Massively Multiplayer: Gaming In The New Millennium

[RySenkari]

The Longest Journey 2

The Longest Journey 2 is the sequel to 1999's hit PC and Ultra Nintendo game, The Longest Journey. It's developed by the same developers as the original game (Funcom) but is published by Sony, who ITTL acquired the rights to the series and characters around the time of the release of the first game. It has a few shared plot elements with OTL's Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, but does divert from that game in many ways. It's also more of an adventure title, whereas the OTL Dreamfall played out a bit more simplistically. It still features primarily puzzle and non-violent elements, but does have some action scenes and combat, and a heads-up display, unlike OTL's game. It does continue from the plot of the original, which featured a plot fairly close to that of OTL's game, establishing parallel Earths and a protagonist named April Ryan who could shift between them. The game features two playable characters: Zoe, introduced in OTL's Dreamfall, and April Ryan, the protagonist of the original title. While Zoe investigates a government conspiracy in the modern world, April, who has disappeared into the parallel world of magic, must find and ultimately destroy a rune that is causing the technology to be erased from Zoe's world. The player alternates between controlling Zoe and April, and eventually, the two characters cross paths with one another to liberate both worlds from an empire spanning the two worlds, controlling ancient magic in order to destroy modern technology. Unlike in OTL's game, where April ended up dying, ITTL's game, it's Zoe who sacrifices herself to protect April and save the two worlds. However, like TTL's Dreamfall, this death is left ambiguous, and it's implied Zoe will return in a future game.

The Longest Journey 2 was pushed fairly heavily by Sony in the months leading up to the game's release. As IOTL, the original game had built up a decent cult following, and the company was hoping that this game would succeed and give them a successful and strong IP to work with. It succeeded...partially. Initial sales on the Wave were indeed stronger than the initial sales of both the PC and Ultra Nintendo versions of the original The Longest Journey. Reviews were also good, averaging around an 8/10, though that's about a point lower than the original game, which was considered one of the strongest games of 1999. Ultimately, while The Longest Journey 2 failed to be the blockbuster Sony was hoping for, it did make enough sales on the Wave alone to turn a profit, and when released on the PC later that year, it added to its sales figures. While Sony would be in no hurry to release a third game, The Longest Journey ultimately would continue as a series, and thanks to the impending release of the Wave successor, it would take much less time for the game to get a second sequel than it did to get its first.

-

Ape Escape 4

The fourth Ape Escape game and second to be released for the Wave, Ape Escape 4 is a 3-D platformer similar to other games in the series. Unlike Ape Escape 3, which was a somewhat rushed game, Sony took its time with Ape Escape 4, fleshing out the plot significantly and taking strides to improve the gameplay. While bringing back Spike and some of the familiar characters in the series, Ape Escape 4 introduced several more human characters who played big roles in the story. These characters consist of a team of kids, each with special powers and weapons, who have their own personalities and special ways of hunting down the various apes, of which there are 86 in all. There are 11 worlds in the game, expanded from the seven worlds of Ape Escape 3. Of these worlds, there are two worlds each focused on each of the five main kids, and then one final world that brings them all together to fight the final boss, a man named Dr. Luken. Luken, it turns out, used to be a kid who had a pet monkey, but when that monkey ran away, Luken became determined to force all monkeys to do his bidding so that none of them would ever run away again. The monkey who ran away from Luken makes multiple appearances as "The Masked Monkey", a chimp wearing a Zorro-like cape and mask, who is sometimes friend and sometimes foe to the five kids.

Ape Escape 4 is expected to be one of the biggest games of the early part of 2006 when it's released in March amidst a wave of hype, but ultimately, reviews are only mediocre to decent, with the game scoring only about a 71% on Gamerankings, less even than the score of Ape Escape 3. The two big problems that critics have with the game are firstly that it focuses too heavily on the kids and the plot, and lacks a lot of the humor of previous titles, and secondly, that hunting down individual apes just isn't as fun. The game tries to introduce a lot of challenges and new gameplay aspects, but ends up being a bit of a jumbled mess, with apes that are frustratingly hard to catch unless the player is able to figure out a solution that isn't always hinted at well enough. Sony's attempt to change the 3-D platformer formula by introducing a number of genre-shift minigames creates more frustration than fun for a lot of players, and ultimately, the complex game is seen as being too big and overbearing when compared with the more simplistic Ape Escape 4. Combined with the fact that 3-D platformers (except for the very best ones) are falling out of vogue with players, and the game's sales end up being disappointing, with some of the lowest figures in the series to date, and giving Sony serious doubts about bringing Ape Escape to the next generation.

-

Going into 2006, Sony had two major projects in the works: the development of the new Blu-Ray high definition video standard, and the development of Nintendo's next video game console. It had already been agreed upon by Sony and Nintendo that the new console would use the new Blu-Ray format, but development on the console itself was ongoing when Sony was getting ready to release the first Blu-Ray players. This was a mixed blessing: on the one hand, not having a shiny new game console to push Blu-Ray into the average household would be a limiting factor for the new format's success, and with Microsoft's Xbox 2 set to introduce HD-DVD to the masses, it did cost Sony the chance to issue a crucial first strike in the upcoming format war. However, it might bode well for the new Nintendo console: with more time to develop and proliferate the new Blu-Ray format, they could introduce a Blu-Ray player in the Nintendo console at a much cheaper price, a price that would be competitive with the new consoles from Microsoft and Apple.

(...)

There has been a lot of discussion amongst the gaming community and amongst technology and business analysts about why Apple's iTwin console used a proprietary format not based on one of the two high-definition video standards. For a time, the prevailing school of thought had been that Nintendo had requested that Sony block Apple from the use of Blu-Rays, so as not to allow its console competition to use what looked to be a promising new storage medium. However, neither Nintendo nor Sony ever attempted to prevent the adoption of Blu-Ray by any of their rivals in the game industry, either by Apple or by Microsoft. In fact, internal memos at the time were hopeful that Apple's new console would adopt the Blu-Ray standard, which would give Sony a small cut of every game sold for the iTwin. Sony would've had its technology in two of the three major consoles of the day, a situation that could only be seen as a major coup for the Japanese technology conglomerate.

It was entirely Apple's choice not to use the Blu-Ray for the iTwin, and the ultimate decision, made by Steve Jobs and numerous high-level Apple employees, came down primarily to cost. Adopting the Blu-Ray technology for the iTwin would've resulted in a much higher cost for the console. While Jobs wasn't afraid to charge a premium for new technology, and had done so with great success for the iPod and its gaming variant, the iPod Play, he also knew that charging too high of a price for the iTwin, which was following a minor failure in the Katana, would've alienated too many potential customers. The ability for the iTwin to play Blu-Ray movies was an attractive one, but Jobs wanted iTwin owners to buy movies on iTunes to download (and later, to stream) to the console. Ultimately, the decision was made in the summer of 2005 that the iTwin would adopt a proprietary storage medium and not Blu-Ray.

-excerpted from "The High Definition Format War", posted on Techbubble.com on April 23, 2010

 

[RySenkari]

Return To Three Mile Island

Return To Three Mile Island is a Katana-exclusive horror title and the sequel to Stage 8: Three Mile Island. Taking place in an alternate history version of 1991, two years after the original game, Return To Three Mile Island centers around a world where the Three Mile Island nuclear incident became the worst nuclear disaster in the history of the world, and where the radiation centered in the plant is responsible for spawning all sorts of nightmarish creatures. After the events of the previous game, the United States government began to salt the area around the plant with a radiation neutralization compound, ostensibly in order to make southern Pennsylvania habitable again. They were able to do this thanks to the efforts of scientist Eric Philbin, his co-worker (and now love interest) Carly Selvia, the teenage computer hacker Violet "Vi" Alvarez (who, despite the game taking place in 1991, has access to the internet and makes frequent references to things such as Usenet), and Private First Class Dustin Johnson, Vi's friend and a former member of the United States Army. These four main characters return, all playable for certain segments of the game, and are joined by Army Lieutenant Eamon Ruddels, who has been tasked with investigating mysterious seismic activity near the former Three Mile Island site. The game has received significant enhancements in terms of gameplay and presentation: instead of only being able to play as Eric, there are now five playable characters, each with their own expanded sets of skills. The game has also seen improvements to its dialogue and characterization, with the player able to initiate a scene between the characters at certain times in order to gain new perspective on storyline events or even to try out a new strategy in a level. Characters will interact with each other and respond in certain ways, depending on the player's actions. There are more enemies to fight in the game, and all five characters have some measure of combat experience, though the two soldiers, Ruddels and Johnson, are better with weapons and can deal more damage in combat. The game's graphics have seen a notable boost as well, with excellent cutscene animation rivaling a lot of the games on Xbox and Wave and really showing off what the Katana can do, but in a way that doesn't overly tax the system and cause problems like the Blackheart 4 port.

The game begins as Eric, Carly, Vi, and Johnson are being transported on an Army Humvee back to the site of the Three Mile Island disaster, alongside Ruddels. Ruddels informs them that he's in charge and that they'll be helping him investigate strange occurrences that have caused government scientists visiting the site to disappear. None of the four are eager to be returning to the site, but they have no choice, as this is a special government mission. They arrive at a special facility that was constructed last year in order to study the effects of the radiation. It's been deserted, and there's no sign of anyone there, as they've all disappeared. As the five make their way through the facility, it's eerily quiet, but soon, an earthquake shakes the site, and Carly is nearly pulled under the ground. After the quake, the facility becomes flooded, while the strange creatures that Eric and his fellow scientists saw last time begin attacking again. After the group escapes the facility, they are attacked by soldiers. This attack causes suspicion within the group, and it's implied that one of them has been leaking information to a mercenary force that stalks the nearby area. The initial suspect is Ruddels, the newcomer to the group, but all five of them have a reason to be suspected: Vi has access to government internet channels, Eric has financial reasons for leaking information, Carly has been wanting to do illegal research, and Johnson has connections to some of the mercenaries. Soon, more soldiers attack, and some of them have signs of mutation like those on the victims from two years earlier. The group becomes separated, with Eric getting stuck with Ruddels, while Vi, Carly, and Johnson end up in another group. Eric and Ruddels slowly learn to trust one another, while in the other group, Vi and Carly are captured by the mercenaries and Johnson has to save them. During this sequence, it's even more heavily implied that Vi is the traitor, though there are also scenes in the Eric/Ruddels sequence that show that Ruddels may also be the traitor. Eric and Carly are definitively ruled out by the time that the two groups reunite. The group makes its way back to the nuclear facility itself, which, despite being at the epicenter of the destruction, is mysteriously scrubbed completely of radiation and is swarming with mercenaries. During this sequence in which the group explores the remains of the plant, Vi seems to be definitively outed as the traitor, and is nearly executed by Ruddels before Eric disarms him. Eric still believes in Vi, who has been communicating with outside help but not, as it turns out, any of the mercenaries: instead, Vi's been communicating with her old professor, who also happens to be an old colleague of Eric's. Vi's old professor was one of the people who mysteriously disappeared recently, but he's resurfaced with a mysterious group of scientists who have been performing experiments at the site. These experiments have been getting more and more dangerous, and during his last message, he seems to have been cut off by something, something Vi was trying to find. As it turns out, Johnson is actually the traitor, and he shoots and wounds Ruddels before more mercenaries arrive to take the group prisoner. Eric and the others, minus Johnson, wake up in an underground facility where radiation experiments are being performed. It's explained that Johnson has been in contact with a group of unscrupulous scientists for the past year, who were hired as government contractors but ended up seizing the opportunity to gather crucial scientific data for themselves. They've been experimenting on hundreds of people, hoping to create a special radioactive dust that can contaminate the planet and bend the people to their will. Their leader, a scientist named Dr. Trenton, ostensibly wants to do this in order to bring about world peace, but he's really just a power hungry and sadistic madman. Eric and the wounded Ruddels manage to break out of where they're being held, and help Carly out as well. Meanwhile, Vi is forced to watch as her old professor is subjected to a special form of radiation that turns him into a hideous creature, a creature then sent to kill her. The others arrive just in time, leading to a boss fight where Eric is forced to put his old colleague down. The facility is eventually compromised, leading to a mass breakout of mutated creatures and making navigation extremely difficult. The wounded Ruddels eventually sacrifices himself to secure Eric, Carly, and Vi's escape. The three rush to notify the government about what's happening, but are unable to get a message out, and instead they choose to go to a factory, where the evil scientists are preparing their radiation bomb to spread across the planet. This factory is full of more mutant creatures and mercenaries, who are being led by Johnson. While Eric and Carly go to stop Trenton from launching his bomb, Vi confronts Johnson and ultimately does battle with him, reluctantly killing him before hacking into the facility's computers to shut everything down. Vi's hacking works, but Trenton wants to launch the bomb manually. Carly causes it to explode in his face, mutating him into a terrifying monster and leading to a multi-stage final boss battle. The first two stages are fought by Eric and Carly, but after they're overwhelmed, Ruddels (who survived his "sacrifice") shows up with a rocket launcher and grievously wounds the mutated Trenton. The three then battle the final stage of the monster together, defeating it and saving the world. A fleet of government officials arrives as Eric, Carly, Ruddels, and Vi stagger out of the factory together, exhausted but triumphant.

Return To Three Mile Island is hyped as one of the biggest releases of the year for the Katana, perhaps the last truly huge game for the system. It's launched on January 24, 2006. The game is praised heavily for its production values, while its characters and storyline are also seen as a big step up from the original. Reviews are stellar, and initial sales are quite strong, certainly better than any recent Katana release. The series is seen as the pre-eminent survival horror franchise for Apple, surpassing Extremis and establishing itself as one of the best IPs in the horror genre.

-

Despite Rapidly Dropping Hardware Sales, Katana Software Holds Steady

The Apple Katana, which was released in North America nearly five years ago, has seen declining sales for the past two years. The release of Seganet 2.0 in October 2003 provided a brief spike in Katana sales, but it was the last such spike for the console, which has been largely in decline since the release of the Nintendo Wave in the spring of 2003.

However, software sales have seen a much slower drop, and in some cases, have even held steady from month to month. Katana owners have remained fairly loyal to the console, despite the imminent announcement of Apple's successor, and Katana games, both exclusives and multi-platform titles, have sold fairly well. Recent releases such as Aerio 4: Sacrifice, Jocko The Shark, and Vintage Football Challenge have all been profitable hits, and last month's Invisible Empire and Return To Three Mile Island both saw impressive sales figures, with Return posting the biggest North American launch week for a Katana game since Sonic Rover back in the summer of 2004. Strong Katana software sales are boding well for the success of Apple's upcoming console, which is expected to be announced at E3 a few months from now. Meanwhile, the iPod Play's sales also continue to be strong, and after coming in a close second to Nintendo's new Game Boy Supernova in December, the iPod Play outsold the Supernova in the month of January by 45,000 units.

-from an article on Games Over Matter, posted on February 18, 2006

 

[rick007]

The Amazing Race: Season 9: Back to Earth.

After the experiment that was the Celebrity Edition, the producers decided to change the show back to its original format. While the ratings for season 8 hadn't gone down as much as you would think they still when down. Both Van Munster and Keoghan went on the interview circuit after that season ended to reassure fans that that season was a onetime thing. Of course, there would be other celebrities on the show, just not as many or as famous. When the race returned to its usual format the prizes at the end of each leg returned as well. The only thing that carried over from season eight was the punishment for those that came in last.

I should also add that CBS moved this season around: from Tuesdays at 9:00 P.M. to Tuesdays at 10:00 P.M. finally to Wednesdays at 8:00 P.M. to make room for a CSI spin-off. This season was cast in September through October 2005. It was filmed from early November to early December 2005.

The Cast

Wanda and Desiree: Mother and daughter team. In the early legs, they seemed like cannon fodder but managed to prove themselves over and over again. A fan favorite.

Duke and Lauren: Father and daughter team. Lauren is the first open lesbian to ever be on the show and Duke is trying to cope with that.

BJ and Tyler: Friends and self proclaimed hippies who look the part. Though they seem happy go lucky they are quite devious.

Dustin and Kandice: Friends and Beauty Queens. Miss California and Miss New York respectively. They are considered a villain team for most of this season, though in retrospect they were just playing the game on their own.

Eric and Jeremy: Friends and frat boys. Their sense of humour and wanting to get into women's pants makes them grating.

Vipul and Arti: Married couple. East Indian and very traditional in their ways.

Dave and Lori: Dating couple. Self proclaimed nerds they are another fan favorite team.

Peter and Sarah: "Dating" couple. Sarah has a prosthetic left leg (her real one was amputated because it was significantly shorter than her right leg). The reason I put dating in quotes is because they weren't really. Sarah said that the producers said they were dating to making things more interesting.

Joseph and Monica: Dating couple. They are the most frantic of the racers this season.

Erwin and Godwin: Korean-American brothers. They are both very smart and very stupid.

Danielle and Dani: Childhood friends. They are actually both named Danielle but the producers, in a smart move, asked the shorter of the two to shorten her name.

The Race

Leg #1: "Here we go!"

Original Air Date: February 28, 2006.

Starting at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver, Colorado, teams are given $140 and told to go to Sao Paolo, Brazil. Once there, teams have to go to the Hotel Unique. Teams then have to go to the Viaducto Santa Efigenia, where teams find the Detour: Motor Head or Rotor Head. In Motor Head, teams have to go to a motorcycle shop and put together a motorcycle using the parts provided with a finished model for reference. In Rotor Head, teams have to go to the Campo de Marte Airport, pick one of three destinations out of a flight book, travel there by helicopter and search the designated area for their clue. There are a limited number of tickets to each one.

After that, teams have to go to the district of Santa Cecilia and find the Sanctuary at114A Rua Frederica Abranches. Once there, they have to watch a ceremony involving dancing, though I think the Roadblock takes place here and has one of the team members participating though they didn't show the Roadblock on this leg so I don't know. Anyways, after that, teams head to the Pit Stop: Estadio Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho at Portao 23 gate.

1. Dustin and Kandice 5:20 P.M. Won $10,000 each

2. Eric and Jeremy 5:33 P.M.

3. Wanda and Desiree 5:35 P.M.

4. B.J. and Tyler 5:36 P.M.

5. Dave and Lori 5:45 P.M.

6. Vipul and Arti 6:06 P.M.

7. Joseph and Monica 6:41 P.M.

8. Peter and Sarah 6:45 P.M.

9. Duke and Lauren 6:50 P.M.

10. Erwin and Godwin 7:00 P.M.

11. Danielle and Dani 7:19 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #2: "Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss California."

Original Air Date: March 7, 2006.

Getting only $23, teams are told to go to the Edificio Copan and find Bloco F where they face a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to go up one of three fire escapes and then rappel down the side of the building. The order by which they get to the top is the order in which they'll go down. Teams then have to travel by bus to Brotas. Once there, teams get a VW Beetle and their next Detour: Press It or Climb It.

In Press It, teams have to go to Camping Bela Vista and process raw sugar cane into ethanol. Once they have 500 millimeters of ethanol they must put it into the gas tank of their car. In Climb It, teams go to Usina Jacare, where they hike to a nearby waterfall. Once there they have to climb into the waterfall using an ascender. Teams then had to drive to the Pit Stop: Fazenda Primavera de Serra.

1. Eric and Jeremy 4:45 P.M. Won a trip to Tahiti.

2. B.J. and Tyler 4:48 P.M.

3. Dustin and Kandice 5:00 P.M.

4. Dave and Lori 5:15 P.M.

5. Wanda and Desiree 5:30 P.M.

6. Duke and Lauren 6:03 P.M.

7. Erwin and Godwin 6:17 P.M.

8. Peter and Sarah 6:35 P.M.

9. Vipul and Arti 6:36 P.M.

10. Joseph and Monica 6:59 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #3a: "No, we really shouldn't."

Original Air Date: March 14, 2006.

Getting $307, teams are told to go to an early morning zip line task. Just have to make it across a valley. Teams then have to take a bus to Sao Paolo and fly to Moscow, Russia. Once there, teams have to make their way to the Chaika Bassein pool, where divers train for the Olympics. This is where the Roadblock is and you can guess what it is. Yes, in this Roadblock one team member has to climb to the highest diving board, jump off and swim to the bottom and grab their next clue that's tied to the bottom. Wanda says that she's thankful Desiree took this one.

Teams then have to go to the Novodevichiy Monastery and find the Smolensk Cathedral where they find the Detour: Scrub or Scour. In Scrub, teams have to go to a trolley depot and, using the provided supplies, clean a trolley inside and out. In Scour, teams go to Dubrovka Theatre where they have to search 1,500 Russian nesting dolls for one of ten tiny, tiny clues. Like they have to use a magnifying glass to read it. And for extra annoyance there's a band and dancers to provide a distraction. Teams then have to meet Phil at Saint Basil's Cathedral, where he tells them that their still racing. Yep, it's a double length leg.

Leg #3b: "That is just ridiculous."

Original Air Date: March 21, 2006.

Teams are now told to go to Frankfurt, Germany. Once there, teams have to take the train to Stuttgart and get to the Mercedes-Benz factory. There they have to be driven by a professional driver on the Wall of Death. Then they have to drive themselves in their own Mercedes-Benz to Ellsbach Field near the town of Bad Tolz. This is where the Roadblock is. In this Roadblock, one team member has to search a field of gnome hats and feet for a Travelocity Roaming Gnome and their next clue.

Then teams have to go to Grunwald and find Bavarian Film Studios. There teams find the Detour: Break It or Slap It. In Break It, teams have to smash fake bottles over each other's heads until they find the word Prost, the German word for cheers to a cuckoo clock going off. In Slap It, teams have to learn a complicated German dancing routine that involves slapping. Then it's off to the Pit Stop: Siegestor on Leopoldstrasse in Munich.

1. Dustin and Kandice 2:00 P.M. Won an all expense paid trip to Africa.

2. Eric and Jeremy 2:13 P.M.

3. Wanda and Desiree 2:55 P.M.

4. B.J. and Tyler 3:07 P.M.

5. Dave and Lori 4:59 P.M.

6. Vipul and Arti 5:15 P.M.

7. Duke and Lauren 5:17 P.M.

8. Erwin and Godwin 5:22 P.M.

9. Peter and Sarah 6:40 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #4: "This is the best looking man on this race."

Original Air Date: March 28, 2006.

Getting $230, teams have to go to the central opera house in Palermo, Sicily. There teams find a clue telling them to go to a fortress known as Castellano Del Golfo. This is where teams find the Detour: Foundry or Laundry. In Foundry, teams go to a nearby metal works, pick up a 110 pound bell, put it in a truck, drive it across town, then carry it across a piazza and up a flight of steps to deliver it to a church. In Laundry, teams have to go to an alleyway and search through 2,400 pieces of laundry hanging from clotheslines for one of 16 with the race tag and hand that in for the next clue.

After that, teams have to go the ancient seaside town of Segesta and find the amphitheatre where the Roadblock and the Yield are. Dustin and Kandice Yield Eric and Jeremy. In this Roadblock, one team member has to put together a statue, with the twist being that there are two extra pieces. Then teams go to the Pit Stop: Tempio De Segesta.

1. B.J. and Tyler 2:45 P.M. Won a digital imaging package from Duracell.

2. Wanda and Desiree 3:14 P.M.

3. Dave and Lori 4:01 P.M.

4. Dustin and Kandice 4:55 P.M.

5. Duke and Lauren 5:00 P.M.

6. Erwin and Godwin 5:02 P.M.

7. Vipul and Arti 5:04 P.M.

8. Eric and Jeremy 5:22 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #5: "What are they doing?"

Original Air Date: April 5, 2006.

Receiving $61, teams must drive to Catania, Sicily, where their next clue is at the Theatre Romano. Here teams have to count the heads around the theatre (over 100, I believe) to get the Detour: Big Fish or Little Fish. In Big Fish, teams have to find a local street vendor who will give team members a 32 pound swordfish, which they have to carry a third of a mile to a specific merchant in a local fish market. In Little Fish, teams have to go to the fish market and man a booth to sell four kilos of fish the size of sardines.

Afterwards, teams have to go to Siracusa, Sicily. Once there, they have to go to Pointe Umberto, where the Roadblock is. In this Roadblock, one team member has to score one point in kayak polo, which is exactly what is sounds like. Then teams go to the Pit Stop: Fonte Aretusa.

1. Wanda and Desiree 10:29 A.M. Won a cruise for two to Mexico.

2. B.J. and Tyler 10:34 A.M.

3. Dave and Lori 11:12 A.M.

4. Dustin and Kandice 11:29 A.M.

5. Erwin and Godwin 11:58 A.M.

6. Duke and Lauren 12:46 P.M.

7. Vipul and Arti 1:01 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #6: "We all have to go sometime."

Original Air Date: April 12, 2006.

Getting $83, teams are told to get to Rome by train and ferry. Once there, teams have to go to the Trevi Fountain and pick up a Manila Envelope containing one half of the Vitruvian Man. Then they have to go to the Spanish Steps to pick up the other half. Putting both halves together and being the first to bring them to the Pit Stop will net them the prize for the leg. After this, teams have to fly to Athens, Greece. Once there, teams have to go to the Agora Market. There's a Fast Forward involving smashing places to find the race flag but no one takes it. Teams then have to go, by train, to the Isthmos Station in Corinth. There teams get the Roadblock.

In this Roadblock, teams have to bungee jump into the Corinth Canal. The next clue is the Detour: Herculean Effort or It's All Greek to Me. Both options require teams to go to a 2,300 year old stadium in Nemea. In Herculean Effort, one team member has to throw a discus, the other throws a javelin, and finally combine strength to get a wrestler out of a 20-foot circle (which seems unfair to me but whatever). In It's All Greek to Me, teams search a marked area for nine Greek letters on pottery shards, translate them into their English equivalents, and unscramble them into a location on the provided map. Then it's off to the Pit Stop: The Fortress of Rion in Rio.

1. Duke and Lauren 3:44 P.M. Won a trip for two to Los Angeles, California for the premier of The Flash 2 in August 2006.

2. Dustin and Kandice 4:01 P.M.

3. Dave and Lori 4:25 P.M.

4. Wanda and Desiree 4:37 P.M.

5. Erwin and Godwin 5:54 P.M.

6. B.J. and Tyler 8:50 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #7: "All along the watchtower."

Original Air Date: April 19, 2006.

Getting $53, teams are told to cross the Rio Antino suspension bridge on foot. There they will sign up for a bus that will take them to the airport, where they have to get a flight to Muscat, Oman. Once there teams have to go to the city of Sur and travel by ferry to Baith Al Battha. This is where teams find the Detour: Camel or Watchtower. In Camel, teams have to cross to another part of the river, use a block and tackle to hoist a camel into a pickup truck, then, using a hand drawn map, take the camel to a Bedouin camp a mile away. In Watchtower, teams cross the river and search three watchtowers for an Arabian silver message box scroll, which not all the towers had, and deliver it to the Al-Sayegh Gold and Silver shop.

After that, teams have to go to Al Hawiyah, where the Roadblock is. In this Roadblock, one team member has to dig through 117 mounds of sand for one of six buried shuwas, an Omani dish of spiced lamb wrapped in a fig leaf and steamed in an underground oven. They have to bring it with them as it's their dinner for the night. And they have to do it with their bare hands. Then teams have to make their way to the Pit Stop: Jabreen Castle.

1. Dave and Lori 5:29 P.M. Won a trip to Rome, Italy.

2. Erwin and Godwin 5:45 P.M.

3. Duke and Lauren 6:15 P.M.

4. Wanda and Desiree 6:22 P.M.

5. Dustin and Kandice 7:18 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED/PENALIZED.

Leg #8: "We're combing the beach for our clue."

Original Air Date: April 26, 2006.

After getting $181, teams are told to go to Perth, Australia. Once there, teams have to go to the State War Memorial, where the clue there tells them to take a ferry from Fremantle to Rottnest Island. There, teams pick up a tandem bike and go to the Wadjemup Lighthouse. This is where the teams pickup the Detour: Sand or Sea. Both Detour options take place at Salmon Bay. In Sand, teams have to pick a pile of 40 large leafy branches and drag it all 126 yards across a beach to slow erosion. In Sea, teams have to put on snorkeling gear and search 50 crayfish traps for one crayfish each.

After getting back to the mainland, teams have to go to Fremantle Prison. Here teams face the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, teams have to search the prison first for a flashlight and batteries, then the underground tunnels for their next clue. Then teams got to the Pit Stop: The Fremantle Sailing Club.

1. Wanda and Desiree 11:36 A.M. Won an all expense paid trip to Hong Kong.

2. Dustin and Kandice 11:40 A.M.

3. Duke and Lauren 11:55 A.M.

4. Dave and Lori 12:05 P.M.

5. Erwin and Godwin 12:22 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #9: "You either didgeridoo or you didgeri-don't."

Original Air Date: May 3, 2006.

Getting $70, teams are told to go to the Swan Bells Tower. There teams are told to fly to Darwin, Australia. Once they land, teams have to go to Crocodylus Park where they have to wade through a crocodile pit to get their next clue (fortunately no one loses any body parts). Teams then have to head to the air field in Batchelor. There teams find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to tandem skydive, with an instructor, from 12,000 feet. Teams then have to find the Magnetic Termite Mounds in Litchfield National Park. There teams find the Detour: Wet or Dry.

In Wet, teams have to go to Buley Rockhole, then hike and swim through "spiders and poisonous plants" for a mile before they get their next clue. In Dry, teams go to Aida Creek Valley Lookout, claim a marked didgeridoo, and follow the sounds to someone playing the instrument with the same markings on it, then learn how to play a note. Then it's off to the Pit Stop: Lake Bennett Wilderness Resort.

1. Dave and Lori 1:10 P.M. Won two one year leases on a Mercedes-Benz like the ones they drove for the leg.

2. Dustin and Kandice 1:15 P.M.

3. Wanda and Desiree 1:20 P.M.

4. Duke and Lauren 1:21 P.M. PENALIZED.

Leg #10: "I love monkeys and they love me back!"

Original Air Date: May 10, 2006.

Receiving $203, teams are told to go to Bangkok, Thailand. Here, teams have to by bus and taxi to the Three Spire Pagoda Buddhist Temple. Teams get an envelope that they can't open until the Pit Stop. If it contains a golden gnome they win a prize. That's also where teams face the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, teams have to prepare a feast for the monkeys that live in the temple. It's here that the Fast Forward is as well. The Fast Forward is, ugh, going to a nearby restaurant eating a bowl of crickets and grasshoppers. Dave and Lori and Duke and Lauren go for it, with Dave and Lori winning out.

Teams then have to go to Kop Kept Island. Here teams face the Detour: Move it or Altar It. In Move It, teams have to move 72 clay pots from a boat to the other side of a crowded market. To do this they have to balance them on boards on their shoulders. In Altar It, teams have to build an altar to Buddha, then gold leaf the Buddha. Then it's off to the Pit Stop: The Marble Temple.

1. Dave and Lori 11:15 A.M.

2. Wanda and Desiree 1:17 P.M. Won a cruise around Sydney Harbour, explore the Hunter Valley Wine District, and dive in the Great Barrier Reef plus they stay in a luxury hotel for the Pit Stop.

3. Duke and Lauren 1:23 P.M.

4. Dustin and Kandice 1:30 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #11: "5 Continents, 9 Countries, More than 59,000 Miles." Part I

Original Air Date: May 17, 2006.

Getting $388, teams are told to taxi to the Royal Elephant Kraal 75 miles away. There elephants will hand them their next clue on a T-Mobile Sidekick phones. Teams then have to fly to Tokyo, Japan and find the Shibuya Square. The next clue is flashing on one of the neon signs. It says to find a statue of Hachiko. There a guy gives them the Detour: Maiden or Messenger. In Maiden, teams have to transport a woman by palanquin (a covered basket type thing) from Hamarikyu Gardens to a tea ceremony one third of a mile away. In Messenger, teams have to be a bike messenger.

After that, teams have to spend the night at a capsule hotel, where patrons apparently have to sleep in a space slightly bigger than a casket. Teams then have to go to Fujikyu Highland, an amusement park in the shadow of Mt. Fuji, where the Roadblock is. In this Roadblock, one team member has to ride three consecutive rides while looking for a man holding a large sign. If they miss the sign, they have to ride all three rides again. Then teams have to go to the Pit Stop: A swan shaped boat in the middle of Lake Yamanaka, which they have to paddle to in swan shaped paddle boats.

1. Duke and Lauren 12:15 P.M. Won two T-Mobile Sidekicks with three years free service.

2. Wanda and Desiree 12:17 P.M.

3. Dave and Lori 2:59 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED/PENALIZED.

Leg #12: "5 Continents, 9 Countries, More than 59,000 Miles." Part II

Original Air Date: May 17, 2006.

Receiving $150, teams are told to fly to Anchorage, Alaska. Outside the airport there they find a car and their next clue. It says to drive to Mirror Lake. There teams face the Detour: Drill It or Deliver It. In Drill It, teams use an augur to drill 10 holes into the ice and then put a fishing shack over three of them. In Deliver It, teams have to deliver medical supplies to a remote village, by plane 150 miles away. Bad weather renders the choice, entirely pointless.

Teams then have to go to Kincaid Park, put on snowshoes and, using a map, search for their next clue. It tells them to go to their final destination city: Denver, Colorado. Then go to the Clear Creek Historical Village in Golden and search the grounds for the next clue. Teams then have to go to Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the starting line, for the final Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to run into a field of 285 national flags, get the flags of the countries they visited and put them in the correct order. Then teams run to the finish line: The Auditorium they first started this race in.

1. Wanda and Desiree WIN

2. Dave and Lori PLACE

3. Duke and Lauren SHOW

The Review

This race was decent. While it didn't stall in the ratings, as was expected at the time after the Celebrity Edition, it didn't make any great gains either. The teams were good for the most part, I think both B.J. and Tyler's and Eric and Jeremy's antics would have grated had they gone on further, the tasks were ok and the countries were fantastic.

