Well, I hope everybody had a happy and healthy 4th of July. I know I did. I’m always happier and healthier when I’m not at work. It wouldn’t be so bad if the company were more organized. I may not be management, but I know what would help the company, but if they’re content to suck, so be it.
On the matter of my little commentary last week, I wanted to apologize to anyone I offended, or at least anyone who didn’t like what I had to say. I don’t normally do stuff like that, but I felt like I needed to. I only got one letter that disagreed with me, and it was worded very well and provided a valid argument, so I wouldn’t call it hate mail like the person said. But it appears that I pissed some people off, even our own Bryan Berg, so I probably won’t voice my opinion in that way again.
Also, I wanted to apologize to Matt Hardin for screwing up his rendition of the Acclaim name. He had to spell it out for me so I’d get it. It’s ack!lame, as in:
ack!
lame
Sometimes it hurts when someone points out my own stupidity, but it needs to be done. Anyway, I will probably use this in the future, and when I refer to this title, I will be sure to give Mr. Hardin the credit he deserves.
Gaming News
Square Enix and their Mysteries
The company that I am slowly losing faith in has announced plans to release information on one of their mystery titles that I mentioned a while back. Some of the top contenders are games that I myself suggested. The question is will they be worth it? One of the biggest possibilities is that of an online Front Mission game. Whether or not it will be called Front Mission History, or if that is a separate game is still unknown. Another possibility is Final Fantasy III, which was supposed to come out for the Wonderswan Color, but will likely come out for the GameBoy Advance instead. You can bet your ass I will post more information once it becomes available.
Tales of Symphonia Stateside?
EBGames has listed a preorder for Namco’s GameCube only RPG Tales of Symphonia, which looks like a pretty nifty little game. This means that it will likely come over to the States, but it’s not a sure thing. For one thing, they list the release date as 4/1/2003, which is April Fool’s Day, and that’s a Thursday, so it’s doubtful it will be released that day. So if they didn’t know what day, why pick that day, I have to wonder. They also list it under the fighting section, so who knows if this information is even remotely credible. I suppose we’ll see.
Fire Emblem on GameCube?
With this news, the GameCube is starting to become and RPG powerhouse, which may just save the company. Fire Emblem is a series that is very popular in Japan, but we have yet to see the release of any games in America. That will change with the release of The Sword of Fire, for the GameBoy Advance. So hopefully that will sell well, and we can get Fire Emblem for the GC as well. I personally don’t want ANY of the 3 systems we have now to die, because all are very good. I want them all to contend. Any newcomers (Infinium Labs’ Phantom) probably won’t stand a chance though.
411 News Bits
Since I can’t really find much else that someone else hasn’t covered, I’ll take some of the top news stories from our own site, and spin them a little my way.
-Eternal Darkness Movie. It has been announced that Hypnotic has licensed the Eternal Darkness game and will make a movie out of this. From what I’ve heard, the game rocks, but I don’t have high hopes for a game-based movie anymore. I still fear the day that Madonna comes out with the Parasite Eve movie. *shiver*
-Here Comes the Pain Classic Wrestlers. Personally, I don’t like the Smackdown series of games. I’m just not a big fan on ANY of the recent crop of wrestling games. I loved the WCW games on the N64 though because they were so easy to pick up and play. But I do think that it’s cool to include classic wrestlers in this game. It’ll add a little bit to he gameplay, especially if they’re unlockable.
-Sega’s First Person Football Game. While details are slim, it appears that in the Sega ESPN Football game, there will be some sort of first person mode. Personally, this could be VERY cool if done well. It is very different and unique for a football game, and it could be the very thing that every other game will imitate. The question is can you play in first person. I think that it would be a lot of fun to play first person, but I don’t know how well it can be accomplished. If so, I think maybe the game has a chance after all.
New Game Releases
* Ship Date — 7/8/03
Charlie’s Angels (GC), Silent Line: Armored Core (PS2), K-1 World Grand Prix (PS2), Outlaw Volleyball (XBox), Robocop (XBox)
A bigger week than last week, but not by much. Charlie’s Angels will probably be the standard movie-to-game formula, which means it’ll probably suck. Silent Line is in the Armored Core series and looks like a pretty sweet mech sim. K-1 is mixed martial arts game and looks decently interesting, I guess. Outlaw Volleyball isn’t a rip of DOA:XBV, but it doesn’t look very good either. And I talked about Robocop last week. Damn you EBGames and your incorrect dates!
Links to the Past
Since I’ve adopted a new format for my linkage, as seen last week, I figured I’d give it a new name. Sure, the name is pretty lame, but I have always hated the previous name and never got around to changing it until now. I think this name is infinitely better and more appropriate for a games title. So even if you hate it, you’ll have to live with it (just like I do) until I can come up with a better one. Of course, if one of you has a better idea, I’m all ears.
Thank God It’s Thursday News Report – Bryan Berg
This week, Bryan also talked about the ESRB ratings, as well as the EA/ESPN-Sega debacle. He also mentions the honors given to Katharine Hepburn AFTER she died, and also the ACC expansion. As always, it’s a good read.
Friday’s Slice o’ News – Jeff Watson
The first of the two new guys returns, this time with a report on video game movies, Activision v. Viacom, GTA on the XBox, and more. He also discusses the same Supreme Court decision I did, although with much more subtlety than I did. And I used to love Cannonball Run movies, but I don’t think any company could pull it off. And it wouldn’t rule if it didn’t have celebrities in it.
