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WILCO | MAGAZINE

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2005
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91 Canada
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$8.99
$11.99 OPM.1UP.COM
THE FINISH LINE. SO ELUSIVE FOR SOMETHING THAT NEVER MOVES.

Glory is not granted lightly. Test your skills on up to 100 of the

p world's most elite tracks. Break in over 500 powerhouse cars

spanning a century of automotive history. Face unforgiving

LIVE IN YOUR WXRLD.
PLAY IN OURS: spectators that reactto your every move. Pass
or be passed.

RATING PENDING
Visit www.esrb.org КУ Л
for updated rating A
information. GA ©2004 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All manufacturers, cars, names, brands and associated imagery featured in this game are trademar
POLYPHONY sponsorship or endorsement of this game by such party or parties. “PlayStation,” the “PS” Family logo and ~ are registered trademarks, and Gr
i
 PlayStation.2

GRAN TURISMO 4
THE REAL DRIVING SIMULATOR

THE DRIVE OF Y OUR LIFE.

Фог copyrighted materials of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Ап; y depiction or recreation of real world locations, entities, businesses or organizations is not intended to be or imply any
iso is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Live In Your World. Play In Ours.” and “The Drive of Your Life” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
 PUSHING THE EDGE
IS NEVER FAR ENOUGH

igs
e

"Unprecedented stream of battlefield chaos" "Unabashed balls-to-the-wall action" "The Future of War"
nforr

"Sheer graphical beauty" "All those weapons mean the "Multiplayer shines in Snowblind"
possibilities are up to your imagination" /

BLOOD
VIOLENCE OWY
PlayStation.e 22| crar игле.
BROADBAND ONLY
Ж AVE www.nrojectsnowblind.com
 Jenseits von Gut und Böse

HESE PIG QUES

Tw O;SAVESHUMANITiyy FROM ‘EXTINCTION

SHUNNING SBEGIAL EFFECTS, CUSTOMIZABLE

TERS, NON-STOP ACTION, AND А MYSTERY THAT'S AS IMAGIGAL AS IT IS IMMERSIVE, COMBINE TO

CREATE А ТКОЕ[МАЅТ Ms — А GINEMATIC GAMING EXPERIENCE THAT'S OUT OF THIS WORLD AND

HEAD OF ITS TIME.

Xenosaga® EPISODE Il Jenseits von Gut und Böse & © 2001 2004 NAMCO LTD.,
Blood and Gore ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment America for
Language play on PlayStation 2 computer entertainment systems with the NTSC U/C
A designation only. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks
Suggestive Themes | of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a trademark of
the.
Violence Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks and trade names are the
ir respective owners. Sony Computer Entertainment America takes
for this offer.
 LJ

ro SAVE тн: FUTURE

` YOU MUST UNCOVER THE PAST
".

Devastate your opponents with innovative Explore lush, expansive environments and Engage your enemies with larger, more
Cooperative combat techniques, refined boost enjoy detailed, realistic character designs. powerful mechs, now featuring their own
systems and a unique zone attack/zone independent, tactical battle system.
break mechanic.

namco
http://xenosaga2.namco.com
 Discover the mind-blowing truth about UFOS, Roswell,
alien autopsies and more as you blast your way through the US |
government's most secret and secure military facility: Area 51.

EcL. CORNERa

Е. ae Eo < EFE 783

Battle an enemy unlike Mutate апд experience Intensify the action with
anything you've ever faced amazing alien abilities. online multiplayer combat
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Strong Language
> THE CONSPIRACY IS
NU LONGER A THEORY.

AW ы151-САМЕ.СОМ MIDWAY
 # INPUT
10 MLB 2006
Ш0 MVP Baseball 2005
u2 Project: Snowblind
18 INPUT 14 Fight Night Round 2
Everyone who has 10 fingers, raise your hand! 114 MX vs. ATV Unleashed
Now everyone who has 10 fingers, use them to па Rugby 2005
write us at [email protected]! 16 Devil May Cry 3
ug DVDs

$ HYPE
22 SPORTSCENTER
Game companies continue their draft picks. \AREPLAY
32 CASTLEVANIA:
CURSE OF DARKNESS 122 PSPREDECESSORS
Dracula rides again, but his victims are new. The handhelds that paved the way.
34 KILLER 7 126 MERCENARIES
We're still not sure what it's about, but we know Play as Han Solo.
it makes us feel dirty inside. 128 GOOD, BAD, UGLY: FPS GAMES
38 WAR ALL THE TIME Games you should shoot in virtually, and games
Put on your uniform—Ubisoft is headed to the you should literally shoot.
battlefield with Brothers in Arms, Rainbow Six: 129 REVIEWS ARCHIVE
Lockdown, and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory. Every PS2 game rated.
46 DRIVE ON BY 130 CHAMPIONS: RETURN TO ARMS
Enthusia is for drivers with patience; Midnight Get the best weapon in the whole game.
Club 3 is for drivers with rage 134 BEHIND THE GAME: WIPEOUT
54 DEATH, JR. The story of one of PlayStation’s seminal games
The Grim Reaper's progeny may be the funniest
thing to hit your PSP.
64 SPANDEX LOVE
All the cool kids have alter egos, just like their
buddies Batman, Hulk, and the Fantastic Four
24 ANIMANIA
Astro Boy gives your DVD player some lovin’
26 BY THE NUMBERS
The page that counts.

MREVIEWS

CONTENT
98 Gran Turismo 4
102 Finny the Fish & the Seven Waters
102 Kessen Ill
102 Musashi Samurai Legend
103
105
Playboy: The Mansion
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect QRENWIND
109 FIFA Street
109 World Tour Soccer 2006 138 FIVE YEARS AGO...
10 Major League Baseball 205 There were a lot of darn good games.

10”ОРМ April 2005

 GAMES COVERED INSIDE -
Р52 102 Musashi Samurai Legend
116 Arc the Lad: MVP Baseball 2005
End of Darkness MX vs. ATV Unleashed
64 Batman Begins Playboy: The Mansion
39 Brothers in Arms: Project: Snowblind
Road to Hill 30 Rainbow Six: Lockdown
32 Castlevania: Rugby 2005
тм
Curse of Darkness Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
130 Champions: TimeSplitters:
Return to Arms Future Perfect
116 Devil May Cry 3 World Tour Soccer 2006
46 Enthusia
68 Fantastic Four
109 FIFA Street Advent Shadow
114 Fight Night Round 2 Colin McRae Rally 2005
102 Finny the Fish & Death, Jr.
the Seven Waters Frogger »1UP BUZZOMETER
98 Gran Turismo 4

Н
Grand Theft Auto
66 The Incredible Hulk: Infected
Critical Mass Lumines
102 Kessen Ill Midnight Club 3:
34 Killer 7 DUB Edition
110 Major League Baseball 205 Rengoku:
126 Mercenaries The Tower of Purgatory
50 Midnight Club 3: TOCA Race Driver 2
DUB Edition Untold Legends:
110 MLB 2006 Brotherhood of the Blade
тур
ws Tm хў
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АҺ
10РСОМ
Games! We love games! We love games even more than you do! If you don't
believe us, stop by the site and check it out!
4 LY a
Devil May Cry 3 Wipeout FIFA Street
OPM.TUP.COM
The OPM magazine only visits your mailbox once a month. We know this
makes your mailbox sad. Cheer it up by taking it on a trip to opm.1UP.com,
where all of your favorite editors are online every single second.

PSP. TUP.COM
The launch countdown continues. Stay tuned to 1UP.com for all of your up-to-
the-minute PSP info, including launch games, launch movies, and pictures of
people standing in lines on March 23.
Batman Begins

54. PS2.1UPCOM
Stressed out because a game is coming out and you have yet to see ОРМ
review? Stress no more—up-to-the-minute reviews are always available here.

BOARDS.1UP.COM
If you're always losing arguments, then you've been hanging out in the wrong
place—here you can always find someone to agree with you, no matter how
unpopular your opinion might be.
Splinter Cell Enthusia Killer 7

46 CLUBS.1UP.COM
Country clubs have exorbitant membership fees. Some of them can cost more
than $200,000 per year, and that doesn't even include your bar tab! However, the
clubs on 1УРсот are completely free—well, except for your beverages.

FEATURED CLUB
KILLFOPSP-CLUB.1UP.COM
We don't really endorse the Kill for PSP club, but we do think it's a good idea to
be friendly with its members so that you don't end up as one of their targets...

Baseball Roundup

www.lUP.com | if
 WELCOME. Z ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA
Editor-in-Chief Tom Byron
Managing EditorDana Jongew:
Senior Editor Joe Rybicki
We love the PSP, and so will you. Even at the higher-than-expected price, Previews Editor Thierry Nguyen
News Editor Giancarlo Varanini
you'll be among the first to buy it. The PSP is simply awesome, as is its Art Director Ryan Vulk
game roster. When Sony's Kaz Hirai spoke to us for Giancarlo's cover story AssistantArtDirector Alejandro Chavetta
Disc Producer Logan Parr
(the fun starts on page 80), he was guarded in speculating how the PSP Editorial Contributors Robert Ashley, Zoe Flower, Greg Ford, Chris Kohler,
would perform sales-wise. He reminded us that the system hasn't even
shipped yet, so it's difficult to know exactly how it will do.
Well, Kaz, allow us some speculation of our own: The PSP will breeze Copy Editors Greg Ford, Susie Ochs
through the first million units; PSP game quality and Wi-Fi alone will change PROG _ NOR
Senior Production Manager Anne Marie Miguel
gaming in ways we haven't even thought of, not to mention its power as a Production Manager Monica Brent
Assistant Production Manager Teresa Newson
movie and music player. There will be a PSP2 and a PSP3 and so on. Wel- UE GROUE о UN
come to the start of the PSP generation. President Scott C. McCarthy
Editorial Director John Davison
What's that? Oh, right—l'm the new editor-in-chief of OPM, taking the Creative Director Simon Cox
reins from John Davison, who is still with us, but in a bigger position in Business Director Bill Daniher =
БОШ ае SECUN1122722)
which he will wield his enormous powers for the betterment of all the great Consumer Marketing DirectorTracy Schultz
gaming stuff Ziff Davis does. Good for him and good for us. « Tom Consumer Marketing Director of Retail Sales Wiliam Michalopoulos
Internet and Partnershi каары сы
Editor-in-Chief Sam Kennedy
Executive Director of Sales Paul Fusco
Directorof Technology Shampa Banerjee
ing Director Marci Yamaguchi
BAY AREA, NORTHWEST
Regional Sales Manager Mary Gray
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MISSION SOUTHWEST Southern СА, AZ
STATEMENT, Account Executive Rita Kline
NORTHEAST, CENTRAL
The Official U.S. PlayStation | AL, AR,CO, CT, DE, FL GA, IA. ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA MI MS, MT, NC, ND, NE,
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America-licensed magazine CONSUMER ACCOUNTS WEST
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and is published by Zif Davis} Account Executive Candace Droz
Media Inc. through an exclu CONSUMER ACCOUNTS EAST
Regional Sales Manager Matthew E. Panken
e Account Executive Candace Droz
Official U.S. PlayStation
Mag- | AUTOMOTIVE ACCOUNTS DETROIT
Regional Sales Manager Ken Stubblefield
azine (OPM remains inde- really did grow ир ina PAR on hearing about all ANINI Senior Advertising Coordinator Tipler Ubbelohde
pendent from SCEA and is a| has been dreaming nightly funeral home, as men- sorts of neat tricks you is still amazed that the Administrative Assistant Lynn Fortunato
Sales Assistants Kimberley Nicerio, Jessica Reback
critical, autonomous voice about the PSP since she tioned in his TimeSplitters: can do with the PSP. But PSP can do so much. He To contact sales, please call415-547-8000
that helps readersget more preordered it. She also Future Perfect review. besides using it to play only wishes that it could НЕТ ДИЕЛӘ ОЕ
Marketing Director Rey Ledda
out of their PlayStation sys dreams that she has chil- And he really did build a Lumines and watch manufacture a pancake of Research Director May Tong
tem by delivering the most dren who she forgets and TimeSplitters map based Deuce Bigalow, he also some sort or perhaps Marketing Coordinator Jason Freid
current, comprehensive, and leaves alone for weeks at on the funeral home's lay- wants to read comics on make a grilled cheese Chairman & CEO Robert Е Callahan
candid coverage of PlaySta-| a time. We don't know out. Look for maps by it. No one bothered to tell sandwich on command. President & COO Bart W. Catalane
Chief Financial Officer Derek Irwin
tion software and hardware | exactly what that means, "joePM" online and you him that you have to scan Oh well—maybe the PSP2 Senior Executive Vice President, Publishing Operations Tom McGrade
but we wouldn't recom- too can experience part of the pages and turn them will be able to accomplish Executive Vice President & Editorial Director Michael J. Miler
| mend her for baby-sitting. his childhood. into JPEG files first. such feats.
Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary Gregory Barton
Presidents
Scott C. McCarthy (Game Group)
z= Sloan Seymour [Enterprise Group]
Jason Young (Consumer Tech Group 8 Internet)
Senior Vice Presidents
Jasmine Alexander (Te 8 Sales Operations)
Tim Castelli (PC Magazine Group]
Chris Dobbrow (Corporate Sales & Publisher, eWEEK)
Larry Green (Business Development & Worldwide Licensing]
Charles Mast (Circulation)
Vice Presidents
Sara DeCarlo (Database Marketing)
Aaron Goldberg (Market Experts)
Jim Has! (Event Marketing Group)
Julie Herness (Event Marketing Group)
Michael Krieger (MarketExperts}
LOGAN PARR RYAN VULK Charles Lee (Integrated Media)
Rick Lehrbaum (Internet)
wants to know what it would like to dedicate his is now a certified adult, at is a longtime columnist who Jim Louderback (Editor-in-Chief, Internet)
means when one of the hard work drawing the has officially been broken, the no-longer-considered- prides herself on blowing EricLundquist (Editor-in-Chief, eWEEK)
ChrisMaginn (Internet)
birds he is pet-sitting for cover and laying out thanks to his efforts to ripe age of 30. He cele- deadlines. She is no longer Melinda Maginn Reilly (Inte Media & Corporate Sales)
lets out an evil laugh and 84.52779 percent of the glean the terrible, won- brated his entry into the allowed in the OPM offices Angelo Mandarano (Internet)
Paul O'Reilly Event Marketing Group)
says, "It won't make any issue to this lovely pouch drous secrets of Killer 7. world of stress, impending after some “inappropriate” Ellen Pearlman (Editor-in-Chief, CIO Insight)
difference.” This has of mayonnaise. His Now he claims that his crises, and disdain for behavior with a God of War Beth Repeta (Human Resources)
Martha Schwartz (Custom/Conference Group]
scared him off ever want- dreams of slathering it all stab wound houses the "youth" by going all-out at window display. She loves Pam Spector(Business Development & International Licensing)
ing birds as pets, watch- over slices of bread and disembodied voice of the IHOP in Cheyenne, Greek mythology and Greek Tom Steinert-Threlkeld (Editor-in-Chief, Baseline]
Stephen Sutton (Internet Audience Development)
ing Hitchcock's The preserved meats are what economist John Nash, and Wyoming. If you weren't food and food in general. Elda Vale (Research 8 Market Intelligence)
Birds...or closing his eyes kept him going. Huzzah for wants you to know that the there, well, that was your Especially cheese. Stephen Veith (Publisher, CIO Insight)
MonicaVila(Event Marketing Group]
ever again. the greatness of mayo! kids are, indeed, alright. problem, you square. Mmmmm...cheese. Senior Director, Manufacturing Carlos Lugo
Director of Corporate Communications Randy Zane
nyone on this masthead using [email protected]
iption Service Number
Official U.S.PlayStation Magazine (ISSN #1094-6683) is published monthly by Ziff Davis Media Inc 00-627-6458 (U.S.and Canada only)
offices. Single-issue rate: $8.99. Subscription Rates: One Year (12issues and 12 demo discs)$49.97U.S.,$65.97 al other countries.POSTMASTER: Send address change U.S. PlayStation N
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12”ОРМ April 2005

 Action RPG Combat Wireless Multiplayer Gameplay Original Fantasy Adventure
Wield your blade and cast powerful spells Connect directly to other PSP handheld Battle powerful creatures and save the city of Aven
in this action-packed, hack ‘n’ slash RPG. systems and play with your friends. to unravel the mysteries of an ancient planet.
Untold Legends”: Brotherhood of the Blade" is classic RPG action available at launch for the PSP™ handheld
entertainment system. Choose from among four unique character classes and journey to the fantasy world of
Aven to battle powerful creatures and unravel the mysteries of an ancient planet. Experience on-the-go
hack ‘n’ slash combat or join cooperative multiplayer battles via wireless gameplay as you venture through
beautiful 3D environments and discover rich treasures in this completely original fantasy adventure.

SONY ONLINE
ENTERTAINMENT
| ec 1> 1
2005 Sony Online Entertainment Inc. SOE and the SOE logo are registered trademarks and Untold Legends and Brotherhoo idemarks All Rights Reserved. PSP is a tradem
PlayStation” and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The r п. Memory Stick Duo™ m
 ON THE DUD
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY

Don't think of this as just another demo disc,

think of it as a zany world tour! Where else
can you experience the wonders of China,
ancient Japan, mythological Japan, and
Europe? This is the cheapest honeymoon yet!

Demo Disc Producers

Gary Barth, Manuel Sousa, Jerome Strach, Chris Tan
Marketing Team
Steve Williams, Jesse Caid
Executive Producer
Andrew House
Format Q&A
Sam Bradley, DeMarlo King
Account Coordinator
Eric Ippolito
COLD WIN
Never has turning left for a few The closest you'll get to visiting Programming and interface artwork by
minutes been harder than in a prison full of cranky Chinese Lifelike Productions, Inc.
this game. If you're a total car guards, this shooter demo also Lead Programmers
nerd, you probably will go nuts features the ability to use com- William Bohan, Ron Midthun, Avery Lodato
with the demo cars and tracks. mon baskets as bullet sponges! 3D Artists Jason Robinson, Philip Williamson,
David Hayes
ALSO CHECK OUT Producer Jessi Harrison
Videos about Full Spec- TENCHU SHINING TES President Katherine Williams
trum Warrior for PS2, neat Girl ninjas (aka kunoichi) аге This is basically a Japanese Technical Director Tim Edwards
downloads for Shrek 2, and pretty hot (at least to us buddy flick where two misfits
a lesson from Lanea Lyden troglodytes on staff). You can end up saving the world. If you Maimoona Block, Kirsten Costello, Tom Gillan, Michelle
on fighting Mister Black (in now enact our, er, your bizarre don’t have a buddy, your other Manahan, Gerald Martin, Jim Williams
Red Dead Revolver. fetish for women cutting things! thumb will have to substitute.

Did you buy a copy of our magazine that did not contain a demo
CD? Simply send the receipt in an envelope marked “OPM
WATCH IT 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
If you ever wondered what This is perhaps the best movie
Braveheart would look like if Те +> ever made. Now it's more
corresponding disc belongs to in order to ensure you get the
right one.
the whole battlefield was cov-
ered with samurai instead of
Godfather polygonal and bump-mapped!
Zounds! How can you refuse
If you have a malfunctioning or non-working demo disc, call
EDS at 1-800-627-6458. They will provide instructions to obtain
Scots, well, here you go. such an offer from the trailer?!? repair or replacement services.
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) warrants to the
original purchaser of the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine that
MIDNIGHT CLUB 3 ST: SNOWBLIND the demo disc included is free from defects in material and
Read about how “real big” the Think about what might have workmanship for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of
|| cars and their rims and their happened if the Rangers in
purchase. SCEA agrees for a period of ninety (90) days to either
repair or replace, at its option, the SCEA product. You must call
spoilers and their everything y] Black Hawk Down had had
HOOK UP! EDS at 1-800-627-6458 to receive instructions to obtain
j| are. Then sit back and watch superpowers. That doesn't hap-
repair/replacement services.
No, not that kinda hookup, the excess in this video. pen in this video, but it's close. This warranty shall not be applicable and shall be void if the
but one where amateur
defect in the SCEA product has arisen through abuse, unrea-
athletes show their stuff
sonable use, mistreatment, neglect, or breakage during ship-
ment. THIS WARRANTY IS IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WAR-
We all love primates here! If We won't fault SCEA for making RANTIES AND NO OTHER REPRESENTATIONS OR CLAIMS OF
you don't like apes, then maybe a Spartan look like a Celtic bar- ANY NATURE SHALL BE BINDING ON OR OBLIGATE SCEA.
this video featuring portable barian—simply because the ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES APPLICABLE TO THIS SOFTWARE
apes will convince you that action in this video reeks of god PRODUCT, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
apes are the new monkeys. smacking and man rage. AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE LIMITED TO
THE NINETY (90) DAY PERIOD DESCRIBED ABOVE. IN NO
EVENT WILL SCEA BE LIABLE FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSE-
QUENTIAL 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.
14"OPM April 2005
MATURE
Blood and Gore /
Intense Violence Г “
Strong Language POWERED BY REISE АА -
ESRB CONTENT RATING mE Spy. MP SEGABSANG ONLY]
 Ser
tisk his manicur the job de
messy in this intense action shooter that ce
| Break almost anything-and anybody-—to achieve your mi:

PlayStation.e SIERRA www.coldwinter.com

 GAMERS
ARE TALKING
ABOUT
STRAIGHT FROM THE OPM
MESSAGE BOARDS
7 М
pf
a ж.
PSP MADNESS
With the news of PSP's launch date and pric-
ing hitting the streets just before we went to
press, our friends on the OPM message
boards had plenty to say about {ће system's
pricing and launch lineup.
SH
BEST
“That's $300 Canadian. To me that seems
like too much money,” said FinalFantasy-
Ruler88.
“You have to consider what you are get-
YOUR
ITH ting with it,” replied bizsumpark182. "It's not
as bad as you're making it out to be. And
after a couple of months or so, I’m sure-that
they will come out with a package with just
the system.”
“If | were to be getting a PSP, which I’m
not,” said c_strife97, “I'd be interested in
Lumines and Untold Legends. There's too
many console rehashes in the [launch] list.”
“What's wrong with a console rehash?”
LETTER OF THE MONTH asked DatMonkey. “That's the main reason |
want a PSP, so that | can play the PS2 games
1 have come to the conclusion that relationships play out a lot like a game of Guilty Gear. See, | dig on the go. | think it would kick ass to be
up until about a week ago or so | was with this one girl, but it had seemed her last challenger able to play Tony Hawk or Devil May Cry on
got the high score after only a week of gameplay. 1, on the other hand, was trying to get the the train—especially since | haven't touched
unlockable by putting some hard work into the game. Well, after hearing [about her last chal- these games on my PS2 in a LONG time."
lenger], | kinda pulled a special and the relationship was “DESTROYED.” Besides, things were
already rocky. Every time we'd be in a match, she'd build up the tension gauge and then LONG LIVE PS2
Roman-cancel all of a sudden and want to talk. | mean, the relationship had more drama than Meanwhile, other folks are trying to live in
story mode. So it looks like I'm done with versus mode for awhile and will stick to arcade and the moment.
await the next challenger. If all this sounds strange and rather creepy...you are right. Even more “There are all these murmurings about
so if you've never played the Guilty Gear games. Perhaps | should find something better to do new systems and how awesome they will all
with my time...like search out that new challenger. Maybe she'll be like Justice, but the thing is, be,” mused unusualgroove36, “and | have
fighting Justice is so one-sided that it would kinda be like S&M...and since I’m not Testament, | no doubt that they will be, but I still have so
wouldn't really be into that. No Bridgets or Venoms either. Not into that kinda stuff. Well, that's much to play on my PS2, Xbox, and even
about it. Oh, but remember...the key to great sex is Punch + Kick + Heavy Slash + Slash, quarter the GameCube. | mean, come on—|'m still
circle forward, quarter circle forward—always guaranteed to finish ‘em off. playing Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando,
and | haven't even played Jak II yet."
CONTACT OPM “I'm not ready yet,” cried only-1-mac.
Snail Mail “| feel like | just got my PS2 and I'm still hav-
ОРМ ing a blast with it. ГИ probably wait a year to
Hey OPM, | have been deeply touched by your Are Americans just not cultured enough to han- buy one of [the new systems], because by
demo of Katamari Damacy—so much so that | dle the box art found in foreign lands? Perhaps then the kinks will hopefully be ironed out.”
play it all night and have the music stuck in my politically we don't make the best decisions, but “I'm tired of the PS2 and this generation
head all day. | even made my own Katamari at we are good at entertainment (1 know we aren't of consoles," retorted Syphon Filter H11. "I
work. | work at a Volkswagen dealership, and quite on top of the porn industry—France has already want better graphics, bigger cities,
the brand-new cars come with a vinyl film that covered—but we're close) and wasting more cars, bigger adventures, and so on. |
around them. The amount of film varies from countless hours in front of the television. As an want consoles to be able to run thousands
car to car, but if you wrap it into a ball, it's about artist myself, | find the “dumbed-down” covers of players on one screen without even
the size of a cat. It took a while, but the ball | kind of insulting. People are inadvertently drawn breaking a sweat. | want 10,000 cars and 500
made was about 5 feet tall. to bright, flashy things. Japanese culture proves tracks in a Gran Turismo game, and | want
this, as does the huge need for jewelry on 1,000-plus hours of play time on a Grand
reach us пс women. It would make more sense to just Theft Auto. | want MORE, dammit!”
change the language on the cover and leave the "Are we supposed to be done with
pretty box art. [PS2]?" asked luccia. “I figure we've got a
good year [left] at least. If we're supposed to
be done already, I'm in serious trouble with
this ever growing pile of games over here.
Let's not count our chickens before they're
Shame on you, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagli- hatched, people."
abue [for signing an exclusivity deal with EA
Sports]. | switched from Madden to the 2K

18"OPM April 2005

 ‘er
sor №
o PATRIGK STEWART

ONLY IN THEATRES - SPRING 2005

SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE NN
ом DOMO RECORDS ww com

sony style
 series іп 2003 and never looked back. | know I’m and | decided to be a little different and actually
in the minority, what with all the Madden lovers, have a theme. So, inspired by the gamers’ holi-
but | just liked Sega's game better. | found that day created by the web comic Ctrl+Alt+Del, we
Sega did a better job on the running game than celebrated in the spirit of "Winter-een-mas" by
EA did in Madden. Plus, you get Chris Berman paying homage to videogames and gaming.
(although ESPN's commentating crew is һоггі- How, you ask? Well, for starters, we engaged in
ble, especially compared to Madden and rounds of flame tag in Time-Splitters 2 and
Michaels). Regardless, there's no way that such flailed around in front of the television playing
a solid game should be forced off the market. AntiGrav. But some of us took it a bit further
Competition makes for better games, and the and decided to express our love for gaming by
NFL, of all leagues, should be aware of that. dressing as characters from some of our
favorite games (we had prizes for the best cos-
tumes, so that helped, too). Here's a picture of
us dressed as characters from SOCOM, Metal
It's clear where EA's priorities lie: Rather than Gear Solid 3, Prince of Tennis, Naruto, Final Fan-
devoting all that cash to product and game tasy, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Vice City.
development to make a better game for fans, it
uses it to squash out the competition. | try to
imagine a football game with fake teams and
numbers for players' names. Since that will
never happen, there will be no other choice but І recently read your Editor Awards article in
the EA franchise in the future. | am outraged. If Issue 489. As | read through it, | agreed with all
this is the future of the videogame industry, your choices until | got to the Game of the Year
there won't be anything left worth spending my award. My first though was, "Are these guys
money on, and that makes me very sad. out of their minds?" Then 1 realized that you
were absolutely right. San Andreas is a near-
flawless game, with awesome graphics and the
whole works. But Burnout 3 greatly surpasses it
This is a sad day for every sports gamer around in one department: It's fun! It's a great arcade
the world. If EA improved Madden only incre- racer that breaks away from the annoying real-
mentally each year in the face of competition, ism of most recent racers, and it has so much to
what will the company do now that it has com- collect and unlock that it will keep you playing
pletely eliminated the competition? Competition for hours on end. And because of that, to me it
breeds innovation, and that's what we have lost is the best game of 2004, and anyone who
with the moves made in January by EA. Mad- doesn't own it needs to get it NOW!
denites (of which 1 am one), congratulations:
You can finally say that Madden is the only
game to have!

Since Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 is coming

out after Resident Evil 4, |was wondering if it
will have the good gameplay like Resident Evil 4
or the same old crap controls and camera
angles like the first Resident Evil Outbreak?

For the last several years, l've always had a big

all-night party at my house for my birthday. And
while each year is very entertaining, my friends

film that would make me

APPLES AND ORANGES А Ап EA spokesman says he hadn't heard any- ud азау ne fan;
О Гт as psyched as anyone else to get a PSP, thing about plans for a sequel. However, IO something that would give
but while a lot has been written about the multi- Interactive, developer of the first game, is cur- the non-videogame-playing
rently hiring for several programming, art, and BLOG OF ave e Joes and Janes of
media capabilities of the thing, | was wondering
how it was going to work for those of us who game-design positions, and most posti list THE MONTH the world the ame type of
use Macs instead of PCs. Will we still be able to multiplayer online experience as a require- "What in God's name is euphoria" at we as
ment. Hmm [House of the Dead and game players experience
put MP3s or mpgs onto our PSPs by linking it
with our Macs, or will we be s*** out of luck? Alone in the Dark director] when we play our games.
Uwe Boll doing? The man is Up tothis point, the
Chris Eades
vie e-mail HAPPY EASTER an avidg videogame-based movies
О What's an Easter egg? claims he's out there have only made it

A Sony has yet to reveal the U.S. PC-to-PSP Alex Rosario about bringing videogar embarrassing to be a fan
interface, but just in case it doesn’t include Mac via e-mail franchises to the big and game player.”
support, there’s already third-party software out screen. So why is it that JeffreyC
A An Easter eg n feature or object in thus far, he ctually done
there that backs up your saves, syncs with
iPhoto and iTune: video. You ci a game that has no practical value. For example, more harm than good for
check it out her om/iPSP. in MGSS, if you hit R1 during the intro cinematic, videogame fans? CLUB OF
nger will whisper "Snake eater." According Look, l'm not looking for THE MONTH
ww.urbandictionary.com, its де їп геїег- а masterpieceofafilm. I'm “This is a club for people
LET FREEDOM RING to hidden items in art and entertainment not looking for a film that's who always wonder, ‘Am |
О | was wondering if there wa going to bea "originates from The Rocky Horror Picture going to be nominated for the only person who reads
Show, when the st had ап Easter eg: hunt but 15 billion Oscars. l'm not books on this marve
Freedom Fighters sequel, be ause | loved the
most of the eggs went unfound. They can be even looking a film website?’ Well, you аге

ANYTHING
US
ASK
game and beat it about six times
Kelly Frischmann seen throughout the film in various locations driven by unqu оп: How Come No One Reads...

ANSWER
WE'LL
AND via e-mail (such as under Frank N. Furter's throne)." star power. | just want à
4
20°0PM April 2005
 UT. Blood and Gore
Intense Violence
Nudity
Sexual Themes
PEN Strong Language

of W.
dd атагк OFS Y inputer Entert inment America Inc. ©2005 Sony Computer Entertainment AmericaInc. “PlayStation” andthe "PS"fee, маз epigr
Entertainment livedn a а.оша тайтак of Sony Computer Entertainment: America Inc:

y
 тю нтте ао НҮ: a EE
INSIDE
31 CALENDAR
Thirty-one days of PS2 madness at your fingertips
32 CASTLEVANIA: CURSE OF DARKNESS
It's back to Dracula's castle, but this time there's a new cast

SPANDEX LOVE
YOUR FAVORITE SUPERHEROES, NOW 100 PERCENT INTERACTIVE —
-=
38
A game
REGISTER
that makes even Scooter
FORTHE DRAFT
uncomfortable
_
Or just stay home and go to war with Ubisoft
46 ENTHUSIA
A racing game for skilled drivers with patience
50 MIDNIGHT CLUB 3: DUB EDITION
For those who are not patient, driving of a different sort
54 DEATH JR.
Levity comes in the form of an adolescent skeleton

ee'OPM April 2005

 SPORTSCENTER
Lately, the sports-gaming business has been looking more like a boxing They felt that cutting out the competition in such a predatory manner was
Scorecard than a set of business moves. one of the most contemptible strokes of EA's money-making masterpiece.
ROUND 1: EA lands a haymaker by signing the National Football League According to Sitrin, they had it wrong.
(NFL) to an exclusive five-year deal. "The AFL came to us more than a year ago and started talking to us
ROUND2: EA drops below the belt, soaking up the last worthwhile football about doing a game," Sitrin says. "The Arena Football League is an inter-
license, signing a pact with the Arena Football League (AFL). esting situation: They've been around 19 years. But just in the last few
ROUND3:With the competition on the ropes, EA follows up with a near years, they've experienced rapid growth in their league because of their
knockout blow, wrapping up the ESPN license for, wow, 15 years. deal with NBC [which broadcasts games every week]. They wanted to
ROUND 4: Take-Two counterpunches its way back into the competition with work with us because of the strength of the EA Sports brand, so we could
а serious one-two-three volley, signing a third-party exclusivity deal with bring their game to life in a videogame format. It's a deal we discussed
the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), Major League for a long, long time. As for the timing, it's complete coincidence that the
Baseball Properties (MLBP), and Major League Baseball Advanced Media deal got done when it did."

