Massively Multiplayer: Gaming In The New Millennium

[RySenkari]

Microsoft Enters The Arcade Business: Welcome To The X-Zone

We're still four months from the launch of Microsoft's Xbox game console, but the company is already making inroads into another lucrative sector of the gaming business: arcades. Though conventional arcades have been in decline for several years now, a new segment of the industry is seeing its fortunes grow: the "fusion arcade", a concept that fuses arcades, restaurants, and even elements of theme parks to provide an all encompassing entertainment experience that focuses on more adult clientele. Sega has been pushing their "Sega Gameverse" arcades for the past four years, and now there are over 80 locations in North America. And upstart companies like Dave and Buster's have seen healthy profits as well. Enter Microsoft and their X-Zone concept. The facilities will include both arcade games and restaurant areas, but will also include theaters and virtual reality experiences as well. If that sounds an awful lot like Blockbuster's "Block Party" concept, you'd be right. In fact, Microsoft has made a deal with Blockbuster to purchase the Block Party concept and all of its locations, and plans to convert them into X-Zone locations by this fall. Before Blockbuster sold all the Block Party locations to Microsoft, there were 14 in existence, including locations in Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Indianapolis, and Brandon, Florida. Microsoft also plans to open four additional centers by next spring, bringing the total number of X-Zone facilities to 18, with even more planned if the concept is successful.

The company plans to revamp the Block Party facilities somewhat, to make room for more areas for people to play Xbox games. The Power Grid, a large-scale maze similar to the play areas found in Discovery Zone locations, but geared toward adults, will be removed in order to clear room for other attractions, though in some locations, Microsoft plans to create a laser tag arena-based game to promote its upcoming IP, The Covenant. Dubbed "The Covenant Experience", the attraction will pit teams of players against one another in a live-action combat simulation where they will have to take sides in the conflict depicted in the game. According to Microsoft, X-Zone facilities will hold regular Xbox tournaments for cash and prizes, and locations will give visitors the opportunity to play certain Xbox games up to two weeks before release. In fact, Microsoft has already announced that an exclusive Divine Wrath 2 arcade machine will be released only to X-Zone a month before the game is set to release on the Xbox console. The grand opening for X-Zone is set for November 1st, where a special Xbox preview party is set to be held at all locations, giving players a first chance to enjoy Xbox launch titles including The Covenant, Project Gotham Racing, and Grand Theft Auto. While arcade business as a whole may be in decline, these fusion arcades, if successful, could end up being a crucial battleground in the console wars.

-from an article in the August 2001 issue of Wired magazine

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The news that Microsoft had made a deal to acquire the software company Psygnosis, best known for releasing games such as Klepto and Wipeout, and most recently Future Fear: Escape The Arena, came as a shock to many gamers, given the company's close relationship with Sony. But for those who knew how aggressively Microsoft has been courting game makers, it wasn't much of a surprise. The company has been reported to have sent out feelers for companies like Naughty Dog and even game powerhouse Acclaim, and though Microsoft didn't get either of those (it's reported that the company was particularly interested in Naughty Dog's Tales Of The Seven Seas and Valor IPs, and intended to turn the latter into a first person shooter), the company is still sitting pretty as far as exclusives go, with a host of popular franchises locked up for the forseeable future. That includes the popular fighting game Divine Wrath, whose sequel is coming to the Xbox next year, and John Romero's Daikatana. And now, with the Psygnosis acquisition, the next installments of the popular Klepto and Wipeout franchises will be making their way to the Xbox soon.

"We're really excited to be working with Psygnosis and they're excited to be making games for our machine," said Microsoft's Robbie Bach, when we asked him about some of the recent exclusivity deals his company has made. "They've got a great concept for the new Wipeout game, which really looks great even in the alpha stage. And they've also got a concept for an exciting new FPS, but we won't be seeing that until 2003."

Microsoft is keenly aware of the growing popularity of FPS games and their particular popularity with online players. It's said that they lobbied hard for The Covenant to be an FPS, though were convinced to allow Bungie to make it a third-person shooter after the success of Squad Four: Rebellion, considered by many to be the best video game of 1999.

"Of course we want to have a hit first person shooter. Sega's beaten us to the punch a bit with Quake III Arena, but we'll be getting a version of that, and we're also really excited about Deep Black, which is being released in the Xbox launch window. And then there's Turok Evolution, which comes with Xbox exclusive levels, including for online, so we'll have the best version of that game as well."

We asked Bach if he was disappointed that Microsoft wasn't able to buy out Acclaim and secure exclusivity for Turok, but he declined to answer.

"We're not going to comment on rumors or speculation, all that I'm going to say is that no matter what, Microsoft will be the best system for online FPS titles, now and in the future."

Bach was much more excited to discuss the concept of game exclusivity as it pertains to the Xbox.

"We feel that the most important factor in a console's success is being able to secure the best exclusives. We want to have experiences that you won't get anywhere else but the Xbox, and we're hoping that we can use those games to bring in new players and show them everything Microsoft's Xbox has to offer."

-from an article in the August 2001 issue of GameInformer magazine

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"We are launching two of our most important product releases ever within one month of each other. Windows XP and the Microsoft Xbox are going to completely revolutionize what we're doing here at Microsoft. We're going to change the way that people live, work, and play, just as we've been doing for almost two decades now. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of making it clear to our potential customers that our products are going to improve their lives. Windows XP will change the way that people use their computers, making them faster, more powerful, and most importantly, easier to work with. It is a complete change from the ground up, a revolutionary step above Windows 95, 98, and ME. And then with the Microsoft Xbox, we're coming into people's living rooms in a way that we've never done before, not even with WebTV. Not only will we be bringing true PC-quality gaming into people's homes for the very first time, but we'll also be bringing to people a new way to watch their favorite movies, as, for a lot of people, the Xbox will be the first DVD player that many people own, much in the same way that our competitors at Nintendo provided many families with their first CD player with the Super Nintendo CD. Just as Nintendo and Sony made billions of dollars from bringing games and multimedia together in one package, we will take that concept and evolve it with the Microsoft Xbox. Between Windows XP and the Microsoft Xbox, we are going to have our most successful year ever. And that, my friends, is the Power of X."
-from Bill Gates' "Power Of X" keynote speech at a July 12, 2001 Microsoft shareholders' meeting

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Blockbuster Launches Online Video Rental Service

Blockbuster Inc. has announced the launch of their "Blockbuster @ Home" online video rental service, which will begin offering titles as early as September of this year. The company has been reluctant to dip their toes into the online rental business, especially after services such as Netflix and Reelship have posted losses. Netflix, which Blockbuster declined to purchase earlier this year for $130 million, seems to have survived the burst of the dot-com bubble and is slowly gaining in monthly subscribers, while Reelship went bankrupt in March and was acquired by Netflix for $24 million. Blockbuster is hoping that its larger video library and corporate infrastructure will allow the company to post profits shipping titles out to subscribers. Blockbuster, like Netflix, will not be offering individual film rental, but will offer plans in both subscription and block-based formats, where people can pay a certain amount of money to rent a certain amount of films. Customers can return films rented via the service either in the mail or at their local Blockbuster locations. So far, no plans have been made to offer video games as part of the service, but the company has announced that they are looking into offering games some time next year.

-from an article on Yahoo! Business News, posted on July 17, 2001

 

[RySenkari]

"As we were completing work on Star Fox 3, I was personally summoned to Katsuya Eguchi's office in Japan. He sat me down, and, among other things, told me that he was proud of the work we'd done on the series and that Mr. Miyamoto would've been proud as well. It was...difficult not to get emotional, hearing that the man who'd given me my start in the business would have been so pleased with our hard work. Then, Mr. Eguchi told me something else. He said that while he had enjoyed working on Star Fox, his duties as creative head of Nintendo were starting to take precedence, and that he also was working on a new project for the Wave that would be taking all of his time going forward. He asked if my team at Argonaut would like to have complete creative control over the next couple of Star Fox games. It was at that moment that the Alliance Sequence, nicknamed the 'Argonautverse' by many of our fans, was truly born."
-Dylan Cuthbert

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Star Fox 3

Star Fox 3 is the third title in the Star Fox series of games, and continues the adventures of Fox McCloud and his wingmen as they fight to protect the Lylat System from evil. Like its predecessors, Star Fox 3 is an on-rails shooter, though the game does have segments from other genres as part of its basic gameplay. It expands on the ideas introduced in Star Fox 2, such as varying routes through the galaxy and different vehicles. It introduces two additional fighting modes: in addition to the familiar Arwing, which still comprises the majority of gameplay, the Landmaster tank, the Wingmarine (a new underwater craft with the same capabilities as the Bluemarine, but formed out of the Arwing), there is also the Hypercycle, a motorcycle-like vehicle that can be ridden at high speed, and also the introduction of on-foot combat to the series. The basic gameplay is largely unchanged, as Fox and his wingmen (Peppy, Slippy, Falco, and Krystal) fight against a variety of enemies across many different planets and locations to save the Lylat System. Most of the gameplay is on-rails, but all-range mode returns for certain segments, both for end-of-level boss fights and for entire levels, but also for certain segments in the middle of levels as well. Players also have more options about how to fight. In certain levels, the Arwing can land at any time and transform into a motorcycle, or even deploy Fox on foot to shoot enemies with his pistol. In some levels, using the Hypercycle or going on-foot is actually required, while in about half of the Arwing levels, the terrain does not allow for landing (or only allows for use of the Hypercycle and not going on foot). Typically, the Hypercycle is used to speed things up and find secrets, while on foot travel, which is usually more difficult than the use of the Arwing, is used almost exclusively to find secrets, though there are a few segments of the game where going on foot is actually required (mostly in all range sequences that are an attempt to recapture some of the magic of Squad Four: Rebellion). There are a total of 15 levels in the game, and while a few levels return from Star Fox 2 (Fortuna, Titania, Solar, Zoness, Serena, and Exxcel), nine are completely new to this game, as much of the game takes place on the outskirts of the Lylat System. Those levels are:

Barrun- A forest world where the initial distress signal kicking off the action of the game comes from.
Albedo- An icy, snowy world where mysterious creatures lurk.
Yakamore- A rocky world lined with numerous caves and filled with secrets and danger.
Crustacol- A watery beach world where the game's villain, Clawstorm, hails from.
Sector M- A highly contested area of space where many of the game's battles are fought. Nearly every route through the game runs through Sector M.
Battlefield Alpha- A region of space near Corneria where Star Fox must help the Galactic Army make its last stand.
Battlefield Gamma- A region of space near Solar where a decisive battle against Clawstorm's army is fought.
Battlefield Omega- A region of space near Venom where Clawstorm's army is defeated once and for all.
Xados- A mysterious world where Clawstorm retreats to after he is defeated.

The gameplay is in many ways similar to OTL's Starfox 2. The game takes place during an ongoing war between the warlord Clawstorm and his army of crustacean-like warriors who use powerful attack ships to attack innocent planets. Clawstorm has instigated a war in the outer planets of the Lylat System, and his ultimate goal is to embroil the enter system in war so he can take over Corneria and thus the entire Lylat System. Unlike Andross, who was a mad scientist, Clawstorm's goal is conquest and war. He is highly belligerent and lives for the glory of battle. During the game, Clawstorm launches attacks on various planets. Fox and his team must choose their battle and swoop in to complete the mission. Missions can be completed in multiple ways, with between 1-3 routes in each mission, varying in difficulty. With every completed mission, the "Battle Tide" meter will move one way or the other, toward Clawstorm or toward the Galactic Army. Completing more difficult missions will allow the Star Fox team to take the fight to Clawstorm and move the meter toward the Galactic Army, while skirting by on easier routes will enable Clawstorm to capture more territory and will move the meter toward him. During missions, Fox's wingmen (if they are alive) will point him toward more difficult routes if possible. Shooting down a certain number of enemies or taking on the mission on foot or on the Hypercycle will also enable the completion of more difficult routes. Missions also take a certain amount of time, which is clearly shown before the mission is started. Ultimately, the player will complete between 6-9 missions before the final mission is decided. Here's how the final mission plays out. It can play out one of four ways:

Easy: If the Battle Tide meter is on Clawstorm's side of the center line, the player will be forced into a final mission at Battlefield Alpha to save Corneria from invasion by Clawstorm's flagship. The final boss of this route is an enormous mech launched from the flagship with Clawstorm on board. Fox defeats the mech, but Clawstorm ejects, and while it's clear that Corneria is safe (for now), the war still rages on with no end in sight.

Medium: If the Battle Tide meter is on the Galactic Army's side of the center line, the player will fight Clawstorm in a decisive battle at Battlefield Gamma. Clawstorm will use an even tougher mech, and defeating him here clearly turns the tide of the war toward the Galactic Army. Though the war continues, it's clear that Clawstorm is now on the defensive and will almost certainly be defeated soon.

Hard: If the Battle Tide meter is all the way at the end toward the Galactic Army, the player confronts Clawstorm in a grand final battle at Battlefield Omega. After fighting through Clawstorm's fleet in a battle more fierce and epic than Area 6 was in Starfox 2, Clawstorm himself is confronted in a massive battleship in an epic multi-stage battle that truly feels like a final boss fight. Winning here means the end of Clawstorm and the end of the war, but after everything is over, Fox has a feeling that something still lurks out there, and the last shot of the ending is an ominous shot of planet Xados.

Gold: If the player has completed enough difficult routes and dealt enough decisive blows to Clawstorm's army that the Battle Tide meter is not only all the way on the Galactic Army's side but has taken on a gold color (basically done by completing all but one or two of the most difficult routes on the most difficult planets), AND the player has already beaten the Hard route at least once, the final mission opens up. The mission starts with a scaled-down version of the Battlefield Omega fight, complete with a boss battle against Clawstorm, but after he is defeated, he utters a cryptic warning. Then the real final mission begins: a five-part assault on planet Xados where the player must use all five modes of transportation to navigate to the core of the planet. First, the player will use the Landmaster to clear the surface of mysterious creatures, then the Landmaster will be lifted up into Great Fox and the Arwing will fight some sky enemies. Then, the Arwing will land and the player must search for a portal to the planet's internals on foot. Once the player reaches the portal, they'll be placed in the Wingmarine for an aquatic segment, and finally the player reaches the core, where they'll battle the final boss in the Wingcycle: Xados, the being for whom the planet is named. Xados is a vicious, multicolored sea god that stoked Clawstorm's bloodlust in an attempt to gain control of the galaxy: once Clawstorm had conquered Corneria, Xados would take control of his mind and rule the galaxy himself. The fight against Xados is the toughest boss battle in the game, but once he is defeated, the Lylat System is truly safe and Fox and his friends can celebrate the liberation of the galaxy.

Released on July 30, 2001, Star Fox 3 is an immediate commercial hit, selling twice as many copies on its first day of release as Star Fox 2. The highly anticipated game, the last title Shigeru Miyamoto contributed a large amount of work to, is bittersweet for Nintendo fans. Critical reception is generally positive, though certain segments are criticized (particularly the on-foot segments, as the game's combat system isn't nearly as complex or as fun as Squad Four: Rebellion). The game is also seen by some as repetitive due to the limited number of stages compared to its predecessor. However, the graphics are outstanding and the game itself is fun, and the boss fights are seen as some of the best in the series. The music, composed by Hajime Wakai and Koji Kondo (the same composers as Star Fox 2 and OTL Star Fox 64), is also considered superb, as is the voice acting. Overall, critics like the game, though not as much as they did Star Fox 2. However, it would ultimately go on to sell more copies than any game in the series thus far, and is also notable for being Argonaut's last game on the Ultra Nintendo, as their efforts would now be concentrated on games for the Nintendo Wave.

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Squad Four/Star Fox Crossover In The Works?

Mum's the word at Argonaut and Nintendo, but there's now growing suspicion that two of the series developed by Argonaut Software for Nintendo may be crossing over on Nintendo's upcoming system, codenamed the "Wave Engine". Certain elements of Star Fox 3, released last week for the Ultra Nintendo, allude to the existence of Squad Four's home planet Lockstar in the Star Fox galaxy, particularly a throwaway line by General Pepper during the Yakamore stage. When General Pepper is contacting Fox during a segment deep in one of the planet's caves, he refers to an ongoing rebellion on a distant world, and that Fox's team might have to get involved if they're able to defeat Clawstorm. Also, during the game's credits sequence, there's a banner with a picture of four heroes who look suspiciously like Shad and his team.

Outside of Star Fox 3, there's more signs of a connection between the two worlds, as during the brief test footage demonstration of the upcoming Squad Four Wave Engine game, numerous graphical motifs are very similar to those used in Star Fox 3, indicating the existence of a shared world. Dylan Cuthbert also said that the upcoming Squad Four title is part of a multi-game project, though he refused to elaborate any further. Could a crossover truly be in the works? Is the highly anticipated Squad Four 4 (which surely will have a much less redundant title) actually the crossover game? The prospect of a crossover of two of Nintendo's top space-based franchises is definitely another reason to salivate over Nintendo's next generation console.

-from an article posted on IGN.com on August 5, 2001

 

[RySenkari]

Jet Set Radio

Published by Sega exclusively for the Sega Katana, Jet Set Radio (butterflies prevent the issues that necessitated the change to Jet Grind Radio in North America IOTL) is, like its OTL counterpart, a game that fuses skating and graffiti as the player attempts to tag specified points in order to cause mischief and strike back at authority figures. However, many elements of the OTL game, including large elements of the plot, have undergone significant changes. Notably, in addition to the roller blades used by the protagonist, there's also a skateboard option. The main character, Beat, uses both roller blades and a skateboard. His companion, Mixx (the TTL counterpart of Gum), uses rollerblades exclusively, and Psych (the TTL counterpart of Tab) uses a skateboard exclusively. In addition, Mixx and Tab are both playable, and indeed, the player must use them at several points in the game. The skating mechanic is a bit more complex, with rollerblading emphasizing speed (hitting certain targets at high speed builds up your meter, allowing you to tag walls and knock back enemies more easily) and rollerskating emphasizing tricks (performing more complex tricks builds up your meter as well). At certain points in the game, you can engage in a Turf Showdown, where a member of a rival gang will challenge a member of Beat's gang to a skill competition. Winning will acquire more turf for your gang, which allows for easier tagging in certain areas. The game features the same cel shaded graphics as IOTL, and features 35 different musical tracks, both mainstream and obscure, while voice acting is limited to mostly cutscenes, with the protagonists remaining silent.

The plot itself, though still taking place in a colorful and vibrant alternate universe version of Tokyo known as Tokyo-to, focuses heavily on the rivalry between the city's street gangs. Beat, Mixx, and Psych, who call their gang the GGs, roam the streets of the city and tag various landmarks and buildings with graffiti as a statement against the city's oppressive authorities, led by the mayor, Beiyo Belladonna, a beautiful but very cruel woman who dresses in queen-like garb and hates skating, skaters, graffiti, and music. Her daughter, Sariko, leads Belladonna's gang of enforcers, but when out of her mother's watchful eye, Sariko disguises herself and moonlights as Jiki, the leader of the Love Shockers gang, one of the GGs biggest rivals. The first part of the game, which comprises about two-thirds of the gang overall, depicts the GGs takeover of the city, with very little appearances from Belladonna or her thugs. It's only in the last part of the game that all the gangs are forced to unite against Belladonna, who has issued a citywide decree banning all skating in Tokyo-to. A series of missions involves the GGs tagging everything they can in defiance of Belladonna's decree, while Sariko is conflicted about what to do. She and the Love Shockers decide to join the GGs in their tagging spree, only for them to be caught by Belladonna's enforcers. Sariko, who is disguised as Jiki at the time, has her disguise removed and Belladonna realizes that her own daughter is the leader of one of the tagging gangs. Belladonna uses a mysterious noise known as "anti-music" to brainwash Sariko into serving her again, and Beat has to outskate the brainwashed Sariko in order to break the spell over her. Finally, the GGs and their friends, along with Sariko, confront Belladonna and cover her in spray paint, humiliating her in front of the entire city and removing her authority over the people of Tokyo-to. Professor K, the DJ of the Jet Set Radio station, is voted in as new mayor, and music, skating, graffiti, and freedom reign over the city once more.

Jet Set Radio's fun skating mechanics, unique graphics and gameplay, and entertaining characters make it a critical hit. The game is released in North America on August 1, 2001, just five days before the release of NiGHTS Into The Labyrinth... It's promoted heavily by Sega as one of the Katana's big three games of August 2001 (along with NiGHTS 2 and Virtua Fighter 4), but is a harder sell than either of them and is a slight sales disappointment, with significantly less units sold than those two games. It's still profitable, and Sega begins work on the sequel immediately for release in 2002.

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NiGHTS Into the Labyrinth...

The sequel to NiGHTS Into Dreams..., NiGHTS Into The Labyrinth... features much of the same high-flying gameplay that made the original game a visual marvel and a critical and commercial success, but enhanced in a number of ways, with a particular emphasis on combat. The gameplay in some ways resembles OTL's Kid Icarus: Uprising, with many levels alternating between flight-based segments and ground-based combat. The villain, Nightmare Genesis, has drawn NiGHTS into a mysterious realm known as the Labyrinth, and within this realm, NiGHTS' flight ability is heavily restricted, grounding him and forcing him to run and fight. The game introduces something called the Dream Meter that powers most of NiGHTS' offensive attacks. Striking enemies, collecting items, and performing flight tricks all charge this meter, which NiGHTS can then use to conjure up a variety of weapons to use on foes. When the Dream Meter is fully charged, NiGHTS can form the Dream Sabres, which are powerful dual blades that can rapidly deplete an enemy's health bar. The game itself is slightly larger than its predecessor, featuring twelve levels in all, and most of the game's levels are quite expansive, with several segments each.

The plot of the game is that a being known as the Nightmare Genesis has formed out of the fears and anxieties of sleeping children, whose job it is for NiGHTS to calm by defeating their nightmares. This being has grown very powerful, unbeknownst to NiGHTS. One night, NiGHTS is visiting a child when suddenly he is taken up into a portal to a mystical castle. This is the first part of the Labyrinth. The first level consists of NiGHTS fighting his way through the castle. Meanwhile, a sleeping child has seen NiGHTS' capture in his dreams, and tells all of his friends at school that they need to work together to save him. They all go to sleep in their beds that night and try to dream about NiGHTS in order to help him find a way out. Though their dreams do enable him to burst free, with the last segment of the first level being a beautiful flying section depicting NiGHTS' escape, it's actually all part of Nightmare Genesis' plan. He traps all of the sleeping children inside his Nightmare Crystals, forcing them to live their worst nightmares over and over, and taunts NiGHTS, telling him that it's all his fault that the children were captured. NiGHTS is determined to rescue them before Nightmare Genesis takes their life force and traps them inside their nightmares forever.

The next ten levels each feature one child being rescued by NiGHTS. In order to reach the child, NiGHTS must not only venture through the nightmare itself, purifying it and freeing the child by turning it into a good dream, but must also venture into the Labyrinth to sever the child's link to Nightmare Genesis. Each time NiGHTS visits the Labyrinth, he is left without his ability to fly (with a few exceptions, there are larger spaces within the Labyrinth that allow flight). Each of the ten nightmare levels contains a boss: some bosses are fought within the Labyrinth, others are fought outside of it. Each nightmare represents a common childhood fear:

Level 2- Fear of clowns (the level features an evil circus and NiGHTS fights a giant clown head)
Level 3- Fear of lightning (the level takes place in a driving storm and NiGHTS battles a powerful thunder god)
Level 4- Fear of tests (NiGHTS ventures into an evil schoolhouse and battles a mutant teacher)
Level 5- Fear of falling (NiGHTS ventures through a giant vertical stage and must battle a dark entity inside the labyrinth)
Level 6- Fear of spiders (NiGHTS ventures through a spiderweb forest and battles a giant spider)
Level 7- Fear of drowning (The game's requisite water level where NiGHTS battles a kraken)
Level 8- Fear of earthquakes (NiGHTS battles through an earthquake stricken city and fights another dark entity inside the labyrinth)
Level 9- Fear of disease (NiGHTS battles through a nightmare hospital and fights another dark entity inside the labyrinth)
Level 10- Fear of fire (NiGHTS battles through a flaming house and battles a huge, fiery monster)
Level 11- Fear of rejection (This is a much more serious level where NiGHTS has to help a bullied girl who dreams that all her friends hate her, not only is a boss fought in the labyrinth but NiGHTS must battle an avatar of Nightmare Genesis disguised as the girl's best friend, this level is deeply emotional and even addresses suicide, it's considered to be quite possibly one of the best levels ever created in a video game and is discussed in articles 15 years later)

After saving all of the children, NiGHTS must fight through one final level to defeat Nightmare Genesis, battling through the Labyrinth and then destroying it to confront Nightmare Genesis one last time in the sky above the human city where the once-trapped children live. After a furious battle, Nightmare Genesis is destroyed and the children of the world can have peaceful dreams once again.

NiGHTS Into The Labyrinth... is considered one of 2001's best games and the best Katana exclusive to date by much of the gaming press. It's nominated for Game of the Year in many publications (though, in a notable snub, not by the MTV Video Game Awards). It sells exceptionally well, becoming the Katana's first true exclusive killer app, and overall sales for 2001 surpass even hit games like Commander Keen: Worlds United (despite that game having a four month head start). It cements NiGHTS as one of Sega's biggest franchises, and sets the bar extremely high for Sonic Team's next project, Sonic Neon.