But the season was still average, not good, not bad, just average. I'll put it at number 15 out of 28 seasons thus far. The producers decided to take things up a notch next season. And I'll talk about it when we see which All-Stars come back.

-Globetrotting: An Amazing Race Blog by R. C. Anderson, on the website Reality Rewind, October 31, 2016.

 

[RySenkari]

This update covers kids' TV as of February 28, 2006.

-

Cartoon Network: Action cartoons have assumed a dominant position at Cartoon Network in the wake of the runaway success of Avatar: The Last Airbender, which, despite airing on Saturday night, is bringing in some of the highest ratings in all of kids' TV and is elevating its fellow Toonami shows as well, particularly Star Wars: Clone Wars, which airs right after it. The anime Soulsaber is anchoring the weekday Toonami block, which continues to be fairly strong despite weakening ratings in recent years, while Naruto and One Piece both air in the daytime as well and bring in decent ratings too. The venerable Spy School is airing its fourth season, and despite taking somewhat of a back seat to Avatar, still does fairly well as a lead-in and has an enormous fandom. While Level Infinity was somewhat of a failure, Cartoon Network is working with Man Of Action to debut a new original cartoon on the network: The Casey Files, about a somewhat nerdy editor of his high school paper and the strange occurrences he deals with every day at his out-of-the-ordinary school, including his best friend Morgan (who's secretly a witch), and his chemistry teacher (who battles Lovecraftian beings from another dimension). The Casey Files is set to be one of two new cartoons hitting Toonami in the fall: there's also the highly anticipated Thrillseekers animated adaptation. The network continues to acquire new anime, while comedy cartoons continue to be somewhat lacking. However, there is a bit of hope on the horizon: the network has picked up a pilot by Lauren Faust featuring a toy store full of living toys, which promises plenty of slapstick. The show looks to debut in the spring of 2007. Cartoon Network hasn't given up on comedy shows by a longshot, and as shows like Justice League Unlimited and Spy School come to an end, it may look for comedies to replace those action hits.

The Disney Channel: The Disney Channel has been skewing more and more toward girls, both in its live action shows and with its animated fare. The biggest hit at the Disney Channel continues to be Tanner Elle Schneider's Rock Out, and while Tanner isn't quite as big of a celebrity as Miley Cyrus was when Hannah Montana was in its prime, she's darn close. A new comedy, The Smart Squad, features three middle school girls, each of whom is a genius in a discipline of science, either biology, chemistry, or physics. The twist on the show is that only one of the girls is a stereotypical nerd: Cate, the chemistry whiz. Suleka, the biology whiz, is also a jock and the star of her school softball team, while Lily, the physics whiz, is also a queen bee cheerleader and is somewhat ashamed of her own genius. The show is a breakout hit due to its sharp wit, complex characters, and the interactions between the three girls. The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody also exists ITTL, though it's not quite as big a hit as it was IOTL. The Sprouse twins star on the show, but Ashley Tisdale and Brenda Song's characters are played by different actresses who aren't quite as talented, and the show flounders a bit when compared with Rock Out and The Smart Squad. As for the Animagic block, it's still going strong, thanks to the high ratings and acclaim for Greg Weisman's W.I.T.C.H. and the success of Crossroad Pier. Treasure Island: The Series has also remained on the block, but Garage Kids has been moved to Toon Disney, and in its place is Pretty Cure, which debuted in fall 2005 to fairly decent ratings. Animagic doesn't look to be going away any time soon: after more than seven years on the air, it has great synergy with Disney Channel's other shows, and gets strong ratings for its weekday afternoon timeslot. As for Toon Disney, while it continues to air a lot of classic Disney Afternoon reruns like Goof Troop and Ducktales, it's also airing a few acquisitions, including the aforementioned Garage Kids. It's also being used as a test ground for new animated series such as The Buzz On Maggie, which debuted on Disney Channel IOTL but ITTL is a Toon Disney original, and will have good enough ratings on the network to get a second season.

Nickelodeon: Spongebob Squarepants ended its run in 2004 with the theatrical movie. Unlike IOTL, Spongebob, while at one time extremely popular, was never marketed quite well enough to blow up into a huge merchandising empire, and thus ended its run on a fairly high note, while creator Stephen Hillenburg moved on to a new project that he hopes to debut on the network in the fall of 2006. Meanwhile, Dan Schneider, whose Drake And Josh is still doing well, also looks to debut a new show in the fall of 2006: a girl-oriented comedy to rival Disney's pair of hits. This show looks to replace Taina, which is finally ending its amazing run in 2006 with a spectacular two hour movie finale airing on Memorial Day Weekend, a special which will achieve the highest rating in the history of cable at the time. Meanwhile, Rocket Power looks to become the Nicktoon that won't die: Klasky Csupo recently signed a deal to extend the show into 2009, and they also have a deal in the works to debut a new Nicktoon in 2007. 2006 and 2007 will be a banner time for Nicktoons, with five in all debuting during this time: in addition to Klasky Csupo and Stephen Hillenburg's new shows, three more Nicktoons will debut, two comedy and one action. The debuting Nicktoons will make Nickelodeon the only network of the big three kids' TV networks to be airing a significant amount of comedy cartoons: in fact, Nick is redoubling its efforts to premiere original comedies, while keeping their action shows in the live-action and acquisition categories. Nick continues to air anime, but hasn't had a real hit since Yu-Gi-Oh, after an unsuccessful bid to acquire Soulsaber. The network will air the new Zoids anime in the fall, and will also air The Dusklanders, a show about wanderers in a desert who seek to acquire powerful ancient weapons to bring life back to the world.
Yu-Gi-Oh Champions began airing in late 2005, but its ratings were below the original show's by a fairly big margin. Megas XLR continues to air on SNICK, but it too has seen its ratings decline, and in the fall of 2006 will be moved to Sunday mornings in hopes of shoring up its ratings. The network's ratings have been lagging somewhat behind Cartoon Network and Disney, and Nick is hoping that the impending end of Taina (whose star Genesis Rodriguez is about to become a legitimate superstar in both music and film, somewhat like a Latina Ariana Grande only bigger) won't mean an even deeper hole for their network to fall into, perhaps even fourth place behind...

Fox Family: The up-and-comer of the cable kids' networks, the former Family Channel is just starting to come into its own. It had been airing a great deal of original programming and syndicated shows, but its ratings have always been somewhat pedestrian, and even after the Fox acquisition, it was mostly seen as a repository for old content (though Animorphs did air on the network to a decent amount of success). That began to change in 2005, when the network started to air more original shows, both live action and animated. It continued to air old Fox Kids reruns as part of a "Fox Kids Flashback" block which aired in the mornings from Sunday-Friday, but on Saturday mornings, Fox Family began to air original animated content, particularly brand new Marvel shows. These included Emma Frost, a surprisingly mature but still Y10 take on the powerful telepathic mutant, a brand new Spider-Man animated series, which somewhat adapted the recent movies but with more villains and more action, a Captain America animated series which put the old-school patriotic superhero in the modern era, and Runaways, an adaptation of the 2003 comic series. Runaways turned out to be a major surprise hit for the network, cementing its place amongst the "big four" cable kids' networks and elevating it above digital networks such as Toon Disney and The N. Fox Family has also begun to air the kinds of "teencoms" that would normally be seen on OTL's Freeform, though Fox Family's shows are somewhat more "family" friendly, with either Y10 or TV-PG ratings. These shows, along with the usual smattering of movie airings (mostly on the weekends) have largely pushed the reruns off to the wayside and have pushed Fox Family's ratings upward over the past three years. The network has also begun airing its own original movies, some of which have been received well by television critics. One particular film, Ava's Awakening, about a teenage girl who runs away from her strict religious family and must avoid being captured and sent to an overseas behavioral modification camp, is nominated for numerous Emmy Awards (winning two) and is watched by over three million people when it debuts. The film was written by Suzanne Collins, who has branched out from Syrielle into TV writing (she's also considering a live-action Syrielle adaptation for the network). Fox Family is still fourth amongst the family cable channels, but it's rapidly gaining on the pack.

-

Here are the ten most popular currently running kids' shows as of March 2006. This isn't in terms of absolute ratings, but a combination of ratings, reviews, and cultural relevance:

1. Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon Network)
2. Taina (Nickelodeon)
3. Rock Out! (Disney Channel)
4. The Smart Squad (Disney Channel)
5. Drake And Josh (Nickelodeon)
6. Star Wars: Clone Wars (Cartoon Network)
7. Rocket Power (Nickelodeon)
8. Soulsaber (Cartoon Network)
9. Naruto (Cartoon Network)
10. W.I.T.C.H. (Disney Channel)

 

[RySenkari]

Ultima X

Ultima X (pronounced like the letter X and not "Ultima 10" in advertising and by most news outlets despite being the series' tenth official game) is an open-world action RPG in the Ultima series, serving as a sequel to both Ultima IX: Ascension and Ultima Online. The game is released simultaneously on both Xbox and PC, and is developed by Origin and published by Electronic Arts and Microsoft. It's the first new Ultima game since 2000's Ultima: The Resurrection Stone for the Sega Saturn, though there have been two Ultima Online expansions released since then. Ultima IX: Ascension, while a better game than its OTL counterpart and still somewhat financially successful, was still a disappointment compared to contemporary RPGs in terms of sales. The Saturn trilogy is remembered quite fondly and sold quite well, and the original plan was to produce Ultima games for the Sega Katana. However, the Katana's declining fortunes scared off Electronic Arts, and for a time the company considered retiring the series. However, Microsoft seemed interested in bringing back the series, and after talks with EA, Origin, and Richard Garriott, it was decided that the next mainline Ultima game would be an Xbox exclusive. Microsoft also requested that an online component be added to the game, and during development, Garriott saw an opportunity to combine his ideas for the tenth Ultima game with the long-awaited sequel he'd envisioned to Ultima Online. Ultima X is an action RPG taking place in a fully 3-D world, with a lot of similarities to Ultima IX. It features a player-character called the Avatar, who is different from the Avatar featured throughout the series. This Avatar can be fully customized by the player, male or female, with a variety of different appearance and statistical options. Unlike in Ultima IX, the Avatar has no voice acting, though most other characters in the game do. Fighting has a more tactical approach than the previous two games: while it's still a fully action-based RPG, with real-time combat, players have a variety of strategic options during battle depending on the Avatar's current set of abilities and the enemies they're fighting. The Avatar can take cover, use stealth, or even use destructible objects on the battlefield, to a limited extent. The party system from previous games does not return in Ultima X, but there are "temporary companions" that will accompany the player for single missions, depending on the Avatar's alignment. A variety of combat options are available, including melee attacks, magic, gadgetry, and even beast-taming. The Avatar can even utilize mercenaries, slaves, and thralls for certain missions, though most of the time, this is only available on a "Vice" path through the game. Ultima X not only expands upon the battle options from Ultima IX, it features a considerably larger world, rivaling the large worlds found in the Saturn games, but with much better graphical fidelity. Ultima X looks quite good on the PC, especially with higher-end software, though on the Xbox it looks fairly average for a WRPG, with less graphical clarity and detail than games like Rise A Knight II. The Xbox version of Ultima X even looks worse than Ultima IX on a high-end PC. Despite the graphical compromises, it can at times be a beautiful game, even on console, and the voice acting is much improved over Ultima IX. The soundtrack, composed by Jack Wall, is hailed as one of the best soundtracks of 2006, and the best ever composed for an Ultima game.

The plot of Ultima X varies greatly depending on whether one is playing in single-player or multiplayer, though the main crux of the plot remains the same. Lord British has gone missing and is presumed dead, and the world of Britannia is beginning to fall into chaos. Though infrastructure for the most part remains intact, there is no central government, and the land is torn asunder by a great struggle between the forces of Virtue and Vice.

The Eight Virtues: Honesty, Compassion, Valor, Justice, Sacrifice, Honor, Spirituality, Humility
The Eight Vices (distinct from OTL's Anti-Virtues, but with some similiarities): Deceit, Hatred, Cowardice, Corruption, Greed, Ruthlessness, Decadence, Pride

In the single-player game, the new Avatar appears on Britannia and is tasked with searching for Lord British. They embark on a quest that will take them through a large part of the realm, meeting many people, visiting many of the towns along the way, and performing tasks that will either help the people or harm them. There is no main villain of the game, though there are villainous characters that can be defeated, aligned with, or ignored. The main campaign, if no side quests are taken, is actually fairly short. There are about nine main "quests" that the Avatar must complete, with a few sub-quests inbetween, and these can be accomplished in a variety of ways. The ways that these quests are completed embody the virtues and vices present in the game, with most quests pitting one virtue directly against its opposite vice. An early quest, for example, gives the Avatar a chance to show honesty and gain a meager reward, or to lie and gain a much larger one. The three main tasks that the Avatar will complete on the main quests are as follows: dealing with the warlord Maloch, an early-game villain who has taken over a large chunk of Britannia and who can be dealt with in a variety of ways, dealing with Lord British, who is usually found quite late into the game and can be killed, brought back as a civilian, or returned to the throne, and finally, reuniting Britannia under one ruler. In most cases, the Avatar, for better or worse, will assume the throne of Britannia, but it is possible to give the throne back to Lord British, who will decline it in most scenarios. Once the throne is retaken, the main campaign ends. Apart from the main campaign, there are nearly 20 large side quests and hundreds of microquests that can be completed, most of which have some bearing on the final ending. Ultimately, once the main campaign ends, depending on how the main quest and side quest missions play out, one of 16 endings can be received, depicting which of the eight Virtues or eight Vices most represented how the Avatar's quest played out. For the most part, if the player has "good" karma, a Virtue ending will be received, whereas if the player has "bad" Karma, a Vice ending will be received. In the multi-player online game, the struggle for Britannia is depicted as an ongoing clash between 16 armies, each representing either a Virtue or Vice, with players choosing which army to fight under when they create their character and given quests that reflect the Virtue or Vice they chose. Though Virtue players and Vice players typically battle one another (and Ultima X's MMO component has a lot of PvP), sometimes Virtue players battle other Virtue players or Vice with other Vice players (such as Justice vs. Compassion or Pride vs. Cowardice). There are quests exclusive to each individual army but there are also global quests that encourage battles between rival factions. Ultima X's multiplayer mode also sees the return of various individual characters from previous iterations of the series, such as Blackthorne from Ultima V. The single player campaign and MMO game are seen as alternate versions of the same universe, but the MMO game is confirmed by Richard Garriott to be the official canon.

Ultima X was announced back at 2004's E3, and was one of the most buzzed about reveals of that year's show, leading to a great deal of hype going into the game's release. Ultimately, Ultima X would receive the most hype for any Ultima game to date, with the possible exceptions of Ultima: Scion Of Britannia for the Sega Saturn and Ultima IX: Ascension. Ultima X is released for the Xbox and PC on February 7, 2006. Reviews are generally very good, averaging in the low 9s for the PC version and the low to middle 8s for the Xbox version. Though the somewhat short length of the campaign's main quest is a bit of a sticking point for reviewers, as are the mediocre graphics for the Xbox version of the game, it is still considered to be one of the best Ultima titles ever released, and as far as console titles go, only Ultima: The Worldly Lord got better reviews at the time of release. It becomes the fastest selling Ultima game ever. The online component, which is essentially Ultima Online 2, is also very positively received, especially since, unlike Ultima Online, it doesn't require a monthly subscription to play. For this reason, Ultima X quickly surpasses Ultima Online in active players, though Ultima Online remains a popular game for years afterward. Ultima X becomes the most popular non-subscription PC MMORPG in North America and Europe (games like MapleStory are still more popular worldwide, but they're far more simplistic), and its console iteration becomes the second most popular non-subscription MMORPG, just behind Phantasy Star Online. Curiously, Ultima X is the first game in the series to be released without a proper subtitle. A popular non-official subtitle for the game is Virtue And Vice, a play on the marketing campaign for the game, which frequently featured the phrase “Virtue Or Vice?” In fact, Virtue And Vice was considered as an official subtitle for the game, but EA found out that a small Japanese company had trademarked the title first, for a 2-D fighting game scheduled for release in the West that April. This influenced EA's decision to make the game's official spoken title “Ultima X” and not “Ultima Ten”, which also tied in with the game's Xbox exclusivity. The game's success would encourage Microsoft to continue working with Electronic Arts and Richard Garriott on the next Ultima game, the series' eleventh, which would be developed with the Xbox 2 in mind.

 

[RySenkari]

Star Wars: Insurgence

Star Wars: Insurgence is an action/shooter game based on the Star Wars universe, taking place between the events of Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope. The game is a fairly straightforward action title, with a Force-sensitive protagonist who wields a blaster and who later learns to wield a lightsaber. The game features mission-based gameplay on a lush jungle world with a variety of different environments. The game is known mostly for its large-scale battles between groups of rebels and groups of Stormtroopers, with the protagonist usually fighting alongside a squad of allies. As the name of the game implies, the protagonist, a Force-sensitive named Ayon Northscar (voiced by Daniel Henney, who never acted in Korea ITTL), works as a messenger between groups of merchants on an Empire-occupied moon called Jythera. When Ayon stumbles upon a package being sent to Rebel forces operating on a nearby planet, he gets drawn into a conflict that threatens to tear Jythera apart. Ayon's assistance of the rebels, and later, his role as a champion rallying his world to the Rebel cause, brings the wrath of the Empire down on Jythera. Meanwhile, Ayon begins to realize his natural Force powers, making him a growing threat to the Empire's occupation. As the player progresses through the game, Ayon's Force powers are gradually unlocked. There's no choice between the Light and Dark sides in Insurgence, Ayon uses Light-side Force powers exclusively, as he is keenly drawn into the Rebel cause. A number of support characters are soon introduced to the game, including the beautiful Aura Keene (voiced by Mandy Moore, her first but definitely not last video game voice role ITTL), a fellow messenger and Rebel, the selfish but ultimately lovable Koblerax (a grossly obese Toydarian voiced by Robert Constanzo), and the lethal Imperial captain Markant (voiced by Kirk Thornton), who is the main antagonist of the game (at least until Darth Vader shows up later on). The game is quite linear, with Ayon gaining Force powers as he battles his way through various missions that become generally more difficult as the game goes on. The plotline is also fairly straightforward, there are a few unlikely allies, some friends who betray Ayon (not any of the main heroic characters, just a few of the minor ones), some cameos (Boba Fett makes an appearance during a couple missions, as does Lando Calrissian), but for the most part it's a typical third person action shooter with Star Wars elements. Ultimately, Darth Vader shows up with the primary mission of exterminating Ayon. Ayon does manage to defeat Markant, but despite putting up a good fight, he's no match for Vader. However, Aura and some of Ayon's other allies have commandeered an Imperial cruiser, and when Ayon's about to be killed, they fire at Vader, giving Ayon time to escape. Vader is injured in the assault and forced to flee, but vows revenge on Jythera (fortunately, the Death Star is not quite operational yet). The rebellion on Jythera makes it a crucial hubworld for the Rebel Alliance, so that by the time the Imperial Fleet returns, a massive Rebel army will be in place there. Ayon's rebellion has secured a major early victory for the Rebellion, and there will of course be many more.

Star Wars: Insurgence is released in March 2006 for the Wave and the Xbox, and will eventually be ported to the Xbox 2 as a launch title. With a decent amount of hype and good production values (it scores in the high 7s/mid 8s in terms of reviews), it sells well. It's not a standout Star Wars game, but it's also not a dud, and continues the franchise's successful run in the video game arena.

-

George Lucas' decision to extend Star Wars: Clone Wars from its extended fairly short run to a longer run that would take the series two years past its intended end date was based on a number of factors, including the popularity of the series (its ratings would continue to increase all the way up until its finale in the spring of 2007) and the ideas generated by the series' writing staff. Initially, the series was to end in the spring of 2005, right before the premiere of Revenge Of The Sith, but the writing team believed that the hard deadline didn't give them enough time to develop characters such as Asajj Ventress and General Grievous, the former of whom played a major role in Attack Of The Clones, and the latter of whom would play a major role in Revenge Of The Sith. Ventress in particular, it was felt, did not have enough of a proper explanation for her motivations in the movie, in which she seemed much calmer than she should have been about Anakin Skywalker's defeat of her master, Count Dooku.

The later two seasons of the show, Seasons 3 and 4, which aired from January 2006 to May 2007, are told as a series of "untold story" vignettes spanning eight episodes each. Linked to one another only tangentially, they tell a series of stories primarily focused on character motivations, not just those of major characters like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Asajj Ventress, but also on characters such as Commander Cody, the stormtrooper who would ultimately betray Obi-Wan after receiving Order 66 from Palpatine, and Owen Lars, stepbrother to Anakin and eventual adoptive caretaker of Luke. Season 4 would also re-introduce Darth Maul to the series, featuring a storyline explaining how he somehow survived his bisection and fall at the hands of Obi-Wan during the battle for Naboo. Darth Maul would eventually encounter Asajj Ventress, who herself was having doubts about the Sith due to her multiple conversations with Anakin during their battles, and ultimately, Maul's encounter with Asajj would be what convinces Asajj to let Anakin go during the events of Revenge Of The Sith rather than dueling him to the death.

The two final seasons of Clone Wars were quite positively received, with many fans calling them the best seasons of the show. George Lucas said that some of the stories told in those two seasons he had actually wanted to tell in a potential future Clone Wars series. In fact, he still wanted to do another Clone Wars series, but in 2007, the creative energies of LucasArts were instead focused toward a future video game...

-from an article on "Why The Original Clone Wars Lasted As Long As It Did", an article on Kinsle's Star Wars Blog, posted on March 18, 2011

-

Star Wars At GDC: First Two Next-Gen Titles Announced

George Lucas and Lucasarts staff were present at the 2006 Game Developers' Conference, and although most of the buzz was focused on Microsoft and the Xbox 2, Lucasarts did announce that they were already working on a couple of new Star Wars games for the upcoming generation of new consoles. These new games aren't expected to be released until at least 2007, but they should be the best looking Star Wars games yet.

First off, the long awaited announcement of Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic II. Not many details were given, but now that Bethesda has wrapped up work on The Elder Scrolls IV, they're ready to go on their sequel to 2004's hit Xbox RPG, and have revealed that work on the game is already underway, which means that we could expect the game to be released as early as 2008. No word as of yet on whether the game will be exclusive to the Xbox 2 or if Nintendo or Apple's new consoles will also get the game, but it has been at the very least confirmed for the Xbox 2 and PC.

Next, we got somewhat of a surprise announcement: there's going to be a game set during the Clone Wars, and it will indeed be called Star Wars: The Clone Wars. We actually got a bit more information about this game: it'll feature a cel-shaded art style, it'll be an action-adventure title, and its main protagonist will be a female Togruta named Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka is a Jedi Padawan, though we don't yet know whose Padawan she'll be (Obi-Wan's? Anakin's?). The Clone Wars is actually a fairly long way off according to Lucasarts, but it could see release by the end of 2007.

-from an article on Games Over Matter, posted on March 26, 2006

 

[RySenkari]

The Darkest 3

The Darkest 3 is the third game in The Darkest franchise, a series of JRPG-styled games by Ubisoft about modern-day magic, witchcraft, and demons. The game takes place ten years after the events of The Darkest Night, in which one of the two main protagonists, Etienne, was killed by the treacherous Sephora, and Etienne's best friend Kris was forced to avenge her death. The Darkest 3 takes place in a completely different city and features a completely different set of protagonists: seven high school students who are dragged into a story of witchcraft after the small city they live in is slowly overrun by demons and dark magic, brought about by a mysterious hooded figure. The game features turn-based gameplay and has a lot of similarities to the first two games, but also some crucial differences. Most notably, magic is no longer cast from Spirit Points, which in the first two games functioned as both HP and MP. Instead, HP is its own stat, and magic is cast using Ritual Points (RP), which the party (of three) shares a pool of. RP doesn't start at 100% at the beginning of any battle, it must be built up by performing either attacks, defenses, or Rituals, which build up the meter and enable the use of more powerful magic (there are accessories that allow the party to start with more RP in the meter though). In general, the party members in The Darkest 3 are somewhat more physically inclined than Etienne and Kris were, and able to utilize attacks besides magic somewhat better, removing the need to cast magic more frequently. The game itself retains its familiar, Buffy-like sense of humor (in fact, The Darkest 3 is for the most part lighter hearted than The Darkest Night). In most aspects, The Darkest 3 plays like most turn-based RPGs do, with graphics that are quite good for a sixth-generation RPG, a step below games like Final Fantasy XI and Reverie Of Mana, but above most other games in its genre. The game features voice acting, with a fairly stacked cast that includes both voice acting veterans and minor celebrities. Sara Bareilles, who (as a high schooler) voiced Etienne in The Darkest Night, has, as IOTL, developed a music career and is on the verge of releasing her breakout album, but she did return to voice Etienne for a few flashback scenes, while recording artist and lead singer of Evanescence Amy Lee has taken over as the voice of Kris, a role she'll continue with for the remainder of the franchise. As for the seven main protagonists, three are voiced by unknowns, while four are voiced by familiar names: Alyson Hannigan (who Ubisoft chose because they wanted to get SOMEBODY from Buffy to do a voice in the game and threw a decent chunk of the voice acting budget at her) voices Starr, the main female protagonist of the game, Jason Spisak voices Caleb, the main male protagonist of the game, while Cree Summer and Jack DeSena voice two other playable characters.

The Darkest 3 deals with a group of teenagers that, unlike Etienne and Kris, don't really have much of an interest in magic and witchcraft before the events of the game begin (though Starr, a descendant of a Wicca priestess, knows a great deal about magic rituals). Instead, the main three protagonists (Caleb, Starr, and a boy named Bruce) begin the adventure when a pair of classmates are nearly killed by a strange magical explosion during a field trip. After learning some spells in order to help their classmates, the three find themselves stumbling into all sorts of incidents involving demonic possession of townspeople and strange phenomena occurring all over their city. The three gradually meet up with others who have been experiencing the strange phenomena and want to help, saving four other teenagers around their town one by one in a series of events that fill out the rest of the party. Shortly through the game, the group connects the occurrences to a hooded figure that's been spotted around the town, and ultimately come to learn that this person is the source of the events that are taking place. This person has incredible magical power, though they don't seem to be directly in opposition to the party: indeed, most of the incidents are the result of collateral magical damage from the cloaked person's spells. Eventually, after the seven have saved most of the city from a powerful calamity, there is a grand confrontation about halfway through the game with this hooded figure, who decimates the seven heroes with powerful dark magic and directly threatens their lives. Caleb calls the hooded figure a coward and demands they show their face. After a bit more speaking, the hooded figure removes their hood to reveal a face unknown to the heroes but extremely familiar to those who played the previous two games. It's Kris, ten years older but instantly recognizable, her face and body shrouded with runes and scars etched into her skin. Kris tells the heroes to stand down or die, and they respond that her magic is destroying their town and that they won't stop until she does. Kris tells them that the world is a fair price to pay for what she wants, reiterates her threat, and leaves. Much of the second half of the game concerns the heroes and their efforts to track down Kris, while also learning about her past. Soon after learning Kris' identity, the heroes find a way to access the underworld, where Kris has been for much of the last decade. Shortly after defeating Sephora, Kris disappeared. The heroes learn that she went to the underworld and blazed a trail of destruction and fear in an effort to become as powerful as possible. The heroes learn about Etienne, and though after defeating Sephora that Kris was briefly at peace, she never fully accepted Etienne's death, and sought to become powerful enough to bring her back. Kris became feared throughout the underworld, known as a torturer and scourer of demons and devils. Eventually, Kris discovered a spell to bring back Etienne, but, as the heroes learn, in order to cast that spell, Kris must open a portal that will summon forth one of the Great Demonic Lords, powerful enough to bring ruin to the world. During a late-game confrontation with Kris, it is confirmed that Kris' feelings for Etienne went beyond mere friendship: Kris loved her romantically, and Etienne felt the same way about Kris (which the heroes learn by communing with Etienne during a seance conducted by Starr, Etienne begs them to save Kris, though the seance itself is quite light-hearted with Etienne's quirky sense of humor shining through). Starr asks Kris if this is what Etienne would want, and Kris, heart tormented beyond reason, screams that she doesn't care and hits the heroes with a powerful spell, nearly killing them, before unleashing a chained demon upon them to finish them off. The heroes defeat the demon and finally track down Kris at a place called the Triangulation Of Worlds. They make one last attempt to reason with her, before battling her in a climactic boss fight set to the OTL and TTL Evanescence song "Like You". After Kris is defeated, she collapses in despair, but in defeat she realizes her folly. Unfortunately, it's too late, as the Great Demonic Lord Azrael is summoned forth. When Kris tries to call him back, Azrael, insulted, strikes her down and states his intention to take the world as tribute, forcing the heroes to battle him to save the world. Azrael is defeated, but the portal stands open and an army of demons stand poised at the breach. Kris, badly wounded, intends to sacrifice herself to fix her mistake and save the world, but the heroes won't let her. Kris forces them back, preventing them from aiding her and telling them to run. They reluctantly leave, but not before telling Kris how much they care about her and forgiving her for what she did. Kris closes her eyes and prepares to accept death, only to feel Etienne's presence. The two aren't able to speak to one another, but Kris feels Etienne's warmth and a surge of power. Still, we don't see what happens to Kris until a 15-minute ending sequence where the heroes return home, having saved the world, and we see how they've grown throughout the course of the game. After this, there's a scene where a portal opens in a field outside Etienne and Kris' hometown, and Kris, wounded and exhausted but alive, staggers out. She visits Etienne's grave and smiles, having finally, truly accepted her friend's death. There's then a scene where the seven heroes are hanging out together after school, they walk into an abandoned parking lot and the hooded figure appears before them. Kris lowers her hood and with a friendly smile, asks the seven if they want to learn what real magic is, before holding up her hand which is coursing with power. The seven look nervous but curious, and then the game ends.

The Darkest 3 is released exclusively for the Nintendo Wave in February 2006, to mostly positive critical reviews. Overall, reviews are a bit worse than those for The Darkest Night, with the game's pacing and its somewhat lighter tone receiving some criticism, along with the changes to the game's magic system. However, it's still considered to be one of the better RPGs in recent memory and a fitting continuation for the series. Sales are decent: the game gets off to a stronger start than either of the two previous games, with about 120,000 copies sold in North America in the game's first week of release, but quickly trail off, with the game not having the same word of mouth or sales legs enjoyed by The Darkest Night. It's a successful game, but it's definitely not one of Ubisoft's higher tiered franchises, and work on a fourth game in the franchise is put on the backburner, with Michel Ancel (who had already passed off most of the work for the franchise to a San Francisco-led development team) choosing instead to concentrate on Beyond Good And Evil and Rayman.

-

Parasite Eve 3

The third game in the Parasite Eve series developed by Squaresoft, Parasite Eve 3 is an action/horror RPG featuring protagonist Aya Brea, who must once again save humanity from powerful beings born of mitochondria. Unlike previous games in the series, combat takes place completely in real-time, making the game play sort of like Resident Evil 4 but with RPG features. Aya can run, jump, climb, and use melee attacks on enemies, but must primarily rely on her guns and her magic to battle enemies with. In addition to the usual assortment of mutated enemies, Aya also fights against possessed humans, humans that have been taken over by their mitochondria and forced to fight. Aya can simply kill them, but she also has the option to "liberate" them, by extracting the overactive mitochondria from their bodies and freeing the person. Liberation is much more difficult to pull off, but there are significant rewards for doing so, in the form of rare item drops, stat boosts, and sometimes the ability to learn new special attacks. Every human boss in the game can be Liberated with great difficulty in order to gain a major reward. Parasite Eve 3, like previous games in the series, features numerous CGI cutscenes, with the third game featuring the most cutscenes to date. Jennifer Hale reprises her role as Aya Brea, while Hynden Walch plays the voice of Aya's adopted daughter Eve.