EXEC a ST
(МІ.ВАМ) for seven years.
While the bell hasn't rung for Round 5 just yet, things are changing on

ROUND 3
a daily basis, and it's likely that deals are currently in the works for both
the NBA and NHL.
Here's a blow-by-blow recap.... ESPN: THE WORLDWIDE LEADER IS

ЕЖЕ RN SETS SELLING OFF TO HIGHEST BIDDER 4

ROUND 1 The deal that ESPN signed with EA was significant for two major reasons:
1) It lasts for 15 years. Fifteen! 2) It strips another piece away from 2K
MADDEN: THE ONLY (NFL) GAME INTOWN 4 Games’ dwindling uniform, as its three-year agreement with ESPN has
almost expired.
While the EA/NFL deal was the gaming equivalent of the shot heard The deal, an absolute whopper, calls for EA to pay ESPN a minimum of
round the world—where were you when the deal went down?—ultimately $850 million in cash and advertising commitments, according to an esti-
the highest rated, most respected, and best marketed NFL series won out, mate in The Wall Street Journal. Like with the AFL deal, EA didn’t do the

PLL LED TIL ILLETI ESL LLAT LEELLE EAPC

with Madden scoring full control of the sport for the next five seasons.
Even though this move made EA seem like the ultimate money-

EA DIDN'T DO THE APPROACHING; IT

powered, bullying villain, it's inarguably good business. EA's hand was
even, in a sense, forced by 2K's aggressive pricing strategy to gain market

JUST EMPTIED THE COFFERS. р

share—i.e., its $20 sports games. Financial analysts insist Sega's pricing
was likely only a one-year scheme, mind you, as it is largely considered
bad for the industry.
"I think what we learned is there's a great demand for a low-priced approaching; rather, it just emptied the coffers.
product out there," says Todd Sitrin, EA Tiburon's VP of marketing. "Throughout the years, we have had a number of conversations with
"There were a lot of consumers that had never purchased any football EA, which is a big marketing customer of ours," says John Skipper,
game regardless, [who] all of a sudden came out when there was a low- ESPN's executive vice president for advertising sales, new media, and
priced product." consumer products. "Our current agreement with Sega runs out at the
Even after dropping the price to rock bottom, NFL 2К5 still only end of this year, and we were looking to decide what our next agreement
garnered 40 percent of the market share (a significant leap, but not a would be. Our deal with EA came together fairly quickly."
financial success). Madden was dominant then and will stay that way. Why did ESPN abandon Take-Two? "We had a very good working rela-

ааа ааста вагт] tionship with [Take-Two]," Skipper told The Wall Street Journal. "But the
power of Electronic Arts' brand was hard to resist. When you think about

ROUND е brands that should be together and work together, | think EA represents in
videogames what ESPN represents in broadcasting and media assets."
THE AFL: WHO FREAKIN’ CARES? 4 The actual reasons for ESPN to switch teams seem to be threefold.
First, ESPN wanted the promise of more money, and Take-Two's
When EA signed on with the AFL, it garnered press similar to what you'd budget pricing meant fewer dollars at retail, fewer dollars in the licensor's
expect at a public nose-picking session: The only interested parties were bank account, and less capital to afford the license. It's ironic, really. 2K
NFL 2K5 fans hoping for a license to keep the franchise on life support. Games lowered the price of its franchise to gain market share, which was

www.lUP.com | 23
$ HYPE

IN WITH ек,
OUT WITH SEGA
THE END OF AN ERA Ў|
>
When Take-Two purchased Visual Concepts HISTORY OF SEGA SPORTS
from Sega for $24 million in January, it sig- ports splashed on the scenebackin 1
naled the end of Sega Sports as we know it Sega's sports arm all but shut dov
and the beginning of Take-Two's sports з lookbackat orts Moments.
brand, 2K Games. This move, along with its
MLB deal, announced that Take-Two will still 2000
challenge EA's sports titles. JOE MONTANA'S NFL FOOTBALL SEGA SPORTS VIRTUA TENNIS
“We view the acquisition of Visual Con- Ап early Sega CD release that featured all 28 A direct arcade port to Dreamcast, this block-
cepts as a significant positive for Take-Two,” NFL teams and live, unintentionally funny buster featured real players and great tennis; NO LICENSE?
TerraNova Institutional analyst Boris clips of Montana. it's still regarded by many gamers as the best NO PROBLEM
Markovich says. “Visual Concepts has histori- tennis game out there. There are a handful of
cally excelled by delivering some of the high- 1994 sports games surviving
est rated sports titles in the industry.” WORLD SERIES BASEBALL 2002 оп the market that
Paul Eibeler, Take-Two's president, followed This Genesis game had 28 teams, real players, SEGA SPORTS NFL 2Ka haven't signed gazillion-
up, saying, "With the acquisition of Visual and a 162-game season—everything but the The multiplatform debut for Visual Concepts, dollar exclusivity deals.
Concepts and Kush Games and their sports- players’ strike. which featured online play for the second Here are a few and how
game development capabilities, we'll con- straight year. they match up with the

tinue to aggressively pursue our strategy to 1996 competition

gain market share with our 2K sports titles.” NBA ACTION 2003
Sega, on the other hand, didn't feel like This Saturn title—the developer's first foray SEGA SPORTS WORLD SERIES BASEBALL 2КЗ Hot Shots Golf Fore!
sports were profitable enough anymore. into the NBA—featured NBA teams, players, The last of the Sega Sports-labeled titles. This arcadey golfer
“The ESPN Videogames line has not been a and Marv Albert yapping away. After this, titles were published under беда doesn’t feature real play-
key profit driver in the North American mar- and were labeled with ESPN. ers or real courses...just

ket for Sega,” explains Naoya Tsurumi, CEO 1999 wacky cartoon charac-

of Sega of America. While Sega might pub- SEGA SPORTS NFL 2K 2004 ters with more personal-

lish a tennis or soccer title in the future, its This Dreamcast launch title, developed by ESPN COLLEGE HOOPS 2К5 ity than Vijay Singh.
ties to major American sports are severed. Visual Concepts, was the first football game to The last ESPN-licensed game Бу Sega's sports 000
run at 60 frames per second. division. The competition:
ЕЕ
ая Tiger Woods 2005 өөөөє

Blitz: Playmakers
The unlicensed Playmak-
ers is sure to make an
effective, but then when its game peaked in popularity and was in a posi- Analysts argue this is a killer blow by EA. William Lennan, a WR Ham- impact by going beyond
tion to make money, ESPN walked because 2K couldn't afford the license. brecht analyst, told The New York Times, "It's a slap. It's a slam dunk. Pick the field of play. Drug
Second, money talks: EA dropped a massive bag full of money to lure your sports metaphor. This makes it tougher for people already facing an addictions, fast women,
ESPN to its side. uphill battle to compete." faster cars. It's like the
And third, EA has the NFL. Skipper tells OPM, “The EA/NFL five-year But from a gamer's perspective, the ESPN license never matured into real-life NFL without the
deal did not impact what ESPN decided to do. We would have done the anything significant for 2K Games' franchises; it served as an under- league restrictions.
deal whether or not the NFL deal had transpired.” However, at the same utilized coat of paint in almost every game. The announcing teams should Rating N/A
time, he also admitted to the New York Post, "We're happy to be in part- be counted as 2K's biggest loss, but the NFL franchise didn't use ESPN The competition:
nership with the company that has the NFL rights." announcers, and NBA 2K5's announcing was reprehensibly bad. Only the NFL Street 2 €
The ESPN integration, set to premiere in EA Sports' 2006 titles, won't NHL 2K franchise stands to significantly lose from the deal, because its
be used in the same way the 2K franchises used it. "EA Sports will be the announcing was so solid. World Soccer Winning

ласы BEE а етгі уду

leading brand on all of our existing sports franchises," says EA Eleven 8 International
spokesperson Trudy Muller, who says none of the current titles will WES features licenses
from various leagues, but
change, either.
So what will you see in terms of content from ESPN? The integration ROUND 4:
MLB: TAKE-TWO TAKES A SWING АТ EA 4
not the big daddy: the
English Premiership. Still,
will consist of announcers, stats, design, graphics, branding, and goods
from ESPN telecasts and archives. "The agreement also allows EA and it's considered one of the
ESPN to develop new games based on ESPN sports and programming," Take-Two stepped up to the plate next and responded to EA's NFL, AFL, premier-playing games in
says Muller. "We're not announcing specific titles now, but properties like and ESPN deals by paying bushels of money for acronyms to call its own, all of sports.
poker and the X Games could be considered." wrapping up the MLBPA, MLBP, and MLBAM licenses. To break it down,
There's also speculation that the license would allow for less-expected MLBPA covers players and their likenesses, MLBP (“Р” stands for “prop- The competition:
ESPN ventures turned games—that means that not only might you see a erties”) covers pro and minor-league clubs and ballparks, and MLBAM FIFA 2005 €
World Series of Poker game, but it's possible you could also see a game (“АМ” stands for "advanced media") covers MLB.com online content.
based on the poker-themed show Tilt. There are a couple curiosities with this deal, however, both of which
A company can do a lot in 15 years, but with the rapidly changing make Take-Two out to be this off-season’s New York Mets, who overpaid
gaming landscape—15 years from now would conceivably see us in PS5 to lure ace free agents Pedro Martinez from the Red Sox and Carlos
territory—why was such a lengthy deal agreed upon? Beltran from the Astros.
“This is a long-term commitment by both EA and ESPN to really inte- The first curiosity is that Take-Two paid a whopping amount for third-
grate each other's content for a sports fan’s dream come true," Muller party exclusivity. Industry execs suggest the company paid $250 million
says. “By having a longer deal, we can integrate ESPN content and pro- to $300 million for these rights, although Take-Two says that those
gramming deeper into our games both this generation and for hardware reported estimates are grossly overstated. Jeff Brown, EA's VP of corpo-
generation cycles to come. It allows us to work creatively without worry- rate communications, told GameSpot.com, “As far as we're concerned,
ing about the deal needing to be renegotiated in a year or two.” this looks like stupid money. They are paying an exclusive price for a
Take-Two says it still believes it can publish compelling sports games nonexclusive agreement.”
without ESPN, adding, “We wish ESPN the best of luck in their future While this brand of exclusivity has the definite whiff of a revenge deal
relationship.” aimed at hurting EA's bottom line, Take-Two feels like third-party exclusiv-

24”0PM April 2005

|namco
www.namco.com
i

Blood
Intense Violence
Sexual Themes
Strong Language
4 HYPE

EA TALKS BACK
WHEN THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
r
We condemned EA's partnership with the NFL [Blitz: Playmakers]. In the end, we're in compe
last month because we feel exclusivity is bad tition with TV, with the Internet, with movies.
for competition and for games. EA Tiburon's We have to win those consumers back by hav-
VP of marketing, Todd Sitrin, fires back, ing a quality, innovative product that pushes
defending EA's integrity in this sit-down. things further than they've ever been.

OPM Based on Sega Sports' $20 price point OPM A five-year deal is realistically a lifetime
and consumer reaction, did EA think NFL deal, isn't it? The resources won't be there for
exclusivity was a must? another company to build players, stadium
Todd Sitrin The reality is that the NFL and models, etc., because of the costs.
the NFLPA decided to pursue it. In the end we
felt it was the best thing for the relationship
with the NFL and the best thing for us.
"WE'RE IN COMPETITION
OPM Each Madden released in the past cou-
ple of years has topped the previous game. WITH TU, WITH MOVIES.”
So where's the motivation on EA's side to
say, “OK, it'll take five extra guys and TS | don't think so. The contract is a five-year
$200,000 to implement this groundbreaking deal. The type of technology that everyone's
feature. Let's do it"? using can move from one type of product to
TS Sega and Microsoft and Midway, those another. If we don't live up to our expectations
weren't our only competitors. We're compet- of the deal, the NFL and NFLPA have the option
ing with the Gran Turismos, the Grand Theft to go to someone else. There are a lot of pow-
Autos. It's important for us to [offer] a better erful companies that have the resources to get
experience than any of those games. And back into the licensed products at that time. It's
frankly, we don't think the sports competition up to us to produce a high-quality game, other-
is going away. We already know that Midway wise when that time comes, maybe people will
is marketing an unlicensed football product be searching for a new situation.

ity makes sense. all other third-party publishers and developers are precluded from pub-
“We believe that competition and choice, especially with sports games, lishing officially licensed MLB simulation-, arcade-, and manager-style
is of paramount importance for consumers,” says James Ankner, director games, either directly or in affiliation with a hardware manufacturer,
of corporate communications at Take-Two. “We believe this arrange- during the length of the exclusives," Ankner says.
ment—allowing consumer choice while protecting our ability to make But still, that's quite a price to stay friendly with competitors, even if
games—is a very smart business decision. Also, we value our relationship you are using their hardware. Considering the price of the deal, there's no
with our first-party partners so much that the MLB, MLBPA, and Take-Two chance that Take-Two will be selling its baseball title for $20; exclusivity of
didn't think it was appropriate to prevent our first-party partners from any kind needs to be paid for. EA made around $60 million from its base-
making games on their own platforms.” ball games last year, and that money is now up for grabs—Take-Two will
The second curiosity is Take-Two's devotion to a sport that ranks fourth be the primary beneficiary, though Sony and Nintendo will also share in
in sales behind football, basketball, and extreme sports. In fact, the entire the market.
baseball-game market in 2004 clocked in about 2.5 million units sold,
while Madden sold more than 3.2 million copies on PS2 alone. ERAN SONAL DN IIE LET ETP TOE |
“For Take-Two, this is an investment to participate in a segment that
has been growing and has significantly more room to grow,” says ANALYSTS ARGUE THE ESPN DEAL
Ankner. "According to NPD Funworld, retail sales of interactive baseball
titles grew 17 percent from 2003 to 2004, and over 50 percent from 2001 IS A KILLER BLOW BY EA. IN
to 2004.”
To take advantage of this growth, Take-Two plans to publish manage-
rial and arcade-style games to complement its simulation release. a 222222 221
“The baseball videogame market has been underdeveloped, and 2K
Sports has the product plan and talent to change that in next-generation ROUND 5:
NBA, NCAA, AND THE NHL: THE BIDDING WAR HAS BEGUN 4
videogame hardware,” says John Olshan, the MLBPA' category director
for interactive games. "For the first time, we will be positioned to take
advantage of the entire baseball, hot-stove, and holiday seasons with an So now that baseball and football have been divvied up, what's next?
outstanding partner who is committed to giving baseball videogames the Reportedly, Take-Two is already talking with the NBA, NHL, and NCAA
product development, marketing, and distribution required to bring sales about potential licensing deals. You can bet EA won't be sitting there
in line with the immense popularity of Major League Baseball." twiddling their thumbs, however.
As for the competition, what's next for EA's MVP Baseball series? EA Rumors persist from insider sources that the NBA is willing to go
released this statement: "We will launch MVP Baseball 2005 this spring— exclusive, but with parameters—it'll dole out exclusivity for different types
it's the highest rated and best selling baseball title in the market. We will of games, meaning EA could sign on for the arcade piece of the NBA's
continue to fight for market share this season. We are exploring our licensing puzzle (for its NBA Street series), while Take-Two could ink a
options longer term." deal to control NBA's simulation game (with its NBA 2K series).
Some have suggested that EA's MVP team could make a console base- Both EA and Take-Two are relatively mum on the topic, only saying
ball game and then distribute it through Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo in a that they are in discussions with the NBA and NHL.
co-branding situation. But that's a no-go. "These exclusives specify that Let the fisticuffs resume. << Todd Zuniga

26” OPM April 2005

 wy f
ЫСТЫ!
*
. "nh
è tass
4
эм, p
Ss з № b
 NOW PLAYTIME IS ANYTIME,
AND EA IS EVERYWHERE
WITH THE PSP HANDHELD.
Play 18 holes on your way to work. Win a pennant in a pizza place. Rise up at Rucker while you're
оп an airplane. Unleash the power of the PSP™ handheld entertainment system with six specially
designed titles from EA. Whenever, wherever, and however you want to compete, EA is there.

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Get your quick fix with Mini Games Üwn your opponent in Rock out with top name artists Blast it and pass it on in games
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 MARCH 2К5 2 YOUR PLAYSTATION 2

ITUES

Î You know what month For those whose Dante If you're into motorized
7X
Get ready for spring
this is? National training. No, not with of preference does not groin-smashing acci-
Peanut Month! Try a steroids—MVP Base- have the last name dents, then you can
peanut butter and ball 2005, MLB 2006, Bichette, Devil May Cry smash away without
| bacon sandwich! And and ESPN MLB 2K5 3 is also available for regard to physical pain
if you're allergic to Mr. are all in stores. your gaming pleasure. or insurance premiums
Peanut, you can, er, by buying MX vs. ATV
mash some peas Unleashed today!
together instead.

Regardless of your Do you think you can Have bucketloads of Hostage—Bruce Willis
opinion on Ronald do a good job of cre- undeserved money is another coplike dude
Reagan, you must ating and managing a burning a hole in your who befriends a boy!
applaud his naming of conference solely ded- pocket? Cold Fear, This adaptation of
March 6, 1984, as icated to the develop- TimeSplitters: Future Robert Crais' solid
“Frozen Food Day" Go ment of games? Too Perfect, and EA Sports crime novel was done
eat that Hungry Man late! GDC is already Rugby 2005 are ready by the guy who
meal that's been in up and running from and waiting! directed Splinter Cell's
your freezer since '85! today until the 10th. cut-scenes. Yay?

Giancarlo loooooves Fear Factor, Musashi Drink your green-

7 to scatter Baked Lays Samurai Legend, and colored beverages and
potato chips inside his Rainbow Six: Lock- annoy the living crap
sandwiches. Join him down are all yearning out of people who
in some official potato for your legal tender. forgot to put on green
chip fun on Potato Don't let them down! apparel! We prefer
Э Chip Day! getting a pint with our
mates.

It's the spring equinox! While waiting for the | Pick up your PSP! Pay homage to Mister
So not only is Easter PSP to launch, sate Watch Tobey Maguire RCA for taking a
Sunday nearby, but it's your gaming needs beat up Alfred "Throw chance on manufactur-
time to either plant, or with some delicious me the idol and ГИ ing a "color picture
harvest your precious God of War, Dragon throw you the whip" tube" for the "televi-
seeds! Er, don't read Ball Z: Sagas, Shining Molina on the bus! sion" back in 1954.
too much into that last Tears, and World Tour Give life to Lumines! Without his forward
phrase. Soccer, all out today. Love your PSP! It is thinking, imagine what
your new leader! games would look like!

Apparently, in Ye It's time to celebrate Did you know that Today is a reminder of
Olden Days, the Easter Something on a Stick Australians have plas- something that is very
Bunny was a bird that Day! Our favorite stick tic money? Alas, we important for you to
got transformed into items include: balls, have to use paltry understand: Nothing
an egg-laying rabbit. meats, cheeses, sev- paper money to buy lasts forever.
There is no empirical ered heads of enemies games like Splinter
evidence of whether it (and friends), and Cell Chaos Theory and
laid chocolate eggs, other sticks. Lego Star Wars today.
though.

www.1UP.com
 “НУРЕ

CASTLEVANI
CURSE OF Di
DR LA RIDES AGAIN

Innocence took the Castlevania series in, well...you aren't alone. Lament
ofInnocence shifted the series into 3D, and in doing so jettisoned a lot of
the traits that people had come to associate with the series—the adven-
turing elements had practically disappeared, and players had to learn
how to cope with a fixed camera. It also shifted the series to a nonlinear
format, structuring the game around a hub.
Curse of Darkness does away with all of that—including the Bel-
monts—except for the 3D. Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi confesses,
“In reality, | just wanted to remake Dracula's Curse, but everybody yelled
at me, saying ‘more adventuring elements!’”
This entry in the series introduces a new protagonist, Hector, who
was once a follower of Dracula before growing disillusioned and leaving
for a life of seclusion. This seclusion is tragically interrupted three years
in when Isaac, a former friend, shows up. Isaac believes Hector has

quum z jsT R (557 757 x

1990сакал DET: CEU
1995 EE
CASTLEVANIA: THE SERIES ЧЕ ама CASTLEVANIA И: DRACULA'S CURSE CASTLEVANIA: DRACULA X
The Castlevania franchise has been around a MESicommodorsesdemigararcade NES SNES, ЖА
long time. In fact, if it were a person, it would be 1988 1991 1997 <
legally old enough to vote this year. Allow us to CASTLEVANIA Il: SIMON'S QUEST CASTLEVANIA Il: BELMONT'S REVENGE CASTLEVANIA: SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT
present the timeline of Castlevania games, NES Game Boy PlayStation 4
American style. 1988 1991 1998
HAUNTED CASTLE SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV CASTLEVANIA LEGENDS: \
Arcade SNES Game Boy
1989 1994 1999
CASTLEVANIA: THE ADVENTURE CASTLEVANIA: BLOODLINES CASTLEVANIA
Game Boy Genesis Nintendo 64

382” OPM April 2005

 Snread

somehow caused Dracula's death, and he implicates Hector's girlfriend of the key additions is a skill called devil forging, which will allow Hec-
in a crime, which ultimately results in her death. All of this is simply a tor to summon what Igarashi calls “innocent devils” to assist him in
very convoluted way of getting Hector to follow Isaac back to Dracula's his progress through the castle. These devils will be available to aid
castle, where the game commences. Why no Belmonts? Igarashi feels Hector in combat or to get him past certain obstacles; the type of task
that introducing a new hero will strengthen the adventuring elements. you need assistance with will determine the sort of devil that is sum-
So, what can you expect once you get to Dracula’s castle? For one moned. While we only saw a crow апа a soldier-type devil, there are
thing, you'll be able to see the ceiling. Igarashi has done away with more than 30 devils in the game, though you won't be able to have any
Lament ofInnocence's fixed camera. “Now we have to make ceilings for more than one devil assisting you at a time. While Igarashi has a
all these places we never had to think about before,” he jokes. The favorite devil, he refuses to identify it, saying only, "Sorry, can't say,
game is also a lot bigger—though the number of stages has yet to be but he's the bad one!"
nounced, the size of each stage equals the entire Forgotten Gardens Will Curse of Darkness assuage the disappointment that many
section from Lament of Innocence. Castlevania fans felt after Lament of Innocence? It's still too early for us
Combat seems to be one of the few things that is relatively to tell, but we'll keep you updated as the game gets closer to release. <
unchanged from the last game, still being set up as a branching sys-
tem. Igarashi promises a number of new weapons and items, but one Pub. Konami Dev. Konami Release Fall
PRETTY AS А
PICTURE
Ayami Kojima, who
designed characters for
Lament of Innocence,
Aria of Sorrow, Harmony
of Dissonance, and Sym-
phony of the Night, is
back. She designed all
the main characters for
the new game, plus three
innocent devils. Her first
character design was for
Koei's Soldnerschild.

м
1999 2002 2004
CASTLEVANIA: LEGACY OF DARKNESS: KONAMI COLLECTOR'S SERIES: CASTLEVANIA
Nintendo 64 CASTLEVANIA & CONTRA Mobile phone
PC
2001 2004
CASTLEVANIA CHRONICLES: 2003 CLASSIC NES SERIES: CASTLEVANIA
PiayStation CASTLEVANIA: ARIA OF SORROW Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
2001
CASTLEVANIA: CIRCLE OF THE MOON
Game Boy Advance 2063
CASTLEVANIA; LAMENT OF INNOCENCE
PlayStation 2
2002
CASTLEVANIA: HARMONY OF DISSONANCE
Game Boy Advance

www.lUP.com | 33
 KILLER 7
7 DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITIES, WRESTLERS, AFROS...JUST ANOTHER TYPICAL DAY
r
“Killer 7 is a postmodern action-adventure, ” says producer Hiroyuki person action-adventure—a la Resident Evil games before RE4—that has
Kobayashi. It's evocative of David Lynch, and Kobayashi counts hard- first-person shooting segments interspersed throughout. Typically, you
boiled crime fiction, Mexican wrestlers, and numerous manga as its have one of the Killer 7 walking around (which you accomplish by hold-
inspiration. ing down a button to move forward and using the analog stick to select
How do we begin? “Killer 7” refers to the seven additional personali- different pathways as choices come up). Whenever you hear a laugh,
ties of legendary assassin Harman Smith. As far as we know, these aren't you switch to first-person view to see the Heaven Smile(s), and then
mere personalities, but actual people you can switch between on the fly. shoot it (be sure to aim at the glowing weak spots—reminiscent of those
The plot involves a man who can turn people into “Heaven Smiles,” on an enemy from RE4, which Kobayashi also produced). After killing it,
which are living biological bombs. There's a mission to eliminate the you gain blood, which you can use to heal yourself, perform special
leader of "The Afros," who happens to be a jive-talking African-American attacks, upgrade your stats, or add abilities. When you're not shooting,
with, well, a huge Afro and a propensity for bombing things. There's a you're completing such tasks as taking tests, fixing backed-up toilets, or
woman who will let you save the game only if she's dressed as a maid— finding soul bullets.
sometimes she's dressed in street clothing and will act out her amorous Throughout all of this, you can switch personalities on the fly, which
desires upon comatose men instead of letting you save. To pass the you need to do because each one has distinct advantages and skill sets.
"Presidential Psychological Loyalty Test," you need to answer questions The "main" character is wheelchair-bound Harman Smith; you play as
like "What is the color of the man's Afro in the 'We Love Freedom" him only in certain areas, and he has a powerful sniper rifle. There's Dan
poster?" So yeah, Killer 7 is most definitely an odd game. Smith, a fairly well-balanced gangster with a decent charge shot. Kaede
There's been lots of coverage on how bizarre the game's concept and Smith, the only playable female personality (the aforementioned maid,
look аге. And even though we've seen the game in action, we'd still һауе Samantha, is only in cut-scenes), has a long-range pistol and the ability
a difficult time explaining how it works. But we'll take a stab: It's a third- to cut her wrists to solve puzzles. Con Smith is a little blind fellow who is

X 34 OPM April 2005 |

 %- Roger Ebert says, *Imagine
a film in which Jackie Chan
and Buster Keaton meet
Quentin Tarantino
and Bugs Bunny.”

senis

weak but shoots and reloads the fastest; despite his blindness he can
sense secrets that everyone else will completely miss. The laid-back Coy- ©
ote Smith is a former thief, so he can pick locks, and he’s the only per.
sonality that can jump. The brooding Kevin Smith is a knife-wielding
maniac who can turn invisible if you're feeling stealthy, and the even СТЕРИЕП culo u
more psychotic Mask De Smith is a Mexican wrestler who uses his
strength and dual grenade-launchers to get through puzzles. Finally, Gar-
cian Smith is "the clean-up man," and is the only Smith that can resur-
rect other Smiths; if you die as any other character, Garcian can retrieve 1 У.
the corpse (represented as а bag of meat) and revive it there. If he dies, ER
you might want to reload your save. —
Even after all this, the game's surface has barely been scratched. 5 T
Gameplay aspects might seem elementary at first, but it’s the content 4
that makes Killer 7 so distinctive. Kobayashi jokes, "Director Goichi Suda
is definitely crazy, but 1 wouldn't say he's mentally disturbed." We have
absolutely no idea how John O. Gamer will react to this, or whether
Suda is certifiably crazy or not; we know for sure that Killer 7 is a game
to watch out for. «€
= +
Pub. Capcom Dev. Grasshopper Release Q2 2005
А NEW FILM FROM THE DIRECTOR
OF "SHAOLIN SOCCER?
Е EU OPENS IN NY & LA
5 MARCH 18, 2005!
„2 м OPENS EVERYWHERE
. E
APRIL 1, 2005!
? RU.
. T "X
ы SONY PICTURESINC.CLASSICS"
02005 SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT
 ARC THE LAD,
ANIME-STYLE

THE LAD:
OF DARKNESS
Remember Beyond the Beyond? Be glad you don't. The months between
the PlayStation's U.S. debut and the release of Final Fantasy Vil were
filled with a series of mediocre RPGs punctuated by some games that
were, at best, “solid.” Although the original Arc the Lad hit Japan in
1995 along with the PS1, it took its sweet time getting to the States,
arriving a whopping six years later as part of 2001's Arc the Lad
Collection. The series has never been a Final Fantasy, but historically, it’s
been just good enough to sate RPGers looking for some nourishment.
Arc the Lad's roots are in solid turn-based RPG action, so it's a bit of a
surprise to see this new installment play as a real-time action-RPG. Rather
than putting you in a straightforward linear quest, End ofDarkness has
you, as Edda, accepting missions from a central hub. Some are as ele-
mentary as “get rid of the hay,” others involve finding beasts or items,
and still others have you performing the occasional escort mission or
two. These, in turn, end up advancing the story line, as opposed to games
in which you just run around from point A to B and hit things.
As Edda cavorts around the world and does the normal RPG thing of
righting wrongs and forging everlasting friendships, he adds party mem-
bers who help him out during his questing. Due to the real-time, actiony
combat system, the Al ends up taking control of your extra party mem-
bers. But if you're feeling sociable and have friends on the Interweb, you
can hook up online and do either 4-on-4 team sorties or cooperative
questing together.
Whether you play with friends or use Al characters, you'll be able to
choose your squad from among tons of characters. End ofDarkness is
akin to a reunion episode; 24 characters culled from previous games
become playable, from Kharg (hero of Twilight of the Spirits) to the
original Arc himself.
Finally, if these changes and additions aren't intriguing enough, the
bizarre denizens of End of Darkness' universe—which include hat-wearing
alligators, armadillos with clawed gloves, and tiny folk who look like Easter
eggs with arms and faces—make this installment worth watching. <<

Pub. Namco Dev. Cattle Call Release May

З6”ОРМ April 2005

 LIVE BY
THE SWORD

ADVANCED MISSION SYSTEM

Explore and conquer over 50 areas,
including thrill-filled, non-linear side quests.

PE
Ж
COOPERATE OR DECIMATE
Help your friends—or challenge them in the Arena.
Up to 4-player action online or off with Multitap. B Plays, atio
Playstation.
THAMPIONE
RETURNTO ARMS

IMPORT YOUR CHAMPION OR CUSTOMIZE A NEW ONE

Choose from 7 races and 7 classes, with updated
weapons, armor, spells, skills and levels,
Pick your side, choose your deadliest arms, then
А Н A m D |С)N LN 2 slay your way to victory in Champions: Return to Arms
| RE | | | | —the powerful sequel to the must-have action-RPG
RETURN TO ARMS ~ | of 2004, Champions of Norrath: Rediscover all the
"w.ch: " " | action-packed, hack ^n' slash fun with up to 100 hours
A ee | of gameplay per character, unlimited battles, deadly
missions, horrific creatures and stunning environments.

ооа and Gore

Violence

ESRB CONTENT RATING _www.esrt.org Ф ё) developed b

Game experience may
change during online play. ca arae. 4 snoWwbl ! nd... SONY ONLINE
BROADBAND ONLY. ENTERTAINMENT

© 2004 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Champions: Return to Arms and Champions of Norrath are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. SOE and the SOE logo are registered trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment Inc. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer.
Entertainment Inc. The Onlineicon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Online play requires internet connection, Network Adaptor (for PlayStation 2) and Memory Card (8MB)(for PlayStation 2)(each sold separately). The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other
trademarks are properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.
 HAT H ЕОР

While you can always depend on Team Rainbow to travel the world themselves more time to prepare traps (using lethal claymores, as
fighting terror and injustice, you can now add "they also shoot people opposed to Rainbow's nonlethal flash mines), they can use the L&H Door
on the Interweb" to the list of Rainbow's great deeds. Fuser to fuse the hinges together and force Rainbow to use their precious RAINBOW SIX?
Yes, you might scoff at Rainbow Six: Lockdown for featuring standard little flashbangs or door hammers. These varying gadgets help make the In military jargon, "six"
multiplayer deathmatch modes, in which Team Rainbow and nefarious rivalry mode a little more interesting—the mercenaries might try fusing could refer to a group's
mercenaries shoot at each other, but the game also introduces a new all the doors to their objective closed, while Rainbow could do quick leader, which is recurring
"rivalry" mode. Think of rivalry as an objective-based variant on domina- scans of rooms, see which ones hold baddies and which don't, and use Tom Clancy character
tion: Each map has a few distinct objectives, and Rainbow and the merce- their weapons appropriately. John Clark іп this case.
naries compete to complete those objectives. Each one usually requires a Gunwise, Rainbow Six will feature more authentic military hardware, Не’ an ех-СІА badass,
team to capture and then secure some object. So, when the mercenaries with Team Rainbow using standard counterterrorism firearms (like trusty and has been played by
are trying to set off a bomb, Rainbow would be trying to defuse it. MP5s) and the mercenaries using more experimental and deadlier guns Willem Dafoe in Clear
Gadgetwise, each team has unique tools that complement the equip- (like the South African MAG-7, which combines a shotgun's might with a and Present Danger and
ment carried by the opposition. For example, Team Rainbow can use a submachine gun's frame). With so many guns and gadgets to play with, Liev Schreiber in The
motion tracker to look inside a room and see if anyone's moving in it Rainbow Six: Lockdown is still most likely the closest you're going to get Sum ofAll Fears.
before opening the door. Meanwhile, the mercenary team members can to being a jet-setting counterterrorist operative. <<
hook up their PDAs to security cameras wired throughout a given level
and scope out what Rainbow is up to. If the mercenaries want to give Ubisoft Dev. Red Storm R Q1 2005

38'OPM April 2005

 BROTHERS ІМ ARMS:
ROAD TO HILL 30
AND A LONG AND WINDING ROADIT IS

Just like in the single-player game, Brothers in Arms' multiplayer matches

put every player in command of four other soldiers. To reemphasize, play-
ers don't just play as a single soldier; each person commands four sol-
diers. This means that while four-player support doesn't sound like much,
these matches actually feature 20 soldiers running around, with only four
of them being real folks, adding a whole new layer of strategy.
In a typical match, the Axis teams defend two artillery platforms, while
the Allies are out to destroy them. Two-on-two matches in other games
on such a map are express tickets to snoresville, but now, two-on-two
feels like a full-scale battle. Each player can choose between either a fire YOU'RE NOT THE
team (specializing in laying down covering fire) or an assault team (spe- BOSS OF ME!
cializing in direct attacks). With the help of voice chat, you and your =
buddy can actually pull off coordinated attacks. A standard tactic would Here’s some behind-the
be for the fire team to sit behind cover and hit the enemy with suppres- scenes intrigue: Randy
sive fire while the assault team goes for a vulnerable flank. Pitchford, head of Gear
Now, say the Allies botch this attack, get eliminated in one round, and box, was on the Allied
make the Axis players more confident. The next round, one Allied player team the first time they
has his team try the same tactic, but while both Axis teams foolishly go lost. He then switched
after the first Allied player, the second player can take a completely differ- over to the Axis team,
ent path to the objective and destroy it while the Axis teams are dis- and lost again, twice. It
tracted. Then while the Axis teams attempt to deal with the second Allied looks like the “let the
player, the first one swoops in for the second artillery gun. In the final boss win" memo didn't
round, the Axis players might watch the two side routes the Allies used in make its way around
the previous rounds. Only they are surprised when both Allied teams do Gearbox's inboxes.
an aggressive and combined straight run through the center of the map
and hit both guns hard from the middle while the Axis teams scramble to
meet the sudden attack.
This is just a basic play-by-play of a three-round match, but the voice
chat and decent Al teammates create a slick fusion of tactics and action
that makes B/A more interesting than yet another random Nazi shooter. <<

Pub. Ubisoft Dev. Gearbox/Ubisoft Shanghai Rele 01 2005

www.lUP.com |39
 =”

