Hello everyone, and welcome to a condensed version of 411MAX this week, in honor of the Yom Kippur. Yes, I understand that it has come and gone already, but its still the holiday at the time of this writing. So please forgive me for this being a no-frills edition.
Also, I apologize for not having CHEAT! in last week’s column. Something weird happened, and the thing got deleted from submission to posting. We still haven’t figured out how it happened yet. Anyway, things WILL be back to status quo next week.
In any case, ON WITH THE NEWS!
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We Can’t Give These Away…Wait, Yes We Can!
Well, as of midnight, the N-Gage officially hit stores. It’s a pretty safe bet that all of them are still sitting on the shelves.
No, seriously, I’m sure at least SOMEONE is playing it right now. In fact, some might be playing them with free games. Last night, selected retailers in LA, NY, and Chicago were chosen to hold a “Midnight Madness” and “Dawn Madness” offer to celebrate the N-Gage’s arrival. The first 100 people who actually picked up one of these things from those retailers also got a free game to go with it.
Come on, people, you still have time to take them up on this offer! I hear that each location has about 80 free games left! (Man, this is too easy…)
(Credit goes to Gamespot)
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A GREAT Alternative To The N-Gage
This may be old news, but its worth repeating anyway.
The GameCube is now only $99.99. Not only is it that low, but GC sales have gone WAAAAAAY up! Four times as much, in fact!
So, what would you rather get for $350 this holiday season? An N-Gage and a game? Or a GameCube, Memory Card, Controller, and up to SIX games? Hmmmm, let me think on that for a second…
(Taken From The 411Games News Board)
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Don’t Fix It When It Ain’t Broke…But If It IS Broke…
I hate it when a company releases a game filled with glitches and has to develop a “fix patch” for it. (But I LOVE Morrowind! Yay!)
(Ahem) Anyway, the game in question here is The Temple of Elemental Evil, and the company releasing the patch is Atari. The patch is in the works, and will offer technical fixes, fine-tuning, and a slew of other features to correct any inconsistencies they missed during development.
You see, THIS is why I don’t play PC games that much.
(Credit Goes To Gamespot)
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MORTAL KOMBAT! CHEAPER!
So I couldn’t come up with a decent title for this story. Wanna make something of it?
Anyways, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance has been reduced to $19.99 in price, as well as added to the “Player’s Choice” lines (or equivalents thereof) of the PS2, GameCube, AND X-Box.
Honestly, this is the best MK out these right now, so its worth $20 if you haven’t shelled it out already.
(Credit goes to a href=”http://www.gamespydaily.com/”GameSpyDaily)
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Another Music Game With An Odd Controller? Sign Me Up!
In case you haven’t heard, Nintendo and Namco have teamed up to bring you one hell of a game! A music game starring Donkey Kong! Titled Donkey Konga, players will have to keep in time to the music with a special drum controller packaged with the game. From the looks of it, it’s gonna be sweeeeeeeeeeeet”¦
And speaking of looks, click the link below me to gain access to some awesome pictures of the game! This is gonna be cool, I just know it!
Anyway, the game is set to be released at the end of the year in Japan, with other releases scheduled in Spring 2004.
(Taken from the 411Games News Board)
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Plugs & Shills That Pay The Bills
Top Billing
The Raitings Drive-By: October ’03 — The 411 All Stars
Once again, the collective group here at 411 gets together to crank out a kick-ass feature for you to stare in awe at. This marks the beginning of a monthly feature where we take multiple looks at games released in the previous month. At least two people look at each game listed, complete with a short bio. That way, you can get a much more well-rounded opinion of each game. (Hey! I’m the first to plug this! LUCKY ME!!!)
News You Can Use
Hump Day Otaku News Report — Lee Baxley
Lee is apparently psychic, covers Squaresoft news bites, reccommends a free, downloadable game, and labels me the Dancing King of 411! Thanks Lee, but I win this via default, since no one else even PLAYS it here…
Thank God It’s Thursday News Report — Bryan Berg
Brian says Nintendo wants to know who we are, offers further proof that the N-Gage is doomed, and laughs at the NASCAR/EA partnership. He also has baseball predictions for those who are interested. Me? I’m a football person. (Lousy messed-up two-point conversion…)
Gamer’s Hangover Report — Cory Laflin
Cory’s got yesterday’s news all wrapped up into a tight, little package, and proves that he’s 411’s undisputed KING of MSTing. As for myself, I more or less retired a over a year ago. (“Tuxedo” Alex ring a bell to anyone? Yeah, that’s me…)
Reviews You Can Use
Disagea (PS2) — Lee Baxely
DAMN YOU LEE! Now I want this game! But I guess I should learn to spell it right before even trying it out. (Disega? Disgea? Disigeaeaea?…)
Raw 2 (XB) — Cory Laflin
The latest WWE X-Box game, and its still only rental worthy. Oh well. Just give me WCW/nWo Revenge with AKI Man, and I’ll be set.
Otogi: Myth of Demons (XB) — Jeff Watson
A game that Jeff apparently likes. I still want Disgeaea more…DAMMIT! I did it again!
Tiger Woods PGA Golf Tour 2004 — Chris McCarver
Our newest review likes golf. At least he likes the golf in this game, even with the horrible sound.
Columns You Can…uh…Use
A Thumb To The Eye — Chuck Platt
Chuckie loves to sing, and the upcoming game Karaoke Revolution is tailor made for him! He discusses various songs in the game, including songs he wishes were on it.
Retrograding Mailbag — Alex Lucard
Our finest writer answers YOUR LETTERS! But he didn’t answer mine…maybe if I actually SEND him one one of these days…
The Angry Gamer — Liquidcross
LC attacks Nintendo AGAIN, this time for its controller. He also brings up the Sega CD, a truly wonderful gaming unit chocked full of memories. I officially suck for returning it back in 1996.
The Gamer’s Conscience — Fredrick Badlissi
Freddie likes the idea of rereleases for games that either never got much exposure or just plain hard to find. I second this motion, for many of the games I have now are rereleases in some way, shape, or form.
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Parting Thoughts
Again, I’m sorry for this week being so short. Next week will be different, I promise.
Until next time…
Alex Williams