Parasite Eve 3 takes place twelve years after the events of Parasite Eve 2. Eve is now 18, and has just graduated from high school, while Aya serves as the director of a United States government task force investigating mysterious phenomena. To celebrate Eve's graduation, Aya is taking a vacation with her to a national park, where the two intend to spend a few weeks camping together in the wilderness. Soon into their vacation, however, Aya is visited by a pair of officers from the task force, who inform her that they're investigating a series of mysterious animal deaths in the park. Soon, those animal deaths are followed by several human deaths, and the park is placed under lockdown, with Aya forced to cut her vacation short in order to deal with the incidents. She places Eve in what she believes to be a secure area and begins her investigation, but shortly afterward, Eve goes missing, and it's revealed that she's being held hostage by a police officer named Brennan Brown, whose eyes are glowing a mysterious shade of red. Aya identifies this as a mitochondrial takeover, indicating that numerous people throughout the park are being controlled by their own mitochondria and are being manipulated for a sinister purpose. Aya begins to suspect members of her own task force are being controlled, and she soon realizes she's without anyone she can trust. Meanwhile, the park is being overrun by terrifying creatures. Aya must battle her way through the creatures, find out who she can trust, and rescue her daughter. While Aya is conducting her missions, we also get some moments of Eve's captivity. Eve is quite clever and fearless, and she eventually escapes from Brennan, only to learn that Brennan is working with a trusted member of Aya's task force. Eve rushes to inform her mother but is attacked by a massive possessed raven creature. Aya battles the raven in a boss fight and reunites with Eve, and the two spend the remainder of the game working together to escape the park and stop the mitochondrial possessions. During this time, Aya kills two members of her task force who she believed were possessed by the mitochondria, but Eve starts to notice strange behavior from her mother. Toward the end of the game, it's ultimately revealed that Aya has been possessed by the mitochrondria for most of the game, and many of the people she killed were completely innocent and simply trying to stop her. Aya tries to fight but is ultimately consumed by the mitochondrial being that has been gestating inside of her body for the last 12 years. The being transforms her into Mitochondrial Aya, who immediately takes possession over the mitochondria in every human being on the planet... except for Eve. Eve, whose cells are able to resist and control the mitochondria, fights back against her adoptive mother and is able to even break the hold Aya has over humanity. The final boss battle consists of Eve (who has all of Aya's stats, spells, weapons, and items, and controls exactly the same as Aya) fighting against Mitochondrial Aya. After defeating her, Eve is able to revert Aya back to normal, but in order to restore peace to the world, Eve has to take all of the corrupt mitochondria into herself. Eve does so, but is clearly struggling to hold back after doing so. After a tearful goodbye, Eve willingly combusts, consumed in mitochondrial fire as Aya watches in horror and despair. Aya collapses to her knees, sobbing as she watches her daughter's embers rise into the sky. The ending sees Aya back at home, retired from the task force and consumed with depression. We see her go to the bathroom and throw up, but it's not just the depression... Aya takes a pregnancy test and it's positive, despite the fact that she hasn't had sex in many, many years. The last scene of the ending is of Aya clutching her stomach and looking up at the ceiling, a tear falling down her face but a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

Parasite Eve 3 is considered a major step up from Parasite Eve 2 and by most critics to be even better than the original game, though the review scores for Parasite Eve 3 are slightly below what the original game received at the time of its release. Hyped a great deal by Squaresoft, which considers it its biggest game of the year apart from Final Fantasy XI, the game, a Wave exclusive, is released in North America on March 14, 2006 (two months after the game's Japanese release) and becomes one of the month's best sellers, with first week sales about on pace if not a bit better than the first week sales of the last two titles. Critics praise the game for its graphics (among the best yet on the Wave), music soundtrack, voice acting, gameplay, and especially its storyline, which brings the series full circle and has a somewhat more optimistic tone than OTL's The 3rd Birthday. It's stated by Squaresoft that the game is intended to be the conclusion of the franchise, but with sales and critical reception this strong, it may be hard for the company not to make a fourth...

 

[RySenkari]

Falling Reign

Falling Reign is an FPS developed exclusively for the Microsoft Xbox by a somewhat small independent (at the time) studio. Despite the small size of the studio, the game, a futuristic FPS title featuring large, sometimes ludicrously so, weapons, has a fairly big budget and becomes one of the more hyped titles of the early part of the year. The game takes place on a far away planet where two warring factions have been battling for many years: a humanoid race called the Ceteon, and a race of hideous, tentacle-faced aliens known as the Krajj. The Krajj have ruled the planet for millennia, but only just recently have the Ceteon been able to challenge them, thanks to their discovery of a previously unknown material that can power technology indefinitely. The Ceteon have constructed powerful weapons to battle the Krajj, and the protagonist, a soldier named Gravic, is one of the most skillful wielders of weaponry that the Ceteon have.

Falling Reign's main selling point is its weaponry, which starts out big (the basic "pistol" is essentially a BFG) and gets truly insane toward the end of the game, with Gravic eventually wielding house-sized guns capable of blasting moons out of the sky. The player is capable of filling the screen with bright, colorful laser blasts that can blow entire armies of Krajj infantry to smithereens. Despite the ludicrous nature of the weaponry and the game's tongue in cheek sense of humor, the plot is fairly serious: the Krajj commit real atrocities, characters have realistic motivations, and Gravic, despite being a one-liner spouting badass at times, is actually a fairly well rounded character with some pathos to him. The plot is fairly straight-forward and is largely just an excuse to give the player a reason to be firing ludicrous energy weapons, but it's a fun game to play. Falling Reign does have a multiplayer deathmatch mode that's also fairly straight forward, there aren't many different kinds of modes but it is quite fun to run around firing at your opponents with some of those big huge guns.

Released in January 2006 to strong reviews (averaging in the low to mid 8s), Falling Reign sells enough to be considered a financial success, but is actually considered a bit of a sales disappointment compared to what Microsoft thought it might be. A lot of this is due to the hype for the upcoming Cyberwar 2, but FPS exhaustion on the Xbox is also claimed to be a contributing factor. Could the genre be getting stale, or do people just want to play FPS games on the Xbox 2 and are waiting for that system to be released? Ultimately, only time will tell.

-

Cyberwar 2

Cyberwar 2 is the sequel to 2003's FPS, developed by Psygnosis and published by Microsoft exclusively for the Xbox. It's a futuristic FPS title similar to the previous game, continuing the story of Cyberwar five years later. Cyberwar 2, like its predecessor, features realistic combat and weaponry but with a futuristic element. The game also adds computer hacking to its repertoire of combat tricks, introducing Netstorming, special powers built into the special suits used by the game's protagonists that have the ability to affect both the environment and other soldiers, both friend and foe. Netstorming can be used to alter an enemy's combat vision, hack into their weaponry, or in some cases even kill them, resembling in many ways the augments used in the newer OTL Deus Ex games. Cyberwar 2 also features more squad-based gameplay in single player mode, and many of the campaign's missions involve combat action against teams of soldiers, rather than the completion of a certain objective. This is a direct result of the success of the previous game's multiplayer mode, which became the most popular FPS multiplayer title on the Xbox. Because of this, Cyberwar 2 features heavily ramped up graphics from the previous game, while the multiplayer has gotten a major overhaul in order to take advantage of Netstorming. Deathmatch combat keeps the features and controls of the original Cyberwar, but the Netstorming aspect gives it a definitely different feel from the original game, and there are numerous new modes to accomodate this, with players able to customize hack loadouts along with their equipment loadouts.

The campaign itself is slightly longer than the campaign of the original game, and features a brand new protagonist, an American soldier and member of the Power Corps. In the intervening five years between the first and second games, nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons have all been unleashed on the world, but computer hacking has been even more crippling, as many people no longer have the Internet available to them and what bandwidth is left is largely being used by military hackers on the three sides of the war. Cyberwar 2 has the Power Corps going into battle against death squads from both Russia and China, who have their own squads of super-soldiers who use technology to inflict great death and destruction. While the Americans are the protagonists, all three sides have heroes and villains. The three main characters from the original Cyberwar: the American soldier Jason Nettles, the Chinese soldier Li Peizhou, and the Russian soldier Feodor Zhatevsky all return at various points in the game: Zhatevsky in particular is someone who is fought during a mission somewhat late in the game, and is killed by the protagonist, though he ultimately dies an honorable death. Peizhou also battles the player, but she survives after interference by an unnamed superior who turns out to be Nettles. Nettles and Peizhou, who have become lovers in the intervening years between the two games, have determined that this war has only two possible outcomes: it will continue without end, consuming the world in eternal war, or will end with the destruction of humanity. For this reason, the Power Corps must acquire all advanced weapons technology in order to blackmail the warring nations into ceasing their fighting. The final battle of the game consists of super soldiers from all three warring nations, led by the protagonist, uniting in a grand battle against a nuclear-powered war machine piloted by an insane American general. The war machine is destroyed, and the Power Corps acquires the codes to the WMDs of all three countries, forcing them to all sign an armistice. The Power Corps becomes an overriding guardian force to keep the peace, but it's a tenuous peace, as the three countries remain fiercely at odds and there's always the possibility of a traitor in the group...

Cyberwar 2 is released on February 7, 2006. Hyped as one of the Xbox's biggest games of the year, it scores some of the best reviews ever seen for a console FPS. Its multiplayer mode and its campaign mode are highly praised, and the reviews and hype lead to tremendous sales, making Cyberwar 2 possibly the Xbox's best selling game of the first quarter of 2006. Though clearly a late-generation game that will probably be replaced by something on the Xbox 2 down the line, it becomes extremely popular on Xbox Live, soon overtaking its predecessor in terms of active players. Even people who don't like the new Netstorming modes have the option to play a more classic-style FPS mode in Cyberwar 2, giving the game something for every fan of the original. The series still isn't quite as popular as The Covenant overall, but it's very close.

 

[RySenkari]

A convenience store robbery in Alamogordo, New Mexico isn't much of a remarkable story to report on, but it's become newsworthy to music buffs because of the identity of the victim.

Last Thursday night, 23-year-old Bryan Coates walked into a Kwik Stop convenience store and pointed a loaded pistol at the clerk, ordering her to give him money from the cash register. The clerk complied, and Coates got away with about $230 in money and lottery tickets.

The name of the clerk? 45-year-old Yolanda Saldivar. That name won't ring a bell to the average person, but to music fans, it's a rather well-known piece of music trivia.

Saldivar was at one time the president of Selena Quintanilla-Perez's fan club, but after embezzling money from the club for several months, she was confronted by Selena. This confrontation eventually blew up into a physical one on the morning of March 31, 1995. Saldivar and Selena, who was accompanied by her husband Chris Perez, got into an argument in the parking lot of a motel in Corpus Christi. Saldivar pulled a gun on Selena, but fortunately, Chris immediately grabbed the gun and was able to wrestle it away from Saldivar. Saldivar was soon afterward arrested and charged with multiple felonies, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and fraud. She was sentenced to prison for up to eight years, but was released on parole in late 1998. Memorably, at Saldivar's parole hearing, Selena was present, and asked the parole board for leniency on her former fan club president, saying that while she was a bit afraid of Saldivar and still had occasional nightmares about what happened, she had also forgiven her and didn't want her to suffer any more in prison. A tearful Saldivar, who under the conditions of her parole was to have no contact with Selena after being freed, shouted "thank you" numerous times to Selena as she was being escorted from the room following the granting of her parole. After being released from prison, Saldivar, who wanted to escape the notoriety of her crimes, moved to New Mexico, where she's been working numerous jobs since, her latest being a clerk at that Alamogordo Kwik Stop.

Saldivar is said to be "shaken" from the incident, but unharmed, and actually mentioned her own criminal past when discussing the robbery with a reporter, stating that: "Now I know what it feels like to have a gun pointed at me. It is terrifying and I feel awful for what I did in the past. I never want to even look at a gun ever again."

Coates is being held on $250,000 bail in the Otero County Jail.

-from a post on Gawker, posted on January 23, 2006

-

(Authors' Note: The following news entries are based on a scenario given to us by the reader Coiler!)

-

Massive Protests Roil West Bank For Sixth Straight Day

Israel continues to crack down on protests and demonstrations in numerous West Bank cities as tension in the region has risen steadily over the past few months in the wake of the Israeli response to a series of suicide bombings in Israeli cities. Internal tension in the Palestinian territories has been on the rise for some time, but new restrictions and relocations by IDF personnel have led to a much more visceral reaction. So far, the clashes have seen 19 Palestinians killed, hundreds more injured, and injuries to nearly 20 IDF soldiers who have responded to the protests with aggressive reprisals and arrests. President Ariel Sharon is calling for an immediate end to the protests, and promises that anyone who is seen as an agitator will be dealt with harshly. The protests come at a time when tensions between Israel and Iraq have been escalating, with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein publicly praising the protesters and encouraging them to continue. Sharon has specifically called out Iraq as "a major provocateur of violence and terrorism in the world", and states that "any attempt by Iraq to disrupt the peace in Israel will be considered an act of war".

-from a Yahoo! News article posted on February 16, 2006

-

MASSIVE BLAST IN EAST JERUSALEM DURING PALESTINIAN PROTEST KILLS FOUR IDF SOLDIERS, ARIEL SHARON PROMISES "SWIFT AND IMMEDIATE JUSTICE FOR TERRORISTS"

-New York Times headline from February 21, 2006

-

SADDAM HUSSEIN PRAISES JERUSALEM BLAST, CONDEMNS SHARON AS "WARMONGER"

-New York Times headline from February 22, 2006

-

Wolf Blitzer: And now Israel is saying that it has "incontrovertible evidence" that Iraq is behind this terrorist attack that killed four Israeli soldiers?

Christiane Amanpour: That's correct, Wolf. Israel has said now for days that Iraqi agents have been in communication with terrorists inside Palestine, based on an intelligence report they received a day after the attack.

Blitzer: Has Israel shown this intelligence report to anyone as of yet?

Amanpour: They have not, and according to a staffer inside the Gore administration, the president has asked for this report and has not yet received it.

Blitzer: So we don't actually know if this report exists?

Amanpour: Right now, Israel is citing "security reasons" for not revealing the contents of this report and that they have an ongoing operation to determine what, if anything, Iraqi agents could be planning next. At this stage, we don't know anything about Iraq's activities inside Palestine or whether or not they're even conducting any activities. Right now it is a very clouded situation.

Blitzer: What we do know is that Saddam Hussein has been repeatedly praising Palestine and praising the attacks, but not specifically taking responsibility for them. The Gore administration has in the past cited the Saddam Hussein regime as a possible state sponsor of terrorism, does the president think that Iraq is responsible for the recent attacks in Israel?

Amanpour: Right now this administration has expressed support for Israel but has also repeatedly stressed that this is a delicate situation and that jumping to conclusions is a big risk. Secretary of State Caroline Kennedy stated a few days ago that the United States was ready to support Israel but that it's important to get all the facts before taking any kind of major action.

-from the Situation Room on CNN, at 3:19 PM on February 27, 2006

-

Anderson Cooper: And just over 20 minutes ago, Israel did in fact launch an air strike on several targets in western Iraq. These targets were military targets, missile bases and airstrips, and we are hearing reports of at least 20 Iraqis dead as a result of those airstrikes. These strikes followed several days of increasingly harsh rhetoric between Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and Israeli president Ariel Sharon, and are said to be in retaliation for the Jerusalem bombings of last month. Israel has also accused Iraq of causing the massive and violent protests that have been going off all over the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the past few months.

-from an ABC News Special Report at 4:02 PM on March 9, 2006

-

Brit Hume: What we know at this hour is that Iraq has launched several missiles into Israel, one of which did strike an Israeli training camp during exercises there. We're hearing now 27 Israeli soldiers have been killed in that missile strike, while the other missiles at this time we don't believe have caused any casualties, but what we do know is that this will no doubt provoke a response by Israel, which continues to launch air strikes into Iraq even as we speak.

-from Special Report With Brit Hume at 6:29 PM on March 10, 2006

-

Former Miss Israel Killed In Iraqi Missile Strike

Last night's missile strike on an IDF training camp claimed 28 lives and injured nearly 100 soldiers who were participating in a training exercise. Among those killed in the strike was the former Miss Israel, Gal Gadot, who had been serving her mandatory two-year stint in the Israel Defense Forces. Gadot made headlines when she entered the IDF in 2005 after having won the Miss Israel pageant and competed in Miss Universe the year before. Gadot finished seventh in the 2004 Miss Universe pageant, in which her statuesque beauty stunned audiences and judges alike. Gadot was serving as a combat trainer, and had been featured in numerous news reports on Israel's new generation of "warrior women" as the IDF looked to place women in combat roles to a degree surpassing nearly every other Western nation.

Gadot, who intended to continue her modeling career and perhaps go into acting after her stint in the IDF, was just 20 years old.

-from a post on Dottie's Pageant Blog on March 11, 2006

-

Dan Rather: And as the Israel-Iraq conflict continues into its third week, America's pain at the pump is turning into agony at the pump. A gallon of gas, which was just $1.75/gallon at this time last year, will now cost the average American more than $4.00/gallon as oil prices soar in the wake of growing Middle East turmoil. The crisis in the Middle East has combined with continuing problems at the Houston Ship Channel to create what some are calling a "perfect oil storm", putting the squeeze on supply at a time of rapidly rising demand. President Gore recently made a nationwide address to the American people, stressing the need for America to wean itself off fossil fuels and to buy smaller, more energy-efficient cars, but many people, including most Republicans in Congress, put much of the blame for the current woes on Gore himself, citing the recent energy bill as another factor driving up gas prices. Congressman Terry Everett of Alabama said in a recent speech that "President Gore's environmentalist alarmism causes the price of oil to go up every time he opens his mouth", while Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told Bill O'Reilly in a recent Fox News interview that "the president wants to make it illegal to drive as much as you want". There's no denying that President Gore's popularity has plummeted in recent months, from a 4-year-high of 62 percent in the days immediately following Hurricane Harvey, all the way down to 40 percent in a Gallup poll taken last week. From the crisis in the Middle East to the soaring oil prices to an increasingly tenuous American economy, the president's problems continue to pile up.

-from the CBS Evening News on March 23, 2006

-

Al Gore entered the spring of 2006 facing the toughest stretch of his presidency thus far. The Iraq-Israel conflict continued to flare, with more Israeli airstrikes killing hundreds of Iraqi soldiers and civilians, and an increasingly belligerent Iraq threatening to bomb Israel harshly in retaliation. Israel had used the death of IDF soldier and 2004 Miss Israel Gal Gadot to rally international support, but most countries weren't sympathetic toward either side, and wanted to stay out of what was seen as an unnecessary and dangerous conflict. Even Israel's closest ally the United States was stressing that both sides find a peaceful end to the conflict, though America was of course sympathetic toward Israel. Gore wanted to avoid getting involved in another war, as he still had troops committed in Afghanistan and Pakistan, hunting down the remnants of al-Queda. However, many Congressmen wanted America to take a more active role in defending Israel, and some even urged an invasion of Iraq. Meanwhile, Iraq's allies, the Middle Eastern countries that were traditionally opposed to Israel, were reluctant to join in on Iraq's side, fearing a repeat of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Some privately viewed Saddam as a troublemaker who had, in their minds, "dug his own grave" by provoking Israel. As the conflict raged into spring, both Israel and Iraq's allies were content to let the two countries continue to lob airplanes and missiles at one another and hoped a peaceful solution would materialize.

America had its own problems to deal with, particularly the post-Harvey oil spike that had become severely exacerbated by the growing Middle Eastern crisis. As soon as the first Israeli planes flew over Iraqi soil, oil soared over $100/barrel, and continued to rise rapidly in the days and weeks following the start of the conflict. Gas prices, which had been over $3.00/gallon since Harvey, ballooned to $4.00/gallon, in some places significantly so. The unexpected and sharp spike in gas prices put a severe strain on the American consumer economy, and the Dow Jones felt the sting: from just over 12,000 in early February, the Dow began to take numerous hits: it fell 371 points on March 13th, and 134 more on the 14th. By the end of March, the Dow was below 11,000, and continuing to drop. Consumer spending was starting to slow, and if gas continued to tick up, there were fears that the economy could enter a full-blown recession by the end of the year.

-

"When I wrote Oil Storm for the FX Network in 2005, I thought the scenario I'd written was pretty damn pessimistic. But by the spring of 2006, I was starting to think that maybe I hadn't been pessimistic enough!"
-James Erskine, director of the docudrama Oil Storm, in an interview with Tubehound posted on June 5, 2015

 

[RySenkari]

Phantasy Star VII: Lore Of The Stars

Phantasy Star VII is the seventh mainline game in the Phantasy Star series and the first to be released exclusively for a handheld console. Sega and later Apple published only Phantasy Star Online games and remakes for the Katana, declining to publish a mainline game for the console. Apple would later cite the Katana's declining popularity as a reason for this, claiming that the lukewarm reception to V and VI indicated that a mainline game on the Katana wouldn't push consoles like the company needed to. Phantasy Star VII takes place primarily on the planet of Ekrandis, a world where magic and technology have been used hand in hand for many centuries. Its primary antagonists are beings known as the Lore, mysterious extraterrestrial creatures composed entirely of magic who inflict devastating damage on both organic life and technology but can be fought with magic. The game features fully 3-D graphics and environments, with no world map to speak of (instead, characters move from place to place using an icon map and fast travel). The game's exploration system borrows many elements from Phantasy Star Online, including a loot system where treasure and enemy drops have the chance to be something common and fairly useless or something rare and quite valuable. Its combat is a full overhaul of previous games in the series and features a combination of real-time action-RPG style combat and turn based action. Players control up to four characters in battle (out of eight total playable characters, actually nine but one does die about halfway through the game), but the characters can move independently in order to position themselves or dodge enemy attacks. They don't act on their own, instead, their order of action is determined by their speed and sometimes their position on the battlefield and what attacks they've recently used. When it comes time to select an action, that character's battle options appear and the player can take all the time they wish to select their next move. The turn-based combat/action system keeps battles flowing quite quickly, and looking extremely impressive, with graphics that are nearly seamless and utilize the player's current environment. The game itself looks gorgeous, possibly the best looking handheld game yet made, with amazing graphics and backgrounds, in many ways the game resembles OTL's Xenoblade Chronicles 3D in terms of graphical quality. The game's musical score, composed by Motoi Sakuraba, is considered a masterpiece and easily the best in the series to date, and the voice acting, performed by a talented Los Angeles-based crew which includes Tara Strong as the voice of the game's main female character and actors such as Keith Ferguson, Grey Delisle, and John DiMaggio in supporting roles, is also considered to be top-notch. Even though Phantasy Star VII was made as a handheld game, its developers took the philosophy that it should be made like a fully-featured console game, and their hard work clearly shows.

Phantasy Star VII begins as the world of Ekrandis is transitioning from a primarily magic-based culture to a technologically-based one. The transition has actually gone smoother than one might expect, with many of the old court wizards and witches becoming the scholars of the new technological age. Magic has been incorporated into the new technology, and it is a time of peace, though hidden beneath the surface there are still some old fractures of war that will become exacerbated as the events of the game play out. One of the small trouble spots comes from a group of bandits who plunder magical artifacts and jury-rig them into technological constructs with some rather dangerous results. The game's main female protagonist, Luna, is a witch tasked with bringing these bandits to justice. Two of these bandits, Oken and Aiko, are being pursued by Luna as the game begins. After a brief introductory segment/mission, a battle between Luna and Aiko (plus two mook bandits and a construct) is interrupted by an impactor from space that makes a massive crater and fireball. A young man, Cylann, crawls out of the wreckage. Cylann is from space, the last survivor of the ship that just crashed, and while he has some amnesia about who he is and what his purpose is, he has vivid and terrifying memories of strange creatures known as the Lore, who were pursuing the ship. Just as Luna finds Cylann, the Lore find both of them. Cylann has no magic and is ineffective against the Lore, but Luna manages to defeat them, and the two return to Luna's hometown. As the leader of the town is debating what to do with Cylann, the town is overrun by a massive invasion of Lore. Oken and Aiko show up to save Luna (much to her chagrin). After the attack on the town, Cylann is blamed for the Lore attack and is taken away to be executed, forcing Luna to team up with the bandits to rescue him. After Cylann is rescued, enough of his memories return to allow him to tell Luna what happened. The Lore are a powerful race of extradimensional creatures who seek out technology and destroy it. They can only be fought with magic, and so Cylann and a few hundred people from his homeworld were sent to Ekrandis to seek out help from the magic users of that world. However, now that Ekrandis has begun adopting technology, it too has become a target for the Lore. Luna believes that her old witches' guild may hold the key to defeating the Lore, but she and Cylann have to make their way through hostile territory, as Cylann is still being blamed for the Lore attacks and is being pursued. Meanwhile, Oken, Aiko, and their band of bandits play the role of sometimes-friend, sometimes-foe throughout the journey. Cylann and Luna find a few more companions, including Ragnel, a wolfman who wields a powerful gatling gun, Sharpe, a wise-cracking gambler who uses magic dice in combat, Hannah, a spiritualist healer who opposes technology, and Piney, a young tinkerer girl who builds magical weapons. Cylann does start to blame himself for bringing the Lore to Ekrandis, and at times, the other party members blame him too, but Luna is understanding, knowing that had Cylann not come, the Lore likely would still have found a way to their world. During the first half of the game, the main antagonist is Prince Zai, who seeks to kill Cylann in order to preserve the technological empire he's trying to build. He wields powerful dark magic, but views it almost as a curse, and ultimately wants magic to be eliminated in favor of high technology. Zai commits some fairly dastardly deeds during the first part of the game, including the slaughter of a village that's been harboring Luna. He also abducts Luna at one point and threatens her life harshly if she doesn't turn over her friends (also he seems to hate her because she's a witch). However, even with Zai on the prowl, the main threat is still the Lore, who are growing more powerful and numerous by the day. Events come to a climax at the Tower of the Phage, an ancient tower where powerful warlocks once performed a forbidden ritual in order to save the planet. Zai seeks the tower razed to the ground, but Luna hopes to perform a new ritual to defeat the Lore once and for all. After a series of events in which Zai commits what seems like his most unforgivable act yet (mortally wounding Luna and also ending the ritual, seemingly dooming the planet), Oken and Aiko (who by now have become party members and have endeared themselves quite a bit to the player by this point) manage to use a machine they've built to counteract the Lore's deadly magic strike. In doing so, however, one of them has to sacrifice themselves, and it ultimately falls on Oken to do so. He tosses Aiko clear of the blast zone before being hit by a massive attack from the Lore, killing him but saving the tower and, for the time being, the world. Zai is also seemingly killed here, though he makes a reappearance shortly enough.

Following all of this, Cylann wakes up in a cell in the capital city. He has to escape and gather up some of the party members, while it's revealed that both Zai and Luna survived and that in fact Zai plans to finish Luna off in order to convert her magic into a new machine that can battle the Lore. Zai partially succeeds: his invention creates the first piece of technology able to fight the Lore. However, he's unable to complete this technology before the Lore attack the city. Luna is freed by the heroes, while the city is ultimately razed in a fierce battle. Zai fights the heroes one last time but he's ultimately defeated, cursing the heroes as his city falls. After this there's a few cutscenes for the party (minus Oken) to regroup. Aiko, Oken's sister, is deeply mourning his death, and it's heartwarming to see the interactions between her and Luna, who used to be fierce rivals but have slowly warmed into friends. The tower is preserved, but it's under heavy guard, and a recovered Luna has to figure out how best to proceed with the Lore overrunning the world. It's a little past halfway through the game now, and ultimately, two major storylines will dominate the next segments of the game, all the way up until the final few dungeons: first, Cylann will regain his memories and will ultimately help the party reach space, and secondly, Prince Zai will come to redeem himself and join the party as the final member. Zai's redemption is complex, built up slowly, and has everything to do with the connection between Zai and Luna that enables their magic to be so powerful. During this part of the game, Zai, who has lost most of his family and friends, whose magic is growing increasingly powerful but also repugnant to him, and who has lost his city and country, has little to fight for anymore except his own hatred. At first, Luna despises Zai, but when she begins to feel his pain and realize that his motivations were always out of a desire to protect the world, she begins to believe he might be redeemable, and slowly but surely, she tries to make him see the good in himself as well. Not only does Luna (along with the rest of the party, who come to forgive him as well) help to redeem Zai, but the two actually begin to fall in love with each other (in a bait and switch, Cylann/Luna, which is the expected couple for most players, never comes to be, and it's actually Cylann/Aiko who have more chemistry with one another). Not only do the heroes redeem Zai, they help him to accept his magic as well, and with Zai's help, the group ultimately comes to discover the Lore's true purpose: the Lore represent the ghost of the Profound Darkness, the personification of evil that was the villain of the original four Phantasy Star games. Though the Profound Darkness was defeated by Chaz and the heroes of Phantasy Star IV, its hatred was so strong that it manifested as ghosts that took the form of the Lore. Once the Lore had destroyed all technology, the Profound Darkness could then use magic to corrupt all living things and reclaim its place as the most powerful being in the universe. It was through Zai that the Profound Darkness had attempted to manifest itself, but through Luna's love and kindness, the evil was purged from Zai. However, the Lore still live and are still a threat, and must be defeated at their source: the planet that Cylann originally came from. Deep within the core of Cylann's planet resides the Embodiment of Hatred, the remnants of the Profound Darkness' hate from which the Lore were spawned. Toward the end of the game, the party returns to the Tower of the Phage, which has become swarmed with Lore and has mutated into the Tower of the Resurrection, a massive beacon from where the Lore hope to summon the Profound Darkness back into this plane. Using both magic and technology, the heroes are able to reverse the polarity of the tower, enabling the heroes to travel through space and return to Cylann's homeworld. The final few segments of the game take place here, concluding with a battle against the game's final boss, the Profound Recurrence. The heroes defeat the Profound Recurrence, with Cylann, utilizing the Sword of Light, striking the final blow and avenging his world. The Profound Recurrence is defeated and peace is once again restored to the universe. Prince Zai returns to his throne, but renounces his murderous deeds, ruling over a restored Ekrandis with his princess Luna at his side.

Phantasy Star VII is released in North America on March 21, 2006. The game had already gotten rave reviews and topped the sales charts in Japan the previous December, and North American reviewers gave it a similar reception. With the possible exception of Pokemon Sun and Moon and Pokemon Eclipse, Phantasy Star VII received better reviews than any other handheld RPG to date, with numerous 9s and 10s and many reviewers proclaiming it not just the best RPG of the year, but a possible contender for overall game of the year. Phantasy Star VII was the best reviewed game in the series to date, and sales, despite being released only for the iPod Play, are quite strong, becoming the fastest selling iPod Play release of the year thus far. The game is seen as a major turning point for handheld RPGs, proving that a truly console quality game in the genre can be made for a handheld. It also gives the iPod Play the marquee JRPG it's lacked up to this point, which drives sales for the device amongst hardcore gamers in a way no other game has yet done. It becomes a killer app for the iPod Play, and pushes the Phantasy Star franchise into a spotlight that even the highly successful Katana MMORPGs had failed to do.

-

First Quarter iPod Play Sales Even Stronger In 2006 Than In 2005

Despite the iPod Play no longer being the talk of the game industry that it was shortly after its release, it continues to perform extremely well in terms of overall sales, and in fact, Apple just revealed that the handheld sold slightly more units in the January-March period of this year than it did throughout the same time period in 2005. That can partly be attributed to shortages of the device that lingered throughout last year, but it also testifies to the iPod Play's continued market strength.

The iPod Play is currently riding high on a wave of both ports and original titles. Recent months have seen games like Endotherm and 2001's Victory ported over, both of which achieved strong sales in their first week of release. Additionally, games in the popular Hitman and Extremis franchises have also appeared, and Apple even brought over a game based on its Macintosh hit Roaming Rover which managed to perform well, though not to the same extent as Sonic Rover back in 2004. The most notable iPod Play game to be released thus far this year is most likely Phantasy Star VII: Lore Of The Stars, the latest in the company's venerable RPG franchise. Praised for its epic length and impressive graphics, the game sold more than 100,000 units during its first week of release in North America, trailing only Parasite Eve 3 and The Darkest 3 for first-week JRPG releases this year (though both of those games were released on the Nintendo Wave, which has a much larger install base). It's already sold more than 350,000 units in Japan, and continues to sell in the top 20 software titles there nearly every week, with many new iPod Play buyers also opting to buy the new Phantasy Star.

The iPod Play is currently outselling the Game Boy Supernova in week-to-week sales, and that gap appears to be increasing: during the first week of March, the iPod Play sold around 175,000 total units, while the Game Boy Supernova sold just under 100,000. The Supernova's sales have trailed off sharply since the holiday season, while the iPod Play has had a much more shallow drop: despite the device's higher price (still $299.99), it's still the leader in market share. There have been a few sales available for the iPod Play where it's been sold at $249.99, but the device's MSRP remains at its original launch price.

-from an article posted on April 11, 2006 on Games Over Matter

 

[RySenkari]

(Authors' Note: The idea for Fallout: Wasteland Simulator was given to us by the reader HonestAbe1809!)

-

Fallout: Wasteland Simulator

Fallout: Wasteland Simulator is a simulation game set in the Fallout universe. Combining elements of SimCity, The Sims, and the OTL Fallout 4 settlement builder, the game is a collaboration between Maxis and Black Isle, and is published for the PC in 2003 by Interplay, while Electronic Arts publishes the Xbox port, which isn't released until 2006. Wasteland Simulator takes many of the elements from Sim games, giving the player the option to build a post-apocalyptic settlement in a random place in the Fallout universe. Terrain isn't controlled by the player, and there's no option to bulldoze anything, forcing players to build in the place they're given (the player is able to "re-roll" for a favorable location by resetting a new game, but there's no way to know exactly what you're going to get until the game generates the terrain for you). The goal of the game is to use the resources available to the player to attract people to your settlement. Even once the player has a population base, there are issues such as food, water, shelter, and enemy attacks to be concerned about. Players must not only worry about how many people move in, but must also be wary of the "types" of people moving in: a settlement full of rough and tough fighters might be good at fending off Raider attacks, but not so good at building energy weapons or fighting an epidemic, whereas a settlement full of doctors and scientists might not have trouble healing the sick, but will struggle to battle a swarm of Fire Ants. It's these types of decisions that players must make on a constant basis in order to build a successful settlement. There are also "disasters", in the form of radiation storms, deathclaw attacks, or any number of terrible things that can happen in a desolate post-apocalyptic wasteland. It is possible to build and maintain a successful settlement that's about the size of OTL's Megaton or Diamond City, though don't expect anything as big and bustling as New Vegas in this game, as the technology simply doesn't allow for it. Even building a stable Megaton-sized settlement is a real challenge, and the wasteland can cause problems for the player at any time.