2 FREEE Ж Live
4 PlayStation.2 RADICAL xeox

MATURE

Blood and Gore

Violence “Online playпо available on al platforms. INTERNET CONNECTION required tor online play. PlayStation@2 online play requires Internet Connection, Network Adaptor (lor PlayStation 2) and Memory Card (8MB) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately). Check
platform box foronlineplay.
CONTENT RATED BY 2005 Free Radical Design Ltd. "TimeSplitrs." "TimeSpliters Futur Free Radical Radical Design Ltd. llrightsreserved. EA GAMES, the EA GAMES logoand “Challenge Everything” aret
ESRB rks of ElectronicArtsInc. in the U.S.and/or other countries. the "PS" Family logo areregistered trademarks ofSonyComputer Entertainment Inc. The Onli isa trademarkofSonyComputer Entertainment America Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live.
Game experience may logo, and the Xbox Logos are either registered trademarksortrademarks of Microsoft Corporation intheUnited States and/or other countries and areused under license from Microsot. ™,©, and Nintendo GameCube are trademarksofNintendo, ©2001 Nintendo. All
change during online play. ‘other trademarks are the property of their respecti EA GAMES" is an Electronic Arts" brand.
 маму COOKS IN
CLANCY'S KITCHEN
Pandora Tomorrow's ver-
sus mode came from
Ubisoft Annecy (near the
French Alps), and it's also
doing Chaos Theory's
versus mode. Ubisoft
Montreal is focused on
the single-player and
cooperative modes.
Ubisoft Shanghai isn’t
porting the PS2 version,
unlike other SC
titles.
GEO TEXTURING REFRACTION

SPLINTER CELL
CHAOS THEORY
XTU

While Splinter Cell Chaos Theory offers another host of neat tweaks and wooden beams can break up a smooth wall, and when you see a pipe
additions to the series’ stealth gameplay, what might turn out to be the running along the ceiling, that pipe might technically be a texture. It's
most interesting aspect of the game is the new technology it's bringing really too quirky to explain adequately, but just look at the end result to
to the PS2. Somehow, those Canadian developers up in Montreal have see it in action. DID YOU KNOW?
managed to overcome technical hurdles and make the PS2 version nigh Additionally, the development team has somehow managed to create Tom Clancy, the author
indistinguishable from the Xbox and PC versions. refraction technology that is actually better on the PS2 than on the other of the books that both
At the moment, the hot tech is normal mapping, which is a super- systems. So much so that on the PS2, there is an exclusive water stealth the Splinter Cell and
advanced technique of putting high-resolution textures onto fewer poly- kill (in which Sam snatches someone and suffocates him underwater), Rainbow Six franchises
gons. Developers love to normal map the heck out of everything nowa- which was created just so the player has something cool to do with the are based on, was actu:
days...except the PS2 hardware isn't quite capable of normal mapping, nice-looking water. ally deemed ineligible for
which is why you don't see games such as Doom 3 and The Chronicles The rest of the game feels pretty good, with the goofily named military service because
of Riddick on the system at the moment. closer-than-ever system (a new method of pulling off lethal stealth of his poor eyesight
Yet Ubisoft Montreal has managed to produce a similar type of tech- moves) and the dual multiplayer shot of versus mode (from Pandora Before he became a
nology called "geotexturing." In our extremely layman minds, we Tomorrow) and the new cooperative mode. But you can thank those writer, he was an insur
understand that geotexturing entails sending geometry data through the Canadians and their fancy geotexturing for making the whole package ance salesman.
texture pipeline. So on top of the normal geometry data (the actual lay- look as nice as it does here. <<
out of any given level), the textures themselves can feature geometry
using this technique, meaning that walls can have protruding stones, Pub. Ubisoft Dev. Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Annecy ^ е March

www.lUP.com 41
% HYPE

7 TOP BRAINIACS TALK PS3 BEYOND

_ ui———————————————Á—————— M Ó
The key to creating the PS3 is no bigger than a thumbtack. We're talking
about its heart and soul, the Cell processor. Sony, Toshiba, and IBM have
been working together to create this CPU since 2000. The goal is to "create
a multimedia-friendly CPU ready for broadband-rich media applications."
Translation: They want the foundation for the ultimate gaming machine.
Sony's next-gen console will be unveiled in Japan at the end of March,
but Stateside, our heads are spinning after a recent technology briefing CELL ARCHITECTURE
where we got numbers—lots and lots of numbers. In fact, when IBM's Dr. BY THE NUMBERS
Jim Kahle started talking about what makes this new processor so great, +8 synergistic processing
all we heard were ones and zeroes. nits (SPU) working
The whole framework behind Cell is shared computing between multi-
ple CPUs. Eight synergistic processing units with a Power-based core can
exceed 4GHz clock speeds. What does that all mean? Theoretically, this
tiny solution could be 10 times more powerful than current top-of-the-line B of on-chip memory
processors. However, Masakazu Suzuoki of Sony СЕ! warns, “It is not fair KB L2 cache'and
8x
to compare [the current processors] with the Cell. What we can say is that 256KB)
in some applications, namely digital media and entertainment, [the Cell]
works much better.” All Kahle could add was, "Stay tuned.”
A big concern for the PS3 could be heat and power. While Cell is capa-
ble of well over 4GHz clock speeds, the amount of heat that power would
generate (not taking into account the heat produced by any other compo-
nents) will require a lot to keep it cool. Although Cell has advanced, built-
in thermal sensors, this bad boy still needs breathing room. What does
this mean for you? Your PS3 could be could be slightly bigger and bulkier
than your PS2. Spokespeople on hand couldn't actually confirm what the
clock speed of the chip inside the PS3 will be, but the potential is astro-
nomical compared to what you're seeing today.

ZOE FLOWER, aka “Gamer Girl,” creates TV programs

and music videos and looks good doing it. See the details

=. jaws agape at the passionate, eloquent, back- most entertainment when we get home.
handedly complimentary call to arms that Mr. But despite Ecko’s tell-it-how-it-is rant and my
Fashion himself floored us with. | felt the room own experience as the end consumer, | still can't

LLI
tense at such brazen statements as “Your tech- help but feel there has to be a way to celebrate
nology means f*** all. Consumers don't give a the creative minds that drive the content we

<.
For most of us, the thought of February con- s*** about you. They just care about the end crave. And maybe the average person doesn't
jures images of Cupid and valentines and flow- product.” It was a slap in the face for me; it got get chills over a normal-mapping demo or line
ers. But for a lucky few, the annual DICE Sum- me riled, but also got me thinking about the up for Kojima's autograph—but that has to
mit in Las Vegas is a highlight of the month.
“ғ” %
о
(Sponsored by the Academy of Interactive Arts
and Sciences, DICE is where industry luminaries
WHY CAN'T WE EMBRACE OUR
ШЕГЕ CULTURE AS ART?
meet to discuss new ways to “design, innovate,
communicate, and entertain.") | admit that in
the past | haven't paid much attention; the gath-

LL. Ф<
ering often only makes the press because of
some journalist's drunken indiscretion. (No, this truth to that bold quote. After all, how many of count for something! Why can't we embrace
is not a witty self-reference! My halo remains us would change our purchase decisions if we our culture as art? Why are we seeking valida-
а.
intact, even if it's a little crooked.) So it was with knew a game developer had suffered a stroke tion with constant comparisons to the film
172)

LL 5> trepidation, and the lure of the token goody during the final stages of creative genius? Is industry? Why are we struggling with an iden-
[7] bag, that | made my pilgrimage this year— there such a thing as a sympathy buy? Even if | tity crisis when even a rich fashion designer
с.
despite the list of speakers that included such do want to buy 10 copies of God of War after wants to make games?!

m
ш
Apparently | should go ahead and sign
> non-game-related people as fashion designer reading the tribulations that David Jaffe details
regularly in his blog, | can’t imagine that this is myself up for my very own rant at next year's
Mark Ecko. What could he possibly say to a
© bunch of nerds? (Besides talk about his new the norm. Most of us are lost in a sea of boxes DICE summit. But until then I'll be considering

N
т what it means to be a consumer of games ver-
3 graffiti epic for PS2 coming this year.) that scream out to us like puppies without
Well, what a wake-up call | had—along with homes. And we just want to pick the one that's sus someone who is simply passionate about
ш
the rest of the videogame industry, staring with going to show us the most love and give us the them. And so should you. <<

4=2”ОРМ April 2005

 FUTURE PERFECT

SOMETIMES THE BEST FRIEND YOU’VE GOT IS үйіп.)

me
^. у

BATTLE FROM 1924 TO 2401. JUMP THROUGH ANNIHILATE ROBOTIC, RESURRECTED OR SYNCUP ONLINE FOR INTENSE 16-PLAYER
TIME TO SAVE YOUR PAST OR FUTURE SELF LIVING ENEMIES WITH A WICKED ARSENAL. TEAM COMBAT & DEATH MATCHES.
 à
MATURE 17+
Blood and Gore px )
Intense Violence > i | = ше
Strong Language x ИЕН
ртг

v te
ae logovare regi: га ;of «EC:-"PlayStatiori" and the "PS" Family logo: are registered, trade
= play requires internet connection, Networkо (for PlayStation. 2) and Memory Card. (8MB) (fi Plays 12) (Each: sold Sê rrátélyjs The.Online; a tradémark of Sony Computer Entertainment America. Inc.
4:
 Real soldiers. Authentic battlefie
combat. Ihe lives of your теп areiny

) - Command 3-man AI squads in a battle of wits

and skill in split-screen/or online multiplayer.

ЕЛ |
ubicom: ;
 ENTHUSIA
AT LAST! A RACING GAME FOR STATISTICIANS!

4
In Enthusia, it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you drive your саг. skill points are doled out. You start with a certain number of base points,
This may not sound like such a departure from the racing-sim formula, which are dictated by your car choice: Traction control, for example, will
but believe us, it is. Just about every move is analyzed, rated, and lower your base points, as will using an automatic transmission instead
rewarded. You may think you're used to this sort of thing from playing of a manual one. Added to your base points are points awarded for dis-
various Gran Turismos; if so, you're in for a rude awakening. tance driven, your finishing position, and the time of your fastest lap.
The Enthusia life (read: career) mode centers around Enthu points (we Subtract any Enthu points you've lost by driving recklessly, and you'll end
wish we were making that up) that can be considered roughly analogous up with a skill point total, which is then added to both your car level and
to hit points in an RPG. As you race, points are deducted for going off your driver level.
course, hitting walls, or crashing into opponents. Finish a race with some As you build up points in your driver level, you'll find yourself leveling
Enthu points left and you'll recover a small portion of your total; lose all up. Higher levels increase your total Enthu points and the rate at which
your points and you'll have to sit out the next race. You can recover larger you recover them. As you add points to your car level, you will similarly
chunks by resting or switching cars, but either choice takes you out of the level up periodically. This is the only way to improve your car. As you
race pool for an in-game week and can allow your overall Enthusia life step up toward level 10, your car's weight, tires, and power will improve
ranking to drop. in predetermined increments. When your car hits level 10, each category
Sound complex? We're just getting started; Enthusia loves numbers will be maxed out at level 3; from this point on, you'll no longer earn car
with an almost obsessive-compulsive fervor. Consider: After each race, level points, but you'll get a 25-point bonus on your driver level.

46'OPM April 2005

 GARAG E DAYS
Here’s a partial list of the cars slated to appear
in Enthusia. Keep in mind that most of these are
Japanese models; the specific model names or
designations may cha nge before the U.S. release.

Alfa Romeo 147 GTA

з'о5`066 ASL Garaiya
Aston Martin DBS Vantage
Aston Martin V12 Vanquish
Audi R8 Team Goh 2003
Audi R8 Team Goh 2004
Audi TT Coupe 2.3 Quattro S-Line
BMW 24 3.0i
Caterham Super 7 Superlight В500
Chevrolet 1971 Corvette Stingray Coupe
Chevrolet 2002 Corvette Z51
Citroén Xsara
TENTHS Ford 1966 Mustang GT
Ford 2005 GT
Ford Focus Rally Car
Honda NSX Type R
Lancia Stratos
Land Rover Range Rover
Lotus Europe Special
Lotus Elise 1118
Mazda 7878
LEVEL УР! Mazda Roadster Н5-І
Mazda RX-7 Spirit R
Mazda RX-8 Type 5
Mazda Savanna RX-7 Infinity
Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM
Mercedes-Benz G500L
Mercedes-Benz SLR
Mini Cooper 5
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII GSR
Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
Mitsubishi Pajero Short
JOIN RACE Nissan 180SX Type X
Nissan Fairlady Z Version 5
Nissan Pickup Rally
Nissan R390 GT1
Nissan Skyline GT-R V-spec И Nur
Nissan Xanavi Nismo GT-R
Peugeot 206 Rally Car 2000
Renault Alpine A110 1600SC
Ruf CTR
$а!ес! ond join o FR Ruf RGT
Shelby Cobra 427 S/C
Smart FourTwo Cabrio
Subaru Impreza WRX STi
Subaru Impreza WRX STi Version VI
Suzuki Cappuccino
Toyota Celica GT-4 WRC
Toyota GT-One
Toyota Land Cruiser 100
Toyota MR-SV Edition
Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3-door GT APEX
Volkswagen Golf R32
Volkswagen Touareg V8

Next on the postrace debriefing agenda come the ranking points. sive. Even at the game's incomplete stage of development the cars look
These start with a base amount that's derived from the class you're com- and handle very much like the real thing, and the game is—or at least
peting in. This is multiplied by your car's projected odds of winning the tries to be—as obsessive about physics as it is about statistics. A heads-
race—calculated before you jump into a race, so you can avoid anything up display intuitively communicates information about weight transfer,

PLAY IT!
too far out of your league—and then multiplied again by how you placed: lateral force vectors, and tire traction, for example, while an unusual
1 for first place, .8 for second place, .6 for third place, and so on. (Interest- graphical effect simulates head-bounce and motion blur. There are some
ingly, this means that if you get into a race with odds that are stacked oddities in this preview build—drifting through some of the rally courses
heavily against you, even placing third or fourth can be quite profitable— is all but impossible, for example—but it's all quite innovative. Test out Enthusia on the
especially if you're able to do it without losing Enthu points.) The result- The question at this point is, Is it innovative enough? Hundreds of disc, though you won't
ing number is then added to your total ranking points, which have an licensed cars to collect, dozens of real-world tracks to drive on, no damage get to try Enthusia life
effect on your overall ranking. The higher your ranking, the more races modeling or online mode—sound like any racing game you know? Enthu- mode. Also, note that the
you can compete in and the better the cars you can win in the postrace sia is obviously attempting to distinguish itself from Gran Turismo through physics diagram has
rival-car raffle. its ultracomplex numbers game, but it will be interesting to see whether been changed from the
If all this sounds fairly bizarre and almost indescribably boring, then the market can support two painstakingly realistic driving sims. «€ demo version's to some-
you're getting the general idea. Remember, though, that all this point- thing more intuitive. 9g
mongering comes after the race—and the racing is pretty darn impres- Pub. Konami Dev. Konami Release March

www.lUP.com | 42
RATING PENDING ада
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for updated rating
information.
|ды PlayStation.
 Reveal the unholy origins of the Mishima curse in
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 MIDNIGHT CLUB 3:
ОJUB EDITION
OAD RAGE PAR

Admit it. Sometimes when you're stuck in heavy traffic on the freeway, through the air when you switch to the reverse-view camera.
you'd like nothing better than to be able to plow through all of the other The roar mechanic produces a somewhat similar effect in that it
cars to get to your destination. Of course, you can do that if you want, but obliterates objects in your path. As you might suspect, roar can only be
then there's that whole thing about laws and murder you'd have to worry produced by muscle cars and choppers ('cause, you know, their engines
about. Fortunately, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition lets you fulfill your road roar). You charge roar by drifting in the middle of traffic or around a turn,
rage fantasies through a series of new gameplay features that give the and when you use it, it produces a massive shock wave that pushes cars
game a distinctly different feel, depending on the one you're using. out of the way. But you have to be a little bit careful. If you use roar
One of these new gameplay mechanics is appropriately called aggro, when traffic or your opponents are far away, it won't really be all that
which you can only use when you're behind the wheel of some of the effective, but if the vehicles are close to you, it will have a strong impact
bigger racing beasts in the game, such as an SUV or a truck. There's a that will almost completely toss cars to the side.
good reason for this—the only way you can charge the aggro meter is by The last of the three special driving features, zone, is probably the
smashing into cars or any of the objects on the side of the road. Once most useful. Much like the turbo meter in the Burnout games, the zone
you've collided with enough objects, you can use aggro to plow into meter is filled by passing close to cars or by narrowly avoiding oncom-
even more cars, but this time, the unfortunate fools on the business end ing traffic. Zone is less destructive than the other new gameplay
of your H2 will go flying through the air. Unfortunately, aggro doesn't mechanics since it essentially puts you into a bullet-time mode where
last that long, but you'll undoubtedly get a kick out of seeing a car flip you can adjust your car's route at normal speed while everything moves

SO” OPM April 2005

 00.100 ШО
EE N

MULTIPLAYER
MAYHEM
Midnight Club 3s multi-
player mode
willfeature
а number of different
types, including
ars, in which you
have to drop offfla
your base before your
nent does. These
also include vari-
ups that can
assist you in your quest
to be the best driver.

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about to collide with a wall or traffic, which can be a pretty common
occurrence if you're zipping around in one of Midnight Club 3s many

www .CollinsCollege.edu
tuner cars or sport bikes.
Of course, the career mode and races in Midnight Club 3 are still
about skill and learning how to deal with a car's advantages and disad-
vantages. Sure, a Saleen S7 can beat just about anything off the line in
the game, but you really have to be careful with how you manage its
speed, because one little slipup can result in your car getting thrown off Collins College is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology
(ACCSCT). Financial Aid is available for those who qualify. Career services assistance. Collins College West
course. Conversely, an enormous Escalade doesn't have the speed, but it is a satellite campus of Collins College. Not all programs available at all locations.
can take a pounding, making it useful for dense traffic situations. Either
way, you'll develop a taste for certain cars in Midnight Club 3, whether
it's because of the way they drive or how good they look when you mod
them out in the game's ridiculously deep garage customization mode. <<

Pub. Rockstar Dev. Rockstar

SanDiego Release April
 www.stolen-game.com

тош EN

COMING 500М...

(ЕЕ A 4 PlayStation.e "t

 ILL
GAMING’S COMIC REDEMPTION MAY
COME IN THE FORM OF DEATH.

54°0PM April 2005

 DEATH. JR.
DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY

Genuinely good comedy is tough to сб by in games. Oh, there have

been many attempts, with decidedly miXegkresults (the PS2's The Guy
Game, Escape from Monkey Island and A"Bard's Tale to name а few), but
to our knowledge, there's never been a гип& hit in the comedy cate-
gory. Besides, given the overabundance of sh@@ting, maiming, prostitu-
tion, and various dark, edgy, save-the-world plot s, there's ample evi-
dence to suggest videogaming has no sense of ог at all.
It is then with а bit of irony that gaming's comidedemption comes in
the form of death. More specifically, Death, Jr, a thifd- person action-plat-
former for the PSP that actually may be funny, and Wê do mean of the
ha-ha sort.
Death, Jr., or DJ to his friends, is the teenage son he Grim Reaper.
Like his dad, DJ carries a scythe wherever he goes, аід with an arsenal
of guns and explosives. Kids these days!
Predictably, the son of the guy that shows up when you're about to die
isn't necessarily the most popular kid in school. DJ's fri$nds include the
similarly marginalized: Pandora, who suffers from obs@ssive-compulsive
disorder, manifested by a bizarre need to open anything, no matter what's
inside; the conjoined-at-the-head twins, Smith and Wéston, who are noted
for their nerdy smarts; Stigmartha, who bleeds fromthe hands when
she’s stressed out; and the armless and legless foreign exchange student,
The Seep, who lives in a vat and spews vulgarities. (We've always wanted
a friend whose name begins with “The.” —Ed.)
As the story goes, the kids are on a school field trip to the Museum of
Supernatural History, where they come across a box, a box which Pan-
dora is obsessively compelled to open. The opened box unleashes the
ancient demon Moloch along with his scourge of evil minions. Now DJ
must save his friends, save the world—and all before his dad finds out.
DJ's scythe acts as both a weapon and a puzzle-solving device. All the
platformer basics are here—DJ runs, jumps, and attacks enemies directly
or with his store of range weapons. The scythe comes in handy to open
doors or slide on zip lines or swing on poles. Outside-the-scythe weapons
include a lightning gun, dual pistols, a flamethrower, and exploding C4
hamsters. Yes, hamsters.
The Death, Jr. fun takes place in and around the museum, which is the
hub for Moloch and his gang of demons to come and go in this world as
they please. The 15 levels are colorful, quirky, and surreal (Meatworld, for
instance, is an amusement park that celebrates meat of every kind), and
are well populated with a mix of jumping and move-the-box-type puzzles
and inventive and—despite the goofy premise—convincing combat.
Word is that publisher Konami plans to expand the Death, Jr. world to
other media. Deals have already been struck with Image Comics and toy-
maker Gentle Giant Toys, with even a feature film in development.
Death, Jr. might be the game that proves humor can be found in the
“undiscovered country.” We hope so. With the serious state of gaming,
we could use a few laughs just about now. <<

Pub. Konami Digital Entertainment Dey. Backbone Entertainment se Spring

www.1UP.com 55
ФНУРЕ

MAJESCO
MANIA
r
Thanks to the key acquisition of Psychonauts, Majesco is quietly becom-
ing a bigger player just by supplying a few unique games. Here's a look at
its initial PSP lineup, which is markedly different from other publishers'.

ADVENT SHADOW N

With Advent Shadow, the PSP gets the somewhat bizarre opportunity to
portray a subplot of an epic game that's not even on the PS2.
Advent Rising (which will be out this spring on Xbox and PC) is the
first part of the proposed Advent Trilogy, a rollicking sci-fi adventure
chronicling the messianic journey of Gideon Wyeth. At some point,
Gideon crosses paths with Marin Steel, a typical female game character
who is nice on the eyes and can do her fair share of shooting and jump-
ing. It's her side of the story that is the focus of Advent Shadow.
At the moment, Majesco is quite mum about what goes on in Advent
Shadow. The company will only admit that it's a parallel story to Advent
Rising and that it's a more focused and portable version of the action-
adventure gameplay you'd get in Advent Rising. We're not sure if the
superhuman powers that make Advent Rising so intriguing are retained in
Advent Shadow, but Majesco promises to fill it with the following slick
phrase: "high-speed chases, aerial dogfights, tank battles, melee combat,
and acrobatic gameplay set in massive, destructible environments."
Sounds good to us.
It sounds like it has a shot at being a good third-person action-adven-
ture, even though it's a companion to a game only on Xbox and PC.

Pub. Majesco Dev.Full Fat Release Q12005

INFECTED 4

Oh look, zombies. You've got people who, after being infected by some
nefariously crafted virus, get all decayed-looking and bloodthirsty. And
you have to stop them. Yawn.
OK, to be fair, the game actually sounds quite solid, thanks to having
Planet Moon Studios as its developer. Its work on games like Giants: Citi-
zen Kabuto and the original MDK proves that it has a good foundation
when working on third-person shooters. What makes Infected more
intriguing is its "virus infection" mechanic. When you're playing Wi-Fi
multiplayer, if your opponent manages to "infect" your system, his char-
acter will insert himself into your game; next time you boot up a single-
player game, you might find your opponent as one of the zombies. So if
you absolutely suck at multiplayer and play a bunch of people, all of their
characters might be multiplying around in your game—you supposedly
get rid of other player infections through special disinfecting missions. It's
kind of a unique (if somewhat gross) method of marking your dominance
and territory in a multiplayer match.

Pub. Majesco Dev. Planet Moon Studios Release Q12005

55"OPM April 2005

All her li и has wat тесі over her.
те dar f Kri from spreading retu
own menacing weapons and dea nique collaborative
a fellow
с warri ог, making out, plan
breathtaking 3-D environments. This time, ly way to preserve your future isstot

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 UNTOLD LEGENDS:
BROTHERHOOD
HAPPIEST BLADE OF THEM ALL
OF THE BLADE
While someone playing a PS2 game will often allot gaming time in hours,
PSP players are more likely to spend minutes. As a result, we're seeing a
lot of differences in how PSP developers are approaching fundamental
mechanics, even for games that on the surface look very similar to their
PS2 counterparts.
In a PS2 game, it's not unusual to start a side quest and then discover NOT TO BE
that maybe you need to spend more time leveling up before you go back CONFUSED WITH
and give it another go. However, developers are wise to the fact that wast- ang Brothe [
ing precious minutes (and battery life) is going to grow old quickly for Blad
gamers on the go. Untold Legends does have a main campaign that pro-
ceeds in a linear fashion, but there are also 20 side quests whose difficulty
scales to whatever level your character happens to be. You're also not
dependent on portals or gate scrolls to go back and stock up on supplies—
just go to the menu and warp back to the market at any point.
Multiplayer is also very adjustable. No distinction is made between sin-
gle-player games and multiplayer ones; instead, players can join and leave
whenever, with up to four players allowed at a time. The difficulty of the
game is set according to the host's level, so it's helpful to play with people
of similar experience. Though the number of monsters stays the same
regardless of how many players are in the game, their difficulty level shifts
to provide the appropriate challenge.
A lot of gaming conventions are being tinkered with to save players"
time. But who likes to waste time running around, regardless of whether
you're working with limited time and battery life or sitting at home on your
couch with a few hours to kill? How do backtracking and searching for save
points make a game better, no matter the format? It will be interesting to
see if the PSP's influence on game structure ends up changing how devel-
opers design for its housebound counterparts. <

Pub. Sony Online Entertainment Dev. Sony Online Entertainment Release March

58"OPM April 2005

 PSP:
MORE GOOD STUFF
аа
СНЕС
DEN ЦЕНЕ TEES
LUMINES 4
The Japanese launch title Lumines (developed by Rez's Tetsuya
Mizuguchi) swept through the OPM offices as a stealth favorite—the easy-
to-learn, difficult-to-master puzzle gameplay combined with a fabulous
trance soundtrack proved to be addictive beyond belief. (We have even
witnessed certain unnamed editors stealing unmanned PSPs from other
editors' offices just to get in a few minutes with the game.) In addition to
single-player game that will suck your life away, it's got a great multi-
player mode in which two players face off in an attempt to control the
board. Good combos increase your playing area while decreasing your
opponent's; a winner is declared once someone is shoved off the board.
For a while, however, it seemed unlikely that the game would make an
appearance in the United States; the game sold only 20,000 copies at
launch. Thankfully, Ubisoft announced that it would be picking up the
publishing rights here in the States, so we urge you: Support a talented
game developer and go buy this game. Now.

RENGOKU: THE TOWER OF PURGATORY к

This Japanese PSP title will also Бе winging its way across the ocean and
landing on American soil. Rengoku is an action-RPG that places you in the
guise of an android who must make his way through a futuristic land-
scape and up the tower of the game's title to confront the requisite myste-
rious enemy. As you go, you'll be able to upgrade your skills and gain
new weapons and technologies, which you'll then put to the test as you
slug it out against the foes you encounter—it seems rather like a dungeon
crawler that's set in a sci-fi world. There's also a multiplayer mode with
up to four players in which you play king of the mountain on top of the
Tower of Purgatory.
We must confess that this game doesn't really do much to excite us,
but it may fill the control-a-giant-metal-object void for those who aren't
car fanatics.

Pub. Konami Dev. Hudson Soft Release Spring

GRAND THEFT AUTO N

Pull out your miniature baseball bats and crowbars: Rockstar has
announced that its signature franchise will indeed be making an appear-
ance on PSP. And that's about all we know about the game as of press time.
However, we're fairly certain that for fans of the series, the fact of its exis-
tence is all they need to know to be sold.

Pub. Rockstar Dev. Rockstar North Release Spring

FROGGER N
Give me an “F”! Gimme ап “А”! Gimme an “O”! Gimme a...OK, that's
about all the enthusiasm we can muster up for Konami's announcement
that the little green guy will be making an appearance on PSP this fall.
While it has yet to show gameplay footage for PSP, we're going to go out
on a limb and predict that it will involve frogs hopping their way to safety.

Pub. Konami Dev. Konami CE Hawaii Release Fall

MIDNIGHT CLUB 3: DUB EDITION e

Now you'll be able to take your rims on the road with you. Want to know
more about it? Well then, check out the preview for the PS2 version on
page 50—Rockstar says that the PSP version will be a pretty straightfor-
ward port of its big brother. Just promise us you won't play aggro mode
while simultaneously driving your car down the freeway.

Pub. Rockstar Dev. Rockstar San Diego Release Spring

www.1UP.com | 59
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While the PSP launch in Japan was largely considered a huge success, it slightly to the right of the button rather than directly underneath it. Ken
hasn't been without some problems. Early on, complaints ranged from Kutaragi, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, said in an inter-
dead pixels and defective analog nubs to the system randomly ejecting view with Nikkei Business that it was necessary for the Square button to
the UMD during gameplay. However, the biggest issue was the defective sit so closely to the screen so that the designers of the unit didn't have to
Square button, which would often be unresponsive or simply wouldn't sacrifice any screen size to compensate for button placement. Doing so
work at all. This issue reportedly caused almost 5,000 people to send their would either make the unit larger or make the screen smaller, two things
PSPs back to Sony. Japanese publication Nikkei Business is reporting that Kutaragi wanted to avoid in the final design of the system. It's currently
approximately 6 percent of the 800,000 PSP units sold in Japan (as of not known if Sony has taken steps to correct some of these issues in the
press time) have been returned due to defects. hardware before its North American release, so you may want to think
So why all the issues with the Square button? Because it is placed right about buying one of those extended warranties when you go to pick up
next to the screen, the mechanics that it controls are actually situated your own PSP on March 24. <

OBIN WILSON is lead singer for the Gin Blossoms and

and enjoys physics and cooking shows. Find him on 1UP at
theoutsider.1UP.com.

wants us watching, but it still doesn’t fully trust mate Gamer are decent enough, but they're rel-
Й
бани us. | believe | am qualified to make this assess- atively easy to produce and represent the mini-
ment because | recently had the opportunity to mal risk level that networks are willing to take
Ld pitch a TV show concept to some Spike TV for us. My concept, while admittedly expensive,
Spike TV respects gamers... little. It respects executives. It was (and still is) my concept for a would still cost a hell of a lot less than /ron Chef
us because it knows we exist in vast, Fremen- show that gamers will actually care about. The America. But as | said, all these things are rela-
like numbers and that we can screw the network meeting went well, the execs were cool, and tive, and it's reasonable to imagine that there
if we hate what it does with our beloved games. they admitted that they have been looking for are at least as many Americans interested in
O
кее
ema
While we represent a huge honey pot of view-
ers, Spike TV is understandably nervous when
going out on a limb for an untested and misun-
derstood audience. SPIKE TU KNOWS WE RE HERE. BUT IT
The 2004 Spike TV Video Game Awards did a
respectable job of relating gamers’ actual pref- STILL DOESN'T FULLY TRUSTUS.
erences to a mass TV audience. Sure, it was
- awkward and cheesy, but no more so than any ways to bring videogames to television. But | cooking as there аге interested in videogames.
other awards show. And by developing two was informed that my idea, though promising, Maybe my idea is too expensive, and maybe it
weekly series aimed at gamers, Spike TV was ultimately too expensive to produce. wouldn't work for other reasons, but then again,
demonstrates that it is the first major network Too expensive? Well, | can accept that. These maybe Spike TV just didn’t like it.
s) (sorry, G4) to take us seriously. Its gaming- things, like everything else, are relative. But We are to Spike TV what chefs are to the
oriented programs include V-Spot—a standard then | stumbled across the Food Network's The Food Network: We're not the network's only tar-
previews show with passable but qualified com- Making of the Iron Chef America, and І couldn't gets, but it sure as hell wants to hit us all. It
mentary—and the reality/fantasy series The Ulti- help but marvel at the investment made in its knows there are 80 million of us, and execs are
mate Gamer. This latter one is cool, but it's just production. Clearly, the Food Network cares racking their brains trying to figure us out. What
way, way more about chefs than Spike TV cares they haven't fully grasped is that they can have
THE Pimp My Ride with videogames.
IRON
RELATIVITY
OF
THEORY
AND
AMERICA
CHEF
Obviously, Spike TV knows we're here and about gamers. Shows like V-Spot and The Ulti- us—if they just give us what we really want. «€

62"0PM April 2005

 я
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®
Blood and Gore
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PlayStation.2 www.konami.com/gs

Nano Breaker™ is a trademark of Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. Inc. © 2005 Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. Konami ® is a registered trademark of KONAMI CORPORATION.
PlayStation’ and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association.
 SPANDEX SPLENDOR

BATMAN BEGINS
An easy, and perhaps cynical, way to describe Batman Begins is "Splinter position himself for easy eavesdropping or reconnaissance.
Cell with tight leather"; that is, some people from the original Splinter Within these levels are goons and the occasional thug. While Batman
Cell team are on the project, and it's now a stealth-action game. And can see their life bars, awareness cones, and positions on his radar, he
once you see the game in action, that's neither an inaccurate nor can also see their heartbeats—which indicate how scared they are (hard-
inappropriate assessment. core gamers can turn these HUD options off). Batman can increase their
Producer Reid Schneider elaborates on the choice of making ВВ а fear and tension by doing things like calling in bats, destroying things
stealth game: "We didn't want to just drop Batman into another brawler; from afar (thank you, destructible environments!), or triggering events,
we wanted to have a game that really redefined the essence of Batman, such as freeing crazed inmates in Arkham Asylum. As Batman's foes' fear
since the movie is itself a redefinition of Batman." To that end, the game increases, their ability to put up a fight is hampered, and Batman can
emphasizes two things: Batman is "the world's greatest detective," and swing in and pull off an insane mix of ninjitsu and street brawling to put
Batman is a scary fellow. them down. Or you can forgo the detective work of figuring out how to
In any given level, Batman needs to figure out the best way to com- scare baddies and just go straight for some kick-punch action.
plete his objective. Helping him along in this task are an extensive inven- Besides sneaking and punching, Batman gets to haul around Gotham
tory and a skill set that is very reminiscent of Sam Fisher's. Batman can in his Batmobile. Alas, the team is being really sneaky and will only con-
saunter, climb, rappel, and crawl with maximum stealth; his famous utility firm that the Batmobile exists, is playable, and gets itself involved і
belt sports gadgets like optical cables, batarangs, and a high-frequency some vehicular mayhem. If the Batmobile sequences look as promising
bat signaler (think dog whistle, except for bats). One of his best weapons, as the stealth-action parts, then Batman Begins might become a prized
however, is invisible: He can use fear to cripple his enemies. item in the Batcave, right in between the gigantic penny and the
The levels themselves are lifted straight from the movie (and embel- mechanical dinosaur. <<
lished a bit) and are actually designed more vertically than most stealth
games'—which means Batman can use his skills, tools, and height to Pub. EA Games Dev. Eurocom Release June

64 OPM April 2005

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 THE HULK COMES WITH A HITCH
The Incredible Hulk's character design is based on the
works of comic-book artist Bryan Hitch, who has already
reached legendary status with Marvel's The Ultimates
and X-Men and DC's JLA and The Authority.

actam

THE INCREDIBLE HULK

` HULK SMASH...AGAIN

In the summer of 2003, Universal Studios and director Ang Lee delivered The Hulk game Radical is developing now appears to be the Hulk game
a superhero-sized letdown to millions of Hulk fans with a bizarre off- we've been waiting for. In the massive free-roaming environments of The
Broadway take on the great green one. Sure there was good smashing, Incredible Hulk: Critical Mass (working title), our purple-pantsed hero can
but it was wrapped around a psychological study in anger. Boring! go just about anywhere and smash just about anything he wants—cars,
Vivendi Universal Games, of course, had the game license, with Radi- roadblocks, helicopters, tanks, and even people (well, bad people). He can
cal Games (the surprising Simpsons Hit & Run and the upcoming Scar- also destroy entire buildings right to the ground.
face) tapped to develop. While certainly no masterpiece, the game that This new, improved Hulk is more smash-ready than ever, with up to
Radical delivered was a fun, competent action-adventure that combined 150 chargeable moves and combos. He can also use any object as a
stealth (the Bruce Banner parts) with mayhem (the Hulk parts). weapon—for example, he can rip a car in half and make metal fists out
Fast forward two years. Radical (still with publisher VUG) is back with of it, or use it as a boomerang. He can turn a bus into a giant shield. He’s
another Hulk game, but things are very different now. There’s no new sort of a renaissance Hulk.
movie upon which to base a game and—let's be clear—Radical is not The game's "go anywhere” claim is an understatement. The Hulk not
making a sequel. This new effort is based on the Incredible Hulk comic only moves around the city- and desert-scapes via his signature jump-
books, and gone is the linear and limited play of the first game. that-looks-like-flying bit, but also runs up the sides of buildings. It's a

66"0PM April 2005

 \

(9
А
№
^ —

4^
«<

EXCLUSIVE
CHARACTER
REVEAL: MERCY
Abigail Mercy Wright,
aka Mercy, is one of the
super-baddies you'll bat-
tle in The Incredible Hulk.
Her gamma-induced
telekinesis lets her
manipulate objects that
weigh up to two tons. She
can also control minds,
take on opponents’ like-
nesses and abilities, and
fly. Mmmmercy!

