Star Wars Battlefront 2 PS2 Online Gameplay

Here's my latest youtube vid:



I'm not particularly good at this game, but that's because I don't play it much.

Note: I previously published this on GamePro.com, so some of the content may involve that site, and some of the old links may not work anymore.

40 Reasons to Love Sega

It's no secret that in recent years Sega has fallen from their former glory. With the death of their extremely promising Dreamcast, their turn to a software only company, the death of arcades (which Sega was the undisputed king of), their merger with Sammy, and some lackluster efforts in some of their recent offerings, it seems like Sega is kinda going down the tube as of late. However, I'm not one for giving up hope on any game developer (I still had hope in Acclaim, and 3DO to the bitter end). I always hope for a brighter future filled with a plethora of great games, and Sega is hardly beyond hope. If any developer can pull themselves out of a slump it's Sega.

IMO Sega has always been the true innovator in gaming. While other developers would play it safe with their games by whoring out their established characters, Sega was always the one to charge balls first into an innovative game idea, and give us something truly great. Instead of throwing Sonic on everything (like a certain other company does with a certain plumber), they'd opt to create something completely new, and even the games they made where they "borrowed" from other games were usually still high quality.

It's sad to me that Sega can no longer afford to be the innovator they once were. That's what helped put them in the hole (hardware debacles aside, most casual gamers just didn't "get" Sega's games), and is also responsible for the recent whoring out of Sonic. Sometimes I fear that we'll never see another company that's as un-afraid of Taking risks like Sega used to be. The day that that fear comes true is a sad day for gaming indeed.

In the spirit of the many great games Sega has provided us over the years, I give you 40 reasons to love Sega.

Altered Beast- This early Genesis pack-in keeps it simple. Move from one side of the screen to the next and beat up everything that moves. If you collect three powerups then you get to morph into an animal and take baddies out in that form. It's simple, and it doesn't need to be anything else.

Astal- A beautiful watercolored platformer on the Saturn. It doesn't do anything remarkably new, but what it does it does good. It's a very refined 2D platformer. The gameplay is simple, grap, throw, and jump. If you're a fan of the genre, then you'll love Astal.

Beyond Oasis / Legend of Oasis- These games were Sega's take on the Zelda formula, and they were damn good. Beyond Oasis was on the Genesis, and Legend of Oasis was on the Saturn. I rarely ever hear anyone talk about these games, but if you've got the hardware to play them, then go for it. They're two truly underrated gems.

Chu Chu Rocket- In this quirky puzzle game your job is to save a bunch of space mice known as ChuChus from evil space cats called KapuKapus by placing arrows on a grid and leading them to the safety of their rocket before the KapuKapus can get to them. The puzzle mode is totally addictive in ChuChu Rocket, but the multiplayer mode is where the game really shines. You'll compete with four other players to see who can collect the most ChuChus in the alloted time.

Columns- One of the millions of Tetris style puzzle games, but like Tetris, Columns is plenty addictive. You have to line up falling columns (hence the name) of multi-colored gems. In order to get the gems to dissappear, you have to line up three or more same colored gems either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

Crazy Taxi series- Who prior to the release of Crazy Taxi had ever though "Hey a game about being a taxi driver and having to deal with impatient passenger would make a fun game?" I'd say only the designer that's who. I'm not sure where they got the idea for this game, but it really doesn't bother me because Crazy Taxi is just so damn fun to play that it doesn't matter. Sure, the game gets knocked of it's lack of depth, but there are few things more exhilarating in videogames than hitting huge air in your taxi while collecting cool cash from your passenger to get them to their destination within the alloted time. Yeah, it's all the same thing over and over again, but even after all these years, I still boot up some Crazy Taxi for some mindless arcade fun. Even today if I hear one of the Offspring songs from the first CT, it put me in the mood to play the game.

Daytona series- When I think of arcade style racing, there are two series' that always pop into my mind. One is Namco's Ridge Racer series, and the other is the Daytona series. The game might have stock cars in it, but it couldn't be farther away from being a racing sim. What Daytona offers it fast and furious arcade racing action. Who needs realism when you can have fun?

Die Hard Arcade- A fun but mindless beat 'em up based very loosely on Die Hard. I remember spending almost $20 in quarters once with a friend trying to beat the game in the arcade. I've been wanting the Saturn version ever since I read about it in Gamepro years ago, but I've still yet to acquire it, but It's on my list.

Ecco the Dolphin Series- Beautiful underwater side scrolling adventure games for the Genesis, and Sega CD (I haven't played the new one released on the DC and PS2 yet, but it's on my list) where you play as a dolphin named Ecco (hence the name), who's on a mission to save his pod who disappeared due a mysterious storm hit after Ecco jumps into the air. Ecco migh be a little boring for you action buffs, but those who love a good adventure should really check this series out.

Eternal Champions- The hottest genre of the early 90's was the fighting game genre. It seemed like every developer under the sun was throwing a me-to Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat clone at us. I could name a bunch off the top of my head. Eternal Champions is one of the stand-outs from that time in gaming history. EC plays like a mix between SF and MK. It had hand drawn fighters like SF, but it also had stage fatalities (dubbed Overkills in this game) and a darker storyline like MK. The game give you a plethora of modes different modes to play. If EC has any hitches, it's that the single player mode's enemy A.I. is stupid hard. It knows every move you make before you make it and it'll counter and block just about everthing you throw at it. They made a sequel on the Sega CD. Hardcore Sega fans have been screaming for a sequel for years, but Sega has yet to respond to their pleading.

Ferrari F355 Challenge- For those of you who know they'll never drive a real Ferrari, Yu Suzuki feels your pain (he doesn't share it though). In honor of driving Ferraris being all the rage amongst game developers (just ask John Carmack), Yu Suzuki decided to create Ferrari F355 challenge for the arcades (with three screens of view and three naomi boards running it), it was then ported to the DC, and eventually the PS2. F355 Challenge is pretty much a complete sim of driving the Ferrari F355. It's not for everyone, but racing enthusiasts should feel right at home in this game.

Fighter's Megamix- It's pretty much Virtua Fighter vs Fighting Vipers with a bunch of other Sega characters thrown in for good measure (including the stock car from Daytona). I still have yet to acquire it, but it'll definitely be the next Saturn game I buy.

Fighting Vipers- Sega's other popular 3D fighting series. Though it has less depth than Virtua Fighter, it's still a really fun game in it's own right. The only game I can liken it to in recent years is the Bloody Roar series minus the morphing into animals thing. They brought the first one out to the Saturn, but they never brought the DC port of the second game to America. I think it's high time Sega graced us with a sequel. However, fighting games are pretty dead as of late (minus a few established franchises that is), so I can't blame Sega if they choose to pass on a sequel.

Golden Axe series- This game reminds me of a mixture of Gauntlet, and other arcade beat 'em ups. You've got your generic warrior, valkyrie, and dwarf. even the use of potions to do magic spells reminds me of Gauntlet, but that's ok because Golden Axe is still great mindless beat 'em up fun.

Hang-On series- I remember playing this motorcycle racer for the first time in an arcade. I didn't get it at first and just started out going like five miles an hour. Needless to say I missed the first checkpoint. I didn't realize that I had to pull the handle back on handlebars just like you would on a real bike. The first Hang-On has you racing against the clock to reach checkpoints before the time runs out. Though you're not racing against any opponents, there are a bunch of evil guys riding bikes that of course make you bike explode if you even so much as brush against them. I also have Super Hang-On on the Genesis, and that game adds some more depth to the equation by letting you buy parts to upgrade you bike.

House of the Dead series- Think Resident Evil with lightguns....no, no wait. Think RE with lightguns except it doesn't suck ass, and you'll get the general idea of what the House of the Dead Series is all about. If you're a fan of lightgun games, then you'll love HotD (lets just forget that the movie was ever made).

Jet Grind Radio/Jet Set Radio series- The original Jet Grind Radio on the Dreamcast is fighting with Shenmue as my favorite DC game. There's just nothing like it in the world. You're a member of a Tokyo-to street gang named th GG's, and your job is an easy one, don a pair of rocket skates, and start tagging up your turf with the cans of spray paint found in the environment while fighting off rival gangs, and the police force. The games story progresses via cutscenes that feature Professor K who's a DJ for the pirate radio station known as Jet Grind/Set Radio. JGR started the whole cell shading craze that is still effecting gaming to this day. I personally prefer the original to it's sequel on the Xbox, but you can't go wrong with either game.

Kid Chameleon- This is a pretty blatant rip off of Mario, but it's still a damn good one. You play as Kid Chameleon who gets sucked into a virtual reality game at his local arcade, and you must defeat the evil A.I. Heady Metal. Like I said, it's a platformer that borrows liberally from Mario, but it does put it's own twist on the formula.

Monkey Ball series- The concept is simple, take a monkey, put him in a giant hamster ball, and have him go through a multitude of puzzle stages collecting bananas. The games are also filled with a ton of fun multiplayer minigames. I know the recent versions haven't gotten that great of reviews, but you should definitely check out the early versions if you like quirky puzzle games.

Nights- NiGHTS is one of those games that's truly hard to explain so I'll just send you to the wiki page instead of trying to explain it myself.

OutRun- OutRun isn't so much a racing game as it is a driving game. You hit the streets in your Ferrari (yet more proof of Yu Suzuki's obsession with the cars), and your girl in a race against the clock. You have no rival racers to contend with, just traffic and the clock. You also get to choose your path through to the end via choosing a direction at the many forks in the road. You also get to choose your tunes as well.

Panzer Dragoon series- To me, the panzer Dragoon series is the ultimate rail shooter. You play as a human character riding on the back of a dragon shooting down all sorts of enemies in a multitude of environments ranging from ancient ruins to lush forests to even inside giant battle ships. For your typical rail shooters, the Panzer Dragoon series has remarkable atmosphere. In fact, the series has such good atmosphere and back story, that they even decided to make the third game in the series an RPG. I've still yet to play Panzer Dragoon Saga, but that's because I'm not willing to pay the price all the ***holes on ebay are asking me to pay for it. I'm hoping Sega will wake up and re-release it.

Phantasy Star series- Though I prefer a great many other RPG series' to the Phantasy Star series, I still think most of the PS games are pretty good (PS IV being the best IMO, but PS III is just too boring to hold my interest). While Shining Force is my favorite Sega RPG series, PS was always good enough to make any Sega system owner proud. I haven't played the online version though.