This game took about two and a half years to port to the Xbox, with both technology and business dealings presenting a challenge for the port. The game uses a SimCity 4-styled interface and graphics that proved very challenging to port to the Xbox in a matter that would preserve the look and feel of the game but not tax the system too hard. In addition, the game's control interface was definitely programmed with a keyboard and mouse in mind, and it took a while to design a control scheme that worked for the game. In the meantime, EA, Interplay, and Black Isle were all wrangling over the rights and terms of the port, with the collaborative nature of the game proving difficult enough to make into a reality on PC, let alone port the title to the Xbox. EA wanted a port for the Wave, but Black Isle had signed a contract with Microsoft guaranteeing Fallout exclusivity, and Electronic Arts and Microsoft got into a brief legal battle over the rights to the game in what Kotaku called in 2005 "the most pointless legal battle over a video game in history". Not expected to sell as well as the Van Buren port, which itself was only a moderate success, the games media and gamers themselves wondered why two big companies would fight over the rights to such a minor game in the scheme of things. However, an agreement was finally hashed out, and the console version of Wasteland Simulator was released exclusively for the Microsoft Xbox on March 14, 2006. Reviews were extremely favorable, with the Xbox port averaging an 89% on Gamerankings (in a rare instance of a console port getting a higher review average than the PC version of a game). One Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewer who granted the game a 9.5/10 in a review published in the May 2006 issue said that "This is an excellent PC simulation game that's been, in the words of Morgan Freeman's character Red in The Shawshank Redemption, 'polished to a high mirror shine' on the Xbox." While Wasteland Simulator didn't sell a huge amount of copies on the Xbox, it would go on to sell about 150,000 copies in its lifetime, to add to the 250,000 or so copies that the game sold on the PC, making it a fairly successful side game in the Fallout franchise.

-

Electronic Arts Completes Deal To Purchase Interplay

In a deal that was the subject of much rumor and speculation over the last few months, it can now be confirmed that game publisher Electronic Arts purchased fellow game publisher Interplay for an undisclosed sum. The two companies had been in negotiations since late last year, and recently co-published Fallout: Wasteland Simulator for the Microsoft Xbox. Interplay has been struggling for the past few years, despite releasing a series of hit PC RPGs including Fallout and the Baldur's Gate series. It was also rumored that Apple was looking to buy Interplay, but Electronic Arts' recent working relationship with the company gave them an inside track, and Apple's recent purchase of two other smaller software companies, along with their recent exclusivity deal with Capcom, likely left them in an unfavorable financial situation to make another similar purchase.

Electronic Arts' acquisition of Interplay is the second major deal they've made in 2006, following their recent securing of a 10-year exclusivity contract with the National Football League to make Madden the only football game franchise to have an official NFL license. The deal gives Electronic Arts control of numerous major RPG franchises, including Fallout. Black Isle Studios, which has also been acquired by EA in the deal, is currently working on a next generation Fallout game which is said to be the followup to Van Buren and will be subtitled The Boneyard. Black Isle has said that they are looking to have the game completed by the end of next year.

-from an article published on Games Over Matter on April 20, 2006

-

Xbox 2 Is Front And Center At GDC 2006

Microsoft had a major presence at this year's Game Developers' Conference, and the centerpiece of their presentation was the upcoming Xbox 2 console, set to be released later this year. Microsoft already revealed the console formally at the end of 2005, but their GDC presentation showcased even more of its capabilities, including a tech demo that showed off footage from several games, including Half-Life 2, Hitman: No Remorse, and a brand new fighting game franchise called Adrenal. Most notably, Microsoft also gave attendees a first look at the third game in The Covenant franchise, expected to be released next year. It was a very early look at the game, but enough to show off its incredible, high-definition graphics, which were displayed in full 1080p, much to the amazement of the gathered crowd. Microsoft is hoping that its next console will be the one to properly kick off a new era of HD gaming, and looked to show off games that demonstrated the Xbox 2's capabilities.

Hitman: No Remorse is also being released for other consoles, but it's coming to the Xbox 2 first, and it's easily the best looking game in the series to date, with detailed visuals and incredible, lifelike animation. Agent 47 looks amazing up close and personal, and at times it was hard to tell whether a game or a brand new movie was being displayed on the screen. Whereas previous games featured clearly pixellated backgrounds, the environments in the Xbox 2's new Hitman game look incredibly realistic, with no signs of visible jaggies or pixellation. The presenter stressed multiple times that we were watching real footage from the game, and allowed attendees to get some time playing the game themselves to prove that what we were seeing was footage from the actual game as it will appear once players get their hands on it.

Adrenal, meanwhile, looks as visually stunning as Soul Calibur did when we first saw it revealed for the arcades back in 1998. It's a clear step up in terms of graphics from any other fighting game ever released, putting titles such as Divine Wrath 3 to shame. The fighting itself looks crisp and fluid, with realistic characters battling one another in a massive arena. The game itself looked like a lot of fun, with fast-paced combos galore, calling back memories of the Killer Instinct series. Microsoft could have a major winner on its hands with Adrenal, which looks to be a candidate for fighting game of the year.

With Microsoft slowly rolling out information about the Xbox 2 to anxious journalists and fans alike, we're eagerly awaiting the big blowout at E3 2006, where the company has promised that more than two dozen new games will be revealed. The Xbox 2 looks set to take the year by storm, and if GDC 2006 is any indication, we're seeing the buildup to the biggest console launch in history.

-from an article on Gamespot.com, posted on March 25, 2006

 

[Pyro]

After eleven films featuring their greatest superheroes, Warner Bros. shifted if focus on the worst of the worst of the DC Universe for 2006. Not only did the announcement that Suicide Squad would release February 17, 2006--traditionally a dead zone for major releases--stun many observers, the announcement that it would be an R-rated feature directed by Robert Rodriguez sent shockwaves through the fandom. However, it was not meant to be tentpole release like Justice League before it (that honour went to the sequel to 2003’s The Flash) Thus Suicide Squad had a much smaller budget than its more “heroic” brethren and more or less gave Rodriguez free reign over the project.

It was clear from early reports that the film version would use the premise of John Ostrander’s 1987-1992 series where the US government would send incarcerated supervillains on black-ops missions in exchange for commuted sentences while failure meant complete disavowal. CCH Pounder reprised the role of Amanda Waller, director of Task Force X whose forceful and manipulative personality not only placed her at odds with the criminals, but also the team’s military handler/field commander, Rick Flag Jr. (played by Thomas Jane.) Similarly, Heath Ledger also returned to play the shifty and less than competent Captain Boomerang.

Suicide Squad would also see several new faces such as Deadshot, the nihilistic and death-seeking hitman, played by Jude Law. Will Smith played Bronze Tiger, a martial artist who had been brainwashed into becoming a pawn of the League of Assassins (with vague references to Ra’s Al Ghul) until Batman defeated him and freed him from the League’s control. Carla Gugino played Plastique, formerly a radical Quebec separatist who had become freelance after she escaped prison in Canada and Tom Hardy played the team dim, but superhumanly strong powerhouse, Blockbuster. The biggest coup of the film was the inclusion of Harley Quinn (played by Lyssa Fielding) as the team wildcard. She wouldn’t be the only Batman adversary as Antonio Banderas would voice Bane, who would become the film’s main antagonist.

True to Rodriguez’s particularities, most of the shooting took place in Corpus Christi as well as other locations throughout Texas. He also strictly eschewed “capes” aesthetic in favour of a more practical approach, which clashed with the original Bruce Timm design of Harley Quinn from Batman: The Animated Series. However, Rodriguez compromised with fans by having Harley wears a red and black tank top until military fatigues. Suicide Squad was also notorious for slightly altering Quinn’s origin so that she willingly bleached her skin white to make herself more like her “puddin.’” While the purists complained, the first publicity shots of Fielding’s Harley Quinn quelled most outrage.

Unlike most of the DC films to that point, the stakes of Suicide Squad were largely human in scope. Pre-Rodriguez drafts of the screenplay detailed a plot including the character known as Enchantress with Waller attempting to use her as a weapon with the Squad having to prevent doomsday. Rodriguez immediately tossed it out and with input from Quentin Tarantino (who never received any credit) wrote a new screenplay from scratch. After some wrangling with the reluctant studio brass, Warner Bros. allowed him to use Bane, who would export the strength-enhancing known as “Venom” from the island nation of Santa Prisca. The spread of it on the streets is pushing law enforcement across the country to its limits, hence the President tasks Waller with shutting down Bane’s operations.

One of the biggest highlights of the film is the emphasis on character with many of the actors putting in memorable performances. Jude Law’s Deadshot is on point with the actor injecting some dry humour and snarky quips in contrast to Ledger’s borderline slapstick antics, especially in the scene where Boomerang shows up to the mission briefing with a hangover. Meanwhile, a repentant Bronze Tiger becomes a pacifist as penance for his horrific acts as a pawn of the League of Assassins, which makes him the target of mockery of his squad mates. Smith was about to pass on the role, but reconsidered after he came to appreciate the character’s arc to regain his lost confidence.

However, Fielding’s performance was the most memorable of the lot with a Harley Quinn that was sexy, unpredictable, and with a the right amount of guile. Fielding’s Quinn was more than a piece of eye candy as the character put her skills as a psychiatrist to good use by needling her squad mates and pressing their buttons for her own amusement. Her most infamous scene is early in the mission where Boomerang attempts to grope her, only to get a mallet to the groin and her boot to his face when he’s down. In an interview with Wizard magazine, Fielding admitted that her main inspiration for the scene came from an incident between a friend of hers and “a very powerful man” though she never named names out of respect for her friend’s privacy.

Most of the first act served as character and team building with the squad as a dysfunctional unit with Flag acting as the long-suffering “babysitter” to keep the criminals in check with a micro-explosive planted in the back of their skulls. Rodriguez borrowed from the comic with a scene where Boomerang convinces Slipknot (Paul Rudd) that the explosives were a ruse, prompting the latter to make a run for it. Flag detonates the explosives, leaving Slipknot’s headless corpse to slump over onto the ground and let the rest of the squad know that Waller wasn’t joking.

Their mission is to infiltrate the prison where Bane is producing Venom and destroy it, but it goes south (no pun intended) when Harley apparently betrays the team. In another homage to the comic books, Bane breaks Blockbuster’s back over his knee ala “Knightfall” and imprisons the rest the Squad and thus the film shifts genre to a prison break while Flag tries to convince the others to assist him. The rest of the Squad is uncooperative believing they had traded one prison for another though, they all share a burning hatred of Harley Quinn as she continues to ingratiate herself to Bane.

Flag manages to secure Deadshot’s cooperation when he reveals to Lawton that he has a daughter that Waller kept secret from him to use as leverage against him later. While the two plan and attempt an escape, Harley Quinn thwarts their plan with Bane planning to make “an example” of them before the other prisoners. He throws them into solitary where Harley surreptitiously reveals to a skeptical Flag and Lawton that this was all part of “the plan.” She also manipulates Squad and other prisoners into a starting a prison riot to serve as a distraction while Plastique plants the explosives to bring down Bane’s drug operation with the intel Harley provided.

More of Rodriguez’s trademarks appear in the film’s third act, particularly in the highly stylized shootout scene where Flag and Lawton fight back-to-back against Bane’s armed guards. Meanwhile, Bronze Tiger (with some prodding from Harley) renounces his pacifism and challenges Bane in hand-to-hand combat to keep the drug lord from personally intervening in the riot, all the while Boomerang does his best to avoid getting into a fight. Pitting his skill against Bane’s Venom-fueled strength, it’s still not enough as Bane watches Plastique’s “demolition” drives the drug lord into a berserker rage worthy of Wolverine from Marvel.

He grabs Bronze Tiger and prepares to break his back as he did with Blockbuster as Captain Boomerang looks on. Boomerang debates whether he intervene or not before he mutters, “oh, bloody hell” and throws his signature weapon. It slices the tube feeding the Venom into Bane’s body, causing the drug lord to lose his strength and gives Bronze Tiger an opening to recover and kick him over the railing. Bane falls three storeys and lands on the prison’s concrete floor where he lay paralyzed, but alive. Boomerang asks Bronze Tiger if he plans to finish Bane off, but the latter declares that he is, “not a killer.”

With their objective completed, the Squad falls back, except for Lawton who still wants to die in a blaze of glory. However, Flag knocks him out and drags him off telling him that, “Zoe needs her father.” Upon returning to the United States, the Squad have five years taken off their sentences as well as certain rewards: Deadshot in particular is allowed a supervised visit with his daughter while Harley gets an espresso machine. Meanwhile, the President congratulates Waller on the mission’s success (more or less) and even floats the idea of using the Squad against the Justice League should they go rogue. Waller dismisses the notion as they are criminals and she wouldn’t entrust them with the safety of the world.

The film ends with Harley in her cell reading when she hears gunfire. Men in tactical gear takes out the guards and appear in front of her cell with the “leader” raising his visor to reveal the chalky visage of the Joker (portrayed Sam Rockwell) who has some to allow her an “early parole.” Harley squeals, “Puddin!’” before the two embrace and the credits roll.

Suicide Squad opened to $47 million ($56 million if you count the four-day weekend) with a domestic total gross of $150 million on an estimated budget of $35 million, making it the first big hit of 2006. It came as a surprise to Warner Bros. who expected a more modest profit given the film’s rating and relative obscurity of the property to the general public, but praise from critics and positive word-of-mouth from audiences helped propel its success. While the Rodriguez trademark of using Hispanic actors as not was as present in the film as with his previous work, the film made use of Hispanic musicians from the Corpus Christi area for its soundtrack, including a track from Selina Qunitanilla-Perez.

Though the film boasted several recognizable faces in Hollywood, Lyssa Fielding’s performance as Harley Quinn stood out the most with both audiences and critics. The character had quickly rose in popularity, leading to a new ongoing series from DC Comics and a flood of merchandise. Fielding embraced the role and even returned to voice the character in a couple animated projects (alternating with the original voice actress, Arleen Sorkin.) Perhaps the biggest change Suicide Squad, alongside Sony/Valiant’s Shadowman, brought was the realization that there was a market for more mature superhero films.

It also gave Warner Bros. confidence in taking chances with its non-Justice League properties, and subsequently increased the marketing budget for 2007’s Lobo film by James Gunn to build some early buzz. Similarly, it gave the studio in seeking out and cultivating new talent. The studio had initially approach Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, to direct Legion of Super-Heroes for 2008, however, Jackson declined and instead recommended an unknown director from South Africa called Neill Blomkamp. Despite the studio’s initial apprehension, the success of Suicide Squad convinced Warner Bros. to hire him for the project.

While 2005 had not been kind to Warner Bros. in the Superhero Wars, 2006 begun with new confidence for the studio as it entered the next phase of its “Fourth World” saga.

-Tales From The Superhero Wars, sequentialhistory.net, November 18, 2010

 

[RySenkari]

(Here are the rest of the notable North American game releases between January 2006 and March 2006!)

-

Nintendo Wave:

Bullet Witch

A game that appeared on the Xbox 360 IOTL, Bullet Witch shows up on the Wave ITTL, and largely plays the same as its OTL counterpart. Bullet Witch is a third person shooter about a witch named Alicia who uses both magic and gunplay in battle. In that regard, it's a fairly similar game to OTL's Bayonetta, though it definitely has more shooting mechanics and thus gets compared by some people to the Blackheart games. The plot is SIGNIFICANTLY changed from OTL's game: whereas OTL's game sees Alicia battling demons in a post-apocalyptic landscape, TTL's game, influenced by Blackheart, has Alicia working as a government agent and using her magical powers to fight enemies of the state. While the game isn't nearly as acclaimed as Blackheart, it does get praise for its graphics and gameplay, and becomes a decent selling niche title when it's released early in 2006.

Eighth Agent

Eighth Agent is a third person shooter with a protagonist who is an elite government agent who's had specialized DNA injected into his body, he's the eighth such person to undergo this procedure, leading to him being known as the “Eighth Agent”. For the most part it's a fairly typical shooter in the genre and would be completely unnotable if not for a pair of innovations: quicktime events in the middle of firefights that blend plot and gameplay extremely seamlessly, and an advanced cover AI for the enemies where they'll not only take cover on their own, but seek to outflank the player. Due to these innovations, Eighth Agent gets strong reviews, though sales are rather mediocre. Its innovations would be adapted to much better shooters down the road.

Future Fear: The Hunted

The sequel to 2000's Future Fear: Escape The Arena, Future Fear: The Hunted takes the battle out of the arena for the most part and casts the player as a ruthless hunter of escapees, in contrast with the role played in the last game where the player was a freedom fighter. However, all isn't quite as it seems, and eventually, the protagonist does turn over a new leaf, thanks to meeting Adaline, the protagonist of the original game. The previous game was developed by Psygnosis, but due to Psygnosis being acquired by Microsoft, this title is instead developed by a different company, and published by Activision. With larger stages and improvements to the game's shooting and graphics, reviews are quite good, while sales are a bit better than those for the first game (considered one of the fifth generation's cult classic titles).

Twisted Metal: Rampage

Twisted Metal: Rampage is the second Twisted Metal game released for the Wave, and the first based on an original concept, rather than being a kind of remake like 2003's Nightmare was. In Twisted Metal: Rampage, you pick from one of six protagonists, including long-time series favorite Sweet Tooth, and your goal is to go on a violent rampage in your souped up car/truck/ice cream truck. Of course, it wouldn't be Twisted Metal without arena combat, and the game features some of the best arena combat in the series, with entire cities serving as playgrounds for the destructive racers and some of the most deadly weapons in the series to date, along with extremely destructible environments. The story mode is surprisingly long and complex, taking about five hours to beat for a new player, while the arena modes and multiplayer (both local and online) take the game's replay value to the next level. While Rampage doesn't quite reach the sales heights of previous games in the series, it's seen as the best Twisted Metal game since the Ultra Nintendo days, and both sales and reviews are very good, with the game eventually reaching a million sales (the first game in the series since Twisted Metal 3 to do so).

Chase The Extreme

Another Thrillseekers copycat, this is an extreme sports game that introduces other sports such as rock climbing and windsurfing. While it's largely seen as an inferior ripoff (it barely even bothers to have a story mode save for a few cutscenes, and is also WAY more dudebro-ish than the all-female Thrillseekers), some of the sports are fairly unique and somewhat fun, and the game manages a profit.

Disgaea 2: An Upside-Down Adventure

Disgaea 2 is a comedic take on the typical strategy-RPG type game, featuring many of the classic SRPG tropes but mixing in a lot of comedy and humor, including twists on classic RPG heroes, strange penguin-like creatures known as Prinnies, and plenty of off the wall tongue in cheek humor. In Disgaea 2, the main protagonist is a so-called legendary hero, Gogan, who accidentally parties up with a band of demons rather than the traditional group of heroes he's supposed to meet. Each of the demons Gogan teams up with is a dark take on the classic heroes, for example, there's the busty mage who ends up being a succubus, the lovable drunken rogue who, in his efforts to get his alcohol fix, ferments all the grain in the hero's kingdom, and the scrappy thief who steals only useless junk. In a similar storyline to OTL's Disgaea 2, Etna, from the previous game, joins the party at level 1 to get her levels back (it's implied that the thief stole them and then sold them for useless junk). Disgaea 2, like the original game, is more of a cult hit than a blockbuster (at least in North America), but it keeps the previous game's reputation for twisted and hilarious fun intact, with reviews exceeding those of the previous game.

Triverse: Three Wheel Riders

Triverse: Three Wheel Riders is a futuristic racing title in which pilots ride three-wheeled vehicles that switch from cars to motorcycles. Can somewhat be compared to Rare's VeloCity, though with a more simplistic plot and less tracks. The game features nine playable pilots, each of whom gets their own personality and storyline told through short cutscenes and intro movies. Though the game does very few things originally, it is still a really fun racer that gets a lot of praise from reviewers and also benefits from a pretty good ad campaign by its developer Activision. Sales are actually quite decent due to the good reviews and memorable characters, ensuring there will be a sequel at some point for the seventh generation consoles.

Sega Katana:

Invisible Empire
(Authors' Note: The idea for Invisible Empire was given to us by the reader Goldwind2!)

Invisible Empire is a Western-developed JRPG exclusively for the Sega Katana. Published by Apple and developed by a fairly small European software company, Invisible Empire is another attempt by Apple to capitalize on the Katana's strong JRPG lineup. The combat system is turn based, with characters able to swap “Gears” in combat, in order to move from one combat stance to another, which gives them a different variety of weapons and special attacks to use. The game takes place in a medieval-like world with some advanced technology that consists of many isolated small towns where people live a hardscrabble life and for the most part aren't allowed to travel outside their village. The protagonist, Klyde, is sent on a mission to deliver a sacred offering to a nearby temple, but what he doesn't know (and what the others who deliver these offerings don't know) is that the offering is actually high technology that is delivered to the temples only to be later picked up by agents of the elite empire who secretly control the world from their high-tech capital city (hence the name of the game). While going to the temple, Klyde and his two traveling companions are attacked by a monster and nearly killed, but the technology Klyde was carrying merges with him and his companions, enabling them to fight off the monsters. However, Klyde is discovered to have done this and is declared a heretic by the ruling authorities, forcing him to go into exile. His two companions are captured and Klyde ends up traveling alone, only to meet a girl who falls from the sky. This girl is a citizen of the elite empire, but she has amnesia and doesn't remember anything about it. Klyde and the girl set out on an adventure of discovery to take down the invisible empire and free their world. They eventually encounter several rebellious groups, including a violent faction that wants to completely purge the elite, a faction that wants to covertly replace the elite, and a faction that wants peace and equality for everyone and takes a more forgiving stance.

Invisible Empire is well reviewed upon its release, and ends up being a surprisingly strong seller for the Katana, both during its launch week and even afterward thanks to word of mouth, becoming one of the top selling new games of January. It stands among Parasite Eve 3, The Darkest 3, and Phantasy Star VII as one of the most successful RPGs of the first quarter of 2006.

Fatal Frame 3

A survival horror game released for the Wave and the Katana (though in North America, it's a Katana exclusive), Fatal Frame 3 builds on the previous two games with its use of terrifying frights combined with action photography. In Fatal Frame 3, the protagonist is a young Japanese teacher who is searching for four of her missing students, only to be pursued by the ghosts of a violent ex-lover and her old roommate. The game receives controversy due to the potentially violent fates for some of the child characters, but is considered by many to be the most terrifying game in the series to date. Ultimately, it's a niche title in North America despite the strong reviews, and this will be the last Fatal Frame title exclusive to an Apple system.

Ikaruga 2

Thanks to the critical and commercial success of the previous Ikaruga, the game gets a sequel ITTL. While keeping to the series classic gameplay where players must swap between black and white bullets to battle different colored enemies, Ikaruga 2 features more levels, bigger bosses, and even more difficulty than the last game, making it one of the most frustrating bullet hell titles ever created. Reviews are good, but not so much in the West (while in Japan the game gets excellent reviews), ultimately it doesn't share in the success of the original game and is seen as just another good game on a dying console.

Tak 3: Quest Of The Phoenix

Tak 3 is an action platformer for the Apple Katana, the sequel to Fire And Ice. Tak 3 expands upon the phoenix plot from the OTL game Tak: The Great Juju Challenge, where instead of competing in a series of challenges, Tak must hunt down and rescue a great and powerful phoenix in order to give life back to his dying grandfather. Tak and his caveman friends must collect the phoenix feathers that have been dropped throughout various stages in order to stay on the phoenix's trail. It's a rather ordinary platformer title, but it does have some heavier themes than previous Tak games, and fans of the previous two titles are pleased with this one. Reviews are decent, and sales are good enough to keep the series going strong.

Elebits

Somewhat similar to OTL's Wii game but without the motion controls, Elebits for the Katana is instead more of a puzzle platformer game, where players must hunt down and capture the little Elebit creatures that appear in a succession of stages. The use of traditional controls rather than motion controls in TTL's Elebits makes this more of a test of wits for the player, who must use one of more than a dozen different gadgets to hunt and capture the Elebits. Despite the change in playstyle, TTL's Elebits is arguably a more successful game than OTL's Elebits, being regarded as one of the Katana's more original titles of 2006. Steve Jobs would immediately commission a sequel for the iTwin.

Samba De Amigo 3

The popular maraca-based rhythm series returns, though Samba De Amigo 3 is more of a songlist upgrade than a fully new type of game. It does feature the series' biggest and most diverse playlist to date, but the game's lack of innovation does cause reviewers to dock it some points, and as for sales, the fading Katana makes most players overlook this one.

Vectorman: The Heart Of A Hero

The sequel to 2003's Vectorman reboot, The Heart Of A Hero picks up where the previous game left off, featuring Vectorman once again returning to save humanity from the deadly orbot scourge. Numerous characters from the previous game, including Ellen, return in this title, which is ultimately seen as somewhat of a rehash of the previous game. There are more levels, and the bosses are definitely bigger, and Vectorman has some nice new abilities, but those who play the first game and don't play the second generally aren't missing much. The antagonists are a gang of orbots similar to Vectorman who want to take over the new space colony that humans have built, and are raising hell in order to wipe out the humans and take the colony for themselves. Vectorman does briefly question his allegiance to humanity, but ultimately stays true to himself and his duty, and defeats the rogue orbots. Despite the lack of innovation from the previous game, The Heart Of A Hero is still a very good 2-D styled platformer, and still features some of the best graphics of any Katana game to date. While sales aren't as good as those of the first game, the game is still considered mostly a success.

Microsoft Xbox:

Excelsior II

The sequel to Excelsior Luxury Circuit, Excelsior II is a racing title focusing on high luxury, souped up supercars, and exotic locales. It fixes one of the main complaints about the previous game by adding dozens of new supercars, and also features a fairly basic storyline in the game's career mode. Other than that, the game plays fairly similarly to the original. It's still an excellent racer, but the release of Forza Motorsport in 2005 does steal a bit of the thunder from this sequel that doesn't do much to improve on its predecessor. Sales are down from the previous game, while reviews average in the high 7s/low 8s.

Operation Zero: Final Countdown

The third and final Operation Zero game for the Xbox, Final Countdown narrows the scope of the storyline from Rogue Agents, returning to a single protagonist who must stop a satellite from being launched into space that will give its owner the capability of launching attacks against any location on the planet. Despite the long development time and narrowing of the game's scope, the game still gets criticism for frustrating stealth gameplay, bugs and glitches, and an unlikeable and generic protagonist, making this one of the year's biggest disappointments after the previous two games were quite critically and commercially successful. Following a decent first week of sales, Final Countdown is sunk by its poor reviews, and ultimately this game's failure puts the future of the series in jeopardy.

Game Boy Supernova:

Phaedra's Heart

A full remake of the 1994 Enix cult classic RPG, featuring a goddess named Phaedra who goes on a journey of discovery and ultimately saves the world. This game features presentation updates galore (excellent graphics, full voice acting, and 3-D cutscenes), new gameplay mechanics, and new playable characters, but is still the classic game fans know and love, with its storyline fully intact (just expanded). One of the most acclaimed RPG remakes of the last few years, it's well received by fans of the original game, but like the original, it sees rather poor sales in North America. Still, it's an excellent portable RPG, arguably the year's best RPG on the Supernova despite being a remake.

Sphere Soldier Light

A 2-D platformer/shooter and the latest in the acclaimed cult classic Sphere Soldier series of games, this game is a fast-paced 2-D platforming shooter where players rapidly swap through a variety of skills and weapons to battle enemies. This title introduces voice acting to the series and features its first female protagonist in the form of a beautiful light-clad woman who wields a giant saber of light and fires energy bullets from rotating runes around her body. It's a gorgeous game with an art style that combines anime-esque graphics with 3-D, and like its predecessors, it scores a lot of critical accolades, becoming one of the best reviewed Supernova games to date. In addition, the handheld format is PERFECT for Sphere Soldier, which has always been a late title for the last generation console and almost never featured on the current console. Sales are better than any other game in the series in North America and this game becomes an early minor hit for the Supernova.

Ballistic Limit Ghost

Ballistic Limit Ghost is a prequel/sidequel to Ballistic Limit Cross, and is a 2-D game with 3-D graphics. It plays similarly to the original Ballistic Limit game rather than the fully 3-D sequels, and features a storyline where Ash Beckland, with the help of his otherworldly companion Sara, must hunt down and destroy a ghostly infiltration from another dimension. The game has a throwback feel to it in a way, with massive, horrific bosses and a storyline where Ash is by himself and being merely advised by Sara. It has a bit of a Metroidvania feel but features concrete levels rather than backtracking (in some ways, it's also reminiscent of Alien 3 on the SNES). As Ash explores through a massive compound which houses a series of facilities where the ghostly monsters have infiltrated, he sometimes encounters scientists, army personnel, and others who have been possessed. He at first has no way to save possessed people, but eventually Sara figures out how to help him purge the possession from its victims, and fortifies Ash's weapon with a special modification. As the game progresses, Ash and Sara's bond gets closer, and the possibility is raised that Ash may be able to cross over to Sara's dimension permanently (of course, those who have played Cross know that's not possible, and that gives the game a bit of poignancy). Eventually, Ash battles the nexus of ghostly activity, a massive being that has merged with a hostile scientist. Ash defeats the creature and stops the ghostly incursion, but this severs his connection with Sara, leaving him with a deep sadness. We know Ash will reunite with Sara in Cross, but the game ends on a somewhat melancholy note. Ballistic Limit Ghost was one of the most hyped early Supernova titles, and it receives an excellent critical reception with reviews averaging in the high 8s. Sales are a bit disappointing, somewhat lower than expected by Sony (largely attributed to fans expecting a 3-D game and not a 2-D throwback). It would be a while before we'd get another portable Ballistic Limit.

Guild Of Glories

Guild Of Glories is a JRPG about an adventurers' guild set to explore a brand new continent. The player customizes their own protagonist and can choose between a male or a female, then is assigned to a series of quests. There IS a main storyline, but there are way more sidequests than there are main quests, and lots of things to do besides quests, including recruiting and befriending new guild members. Featuring a large amount of side quests and monster hunts, it becomes one of the more popular new JRPG properties for the Supernova. It doesn't achieve mainstream fame, but it is popular amongst gamers who are fans of RPGs, and the game becomes a popular handheld franchise with possible console versions.

Wario Ware: Super Micro Games!

The sequel to the Nova's Mega Micro Game$, Wario Ware: Super Micro Games! is essentially an expanded version of the original, with tons of all new games and characters, anime cutscenes, and voice acting for most of the game's characters. It's as addictive as the last one was, and the games and cutscenes are extremely funny, making this a very popular early Supernova game that launches numerous memes. Also, for the first time since Donkey Kong 3, Mario is a villain in a video game (though he's a fairly “oblivious” villain, not intending to be cruel to Wario but still foiling him at pretty much every turn). Considered to be one of the funniest video games ever made, it scores excellent reviews and is considered a massive success.

Game Boy Nova:

Bomberman Quest

A Bomberman game with a major emphasis on story, this game features a 56-level story mode where Bomberman must use his skills and abilities to progress through a series of mazes with tons of unique enemies. It does feature an arena mode as well, but the big draw of this game is the story, which turns out to be quite strong. Reviews are fairly good and those looking for a fun handheld Bomberman adventure aren't disappointed.

iPod Play:

Hitman

The first portable game in the Hitman series, Hitman for iPod Play is a mashup of the first two games in the series, with some added plot revelations and cutscenes. Half remake, half re-imagining, the game features some of the most popular missions from the first two games but also consists of about 50% new material. One of the more impressive looking iPod Play games to date, it does get some criticism for being a bit of a rehash, but is a great way to play Hitman on the go and is well received amongst series fans.

Roaming Rover

Another sort of “remake” type of game for the iPod Play, this is a platformer port of the Macintosh game and features a robot named Rover that must make its way across a number of procedurally generated platforming stages. The original was one of the most popular Macintosh exclusives of all time, and this game, while not quite as well received as the original, is still a very hotly anticipated port and does well in both reviews and sales, proving to be one of the more popular platformers on the iPod Play.

Endotherm

A port of the 2005 Katana hit, Endotherm has a few bonus features but is essentially identical to the console version. One of the most highly anticipated ports to hit the iPod Play, it gets excellent sales upon its release, proving nearly as popular as the Super Mario Dimensions port for the Supernova.

Extremis: Abandoned

Extremis: Abandoned is a spinoff of the Extremis series of survival horror games and the first to be featured on a handheld system. Extremis: Abandoned takes place between the second and third games in the series, and features a group of survivors who are ultimately caught up in a terrifying nightmare when they encounter a group of mutated and lethal humans after raiding an abandoned factory. The protagonist's companions are all picked off one by one, ultimately leaving only the protagonist left to escape the horrors and making for an extremely bleak game. Abandoned plays almost identically to the Saturn and Katana games, with graphics every bit as good looking as those in Extremis: Ruin Stalker. There are shorter segments and distances between checkpoints to accommodate portable play, and the game itself is about two-thirds the length of a typical Extremis title. While visually impressive, the short length and somewhat repetitive nature of the game weigh down review scores somewhat, and the game averages only about a 7/10. Still, it's financially successful, selling only slightly less copies than last year's Resident Evil iPod Play game.

Victory

This is a port of the 2001 Victory game that was released for the Ultra Nintendo, Katana, and Xbox. It's an almost perfect port of the original, with a few (mostly cosmetic) bonus features included. For those who have never played the 2001 game, or for those who really liked the game and want to take it on the go, it's a solid port and it sells decently.