RITIC
pretty amazing sight to behold. Mercy (see sidebar) have been revealed.
Critical Mass isn’t all just smash-and-games, and the team behind it Voice work in The Incredible Hulk is backed with some star power: Ron
packs its own formidable punch. The story was penned by award-winning Perlman (best known for his starring role in last year's Hellboy and doing
Marvel Comics and Hulk scribe Paul Jenkins. Character and environment the voice of Lord Hood in Halo 2) is playing the Abomination. Bruce Ban-
art is based on the work of Bryan Hitch, whose presence in the develop- ner is voiced by Neil McDonough, currently the star of NBC's Medical
ment is sparking speculation that some of the story line weaves into The Investigation; interestingly, he was also the voice of Banner in the short-
Ultimates comic series, for which he is best known. lived animated series The Incredible Hulk (1997-98). The game's sound-
The plot plays out in eight chapters that include over 30 missions and track is being composed by Bill Brown, whose library of gaming work
some 50 sub-missions. Story details are sketchy: Something more dan- includes Quake Il and Ill, Ghost Recon, C&C: Generals, and Rainbow Six 3.
gerous than the Hulk is threatening to emerge from Banner, and the plot Eric Holmes, lead designer for The Incredible Hulk, has a stated goal of
revolves around having to stop this. This could be in reference to the making the greatest superhero game ever made. Thanks, Eric, but we'll
Devil Hulk, the demonish monster that has so far existed only in Banner's just settle for the best Hulk game ever made.
troubled subconscious. Of the six bosses Hulk will encounter, Doc Sam-
son, General "Thunderbolt" Ross in a Hulkbuster, the Abomination and Radical Games Dev. Vivendi Universal Games Release Fall

www.1UP.com |67
 HYPE

ii

Lh
hh hhh hhh
BEST MOMENT
The ҒҒ5 greatest
moment isn’t when Reed
il bluffs Galactus with the
Ultimate Nullifier. No, it's |
when Dr. Doom enters a
prison triumphantly
laughing, realizes that
the FF already escaped,
and goes “Huh?” іп the
y crap bootleg movie.

saree

FANTASTIC FOUR
7 MARVEL'S FIRST FAMILY GOES DIGITAL

With its upcoming Fantastic Four game, Activision gets to have its prover- ability to switch from character to character on the fly as needed. More
bial cake and eat it, too. The cake part: Activision has secured the rights to intriguing is the combo structure that allows two heroes to execute a joint
create a game based on the FFfeature film that's being released this sum- attack, like Sue force-grabbing a baddie and then having Ben pound the
mer by 20th Century Fox. The eat-it-too part: It also has the rights to cre- bejeepers out of him. Some missions may call for only one hero, and you
ate games based on the legendary FF comic books from Marvel. Fuse the can imagine the possibilities here: Reed using his stretch power to solve a
two together and Activision may have the superpower potential to make a puzzle, Sue using her invisibility for stealth purposes, Ben going all super-
movie-based game that can go far beyond just the movie (a limitation, for strength crazy on evil minions, and Johnny using his flame powers. Hero
instance, that EA has yet to overcome with its LOTR license). powers can be acquired or upgraded throughout the game as heroes
On the surface, the FF game, currently under development by 7 Stu- accumulate points during missions. For instance, Johnny may learn how
dios, bears all the trappings of a typical movie game. The characters are to create a small fire barrier, but with enough points he can upgrade that
drawn directly from the film's main stars—loan Gruffudd (pronounced ability to a towering flame. There are some 40 such upgrades for each
YO-an GRIFF-ith—it's Welsh) as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Jessica Alba hero. Multiplayer modes include two-player co-op and four-player head to
as Sue Storm/Invisible Girl, Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm/The Thing, head in multiple arena battles.
Chris Evans as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, and Julian McMahon as It's good to see Activision taking the Fantastic Four license seriously
Victor Von Doom—and the story line follows the movie's basic plot. and not tying it into the movie so tightly that a bad box office could
Dig deeper and you'll find a slick third-person, team-based action- undermine what might have been a good game, which is what happened
adventure that includes such nonmovie bad guys as FF staples Moleman to the Hulk game a couple of years ago. And since the FF movie is written
and Diablo, with even more surprises inspired by the Ultimate Fantastic by screenwriter Michael France, who also wrote the Hulk screenplay (and
Four series, Marvel's popular reimagining of its classic superheroes. Zak the Punisher screenplay, too)...oh, wait just a minute....
Penn, the writer for X2: X-Men United, is writing the game's extended story.
Fantastic Four lets you play as any one or all of the FF team, with the Pub. Activision Dev. 7 Studios Rel Summer

68”ОРМ April 2005

 mF U ILI SPECTRUMm
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 S

{2Names,
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 HALL OF FAMER 4 INCREDIBLY AWESOME 4 NOT SO GOLDEN 4

The father of the modern sports game and one Don't think just because The Incredibles movie In an effort to ensure greater quality in its
of the driving forces behind EA's early success, has come and gone that there won't be any games, EA laid off around 60 people in its
Trip Hawkins has been inducted into the Acad- more games based on the family of super- EALA studios. Originally, it was thought that the
emy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. heroes. THO has announced plans to release yet GoldenEye: Rogue Agent and Medal of Honor:
Hawkins is responsible for creating the first another game that won't be entirely based on Dogs of War teams were hit hardest, but the
licensed sports game, featuring basketball leg- the film, like the first game was, but will feature layoffs actually didn't target any specific section
ends Dr. J and Larry Bird. He later acquired the many of its characters. Heavy Iron Studios will of the company, despite the former game's
services of John Madden for the company's take on the responsibility of developing the lackluster reception. According to studio Gen-
football games. While at EA, Hawkins continued game for the PlayStation 2, while Pacific Coast eral Manager Neil Young, the layoffs were
to push the idea of licensed games before leav- Power & Light will take on the duties of bringing meant to rebalance the studio and to make sure
ing the company to found 3DO, where he The Incredibles to the PSP. Both versions of the that it was ready to ramp up development for
helped launch the 3DO system. The 3DO never game are scheduled for release this fall. the next generation of consoles.
saw widespread success, which forced the co:
pany to focus on solely on software publishin,
Hawkins joins Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto
and Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi
as members of the Hall of Fame.

FREAKIN’ SWEE

Take-Two Interactive is developing games based

on The Family Guy license. The game is cur-
rently a third-person action-adventure that lets
you take on the role of several characters from
the show, including Brian the dog and Stewie.
The game is scheduled for release in 2006.

teaches English in the land of our friends to the East, and

he knows a good bargain when he sees one

designed to support open hardware and soft- ing, free MPEG-4 conversion utilities offer better
ware standards. The PSP connects to a PC or video quality and compression rates than
Macintosh with a standard USB cable, not а Sony's own pay-to-download tool.
proprietary Sony one. Save data and media are One of the strongest advocates for the PSP's
saved to a Memory Stick Duo—a Sony format, support of open standards is Ken Kutaragi him-
true, but one used in multiple devices and pro- self. Kutaragi openly admits that Sony's prior
duced by a wide number of third-party manu- refusal to support open standards “diluted inno-
facturers. Sony executives no doubt hope users vation” but promises that future products will
watch movies on Sony's UMD discs and listen reflect how Sony is “growing up.” It would
to music in Sony's ATRAC format. But with the seem that the PSP's still growing; a recently
PSP, users have a choice: They can convert their leaked incomplete firmware upgrade revealed
Sony doesn't just sell consumer electronics. own movies and music to MPEG-4 and MP3, that Sony hopes to eventually add e-mail, word
Sony sells a lifestyle: sleek, sexy, slightly then play them back freely from a memory stick. processing, Web browsing, scheduling, voice
upscale. The simple curves and flat surfaces of The PSP also displays digital JPEG photos. communication, voice-to-text conversion, and
the trademark “Sony style” unite Sony's various
hardware divisions with a single look. Recently,
Sony President Ken Kutaragi trumpeted the
merits of the PSP's design, claiming he believed AN OLD ADAGE COMES TO MIND:
Sony has “made the most beautiful thing in the
world." That seems a bit much—but there's no TRUE BEAUTY LIES WITHIN.
denying that the PSP's smooth exterior is the
ultimate expression of Sony's design aesthetic. By supporting these open industry standards, music downloads via its SonicStage service. As
The interior of the PSP, however, represents a Sony has (perhaps inadvertently) created a new long as these new capabilities are added in the
clean break with years of Sony's technological console space: legal, enthusiast-created middle- same spirit as the current ones, it seems likely
initiatives. Until recently, Sony's music and ware. Though the PSP has been out for only that a bevy of free third-party middleware will
media divisions held the most sway within the two months, a large number of helpful tools sprout up to enhance them, too.
company. Sony’s electronics were built to have already been created. A Macintosh utility When Kutaragi called the PSP the “the most
enforce strong content control, and Sony's exec- called iPSP fully integrates the PSP with iPhoto beautiful thing in the world,” he was referring to
utives, controlling everything, felt content. Yet and iTunes. A similar Windows utility automati- its sleek, glossy good looks. But this isn’t just
consumers balked at these draconian measures, cally resizes JPEG directories and archives to skin-deep. Once you start digging into the guts
and Sony's MP3-incompatible music devices PSP resolution, turning the PSP into the perfect of the PSP and see how it supports widespread,
device for viewing photo albums or gray-market open industry standards, an old adage comes to
FACE floundered in the marketplace for years.
APRETTY
THAN
MORE
The PSP, in sharp contrast, has been manga scans on the go. And with a bit of tweak- mind: True beauty lies within.

7e"OPM April 2005

ГЕЗІТІ
 ASTRO тас years or so, it's at least a top-five contender—a Star comes back for a second 26-episode
tc
< If the PlayStation 2 game didn't serve up nice break from Robo's hardcore mecha blood series from ADV Films later this spring.
ш
> enough Astro Boy for you, Columbia will pro- and thunder. Volume one of the New Wings series, which
zш vide a hefty second helping this spring. On features more of the adventures of aspiring
2 March 29, the entire new-school Astro series ОТАК! JIDE O 2k5 fantasy circus star Sora and her fellow Kaleido
ш hits DVD in a five-disc special edition contain- Del Rey's quiet but high-quality line of manga Stage performing artists, should already be
I ing all the episodes never aired on American releases gets an excellent addition on April 26 available (having hit shelves March 1). It's
Е
2 television. Only 21 episodes of the 2003 vin- with the first volume of Genshiken, Kio another striking creation from the mind of
о tage Astro revival made it onto the tube over Shimoku's exploration of life and love among Junichi Sato, who also is the director of the
= here in the States. Hardcore Astro fans will be Japanese anime and game fans. A more low- excellent Princess Tutu, which is available as
x
$ thrilled to learn that the DVD box set nearly key approach than Gainax's famous Otaku no well and worth a look.
5 doubles that tally and includes the entire 50- Video (which came out in the States in 2003),
с
Е episode run for a cool retail price of (coinciden- Genshiken follows a college club devoted to POWER MEE
z tally) only $50. the study of "modern visual culture" (i.e., the
o
eo strange geekish confluence of games, comics, From the new school to the old—continuing its
a
ui CRI THEM, GINREI RO cartoons, and more) and their continuing quest irregular series of DVD releases, AnimEigo
ul
x After finishing off the DVD release of the Giant to achieve ever more rarefied heights of fan- recently projected an April launch for the first
tc Robo OVA series (since any discerning fan has nish obsession. It's funny because it's very true of six DVDs bringing out the Urusei Yatsura
ш
= already picked that one up by now—the last to the fan experience and includes references OVA series. Each volume will have a pair of
o volume hits March 29), watch out for a side to real games like Puyo Pop and Guilty Gear, classic electric-alien-versus-the-world stories
а.
ш story follow-up coming out in April. On April so grab the comic and look forward to check- (except for the first, which is a single 60-
Ф

АМІМЕМ!
с 12, Media Blasters brings out a single disc ing out the spin-off TV series that is scheduled minute feature), but those who are already
б hooked on Rumiko Takahashi's much-beloved
Е with the Ginrei Special OVAs, a comedic tan- to air in the coming year.
2 gent produced to kill time while the original sci-fi gagfest can purchase the lot in one col-
8 Robo series was in production. If it's not the Oh АС lector's box. Check out animeic for more
8=
e
funniest robot action released in the last 15 After finishing up its first six-disc run, Kaleido

?4'OPM April 2005

MATURE 17+
Blood and Gore
Intense Violence
Strong Language
тйл. cU
ESRB CONTENT RATING —www.esrb.org ES PlayStation.? www.residentevil.com
CAPCOM CO.. LTD. 2004, CCAPCOM U.SА.INC. 2004 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. RESIDENT EVIL, CAPCOM and the CAPCOM LOGO ate r emarks of CAPCOM CO., LTD. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.The
inline icon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of he Entertainment Sof lion. BradyGames® is a registered trademark of Pearson Education, Inc. All ather trademarks are owned by their respective owners.
Online play requires internet connection, Network Adaptor (for PlaySt ) and Memory Card (8МВ) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately).
 % НҮРЕ

BY THE NUMBERS
SALES,RENTALS, TRENDS, AND ODDITIES—THE STATS THAT SHAPE YOUR VIDEOGAME WORLD _
EZE
electronics boutique’

2 1Р5 10 MOST WANTED PS2 GAMES < JAPAN'S TOP 10 PS2 GAMES 4
% FF VII: Advent Children Square Enix Gran Turismo 4 Sony CEI
1 2 СТА: San Andreas Rockstar 2 Another Century's Episode Banpresto
2 3 Gran Turismo 4 Sony CEA 3 Radiata Stories Square Enix
2 4 Devil May Cry 3 Capcom 4 Dragon Quest VIII Square Enix
Y 5 NFS Underground 2 EA Games 5 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Konami
1 6 МВА Street V3 ЕА Sports Big 6 Itadaki Street Special Square Enix
2 7 Final Fantasy XII Square Enix 7 Fu'un Bakumatsuden Genki
1 rather than loyalty, |which 8 Playboy: The Mansion Arush Ent. 8 Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner2 Atlus
2 makes LucasArts very 9 Tekken 5 Namco 9 Үовһйвипе Eiyuden From Software
2 ‘op happy. [- 10 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Konami 10 Death by Degrees Namco
А Еи 6]

сте ТОР eo SALES usd 10 RENTALS, ALL SYSTEMS usd 10 SALES, ALL SYSTEMS
GTA: San Andreas (PS2) ae Resident Evil 4 (GC) qum
5 Punisher (PS2) THO 3 Mercenaries (XB) LucasArts
1 Mercenaries (LucasArts) 3 Mercenaries (PS2) LucasArts 3 Mercenaries (PS2) LucasArts
2 Suikoden IV (Konami) 4. NFL Street 2 (PS2) EA Sports Big 4 Legends of Zelda: ТМС (GBA) Nintendo
3 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar) 5 Punisher (XB) THO 5 World of WarCraft (PC) Vivendi Universal
4 Punisher (THO) еее 6 Мегсепагіев (ХВ) LucasArts 6 Super Mario Brothers 64 (DS) Nintendo
5 Need for Speed Underground 2 (EA Games) 7 NFS Underground 2 (PS2) EA 7 Punisher (XB) THO
6 Madden NFL 2005 (EA Sports) 8 Halo 2 (XB) Microsoft 8 Suikoden IV (PS2) Konami
7 МВА Live 2005 (EA Sports) 9 Call of Duty: Finest Hour (PS2) Activision 9 GTA:San Andreas (PS2) Rockstar
8 NFL Street 2 (EA Sports Big) 0 The Getaway: Black Monday (PS2) Sony CEA 10 Punisher (PS2) THO
9 The Getaway: Black Monday (Sony CEA) ee
10 Playboy: The Mansion (Arush Entertainment) oo
11 World Championship Poker (Crave) е
12 Fullmetal Alchemist (Square Enix)
13 ESPN МВА 2К5 (ESPN Videogames)
14 Call of Duty: Finest Hour (Activision)
15
16
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Konami)
Winning Eleven 8 International (Konami)
„ДО с. да S к... =
Grand Theft Auto: The Getaway: Dragon Ball Z:
17 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (Atari) San Andreas Black Monday Finest Hour Budokai 3
18 Katamari Damacy (Namco)
19 ESPN NFL 2K5 (ESPN Videogames) E EB Games, January 2005. Numbers reflect the sales at EB and its affiliated outlets and don't include other retail out-
20 DDR Extreme (Konami) lets. That's probably why you'll never see Deer Hunter crack the top 10. Japan's top 10 and the top 10 rentals come from other
sources. Game descriptions written by the OPMstaff.It's All in Hand sources: Guinness World Records, Dana's head

TREND SPOTTER

ROYALTY

The record set by Anthony Kelly for number of

arrows caught by hand in two minutes.

| The most points it is |

| possible to earn ina |
and of cribbage. ,

1.000
The number of signs known by Koko, the gorilla
most proficient in sign language in the world. Ah

76”ОРМ April 2005

 COMING APRIL 12
TO XBOX® AND PLAYSTATIONee COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM
COMING SOON TO PSP" HANDHELD ENTERTAINMENT, SYSTEM

CHOOSE YOUR PATH TO VICTORY THROUGH THE RACE AND CRUISE WITH THE HOTTEST REAL LIFE CUSTOMIZE YOUR RIDE AND TAKE IT ONLINE ТО
LIVING, OPEN CITY STREETS OF ATLANTA, SUV'S, TUNERS, MUSCLE CARS, CHOPPERS, STREET CHALLENGE UP TO 7 OPPONENTS IN A RANGE OF
SAN DIEGO, AND DETROIT. BIKES, CONCEPT CARS AND LUXURY RIDES. NEW AND CLASSIC ONLINE MODES.

RATING PENDING ЕЕЕ

© Ж (Ғе
Visit www.esrb.org
for updated rating
ONLLINE.
information. BROADBAND ONLY. xBox
®
2 2005 Rockstar Games, Inc. Rockstar Games, the р, logo, Midnight Club and the Midnight Club logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. DUB® and the Dub Edition" logos are trademarks of Dub Publishing, Inc. PSP is а trademark of Sony Computer
entertainment Inc. Memory Stick Duo™ may be required (sold separately). "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Online play requires internet connection, Network Adaptor (for PlayStationit2) and Memory Card (8MB) (for PlayStation®2) (each
old separately). The Online icon is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live, the Live logo and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the US and/or in other countries and under license from Microsoft. The
atings icon is a trademark of the Electronic Software Association. All automobile, motorcycle, customization and other parts manufacturers, and other names, brands and associated imagery featured in this game are trademarks and/or copyrighted materials of their respective owners. All rights reserved
 It's “dead boy walking” as you
join the grim reaper's son and
his bizarre band of friends on
a mission against the ultimate
evil. биг hero may be three
feet tall, but he’s pulling out
the big guns—and, of course,
his trusty scythe—for each
and every action-packed level.
Help DJ save his bony behind
from dad's eternal fury (and,
oh yeah, save the world, too).

PRODUCTS RANGE FROM Blood

RATING PENDING то MATURE |
Language
Suggestive Themes
CONTENT RATED BY Violence
E SREB
It's an all-new "Gear" for your all-new gear.
One of gaming's greatest heroes, Solid Snake,
returns in a tactical adventure designed from
the ground up to take full advantage of the | 7; »
PSP system's capabilities. With over 200 /.
strategic moves, two playable characters
and a wireless play option, Metal Gear Acid №
is the ultimate stealth trip. н

КОМАМІ
Еа www.konami.com/gs
 $ FEATURE

ВО”ОРМ April 2005

www.lUPcom | 81
% FEATURE
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It's not easy

Let me take one step back from there. We looked at what

we've accomplished since the launch of the original PlayStation and the
PlayStation 2, and we've obviously built a huge bond with consumers
over the past 10 years. We felt that the timing was right, from both the
relationship we have with the consumers and also from a technological
standpoint, to bring [out] a handheld device that would revolutionize the
way people enjoy entertainment on the go just as müch as we revolution-
ized a lot of things when the original PlayStation came out in 1994 in
Japan. Talks started, and Kutaragi-san started thinking about this before
the E3 of 2003 when he was up onstage talking about his vision for the
PSP. It’s been about a year and a half or two years in the making, but
again, the timing was right based on our relationship with consumers and
[from] a technological standpoint.
What we didn't want to do was try to muscle into:the handheld gaming
market. That's а market that's already been established, and we've never
been about muscling into new markets. We want to create a new market
for the consumer and for the industry as a whole.

H It's no secret that the handheld gaming market has been around for a
really long time, and Nintendo's had a lot of devices that cater to that par-
ticular market—specifically the games market. They've had add-ons in the
past that you can connect to your Game Boy Color or Game Boy
Advance, such as cameras and printers, but at the core, they're still just
handheld gaming devices. What we wanted to create was a device that
would certainly play games—that's our core focus—but we're not satis-
fied with just that. We want to create a completely different market or
expand the portable entertainment market by using games as a catalyst.
That's why we wanted to make sure the screen had a high resolution that
would make it a compelling entertainment option. It will make you want
to watch a movie on it or do a slide show of your photos. It's a com-
pelling music-playing device as well. We're making sure the PSP isn't
stuck being a competitor to Nintendo or anybody else.

Just as we had a wide demographic for the PlayStation апа Р52, the
PSP is going to appeal to a wide demographic across a variety of different
ages and [attract] a high female-and-male ratio as well. If you look at the
form-factor, | have no problem taking out my PSP if I'm flying to San
Francisco, New York, or Tokyo and want to watch a movie. There are
some devices out there that l'd be a little embarrassed to pull out, espe-
cially now that | have so much gray hair. We designed the PSP so that it
would be a fashion statement. We want to appeal to a wide demographic
апа пої just the teenager demographic.

In an indirect way. The iPod is a handheld entertainment device. The

DS is a handheld entertainment device. There are a lot of different MP3
players out there and portable DVD players out there as well. So from
that perspective, anything that gives users the option of being entertained
on the go falls in that category, so books and laptops are also in that cate-

ве OPM Jti. 2005

 gory. If you're asking me what is a direct competitor to the PSP, it's every- tions with the publishing community and looking at the support we
thing that can entertain when you're on the go. have for the PSP, there's a testament to the enthusiasm for the platform,
but it doesn't mean they're going to scale back PS2 development. | think
OPM What about the price? How much discussion went into hitting the we're growing the development base as opposed to dealing with some-
right price point? thing where if you do two for PSP, you're taking away one from PS2. |
KH | looked at the North American market and wanted to bring what | don’t see that happening.
thought was the most compelling value proposition to the North Ameri-
can consumers. | came to the conclusion that since it’s a handheld device, OPM So, in theory, the PSP could be a primary Sony platform?
you probably want a case to carry it around in, you probably want a KH It will become a primary Sony platform for portable entertainment.
CONNECTIUITY
memory stick to save your game data, and you're most likely going to We obviously have a 10-year heritage now in home consoles as well, so | CORNER
buy accessories anyway. So for the North American market, | wanted it to don't see the PSP becoming primary and | don't see the PS2 being pri- While the idea of con-
be a one-stop solution right out of the box. You get everything you need, mary. Now we have two platforms, one for the home and the other nectivity certainly isn't a
plus a demo disc and a movie—one of the most popular movies of portable, so | think they'll be complementary. new one, it seems to
2004—right out of the box. We wanted to make it compelling, and I think take оп а whole new
the $249 price tag does just that. ОРМ Is the PSP on a separate track from the PS2? Meaning, will we see dimension with the PSP.
a PSP 2 alongside new versions of home hardware? Since the hardware is so
OPM The general sentiment is that the PSP is a stopgap to the transition KH It's on a separate track in that what we want to accomplish is some- powerful, developers
from the PS2 to the PS3, but it seems like you're going for a totally differ- what different for inside the home as compared to what we want to do could potentially create
ent audience here. outside the home. They're both in the same vision of [us] wanting to pro- some awesome new fea-
KH | don’t know that it's a different audience, but | think it's opening a vide compelling entertainment platforms to consumers with games at the tures with it and breathe
market that overlaps different audiences that enjoyed the PlayStation and core. So you'll see something like SOCOM for PS2 and SOCOM for PSP— some life back into the
PlayStation 2, and we want to expand on that. When we embark on а the games would be complementary to each other, so you clear a level on PS2 hardware.
platform launch that involves not only SCEA but also Sony corporately the PSP, bring it back, and hook it up to your PS2. If you're talking about
and all of the publishing and developing community, we don't do it as а the evolution of the hardware, we haven't even launched in North Amer-
stopgap to anything. This is a serious endeavor with a serious vision of ica, so it would be kind of hard to talk about PSP 2. But again, we're try-
wanting to expand entertainment in the portable space. ing to establish the de facto handheld format in the UMD, so there are
certainly different possibilities. It will start out with the PSP, but who
OPM What's been the reaction from movie and music studios? knows what the format will evolve into.
KH They've been very enthusiastic and positive. We want a lot of the stu-
dios to bring out their hit titles on UMD for retail release. Look for ИИ
"AE DIDN'T WANT TO MUSCLE IN ON
releases coming from us or other motion picture studios, or perhaps even
jointly. We want to get all of our ducks in a row before we start announc-

THE HANDHELD GAMING MARKET.” ,

ing retail merchandising and all those kind of things.

OPM Is there a role for Sony Connect?

КН | think there is a role in as far as it's Sony's download service. They OPM Will the rental business have any impact on the PSP?
have a proprietary encoder called ATRAC, which the PSP supports, so KH |think that just as much as the PlayStation 2, with its DVD functional-
consumers will be able to use the Sonic Stage software to download the ity, increased the install base of DVD players and DVD playback in Amer-
files right onto their PSP. The software supports MP3 as well. Obviously, | ica and especially in Japan, the rental chains will see that the [UMD]
would like to make sure that if consumers are looking for a music down- install base has ramped up quickly. And so long as the rights holders see
load service that they view Sony Connect as one of their primary options. that as an opportunity for additional revenue, | don't see why UMD discs o
featuring motion pictures wouldn't be placed at Blockbuster or other
OPM Are there plans to expand the PSP's features to include e-mail, Web rental chains. If the business is there, I’m sure people will get into it.
browsing, and other options that are normally found in PDAs?
KH | got this question a lot with the PS2 as well. At the end of the day, OPM What would surprise you six months from now in terms of con-
it's really up to the software creators. If they think that Web browsing is sumer reaction?
something that’s going to be compelling as part of a game or what have KH Right now, I'm focused on trying to get it out in North America, and
you, then I’m sure someone will bring it out. I'm not exactly sure that my expectation is that, just like it has in Japan, it will be a huge hit, start-
you'd want to browse the Web or do anything that you could do with a ing with the core gaming audience. It will expand quickly with the support
laptop, and maybe I'm wrong. But the possibilities are pretty much end- from the motion picture studios and the music companies as well. | really
less. If you need a soft keyboard or a keyboard that plugs into the USB, can't foresee any surprises except, of course, to say this is the first time
then you can do that as well. this kind of device has been introduced to the North American market and
| have a lot of high hopes for it.
ОРМ 15 there any concern that the PSP could potentially cannibalize sup-
port for the PS2 and the PS3 since development budgets are getting to be OPM Can you comment at all on the potential for homebrew projects?
so high and it's cheaper to develop for the PSP? Will you let it happen, or will you crack down on it?
KH I'm not exactly sure about next-generation home consoles. Cer- KH It’s hard to tell at this point in time. What we want to establish first is
tainly, each of the publishing companies has different strategies for how a solid market, and if we look at the market three years from now, we
they want to maximize their bottom line. What | can say is that what may look at that. But right now we're trying to establish a market through
we're trying to do is provide the largest installed base of any platform software that's available and copyright-protected materials that can be о
зо we can give publishers the option to focus their product strategies downloaded onto the memory stick. If you're talking about homebrew іп
more on the PSP than on the PS2 or vice versa. So far, in my conversa- terms of games, | wouldn't rule it out completely in the future.

www.lUP.com | 83
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 Y GATHERING...