Rez- I've said it before and I'll say it again (no it's not man I love being a Turtle), Rez is Panzer Dragoon on a acid trip. Think Panzer Dragoon as a music game with a bunch of trippy effects. Every time you lock on to an enemy, it makes a sound that adds to the music. Also, when you get later into the levels, your controller will even vibrate in tune with the music. It's truly a trippy game.

Ristar- During the 16-bit days another thing besides fighting games that was all the rage was creating platformers that had an animal with an attitude (we can all thank Sonic for starting that craze). Ristar however follows it's own path. In Ristar you play as a star. Ok that's not much different, but the main focus of the game is Ristar's arms that he uses to grab things like enemies, items, or other various things in the game environments. It might not set your world on fire, but Ristar is another example of a really refined platform effort from Sega. It's a shame the game didn't do that well in the sales department, but they did add it to The Sega Genesis Collection on the PS2 for those of you who might be interested in playing it.

Seaman- Do you remember the tamagotchi phase that swept America in the 90's? You know those little gameboy looking things with those small screens that had an animal or something that you had to take care of and feed virtual food to, and that would generally be a huge pain in the ass, and would die all the time. Well, Seaman would be Sega's version of a tamagotchi except this tamagotchi could learn to speak your language that you teach him via a microphone attachment to your DC controller. I don't know if you've ever seen a picture of what Seaman looks like, but he's absolutely hideous. It's a human head on a fish's body. The game runs on your DC clock, so raising and maintaining your Seaman is a day to day affair (assuming you don't just set your DC clock ahead a day to cheat like I do). It's truly an interesting game, but it's definitely not for everyone.

Sega Rally- Once again, I'm not sure if Sega was the first company to bring Rally Racing to videogames, but I am sure of the fact that Sega Rally is an awesome arcade racer with incredible depth. It doesn't have a lot of courses or car choices, but the depth is in learning the courses. Nailing a perfect run on one of the courses can put in a state of gaming zen. Yeah, sure games like Gran Truismo have more depth, but Sega Rally is a great mix of Arcadey racing and serious racing.

Shenmue series- If memory serves me correctly I believe that Shenmue started out life as a Virtua Fighter RPG. Somewhere along the way, it morphed into one of the most ambitious games ever released. Shenmue follows the story of Ryo Hazuki, who's on a quest to find the man who killed his father. The games throw you into Ryo's world, but it let you choose how to proceed. You get to explore Ryo's world while progressing the storyline forward(if you choose to do so that is). While there is a story path you have to follow, getting there is a totally non-linear experience. I believe that Yu Suzuki intended players to explore Ryo's world. You can talk to everyone (though, NPC's are rarely helpful), and explore almost everywhere. You can spend all day at the arcade playing the various classic Sega arcade games (it depends which of the two Shemue games you're playing because each has different arcade games in it) if you so please, or you can spend it talking to everyone or just exploring your surroundings. What you want to do is your choice. Think of it as a GTA style sandbox game without the killing. That's not to say that Shenmue is totally devoid of action. Throughout various points of the storyline, you'll be able to fight various thugs with moves you learn throughout the game, or participate in Quick Time Events (QTE) in which you have to press the corresponding button or d-pad direction than the one that pops up on screen. The QTEs kinda remind me of all those terrible full motion video games on the Sega CD that just require you to press a button at the right time in order to watch the video, but they're not as bad. Overall, I say that it's a damn shame that Shenmue bombed so badly that we'll probably never see a sequel, but we Shenmue fans can always dream can't we?

Shining Force series- My favorite RPGs on the Sega Genesis were the Shining force games. These strategy RPGs (forget about the new games in the series) gave the Genesis one of the very few RPGs that reached the level of quality of Snes RPGs of the same time period. Sega also made Shining Force 3 for the Saturn in three different episodes, but they only localized the first episode to America because the Saturn was dying at the time. I'm still hoping that Sega will eventually re-release all three episodes so we can enjoy Shining Force three whihout having to donate a kidney to afford it.

Shinobi series- If you look through the history of Ninjas in videogames, you'll find hundreds if not thousands of games with ninjas in them. The Shinobi series has always stood out as one of the best in the bunch. I just recently acquired a Sega Master System and the original Shinobi, and I must say that it's as engaging as ever. That's a testament to it's great design. The series as a whole has always been challenging, but challenging in a rewarding way. I'd liken this series to say a Castlevania (in gameplay style not level design) where it takes, finesse, patience, and memorization to learn the levels well enough to eventually beat it. The most recent 3D Shinobi on the PS2 is one of those games that people either love or hate.

Sonic series- Say what you want about Sonic's most recent games, but there's no doubt that the original 2D games were awesome. Even Shigeru Miyamoto has admitted to playing them. The best part about the design was there wasn't a set path to go. The levels were huge, and had so many different ways to get through them. I haven't played any of the newer 3D ones post the first Sonic Adventure, but from what the reviews say they weren't that good (I'm still going to eventually pick them up to see for myself). I have the utmost faith in Sonic Team, and I'm sure they can find a way to re-invent the series.

Space Channel 5 series- Parappa gets sexy. Space Channel Five is Sega's off the wall spin on the music game formula. It's kinda like the 60's idea of space atmosphere meets Parappa the Rappa style gameplay. You play as Ulala and you're the news anchor for Space Channel 5, and your job is to report the news and keep your ratings up via dancing fighting and shooting the aliens who have suddenly invaded in the game. Sega actually got sued by Lady Miss Kier (who?) a singer from the group Deee-Lite (once again who?) because she thought Ulala was too close to her likeness. She ended up losing and having to pay Sega's $600,000 in legal fees.

Space Harrier- Space Harrier is an early rail shooter from Sega. It's just purely mindless blasting fun, but that's ok in my book. I'm not quite sure what the story is (like it matter in a game of this type), but you play as a guy who runs/flys through a multitude of levels blasting everthing that moves while dodging everything they throw at you from trees and other environmental hazards to enemy fire. it might be to repetitious for some of you, but for you fans of oldschool style game, it should be right up your alley.

Streets of Rage series- Yeah, Yeah, if you look at the first Final Fight, and then you look at a bunch of enemy characters from the Streets of Rage series, you'll find that the SOR enemies are a blatant and direct rip off of the enemies in FF. However, that being said, SOR is by far the better series IMO. I can't really explain what I find so engaging about these games, but I don't really feel the need to. They're just mindless beat 'em up fun, but even after all these years, I still can't get enough of these games. SOR 2 is by far my favorite in the series. Some people swear by the third one, but other use it as a swear word. I think they just tried to jam too much into one game, and made some changes to the formula that were for the worst IMO.

Typing of the Dead- This is one of those off the wall games that makes one say "Only Sega would think of this". Imagine playing through House of the dead, except instead of killing the undead masses with a light gun, you use your keyboard instead to type up messages that appear on your enemies in order to kill them. I've been meaning to pick this one up for years. I even have the DC keyboards with which to play it. Blieve me, I need all the typing help I can get.

Vectorman series- Hitting near the end of the Genesis' lifespan, Vectorman 1&2 were top notch action games that showed that the Genesis was still capable of competing with the Snes graphically. The game plays like an action platformer. Each level has plenty of powerups and other items to collect, platform jumps, and enemies to blast. It's like kinda Sonic meets Contra.

Virtua Cop series- I'm not sure if the original Virtua Cop was the first lightgun game to use polygons, but it was definitely one of the first. You play as a cop trying to take down a powerful crime syndicate by going through the city while blasting hordes of criminals. If you're a fan of light gun games then this is one of the best IMO. Light gun games might be a dying breed of games, but VC is a testament to what makes those games so fun.

Virtua Fighter series- Despite being the first 3D fighting game series, Virtua Fighter is also the deepest fighting game series out there. Just learning the moves isn't enough, you have to know to do a move or when and how to either block a move and counter or just simply duck it. It goes more in depth than that, but let's just say that it takes just as much devotion to master VF as it does to master a real martial art.

Virtua Tennis- Virtua Tennis did for tennis what Hotshots golf did for golf, it made tennis fun. A tennis game might sound pretty stupid to some of you, but believe me, VT is virtual crack. Whether you be playing by yourself or with three friends, the game is super fun to play.

Virtual On- Giant Japanese style mechs in a fighting game. That pretty much sums Virtual On up. It's a new take on the traditional 3D fighting game. Think of it as Armored Core without the missions but just all the mech on mech fighting. The combat also moves a whole lot faster than AC's does as well. I heard Virtual On Mars wasn't that good, but I've yet to play it myself. However, the original on the Saturn and Oratorio Tangram on the Dreamcast are great games even if the control scheme is off because the original arcade versions had dual sticks for aiming and moving.

Sorry if some of these explanations seem a little quick or weak to you, but I've been working on this blog all day, and have run out of steam near the end.

Anyways, feel free to tell me what you think of the blog, or to add any Sega developed games to the list that you feel should be there.

Note: I previously published this on GamePro.com, so some of the content may involve that site, and some of the old links may not work anymore.

The PS1

You are not ready huh? It seems like an appropriate tag-line when describing the effect the Playstation had on the gaming world. When people ask me what my favorite system of all time is, I never hesitate to say the PS1. While yes, it did have a bunch of mainstream titles that were great, it's the underrated gems that truly make the system my favorite. It drives me nuts when so-called "Hardcore" gamers label the PS1 as a casual gamer system. Yes, the Saturn had more hardcore gamer type games, but the PS1 had it's fair share if you new where to look.

That's the beauty of the PS1's game library. It had the best variety. It was the old circus analogy. There's something for everyone, and while it didn't always have the best game in each respective genre (2D fighters, and FPS come to mind), what it had in those genres was still pretty good, and at-least it had games in that genre (I'm still waiting for a 2D fighter on the N64). It was the void filler of the super hardcore of the Saturn and the mainstream 3D only of the N64. It had great games in the genres that those systems were found lacking in. Whoever said "A jack of all trades is a master of none." never played the PS1.

Another great thing about the PS1 was the great innovations it made for gaming. Beyond bringing gaming into the mass market (you decide if that was a good thing or not), they made innovations in many other areas. id might have pioneered the demo disk with Doom, but Sony perfected it with things like Playstation Underground, and OPM (may they rest in peace). They turned the demo disk into a game selling art. They also made the $20 greatest hit a standard (which is no longer the standard, but maybe in the future), and Nintendo might have brought rumbling, and analog (well analog in it's current form) to the consoles, but Sony perfected them by putting the rumble standard in the controller, and adding another joystick as well.

