So there you have it. You can consider this version of Cheat gone. Done with. Yesterday’s news.
However, I’m not going away. Far from it. — CHEAT (9.17.03)
Told ya I wasn’t going away.
Hello, and welcome to 411’s newest news column: 411MAX! For those who remember me from my short-lived column, Cheat!, this is the new gig I was talkin’ about! Isn’t it cool? I get to be seen at the TOP of the page now! WOW!
For those who haven’t read me before, here’s a quick introduction: The name is Alex Williams. My first gig on this site was being a game reviewer, and I later took it upon myself to try and jumpstart a weekly codes and secrets column called: Cheat!. It was fulfilling for a while, but then I started putting commentaries into it. I was more proud of them than I was copying/pasting cheat codes. So, I put an end to the column. A painless and quick death.
And now, I’m here! Doing the news! On Tuesdays! Where the Down-Lo should be!
Yes, this column is taking place of the Down-Lo. It’s a bit short notice, but Bebito will tell you himself why I’m here and he’s not if you scroll down a bit. Just make sure to scroll back up and read everything else here.
And for the record, I’m going to save quite a few of you from sending pointless e-mails with the following revelations:
1) I know I’m not Bebito Jackson
2) I know this isn’t the Down-Lo, and I won’t be marketing it as such.
3) I’ll probably never be as funny as Bebito Jackson.
4) I know this isn’t a rumor column.
5) I know I’m not Bebito Jackson.
So any flames directed to me on any of those counts will be promptly disregarded. That, and I’ll post ALL your e-mails in a special section next week and laugh at you uncontrollably. Just giving you fair warning, guys.
So there you go. A new day, a new start, and a new beginning for 411! So let’s get right to it…
ON WITH THE NEWS!
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TOP STORY: DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution Ships Today!
Yes, this is the biggest news of the week. No, no other games matter. The most addicting game on the planet gets a new US version. We get 69 songs total. 16 of them are repeats, true, but the other 53 are worth the purchase of this game alone. I mean hey, they have Heaven by DJ Sammy on it! Isn’t that enough?!?
Now don’t look at me like that! If Bebito were here, he’d have this exact same story, only it would say Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg. And that’s shaping up to be an awesome game in its own right. Just click here and read the best preview of the game ANYWHERE! But it’s being released the same week as MAX2, so it will be unfortunately overlooked in this section.
And hey, its all a matter of opinion, right? Heh, RIGHT???
…I’m fired already, aren’t I?
You can find constantly updated information about the game right HERE.
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Leafy Green and Flaming Red…in a manly way…
Okay, to appease the higher powers and apologize for my last “story”, I’m going to include some Pokémon news! (Yeah, that’ll keep me from getting fired…)
Anyway, back to the story. Over in Japan, Nintendo has revealed that they are indeed cranking out remakes of the original Pokémon Red and Green cartridges, naming them “Flame Red” and “Leaf Green”. Only a few images have been released at the present time, but we can probably expect the catching of the original 150 (or 151) Pokémon, and the enhanced features from Ruby / Sapphire to play a part of it.
This just in: Alex Lucard is very happy right now! Details at 11:00!
(Credit goes to The Magic Box and Games Are Fun
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Working Designs Comes Out Of Hibernation!
You remember Working Designs, right? The company that translated such amazing RPGs as Lunar, Popful Mail, Dragon Force, and Arc The Lad Collection? Well they haven’t been heard from much since E3 2002. I mean, they announce that they’re translating Growlanser II and III for America and then…they remain mysteriously quiet for over a year…
Now, WD finally comes out of hibernation to let the public know that they are releasing both games in a collectors edition entitled Growlanser Generations. And this is after WD decided that they’d never release an RPG compilation again. It’ll be interesting to see what extras will be included here.
As an added bonus, WD fans are encouraged to go to their site and vote for their favorite Growlanser logo in their forums. You have four to choose from, so get those votes in now!
No release date has been confirmed yet, but hopefully when one IS confirmed, the actual release isn’t 18 months afterwards. This is why DDR overtook Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete as my favorite game, guys! Make a release date that STICKS, dammit!