“RANDON i
А Tom Clancy 8

HH CIT,
 Even with all of the power the PSP has, none of it would matter without first incarnation of the specifications just wouldn't be enough for them to
the support of developers. Thankfully, all of the major players have do the types of games they had in mind. "From reading the specifications
jumped on board and are producing, in some cases, multiple games for originally, we thought there might be some challenges for game develop-
the PSP due out this year. We spoke with several prominent development ment,” says 9895 Snavely. EA Canada’s Wall explains further: “In terms
houses to get their thoughts on the PSP's design and how the portable of raw power, it was more than enough to match current consoles but
system will affect handheld gaming as we know it. seemed oddly underequipped in RAM memory—it was announced as
8MB in early spec releases. That was clearly going to be the limiting fac-
It was love at first sight for many. "The first time | saw a picture of [the tor, so we pushed Sony to reconsider. Our hope was for at least 16MB,
PSP] was when Kutaragi-san showed some concept drawings, and it was but then they went and surprised us again with 32MB."
like, ‘Sweet! Just build that and it'll be a winner," says Warren Wall, vice Still, the PSP hardware is the most powerful ever designed for a hand-
president and executive producer at EA Canada. “Then | saw the real held unit, and that was enough. “Му initial reaction was pleasant
device at ЕЗ last year, and the screen stole the show: bright, crisp, and big surprise," says Colin Berry, designer on Wipeout Pure at Sony Studio
enough to draw you right in to the experience. Holding one in your hands Liverpool. “Аз a designer, one of my concerns was how many buttons the
the very first time, you just know they hit the design right on the nose— PSP would have, rather than how many polygons it could throw around.
there isn't a nicer package of technology anywhere on the market today." Fortunately, it has not disappointed in either respect. The analog stick was
Indeed, the first time most people laid eyes on the sleek design of perhaps the only element that took a little time to get used to controlwise.
Sony's new handheld system, the screen immediately grabbed their As for the technical specifications, they are closer to PlayStation 2 than
attention. “1 couldn't believe the clarity of the screen," says PJ Snavely, PlayStation, which is fantastic."
producer at 989 Sports. "The display was unlike anything I'd seen from Indeed, it’s somewhat of a shock that we are already seeing games that
something that wasn't a plasma TV or computer monitor." Hideo Ter- surpass the visual quality offered by the PS1 and in some cases match
amoto, associate producer of Namco's Ridge Racer on PSP, agrees. "The the quality of early PS2 games. It's about time handheld gaming moved
first unit we saw was a prototype. The large liquid crystal display showing to the forefront with its console brethren instead of staying behind in the
a movie trailer totally blew our minds. At that moment, | realized that no shadows where it has remained since its inception. “The typical game-
visual compromise would be allowed in developing Ridge Racer." play style should not always be where users sit in front of a TV for hours

IONRS
For some, the PSP's design meant much more. It was almost a sign and just keep moving their fingers to move a game controller. | think
that it was time for the handheld-gaming industry to grow up. "I thought many users prefer to play high-quality-graphics games more easily, any-
it looked very modern, stylish, and sophisticated—much more so than time, and anywhere for a short time. | believe this easy play style is better
any handheld entertainment system that had come before it," says suited for our modern life cycle,” says Katsumi Yokota, concept planner
Shawn Torin Rettig, associate producer on Ape Escape. "It looked mature, and art director behind the hypnotic puzzle game Lumines. "| consider it a

Ut
THE
like it should be taken seriously, and [like] something far beyond a device ‘healthy computer game.'"
that only kids and gamers would use." With that in mind, developers have to start thinking differently about
But as the saying goes, it's what's inside that counts. The PSP's techni- their portable games since they have the ability to essentially port console
cal capabilities were already impressive when the device was first projects. Surprisingly, most of them are embracing the idea that handheld
announced, but there was still some concern from developers that the games absolutely require certain features to truly make them worthwhile

В6”ОРМ April 2005

 on-the-go experiences, but the first thing to do is identify those features. the PSP came along and we had the chance to make a handheld version, |
"Developers definitely have to be aware of what kind of platform they are was delighted," says Sony Studio Liverpool's Berry. "We did not just
developing for. | know that there are gamers who would play a 60-plus- jump into it blindly, though; initially, we had to work out in what ways the
hour RPG on a handheld, but most people wouldn't. They also don't want game needed adapting to make the move from console to handheld.
to have to read a lot of text or spend too much time getting in and out of Once we had identified those areas, we looked at ways the game could
the game," says Ape Escape's Rettig. "The most successful games will be benefit from being on the PSP—for example, the use of Wi-Fi. The obvi-
those that are easy to understand and play, and fast to get in and out of. ous benefit of Wi-Fi is wireless multiplayer gaming, but we tried to look
A detailed flight simulator or a text-intensive and highly involved RPG or beyond—to maximize the functionality—so we made a decision very early
adventure game would probably not be ideal for a handheld. However, on to include downloadable content of some sort. This aspect grew and
puzzle games, action games, racing games, and sports games are obvi- grew and is something we are very proud of. As far as we are aware,
ously better suited to a fast and fun portable gaming experience." Wipeout Pure will be the first PSP title to support downloadable content,
The next step for developers is to focus on the PSP's features and find
ж LA LLL , ,Ll lA «PP PE Bg SM
"SUCCESSFUL GAMES WILL BE
out how the game can be manipulated to take advantage of them. "There
have been different requirements for arcade and console games in the

FAST TO GET IN AND OUT OF.”

history of the Ridge Racer franchise," says Namco's Teramoto. "For our
game, we naturally tried to come up with a game suited for a portable
unit. We implemented many handheld-specific features, such as a more
advanced autosave; 'custom tour,' where a series of races will be created
automatically based on a specified period of time; and an audio/video and we have not just tagged it on in a small way. The amount of down-
player, where users can enjoy music from the game." Electronic Arts took loadable content is huge, and we feel we are setting a benchmark for
a similar approach with its games. Says Wall: "We've started with games future games that go down the path of downloadable content."
that are already successful on other platforms, so our ideas are about Obviously, developers can take a slightly different approach with com-
making games playable on the smaller screen while adding extra value. | pletely original games, but the same general thought process is still there.
don't think it's possible to be successful on a handheld platform without "Since | recognized the PSP as ‘visual Walkman’ hardware, | wanted to
putting a lot of thought behind specifics for the hardware. Designs need create a puzzle game using music," says Lumines' Yokota. "Starting from
to consider detail visibility, object lighting, visual cues, and control differ- this initial thought, | came up with the puzzle-game idea of combining
ences. When we started work on Need for Speed Underground Rivals, we horizontal moves like [those of] a sequencer and vertical moves [depend-
had to carefully consider what worked and what didn't work on the small ent on] gravity. Together with the PSP's wide screen, we successfully cre-
screen. The differences are subtle, but it would be immediately clear why ated a very unique ‘long sideways puzzle game’ that can only be realized
we made the changes once they were pointed out. Almost any genre and on the PSP. Everything evolved around the PSP hardware.”
any idea can work on the PSP if you carefully consider these issues." Even with all the praise for the hardware, some things could’ve been
This formula of targeting specific parts of the hardware has also helped changed or added to make the PSP an even better machine. “Durability
Wipeout Pure earn a distinct position in the launch lineup. "We had and reliance are the things any portable console must keep at a high
always thought Wipeout would make a fantastic handheld game, so when level. For PSP, | was very surprised at how small and light it was consider-

www.1UP.com | 87
Ф FEATURE

LEVEL ж” C
ML POWERPLAY
es 3 "
Different games require dif-
TIME ferent amounts of power
M5: from your PSP's battery.
SEGRE Something simple, like
ЕТТІГЕ Lumines, Won t drain your
battery quite as fast as a
HI-SCGRE game like Ridge Racer
БЕ е because it isn't pushing the
сесетег PSP hgrüware. Good thing
лаве Luminesis one of the best

)
ing its high specs," says Yokota. "But because of that, it looked very deli- change the perception of what handheld games are all about.”
cate at the same time. Also, I’m worried about the fact that PSP's memory Not everyone shares the same view. “With current specs, I’m not sure
stick can only take a small amount of memory. | think it could be a bottle- if PSP could change people's view of portable gaming,” says Yokota.
neck for users to use this hardware freely, creatively, and efficiently. If we “However, if it becomes able to connect to the Internet or download |
can use a large-volume internal hard drive or rewritable UMD or if a games as | mentioned earlier, people might see it as not just а game con-
large-volume memory stick becomes much cheaper, PSP could become sole but a portable unit that handles any kind of information. There is no
as popular as the iPod.” other portable unit with a large and beautiful liquid crystal panel—PSP
The desire for a hard drive isn't uncommon among developers. "There could become an all-purpose portable console." ~
are a few features | would add, though the size of the machine would If the PSP doesn't cause Sony's intended shock wave, there's still senti-
increase a hell of a lot," says Wipeout's Berry. "I'd have liked it to have a ment that it will attract a new audience to handheld gaming. "I think it
microphone built in and also a small hard drive—4GB would suffice." will certainly make handheld gaming look more attractive simply from the е
Some desired changes аге а little less obvious than others. “Тһе UMD
data transfer rate is slower than we would like,” says EA Canada’s Wall. ЛИЛИИ ЛКС ККИ
“They gave us all this memory to work with, but it takes at least twice the
time to fill with data off the disk compared to DVD. We've spent an inordi- FOR THE FIRST TIME, [A HANDHELD]
ee
=
nate amount of time tweaking and tuning to get load times to an accept-
able level. It's going to present limitations in future designs for more DIDN'T FEEL LIKE A KIDS’ TOY.” A
massive open-world concepts. l'd also like to see a second analog nub to
facilitate control in some of our sports and FPS games." look of the games," says Sony Studio Liverpool's Berry. "People who
Karthik Bala, CEO of Vicarious Visions (the team behind Spider-Man 2 have previously dismissed handheld gaming will take an interest once
for PSP), seconds the idea of more control. "A second analog nub could they are exposed to the PSP. Whether or not it will change people's views
enable 3D games to have independent camera controls, for example. A wholesale, | don't know. I've always thought it odd that some people сап
faster CPU would have also been nice, but this can be a challenging thing be into games yet not have an interest in handhelds; perhaps the PSP will
to do for a handheld, as the battery life is precious." be the machine that convinces more people to try handheld gaming and
Despite these minor quibbles, it's pretty hard to deny Sony got it right. makes them realize it can be easily as enjoyable as console gaming.
The design is sleek and the hardware is powerful. Whether it will truly "| think handhelds have suffered in some ways," Berry continues, "as
usher in a completely new era of gaming depends on consumer reaction, the games have never looked as good as the console games of the time
but developers are optimistic. "Nintendo started the change when they irrespective of how they play. People generally form their first impression
made the SP version of the GBA. For the first time it didn't feel like а kids’ from visuals, and maybe some gamers have turned a blind eye to hand-
toy, and it was much more acceptable for adults to whip one out in public helds because of this. Having said that, the success in the past of the
and play a game," says EA's Wall. "Now when | pull out my PSP—I Game Boy has shown there is a large market for handheld gaming; | think
imported a Japanese one—in public, it attracts awe and admiration from the PSP shows that handheld games can now compete with console ^
kids and adults alike. Then they see the visuals and can't believe this qual- games in terms of looks and overall quality. So, perhaps the PSP will
ity could come in such a small package. Without a doubt, this is going to break down a few barriers for people who have dismissed it in the past."

88"OPM April 2005

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 % FEATURE

Po DIOE жыл) XO

"que HOME M Km SELECT STA

quality). For the PC, there аге а few alternatives. You can use Sony's own
encoding software, which actually hasn't gone into full release at the time
of this writing, or you can use other software that will convert the files
This is probably the trickiest feature to use on the PSP, but it's well worth. into an MP4 format. Check out the links in the sidebar to find out where
it if you want a decent catalog of movies to watch while traveling. This you can get this software.
also may be the only way you'll get to watch some of your favorite films
since it may take a while for movie studios to release them on UMD. Ф Now you have to transfer the converted MP4 movie file over
to your t PSP. All you have to do is plug your PSP into your computer via а
4 5 МЕ You absolutely need a higher-capacity memory card. The USB (be sure to select the USB connect option on the PSP) and you
default 32MB stick is great for game saves but pretty worthless аз far as should be good to go. When you click on the PSP icon on your computer,
other multimedia options go. The 512MB stick should work great for you'll notice that there's a file directory structure. Unfortunately, putting
shorter movies {you might be able to squeeze in two), one long movie, or movies on the PSP isn't as simple as tossing them into a directory called
a series of TV @Jsodes—whatever you want. If you want to get serious, “томе.” You have to create a new directory called MP ROOT, which
go for the 1GB memory stick, which easily lets you store about three full- should be sitting outside the main PSP folder. Once you've done that, you
length movies. Unfortunately, high-volume sticks are quite pricey (even should rename your movies to MV40000 and change the "0000" to num-
the SanDisk-branded versions, though they're much cheaper than Sony's ber different movies. So, your first movie would be MV40001.MP4, and so
memory sticks), so you'll have to invest a good chunk of change. on. Then transfer the MP4 file over to the PSP and you should be ready to
watch some movies on the go.
WO Ripping and encoding movies gets a bit tricky if you're not
already familiar with the process, so we'll just give you the basics. First,
grab a DVD or video that you want to transfer to your PSP. If you're going PUT PICTURES ON YOUR MEMORY STICK - 4
with a DVD, then you'll need DVD ripping software that will allow you to
extract the movie file. Once it's extracted, you have to use encoding soft- This is pretty easy to do and there are instructions on how to put pictures
ware that will make the movie viewable on the PSP since it supports only on your PSP in the manual itself. However, it's worth pointing out that if
a specific video format. There are a few different options available for you're using iPSP for OS X or if similar software gets released on the PC,
encoding software. If you're using Mac OS X, then you can use iPSP, your PSP can automatically syne with some picture programs. So, it's
which offers a number of different encoding options (for example, there's easy to just select whatever pictures you want to transfer over and be
ап option to make the file smaller at the cost of losing image and sound done with it. Again, you're going to have to buy a large memory stick if

90”ОРМ April 2005

 USEFUL SOFTWARE
If you're using OS X, then
iPSP is the only applica-
tion you need. It syncs
with almost all preexist-
ing Mac applications,
such as iTunes and
iPhoto, plus it makes
encoding movies a snap.
Check it out at kaisak
om. If you're on a PC
and looking for software
to help convert your
movie files into PSP-com-
patible MPEG-4 files,
then look no further than

Its a little difficult --------

ЛИН ИИИИСТЕНЛІТТЕТІЕГІТІ
to use at the moment, but
it should work well until
Sony releases its official
encoding software.

NOT A LOT OF
— STAR
CHOICES
The memory stick duo

THE LAUNCH -
and memory stick pro
duo, which are compati-
ble with the PSP, come in
you want to be able to look at lots of images along with everything else. flavors ranging from
The idea is to not think of pictures in the typical sense, but to think of 32MB to 1GB. The pro
anything that can be transferred into a JPG or any other compatible format duo is a little bit faster
to your PSP. Theoretically, you could scan any reading material (books, than the duo. While this
comic books, magazines) into a compatible format and have it available to difference is negligible
read on the PSP. Unfortunately, right now, it takes а few seconds for the while playing games, you
PSP to render an image, so if it's an image that requires a lot of scrolling, may notice a slight differ-
you'll notice it’s a bit blurry at first. This seems more like an issue with the ence when loading up
PSP than the speed of the memory stick, so it may be possible for Sony to movies, music, or images.
remedy the problem with a firmware update in the future. Unfortunately, only Sony
and SanDisk offer mem-
ory sticks at the moment.
PUT MUSIC ON YOUR MEMORY STICK The Sony versions are
generally much more
The same things that apply to pictures pretty much apply to music. All expensive, but they're a
you have to do is set your PSP to USB connect mode and transfer either bit easier to find. We
MP3 or ATRAC music files into the music directory folder on the PSP. advise shopping around Ape Escape: On the Loose Need for Speed Underground Rivals
Again, this whole process will be a whole lot easier if you are using some on the Internet to find ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails NFL Street 2 Unleashed
kind of software that handles the busywork for you, but even if you don't, good deals—frooale Darkstalkers Chronicle: Rengoku: The Tower of Purgatory
it still isn't too difficult. is a great place to | The Chaos Tower Ridge Racer
Unfortunately, the PSP isn't a full-featured music player, but it gets the start—but make sure you | Dynasty Warriors Smartbomb
job done. There аге а few general settings to adjust bass and treble, don't accidentally pick up FIFA 2005 Spider-Man 2
depending on the type of song you're listening to, but you can't adjust a regular pro memory Gretzky NHL Tiger Woods PGA Tour
individual sound levels. As far as playlists go, the PSP does support m3u stick. It's longer than the Lumines Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix
playlists as well as different directories, so you can still load up specific duo or pro duo, so it Metal Gear Acid Twisted Metal: Head-On
music and have it ready to go when you're out and about. The audio won't fit in the PSP. MLB Untold Legends:
quality of the PSP is pretty good, but we also highly recommend that you MVP Baseball Brotherhood of the Blade
invest in a good pair of earphones to get the most out of it. NBA Wipeout Pure
МВА Street Showdown World Tour Soccer

www.1UP.com | 91
 ON А HELLEOUND VESSEL,
ы

UNLEASH A TORRENT OF WEAPONS

CREATE FATAL TRAPS AND USE SHOTGUNS,
FLAME THROWERS, OR ANY OBJECT YOU
CAN FIND TO SURVIVE

4A
[4

KEEP YOUR BEARINGS

BATTLE AGAINST INCREASINGLY MUTATED
ENEMIES IN TREACHEROUS, UNSTABLE
ENVIRONMENTS

я BRAVE DANGEROUS WATERS

24 ROCKED BY HUGE BREAKERS, YOU MUST
>» STEADY YOUR NERVES - AND AIM - TO EVADE
A WATERY GRAVE

-| MATURE 17+
Blood and Gore
Intense Violence

Cans Wit Emek A1

TSP mE TOS т!
 EVERYONE IS DEAD WEIGHT.

E : zv INTHE VIOLENT STORMS OF THE FERING STRAIT, DISTRESS CALLS

; С SEE ARE А DIME A DOZEN. BUT WHEN COAST GUARD VETERAN ТОМ HANSEN
pes. 5 BOARDS A SEEMINGLY ABANDONED WHALER, NOTHING CAN PREPARE
$54 ~ HIM FOR THE HORRORS LURKING BENEATH ITS BLOODSTAINED DECKS. =:
НЕ. МА5 THE LAST TO RESPOND то THE багш WILL HE ВЕ THE FIRST
"da
“TO SURVIVE?
е г 4
.^ ы cy еа “а
‫چ‬‎ 3 1

ye NATA NARI 2005.

 "The most exciting baseball
game of the year." ........

All-new Major League Baseball 2K5

with On Command" baserunning lets you take total control
of the basepaths like never before. Steal, hit and run, leg out
an extra base — and hit the dirt like a pro with your choice
of slides. Add K Zone" pitching and Maximum Fielding" y
and Major League Baseball 2K5 is the most authentic
MLB" experience anywhere.

PlayStation.e nans | [ЁЗ БЕЙ ЕЛ

— SPORTS
© 2005 Take-Two Interactive Software and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Major League Baseball 2К5, 2K Sports, the 2K Sports logo, and Take-Two Interactive Software arealltrademarksand/orregistered trademarks
ofTake-Two Interactive Software,
Inc. Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights aro used with permission of Major Loaguo Baseball Properties, Inc. Visit the official website at MLB.com ©MLBPA Licensee, MajorLeagueBaseball Players Association. Visittho Players
Choice onthewebat www.MLBPtayers.com © MLBP 2005/ MLBPA 2005. ESPNis a trademark ofESPN,Inc. ESPN Branded Elements ©2005ESPN, Inc. "PlayStation" and are Entertainment
Inc. Online play requires internet connection, Network Adaptor (for PlayStation 2) and Memory Card (ВМВ) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately). The Online icon isa.
Live, Xbox Live logos and Xbox logosareeither registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or in other countries and are usedunder license fr
©2005 ESPN, Inc.
 Baseburner gives you unprecedented
control of your runners on base.

K Zone pitching gives you better command

of your entire repertoire of pitches.

Stunning graphics and authentic major league ballparks.

E
asusa
и
POWERED ВУ
www.2Ksports.com
JUST
LOG ОМТО:
‎‫ اال‬HTTP://GAMERSVOICE:1UP.COM
Click on the survey name: 2005 GAMER'S VOICE PANEL SURVEY
and type in this UNIQUE ІП CODE: opmgamer
Complete all the questions in this initial survey.
” Fo во melt „д
тете өт A

REVIEWS
098> OFFICIAL US. PLAYSTATION MAGAZINE INSIDE
102 Finny the Fish & the
Seven Waters
102 Kessen III
102 Musashi Samurai Legend
103 Playboy: The Mansion
IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT GAME OF THE MONTH 106 TimeSplitters:
Future Perfect
109 FIFA Street
109 World Tour Soccer 2006
110 Major League
Baseball 2K5
110 MLB 2006
110 MVP Baseball 2005
112 Project: Snowblind
RATING KEY 114 Fight Night Round 2
Octagons. Stomps. Ocs. Blargs. Call our rating symbols what you will—just know that 114 MX vs. ATV Unleashed
any game that receives five of ‘em is something truly special that deserves a spot іп 114 Rugby 2005
your collection. On the other hand, a 2.5 is merely mediocre. And a 0.5? Well...at least 116 Devil May Cry 3
they're fun to rip apart.

өөөө uu

www.1UP.com
 ШЫ REVIEWS

GRAN TURISMO 4
HOW MUCH MORE REAL CAN IT GET?

OFFICIAL US. PLAYSTATION MAGAZINE

GAME OF THE MONTH

One of the truly defining moments of GT4 comes in the new mission can just about crack the double ton when the hammer's down; the 300SL
modes, which open up once you've proven yourself sufficiently skilled at can barely muster 145 and struggles to hit 60 in less than double digits.
driving. Thirty-four specific tasks are presented to you, beginning with 10 With just over two minutes on you, he'll be tough to catch, especially
very simple tests of overtaking skill, 10 three-lap challenges, four “slip- with the other three guys leaving the start line at 30-second intervals and
stream battles” that have you testing the very effectively simulated laws getting in your way en route.
of physics on a fast oval, and finally the ultimate test of skill, the “one-lap After sitting on the line waiting for what seems like an eternity, you
magic” races. The last, and arguably most difficult, 10 challenges of the finally get the green light and nail the SLR. As the car makes its peak 575
game take historical vehicles from single manufacturers and pit them Ib-ft of torque at 3,250 rpm, the back wheels dig into the tarmac and hur-
against each other on famous racetracks. The last of these spreads five tle the car forward with a ferociousness that's just shocking. As you wig-
Mercedes-Benz supercars against each other in the ultimate locale, the gle your way through the Hatzenbach and Hocheichen turns, you get a
Nurburgring Nordschleife in Germany. The lineup sees a 1954 Gullwing feel for the car's power and learn the limits of its cornering ability. As you
300SL lead the pack against a ‘98 SLK 230, a '91 190E Evolution II, and an ease your way onto the Quiddelbacher-Hohe straight, your first brief but
AMG SL65. Oh, and don't forget your car—that snarling silver dream delectable taste of the car's power is given. Five or six seconds of brutal
machine, the McLaren SLR. How could any of the other cars possibly acceleration see the horizon coming toward you much faster than is
pose a threat to your 617-hp super Benz, a vehicle that can erupt from 0 strictly comfortable, and before you know it you're making a smooth
to 60 in 3.7 seconds? The 300SL has a 123-second head start on you, right-hander that tests the limits of your nerves. Easing off the throttle,
that's how. And you have to get ahead of it within just one lap. The SLR you feather the brake and feel the car tug gently to the left as the tires

конду 702 @ 500,000 ET]Ave

61452
125
етер
12 2

енна,
Spoon Fit Place Car '03

9870PM April 2005

lose some traction and start to squeal. At the apex of the turn, you floor it right-hander that tight at anything more than 50 or 60 takes a particular
again, and the full brunt of those 617 ponies surges you forward. brand of lunatic, especially when driving a $452,000 ride. As you
The Nürburgring is 13 miles of fairly treacherous track that most race straighten out, you realize where you are and know you can really see
drivers claim to be the most demanding circuit in the world. These days, what this thing can do. This is a car that can do 90 in second, remember,
any car manufacturer worth its salt tests its new cars there, and real so flooring the thing evokes a verbal response that's sort
brutes like the SLR are capable of getting around the track in around eight of...holyf***ings***thisissof***ingquick. | defy you to try it and not make
minutes flat, which means keeping an average speed of about 95 mph, some kind of exclamation out loud. In a straight line the SLR feels as
even though there аге 73 bends to negotiate. My first try while chasin: though it has warp engines, and the feeling of real power is unlike any-
the 300SL was a fairly dismal 12 minutes, and according to the game thing l've seen in a racing game before. Burnout 3 and Need for Speed do
clock I'd only narrowed the distance between the SL and the SLR by 40 a good job of scaring you with speed, but GT4 is the only car sim that's
seconds or so. That said, the last minute provided the kind of thrill you done a convincing job of putting you behind a 5.4 liter V8.
get from a game like Burnout 3, only it was dished up in a much more Any of you who have been eagerly consuming every scrap of informa-
believable way. tion about this game for the past two or three years would be forgiven
As you round the Galgenkopf bend on the eastern side of the track, for getting a little tired of all the talk of hyperrealistic physics engines and
you find yourself hurtling toward the Dottinger-Hohe straight, which is the the attention to minute details that Yamauchi and his team have been
longest uninterrupted strip of the entire circuit. You come out of the bend affording this game. After that first lap around the Nürburgring in the
pretty slowly. You can probably come out faster than | did, but taking a SLR, | knew what the big deal was. With a joypad it felt pretty damn

www.lUP.com | 99
З} REVIEWS

1 2 3 4
HARD ИП IS B-SPEC BORING? 4
RX-7 Spirit R Type A '02
There have been lots of previews of GT4 since E3 last May, and there's
been lots of talk of Yamauchi's weird B-spec mode. If this mode left you
Race Monitor 9/15 Laps scratching your head a bit, as it did me, I’m here to finally explain what
Pos. Car Time Р the big deal is. For those of you whose initial reaction to the concept
Best / Sector
/ Map
78 Skyline GT-R V-spec И Nir B 1:25.956 0 1:24.436
was "That sounds incredibly boring," you might be surprised to know
that, taken the right way, it's actually quite satisfying. When Yamauchi
described the mode to us a few months ago, he likened it to watching a
Skyline GT-R V-spec ll Міг Д 1:25.384 1:25.441
race on TV, stating, "Sometimes you just want to drink coffee and
1:23.498 watch." If you're an F1 fan, few things could have been more boring
than last year's season, so fiddling with a few controls and obsessing
TVR Tuscan Speed 6 1:26.677 20.141 X 1:26.012 over split times while watching a videogame play itself is actually signif-
icantly more interesting than what you may be saving on your TiVo. If
TVR Tuscan Speed 6 1:26.521 1 LAP 1:26.178 you really get into the thing, you can actually spend a fairly relaxing
hour keeping an eye on tire wear and fuel levels while putting your feet
B Jaguar XKR-R 1:27.012 2LAP 1:27.006 up and seeing what happens. The key to enjoying this is to understand
the spirit with which it was produced. It's not a hardcore management
sim; it's just a fancy replay with some funky Al that you can tweak.
So to answer that question in the headline...no, not really. To make
things more fun, you can play races in B-spec mode that you're not
allowed to enter if you don't have the appropriate license yet, so it
NXT лм (жік RIDE doubles as a neat little preview feature, too.

realistic, but with a Logitech wheel and pedal set, it was almost crushing a bunch of ‘80s rust heaps, | sold it and used the winnings to
disturbingly so. beef up the Skyline with a turbo, an expensive air filter, the best exhaust
There's a lot to say about GT4, most of which you're probably aware of system money could buy, and some weight-reducing goodies. Prior to
already. Yes, it has the photo mode, which is gloriously distracting and these mods I'd been racing in Seattle and getting my ass handed to me
incredibly easy to use. Yes, it has the B-spec mode that you don't really by a Chrysler Crossfire (of all things) that wouldn't let me finish better
have to play (see sidebar), and yes, it has a ridiculous number of cars in than fourth, no matter how well | drove. After the mods | crushed the
it, many of which you won't care about. Yes, it's gorgeous to look at, and obnoxious little poseur, and his buddy in an $2000, and their pal in the
it has a great soundtrack, but the real honest-to-God beauty of this thing flame-red RX-8. The feeling of satisfaction was inspiring and pushed me
is in the moments of intense satisfaction that it provides. to channel my newfound arrogance into the harder license tests.
Early in your career you'll be working through the beginner races in The license tests are back. As with GT3, there are five different licenses
some kind of used heap that you've picked up for the pittance you begin to play through, and yes, the B-license stuff is as dull as ever. Each
the game with. For me it was a midnight-blue 1989 Skyline that | bought license presents 16 challenges, and at the beginning these are as tough
for a few grand. After winning some cash in the loser dome races, | was as “drive in a straight line,” which is to say, not. Don't be disheartened
getting to a point where the competition was just too hard. The Skyline though, it's all worth it in the end. To play the bulk of the game you'll
was killing in the jalopy races, but as soon as | took it to a series with a need to beat four of the five license tests and land yourself an Interna-
more significant purse, | was getting walked all over by RX-8s and M tional A license, and in gameplay terms, it's going to take a good four or
coupes. Winning series bags you cars, so after winning a VW Lupo for five hours of time just to get there. The ultimate test of skill, of course, is

April 2005
REMY

WHAT'S NOT TO
LIKE?
Not much, and the stuff
that's annoying shouldn't
be. You can't, for exam
ple the sound
settings in-game. So if
you're sick of Van Halen
while hurtling around
Seattle, there's noti
you can do about it until
you're done. You can
make playlists, which is a
nice touch, but some
times | just want to turn
the damn music off and
listen to a rip-snorting
V10 try to tear its way
out of my engine bay.

the super license, and you'll need this if you want to open up the really Nürburgring, ІЛІ feel an even greater sense of satisfaction that will
crazy stuff in the game, like F1 races. Competent racing gamers will need ultimately make my drive to work in the morning seem even more boring
at least a few hours to crack the super license. Although not especially than before. « John Davison
crazy in terms of its tasks, the real challenge comes in how particular you
need to be on the very lengthy challenges. You'll start by racing a 1966
Alfa Romeo through the narrow streets of Italy, you'll tackle an ice rally
with a very strict time limit in a tricked-out Hyundai, and ultimately face
the final test, which is a lap of the Nürburgring in a Mercedes 190E Evolu-
tion Il. Get sloppy on just one turn in any of the challenges, and you'll find
yourself burning an hour or more on a single test because of restarts.
After sinking nearly 20 hours into СТА, I’m still nowhere near seeing
everything it has to offer. | have an impressive garage packed with some 3Y If you had your doubts, worry not. GT4 is the best driving
glorious examples of automotive history, but | still don't have everything | Sim ever, bar none.
want. | have my eye on an Aston Martin DB9, and | really want the
Cadillac Cien concept, because I’ve always wanted a car that looks like а ».Sony CEA Dev. Polyphony Digital
stealth bomber. | will no doubt be playing this thing for months—at the
INC
very least—and every time | shave a few seconds off my time at

www.1UP.com | 101
 %1 REVIEWS

FINNY THE FISH

& THE SEVEN WATERS
7 АМ АНМҮ ОҒ ОМЕ TOO SMALL, THROW IT BACK
KAPPA TRIVIA
It's not easy being a fish. First off, | like sushi
I'm guessing the average carjacking, quarterback- try. [After wiping out the enemy units] The as much as the next guy, but | don’t think |
tackling PS2 player doesn't have much interest in so-called strategy element severely lacks. And could eat it all day—not to mention the pos-
Japanese history, which drives Kessen ll/'s story, terrain doesn't make enough of a difference. sibility of one day becoming it. So it's clear
or the action/strategy hybrid that plays out in its But the fighting rules. It feels huge. that Finny the Fish’s life was hard enough
levels. But why conjecture? I've brought in two | don't know. It's hard to tell who's who when before he became the Chosen One charged
gamers to talk it over, one a crabby, overopinion- more than a couple of units join the fray. The with saving the Seven Waters from an
ated hardcore guy, the other a more socially manual camera constantly begs for your atten- unknown predator. The concept of an action-
adjusted, Joe PlayStation casual player: tion, never where you want it to be. Probably adventure game set entirely under the sea
[Flipping through menus] How great fun for Dynasty Warriors fans. is unique, but Finny the Fish & the Seven
should we deploy? Our troops are on horse- If this was gangs of roller-skating '70s pimps Waters has a shelf life shorter than an
back, so maybe someone with foot soldiers. knifing each other on the streets of New York unrefrigerated albacore's.
Is this the game? | hate this stuff, instead of these longwinded kung fu dudes, it For the most part, Finny controls well.
menus in menus in menus. would completely rule. x Hold the X button to make him swim; tap it
Oh look, here's an autodeploy option for rapidly to go faster. He can also jump out of
whiny babies like you. You play. VERDICT Nicely combines action and strategy the water, flopping over gates or up shallow
Whoa! You control the whole army at once. elements, but both could use a little more depth. waterfalls. The Circle button makes him
Check this out. [Charges up to a unit of enemy attack with his tail fin, and the Square but-
troops and whacks them with spear hits] There's Pub. Koei Dev. Koei ESRB T MSRP $49.99 ton is used to chow down on prey—over
like 500 guys on the screen. Awesome! 100 different realistic aquatic denizens
Don't just mindlessly charge in. Here, let me
RATING
(some of whom will eat Finny unless he
powers up). Finny must constantly eat to

keep his stomach full; if it becomes empty,

he starts losing energy.
Constantly having to eat can be annoying
and distracting when you're just trying to
solve the game's puzzles and complete the
level. Even worse for poor Finny is that
some food isn't food at all—some items are
fishing lures, and if you swallow one, you'll
Tetsuya Nomura, have to fight to get free. If Finny can break
7 А SAMURAI FOR BABIES designer for the Final the fishing line with a well-placed tail snap,
Fantasy and Kingdom then he'll get the lure for his collection. If
Hearts franchises, not, he'll get caught and released (but he'll
At first, Musashi's (the titular blue-haired samu- combat for some trading cards. contributed character lose energy).
rai kid) quest to rescue a bevy of maidens and All this makes for a generally amicable designs to this new However, Finny goes right off the deep
retrieve five elemental swords seems like adventure that’s hindered by crap cinematogra- Musashi. Which is why end with its length—the entire game can be
another run, jump, and hit-things affair, but it phy and a painful level grind. Musashi exhibits a everyone in the game completed in one six-hour sitting. The
goes a bit deeper than that. The two main addi- flaw that seems to be literally transferred over has a crazy haircut and puzzles агеп'ї exactly head-scratchers, and
tions—the "duplicating" of enemy attacks and from Kingdom Hearts: a nigh-useless camera. brandishes an overabun- the levels, though occasionally difficult to
the carrying mechanic—add a fair amount of Despite Musashi's quirky look and interesting dance of belt buckles. navigate, are shockingly brief. Not counting
intrigue to what would otherwise be a mediocre mechanics, the elementary mistakes made with cinematic cut-scenes, restarts, or pausing,
action-RPG. Musashi can "focus" on an enemy the camera and the poor pacing ultimately make my in-game clock read 2:30 upon comple-
and, with proper timing, learn a new technique the game feel more like its 1998 predecessor tion of the bizarre non sequitur of a final
based off said enemy's attack. Besides learning than a modern sequel. boss fight. Finny's not a bad rental, but it's
new attacks, Musashi also physically lugs people so shallow you'll be left flopping around,
around; the very maidens he rescues become BRAVE MUSASHI! Decent action, nifty move- gasping for air. << Chris Kohler
both cargo and weapon as Musashi heaves learning and carrying mechanics
them to and fro and can actually club enemies COWARDLY MUSASH! Annoying camera, level SPLASH A unique premise and inventive
with them. As he picks up damsels and learns grind, and a tendency to backtrack a lot gameplay
enemy moves, he also does a fair bit of shop- ALL WET Zero challenge, extremely short
ping and talking inside a giant skywhale, Pub. Square Enix Dev. Square Enix ESRB E MSRP $49.99
squeezes in some rescues that don't require Pub. Natsume Dev. SonyCE ESRB E MSRP $29.99
carrying the rescuee, and participates in arena
RATING
RATING

102”ОРМ April 2005

 Ne
ae)

Real World Education

Compliment Game Design & Development

Bachelor of Science

Ma
f^ Wardrobe

r
In a recent interview with OPM, Brenda The game is also very poorly constructed. Х 7
Brathwaite, a senior designer on Playboy: It's incredibly ugly (not a good selling point Аззос!аїе ої Science &
The Mansion, commented, "If you're going | for a game about hot chicks), and even very Bachelor of Science
to animate breasts, animate them properly. basic maneuvering mechanics malfunction
The breasts in the original Dark Alliance regularly. | got trapped at the bottom of a
drove me nuts." The good news: Brenda stairway for five minutes, unable to either m
and her team did indeed succeed in the climb the stairs or leave the alcove. If you D” 4 в
quest for jiggly mammaries. The bad news: hang around the borders of an area of the
They were so preoccupied with breast mansion, you'll often accidentally end up school of
movement that they forgot to make a game moving to another part of the building. Mov- 3
to go with it. ing things in design/build mode is awk- | DET Е wc
As Hugh Hefner, you're charged with ward—you can't place objects in certain ЫШ Opus nimaton
developing the Playboy publishing empire. places in a room for inexplicable reasons. THE HEF Digital Media mH
For each issue you publish, you need to Also, objects often interfere with photo
4 E Š д STRESS TEST
track down articles, interviews, essays, and, | shoots—my camera will penetrate walls, but — S. ——— Entertainment Business
of course, the eye candy of pictorials, center- if there's a mirror hanging on the wall that's
folds, and the cover. All the while, you're ostensibly behind me, it will block my shot.
also accomplishing other goals, which usu- And that's the real crime of this game: I’m 3
t
ally tie back into the magazine (get a famous playing as the ultimate playboy of the uni- Саша рва от & Developmen
movie star to pose on the cover, help a guy verse, and | have time to notice annoying Recording Arts | |
get out of jail so he can help you connect details because | am so bored. Some Play- So how long will
with people to use in the magazine, etc.). boy lifestyle... «© Dana Jongewaard continue to get iton if X. Show Production & Tourin: w
The problem is that 90 percent of these you don't interrupt? For
goals are accomplished through conversa- evı ppare
tions with other people. Conversations always Magazine-building concept is an g that gets him 800.226.7625
follow the exact same trees, and it's always interesting one for a game... down is you ru
possible to schmooze up people regardless of ...too bad they forgot the game the company into b
their mood. There's no challenge, and there's
no variety. It's less like playing a game than it Arush Ent. Cyberlore M $49.99 100 busy with the la 3300 4 University Boulevar
is like working on a factory line, repeating an өө to keep making money. Winter Park, FL 32792
identical process over and over. Financial aid available to those who qualify
‎‫ڪڪ‬ no OY À2 Job placement assistance
Accredited College, ACCSCT
 [ДЗ 4
WARRIORS
Available Now
New Musou Mode with a unique story for every character!
More powerful attacks!
Enhanced tactical gameplay!