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August 13, 2001

Reggie Fils-Aime was excited as he made his way to his boss' office. Hayao Nakayama, who'd formally announced that he'd be leaving Sega in December, had just received the first North American sales figures for NiGHTS Into The Labyrinth... Though game sales figures weren't nearly as complete or accurate as film sales figures (as many retail stores, most notably Wal-Mart, refused to give them out), one could still get a decent idea of what a game's overall performance was going to be. Fils-Aime entered Nakayama's office and sat down, and the two got right down to business.

"NiGHTS appears to be on its way to being a major hit," said Nakayama. "Early sales reports are stronger than any game since the launch of the system. It's likely to outsell Commander Keen's first week and perhaps even Tony Hawk 2's."

"That's great," replied Fils-Aime. "How's Jet Set Radio doing in its second week?"

"It's all right," Nakayama replied. "We knew it wouldn't do as well in North America as it's been doing here in Japan."

Jet Set Radio was of course very culturally Japanese, and though the popularity of anime had done quite a lot to popularize Japanese culture with American audiences, the general game playing public probably wasn't quite ready to fully accept such a culture clash. Still, the game was among the most popular new releases of the month, which pleased both Fils-Aime and his boss.

"Any word on overall hardware sales? Is NiGHTS 2 moving Katanas?"

"It's hard to say," said Nakayama, "though...early reports are that we'll probably finish narrowly behind the Ultra Nintendo again, depending on how well the Virtua Fighter 4 bundle performs."

Fils-Aime groaned quietly under his breath. Though the Katana was hardly a failure, the fact that the system couldn't get over the Ultra Nintendo hump was discouraging, and with the Xbox release coming in November, there was no guarantee that Christmas would put the Katana over the top if next-gen system sales were split between the two consoles.

"We need a new approach," said Fils-Aime. "Games like NiGHTS are doing well. Commander Keen did well. We've got Spare Parts 2 coming out, that Monkey Ball game looks fun, Aerio could do well...I think we really need to try and position the Katana as the family system. Xbox is going to be riding on games like Grand Theft Auto and The Covenant. Violent games, for adults. In the current political climate, maybe that's not a winning strategy."

"Hmm...and the big Virtua Fighter 4 push? That's hardly a family game."

"Well, it's not Mortal Kombat," Fils-Aime replied with a laugh. "I'm talking about for the holidays. Maybe we start in October? With Aerio?"

Nakayama looked deep in thought. It was a risky move, but one Sega had made before in early 1999, around the time Zodiac World was released. The system had gotten a decent sales bump marketing to families, but that bump had petered out by the time Sonic the Hedgehog 5 was released, and after that game failed to move the hardware needle like it was supposed to, the "family friendly Sega" initiative was discarded. But maybe that was just because the Saturn was in decline anyway. Maybe if Sega returned to pushing family friendly content, it would stick this time.

"We're competing with the Xbox, not with Nintendo. This Christmas, people are going to be buying the next-gen systems. If we can capture a majority of those sales, a big majority, then not only can we get ahead of Nintendo, we've got a shot at knocking out the Xbox before it even gets off the ground. And we can ride that wave right through the release of Sonic Neon. Plus, it'd be good PR for us after what happened in Virginia."

"I think your plan could work but it will be up to my successor to see it through," said Nakayama. "Whoever the board decides to appoint."

"Okay then," replied Fils-Aime. "So now... let's talk Virtua Fighter 4. With two weeks left until the North American release, our marketing blitz is in full swing."

NiGHTS Into The Labyrinth... might have been the Katana's first killer app, but Virtua Fighter 4 would be its first real event release. Whether or not the Katana would be 2001's biggest gaming success story would rest in large part on the shoulders of the year's most anticipated fighting game.

 

[RySenkari]

*A group of armed, masked men are shown terrorizing a village, forcing villagers to their knees and pointing guns at them. We see this from the perspective of another man, entering the scene and raising his weapon. He fires, killing some of the masked men and then charging forward to protect the villagers as the surviving masked men aim at him. The hero raises his weapon again.*

Voice: Load.

*The hero loads his weapon. Then the scene switches to the hero now running, holding a shotgun and chasing down a truck full of criminals. He shoots at the truck, taking out its tire and causing it to spin out. The truck bed opens and the armed criminals step out.*

Voice: Load.

*The hero loads his weapon. The scene switches to a mustached man seated behind a desk, a cigar in his mouth. The man begins to speak.*

Man: So you see, we are going to continue supplying these weapons, and there is nothing you can do to stop us.

Voice: Load.

*The hero loads his weapon and points it at the man, who dives behind his desk. Then we see a bunch of armed gangsters, firing indiscriminately.*

Voice: Load.

*The hero loads his weapon and takes down the gangsters. More scenes from the game play, showing more villains doing villainous things, the hero being told to load his weapon, and then doing so and taking out the bad guys. Different guns are shown, including a gatling gun.* The final scene shows the game's multiplayer mode, with four player splitscreen.*

Voice: Load. *one of the players loads his weapon* Load. *the second player loads his weapon* Load. *the third player loads his weapon* Load. *the final player loads his weapon*

LOAD

Coming to the Ultra Nintendo and the Sega Katana

-the commercial for Load, which aired on various broadcast and cable networks during June and July 2001

-

Load

Load is a first-person shooter, published by Activision and released for the Ultra Nintendo and the Sega Katana on July 2, 2001. It plays like a fairly typical game in its genre, though the FPS it could most closely be compared to is Duke Nukem, with a bit of proto-Call of Duty thrown in. The game features a large variety of weapons, from simple pistols to massive gatling guns and rocket launchers, all in all there are over 40 different weapons to use in the game. It stars a protagonist named Kilroy Hearns, an ex-member of the United States Special Forces who's become a mercenary, taking jobs on behalf of groups who are otherwise powerless. The mood of the game is very dark and gritty, with occasional bits of humor (Hearns is a very serious protagonist, much more so than Duke Nukem, though the game does occasionally get tongue-in-cheek). The game features both a single player campaign mode and a multiplayer mode with a variety of play variants, more so than nearly every other multiplayer FPS of its time. The game's graphics are about on par with the average FPS of the time, with the Katana version obviously looking better than the Ultra Nintendo version (but not as good as the Katana version of Quake III Arena). The voice acting is performed by Toronto-based actors (similar to what Capcom has been doing), with Jamie Watson as the voice of Hearns and Sarah LaFleur as the voice of Marie Salvadora.

Hearns has gotten a job from a village in a remote part of South America, whose villagers, along with a couple of sympathetic aid workers, have pooled enough money to hire him. The village is under siege from a gang of arms dealers and their hired soldiers, who terrorize nearby villages, forcing the people to work for them, either by building weapons or serving as soldiers or sex slaves. One of the aid workers, a woman named Marie Salvadora, serves as Hearns' contact during his time in the village. The game consists of Hearns performing missions to strike against the arms dealers. At first, Hearns is simply protecting the village, or rescuing villagers who are in danger. But eventually, after the arms dealers kill some of the villagers (and eventually burn it to the ground), Hearns takes it personally and takes the fight to them, killing off the gang leaders one by one. Eventually, Marie is kidnapped by the head arms dealer, and Hearns mounts a brutally destructive mission to rescue her, with little regard for life or property.

Load receives plenty of criticism for its derivative storyline ("like something out of an 80s movie" is the quote from many reviewers) and repetitive levels. The multiplayer mode is significantly more popular, and for many people, it's the main reason for buying Load, which ultimately ends up with rather mediocre reviews overall. Like Novus Ordo, Load is significantly better received by male gamers than by female gamers, and despite its hard-M rating, it's quite popular amongst pre-teens. Needless to say, the violent game receives plenty of controversy, both for its advertising campaign and for its actual gameplay. It's one of the first unabashedly violent games to be released since the Valentine's Day Shooting, and its release is met with disdain from media figures and from industry critics like Jack Thompson, who uses the game's release to drum up publicity for his lawsuit. Despite all the controversy (or, more likely, because of it), Load is a commercial success, and Activision immediately commissions a sequel.

-

Brittany Saldita: Another violent video game is causing controversy with parents. Load, the brand new shooter game which released last Monday, is popular among teens and adults alike. But it's the game's popularity with teens that worries many.

*Brief footage of the game is played on screen, showing Kilroy Hearns in a shootout with an armed gang*

Saldita: In Load, you play the role of a mercenary defending a village from a criminal arms dealing syndicate. The game has sold well at area stores, and in some stores, clerks report that sales to younger players far outnumber sales to adults. Though some stores, like Wal-Mart, require identification to be shown to purchase violent games, others do not. Some public officials, including California's governor Gray Davis, are calling for a law requiring identification before purchasing Mature-rated games. That's a law that Congress is also considering, pending the results of an official study into the psychological effects of violent video games on children. And Florida attorney Jack Thompson has recently made headlines, partnering with parents of several of the students murdered in February's massacre at a Virginia high school to sue game companies involved in the production of violent video games. Most recently, Thompson cited Load in his argument that ID should be required to purchase violent games.

*Thompson's picture is shown, along with a brief quote.*

Saldita: Thompson stated, "Game companies are becoming more and more ruthless in pushing these murder simulators on our children, and need to be held accountable for the results of their actions in pursuing profit over decency." So far, none of the companies involved in the production or distribution of the game have offered any comments on Thompson's statements, but a representative from Sega did state in response to the Congressional study that the game industry has made efforts for the past eight years to make parents aware of the content of games in order to make the right choices for their children. Civil proceedings in Thompson's lawsuit are expected to begin in December.

Harold Green: When we come back: as reports of killer bee attacks in places like Texas and New Mexico continue to frighten residents of southern states, many are wondering if they're in danger here in Southern California. We talked to a local bee expert who told us that the threat might be somewhat overblown.

Saldita: And we've also got Dallas Raines with an update on those balmy temperatures, we'll let you know if there's relief in sight coming up in our weekend forecast.

*The newscast goes off the air, Brittany waits a few seconds before speaking to her co-anchor.*

Saldita: ....that game is awesome.

Green: You've been playing it?

Saldita: Yeah, not really a fan of the actual "game" part but the multiplayer mode, I've been playing that with Chris and some of our friends and it's a blast.

Green: Do you let the baby watch?

Saldita: Oh, he sits in my lap.

Green: *laughing* You let the baby watch you play that game?

Staffer: I imagine it freaks him out!

Saldita: Oh, no, he loves it. He laughs whenever mommy kills daddy.

*A bunch of the staffers and the cameraman laugh loudly*

Saldita: I'll shoot Chris, and Arturo...he'll like giggle and then he'll clap. ....I'm a bad mom. *laughs, along with some of the staffers*

Green: *shaking his head but laughing too* Are you going to let him play games like that?

Saldita: Yeah, when he's like seven I'll probably let him play. *the cameraman laughs again* I mean, it's just games. The violence in this game is pretty silly. Most games, I'll probably let him play when he gets to be about seven or eight. Maybe I'll keep him away from Grand Theft Auto until he's nine or ten, that looks like a little bit much. And the scary games, like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, those I might hold off on until he's 13, they'd give him nightmares.

Producer: 15 seconds, guys.

Green: So the super violent ones, they're fine, but the scary ones...

Saldita: Mommy needs her sleep, I can't have him waking me up after playing Silent Hill too long.

Producer: 10....9...

Green: So you disagree with Jack Thompson.

Saldita: *makes vomiting motion with one hand and a thumbs down motion with the other*

Producer: 6...5...

Saldita: *mouths "fuck him", prompting Green to laugh a bit*

Producer: 4...3...2...

*The newscast goes back on the air*

Green: Killer bees: harmless creatures or serious threat? While reports of killer bee attacks have been all over the news, bee experts say...

-from the July 11, 2001 KABC-TV evening newscast at 5:00 PM

-

"Is it problematic? You know, ten years ago, we made the decision that Nintendo would expand its target audience. When we partnered with Sony, we knew we were opening the door to more of these kinds of games. I think, with the shooting and with all the controversy, it does put us in a position where we're...questioning, certain aspects of our games. But look at last year, our most popular game was Velvet Dark. That was our best selling title and our most critically acclaimed. This year, Medal Of Honor: Underground. So there's an audience for these games. And the social responsibility, I mean, we're always trying to make sure our games are played by the appropriate audiences. So with Load, I think...we're just putting it out there. We're not giving it the same level of promotion that we gave to these other games I mentioned. It's out there and if adults want to buy it that's their right to do so. We make games for everyone. Kids, adults, boys, girls, everyone. And...I think with Velvet Dark and with Medal of Honor, it's the story that people are buying. It's not the shooting. It's the story. Medal of Honor is a war game. Steven Spielberg wrote it. It shows the reality of war. So...there's an audience for these games. And there probably always will be."
-Nintendo of America president Howard Lincoln, from an interview on the July 20, 2001 episode of 20/20, answering a question about whether or not allowing violent first-person shooter games on the Ultra Nintendo is problematic for a company that also makes billions of dollars selling games to children

 

[RySenkari]

Game Boy Nova Still The Only Handheld In Town

The Game Boy Nova continues to be one of the most popular video game devices in recent memory. As of July 1, 2001, it just crossed the 20 million sales mark worldwide, and continues to post strong sales every month, outpacing both the Ultra Nintendo and the Sega Katana in total unit sales. The system recently received a price cut: the base set, with no game included, retails for $129.99, while various game bundles, including Super Mario Nova, Super Mario World 2, and Pokemon Sun, retail for $149.99.

The Nova's success hasn't been a shock to industry analysts, but what has been somewhat surprising is the Nova's lack of serious competition. The last real handheld release by a Nintendo competitor was the Neo-Geo Pocket Color, which barely sold a million units. It's been rumored that Sega has been considering re-entering the handheld business, but no such plans have materialized, and the company has stated that it wishes to focus solely on its home console business for the time being. The Sega Venus was mildly successful at launch, but sales quickly trailed off due to the system's price and low battery life. With no other handheld releases on the horizon, the Game Boy Nova looks to remain the only game in town for the foreseeable future.

-from an article posted on Gamespot.com, July 18, 2001

-

Mega Man Blast

Released in July 2001, Mega Man Blast is a completely original title for the Game Boy Nova that tells an alternate sidestory of Mega Man X, with gameplay mechanics based largely on those games. X is deployed to a secret lab in order to stop the mad scientist who's been working there, but when he arrives, he finds the lab destroyed and a robot assassin left behind. When he defeats the assassin, it leads to an explosion that endows X with brand new powers, including the ability to use his upgraded X-Buster weapon from the start of the game. Not only that, but when X has enough Blast Energy stored up, he can utilize X-Blast mode, which hypercharges his weapons and allows them to fill the whole screen, taking out scores of enemies and doing massive damage to bosses. The game employs the familiar "eight stages followed by a multi-stage finale" mechanic, though at random intervals, more robot assassins are sent to take out X, and defeating them allows X to acquire certain upgrades beyond what he already has equipped. He eventually learns that the mad scientist is still alive and is the one who's been deploying the assassins. X must penetrate into the scientist's lair and defeat him. Mega Man Blast is a fairly standard Mega Man game, but the ability to utilize significantly more firepower and the excitement of the robot assassin mechanic adds more excitement to the game, and its graphics, a slight step up from the earlier Mega Man X titles, are praised as well. The game sells decently, meeting Capcom's expectations.

Knights Of Xyveria

Knights Of Xyveria is a tactical RPG best described as the Tactics Ogre to Fire Emblem's Final Fantasy Tactics. The gameplay, stat analysis, and customization mechanics are deep and complex, though somewhat hard to master. The game takes place in the land of Xyveria, ruled by a tyrannical king. An exiled prince named Moga must recruit warriors to build an army to topple the king. In order to recruit these warriors, he'll have to win their trust by completing missions to solve their own problems, all the while staying one step ahead of the king's army. The plot, though cliche, is helped out by the presence of strong characters, including Gregor, an old knight captain chronicling his tales of battle, and Scifia, a lady mercenary who has descended into alcoholism after witnessing the death of a young princess she was supposed to protect. Knights Of Xyveria gets favorable reviews: while most strategy RPG fans prefer the Fire Emblem series, there are a few who enjoy the complexity and character focus of Xyveria. The game sells quite well for its genre. It's not a Fire Emblem-sized hit but it is a success in both Japan and North America.

Shady

A somewhat unique action game in which the protagonist is a mysterious creature of shadows named Shady. Shady can duck in and out of the shadows, making himself seen only when he has to. This adds an element of stealth to the game, which requires Shady to navigate levels collecting items before he can make his way to the exit. He doesn't have to take out the enemies he sees unless they see him, in which case they must be defeated in order to allow Shady to retreat back into the shadows. The cartoony graphics of the game and the innovative gameplay which mixes action, stealth, and puzzle elements, are well received, despite the fairly small levels and short length of the game (which is padded somewhat by its above average difficulty). Shady is accompanied by an ad campaign that positions the game as a fun title for children, and it ultimately becomes one of the Nova's top selling games of the summer when it releases in August 2001.

RevOlution

A futuristic action platformer released in September 2001, RevOlution, developed by Paradigm Games, centers around a young freedom fighter named Adam, who, along with his partner Gem, ride around a futuristic city on powered unicycle-type vehicles known as Onocycles. Onocycles are cleared for use only by the powerful police guard units who work for the city's militarized force, but some of these Onocycles have fallen into the hands of subversives and are now being used to liberate the city. Gameplay consists of sidescrolling stages where Adam rides his Onocycle at a rapid pace, using a variety of weapons to shoot down enemies. Alternate routes appear frequently, allowing for opportunities to gather items, fight weaker (or stronger) foes, or simply to take a more scenic route through the stage. Along the way, various bosses appear, ranging from simply enhanced versions of easy enemies to massive super-machines that take up more than one screen. Performing Onocycle tricks gives various benefits, from restoring Adam's health to unlocking alternate routes, to simply scoring more points. As Adam progresses through the game's levels, of which there are more than 20, he uncovers more information about the city's oppressors. The city is civilization's last bastion of science and technology, and the rulers of the city are taking its best and brightest hostage in order to force them to research ways to re-industrialize the rest of the planet. Adam's father was one of those men taken hostage, his bioresearch technology is vital to restoring agriculture across the rest of the world, but if misused, runs the risk of destroying the ecosystem, rendering the world's plant and animal life extinct. About halfway through the game, Gem betrays Adam and ultimately must be taken out after she refuses to see reason and insists upon the World Revitalization Project's completion. Adam finally confronts the ruler of the city, which ends up being an AI program. It takes control of an enormous robot and attacks Adam, but in a fierce final boss fight, Adam defeats it and destroys the computer, freeing his father and the other people of the city. Adam's father encourages him to stay, but Adam decides to ride his Onocycle into the wastelands, hoping that he can salvage enough remnants of civilization to find another way to begin rebuilding the rest of the world. RevOlution's gameplay is highly praised, it wins several Game of the Year awards for the Nova and good word of mouth helps it to become one of the best selling Nova games of the year.

Everstar

An Atlus developed fantasy based turn-based RPG, Everstar is more traditional than some of the company's other titles (especially its Shin Megami Tensei games. It's somewhat comparable to the Lunar games, with five great heroes uniting to save the world, and even features some very short anime cutscenes and a bit of voice acting (as much as the 128MB game cartridge will allow). The Everstar that the title refers to is an eternal shining light that has been lost for aeons. When a great evil sorceress blots out the sun, gradually diminishing the world's source of life and magic, five heroes must band together to find the Everstar in order to relight the world. With a few twists and turns along the way, Everstar is a fairly cliched RPG, but it features some very popular characters (including a purple-haired witch named Voska who has lots of fanservice and is probably the breakout character of the game) and an outstanding musical soundtrack. In addition, its production values are higher than most other RPGs on the Nova, even by larger companies such as Squaresoft. Everstar sells quite poorly at the time of its release, but it gradually becomes more and more popular. As a hard to find game, its price stays very high until Atlus finally gives it a short reprint run in 2005.

-

August 1, 2001

Steve Jobs held the Game Boy Nova in his hands, his fingers rapidly pushing the buttons as he played through a level of Mega Man Blast. Part relaxation, part market research, Jobs had been playing the Nova increasingly frequently over the last few months, though his main focus was on preparing for the upcoming launch of the iPod in just a couple of months. The iPod was to be the highest capacity MP3 player ever released, with a hard drive capable of containing up to 5GB of songs. It was designed to be compatible with the iMac, which had seen its market share gradually increasing over the past few years. While Apple was still behind Microsoft in the computer business, the gap was closing.

Of course, Jobs was well aware of Microsoft's upcoming Xbox launch. While he believed his iPod would be a more successful consumer product, he didn't doubt that video games had become a powerful force in the electronics industry.

There was a knock at Jobs' door.

"Come in," he said.

The door opened, and standing in the doorway was Jon Rubinstein, the lead developer of the iPod and one of Jobs' closest business associates.

"Just wanted to give you an update on those numbers," said Rubinstein. "The shipment figures you requested earlier? I think you'll like what the team has to say."

Jobs set down the Nova and looked up at Rubinstein.

"Tell them I'll be right there," said Jobs, picking up the Nova to put it away.

"Oh, the Game Boy Nova," said Rubinstein, walking over to Jobs' desk. "Pretty fun, huh?"

"It honestly puzzles me how Nintendo does it," Jobs replied, getting up from his desk. "Selling such a powerful handheld device at such a low price and still making a profit."

"Well, it's a bit underpowered compared to what it could be," said Rubinstein. "With the chip technology we're seeing now, you could probably have a device 3-5 times as powerful, sell it for around $249 and still make a small profit on each one. Depending on how powerful you're willing to go and if you're willing to take a loss, you could make something even more powerful. Battery life's a concern, of course, but we've been exploring battery solutions in the course of developing the iPod and some of the new technology coming in that field is pretty promising."

"$249?" asked Jobs, raising an eyebrow. "$249 would probably be the maximum price point to compete with Nintendo in that field. Anything more and families wouldn't buy it. Anything less and you'd lose too much money.

"Well, that's less than what we're selling the iPod for. But that would be the optimal premium pricing for a portable gaming handheld right now."

"Right," said Jobs, nodding his head. He walked with Rubinstein toward the door. "I think we'll focus on the iPod for now."

 

[RySenkari]

Emergency 2: Distress Call

Emergency 2 is the sequel to the 1999 action survival horror title Emergency. Developed by Sony, the game plays very similarly to the original, with a more action-oriented approach than its fellow survival horror game Resident Evil. The player can utilize a variety of melee strikes and weapons in combat, though in this game, combat is a bit more sparse and the survival horror element comes into play somewhat more, with stealth being a bigger factor than it was in the previous game. It takes a Metroidvania-like approach, similar to its predecessor, where players must clear certain areas by triggering certain events before they can be explored. The graphics are fairly average, with very little improvement over the previous game. The main characters are a pair of camp counselors named Grant (voiced by a largely unknown actor, who, despite giving a good performance in this game, appears in few other roles before or since) and Tamika (voiced by Preslaysa Edwards, who, like Grant's voice actor, performed very few other roles before or since this game and whose only previous major role in anything was as Cindy in the very short-lived TTL and the somewhat longer lived OTL Mystery Files Of Shelby Woo).

The game takes place at a summer camp, a few weeks after the events in the original game (though, before a certain point in the game, it's not made clear that the two games even take place in the same universe). One night, chaos erupts as one of the camp counselors viciously stabs the camp leader to death before coming after a group of kids. Grant barely stops him, and this sets off a chain of events that eventually leads to every single other camp counselor except Grant and Tamika, along with numerous other townspeople such as police and medical personnel, becoming infected by the same virus from the original game, a virus that infects people and mutates either their body, their behavior, or both. Some of the infected turn into hideous creatures, though others stay nearly identical in appearance to their original selves...and as it turns out, these people are the most dangerous. At one point, Grant and Tamika must choose between rescuing a group of kids trapped in a burning building, and two of their fellow counselors being held captive by one of the infected. They decide to split up, with Tamika saving the kids and Grant saving the counselors (you play as both here, and both missions are extremely harrowing, with Tamika having to fight off several badly mutated infected on the way to save the kids, and Grant having to fight not only the infected, but one of the freed captives after he immediately shows signs of mutation, the other captive is saved but then dies near the end of the game). At some point, Grant and Tamika learn that the entire camp is now the target for a government death squad sent to kill all infected and suspected infected with extreme prejudice, and the two of them have to not only fight against various infected, but the death squad soldiers as well. Against all odds and despite the deaths of several of their friends, despite witnessing horrors unimaginable, the two counselors manage to save all of the kids and escape the camp. The nearby city is burning, completely overrun with infected. Grant and Tamika have saved the kids, but now as they walk down a dark, lonely path, they know they're walking into an uncertain future.

The reception for Emergency 2 is extremely positive, even moreso than the first game. It's considered to be significantly scarier than the previous title, and though it's also somewhat bleaker, it is filled with some triumphant moments and fun action sequences. Along with Silent Hill 2, the game is considered one of the year's top horror titles. It's released on July 16, 2001, and sells very, very well, though not as much as some of Sony's other major games that year. Still, sales are more than enough to lead to justify a third title in the series.

