are some awesome bass parts on some of those songs.
ОТ We'll let you know as soon as we're ready to announce our next deal. | really love this game, so | don't want to stop working on it.
ОТ Drums are a natural progression of what people may want. Air guitar and air drums are part of our culture. With Guitar Hero we wanted to make something that would tap into the rock culture.
GL It would be a blast to work on a drum game. We can't say much more about it at this point, though. |
Looking to express your patriotism without put- ting your real-life ass
on the line? These nine games will let you mani- fest your fighting spirit without leaving the com- fort of your living room.
У ESSENTIAL АЛІ T TOMAS, GAMES
NO NEED ТО ENLIST
E -EFIELD г: MODER “OME 1 үрив. EA Games соге 4
The РС blockbuster finally reaches сопзо!ез їп this vast online shooter. Teamwork is key, both online and off (where you jump from character to character to perform different tasks), but the real hook is the ability to hop into any vehicle you see and crash it immediately into a build- ing, a telephone pole, or the ground. Or, you know, drive it around in а way that's actually helpful to your teammates. Whatever works for you.
и J : Ubisoft 4 =
Ubisoft's lush first-person tactical shooter returns with more World War Il action than you can shake a green, leafy stick at. With significantly more of a tactical bent than its competitors, Earned in Blood lets you zoom way out to get a general's-eye view of the action and plan your flanking maneuvers accordingly—but there's no shortage of ground- level combat either. Combine this with some of the most beautifully detailed environments of any game of its type and you've got a rela- tively new take on the genre.
гецв. Activision score 4 =
While it's not a vast improvement over its predecessor, Big Red One's forays into new WWII FPS territory (like wandering around a bomber
in flight and manning different stations) make it an easy choice for the list. Also of note is the excellent characterization and scripting; while the game is awfully linear, it definitely gets across the feeling of being a part of something much bigger than yourself—and the intensely varied gameplay doesn't hurt either.
Bravo P.
Leue. THO. V ге
| ! LucasArts 0
еве гінге: |
SPECTER
If you want to try SOCOM 3s goodness for yourself, pop in this month's demo disc and give it a test drive.
4
A modern-war strategy game for the truly hardcore, Full Spectrum Warrior was initially developed for the actual U.S. Army to use in train- ing. Yeah, so it's pretty serious about realism (though the difficulty is definitely toned down from the original incarnation). There's no need for an itchy trigger finger here; in spite of looking like a third-person shooter, this is most definitely a strategy title, and it rewards careful thought much more than quick reflexes.
=
ірын. EA Games 5
The sequel to LucasArts’ critically acclaimed Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (arriving a staggering 12 years after the original) puts you
in an area of WWII less heavily traveled by recent games: the air war. Excellent controls, cinematic presentation, and lifelike dialogue help put you in the cockpit of a variety of period birds as you do your best to punch holes in the wings of enemies variously referred to as “Jerries,”
“krauts,” and “sausage scoffers.”
ірив. Sony CEA сем 45
The series that launched the WWII craze makes its first appearance on the PS2. While one is justified in complaining about the linearity of the game or the stupidity of the enemies, there's no denying the power
of the opening scene, which puts players in a landing boat during the
assault of Omaha Beach on D-Day. The most recent sequel, European
Assault, may be a technically superior game, but few shooters are as
emotionally powerful as Frontline.
! Konami 4
We thought that SOCOM's transition to the PSP would result in a shal- lower, dumbed-down experience. Turns out we were dead wrong; the game is every bit as involving as its PS2 brethren—though definitely a bit more fast-paced and visceral due to the lock-on targeting and shorter missions. Most impressive is the excellent online play, espe- cially the freeze-tag-like captive mode and solid implementation of
voice chat with the new PSP headset.
ірив. Sony CEA
We're just going to keep bringing this one up until Konami caves and makes a sequel. This strategy game puts players in an alternate-history world where Hitler—and his diesel-powered giant fighting robots—won World War Il. A fascinating story, engrossing gameplay, and plenty of challenge make this one of the best strategy titles on the PS2. Best of all is the amazing incorporation of mechs into actual WWII footage, making the premise of the game seem that much more plausible.
SOCOM is definitely one of the best—and most realistic—military series in gaming. But with SOCOM 3, developer Zipper Interactive dialed down the realism just enough to make the game more acces- sible and entertaining in single-player mode. And oh yeah, the design- ers also doubled the team size for online play, allowing a staggering 32 players to drive the new vehicles around the enormous maps. It's our
pick for the best of a very, very good series.