The Destroyer Bride

The Destroyer Bride is an action-RPG developed by Koei exclusively for the iPod Play. The game is a fast-paced hack and slash title with RPG-style character advancement and game progression, and though the protagonist does get fighting companions at times, this is largely a single-character RPG (similar to OTL's Crisis Core). The protagonist of the game is a woman named Shirumi who is pledged to be wed to the prince of a great kingdom. Though it is an arranged marriage, Shirumi and the prince are truly in love with one another, and they are looking forward to their wedding day. However, on the day of their wedding, a powerful shogun named Kambato has the prince abducted because of an ancient debt still owed by his kingdom. What Kambato does not know is that Shirumi is also a powerful warrior, capable of cutting down legions of fighters, and will stop at nothing to win back her prince. The game receives many comparisons to Kill Bill, though it has many more fantastical elements including magic and ancient beasts, and isn't QUITE so brutal (it's a Teen-rated game). Also, unlike The Bride, Shirumi wears her wedding dress the entire game (it can be accessorized with a variety of trinkets and flowers). Pretty much everything, from items, to equipment, to Shirumi herself, can gain experience and level up in a myriad of ways, with the player gaining something out of pretty much every significant battle. There's loot and money galore to collect, and the combat is extremely fun, with the player capable of delivering very spectacular and visually appealing strikes with just a few button presses. Though Shirumi is capable of quite a bit, the game does feature many tough bosses that test the player's mettle. Level grinding is never required, though sometimes players do find themselves overleveled because combat is fun and there's a glut of sidequests that can be completed. The game features a soundtrack full of Japanese-styled music with some modern beats here and there. It's fairly light on voice acting save for a few small quips, and the cast is comprised pretty much of complete unknowns. Though accompanied by little hype prior to its release, the game would achieve some of the best reviews of any RPG in 2006, with many reviewers giving it a 9 or higher. Though most of the hype and sales would go to Phantasy Star VII, The Destroyer Bride manages to carve out a niche, and excellent word of mouth leads to stronger sales later on.

Virtua Racing

The first Virtua Racing game to make an appearance on the iPod Play, this is a modernized version of the classic Saturn games, with updated tracks and cars and a brand new modern styled soundtrack. The gameplay is very arcade-like, with arcade styled voices and sound effects as well. There's also the option for online play, with online leaderboards for time trial mode also making an appearance. This game received a lot of hype prior to its release, but reviews were a bit disappointing: in a market full of Gran Turismo type racing games, an arcade-styled racer featuring less than a dozen cars and a small number of tracks seemed a bit simplistic. The gameplay does get a lot of praise, and it's definitely not a bad game, but sales and reviews are a bit underwhelming. With Steve Jobs considering a Virtua Racing game for the iTwin, the performance of this title changes his mind somewhat, and instead he decides to bring back another classic Sega series for 2008...

Multiplatform:

Blackheart: Double Agent

Blackheart: Double Agent is a spinoff title in Ubisoft's Blackheart series created for the Supernova and iPod Play. It features the same mix of sexy stealth/action gameplay as previous series titles, with more of a smaller level approach than the more open levels of Blackheart 4. Despite the tightness of the missions, it's still a fairly expansive game, with 17 missions in all and no skimping on the production values, featuring the same voice actors as the mainline series and some of the best graphics yet on the handhelds. It takes place between Blackheart 3 and Blackheart 4 and features Sadira Blackheart going to extreme measures to root out a mole in her agency, including abducting fellow agents on their own missions and interrogating them. Ultimately, Sadira discovers that an outside entity has been leaking false intel to her and her organization, and chooses to get revenge in the only way she knows how: brutally and painfully. Messiah, who was absent from Blackheart 3, is also absent in this game, though there are one or two allusions to her character here and there if you know where to look, and it's also implied that she rescues someone that Sadira left for dead in one of the missions. All in all, this is a fun Blackheart spinoff that's fairly faithful to the main series, and though it gets the worst reviews of any game in the series to date, that's a bit like being the dumbest student at MIT: it still averages an 84 on Metacritic. Sales are strong on both handhelds, with the iPod Play version selling slightly more than the Supernova version.

DC Super Clash 2

The sequel to 2003's DC Super Clash, DC Super Clash 2 is released for all three main consoles in 2006 (it's also considered for an Xbox 2 version, but ultimately that's scrapped in favor of simply debuting DC Super Clash 3 on the next gen consoles instead). While it plays in a similar fashion to the previous game, it bumps up the graphics, adds considerably more voice acting and storyline cutscenes, and includes 30 fighters, rather than the 22 of the previous game. A few (Cyborg, Wildfire, Killer Frost) are dropped, but numerous fighters are added, many of whom appear in Suicide Squad, which releases the month after this game. Those include Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and Bane, while other fighters such as Huntress would also make their debut. DC Super Clash 2 would see great reviews and good sales, which would continue to be strong into February and the release of Suicide Squad. The Wave version of the game in particular would do quite well, while the Xbox and Katana versions would do marginally good numbers.

Triad: Hwang's Contract

The sequel to Triad, Hwang's Contract keeps the series' gameplay and authentic characterizations intact, while introducing a new protagonist: Cho Hwang, a young Chinese-American who seeks to make a better life for himself, and is forced into organized crime in order to do it. He is given a contract to execute an old gangster, and from there, is launched into a story of underworld intrigue and brutal crime. The game introduces mid-mission checkpoints and cuts down on the number of driving missions to reduce player frustration (there are still more driving missions than most other sandbox crime games though). Hwang's Contract takes on a more serious storyline from the Grand Theft Auto games, and while the game's choice of a more conventional male protagonist rather than the bold female protagonist of the previous title is criticized by some, it does thrust the game more into the mainstream conversation, and ultimately sales are far stronger than the original cult classic. Hwang's Contract would go on to sell a million copies between the Xbox, Katana, and Wave, ensuring the continued production of the series.

Wintry Mix

A winter-themed extreme sports game, Wintry Mix is another Thrillseekers clone that features a very peppy female protagonist. The game features cartoonish animation and is a bit more forgiving than most extreme sports titles. It's sort of the Snowboard Kids to Thrillseekers' 1080 Snowboarding, and doesn't take itself very seriously. Sales are mediocre, making it more of a one-shot curiosity than most, and the game is only really notable for its protagonist, who becomes a bit of an internet meme with lots of cute fanart.

Liberty 2: Sons Of The Rebellion

The sequel to 2004's shooter title Liberty, Liberty 2 continues where the previous game left off, following a ragtag band of heavily armed rebels as they seek to liberate numerous Midwestern cities from the Red Army. The game plays similarly to the previous title, with an open-ended mission structure and the option to liberate cities in many different orders. Here, your choice of which city to liberate first affects your choice of battle companions, altering the game's storyline significantly depending on what order the missions are played in. Liberty 2, like its predecessor, is praised for its open-ended mission structure and the tightness of its shooting mechanics, along with its production values and voice acting. The gameplay is seen as a bit of a rehash, but the diversity of missions and the graphical improvements diminish those complaints somewhat. Ultimately, Liberty 2 achieves solid reviews (in the 8/10 range), and sales about on par with the previous game, making it a moderately successful shooter.

Load: Five Not Alive

The fifth main title in Activision's Load series of FPS games, it features revamped gameplay and a brand new protagonist in an attempt to freshen things up and breathe new life into the title. There's an overhauled, more realistic shooting system, improved graphics (especially on the Xbox 2 version of the game, which is released in 2007), and improvements to the multiplayer as well, all an effort by Activision to push Load back into the conversation as their pre-eminent FPS series. The new protagonist, Russ Armour, is a mercenary who is commissioned by the International War Crimes Committee to hunt down and terminate with extreme prejudice five dangerous war criminals, each of whom is more cunning and deadly than the last. Armour must travel to five different locales, from a bustling European resort city to the jungles of Central America, in order to hunt down these criminals, most of whom has their own private army. The game has a slightly more serious tone than the previous Load games, but Russ is still every bit the badass wisecracker that Kilroy Hearns was, leading to some complaints that he's Kilroy in all but name. Ultimately, Load: Five Not Alive is seen as a solid FPS, with reviews on par with or slightly better than Hollowpoint. Thanks to a heavy ad campaign from Activision, sales bounce back a bit too: Five Not Alive is one of the most successful titles of February, especially on the Xbox, where it actually does somewhat well despite the release of Cyberwar 2 in the same month. It also gets ported to the iPod Play and the Supernova, though sales are somewhat weak on the handhelds despite the game being a good looking, solid port. The strong reviews and sales keep Activision confident in the series, which it plans to showcase alongside Call of Duty as a premiere FPS franchise.

Tomb Raider: Last Of The Pharaohs

Tomb Raider: Last Of The Pharaohs is a follow-up game to 2003's Tomb Raider: Absolution. It continues the story of Lara Croft, though this title is somewhat of a stand-alone game, with Lara journeying to Egypt after hearing rumors of a lost pharaoh whose name was erased from the records. She ends up battling a terrorist warlord in the hunt for the lost tomb and its riches. It's a very action packed title, with less puzzle solving and more combat than previous Tomb Raider games, with many players criticizing it as being “too movielike”. It features only little graphical improvements over Absolution, making it a somewhat mid-tier game in terms of sixth generation graphics. While some longtime fans accuse Eidos of making a “throwaway” Tomb Raider title as a cash grab, others love the more action heavy feel, and that the game's villain, which gets some controversy due to leaning heavily on current events, might just be the best in the series to date. Despite being a slightly polarizing game, with reviews hovering in the mid 7s, Last Of The Pharaohs gets solid sales and is seen as a strong sendoff to Lara Croft for the sixth generation.

Speedfreak

A racing title that takes place on various illicit tracks, Speedfreak is an M-rated racing game. It makes heavy use of sexy women in its gameplay (with numerous playable female characters, most of whom are designed to be as physically attractive as possible) and advertising but isn't nearly as titillating as the Exhilaration franchise. The campaign mode is where the game really earns its M-rating: characters swear at each other vigorously, while numerous violent acts are committed inbetween races. Despite the somewhat shocking content, the campaign mode actually features some decent storytelling and compelling characters, and is considered a highlight of the game. Speedfreak is ultimately seen as a decent game with a surprisingly good campaign mode, and achieves decent sales on the Wave and Xbox. It also makes it to Xbox 2 as a launch title, where it performs somewhat below expectations.

Turok: The Bone Soldiers

The sequel to Turok: Extinction, The Bone Soldiers is an adventure/FPS title made by Acclaim and released for the Wave, Katana, and Xbox, with an Xbox 2 port released in 2007. It features both Tal'Set and Danielle as dual protagonists, and rather than being able to play as both of them for every mission, the game swaps between them, with Tal'Set mostly following his own quest and Danielle following hers. The currency and equipment/item purchasing system from Extinction returns for this game, with both shared equipment and character-specific equipment available for purchase. As for the plot, the game follows Tal'Set and Danielle's quest to stop yet another incursion from a parallel dimension, this time an incursion of savage soldiers clad in bone. Said to be dinosaur hunters from an alternate universe, the Bone Soldiers fight with brutal violence and seek to destroy all humans to placate their god, said to be an all-powerful being known as The First Soldier. The First Soldier turns out to be a hunter in his own right, a former Turok who went rogue upon discovering an ancient amulet that warped and twisted his mind. He traveled into the past and raised up a cult, training them to conquer and kill. The Bone Soldiers, for the most part, continues the gameplay of previous Turok titles, but introduces melee fighting into the mix, with both hand-to-hand combat and melee weapons. Tal'Set fights with a more brutal, up-close style, while Danielle fights in a more acrobatic and limber fashion. This game includes more humanoid enemies than any previous Turok game: though there are still plenty of dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures, most of the enemies you'll fight, especially on Tal'Set's missions, are humans, servants of the First Soldier. The final battle is fought by both Tal'Set and Danielle, with the player alternating between them for different phases of the fight: the fight is against the First Soldier, riding an enormous carnivorous dinosaur, and the two heroes must work together to dismount the First Soldier before he can be damaged, with the fight ultimately requiring that both the First Soldier and his enormous pet be killed.

Turok: The Bone Soldier is both a critical and commercial success, with strong sales on all platforms on which it's released. Reviews are about the same as they were for Turok: Extinction, with the gameplay considered a bit worse but the story considered significantly better, and the game becomes one of the biggest hits of the first quarter of 2006.

-

Top Selling New Console Games In North America (in terms of sales over the first four weeks of release):

January 2006:

1. Return To Three Mile Island (Apple Katana)
2. DC Super Clash 2 (Nintendo Wave)
3. Falling Reign (Microsoft Xbox)
4. Invisible Empire (Apple Katana)
5. Triad: Hwang's Contract (Nintendo Wave)

February 2006:

1. Cyberwar 2 (Microsoft Xbox)
2. Endotherm (iPod Play)
3. Load: Five Not Alive (Microsoft Xbox)
4. Ultima X (Microsoft Xbox)
5. Tomb Raider: Last Of The Pharaohs (Nintendo Wave)

March 2006:

1. Star Wars: Insurgence (Nintendo Wave)
2. Turok: The Bone Soldiers (Nintendo Wave)
3. Star Wars: Insurgence (Microsoft Xbox)
4. Turok: The Bone Soldiers (Microsoft Xbox)
5. Parasite Eve 3 (Nintendo Wave)

 

[RySenkari]

Thrillseekers: Spring Break

Thrillseekers: Spring Break is a spinoff title in the Thrillseekers series. It's a sidestory/prequel game, and it's the first multiplatform game in the series as well, releasing not only for the Wave but also for the Katana, Xbox, Supernova, and iPod Play. It takes place during the spring break a few months before the events of Thrillseekers, and features a narrative framing device of Alex telling Stacy about what she did on spring break when she went back to San Francisco for the week to visit Elissa, Marina, Kirsten, and Vivian. The game features similar gameplay to the original Thrillseekers, with skateboarding, surfing, wingsuiting, BMX biking, and snowboarding all included as playable sports, but eschews a "storyline" mode in favor of more straight-up extreme sports gameplay. The game does include animated cutscenes, but only about 30 minutes' worth, showing the girls joking around on spring break or showing Alex and Stacy hanging out at the skatepark in Eureka, with Alex giving Stacy skateboarding lessons. In terms of gameplay, Spring Break adds dozens of new tricks in each sport, and also features a substantial improvement to the last game's affinity/encouragement system, in which your character can perform certain tricks easier after being encouraged by a friend. In Spring Break, each character has their own favorite tricks, and if you do a combo utilizing that trick you'll gain an immediate affinity boost from that character, allowing combos and chains into more difficult tricks. It's possible to build up some truly insane combos this way while performing some physics-defying stunts that were impossible in the original Thrillseekers. The game's freeplay mode is very similar to the original Thrillseekers' freeplay mode, and it's even possible to have Stacy participate in sports like wingsuiting and surfing, even though she didn't learn those sports until later in the actual storyline. Like the original Thrillseekers, Spring Break includes multiplayer and online play, and an expanded collection of costumes and and equipment from the original game. It does feature less playable characters in freeplay mode (12, as opposed to the original game's 21). The voice cast of the original game, including Avril Lavigne herself, all return to reprise their roles in Spring Break, though Spring Break has much less voice acting than the original game, being more gameplay heavy than storyline heavy. It also features a slightly smaller soundtrack (32 songs total), but does have mostly new songs (such as "I'm Just A Girl" by No Doubt and "Break You" by Marion Raven), along with a couple of remixes of songs from the previous game (in particular, the Paul Oakenfold remix of "If You're Gonna Jump" by Natasha Bedingfield, which plays over the game's opening cutscene). The graphics in this game are actually slightly downgraded from the original game, which is largely to accommodate the ports to other systems. In fact, Neversoft does state that the entire reason for the existence of Spring Break is to push a version of Thrillseekers to consoles that didn't get the original version and that the best way to do that was to eliminate the storyline segments, which necessitated detailed animations that only the Wave was capable of. Reviews are still largely positive, it's still a really fun extreme sports game even without most of the storyline stuff, with what little storyline material there is still allowing the characters to shine through. The game sells well even on the Nintendo Wave, but it performs best on the Xbox, with the handheld versions also selling nicely.

-

From the moment when Avril Lavigne first signed on to help Activision create an extreme sports game, Thrillseekers was destined for success, but the positive reaction to the game surprised even the series' optimistic creators, and a multimedia franchise was born. Activision had always planned to sign off on an animated series based on the property, but once the first sales figures came in, they couldn't greenlight it fast enough, and it immediately went into production. Amy Wolfram, who had previously written for the Wonder Woman animated series, was signed on as showrunner, and the series would be animated by the same company who animated the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon IOTL. The show would be picked up by Cartoon Network's Toonami, and would air on Saturday nights for the duration of its run. Thrillseekers would concentrate on the six main characters: Alex, Stacy, Vivian, Marina, Elissa, and Kirsten, but would also introduce numerous other characters to the show, both from previously written material (such as the book series, which was already in print), and created originally for the show, many of whom would cultivate their own devoted fanbases and would graduate to future games, books, and comics. It would focus heavily on extreme sports, but would also include a lot of slice-of-life moments from the girls' college experience, and would also include action and adventure taking place outside of the girls' athletic activity. The show would have a Y10 rating, allowing it to feature more serious and edgy material, including some fairly dramatic and violent scenes, and would also allow for a few incidents of mild swearing (notably two uses of "dammit" over the course of the series, once by Vivian and another by Alex, a few uses of "hell", and plenty of uses of "sucks" and "crap" littered throughout). Among the most prominent characters portrayed in the series are:

Laura: A girl introduced in a season 1 episode featuring Alex participating in an extreme sports beauty pageant, Laura would start out as Alex's rival but would become a close friend to her, though not quite as close as the other girls. Laura has a tough exterior, and frequently pulls a lot of stuff with Alex that Stacy would frown at. Laura is voiced by Paget Brewster.

Marceline: The oldest of Vivian's younger siblings, Marceline is a 14-year-old girl who idolizes her big sister and desperately wants to be like her, to the point of trying out really dangerous extreme stunts. Fortunately, Marceline is a quick learner, but she sometimes bites off more than she can chew. Marceline is voiced by Gina Rodriguez, though eventually after Gina Rodriguez becomes more of a star, other actresses would come in to play the role.

Stephen: Introduced as Elissa's love interest, Stephen is a somewhat shy, timid boy who sees Elissa as someone who's too good for him, but is encouraged by his friends to ask her out, and she accepts. Of all the love interests that the main six girls have during this phase of the franchise (2004-2009), Stephen is the most prominent and permanent, staying on as Elissa's boyfriend through at least Thrillseekers 2 and beyond. He's voiced by Justin Shenkarow.

Carly: Introduced during season two as the member of a rival group of extreme sports enthusiasts, Carly is sort of Stacy's Laura: a rival girl who shares a lot in common with her counterpart. She's actually one of the main "antagonists" of season two, but she's more friendly toward Stacy than any of the other rivals are toward the other girls (in a way, their relationship parallels Kimber and Stormer's relationship in Jem And The Holograms). Intelligent but also a bit arrogant (unlike Stacy who's more humble), the two still find they have a lot in common. Carly's relationship with Stacy is badly strained during the season two finale in which Carly's group kidnaps Kirsten, but it's Carly who keeps anything seriously bad from happening to her and ultimately Carly is the reason that Stacy is able to convince the other girls not to press charges against them for kidnapping. Ultimately, the girls' friendship is repaired during season three and Carly and some of the other rivals continue to pop up occasionally throughout the series. Carly is voiced by Mandy Moore in the animated series, but doesn't always reprise the role in other things.

Mr. Steele: Mr. Steele is a busybody city councilman determined to stamp out skateboarding in San Francisco, and looks to use the power of his office to ruin the girls' favorite extreme sports hangouts, ultimately attempting to get them framed for a crime to get rid of them for good. He's the main "antagonist" of season one, and is voiced by Peter MacNicol.

One of the big hurdles of producing the Thrillseekers animated series was voice acting. While Brittany Saldita (Vivian), Lacey Chabert (Stacy), Francesca Marie Smith (Elissa), and Jennifer Tung (Marina) all eagerly reprised their roles, Avril Lavigne, the face of the series itself and the voice of Alex, was unfortunately not able to voice Alex in the animated series. It was not by choice: Avril desperately wanted to reprise her role for the series, but the time of the series' production (2005-2008) was the zenith of Avril's skating career, and she was just too busy to perform all the recording sessions necessary for the character. The series would've had to have been delayed to 2007 to accommodate Avril's schedule, but it wasn't possible to do that. Instead, Alex would be voiced by young actress Johanna Braddy, who was selected both for her acting ability and for her ability to voice match Avril almost perfectly. Though fan reaction was initially furious toward the recasting of Avril, Braddy's performance received accolades all around, and there are in fact fans of the series who consider her to be the superior Alex voice, simply because, being a professional actress, she brought more emotion and skill to the role. It's a debate that rages within the fandom to this day, though it's a fairly moot debate because Avril would voice Alex for every major Thrillseekers project going forward, including all sequel games and all subsequent animated material as well. As for Erica Luttrell, the voice of Kirsten, Luttrell's residence in Toronto at the time of production precluded her participation in the animated series, and instead, Kimberly Brooks took over as the voice of Kirsten. Her performance, like that of Braddy's, was well received, and Luttrell re-assumed her role as Kirsten for subsequent games and supplemental material.

The series premiered in the fall of 2006 to strong ratings and critical reception, becoming one of the most popular shows on the Toonami block and leading to season 2 being greenlit almost immediately. Ratings declined for season 2, but were still strong enough for the show to get a third season. By the time the third season rolled around, the show's creators and writers knew it would probably be the last. They wrote every season finale like a possible series finale, though the open-ended nature of the franchise made it easy for them to leave things open, as they knew that questions unable to be answered in the show could be answered later on in future games or other material such as books and comics. However, the season 3 finale, which turned out to be the series' finale, segued almost perfectly into Thrillseekers 2, which was released just a few short months after the animated series' last episode aired. The animated series is considered, for the most part, canon to the events of the games, and is considered by fans of the franchise to be some of the best written material in the franchise's history.

Brief summaries for the series' 60 episodes are listed here:

San Andreas Sisters (Season 1, Episode 1) (September 23, 2006)
The girls head to a secret park where there are plenty of awesome extreme stunts to do, but when their fun is broken up by a small earthquake, Kirsten makes a troubling discovery: are the girls having so much fun that it's setting off the San Andreas Fault?

Class Act (Season 1, Episode 2) (September 30, 2006)
Stacy and Alex find a killer new skating spot, but Stacy gets into it so much that she starts to blow off her classes! Can Alex be the mature one for once and convince Stacy that school really is cool?

Cloudy Skies (Season 1, Episode 3) (October 7, 2006)
Elissa witnesses a young girl being disciplined by her father and goes off on him, leading to a confrontation that brings up memories of her troubled past.

Everywhere Signs (Season 1, Episode 4) (October 14, 2006)
As part of a new beautification initiative, a city councilman has designated much of the Thrillseekers' favorite skating hangouts off limits! Can they convince him to chance his mind?

Ghosts Of Halloweens Past (Season 1, Episode 5) (October 28, 2006)
When the girls find out that Stacy stopped trick-or-treating at a young age due to bullying, they all resolve to give her one last Halloween night she'll never forget. While the girls all have fun reliving their Halloween glory days, Stacy comes across a young girl being bullied like she was, and decides to give her the amazing Halloween she never had.

Lifted (Season 1, Episode 6) (November 4, 2006)
Marina is accused of shoplifting from her favorite boutique, after having never committed a crime in her life. Alex goes to bat for her, but when the real truth comes out, a friendship could be tested forever.

Waste Not, Want Not (Season 1, Episode 7) (November 11, 2006)
When a new startup company making eco skateboards out of recycled materials is announced, the Thrillseekers want in on the ground floor! But after they sign up to help sponsor the skateboards, they discover that not everything about this new company is on the level.

People Who Need Skateboards (Season 1, Episode 8) (November 18, 2006)
Alex loses her prized skateboard, and the girls go on an epic mission to try and find it, learning a lot about Alex's past in the process.

Miss Extreme (Season 1, Episode 9) (December 2, 2006)
The girls push Alex into entering a beauty pageant for skater girls. Alex hates the idea at first, but after getting a rude reception from a rival contestant, becomes fiercely determined to win.

Brain Freeze (Season 1, Episode 10) (December 9, 2006)
While on an “extreme study session” together in the Sierra Nevadas, Stacy, Marina, and Kirsten are stranded together and need to figure out a way back to civilization before they freeze to death.

The BMX Babysitter (Season 1, Episode 11) (January 6, 2007)
Stuck babysitting her younger siblings and unable to go to a big race, Vivian finds a creative way to blow off her obligations, but it might be more trouble than it's worth.

The Wyrmwood Initiative (Season 1, Episode 12) (January 27, 2007)
While adventuring in a remote area, the Thrillseekers stumble across a strange campsite filled with people who believe they can live forever. Stacy is skeptical, but one by one her friends are suckered in, and it's up to her to save them all!

Taken For Granite (Season 1, Episode 13) (February 3, 2007)
The girls participate in an extreme rock climbing challenge, but the steepness of the cliffs may not be the biggest hazard they face...

Heart Stopper (Season 1, Episode 14) (February 10, 2007)
When Marina gets a crush on Stacy's handsome lab partner, it ends up rekindling the girls' old animosities, forcing Alex to play referee.

The Right Notes (Season 1, Episode 15) (February 24, 2007)
The Thrillseekers form a band and enter a competition. When they turn out to be the surprise hits of the show, they find out that one of their rival bands might do anything to win.

Scavengers (Season 1, Episode 16) (March 3, 2007)
Alex steals Vivian's bike, but it's really part of a playful scavenger hunt. At first it's fun, but after an accident causes Vivian to get hurt, Alex has to confront what happens when her usual antics stop being quite so fun.

At The Finish Line (Season 1, Episode 17) (March 10, 2007)
Elissa and Kirsten find trouble when the pilot of the plane they commissioned to take them on a skydiving adventure turns out to have a checkered past.

The Marina District (Season 1, Episode 18) (March 17, 2007)
It's Marina-mania in San Francisco after the Thrillseekers' surfing champion becomes the spokesmodel for a line of designer surfboards. Marina's ego gets way out of control, and her friends have to try and bring her down a peg without hurting her feelings.

Sing To Me Of Roasted Marshmallows (Season 1, Episode 19) (March 24, 2007)
During a camping trip in which the girls reminisce about their good times together, Stacy feels isolated due to not knowing the girls for nearly as long, and when she takes a walk in the woods, she runs into trouble.

You Can't Fight City Hall (Season 1, Episode 20) (March 31, 2007)
The Thrillseekers' least favorite city councilman is back, looking to frame the girls for a crime that could derail their adventures forever.

Rolling Thunder (Part 1) (Season 2, Episode 1) (August 11, 2007)
The Thrillseekers take part in the exciting sport of roller derby, meeting new friends and new enemies along the way. Stacy might be new to the sport, but she shocks all of her friends when she reveals herself to be the best roller skater of all of them.

Rolling Thunder (Part 2) (Season 2, Episode 2) (August 11, 2007)
It's the San Francisco Bay Roller Derby Championships, and the girls have made the final rounds. Will they come out on top, or get slammed on their faces?

This Old House (Season 2, Episode 3) (August 18, 2007)
Alex and Laura explore an old ruined mansion, thinking it'd be the perfect place for a skating session. Instead, they run into the house's old owner, and decide to help an old woman realize her last dream.

Last Resort (Season 2, Episode 4) (August 25, 2007)
The Thrillseekers go exploring around the old Salton Sea, hoping the deserted landscape will let them have an extreme adventure in peace. Instead, they run into a rival group of extreme sports lovers who had the same idea as them, and challenge them to a battle for turf.

Better Than You (Season 2, Episode 5) (September 1, 2007)
Kirsten finally stands up to her sister Marie, only to learn that Marie has some amazing tricks up her sleeve. Can a discouraged Kirsten find the confidence to prove herself to her sister?

Boy Trouble (Season 2, Episode 6) (September 8, 2007)
Elissa's boyfriend Stephen thinks he isn't brave enough for her, so he enlists Alex to help give him a pep talk and gets way more than he bargained for: a trip to Alex's extreme sports boot camp, a real school of hard knocks!

North By Northwest (Season 2, Episode 7) (October 27, 2007)
The girls head up to Vancouver, Canada, to check out the killer waves and the Canadian wilderness. What they don't count on is an encounter with a furious creature lurking in the woods...

Prank Wars: Attack Of The Bros (Season 2, Episode 8) (January 19, 2008)
The girls find themselves in the midst of a prank war after a group of naughty frat bros start messing with them. Alex wants to go all out, but the others try a more diplomatic approach... will the girls be able to outprank the guys?

Cabin Of Memories (Season 2, Episode 9) (January 26, 2008)
Vivian takes the girls up to a cabin where she and her grandparents spent a lot of time together. They spend the weekend fixing it up, but don't always see eye to eye along the way...

The Buddy System (Season 2, Episode 10) (February 2, 2008)
The girls and their new rivals are paired up together in a competition, and tempers will surely be flaring! The Thrillseekers each have a rival, but Elissa forms a surprising bond.

Cleanup On Aisle Three (Season 2, Episode 11) (February 9, 2008)
Alex's skateboarding business begins to dry up, and she gets a job at a local supermarket so she can keep making her rent payments to Stacy. Alex doesn't take very well to the job but is afraid to tell Stacy what's troubling her.

Runaways (Season 2, Episode 12) (February 16, 2008)
Marina and Elissa want to get away from it all, so they take a long trip out onto the ocean, leaving their friends worried, especially Stacy, who had an argument with both of them beforehand and is worried she drove them away.

Winds Of Change (Season 2, Episode 13) (February 23, 2008)
The Thrillseekers win a windsurfing competition, and now their schedule is packed. Is victory really sweet, or will it take the fun out of what they love to do?

Catch Me If You Can (Season 2, Episode 14) (March 1, 2008)
Alex gives skating lessons to a young and brilliant computer student who takes a liking to her, and Alex seems to like him back, but she has trouble expressing her feelings in any way except extreme sports.

Cram (Season 2, Episode 15) (March 8, 2008)
Stacy is going into overdrive to prepare for a big exam, but when she tries to blow off steam after a series of all-nighters, it puts her life at major risk.

Joyride (Season 2, Episode 16) (April 26, 2008)
Alex rents a sports car to experience the thrill of high speed racing, but after she wrecks it trying a dangerous stunt, her friends have to bail her out of serious trouble.

Friend Or Foe (Season 2, Episode 17) (May 3, 2008)
Alex and Marina have one of their most vicious arguments yet, and refuse to speak to each other until a dangerous situation forces them to work together.

Street Smarts (Season 2, Episode 18) (May 10, 2008)
Stacy and Carly find themselves stranded in San Francisco after both their groups of friends leave them behind. The two might be “rivals”, but now they'll need to put their heads together to find their way home.

Race To The Finish (Part 1) (Season 2, Episode 19) (May 17, 2008)
The Thrillseekers enter an extreme sports competition, but the rivals they've been dualing it out enter the race too, with a big contract at stake! Both teams desperately want to win, but will things go too far?

Race To The Finish (Part 2) (Season 2, Episode 20) (May 17, 2008)
Things heat up when Kirsten is kidnapped by the rival team and her friends have to pull out all the stops to save her. Can they win the race AND save their friend?

Once In A Lifetime (Season 3, Episode 1) (October 11, 2008)
Stacy is shocked to get the biggest opportunity of her life when she wins the chance to study at Oxford, but it would require her to leave her best friends behind...

Dolphin Days (Season 3, Episode 2) (October 18, 2008)
Marceline makes a new friend: an injured dolphin washed up in the bay. While Vivian helps her nurse the dolphin back to health, Marina investigates how the dolphin got there in the first place.

Strictly Experimental (Season 3, Episode 3) (November 1, 2008)
Stacy meets one of her scientific idols, a brilliant chemist who asks her to be his research assistant. Stacy is thrilled, but her friends think something's not right...

Nightmare At Battle Canyon (Part 1) (Season 3, Episode 4) (November 8, 2008)
The Thrillseekers and some of their friends head to central California's Battle Canyon to participate in an extreme sports competition, but when the biggest flood in a century strikes, they find themselves in more danger than they've ever been before...

Nightmare At Battle Canyon (Part 2) (Season 3, Episode 5) (November 15, 2008)
The girls' skills help them become expert rescuers, but when some of them start to get overwhelmed by the stress, they'll have to band together to survive.

Sky City Hearts (Season 3, Episode 6) (November 22, 2008)
Elissa and her boyfriend Stephen become rivals in a thrilling aerial acrobatics competition. Stephen pushes himself to his limits to beat Elissa, who finds herself terrified for his safety.

Midnight Madness (Season 3, Episode 7) (December 6, 2008)
Stacy and Alex find themselves unable to sleep and decide to wander the campus at night, looking for extreme thrills and seeing things they've never seen before.

Sunshine State (Season 3, Episode 8) (December 13, 2008)
The Thrillseekers head down to Florida for a thrilling vacation, but wind up in the middle of another action-packed mystery.

No Laughing Matter (Season 3, Episode 9) (January 10, 2009)
Attempting some gallows humor while commiserating with a friend who's suffered a bad snowboarding injury, Kirsten says something she immediately regrets, and must risk it all to save her friendship and her friend.

Divebomber (Season 3, Episode 10) (January 17, 2009)
Alex and Marina team up to corral a gross prankster, and decide to beat them at their own game in extreme fashion.

Stacy's School For Seekers (Season 3, Episode 11) (January 24, 2009)
Stuck babysitting Vivian's siblings during a visit to San Francisco, Stacy winds up teaching them about extreme sports, but as it turns out, they may end up teaching her a lot more.

The Denali Adventure (Part 1) (Season 3, Episode 12) (March 7, 2009)
The Thrillseekers embark on the adventure of a lifetime: a journey to the summit of North America's tallest mountain.

The Denali Adventure (Part 2) (Season 3, Episode 13) (March 7, 2009)
Disaster strikes when an avalanche separates the team. Kirsten takes charge of Vivian and Stacy, while Alex and Marina clash as Elissa tries to keep the peace. Will the friends reunite, or will they perish on the mountain?

The Denali Adventure (Part 3) (Season 3, Episode 14) (March 7, 2009)
The Thrillseekers push for the summit. Can they conquer the mountain or will the mountain break them?

Sponsors Are The Pits (Season 3, Episode 15) (March 14, 2009)
To keep a key sponsor, the Thrillseekers have to participate in and win an unfamiliar competition, and their fiercest rivals are a group of old enemies...