All those hardware innovations mean nothing without gameplay innovations, and the PS1 had plenty. I'm not sure if Parappa the Rappa was the first music game, but you gotta believe that it brought the genre into the limelight. Would we be playing guitar hero today without Parrappa? I'm not sure. Also the modern stealth genre as we know it wouldn't exist. Metal Gear Solid would have been bastardized on the N64 (it may have worked on the Saturn though). People were jacking cars in Liberty City on the PS1 long before it was the kewel thing to do in GTA3. It might not played as well, but the core gameplay came about on the PS1, and let's not forget Driver's hand in that as well. Speaking of driving, where would racing games be without "The real driving sim"? What about the modern extreme sports game? Street Sk8ter hit the PS1 first, but Tony Hawk's Pro skater blew the genre wide open. There are so many other examples of innovation shown by developers on the PS1. Some might say that all those games would have happened without the PS1, and fair enough some of them might have, but they probably wouldn't have been the same.

When I think of the PS1 theres just so much to it beyond the surface of what most people who own one saw. So many great games (with a ton of hidden gems for those who feel like digging), so many great innovations, and so many great memories make the PS1 my favorite system of all time. There are many other great systems out there, but there is only one Playstation.

teh2Dgamer's list of must play PS1 games:

Air/Ace Combat series- These are the best jet fighting games on the PS1. There's plenty of mission objectives to accomplish and plenty of intense dogfights to be had. If you like mission based flight games or if you liked the sequels, then you shouldn't miss these games. The first game was Air Combat, and the Sequels are Ace Combat 2&3.

Akuji the Heartless- You play as Akuji, a voodoo priest who savagely has his heart ripped out on his wedding day by his brother, and is now cursed to wander the depths of hell. The game runs on the Gex engine, and has an atmosphere similar to Soul Reaver's. It does have some camera issues, but they don't hurt the experience that much.

Alundra- It's an action adventure RPG in the same vein of Zelda except it's a lot more puzzle heavy and it completely sprite based. If you like old school style Action RPGs, then this is the game for you. The puzzles are really tough at some points so keep the faq handy.

Ape Escape- One of the quirkiest and most innovative platformers ever. It's innovative uses of the analog sticks is still unmatched. This is probably the best 3D platformer for the PS1. I still haven't seen any other game use the analog sticks in such an innovative way. You use the right analog stick to control the gadgets in this game. Who doesn't like playing with R/C Cars, and catching highly intellegent evil monkeys??

Armored Core series- A mission based mech game where you build your own mech. The controls are tough to get the hang of, and if you're tired of the newer versions of the AC series, then the PS1 versions probably won't set your world on fire, but if you still have a PS1, and have never played an AC game or are a fan, then go for it.

Bloody Roar 1&2- These are some really fast and fun fighting games where the fighters can change into animals in mid fight. I remember seeing the Gamepro review that first got me interested in the first BR. The game kinda came out of nowhere and its a fast and furious fighter. The BR series has kinda of fizzled out in recent years, but I have hope that the right developer can do it justice with a next gen sequel, but since fighting games are pretty dead, I don't see that ever happening.

Breath of Fire III&IV- These are top notch RPGs from Capcom where your main character can morph in to dragons. This series started on the Snes, and it peaked on the PS1 IMO. Every RPG fan should have these games in their PS1 collection.

Bushido Blade 1&2- Samurai weapons based fighting games with one hit kills. You can switch between multiple sword stances and weapons. The combat is more engaging that you may think.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night- It's a perfect mixture of Castlevania, Metroid, and RPG level gaining elements. It's the best Castlevania in the series IMO, and It's also my favorite PS1 game. Whips are for pansies. Allucard (despite looking like a woman) is one of the coolest Castlevania characters in the series. "What is a man? A miserable little Pile of Secrets. But enough talk. Have at you!"

Colony Wars series- The best space flight games on the PS1. The rebel fighters taking on a evil empire storyline might be overdone, but the action is top notch, and the game goes forward whether or not you fail a mission. If you fail one, the next mission will be easier. They really need to make a sequel.

Crash Bandicoot series- There are some of the best platformers on the PS1. There is a reason that these games put Naughty Dog on the map (I guess Way of the Warrior didn't do the trick for some reason). Warped is the highlight of the series, but the first two are still top notch offereings. Who can forget the Crash Dance. It's almost a shame that Crash is a sad shell of his former self now.

Crash Team Racing- Mario Kart be damned. CTR is still my favorite kart racer of all time. Sure, it's a Mario Kart Clone, but It's boost system just added so much extra depth to the racing. The track designs are great, and the multiplayer is fun. Note: I still love MK so please don't release your attack dogs.

Crusader: No Remorse- This isometric shooter from Origin Systems is really fun. I picked it up recently for two bucks. It's also on the Saturn and the PC (along with it's sequel Crusader: No Regret) for those of you who have those options.

Descent/Descent Maximum- Take a ship shooter like Colony wars and put it in a First Person Shooter environment and you get Descent. That's pretty much the best way to describe it.Also, if you're prone to motion sickness I really wouldn't suggest it to you. 360 degree movement in first generation PS1 graphics isn't ideal for some those with weak stomachs.

Devil Dice- Who could have predicted that such a simple game where you play as a cutesy little devil who turns over giant dice trying to line up their numbers to make them disappear (for example, you need five die with five dots in order to make them disappear, and you can continually chain more die to that chain so long as all the die haven't disappeared yet. It's hard to explain, but this game is virtual crack. Whether you be playing the puzzle mode or the hectic multiplayer games you'll be totally addicted to Devil Dice.

Einhander- This is probably the best Shmup (shoot 'em up or side scrolling shooter) the PS1 has to offer. It's fully polygonal and like other shmups it's plenty challenging. Who ever would have expected this type of game from Squaresoft?

Final Fantasy series- While I do believe the FF series on the PS1 is overrated as hell, it's still a great series. Square had enough sense to port FF III/VI (by far the best FF in the series and my favorite game of all time) to the PS1 so I guess I can deal with all the FF noobs (that's right, FF VII has been out for almost a decade, and I still consider you a noob to the series if it was your first FF) who think FF VII is the greatest thing ever. They're all great games despite my ramblings. Also don't forget Final Fantasy Tactics which is considered by most to be the best strategy RPG on the PS1.

Front Mission 3- Mechs in a strategy RPG Like it gets any better. If you dig mechs, and strategy RPS, then this is the game for you. If Armored core and Final Fantasy Tactics had a bastard child, you'd get Front Mission.

G-Darius- Another great Shmup for the PS1. Damn the fishes.

Gran Turismo series- The best racing sims for the PS1. I remember taking a chance on the original GT before I ever read a review of the game, and I was completely blown away. This game took the racing genre to a whole new level. It ditched the arcadey gameplay of other racers, and added a ton of depth by letting gamers choose from hundreds of real cars from real manufacturers, and then letting the gamer upgrade and customize their car.

Grandia- One of my favorite RPGs for the PS1. 2D sprites in a fully polygonal world, lovable characters, a great storyline, and a cool battle system. Game Arts was truly one of the best RPG developers. It's sad that they went under. I do hear that the Saturn version of Grandia is superior to the PS1 version but it's Japanese only.

Hot Shots Golf- Yes that's right, I put a golf game up there. Hot Shots isn't your average boring game of golf. It's hella addictive, and it made golf games fun again, or fun for the first time.

Jumping Flash 1&2- In JF, you play as a robotic rabbit named Robbit who has to save world from a mad scientist (does gaming know any other kind?) named Baron Aloha. The original JF hit before Mario 64, and plays like a mix between a FPS and a 3D platformer. You character can jump really high in the air, and he looks down at his feet when he does which used to give me that wierd falling feeling in my gut. This is another one that people who get dizzy or sick from games should try and avoid.

Klonoa- An addictive 2.5D platformer for the PS1. It's simple Jump, Grab, and throw, but it's still very engaging. I've seen copies of this game go for $80+ on ebay before. Don't let it's kiddie appearence fool you, this game packs a punch in the gameplay department.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver- IMO, this dark adventure game is superior to both of the Zeldas on the N64(I know I'm in the minority here). This game has great atmosphere, a huge world to explore (quite a bit bigger than the one in OOT that everyone made such a huge deal over), and a deep storyline told with excellent voice acting. The combat system is also very innovative because there are so many ways to kill your enemies. There are tons of things in the environment that can be used as a weapon weather it be a spear you can tear off a wall and impale you enemies with, a pool of water you can throw them, or even the Soul Reaver itself there are just so many ways to do your enemies in.

Legend of Legaia- A tough RPG with a cool combat system. It's got a PS2 sequel for those of you who are interested.

Lunar 1&2- Another great RPG series from Game Arts. They were updated ports of the Sega CD games. These games are full of the charm and humor that makes Game Arts RPGs shine.

MDK- A purely mindless shooter from the great people at Shiny. It's got some really trippy levels, and the sniper helmet is a cool touch. It's also got it's own unique atmosphere.

Medal of Honor/MOH:Underground- Easily the best FPSs on the PS1. These games kicked off the whole WWII FPS craze.

Medievil 1&2- Two awesome adventure games with great Halloweenish atmosphere.

Mega Man Legends 1&2- It's kinda like Mega Man meets Zelda. There's plenty of exploration to be had and you can use items you find to make more weapons and items for Mega Man. Though these games play nothing like their 2D counterparts, this is one of the few cases where that doesn't matter.

Metal Gear Solid- Do I really have to tell you about this game. If you own a PS1 than you should own this game. It did so much for gaming that I could probably write a few pages about it.

The Misadventures of Tron Bonne- This quirky offshoot to Mega Man Legends follows Tron and her Servo Bots on their own adventure. The game mixture of a bunch of games. A little strategy, adventure, and puzzle elements. It's truly a charming little game.

Monster Rancher 1&2- How cool is it to create monsters by putting in another cd in you system. It's similar to Pokemon. You raise a monster and then have him fight against other's monsters in an arena.

Mortal Kombat 4- I don't know what everyone had against this game, but IMO it's a top notch fighting game. It's super fast and furious, and I love the bone breaks. My only complaint is that the uppercut is pretty much worthless in this game, but the game moves so fast, that it's not a big deal, because pulling off combos is hella easy.