(Credit goes to RPG Fan
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Another N-Gage Game You’ll Have To Squint At
Well, EA is officially jumping on the N-Gage bandwagon, giving Nokia slightly more credibility as a viable platform. And by slightly, they now have a 5 on a scale of 100. (They earned 3 points with Sega, and an additional 2 with EA.)
In any case, EA announced that they will develop NCAA Football 2004 for the N-Gage, due out by the end of 2003. So far, all we know is that the game will support wireless multiplayer support, which I think is a good move. It’ll be the first sports game of its kind to be played without wires. But this is assuming more than two people put down the $300 investment. So we’ll see if EA’s involvement will help the N-Gage any.
(Credit goes to Gamespot.)
And speaking of Nokia…
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Nokia Pwnz…er…Now OWNS Sega.com
Much like Michael Jackson buying all the rights to the Beatles Songs, Nokia has officially obtained all the assets of Sega.com’s multiplayer technology. Now that they own it, Dreamcast online play is officially useless. Sheesh, you FINALLY get used to one of the simple pleasures in life, and it gets snatched away. A pox on you guys! A POX I say!
Opinionated commenting over. We now return you to your regularly scheduled news report.
(Credit goes to Games Are Fun.
And that’s all the “news” I got for this week. Next up is a section that some of you may find familiar…
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CHEAT!
That’s right! The cheat-themed column may have ended, but the cheating still lives on in it’s own separate section in 411MAX!
So here’s how it works. I pick one or two of the games reviewed here in the last week or so, and I’ll list cheats for them. Fair enough? To start out, though, I’m going to do one:
DOWNHILL DOMINATION (Playstation 2)
A snowboarding game with bikes. Yay! (By yay, I mean I’m glad I’m not interested, and have no distractions from when I play MAX2 on Friday.)
In any case, during gameplay, you’ll need to enter this code: Up, Triangle, Down, X, Left, Circle, Right, Square. After that, you can enter any of these other codes for interesting effects:
Adrenaline Boost: Down, Left, Left, Right
Anti Gravity: Down, Triangle, Square, Square, Up
Combat Upgrade: Up, Down, Left, Left, Right
Energy Restore: Down, Right, Right, Left, Left
Mega Flip: Right, Up, Up, Right, Right, Square
Stoke Trick Meter: Down, Left, Left, Right, Right
Super Bounce: Left, Square, X, Up, Triangle
Super Bunny Hop: Up, X, Left, Square, Up
Upgrade to Bottle: Up, Down, Left, Left, Right, Right
(Credited to GameFAQs.)
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Read This Stuff, Or I’ll Be Sad
Look, until I can come up with a plug section name that ISN’T ripped off, this is what you get from me. (Wait a sec…this kinda looks like Lee’s style of plugging…yipes…)
In any case, I’ll be breaking this stuff down into manageable sections by category. Enjoy!
Special Stuff That Gets Top Billing
10 Reasons To Own A Gamecube in 2003: Part I, < a href="http://www.411mania.com/games/columns/article.php?columns_id=1381">Part II, Part III, and Part IV.
Without a doubt, this is the DEFINITIVE Gamecube feature you’re going to see on the Internet this year. We love our Gamecubes like our children, and we want nothing more than our children to succeed. The ten games listed here should be ALL the proof you need of that fact. Plus, all the big names in the 411 staff weigh in with their opinions, so you now have NO excuse NOT to read it! (Uh oh…double negative…)
News You Can Use
Hump Day Otaku News Report – Lee Baxley
Lee’s got a huge one this week. (No, a huge COLUMN. Perverts.) Not only does he deliver a decent chunk of news for ya, he’s got his take on Soul Calibur II, a commentary on why didn’t realize Sega ruled until it was too late, and a lengthy review of the Gasaraki animé. Great. Now I’m going to have to spend MORE money I don’t have and to see it. Or I’ll break into Lee’s house and steal it in his sleep. Either way, I win.
Thank God It’s Thursday News Report – Bryan Berg
The amazing, colossal man himself delivers another excellent outing here. He’s got news, a love for the Jets, and wonders why the Dreamcast went from “the next big thing” to “collectors item” in record time. The answer is simple, really. Plenty of people figured out that the games for the system were totally awesome…when it was too late.