Where Nobody Knows Your Name (Season 3, Episode 16) (March 21, 2009)
Marina finds herself in a strange and terrifying situation when her familiar friends no longer recognize her. Can she get to the bottom of this frightening mystery?

Keeping Up Is Hard To Do (Season 3, Episode 17) (March 28, 2009)
Stacy struggles in a crucial competition preliminary, and Alex has to take her friend back to basics to help her keep up with the group.

Moms And Things (Season 3, Episode 18) (April 4, 2009)
Alex is having a rough go of things with her estranged mom, who wants to get to know the rest of Alex's friends and their moms. Alex struggles with jealousy when she realizes how close all of her friends and their mothers are.

Undeclared (Season 3, Episode 19) (April 11, 2009)
Alex struggles to find a college major that really suits her, and her friends all have their own ideas about what course her future should take...

Operation: Extreme (Season 3, Episode 20) (April 18, 2009)
The Thrillseekers are in their toughest competition yet, and many old friends and rivals make their return as they skate, surf, ride, and dive for all the marbles, with the prize being worldwide recognition...

-

The success of the Thrillseekers media franchise wasn't just limited to the United States. The series was popular all over the world, but being America's neighbor to the north, Canada definitely had the biggest fanbase for Thrillseekers outside the country of its birth. Canadians loved the game, and they were also thrilled about the animated series, which aired on Teletoon almost simultaneously with its Cartoon Network airing. One of the companies that noticed the trend was Fresh TV, creator of the popular animated sitcom 6teen. The company was looking to follow up 6teen's success with another animated hit, and they were in the process of creating a spoof of reality television when they instead decided to put that idea on the backburner in favor of fast-tracking a surfing-based cartoon called Stoked. Its premise was basically "6teen at a surf resort", chronicling the lives of six teenagers who decided to spend their summer working at a resort on Canada's western coast, where they planned to enjoy the killer waves on their days off. The series was heavily influenced by Thrillseekers, and Fresh TV briefly considered having all six main characters be female before deciding to stick to the 6teen format of "three guys, three girls". Despite this, the series would focus heavily on the three female characters: Fin (voiced by Katie Crown), a surf champion and prankster who was modeled after Alex, Morgan (voiced by Stephanie Broschart), a dorky new girl who Fin takes under her wing and teaches to surf, clearly modeled after Stacy, and Heather (voiced by Rachel Wilson), a rich queen bee type character who serves as a rival to Fin and who bullies Morgan relentlessly. Heather is based off of Marina, but Thrillseekers fans claim that she's "Marina with absolutely no redeeming qualities, basically what would've happened had Marina had doubled down on being a bitch to Stacy rather than having a heart-to-heart with her and apologizing halfway through the game". It's later revealed by one of the show's writers that Heather was initially written as the villain of Fresh TV's reality spoof before being re-modeled for Stoked.

Teletoon, looking to push a Canadian cartoon over an American one, gives Stoked heavily favorable treatment once it begins airing in 2007. The network delays airing Thrillseekers' second season in the hopes of promoting Stoked, which simply leads to Canadian Thrillseekers fans pirating the show once it airs in the States. It doesn't help that Stoked is seen as inferior to both Thrillseekers and 6teen. It's a critical and ratings failure, canceled after one season, and would ultimately lead to the bankruptcy of Fresh TV and its later acquisition by Nelvana. As for Fresh TV's reality show spoof, some of its ideas would be adapted into a later Nelvana cartoon, but ultimately it remains one of the more intriguing "what ifs" in the history of Canadian animation.

-excerpted from "Canadian Animation Of The 2000s", an article on Tubehound.com, posted on October 29, 2012

-

In addition to the Thrillseekers video games and animated series, the franchise also spawned several fictional book series based on the main characters. A total of 33 fictional books were released between 2004 and 2010, divided into three different series, each with a different aim.

Series One: The initial series of Thrillseekers books, these were released in 2004 and 2005, and are a series of six hardcover books, each based around a different character. These books serve as introductions to each character, re-telling the events of the original game from that character's point of view while also giving some background story on that character and then giving a small segment telling readers what that character is doing following the events of the game. These books were somewhat popular with readers, but were underprinted, making them (especially "Alex's Story" and "Stacy's Story") fairly rare until reprints were done later on.

#1: Alex's Story
What's up? I'm Alex Levesque, and I love skateboarding! The only thing I love more than skateboarding is hanging out with my awesome friends. But things haven't always been awesome for me. This is the story of how I met my friends, including my newest friend Stacy, and how we all had the best summer ever!

#2: Stacy's Story
I'm Stacy Summers, and I've always been really shy... I've been picked on a lot, and it wasn't easy for me to meet people. But then I met Alex, and she changed my world forever. This is how I went from being the most unpopular girl in school to being a total thrillseeker!

#3: Vivian's Story
Living in a big family can be tough, even for a tough girl like me. I'm Vivian Martinez, and I'm the oldest of five siblings... but when life gets me totally stressed, I can always relax by crushing big hills on my awesome bike! With my friends and family to support me, I can take on any challenge, even the most thrilling summer of my life!

#4: Kirsten's Story
My name is Kirsten, and I love spending time with my friends, even more than I love riding my snowboard down a steep mountain! When my friend Alex introduced me to the new girl Stacy, I knew it might be tough for her to fit in, but I also knew I could get her to smile if I showed her just how fun extreme sports could be!

#5: Marina's Story
Okay, so I'm not the easiest girl to get to know. My name's Marina Hirano, and before I met Alex, I was harsh with pretty much everybody....and let's face it, I was harsh even after I met her. But the person I was toughest on was me. When the new girl Stacy showed up, I didn't want anything to do with her! This is the story of how I learned to truly accept others...and myself.

#6: Elissa's Story
I'm Elissa Settergren, and nothing scares me. Even jumping out of a plane without a parachute! I try to have a positive outlook about everything... but it's been pretty hard, since I've had kind of a rough life. Honestly, without my friends I don't know what I'd do. This is the story of how I met the people who saved my life...literally!

Series Two: Series Two consisted of a series of hardcover novellas released between 2006 and 2009. The release of these books ran parallel to the airing of the animated series, and these are considered the closest in tone and content to the series itself. Penned by several different authors, they're written for slightly more grown-up readers, closer in some cases to young adult novels than elementary school novels, with a recommended age range between 10-14. While these books were slightly overprinted, they still sold enough to be considered successful, and some of them are among the most popular supplementary material in the franchise.

#1: Stacy's New Trick
Alex taught Stacy pretty much everything she knows about skateboarding. So when Stacy shows up one day with a new trick that even Alex can't pull off, it shocks pretty much everyone...but no one more than Alex, who is desperate to learn Stacy's new trick. Will the new trick drive a wedge between two inseparable friends?

#2: The Big Wave
When a huge storm causes the biggest waves in decades, the girls know they have to try and ride them...especially Alex and Marina, who are determined to push themselves to the limit. But as the storm gets more and more dangerous, will the girls' quest to ride the ultimate wave end up being a thrill that kills?

#3: Urban Renewal
The girls volunteer to fix up an abandoned construction site and decide to turn it into an extreme sports park! But there's opposition all along the way, including a stubborn city official and a gang who insists that the site is their turf. Can the girls convince everyone to get along and make their thrilling dream a reality?

#4: Surfing The Mojave
The girls go on a trip to Nevada, where they discover an awesome new sport: desert surfing! Even better, they befriend a kindly old woman who lets them explore her property. But trouble's afoot when they stumble on a scheme to rob their new friend of everything she's got... will they be able to stop the thieves' plans in time?

#5: Big Sister Vivian
Vivian is always trying to spend as much time as she can with her younger siblings, even while she's studying for law school! When her 14-year-old sister Marceline wants to learn how to ride a bike like Vivian, it's the perfect opportunity for bonding... but Marceline starts to bite off way more than she can chew, and Vivian struggles between being the “cool” big sis and keeping her little sister safe.

#6: The Sky's The Limit
Elissa takes to new heights when she introduces the girls to the world of high altitude skydiving... one of the most dangerous sports in the world. When Elissa's risktaking gets out of control, the girls are deeply worried about her safety, and it's up to Stacy and her unique new science experiment to save the day...

#7: Alex Goes Hollywood
Alex's awesome skateboarding tricks earn her a spot in a national commercial, and suddenly everyone in Hollywood wants to talk to her! Alex does her best to stay grounded, but the increasing demands on her time begin to pull her further and further from her friends...

#8: A Not So Nice Trip
Alex has pulled off death defying skateboard stunts without a single broken bone... but a careless walk down a small flight of stairs has left her with a broken arm, and now the girls have to take turns taking care of her, leaving nerves frayed and Alex feeling guilty. Can they make the most of Alex's bad luck?

#9: Marina Meets Her Match
Marina has a new surfing rival: a beautiful and talented surfer girl named Hiroko. Despite the fierce competition between them, the two becomes friends, but Hiroko is harboring a secret that could put both girls in danger. Can Marina save her new friend?

#10: Home On The Range
The girls decide to get away from it all, heading out to a dude ranch where they can relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature. Even in these rusty environs, there are plenty of opportunities to chase thrills... and the girls soon find themselves in the middle of another exciting adventure!

#11: A Cold Wind
The girls head up to the mountains for some winter sports action, and Kirsten wants to snowboard down one of the biggest mountains in the country! But not everyone on the mountain is there for good, clean fun, and Kirsten soon stumbles on some dangerous troublemakers who might be putting everyone's lives at risk.

#12: Showdown
Alex, Marina, and Vivian enter an extreme sports triathlon, where they'll have to skate, surf, and bike their way into the hearts of some of the toughest judges around. The competition is fierce, and emotions are bound to spill over...will the girls' friendship survive?

#13: Band Of Bullies
The girls volunteer for a Young Role Models program, and end up confronting a group of bullies who are viciously picking on a young girl. The girls must confront their own pasts, particularly Stacy, who has her own experiences with being cruelly bullied.

#14: Escape To Sunlight Cove
Marina takes Stacy up to Sunlight Cove, her favorite snorkeling spot where she's gone with each of the other girls before. The water is perfect and the cove is beautiful, but there's danger lurking near, and after they run into a dangerous criminal operation, the two friends will have to depend on each other to survive.

#15: Friends Forever
While Alex and Marina train for a surfing competition, Stacy, Vivian, Elissa, and Kirsten enjoy a relaxing getaway together. After a storm strands the four friends, getting back may prove to be an impossible goal...without the power of friendship!

#16: United We Fall
Elissa volunteers to host a skydiving party for her college, and her friends are there to help out! Everything's going wonderfully until one of the students lands in the middle of a huge forest with no help in sight...it's up to Elissa and the girls to save the day.

#17: A Pirate's Life
The girls fix up an old shipwreck, and start playing pirates out on the open seas. It's all fun and games at first, until Alex starts taking things a bit too seriously and ends up getting the girls into serious trouble! Now they'll have to set sail and set things right in this swashbuckling adventure!

Series Three: Series three consists of ten softcover books released between 2008 and 2010. Intended for younger readers than the previous book series, these are somewhat lower quality and focus a lot more on adventure and fantastic occurrences than extreme sports and realism, and unlike the Series Two books, their canonicity is heavily disputed. They too were overprinted, and didn't sell as well as the Series Two books, and can frequently be found clogging up rummage sales and Goodwill shelves for 25 cents.

#1: Zapped
Alex finds a nifty experimental remote that can take control over just about anything mechanical! She thinks about giving it up until she realizes that it can help her win skateboarding competitions...now her friends have to convince her that cheaters don't prosper!

#2: Alex's Big Party
Alex tries to get more popular by throwing a huge party for some of the coolest people at Stacy's college. It works out great at first....maybe a little too great after Alex begins neglecting her friends!

#3: Stacy Gets Dangerous
Stacy's admiration of Alex might be going too far after Stacy takes on a rebel lifestyle to make herself more like her best friend. Is she throwing away everything she's worked so hard for?

#4: Kirsten And The Yeti
A routine snowboarding session turns super weird after Kirsten stumbles upon evidence of the legendary Yeti! Is the monster for real, and if it is, will anyone believe her?

#5: Washed Up
Marina's always been an amazing surfer, but after she loses her edge, will she ever be a champion again?

#6: Leaping Into Adventure!
Join the six awesome Thrillseekers as they experience the backwoods biking adventure of a lifetime! Thrills, chills, and lots of spills await in this exciting story!

#7: Reunion
Stacy's not digging her boring family reunion. Alex's arrival gives her a chance to make an escape, and Stacy takes it... but ends up inadvertently taking some of her little cousins along for the ride. Can Alex and Stacy get the kids back safely before Stacy gets in huge trouble?

#8: Shark Attack!
The girls head to the beach to enjoy some surfing and jet skiing, but a huge shark immediately ruins the fun. Will they send the shark out to sea or be forced to stay beached for the rest of the weekend?

#9: Watch Out!
It's a fun filled weekend when a local resort challenges extreme thrillseekers to break all their course records! The girls immediately set about to break them all, but their fun might be cut short by the arrival of some untimely guests...

#10: Blastoff
The girls get to experience a shuttle launch when one of Stacy's professors is offered a chance to go up into space, but an unexpected problem crops up, threatening to scuttle the launch...can the Thrillseekers get to the bottom of things?

Overall, the Thrillseekers books have turned out to be one of the most popular and profitable aspects of the franchise, and as of 2017, Thrillseekers is currently on its fifth book series. The books have ranged in quality from outstanding to trash, but one thing remains the same: as long as it remains a popular media franchise, you can count on seeing Thrillseekers books on sale at your local stores for many years to come.


-

Activision clearly has a massive hit on its hands in the form of its extreme sports franchise Thrillseekers, which stars six teenage girls who participate in all manner of extreme sports. The series began as a game released for the Nintendo Wave in the summer of 2004. The game sold millions and spawned a number of multimedia spinoffs, including junior novels, a comic book series (published by Dark Horse), toys, and coming in the fall of 2006, a brand new animated series. The game was largely hyped before its release by the presence of Avril Lavigne, the world's #1 female extreme sports superstar, who served as both the voice and likeness of the series' main character, Alex Levesque. However, once Thrillseekers was released, its mix of addictively fun sports action and its likeable characters and emotional storyline made fans of even the most skeptical critics and gamers, who showered the original game with numerous year-end awards and accolades.

The toy line has been a surprising success of its own. Marketed toward girls, it features both Barbie-like dolls and hard plastic action figures with their own extreme sports props. Even the dolls are different from your typical Barbie: they can be posed on a variety of action props, including toy skateboards and BMX bikes, and their clothing differs from the normal high fashion in favor of more practical clothing and gear (though it is possible to put Alex in an evening gown, as much as she might hate it). The toy line also includes custom skate park building tools that can be paired with chips planted in some of the dolls that cause them to react to certain obstacles and locales: Alex will compliment a dingy warehouse setting, while Marina might scoff at it and ask to skate somewhere a bit classier. The Thrillseekers line of toys is being produced by Sega, which can be confusing to some longtime gamers: Sega was at one time a video game company, and was the initial producer of the Katana, which the original Thrillseekers doesn't appear on. It can lead some to believe that the game was made by Sega and not Activision, though both company's logos appear prominently on all Thrillseekers toy packaging. Sega is a growing titan in the toy business, and last year finished slightly ahead of Mattel in overall revenue, bolstered heavily by the success of the Thrillseekers toys.

Of course, the center of the Thrillseekers franchise is its games, of which three have been released thus far: the 2004 original, the 2005 Game Boy Nova title Thrillseekers: Alex's Ride, and the newest game released just last week, Thrillseekers: Spring Break, which brings the game to the other major consoles (including, yes, the Katana) for the very first time. Spring Break won't be the last game in the series: three more games have already been announced, including Thrillseekers: Winter Challenge, which focuses on winter-based sports and will be the first game in the series to see release for a next generation console (it's planned as a launch title for the upcoming Xbox 2, along with a Wave release). A Thrillseekers platformer is coming to the Game Boy Supernova this summer, while a game based on aquatic sports is scheduled for release next year. As for a proper sequel to the 2004 game, developer Neversoft has said that they'd "like to wait until all the next generation consoles are released before doing an actual sequel", which means that fans may have to make do with spinoffs for the time being. However, any decision on Thrillseekers 2 is ultimately up to Activision, and the company has already promised a "major Thrillseekers announcement" at next month's E3. Whether that's the announcement of Thrillseekers 2 or something entirely different still isn't known, but what is for certain is that Thrillseekers fans have a lot to look forward to on both the video game front and the merch front over the next several years.

-from an article on Games Over Matter, posted on April 25, 2006

-

(Authors' Note: Just for fun, here is a list of the 15 possible pairings between the main six Thrillseekers girls, in order of how many fanfics have been published about that pairing on fanfiction.net as of December 2017 ITTL. These aren't the only popular pairings, there are obviously dozens more pairings that have had fanfics written about them, though only seven other pairings in the series have had more than 100 stories written about them. These also include ALL fanfics that include the pairing, not just fics officially listed under the actual character shipping category system.)

Alex/Stacy- 3,971 stories
Alex/Marina- 1,705 stories
Stacy/Marina- 1,133 stories
Stacy/Elissa- 620 stories
Alex/Elissa- 551 stories
Stacy/Kirsten- 501 stories
Alex/Vivian- 480 stories
Stacy/Vivian- 464 stories
Marina/Vivian- 407 stories
Alex/Kirsten- 386 stories
Vivian/Kirsten- 250 stories
Marina/Elissa- 218 stories
Elissa/Kirsten- 217 stories
Vivian/Elissa- 184 stories
Marina/Kirsten- 136 stories

 

[RySenkari]

Techno Angel: Finality

Techno Angel: Finality is the third game in the Techno Angel series and the last to be released on the original Xbox. Like the title implies, it concludes most of the storylines of the original trilogy of games, featuring protagonist Adriana as she and her allies fight in a civil war against the powerful military conglomerate attempting to subjugate North America and the world. Adriana battles her foes with the help of a powerful personal exoskeleton called the Omniscient, which augments her physical capabilities and imbues her with an incredible amount of combat information. Like previous games in the series, Finality is a first-person shooter, and features a complex heads-up display that gives the player a constant stream of data to assist them in battle and exploration. The game returns to the defined, concrete mission structure of the original game, with all storyline missions played in order. However, most of these missions now feature open-world gameplay. Adriana's enemy has built dozens of exoskeletons similar to the Omniscient, and these are piloted by enemy soldiers, known as Exosoldiers, that must be hunted down and defeated. Most missions consist of finding and destroying this heavily armed soldier in single combat (though sometimes the soldier is flanked by allies). Sometimes, that soldier can be hunted down quickly, other times, Adriana must complete certain objectives to get that soldier to appear. The HUD enters a different mode when Adriana encounters one of these Exosoldiers, giving detailed information on their health, the status of their exoskeleton, their weaponry, etc., and these soldiers must usually be weakened one body part or machine segment at a time in battle. Many have abilities surpassing those of Adriana and her Omniscient, forcing the player to use their wits in order to win. Finality features a total of 16 missions, with some missions quite long and divided into multiple segments, and some missions able to be completed in less than a minute if one knows where the enemy Exosoldier is (this makes Finality an extremely popular game for speedrunners later on). Finality features some of the best graphics ever seen in an Xbox game, with beautiful open landscapes, spectacular battle animations, and detailed characters. Its soundtrack is a stirring mix of orchestral music and electronica, with a different battle theme for each Exosoldier that Adriana fights. Jennie Kwan returns once again to reprise her role as Adriana, while a number of other skilled actors and actresses can be heard playing certain important Exosoldiers.

Techno Angel: Finality begins with Adriana in the midst of a mission to hunt down and defeat a dangerous Exosoldier. This mission is more difficult than a typical "tutorial", with the game assuming somewhat that you've played the previous two. Once Adriana finishes off the Exosoldier, we can see that she's an emotional wreck, her mind thrown into chaos by the turmoil of the civil war (one of the major character arcs of this game is Adriana going from her distraught emotional state at the start of the game to a more comfortable heroine who accepts her actions and herself as a person toward the end). Her best friends, including her boyfriend Samuel and her close confidant, the besieged United States President Kara Zehler, try to help her, but she mostly rejects their help, determined to win this war on her own. As the game progresses, we meet numerous characters on both sides of the war, including the enemy side, where we learn about many of the Exosoldiers. While a few are the typical bloodthirsty evil villain types, several of them are just doing what they truly believe is right, including Gennifer, a courageous but conflicted Exosoldier who has become the leader of the military and believes that her actions are necessary to restore America's place as protector of the world. She is sickened with herself for the actions she's taken and we learn that Gennifer and Adriana are very similar to one another, with a few key differences that come out as the two encounter one another time and time again. As the game progresses, Gennifer leads the military in a swift and efficient assault against the federal government's forces led by Adriana, and soon have most of the loyalists surrounded. Gennifer easily defeats Adriana and personally takes Zehler into custody, where she is to be executed for crimes against humanity. The war appears to be over, with the military setting up a junta, but upon witnessing the brutality of their victory, Adriana, whose Omniscient has been badly damaged, refuses to give up. She leads the remnants of the loyalist forces in a series of raids, taking out numerous Exosoldiers in the process. Her confidence is slowly rebuilt, while Gennifer grows more and more disillusioned with her own cause, but still fights for the military, and executes Zehler as a horrified and enraged Adriana watches on a television broadcast. Consumed with rage, Adriana carves a path through Gennifer's forces and leads a successful uprising. However, it's later revealed that rather than firing a killshot, Gennifer fired a weak projectile that merely wounded Zehler, and has kept her alive in a secret bunker since the "execution". Rather than executing her, she wants to know why Zehler's people, particularly Adriana, continue to fight. Once Gennifer finally learns the reason, it seems to break her. She releases Zehler into the wilderness, then executes the leader of the junta and his entire inner circle, taking over as dictator herself. While she still believes in and fights for her cause, she refuses to allow anyone to compromise her own moral beliefs, and sets about to rule the country as a "dictatorship of purity", in which only the physically and morally strong are allowed to live. She's an honorable zealot, but a zealot nonetheless, and still has to be taken down. Adriana finds Zehler and while relieved that Zehler is alive, is dismayed to learn that Gennifer has gone completely unhinged. She says one last goodbye to Samuel and then goes to confront Gennifer for the final mission. The two engage in an emotional final battle at the center of the Pentagon, and this time, Adriana is triumphant. Gennifer, teary-eyed but smiling, begs Adriana to finish her off, and Adriana, despite her intense sadness at having to do so, finishes Gennifer with one final shot to the head. The civil war is over, and Adriana has finally come to accept herself as a soldier. Zehler reassumes the presidency, and the country begins to heal. Adriana returns to Samuel, and the ending seems to imply that Adriana won't ever pilot the Omniscient again...but the last part of the ending shows her entering the exoskeleton once more at the behest of Zehler to take on a peacekeeping mission in a foreign land.

Techno Angel: Finality is released on May 2, 2006. Like the games before it, it receives excellent reviews from critics, who praise the intense Exosoldier duels and the strength of the storytelling. It's hyped as the "conclusion" to the Techno Angel saga, though most fans know Microsoft will almost certainly revisit the franchise again. Release week sales are quite strong, and the game would go on to be one of the top selling Xbox games of the year, just like its predecessors. It's a near certainty that Techno Angel will be a presence on the Xbox 2 after the release of three outstanding titles for the original Xbox.

-

Alien vs. Predator

A first person shooter, Alien vs. Predator is a remake/reimagining of the 1994 SNES-CD game, which itself was essentially the OTL Atari Jaguar game. Like the original title, Alien vs. Predator has three different modes of play, allowing the player to choose between controlling an Alien, a Predator, or a Colonial Marine named Lance Lewis. While the gameplay and plot are similar to the original, both have been significantly expanded to take advantage of the power of the Xbox console. The Alien mode features the Alien battling both Predators and Colonial Marines in order to rescue the trapped Alien Queen, with the player "saving" their progress by infecting marines that then hatch into a new Alien upon the original Alien's death. The Alien has a massive variety of attacks available, including the launching of acid blood, the use of a powerful tongue attack, or the ability to rip foes apart with its bare hands. In Predator mode, the objective is to hunt down and capture the skull of the Alien Queen. Like in the original game, Predators can cloak themselves, but lose honor points by killing enemies while cloaked. They gain honor points by killing enemies while visible, which can be used to gain weapons or to enhance the Predator's abilities. In Marine mode, Lance Lewis must escape an infested base while also rescuing his trapped comrades. His ultimate goal is to battle and defeat the Predator leader in single combat, while avoiding being killed by both the Aliens and Predators. This game also features an expanded ending, which is available after winning in all three original modes. The expanded ending, which itself is the length of any of the three original scenarios, has segments where the player must play as all three protagonists, though the ultimate ending sees the player as Lance Lewis, battling against an enormous Xenomorph creature alongside a group of Predators. At the end of this final battle, the player ultimately must defeat the Xenomorph and then escape in such a way that the Predators are trapped, enabling Lance and his fellow Colonial Marines to escape the base while not allowing the Xenomorphs or Predators to do so. The ending implies that one of each species survived and are pursuing the Marines to their exit craft. In addition to the single player campaign, Alien vs. Predator also features both local and online multiplayer, where the Xenomorph, the Predator, and a multitude of space marines are playable, allowing entire teams of each to battle each other online in intense three-way deathmatches, though it is possible to pit one against the other as well, or even single-species deathmatches or mixed battles. The game features full voice acting and graphics that surpass those of Alien: Parallax, and also ties in a bit with the 2004 Alien vs. Predator movie (which appeared ITTL and was moderately successful), though it keeps those references to a minimum.

Alien vs. Predator is released exclusively for the Xbox on June 13, 2006, to nearly universal critical acclaim, with fans and critics proclaiming it "the game that Parallax should have been". It gets an even better critical reception than both the original SNES-CD game and the recently released Techno Angel: Finality, with many critics proclaiming it one of the best video game remakes of all time. Sales exceed those of Alien: Parallax by a significant margin and while it becomes one of June's biggest releases, its sales don't quite match those of Techno Angel: Finality. However, it is considered a resounding success by almost any standard, and leads to the production of more Alien and Predator games.

 

[RySenkari]

February 7, 2006

The car driven by Lyssa Fielding made its way through the quiet, gated Los Angeles neighborhood. Seated next to Lyssa was one of Hollywood's most talented and famous stars, the music superstar Selena Quintanilla-Perez, while in the back was Brittany Saldita. It was past midnight, and the three women were headed home from the premiere of Suicide Squad, though they had one stop to make first before going back to their homes for the night.

"Thanks again for inviting me and Chris to the premiere," said Brittany. Brittany's husband had headed home on his own after the party while Lyssa would be dropping Brittany off after they picked up Arturo and Regan from the friend who'd been babysitting them. "We both had an awesome time and it was really cute to see Chris geeking out so much."

Lyssa laughed, turning the corner onto the street where their friend lived.

"No way I would've forgotten to invite you guys, you've been bugging me about this movie for a year and a half," said Lyssa.

"And...thanks again for the dress," said Brittany, looking down at the beautiful black dress she was wearing. "I still can't believe you got Gianni Versace to design a dress for me."

After Versace had designed Lyssa's dress for the premiere, he'd asked her if there was anything else he could do for her, and there was only one thing Lyssa could ask of him.

"He's the sweetest person in the whole world," said Lyssa. "I love working with him so much."

"I still remember the very first thing he said to me," said Brittany, putting on her best imitation of Versace's accent. "'Your friend was right, you are the most gorgeous woman in the world!' He's amazing and this dress is gorgeous."

"It makes you look like an angel," said Selena, smiling back at Brittany.

"I gotta keep my eyes on the street but is she blushing?" asked Lyssa with a laugh. "I remember when Gianni said that to her and she looked like a freaking firetruck she was so red!"

"She's blushing!" said Selena, prompting Lyssa to giggle as Brittany tried to hide the redness in her cheeks from Selena's compliment. "I agree though, you are absolutely gorgeous Brittany."

Brittany began to playfully yell at Selena in Spanish, only for Selena to continue to shower Brittany with compliments, also in Spanish, Brittany blushing intensely the entire time.

"Twenty years ago I'm a plain-looking Nintendo loving geek girl in the AV club and now I'm being showered with compliments by the world's most famous fashion designer and the world's most famous singer, and my best friend is a Hollywood A-lister who just starred in the most awesome movie of the year...and yet I don't feel even a tiny bit different," thought Brittany as she sat in the back of the car, a warm feeling in her chest and in her face. "And I couldn't be happier..."

The car pulled into the driveway and the three women stepped out and walked up to the front door of a fairly large house belonging to Carlos Delgado and his wife, former actress turned stay-at-home businesswoman Sonora. The two lived with their five-year-old daughter Inez and were very good friends with Selena and her husband Chris, who had taken on the role of Inez's godparents.

"I hope Regan wasn't too much trouble," said Brittany as they approached the door. "I know Arturo can behave himself but Regan can sometimes be a handful..."

"Mmm, I'm sure they loved having her over," said Selena with a smile.

The door opened and the three were greeted by Sonora, who happily led them in.

"Thank you so much for watching Crystal for us tonight," said Selena.

"Oh, it wasn't any problem at all," Sonora replied, turning to Brittany. "And your kids were angels, they were no trouble at all."

Brittany gave an internal sigh of relief and walked into the living room to see Inez and Regan sitting together in the living room, playing a board game together...or rather, Inez was trying to give Regan instructions on how to play, and Regan, who was only 18 months old, just sat there looking at the pieces and occasionally trying to repeat what Inez was telling her.

"Regan!" exclaimed Brittany happily. As soon as Regan saw Brittany, she stood up and started toddling over to her.

"Mommy!" said Regan, quickly making it across the room to her mother.

"Crystal's sleeping in the other room, I'll go get her," said Sonora, smiling as she took Selena to the guest room. "Arturo's with Carlos right now I think, he's showing him some game design documents."

"Oh, sweet, maybe I'll get some inside info on the new Quixsters game," said Brittany, holding Regan gently in her arms and looking down at Inez. "Hello there Inez, did you and Regan have fun together?"

"She's a cute baby!" said Inez, giggling. "But I wish she knew how to read so we could play more games together."

"Uh huh, Regan hasn't learned how to read just yet but mommy's going to teach her very soon isn't she?" said Brittany, smiling and rubbing noses with Regan.

"Your dress is pretty," said Inez, who then turned to Lyssa and complimented her red and black dress as well. "So is yours, you both have pretty dresses!"

"Thank you!" said Lyssa, kneeling down and hugging Inez. "You're getting so big now aren't you?"

A few minutes later, Carlos had brought Arturo back into the room, while Selena and Sonora returned with Crystal, who was asleep in her mother's arms.

"Thank you both so much again," said Selena, kissing her daughter on the forehead. "I wanted to give Angeline the night off and I thought maybe the kids would have more fun if they could hang out together."

"Oh, Inez loves having other kids over," said Sonora, "and it was absolutely no bother at all."

"Bye bye Regan," said Inez, walking over and giving her a hug.

"Hey, next time I'm gonna beat you at Mario Kart," said Arturo, pointing at Inez, who laughed.

"No way!" she replied, waving goodbye at him too.

Sometime later, after Lyssa had dropped off Selena and Crystal back at their home, it was just Lyssa and Brittany with Arturo and Regan in the back seat. Both of them had fallen asleep.

"Tonight was really incredible....I know we're best friends but I still really appreciate you inviting me to all of these things," said Brittany with a soft smile. "I'm glad I wasn't too busy to actually go this time. It was a lot of fun and...I really felt like a star tonight."

"You are a star, Britt," said Lyssa affectionately. "And Gianni meant that...all those compliments he gave you, that wasn't just him being nice. He loved designing that dress for you."

"I loved wearing it," Brittany replied.

"And I could tell Chris loved seeing you in it," said Lyssa with a smirk. "He couldn't keep his eyes off you all night, and there were celebrities everywhere!"

"Mmm, had trouble keeping his hands off me too," replied Brittany, "though the feeling was definitely mutual."

The two pulled up in Brittany's driveway.

"...do you know what the best part of tonight was?" asked Brittany.

"Hmm?"

"Seeing my best friend getting to live her dream."

Now Lyssa was the one blushing, and it only intensified as Brittany leaned over and gave her a tight hug.

"You were awesome," said Brittany. "Thanks for everything."

Lyssa nodded, managing a faint 'you're welcome' as Brittany slid out of the car to walk to the back door. She opened it up and took Arturo and Regan out of their car seats, then lifted Regan up and turned to head to the front door. Lyssa had gotten out of the car by now, and the two were standing in the driveway together.

"Bye bye Aunt Lyssa," said Arturo, hugging Lyssa's legs tightly.

"See you soon kiddo," Lyssa replied, bending over and giving Arturo a smooch on the forehead. "Let me know how I did as Harley Quinn when mom lets you see the movie in ten years."

"You know I'm gonna take him to the theater to see it when it comes out next week," said Brittany with a smirk.

"You are a terrible mom," joked Lyssa, prompting both women to laugh. "Arturo, don't say any of the bad words that Aunt Lyssa says in the movie, okay?"

Lyssa walked up to the door with Brittany.

"Wanna come in for a bit?" asked Brittany. "Have a snack or something?"

"I'd better get home, I've been up since five this morning," Lyssa replied, yawning. "But thanks though... and thanks for coming to the premiere, it's way more fun going to them when I've got my best friend to hang out with."

"I wouldn't have missed this for anything," said Brittany. "I'm so happy that you're doing so well. Actually...seeing you doing so much acting kind of...well, my contract at KABC comes up next year, and I....I've kind of been thinking about doing voice acting full time. I've been having a ton of fun with Thrillseekers, and Avatar, and... I still love doing the news, but... I'm actually having more fun with these side projects, you know?"

"Britt, if that's what your true passion is, then go for it."

"I know, but journalism is my passion too, I mean, it was my first passion..."