Nascar Rumble- What happens when you mix Nascar with Mario Kart? You get Nascar Rumble. There's plenty of cool powerups and hidden shortcuts to be had in this game. Even if you hate Nascar with a passion, you'll like this game. You should also chech out it's sequel Rumble Racing on the PS2.

Oddworld Abe's Oddysee/Abe's Exodus- These are two awesome 2D platformers. You're Abe an escaped Mudoken slave who's charged with saving his own kind from a horrible fate. These games have all the elements that make 2D platformers great. They're really challenging, but you get infinite lives so the game isn't impossible.

R4: Ridge Racer Type 4- The best arcade style racer on the PS1.

Resident Evil series- I'll put this series up here just to keep it's fans happy. I personally can't stand the series anymore. I loved the first two games, but then Capcom decided to whore the series out to everyone with a nickel. there were six RE games (not including the asstacular light gun games) on the PS1. Resident Evil, Resident Evil Directors Cut, Resident Evil Directors Cut: Dualshock, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 2: Dual Shock, and Resident Evil 3. See what I mean about whoring the series out?

Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman- Think of it as diet Devil May Cry. It's got similar sword and gun play, a mode similar to the devil mode, an annoying fixed camera, and extremely cheap bosses just like DMC. However, the thing it's got that DMC doesn't is Sexy Points. Dante might be a badass, but does he get Sexy Points? No sir he does not.

Rival Schools: United by Fate- Have you ever wanted to beat someone up for insulting you school? Yeah me neither. I was usually the one insulting my school, but the Japanese have school pride, and in Rival School they're ready to fight to defend their school's honor. Rival Schools playes like a 3D Street Fighter (it even has Sakura from SF in the game). There are plenty of flaming projectiles, air juggles, super moves, and team up moves in this game. This is one of the PS1's best. The only Fighting game that beats it out IMO is Soul Blade. Also, if you buy it used, make sure it comes with both the discs. Don't let the stores try and screw you over.

Silent Hill- This game is far superior to the RE series IMO. Just having the ability to move and shoot at the same time makes this game so much better. And pre-rendered backgrounds be damned. I love the fully 3D environments which give the game a much creepier atmosphere.

Sled Storm- A snowmobile racer that's got multiple shortcuts like Nascar Rumble. EA was a better developer in the PS1 days.

Soul Blade- This is my favorite fighting game on the PS1. It's the prequel to the Soul Caliber series, and I love the Edge master mode where you earn new weapons for your characters in a story adventure. Getting all the weapons is a pain in the ass, but their final weapons are kicks ass so it's worth it.

Suikoden 1&2- "So you like Suikoden!" I love Suikoden. It's my favorite original RPG series for the PS1. Polygons be damned I'm gonna search for all 108 starts in beautiful 2D.

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo- An addictive tetris style puzzle game that pits super deformed Street fighter character against eachother.

Syphon Filter series- These are some of the best action games on the PS1. Second only to MGS IMO. Gabe might sound like a terrible Alec Baldwin impersonator, but he's still an ass kicker. These games don't rely on a bunch of lame ass special effects and annoying as hell scripted un-skipable cutscenes like the action games of today, it's just 100% gameplay. You sometimes you charge ahead with guns blazing or sometimes you use stealth to complete the objectives in the exciting levels. Syphon Filter is a must for PS1 action fans.

Tail Concerto- A cutesy and charming platformer from Atlus. You play as a dog who goes around in a mechanical suit who goes around rounding up kittens who are up to no good. It's cutesy, but it's got all the elements that make platform adventure games fun. It does have some camera issues though.

Tales of Destiny- A 2D RPG from Namco with a cool fighting system, and you can even get an item that allows another player to play it with you. There's also a hidden tower. I haven't played the sequel so I can't put that one up here. It's a part of the Tails series that started on the Snes, and has gained popularity over the past couple of years.

Tekken 3- Tekken 3 is a good game, but it's just way overrated IMO. It's a great game, but I just find Rival Schools and Soul Blade to be better. There's still plenty of great and in depth fighting fun to be had in Tekken 3, but I just prefer other games over it.

Tenchu 1&2- The first Tenchu hit a little before MGS and was a ninja based stealth game. The sequel is also great, and it adds a map editor which is a great addition.

Tomb Raider series- If you ask me Tomb Raider got an undeserved bad rap from gamers and the game media. Yes they put out five games that were very similar, but when you look at a series like RE it took RE the sixth try to even get to RE3. At least TR gave you a whole new adventure each time. Yeah it lost sight of raiding tombs, but the levels were still engaging IMO. I really have to disagree with Maestro on this series sucking (**edit** I wrote this at the time that Maestro had a feature on gamerhelp of his top 10 worst games of all time, and TR was on that list). Yeah the controls have issues (even I occasionally still struggle with them), but I feel they're the best fit for Tomb Raider's level setup. I don't think the jumps would work if Tomb Raider had a Mario 64 type of control scheme. TR also had a great atmosphere of tension that rivaled games in the survival horror genre.

Tomba 1&2- Two very charming 2.5D platform/adventure games. I only have a really long demo of the first game on a Jampack, but I just recently found the second one for cheap at Game Crazy. It's really a great series for those of you who aren't 3D only snobs.

Trap Gunner- This game is hard to describe. It's kinda like a puzzle action game.

Twisted Metal 2- This is still the best car combat game ever IMO. Black is awesome, but TW2 is still the king. This game was the first to reveal the Davinci Code, but only after you napalmed the Mona Lisa.

Um Jammer Lammy- I don't own Parappa the Rappa, but I do have Um Jammer Lammy which is an increadibly addicitve music game. It's really hard though.

Vagrant Story- It's Square's take on a dungeon crawling RPG. Think Diablo meets Parasite Eve. The opening sequence is as cinematic as PS1 games get.

Vandal Hearts- Another great strategy RPG released pre FF VII on the PS1. Like most of the RPGs released prior to FF VII, it's an overlooked gem. I haven't played the sequel though.

WWF Smackdown 1&2- The two best wrestling games on the PS1. Attitude has a better create-a-wrestler mode though.

There's probably plenty more that I've missed so feel free to post any of your must play PS1 games. Also, these are my must play from the PS1 games I actually own so if I've missed some obvious ones (like Xenogears) then it's because I don't own them. I have more games I like on the PS1, but I realize that I'm a very forgiving gamer, and most people aren't so I tried to stick to the ones I think most people would enjoy.

I also decided to write this blog for all the idiots out there who swear that the PS1 had no good games.

I'd like to thank the Videogame Museum for the screen shots that I've edited in. Go check that site out.

Edit: Here is a link to my PS1 collection just in case any of you might have any questions about any of my games.

Note: This is the first blog I ever made, and I have added more must play games to that list. I may revise this blog in the future

2.5D issue #7

Note: I previously published this on GamePro.com, so some of the content may involve that site, and some of the old links may not work anymore.

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The Poor Gamer's Guide to Being Entertained.

(by teh2Dgamer)

Wi th gas and food prices on the rise, a slumping housing market, and the whole economy on the fritz, we're all going to be feeling the economic crunch soon. It's getting harder and harder to keep up our gaming habit while still having enough money to pay the bills. With that in mind, Ive decided to write a guide on how to get great games without breaking the bank. The only catch is, most of them are older games. Now despite no longer having the graphical punch they used to, many older games still hold up in the gameplay department, and you can get a handful of oldies for the price of one brand new game.

Right now we're at the end of last gen's life cycle which means that stores are currently dumping as many last gen games as they can. This means great prices for old games that can still entertain. Now I have around 185 PS1 games (give or take). Many of them rarer RPG games. Some people would think that means I'm rich, but in reality, I bought most of them for dirt cheap at the end of the PS1's life cycle. You'd be surprised how far even $50 can get you in old games. It's the same concept with this gen. If you go to stores like Gamestop, Game Crazy, or even a mom and pop game store, you can literally find huge bins full of cheap used games. Game Crazy in particular has a 3 for $10 promotion where you get three last gen games for a mere $10. Though some of them might not be the best quality, you can find a number of gems in that pile.Similarly, Gamestop also has a bunch of cheap used PS2, GC, and Xbox games for under $10. I was able to find a copy of Deus Ex: The Invisible War for a mere $2.99 (I didn't buy it, because I already owned it). The problem might be that it's not compatible with the 360 (be sure to check the list of backwards compatible Xbox games on Xbox.com), however, if you've still got your old Xbox, you don't have to worry about it. You can also find cheap Gamecube games as well, but the GC games are disappearing faster than the other system's games. You may also be able find some great deals for used games on ebay, amazon, or even Craig's list.

Now you might be one of those who doesn't believe in buying used games, because it doesn't give money back to the developers, and while I can understand that thinking, you are still giving your money to someone, and in the end, gamestop employees, and ebay sellers have to feed their families too. Also, since Gamestop sells new games, you are technically giving them more revenue with which to invest in those new games who's preorders they love to shove down our throats every two seconds in the store. Furthermore, there aren't many stores that still sell new Xbox, or GC games, and if they do, they're probably a clearance item in which case the store has no plans to buy more, so the game companies won't be getting any new revenue from the store buying more to replace those that have sold. That technically makes it no different from buying a used game.

If you're still dead set against buying used games, then the PS2 is the most economical system to own. With many new PSP ports coming out a a mere $20, and tons of greatest hits to choose from, the PS2 is the cheapest and best choice for gamers who are strapped for cash. There are tons of great games on the system, and it still has enough life left in it to be getting new games made for those looking for some new experiences (assuming that you don't already own a PSP). Many Xbox 360 games have come down to a mere $20 budget price in stores as well. Granted, it's mostly games like Viva Piñata , and Sonic, but you can find some good ones like Prey as well. Just keep your eyes pealed.

There's also the Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, and the PSN Store which sell downloadable games that you don't have to expend gas to get. However, sometimes the prices of the games in each service is relatively steep when compared to the prices of the originals, and my faith in hard drives, and other storage devices isn't that great due to having one that was less than three years old die on me the other day taking much precious PC data with it.