PlayStation.e "m

Visit www.esrb.org
for updated rating
i i | Dynasty Warriors and the KOEI logo are registered trademarks ortrademarks
nj information. Produced by П0001ву] and thePS"Family logo are registered trademarks of SonyComputer Entertainment I
arorce Association. ‘Dolby’, Pro Logic" and the double-D symbol arê trademarks
ofDolby
Mj REVIEWS
1
- ‫أ‬‎ Aa. al
FUTURE CORTEZ,
V

ин 56

For some reason completely unfathomable to me, the TimeSplitters series or anything. The basic plot is, in fact, fairly simple. But it provides motiva-
always seems to get a bad rap from anyone who hasn't actually played it. tion for your actions as time-jumper Cortez, and more importantly, pro-
It's as though the jaded FPS elitists take one look at the somewhat car- vides a justification for some hysterical cinematics. It's not so much the
toony graphics and instantly turn their noses up, sniffing and muttering writing that makes these cut-scenes so funny as it is the comic timing—
about how it can't possibly be a "serious" first-person shooter. not to mention recurring gags like Cortez's "Time to split!" catchphrase
Well, l've got a message for you, fellas: | don't care if it's "serious." (which other characters in the game correctly recognize as almost
TimeSplitters has never failed to be a complete blast to play, and Future unspeakably cheesy).
Perfect upholds that tradition by improving upon the series' lofty stan- The real innovation, though, is a devious exploitation of the time-travel
dards in nearly every way. theme, in which Cortez repeatedly travels back just a few moments in
The most fundamental change is the introduction of an honest-to- time to help himself get through some tough spots. This is handled very
goodness story. Yes, instead of an artificially strung-together sequence of skillfully in the game; you'll do things like drive a tank and then go back in
generally unconnected missions, there is now a common thread that runs time to man the guns on the same tank, or guard your own back as you
through the entire game. Moreover, you actually play as just one charac- hack a computer via a simple tile-puzzle interface. Hearing this, you might
ter throughout—a fact that will shock fans of the previous games. think there's a chance these segments could feel tedious and forced, as
This is a welcome change, addressing what was the series' biggest though the designers attempted to draw out the playtime by forcing you
weakness. Now, don't get me wrong—this isn't Oscar-caliber scriptwriting to replay segments, but it's not that way at all. Each instance is comfort-

106"OPM April 2005

 MULTIPLAYER
r
CAVEAT 4
I wish that | could enthusiastically endorse Future Perfect's online play.
Unfortunately, my experience with the review code was inconclusive.
While the game ran beautifully while | played against other Ziffers here
in the office, a game set up by EA was one of the worst-performing
online games I've experienced. Players were popping in and out of
view, “ghost” players were running into walls all over the maps, and
players were getting booted with disturbing frequency.
Now, EA assures me that this was a result of an unusually poor
shared connection—the only connection that was not protected by EA's
internal firewall (which prevented us from joining any games hosted on
its network). On top of this, online optimization tends to be one of the
final polishing steps before sending a game off to be pressed. But
there's really no way to tell at this point whether the game will have
similar problems once it's released at retail. As a result, | am not factor-
ing this experience into the score. The game definitely can run great
online, and the offline is fantastic no matter what. But if shoddy online
play is a deal-breaker for you, you may want to hold off on a purchase.
Check back in next month’s Replay for an update.

FUTURE PERFECT
ably brief, so you're in and out before you have a chance to get bored unchanged. As І see it, this allowed the designers to concentrate on
with it; but more importantly, in the vast majority of circumstances you're coming up with interesting levels, lots more minigame-style challenges
performing different tasks each time. So it's not a cruel trick, but a really (most memorable: monkey curling), and unusual multiplayer modes for
entertaining gimmick. It works. splitscreen and online play. (Check out the sidebars for more specifics
As for the basic gameplay, well, that remains virtually unchanged— about online.) There's only one area in which | was really hoping for a
which is a very good thing, if you ask me. The game is still blazingly fast, bigger change: mapmaker.
with a sizable selection of interesting weapons for each time period, some Now, if you've messed around with mapmaker in the past, you know
of the sharpest graphics you'll see on any system, and plenty of com- that you can do a lot with it. In fact, a dedicated person would be able to
pletely unrealistic settings to play around in. The addition of a limited create an entire story level if he really wanted to sit down and hack it out.
selection of vehicles adds a little variety, but the only major alteration (Incidentally, this depth is going to make things really interesting once the
here is that the designers finally got rid of the aiming quirk that caused game comes out and everyone starts trading maps online; remember to
your gun to "lead" before the screen moved, a change that is most make judicious use of the map rating option so the rest of us will know
noticeable—and most welcome—when sniping. (Incidentally, you can what to look for and what to stay away from!) | just wish there were some
revert to the old style of aiming in the Options screen, if you're a glutton way to customize the look of the levels a bit more. | remember some of
for punishment.) the map pieces from the first game—like that awesome cathedral—and it
| have no problem with the fundamental gameplay remaining makes me wish it were possible to craft more organic creations. Oh well,

www.lUP.com | 107
 REVIEWS

ONLINE ACTION
r
Future Perfect has an extensive collection of interesting game types for
multiplayer fun. You've got your standard deathmatch (team and every-
man-for-himself flavors), capture the bag (read: flag), and zones (think
Star Wars Battlefront), but there are also a bunch of completely new
modes. Check 'em out.
Shrink: Your size is related to your ranking in the game. The player in
first place is normal sized; the player in last is very, very tiny (and thus
harder to hit).
Gladiator: Only the “gladiator” can score, and you have to kill the
gladiator to become the gladiator.
Vampire: Your health depletes over time; killing other players
restores it.
Thief: You aren't awarded points instantly for a kill; instead, the newly
deceased drops a coin that other players can pick up if you don’t get
there quickly enough.
Virus: One player is on fire, and he has to touch other players to set
them on fire, too. The winner is the last player left uncharred.
Bagtag: The player who manages to hang on to the bag for the
longest total time is the winner.
Assault: One team defends a base while the other team attacks; the
attacking team must fulfill specific objectives to win.
Elimination: Each player gets a predetermined number of lives—last
man standing wins.
In addition to all this, while you're online (waiting for a friend to
show up, for example), you can participate in single-player challenges,
and the results are posted on leaderboards so you can compare your
performance to others around the world. It's a neat little extra that car-
ries over into the single-player game.
And finally, while online you can access a repository of user-created
maps. You can download maps, rate maps you've played, recommend a
map to anyone on your friends list, send feedback to the creator of the
map, or find more maps by the same author—and, of course, put your
own maps up as well. But don't think you'll need to go through this
process anytime you want to play on a friend's map—if you want to join
а дате that you don’t have the map for, the game will download it
automatically as you join the lobby.
All in all, the online options are really extensive and well
put together.
==

maybe on PS3.... At least the developers did add some more decorative
details so that | can finally fashion a scale model of the funeral home
where | grew up.
Yes, l'm aware this is a really minor complaint. No, | don't have any-
thing more major to gripe about. Look: In one of our multiplayer matches,
EGM's Greg Ford commented that "Future Perfect is to shooters what
Burnout 3 is to racing games." That's exactly right, and | couldn't have
expressed it any better. Future Perfect is the kind of game that places pure
entertainment above stodgy realism and loads up the experience with
tons of extras, minigames, and well-paced rewards. The result is a game Lightning-fast gameplay, innovative time-travel
that's not necessarily impossible to put down (because it's divided into gimmick, loads of extras make for some serious replay value
easily digestible segments, you see)—but is impossible to stop picking Online play may be very hit-or-miss,
up. Just one more challenge! Just one more arcade level! Just one more story mode is a bit short, mapmaker could still use some detail
online match!
So say what you will about TimeSplitters being too arcadey or too car- EA Games Free Radical T $49.99
toony or not serious enough—I'll just be over here having а hell of a time.
Last | checked, that's what games were for. «€ Joe Rybicki

108"OPM April 2005

 Lost somewhere between Winning Eleven
85 spectacular gameplay and FIFA 2005's
SAVIOLA visual flair, you'll find World Tour Soccer
2006, a soccer game without a definitive
identity. The lone progressive feature is all
about identity—not the game’s own (sadly),
but yours. The EyeToy camera puts your
unflattering visage onto a player and into
the game. While this doesn’t sound ground-
breaking, it is: Instead of a snapshot that
gets grossly slapped onto a player model
(THUG, anyone?), this is the real deal. The
process takes a few minutes, but you'll look
as good as the game’s brightest stars (in
part because Henry and Rooney and Figo
don't look all that bright).
While there's some level of cool with the
EyeToy, there's a higher level of "who
cares?" Putting your face into a game is old
news, and it doesn't make up for the jerky,
uneventful gameplay that'll make you wish
you'd bought Winning Eleven 8. Players

ROBBIE KEANE

seem to move in tandem with oddly similar

FIFA STREET
jogs, and very little in the game drives you
to the different season or career modes.
That's if you make it through the challeng-
ing, miniscule typeface on the menus—not
an easy task.
r
WTS makes very little attempt to be spe-
І keep telling myself, "This is just the starting snap off a quick shot—even if he's in the cial or to stand out from its competitors, and
point. This is just the starting point. This is just goalmouth and merely needs to tap the ball to the result, instead of a solid, grounded oper-
the starting point." But even if this game is the bury it. And players have to fully control the ation, is a game that comes off as ordinary.
first of many, FIFA Street's debut is still a rushed ball before firing off a shot or a pass—there's Scoring opportunities are too easy and
and bungled bust. As much as | want to cut it no way to snap off a one-timer to expose a mean too little, and the “wow” moments—
some slack, | can't—$50 is а lot of coin for a vir- downed keeper. scoring a goal, beating a defender—serve up
tually unfinished title. On the upside, the gamebreakers work well; more yawns than adrenaline.
Streetifying the sports genre isn't easy busi- the environments truly capture their interna-
ness—developers have no model to work from tional settings, from scenic Marseille to a dusty
like they do with simulation sports. That's why square in Rio de Janeiro to West 4th in NYC;
it's impressive that NBA Street and NFL Street and the soundtrack is my favorite in games (out-
have nailed both the theme and the gameplay. side the GTA universe). But an oversimplified
But while FIFA Street has the former under career mode, lack of game modes, shoddy drib-
wraps, the latter—the troubled gameplay—has a bling physics (the ball seems magnetically tied
long way to go. to a dribbler's feet), and complete lack of The Marseille play-
The heel flips, crossovers, and other nifty responsiveness mean you should wait for the ground that's featured in
maneuvers make this one worth a try, but the sequel to get your kicks. < Todd Zuniga FIFA Streetis where
moves are a mild selling point, and there really French national Zinedine EyeToy feature is tremendous, loads of
aren't enough of them. The soccer basics come S Spot-on environments, fantastic sound- Zidane playe a teams, including Premiership clubs
off as a secondary consideration. Passing the track, nice tricks youth. Unfortunately, S Milquetoast graphics, yawning game-
ball is awkward. Players come to an unnatural CONS Unresponsive controls, shooting and Zidane (considered one play, jerky camera, horrific replays
stop to receive the ball, betraying Newton's passing are rough, feels rushed of the best players ever / Kick this one to the curb
rule of inertia. This stop-and-start movement is to walk on the field) isn't
clumsy and kills the game's flow. Shooting is Pub. EA Sports Big EA Canada ESRB Е in the game—he retired Sony CEA Dev.Sony CEA ESRB E $39.99
dreadful. The animations take a drearily long from international play
4;
time to load up, meaning your player won't last December.

www.1UP.com | 109
 2j REVIEWS
hori on
WIRED

nya, MLB 2006

«=» NAT 0
нүм 0

THE STARTING LINEUP

MUP BASEBALL 2005, MLB 2006.
A ROUNDUP OF THE PS2'S BASEBALL-SIM TRIO

Last year, gamers were overwhelmed by baseball sims, with four options FIELDING Pi
available on the PS2. This year, that number drops to three, as Acclaim's Like it did last year, 2K5 features great fielding thanks to its speed boosts
All-Star Baseball series has been sent packing to the great ballpark in the and slick handling system. It may be a little too slick, though—infielders
Sky along with its publisher. That leaves EA Sports' MVP Baseball 2005, and even the pitcher tend to get to more balls than you'd think possible.
Take-Two's Major League Baseball 2K5, and Sony's MLB 2006 to slug it out It's still good, but you may have to tweak things to your liking with game-
for baseball-sim supremacy. Lucky for us, all three are serious contenders. play sliders.
MLB and MVP both do a solid job here, with preloaded throws, respon-
PITCHING sive controls, and generally intelligent decisions by the АІ.
Whereas MVP cleaned up in this category last year thanks to its quick WINNER
and simple pitch meter, things are much tighter this year. MLB goes the
flattery route by utilizing a meter similar to MVPs, although it feels more BASERUNNING 4
cumbersome and has an added step—you pick your pitch and then chuck Baserunning is often a tough area for many baseball games, but this trio
the ball; MVPs meter incorporates this into one step. handles it pretty well. 2K5's is certainly passable, but it proves to be a
2K5 opts to go in a different direction, offering an effective system little too complex for the speed at which the action happens, and you'll
called KZone, in which you pick a pitch and location and then try to stop likely lose many a baserunner because of it. This is somewhat redeemed
two markers on your target—one that slides across a horizontal line and by two clever additions: 1) You can give your baserunner a boost by
another that travels up or down a vertical line. And while KZone is banging on his corresponding button, and 2) there’s a cool baserunner
involved and rewarding, MVP's meter still wins out. mode in which you can control a runner and take leads and steal while
WINNER the computer controls the batter.
MLB has a simple and intuitive system, with its only fault being its lack
HITTING А of controllable slides. MVP comes in a close second here with a system
Hitting isn't a problem in апу of these games, although there are some similar to MLB's that isn't quite as responsive.
key differences. MLB has finally implemented check swings, as well as WINNER
drag bunts and a pitch-guessing system. Choose the right pitch type, and
a target lets you know where it's going (guess fastball on 3-0 counts and GRAPHICS/PRESENTATION а
let it fly if you're right). Hitting in 2K5 is smooth, helped by a great crack While MLB has tons of great animations and smooth graphics, its overall
of the bat and the chance for the batter to gain a boost by guessing the lackluster presentation just can't compare to the slick offerings provided
pitch location. by the other two players. MVP is solid on both counts, but in this cate-
MVP wins this category by the slimmest of margins, though, with gory, 2K5 easily takes the cake. Its ESPN broadcast implementation is
an intuitive swing system and a new feature called the hitter's eye, better than ever—commentators Jon Miller and Joe Morgan are great,
which flashes the color of a corresponding pitch type as it leaves the killing dead time by answering fan-mail questions, and all the replays are
pitcher's hand. of high quality.
WINNER WINNER |

110"OPM April 2005

 MUP BASEBALL 2005

19000

YOU'D BETTER STEAL

THIS. TAKE-TWO...
r
With Take-Two recently securing rights from the MLB Players Associa-
tion for exclusive use of all players’ likenesses, the PS2 baseball land-
Round 1 scape could change greatly next year. If there indeed is only one game
2150 — RANDOMIZE BLOCKS (although first-party developers, like Sony, can still release games, so
MLB will likely be back), the following are the features we'd like to see:
* The hitting, pitching, and fielding systems from MVP.
®» MLB's baserunning, or better yet, the supersimple yet effective setup
from cult favorite А.В./. Baseballon the NES
* 2K5's sublime presentation (though that may prove tricky without the
ESPN license)
* MLB's create-a-player and career mode
* The All-Star Baseball series' what-if scenarios that let you re-create
situations from the previous season (who knows, maybe Houston
could have made it to its first World Series ever last year with a few
lucky bounces)
* MVPs minigames...as well as a few new ones that make fielding fun
* The ability to jack bullpen carts and beat up mascots...just because
VAAÓ€ P EY o

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2K5

FRANCHISE/OTHER MODES OVERALL
All three games offer some decent unique modes, and they all feature the This is a solid year for baseball sims—no title has any glaring weak-
now-requisite minor league presence as well (MVP even adds some sin- nesses. And though you really can't go wrong with any of them, MVP
gle-A teams). In addition to an insanely deep franchise mode that lets you once again offers the best all-around package. << Greg Ford
tweak almost every conceivable detail, MLB has an interesting career
mode that lets you create a player (you can use the EyeToy to put in your MLB 2006
own mug) to take through spring training and hopefully a successful Builds on a good engine from last year to produce a solid sim
major league career. 2K5 complements its hefty franchise mode with a with few gameplay flaws, but it lacks the gimmicks, presentation, and
GM mode that gives you goals and requires you to make a profit and con- general fireworks the other games have to bring it to the next level.
trol spending. MVP has the most far-reaching modes, though, with its
dynasty mode (basically a supercharged franchise mode, which, oddly, SCEA 989 Sports Е $39.99
still forces you to go through full 162-game schedules) and the new
owner mode, which lets you build a stadium and then gives you 30 years
to become a success. Unfortunately, the latter is hampered by a slow
start, as you're almost immediately in the red—still, it's rewarding for MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2К5
patient gamers. A fantastic presentation and good extras anchor a highly enjoy-
Draw able game—only its baserunning and fielding are a step behind its
competitors.
GIMMICKS
Both MVP and 2K5 have a plethora of extras that will keep you playing, Take-Two Interactive 2K Games
while MLB is a little more vanilla in this area—it does have some unlock-
able players and stadiums and a cool fast-forward feature that lets you
skip past innings, though. 2K5's slam mode lets you capitalize on an
opposing pitcher's mistake by zooming in on his hand and slowing things MUP BASEBALL 2005
down, at which point you can charge up your swing and then let it fly. It All-around solid play, responsive controls, and great bonus
also has plenty of cheats, uniforms, teams, and games—such as air features separate this game from the pack, with only a few flaws keeping
hockey and darts—that you can unlock in your skybox with points you it from being a perfect hardball sim.
earn playing the game, but most of the stuff has been done before.
MVP loads up on the unlockables and even has a grainy, old-timey EA Sports EA Canada E $49.99
"Cooperstown effect" when you play in classic stadiums. Most substan-
tial are its hitting and pitching minigames, which prove to be quite addic-
tive since they help you hone skills and earn points to unlock the goods.
MVP Baseball 2005

www.1UP.com |Ш
ЗЫ, REVIEWS

ONLINE NIRVANA 4
r
Project: Snowblind's online features read like
an FPS forum wish list. Game modes include
deathmatch, team deathmatch, assault, tacti-
cal assault, quick demolition, capture the flag,
fast flag capture, and hunter—a Predator-like
mode in which one cloaked player preys on
the hapless grunts. Though the level lineup
isn’t huge, the levels themselves are enor-
mous, and most have a vehicle or two that
can be piloted by the player (most memo-
rable: the Ogre, a 10-foot-tall mech). Some of
the games are fairly complex and can last half
an hour or more. Combine this with an only
slightly reduced arsenal as compared to the
single-player mode, and you end up with an
online mode that's going to be as tough on
newcomers as Pandora Tomorrow's. As a
result, it's likely to become the arena where
the truly hardcore come to test their mettle.

PROJECT: SNOWBLIND
Project: Snowblind seems tailor-made for first-person-shooter veterans this good, | want to see more of it, not the same bits over and over.
looking for something a little different and a little more complex than It also must be said that Snowblind's character models are some of the
your everyday console FPS. There’s plenty to get the attention of new- worst l've seen since the PS1's heyday. You'll wander through these gor-
comers, sure, but it's the hardcore FPS fans that are most likely to appre- geous levels, agog at the soft lighting and dramatic cinematography—and
ciate Snowblind's intricacies. then wince painfully as a cut-scene pops up and subjects you to charac-
For example, your arsenal of weapons, gadgets, and powers is truly ters who look like an EyeToy face-mapping experiment gone horribly, hor-
mind-boggling. And a good percentage of these—the spider-bot grenade, ribly wrong. All in all, though, it's not that big a deal, as the story is just
the riot wall, and the flechette gun, for example—are far outside the FPS an excuse to deploy you with all these nifty gadgets. What I’m saying is,
norm, which is doubly impressive. As a result, if you so desire, you can you certainly won't miss much if you take advantage of the cut-scenes to
play the game with a great deal of methodical strategy. If you're willing to hit the restroom or refill your soda.
constantly switch up your weapons, gadgets, and powers, you can take If Snowblind had a more compelling story or rewarded you for explor-
each level step by careful step and really dominate. It's too bad the game ing its complexities, it could have been an instant classic. Ultimately,
doesn't really reward you for doing so, however; there's enough health though, it's yet another solid shooter in a season of solid shooters. FPS
and ammo lying around to let you generally get through a level easily if addicts looking for a new twist will be able to uncover lots of innovations
you just charge ahead, guns blazing. here (especially online, see sidebar), but newcomers to the genre won't
Of course, in doing so you wouldn't be able to properly admire the find as much to get excited about. «€ Joe Rybicki
beautiful environments, loaded with fancy graphical effects and lots of lit-
tle details. The levels are also surprisingly complex; you'll find multiple
paths to just about any destination, not to mention loads of little out-of- PROS Lots of innovative weapons and gadgets, beautiful environments,
the-way nooks and crannies that hold especially useful equipment. unusually deep online mode
All this detail seems to have come at a fairly heavy price, though: You'l CONS Forgettable story, reused levels, may be too complex for newbies
find yourself passing through the same areas on several different mis-
sions. To be fair, you'll notice some pretty major changes each time Pub. Eidos Dev. Crystal Dynamics ESRB Т MSRP $49.99
through—generally the result of grumpy enemies with heavy firepower—
but that doesn't really lessen the sense of déjà vu. When the game looks

12”ОРМ April 2005

 “ONE CANNOT HIDE ^
FROMA THE HIDDEN
-Japanese proverb

“(TENCHU) FATAL SHADOWS REDEFINES THE STEALTH GENRE.” GameDaily

PlayStation 2 2 Strike in silence. See and never be seen. The art of the ninja. An art ы
zm mastered by two assassins, Rin and Ayame. Deadly swordplay. Ferocious
"n oe hand-to-hand combat. And simultaneous multi-kill death moves. All executed
FN | without a sound. TENCHU: Fatal Shadows?” It's like nothing you've ever seen.

[Ин THE SHADOWS ВЕСКОМ atseca.com/tencnu FATAL SHADOWS

ал86 | о

MATURE 17+
Blood
Violence
ESRB CONTENT RATING — www.esrb.org

SEGA is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. SEGA, the SEGA logo and Fatal Shadows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA Corporation. © 2004 - 2005 FromSoftware, INC. Tenchu is either a registered trademark or trademark of FromSoftware, INC.
 %1 REVIEWS

MY HEART'S
DEVOTION
Іп 2001, Round 2 cover
boy Bernard Hopkins: 72222272
was in New York to pro-
mote his upcoming bout MX US. ATV UNLEASHED
with Félix Trinidad when I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE
7 OH, SWEET SCIENCE! he took Trinidad's minia-
ture Puerto Rican flag While we were all busy taking up arms in
and threw itto the the bloody Coke vs. Pepsi, Freddy vs. Jason,
Ever wonder how you'd handle yourself in a Aside from this, Round 2 is hampered only by ground, Sadly, this did and DLR vs. Sammy wars, another bitter
fight? Despite the inner hippie in all of us minor issues: a repetitive ring announcer, an not make it as an in- rivalry was apparently brewing right under
preaching peace and keeping our heads cool, even more repetitive soundtrack, and a pecu- game taunt, our noses. If you had to choose one—and
let's face it: Some people need a good punch. liarly repetitive save system (after each fight, the only one—method of racing other people on
Until recently, the fluid movements and game will independently save your game file a dirt surface, what would you choose? The
power dynamics of boxing have been repre- and then your profile). answer to that question can be found in MX
sented in videogames by pressing buttons. The It's safe to say that Fight Night Round2 is the vs. ATV Unleashed, another excellent racing
inadequacy of such a setup was exposed by last best boxing game to come along in the past 15 title from Rainbow Studios (formerly of the
year's Fight Night 2004. After a brief rest during years, and only slightly riskier to say that it's the ATV Offroad Fury franchise).
which EA tried to control the swelling (of profits, best of all time. 4 A more accurate title might be MX vs.
you see), it comes back out swinging in Round ATV vs. Dune Buggy vs. Helicopter vs.
2, where the total punch control is refined to be PROS Stunning textures, character models, and Pretty Much Any Other Vehicle You Can
even more responsive to your natural fight-or- particle effects (i.e., blood flying everywhere)... Race. The championship mode features the
flight instincts. Another new addition is the you almost kinda feel bad for the guy titular matchup of motocross bikes and
powerful haymaker punch, which really cap- CONS No way to practice the training programs, four-wheelers, but several of the game's
tures the intensity of the sport. even though only one is really useful extra modes feature other vehicles as well,
One could argue the haymakers are a little lest you think that dirt bikes and ATVs offer
too effective. Not only are they incredibly pow- Pub. EA Sports Dev. EA Sports ESRB T MSRP $49.99 a limiting race experience.
erful, but it takes a while for the Al to catch on Rainbow's ехрегіепсесіп the genre is evi-
that hey, maybe he should try blocking them.
RATING 22227 dent іп the дате” polished graphics,

smooth framerate, and floaty-but-fun con-

trols. The vehicles are fairly well balanced,
with bikes being able to grab more air while
the ATVs have easier landings. In fact, that’s
the biggest issue with Unleashed: It's often
difficult to judge where your bike wheels are
lined up, which leads to a multitude of
crashes. Fortunately, the game doesn't pun-
ish you too harshly, and it's easy to make up
lost time. (As with Rainbow's previous rac-
` THE ONLY GAME ІМ TOWN 4
Rugby is the bastard child of sporting events in tice what you have learned before entering one
America, which is too bad: It's like football, but of the tournaments and going for gold.
HEAD US. GROUND
since it's played without helmets or pads, it's While the game boasts responsive controls
more badass than the gridiron could ever hope and enhanced graphics over last year's entry, According to the Con-
to be. EA Canada brings this sport Stateside pulling off some of the tackles and passes sumer Product 5 ers, it's easy for your computer opponents
once more with Rugby 2005, which features the seems more difficult it should. It would have Commis to make up lost time too, due to the aggres-
big teams from around the world along with been a welcome addition to be able to bring the 1982 and 2001 mor sive "rubberband" assistance.)
tournament modes such as Tri-Nations and camera in closer to the action. 4,500 Americans As for which mode of transportation is
Super 12. The game also features the EA Sports Overall, Rugby 2005 gives you an adequate killed while riding an ATV. better, that battle will likely rage on for years
tradition of being able to create your own adrenaline rush and provides a realistic experi- The CPSC also to come. Or at least until they make MX vs.
player; you can manage the aesthetics of your ence (minus the bruises and broken bones, of less than 10 ре ATV vs. Horse. < Andrew Pfister
course), but it lacks the polish of other EA ATV riders undergo A
alter ego as well as attributes like speed, agility,
and field abilities. Sports titles. р safetyti ining. The | GOOD Even though it's limited to off-roading,
For newcomers, the handy Rugby 101 train- son? Don't be dumb on there's still a lot to do
ing videos offer a detailed overview of the VERDICT Fans hungry for scrum action might your ATV. EVIL A soundtrack featuring Nickelback, Linkin
basics. There are also training exercises with want to try it, but others should take a pass. Park, and Unwritten Law
detailed voiceovers and onscreen cues to guide
you through the process of scoring a try, com- Pub. EA Sports Dev. EA Canada ESRB E MSRP $39.99 Pub. THQ Dev. Rainbow Studios ESRB E MSRP $39.99
pleting a tackle, and passing or punting the ball.
Finally, a practice mode provides time to prac-
RATING RATING ©6000

14”ОРМ April 2005

 igita
october 14-16, 2005
jacob javits center, nyc
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Get in on the hottest ticket of 2005.

Secure your spot at DigitalLife 2005 in New York — the 3-day consumer event bringing together the
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СД **#@lackeery CREATIVE intel. KONICA MINOLTA

8 ағ oavıs мол EHH} САМИИС

Mj REVIEWS

SMART SAVE
Devil May Cry3 ji
system is pretty clever
While it doesn’t let you
save апуу t does
let you save а!
at any point inthe
so if you die, you re
the same number of rec
orbs that you had
you died. You can use
thistoyour advar
bycollecting а
red orbs as ро
before à toi
difficult section, savin:
and then c
red orbs that

or-ups.

DEVIL MAY CRY 3:

WELCOME |

y
It's nearly impossible to overstate how close Devil May Cry 2 came to case, nearly every cut-scene in the game does an excellent job of har-
completely destroying the Devil May Cry franchise. The wisecracking nessing this juxtaposition, resulting in some genuinely entertaining and
Dante from the original game was replaced with a mute in a red trench amusing moments.
coat while the lavish gothic environments were decimated in favor of The cut-scenes are an important part of what makes Devil May Cry 3
your run-of-the-mill towns, cities, and skyscrapers—albeit skyscrapers so good. They do a great job of giving the characters some depth, thanks
that had demons running around inside of them. Even the action was to some surprisingly good voice acting and the most over-the-top action
seriously lacking the elements present in the first game, which proved sequences you have ever seen. Actually, some of the action sequences
that all the hectic craziness of a 2D action game could make the jump to a are so damn good that action-film directors will probably smack them-
polygonal world. selves on the forehead and ask, "Why didn't | think of that?" after wit-
Indeed, Devil May Cry 25 very existence didn't bode well for the future nessing some of the surreal stuff that Dante and the supporting cast do in
of the franchise, since the effort put forth in that game was so lacking that this game. Oftentimes, you may find yourself going back to the game
it seemed Capcom just didn't particularly care for Dante and company repeatedly just to check them out.
any more. Which is why it's a bit of a shock, and a welcome surprise, that Don't mistake this as some trick for hiding lackluster gameplay. These
Devil May Cry 3 is good—really good. It rights just about every single one cut-scenes are more like icing on an action-packed cake with various lay-
of Devil May Cry 2's wrongs and successfully redeems the series. ers of deliciousness created by Dante's different fighting techniques.
And it all starts with Dante. His personality really shines through in There are six techniques to choose from (some are unlocked as you
Devil May Cry 3, and it's not just because you have this character saying progress through the game), and each focuses on a single aspect of
"dude" or any variety of brazen comments, but rather it's because of Dante's abilities. For example, if you use the sword master style, you can
who he's saying them to and the circumstances involved. How often do unlock new sword attacks and combinations, some of which prove to be
you see a character nonchalantly address the Lord of Darkness? In any quite useful later in the game. Conversely, you can choose a technique

ШБ”ОРМ April 2005

 The only really annoying
thing about Devil May
Cry Zinvolves the puz
zles. While most of them
aren't all that difficult
some require you to do a
little backtracking, and
sometimes it's not too
clear where you're sup
posed to go unl
you've checked out cer
tain places on your jour
ney. Actually, if you're
not careful, you may find
yourself alltheway back
at the very start of the
game, which isn't all that
fun, but it is a testament
to cohesive level
design.

DANTE'S AWAKENING
like trickster, which doesn't really affect any weapons but enables Dante Devil May Cry 3 is a lot like Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden in that sense. Capcom
to master new evasive moves. There's a distinct difference between each took the formula that worked so well for the original Devil May Cry and
style, so much so that you play the game differently to take advantage of added depth with new techniques that work incredibly well given the way
the one you have equipped in a particular situation. Plus, some of them enemies act in the game. This—plus the excellent cut-scenes, amazing
are just plain fun to use, especially if you're trying to create some spectac- backgrounds, and great character models—proves Devil May Cry 3 is а
ular combinations that involve all kinds of aerial and ground maneuvers. worthy successor to Dante's original adventure. Even better, it shows how
The only downside is that you can only level up some techniques by great this series is when Capcom puts effort into it. © Giancarlo Varanini
using them throughout the entire game, which is certainly doable in the-
огу but can be difficult to accomplish in reality.
Speaking of difficulty, the various demons and creatures from the
depths of hell put up quite a fight in Devil May Cry 3. This stems from a
variety of factors, not the least of which is the intelligence level of some
enemies. Since some of them are actually capable of blocking Dante's Nearly every aspect of the game is fantastic. Great character
attacks, manic slashing and shooting simply doesn’t work all the time. designs, awesome-looking levels, responsive controls, and some
You have to be a bit more crafty and observant of the ways enemies excellent action
move around if you don’t want Dante to die within seconds of meeting Some of the backtracking can be tiresome
these foes. Still, Dante will die quite a bit, but it's never really frustrating,
because during each fight, whether it's against a boss or in a particularly Сарсот Сарсот M $49.99
tricky spot in a level, you discover a new weakness and adapt your strat-
egy and fighting style accordingly.
Ў REVIEWS

(Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter)

by John Scalzi

The Incredibles was not only the best science-fiction film of 2004, it's also
probably the best superhero film ever (and if not, it and the first two
Superman films are locked in an interesting three-way death grip). It
reaches such an exalted position by doing two things well: First, it's about
something. Second, it has a lot of fun being about something. Lots of
films aim for the first of these, but very few manage the second, particu-
larly in the realm of superhero films.
And what is the film about? It's about the cathartic release that comes
when you actually get to be yourself and not some closeted, defeated ver-
sion thereof. Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) starts the movie in
blissful superhero mode but is quickly jammed into a "normal" life when
lawsuits from his superhero adventures pile up (as, of course, they would
in the real world). This leads to furtive adventures on the side and finally
a secret hero life he hides from his also-super wife and kids, and naturally
that will have repercussions for all of them, particularly the kids, who
have been told to keep a lid on their superpowers. Anyone who has had
to live some or part of their life tamped down is going to identify—and
since that's most people, you can see why this film was such a big hit.
The great thing about Тһе Incredibles is that it doesn't bash you in the
head with its theme—you get what's being said, but you're mostly just
getting a heck of a superhero story. Writer and director Brad Bird doesn't
belabor the point; as with other Pixar films, the filmmakers trust their
audience. That's incredible enough as it is. And it is much appreciated.