-

Ballistic Limit 3

Ballistic Limit 3 is the sequel to 1998's Ballistic Limit 2. Developed by Sony, the game maintains the same basic gameplay of Ballistic Limit 2 (a third-person shooter with an FPS mode accessed by utilizing the player's Ballistic Meter), but adds additional elements, most notably the ability to enhance Ash Beckland's abilities via collecting specific power-up items from enemies or in hidden areas. Most of the core gameplay remains intact: the protagonist, Ash, has the ability to use various melee weapons or ranged weapons in combat, and is able to strafe, roll, and jump in combat, even in first-person Ballistic Mode. The power-up abilities that Ash gains over the course of the game can be used to enhance his health meter or Ballistic Meter, or can be used offensively or defensively in battle, they sort of work like the plasmids in OTL Bioshock, though you don't get as much of a variety in this game as you do in that one, and generally, Ash's enhanced abilities aren't quite as useful, forcing you to rely on your weapons to deal most of the damage. The game's graphics have notably improved, making Ballistic Limit 3 one of the best looking Ultra Nintendo games to date, while the excellent voice acting the series is known for returns. Michael Massee once again reprises his role as Ash Beckland, though Sara has a new voice actress, Pamela Adlon, after Peta Wilson stepped down from the role. New characters include the Earth Federation general Jessica Alvers, voiced by Dana Delany, Sy Sackard, a mysterious and eccentric virologist voiced by Dave Coulier, and the Genosiege, a strange being that has attacked Earth, voiced by Frank Welker.

The game begins with a sort of tutorial mission, as Ash, Danny, and Chris have gotten caught in a strange storm on the distant planet they now call home. Guided by Sara's instructions, Ash has to lead the crew back to their base as strange (but weak) creatures attack them. After they return, we see a glimpse of their life on this new planet: the four are lonely, but content, and glad to have each other even as they know they can never return home. It's then that a mysterious transmission is sent to the planet: it's coming from Earth and, despite the dozens of light years in distance, is in real time. The planet is being slowly consumed by a strange entity, and it's this entity that is sending images of what it's doing to Ash's planet. The four realize their former home is in danger, but know that if they return to Earth, they risk infecting humanity with the virus they're all carrying. They vote on it and unanimously decide to return, utilizing a ship that they've buried in a distant cave (reaching the ship poses its own dangers, as the crew must battle a giant beast before reaching it). Using the ship and passing through a wormhole, the crew reaches Earth only to find that it is completely unharmed. Realizing that they've been tricked, Ash tries to turn the ship around, but something pulls them toward Earth and they crashland in a large field. When they step out of the ship they are surrounded by Earth soldiers and put into quarantine. They are confronted by Alvers, who says that the only reason she didn't have them killed immediately is because Ash saved humanity, but now he may have doomed it by exposing everyone to the virus. Ash explains what he saw, and though Alvers doesn't believe them, a scientist working under her, Dr. Sackard, does. He explains that what Ash described is a being known as the Genosiege that can tear holes in time and space, and that may have been showing Ash's crew an alternate vision of Earth, or something in its immediate future. Alvers doesn't relent, so Ash and his crew decide to escape their captivity (this mission is difficult because you have to use stealth and non-lethal weapons). The crew escapes but keeps wearing protective biohazard suits as they talk to Dr. Sackard. It's then that there's a huge earthquake and the lab is attacked by large, bug-like beasts. Ash and crew try to fight the beasts but their suits are torn open in the process, and it's then that they discover their new powers. However, when the bugs manage to bite Chris, they become much stronger. Sackard postulates that the Genosiege tricked Ash into returning to Earth so that it can gain access to the virus. Sackard decides to work on an antidote so that Ash and his friends can stay on Earth without infecting their fellow humans...however, it might be too late, as reports are coming in of human beings mutating into creatures like those fought in Ballistic Limit 2. Ash and friends now have two enemies: the mutants, and Alvers' army. Over the next few levels, Ash fights against increasingly deadly creatures. A pivotal moment occurs, however, when Chris, who was bitten earlier, begins to mutate himself, and in an emotional boss fight, Ash has to put him down. To make matters worse, Sara has been captured by Alvers, who resolves to perform experiments on her in order to find out how to deal with the mutants. As Ash and Danny try to save her, they get caught up in a massive siege in the Federation capital, and it's here that Ash, with Sackard's help, discovers that the mutations weren't caused by them and the virus, but by the Genosiege. The form of the virus that Ash and his crew were infected with stopped being contagious after a year, though they still remained carriers, and it was the Genosiege that used the sample in order to infect the people of Earth. The Genosiege seeks to harvest infected humans, as the virus is the only thing that can keep it anchored to a single place or time. Once it consumes enough infected humans, it'll be able to colonize the Earth. Ash and Danny decide that they have to get the information to Alvers. They raid Alvers' base in order to save Sara and warn Alvers, but the base is already overrun with infected humans and Ash and Danny have to fight some very powerful creatures to reach Alvers. Alvers has killed hundreds of infected, but she's near death, and infected herself. She tells Ash that the Genosiege took Sara and that she's sorry. When Ash apologizes for coming to Earth and enabling the Genosiege to collect a sample, Alvers tells him that the Genosiege would have come for them anyway and that without the help of her soldiers, they wouldn't have stood a chance against it. She tells him that he and his friends have made the ultimate sacrifice, and then as she begins to mutate, begs them to kill her and stop the Genosiege. Ash and Danny battle the infected Alvers, who mutates into a horrific creature. Then, they penetrate the Genosiege's core. Sara, who has been infected by two different alien pathogens, is the perfect vessel for the Genosiege to use to evolve into a new, omnipotent form. As it tries to infect her, she resists, just long enough to tell Ash to kill her. When he refuses, she grabs his gun and blows her own head off. Enraged, Ash attacks the Genosiege, but even after three fierce fights, each against a progressively more powerful form, it seems to keep evolving continuously. Finally, Dally is badly injured and Ash is cornered. As he prepares to make his last stand, the Genosiege is impaled from behind...by Sara, who has somehow regenerated herself back to life and has taken on a much more powerful (but still humanoid and beautiful) form. Sara holds the Genosiege in place, allowing Ash to finish it off with a supercharged cannon blast. The Genosiege is destroyed...sort of. Now, Sara herself is the Genosiege, having absorbed it into herself in order to eradicate it completely. Being the Genosiege, Sara can no longer stay in one place or time for very long, and she realizes she'll probably never see Ash again. She shares one final kiss with him before disappearing into the aether. Ash helps his injured buddy Danny to his feet, and the two walk out to a hero's reception. There's a flash forward to several months later. Ash is now retired, while Danny has been made general of the Earth Federation. Though Ash is glad that humanity is finally at peace, he still thinks of Sara. Fortunately, Dr. Sackard has been working on a way to isolate Sara's location in the multiverse, and now he's working on a way to help Ash be there at the next place she shows up. After the credits, we see that Sara, as the Genosiege, has been using her power to save civilizations and restore barren planets to life, but that she's never forgotten Ash. She arrives at her next location...the desolate planet she and Ash and Danny and Chris once shared. This time, standing by their old campfire, Ash is waiting with a smile on his face.

Ballistic Limit 3, despite its superb production values, is considered by some critics to be a disappointment, as the gameplay itself has barely evolved from its previous incarnation, and compared to games like Squad Four Rebellion, Metroid Darkness, and the upcoming The Covenant, now seems a bit outdated, with the enhancements mechanic not adding very much to the game. The highly anticipated multiplayer mode is also somewhat of a disappointment, with only a few different modes and smaller than expected battlefields, and the Ballistic mechanic doesn't necessarily translate well to multiplayer deathmatches. Overall reception, however, is still quite good, if not as good as the previous two games in the series. And, of course, sales are excellent, though they trail off a bit quicker than those of Ballistic Limit 2. The game is released on August 6, 2001, and sells slightly less copies during the calendar year of 2001 than Novus Ordo (though that game had the advantage of being released almost two months earlier).

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Goblins: Children Of The Underworld

Goblins: Children Of The Underworld is a 3-D platfomer created by Naughty Dog for the Ultra Nintendo. The game plays very much like OTL Jak and Daxter (it was created by much of the same team, and essentially replaces that game ITTL). The game centers around two goblin siblings named Puckle and Lune. Goblins are strange little humanoid creatures, somewhat shorter and stouter than normal humans, with wild, Troll doll-like hair (though it comes in far fewer colors, most of them earth tones). Goblins live underground in a network of vast caves, and though they have HEARD of humans, and a few have even seen humans, goblins live in great fear of them, telling stories of an ancient war in which goblins were slaughtered by humans. The gameplay is typical platformer fare, featuring running, jumping, sliding, and rolling. You can alternate between Puckle, the boy goblin, and Lune, the girl goblin, though they play mostly the same, with a few unique abilities used to progress in certain areas. Among the similarities the game has with OTL Jak and Daxter are Doshstones, which take the place of Precursor Orbs, and Glow, which takes the place of Eco and doesn't serve entirely the same functions, but does come in six different varieties. There are also Krystals, which serve as the game's equivalent of Power Cells (or Mario's Stars), collecting enough Krystals allows Puckle and Lune to access different areas of the game. Puckle is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, while Lune is voiced by Lauren Tom. The game, while obviously not as advanced graphically as OTL Jak and Daxter, is still considered technically and artistically beautiful for the system it's on. The character designs are inspired by the work of Don Bluth, and the creators of the game cited Bluth's critically maligned A Troll In Central Park as one of their sources for inspiration (Bluth would later go on to say that Naughty Dog "did that story better than I did it" in a 2003 interview).

The game begins as Puckle and Lune hear a story from the Great Elder (a kind old elderly goblin voiced by Tom Kane) who tells them the story of how the Great Goblin Hero saved their kind from an entire army of humans. Puckle wants to be the Great Goblin Hero, and decides to go on a quest to find his lucky helmet, which takes him to an area of the caves that the Elder warned them against visiting and to which Lune does not want to go. This cave quest sets the two goblins on their epic adventure when they are attacked by a group of shadowy monsters that cause a cave collapse, isolating them from the rest of their kind. Eventually, Puckle and Lune emerge from the caves into the middle of a huge, modern city...a city of humans. Though Puckle and Lune try to get away before being spotted, two human children, a brother and sister, spot them and follow them. Puckle and Lune realize that these humans seem nice, but are still scared of them, and try to chase them back home...only for the shadow creatures to snatch the children up, forcing Puckle and Lune to come to their rescue. The shadow creatures are eventually revealed to be boggarts, descendants of the survivors of the goblin societies slaughtered by humans thousands of years before. The boggarts grew bitter in isolation, becoming powerful but also becoming violent, and now they seek to wipe out the goblins AND the humans. Puckle and Lune eventually return home, telling the Great Elder and their fellow goblins about both the boggarts and the human society. Many of the goblins consider the humans to be a bigger threat, but the Great Elder believes Puckle and Lune and asks them to bring the human children to see him. The Great Elder can sense the purity in the children's hearts, and says that the Great Goblin Hero also believed in the goodness of humans, but unfortunately, he believed in it too much and it cost him dearly. The leader of the boggarts, called Grauggh, is eventually revealed to be the former Great Goblin Hero, who went insane after seeing too many of his fellow goblins slaughtered. He now believes that goblins have grown weak and that humans will always be treacherous and evil. This seems to be confirmed when a group of humans, searching for the two children, encounter the goblin home and destroy it. The Great Elder dies, not of injuries inflicted by the humans, but of a broken heart. The children are eventually found and though they try to convince the humans that the goblins aren't evil, the humans don't listen. The new goblin leader exiles Puckle and Lune and has the caves sealed off to prevent humans and goblins from ever interacting again. However, this leaves the goblins vulnerable to an attack by the boggarts, who launch simultaneous attacks on both the goblins and the human city. The boggarts use their shadow powers to evade human weaponry, and are about to start killing humans when Puckle and Lune show up to save the day. They fight off the boggarts along with the two human children (who have been taught fighting moves by Puckle and Luna), winning back the humans' trust. The humans offer their help in saving the goblins from the boggarts, but Puckle and Luna decline, saying that it's a goblin problem. However, when they return, the two human children have followed them, refusing to be left out of the fight. The human children manage to distract some of the boggarts and save most of the goblins, while Puckle and Luna raid the boggart world in search of Grauggh. They eventually confront him, and Puckle tries to reason with him, but it's too late, his mind is too far gone into hatred and madness. Puckle and Luna must defeat both Grauggh and a massive shadow monster that he summons after he's defeated. After Grauggh is defeated, he finally realizes the error of his ways, and decides to let go. As his hatred for humans and his fellow goblins who did not agree with him kept him bound to the world of the living, he is about to die, but before he does, he says that Puckle truly is the Great Goblin Hero now. The ending of the game sees Puckle and Luna welcomed back to goblin society with open arms, and they help to rebuild what the boggarts and angry humans destroyed. We also see the goblins visiting the human world, where the humans, though a bit weirded out, welcome the goblins, and the goblins are all seen partaking in various human activities, like eating pizza and going to a basketball game.

Goblins gets a highly positive reception, though the game isn't seen as the groundbreaking platformer that Jak and Daxter was IOTL, it's simply seen as another very good Naughty Dog game. It, like Jak and Daxter, does become a franchise, with the sequel going into development for the Wave console immediately after the release of the first title. The game is released on August 20, 2001 to robust sales, becoming Sony's third major successful release in just a six week time frame.

 

[RySenkari]

Chrono Infinite

The sequel to 1996's hit RPG Chrono Trigger, Chrono Infinite has a good deal in common with OTL's Chrono Cross, but butterflies have produced a number of creative differences that make the game largely different from a storyline perspective. Like Chrono Cross, Chrono Infinite features three character parties (out of a possible 12 total characters, slimmed way down from Chrono Cross' roster). The battle system has many similarities, including turn-based combat with no ATB system: characters take their turns as commands are selected. Like in Chrono Cross, characters get 7 AP to spend every turn, and can either use it on physical attacks (with 1 expended for a weak attack, 2 for a strong attack, and 3 for a fierce attack, with fierce attacks having less chance to hit) or special attacks (expending all 7 points at once, and special attacks can be used after spending points on physical attacks, potentially leaving characters up to 6 points in the red). Characters have an attack tree that they can equip spells or attacks to, but unlike in Chrono Cross, each character has eight special attacks, with one for each level of the attack tree that is learned at a certain point in the game, either by beating certain bosses or, in the case of most level 8 special attacks, finding a specific treasure or beating a certain side quest. Attack trees start out with only level 1 attacks, but as characters get stronger, more slots are added to the tree, allowing for more attacks and spells to be equipped. For example, there are generic attack spells, buff spells, and healing spells that everyone can equip to empty slots (though special attacks can't be replaced), similar to Chrono Cross. Combination attacks are much more prevalent than in OTL Chrono Cross, with every character having two dual tech combinations with every other character (utilizing special attacks), for a total of 132 possible dual techs in the game. There are also 48 triple techs, with every playable character being involved in at least two (though Locus, Casini, Aden, and Harle are involved in the most triple techs in the game). Each dual and triple tech can only be used once per fight, and puts everyone involved in it into -6 status, meaning that players must carefully choose when to use their combination attacks. Another difference that the game has from OTL Chrono Cross is the ability to build up something called the Vigor Meter. Using and connecting with consecutive Fierce attacks will allow characters to use special attacks without using any AP, and building the meter up a massive amount will allow for penalty-free use of combination techniques, making it very prudent to try and use Fierce attacks as much as possible (despite the risk). Like in OTL Chrono Cross, each character and special attack has an elemental affinity with either Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, White, or Black. Red/Blue, Green/Yellow, and White/Black are all diametrically opposed and super-effective against the other while each type is only half as effective against the same type. Using three consecutive special attacks of the same element creates a field effect that makes subsequent attacks of that element extra powerful. Leveling up is a sort of hybrid system: unlike in OTL Chrono Cross, you CAN gain experience and level up your characters by defeating enemies, but you only gain skill tree slots via gaining stars from accomplishing certain storyline goals, most of them involving the defeating of bosses.

Chrono Infinite is, like OTL Chrono Cross, considered one of the best looking games of its generation. It significantly tops Final Fantasy VIII in graphical fidelity and is even comparable to Final Fantasy IX. The FMV cutscenes are done with even more care and detail than in Parasite Eve, and look better than a lot of early Katana cutscenes despite the gap in graphical power, while the in-game graphics look far better than anything in the OTL fifth generation. The music, composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, is considered to be some of the finest music in any RPG before or since. Only about 15 tracks from OTL appear in the game, while the remaining 75% of the soundtrack, influenced by butterflies, is completely different from what appeared in OTL's version of Chrono Cross. The game, like its predecessor, features full voice acting. Many of the voice actors return from Chrono Trigger, most notably the voice actors of Magus (Crispin Freeman) and Schala (Moira Quirk), but also those of Lucca, Marle, and a few others, particularly the Gurus. New voice actors appear for Glenn and Ayla. Overall, the voice cast is much more well known than the Chrono Trigger cast was. By now, Crispin Freeman and Moira Quirk are established stars in the voice acting world, and the cast is fully unionized. As it pertains to the game's storyline, Chrono Infinite is still a somewhat darker story than Chrono Trigger, but not as bleak as Chrono Cross was IOTL. Radical Dreamers was never created ITTL, and Masato Kato, while still wishing to show that the actions of Crono and his friends did have unforeseen consequences, still took a somewhat less fatalistic approach to Chrono Infinite than he did with Chrono Trigger, partly due to the overall more optimistic tone that JRPGs have ITTL (at the same time that many Western games are becoming decidedly darker). Ultimately, Kato decides to give players a choice. The game's basic ending is bittersweet, but, if players are willing to work for it, the true ending is revealed with a much more hopeful and triumphant tone. The game, like OTL's Chrono Cross, is contained on two discs, and is a bit longer in length than Chrono Cross, with more sidequests as well.

A total of nine different time periods and 16 different dimensions appear in Chrono Infinite. Here is a brief description of them.

Blind Eternity- A realm outside of time, from which all dimensions originate. Visited only once, it is the key to the existence of multiple dimensions, its Wellspring Of Time keeps dimensions bound to one another in the eternal multiverse.

1,000,000 BC (Age Of Mysteries)- An ancient time, visited only once. Humans existed, but in a primitive state. In this time period, extraterrestrial visitors came to leave humanity a clue as to the existence of Lavos, the Great Devourer.

12,000 BC (Dark Ages)- A time when Earthbound and Enlightened once lived in separate worlds, primitive Earthbound Ones on the surface and magical Enlightened Ones in the sky.
Fall of Zeal- The dimension depicted in Chrono Trigger, where Zeal has fallen and the surviving Enlightened and Earthbound ones live together. A peaceful time, but with treachery beneath the surface, and where Magus scours the world in search of something…
Zeal Reigns- Zeal remains in the sky, but is a peaceful kingdom, ruled by Schala with her brother Magus at her side. But the Queen seems troubled by something…

1 AD (Age Of Legends)- The time of Guardia’s founding. An ancient realm from where many legends originate, an era of warring kingdoms and heroes…
The Hero- A hero rises in this era to bring peace and unite the realm, but a mysterious force tries to keep him from succeeding…
The Starchild- This world is already united, under a powerful mage who rules the land with an iron fist until a young magic adept seems to fall from the sky…

1010 AD (Age Of Guardia)- Corresponds to the “present” as seen in Chrono Trigger, only ten years hence. Crono and Marle now rule, but this world has many possibilities.
Crono’s Age- Guardia is at peace and Crono and Marle rule as benevolent monarchs. It’s a completely peaceful and happy world, but outside forces arrive to shatter that peace. Lucca knows something, but she’s vanished.
Rise Of Porre- Guardia struggles to beat back a militarized Porre, and war threatens to shatter the peace that Crono and Marle worked for.
Mystics And Zeal- In this world, Magus’ Mystic rebellion succeeded. Mystics now rule, but it is not Magus who rules them. Indeed, the victorious Mystics may just be pawns in the schemes of a much more dangerous power…

1700 AD (Age Of Discovery)- A kind of steampunk pirate-themed realm. This is 1700 AD, the Age of Discovery, and despite only having one dimension, it’s one of the largest and most important eras in the game. The Age of Discovery ends up being where a lot of the scientific advancements that permeate the present era were made, and also, as it turns out, the crossroads for a lot of dimensions and timelines.

2001 AD (Present)- Locus and Casini’s world. A futuristic realm, and another peaceful place, but it also ends up being the front line for a war that will span dimensions…
Destroyed Present- A world shattered by a brutal attack from the skies, there’s death and destruction everywhere, though this world isn’t as bleak as the post-Lavos future in Chrono Trigger.
Intact Present- The same world, but one never attacked. Though it’s seemingly the best possible world, it’s a world that might not be allowed to continue existing.
Kingdom Of Zeal- The seat of power of the new Queen Zeal, from where she launched her inter-dimensional attack. A futuristic kingdom of magic, it’s the final dimension visited in the game.

2400 AD (Future)- The future, which, thanks to Crono and friends, is quite bright…but the Day of Lavos still permeates the ages.
Chronopolis- The future Crono and his friends created, a bright future where man and machine work together to create paradise on Earth.
Desolation- The world Lavos destroyed, where humanity is extinct and where robots and mutants fight over the scraps. A world that shouldn’t exist.

End Of Time- A strange realm where Gaspar continues to oversee the dimensions. The heroes don’t visit as much as they did in Chrono Trigger, except for the occasional bit of rest and advice. This realm holds the key to saving the dimensions that are and the dimensions that are no longer…

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Playable Characters:

Locus- A blue haired silent protagonist, Locus is somewhat similar to Serge from OTL Chrono Cross, though he wields a pair of blades instead of a large dual-bladed weapon. Though he seems like an ordinary young man, in actuality Locus is part of the key to binding space-time back together. His affinity is to the White elemental and he uses light-based attacks.

Casini- Casini is Locus’ best friend since the two were very young. She is an intelligent young woman with an interest in astronomy. She has a slight crush on Locus but would never let him know. She wields a knife as a weapon and her affinity is to the Blue elemental, she wields water-based attacks. Voiced by Aspen Miller.

Aden- Aden is another very close friend to both Locus and Casini, attending school with them. After Locus’ parents disappeared, Aden’s family took Locus in. The two have trained together, Aden wields a longsword. He’s an eager adventurer but a bit naïve. His affinity is to the Red elemental and he uses fire-infused blade strikes. Voiced by Michael Reisz.

Marla- An adventurer from the Age of Discovery, Marla is a direct descendant of the great explorer Toma, and tries to fight for good wherever she goes. Her affinity is to the Green elemental and she wields wind-based magic and a whip as a weapon. Voiced by Rachael MacFarlane.

Cato- A robot from the future, Cato is sort of a cross between Grobyc from OTL Chrono Cross and an updated model of Robo. Cato is met by the heroes when they end up in the post-Day of Lavos apocalyptic future. Having fought against evil mutants and other robots for many years, Cato is very cynical and has developed more of an independent mind than other robots, though deep down he is still a killer machine. He fights with his fists and uses electrical attacks on foes, his affinity is the Yellow elemental. Voiced by Peter Cullen.

Riddel- Based on the character from OTL Chrono Cross, Riddel is the daughter of Porre’s military dictator. Though a loyal daughter, she turned her back on her father’s ambitions after her lost love Dario was killed in a great battle. She specializes in light and healing magic and has an affinity with the White elemental. Voiced by Hedy Burress.

Savion- Known as the Starchild, Savion emerged from a portal in 1 AD, during a time when the world was ruled by a powerful mage (who turns out to be Magus, running a gambit in the hopes of drawing out Schala). The heroes help Savion confront and defeat Magus, and it turns out that Savion is a former Earthbound One who acquired a magical spark after Zeal fell into the sea. Savion has affinity with the Blue elemental, and specializes in ice magic. Voiced by Ben Diskin.

Harle- Similar in appearance to the same character from OTL Chrono Cross, Harle at first serves as the assistant to the cloaked sniper Erased, but soon reveals motivations of her own: her purpose is to guide wayward beings separated from their own timelines to the Darkness Beyond Time. She joins the party initially serving as a mole to bring them to their final fate, but ultimately defies this and helps Locus and his friends liberate the lost timelines. She has affinity with the Black elemental. Voiced by Tara Strong.

Glenn- Despite Magus’ continued existence, Glenn was detransformed from his frog state sometime between 600 and 610 AD. While attempting to decipher this mystery with Lucca’s help, he decided to go to the time of Crono and Marle and serve as their protector. He becomes Locus and Casini’s first ally, and helps train them to fight. He wields a broadsword and has affinity with the Green elemental. His new voice actor is Josh Gomez.

Ayla- She lives in prehistory for a time and raises children with Kino who would eventually become the ancestors of the humans of the present, but at some point Ayla left her own timeline and struck out on her own. It’s eventually revealed that she is seeking a way to protect the remaining Reptites and their alternate history kingdom of Dinopolis from becoming lost to the Darkness Beyond Time. Ayla uses her fists and has affinity with the Yellow elemental. Her new voice actress is Wendee Lee.

Magus- Magus, knowing his hands were stained with blood by his cruel deeds, did not seek to rule Zeal alongside Schala, but when he noticed her starting to slip into intense melancholy, he returned to serve as her protector. One day, Schala disappeared, and Magus’ mind slipped into an alternate dimension where Schala was lost to him forever in the Ocean Palace disaster. He searches aimlessly for her. When the party helps him restore his memories of her and he realizes what has truly become of Schala, he joins the party in an attempt to save her from a fate worse than death. He has affinity with the Black elemental.