Gamer’s Hangover News Report – Cory Laflin
Here’s the man who shills me as a genius week in and week out. Hell, I ain’t no genius. Not by a long shot. But still, he’s got a great offering for those who just don’t wanna wake up and go to their 3:00 PM classes. And arcade games aren’t dead, especially on the west coast. You can’t swing a dead cat by it’s tail without hitting at least ONE arcade in California.
Reviews You Can Use
(NOTE: Reviews will just be listed here. There’s not much I can add to these wonderfully crafted works.)
F-Zero GX (GC) – Alex Lucard
Downhill Domination (PS2) – Cory Laflin
ESPN NFL Football (XB) – Cory Laflin
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance – Alex Lucard
Wrestlemania XIX – Alex Lucard
(Holy crap, only Alex’ occupy the immediate GBA reviews right now…*cues the Twilight Zone music*)
Columns You Can…uh…Use
The Angry Gamer – Liquidcross
LC is mad this week due to Capcom rereleasing Street Fighter 2 in another incarnation with an extremely long title. Well, lets see what they do with it before coming up with new and exciting ways to bash Capcom for this, eh?
The Gamer’s Conscience – Fredrick Badlissi
This week, good ol’ Freddie announces to the world that he beat Xenogears after two years of playing, and questions how other people can do the same thing in under two weeks. To be honest, Fred, I dunno. I’ve beaten quite a few RPGs in the two-week time frame, and a few others that took longer than that. The thing is, when I’m in the middle of an RPG I really like, all other games get put on the back burner. All my gaming time goes into it. That’s why my two-or-so hours of gaming time a day accumulates in an RPG so much. Plus, Xenogears is one of the LONG RPGs to boot. Had you chosen a shorter one, this column topic would have appeared at the beginning of the year.
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COMMENTARY: Down-Lo, We Hardly Knew Ye
Wait a minute…the Down-Lo is booting up! Bebito’s got something to say to us lowly peons! I’ll let him take it from here, then. I gotta get me some popcorn!…
411 Games Mini Down-Lo 09.23.03
Posted By Bebito Jackson on 09.23.03
LOGIN NAME: BEBITO411
PASSWORD: SEGA4LIFE
ACCESSING”¦
Hi, I’m Bebito Jackson, and you missed me. You KNOW you did…
What’s up my peoples! Confused as to why the Down-Lo is replaced by (Insert Whatever The Blood Clot Alex Williams’ Column Name Is Here)? Well it’s simple. I’m not doing the Down-Lo anymore….
….
….
….
….
….
….
…. on Tuesdays. No, I’m not leaving 411 Games again. That probably won’t happen for a long long time, like a couple of weeks from now or something. No, rather than bail out on the audience for a second time, I’ll be simply changing my focus here at the site. I’ll be dipping into a little of everything, news, reviews, previews, etc. But most of all, I’ll be rallying the staff together for Features like what we saw with the 10 Reasons To Own A GameCube In 2003 thingy we all did. So I’m pretty much a Features guy from here on in. But don’t worry, the Down-Lo isn’t dead. The Charlie Brown of 411 Games, good ole Chris Panky has given me the liberty to post the Down-Lo anytime I would like to. For example, you’ll be getting one this weekend where I spotlight our newest member of the 411Games family Misha (no Cory, he’s not a girl). It’s not a regular schedule, but hey, it’s better than nothing right?
So the rumor monkey is alive and well. I’m ok too. I’m just doing different things to try to improve the site is all. So take a chill pill everyone. Bebito is going no where. And neither is 411 Games. We’re all just now heated up after all…
We now send you back to you regularly scheduled monkey-free programming. Do me a favor, and give AW here a warm reception. He deserves it. The only guy on staff worthy enough to take the Down-Lo’s spot. *cough*
Peace.
SIGNING OFF”¦
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Parting Thoughts
Well, this is where we get off for the week. Join me next time when I’ll be talking about stuff and dispersing various news bytes. And make sure to tune in for the rest of the week as well. Baxley’s got Wednesdays, Berg has Thursdays, that other guy has Fridays, and Laflin completes the circle with Monday reports. They are ALL awesome. I just suck. (AND I gotta live up to the Tuesday spot. This is gonna take a lot of work…)
Until next week, pray that all my HTML isn’t completely screwed up.
Alex Williams