H8"OPM April 2005

 FINDING
“NEVERLAND
(Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet)
Finding Neverland is something of an intellec-
tual dare: Is it possible to make a film about an
effeminate male playwright who is obsessed
with a family of young boys and not have it tip
| into unseemly "Jesus juice" territory? Happily
ALFIE for everyone involved—including the audi-
(Jude Law, Marisa Tomei) Î ence—the answer is yes. Johnny Depp's J.M.
Alfie (Jude Law) cuts a swath through New Barrie (who wrote Peter Pan) is guileless and
York's female population with a wink and a sweet and pretty much asexual—his attraction
smile, mostly because he looks like Jude Law to a family of boys (and their mother, played
and has a British accent. The central conceit of by Kate Winslet) isn't driven by unseemly
this film worked the first time, in 1966 (with adult needs but rather by a desire to get the
Michael Caine as Alfie), when a guy could be a most out of their childhood. Even so, these
cad and it was considered charming. Here in attentions and their motivations don't go
the 21st century, it just means you're a dick—in uncommented on. But in the end, thanks to
real life, a male ho like Alfie would be weighted Depp's gentle performance, this is one Never-
with cement and dropped off the Staten Island land you'd be happy to have your kids visit,
ferry. Even if he looks like Jude Law. and you'll be glad you tagged along as well.

RATING | !"TESI

EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING BRIDGET

Ё
JONES: EDGE OF REASON
(Bambi, Thumper) (Stellan Skarsgárd, Izabella Scorupco) (Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant)

Did you know that the deer population in the For my money, The Exorcist is the best horror Like the first film of the series, this movie is
States is larger than it was when the Pilgrims film ever made, but it's not nearly as terrifying predicated on the notion that there's a hetero-
arrived? Part of the reason: This movie, in as the mess subsequent filmmakers have sexual man on the planet who wouldn't drag
which the offing of Bambi's mother was so made out of the sequels. This new one is no himself over glass shards to date Renée Zell-
traumatic to wee little baby boomers that as less of a mess, probably because the entire weger, even if she weighs 20 pounds more
grown-ups they can't bring themselves to kill film was reshot with a new director (Renny than usual (i.e., weighs as much as she's actu-
a deer, even when the damn things are fling- Harlin) after the original director (Paul ally supposed to). Sorry, no go. But as with
ing themselves at cars. This film is a bit guile- Schrader) produced something with less gore DUD RELEASES the first go around, this is light and breezy
lessly sweet for today's taste, but it's still fine and more suspense than the backer wanted. March 1 fun, and it's fun to watch Hugh Grant and
animation, and yes, you'll choke up when Having seen this version, | have to say that the Colin Firth fight over cute little Renée all over
Bambi's mom eats a bullet. scrapped version couldn't be any less painful. again. Date film? Oh yeah.

RATING r 77,Я RATING |9669 RATING | уу001|

LI A MM
FAT ALBERT CLOSER SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOUIE
(Kenan Thompson, Kyla Pratt) (Julia Roberts, Clive Owen) (Tom Kenny, David Hasselhoff)
This is a moderately cute kids’ film featuring If you've been looking for a film in which There's a controversy regarding SpongeBob,
characters that I’m not sure anyone under the really attractive people do really unpleasant whom some believe to be a front for pushing
age of 20 is even aware of. For those of us things to each other emotionally, boy howdy, the Secret Gay Agenda on kids—one day
who are old enough to remember the original has your ship come in. Julia Roberts, Clive they're watching a yellow sponge frolic in sea
run, there's also something profoundly dis- Owen, Natalie Portman, and Jude Law play flowers, the next they're asking for Tom of
turbing about having these oddly dressed four people who mix and match among each Finland action figures. Aside from the ridicu-
characters cross over to the real world (as other and generally try to see just how badly lousness of assuming SpongeBob is gay—if
they do—right out of the TV!) and still look they can treat the others before the film stock anyone's gay on that show, it's Squidward—
like they do in the cartoon. Some people runs out. Excellently acted and gripping in its l'd rather serve up the Secret Gay Agenda to
should remain 2D, and Fat Albert and his pals way, but man, it makes you glad your own my kid in the form of this silly, zippy film than
are among them. relationship is just pleasantly puttering along. the Overt Stupid Agenda those guys have got.

RATING [ !у001| RATING 1 ;$Я RATING 1 ١"m

www.lUP.com | ШӘ
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 AREPLAY
72222722

44
r

1229 INSIDE
126 MERCENARIES
Become a bounty hunter with these useful maps
128 GOOD/BAD/UGLY
The first-person shooter genre's greatest hits and misses
129 REVIEW ARCHIVE
Every PS2 game we've ever reviewed, plus bonus tricks!
TAKE A TRIP INTO THE PAST TO VISIT THE PSP'S PREDECESSORS 130 CHAMPIONS: RETURN TO ARMS
How to get the best weapon in the game
132 READER REVIEWS
You say good, we say bad, let's call the whole thing off
134 BEHIND THE GAME: WIPEOUT
PARTNERSHIP WITH PRIMA In this issue, Prima’s strategy gurus It's returning on PSP, so see where this classic came from
Prima Games, leading publisher of share their expertise with part one of 136 THE SPORTS GUY
gaming guides, provides ОРМ with an extensive Mercenaries strategy. Sports game of the year—already?
top-of-the-line strategies every month. Trust us, these guys know their stuff.
4

www.1UP.com 1121
И REPLAY

- THE LINEAGE OF SONY'S PORTABLE JUGGERNAUT

The Plays inch might be the most importa nt thing devis command a degree of user loyalty nor-
Sony done. Although tl w handheld’ rcifully mally products
; the hypethat surrounded the PS2's debut, tl e just as If the people bout making the PSP a hit.
gh. Currently, Nii ce and DS control surely studied their history.
almost 100 p
and failur s over the pe
anyone aspiring to throw tl
you’ itching your PSP pr ating the future of
p porte ming, join us for th апа what we
ats ever can learn from it.

MATTEL ELECTRONICS HANDHELD GAMES

1976 4

What is it? A series of basic LED (and later LCD) toys that introduced the concept of |
portable electronic gaming to the world. Many models are still being sold through
places like RadioShack.
PSPrecedent: Though simple, Mattel's portable sports and action games were
essential firsts in the medium. Sure, they were basically nothing more than blink-
ing LEDs on а screen painted to look like a basketball court or cityscape or baseball |
diamond, but they proved that handheld videogames аге perfect diversions when [|
you're on the go and launched an entire format as a result. ||

||
|
||
азер — ж Se аваа

|
PSE S IS NERA €—— zi resam -

MILTON BRADLEY MICROVISION

1979 _ 4
What is it? The world's first cartridge-based handheld system. Although most of its
titles were primitive sports or board games, it offered a few surprising stand-outs,
including one of the earliest known licensed games: Star Trek Phaser Strike.
PSPrecedent: Utterly primitive by current standards—the Microvision had a black-
and-white screen spanning a meager 16x16 pixels—the Microvision was neverthe-
less a vital step toward today's portable systems, thanks to its major innovation,
interchangeable cartridges. Unlike Mattel's handhelds, each of which had a single
game hardwired into its circuits, Microvision games could be purchased separately
from the game unit.

122”0PM April 2005

 ———————

NINTENDO GAME & WATCH

DATE: 1980 4
What is it? A series of nearly 60 different self-contained game systems created by
Gumpei Yokoi. 1UP.com listed Game & Watch as one of the most influential games
ever made (see essential50.1up.com).
PSPrecedent: Like the PSP, Game & Watch was a multipurpose handheld system,
though obviously less sophisticated: Each title contained both a game and a simple
alarm clock. The G&W series also introduced the cross-shaped D-pad—a fixture of
all modern systems (including the PSP) in some form or another. Its clever use of
preprinted LCD screens allowed for much more detailed and entertaining game-
play than the Microvision and was widely copied.

—————————Á € топит 5 — E ——— X —

5
||
||
CGE/MILTON BRADLEY VECTREX |
EBUT DATE: 1982 4|
What is it? A self-contained tabletop game system featuring sophisticated vector |
|
graphics.
PSPrecedent: The Vectrex strains the definition of "portable," given that it weighs ||
|
several pounds and has to be played with the unit sitting on a table. Nevertheless,
it's worthy of a mention for being the first 3D-capable portable console; its vector-
based monitor allowed for the creation of wire-frame polygonal visuals.

—————————————— TS SEI STRAINERS

NEE ITE TRIE STEELS TES DOESACEHORSES

€— JVÓ—Ó———— ————— MÀ: газа

NINTENDO GAME BOY FAMILY

Е ATE:1989
A
What is it? The most successful videogame system in history, and the console that
made handheld gaming more than a mere novelty. It came in four major variants:
the chunky original style, the slim Game Boy Pocket (1996), the Japan-only Game
Boy Light (1997), and the NES-like Game Boy Color (1998).
ә «бә ә PSPrecedent: There's an urban legend that goes like this: When Nintendo intro-
® ® duced the Game Boy, Sony's president chastised his engineers for failing to have
come up with the idea first. In a sense, the PSP represents 15 years of waiting for
the opportune time to pounce on Nintendo's throat. There's no doubt Sony would
love to duplicate Game Boy's success—since 1989, the system and its progeny
have sold close to 200 million hardware units.
E кы —————— (E SEISTELESIS LOE ICOMELSESSITE p
E

€ (a SRN RES IDET ————————— E: ——— A RESIS

ATARI LYNX
ATE: 1989 4

What is it? A portable system released shortly after the Game Boy. Though far
more powerful than Nintendo's system, it was doomed by its high price and power
consumption and ап initially unimpressive software lineup.
PSPrecedent: Despite its failings, Lynx was the world's first color portable, with an
absolutely beautiful backlit screen that made the murky Game Boy LCD look pitiful
in comparison. Its design was actually quite similar to the PSP's, with a wide case
that showed the system's excellent visuals to great effect. The Lynx ultimately lost
the handheld wars, though many fans feel that if it had been released before the
Game Boy (the hardware was completed in 1987), it would have had a chance.

———————————— ____________________ ———1

www.1UP.com | 123
 ҮЙ REPLAY
i SE DELL
ы ыы POD ARIS PISS SRSA SES ERM P

SEGA GAME GEAR

1991 af
What is it? Sega's original entry into the handheld arena (the second, Nomad, was |
simply a portable Genesis). Although it sold better than Lynx, thanks to its name, it |
was nevertheless crushed by Game Boy and slowly faded into obsolescence |
PSPrecedent: Like the Lynx, Game Gear's impressive hardware did a serious num- |
ber on its battery life—an issue rumored to plague the PSP as well. More posi-
tively, the Game Gear set a precedent for PSP's movie playback capabilities. It rep-
resented the first convergence of portable gaming and portable video, thanks to a ||
popular TV tuner add-on device that effectively converted the system into a tiny |
color television. |
|
î SSS SERESSIS
QUI SESE нен

SSNS ABEL a RSTO ASSN STE GR RIS

PSPREVENTION
Not every handheld over
the years has beena
winner. Sony would do
well to learn from these
flops—specifically, what

noto do тк KID
|
NINTENDO UIRTUAL BOY
пате 1995 А |
What is it? One of the worst gaming systems ever. A cross between a Game Boy
and a virtual-reality sim, Virtual Boy was huge, overpriced, underpowered, and
3 unwanted. Worse yet, it was neither portable nor playable.
7 PSPrevention: Тһе PSP has already managed to avoid repeating every опе of Vir-
енене tual Boy's failings. If anything, Virtual Boy proves that Nintendo's portable domi-
б d nance isn't iron clad—and that no matter how successful you are, it never pays to
; be overconfident.

BANDAI WONDERSWAN FAMILY

1998

What is it? A low-cost alternative to Game Boy created by the father of handheld
gaming, Gumpei Yokoi.
PSPrevention: The WonderSwan wasn't a bad idea, but it suffered from falling a
little too far behind the technology curve. More problematic was the software
lineup, which consisted mostly of bad ports and terrible anime-licensed dreck.
Bandai's system ended up as yet another also-ran in the struggle to top Game
Boy. The PSP has impressive power, but it will need a first-rate software lineup to
dethrone Nintendo.
——Á

"REIR NOKIA N-GAGE

r » BUT DATE: 2003 M

What is it? Nokia's bid at building a handheld system into a cell phone, universally
deemed a failure thanks to its cumbersome design and weak software library.
PSPrevention: The PSP has practically won this already, thanks to the fact that you
don’t have to hold it like a taco. The biggest problem that faced the N-Gage was
—
the fact that Nokia couldn't decide whether it was a phone or a console, meaning it
didn't work well as either. The PSP is a risky attempt at creating a multipurpose
device...but as long as Sony remembers that PSP is first and foremost about the
games, it will avoid the N-Gage's terrible fate.

ED aS BRIS NOE RSL ONEONTA —— ae D CAE [—

194"OPM April 2005

 €—————

SNK NEOGEO POCKET FAMILY ||

EBUT DATE: 1898 Г 4!
What is it? А short-lived but critically acclaimed portable system intended as а |
portable counterpart to SNK's venerable NeoGeo hardware. More powerful than |
Game Boy Color, the NGPC played host to а library of clever arcade ports. ||
PSPrecedent: The NGPC was the first handheld to make use of console connectiv- |
ity, allowing players to transmit data to certain Dreamcast games. But the real
strength of the NGPC was its library, which showed a profound understanding of [|
the differences between consoles and portables. Games like Match of the Millen- |
nium and Metal Slug: 2nd Mission captured the feel of the NeoGeo games that [|
inspired them, but were carefully redesigned to work within the limits of the
portable format—a lesson everyone could do well to imitate.
a SLA ES SASHA SRE LORIE

NINTENDO GAME BOY ADVANCE FAMILY

EBUT DATE: 2001

What was it? Nintendo's true successor to the Game Boy lineup and currently a
seemingly infinite source of money for the company. This is the system the PSP
has to beat—and despite the power of Sony's new system, the GBA has both a
huge installed base and 16 years of mindshare working in its favor.
PSPrecedent: The Game Boy Advance demonstrates just how much is at stake in
the handheld market. As GameCube sales have deteriorated to a distant third place
in the home console market, the GBA has single-handedly kept Nintendo in the
black, and done so almost entirely on the strength of great software like Pokémon
Ruby and Sapphire. The GBA is definitely the PSP's biggest threat, but it also gives
Sony something to aim for.

eSB RAGES ISAS SRST LE ASSESSES

ne eee

NINTENDO DS 2004

What is it? The so-called third pillar of Nintendo’s hardware lineup, “DS” is short
for “dual screens”: a reference to the two-screened, clamshell design of the sys-
tem. More interesting, however, is the fact that the lower screen is touch sensitive,
giving the DS a unique user interface that Nintendo claims will create new ways of
thinking about game design. Though it has the ability to create 3D graphics,
they're N64-caliber at best...a far cry from the PSP's amazing visuals.
PSPrecedent: The DS is still young and unproven, and it occupies a strange place |
in the market. Is it a direct competitor to the PSP? Its creator claims it's not; the я
guiding principle behind the DS, according to Nintendo, is to foster innovative new
design concepts in videogame development. It's a risky gamble and has already
inspired a flood of Virtual Boy comparisons, but at the same time, the DS does —
possess a definite appeal for casual gamers—the exact people Sony will need to
woo with the PSP. « Jeremy Parish |

——Á——Ó—————— /€————————————MÁÀ ass

]
www.lUP.com | 125
 IA REPLAY

Changsong
Treat КЕЙП

CHANGE OUTFIT
Do you want to change your outfit?
@ vesн
—

ГЕНІ
ШШШ TO |
n Looking to amass а vast fortune in cash, alter- :
| nate characters, and other Mercenaries goodies? 4 |
We've got the goods on collectable bounties and [мел сал die Eod dorada y a a САМЕН iss Al
other unlockables—complete with maps show- You unlock an alternate outfit for your character after completing the ace of
ing where to find the important objects. Check diamonds contract for the Allied Nations. Visit the MASH in the northwest
back next month for even more! province and look for an aqua-colored circle near a tent. Stand within the cir-
cle and press the Action button to change your character's clothing.

HUNTING
PROFIT
AND
FUN
BOUNTY
-FOR
126”ОРМ April 2005
 ma

в C M. BLUEPRINT
NkéFortress
Blueprints are a common type
of bounty item. Collecting
them earns you some cash
and improves the South
Korean Union's mood toward
you. Here's what you get for
collecting blueprints:

BLUEPRINTS COLLECTED
REWARD
1
All C4 crate supply drop
5
Sniper rifle supply drop
10
Stinger supply drop
15
Antitank rocket supply drop
20
Cheat: Play as Mafia heavy
soldier
30
Cheat: Play as NK elite soldier
40
Prototype rifle supply drop
50
Cheat: Play as NK number
card (Spades)
60
Cash: $100,000
20
Cash: $100,000
80
Cash: $250,000
90
Cash: $250,000
100
Cash: $500,000
10
Cheat: Play as Han Solo

CHEAT GUN
You unlock the cheat
gun after verifying
every card in the
game. To earn the
cheat gun, you must
verify not only each
of the face cards and
aces, but all of the
number cards in the
deck of 52 as well.
We won't spoil the
You unlock playground of destruction mode when you complete the surprise by telling
game. After verifying General Song—the ace of spades—save your game you what it does,
when prompted. Load this saved game and you will start from the very but rest assured that
beginning again, but this time, you've got all of the cash you earned and the cheat gun is by
all of the support items you unlocked on your first playthrough at your far the ultimate
disposal. Playground of destruction, indeed! weapon in the
game!

www.1UP.com | 122
 WA REPLAY
L2 22 2 2

FUGITIVE HUNTER
A game that lets you fight the notorious Osama bin Laden might have
conceivably worked. But it totally doesn't, thanks to bin Laden's use of
extremely crappy kung fu moves straight out of a 1992 fighting game. It's
pretty sad that the sole highlight of a game that lets you fight bin Laden is
а гар video that features the lyrics, “Osama bin Laden / Where you been

‘GOOD 7 BAD 7 UGLY:

hidin' / Lookin’ for you / On the PS...2."
Score [660056] A

FIRST-PERSON SHOOTERS JUDGE DREDD: DREDD VS. DEATH ПО

The great thing about Dredd vs. Death is that there are no great things
7 HOLSTER UP, KIDS Ў| about it. If it were made in 1998, it probably would’ve been much more
impressive and made more of a splash with its painfully basic mechanics.
[4 SCORE [90009] 4

2
TUROK: EVOLUTION
HALF-LIFE fe all know that dinosaurs (or dinosaur people in this case) had tiny
This game became the genre-definer for FPS games when it came out on peanut-sized brains, which probably wouldn't make them good enemies
the PC in 1998. It came to the PS2 three years later, and despite dated in a first-person shooter, but Acclaim didn't care. As a result, Turok: Evolu-
graphics and an occasionally buggy framerate, it still made jaws drop and tion is often a depiction of lizard tomfoolery instead of heavy-duty action.
HALF-LIF score [66 $6 6] 4
4
UNREAL TOURNAMENT о
JAMES BOND 007: NIGHT FRE ПВО This port of the PC blockbuster is the exact polar opposite of Quake IlI:
This action-packed gem dodges the "It's no GoldenEye” bullet with a Revolution: It is slower and uglier and features CPU-controlled bots with
Bond-authentic story line, terrific level design, and a nice variety of multi- severely limited intelligence. The worst part is the subpar framerate—the
player options. Throw in playable vehicles (including a sub) and Pierce kiss of death for FPSes.
Brosnan's likeness, and you have an instant Bond classic. score [6046.02! 4
score [@@@@@] 4

KILLZONE а ЗЕРЕН ООН

Somehow, Medal of Honor 57 got caught т some crazy wormhole that GOLDENEYE: ROGUE AGENT ммм мы
sent it back through the infinite reaches of time and space and into the A perfect MI6 blueprint for wasted potential. There's a lot to like in the
year 2004. Killzone is the legitimate heir to the Medal of Honor franchise. concept—groovy villainy, spy shenanigans, апа wacky powers. What
Sure, it needs a fair bit of polish, but its grittiness and solid gameplay results from the EA wonderlab is a middling-at-best shooter that looks
help it stand its ground. That, and it has the best gun-reloading anima- and plays like it came out right after the 1995 movie it shares its name
tions in the history of, uh, gun-reloading animation. with. A little more time in O's lab could have made all the difference.
score [6000 8] 4 score [600 5] 4

MEDAL OF HONOR: FRONTLINE l MACE GRIFFIN: BOUNTY HUNTER НИН

Though the series fell flat afterward, Frontline set the standard for mas- It is a great idea on paper: an FPS in which the main character can hop
sively cinematic World War ІІ shooters (which has practically become a into a spaceship, whereupon the game turns into a space-dogfighting
genre all its own). The invasion of Normandy is still one of the most flight sim. Unfortunately, neither half of the equation got the development
memorable opening scenes in gaming. time it deserved.
score [60000] A score [60006] 4

QUAKE I: REVOLUTION ООО MEDAL OF HONOR: RISING |

Though it could be argued that the Quake formula had already started to The Medal of Honor franchise practically defined the craft of Nazi shoot-
smell a bit stale by the time Revolution came out, the clever bots, speedy ing. Yet Rising Sun is so especially mediocre that it managed to not only
play, and graphically impressive settings made for an ideal quick FPS fix. cripple MOH's massive winning streak, but also prematurely kill the in-
Too bad PS2 wasn't online yet. development sequel—meaning it has a cliffhanger ending that will never
score 1 2210] 4 be resolved. Bravo!
score [6 9l 4
RED FACT ON ООО
Red Faction proved that good PS2 shooters are perfectly capable of exist- STAR TREK VOYAGER: ELITE FORCE |
ing—it also lets you blow stuff up! Lots! Not just bad dudes, but whole It has an intriguing story, nice weapon effects, and all the voices from the
walls and stuff. Sure, the Geo-Mod system is imperfect, but you have to show. So what went wrong? A lazy port of the acclaimed PC hit, the PS2
give credit to Red Faction for jump-starting that whole destructible-envi- version seems as lost as Voyager itself. Muddy graphics make some lev-
ronment craze. els playable only to the most determined.
score [6 ] P score [60€ ©0] 4

TIMESPLITTERS МО TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON |

Beautiful, funny, and astonishingly fast paced, TimeSplitters blasted onto Taken on its own, Ghost Recon isn't a bad game. But compare it to its
the FPS scene in the PS2's infancy. So far the only game to top it for counterparts on PC and Xbox, and it takes a nosedive. For some reason,
sheer speed has been its fantastic sequel, which ups the ante in terms of the PS2 version lets you control only two squads, down from the three of
story, minigames, and multiplayer madness. ions. Oh, and then there's the lack of any online play....
SCORE [60000] 4 2! 4

128”ОРМ April 2005

 PUBLISHER
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REVIEW ARCHIVE | көнгіш

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www.lUP.com |129
 JA REPLAY

гии.

‘CHAMPIONS: RETURN TO ARMS

7 HOW TO GET THE BEST WEAPON IN THE GAME
r

Р
If you've been to the Plane of Valor, you might PLANE OF WAR
recall seeing a sword embedded in a stone. And MEDAL ROUND Blood Bath
if you tried to pull it free, you would have seen a CHAMPIONSHIP MEDALLION Use fewer than four potions to defeat all „=
window saying that only a true champion could four horsemen
remove the sword. Want to be a true champion If you want to tackle this one right away, then your best bet for limiting
and get the best weapon in the game? Here's health potions is to get to a corner to avoid being trampled by the speed-
how. ing horsemen; otherwise, they will knock you down every time.
First of all, you need to get the championship Alternately, just wait until you're further in the game and have leveled
medallions in the medal rounds; each champi- up—by then you're powerful enough to easily take out the horses and
onship medallion unlocks a bonus level. In addi- semen with ranged attacks before they can reach you.
tion, the Pit of IIl Omen and Faydark have built-
in bonus levels. In each of these bonus levels is
а bloodstone. If you collect all the bloodstones, PLANE ОҒ INNOVATION ПО
you will unlock a second bonus level in the MEDAL ROUND Tick Tock, Tick Tock м
Plane of Nightmares. Fight your way through д.
CHAMPIONSHIP MEDALLION Take out all eight clockworks before they Pa
that second bonus level, and you will be reach the endpoints
declared a true champion. After that, all you This round is pretty simple, although again, it helps if you have a range ques &
have to do is run back to the Plane of Valor and attack. The clockworks move slowly, and it's not hard to take them down;
claim your rightful prize. just use the minimap to keep an eye on where they are. The bonus level
for this round is just a way to make a little cash by betting on fights, so 6. 4
you won't get a bloodstone here. PETE 4

PLANE OF WATER ЕЕЕ

ЖШН А
MEDAL ROUND Depth Scurry
CHAMPIONSHIP MEDALLION Get all 10 pearls BOR
Depth Scurry is purely a trial-and-error process—no little tricks here, 2
which is a shame, since it takes a long time to learn the map well enough у SN Sy
to get all 10 pearls. Memorize where the air bubbles are, and just expect D е
that you will die many, many times. If you wait till you reach a higher
level, then the skeletons attacking you barely hurt, so you can run right by
them and notwaste precious air on fighting. NE 72046 4

MEDAL ROUND Soul Break

CHAMPIONSHIP MEDALLION Free all 20 souls x
Soul Break will also take a few deaths. To take out pesky enemies, line up $ ë
the exploding barrels like you are planting mines, then lead your prey
back to the trap. Typically, you can outrun big monsters, but beware the %
little guys: They are fast, hard to see, and сап wear you down quickly if La
you don't stand and fight them. If you can completely clear all the ene-
mies from a corner of cells, then you can also use that area as a recuper-
ating spot—hide behind one of the doors in an empty cell until your
health has fully recovered. | M ҚЫРАУ 727: 4

MEDAL ROUND Frogville

CHAMPIONSHIP MEDALLION Squish 156 frogs E
Unlike the ghosts in Pac-Man (which Frogville was styled after), these Же
kobold are impossible to outrun; use the minimap to avoid them as best
as possible, but when you come up оп a kobold, use R1 to block and then 2
*
press L1 to retreat. You can't kill them, but you can get them to back away
long enough to escape. Also be sure to step on every frog—sometimes
they hop out of the direct line of stomping, so you may need to veer right
and left to get them all. 4

m April 2005
 PUBLISHER
1 million crib points
Every crib item
Every milestone complete

A \ #ESPN NHL Hockey ESPN Videogames

#ESPN NHL 2K5 ESPN Videogames
6 ESPN Winter X Games Snowboarding Konami
bu , 4 SPN Winter X Games Snowboarding 2002 Konami
— "Ач hs |Е$РМ X Games Skateboarding Konami
i Agetec
PLANE OF VALOR | : Eidos
Warlord's Endless Honor Capcom
АМЕ 3HIP MEDALLION Defeat at least eight warlords 1 1 Agetec
Potions don't count here, so stock up before you come in. And don't ^
EverQuest Online Adventures Sony Online
worry about making it more than eight rounds—beating more warlords x f EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers Ѕопу Online
than that doesn't count, so you can let yourself die once you've killed off Er uy : A Fist ick THQ
eight. As far as battle tips, well, these guys are pretty easy. Don't waste ў 4 x Ubisoft өө
time fighting the small guys, because they are continually replaced; k > oS Я Evolution Skateboarding Konami
instead, target your fire at the main boss while evading the henchmen. Evolution Snowboarding Konami €
Once the big guy dies, the little ones disappear as well. Extermination Sony CEA
Extreme-G Ill Acclaim
EyeToy: AntiGrav Sony CEA eee
PLANE OF FIRE Sony CEA
Gnome Escort
АМІРІОМЕ ME N Keep five gnomes alive F1 2002
TS to keep all the gnomes within your sight at all times. The easiest way 1 1
to corral them is by continually running from the back of the group to the F1 Championship Ubisoft
front of the group, taking out any enemies you see on either end. You IF1 Championship Season 2000 EA Sports
can let up to three gnomes die, so don't worry if a few stragglers don't Fairly OddParents: Shadow Showdown THO
make it. Fallout: Brotherhood of Stee! Interplay
Sony CEA
Tecmo
PLANE OF STONE Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly Tecmo
D Kobold а errari F355 Challenge Sega
C VIPIONSHIP М JON Keep all three carts intact for eight rounds FIFA 2001 Major League Soccer EA Sports
Stay near the bottom of the ger area and continuously hold down EA Sports
the Fire button to keep your character in that one spot. Then just rotate
your character in the direction you need to aim. If more than two kobolds
reach a cart, it gets blown up, so aim for the crowds.
Fight Club Vivendi Ui
/ Fight Night 2004 EA Sports

PLANE OF NIGHTMARES |
Death 5 Countdown | 5
Kill at least 75 monsters # Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia Square Enix USA
This is atimed found =u have four minutes to charge forward |Finding Nemo
and destroy as many monsters as possible. Aim for quick, effective а ireblade Midway
killing—don't waste time trying to run away or play cat and mouse. - isherman's Challenge Konami
It helps here to have plenty of potions handy. ord Racing 2 Gotham Games
orever Kingdom. Agetec
orgotten Realms: Demon Stone Atari
ormula One 2001 Sony CEA
Midway
PIT OF ILL OMEN |
BONUS AREA Gothic Castle EA Sports Big
(е Defend all eight gnomes from sea monsters in the "EM / Midway
Gnome Village = Ѕопу СЕА
First off: Save at а checkpoint before you enter the Gnome Village portion yes t г rogger: The Great Quest Konami
of the level—if you fail to complete it on the first try, you won't be able to c ? rogger's Adventure: The Rescue Konami
try it again unless you either exit the level and start it all over or load a uw У ront Mission 4 Square Enix
previous save. The monsters tend to attack from alternating directions, so Y т 'ugitive Hunter Encore
keep jumping back and forth. Make sure you keep the sea monsters' 'ullmetal Alchemist Square Enix
attention on you and not the gnomes by hitting them a few times before я |Fur Fighters: Viggo's Revenge Acclaim
dealing with any other monsters. Your reward is a visit to the Gothic 2 d uturama Vivendi Universal
Castle, where a bloodstone awaits. Future Tactics: The Uprising Crave
[Ou a ee Koei
Conspiracy
FAYDARK НЕЕ EES m 1 alactic Wrestling Featuring Uhimate Muscle Bandai
BONUS Unexplored Tomb t Б ians: Sammy
‚НО SS Find the archaeologist shovel у c "ЭШ Тесто
To find the archaeologist shovel, go to Kelethin—take the elevator there Г \ 09s jallop Racer 2003: ANew Breed Tecmo
after killing off all the elves in the forest of Faydark. Afterward, go back to y » j ы” ЖЕ А allop Racer 2004 Tecmo
the forest and use the shovel to access the blocked tomb. If you have not N Ast - auntlet: Dark Legacy Midway
gone far enough through the game to find the Words of Spiritual Е $ NS he Getaway Sony CEA
Harmony, you may have to adventure a little further and then return to А ў у he Getaway: Black Monday Sony CEA
Faydark to open up the second portion of the Unexplored Tomb. In this А NES 8 ў Eidos
second portion,
theblood: по
www.lUP.com ` 131
MA REPLAY PUBLISHER SCORE К

READER
[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Bandai
4
Ghost Recon 2 Ubisoft