Then there's the question of retro games. Sure, you can find a number on each console's download service. However, there are still tons of classics that you can't find on those services, and sometimes, there's nothing like playing them in their original form on their original console with their original controller. The bad thing about retro games is that unless you have a local mom and pop store that still sells them, you probably have to go the ebay route to get them, because the big chain stores have stopped carrying them. The unfortunate thing is that as you well know, the ebay sellers can be parasites who try and suck every last dime from you with not only a way overpriced asking price, but with exorbitant shipping costs as well. It's almost a wonder that people download illegal roms.

That brings me to my next subject: Roms. Some of you might ask, "Why pay for retro games, when I can just get them free online?" That's more up to your own moral code. I was always taught to work for the things you want, and to never take the free ride. There's really nothing stopping you from illegally downloading games, it's easy and free to do if you wish. I however, am dead set against roms. Not only am I a materialist who like to have the original game in his hands, I was taught to respect the laws of the land. Chances are that no one is going to bust down your door to arrest you over downloading Snes games, so it's up to your conscience on what to do. There are some people who use the excuse that there are some extremely rare game out there that you'd otherwise not be able to play, and that one thing, but the majority of rom players are just getting a free lunch, and while this feature is about saving money, there are some depths that this writer will not stoop to to obtain certain games. Besides, working for things makes you have more respect for the tings you have.

Plus playing roms requires a computer, and a computer eats up way more electricity than say a classic gaming console, so though you may have to pay for cartridges, they can save you money in the long run assuming you turn your computer off when you play your retro consoles. That might seem like a dumb excuse, but electricity cost will probably be on the rise just like everything else soon. Also those of you with a conscience can have piece of mind knowing that you're taking the moral high ground.

Bottom Line: Gamers who aren't totally new game only snobs can find tons a cheap games that are being dumped by retailers in their bargain bins. Not to mention that you can occasionally find great deals on Amazon, Ebay, and Craig's List. There's also the Virtual Console, XBLA, and the PSN Store for those wanting to save gas money. Even gaming retailers have websites where you can check the prices of their games, find the number to the stores around you so you can call ahead, or even check online to see what each store has in stock, and for what price. When is comes to being cheap, $50 can go really far in old games. Even $10-$20 can score you a number of great older games if you shop around right. And that's the most important thing, shop around, and do your homework before you waist time or gas money. There are tons of ways to still get your gaming fix, and save money doing it.

Note: One thing I forgot to work in to the article is absolutely, positively, do not trade your old games in to a game store. They completely and totally rip you off while making a killing on the game when they sell it. I know it might not be the easiest, option to go with, but get an ebay account, and sell you game for the same price that the game stores are selling it at. You'll still lose money from the purchase price, but you'll get a lot more back than you would if you just trade your game in to the store, and when it comes to saving money, or trying to recoup more money from the cost of selling your games, then there's no better way to do it. The retailers are highway robbers in that regard.

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HACKED

(by FETALJUICE)

So it all began at 11 am when I decided to play some Gears because I had no school today. I try to log in but an error message appears that says someone recovered my account into another 360. I was pissed. It also turned out that someone figured out my email password and changed it so I would no longer be able to use it. Good thing I have this extra email account for emergency situations. So I reset the password and change it. I get my account back and a mere 5 minutes when I recovered my gamertag into my 360, I get a message from Jr0dY iS fReSh, saying that he has all of my credit card information, where I live and that if I don't give him the account back to him in one day, he will spend every single penny in that credit card. It was a voice message by the way (what a retard). So I call my dad to go cancel the credit card as soon as possible and so there he goes and cancels it. The hacker has no idea. He still sends me more messages about changing the password from my account to 123456. The nerve! I call 1800 My XBOX to tell them of my troubles. It turns out this douchebag bought 3 bundles of 5000 MS points for 67 bucks each and downloaded picture packs and lots of arcade games. The support lady tells me to change my Windows Live ID so that the hacker wont have access to my account. I try but I get this error message telling me that you can only change it once a month. It so happens that today is when I made my new email account and set it as the default ID for my gamertag. And that was the email that got hacked. I still have my original email untouched. Talk about bad luck huh? Xbox Live is investigating into the matter and they gave me this number code so that when I call again, they can check what is going on with me when I provide that number code. I just hope that everything works out for the best and the asshole gets caught and rots in prison.

I have taken new measure to protect my Gamertag. Even though I have to wait 30 days before I can change my Windows Live ID, I changed my password and I set up the pass code for the controller should he be able to hack my account again. I am no longer purchasing stuff with credit cards online anymore. F*** that. I will now purchase those retail cards with a set amount of points/ the subscription cards from now on. It is a drag but the most safest way to protect yourself from this kind of sh*t. I might even have to change my password every day until those 30 days pass by so that I can protect the account.

Word of advice: NEVER buy stuff with credit cards on Xbox Live. Go safe with buying the retail cards.

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Ten Questions for A_a_A

(by teh2Dgamer)

1. What is your official job title, and what duties does it entail?

My official job title is Reviews Editor for GamePro. Basically, I am responsible for assigning, editing and preparing reviews for GamePro's monthly print magazine as well as our website. On top of covering video games, I am also in charge of GamePro Labs; this means I get to review and test out all the cool gadgets and tech gear as well. Oh, and I run contests on the site to give crap away to the readers.

2. How did you get your start at GamePro?

It's kind of a weird story. I had interned with George Jones, who is our Editorial Director (read: Big Cheese) at another magazine way back when. After I graduated from grad school, I gave George a buzz just to see what he was up to and he was hiring for GamePro. He told me to come in and interview, I did and the next thing I know, I'm the Reviews Editor.

3. What suggestions or tips do you have for anyone who interested in writing about games for a living?

You need to obviously be a good writer; having a strong grasp of the fundamentals and having an accessible and entertaining writing style helps as well. Organizational skills come in handy, though you wouldn't think I was organized if you saw the state of my cube, and being knowledgeable about the video game industry is key. You should also be a pretty good video game player. Aside from that, know your audience, don't be a jackass and keep trying to improve your writing.

4. Is a college degree required for writing for a magazine like GamePro, or do you hire based more on a person's passion than whether or not they have a degree?

A college degree helps but it doesn't matter to me who you are or where you come from: if you know your games, have a great writing style and are reliable, I'll give you a shot. It's not about finding good college graduates, it's about finding good people.

5. What's your favorite issue of Gamepro that you ever worked on?

Probably the one where I wrote the cover feature for Twilight Princess. I got to go Nintendo HQ and play Twilight Princess before anyone else outside of Nintendo. That was pretty special. I also got to interview Eiji Aonuma, who produced the game, for that story, which was fun.

6. What's the worst game you've ever played? What makes it so bad?

I try not to focus on bad games, just the good ones. So let me tactfully ignore your question and say that the best game I've ever played is the original Half-Life. The thing I loved about that game is the way it totally encapsulated you inside the persona of Gordan Freeman; there was no exposition shots that took you out of the character from the moment you started playing to the ending credits, you were Gordan Freeman. It's still the high point for me in terms of video game narratives.

7. Where do you see gaming in ten years?

I see it being far more mainstream and accepted as a form of entertainment. I think the hardware's going to get pretty nuts and I think we'll see games that offer up unique gaming experiences that we've never seen before. It'll be an exciting time for sure. Unfortunately, I also think fanboys will still be around, they're like cockroaches, you can't get rid of them.

9. Capcom or SNK?

I'd have to go Capcom for sure. I spent more time playing Street Fighter II during my youth than I did doing homework (I wasn't that great of a student). And Marvel vs Capcom 2 on the Dreamcast is still my favorite fighting game of all time. And you know, there's the none fighting stuff like Resident Evil and stuff like that too.

10. How's the unicycle working out?

Good. I haven't ridden it in a while but it's still hanging out in my cube. Travis Moses, our previews editor, takes it out for a spin every now and again. I haven't fallen off and broken anything on it yet, though there have been a few close calls involving a certain part of my male anatomy that left me feeling a little queasy, if you catch my drift. Those unicycle seats are freaking dangerous.

-tae

Tae K. Kim

Reviews Editor

GamePro

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http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q136/KKSparkles94/SaddestMomentsinGaming.png

(by ViciousJ)

Let me warn you all that there will definitely be spoilers in this article, if you aren't a fan of spoilers don't read on.

6. Death of Sniper Wolf - Metal Gear Solid

For the first time you get to face off against a sniper in MGS, it's pretty unexpected and you have no idea what to do, but somehow you finally take that one final shot, just barely seeing her hair above the white snow you pull the trigger. You walk up to her and the cutscene of her death unfolds. Then you learn that all along Otacon had a secret love for her. Of course he is crushed to learn that you had killed her, his one true love. And that is why Sniper Wolf's death made number six on the list.

5. Death of Emma - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (part 1, and Part 2)

Otacon's lucky streak just continues as his sister is killed by the bastard Vamp in Metal Gear Solid 2. Again, Otacon feels the pain of losing a loved one, hopefully this can be resolved some other way...to where he doesn't commit suicide.

4. Death of Gremio - Suikoden

In an attempt to save his party, Gremio has to lock himself in a room with man-eating spores. This is, of course, a sad scene, partly because no one likes getting eaten by man-eating spores and the other part because...well Gremio did a good thing for his party and no one likes to see a good man of the party die to save the entire rest of the party, no matter how necessary. I don't think I even need to say more of why this made number four.

3. Death of Odessa - Suikoden

After suffering many wounds, Odessa knows that she is going to die and cannot be healed, so she decides to give an earring to Mathiu of the village Seika and her final request is to have her body thrown into a nearby stream. Confused they say they won't do it, but she explains that if she is found dead the Liberation Forces will find her the Movement will lose faith and die....What is with all the dying in the Suikoden series!?