Lucca- Sometime between 1000 AD and 1010 AD, Lucca was contacted by the Three Gurus, who implored her to help them find a solution to a terrible problem: Schala had slipped completely out of time and space, and what came back in her place was committing hideous atrocities. Lucca began to search for her, but was herself pursued by the sniper Erased, and, as of the beginning of the game, is thought to be dead…but eventually, she reunites with her friends and joins the party. She has affinity with the Red elemental.

Storyline:

At first, the storyline of Chrono Infinite is relatively simplistic. Locus and Casini are teenaged school kids living peaceful lives in a futuristic 2001 AD when their home is attacked by a fortress in the sky and they are forced to flee through a dimensional portal. They journey through several eras of time, meeting some new friends along the way. During this time, the game's first major villain emerges: a cloaked sniper named Erased (spelled like “erased” but pronounced “eh-rah-sehd”), who is accompanied by a mysterious harlequin named Harle. Erased serves a role somewhat similar to Lynx in OTL Chrono Cross, though as it turns out, Erased's agenda is far different and much more independent than Lynx's, making him more of a hybrid between Lynx and Magus in that regard. A major turning point occurs when Locus and Casini (now accompanied by their friend Aden after paying a visit to an alternate version of 2001 AD where their home was never destroyed) arrive in 1700 AD. They spend a significant amount of time here, meeting and aligning themselves with their new friend Marla. As they help her in her quest to overthrow the tyrannical Mole King (who plays a somewhat similar role to Chrono Trigger's Azala, a recurring villain who is eventually cast aside by far more significant events), they learn more about why the mysterious fortress came from the sky to destroy their home. As people and things travel through time and alter the timestream, they necessarily create parallel universes where futures that never come to pass are cast off. These futures are supposed to be discarded by fate, cast into the Darkness Beyond Time...but someone or something is binding a few of these cast off universes to the main universe, causing space and time anomalies. At some point before the midpoint of the game, Locus and his party acquire a means with which to travel through time. However, interdimensional travel isn't possible until about two-thirds of the way through (a few hours into Disc 2). Acquiring a reliable means of interdimensional travel becomes a crucial plot point in the game.

The game's "main" timeline (i.e., the dimensions that players can travel through with only a time machine), is this:

Blind Eternity -> 1,000,000 BC -> 12,000 BC (Fall Of Zeal) -> 1 AD (The Hero) -> 1010 AD (Crono's Age) -> 1700 AD -> 2001 AD (Intact Present) -> 2400 AD (Chronopolis) -> End Of Time

All other dimensions are in fact destined for the Darkness Beyond Time. This includes three "loose" dimensions that aren't connected via a timeline: 1010 AD (Rise Of Porre), 2001 AD (Destroyed Present), and 2400 AD (Desolation). It also includes this connected alternate timeline:

12,000 BC (Zeal Reigns) -> 1 AD (The Starchild) -> 1010 AD (Mystics And Zeal) -> 2001 AD (Kingdom Of Zeal)

Shortly before the time machine is first acquired, the heroes come face to face with the person who destroyed Locus, Casini, and Aden's home in what is now the alternate 2001 AD: a beautiful blue-haired woman who calls herself Queen Zeal, and indeed, dresses in similar fashion (though with a few differences). Queen Zeal pledges her allegiance to Lavos, a being long believed to have been destroyed by the actions of the brave Crono and his friends. But unlike the cackling, delusional Queen Zeal of Chrono Trigger, this Queen Zeal is more sadistic and methodical, and even sad at times, though she never lets any lingering sadness detract from her cruelty. The heroes are no match for her, though Erased and Harle manage to cause her a fleeting bit of injury which allows Locus and his friends to escape thanks to timely intervention by the Guru Balthasar (who was thought to have been sleeping beyond the flow of time). It's Balthasar who sets the heroes on their quest to reclaim the time machine Epoch, and after a short trip back to 1700 AD, they retrieve it. Claiming the Epoch sets off another chain of adventures, which eventually lead the heroes and Erased to clash once again in a climactic showdown in 1 AD. Following the Erased encounter (in which Harle breaks off from him and joins the group), another dimensional portal is created, sending the heroes to the alternate 1 AD, where they meet Savion and eventually Magus. It's once the heroes meet Magus that the game's true plot begins to take shape.

The new Queen Zeal is actually Schala. Schala's descent began when she sought a way to retrieve wayward beings from the Darkness Beyond Time, which Marle briefly encountered in the original Chrono Trigger and which Schala herself began to feel during her time ruling Zeal as its benevolent queen. Schala's close encounter with the Darkness was having residual effects that manifested themselves as an incredible empathy for those who were trapped in it. She began to feel a hurt so deep that even her strong mind could not accept it, and she eventually discovered a way to descend into the Darkness itself. There, she saw infinite universes of agony, of people trapped within realities erased from time. She tried to comfort these people, but it overwhelmed her. As she screamed out in anguish, Lavos found her, and spoke to her, and told her that she could not save everyone, but that she could save a chosen few. In her pain, she accepted this, and through Lavos, created her own pocket dimension which she could rule, keeping her subjects safe. She came to love her subjects deeply, but eventually began to have Lavos-influenced nightmares of her people suffering in the Darkness Beyond Time. Lavos spoke to her again and told her that the only way she could keep her people safe was to override every other dimension by attacking them and erasing them from time and space. Believing that it was the only way to protect those she loved, Schala took up her mother's mantle as Lavos' unwitting champion and began to roam space and time in her pocket universe, setting out on a campaign of destruction to save her subjects. Furthermore, the presence of Schala's pocket dimension has begun to allow other dimensions to escape from the Darkness. Inside the Darkness, Lavos schemes, planning to devour all once Schala has destroyed every timeline except her own. It created Harle in order to bring those escaped dimensions back to the Darkness. The first dimension destroyed by Schala was home to Erased, who managed to escape being consumed by the Darkness through sheer hatred and force of will. As this ability to cross dimensions and escape the Darkness posed a threat to Lavos, it sent Harle to shadow him and remove his power. Erased, learning of Schala's true intentions, began to postulate that he too could perhaps bring his own dimension back by destroying all others, and seeks to accomplish this by assassinating those who meddle in the timestream. His meddling in Crono's world is what created the alternate Rise of Porre dimension.

It's in the Rise of Porre dimension, late in the game, that a number of events come to a head. Erased kills Crono and Marle (the alternate dimension versions of them), and succeeds in conquering Guardia. He hopes to make Porre into a technological powerhouse in the same way that Schala's Zeal is a magical powerhouse, and at one point, we see a vision of a futuristic Porre launching an enormous nuclear missile strike on Zeal, destroying Schala's dimension and ensuring the survival of his own. However, Erased is defeated, and though the heroes try to reason with him (especially Harle, who has fallen in love with him), they are unable to do so. Erased dies in a blaze of glory, but he tries to take the heroes down with him by detonating a nuclear warhead smuggled from a future timeline. The nuke is deactivated by Lucca, who reveals that she and the Gurus have been studying together in a place beyond space and time. She has discovered a way to make the Epoch able to travel between dimensions, and returns everyone to the original 1010 AD, where Guardia is still at peace and Crono and Marle are alive and kicking. There are still a few places to visit after this, and a number of side quests open up (six major ones, similar to the side quests in OTL Chrono Trigger). Though several main quest dungeons yet remain, the most important storyline events occurring after this are as follows:

Chronopolis- Erased planted a dangerous computer virus there before returning to 1010 AD, the heroes must go to Chronopolis and save the future from the tyranny of a genocidal AI (paralleling, somewhat, the role of FATE in OTL Chrono Cross)
1,000,000 BC- A brief visit to the distant past reveals the secret of the Entity: knowing that only one dimension could exist, the Entity manipulated events in such a way that the people who would survive would be the people who would be best suited to save everyone else.
2001 AD- Locus and Casini return to their destroyed present in order to liberate it from the strange beings who now inhabit the world as it hurtles toward the Darkness Beyond Time. Despite help from all of their new friends, they fail to save their loved ones, but a glimmer of hope is given to them by the Guru Melchior.
Blind Eternity- Eventually, the heroes are led here, and discover the greatest secret of all: the true fate of timelines that never come to pass is not to be consumed in the Darkness Beyond Time. Originally, all possible timelines coexisted in the infinite multiverse. These universes were never able to interact with one another. But at a point in time, a creature came into being that could pass between dimensions: Lavos, also known as the Great Devourer. Lavos' single-minded focus became to consume all universes into itself, eventually consuming so much that only one timeline existed, and all others were thrown into the Darkness to be devoured for eternity. Lavos seeks to wreak as much destruction and havoc as possible in order to consume timelines into itself. When it was defeated by Crono and his friends and consumed by the Darkness itself, Lavos sensed that it would be consumed in the Darkness it had created, and once that happened, all the dimensions that had been swallowed would re-emerge and Lavos would be forever destroyed. In desperation, it reached out to Schala, using her desire to protect others and twisting it in such a way that she would serve his cruel purposes instead.

After reaching the end of the Blind Eternity and learning its secrets, Locus and his friends realize that there may be a way to liberate everyone trapped in the Darkness Beyond Time. In order to do this, Locus must obtain an object called the Infinite Tear from the Wellspring of Time, an object containing a record of every possible universe. He must then confront the Great Devourer and use the Infinite Tear to liberate all the trapped universes, restoring the infinite multiverse.

Locus and his friends return to 2001 AD, this time accessing the Kingdom of Zeal, the seat of Schala's power. They make their way through her palace, fighting a multitude of bosses along the way, before reaching Schala herself. Schala implores the heroes to cease their fight and to remember the beautiful universe she has made. The people of Schala's new Zeal live in a paradise, without want or pain or hate or fear. It is, as she puts it, the "best of all possible worlds", and that once she has gained the power to create life, she will create everything that has ever lived as part of her universe, making an infinite paradise for everyone. She says that Locus and his friends are jeopardizing the paradise she will make, and that, through their meddling in time, they have caused the eternal suffering of an infinite number of living beings themselves. Magus begs Schala to cease what she is doing, and it seems that he can sway her, but she is too far gone and battles the party herself. She takes two forms: first, a default human form that utilizes powerful magical attacks, and then a kind of "goddess" form that lashes out with even more powerful magic. Schala's defeat, however, allows her to be absorbed by her true master, and it is in this moment that Schala realizes the mistake she has made. She begs the heroes to kill her, which will sever Lavos' final link with her power and banish him forever.

The final battle against the Great Devourer plays out as a sort of hybrid between the two Time Devourer battles in OTL Chrono Cross. First, there is a stage similar to the first Time Devourer fight, a fight against a massive beast taking place across a number of dimensional planes. Defeating this phase of Lavos gives the party access to Schala, and now, like in OTL Chrono Cross, the party has two options. However, UNLIKE IOTL Chrono Cross, you cannot get the good ending unless you have completed every major side quest and acquired three very special storyline-related items. None of these items can be lost forever, so the player can complete all the necessary steps before taking on the final boss, and indeed, if you haven't completed all these steps, the Gurus will heavily allude to the fact that there's still more to do.

Base Ending: Weather the Great Devourer's attacks and deal enough damage to Schala to sever the link between them. Schala is killed, but Lavos is destroyed and the multiverse is restored, minus Schala's paradise and all of the worlds (including Erased's) that she destroyed via her actions as Lavos' puppet. It's a happy ending, but it's clear that much had to be sacrificed.
True Ending: Activate the Infinite Tear in the same way that the best ending in OTL Chrono Cross is achieved, by utilizing the elements in the correct order during the final phase of the fight (note that doing so is significantly harder than in Chrono Cross, the Great Devourer WILL interrupt you and hits like a truck, you'll need a very highly leveled party to accomplish this and it's ALMOST recommended that you do so in a New Game Plus). Once you activate the Tear, you'll hear the same "Faraway Promise" song from the OTL game, and in a beautiful animation, Schala will be freed from Lavos and all the dimensions, including Schala's universe and Erased's universe, are visibly restored to the multiverse, while Lavos is eradicated forever. The only universe that disappears is the one in the aftermath of Schala's attack on Locus and Casini's home in 2001 AD, but instead of being condemned to the Darkness, that universe is "reconciled" with the universe that Schala never attacked, bringing all of those killed in the attacks back to life with no memories of an attack ever occurring. Indeed, the final scene of the game shows Locus, Casini, and Aden on the day that the attack happened, but this time, it never does. The three of them are the only ones from their dimension who remember what originally happened, but as new memories replace the old ones, only the memories of their adventures across space and time remain. Crono and Marle are shown ruling Guardia in 1010 AD, but then Lucca arrives, unable to resist going for one last trip on the Epoch through the restored multiverse with her two best friends. The end credits show the trio touring the various dimensions visited over the course of the story, greeted by all the friends they meet. The Epoch visits 2001 AD last, and the trio of Crono, Marle, and Lucca and the trio of Locus, Casini, and Aden, look out over the city together.

Chrono Infinite is considered one of the best games of the year, as favorably reviewed ITTL as Chrono Cross was IOTL, though it gets a much less controversial reception from Chrono Trigger fans than Chrono Cross did. This is balanced by a bit of a less favorable reaction among some of the fans who admired Chrono Cross IOTL for its riskier storyline. Commercially, it performs somewhat better than Chrono Cross did IOTL, with sales slightly higher even than the higher sales Chrono Trigger achieved ITTL. It's not an extremely quick selling game like Ballistic Limit 3 or Novus Ordo, but it sells very well over its overall lifespan, with stronger sales legs throughout 2002 and beyond. It's released in North America on August 20, 2001 (the same day as Goblins, which it outsells by a factor of three on its release date), after a very successful March 2001 release in Japan.

After the slightly disappointing sales performance of Parasite Eve 2, the success of Chrono Infinite is an enormous boost for Squaresoft, which hasn't had such a runaway hit since the release of Final Fantasy VIII. Indeed, Chrono Infinite comes with a demo of Final Fantasy IX, further bolstering its sales. In the wake of Chrono Infinite's release, the relationship between Squaresoft and Nintendo remains extremely strong, and the company continues to promise that its games will only be released on Nintendo systems (though there is the occasional PC port, which Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Parasite Eve and its sequel all received). It was rumored (and later confirmed) that Microsoft made an attempt to get Squaresoft to port titles like Final Fantasy VII to the Xbox, but Squaresoft rejected those entreaties, not necessarily out of loyalty to Nintendo, but because of studies showing that the Xbox was likely to fail in Japan.

 

[RySenkari]

-Make sure promotional material for Virtua Fighter 4 is prominently displayed. Ensure that Katana demo kiosks are in proper working order.

-Set up plenty of space for events including costume contests and tournaments.

-Inform potential purchasers who do not have a Katana that there is a special bundle (priced at $279.99) that contains both a Katana and a copy of Virtua Fighter 4.

-Be sure to feature promotional material for Virtua Quest 4 alongside Virtua Fighter 4 displays.

-Educate Virtua Fighter 4 purchasers about Virtua Quest 4's connection to the game. Emphasize its release date (October 15, 2001) and offer to take a pre-order. Emphasize that the two games are strongly connected and that playing Virtua Quest 4 will reveal the full story of Virtua Fighter 4 and will unlock a hidden character in the game.

-from a Virtua Fighter 4 instruction pamphlet sent to game retailers by Sega with shipments of the game

-

Ann Curry: Earlier this morning, game fans were lined up outside stores throughout America for the midnight launch of the newest Sega video game. Virtua Fighter 4, the latest installment in the hit video game series that allows players to engage in martial arts combat in highly realistic CGI environments was released today at 12:01 AM. Many game stores that normally close at 9 o'clock stayed open late to allow players to purchase the game and to hold parties celebrating its release.

*Footage is shown from a line of Virtua Fighter fans inside the Times Square Toys 'R Us, where a Virtua Fighter 4 prerelease tournament was taking place.*

Curry: The game is the first in the series to be released on Sega's new Katana game console, and features lifelike graphics similar to those in the arcade version of the game released earlier this year.

*A pair of people wearing Virtua Fighter 4 t-shirts are shown at the event. One is excitedly watching a match, the other is leaning against a stack of Katana consoles, flipping through a Chrono Infinite strategy guide. Then, two teenagers, a boy and a girl, are shown playing the game, the girl controlling Wolf and the boy controlling Cynthia.*

Curry: Virtua Fighter is played by millions of people around the world, and is one of the most popular martial arts video games, with sales of every game in the series topping five million copies sold. Last year, Virtua Fighter overtook Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat to become the most popular fighting video game series. The game features characters engaging in martial arts brawls, but unlike Mortal Kombat, where fighters are torn to shreds, Virtua Fighter features relatively little blood, *scenes of Mortal Kombat 4 and Virtua Fighter 4 are shown for comparison* and is recommended for players 13 and up. We saw a number of younger players at the event, including an eight-year-old boy who won a couple of tournament matches.

Boy's Mother: I like that there's no blood in the game. It's just silly fighting. He really likes it.

*The boy is wearing a Sonic the Hedgehog t-shirt and is playing as Ralph, the footage shows a third round match that he lost to a much older player, though he puts up a good fight in the first round.*

Boy's Mother: He loves Sega games. Sonic is his favorite.

Curry: The Toys 'R Us in Times Square was just one of dozens of locations throughout Manhattan holding events for the game.

*Footage from a smaller independent game store is shown, the store is packed tight with people waiting to purchase the game while watching a couple of people play in a tournament match on a 19 inch television.*

Curry: Sega expects Virtua Fighter 4 to be one of the most popular games of the year, and during a time when the company is competing with record breaking sales from its rival Nintendo and a new challenge from the upcoming Microsoft Xbox, *footage of Bill Gates' E3 2001 keynote conference is shown* the company needs all the help it can get. Industry analysts agree with Sega's prediction, expecting Virtua Fighter 4 to sell more than three million copies just this year alone, and to help the Katana become the best selling game console of the year. Sega's stock has risen 12 percent over the last week in anticipation of the game's release, and if the crowds that showed up in game stores all over New York and the rest of the country last night are any indication, there could be more success in Sega's future.

*Cheers erupt back at the Toys 'R Us, as a finishing blow is struck in the decisive round of a close semifinal match in the Virtua Fighter 4 tournament. The winner, the same 20-something man who beat the eight-year-old in the third round, jumps up out of his seat and exchanges high fives with several people in the crowd. The scene switches back to the main set where Matt Lauer and Katie Couric are seated.*

Katie Couric: Can you believe it, three million copies by the end of the year? Matt, do you play any Sega games?

Matt Lauer: *laughing* Honestly, I think I quit around the time Space Invaders came out.

Couric: My daughters play with the little Game Boy, they play Pokemon.

Lauer: You know, I think that might be the only game I'd actually believe sold three million.

-from NBC's Today, August 27, 2001

-

Virtua Fighter 4

The latest installment in the Virtua Fighter series, Virtua Fighter 4 was released in arcades in March 2001, and for consoles worldwide on August 27, 2001 (though many Japanese stores actually release the game a few days earlier due to a special deal between Sega and certain Japanese retailers). Because the Katana was developed with the same graphics chips as the NAOMI arcade consoles that ran Virtua Fighter 4, the Katana port of the game is nearly identical graphically to the arcade version (though arcade cabinets typically featured higher quality monitors than the televisions most people were playing the game on, making it look somewhat worse unless one used a TV capable of progressive scan). It looks better and runs faster than the OTL PS2 Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution. The game itself plays almost identically to OTL Virtua Fighter 4, utilizing the same simplified control scheme that the OTL game featured, with the elimination of the evade button and the addition of a comprehensive training mode designed to introduce new players to the series. The tournament mode from OTL's Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution is absent, replaced by a unique storyline arcade mode for each character. This storyline mode ties into Virtua Quest 4, often telling either the prologue of a story finished in that game or a sidestory that's expanded upon by the events of Virtua Quest 4. Virtua Fighter 4 also features online play on the Katana's SegaNet, allowing players to fight against other players from all over the world and to participate in tournaments (another reason for the removal of the single player tournament mode).

The game's plot once again involves fighting and defeating Dural, though this Dural has some differences from the Dural featured in previous Virtua Fighter games, and after the ending credits, it shows that Dural has not been completely defeated, which once again ties into Virtua Quest 4 where the story is resolved. New characters from OTL include Lei-Fei and Brad Burns (who was introduced in Evolution OTL, and here is introduced via the use of a Virtua Quest 4 save file, which is the ONLY way to obtain Burns in the game for quite some time (Sega introduces other ways to obtain him much later on, starting with a late 2002 Official Saturn Magazine giveaway). New characters exclusive to TTL include Xilen Dusk, an ancient warrior woman with a few similarities to Xena, she's a heroic queen with a rough and tumble fighting style, and Prof. Caulfield, a middle-aged man who's been studying the art of fighting his entire life and is now utilizing his skills in the ring, he's a bit absent-minded but his book smarts make him a formidable foe. Dusk and Caulfield don't appear in Virtua Quest 4, and Dusk didn't appear in the original arcade game either.

Virtua Fighter 4 is extremely well reviewed, though there are a few complaints about the Virtua Quest 4 tie-ins, especially once people realize that Brad Burns and half of the game's plot are essentially locked behind a $49.99 paywall. Despite these complaints, the graphics are outstanding and the gameplay is considered the best in the series to date. The game is a major commercial success, and helps to move both Katana consoles and copies of Virtua Quest 4 later on. It overshadows Nintendo's major game releases that month, its first day sales topping the first day sales of Ballistic Limit 3, Chrono Infinite, and Goblins... combined.

-

This game is sweet, but... (SPOILERS) (37 posts)

I guess you have to play Virtua Quest 4 to see everybody's real endings? The game is really fun but the story mode was really disappointing. I tried the original Virtua Quest and it kinda sucked...

Oh hell no i'm not buying VQ4 (10 posts)

what a ripoff! All the plotlines are cut off halfway through, wat happened to Cynthia? is Dural dead or not? Whats going on?...

Taka-Arashi is all weird now (74 posts)

They made him completely different! I was so good with him in Virtua Fighter 3 but he's really messed up. I'm maining Lion now because I don't...

This is the best Katana game ever! (130 posts)

I've been playing this non-stop for like three days! I haven't gotten any of my homework done though. But I'm having so much fun. I think I'm addicted...

Face it you guys will be buying Virtua Quest 4 in October. (26 posts)

Stop complaining and whining about "having" to buy Virtua Quest 4. The Virtua Quest games are a lot of fun and all of you who bought Virtua Fighter 4 are totally going to buy them...

It's confirmed: Brad Burns can only be accessed with a Virtua Quest 4 save. (30 posts)

Guess I'm borrowing my friend's VMU...

Online is having trouble for me (6 posts)

I've been trying to fight a match and it keeps lagging, I know it's not my connection because...

Online Tournament tomorrow at 5 PM! (50 posts)

Sega is setting up a BIG tournament tomorrow, 128 entries taken for this one. No prizes, but you can improve your ranking if you go really far. Anyone else here...

This or Killer Instinct 3? (77 posts)

Killer Instinct 3 looks kinda cool but I've been a Sega fan all my life. I think Virtua Fighter 4 looks a lot better...

Is it just me or is Dural hotter in this game? (388 posts)

I have always had a serious thing for Dural but she looks smokin' in this game. What do you guys think?...

-from posts on GameFAQs.com's Virtua Fighter 4 board, taken on September 7, 2001

-

"Without a doubt, August 2001 was one of the most stacked months in the history of the video game industry. Not only did the month see the release of four hugely hyped mega-sequels: Ballistic Limit 3, Chrono Infinite, NiGHTS 2, and Virtua Fighter 4, but the start of two great new game franchises in Goblins and Jet Set Radio. Metal Clash 2 and Elite Strike Raiders were a couple more great games that got completely lost in the fold, and even the handheld Nova saw some good releases that month, including White Mountain Snowstorm, Final Fantasy IV, Wario Land 4, and Shady. There were fun games coming out every week, and everybody was having a blast. It was a great time to be a gamer. Of course, the game that truly topped all of them was Virtua Fighter 4. Maybe not in overall legacy (Chrono Infinite is probably the best pure game to come out of that awesome month), but in terms of sales, it blew everybody out of the water and served notice to Nintendo that the Katana had truly arrived. It was damn near a cultural phenomenon in the first couple of weeks after its release. Everybody was talking about Sega, and Virtua Fighter, and it was a great time. For two weeks, everybody was talking about video games and having a great time."
-Ted Crosley, from his guest Games Over Matter article, "The Games Before: The Awesome Summer Of 2001", posted on September 11, 2016

 

[Roger Redux]

And now, with the kind permission of Ry & Nivek, my first actual guest post!
The Virtua Quest Trilogy for Saturn was based on an idea for my own perpetually-in-development TL, but VQ4 is a special exclusive just for the Player Two Start/Massively Multiplayer Universe.
I hope you like it!

Virtua Quest 4:
Uses the new Virtua Fighter 4 graphics and fighting engine.
This game features the continuing quests of all of the characters from the original trilogy.

This version has two distinct play modes: Classic Quest Mode, which allows you to select a single character and play their story the whole way through, without interruptions; and Cinematic Quest Mode, which combines all of the characters' quests, in chronological order, into a single massive game that switches between characters (like OTL's Sonic Adventure 2).

This game covers the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Tournaments, while also filling in a few bits of backstory.