REVIEWS
Giants: Citizen Kabuto Interplay
Gitaroo-Man Koei
Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance Acclaim
THE FIRST WAVE OF SHOOTERS Gladius LucasArts
Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde Jaleco James Cameron's Dark Angel Sierra
KILLZONE GoDai: Elemental Force 300 Jeopardy! Atari
WHAT YOU SAID Godzilla: Save the Earth Atari Jeremy McGrath Supercross World Acclaim
“Many games these days are really pushing # GoldenEye: Rogue Agent EA Games Jet X20 Sony CEA
consoles to the limit. It's no surprise that Before there were bullets, people shot each other with paint- Jimmy Neutron: Attack of the Twonkies THO
Killzone falls into the crowd of hyped titles balls. It's an almost-historical fact. The following codes allow Jonny Moseley Mad Trix 300
boasting graphical enhancements and you to turn back the clock with paintball mode and unlock all the Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death Evolved Games
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trees pop up and fellow soldiers morph like favorite historical battles. ..sort of. Enter these codes in the Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis Universal Int.
clay. Speaking of soldiers, your comrades Extras menu: К-1 World Grand Prix Konami
aren't exactly the brightest crayons in the Karaoke Revolution Konami
box. Most of the time, Scooby-Doo and the PAINTBALL MODE Right, Left, Right, Left, Down, Down, Up, Up Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 Konami
gang sit there inhaling bullets like there's no UNLOCK ALL MULTIPLAYER SKINS Down, Left, Up, Left, Right, Karaoke Revolution Volume 3 Konami
tomorrow while you charge forward and Down, Left, Up Katamari Damacy Namco
take out the semi-intelligent Helghast sol- Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer Activision
diers. If that doesn’t happen, they get stuck Gradius IIl and IV Konami Kengo: Master of Bushido Crave
on a tree that hasn’t even sprouted its first Gradius V Konami Kessen EA Games
leaf, let alone appeared at all. But aside from Gran Turismo 3: A-spec Sony CEA Koei
its many bugs, Killzone does have its strong Grand Prix Challenge
points. The sound and visuals shine, taking Grand Theft Auto Ill Rockstar Sony CEA
me back to Medal of Honor: Frontline. With Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Rockstar Sony CEA
all the bullets whizzing by and grenades Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Rockstar Konami
exploding, it has to be one of the best- Grandia ІІ Ubisoft King of Fighters 2000/2001 SNK Playmore
sounding games in the PS2 library. Grandia Xtreme Enix King of Fighters 2002/2003 SNK Playmore
“When it comes down to it, Killzone can Gravity Games Bike: Street, Vert, Dirt Midway King of Fighters: Maximum Impact SNK Playmore
be hit or miss. Give it a chance and you may [The Great Escape Gotham Games [The King of Route 66 Sega
find it enjoyable (to an extent).” # Gretzky NHL 2005 Sony CEA King's Field: The Ancient City Agetec
52222) f Growlanser Generations Working Designs Kingdom Hearts
Steve Burns GTC Africa Majesco Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil
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WHAT WE SAID Sammy Kuon Agetec
"If Killzone's performance were as good as Sega Kya: Dark Lineage Atari
its looks, it easily could levy a serious blow Gungrave: Overdose Mastiff La Pucelle: Tactics Mastiff
against the Halo 2 juggernaut. As it is, Kill- IGunGriffon Blaze Working Designs Le Mans 24 Hours Infogrames
ne is no Halo killer, but it's easily the The Guy Game Gathering Legacy of Kain: Defiance Eidos
game that Medal of Honor: Rising Sun Sierra Legaia 2: Duel Saga Fresh Games
ould have been.” EA Games [The Legend of Alon D'ar Ubisoft
[eoe Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ҒА Games Legends of Wrestling Acclaim
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ҒА Games Legends of Wrestling И Acclaim
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WHAT YOU SAID Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland Natsume COLOR US BAD Lego Racers 2 Lego Media
“Wow. Just...wow. Anyone who loved the Haunted Mansion TOK When we reviewed the Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude Vivendi Universal
first GoldenEye (which was everyone) Haven: Call of the King Midway wonderfully unique Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Activision
most likely jumped at this one. Unknown Headhunter Acclaim Magic Pengel: The Quest Lethal Skies Sammy
to them, it was waiting to give them the Headhunter: Redemption Sega for Color—a nifty mon- Lethal Skies II Sammy
biggest, most uncomfortable kick to the Herdy Gerdy Eidos ster-creating/raising/ Looney Tunes: Back in Action EA Games
junk anyone has ever received. If you are Heroes of Might and Magic 300 fighting game that ren- [The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Black Label
expecting similar gameplay, you might be Hidden Invasion Conspiracy dered doodles in 3D—we The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King EA Games
interested; otherwise, your stiff-as-a-board, High Heat MLB 2002 300 created 3D caricatures Тһе Lord of the Rings: The Third Age ҒА Games
flat character and his supermagic eyeball High Heat MLB 2003 300 of our whole staff from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers EA Games @
will just drive you away. Sure, it's cool to Ih Heat MLB 2004 300 the awesome tools Lowrider Jaleco ө
see through walls and stuff, but we want Hitman: Contracts within the game. Lupin the 3rd: Treasure of the Sorcerer King Bandai ©
to play a Bond game, one packed with [Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Eidos €eee« 63) Масе Griffin Bounty Hunter Vivendi Universal €
action and a compelling story! This sad [The Hobbit Vivendi Universal Май Maestro!
excuse of a sequel has action, but it lacks a Hot Shots Golf 3 Sony CEA Madden NFL 2001
good story or anything else that was #Hot Shots Golf Fore! Sony CEA Madden NFL 2002
remotely cool in the original GoldenEye. # Hot Wheels: Stunt Track Challenge THO # Madden NFL 2003
Stay away.” Hot Wheels: Velocity X THO # Madden NFL 2004
te Vivendi Universal # Madden NFL 2005
Mitche Hunter: The Reckoning-Wayward Interplay All of you Giants and Packers fans out there will love the follow-
via Hypersonic Xtreme Majesco ing cheats for Madden NFL 2005. Enter these codes to play as
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WHAT WE SAID Ico Sony CEA cheat—use the provided code to add some spirit with a Chiefs
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and amusing deathtraps can't save Rogue Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Тоть LucasArts Madden, select Madden Cards, then select Madden Codes.
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tive—it tends to give too much of the Intellivision Lives! Crave CHIEFS CHEERLEADER T46M6T
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4
132 OPM April 2005
 PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE GAME PUBLISHER PUBLISHER
Monster 4x4: Masters of Metal Ubisoft NCAA College Football 2K3 Sega Sports
Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color Monster Hunter Capcom NCAA Final Four 2001 Sony CEA
Malice Monster Rancher 3 Tecmo NCAA Final Four 2002 Sony CEA
Manhunt Monster Rancher 4 Tecmo NCAA Final Four 2003 Sony CEA
[The Mark of Kri Sony CEA NCAA Final Four 2004 Sony CEA
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 [Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance NCAA Football 2002 EA Sports
Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2 Mortal Kombat: Deception Midway NCAA Football 2003 EA Sports
Max Payne Rockstar 0000 Namco NCAA Football 2004 EA Sports
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Rockstar ® Namco NCAA Football 2005 EA Sports
Maximo: Ghosts to Glory Capcom 9004 Namco NCAA GameBreaker 2001 Sony CEA
Maximo vs. Army of Zin Capcom Infogrames INCAA GameBreaker 2003 Sony CEA
IMcFarlane’s Evil Prophecy Konami MTV Music Generator 2 Codemasters NCAA GameBreaker 2004 Sony CEA
МОК? Armageddon Interplay IMTV Music Generator 3: Tt is Is the Remix Codemasters INCAA March Madness 2002 EA Sports
Medal of Honor: Frontline EA Games MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch Gotham Games NCAA March Madness 2003 EA Sports
4 Medal of Honor: Rising Sun EA Games MTX: Mototrax Activision NCAA March Madness 2004 EA Sports
Mega Man Anniversary Collection Capcom The Mummy Returns Universal NCAA March Madness 2005 EA Sports
Mega Man X: Command Mission Capcom Music Maker Magix 77277... Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 EA Games
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Меп in Black Il: Alien Escape Infogrames МХ 2002 Featuring Ricky Carmichael THQ port of Мо One Lives For- Konami
Mercenaries LucasArts MX Rider. " Infogrames ever was so lackluster. Sega Sports
Blowing up things is the right of any mercenary, but limited МХ Superfly Featuring Ricky Carmichael THO The game was almost Sega Sports
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EARN $1,000,000 Right, Down, Left, Up, Up, Left, Down, Right INASCAR Heat Infogrames |/ NFL Street
PLAY AS HAN SOLO Left, Left, Right, Right, Up, Down, Up, Up INASCAR Thunder 2002 EA Sports NFL Street 2 EA Sports Big
(Моге: Must have 110 blueprint bounties first] INASCAR Thunder 2003 EA Sports Bringing the game to the streets can only mean that NFL rules по
INFINITE AMMO Right, Left, Right, Right, Left, Right, Left, Left NASCAR Thunder 2004 EA Sports longer apply. Enter the following cheats to change the way the
INFINITE HEALTH Up, Down, Up, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right INASCAR: Dirt to Daytona Infogrames game plays by eliminating first downs and fumbles. There are
PLAY AS INDIANA JONES Left, Left, Right, Right, Up, Up, Down, Naval Ops: Warship Gunner Koei also Reebok and Xzibit teams for your playing pleasure, as well
Down [Note: Must have 20 national treasure bounties first] NBA 2К2 Sega Sports las a custom EA Field. All codes are case sensitive and must be
NBA 2K3 Sega Sports entered in the Cheat menu.
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System Vivendi Universal eee Midway Sports
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Midway INO FIRST DOWNS NoChains
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance Acclaim GlueHands
Metal Gear Soli : Snake Eater INBA Live 2001 EA Sports Reebok
While they won't help you through the game, the following INBA Live 2002 EA Sports EAField
secrets for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater allow you to play NBA Live 2003 EA Sports TeamXzibit
around with the intro effects. Press the different buttons to con- NBA Live 2004 EA Sports
trol colors, symbols, and even get the singer to whisper "Snake NBA Live 2005 EA Sports EA Sports
eater.” Have some fun with the intro movie by pressing the fol- Want to out-jump the best that the NBA has to offer? Unlimited EA Sports
‫ی‬ EA Sports
lowing buttons for different effects. air is just a code entry away. While you're at it, enter codes to
unlock 50,000 dynasty points and all classic hardwood jerseys. PRINCELY RUMORS NHL 2004 EA Sports
R3 Changes the symbols. Enter the following codes at the "МВА Live Codes" menu: The word on the street NHL 2005 EA Sports
ROTATE THE LEFT ANALOG STICK Credits will make waves as 50,000 dynasty points right now is that the next NHL 2K3 Sega Sports
they move across the screen. Unlimited air Prince of Persia game NHL FaceOff 2001 Sony CEA
АМҮ D-PAD BUTTON Circles come up onscreen. All classic hardwood jerseys will return to the more NHL FaceOff 2003 Sony CEA
R1 Singer whispers “Snake eater.” lighthearted tone of The NHL Hitz 20-02 Midway
ROTATE THE RIGHT ANALOG STICK Different symbols appear INBA ShootOut 2001 Sony CEA ee« Sands of Time. We cer- NHL Hitz 20-03 Midway
onscreen NBA ShootOut 2003 Sony CEA tainly hope so; the forced NHL Hitz Pro Midway
NBA ShootOut 2004 Sony CEA “mature” theme of War- Nick Toons: Movin’ THO
Metropolismania Natsume NBA Starting Five Konami ee« rior Within was without Nightmare of Druaga Namco
Midnight Club Rockstar BA Street EA Sports Big question the game's Ninja Assault Namco
7 Midnight Club И Rockstar NBA Street Vol. 2 EA Sports Big biggest flaw. Мо One Lives Forever Sierra
Midway Arcade Treasures Midway NBA Street V3 EA Sports Big €eee« 90 Okage: Shadow King Sony CEA
Midway Arcade Treasures 2 Midway [There are many unlockables in NBA Street V3, including the Oni Rockstar
Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing Codemasters Beastie Boys team. The following explains how to unlock some Onimusha: Warlords Capcom
Minority Report Activision lof the game's top players. All items and players must be earned {Onimusha 2:Samurai’s Destiny Capcom
Mission: Impossible-Operation Surma Atari lor bought with Street points. Onimusha 3:Demon Siege Capcom
Mister Mosquito Eidos/Fresh Orphen: Scion of Sorcery Activision
MLB 2004 Sony CEA ITHE BEASTIE BOYS (TEAM) Win the 5 Boroughs tournament ог Outlaw Golf 2 Global Star
MLB 2005 Sony CEA spend 500 Street points. Pac-Man Fever Namco
MLB SlugFest 20-03 Midway BIGGIE LITTLES Win either the Biggie Littles Is Back or Doing | Pac-Man World 2 Namco
MLB SlugFest 20-04 Midway Big Things tournament or spend 1,000 Street points. PaRappa the Rapper 2 Sony CEA
MLB SlugFest: Loaded Midway DIME Win either the Can You Spare a Dime or Dropped by Dime Paris-Dakar Rally Acclaim
Mobile Light Force 2 XS Games tournament or spend 1,500 Street points. Phantom Brave NIS America
Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space Bandai IBONAFIDE Win either the Certified Bonafide or Undisputed tour- Pinball Hall of Fame Crave
Mobile Suit Gundam: ederation vs. Zeon Bandai nament or spend 3,000 Street points. Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat EA Games
Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo —Bandai STRETCH Win either the Respect Your Elders or Still Reigning Pitfall: The Lost Expedition Activision
Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front Bandai tournament or spend 4,000 Street points. Тһе Polar Express тна
Mojo! Crave Pool Paradise Ignition
Monopoly Party Infogrames NCAA College Basketball 2K3 Sega Sports Portal Runner 300

www.1UP.com | 133
 ҮЙ REPLAY

INE@-NacioNal
ГИ
кізе
т
Sg.

222224

BEHIND THE GAME: WIPEOUT

7 THE MAKING OF AN EARLY PS1 CLASSIC—ONE THAT’S READY TO RETURN ON PSP
r
Few titles in the history of videogames have matched the cultural signifi- tion turned to the music, and Jim and | were enjoying the Prodigy at the
cance of Psygnosis' Wipeout. Fans refer to the game with a reverence time. We joked about getting the Prodigy to do an up-to-date remix of the
normally reserved for more traditional remnants of videogame lore—the Surfaris' classic surf ditty ‘Wipe Out.’ We simply pictured Liam Howlett
Marios, Zeldas, and Zorks of the world. Culturally, technically, and artisti- (lead singer of the Prodigy) being right in your face screaming, ‘Hehehe-
cally, Wipeout set the tone for an entire generation of games and market- heheheee, wipe oooout!’ and then it kicking off at 140 [beats per minute]
ing plans. It unexpectedly became the tragically hip poster child not only with some awesome hardcore. It was such an ace moment—it stuck. And
for the original PlayStation, but also for a cultural movement that has when Jim got into the office and declared that [the game] was now called
since garnered many names: the E generation, rave culture, et cetera, et Wipeout, nobody argued. Some people thought it was odd and [that it]
cetera. 115 sensibilities have spilled over into nearly everything with а said nothing about the game—but then after living with it for about a
“cyber,” “techno,” or “future” in its title since 1999. And to this day it minute and a half, they got it. It just worked.”
remains videogames’ cultural ambassador No. 1.
Based loosely on a concept by Jim Bowers (then a designer at Psygno-
sis), the game's original form was а title called Matrix Marauders, аз VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES 4
Wipeout Lead Designer Nick Burcombe recalls. "On paper, [Jim's game]
was a complex design whereby futuristic craft flew around a grid blasting Of Wipeout's many advances, one that stood out for many was the incor-
each other—hit points and strategy were the order of the day. The game poration of progressive graphic-design outfit The Designers Republic into
was written by a third party, and it was eventually forced out the door and the project. "The plan was to get them in to do a treatment on the logo
was a huge letdown. But the ship designs were great—they were a shape and packaging," explains Wipeout Art Director Lee Carus, recalling the
and design principle that was later to resurface in the guise of a Wipeout genesis of the relationship. "But on one of those dark late nights when I
ship. | was in the throes of finishing Mario Kart at that time and had found was creating the intro sequence, | noticed a fax from TDR lying on some-
it to be possibly the greatest game I'd ever played." One thing led to one's desk. | thought to myself, ‘That fax header is cool.’ [So] | scanned in
another—and then, as is often the case, they led to the bar. the header, tidied it up a bit, and mapped it over the texture on the side of
Burcombe explains: "Jimmy [and 1] sat in the Shrewsbury Arms pub one of the Wipeout ships. | thought it worked really well—so did [the mar-
one night discussing the idea, and in the best tradition of drinking too keting department] and so did TDR. Their involvement escalated from
much and talking too fast, the name Wipeout came out. It was punchy that point, and they ended up creating logos and artwork for in-game pur-
and kind of surfy/floaty, and we thought it was cool as hell. The conversa- poses. If you load up the intro sequence of the finished game, you can

134"OPM April 2005

 MUSIC HAS
THE RIGHT TO
CHILDREN

215512021 Zuricom
AZNZIOOMZNES

AURICOM З
Biir-NziNzI FASHION FORWARD
Z4NZINC2M2Z2NES The designs of Wipeouts
race-team logos are
stark, surreal expres-
sions of The Designers
Republic's aesthetic. This
style absolutely perme-
ated the game, and you'll

о.о be able to see ап

updated version in
о б Wipeout Pure.
2 omni |

see the fax header on the ship in all its glory.” ularly in the United Kingdom. Wipeout became a staple at dance clubs
Unlike so many of today’s games, in which in-game advertising pulls around Europe— particularly in "chill-out" or "comedown" rooms—also
gamers out of their experience through the sudden shock of everyday due in large part to the game's soundtrack (see sidebar). And yet the
marketing (“Нопеу, there’s a Mountain Dew ad in my Dungeons & Drag- notion of design in games still hasn't caught on the way some might
ons!"), even TDR's billboards actually served a sense of purpose. The have expected.
innovative designs implied and helped contribute to the game's futuristic ^| still don't think there is enough style in many games out there.
milieu, actually adding to the game's immersive setting rather than taking Some developers have tried to take a stylistic approach and haven't been
away from it. TDR's lan Anderson has fond memories of the project, bold enough to create a truly unique stylistic vision," says Carus. "If
describing the working relationship as “very positive, trusting, and there- you're going to do it, commit yourself to it. Go out into the world beyond
fore creative and mutually beneficial. The only direction Nick Burcombe games and get a feel for what's cool—or rather what's going to be cool—
really gave us on the in-game design was to keep it TDR, or be more TDR. out there, and find the right people to do it. l've been in too many situa-
Nick had a clear vision for what he wanted and was confident enough in tions where key aspects of the stylistic vision of a game һауе been
his own skills and talent to know that TDR could realize the graphic ele- handed off to an artist on the team because he/she knows a good website
ment of his vision better than he could himself. It was refreshing to have for free fonts and isn’t really that busy right now!”
ideas rather than egos flying around.” Anderson agrees but is anxious to get involved again: “We'd love to
Wipeout Brand Manager Susan Campbell echoes these sentiments, work with people on projects on the same scale as Wipeout. We've been
adding that the connection between TDR and Psygnosis was “natural in discussions with various game companies in recent months, actively
and symbiotic, very much a partnership. They recognized how unique seeking out the right kinds of projects to get involved in. There's been a
the game was and the significance it could have on the industry.” major shift in the nature of the industry since Wipeout. Now the majors
аге more corporate, and I’m not sure they're looking for an ideas com-
pany such as TDR to come in and get so involved in a project, although
TREND SETTERS there seem to be a lot of developers looking for ways to create a
‘punk/indie’ subgenre for creative gaming as an antidote to movie tie-ins,
And significance it had. Psygnosis had essentially struck cultural gold: et cetera. | really hope we can find partners in the near future who are
TDR's style fit the game perfectly and helped propel its acceptance looking to inject something more cultural and artistic into games—l'm
beyond the hardcore gamer to include design-savvy trendsetters, partic- sure there are people out there..." 5

www.1UP.com | 185
 IA REPLAY

TODD ZUNIGA

літ at thesportsguyGriffdavis. com.

esting thing occurred to me: What if EA had lost positive points: V3 is the best-looking game on
out on the NFL license? Imagine a world without the PS2. The courts are perfectly lit, perfectly per-
Madden. Now that would've been odd. Definitely fect, and the intro video is enough to make me
pigskin for thought. believe I could get my name magically scribbled
But enough contract talk! It's now time for me in midair. The audio is unrivaled. A few negative
to declare Winning Eleven 8 as the Sports Game points: If these courts are authentic, why does
of the Year in 2005. | realize two things as | write the three-point line at The Cage go all the way
this: 1) Madden's not out yet, and 2) this year's around? It should stop at the elbows. If the game
Madden is going to be the best Madden ever is so dunk skewed, why isn't there a dedicated
made, in part to hush the naysayers (aka me) Dunk button to save me from 2-foot jump shots?
anxious about the EA/NFL deal. But much in the | hate that | end up making a dunker out of my
g, megadeals are being signed way Tony Hawk's franchise made me buy a pair baller against my will just so |can compete in the
>
att left and right, and the Mets are overpaying for of Globe skate shoes and bust my hip on a half- dunk contests. Finally, where's the one-on-one?
z
LB
everyone! These last few months have been like
О a gaming off-season equipped with its very own
>
ше on ende WHAT A BABY INDUSTRY THIS IS,
hot stove. It wasn't long ago—was it?—when |
= got to prattle on endlessly in this sizable box
<
г
ixс | incen mons sore gamingiens. ҒОР ME ТО HAVE SUCH A REACTION. ,
ш general) has publicly made a show of the fact тері
= that it's all about the green. This із no secret, of pipe, the Winning Eleven franchise is so good GTA: San Andreas has every genre under the
ш
ш course—it's America. But now this industry's that it has me caring about seemingly fictional sun, but V3 doesn't even fully trump its main
с biggest cash cow has brought its financial aspira- теп named Obafemi Martins, Eidur Gudjohnsen, competition, Midway's Ballers? Until then, V3's
О | tions to the forefront. | miss my sweet naivety! and Didier Drogba. If you like FIFA Soccer 2005 still in this stratosphere. But criticisms aside,
ғ
Consider my reaction to last month's news. (God save you), dump it at the nearest EB and imagine some young buck getting to virtually ball
2 that EA and the NFL had signed an exclusivity snare WES. If you don't absolutely love it, then at a spot-on replica of his home court. I'm getting
2 deal. | was, in my own words, “shocked.” What a it's likely you have scurvy.
[^] the chills!
Ф baby industry this is, especially in terms of | left OPM years ago to work on NBA Street Next month, if EA or Take-Two doesn't sign
< sports, for me to have such a reaction. After the V3. | left that project after seven months, before it me to a seven-year contract, it's all baseball
4:4
© shock passed (and my last column indicting the was anywhere near its finished state, but since | (finally!) and PSP (yes!). I'll do my best to keep
deal was well on its way to print), a more inter- was on the project and can't review it, first a few the Wall Street talk to a minimum. €

PUBLISHER GAME | PUBLISHER PUBLISHER

Power Drome Mud Duck Resident Evil Code: Veronica X Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends Koei
Power Rangers: Dino Thunder тна Resident Evil: Dead Aim Saturday Night Speedway Atari
[The Powerpuff Girls: Relish Rampage Bam Resident Evil Outbreak Capcom Savage Skies Bam
Pride FC тна Return to Castle Wolfenstein; OR Activision Scaler Global Star
Primal Sony CEA Rez Sega Scooby-Doo! Mystery Mayhem THO
Ribbit King Bandai ‘Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Ubisoft Ridge Racer V Nameo The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian Universal
Pro Race Driver Codemasters Bam |50 Gundam Force: Showdown! Bandai
Project Eden Eidos Konami Second Sight Codemasters
Ргугт Chapter One: The Dark Unicorn ТОК Mediactive Sony CEA Secret Weapons Over Normandy LucasArts
Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspira Midway # Risk: Global Domination Atari [Seek and Destroy Conspiracy
PT.O. IV Koei RLH: Run Like Hell Interplay Sega Bass Fishing Duel Sega
Punisher THO Midway [Sega Classics Collection Sega
|Q-Ball Billiards Master Take-Two Conspiracy [Sega Soccer Slam Sega Sports
Quake III: Revolution EA Games Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown Capcom [Sega Sports Tennis а Sports
IR: Racing Evolution Namco Robotech: Invasion Global Star Sega Superstars Sega
R-Type Final Eidos/Fresh Games Rocky Ubisoft 4
Serious Sam: Next Encounter Global Star
Rally Fusion: Race Champions Activision Rocky Legends [Seven Samurai 20XX Sammy
Rapala Pro Fishing Activision Robot Alchemic Drive [Shadow Hearts Midway
Robotech: Battlecry [Shadow Hearts: Covenant Midway
Rogue Ops Kemco [Shadow of Destiny Konami
Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII Koei Shadow of Rome Capcom
Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII Koei Shadow Man: 2econd Coming Acclaim
Rayman3:Hoodlum Havoc Ubisoft Agetec [Shaman King: Power of Spirit Konami
Rayman Arena Ubisoft LucasArts [Shark Tale Activision
IRC Revenge Pro Acclaim EA Sports [Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder Activision
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2 Midway EA Sports : Nam '67 Eidos
Real Pool Infogrames Rumble Racing EA Games 300
Red Card Soccer 20-03 Midway Rumble Roses Konami [Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne Atlus
Red Dead Revolver Rockstar Rune: Viking Warlord Take-Two [Shining Tears Sega
Red Faction Rygar: The Legendary Adventure Tecmo Shinobi Sega
THQ Salt Lake 2002 Eidos Showdown: Legends of Wrestling Acclaim
Natsume Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku Sega EA Sports Big
Bam Samurai Warriors Koei/EA Activision

136 OPM April 2005

 ЕЕ PUBLISHER Si PUBLISHER SCORE ISSUE|
Shrek Super Party ТОК Mediactive 64 Stuntman Infogrames/Atar [Ty the Tasmanian Tiger EA Games
Siren Sony CEA 81 Sub Rebellion Metro3D. Hy the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue EA Games
Silent Hill 2 Konami « 50 [The Suffering Midway UEFA Euro 2004 EA Sports
Konami «n Suikoden III Konami UFC Throwdown Crave
Konami 85 Suikoden IV Konami UFC Sudden Impact Crave
Silent Line: Armored Core Agetec 70 summer Heat Beach Volleyball Acclaim Under the Skin Capcom
Silent Scope Konami 39 Summoner THO Unison Tecmo
Silent Scope 2 Konami 49 Summoner 2 THQ [Unlimited Saga Square Enix
Silent Scope 3 Konami 62 Sunny Garcia Surfing Ubisoft Unreal Tournament Infogrames
Silpheed: The Lost Planet Working Designs 40 [Super Bust-A-Move Acclaim [The Urbz: Sims in the City EA Games
[The Simpsons: Hit & Run Vivendi Universal. 72 Super Bust-A-Move 2 Ubisoft |V-Rally 3 Infogrames
Super Trucks Racing XS Games ®6 Vampire Night Namco
[The Simpsons Skateboarding EA Games 64 Supercar Street Challenge Activision €e« Vivendi Universal
[The Sims a 65 Superman: Shadow of Apokolips Atari < Acclaim
The Sims: Bustin' Out es 76 Surfing H30 Rockstar Victorious Boxers Empire
7727... Global Star
Hip Interactive. 88 SWAT: Global Strike Team Sierra Vietcong: Purple Haze
Atlus 58 LOST IN TIME Swing Away Golf EA Games Viewtiful Joe
Activision 40 Swing Away Golf was Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain Sony CEA Viewtiful Joe 2
EA Sports Big one of the first games Taiko: Drum Master Namco Virtua Fighter 4
released on PS2. It was Tak and the Power of Juju THO
Sly 2: Band of Thieves Sony CEA more or less a direct [Так 2: The Staff of Dreams тна Virtua Quest

[Smash Cars Metro3D knockoff of Hot Shots Tarzan: Untamed Ubisoft Virtual on Marz

[Smash Court Tennis: Pro Tournament Namco Golf. А couple years Taz: Wanted Infogrames 9: Wakeboarding Unleashed Activision

Smash Court Tennis: Pro Tournament2 Матсо 82 later, developer T&E Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Konami @@¢ 75 Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo Bam
Soft managed to [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 Konami 86 War Jetz 300
Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory Rockstar «5 redeem itself with the Tekken 4 Namco $904 61 War of the Monsters Sony CEA
Soccer America: International Cup Но-В ee much more entertain- Tekken Tag Tournament Namco « 39 Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior THO
Soccer Mania ЕАЛедо ӨӨӨ 59 ing Disney Golf. Technic Beat Mastiff 89 Warriors of Might & Magic 300
Tenchu: Fatal Shadows Sega Wave Rally Eidos
#SOCOM Il: U.S. Navy SEALs Sony CEA Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven Activision Way of the Samurai Bam
Soldier of Fortune Majesco The Terminator: Dawn of Fate Atari Way of the Samurai 2 Capcom
[Sonic Heroes Sega [Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Atari Wheel of Fortune Atari

Sonic Mega Collection Sega Terminator 3: The Redemption Atari 86 Eidos

Soul Calibur II Namco Vivendi Universal
Soul Reaver 2 Eidos [Test Drive Off-Road: Wide Open Infogrames өөө 48 Konami
Space Channel 5 Special Edition Sega [Test Drive: Eve of Destruction Atari 85 Sony CEA
Space Race Infogrames Tetris Worlds THO ee 57 wild Wild Racing Interplay
Spawn Armageddon Namco [Theme Park Roller Coaster EA Games 41 Winback Koei
Acclaim The Thing Universal 62 Wipeout Fusion Bam
THO 75 [Thunderstrike: Operation Phoenix Eidos 52 Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land Atlus
‘Spider-Man Activision 57 [Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001 EA Sports 4 Woody Woodpecker: Buzz Buzzard Park DreamCatcher
Spider-Man 2 Activision 84 LLL
kh hhh Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 EA Sports 55 World Championship Poker Crave
ISplashdown Infogrames WATERWORLD Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 EA Sports 63 World Championship Poo! 2004 Jaleco
Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild THO 72 The first Splashdown Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 EA Sports n World Destruction League: Thunder Tanks 300
[SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom THO struck critics down in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 EA Sports 86 World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars Infogrames
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie тна unadulterated shock with [Time Crisis 2 Namco 49 World Series Baseball 2K3 Sega Sports
[Spy Fiction Sammy ee its unmatched water Time Crisis 3 Namco Ф 74 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 6 Int! Konami
effects. Interestingly, its [Time Crisis: Crisis Zone Namco өөө, 86 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 7 Int'l Konami
SpyHunter 2 Midway 76 sequel, Rides Gone Wild, TimeSplitters Eidos € 39 World Soccer: Winning Eleven 8 Int'l Konami
eschewed that hyperre- TimeSplitters 2 i 63 World Tour Soccer 2002 Sony CEA
Spyro: А Hero's Tail Vivendi Universal alistic approach in favor ТОСА Race Driver 2 86 World Tour Soccer 2003 Sony CEA
SRS: Street Racing Syndicate Namco 64 of a much more car- [Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3 Crave өө 76 World Tour Soccer 2004 Sony CEA
toony—and much more [Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero 45 Wrath Unleashed LucasArts
SSX Tricky EA Sports Big 52 fun—style. Тот Clancy's Ghost Recon 65 WRC: World Rally Championship Bam
78 Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions Activision
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time Square Enix 84 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 80 WTA Tour Tennis Konami
Star Trek: Shattered Universe TDK ee [Тот Clancy's Splinter Cell “об 8 WWE Crush Hour THO
Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force Majesco 53 |
WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain
Star Wars Battlefront LucasArts 86 WWE SmackDown! Just Bring It
ОРМ leads to codes. Codes lead to cheating. Cheating leads 10 WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth
ithe dark side. Do not use this code to unlock all planets. WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw
Go to the Planet Selection screen and enter Square, Circle, X Squad EA Games
Square, Circle. Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Activision 87 [The X-Files: Resist or Serve Vivendi Universal
[Top Angler Xicat 57 X-Men Legends Activision
Тор Gear Dare Devil Kemco 41 X-Men: Next Dimension Activision
Star Wars: The Clone Wars LucasArts [Top Gun: Combat Zones Titus 50 X2: Wolverine's Revenge Activision
Star Wars Super Bombad Racing LucasArts [Total Immersion Racing Empire 66 Xenosaga: Episode 1—DWZM Namco
Star Wars Jedi Starfighter LucasArts [Transformers Atari 81 Xenosaga: Episode II—JVGUB Namco
Star Wars Racer Revenge LucasArts « 55 Transworld Surf Infogrames 57 ХОВА: Extreme-G Racing Association Acclaim
Tribes: Aerial Assault Sierra 62 xt Ubisoft
Starsky & Hutch Gotham Games ee 14 [Triple Play 2002 EA Sports 55 Yanya Caballista: City Skater Koei
Triple Play Baseball EA Sports о 45 Ys VI: The Art of Napishtim
өооо Konami
Stitch: Experiment 626 Sony CEA 59 Trivial Pursuit: Unhinged 81 Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses Konami
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection Capcom 84 True Crime: Streets of LA. Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monster Coliseum Konami
Street Fighter EX 3 Capcom 39 Tsugunai: Atonement Үш Yu Hakusho: Dark Tournament Atari

Turok: Evolution Zapper Infogrames

Stretch Panic Conspiracy 47 Twisted Metal: Black ZOE: Zone of the Enders Konami
Strike Force Bowling Crave 82 Twisted Metal: Black Online Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner Konami

www.1UP.com 132
 ADVERTISER INDEX
Academy of Art University
www.academyart.edu 115
Atari, Inc.
www.atari.com 147
Best Buy Co., Inc.
www.bestbuy.com 51
Buongiorno Vitaminic
www.dirtyhippo.com 75
Capcom USA, Inc.
www.capcom.com 107, 148
Collins College/Career Education Corp.
www.collinscollege.edu 143
Eidos Interactive, Inc.
www.eidos.com 10-11
Electronic Arts
www.ea.com 17, 18-19, 20
Electronic Entertainment Expo
www.E3expo.com 131
Full Sail Real World Education
www.fullsail.com. 137
Future Tec, Inc.
www.sunnylogo.com 45
Hollywood Entertainment
www.gamecrazy.com 110-111

REWIND
Gillette Company
www.gillette.com 31
Hip Interactive Corp.
www.hipinteractive.com 71
FIVE YEARS AGO IN OPM Ignition USA
www.ignitionusa.com 95
Koei Corporation
www.koei.com 78-79
Konami Digital Entertainment
PlayStation MAKE IT SO
With the PS2 just weeks away and the PS1
This was a damn impressive month for
reviews. We had five games tied for top of the
www.konami.com
LucasArts Entertainment
33, 87, 90-91
www.lucasarts.com 67
really hitting its stride, there was lots of heap: Fear Effect, WWF SmackDown!, Front Majesco Games, Inc.
interesting coverage in April of 2000. Our Mission 3, Colony Wars: Red Sun, and JoJo's www.majescogames.com 41
cover story was Star Trek: Invasion, but that Bizarre Adventure all earned four-and-a-half Microsoft
was just the tip of the iceberg. Iceberg? discs each, with three more games earning www.microsoft.com 36-37
Spaceberg? Ehhh, whatever. four discs. Midway Games, Inc.
www.midway.com 14-15, 57
Namco Hometek
www.namco.com 2-3, 24-25, 55
4 Continuing the surprisingly solid theme of this Office of National Drug Control Policy
issue, there were very few games that really www.whatsyourantidrug.com 73
stunk up the joint in our April reviews lineup. Sega of America
April's cover story was one of the more mem- The worst of the bunch was BattleTanx: Global www.espnvideogames.com 26-27
THIS MONTH orable of OPM's run, not because of its con- Assault, with a not completely horrible one- www.sega.com 68-69
IN HISTORY tent, but because of the research that went and-a-half discs. SCEA
Meanwhile, in the world into it: We got to visit the set of Star Trek: Voy- www.scea.com 4-5, 39, 129
beyond games: ager to see firsthand how seriously the Star
Sony Online Entertainment
Trek universe is treated. After walking the
www.sonyonline.com 43
It was another strong month for demos, with Sony Pictures Classics
Microsoft was convicted of decks of the Voyager and climbing around in our first glimpse of Spider-Man, an extensive www.sonyclassics.com 17
violating antitrust laws, Ben the Jefferies tubes, we even got to chat with playable of Colony Wars: Red Sun, the surpris- Sony Pictures Entertainment
& Jerry's sold out to the Michael “Worf” Dorn—who was as reticent as ingly cool Eagle One: Harrier Attack, and Hot www.sonypictures.com 23
company that makes Q-tips, his Klingon character. Shots Golf2.Lots of good playtime was had Square Enix, Inc.
the dot-com stock bubble by all. www.square-enix-usa.com 119, 121, 123
burst in spectacular fash- Take 2 Interactive
ion, and satellite photos of In April of 2000, Square had just announced www.take2games.com 35, 81
Area 51 were posted on the
MonsterMob Group PLC
the next three games in the Final Fantasy Gran Turismo 2 successfully defended its posi- www.mob.tv 65
Internet for the first time. series. /X surprised us with its return to the tion at the top of the charts in April 2000, with THO, Inc.
Where were you? р old-school FF vibe, but X and XI really stole the original Gran Turismo sneaking up to No. 3 www.thq.com 53, 89
the show. At the time, FFX was supposed to due to gamers’ renewed interest in the fran- Ubisoft Entertainment
interface with Square's PlayOnline service to chise. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater inched up www.ubisoft.com 8-9, 46-47, 60-61, 100-101
provide online strategies—which never came another slot to No. 2, and Spyro the Dragon Unilever
to pass as a result of the delayed launch of continued to dominate its sequel, climbing up www.unilever.com 63
the PS2's online service. FFXI, on the other yet another spot to No. 4. Rounding out the
U.S. Navy Recruiting Command
hand, turned out even better than we were
www.navy.com 83
top five was Dukes ofHazzard. Wait, what?
expecting. Er...the less said about that, the better.
наала
ыала енен ETS meaner
gra 4
138” OPM April 2005
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