"Sounds like you've got a while to decide though, right? I mean, your contract doesn't come up until more than a year from now, right?"

"Yeah, that's true..."

"Do what makes you happy, Brittany. You know that's what you should do."

Brittany just smiled and nodded, and remembered that she did indeed have more than a year left to make her decision. She knew her family would support her no matter what she did, and her friends would too, especially Lyssa.

"I'm sure I'll be talking about it with you later," said Brittany. "I'd better get inside and get Arturo to bed, he's got preschool at 10 tomorrow..."

"Yeah, poor kiddo looks like he's about to fall asleep on his feet! Well, I'll see you later, I'll be flying out to New York soon for all the press stuff, so I'll give you a call when I'm in the city."

"I'll look for you on Letterman and Leno, have fun!"

After the two said their goodbyes, Lyssa walked back to her car. She sat down in the driver's seat and let out a sigh, smiling warmly.

"She really is the most beautiful woman in the world."

Lyssa had dated some of the most handsome men in Hollywood, but none of them made her feel anything like Brittany did. She thought back to just a few moments before, when Brittany had told her how happy it made her to see Lyssa living her dream.

"If she wasn't married... and straight, I'd have kissed her right there."

Lyssa sighed again and shook her head, turning the key in the ignition and pulling out of the driveway.

She was just happy to see Brittany happy.

As for herself, there were plenty of men, or maybe women, that could be that special someone.

"Oh Orlando," said Lyssa to herself, recalling the actor she'd broken up with a few months back, "if only you had Brittany's sense of humor..."

-

Opacity

Opacity is an adventure/RPG dungeon crawler type game that can best be compared to Soul Blazer for the SNES, though with 3-D graphics. Opacity is the second title and first console game to be relased based on an idea originated on the G4 television show The Pitch, in which teams of aspiring game designers compete to pitch their ideas to game companies in the hopes of being published. The first game to be published from the show was a card-based puzzle title that sold about 50,000 copies on PC, but Opacity is the most ambitious game to be launched from the show to date. It starts with a single character trapped in a series of dungeons, and it seems for a while that the first protagonist is the only such character in the game. However, after beating the first couple of bosses, you discover that there is another person, a girl, also trapped, and soon you take control of her for another dungeon. Then, another person is discovered, and another, for a total of four playable protagonists in the game. There are a total of eight dungeons in all, with the first two being played by the first protagonist, the third played by the second, the fourth played by the third, and the fifth played by the fourth, with the sixth dungeon being played by the first protagonist again, who must unite the others, and then the final two dungeons allow players to alternate between the four to complete different parts of the dungeon. Combat is fairly simple, though each of the four characters has their own weapon and special moves, with the protagonists assuming the traditional elements of earth, fire, wind, and water. The protagonists are:

Cadin: An earth-based sword fighter and the first protagonist of the game, Cadin is a spelunker who fell into the underworld and has a brave heart.
Myria: A water-based staff fighter who specializes in magic, Myria is a princess who was taken prisoner, she starts out as shy and meek but gradually gains courage.
Sai: A fire-based shuriken throwing ninja girl, Sai is somewhat rude and mean but she means well and is very knowledgeable about the underworld.
Vole: A wind-based axe wielding half-mole half-man, Vole uses the winds to blast his big body around, and is the physical brute of the team despite his elemental suggesting something more delicate.

The four protagonists don't formally meet each other until after the sixth dungeon (though they are in verbal contact with one another starting just after the second), but their bond still shines through their dialogue and their actions toward one another. Despite occasionally clashing personalities, they come together to defeat a powerful threat, in this case the evil dark mage who originally trapped Myria in the dungeon and who has been tormenting the people of the underworld for many years. After the mage is defeated, the heroes all go their separate ways, though Cadin does take Myria back home to her kingdom and it's implied a romance is kindled between them after the ending is complete.

Opacity is a fairly low-tech game, with graphics that call to mind early sixth-generation games rather than the cutting edge RPGs of 2005 and 2006. It also doesn't feature any voice acting, all of its dialogue appears as text on the screen. Despite this, the dungeons are all well designed, and the combat is fun, really bringing back memories of the old-school 16 bit adventure titles. The music, composed by Tommy Tallarico, is also considered outstanding. Overall, the reviews for Opacity are excellent. The process of how the game was created and conceived was shown in the 2003-04 season of The Pitch, so G4 viewers have been following this game for quite some time and are eager to play it upon its release. It's released for the Xbox and the Wave in April 2006, and the G4 connection is heavily promoted, with "as seen on G4's The Pitch" printed on the game's cover. Sales are mediocre, but because the game's budget was quite low, it's considered a financial success, and even contributes to viewership for the most recent season of The Pitch.

-

G4 Still The Network For Gamers

When Charles Hirschhorn, along with business partner Ted Crosley, created the G4 TV network in 2001, they intended to create the first network for video gamers, a network that would be a one-stop source for game news, reviews, and strategy information, and possibly even break new ground for the times of programs that could be shown about video games. Now in its fifth year on the air, G4 hasn't succeeded in all of its goals, but it's well on its way. The network has seen its ratings hold steady and even increase as it's gained subscribers, and has recently passed the milestone of being in 50 percent of all homes subscribing to cable. Not only is it a success as a premium cable network, it's being added to numerous basic cable packages, with more homes signing on daily. Among the highest rated shows on the G4 network are a pair of reality shows: The Pitch and The Crunch, shows chronicling the struggles and creative processes of game developers in the industry.

The Pitch, which has been G4's highest rated show since 2003, recently launched its first console game: the adventure title Opacity. Created by a team of five young developers led by Abe Stockham, Opacity features four adventurers trapped together in a dungeon who must discover each other and escape. It's already been acclaimed as one of the year's best games, and if it proves to be a sales success, The Pitch could become what series creator Ted Crosley stated that he hoped it would become in a 2003 interview: "the American Idol of video games". Whether or not Opacity will be the Carrie Underwood of the gaming industry has yet to be seen, but so far, it's getting a better reception from game critics than Underwood has received from the music industry.

Then there's the more controversial but also most acclaimed of the two shows: The Crunch, which is a slice-of-life reality show that brings cameras into the game development studio and follows the work of the teams that put video games together. The original season of The Crunch followed the development of the game Invisible Soul, a sort of Devil May Cry-inspired hack and slash being developed for consoles by the independent studio Malthus Games. The show started out following only indie studios, but as the show's success has grown, The Crunch got its first chance to look behind the curtain of a larger studio, profiling the development of Rare's VeloCity in 2004. The show is named after and has brought attention to the practice of "crunch", where developers are required to put in long hours to finish up a game for a deadline. It's a controversial practice that, as the program has shown, has proven to be detrimental to the physical and mental health of the developers who work under it. Crosley has stated that "showing the practice of crunch has brought to light the true cost of gaming, and just what these big tentpole games are demanding of the people who make them". While the program has yet to lead to any meaningful change in the game industry, it has gotten a few large companies, including Activision, to speak up on the practice, with Activision CEO Bobby Kotick stating in a November 2005 interview that: "we are re-examining some of our game development practices, in the hopes of maintaining a developer base capable of producing quality games in the future".

G4 has garnered a fandom not unlike that of MTV's GameTV, which aired from 1995-2000 and is considered to be a cultural touchstone of the late 1990s. While no G4 show has yet garnered the viewership that GameTV has, the network has gotten similar praise for some of its programs, including the oddball news/variety show Focus, the Saturday Night Live-esque sketch show Gamerippers, and Multiplayer Mode, a reality competition show that sees teams of gamers participating in a series of challenges in order to win a $500,000 grand prize and the title of Gamer Gods. As a reflection of G4's recent success, Multiplayer Mode's grand prize started off as $200,000, but more than doubled for the most recent season. G4 has also acquired the rights to a few classic video game cartoons, including the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon. The biggest prize on that front, however, has alluded the network thus far: "We tried to get the late 90s Zelda," said Ted Crosley, "but that one's owned by Disney and they're airing it on their Toon Disney channel, which I can't really blame them for."

G4 is one of the fastest growing premium cable networks, and its streak of success doesn't seem as if it'll be ending anytime soon, which will open the doorway for more acquisitions, bigger names, and bigger budgets. No matter what success comes G4's way, Crosley says that he hopes to keep it true to its roots, and the #1 place for gamers on television.

"As long as I have a say, we'll be the network for gamers," said Crosley. "We're bringing in plenty of them so far."

-from an article in the June 2006 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

 

[RySenkari]

Squaresoft Spring Celebration Declares 2007 "The Year Of Final Fantasy VII"
Squaresoft announces CGI film, mobile game, manga series, and unnamed next-generation spinoff title to accompany Supernova sequel

2007 will mark the tenth year since Squaresoft unleashed Final Fantasy VII upon the gaming populace as a launch title for the Ultra Nintendo. It's proven to be the best selling and most beloved game in the series to date, and at Squaresoft's Spring Celebration in which several new projects were announced, including a Supernova Front Mission game (slated for a 2007 release in Japan and likely a 2008 release in the States), a new installment in the SaGa franchise and a brand new fantasy-based game property, both likely coming to the Wave's successor console, the company chose to focus its attention on Final Fantasy VII, namely the upcoming tenth anniversary. We got plenty of new footage of Final Fantasy VII-2, which will make its way to the Nintendo Supernova next year, and that game looks to be an evolution of the original in both gameplay and storyline. We saw that Cloud, Tifa, and an unnamed playable character were fighting together against a large robot of some kind, and that the game's battle system featured a mix of classic Final Fantasy-style combat and action-RPG features, including the ability to strike an enemy at will while rapidly switching between which character you control in battle (with the other characters acting on their own according to pre-programmed commands). Unlike the original game, which featured the party standing in one spot on one side of the screen while the enemy stood on the other, in this game the three characters can move around and get into position around an enemy, leading to attacks on potential weak points. The game looks excellent on the Supernova, and the music is a mix of new techno-styled songs and classic remixes of Final Fantasy VII tracks, with Nobuo Uematsu returning to compose the soundtrack. Not much was revealed about the plot, except that the game will "pick up almost immediately where the original left off". We also got confirmation (though this was expected), that the game will follow what has been declared by producer Hironobu Sakaguchi to be the "canon" storyline of Final Fantasy VII, in which Aerith is killed by Sephiroth. The original game allowed players to choose from three branching paths, in which Aerith, Tifa, or Barret could be killed and in which the game followed a different path based on which character died, but Sakaguchi has since stated that he believed the game's multiple narrative choices to be a "mistake". In a 2001 interview, he stated that: "While the choice to allow the player to affect the outcome of the game did allow more gameplay possibility and interactivity, and presented a worthy challenge to our development team, it had the adverse effect of dampening the emotional impact of all three possible deaths and ultimately made the game a poorer experience, in my opinion." It has been stated that Squaresoft asked Sakaguchi to add three branching paths to the game in an attempt to mimic the success of Secret Of Mana, which also had three branching storyline paths for the player.

Squaresoft also announced a surprising project: a beautiful CGI trailer for an upcoming Final Fantasy VII film expected to be released in 2007 or 2008. The movie, which features computer animation, will serve as a "companion piece" to Final Fantasy VII-2, possibly answering some questions that the game itself could raise. The movie announcement was completely out of the blue but was cheered by the fans in attendance. It's announced that the movie will eventually come to both North America and Europe after Japan, and that Squaresoft will be partnering with Sony Pictures to secure a theatrical release. A mobile game intended for Japanese cellphones has also been announced, the game is called Final Fantasy VII: Joe's Story and will focus on the Detective Joe character, who played a major part in the beginning Midgar portion of Final Fantasy VII before being killed. The game will give players a chance to explore upper Midgar in a major way, and will feature classic turn-based RPG gameplay. No word as of yet whether or not the game will get a port to the Supernova or whether it will be available in North America. An upcoming manga has also been announced, focusing on Yuffie's life before and after the events of Final Fantasy VII. We also got a teaser about a spinoff title that will be coming to a future Nintendo console, but literally the announcement was all we got, no other details as of yet. It's clear that Squaresoft is looking to take advantage of major nostalgia for their most popular game, and that Final Fantasy VII will play a big role in both the company's Supernova strategy and its next-generation strategy going forward. Fans of Final Fantasy VII definitely have a lot to look forward to over the next few years.

-from an article on Games Over Matter, posted on April 27, 2006

-

Squaresoft continues to churn along, with new installments in some of their biggest game franchises on the way. The company is continuing to develop new franchises as well, but with the current console generation winding down and with Nintendo's next generation development kits already in the hands of the company's software partners, Square is looking to focus on established series for the moment, saving the innovation for the next console.

Final Fantasy XI will almost certainly be the last Final Fantasy game on the Wave. With much of Squaresoft's focus going to the franchise's first online adventure, the development time on the eleventh Final Fantasy game was longer than their other recent games, but now that the final product is coming together, we can see that it's looking to break new ground in the series while retreading familiar paths. Two major elements of previous Final Fantasy games will return for XI: the ATB battle system, and the job system, but both will have new twists to streamline the game's combat and make it more exciting. The ATB system will see an evolution that allows players to save up character turns and then unleash them all at once. Done right, this will enable a combo that allows an attack taking place later in the chain to be more damaging. Combine this with the multi-hit attacks certain jobs specialize in, and players can really rack up the damage on enemies, making an attack several times stronger than it might've been otherwise. However, enemies are able to move faster in this game as well, and can chain their attacks too, meaning that players will have to stay on their toes and look for opportunities to break an enemy's chain. As for the Job system, it returns in the form of “Job Grids” that allow characters to build up several jobs and then switch between them in the middle of combat by moving from one part of the grid to another. This can enable the use of bonuses and special attacks gained by moving between nodes on the grid, with some of the most powerful buffs and specials in the game only unlockable via the use of certain Job Grids. Also, switching jobs in mid-battle is accompanied by a (thankfully optional) transformation sequence resembling something out of a Power Rangers scene, with the female character transformations closer to a Sailor Moon-esque sequence. It does somewhat clash with the game's often serious narrative involving war and death, but it's also pretty cool, so we'll allow it. The game's storyline focuses on a rebellion against a powerful empire, in which the rebels must enlist the help of powerful entities known as Espers to have any hope of winning. We were in awe at Final Fantasy XI's enormous explorable world, and the game is said to have the most side-quests of any game in the series thus far, with fourteen of the game's 39 (!!!) Jobs only available via side-questing.

We know a lot less about Kingdom Hearts II, which is targeted for a 2007 release on the Wave. What we do know is that the game will feature two parallel quests in which Sora searches for Riku in one quest and Kairi searches for the secrets of her past and of the Princesses of Heart in another. Players will alternate between the two narratives. We've also learned so far of three of the new worlds that will be appearing in the game: Meridian, from the television series and comic book W.I.T.C.H., Beast's Castle, from Beauty And The Beast, and Space Paranoids, from Tron. A gigantic mansion also plays a big role in the game, and at least one of the characters will be spending a lot of time there. We do know it's not the “Haunted” mansion of Disney theme park fame. It's likely that Kingdom Hearts II won't be making much of an appearance at this month's E3 show, though I'd expect to hear a lot more about the game at the Tokyo Game Show later this year.

Finally, there's the third Chrono game, which was announced some time ago but remains somewhat of an enigma. The only thing we've heard about it is that while it will tie into the previous games “in some fashion”, it will feature an entirely new narrative and completely new characters. While some still expect this third Chrono game to be released on the Wave, we now believe that Squaresoft and director Masato Kato are aiming to launch the game on the Wave successor instead, as the team's goals for the game have grown too ambitious for the Wave and that the game would be completed too late into the Wave's lifecycle to sell the amount of copies Square would need to justify putting so many resources into it. We don't know the game's title yet, but Squaresoft has trademarked a number of potential titles, including Chrono Crisis, Chrono Sphere, Chrono Break, Chrono Savior, Chrono Cross, Chrono Blade, Chrono Dimensions, and Chrono Revolution. We'll be lucky to get any new info at the Tokyo Game Show this year. Instead, we may next hear about the third Chrono game when Nintendo announces its next generation console.

-from an article on RPGamer.net, posted on May 3, 2006

-

After eight years with only two games to show for it, Fairytale fans will soon be up to their wings in new games, all leading up to the series' 10th anniversary in 2008. Fairytale has long been one of Squaresoft's most beloved but obscure properties, releasing two critically acclaimed and commercially successful (both titles sold over two million copies worldwide) games for the Ultra Nintendo. Now, three more titles are in the works:

Fairytale Untold: This SRPG for the Supernova is scheduled for release in Japan next month and in North America in August. It's a sequel to the original Fairytale, featuring Claris, Ashlyn, and Virtuosa leading a powerful army against a new threat to their world. The game's battle system has a lot in common with Final Fantasy Tactics, but features a "champion" system in which each battle squadron has a leader and that leader has a special skill that can bestow special attacks or stat boosts on other members of their unit. It's somewhat reminiscent of the combat system from the original Ogre Battle game, though in Fairytale Untold, players do control all members of their squad at all times. The game features music by Yasunori Mitsuda, and the original voice cast of Fairytale returns to reprise their roles. It's not yet known whether any of the original game's other playable characters will also be playable in Untold.

Fairytale 3: This is the big one, the long-awaited third installment in the series, which will be released for the Nintendo Wave in 2007. Like Fairytale 2, it's being helmed by Tetsuya Takahashi, and it's implied to be a prequel to the original game, taking place thousands of years in the past and exploring the origins of fairies and their connections to the human race. Takahashi has promised plenty of magic and mystery, and that the game will feature the biggest world yet seen in the series. It's looking to be one of the most highly anticipated RPGs of next year, and a game that Fairytale fans have been salivating for.

Fairytale: 10th Anniversary Edition: A remake of the original Fairytale for the Supernova, this one was just announced at a special spring event by Squaresoft, and will be a full remake of the original game with enhanced graphics, brand new cutscenes, and alterations to the battle and affinity system. In addition, Squaresoft has promised all new quests and superbosses that will test even the most skilled Fairytale fanatic. This is one of the things we were anticipating might happen, as Squaresoft has been in the habit of remaking their old properties for portable systems (though there hasn't been anything announced about Final Fantasy VII yet... fingers crossed). This one looks to be a complete revamp of the original game, with an all new artstyle and re-orchestrated music. It'll be awesome just to have Fairytale on the go, but to have the definitive version of the game available to play anytime, anywhere sounds like a dream come true. As the name implies, we'll likely have to wait for 2008 to play this one, but we're looking forward to it nonetheless.

-from an entry on the blog The World Is Square, posted on May 9, 2006

"I poured my heart and soul into Fairytale 3, but of course, what I was truly yearning for was a chance to be at the helm of another Final Fantasy game. Final Fantasy VIII had sold well, but not as well as VII, and so I was of course thinking that perhaps that's why Squaresoft hadn't asked me to direct another game in the series. All I could do was do the best I could on Fairytale and hope that I would be asked to return. In the meantime, I continued to work very diligently at what I loved to do. Whether or not I would ever get to direct another Final Fantasy game, I would continue to make video games and hone my craft.

But of course, as you already know, I would not have to wait very long after the release of Fairytale 3 in Japan to get that call again."
-from an interview with Tetsuya Takahashi in the December 2011 issue of GameInformer magazine, previewing Final Fantasy XIII, the third Final Fantasy game Takahashi would direct

-

"2006 was, in many ways, a year of transition for Squaresoft, a company that, while still one of the most prosperous third-parties in all of gaming, was also looking for ways to remain relevant heading into a brand new console generation. Hironobu Sakaguchi, long-time producer of the Final Fantasy series and a towering figure in the company, was on his way out, looking to strike out on his own and produce his own games, leaving the company with a hole to fill. While some expected the young Tetsuya Takahashi to fill that gap, many of Squaresoft's 'old guard' saw him as too much of a radical, someone who would pull Squaresoft too far away from the gaming mainstream: the company was looking to change, but perhaps not THAT much. There was no question that the company was starting to lean too heavily on established franchises, franchises that might not always be successful, and was more reluctant to try new things than it had been in the past, even with the opportunity of Nintendo's brand new HD console looming.

The second major question surrounding Squaresoft involved Nintendo itself. The company had been in partnership with Nintendo for two decades now, and had enjoyed one of the most beneficial symbiotic relationships between a hardware maker and a software maker in the history of the industry: Squaresoft's games had ALWAYS been on Nintendo consoles, and exclusive to Nintendo consoles, save for a few titles that made the leap to PC. Microsoft had come courting, and Squaresoft had been tempted until the Xbox proved to be a flop in Japan. However, there was an another intriguing new console launching: the Apple iTwin, and with it, the possibility of new playstyles and a new fanbase. Squaresoft's developers and executives had paid close attention to the buildup to Apple's new console. In the runup to E3 2006, a secret meeting was proposed between Squaresoft executives and Steve Jobs, in the hopes of making a deal to release Final Fantasy Online to the iTwin as a 'test project' of sorts. However, numerous members of Square's board of directors did not agree to the meeting, not wanting to anger Nintendo or Sony, the latter of whom the company was partnering with to create an ambitious CGI Final Fantasy VII movie.

A decision had to be made. If Squaresoft snubbed Jobs now, they would anger him, and their chances of becoming a favored developer for the iTwin would evaporate. However, if they agreed to the meeting and it got back to Nintendo, it could jeopardize the company's projects for the Wave's HD successor console, and possibly even their upcoming movie.

It would ultimately come down to a tiebreaking vote. Though Hironobu Sakaguchi was set to leave the company, he was asked to give his opinion on what Squaresoft should do. His answer would have an enormous impact on the next generation of gaming."

-from the G4 episode "Icons: Final Fantasy", which aired on November 8, 2010

 

[RySenkari]

(Here's the update reviewing the 2005-06 network television season! We will begin covering individual cable shows in the 2006-07 update, when there will finally be enough notable ones to discuss in depth.)

ABC:

The continued critical and ratings success of Lane, which narrowly beat out American Idol by a fraction of a ratings point to remain broadcast television's highest rated show for the third straight year, continues to be the biggest story at the ABC network, which remains #1 on TV. However, a trio of hit rookie shows also made their mark to ensure that the network will likely remain on top for the rest of the decade. Fragment, a show penned by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (who worked on Lost around this time IOTL), becomes a massive sci-fi hit and would employ the "flashback/present" formula that would later be employed on their show Once Upon A Time. It features a young genius computer scientist who develops an AI program that he slowly falls in love with, only to learn that the AI program has predicted a massive natural disaster in the future and can in fact predict other disasters coming much sooner. It has elements of films like TRON, and features some of the best special effects ever seen on broadcast TV up to this point. Another new show, Transplant, is a comedy starring Tracey Ullman as a recent immigrant from the United Kingdom to the United States. It features a wild cast of characters and earned Ullman an Emmy nomination. The other big new ABC show, Dancing With The Stars, has proven to be the year's biggest new reality hit, featuring celebrities performing in a ballroom dancing competition. ABC has also benefited from continued strong performances by Desperate Housewives, Horizon, and Sheffield, among others, and is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down.

CBS:

Though many of CBS' long-time hits saw sharp ratings declines, including shows like Stone and the venerable Mighty Megan, the network was bolstered by strong debuts from a comedy and a drama respectively. Jimbob and James, starring comedian Larry the Cable Guy and longtime actor Dan Bucatinsky, was the surprise hit of the season. Jimbob (played by Larry the Cable Guy) and James (played by Bucatinsky) are two brothers separated at birth, with Jimbob ending up as a surprisingly successful farm owner and James ending up as a failed city lawyer. Rather than poking fun at the urban or rural side of America, the show pokes fun at both, but in a friendly way, with neither character being shown as better than the other, and proves to be popular amongst all demographics, ending up as the year's highest rated new show. Then there's Nature Of The Beast, a police procedural that CBS placed after Heart Of Darkness. The show features a detective who must team up with a troubled but brilliant young woman (played by Christina Ricci) to solve crimes. Though the woman has never committed an actual crime, she's been tested by psychologists who scored her at a "perfect 100" on a so-called "serial killer scale" that predicts the likelyhood that someone will commit murder in the future. Her dark and twisted sense of humor provides the show with some of its most memorable moments, and she becomes one of the most iconic new television characters of the year, as fans ask themselves "is this the week she finally snaps?" CBS has few shows on the year's top 25, but has seen its ratings decline only modestly over the previous season.

NBC:

NBC has seen better days. The network didn't have a single show finish in the top 18, with The Ultimate Challenge being its highest rated show (despite a steep decline in its third season). There's a bit of a silver lining: a few returning shows such as Civility and Law and Order: SVU finished solidly, and there were a pair of new shows that finished just inside the top 25: The Quizmaster, a high-stakes quiz-based gameshow hosted by Alex Borstein, and Startup, a reality show similar to OTL's The Apprentice in which host Mark Cuban attempts to find the next great tech innovator. Both shows performed quite well, with The Quizmaster getting massive buzz after a contestant won $5 million after risking it all on a single incredibly difficult question. But despite a lineup of solid shows, NBC is clearly in decline. There's hope on the horizon: the NFL is returning in the fall, and the network is also planning to debut a high-concept superhero show created by former X-Files writers M. Night Shyamalan and Vince Gilligan...

FOX:

Without American Idol and House, FOX would be in even worse shape than NBC. Their animated shows continue to be consistent performers on Sunday nights, just not strong ones, and they only had one real breakout hit: the action show Score, which chronicles the exploits of a daring group of daredevil criminals and features a dramatic, serialized storyline. FOX can't even push American Idol to #1 overall: despite continued climbing ratings each season, the show can't smash through the ceiling known as Lane. The network is trying a heavy overhaul of its schedule in 2006, nixing reality shows entirely (save for one, a cooking competition show featuring Gordon Ramsay) and going for broke with more high-concept dramas in the vein of Score and Firefly (which continues to pull in acceptable ratings on Wednesday nights).

-

Top 25 Rated Network Television Programs Of 2005-06:

1. Lane (ABC)
2. American Idol (Tuesday) (FOX)
3. American Idol (Wednesday (FOX)
4. Desperate Housewives (ABC)
5. Jimbob And James (CBS)
6. Monday Night Football (ABC)
7. House (FOX)
8. Fragment (ABC)
9. Heart Of Darkness (CBS)
10. Dancing With The Stars (ABC)
11. Nature Of The Beast (CBS)
12. Sheffield (ABC)
13. Horizon (ABC)
14. Road To Hollywood (ABC)
15. The Standard (ABC)
16. Survivor (CBS)
17. Transplant (ABC)
18. Score (FOX)
19. The Ultimate Challenge (NBC)
20. Mighty Megan (CBS)
21. Civility (NBC)
22. Lionheart (NBC)
23. Law And Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC)
24. The Quizmaster (NBC)
25. Startup (NBC)

-

AvatarSpirit.net: We're pleased to bring you this interview with the young actress who will be joining the cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender for its second season. Her name is Taylor Swift, and her credits include shows such as Law And Order: Special Victims Unit and Lane, as well as 2004's film Action Park in which she had a brief but memorable role as a young guest to the park who goes on a go-kart rampage. Thank you for talking to us today!

Taylor Swift: Absolutely!

AvatarSpirit.net: So how did you end up with the role of Toph?

Swift: Well, I have my agent to thank for that, I've been wanting to do voice-over for a while but I hadn't been able to book any parts. It's actually surprisingly competitive, and I wasn't able to book anything I tried out for, but my agent said to give this one a try. This is before the show even came out, so I didn't even know what I was really getting into! I went in to audition and the show and the role were described to me and then I did the best I could and a few weeks later I learned I'd gotten the part!

AvatarSpirit.net: Are you enjoying voiceover so far?

Swift: It's really fun. It's acting, but without the camera, you still have to use your full body and all your skills even if it's just your voice. Actually, there's parts of it that are more challenging because of that, because you have to really put everything you have into your voice to convey all the emotions properly. I had experience with it because I love to sing too, and so I'm used to conveying all that emotion with my voice, but you have to imagine everything that's going on too, you have to put yourself in the scene without any of the characters there with you, so it's definitely more of a challenge.

AvatarSpirit.net: And could you tell us a bit about your character? No spoilers, obviously, but whatever you can tell us.

Swift: Right, well, Toph is a 13-year-old Earthbender girl. She's really strong-willed and really tough. She looks a little bit fragile and she actually has a secret, but I can't quite spoil that yet until the episode airs, but you do learn it right away and the characters do too. It's the kind of thing you really wouldn't expect about her, but it actually makes her all the more powerful in my opinion. She's very brash, she says what's on her mind and isn't always the best with...manners, I suppose? I really loved playing her because it let me explore a side of myself that I don't get to let out very often, which is always a lot of fun!

(...)

AvatarSpirit.net: Besides Avatar, what other projects are you working on?

Swift: I'm in a movie coming up that's called Honor Student, which Hillary Duff is going to be in too so I'm really excited about that since she's kind of an idol of mine. I'm trying to get more voiceover roles, and I'm also spending a lot of time writing songs and playing music. I just got signed to a record deal, so hopefully I'll have an album ready to go sometime next year. I've been really working hard on a lot of different projects, plus school, so there's a lot going on for me right now!

AvatarSpirit.net: Can you tell us what the album's going to be focused on?

Swift: Well, before I started doing acting I was considering a music career, I was really into country music and thought about going to Nashville, but once the acting roles started coming in I had to put that on hold. I've been doing more pop stuff and even a little bit of rock, but my favorite genre to perform is still country, so I think the album is going to be primarily country with some genre fusion here and there, an experimental kind of thing. I'm learning a lot from a lot of different people, so the album will be a reflection of that too.

AvatarSpirit.net: Will you be focusing more on music or acting in the future?

Swift: Wherever life takes me!

-from an interview posted on AvatarSpirit.net on June 22, 2006

-

JD Roth: Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan has been spotted in numerous places around Hollywood with the actor Robert Downey Jr., seeming to confirm rumors that the two are now dating.

Maria Menounos: The two were recently seen coming out of a nightclub, making their way to a limo while avoiding questions from reporters.

Roth: Downey just finished a one-year stint in federal prison for possession of cocaine, while Lindsay Lohan was recently given a $700 fine and 200 hours of community service after being arrested for drunk driving. Lohan recently starred in hit films such as Mean Girls and A Well-Spent Summer, and is also set to star in the action/horror film Intrusion this November. Despite Lohan's recent legal troubles, the film is still expected to be one of the biggest hits of the holiday season, and director Michael Bay stood by Lohan, stating in a recent interview: "She's going through a rough time, but haven't all of us? Give Lindsay her space, leave her alone."

Menounos: Robert Downey Jr., on the other hand, hasn't appeared in a major Hollywood film in four years, with numerous directors and producers considering him too much of a liability and too risky to work with. He was once considered one of the most talented and promising actors in Hollywood, but a string of arrests and jail stints have left him somewhat infamous in the industry, with many seeing him as a cautionary tale.

Roth: The aforementioned Michael Bay has also mentioned Downey at times, and is one of the few directors who have expressed a willingness to give him another chance in the industry.

Menounos: It's unknown when Downey and Lohan began dating, but some people close to the two have expressed worry that they'll get into worse trouble together than they would have gotten into separately.

-from the June 26, 2006 episode of Entertainment Tonight

 

[RySenkari]

The 2005-06 NBA season saw the rise of numerous young superstars, while some of the league's old stars began to dim. The Lakers were expected to dominate the league en route to their third straight championship, but Shaquille O'Neal, now in his 14th season in the league, was starting to slow down. He suffered from numerous toe problems and spent 14 games on the injured list. Fortunately, Duncan, Iverson, and Francis were able to pick up most of the slack, but the Lakers didn't feast on teams like they had done in recent years. At the same time, Kobe Bryant was leading a resurgent Golden State Warriors team to the top of the division and the conference. Aided by recent acquisitions Andrei Kirelenko and Caron Butler, who elevated his play to an All-Star level for the Warriors, Bryant took his team to 60 wins on the season, one more than the Lakers' 59. Meanwhile, Lebron James led his Denver Nuggets to a division championship, and the Phoenix Suns continued to excel behind their big men.

In the East, the Pacers and Steve Nash were the team to beat, cruising to 61 wins behind a high-powered and dynamic offense and clinching homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. Five games behind them were the New York Knicks, who continued to play strong team basketball behind All-NBA center Kenyon Martin. Carmelo Anthony led the Detroit Pistons to a strong season, while the Boston Celtics fell out of playoff contention after Penny Hardaway spent most of the season with injuries, forcing an aging Grant Hill to carry an increasingly sluggish supporting cast. The Atlanta Hawks also played strongly behind Artest and Milicic, who bullied opposing teams with their tough defense. The Hawks would win 50 games, though they'd still end up with the #5 seed in the conference.

Playoffs:

First Round:

Eastern Conference:

(1) Indiana Pacers over (8) Chicago Bulls, 4 to 0

The 41-41 Bulls were simply outmatched, and for the second straight year, were swept out of the playoffs by the Pacers in the first round. Steve Nash had an outstanding series, but seemed to be a bit gassed by Game 4, after averaging 15 assists in the four game series.

(5) Atlanta Hawks over (4) Orlando Magic, 4 to 3

Another rematch from last year's playoffs, and once again, the Hawks prevailed in one of the best first round series in recent memory. Milicic and Gasol had a duel for the ages at center, while Artest was put on Nowitzki, guarding him to great effect. Atlanta had a deeper bench, and that was the key to victory for them in a tough Game 7 that the Hawks won 96-91.

(3) Detroit Pistons over (6) Charlotte Hornets, 4 to 1

The Pistons and Carmelo Anthony triumphed over the fierce but ultimately outmatched Hornets in a five game series that didn't have too many exciting moments. Peja Stojakovic kept things interesting in Games 3 and 4 with his three point shooting (including his game winner in Game 3), but ultimately the Hornets couldn't keep up with the Pistons and their young superstar.