2. Death of the Boss - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

We all know that The Boss was an annoying bitch. Well, that may be so, but she was pretty BA in the beginning of the game, and we all respected her. After she traited on Snake it was true that we liked her a bit less...but when she died and all that you could see was her limp body on the ground and the white flowers surrounding her you knew that it was an amazing setting. No matter for who it was a sad thing to see. The setting is really what made this death the perfect death and the saddest death as well. As she lay there barely alive she gave Snake the Patriot a tommygun that you can use the second play-through. And then...as you sit there she says to you,"Kill me." You have to follow her dying wish and you pull the trigger to end it all and as you do so the flowers surrounding you that were once white now turn red by the blood she shed. This was an unforgettable death

1. Aeris' Death - Final Fantasy VII

The most, undeniably, tear-jerking death in gaming history! As you sat there seeing both Cloud and Aeris becoming an obvious couple you had to have been happy just a little, even if you were a heartless bastard *cough* AngelOfChaos. Then when the game seems like a little ball of joy it's ripped right out from under you, as the next scene you see is Sephiroth flying down with his long Sasamune in his hands, he pulls it back as he inches his way closer to the unknowing Aeris, the next thing you see is the sword slicing through her chest. As she has been stabbed the sweet sound of her music emanates through the room creating a beautiful scene for her death. Cloud grabs her body and walks into the water and puts her Materia in her hands and holds her soon he drops her. The blue waters surround her as her body sinks into the land for one final scene that is the most amazing scene in the entire game. Cloud stands and watches her sink into the seemingly never ending body of water. After this scene of Cloud's love dying it was obvious that this drove him more to want to kill Sephiroth, for now it was not only to save the world but also to avenge Aeris

Thank you for reading, and I already warned you about spoilers so I don't want to see any hate mail. Haha, I wouldn't read it anyway!

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Reviews

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Delta Force: Black Hawk Down

(System: Xbox | Developed by: Climax | Published by: NovaLogic | Review by: FETALJUICE)

I'll keep this review short and to the point. Black Hawk Down set out to be the best multiplayer game on Xbox Live when it came out in 2005. Well, it turned to be a EPIC FAILURE. The game's box art had a stamp that said 50 players online enabled. While this sounded good, this was a nightmare when playing online. HORRIBLE lag plagued the multiplayer. You couldn't enter a room without lagging. The maps were too big and you couldn't restrict the fighting to certain parts of the map. Its very frustrating too. The single player campaign is lacking and not fun at all. Please do yourselves a favor and avoid this game at ALL COSTS.

Score: 1/10

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Fighting Force

(System: PS1 | Developed by: Core Design | Published by: Eidos Interactive | Review by: teh2Dgamer)

Taking a cue from games like Streets of Rage, Fighting Force takes you to the streets to get down and dirty oldschool beat 'em up style.

You assume the role of one of four characters who are each in their cliched beat 'em up roles. Smasher's the slow musclebound tough guy, Hawk and Mace are the two mid level characters, and Alana is the fastest and weakest one.

The gameplay is your typical run of the mill beat 'em up where you go area to area beating up any and everyone you see and rinse and repeat. As you can well guess, Most gamers won't be impressed due to the repetitive nature of games in the genre alone. Only fans of beat 'em up games will truly find this game to be worthwhile, but even then they'll also find it to be a pretty average experience by comparison to other games in the genre.

There's just nothing that really makes Fighting Force standout among it's peers in the genre. The fighting system is typical, characters are typical, and though the game offers a few branching paths, you'll still pretty much see everything the game has to offer in one playthrough. You can't even throw your enemies into eachother in this game. You can pick an enemy up and toss him at his buds, but he'll just go flying through them like nothing happened. That's one of the main things this game should have lifted off the brawlers of the past. On the gameplay merits alone, Fighting Force, though still relatively fun for fans of beat 'em ups, doesn't really do anything to standout. That being said, the game does have some good things going for it.

The control is great. Even though it's too old to support an analog stick, this 3D brawler game still controls like a dream with the D-pad. You won't have any trouble getting your character to go where you want them to. The only bad thing that can be said about the controls is that because the back attack button, and the grab button are the same button, you'll often times miss a grab, because your character will go into the back attack motion. It's a small complaint though considering that the rest of the controls are very responsive. It's also fun in the game to destroy many of the objects in the 3D world. Whether it be destroying a coke machine to get a drink, tearing a pipe off the wall, or even destroying a car, the game gives you a number of other items to destroy. You even get rewarded with extra points at the end of each level for your destruction. Also, those who don't like playing alone, can have a friend join them in the two player mode which adds some extra replay value.

Bottom Line: Fighting Force is just an average beat 'em up. If you never liked beat 'em ups, then you'll probably hate this game, and even if you do like them, FF won't be anything remarkable. The beat 'em up genre is probably the PS1's weakest genre, so pickings are slim for PS1 owners. However, if you don't have a Saturn with which to play Die Hard Arcade, or Guardian Heroes, then Fighting Force might give you a decent fix for your 32-bit beat 'em up needs. Otherwise Gekido is the better choice for PS1 beat 'em up fans.

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Area 51

(System: Xbox | Developed by: Midway Studios - Austin | Published by: Midway | Review by: wulfshelmut)

I bought Area 51 for xbox for $10 and it was well worth it. The game play is great. I would even say its one of the best FPS I have played. It controls well to. Over all their pretty fluid and I had no problems with the controls or their layout.

Graphics wise Area 51 isn't a let down. the game looks good. the character models and the models of the enemies look very detailed and well done.The game also has very good lighting effects that add to its creepiness. Just as a side note I have heard the ps2 version looks just as good. It might not be next gen but the game does a good job of showing off the graphics gamers got to experience later in the last gen systems lives.

The story is also top notch as well. The ingame story is a little lacking but the majority of the story is backed up by secret documents you find through out the game. These make Area 51 and its story shine and come together. They also make whats going on in the game more believable and even more creepy. I would say the documents are the best part of the story and its worth it to find every one so you can just read them. Some are so good I have read them again for the hell of it.

It took me about 5 days to finish the game. Its not very long but its great while it lasts. I would recommend it to any one. But there are some minor complaints. The game can be tough at times. Not real tough but just enough to irritate you. also the enemies in the game that use the assault rifles can fire them in fully automatic mode like sniper rifles. That can be a real pain, at least it was to me. Its still a very good game.

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Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

(System: PSP | Developed by: Konami | Published by: Konami | Review by: BluSlime)

Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles (PSP) is simply fantastic. It's still one of my favorite games of all time. As an owner of the original Japanese Turbo Duo version, the PSP version has lost nothing in its up-grade to the PSP. The up-dated graphics (2.5D) are very nice to look at and the soundtrack is still one of the best around. The game play is spot on and follows the traditional Castlevania controls with a few extra tricks. The game is only $29.99 and is packed with extras including multi-play. It also includes Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and the original NEC PC-Engine version of Dracula X. Konami has really done a great job at bringing this lost classic to the US, so gamers here can enjoy it. Its a must own for any Castlevania fan or PSP owner.

I rate this game a perfect 5 out of 5............Blu

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Castlevania: Bloodlines

(System: Genesis | Developed by: Konami | Published by: Konami | Review by: teh2Dgamer)

Highly anticipated by Genesis owners at the time, Castlevania: Bloodlines, was the only installment of Konami's long running series to appear on Sega's 16-bit machine.

One striking difference that Castlevania fans will notice in this version is that the game lets you chose between two different heroes, and neither of them is a Belmont. John Morris is an ancestor of the Belmont clan (whatever that means) who uses the traditional Vampire Killer Whip with which to vanquish his enemies, and is given the ability to swing from ceilings with it. Eric Lecarde ditches tradition, and uses the Alcarde Spear which he can vault off of to do a high jump maneuver.

For those of you not familiar with the classic Castlevania games, they played through in stages as opposed to the newer games in the series which mimic the Metroid games. You start on the left side of the screen and move right while vanquishing hordes of tricky enemies, making platform jumps, and taking care of pesky mid-level and level-end bosses. Bloodlines is classic Castlevania in that everything clicks. the controls are great, and the graphics were a great showpiece of what effects the Genesis was capable of with some outright trippy stages (especially stage 6), The gameplay though challenging will keep you hooked. Bloodlines will challenge players, and force them to play with a certain amount of finesse.

The Castlevania series has always required the right amount of finesse. Whether it be perfectly timing your swing to hit a Medusa head, or timing your jump on a tough to reach platform, Castlevania is a game of perfect timing, and Bloodlines both requires oldschool patience.

Bloodlines, in fact, is one of the harder games in the Castlevania series for the simple reason that, unlike it predecessors, it limits the amount of continues you're allowed. This makes the game a lot harder to get through then other games in the series, because it makes password saves less effective. You might have a password to make it through the first couple of levels, but that doesn't matter if you don't have enough continues to finish the game on. This however is a small complaint that can be remedied by either cheating, or by learning the game and making skillful runs through it's levels. The second option is perfectly doable (and is preferred by this author), but is made harder by the limitation on continues.

Another complaint is that, despite coming out after Super Castlevania IV, Bloodlines lacks a few gameplay refinements made in that game. This made Bloodlines seem like a step back in the series because it played more like the earlier games in the series. This is another small complaint, because Bloodlines is still great on it's own merits.

Bottom Line: Though not quite as good as Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania Bloodlines on the Genesis is still a top notch adventure for those willing to partake in it. Be ready to be challenged, but also be ready to have some good oldschool fun.

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Super Castlevania IV

(System: Snes | Developed by: Konami | Published by: Konami | Review by: fatface)

The first Castlevania game I played is also one of the best of the series. A remake of the first Castlevania for the NES, this game exceeds with fantastic graphics, a killer soundtrack, responsive controls, and game play that is purely fun. Playing as Simon Belmont, you whip through 10+ stages of Dracula's castle; fighting off skeletons, Medusa, dragons, Frankenstein, and death itself until reaching the prince of darkness.

But as mention before, it's the easy to use controls and addicting game play that makes this title shine. Youre able to attack the enemies in 8 directions with Simon's whip (a first for the series) because they'll be attacking Simon from all different directions. The Snes controller is very responsive and makes it a breeze to dodge the deadly booby traps and counter attack.

The game plays similar to the older Castlevania games so Symphony of Night and GBA/DS fans beware; this game has NOTHING in common to those games. There is no leveling up, backtracking, or magic attacks Simon can use. It's straight forward whipping and jumping.

Overall, I think this is one of the finest action games I've played. If you own a Super Nintendo, I recommend this game as a must have.

I think you'll like this game if you enjoy the following - Love action side-scroll games - A fan of classic Castlevania game play. - Prefer straight forward action than large levels in which you return later in the game (i.e. the Castlevania games of today).

I don't think you will like this game if the following annoys you... - You can not use items, equip armor, or level up. - Simon can't run or learn any new abilities. - Spikes kill you instantly and stages include a decent amount of bottomless pits.

About the Japanese Famicom version I haven't played this game on the Japanese Super Nintendo but I've read that it includes blood, naked statues and paintings that were removed for the American audience. One particular level is stage 8; the underground dungeon has blood that drips from the ceilings while our version has acid.