Kage-Maru: - (Still voiced by: Guile Lund)
Prologue:
Kage and his mother lived a peaceful life in a small, hidden village. When about a year had passed, though, Kage's mother was suddenly struck by a mysterious illness. Kage's investigation into her ailment revealed that it was an after-effect of her transformation into Dural, and now he reviving his investigations into J6 to find a permanent cure.
Chapter 1:
Kage's investigation reveals that the Dural Project is still ongoing and there is a new model.
He also discovers that J6 is holding another Tournament.
Chapter 2:
After winning the 3rd world tournament, Kage managed to recover a part from a new model Dural. He used that part on his mother, hoping it would cure her. However, the plan backfired. Not only did his mother not recover, it caused his mother to transform back to Dural. She immediately attacked Kage. Sensing no way out, Kage decides to kill her in order to end her suffering. He was nearly successful but she managed to escape and was ultimately rescued by J6. Kage hears of the 4th world tournament and decides to enter to tournament with every intention of killing Dural.
Chapter 3:
When Kage-Maru's mother was taken by J6, he knew the only hope of saving her was to enter the Fourth Tournament. He fought brilliantly and made it to the final round, when suddenly a mysterious opponent interrupted the match. He worried that this rival was in fact his mother and sadly, he knew there was no hope of saving her soul. He had no choice but to destroy the disguised fighter, and as he held the limp figure in his arms, he realized it wasn't his mother after all, but one of J6's New Durals.
Chapter 4:
The top-secret Dural Project is J6's attempt at creating the ultimate fighter based on the superior fighting techniques of their tournament champions. His investigations also finally reveal the architect of the Dural Project, the beautiful, brilliant and quite deadly Eva Durix.
While he's hunting Durix, he encounters the mysterious Kanna Saipachi, a ninja from a different clan who's also on the trail of Project Dural for very similar reasons.
Kage-Maru knew that his mother must still be alive and he entered the fifth tournament to find her and stop the evil organization once and for all. Kage-Maru does finally succeed restoring his mother to her original self with the help of Kanna Saipachi (who becomes his love interest).
{Kage and Kanna, having run into the rest of the party on several occasions (sometimes tripping over them, other times nearly getting everyone captured), are aware that they've rescued Cynthia and are trying to "de-Duralize" her}
During the final chapter, in the lab where you discover/create the cure for Tsukikage, you can choose to be a complete dick and destroy the formula, preventing the others from being able to cure Cynthia; leave it for them, and tell them where to find it on your way out; or you can choose to be uncharacteristically altruistic, make a second dose, and hand it to them on their way in. If the player chooses the third option, when Kage hands over the treatment he says he's only helping them "Because no-one deserves this".

Akira Yuki: - (Still voiced by: Scott McNeil)
Prologue:
Akira returned home, with the second tournament trophy. Yet as he was about to proclaim his victory, his grandfather told him, "Don't flatter yourself. You haven't mastered anything yet." In order to answer the question, "What is true strength?," Akira resolved to fight in the tournament once more.
Chapter 1:
In the Third World Fighting Tournament, Akira’s main intentions were to show his grandfather and himself "true strength".
Chapter 2:
After Akira failed to win the tournament, he went back to Japan and told his grandfather about the disappointing results. With further encouragement from his grandfather, Akira decides to continue his training in the mountains. This time, Akira trained harder than ever, while trying to understand exactly what "true power" really is. However while training, Akira received an invitation for the 4th world tournament. Akira decides to join the tournament to test out the new skills he had learned and try to find the "real" power within him.
Chapter 3:
After losing to Kage-Maru in the Fourth World Fighting Tournament, Akira resolved to train harder than ever before. He began to doubt his previous training and could not understand how he had been defeated. One day he caught sight of a leaf floating downstream and he held his breath as it spun easily around a boulder, avoiding it neatly, and continuing on in the flow. He suddenly understood that he had been resisting the flow and he resumed his training with renewed confidence.
Soon after, he received his invitation to join the Fifth World Fighting Tournament.
In his mind, he thought to himself: "Now I should be able to hold my own and more against Kage-Maru."

Jacky Bryant: - (Still voiced by: Ryan Drummond)
Prologue:
Although Jacky succeeded in rescuing his brain-washed sister Sarah, their attempt to un-brainwash her resulted in her complete memory loss. Since she didn't feel comfortable living with a brother she no longer remembered, Sarah moved into her own apartment in New York.
Chapter 1:
When Jacky heard Sarah planned to enter the 3rd tournament in hopes of recovering some of her lost memories, Jacky decided to follow to protect her.
Chapter 2:
Jacky has no qualms about losing as Sarah has managed to fully regain her memories due to the 3rd tournament. Thus, after the 3rd tournament, Jacky stopped training as he has lost his incentive to train. And since Sarah was under the protection of the Bryant's private special forces, he decided to concentrate on racing instead and soon enough, Jacky started his own racing team. However, all was not what it seemed. Any potential sponsors for his team were killed by J6. One day, Jacky received a letter, informing him that if he does not join the 4th world tournament, J6 will continue to kill all potential sponsors until there is none left. Jacky decides to resume training and joins the tournament in order to end it once and for all.
Chapter 3:
Jacky could barely contain his anger against J6, the mysterious organization that was after his sister. He was goaded into entering the Fourth World Fighting Tournament. Even in his races, the continuing series of incidents, including sudden pull-outs by his sponsors and improbable mechanical breakdowns, seemed to indicate someone tampering with his racing career. J6 was behind everything, and unless the organization itself was destroyed, there would be no end to Jacky and Sarah's troubles. With this new realization, Jacky was determined to put an end to J6. With almost perfect timing, the invitation to the fifth tournament arrives.

Sarah Bryant: - (Still voiced by: Erica Schroder a.k.a. Bella Hudson)
Prologue:
Although Sarah was rescued at the tournament by Jacky, who claimed to be her brother, all of her memories had been wiped clean. Although occasional fragments of her memories began to return as she lived her daily life, she found that they returned far more often during her training.
Chapter 1:
With the hope that prolonged combat will advance her memory recollection, she decided to enter the third tournament.
Chapter 2:
Since the end of the third tournament, Sarah has fully regained her memories. Life went back to normal for all the Bryants, but Sarah still felt a twinge of uncertainty. Even though she has recovered, she remembered all the bad things she had done while under the Organization's control. Worst of all, she remembers trying to kill Jacky. She is also unable to remember clearly enough if the desire to kill Jacky was a result of J6's brainwashing, or if it was part of her own wishes all along. When she finds out that Jacky intends to join the fourth tournament, she decides to do so as well, so that she can beat Jacky and resolve matters once and for all.
Chapter 3:
During the Fourth World Fighting Tournament, it was revealed that J6 had sinister motives for Sarah and she was in great danger. When Sarah finds out that her brother, Jacky, aims to destroy the criminal organization and has been secretly training for the Fifth World Fighting Tournament, she decides to enter in the hopes she can surpass him and bring peace to her past. Sarah doesn't realize that her efforts play neatly into J6's hands and put her in more danger than ever before. J6 wants Sarah to be the organic host of the final model Ultimate Dural and always has, that's why they kept her prisoner in the first place (as opposed to just killing her outright).

Pai Chan: - (Still voiced by: Cree Summer)
Prologue:
Although Pai lost to her father, Lau, a second time, she left the Tournament with a new perspective on her father. What is it that he seeks with his fists that is so important that he would forsake his family? Pondering that, Pai began working on her new world-spanning, big budget film, until she heard that there would be a 3rd tournament.
Chapter 1:
Training and Third Tournament
Chapter 2:
After being defeated in the 3rd World Tournament and discovering that her skills matched close to her father's, Pai went back to Hong Kong to concentrate on her acting career. Although her work schedule was hectic, she continued to train and managed to bring herself to another level. One day she hears of Lau's intention to find a suitable successor in the 4th world tournament. Finding it strange, she too decides to join the 4th world tournament to prove that she is a worthy successor to her father's legacy. But before she could see him, she was defeated and had to leave the tournament. Pai searched for her father afterward, and found him. Hit with the realization that Lau did not have long to live, Pai realized that she could do nothing for her father–she had to respect his desire to pursue ultimate strength for as long as he lived.
Chapter 3:
Following her conversation with her father she noticed Akira & the Bryants engaged in an intense conversation, so she went over to join them. They told her about J6's continuing harassment of the Bryants, and their suspicions that the Dural project might still be active.
Investigations and continued training.
Chapter 4:
When Pai learned that Lau was participating in the Fifth Tournament, she decided to enter as well, telling herself that the only way she can show her love for her father is to be strong, both emotionally and in combat.
For the third time, the Tournament brackets paired them against each other. As Pai and Lau faced each other, both knew that they wouldn't hold back. In a 5 round match, Pai finally emerged victorious, defeating her father. After the match:
Lau: "You have done well, my daughter. I'm proud of you. I've not much longer in this world child; I think that this shall be our last meeting; and it is gratifying to know that my legacy is secure. Do not weep for me, I do not deserve your tears. ... You have your mother's eyes."
At that he turns and walks slowly into the crowd, never to be seen again.
Pai: (more to herself than anyone else) "Goodbye, father."

Wolf Hawkfield: - (Still voiced by: Aaron Krohn)
Prologue:
After the end of the second tournament, Wolf often wakes up in a sweat over a recurring apocalyptic nightmare about the world being in danger.
Chapter 1:
Training for the 3rd Tournament in hopes of finding an answer to this dream.
Chapter 2:
The 3rd Tournament.
However, since his defeat in the 3rd Tournament, he decided to try to ignore the dream and went back home.
Back there, Wolf entered in countless underground tournaments and dominated. However, the same dream still haunts him.
Chapter 3:
When he hears of the 4th World Tournament, he decides to join the Tournament again in order to search for the reason behind the endless, recurring nightmare in which he always saw the same figure with a distinguishing scar. As he watched the final match in the Fourth Tournament, he was stunned to see the same mark on the mysterious Dural competitor. He couldn't make any sense of it, but he knew he had to find out more.
Chapter 4:
Wolf rejoins the group, and they bring him up to speed on what's been going on since they last spoke with him.

Ralph Burce: - (Voiced by: Kirk Thornton)
Ralph (pronounced the British way, 'Rafe') Burce from the Saturn ver. of TTL's VF2 (who's also a returning NPC from the first trilogy). He has a good heart and is the most "purely" heroic of the party, as he only wants to do as much good as he can, wherever he finds himself, and everyone else has an ulterior motive. Ralph is an uncompromising hero, if a bit of a dope at times.
Prologue:
Ralph's story opens with a 'film-noir' style narration; he's a private investigator who's read too much Sam Spade. He does his job to try and help people as directly as possible, feeling that being a cop/fed his hands would be tied by 'procedure'/bureaucracy, and people would suffer as a result. (On top of which: he may be pure-hearted, but he's not stupid, he knows there's something not quite right with the government/police.)
His new client walks in, it seems his older twin siblings have gone missing, his brother disappeared while trying to find their sister.
While looking into their disappearance, Ralph blunders into the existence of J6 quite by accident.
Chapter 1: [This chapter takes place concurrent with the events of VQ1]
Ralph's less-cautious-than-advisable investigation sets off a number of 'tripwires' that cause him to be interdicted by a team J6 security/mercenaries, led by Cynthia Grennel.
She beats him up and tells him not to stick his nose into things that don't concern him (though to be fair to his ability, he was holding back because he didn't want to fight a woman).
He tells her he's just looking for a pair of missing siblings.
She doesn't care, but begins to suspect that her employers may not as 'on-the-level' as she suspected. {This leads to her finding out about Dural and the Bryants}
Chapter 2: [This chapter takes place concurrent with the events of VQ2]
Ralph tells his client that his older siblings may've gotten themselves mixed-up in something majorly serious, but he's not giving up hope.
-Investigation continues-
Second encounter with Cynthia. She tells him that he's more right than he knows, but that he needs to drop it or he'll end up dead, or worse.
He tries to convince her to help him; she refuses; he asks why she's helping J6 if they're that bad; she replies that she's a mercenary, and their money's plenty good; Ralph tries to appeal to her goodness, but she tells him to drop it and kicks his ass again.
Chapter 3: [This chapter takes place concurrent with the events of VQ3]
Ralph receives a message from Cynthia containing photographs and the locations of the missing siblings he was looking for, along with diagrams & codes for the security around them; he successfully rescues them and reunites them with their brother, but when he goes to the prearranged point to try and thank Cynthia for helping him, he finds someone/something else: DURAL.
This time he has no-choice but to fight, and then run when he realizes that "Robo-Cynthia" is actually trying to kill him.
Now he has a new mission: rescue Cynthia, because he realizes that this probably only happened to her because she helped him.
Chapter 4:
It's at this point that Ralph launches a full investigation into just who the hell he's been dealing with all this time. In the process he finds out that they've been running the Fighting Tournaments that no-one can shut up about. {a bunch of the NPCs throughout the game have brought it up, and can't believe that he hasn't been following them.}
He decides that to save Cynthia he has to enter the next Tournament, and starts training in dojo in the nearest town. The main party is also training in the same dojo, and that's how they meet; he mentions offhandedly that he's trying to save someone, Jacky says he knows the feeling, which gets them all to talking and filling Ralph in on just how deep the J6 'rabbit hole' goes.
{While this is the first time Ralph and the main party have actually met, you can occasionally see them in the background of Chapters 1-3, just as Ralph has been a background NPC in VQ1-3}
Chapter 5:
The Fourth World Fighting Tournament.
In Ralph's final round, he's forced to fight Cynthia/Dural; this is also the first time that any of our heros have seen Eva Durix, as she's on hand to watch Dural-B's performance personally.
Of course Ralph is ultimately successful in getting through to her, and they leave the Tournament with the group.

Cynthia Grennel: - (Voiced by: Jennifer Hale)
Cynthia is a pure old-school femme fatale, a bad girl with a good heart. She has a very distinctive scar on the right side of her neck.
Prologue:
She starts the game as mercenary in the employ of the Judgement 6, and is revealed to have been present during Sarah Bryant's torture and Tsukikage's conversion into Dural Mk-A. It's those two events that cause her to question just what the hell she's gotten herself mixed-up in; when she tries to quit under the pretense of not wanting to stay in one place too long, they shoot her in the back with a tranquilizer gun. When she regains consciousness she's strapped in a very familiar chair, and a voice (Eva Durix, project director) says "No one leaves Judgement, especially not someone who's seen as much as you have. I was sorry to hear about your resignation, however you can still be of use to us. I believe you know what comes next...." The scene fades out on her screams. The next time we see her she'll be almost unrecognizable, as Dural Mk-B.
Chapter 1: [The flashback takes place concurrent with the events of VQ1&2]
Dural MK-B PROTOTYPE 001 is being put through various trials, testing her abilities, assessing the totality of her conversion, etc.
One odd characteristic that sets her apart from Tsukikage's Dural-A, is that Cynthia's distinctive scar is still visible on Dural-B's neck.
During the course of the the testing, she has flashbacks to Cynthia's interactions with Ralph, that fill in just how much of an impact his words actually had on her.
Both the tests and flashbacks are fully playable (meaning they're not just cutscenes/QTEs).
Cynthia leads a team J6 security/mercenaries to look into a possible security breach in one of the warehouses. It turns out to be some P.I. with a Bogart fetish.
{The dialogue is slightly altered from her POV, she makes more wise-cracks about his 'film-noir-ness'.}
She beats him up and tells him not to stick his nose into things that don't concern him.
He tells her he's just looking for a pair of missing siblings.
She doesn't care, but begins to suspect that her employers may not as 'on-the-level' as she suspected. This leads to her finding out about Dural and the Bryants.
The flashback ends with her watching the torture of Sarah Bryant and the first stage of Tsukikage's conversion into Dural.
Chapter 2: [The flashback takes place concurrent with the events of VQ2]
More testing, another flashback.
Second encounter with Ralph Burce. She tells him that he's more right than he knows, but that he needs to drop it or he'll end up dead, or worse.
He tries to convince her to help him; she refuses; he asks why she's helping J6 if they're that bad; she replies that she's a mercenary, and their money's plenty good (less convincing/more conflicted than in Ralph's version of this scene); Ralph tries to appeal to her goodness, but she tells him to drop it and kicks his ass again. But despite her bravado, he does get through to her. Flashback ends with her witnessing just what exactly J6 has done to Sarah's mind, and the second stage of Tsukikage's conversion into Dural.
Chapter 3: [The flashback takes place concurrent with the events of VQ3]
More testing, another flashback.
Cynthia has seen enough and decides to help Ralph; she discovers where the missing twins are being held, the sister is being given the 'Sarah Bryant' treatment in preparation for becoming the next test subject for Project Dural [they were curious if someone with no fighting experience at all could be converted], with the brother being held to test her afterwards [she's meant to kill him, just as Sarah was meant to kill Jacky].
She plots out the most direct route in from the outside, copies all the diagrams for security systems and the door codes for said route, and sends them to Ralph.
Afterwards she confronts her squad about how much (or how little) they know about their employers; none of them care, they truly are in it just for the money; Cynthia puts her lieutenant in charge of the squad, and tenders her resignation.
Flashback ends where we started: "I believe you know what comes next..."
Testing concludes.
Chapter 4:
Eva Durix escorts Dural into the Tournament Arena, giving her her instructions for the battle with Ralph Burce.
Eva Durix: "...The private investigator that you were helping, do you remember him?"
Dural: "Cynthia remembers Detective Burce."
Eva: "He's your opponent. Do you understand that?"
Dural: "Yes master."
Eva: "He'll likely try to talk you down, 'get through to you'. Use his concern for you against him."
Dural: "His words are irrelevant, his concern for Cynthia will be his undoing."
Eva: "Give the audience a show, bring them to their feet, and when they call out for victory....Kill Him."
Dural: "By Your Command, Master."
Round 1: FIGHT!
Of course Cynthia's not completely gone, and over the course of 3 rounds Ralph does get through to her, at least enough for her to shake off the programming.
Chapter 5:
Cynthia tells the group everything that she can about the process that turned her into Dural, so they can try to find a way of turning her back to normal.

Kanna Saipachi: - (Voiced by: Amanda Winn-Lee)
A mysterious shrine maiden who is attempting to stop Dural. It seems that the Hagakure aren't the only secret ninja clan still in existence, though they were the most reclusive. Kanna's family are members of the Musashi Clan (an in-joke reference to SEGA's own Shinobi franchise), a group of remnant ninja that choose the technique of hiding in plain sight as opposed to total seclusion; times change, and those who cannot change with them are doomed to obsolescence and ultimately extinction.
Prologue:
Kanna is praying/meditating at the shrine of the Musashi Ninja Clan when she's disturbed by cries of alarm and the sounds of battle. She quickly grabs her sword and rushes out of the shrine to defend her people. She stops suddenly when she sees the attackers, they're covered from head to toe in seamless -almost liquid looking- metal, some are gold, others are silver, they don't seem to have eyes but that doesn't seem too keep them from seeing everything that's going on around them; they're also entirely female. They seem to be utilizing techniques from multiple different fighting styles, integrating them almost seamlessly into a fluid but devastating style that's cutting through the Musahi Clan with brutal efficiency. When the fighting is finally over, The Musashi Clan numbers precisely 4: Kanna herself, Yumiko (another shrine maiden), and the Musashi Family's youngest heirs -the twins Hikaru and Haruhi age 8. When Kanna examines one of the dead attackers she discovers that it's some kind of cyborg, there's a ring around its neck that reads: "DURAL MK-B PROTOTYPE 015" (further investigation reveals they all have numbers, ranging from PROTOTYPE 012 to PROTOTYPE 101). Leaving the children in Yumiko's care, Kanna begins hunting these "Durals" and their masters with the intent of avenging the Musashi Clan.
Her style of gameplay is similar to Kage-Maru's, with the emphasis on the investigation, and her lack of compunction against beating the answers she needs out people. The major difference being that Kanna is far more accustomed to operating in an urban environment than Kage is, so she's able to blend in better.
Even the untrained can tell that the martial art she practices has far more in common with Kage's than Pai Chan's, though her movements & attacks have Pai's grace combined with Kage's power.
Chapter 1:
Investigation begins
Chapter 2:
Finds a J6 installation and meets Kage-Maru
Chapter 3:
Hunting Dural-A and Eva Durix; character development (apparently ninjas flirt by being a-holes to each other)
Chapter 4:
The Fifth Tournament, recovering Dural-A/rescuing Kage's mother. The cannon result is that Kanna and Kage fight each other for 3 rounds, ending in a draw; J6 sends out Dural-A to kill them both instead of calling for a Round 4.
{The idea of the official draw being that if they're to be love interests, a consummate warrior like Kage would only truly respect a woman that proves to be his equal in combat}
Epilogue:
The joining of the Clans

Aoi Umenokoji: - (Voiced by: Lia Sargent)
Prologue:
Aoi is a practitioner of Aiki-jujutsu. She is the eldest child of a dojo owner in Kyoto. Her father and Akira Yuki's father are old friends. As children, she and Akira would spar against each other. After seeing him compete in the tournament, she resolves to enter it herself and prove her fighting ability.
Chapter 1:
{Aoi's gameplay style is a mixture of Akira's and Pai's}
Chapter 2:
Realizing what a small world she was in after losing in the first round of the tournament, Aoi went back to training. Returning home, she tries hard not only to learn Aikido and Kobujutsu, but to also improve her knowledge in other martial arts. Her study has allowed her to more effectively counterattack and parry, as well as increase her repertoire. She is now anxious to enter the fourth tournament
Chapter 3:
Fourth Tournament, she does well enough that feels she can show her face to the main group; Akira's glad to see his childhood friend again (how glad is at the discretion of the player).
Chapter 4:
Training expeditions, the group bringing Aoi into the fold on exactly what's going on (J6, Dural, etc.), lead in to the 5th Tournament
Chapter 5:
The Fifth Tournament

Endgame:
The aftermath of the Fifth Tournament is an all out war, with both the main group and the two ninjas battling an army Dural prototypes through J6's main facility. Their goal is Eva Durix's laboratory, where they believe that they'll find the means to reverse the Dural transformation.
This scene plays out at the beginning of the final chapter in each individual story as one long section, or as a number of smaller sections (one for each character) when playing in Cinematic Quest Mode.
After they succeed, the facility explodes, and everyone rejoices at the downfall of J6. Tsukikage & Cynthia are both restored to their human forms, Kage & Kanna marry each other in formal ninja ceremony officiated by Tsukikage, and all seems well with the world.
Then Sarah Bryant is abducted by Eva Durix. {She tranqs her in the neck before she can fight back}
To Be Concluded....

Other Characters:

Lau Chan: - (Voiced by: Maurice LeMarche)
Pai Chan's father, and a former World Champion who's now dying.

Eva Durix: - (Voiced by: Victoria Harwood)
The brains behind Project Dural, it's her life's work: the means to immortality and potentially limitless power.
As beautiful and ruthless as she is brilliant, she also practices a deadly form of wushu claimed to be the style of the fabled White Lotus Clan. Underestimate her at your own peril.

Lion Rafale: - (Now voiced by: David Hayter)
A returning character from VF2, but unlike OTL, he isn't trying to escape his father's control; he's embraced everything that his family stands for, and is taking a more active role in their dealings with J6. He's also Eva Durix's lover.

Brad Burns: - (Voiced by: Steven Blum)
An Italian kick-boxer in the Muay Thai style, he's also an insatiable flirt. If you have a VQ4 save file on your VMU/memory card, he's unlocked as playable character in Virtua Fighter 4. (He's basically the same as Brad from OTL's VF4: Evolution)

{Eva Durix & Lion Rafale only appear in cutscenes in Cynthia's Quest; Brad is an NPC at all of the Tournaments in this game}

Tell her how you feel, Idiot!:
One of the biggest additions to this game over the Saturn trilogy is the new comprehensive relationship system (which draws some comparisons to Fire Emblem; though it's more similar to the system later perfected by Bioware):
The player has almost full control over the characters' relationships.
Kage-Maru and Kanna Saipachi are each other's only courtship options (mostly because they're the only ones that can stand each other - apparently being a standoffish dick to people is how ninjas flirt);
Akira Yuki can romance Pai Chan, Aoi Umenokoji, and Sarah Bryant;
Pai Chan can romance Akira and Jacky;
Sarah can romance Akira, Wolf, and Ralph;
Ralph and Wolf can also romance Cynthia after she's rescued;
Jacky can romance Pai, Aoi, and Cynthia;
Pai and Wolf have a mutual respect and friendship, but aren't more then that.

The Cannon Couples (for those who care - not that it'll stop the fanfic {because nothing can ever stop the fanfic, in any universe}):
Akira & Sarah,
Jacky & Pai, {because both pairs will have bonded closely after all of their adventures}
Ralph & Aoi {subverting the trope that childhood friends always end up together in Japanese media},
Kage & Kanna formally marry and unite the remnants of their clans,
Wolf goes back to being a hermit after helping to save the world and Cynthia is more of a loner anyway. {The connection between them is more of a 'shared destiny' thing than a romantic attraction, though first time players can be forgiven for the mistake (especially since it isn't really explained until Virtua Quest 5).}

It's also only in this game that we truly realize how oblivious our 'heros' actually are. Only Ralph has no ulterior motive, wanting only to help people. Everyone else is trying to prove something (either to themselves or someone else), or they just want to be left alone. The Bryants are only fighting J6 because J6 won't leave them alone, (Jacky just want to race, Sarah just wants to watch him race) and keeps trying to use them as pawns in their long term 'plans'. The ninjas are the only ones actively trying to destroy J6 right from the get go, and they're primarily motivated by vengeance as opposed to any real desire to 'save the world'. The game might actually gain a wider audience with the realization that our asshole 'heros' don't actually CARE and are in fact saving the world, purely by ACCIDENT.