(7) Cleveland Cavaliers over (2) New York Knicks, 4 to 3

The shock of the first round saw the Cavs taking out the heavily favored Knicks, thanks to their one-two punch of Dwyane Wade and LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge, the Rookie of the Year in a narrow race over Chris Paul, handled the boards, handled scoring, and handled Kenyon Martin, and the Cavs did the rest with their scrappy play to advance to the second round.

Western Conference:

(1) Golden State Warriors over (8) Utah Jazz, 4 to 2

The Warriors handled the Jazz, but things didn't go completely smoothly: the Jazz won game 4 and then stunned the Warriors in a Game 5 overtime victory to head back to Salt Lake City with momentum. However, Kobe's 42 point performance in Game 6 clinched the series in a 107-80 rout, and the Warriors moved on.

(4) Denver Nuggets over (5) Minnesota Timberwolves, 4 to 2

Lebron James and the Nuggets triumphed, but the Timberwolves and their tough backcourt managed to give them some hell first. Tony Parker was sensational for the Wolves, but Lebron was even moreso for Denver, and the Nuggets moved on, giving the NBA its much anticipated Kobe vs. Lebron matchup in the second round.

(3) Phoenix Suns over (6) Seattle Supersonics, 4 to 1

The Suns were just too much for the Sonics, who got to the playoffs on the back of their sensational rookie point guard and #1 overall pick Chris Paul. Paul was good, but Ming and Stoudamire were better, combining for more than 50 points a game to lead the Suns to victory and back to a hopeful rematch with the Lakers.

(2) Los Angeles Lakers over (7) Dallas Mavericks, 4 to 0

The Lake Show continues as the Lakers sweep the Mavs, who wouldn't score a first round upset this year. Shaq was back, his toes weren't bothering him, and he dominated the outmatched Mavericks in every possible way.

Second Round:

Eastern Conference:

(5) Atlanta Hawks over (1) Indiana Pacers, 4 to 2

Artest's Hawks prevailed in this revenge rematch that saw Atlanta's fierce defensive and aggressive playstyle give the Pacers fits that they couldn't overcome. The Hawks won Games 3 and 4 at home to take a 3-1 series lead, and while the Pacers took Game 5 at home, they couldn't save their season in Atlanta. The Hawks take the win to become the upset darlings of the playoffs, and head to their second straight Eastern Conference Finals.

(3) Detroit Pistons over (7) Cleveland Cavaliers, 4 to 0

The Pistons once again dominated their playoff opponents, beating the upset-minded Cavs in an easy four game sweep. Dwayne Wade was no match for Carmelo, while Aldridge made many rookie mistakes, fouling out in three games and averaging seven turnovers throughout the series. As good as the Cavaliers had been against the Knicks, they just didn't show up in the second round, leaving many wondering if they'd left it all on the floor in New York City. The 3-seeded Pistons advance and would have home court advantage for the Eastern Conference Finals.

Western Conference:


(1) Golden State Warriors over (4) Denver Nuggets, 4 to 2

Lebron vs. Kobe was everything it was hyped up to be, with the two dueling on both offense and defense all the way up the floor. The problem of course was that Lebron's supporting cast was completely outmatched, and despite a Herculean effort from King James, it was the veteran Kobe who came out on top. However, there would no doubt be other days for young Lebron...


(2) Los Angeles Lakers over (3) Phoenix Suns, 4 to 3

The rivalry between the Lakers and the Suns continued with another epic clash pitting these teams' awesome frontcourts, and while Yao and Amare gave it everything they could, it wasn't enough to overcome the Lakers' all-around playstyle. Five of the games were settled by six points or less, with three games coming down to the last possession (though Game 7 was a bit anticlimactic, with the Lakers winning by 15). It was a fun series, and no doubt these two teams would continue to meet.

Conference Finals:

(5) Atlanta Hawks over (3) Detroit Pistons, 4 to 2

For the third straight series, the Atlanta Hawks overcame the opposing team's home court advantage by playing tough, holding serve at home, and stealing games on the road. Ron Artest was the hero of the series, averaging 27 points and 5.2 steals per game, frustrating Carmelo and nearly causing a fight between the two during a hotly contested Game 5. The Hawks and their 50 win team would head to the Finals, where they hoped to pull off the ultimate upset.

(2) Los Angeles Lakers over (1) Golden State Warriors, 4 to 1

It was Shaq vs. Kobe once again in the Western Conference Finals, in what had become one of the league's fiercest rivalries of all time. The Warriors had beaten the Lakers on this stage before, but this year Shaq wouldn't be denied, and the Lakers crushed the Warriors en route to yet another NBA championship. The Lakers would head to the Finals, where they hoped to complete the threepeat.

2006 NBA Finals

Los Angeles Lakers over Atlanta Hawks, 4 to 3

The Atlanta Hawks came in with a big chip on their shoulder and nobody giving them the chance to overcome the Lakers. The sports world seemed to be rooting against them, but they gave the Lakers everything they could handle, with Artest frustrating Iverson and Francis and Milicic holding his own against Shaq, whose toe problems returned at the worst possible time. The Hawks went into the last quarter of Game 7 clinging to a two point lead and the hopes of taking home the Johnson-Bird Trophy, but Tim Duncan performed like a true leader, calming his team and dominating Milicic in the last minutes of the game to propel the Lakers to a 102-94 victory and their third straight NBA Championship. Duncan would win Finals MVP for his performance.

-

Thanks to the NBA not yet adopting the "no high school players" rule as of 2006, the 2006 draft was even more stacked than 2005, with players like Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, and Thaddeus Young passing up high school to come into the NBA. The New Jersey Nets, who'd been abysmal in the 2005-06 season, had the #1 pick, and they took Greg Oden, hoping he could anchor them at center for years to come. The Sacramento Kings surprised many when they passed up on Durant and instead took Brandon Roy, who'd had some injury concerns but who seemed more pro ready. Durant fell to the Miami Heat at #3, while the St. Louis Arches grabbed Thaddeus Young at #4, and the Milwaukee Bucks picked up Gonzaga's Adam Morrison at #5. Down at #13, the Boston Celtics, sensing that they might need a successor for Penny Hardaway, traded up three spots to take Mike Conley, who had played high school ball with Greg Oden. They had to give up their second round pick and a key role player off the bench, but they hoped Conley could be the future of their franchise in a way that Hardaway couldn't.

-

The 2006 World Cup saw Brazil hoping to defend their 2002 title, while Germany, the host country and the 2002 runner up, was looking for revenge. Other top contenders included France, Portugal, Argentina, and England, while the United States, which had taken the bronze in 2002, was hoping to avoid a regression and shock the world by winning it all.

The group stages featured little in the way of surprises, though France and Argentina ended up in the year's Group of Death which also contained Japan and Mexico. Meanwhile, England and the United States got fairly easy draws, and were expected to easily advance into the knockouts. Germany and Brazil were seeded into competitive groups, but were hardly challenged by any of their fellow teams, and both went to the knockout rounds with 9 and 7 points respectively. England did as it was expected to, taking 9 points, but the United States got bogged down, and went into the last day of group play needing a win against a scrappy Iran team. Instead, the United States lost in a shocking way: an own goal at the 88-minute mark, knocking them out of the World Cup entirely.

The first round of knockout play looked like this:

Germany vs. Honduras
Italy vs. Switzerland
Cameroon vs. Argentina
Netherlands vs. Ecuador
England vs. Russia
Brazil vs. Iran
France vs. Spain
Portugal vs. Belgium

Germany had no trouble beating Honduras, and Switzerland handled Italy surprisingly easily as well. Cameroon, who were the winners of the USA's group, gave Argentina some trouble early on, with both teams scoreless after 51 minutes. However, Argentina soon overwhelmed their opponents and ended up with a 1-0 victory. Netherlands and Ecuador went to penalty kicks, but Netherlands, who'd won 1998's World Cup, advanced as well. England and Brazil handled their first round opponents with ease, while France knocked out Spain in a surprising upset. Portugal went through Belgium in a 4-1 rout, advancing to the second round as well.

In the second round, Germany had a tough match against the scrappy Switzerland team, but came out on top, 2-1. Argentina beat the Netherlands in a 2-0 win. Brazil and England was surprisingly competitive: England was fielding its best World Cup team in years, with young Wayne Rooney playing out of his mind. His heroics in England's 3-2 defeat were easily visible, and though England lost, it was one of the best games of the World Cup. France took down Portugal 3-1, advancing to face Brazil in Zinedine Zidane's last World Cup campaign.

Germany faced Argentina and was the favorite to come out on top and advance to the finals for a possible rematch with Brazil, but Argentina had come to play, and took a 2-0 lead in the first 30 minutes. Germany toughened up and held on, and eventually closed the gap, making it 2-1 at the 81-minute mark, but their hopes were dashed four minutes later when Argentina sealed it with their third goal.

In the other semifinal, Brazil and France played an extremely competitive game that ended at 1-1 after regulation and would go to penalty kicks. France and Brazil each made their first five kicks, necessitating sudden death: a sudden death that would last for 14 more kicks before Brazil finally broke the tie. It was one of the closest games in World Cup history, and though the legendary Zidane lost, he went out on his shield as Brazil advanced to their second straight World Cup final against their South American rivals.

Brazil and Argentina played a high scoring, competitive final, but in the end, it was Brazil that won by a score of 3-2. Brazil had won its second World Cup in a row, and were the early favorites to take their third in 2010.

 

[RySenkari]

(Authors' Note: Remember, we're splitting E3 2006 into two parts! Today will be part one, covering Nintendo, Microsoft and some PC games! Next update will be part two and will cover Apple, third party multiplatformers, and some post-show reaction.)

-

Nintendo Keynote - E3 2006

Nintendo's 2006 keynote began with a video featuring both current Nintendo Wave hits (Reverie Of Mana, Super Smash Bros. Clash, The Legend Of Zelda: Hero Eternal, Super Mario Shades, Thrillseekers) and then showcasing some future games. After the video came the familiar presence of Bill Trinen, accompanied on stage by Katsuya Eguchi. The two thanked the attendees before discussing some sales figures for the Wave (it's now the #1 selling console of its generation) and stating that Nintendo plans to continue making Wave titles for years to come. Then they began to talk about previous Argonaut games, particularly Squad Four: Upheaval, X: Heroic Valor, and Star Fox: Hyperspace. This was all, of course, leading up to the showcase of Star Fox: Heroic Universe, the lead-off game for Nintendo's presentation. A new plot scene was revealed, showing General Xenda giving battle directions to both the Squad Four and Star Fox teams, before the fighters engaged a massive robotic army. We then got tons more gameplay footage, including Arwing combat and thrilling hand-to-hand fights, showcasing boss battles and the game's incredible new world. We then got one final cutscene showing a harrowing series of rescues between the Squad Four and Star Fox teams before the presentation concluded. Trinen and Eguchi then showed off the game, which will take place across a series of levels that feature both on-rails flight gameplay and 3-D exploration and combat, with segments passing seamlessly into one another: for example, one might be flying an Arwing, only to get a distress signal from the ground. You can take that distress call and then you'll seamlessly transition into one of the Squad Four team members on the ground in combat as Arwings fly overhead. It's pretty cool, and the game's open-ended mission structure, which allows players to choose between hot spots as they progress through the game's 20+ missions, is impressive as well. The game's multiplayer was also shown off, and it features not only a local mode, but an online mode where teams of four can go head to head, battling it out on land or in the air, making for thrilling asymmetrical deathmatches. Heroic Universe got more coverage than any other game in Nintendo's presentation, and it looks to be the Wave's biggest release of the year, wrapping up the multi-year Argonautverse crossover event in grand fashion when it comes out this September. The next preview we got was for Metroid: Homecoming 2, the sequel to 2004's Metroid: Homecoming. The game plays similarly to its predecessor, but we got some intriguing new footage of Samus outside of her suit sporting traditional Chozo warrior garb and fighting with energy arrows. Yes, it seems that Samus will go native at some point in this new Metroid game, battling in traditional Chozo fashion against what look like robotic insects. This game seems to feature a clash between biological and mechanical as Samus searches for a way to restore the lost Chozo civilization. The new Metroid game releases in October, just five months away, and we couldn't be more hyped. Up next was a preview for Star Tropics: Ocean Across Tomorrow. We saw a teaser trailer for the game at last year's show and we've seen some preview information in Nintendo Power, but this was the biggest look at the game to date: it shows Mike Jones and his new love interest Culex solving puzzles in a beautiful underwater temple. It's yet to be seen whether or not Marion returns for this game, as she was a no-show in the gameplay footage, but we did see plenty of Culex, who has magic and some kickass ocean martial arts, giving Mike a run for his money. The new Star Tropics game comes out in August, and also releasing in August is Super Mario RPG: The Mysterious Machine. While this wasn't mentioned at the show, it is the first Super Mario RPG game that Squaresoft isn't involved in, as Nintendo instead partnered with Camelot for the game. As the name implies, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and a couple other companions, including an explorer-like character and a friendly Koopa, are exploring an ancient machine that crash-landed in the Mushroom Kingdom, spreading a mysterious corruption to all corners of the land. Bowser is involved in the plot as well, though we didn't get much details outside of Bowser ordering his goons to tear the machine apart (unsuccessfully). The game continues the familiar "timed hits" system of previous games, and seems to allow Mario to combine with his friends for special "super attacks" to use in battle. It also appears to be a bit less serious than previous games, though none of the Mario RPG titles were ever really all that serious. After the Mario RPG preview, Trinen and Eguchi showed off one more big title: Mario Kart: Crash Course, which will be the second Mario Kart title for the Wave. The game is said to feature a whopping 24 courses, and the courses have been designed to be more fun and thrilling than ever, allowing for lots of kart interactions and spectacular moments. It seems Nintendo listened to its fans after Double Dash was a bit of a disappointment. Crash Course returns to single-kart racing, no teaming up for this one, but it allows for players to have two items at once, and there look to be more weapons and power-ups than ever. We were then treated to footage of Mario Kart: Road Trip, the "companion" game for the Supernova, which features 24 tracks of its own, based on many real life locations, though with a Mario Kart twist. Both games will have full online gameplay on day one, addressing another of the major complaints about Double Dash, and both games will be released in November.

After the Mario Kart segment, Eguchi left the stage, and Trinen remained to discuss several more first-party titles, many of which will be released in 2007. Unlike the five "showcase" games, which were discussed for a total of 25 minutes between them, these next few games were shown off in rapid-fire succession, with only about a minute devoted to each. The first game was Disaster: Day Of Crisis, a co-production title between Namco and Nintendo, about a city hit by a series of natural disasters and an emergency worker who has to rescue his friends and loved ones. The game looks to feature incredible special effects and a variety of quick time events that simulate rescue and survival in a disaster situation. The next game was Kirby: Enter The Arena, a Kirby title that focuses on combat with not only a large variety of bosses, but with other transformed Kirbies as well, and features both local and online multiplayer. It's very interesting to see a Kirby game with a combat focus, and we'll be able to experience it in 2007. Another Nintendo game announced for next year is Yoshi And Friends, a brand new 2-D platformer title in which Yoshi teams up with a variety of buddies, including Poochy and a gang of friendly Shy Guys, to rescue Baby Mario and Baby Luigi from a scary witch. It looks to be a bit more kid-focused than other Wave games, but if it brings the difficulty of the original game, it'll be tons of fun for all ages. Finally, we got a quick preview of Wave Race: Amphibious, the latest game in Nintendo's fun aquatic sports series. The game features prettier graphics and the addition of land segments that will require players to move rapidly between the sand and the surf. We'll be able to hit the waves once more in 2007, and before the preview ended, we got a quick teaser segment previewing two new characters: Alex and Marina from Thrillseekers will be playable in the game, giving fans of that franchise their first chance to take those two out on a jetski before Thrillseekers: Waveriders hits later that year. After the Wave Race segment, Trinen invited a couple of Sony officials on-stage, where they helped to preview Killzone 2. The Killzone 2 segment showed off a bunch of gameplay and detailed the game's plot, in which the Helghast have returned alongside an army of chainsaw-bearing warriors known as the Rippers. The Helghast and the Rippers are on the hunt for human souls, and only the Strategic Alliance can bring them down. Killzone 2 is being accompanied by a companion title, Fallen Operative, for the Supernova. Fallen Operative serves as a prequel to Killzone 2, explaining the origins of the Rippers and detailing how their "patient zero" came to be. Both games looked exceptionally impressive, and Killzone 2 in particular looks like a major improvement on the first. The reveal of both games proved to be one of the highlights of Nintendo's keynote, and show that Sony is still a major contributor to Nintendo's success on both a hardware and software level.

Following the Killzone presentation, Trinen ceded the stage to officials from Squaresoft, who previewed a series of games, including Final Fantasy XI and Fairytale 3. The Final Fantasy XI presentation showed off a new trailer, highlighting Adair and his fighting companion, the princess Mariche. The two were infiltrating a castle together, hoping to seize battle plans wielded by a young but ambitious general. Surrounded by the enemy, they seemed to surrender, but then fought back and won easily. The trailer ended, and game footage was shown, previewing the game's Job Grid and level-up systems, and then the Square officials transitioned to Fairytale 3's preview, which was a bit more cryptic. The game's protagonist, named Eden, is living in an ancient garden, when she stumbles upon a mystical lake that transforms her into a fairy but also causes her to be attacked by terrifying insects. She falls from the garden, a floating island in the sky, and when she awakens on the ground, she is discovered by humans. The game definitely appears to be a reference to the Biblical Garden of Eden story, religious references being par for the course for a Takahashi game. The combat system features 3-D ATB styled combat similar to the first two Fairytale games, but with the ability to select special attacks and buffs in mid-turn, making for a more dynamic system with echoes of Kingdom Hearts. It looks to be one of the prettiest and most epic RPGs to hit the Wave in some time, but it won't be released until next year. The Squaresoft segment was followed by a brief Supernova-centered segment in which a series of games were shown off: first up, an Animal Crossing title called Animal Crossing: Little Village. It looks just like the Wave game graphically, but the ability to take it on the go and start up a new town will be tough to pass up. Next up, Amphysvena, a mech-based shooter/RPG from Squaresoft. It looked visually stunning, and the combination of the RPG/shooter genres could make for one of the most unique handheld games in a long time. We then were treated to a brief preview of Battletoads In Beatdown City, a Battletoads sidescroller in full 3-D. It looks like it'll play just like the original games, but with gorgeous new graphics and a much more complex fighting system. Finally, we saw a preview of the first Supernova Quixsters game, and the series looks to be making quite a strong transition from the Nova to its more advanced cousin, with the zany, fast-paced gameplay of the Nova games mixed with a massive array of characters, it seems to combine the best features from previous titles into one big adventure, and could be the best game in the series yet.

Trinen then invited Michel Ancel on stage for a big segment highlighting Beyond Good And Evil 2. The game sees Jade return to action, and we learned that she'll be spending the entire game in space, battling the wicked aliens who invaded Hillys in the original title. The game definitely employs a lot of sci-fi tropes and Star Wars references, with Jade using her staff like a lightsaber to deflect blaster fire. We not only saw an epic preview trailer in which Jade invaded a space cruiser single-handedly to rescue a prisoner, but we got a preview of a number of new gameplay mechanics, including ship-to-ship combat in space and a brand new "invention" system in which Jade can enhance her staff or create gadgets out of materials she finds. Beyond Good And Evil 2 is shaping up to be a truly special game, an epic space opera that Ubisoft has been spending a lot of time on, and if the preview is any indication, the game may end up being one of the year's best. After Beyond Good And Evil 2, Katsuya Eguchi and Eiji Aonuma joined Bill Trinen on stage, and Trinen said he had one last Supernova game to reveal. The lights dimmed, and a trailer played, which quickly revealed that it was for a Zelda game after Link showed up. It's back to the familiar medieval Hyrule setting for this one, in which Link was shown protecting a cloaked young woman while wearing brilliant white armor. The trailer emphasized the relationship between Link and the woman, who doesn't appear to be Zelda, and who appears to accompany Link almost everywhere. The trailer showed off the familiar Zelda gameplay, including combat, dungeon crawling, and puzzles, along with a host of new weapons and items. Finally, the woman spoke (yes, this game features voice acting), imploring Link to restore the sages to the world so that they can defeat Ganon. The game's title was revealed as The Legend Of Zelda: Sage's Knight, and after it ended, the crowd applauded vigorously. While it may not be quite as good as a new Wave Zelda (or the reveal of the first Wave successor game, as the Wave successor was completely absent at this year's show), a fully 3-D and exclusive Zelda for a Nintendo handheld is an amazing thing nonetheless, and definitely raises the stakes in the handheld wars. Nintendo's show ended on a fairly high note, which it needed to do, considering that it'll be compared to the hardware reveals from its competitors.

-

While the highlight of this year's E3 has been the Xbox 2 and the iTwin, PC gamers have had plenty to celebrate and salivate over with a bumper crop of huge games coming to computers either this year or the next. Games like Necrocracy and Powerbroker, which were revealed at last year's show in very early stages, had much bigger presences at this year's E3 in more advanced stages of completion. While both games are still more than a year away, they remained two of the most impressive games of the show, with Powerbroker in particular impressing with its massive open world that dwarfs any Grand Theft Auto game to date. Because of the huge city in which Powerbroker takes place, its developers Lionheart say that it will likely remain a PC exclusive, even with the next generation consoles set to be released soon.

Will Wright's SimSociety also appeared, and while it's still scheduled for late 2007, it looks like it won't be released until 2008, with massive amounts of work still needing to be done on the game. We got an interactive preview of the game's nation-building capabilities, with over 100 different forms of government able to be selected, and election methods that include simply randomly picking a president from names placed in a hat. You can make some truly kooky civlizations in this game and show them off online, competing for dominance in Civilization-esque wars or even a United Nations-esque online forum. This game remains one of the most ambitious titles we've ever seen, and the more we see, the more we're both impressed at the scope and worried that Wright won't be able to pull it off.

Amongst the new games we saw that most impressed us was Horseman, an RPG in which the player is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse who has abandoned his post and now roams the world in search of a purpose while the other three horsemen track him down. You can play as War, Famine, Pestilence, or Death, and the path you choose affects your quests and abilities. We also checked out the new World Of Warcraft expansion, set to launch later this year. Called The Eternal Crusade, it focuses on the Eternal Legion, a much more deadly and dangerous incarnation of the Burning Legion from Warcraft III, consisting of vastly more powerful soldiers and who have their sights set on conquest. The game introduces new lands and new quests, and also increases the game's level cap to 70.

We also got a preview of a new PC-exclusive Star Wars game: Star Wars: Imperial Remnant, which takes place after Return Of The Jedi and features the player in the role of an Imperial general who seeks to bring back the Empire through conquest and treachery. Playing as a villain is not a thing the player often gets to do in a Star Wars game, and this title, which mixes tactical and shooter gameplay, could be one of the more unique titles in the franchise. Imperial Remnant will be released in November of this year.

There were many PC games shown off at E3 2006: in fact, there were almost as many PC games exhibited at the show as there were console titles. With console games in the midst of a transition, many software developers see an opportunity to convince gamers to jump on board with PC gaming, and are producing some of the best exclusive titles we've ever seen. While some of these games will no doubt make the leap to the new HD consoles, many of the games we saw provided unique experiences that can only be had on a powerful PC, and there may be no better time to build a rig and start playing.

-from a blog post on the PC Evangelist, posted on May 20, 2006

-

Microsoft Keynote - E3 2006

Robbie Bach once again was the master of ceremonies for Microsoft this year, and after a flashy preview video re-iterating the Xbox 2's hardware capabilities, its release date (November 21st) and its price ($399.99 for the basic 20GB model, $499.99 for the 100GB Pro model), Bach then laid down the facts about the Xbox 2 in strong and aggressive wording. It was to be the most powerful game console ever made, providing a new experience and full multimedia capabilities, with HD-DVD movie playback to be the center of one's entertainment universe. After about a minute more of hardware talk, Bach said: "But enough about the machine. You want games, and we've got games, and for the next hour, all we'll be talking about is games."

Up next was a presentation for the Xbox 2 port of Half-Life 2, showing off some of the best moments, both cinematic and gameplay. As we've seen previously, the port is seriously impressive, and this really is the centerpiece of the Xbox 2's launch. After Half-Life 2 came Team Fortress 2, which showed off a brief video of a character known as The Heavy, boasting about his expensive minigun and yelling for his opponents to "cry some more", before showing off the wild, fun-filled multiplayer combat that made the original game so much fun to play. We were then treated to a preview for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which takes the player into the bowels of the fiery underworld of Tamriel, and features some of the series' most intricate worlds and characters yet. The game will be a console exclusive for the Xbox 2, though it will also be on PC. Then there was a preview for a story-based cinematic mystery game, featuring the best visuals we'd yet seen, and a format somewhat like the exploratory style of Grim Fandango or even Dick on the Ultra Nintendo (though obviously much more serious than either of those games), with a bit of Fahrenheit mixed in. Titled The Calmness, the game was announced as a launch title for the Xbox 2, alongside Half-Life 2 and The Elder Scrolls IV. Another launch title was then shown off: Blades Of Blood, a sort of knife-throwing meets roller-derby style arena combat game that looked really violent but really fun. The next brief preview was for Oni: Silent Soldier, a beat-em-up/shooter and the third installment of the female-driven action series. This game looked a bit more serious than its predecessors, and the combat moved really fluidly, with the game's animation a mix of cartoonish and realistic, creating a strange but very interesting effect. We then saw a preview for an irreverent open-world crime game called Saints Row that looks like Grand Theft Auto on mushrooms, definitely one of the crazier games we'd seen at E3 to date.

Following those previews, the presentation paused for a moment to allow Robbie Bach to introduce a very special guest to the stage, but first, he said, he wanted to play a brief trailer. The trailer showed New York City, but it was overrun by zombies, and no one could stop them...save for one beat cop who looked and sounded very familiar... the voice was that of Bruce Willis, and when the crowd heard it, they went wild, and kept going wild as the character, named Leland, was shown shooting zombies in various situations and locales. The game looked like a much more action-packed version of Resident Evil mixed in with Die Hard, and the cheering didn't stop as the game's title, Dead City Beat, appeared on screen. And then Bruce Willis took the stage in costume as his character, and the crowd went absolutely ballistic, louder than they'd been during any part of Nintendo's keynote by far. Willis began to speak, hyping up the game and saying how much he loved the Xbox 2 and how much ass it was going to kick, and finishing things off with a "Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!" before leaving the stage. The Dead City Beat reveal and presentation had the crowd's anticipation for the Xbox 2 at a fever pitch, and few if any of the game's revealed afterwards could match it. Illbleed 3 and a western FPS, Call Of Juarez, were shown off afterwards to much less buzz from the hungover crowd, but Spider-Man: Hunted, which featured beautiful views of New York City (with no zombies!) as Spider-Man swung overhead, did get the crowd properly cheering again. A new Wipeout game was then revealed, and looked awesome, with beautiful visuals that showed the city rushing past as the fast vehicles zoomed overhead. Then came Bloodrayne: Submerged, an Xbox 2 exclusive title in the franchise that features Bloodrayne exploring a literally upside-down city in search of a hidden vampire coven. After Bloodrayne, one of the most impressive previews of the presentation came in the form of a hack-and-slasher featuring a female barbarian who avenges her murdered clan with a giant axe. Called Axe Of The Ravenfell, it looks to be a much more serious and less fanservicey title in the vein of the Jungle Queen series, and will launch in 2007. The next game up is a brand new installment in the Pacific Fleet series, featuring worldwide naval combat and real-time strategy style combat gameplay. Called Pacific Fleet: Power Projection, the game features incredibly realistic graphics and boasts the most missions in the series to date, and looks to continue the series' tradition for excellence.

We then got a reveal of a new Runner Mike title, the first in the series to be developed exclusively for a Microsoft console. Subtitled The Ancient Factory, it sees its titular hero exploring an ancient underground city in search of evidence that an ancient civilization had futuristic technology. Next was Hell Ship, an FPS horror title taking place in space that featured some of the creepiest visuals we've ever seen, with horrifying monsters and jump scares galore, all in glorious HD. Then came another reveal of a franchise becoming an Xbox 2 exclusive, at least for the time being: the sequel to The Fell, a surprise hit from 2004 and one of the best hack and slash games of the last generation. In The Fell: Damnation, a new protagonist takes up a possessed sword to battle a succession of foes. Little does he know that he is being secretly guided by a demonic presence, who may use this warrior to conquer all of humanity. It was an intriguing trailer and looks to be another strong get for the Xbox 2. We then were treated to a quick preview of a new Counter-Strike game exclusive to the console, before another pause to introduce Ken Levine of the former Looking Glass, which was acquired by Microsoft some time ago. Levine introduces a trailer that shows a man exploring a cave but being pursued by unknown figures who he fights off with mysterious powers. At the end of the cave he finds an ancient city, a city of wonder and high technology, but he then stumbles upon something that truly shocks him. We don't see what it is, but it's hinted at being a living human girl. The game's title is revealed as Memory Hole, and it's promised to be an "action adventure that will change the way you see life, forever". Highly ambitious to be sure, but it was one of the more impressive presentations of the show. After Memory Hole came a succession of mostly expected sequels that will all be showing up on Xbox 2 within the first year of its release, including a new Blueboyz game, a sequel to Jazzy, a sequel to California Beach, and a sequel to Fight To Survive. For the most part, the Xbox 2's game presentations were more about quantity than quality, showing the sheer variety and number of games that will be coming to the console in 2006 and 2007. We did get some big reveals and some great moments, but most of the presentations were quick and showed off just enough of the game to reveal what it was. However, at the end of the Xbox 2 portion, we did get an intriguing Covenant 3 teaser. It only showed off a bit of gameplay and a cool shot of Master Chief firing into a huge mass of alien lifeforms, but it was only enough to get the crowd to scream in approval and to show that "yep, we're working on the next Covenant game".

Anti-climactic as it was, we did get a couple of presentations of Xbox games coming out later this year following the Xbox 2 presentation, including Tom Clancy's Spartan (an intriguing third-person shooter title which features a protagonist who's a mixture of soldier and spy, slipping into mercenary combat around the world in order to turn the tide and then making a quick exit) and then Amok, which impressed us to an incredible degree last year and continues to look like the Xbox's most impressive new game of the year, with fast-paced shooter combat and copious amounts of violence. Amok looks to be the very last major Xbox exclusive, and if that's true, the system may be going out on the highest of high notes, giving the Xbox 2's launch some massive momentum. The Xbox 2's presentation was for the most part a big success: though a lot of the previews were short, they were also sweet, showing a big variety of games for the Xbox 2 and showcasing its impressive graphical power. Meanwhile, it's going to have a splendid launch: Half-Life 2, The Elder Scrolls IV, and Dead City Beat all look like impressive tentpole games, and they'll be available on day 1, giving the system perhaps the best launch lineup since the Ultra Nintendo. It has yet to be seen whether Microsoft has won E3, but in the eyes of most in attendance, they definitely beat Nintendo with Bruce Willis alone.

-

May 15, 2006

Steve Jobs was annoyed but calm as he prepared for Apple's big keynote speech the next day. It was perhaps the biggest day of his career, when the company would be formally announcing its first ever new console, the Apple iTwin. It would be launching with an impressive lineup of first party and third party games, both original and ported, but there was one port in particular that Jobs had wanted to announce that he'd just learned he wouldn't be getting.

He'd dreamed of making a surprise announcement that would stymie Nintendo and shock the video game industry: Final Fantasy Online would be coming to the Apple iTwin, along with, eventually, Final Fantasy XII. But instead, Squaresoft's representatives had told him that they would be remaining with Nintendo for the time being.

In the end, it had come down to Hiranobu Sakaguchi. Sakaguchi had considered both sides of the situation, but in the end, had expressed his views to his fellow Squaresoft executives that loyalty was of the utmost importance at such a critical time. He'd considered the rising costs of game development, the need for continued high software sales...but the Nintendo Wave had been a massive success, not on the level of the Ultra Nintendo but had sold 65 million units and counting, and numerous Squaresoft games had sold millions of copies, raking in billions in yen for the company. Taking Sakaguchi's advice, the Square execs broke the deadlock and chose to keep the company's games exclusive to Nintendo for the foreseeable future.

Losing Squaresoft was a big disappointment, but Jobs calmed himself with a brief musing.

"How can I lose something I never had in the first place?"

Jobs had seen the Nintendo and Microsoft keynotes, and he wasn't impressed. Nintendo's games, while impressive from a gameplay standpoint, would look primitive next to both the Xbox 2 and the iTwin, and while the iTwin was slightly underpowered compared to the Xbox 2, the difference was small: about the same as the difference between the Wave and the Xbox. The Xbox had thrived despite being underpowered, and so would the iTwin.

"Especially since we'll have much better games."

Jobs had been bored as he watched the Xbox 2 presentation, and didn't even raise an eyebrow at Bruce Willis. Was the game good? That's all that mattered to Jobs, who saw just another shooter title with pretty graphics and a familiar actor. Meanwhile, he had multiple killer apps waiting to be revealed, including a game he considered his secret weapon, a game he believed would revolutionize the industry forever.

And the new Sonic game he was planning to show off didn't look half bad either.

Jobs was disappointed, annoyed, but also confident, and when he took the stage tomorrow morning with his friend and loyal foot soldier Reggie Fils-Aime, he was going to give a presentation that would bury the Xbox 2 and sell millions of iTwin consoles on the very first day it launched.

And he had a special guest of his own to bring up on stage... someone he never thought he'd share a stage with again, but maybe the only person who could get even more of a reaction out of a crowd full of geeks than Bruce Willis.

Because while Steve Jobs was all business, he wasn't averse to a bit of showmanship of his own.