User Score: 5.0 out of 5.0

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Cold Fear

(System: Xbox/PS2 | Developed by: Darkworks | Published by: Ubisoft | Review by: AngelofChaos)

Cold Fear is about a smart ass Coast Guard who has to go save some people on a giant ship, which just so happens to be infested with Zombies. As usual some scientists went crazy and created a virus or something that turned the crew into savages. Go figure.

It seems as though this game was hastily released after RE4 simply to cash in on the same battle system concept, and to some extent it worked. Cold Fear fixes some problems that some RE4 fans may have encountered. For example, in Cold Fear you can move and shoot in the over the shoulder style, as well as weapon swap on the fly, which RE4 does not have. However, in every other department this game pretty much falls flat. The story is meh, the scare factor is almost non-existent, the voice acting is meh, the music is meh, and the environment creativity, etc is inferior to RE4.

So why bother with Cold Fear? To see why RE4 is superior in almost every possible way? Not quite. I'd say it's because it's a pretty rewarding experience.

While the story is basically B movie material, it does keep you going along.. The water effects are quite well done, even though the environments are bland as all hell at times. Holding onto a railing while getting head shots in the pouring rain on a rocking ship is cool at first, but that doesn't last long (you'll know why if you play through the game for more than an hour). The overall feeling of the levels aren't very scary at all, but rather monotonous and bland more than anything.

Being able to move and shoot while swapping weapons feels much more seamless than in RE4. The combat style itself can even be thought of as an improvement because of this. Sadly it's never really brought out to its full potential due to the lack of boss fights in the game. The only boss fight is the final boss fight which seems quite familiar. RE4 perhaps?

The enemies are pretty much the same throughout the game. Its really easy to see them coming, and because of this the scare factor is not there at all. I would know this because I am the biggest scaredy cat when it comes to horror games. I couldn't even get through the first half hour of RE1 for crying out loud (not literally). There is the occasional "well that's disturbing" moment, but those are rare and are not that noticeable unless you have acute attention to detail. Fear barely fits in the title of the game. The only kind of fear you'll experience is the "Oh crap, I have to reload". Reloading is probably the biggest fear in this game by far. Nothing is worse than having to reload when you have three zombies chasing after you at the same time.

Cold Fear isn't really that difficult, but it is by no means that easy either. The game is very generous with medical kits and ammo, but the enemies are quite vicious so it balances it out. The game quality follows in a similar pattern. It's not that great, but it's not the bad either. It's definitely worth a rental IMO.

Aw hell, I guess the only really good reason to play this game is if you're an RE4 fan after all. You'll probably find yourself wanting to play through RE4 again like me after playing through this game.

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Quake II

(System: N64 | Developed by: Raster | Published by: Activision | Review by: teh2Dgamer)

Released in November of 1997, the PC version of Quake II made huge waves in the PC gaming world. It later went on to be the most played online game of 1998. It was the Halo of it's day, and console ports were seemingly inevitable.

Almost two years after the PC version hit, the N64 finally got it's chance to get in on the Quake II action.

That begs the question, how does it stack up to the PC version, well, it really doesn't, but not in the way you think. You see, the N64 version of Quake II is nothing like the PC version weapons and enemies aside. It's actually like it's own Quake II mission pack because the developers decided to go with 19 original levels over just a simple port.

The game plays in the typical oldschool FPS fashion. You'll get different objectives to complete in each of the game's levels, but it basically just comes down to the old throw the switch, get the key type. However, Quake II was never about puzzle solving, and this port is no different. It's all about the action in Quake, and this game delivers it in droves.

Throughout Quake II 64, you'll be forced to deal with the hordes of enemies that come your way. This is no simple task, but thankfully, this port has almost all the weapons of the PC original which equip you to deal with all the baddies the Strogg throw your way. Also, if you get tired of fragging the not so bright A.I. enemies, the game has a pretty fun deathmatch for up to 4-players.

The game steals it's control scheme from Turok where you move with the C-buttons, and aim with the analog stick which works pretty well despite the N64's overly sensitive analog stick. There is a little bit lost in translation from PC to console where it'll often times take you a little extra time to line up your shots just perfect on an enemy which can cost you a few hits from the enemies.

Graphically, the game runs at smooth rate, but the enemy animations are extremely choppy, even with the expansion pack, and the music is also different from the original's. The music in the N64 version is now more ambient as opposed to the more adrenaline pumping tracks of the PC original.

Bottom Line: Though it's nothing like it's PC predecessor, Quake II on the N64 still manages to be a fun addition to any N64 gamer's FPS collection. If you've still got a 64, and want a good single player and multiplayer FPS game, then Quake II is worth a look. However, if you hate the oldschool style of FPS, and need a story, and the highly scripted elements of modern day FPS games, then avoid this one.

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Deus Ex: Invisible War

(System: Xbox | Developed by: Ion Storm | Published by: Eidos Interactive | Review by: teh2Dgamer)

Taking place 20 years after the events of the original Deus Ex, Deus Ex: Invisible War once again plunges you Ion Storm's world of conspiracy's, half truths, and whole lies. The game follows the path of Alex D. who's pulled into a convoluted narrative of who's screwing who after having to flee his/her (you get to pick) Tarsus training facility terrorist attack destroys the entire city of Chicago.

Deus Ex: Invisible War can best be described as nonlinear linearity where, though the game takes you through a narrative, it's still your choice in what manner you wish to tackle said narrative. IW is all about choice. IW's environments are riddled with multiple paths, and hidden areas. There's more than one solution to every problem. It's your choice of how to forge ahead, and as to how you'll play the game. If you're the balls out player who wants to go in Rambo style, then the direct route will work the best for you. However, if you're the stealthy type, look for a back way into the area. Dead set against killing? Run through the game with non lethal weapons. It's all your choice.

There's also an emphasis on making moral choices. Throughout the game, you'll even be given opportunities to make a moral choice. Many of these opportunities show up in the game's many optional side quests which often times feature shady characters offering you rewards in order to perform underhanded tasks to suit their purposes. One of the first sidequests is given to you from the owner of a large chain coffee shop in Upper Seattle who wants you to go destroy the coffee shop in the slums of Lower Seattle. When you meet the owner of the coffee shop in the slums, he wants you to hack into a computer at the WTO office any allow a zoning permit for him to build a shop in Upper Seattle. Do you help the big guy who will pay you more? Do you side with the little guy against the corporation? Or do you double dip and collect the money that comes with doing both tasks? It's all up to your sense of morality and justice.

IW's gameplay at it's core is a first person shooter with RPG elements. The biomods act as kind of a magic system, and give you multiple abilities of your choosing such as the ability to cloak yourself from mechanical enemies, heal yourself, run at super speed, and so on. You'll even be able to upgrade your weapons with weapon mods that you'll find throughout the course of the game that give your weapons extra attributes as well. You'll also deal with inventory management of healing items and weapons.

One of the coolest things about the game is the level of interactivity in the environments. Turning on and off light switches, buying a can of soda from a vending machine, and opening and closing cabinet doors, and refrigerator doors might not sound like a big deal in the real world, but in a game they really enhance the experience. You'll have fun just playing around and seeing which objects you can interact with. Flush toilets, turn sinks on, or throw a coffee pot across the room to watch it shatter. The objects in your environments aren't just there for decoration. They're there for the type of interactivity that really adds to the game.

Graphically, the game shines for an original Xbox game. Even graphics whores won't be disappointed even if the visuals are dated when compared to your average next gen game. The physics engine it pretty good as well. Dead or unconscious NPCs will ragdoll when thrown, and often times make a sickening thud when hitting the ground after being thrown straight up in the air. The sound effects and voice acting are right on, and the music, though a lot more subtle in this game than the first, is also top notch.

The biggest complaint about Deus Ex: The Invisible war is that it though it's extremely fun on it's own merits, it doesn't hold a candle to the original. It an attempt to make the game more open to the mainstream masses, they dumbed down many of the features that made the first Deus Ex game great. Though this makes the game more accessible for the mainstream crowd, many of the hardcore fans of the original took it as a slap in the face. The biomod system in IW has combined the skills system, and the augmentations of the original. The damage to individual limbs from the PC version of the original is gone and replaced with just a plain life bar (though the PS2 version of the original had already done this), and the story isn't as deep or complex either. The stripped away many of the hardcore elements that fans of the previous game loved. However, on it's own, IW is still an awesome game. Another complaint about the game is that there is some nasty slowdown as the action heats up (especially when someone throws a spiderbot). Plus the load times happen too frequently, and are rather long which put a damper on the experience at times. These complaints, overall, are small, and don't stop Deus Ex: Invisible War from being one of the best games of all time.

Bottom Line: While slightly disappointing when compared to it's predecessor, Deus Ex: Invisible War is still one of the best gaming experiences out there. Even at it's worse, it's still better than the majority of other games on the market, and should be experienced by everyone.

Note: The Xbox Version of Invisible War is not compatible with the Xbox 360 at present time. Who knows it it'll ever be compatible.

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On the Toliet

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

(System: DS | Developed by: Nintendo | Published by: Nintendo | Review by: ShortHairedOffender)

Alright, this months game is Legend Of Zelda The Phantom Hourglass. What can I say about this game that has not been said about other Zelda games? Almost nothing. Everything you would expect is still there with little additions. They do add puzzles using the mic and stylus. Then that adds another problem. Sometimes you have no idea what to do. Sometimes it will tell you to do something that you would think you would only be doing in the game that involves you to do in real life. (IE Close the DS or scream into the mic.)

With that complaint out of the way it does have some good features like drawing a path for your boomerang. Plus you have a mouse like bomb that you can guide across levels. You can draw a path for you boat but all that rship riding is boring. You will see blue... and blue... and blue.... and then an enemy... and then more blue.

The fighting all involves the stylus so there is no button pressing. You just tap an enemy for a basic attack on them and you swing it around to attack with a spin. And it you finish the side quest you get the swordsman's scroll which makes it so that if you spin a lot you will spin with a very strong attack. The enemies are fun to fight and sometimes need creative ways to beat them.

Something REALLY new in this game is stealth. There are some unbeatable creatures (well until you have the Phantoms Sword) in one part of the game that you must sneak past. Which adds a whole new play type. It adds safe zones so you can escape.

You will encounter a lot of wacky characters who will make you laugh. Just like past LoZ characters. All of this game is fun if you look past the puzzle difficulty. And for anyone who has a DS you should pick this game up.