 

[RySenkari]

Star Wars: Rebel Fighter

Star Wars: Rebel Fighter is the TTL equivalent to OTL's Rogue Leader, with a considerable graphical downgrade and a number of mission alterations. It's a space shooter, like OTL Rogue Leader, but instead of playing as Luke Skywalker or Wedge Antilles, you play as a young (very young, think 14) and inexperienced pilot named Kyon Dakkash, a new recruit in the rebel army. As a consequence, the classic Death Star trench run mission isn't present in this game. Instead, your first mission is to protect Yavin's rebel base from attack, a mission that unfortunately is not successful. Kyon fights alongside Luke and Wedge at several points in the game, but also goes on missions not depicted in the film series, such as bombing raids against Imperial bases and rescue missions of captured rebel spies. Kyon's rise from unsure rookie pilot to confident ally of Luke Skywalker and one of the galaxy's greatest heroes is the main storyline theme of the game. Kyon himself is voiced by Eli Marienthal, and several cutscenes throughout the game depict Kyon's growth as a hero. The game is released alongside an Expanded Universe novel depicting more of Kyon's adventures, a novel that would ultimately become an eight book series. It's exclusive to the Ultra Nintendo, and released on September 24, 2001, the same day that Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is released for the Sega Katana.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter has many gameplay similarities with its OTL counterpart, but from a storyline perspective, it's very different. The game is a third person shooter where you play as Boba Fett (not Jango like IOTL). Boba Fett has access to dual blaster pistols and a variety of gadgets, and you can acquire more equipment throughout the game by either finding it or buying it with money collected by capturing bounties. After Boba frees himself from the Sarlacc, a mysterious woman (later revealed to be Lady Lumiya) contacts Fett and commissions him to hunt down a series of individuals connected with the Rebellion. Eventually, this leads Boba back toward a collision course with his own rival, Han Solo. However, in the end, Boba chooses to betray Lumiya (not for any love of Han Solo but simply because Lumiya's actions eventually run counter to his own code of honor). The complicated relationship between Fett and Lumiya would ultimately be explored further in a comic book series released between 2002-2003. Released on the same day as Rebel Fighter, first for the Sega Katana but later in 2002 for the Microsoft Xbox, Bounty Hunter ends up being the more successful of the two games, though both games ultimately turn a significant profit and are some of the best selling new releases of the month.

-

Star Wars Heroes Delayed Until 2002

The multiplayer action title Star Wars Heroes, originally slated to be released in November, has been pushed back until 2002, according to LucasArts. The official reason given for the delay was to incorporate new content to take advantage of the next-generation Katana and Xbox systems, though the Ultra Nintendo version has also been delayed until next year. It's more likely that the delay was timed to coincide with the release of next year's Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones, and to incorporate characters from that film into the game. Despite the delay, Star Wars fans have plenty of games to enjoy, with three big console releases (Star Wars Grandmasters, Star Wars: Rebel Fighter, and Star Wars: Bounty Hunter) and two major PC releases (Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds and Star Wars: Dark Hand) debuting this year to positive reviews.

-from an October 18, 2001 article on Gamespot.com

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First Asajj Ventress Art Shown For Attack Of The Clones

The first official artwork of the mysterious new villainess from Attack of the Clones, Asajj Ventress, was unveiled online today. Ventress, said to be a follower of the mysterious Sith Lord Count Dooku (played by Christopher Lee), is an imposing presence, with sickly pale skin and a completely shaven head. Catherine McCormack has been cast as Ventress, and other than her connection to Dooku and the Sith, little else has been revealed about her. Attack of the Clones is said to take place ten years after the events of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and will depict the events leading up to the legendary Clone Wars referred to in the original trilogy and in supplementary material. Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, and Samuel L. Jackson among others are all set to reprise their roles from Episode I. Haley Joel Osment, who played Anakin in the original film, will reprise his role only in one or two short flashback scenes, while Jonathan Brandis will play the now 19-year-old Jedi Knight for the remainder of the film.

-from an article on ComingSoon.net, posted on September 3, 2001

-

-Bioware wants to do the Star Wars RPG. But the problem is that they signed a deal to do Dark Tower, and with development on that and their other games ramping up, the time may not exist to make the kind of high quality game that we'd like to make.

-Keep talking at them. Is there any way they could work on the game after Dark Tower is wrapped up?

-That would mean a 2004 release at the earliest. That's four years away.

-I really want this to happen. Keep talking to them.

-The Dark Tower deal is the biggest impediment, I think. They've just got too much on their plate right now, but I'll keep working on them.

(...)

-It looks like it's not going to happen with Bioware.

-What about Ion Storm? I've talked to Tom Hall, they're itching to do an RPG. The Commander Keen games are great. Their new one launching on Sega's new system looks great.

-I'm worried that if we went to Ion Storm, the game wouldn't be big enough. We wanted more of an open world experience for the Star Wars RPG, and I'm not sure they could make that kind of a game, they've never done anything like that before. I don't think the Keen engine would work.

(...)

-Bethesda might be a company worth looking into. They've started working on the new Elder Scrolls game, but they'd be good to go on another game right after that. And they're really experienced with games on the PC. The last Elder Scrolls game was enormous, we could really make the Star Wars game massive.

-I'm not a fan of the engine they use. Graphically, I mean. The level of detail, it's not there like we need it to be.

(...)

-Bethesda says they're willing to develop an entirely new engine for the Star Wars RPG. They say that they'd be willing to start even before production of Elder Scrolls III is finished.

-Developing a new engine would take a lot of time. We're still looking at a 2003/2004 release.

-It'll be a joint project between LucasArts and Bethesda. With lots of work, it could be a late 2002/early 2003 window.

-For right now, let's go ahead and continue our conversations with Bethesda. We'll have some time to make a final decision at a later date.

-from a series of e-mails exchanged between LucasArts' Mike Gallo and Julio Torres in early 2000

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Bethesda Softworks Announces New Star Wars Game For Xbox And PC

At an announcement made during a pre-release press conference for next month's Xbox launch, a number of new upcoming game titles were announced, including the official announcement of a long-rumored Star Wars role-playing game. Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, set 4,000 years before the events of the films, has been announced with a preliminary release window of early 2003. The game is being developed by Bethesda Softworks, best known for the Elder Scrolls series of role-playing games, and published by LucasArts, the game publishing arm of Lucasfilm, the company behind the Star Wars series. Bethesda promises "over 100 hours" of gameplay, and that, while the game will take certain elements from the Elder Scrolls series, it is being developed on an entirely different engine than the one that will be used for the upcoming Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind game, also scheduled to be released for the Xbox and PC sometime next year.

-from an October 26, 2001 article on Gamespot.com

 

[RySenkari]

Well, no update today, was feeling a bit under the weather and I need to be in tip top shape to do the music update. Hopefully I'll be able to sit down and work on it in the next few days.

To tide everyone over, instead of including this with the year-end update like I usually do, I'm going to go ahead and post this now.

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Billboard #1 Hits Of 2001

January 6: “Independent Women Part I” by Destiny's Child
January 13: “Independent Women Part I” by Destiny's Child
January 20: “Independent Women Part I” by Destiny's Child
January 27: “Independent Women Part I” by Destiny's Child
February 3: “Independent Women Part I” by Destiny's Child
February 10: “Independent Women Part I” by Destiny's Child
February 17: “It Wasn’t Me” by Shaggy ft. RikRok
February 24: “Ms. Jackson” by Outkast
March 3: “The Last Goodbye” by Paulina Rubio
March 10: “The Last Goodbye” by Paulina Rubio
March 17: “If You’re Gone” by Matchbox Twenty
March 24: “If You’re Gone” by Matchbox Twenty
March 31: “Showoff” by RikRok
April 7: “Showoff” by RikRok
April 14: “Showoff” by RikRok
April 21: “All For You” by Janet Jackson
April 28: “All For You” by Janet Jackson
May 5: “All For You” by Janet Jackson
May 12: “All For You” by Janet Jackson
May 19: “All For You” by Janet Jackson
May 26: “All For You” by Janet Jackson
June 2: “Eternidad” by La Ley
June 9: “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child
June 16: “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child
June 23: “Black Magic Woman” by Christina Aguilera, Selena, and Shakira
June 30: “Black Magic Woman” by Christina Aguilera, Selena, and Shakira
July 7: “Black Magic Woman” by Christina Aguilera, Selena, and Shakira
July 14: “Sight Unseen” by Gemini
July 21: “Get Up (And Shake It)” by Jay-Z ft. Usher
July 28: “Get Up (And Shake It)” by Jay-Z ft. Usher
August 4: “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” by Blu Cantrell ft. Mya
August 11: “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” by Blu Cantrell ft. Mya
August 18: “Mariposa Traicionera” by Maná
August 25: “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” by Blu Cantrell ft. Mya
September 1: “Fallin’” by Alicia Keys
September 8: “Fallin’” by Alicia Keys
September 15: “Fallin’” by Alicia Keys
September 22: “Fallin’” by Alicia Keys
September 29: “No More Lies” by Aaliyah
October 6: “No More Lies” by Aaliyah
October 13: “Shut It” by Korn
October 20: “I’m A Little Shy” by Julieta Venegas
October 27: “I’m A Little Shy” by Julieta Venegas
November 3: “I’m A Little Shy” by Julieta Venegas
November 10: “I’m A Little Shy” by Julieta Venegas
November 17: “I’m A Little Shy” by Julieta Venegas
November 24: “I’m A Little Shy” by Julieta Venegas
December 1: “Family Affair” by Mary J. Blige
December 8: “Family Affair” by Mary J. Blige
December 15: “Family Affair” by Mary J. Blige
December 22: "Podemos Hacernos Daño" by Juanes
December 29: “How You Remind Me” by Nickelback

 

[RySenkari]

"2001 saw the beginning of what was probably the peak of the Latin music boom in the early to mid 2000s, when a number of new Latin American artists climbed to #1 on the Billboard charts for the first time. Some, like La Ley, were largely one-hit wonders. La Ley crested on the same wave that brought bands like Linkin Park and Nickelback to prominence, with their Latin-infused rock sound unique among their contemporaries. Their song 'Eternidad' went to #1 in the summer of 2001, but the band largely fell out of prominence in North America as quickly as they'd risen, and remained mostly a regionally popular act, scoring two more Billboard top 40 songs in 2002 but nothing that was as big a hit as 'Eternidad'. Other acts, like Maná and the brother-sister duo Gemini, had more staying power. Maná benefited from their multiple collaborations with popular artists of the day and their award-winning albums, and Gemini appealed to a more younger, pop-craving audience who'd fallen in love with singers like Ricky Martin but were looking for a newer sound.

Among solo acts, it was largely female singers who topped the charts during the peak of the boom, though Enrique Iglesias still had some staying power and would score two top-10 hits during the year. The two biggest new solo acts to burst onto the scene were Paulina Rubio and Julieta Venegas, and both would challenge pop superstar Selena for the title of the biggest Latina solo act of the time. Paulina Rubio, with her risque music videos and harder image, earned the title of the 'Bad Girl Of Latin Pop' in the States, while Venegas was somewhat more innocent, first topping the charts with her song 'I'm A Little Shy', an extremely catchy tune that became one of the year's longest chart toppers. Venegas in particular blew up massively in 2001 and 2002, and would become the main challenger to Selena's throne.

During the summer of 2001 (a time many music critics would call the peak of the boom, though 2002's 17-week reign of 'The Game Of Love' atop the charts and 2003's release of Julieta Venegas' second North American album are also cited as peaks), Baz Luhrmann released '¡Celebracion!', a stylish musical extravaganza starring Christina Aguilera and showcasing Latin music. The film not only featured new pieces, but remixes of old pieces by Latin musical artists. The film's showcase tune, 'Black Magic Woman', was a remix of a Santana classic. Performed by Aguilera, along with Selena and Shakira (neither of whom appeared in the film), the song spent three straight weeks atop the charts, while the movie made over $300 million worldwide and was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards."
-from "A Brief History Of The Latin Music Boom", an article on Pitchfork.com, posted on December 8, 2009

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Despite Advocating Free Downloads, Radiohead Charts #1 in US

Radiohead's "Amnesiac" album charted at #1 on the American Billboard music charts, selling 280,000 copies to finish ahead of Korn's "Without A Soul", which sold 207,000 copies in its second week of release to fall to #2. Radiohead recently jumped into the heated debate about the ethics and morality of downloading music for free on services like Napster and Songmuse. When asked on a British talk show three weeks ago what they thought of people who downloaded their music for free, Thom Yorke said, "You know, if that's what's easier to do, if you feel like you should, then go ahead and do it. We're certainly not in the business of suing our fans just for wanting to hear our music." The band's stance runs counter to the opinions of many other acts, though they do have an ally in Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, who spent much of the past year traveling the world, re-iterating his own stance on music downloading on several occasions. Though downloading music is seen as illegal copyright infringement, potentially subjecting offenders to fines or prison time, Napster recently won an important court victory in the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, when it was ruled that the software "potentially has fair use applications, and that Napster cannot be held responsible for all activity occurring on its network". That decision is pending appeal in the United States Supreme Court.

-from a Yahoo! News update on June 17, 2001

-

And though Biggie's album sold extremely well, topping the charts for four straight weeks, the album failed to produce any #1 hits. Its biggest hit, "Ain't That A Bitch?" only peaked at #3. Hardcore rap was falling further out of favor with audiences, who were starting to prefer a more R+B inspired sound. Rap was still popular, but lyrics began to shift in tone, and took on a softer edge. Jay-Z, for example, collaborated with Usher on a number of hits for his 2001 album The Swerve, which was a departure from his earlier work. The song produced a #1 hit in "Get Up (And Shake It)", and its success would ultimately propel Usher even further into the pop mainstream. Usher's 2002 album All About U would become one of the year's biggest hits.

Another pair of artists who were becoming extremely popular at the time was Outkast, a duo consisting of Andre "3000" Benjamin and Antawn "Big Boi" Patton. The pair's infectious rhythms and creative wordplay made them immediate crossover successes amongst fans of all ages and demographics. Their first #1 hit, "Ms. Jackson", charted in early 2001, and the band would have numerous #1 hits over the remainder of the 2000s, especially once the predominant Latin music boom gave way to the R+B explosion of the latter half of the decade. Another artist who profited from the rise of R+B's popularity was RikRok, a reggae singer who first rose to popularity by collaborating on a number of hits with the popular artist Shaggy. Rikrok soon went out on his own, his solo album Bug Out was hugely popular, and his song "Showoff", which topped the charts six weeks after his collaboration with Shaggy, "It Wasn't Me", became one of the year's biggest hits and was nominated for Record of the Year.

-from "Hip Hop In Transition", an article on Angelo's Pop History Blog, posted on March 17, 2012

-

-> Let's face it, "Without A Soul" is the biggest sellout album in the history of rock.
--> Korn didn't sell out, are you kidding me?
---> They absolutely fucking did sell out! "Shut It" is a piss poor Limp Bizkit imitation!
----> Except Korn's anger is actually authentic.
-----> It's nu metal garbage!
----> hey shut the fuck up without a soul is a great album
-----> It's a great album to throw like a frisbee out of your car window.
----> At least they're not Nickelback. Nickelback sucks.
-----> Well that we can agree on.
-----> hey nickelback ruls u suck
-> Who here likes Linkin Park?
--> They're okay. "Crawling" is so whiny though.
---> CRAWLING THROUGH MY SKIN
----> THESE WOUNDS THEY WILL NOT HEAL
--> Linkin Park is awesome
--> I loved "Escaping The Sky". An incredibly epic song, probably twice as good as anything else on Hybrid Theory.
--> They're awesome, I can't wait for their new album
---> Know what it's gonna be called yet?
----> Not yet but I'm sure they'll announced it soon.
-----> *announce
--> Is it true they're gonna be doing a song for an upcoming Xbox game?
---> that's what shinoda said but he took it down, i think maybe because of nba
----> What's basketball got to do with it
-----> doh i mean nda lol
----> Allen Iverson shot Shinoda?
-----> lol
----> What if Mike Shinoda was in the NBA? Do you think he could beat Shaq?
-----> if aaron carter could i baet shinoda could

-from an InsideTheWeb.com music forum as seen on January 24, 2002

-

*A clip of the music video for Julieta Venegas' "I'm A Little Bit Shy" plays.*

Carson Daly: Julieta might be a little bit shy, but Beyonce hasn't been shy at all concerning how she feels about the newest chart topping pop star. In a recent appearance here on TRL, we asked Beyonce's opinion about a variety of her fellow superstar ladies, and here's what she said about Venegas' recent hit.

Beyonce: She's giving off this kinda schoolgirl image, and you know, she's a grown ass woman, she doesn't need to be doing that.

Daly: She continued to address other Latin pop stars, claiming that, while she's glad about the success enjoyed by women such as Julieta Venegas and Selena, she doesn't necessarily approve of some of their music.

Beyonce: I love Selena. She's a fantastic singer, she's a brilliant artist. I just...I think her image isn't as strong as it needs to be. She's kinda boring, to be honest. She has all these girls who love her, I think she should be a stronger role model for them.

Daly: Beyonce's words reflect a growing rift between popular Latin pop artists like Selena and R+B acts like Destiny's Child and Aaliyah. Aaliyah, whose "No More Lies" has fallen from our top spot but remains in the TRL Top 5, has also spoken about the need for music artists to be strong role models for the girls who follow them.

Aaliyah: Women these days have to be strong. That's what my music's about, about being strong, about not putting up with people who'd abuse you, about finding strength and rising above everything that's in your way.

Daly: And right now we have Alicia Keys here at TRL. She's part of the new wave of female-driven R+B acts making a huge splash in pop music this year.

*The gathered fans cheer as Carson Daly sits down with Alicia Keys.*

Daly: It's good to see you.

Alicia Keys: It's good to see you too! *waves to the gathered fans*

Daly: So, you've probably heard all the things Beyonce has been saying about Julieta Venegas and Selena, what's your take?

Keys: You know, Selena is a badass. *the fans cheer* I mean, without Selena, a lot of us probably wouldn't be here. So I can't really badmouth her too much. I was just starting my career when she really hit it big, and her success really helped to drive me forward in my singing. It was really encouraging seeing her succeed. I mean, her music is a lot like mine. We both sing about love, we both sing with passion, so I really don't have anything negative to say about her at all. Julieta, she's fantastic too. Her song's so catchy, she's got an amazing voice...I think she's gonna be really big. Let's try to figure out what we've got in common instead of fighting amongst ourselves.

*The crowd cheers again.*

Daly: So is there a collaboration in the future, perhaps? You and Selena?

Keys: That would be amazing! I actually met her at the VMAs this year, she was so nice and so beautiful. I didn't even ask her about collaborating. You know, that'd probably be up to our agents but if it was up to me, I'd totally be for it.

*The crowd cheers loudly.*

-from the episode of Total Request Live airing the afternoon of November 1, 2001

-

September 6, 2001

Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic sat in chairs at Grohl's home, discussing the success of the Foo Fighters' first album and their first national tour. The album, also titled Foo Fighters, hadn't gotten quite the acclaim that Nirvana's best material had achieved, but most of the band's fans had responded well, and they'd picked up some new fans who really enjoyed the band's different style.

Kurt had been back for several months, and though he'd had fun on his trip around the world with Kathleen Hanna, when he got back he seemed to have fallen somewhat back onto his former ways. He wasn't using heroin again, at least as far as Dave and Krist knew, but he had gotten back with Courtney Love again, and the two were already making headlines for their somewhat disheveled public appearances, something that made both Dave and Krist worry about their former bandmate.

"So...Kurt was on Entertainment Tonight a few days ago," said Krist. "Did you see him?"

"Hell no," replied Dave with a laugh. "I wouldn't be caught dead watching that shit. ...was he okay?"

"Well, he looked pretty happy, but Courtney looked like a mess," said Krist. "Then again, she always looked like that, even when she wasn't using."

"...I still think this is just about Frances. I think maybe she brought them back together."

Krist nodded, but he wasn't sure if that's what Dave genuinely thought or if he was just trying to think positively to assuage their worries. It was a relief that Kurt and Kathleen still seemed to be on good terms, and she sounded better than ever, having been featured in one of the songs on Destiny's Child's most recent album (a song that had charted at #6, at that!).

"Well, whatever it is, I hope they don't start using again," said Krist. "I don't mind them being together but it's when they're using that the really rough shit starts happening."

There was a knock at the door. Krist and Dave looked at each other. A tall man entered the room, one of the members of the Foo Fighters' security detail.

"It's Kurt," said the man. "I'm assuming-"

"Yeah, let him on in."

"He's always welcome here, man, you know that."

The man nodded, and a short time later, Kurt walked into the room. His hair was a bit messier than normal but he still looked pretty good, and definitely hadn't been using.

"Kurt, hey man!" Dave got up and walked over, hugging his friend tightly. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good," Kurt replied. "Sorry I don't swing by more often, me and Courtney are spending a lot more time together with Frances now."

"That's cool," said Dave. "Family comes first, always."

"Yeah, is Courtney doing okay?" Krist asked, looking somewhat concerned. Kurt didn't say anything, instead he just sat down and laughed.

"Guys, she's fine," said Kurt. "Trust me, I wouldn't have gotten back with her if she wasn't."

"She stabbed you," said Krist.

"Back when we were using," Kurt replied. "We were both really fucked up back then. Things are better now. Actually....we were thinking of doing an album together."

"Man, that sounds.....cool," replied Dave, somewhat warily. He looked over at Krist, who seemed somewhat baffled and wasn't saying anything. "Whatever you guys wanna do, it's cool with me."

"Well, it's just a thought right now," said Kurt, leaning back on the couch. "I mean...I'm still taking a break from music. And you guys are doing awesome."

Krist was still trying to process the information that Kurt had just told him. Kurt wanted to do an album with Courtney again? After everything that had happened between them? He let out a long groan and shook his head. He wanted to argue, but Dave shot him a look that advised against it. For now, Krist was holding his tongue.

"It's....cool man," said Krist. "You do whatever."

Kurt could tell that his friends weren't thrilled by the news of his planned collaboration, but he also knew he couldn't convince them easily. They were concerned about him...he understood that. There was a time when he wouldn't have.

The three friends changed the subject. First to music, then to the things going on in their personal lives. Then back to music again. Then to the weather, then to video games, then back to music, then to something random and stupid that Dave brought up, then back to music. They talked long into the night, until Krist was ready to pass out from exhaustion.

"Guess I'll crash on the couch," said Kurt, splaying himself out on the large couch and closing his eyes.

"We got like six beds," said Dave, but Kurt was already asleep.

"...if they're using again," said Krist sleepily. "We gotta stop them. No matter what."

"Yeah, I know," said Dave, leaning back in his chair and sighing. He sat there for nearly an hour watching his friends sleep before finally drifting off himself.

 

[RySenkari]

(Here are the rest of the notable games released in North America between July 2001 and September 2001.)

Ultra Nintendo-

F-Zero: Ultra G-Force

A side-scrolling beat-em-up title that features characters and storylines from the F-Zero series, Ultra G-Force is the sequel to F-Zero: G-Force, one of the final games to appear on the SNES cartridge system. The original title featured four playable characters, but this game features eight: Captain Falcon, Dr. Stewart, Jody Summer, Super Arrow, Samurai Goroh (who makes a heel-face turn in this game), Kate Allen, and two original TTL characters: Tezuki, a mysterious ninja character, and Rocketboy, a man clad in an experimental suit that can fire rockets at his foes. Ultra G-Force is a significant step up in terms of gameplay from its 1995 cartridge counterpart: characters have a myriad of special moves they can utilize in battle, and they can now briefly hop into their vehicles to race through stages and fire certain weapons. The game's villain is Savage Destroyer, a mad scientist who started his career by making high tech race cars, but soon shifted his ambitions to weaponry and evil AI, and after a few years of selling off his inventions to the highest bidder, decides to take over the world himself. He's employed a number of henchmen and women who raced for him in the past, but it's not clear if all of them are serving him of their own free will or if they've been brainwashed. After Savage Destroyer turns his weapons on a race, badly injuring some of the drivers and nearly wiping out the crowd, Captain Falcon and his G-Force team take the job of trying to bring him down. Ultra G-Force is a fairly standard beat-em-up type game featuring F-Zero locales and remixed music (and some original tunes). Were it not for the presence of F-Zero characters, it could be confused for any old sidescrolling beat-em-up game, and despite a lot of graphical polish and catchy music, it's seen as a fairly ho-hum entry in a genre that's seen as outdated by much of the gaming populace. Ultimately, reviews are merely decent, and sales are disappointing, ending the G-Force series on consoles (though it would get at least one more game on handhelds).

Metal Clash 2

The sequel to 1998's hit robot building RPG, Metal Clash 2 adds many additional robot building components, and goes from more of a Battlebots-type motif to something a bit more akin to OTL's Custom Robo. The game's storyline is that a young robot builder wins a sponsorship from the hottest company in robotics and has to prove himself to keep his sponsorship. As he progresses, however, he finds out that the company may have ulterior motives for sponsoring him, and has to solve the mystery of just what this company is up to. The gameplay, while a bit more complex than the original game, is largely like the first, and the graphics haven't improved much in the three years since the original game. Though Metal Clash 2 sells very well in Japan, it doesn't do so well in North America and Europe. That's in part because it gets lost in the fold amidst a very crowded month of hyped new releases, but also because critics call the game an "expansion pack sequel" that isn't worth it unless you're a huge fan of the original game.