THINK YOU JE SEEN EVERYTHING THE PS1 HAD ТО OFFER? TRY LOOKING OVERSEAS
Shooters
While the existence of Gradius V makes it diffi- cult to state with authority that Gradius Gaiden is the best entry in Konami's long-running series, the game certainly won't go down with- out a good fight. In many ways this is the ulti- mate Gradius game: crazy hard, packed with options (and Options), and brimming with clever ideas and loving nods to the series’ his- tory. There’s the multipart Moai boss, the crazy shoot-the-core showdown, and, of course, the battle through the opening stage of the origi- nal Gradius as it's devoured by а black hole in your wake. It's a love letter to fans, although Konami clearly believes in tough love, and it's not afraid to send your self-esteem through the shredder: It's a damn hard game. Fortu- nately, Gaiden was recently rereleased in a budget reprint edition, so unless you're anal about packaging, you should have no trouble finding a copy on the cheap.
ADZDƏNXODZƏN
ыу л,
| Jeremy Parish
Are you one of those people who gets pissed off by cute things? Then you're in luck—Harm- ful Park is crammed full of 'em...and offers players the cathartic opportunity to blow them all to pieces.
The last game release from shooter gods Compile, this is what you'd call a swan song; featuring both classic remakes and the shiny new Zanac Neo, Zanac X Zanac is shooting bliss. Word of warning, however: It's expen- sive (at press time, eBay listings were over $100), and the price continues to go up.
The prototypical "bullet hell” shooter, some people regard this version as a better port of the arcade game than the Saturn edition... despite the PlayStation's supposedly inferior 2D capabilities.
Gy |, Gil BK. сы m Й р
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This obscure gem (the semisequel to a Super Famicom game of the same name) could best be described as a 32-bit take on Bionic Com- mando, if the main character іп Capcom's NES classic had been a young girl swinging her way through a delirious fever-dream via fishing pole. Umihara is all about climbing through surreal landscapes by making the most of a surprisingly detailed physics model. The heroine's grappling line is extremely elastic, which allows players to use an extraor- dinary number of techniques. Level-by-level progress seems straightforward, but once
you master the fishing line and begin poking around the hidden corners of each level, you'll discover all sorts of secret exits to bonus stages—more than 50 in all. With its creepy fish-monsters and pastel-coated worlds, Umi- hara isn't for everyone...but fans of old-school action will love it.
A fairly rote sword-based action game, Little Ralph won't set anyone's world on fire with its gameplay but is worth tracking down for its lush hand-drawn animation.
Could there be a more blatant rip-off of Gun- star Heroes? One of the earliest PlayStation games, Gunners Heaven is good, mindless fun, even if it lacks the manic genius of the game that so obviously inspired it.
collections
Konami did up its classics in fine style, offer- ing reasonably priced collectors’ sets of arcade originals like Gradius, Salamander (better known to Americans as Life Force), Twinbee, and Parodius. Like Gradius Gaiden, these games have been reissued in inexpensive slimline CD versions that are readily available from most importers. So what are you wait- ing for?
Americans were given five Museums, but Japan got a sixth: Encore. While it contains a few interesting novelties like Wonder Momo, the volume's real standout (Rolling Thunder) can easily be found in Namco’s latest U.S.- published collections.
Of Capcom's five Generations discs, only one (the Street Fighter II disc) made it to the United States. Fortunately, the new Capcom Classics Collection contains every title to appear in Generations, making the 32-bit set useful only for completists.
FEBRUAR |
Fighters
Tobal No. 1 was Square's first PlayStation game to be published in the United States and sold well mainly because people were slobber- ing over the packed-in Final Fantasy VII demo. While its untextured polygons look simplistic next to Tekken, it ran at a blistering 60 frames per second and featured tight gameplay, earn- ing it a solid fan base. Tobal 2 improves оп
its predecessor in countless ways, with better graphics, deeper gameplay, and a huge cast of characters. Even better is the compelling adventure mode, a fighting-game take on the Mysterious Dungeon series in which players battle their way through an increasingly chal- lenging underground labyrinth. Unfortunately, this feature also killed the game’s chances for а U.S. release; Square representatives claimed that the PlayStation's limited RAM made it impossible to fit English dialogue into the text boxes. Whatever the case may be, Tobal 2 is one of the best 3D fighters around and is defi- nitely worth tracking down.
Asuka 120% is another example of Japan's long-running fascination with jiggly all-girl fighting games. Unlike most, though, it's actu- ally not too bad.