Retrograding Weekend Advance – Alex Lucard
This week, Alex gives us 10 reasons to buy a GBA. I’ve already got mine, but it gives me a good idea of games I need. Interestingly enough, my girlfriend has wanted to get Hamtaro: Ham Ham Heartbreak for a while now, but I keep telling her not to. Well, now I have a reason to say it’s all fine and dandy. Of course, I can’t be blamed because the game doesn’t LOOK that good, but that just goes to show what I know.
Gamer’s Hangover News Report – Cory Laflin
Cory is back again with another great column! In this weeks column, he discusses the whole Star Trek Viacom v. Activision fiasco, since he’s a geek. And I agree with what a lot of people have said. I got hooked on Star Trek: TNG, and from that fell in love with the older stuff, even though a lot of it was very lame. DS9 was ok, and yea, it got really cool near the end, but I didn’t watch it much anyway. Voyager was ho hum until that one chick came in, then it just blew ass. And the premise of Enterprise turned me off so bad that I didn’t even give a flying shit about it. He also talks about the Dragon Quest thing that you hook up to your TV and stuff. Those wacky Japanese coming up with weird shit like this. Is it messed up? Yes. Would I play it if I had it? Probably, it’s Dragon Quest, and I’d get a little bit of exercise out of it, which can’t be that bad. Oh yea, and the guy that said Mars was closer? He’s pretty f*cking stupid if you ask me.
Rumor Down-Lo – Bebito Jackson
I another one of his classic columns, Bebito talks about the new Harry Potter game that no one really gives a shit about. They need to make a game based on the porno movie Hairy Pooter. That would rock. Ahem, moving on. He also talks about Sega Rally, Tales of Symphonia (more in depth than myself) and FF VII-2. Launch title for the PSP? I’m so there man. Also, check out his excellent Sifl and Olly commercial. Classic shit from the master. It’s all highly recommended.
Cheat! – Alex Williams
Mr. Williams gets his own column which gives us non-action gamers what we really need. CHEAT CODES! Yes, I’ll admit it. I am a cheater. I do not cheat on RPGs (unless you count good ole’ GameFAQs), but I will blatantly cheat at games that I suck at. In his debut column, Alex provides cheats for The Hulk, Enter the Matrix (I had to use the invincible code myself, and even then I sucked), Brute Force and Sonic Adventure DX. So if you’re like me, and suck, give this column a read.
Review of Midtown Madness 3 (XBox) – Jeff Watson
Mr. Watson gives us a little slice of the very hyped game on the XBox. He seems to like it, and his review will help you determine if you’ll like it. Hell, I’m not big on racers, but this one sounds pretty sweet. It won’t be one of the first games I get when I eventually get an XBox though.
Review of The Hulk (PS2) – Alex Williams
Alex Numero Dos Equis returns with a review of The Hulk. All in all, it sounds like a pretty fun smash fest, and would probably be money well worth spent at your local rental place.
Review of Clock Tower 3 (PS2) – Polecat
I was expecting Alex Lucard to talk about this one, but then Polecat pops up with a review! In this review, Polecat goes into detail about the game’s story and play mechanics, and even if the game isn’t worth it, the review is excellent and well worth the read.
Review of Burnout 2: Point of Impact (XBox) – Cory Laflin
Cory graces us again this week with another of his great reviews, this time on a pretty sweet sounding racer. I may have said before that I mainly play Gran Turismo titles, but with all these interesting sounding racers coming out, I may need to get me the XBox. There’s also Apex for the big black and green machine, which sounds like something I could really sink my teeth into.
Review of Unlimited SaGa (PS2) – Lee Baxley
Yes, your resident RPG reviewer has returned as second week in a row with a new title. How does the Square Enix whore like the game? You’ll have to read to find out”¦”¦”¦.., well maybe not. I’ll put it this way: being the optimist I am, I’m always hoping that the next game by Square will completely renew my faith in them. This game wasn’t it.
New Anime Releases
* Release Date — 7/8/03
.hack//SIGN Vol. 3 (Special Edition), Chobits Vol. 3, Please Teacher Vol. 2, Revolutionary Girl Utena Vol. 7, Risky Safety Vol. 1, Sakura Wars TV Vol. 2, Wild Arms Vol. 5
Though not a hell week, this is still a week with some very good releases. Chobits and Please Teacher are currently two of my favorite shows, and I’m sure these titles will be no exception. I want .hack just because I have the first one and I like limited edition, but I need Vol. 2 as well. Utena is another favorite, but I’ve been lax in getting it lately, so it’s not so bad. Risky Safety is the first release by AN Entertainment, and is supposed to be a very good show, and the other two are shows that I want to get, but aren’t too high on my list.
My Collection
Only a few weeks after the debut of this section, and I’m pulling the plug. Why? Well, for one, I haven’t gotten new anime (other than Sugar last week) for a while, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to again. I’m on an unfortunately tight budget at the moment, and fun things aren’t really a part of it. I was lucky to be able to rent Unlimited SaGa, though lucky may not be the word. So this section will come back when I get more anime.
Mini Anime Reviews
No anime, no reviews. Sorry. Been hectic here in Hell, and Satan keeps prodding me with that damn pitchfork. Sorry to be a big slacker this week, but at least I didn’t not write ANYTHING. Then you people who hate me would be happy, and I can’t let that happen!
Sorry if this week was kind of a letdown. I usually like to include some sort of review, but I’ve really been slacking off this week. For the weekend of the 4th, I did basically nothing. I haven’t wanted to do anything really. Just wanted to rest. Well, I’ll kick things back into gear soon, I’m sure. Also, expect to see some more GBA reviews from me soon, elsewhere on the site.