Starsaviors Of Exion

Game Arts' sequel to 1997's RPG Starseekers Of Exion, Starsaviors Of Exion sees major graphical improvements over the original (it's Game Arts' first real foray into a true 3-D RPG, and would help them prepare to make Lunar 3 for the Wave in the same way that making Starseekers helped prepare them to make the Lunar remakes) and features the same high quality music and sound that the first title was known for. It also features the same combat system, with a hybrid of action-RPGs like Secret of Mana and games like Tale Phantasia, players encounter enemies on the map and then seamlessly transition to combat, not leaving the original screen while battling in real time. Though the game features 3-D graphics, the cutscenes are all done in anime style, and like Starseekers, there are a LOT of them, more than two hours' worth. It's one of the few three disc games on the Ultra Nintendo, in the same way that Starseekers took up three SNES-CD discs. Unlike Starseekers, Starsaviors is localized by a different company than Working Designs, and voices are performed by Los Angeles-based voice actors. That said, the localization is of a higher quality than Working Designs' work on Starseekers, but the game doesn't include any extra swag or bonus discs.

Starsaviors of Exion features a bit more lighthearted of a plot than Starseekers. It focuses on a group of spacefaring superheroes who travel the galaxy to rescue people who are in trouble. The crew is led by Captain Stargazer, a middle-aged man who has a secret past as a soldier in a long ago war, who became a superhero to atone for the war crimes he committed (these are revealed much later on in the story). He is accompanied by his faithful cadet, Daiki, who is sort of the Robin to his Batman, not only his sidekick but sort of like his adopted son as well. They are accompanied by Himura, a pink-clad female superhero who is somewhat more subdued in her mannerisms than Captain Stargazer but is very loyal to him nonetheless, as he once saved her from a ferocious monster when she was younger. The three eventually recruit three more heroes to their team as the game progresses, but the most consequential is Arcania, a woman who harbors a troubling secret. Arcania ends up being the lone survivor of a village that Stargazer and his squadron massacred during the war, and has joined his team in order to enact revenge on him. She comes under the influence of the game's main villain, Bangar (think the Joker from Batman if he was a Super Sentai villain). Torn between her lust for revenge and her desire to do the right thing, Arcania eventually forgives Stargazer (she also falls in love with Daiki), and the superheroic crew work together to liberate the galaxy from Bangar's evil plans.

Starsaviors of Exion is a massive critical success and one of the year's top rated JRPGs. Despite the critical praise, however, the game is a sales failure in North America, a huge disappointment after Starseekers performed better than expected in 1997. The game even disappoints in Japan, bringing the series' future into question.

Wizard Stone 2

The sequel to the moderate SNES-CD and Sega Saturn hit Wizard Stone is an Ultra Nintendo exclusive title that takes the series' exploration gameplay and brings it to 3-D as a fairly standard 3-D platformer with a hint of Zelda-like gameplay. It features a new protagonist, a young wizard girl who must scour the land for the legendary Wizard Stones that will grant her a variety of powers, while battling monsters and enemies sent forth by the dark wizard Nilrem (Merlin spelled backwards). Collecting the Wizard Stones isn't enough, you must also collect runes hidden throughout the game's eight different worlds. This is essentially a collect-a-thon platformer, and generally not as fun or as innovative as the original. Reviews are mediocre, though the sales are good enough for the game to be considered a mild success.

Lotus Blossom

An adventure title about a ronin who must hunt down and defeat a shogun possessed by a dark god. It's seen as being somewhat of a ripoff of Onimusha, but the game's artwork, which has a sort of 2 1/2-D motif and is designed to mimic the style of Japanese paintings as best as the Ultra Nintendo can muster, is seen as being quite gorgeous, winning the game high praise. The gameplay, while definitely derivative, is good enough for the game to stand on its own, and reviews and sales are both decent.

H2O

A puzzle title with elements of the OTL game Fluidity, the player must guide water to various objects and places. Beginning stages might have the player guiding water to a planet, while latter stages may have the player re-watering a desolate desert planet. The gradual increase in scale of the game, similar to OTL Katamari Damacy, is among the game's most highly praised aspects, and the puzzles are challenging but extremely fun to figure out, with humorous animations playing in each stage to keep the player entertained as they solve the puzzles. There are a number of multiplayer modes, where players either race to fill a certain target with water or attempt to flood other players out. The game is one of the year's best reviewed puzzle titles, possibly the best reviewed puzzle game on the Ultra Nintendo since World of Color: Millennium.

Sega Katana-

Elite Strike Raiders

One of the more hyped early original titles on the Katana, Elite Strike Raiders plays like a cross between Zone of the Enders and Call of Duty, with RPG elements. The game takes place sometime in the 22nd century, and the protagonist, Exxar Cross, is the leader of a squad of mech-piloting soldiers who launch missions in order to halt the advance of a world-conquering army. The player's strike team is deployed onto a battlefield, and from there, the team must battle against the enemy, who are usually piloting mechs of their own. There's very little melee combat in the game, most combat is performed with ranged weapons that can be upgraded the more enemies a player kills or objectives they complete. The gameplay itself, however, is probably the game's most criticized aspect, as the game sometimes has trouble deciding whether it wants to be a third-person shooter or an RPG. Players aren't usually given enough enemies to kill to level up sufficiently enough to beat difficult enemies or bosses, requiring the player to go way off the main course of the level in order to grind on fairly repetitive foes. This takes a lot of focus away from the main missions, which is a shame because the game's storyline is quite good. Essentially, Exxar becomes aware that a member of his strike team is a mole for the enemy. As the game goes by, members of Exxar's strike team are killed, until he's down to just two squadmates: his CO and mentor, Falcon Reed, or his love interest, Shiro Muki. Exxar becomes convinced that Shiro is the mole, and when he discovers that he isn't, he thinks he knows it's Falcon. But as it turns out, it's Exxar himself who's been the mole... but not willingly. Exxar has been brainwashed by drugs in his system delivered to him via the power-up packs he's received throughout the game: essentially, the player himself has made Exxar into a killer. Exxar has been poisoned by the Draught Initiative, an organization of military contractors seeking to test a new combat drug in order to make the perfect, obedient soldier. Exxar, under the influence of the drug, kills Falcon, and when he realizes he'll always be putting his people at risk, he asks Shiro to kill him, which she does. She gains his power-ups (having immunized herself to the drug) and the player controls Shiro for the final missions in which she brings down the Draught Initiative and the world-conquering army at the same time. After the credits, however, it's revealed that Exxar is still alive and being cured of the brainwashing: Shiro didn't kill him, she only stopped his heart temporarily and put him into suspended animation with help from a mutual scientist friend. Exxar wakes up to find out that he's fully cured and that Shiro still loves him. Despite the game being a bit of a mess from a gameplay perspective, sales are still quite strong, living up to the game's hype.

NHL 2K2

The first 2K Sports NHL game released for the Sega Katana, it's mostly similar to the Dreamcast NHL 2K games released OTL. Extremely well received, it's probably the most important console hockey title since NHL 96 for the Sega Saturn, though it's not QUITE as revolutionary or groundbreaking as that game was.

Revroad

A futuristic racing title, Revroad features colorful, souped-up supercars racing through futuristic but dangerous cities. Featuring 28 cars in all (all of them based on real-life supercars but with futuristic names and equipment), and 17 tracks, it's a decent racing title that's mostly seen as a showcase for the Katana's graphical power than any sort of innovative gameplay. Critics are impressed by the game's visuals, though reviews are only slightly above average.

Sega Saturn-

Tactics Ogre: Knights Of Lodis

This Saturn title, one of the last RPGs released on the system, is very similar to OTL's Game Boy Advance game Tactics Ogre: The Knight Of Lodis, though with significantly better graphics and somewhat enhanced movement options, along with more side missions and quests. It's considered to be somewhat inferior to Princes Of The Universe, but is a solid tactical RPG nonetheless. Despite this, North American sales are atrocious, and, like many other late-generation Saturn RPGs, the game becomes a collector's item.

Song Of Winter

The fourth game in the fairly obscure Song series of Saturn RPGs, Song of Winter is the epic conclusion to the series' overarching storyline, bringing the tales of its characters to a climactic conclusion. Though sales of the game are poor, the entire series is re-released on one disc in 2004 in the Anthology: Four Songs collection. Featuring graphical improvements and a few other small bonuses, the game is released on both the Katana and the Wave, and actually sells better than any of the individual games did on the Saturn (at least in North America).

Game Boy Nova-

Wario Land 4

The latest title in the Wario Land platformer series, the jump to the Nova brings with it a whole host of presentation improvements, including animated cutscenes and a number of spoken voiced lines. Graphics are similar to those of a 2-D OTL Playstation title, making Wario Land 4 one of the best looking Nova games to date. The plot is completely different from OTL's game: instead of exploring an ancient pyramid and battling the Golden Diva, Wario is instead becoming literally a corporate raider: he invades the factories and offices of a number of rival greedy moguls and sabotages them, battling enemies and bosses along the way. His arch-enemy in the game is the CEO of Evilcorp Incorporated, a business-suit wearing man who looks and behaves much like a parody of Donald Trump. The final boss battle has him climbing into a giant mech to try and take Wario out, but Wario defeats him, driving his last competitor out of business and raking in a massive amount of money.

Pilotwings

Pilotwings comes to the Nova with a game that plays much like the SNES title with somewhat improved graphics and new challenges for the player to partake in. The game serves as somewhat of a graphical showcase for the Nova and its 3-D capabilities, and is one of the better looking Nova games at the time of its release. Many of the features that first debuted in the OTL Pilotwings 64 make their first appearance in this game instead. The game is quite fun, even if there isn't a whole lot to do. Reviews are good, with critics praising the game's graphics and play controls.

Final Fantasy IV

Final Fantasy IV is a handheld port of the SNES-CD version of the game, featuring the same enhanced graphics and selectable difficulty as that port featured. It also features compressed versions of the game's FMV cutscenes. It's considered to be a very good port, with none of the problems that plagued the OTL Game Boy Advance title, and is one of the Nova's best selling RPGs of the year.

White Mountain Snowstorm

A handheld adaptation of the very popular snowboarding series, White Mountain Snowstorm is released alongside White Mountain 2 for the consoles, and includes features from both games. While the graphics obviously aren't as good as those featured on the console titles, the gameplay is completely intact and the game is able to include a few of the songs that the console games featured as well. It's a very faithful adaptation and sells quite well.

Harvest Moon: Down On The Farm

Harvest Moon: Down On The Farm is the game's second handheld installment, after Harvest Moon on the Game Boy Color in 1999. It's a big step up graphically, with 2.5-D isometric gameplay that gives the game the look and feel of OTL's PS1 title Back To Nature. The game's plotline is similar to other titles in the series, the young protagonist inherits his family farm and must make it a success within three years. While doing so, he can befriend people in the nearby town, open up his own shop, or even get married to one of nine eligible bachelorettes. It's simple, but fun, and highly addictive, and the game ends up being more successful than the Game Boy Color title.

Killer Instinct

Killer Instinct gets a Game Boy Nova edition, and it's not exactly the same as the SNES-CD port. The graphics are improved, though still not quite as good as those in the original arcade game, and the game features three new characters (two from KI2 and one totally original new character, Shakti, who makes her arcade debut in KI3 in 2002). It also features a few of the gameplay improvements from Killer Instinct Ultra, though it doesn't include a story mode like that game did. Killer Instinct is seen as a stellar enhanced remake of the original game and becomes one of the Nova's best selling titles of the year.

Kirby Super Nova

A port of the SNES-CD's Kirby Super Deluxe with very slightly improved graphics and the addition of Meta Knightmare mode (from OTL DS' Kirby Super Star Ultra). It sells well, but gamers clamor for an original Kirby Nova title, which won't appear until next year.

Multiplatform-

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon

Essentially the same as OTL's game with a few butterfly-induced changes to certain characters and weapons. It's released for the Ultra Nintendo in July 2001 and the Katana in September 2001. The Ultra Nintendo version is seen as the worst version by far, featuring bad graphics, missing levels, and only about half the voice acting as other versions. In contrast, the Katana version is seen as much closer to the PC version from a graphical perspective, and all the levels are intact. It outsells the Ultra Nintendo version of the game, but the later Xbox version outsells them both put together.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 launches on the Ultra Nintendo and Sega Saturn in 2001. It includes a few of the enhancements exclusive to the Katana version of THPS2, including both new skaters, and features gameplay similar to the OTL version. Like the OTL version and like its predecessors, it's a massive critical hit, with scores similar to the high marks received by Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. It's not an enormous sales hit (many gamers are still playing THPS2 and don't find the marginal improvements made to the third game to be worth paying full price for), but it's still one of the top selling games of the year, especially on the Saturn. The Katana and Xbox versions would be released later on and would enjoy similar success.

White Mountain 2

Released in July 2001 for the Ultra Nintendo and Sega Katana but not the Sega Saturn, White Mountain 2 is the sequel to 1999's huge snowboarding hit White Mountain Extreme Snowboarding. The series continues to emphasize risky, daredevil snowboarding, and takes that aspect to literal new heights, adding eight-thousander mountains like Everest and K2 to the series' extreme locals (to quote one reviewer: "Would you be able to snowboard K2 in the middle of winter in real life? Hell no. But is it fun to do in a video game? Hell yes!") There are dozens of new tricks to perform, considerably more racers, and plenty of kickin' new music to snowboard to. The game looks a lot better graphically, even on the Ultra Nintendo (which is a reason why a Saturn port was not made), while the Katana version of the game looks outstanding. It's of course ported to the Xbox later on. The game challenges Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 for the title of year's best extreme sports game, and the gaming community is extremely divided over which is better. While White Mountain 2 isn't the truly stratospheric hit that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was, it's easily considered one of the best games of the year and a more than worthy sequel to the original.

-

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

July 2001

1. White Mountain 2 (Ultra Nintendo)
2. Star Fox 3 (Ultra Nintendo
3. White Mountain 2 (Sega Katana)
4. Emergency 2: Distress Call (Ultra Nintendo)
5. Load (Sega Katana)

August 2001

1. Virtua Fighter 4 (Sega Katana)
2. Ballistic Limit 3 (Ultra Nintendo)
3. Madden NFL 2002 (Ultra Nintendo)
4. Madden NFL 2002 (Sega Katana)
5. NiGHTS Into The Labyrinth… (Sega Katana)

September 2001

1. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (Ultra Nintendo)
2. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (Sega Saturn)
3. Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (Sega Katana)
4. Killer Instinct (Game Boy Nova)
5. Star Wars: Rebel Fighter (Ultra Nintendo)

 

[RySenkari]

(Author's Note: Here's Part 1 of the 9/11 update. Part 2 will mostly concern the aftermath and will hopefully be posted on Monday or before.)

-

August 8, 2001

President Al Gore looked over the President's Daily Brief, just as he'd done on the morning of every previous day of his administration. There was nothing particularly odd or disturbing about this morning's document, though the name mentioned numerous times did ring a bell.

"Bin Laden May Be Planning US Attack," was the title of the brief, which summarized past attacks by the terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden and his group al-Queda. The memo mentioned the embassy attacks of 1998 and the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, and particularly noted the danger to American interests on foreign soil, though it also mentioned the potential and desire for al-Queda to strike the American mainland, and also the threat of possible hijackings of American passenger airliners in order to secure vital prisoner releases.

Gore was in the Oval Office, discussing the memo with his DCI George Tenet and his National Security Advisor Richard Clarke. Gore hadn't spent much time pondering on the activities of Osama Bin Laden during his term, as he'd spend most of it working on pushing his energy agenda. Bill Clinton had launched a military strike in 1998 in an effort to take out Bin Laden, but it had been unsuccessful.

"We know with certainty that Osama Bin Laden and al-Queda pose a major threat to American civilian and military personnel abroad," said Tenet. "It's likely that there will be more deadly attacks on our embassies and military installations unless we're able to find and remove him."

"It's going to be difficult to find the political will to launch more military strikes unless there's a major attack," Clarke added. "It wouldn't be prudent to take military action unless we know exactly where Bin Laden is."

"I don't want to see this son of a bitch killing any more Americans, either abroad or here at home," said Gore. He, like Clinton before him, had the willingness to launch military strikes to get rid of Bin Laden, but he shared Clarke's concern that the American people wouldn't be on board with any unnecessary military action, and he didn't want to risk hitting civilian targets in potential American allies in the fight against terrorism. "What about that plane threat, is there anything we can do about that?"

"I imagine Bin Laden may want to hijack a plane here in order to ransom off the passengers for some of his people being held in foreign prisons," said Clarke, "who would then be used to attack our overseas interests."

"The biggest domestic threat, I think, is that he may try to sneak a bomb onboard a plane," said Tenet.

"Like Lockerbie," Gore replied, recalling the devastating 1988 bombing over Scotland that had claimed over 200 innocent lives.

"Exactly," said Tenet. "We could take some measures to increase air security. Call up the FAA, maybe increase patrols at airports?"

"That sounds good," said Gore.

"And...it might also be advisable to think about securing cockpits," said Tenet, "as an additional safeguard."

"I'm not so sure," Clarke replied. "Kids like to go up there. You know, watch the pilot fly the plane and all that. Might not be popular with passengers to lock down cockpits. Could make them nervous."

"How often do pilots even let people go up there anymore anyway?" said Tenet skeptically. "I don't think passengers will pitch too much of a fit if their kid can't see how a plane is flown anymore. It'd just be a temporary thing anyway. We could roll it out gradually."

"I agree with George, I think a temporary precaution is better than taking the risk," said Gore. "Having a terrorist fly an American passenger jet out of the country would be a big propaganda thing for them, it'd inspire more terrorists and put our citizens overseas at risk. I'll ask the FAA director to put these new security measures into place, rolled out gradually over the rest of the year. Meanwhile, let's consider drawing up a plan to find Bin Laden and see what military options we have.

"It'll be done, Mr. President," said Tenet, standing up with Clarke and Gore. "I'll meet with the Joint Chiefs and our intelligence gatherers and see what we can do in terms of military action against al-Queda. I'll try to have something on your desk by the end of the day."

"I'll talk to a few of our ambassadors in the hot spots and see what kind of chatter they're hearing," said Clarke. "See if there have been any actual threats made and where we might need to beef up security immediately."

"Thank you gentlemen," said Gore. "In the meantime, I've got to get ready to meet with some Congressional Republicans to discuss what can be done about that wind energy bill I'm trying to get passed."

"Good luck, Mr. President," said Tenet.

-

Katie Couric: Today, President Gore heads to a new clean coal facility in eastern Tennessee, where he'll be promoting CERA, which he promises will create thousands of new energy jobs while reducing the threat to future generations from global warming.

Bob Costas: And last night it was a stellar, record breaking Monday Night Football debut for rookie sensation Michael Vick. 401 passing yards, 188 rushing yards, three touchdowns on the ground and four through the air as the Cleveland Browns shocked the football world by crushing the Pittsburgh Steelers 52-28 in Pittsburgh. Is Michael Vick the future of professional football?

Matt Lauer: Our Bob Costas will be talking to Michael Vick about his incredible debut, today, Tuesday, September 11th 2001.

Narrator: From NBC News, this is Today with Katie Couric and Matt Lauer, live from Studio 1A in Rockefeller Plaza.

Matt Lauer: Good morning, hope you're having a good one and welcome to Today. It's a beautiful Tuesday morning, I'm Matt Lauer.

Katie Couric: And I'm Katie Couric. Wasn't that incredible, last night? Have you ever seen anything like it?

Matt Lauer: Michael Vick, putting on one of the greatest performances by any quarterback in the history of the NFL, not just a rookie, but for anybody who's ever thrown the pigskin. Just his rushing performance alone would've been great for any running back, let alone a quarterback who also threw for more than 400 yards. And he did it against one of the best teams in the NFL on their own home turf.

-from the September 11, 2001 episode of NBC's Today

-

September 11, 2001

Flight 11 out of Boston was en route to Los Angeles with 88 passengers on board. It was a beautiful day all across the United States, with mild temperatures and clear weather. The flight had gone smoothly, though at 8:13 AM, passengers in first class noticed two of the men getting up and making their way toward the cockpit. Among the first class passengers that day were basketball legends Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. The two men were seated together, on the final flight of their cross-country tour. After a speaking engagement in Los Angeles, Bird would be headed back to Indiana to help his Pacers get ready for the upcoming basketball season.

The two were engaged in conversation and didn't notice the men making their way to the cockpit door. The first thing that caught their attention was a loud scream.

"What the hell?" muttered Bird, looking up from his seat just in time to see one of the two Middle Eastern men stabbing a flight attendant in the stomach. "Jesus!"

Three more men, one of them Mohamed Atta, stormed in from business class, pushing past the curtain that separated the two sections of the plane. One of them threw a small canister into the aisle that filled the first class section with smoke.

"Is this a joke?" shouted Bird, starting to cough alongside his friend Johnson.

"I think they're trying to take over the plane!"

The five men easily forced their way through the unsecured cockpit door. As they walked down the aisle, Bird stood up in his seat, and one of the men turned and looked right at him.

"That's..."

Out of the five hijackers, only one of them could have recognized Larry Bird. As a young boy in Saudi Arabia, he'd witnessed an American basketball game on television in one of the cities. The strict Saudi government discouraged American television, but wealthier residents could sometimes skirt the law, especially in the case of compelling sports contests such as the hotly contested NBA games of the 1980s. The boy had seen only a few minutes of the game, but he recognized Bird as having been the best player on the court, with the skill and athleticism of a top-flight soccer star.

For a moment, he had second thoughts. But it was too late for those now.

"He is an American savage, like all the rest of them. He must pay for his sins against Allah." The hijacker turned away from Bird and joined the rest of his friends in the storming of the plane. Within moments, the pilots were overpowered.

Seated a few rows behind Bird and Johnson was the actress and comedienne Nicole Sullivan. She'd visited Boston to meet with a friend, Rachael MacFarlane, about a possible voice acting role on her animated series Star Girl. She was heading back to Los Angeles to record the last 13 episodes of the Nicktoon Sam and Kira, where she played the voice of Sam's fun-loving mom. She too was coughing and sputtering in the strange smoke and was wondering what could possibly be going on. She and the other passengers had no idea that the world was about to change forever.

"Should we try to stop them?" whispered Bird, looking over at Magic. In the aisle lay three badly bleeding flight attendants who'd been stabbed by the hijackers as they made their way to the front of the plane.

"No, no, there's too many," Johnson replied, holding his shirt up over his nose and mouth to keep from breathing in the smoke. "We'll be fine, it'll be cool. Try to hide your face, if they know who we are they'll demand more money for the plane."

A few minutes later, Atta's voice came over the plane's PA system.

"Stay in your seats. We are returning to the airport. We have more planes. Do not be stupid with your lives."

-

Katie Couric: So, Seth, your show's the top rated show on Cartoon Network, how's that feel?

Seth MacFarlane: Well, it's pretty great. The response to Larry and Steve has just been amazing, everyone from kids, to adults, they're constantly stopping me in the street and telling me how much they love the show. It's a problem getting anywhere with all the people stopping me constantly...

Katie Couric: *laughing*

Seth MacFarlane: Yeah, it's pretty phenomenal. And it wouldn't be possible without all the people who work so hard on the show.

Katie Couric: There's a lot of singing on the show.

Seth MacFarlane: Oh, there is.

*A brief clip plays of Steve and his girlfriend Amelia (a poodle voiced by Jennifer Tilly) singing a Broadway-style showtune together.*

Seth MacFarlane: What I really wanted was to get Frank Sinatra on the show. It would have been my dream to sing with him, but he died in 1998 right before the show started. We have had his kids on there, though. We've had Nancy, we've had Frank Jr., so that's been a treat.

Katie Couric: What's it like being on the same network with your sister Rachael? She's got a show on there too.

Seth MacFarlane: Yeah, Star Girl. It's a real serious competition between us. Totally cutthroat.

Katie Couric: Oh, really?

Seth MacFarlane: Oh yeah, we DESPISE each other. *laughing* No, no, no, it's a friendly rivalry.

-from the September 11, 2001 episode of NBC's Today, at 8:57 AM

-

Magic Johnson looked out the window. The plane was flying low, VERY low, over the city of New York.

"Are they coming in for a landing?" asked Johnson, watching as the buildings went by. "Damn, we're way too low..."

"How low are we?" Bird asked, trying to look out the window. All around, there was panic, fear, worry. Some passengers were sobbing. Others were calm. A few were placing calls. Most thought that the plane was about to land, either at LaGuardia or JFK.

"We're too low, WAY too low," said Johnson, increasing worry in his voice. "I mean we're only about a thousand feet-"

There was fire, then darkness. On the streets below, thousands screamed.

-

Katie Couric: Now what's this about your sister being in a new video game?

Seth MacFarlane: Oh yeah, for the Ultra Nintendo. It's called Chrono Infinite, it's a role-playing game, lots of fantasy and time travel and that kinda thing.

Katie Couric: Have you played it at all?

Seth MacFarlane: Actually I've been playing it. I've been playing games since the Atari days, Rachael and I used to play them together. Space Invaders, Pac-Man, all the classics. This game, it's pretty wild. I've just reached the spot in the game where you meet her character, she's a really overly caffeinated adventurer girl who's REALLY annoying.

Katie Couric: *laughs*

Seth MacFarlane: She is annoying as hell. She's loud, she's obnoxious, she's always wanting to drag you on adventures, super annoying.

Katie Couric: So you don't like her character?