—— Brus
More wonderful insanity from the creator of Parappa the Rapper, Vib-Ribbon demonstrates Masaya Matsuura's fascination with blending music and gameplay in a wholly unique way. While its run-and-react action wasn't necessar- ily anything new or different in and of itself— players control Vibri, a shuddery rabbit-man, through a series of tricky obstacle courses— the technology behind the game makes it both fascinating and infinitely flexible. Game levels are generated on the fly based on the current music track—and while the built-in tunes are fine, just swap in any music CD to place Vibri in completely new challenges. The simple white-on-black graphics might be a turnoff for most Americans, but sheer invention and fl ibility (and often surprisingly difficult acti depending on the current tune) make Ribbon a must-have for any collect
While it requires a pretty s of Japanese, Boku no М. favorite for its warm
кенін |
ADUEZTISE INDEX 4
2K Games www.2kgames.com 67
America Online
www.aol.com onsert
Atari
www.atari.com 29
Capcom USA Ine. www.capcom.com 108
Codemasters, Inc.
www.codemasters.com. 15
Collins College
www.collinscollege.edu 79
Eidos Interactive, Inc www.eidos.com 45
Electronics Boutique www.ebgames.com 75
Full Sail Real World Education www.fullsail.com 85
Konami America
ОЕ УЕ has been an editor for OPM (and its predeces- sor, PSX) for nearly 10 years. And while he remembers the good old days, he'll take tomorrow Otfice for National Оги апу day. Control Policy E Www.whatsyourantidrug com
J 107 а Reprise Records пиш www.greenday.com
73
www.konami.com n
Namco Hometek www.namco.com 2
SanDisk www.sandisk.com doing differently from PS1 and Saturn games. The Dreamcast? А 43 А couple weeks ago, when the first Xbox 3605 had been sent out to smaller leap, but still noticeable. the press, | wandered over into 1UP's area of the office to find a sali- But here's where things get interesting: Look at a screenshot of Sega of America vating group clustered around Project Gotham Racing 3. They were Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast. Then look at a screen of Soul Calibur улар са very excited. But to me, it looked like, well...an Xbox game. Granted, Поп the PS2. Then on the Xbox. Yes, if you saw the games running «өлію;31 а particularly shiny Xbox game—but ап Xbox game. side by side you'd be able to pick up differences. But they're small. Sony Computer
Upon further examination | noticed a bunch of things that the They're subtle. There's nothing that positively screams “next genera- Entertaiment original Xbox couldn't do as well: reflections, lighting, particles! (Per- tion.” So far, it's looking like a similar deal with the 360—and while www.scea.com sonally, | was most impressed by the staggeringly realistic depiction the jury's still out on whether the footage shown so far is even legit, | 2-3, 19 of Las Vegas.) But it got me thinking: If |, a professional game journal- wouldn't be terribly surprised to see the PS3 suffer a similar fate. ist who's around videogames most every waking hour, have to really Now, obviously this hasn't hurt sales any. And I’m not saying that Sony Media Software search to be able to see what the 360 does that the Xbox couldn't, a new system needs to be light-years ahead of its competitors to Е how much harder is it going to Бе for the average consumer—or be any good. All I'm saying is, | miss the days when you could walk 45 worse, the average parent—to understand what the fuss is all about? into a videogame store and be just gobsmacked by new technology.
I'm not trying to bash the 360 here. There's plenty about the 360 But those days are probably gone forever. We appear to have hit Square Enix U.S.A., Inc. that excites me. It's just that most of those things are only exciting the point of diminishing returns, the far side of the parabolic curve, www.square-enix-usa, because I’m already a gamer and | know what to look for. Where's the where visual improvements can happen only incrementally. бо,
“wow” factor? Where's the game that grabs the attention of anyone And maybe that's a good thing. Maybe we're shifting back into а 59 walking by—old, young, rich, poor, whatever—and says, “Yes, you phase where developers will have to focus on design and gameplay ан must have те. | am the new era. | ат the future”? more than “ooh, shiny pretty colors!” in order to distinguish their WW UDIOft con
The PS1 had that. You put Wipeout next to any SNES game and games from the competition's. A new game-design paradigm that 33,35 you saw it instantly. And Nintendo had its revenge once Ше N64 emphasizes the innovative over the superficial? That'd be worth a showed up—you didn't have to squint to see what Mario 64 was “wow” for sure. XSeed JKS, Inc.
www.xseedgames.com 20-21 4 106 | Ni TI + 2005
|
So IF YOU LET OTHER PEOPLE, PIECE BY PIECE, MAKE YOU INTO WHAT THEY WANT, EVEN IF IT'S STU PID, WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU?
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PRODUCTS RANGE FROM RATING PENDING то TEEN
Six Hot New Titles for your PSP™ (PlayStationcPortable) system
PlayStation. Portable WWW.Capcom.com
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