4 out of 5

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My Gaming Life

(by teh2Dgamer)

I've been playing Grandia on the PS1 a lot lately. I had to replay most of the game on account that in previous years, I had a save that was 30-40 hours into the game that was on a memory card that took a dump on me. I'm near the end of the game, but I haven't played it for a few days. I've been taking my retro systems over to my friend's house a lot recently. It started with the Sega Genesis. After losing to his younger brother on the Snes versions of NBA Jam (two of the games by two points, and the thrid by three), and Mortal Kombat (I beat him in Killer Instinct, and we broke even on Street Fighter 2), I took my Genny over there and beat him in NBA Jam Tournament Edition, Mortal Kombat, and Mutant League Football. My friend and I also ran though Gunstar Heroes, and Streets of Rage. This last weekend I took my N64 over there and made up for my loss in Smackdown vs Raw 2008 by beating my friend in No Mercy. I also destroyed him, and his little brother's friend (who claims to have been a semi pro Halo 2 player at one time) in a round of Goldeneye. I aslo beat my friend in Mario Tennis which is strange, because he's freakishly good at tennis games. In fact, I won't even bother challenging him in a game of Virtua Tennis. He's got like a sixth sense in Virtua Tennis that makes him destroy anyone he plays. It's weird.

Anyways, I thoroughly suggest having a retro night with you friends, or even a split screen night where you guys meat up for some multiplayer action where you can actually interact in the same room as your opponents. You'd be surprised on how much fun it can be. I'm sure that many of you have forgotten about split screen deathmatches in this modern online gaming world. Sometimes it's just better to chill out and play with your friends in the same room instead of dealing with other online players.

I recently bought God of War 2 for $20 at Walmart. I was burnt out of Devil May Cry after the first one, and had yet to touch another DMC clone for years until I finally caved in to the mainstream and asked for the original God of War for last Christmas. Though I still have my issues like my hated of quick time events, which might work for a game like Shenmue, don't belong in an action game. I mean, if I wanted to play games that were that passive, I'd buy me a Sega CD and buy some of the crap that Digital Pictures developed for that system. The think I liked about GoW is that it's also got the adventure and exploration elements to go with the button mashing mayhem, and the fighting system is, overall, really fun. I was expecting just a repackaged DMC, but the game actually surprised me. There are still many other games in the genre that I prefer more (Like The Mark of Kri/Rise of the Kasi), but GoW was definitely better than I though it would be. QTE issues aside.

My hard drive that had all my high quality versions of my youtube vids died on me a few weeks ago. Suffice to say that I'm still a little upset about that. I'd spent a lot of time on my 100 PS1, and 100 PS2 vids, and now all I'm left with is the crappy youtube versions of them. The worse part is that after that happened, I found out how to upload high quality vids on youtube that go above the 100 mb limit. I could have posted the high quality versions on there, but now it's too late. Oh well. I guess that give me ground to make them all over again. From now on, I'm going to make sure I back my vids up to more than one source.

Oh, and for anyone who wants me to make a gameplay video, just check out my Any Gameplay Video Requests topic and make a request. If I can't find the vid already for you on youtube, then I'll make it.

That's about all I can think of that's going on in my recent gaming habits, aside from playing the hell out of Deus Ex: Invisible War (I beat it, and then instantly restarted it), and even some oldschool descent, and some Battletanx: Global Assault, I really haven't been that active in my gaming as of late.

That's about all for version number 7 of My Gaming Life. Enjoy, and keep gaming GamePro.

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A Look Back

Dead Gaming Mags of the past.

(by teh2Dgamer)

Here is a list of magazines that came saw, and died on us. Some of them left their mark, others are quite forgetable. Some of them I had subscriptions to when they died (caution for Gamepro, I currently have a subscription to your mag).

Next Generation

Next Gen was a magazine who's focus from the start was the older more mature gamer. From the writing, focus based more on the industry at large, to even the magazine's page design catered to the more mature gamer than say GamePro did at the time. In fact, I see a lot of Next Gen influence in the modern gaming mags who have attempted to shed their adolescent image by maturing up their magazines. Even the page layouts in many current magazines are reminiscent of Next Gen.

I'm not quite sure why it was shutdown, but I'd assume that it didn't make a lot of money for Imagine Media (essentially Future).

Their Review Scale: Next Gen went on a basis of five stars. No half stars. In fact I think that the new Playstation: The Official Magazine (formerly PSM) has taken the same review scale from them. Also, Their reviews would be text, and under the score there'd be a Bottom Line: that summed it up for you. I guess I subconsciously took this from them, because I didn't to it deliberately.

GMR

GMR was a free giveaway magazine the came with a membership card to Electronics Boutique. As a magazine, there's nothing in particular that made them stand out aside form the Game Geezer who would rant on the last page of every issue about certain gaming related issues (the current issue I've got in my hands right now has him ranting on drunken eight year olds playing Xbox live). They also covered PC games, and had a retro section like Game Informer did, but GI's retro section blows their's away.

The magazine was shut down when Gamestop merged with Electronics Boutique, because Gamestop already had Game Informer. I had a subscription to it at the time of it's demise.

Their Review Scale: Was a simple 1-10 scale with no halves. Some of the reviews would have small Second Opinion boxes, and under the score they'd post interesting little text boxes with misc info.

GameNow/Expert Gamer/EGM2

Starting out as EGM2 which was branch-off magazine to EGM. The name was later changed to Expert Gamer in issue number 50 and was focused more as a strategy/tips magazine along the lines of Tips and Tricks (another dead mag that I'm not covering in this feature). In November 2001, Expert Gamer became Gamenow and dropped the main focus of strategy and tips and turned into another reviews/previews magazine. This is another one that I had a subscription too when it died. From the less than a year's worth of issues I got of the mag I found it to be enjoyable. In fact, the last issue of GameNow not only was a special 3D edition (that came with 3D glasses and all), but it also had an awesome article about creating your own fanzine. Though I'd been thinking about making one for quite a while, that article is what eventually convinced me to write the very blogzine you're reading right now. Wiki doesn't list a reason, but I'm willing to bet the mag was shut down because of Ziff-Davis' piss poor financial situation ($390 million in debt. Ouch!)

Their Review Scale: GN's scale was a simple grading scale F minus to A plus. They would also use a Bottom Line: in order to sum up the review, and would also list the Pros, and Cons of each game.

Game Players

Game Players was a multiplatform magazine started by Imagine media that was know for it's sense of humor, and having text captions under every screenshot (a tradition carried on into PSM). Their letters section is pretty fun to read as they had various ways to get their readers involved. Aside from the traditional letters, they'd have readers submit game ideas, answer their Burning Question, write in to ask for tips on their games, or even a place to link up for pen pals. In fact, now that I think about it, most of GP's charms were carried over into PSM (though PSM is longer PSM, or charming). That's no surprise considering that a number of the staff members from GP ended up working for PSM later (Chris Slate, Francesca Reyes, and Bill Donohue off the top of my head). The mag later turned into Ultra Game Players, then Game Buyer, and then it died. According to wiki, when it changed into Ultra Game Players it lost most of it's great sense of humor that made the original GP great which alienated most of it's fans, and led to it's eventual demise.

Their Review Scale: GP's scale in the issue that I have went on a 1-100 scale, and would rate other individual attributes on a 1-10 scale. These attributes included Graphics, Music & Sound, Innovation, Gameplay, and Replay Value.

Gamefan

Starting out as Hardcore Gamefan, but shortened later on, Gamefan magazine had more of a hardcore niche focus. They're editors were hugely into japanese games and culture. They'd constantly be reviewing import games, and were also into Japanese Anime. They would review anime films in the AnimeFan section in the back of their magazine. They'd cover retro games as well. The editors also used caricatures instead of their real names like Gamepro used to.

According to wiki, the mag was shut down due to constant Lawsuits being waged against it.

Their Review Scale: In the few issues that I have of the mag, they used a 1-100 scale. They'd have three editors write quick blurbs on each game, and score it in the front of the magazine, and then the main big text review would be back past the previews.

These are just a few examples. Gaming's past is filled with many more dearly departed publications. These are just a few of my favorites.

My Take: They made us laugh at times, they made us cry at times (ok, maybe not cry), and they made us pissed off at times, but in the end, all these mags have my appreciation for the time we shared, and continue to share (I still read the old issues). They say that print magazines are dying, and that may be true, but for those who have come, gave it their best shot, and gone out into the sunset, my hat's off to you.

I hope that print mags are still here 20 years from now. There's something more special to me about holding a real mag in your hands then squinting at a computer screen to read. What the heck, they still got news papers, and radio don't they?

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Underrated Gem of the Month

Shadow Hearts: From the New World

(System: PS2 | Developed by: Nautilus | Published by: Xseed Games | Underrated Gem by: AngelofChaos)

In short, Shadow Hearts: FtNW is about a 16 year old teenagers who saves the world with an "interestingly" designed heroine, which is basically a wet dream for him.

What really sets this game apart is its unique style and humor. In no other game will you have a giant female cat that fights by using drunken boxing and a flamenco guitarist who has rocket launchers and shotguns built in his guitar, let alone in an RPG.

As usual this Shadow Hearts series has a tendency of poking fun at the entire genre itself while keeping the game-play interesting. The battle system is by far one of the greatest and most entertaining battle system you will ever experience. It works seamlessly and is incredibly easy to use at the same time, all the while being fun. The voice acting is solid, but there is the occasional hiccup voice that makes you raise your eyebrow. The music is nice to listen to, and for the most part in this game, it is light hearted compared to its predecessors.

Where this game truly shines is through its characters. The unique and dramatic story helps carry this along as well. Personally, I thought the game was just alright before I did the side quests. When you do them, you gain a feeling of attachment to the characters, and you learn a lot about them. It's a truly rewarding and feel good experience that can't be described in words.

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Well that's it for issue number 7 of 2.5D A Blogzine Dedicated to the Games of Old, and of New. I'd like to thank all those who contributed to this issue:

AngelofChaos, FETALJUICE, ShortHairedOffender, ViciousJ, fatface, BluSlime, and wulfshelmut

I'd also like to thank Gamepro for the pictures I got from the site.

Anyways, that's it for Issue number 7 of 2.5D. I hope you enjoyed it. Now it's time for me to go take a nap of something.