Seth MacFarlane: Rachael does a great job, but I don't like the character. The game is super fun though.

Katie Couric: On the subject of Larry and Steve, what's in the future for these two characters?

Seth MacFarlane: Well, we're gonna be having more guest stars on the show. Tom Cruise, actually, is gonna be in an upcoming episode, and also Jim Carrey will be showing up. We're starting to be able to get some really big names and that's always really gratifying. Larry's also going to adopt some kids from overseas, there's something very special about one of them but you'll have to watch the show to find out.

Katie Couric: *seems to be looking away as if she just heard something* ....Seth, I'm really sorry but we'll have to cut this a bit short. There's been some breaking news that we need to get to, but it was really really good having you on, Larry and Steve, Friday nights on Cartoon Network.

*The show quickly cuts to a commercial. After the commercial break, there's a live shot of the upper floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center on fire.*

Matt Lauer: As you can see there, that is the World Trade Center here in lower Manhattan, and we've gotten reports that some kind of plane has crashed into the building.

Katie Couric: We're on the phone right now with an eyewitness who saw what happened and she's down there at the World Trade Center right now.

-from the September 11, 2001 episode of NBC's Today, at 9:00 AM

-

Al Gore, accompanied by the Secret Service and a few of his staff members, were walking down the hallway of a large coal processing plant in Greeneville, Tennessee. Built in 1997, the facility was now seeing the installation of new technology that would make it one of America's largest clean coal processing plants. The workers at the facility were excited to see the president speak, though their attention was being slowly diverted by the breaking news out of New York City. As Gore was making his way through the plant, one of his staffers had informed him about the plane crash, which was still believed to be accidental. As he made his way down the corridor, shaking hands with some of the workers, he glanced over to a television set where a large number of workers had crowded around to see the North Tower engulfed in smoke.

"That looks really bad," thought Gore. His chief of staff, Ron Klain, took him aside and informed him of the situation.

"Right now it's believed that a large plane, probably a passenger jet, stuck the tower," said Klain. "We know there are probably hundreds dead already, it might be best to cut this short so that we can address the American people about this tragedy."

"I was already planning to," replied Gore, "but I'd still like to give a speech to these workers. Not for a photo-op, but as an earnest statement about how important these people are to the future of clean energy in this country."

"Of course, Mr. President."

Gore and Klain stepped out of the alcove and make their way back out to the hallway. The Secret Service men accompanying Gore were already on edge...several of them privately suspected that the plane crash in New York was no accident, and already, agents were scrambling to ensure that the president was adequately protected.

"Thank you, Mr. President," said one of the workers, a project manager at the facility who was overseeing construction of new equipment over the next few months. "A lot of people here don't think their jobs are going to be safe but I know that coal has a future with you in the White House. I'm really grateful to be working in the industry at a time like this."

"Your job is safe, I promise," said Gore, vigorously shaking the man's hand. "Clean coal technology is the future. Thank you for everything you're doing here."

Several more workers approached to shake the president's hand. The Secret Service eyed every single one of them, ready to jump in if any of them made a move on Gore.

There had been a podium set up for the president to speak. He continued to shake hands and greet workers as he made his way up to it.

"Hell of a thing, what's happening in New York," said one of the workers sadly. "How could somebody be stupid enough to crash into a building on a bright sunny day?"

In the back of the president's mind, he thought back, only for a moment, to that August meeting with his intelligence chiefs. But the thought slipped away as soon as it had arisen. He, like almost everyone else, believed the crash of Flight 11 to have been a tragic accident.

Suddenly, there was a loud commotion. A great yell from dozens of people, from another area of the facility. Instinctively, two of the Secret Service agents grabbed the president by his arms and were preparing to rush him to safety.

"FUCK!" yelled a loud voice from across the room, followed by shouts of 'Holy shit!', 'Oh, my God!' and 'We're under attack!'. The Secret Service agents started to run before Ron Klain shoved his way forward.

"It's the TV!" Klain yelled, trying to get the agents to release the president from their grasp, wanting to avoid causing a panic. "It's just the TV, some of the workers saw something on TV! Mr. President, another plane hit the other World Trade Center tower!"

"What?" Gore stammered, his agents still tightly gripping his arms. He extricated himself from the grasp of his agents, who kept the workers back to give Gore and his chief of staff some privacy. "What's going on? The other tower?"

"The South Tower," said Klain. "The South Tower's been hit by an airplane. It's a deliberate attack, Mr. President. We need to get you out of here."

Gore looked at his chief of staff, then at the podium. Obviously, there would be no clean coal speeches today. Everything had changed. A million thoughts raced through his mind.

"A deliberate attack...is it al-Queda? Is it domestic? Is it another country? Iran? Iraq? Libya?"

The president felt the weight of the world on his chest. He'd been fighting for the planet before, trying to protect the world from the specter of global warming. He'd been fighting for the American people, for a fairer deal, better wages, heath care... now, it seemed, he would be fighting against a new enemy.

He had to say something, at the very least. He looked around...news of the attack had disseminated through the crowd. The gathered workers, they were all murmuring amongst themselves. They looked frightened, some of them looked angry. Gore made the decision to step up to the podium. As he began to walk toward it, one of his Secret Service agents stepped in front of him.

"Mr. President, that's not a good idea, it's too much of a security risk."

"It's fine, let me through," the president ordered. The agent let out a sigh of resignation and stepped aside, gesturing to some of his fellow agents to be ready for anything. Gore stepped up to the podium. "Everyone....everyone, I'd like to say something."

The sound of the president's voice caused nearly everyone in the room to immediately go silent. Gore continued to speak.

"I came here today to discuss the future of clean energy and the need for Americans to work together toward a more environmentally sustainable future. But, like the rest of you, I've learned of the tragedy unfolding right now in New York City. Two planes have been deliberately crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center. America is under attack. We are working tirelessly to find out who is responsible and to prevent any further attacks from taking place. These attacks are a direct assault on the American way of life, and we as Americans need to come together to stand strong in the face of terror and fear."

"Kick their ass, Mr. President!" shouted someone in the crowd, prompting a small cheer to begin to rise up.

"I promise you, we WILL get to the bottom of this and we will defeat those responsible. This is an act of war against the United States, its people, and freedom throughout the world. I will not rest until those responsible for these savage attacks are brought to justice. Americans will not cower in the face of terror. We will overcome it and we will rise above it. Thank you. God bless America."

The crowd of gathered workers began to cheer loudly as Gore stepped down from the podium. A 'USA! USA!' chant started soon after, but as Gore was escorted by his entourage of Secret Service agents and staffers out of the factory, he knew that one very short speech wasn't nearly the bulk of the work he was going to have to do that day.

"There's...been something else," said Klein suddenly, talking to the president as the two walked out of the building together. "A disturbance at an airport, just a few minutes ago. Screening stopped someone."

"What? Where?"

"Newark, a flight out of Newark. One of the passengers attempting to board was flagged for screening, the new procedures we put in a few weeks ago. He was found with a knife and pulled aside, then some other people boarding the plane were caught trying to run. There was...some kind of a scuffle with security, one of the men is dead but we took four of them in."

"Just now?"

"Just now, Mr. President."

Gore stepped out of the factory and toward his motorcade, which was getting ready to take him immediately to Air Force One.

"How many more planes are at risk? How many more are up in the air right now?"

"We...we have no idea, sir."

"God help us."

-

Peter Jennings: There you can see the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, both on fire. The North Tower, struck at 8:58 AM, the South Tower struck at 9:09 AM. And now...we're hearing....I'm hearing that there's been something that happened at Newark International Airport between three armed assailants and security guards there at that airport. Right now we have no information other than the fact that something has happened at that airport. We have on the phone a man who witnessed the events...we're putting him on right now. Hello?

Man: Yeah?

Peter Jennings: Can you tell us what happened at the airport?

Man: There was a guy, he was pulled outta line by these two cops...they were talking to him and then they started to arrest him. And then somebody else, somebody else who was with him, he grabbed one of the cops' guns off him and started shooting.

Peter Jennings: He started shooting?

Man: He started shooting at the cops. Everybody screamed, everybody got down. The cops, they turned around...one of them got hit right in the chest but he turned around and fired.

Peter Jennings: The police officer was hit in the chest-

Man: He was wearin' a bulletproof vest. I think. I think he was because he didn't go down from the shot, but he turned around and shot the guy...and then another guy came and tried to stab somebody like ten feet away from me and that's when I started to run. Then I saw near the boarding area, two more guys trying to start something but I was running for my life. I already was seein' what was happening in New York and now this shit happening. I was scared for my life.

-from an ABC Special Report on the morning of September 11, 2001, at 9:16 AM

-

On board Flight 77, the pilot and co-pilot knew something was happening. They'd heard the screams from outside the cockpit, and had been hearing warnings from their communication devices about possible hijackings for the last 15 minutes. Their plane, like dozens of other American Airlines planes, had been outfitted with a new cockpit door lock system designed to prevent forceful breaches. Before September 11th, the pilots had questioned the need for such measures. Now, as screams filled the passenger cabin, they realized just how lucky they'd been to be on one of the first planes to have been outfitted with them.

There was a loud bang at the door. Then another.

"Let us in!" shouted a heavily accented voice. "Let us in now!"

"American 77 here, I think someone's trying to hijack our plane," said the pilot, Charles Burlingame. "We need somewhere to land as soon as possible."

"Let us in or we will blow up the plane!"

"You think he's serious?" asked Burlingame's co-pilot, David Charlebois. "You think they have a bomb?"

"I have no idea but I sure as hell know I'm not opening the door for those bastards," said Burlingame. He radioed to ground control a second time. "They're trying to breach the cockpit, they say they have a bomb, we need to land this plane right now!"

There were three more loud bangs on the door.

"LET US IN! LET US IN OR EVERYBODY DIES!"

"Everybody dies anyway if we let them in," said Charlebois. "What happened in New York-"

"I know, they're not getting in here," said Burlingame. "God dammit, control, we need a place to land!"

Three more loud bangs. An agonizing 34 seconds passed.

"...Control to American 77, we're clearing you to land at Yeager, you think you can make it there?"

"The cockpit door's secure, they're not getting in, we're heading to Yeager now."

"WE WILL KILL EVERYONE ON THE PLANE!"

Loud, blood-curdling screams could be heard from the passenger cabin. The plane turned sharply to the southwest and began heading for Charleston, West Virginia.

-

*A live image of the World Trade Center on fire is being shown on the screen. It's now 9:42 AM.*

Bryant Gumbel: Right now we do not believe that any other planes are involved, but the FAA has taken the unprecedented step of ordering all planes over American soil to land. All flights over the United States have been grounded at this time, in the wake of these apparent terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. ...we're now getting reports....we're now....and just as I say it, it appears that there has indeed been a third plane hijacked. Reports are coming in that a third plane has been hijacked and is still up in the air, and that fighter jets are now being scrambled to.... we don't know at this time, but that plane we are reporting about has been hijacked, the pilots themselves radioed to Ground Control that the plane has been hijacked and we are now getting reports.... we actually have one of our reporters who is getting this information as it's coming in.

Reporter: Bryant, what I'm being told is that the plane has NOT been hijacked, that the pilots are still in control of the plane and that it's actually attempting to land while the would be hijackers are still on board.

Bryant Gumbel: The hijackers are still on board?

Reporter: That's correct.

Bryant Gumbel: Are they still trying to actually take over the plane?

Reporter: Um, I don't have any other information at this time.

Bryant Gumbel: So they could still be on board?

Reporter: That's right.

Bryant Gumbel: And planes, military planes have been scrambled...

Reporter: We believe they're going to escort this plane to a landing somewhere.

-from a CBS News Special Report on the morning of September 11, 2001, 9:42 AM

-

Caller: That plane is now approaching Charleston and we believe that it's going to be coming in for a landing very soon. We're being told now that it's possible that the hijackers have all been neutralized but right now we don't know very much about that. There was said to be a great commotion. The pilots were talking to ground control and they kept saying that they were hearing screams from the cabin, either from the passengers or from the hijackers. Right now the FAA is saying that the plane is under control and will be landing shortly and that it poses no threat to anything on the ground at this time. There were some rumors that they were getting ready to shoot down the plane, but those are-

Aaron Brown: I'm sorry, I have to interrupt you...there's been another explosion from one of the World Trade Center towers. It...it appears that perhaps...perhaps one of the towers may have actually collapsed. That's the South Tower, we're looking at it right now and an enormous cloud of smoke and dust...rising up from that tower right now.

-from a CNN Special Report on the morning of September 11, 2001, 10:17 AM

-

High above the ground aboard Air Force One, President Gore is getting constant updates on the attacks from his advisors. So far, apart from the attacks on the World Trade Center towers, the incident in Newark which has led to the death of one terrorist and the capture of four others, and the incident unfolding on board Flight 77, there have been no other reports of any terrorist attacks.

"How's the other tower doing, is it going to collapse too?" Gore asked one of his staffers, deeply distressed by the news that the South Tower has fallen.

"Right now they're trying to get everybody out of the building. There have been a few rooftop evacuations but it's been so slow, there's so much smoke that they can't get the helicopter down there fast enough to get a lot of people out."

So far only 18 people had been evacuated from the North Tower via the roof, but nobody had been able to come down from above the 88th floor where the plane had struck. There were still thousands trapped inside the building, and perhaps thousands more who'd just been killed in the collapse of the South Tower.

"There's not going to be enough time..." Gore said quietly. He knew that if the South Tower had collapsed, the North Tower would be following suit very shortly. It was a miracle it had stayed up as long as it had so far. "What about the plane in West Virginia?"

"...sir...the plane just landed," said another of Gore's staffers, holding a phone up to his ear. "Federal agents are swarming the plane as we speak. We'll know more shortly."

"Thank God," muttered Gore, pleased that Flight 77 had landed safely and hoping that the passengers on board were safe. He only had to wait a few more moments for more news.

"...three of the hijackers are dead....two of them are alive but both are badly injured."

"And the passengers?"

"There was a fight...a huge fight once the hijackers realized they weren't going to be able to breach the cockpit. They started stabbing people randomly. Right now....six passengers dead...twenty-one injured."

Gore's head slumped. Six more victims added to the day's toll, and he knew the numbers would climb even higher. Once again, he didn't have long to wait to find out just how much.

"Sir.... the North Tower just collapsed."

 

[RySenkari]

When all was said and done, the total death toll of the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001 was 4,728 victims, including 2,644 killed in the collapse of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, 1,919 killed in the collapse of the South Tower, 157 in the two crashed planes, and eight killed via slashing on Flight 77. In addition, 14 out of the 20 hijackers or would-be hijackers were killed (10 on the two crashed planes, three on Flight 77, and one at Newark International Airport). It was by far the worst terrorist attack in world history and one of America's darkest days. Despite all the pain and loss, there were countless acts of heroism by people of all races and faiths. 297 FDNY firefighters lost their lives trying to save victims from the burning buildings. Incredibly, 42 people were rescued from the roof of the North Tower before it collapsed due to the bravery of helicopter crews able to rescue people stranded there. The rooftop rescues continued right up until the South Tower's collapse.

That night, President Gore made an address to the nation from the Oval Office. In it, he promised that America would hunt down those responsible and would stop at nothing until the terrorists who committed these acts were brought to justice. He urged Americans to come together in this troubled time, to show love and compassion and not rush to judgment, to give blood and help out in any way they possibly could, and to take this opportunity to spend time with friends and loved ones. He promised that America would get back on its feet quickly and that the terrorists who attacked America could not threaten the country's way of life. In the aftermath of the attacks, Gore's approval rating skyrocketed as patriotic fervor swept the nation. Another elected official whose popularity grew immensely in the aftermath of the attacks was New York's mayor, Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani had been attending a meeting on one of the lower floors of WTC 1 when the first plane struck. He remained at the site to help coordinate the fire and rescue efforts, and could personally be seen administering first aid to injured persons before the collapse of the towers. He continued to show leadership in the days after the attacks, visiting Ground Zero numerous times with firefighters and police officers to help raise the morale of the first responders.

In the immediate aftermath, President Gore and his staff, particularly Gore's Secretary of Defense Wesley Clark, labored to try and find out who was responsible for launching the attacks. Iran was perhaps the first possible suspect among some of Gore's advisors, but was almost immediately ruled out once four of the terrorists at Newark were arrested. This also ruled out Iraq, and by the end of the afternoon, it was the consensus among the vast majority of Gore's staff, including the president himself, that the terrorist group al-Queda had planned and carried out the attacks. Finding out it was al-Queda led to some soul searching among Gore's staff, especially Richard Clarke, who had been fairly skeptical about the threat al-Queda posed when he'd read the August memo about a potential attack. He stopped short of offering up his resignation (which Gore would not have accepted either way) but did make it a personal mission to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice. Gore himself felt a measure of responsibility, as he'd been a part of the administration which had tried and failed to capture or kill the terrorist mastermind several years before. "This time, we're not gonna let the son of a bitch slip through our fingers," said Gore to his staff that evening as he prepared to give a speech to the nation. Over the next few days, as the country mourned, the Gore administration began to draw up its plan for how best to make Bin Laden and al-Queda pay.

In the aftermath of the attacks, when al-Queda's responsibility had been established, there was a public backlash against Muslims, with numerous people of Arabic descent assaulted or even killed. Even Sihks, who were commonly mistaken for Muslims, suffered deadly assaults. It got to a point where Al Gore made an additional speech two days following the attacks, saying that Muslims all around the world condemn the attacks and that Islam is a religion of peace. He urged Americans for tolerance and unity, and went so far as to say that those who attacked innocent Muslims were themselves un-American. Though this statement drew criticism from a number of far-right critics, most notably Rush Limbaugh, most Americans agreed with Gore's sentiments, and attacks on Muslims diminished somewhat after the speech.

The effects of the attacks on pop culture and sports were also immediate and widespread. The National Football League canceled that weekend's games, but would play them at a later week. Major League Baseball was also postponed until the 22nd. Radio stations across the country altered their playlists in order to avoid playing potentially insensitive songs during this time. A number of movies and television shows were also altered in certain ways in the follow-up to the attacks. Chrono Infinite, which depicted in its commercials a massive attack from the sky on a city, had its advertising pulled from the airwaves (and they largely didn't return), though this didn't put much of a dent in the game's sales, which largely relied on positive word of mouth. Other games that had their advertising affected included Star Wars: Rebel Fighter, Ballistic Limit 3, Elite Strike Raiders, and Jet Set Radio. By the time October began, most of the editing affecting programs largely ended, though sensitive elements of certain TV shows continued to be altered until well into 2002.

-

"When I first heard of the attacks I was in Los Angeles, I woke up to Chris shaking me awake and telling me to come into the other room and look at the TV. There I saw the Twin Towers on fire. It was the most absolutely horrific thing I've ever seen. By the time the towers fell, I was crying. I love this country deeply. It is a place where people of all nations and races can achieve their dreams, and an attack on America is an attack on the entire world. I will be giving all proceeds from my next concert tour to the victims of the 9/11 attacks, and I hope other artists and musicians join me in doing the same. There are so many people who need our help right now."
-Selena, speaking at a Los Angeles rally in support of the victims of 9/11 on September 15, 2001

"Osama Bin Laden is a fuckin' asshole. Plain and simple. He represents a bunch of assholes who treat women like shit, who want the world to go back to the fuckin' Stone Age. I met lots of Muslims when I was traveling around the world. Muslims are great people. They opened up their homes, they opened up their hearts. This guy is not a Muslim, he's just an asshole."
-Kurt Cobain, in a September 17, 2001 MTV News special where people from around the music industry give their response to the 9/11 attacks

"Well, President Gore and I disagree on a lot of things. But both of us agree on the need for a strong and swift response to these terrorist attacks. Terrorism cannot be tolerated anywhere in the world. And we also agree that as it pertains to these six terrorists that we captured, we cannot, we absolutely CANNOT use torture on them. No matter how angry we are, no matter how much they know, torture does not work. It's inhumane. It's un-American. Plain and simple."
-John McCain, speaking to a reporter for the Arizona Republic, September 14, 2001

"Being on that plane, watching all that chaos unfold...it was an unimaginable nightmare. I wouldn't wish it on anybody...I...I saw people die up there. ...it's not....it's....it's something that's going to haunt me for the rest of my life. ....only the people who were on that plane would know. I was frozen in my seat. I....I'm glad there were enough people on that plane who...were willing to risk their lives to save us. That's another thing that's going to haunt me. The guilt. ....four people died....bringing those attackers down. Four people.... four people who made the choice that I was too scared to make. And then the others...the ones who...the ones who had to take those attackers' lives. The trauma I have is nothing compared to what I know they're still going through. The nightmares they must have are a hundred times worse than mine."
-Barbara Olson, Flight 77 survivor, on a 20/20 special commemorating the tenth anniversary of the attacks

-

"With Nicole Sullivan, the voice of Sam's mother Marcie, killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks, series writers scrambled to figure out how to write around the death of one of the show's primary voice actresses. She could be replaced, and producers considered it, despite Sullivan's excellent performance making her almost irreplaceable. Ultimately, they decided not to replace her. Instead, they re-wrote the entire final season, starting with episode 91. 'Senior Skip Day', which first aired on October 5, 2002, was the fifth season premiere. In it, Sam and Kira wish to participate in Senior Skip Day, in which all the high school seniors skip class and do something fun. However, Sam's father refuses to allow Sam to do so. She ignores his wishes and spends the day at the mall with Kira. As Sam and Kira enjoy the day together, Sam's father tries numerous times to reach Sam on her cell phone, but Sam ignores it, not wanting to get into trouble. However, eventually, a police officer shows up to meet Sam. Sam, thinking she's in huge trouble, tries to ditch him with Kira, but eventually the two are confronted by two officers who tell Sam that her mother's been in a terrible car accident and that she needs to get to the hospital immediately. When Sam and Kira arrive, Marcie is in critical condition. Sam is guilt-ridden and heartbroken, but Sam's father assures her it's not her fault and that he's not mad. Eventually, Marcie recovers, but tragically the accident has caused her to become permanently mute. Despite this, she is still able to convey her love to Sam, and the two get ready to adjust to their rapidly changed lives. Senior Skip Day is commonly hailed as one of the show's best episodes, and the dynamic between Sam and her now mute mother is seen as one of the best depictions of a person with a disability on children's television."
-from AnimationInsider.net's Sam and Kira retrospective, posted on May 5, 2016

-

Brittany Saldita sat down in a chair and pulled out her cell phone. It was September 11, 2001, and she was about to get ready to do one of the most difficult evening newscasts of her career. But with the few minutes she had left before then, she called her friend's number.

In San Francisco, Ted Crosley heard his cell phone ring and took it out. He was at home now, the same place he'd been all day. He had been awoken early that morning by a call from his parents in New Jersey, telling him to turn on the television. He'd been calling people all day. He'd thought about calling Brittany, but she'd called him first.

"Hey Ted," said Brittany, her voice calm but somber. "How's everything going?"

"I'm okay," he replied.

"How's Jack?"

Brittany was referring to Ted's older brother, who worked in an office building in Manhattan. He didn't work at the World Trade Center, but he did work less than a mile away.

"He's okay, don't worry," replied Ted, having answered that question from others dozens of times that day. "He...he saw both planes hit. They evacuated his building after the South Tower got hit. He's okay."

"That's good," said Brittany, sighing with relief. "Did he...did he see the Towers fall?"

"No, no...well....he did see the dust cloud from where he was," Ted replied. "He walked out of Manhattan with a bunch of other people. I guess he's staying with a friend in Queens tonight and then...he'll probably go back home to Newark until they let him come back to work, whenever that is."

"I am so glad he's okay," said Brittany. "I was thinking of you and him, I should've called earlier but I was...."

"Hey, hey, no, it's fine....it's okay, thanks for calling... are you okay? Did...did you have any friends who-"

"No..." said Brittany, before letting out a small gasp. There was someone. "Oh, Nicole, she...she was on one of the planes. The first plane. Did you talk to Kaz?"

"Yeah....he's really broken up. He was crying when I talked to him. I can't imagine...they worked together on Mad TV for like two years."

"I opened for her once at a comedy show. And...I took some voice lessons with her. She was... she was so funny and so nice... she..." Brittany was starting to get choked up. She sniffled.

"It's okay.... I didn't know anyone, but my brother...two of his best friends were killed in the South Tower. Well...I don't know if they were his best friends but they hung out together after work a lot..."

"Oh....oh, was Caleb one of them? The guy with the freckles on his neck?"

"...yeah, I think so."

Brittany sniffled again, almost choking back a sob. She'd met Ted's brother's friend Caleb only once, at a party in New York City. The two of them had gotten into a playful argument about which Squad Four game was better: Rebellion or Eclipse.

He was dead, along with thousands of others. Human beings. People with friends, with families. So many people knew at least one person who'd been killed in the attacks.

"You gonna be okay?"

"I'm a professional, I have to be okay," said Brittany. "I'll be fine. Is your brother...is he okay? I could call him."

"It's rough because his wife and kids are back in Newark. I can't imagine what he's feeling right now. If I was there I'd go pick him up and take him home myself."

"...why would somebody do something like this?"

"Beats me," Ted replied. "They're in for a world of hurt though."

"Yeah. Bastards. ...I'd better go get ready. I could call Jack real quick."

"It's fine, but thanks...you talked to Lyssa?"

"For like an hour. One of her old pageant friends from way back was on the first plane. ...it's still so hard to...days like this...."

"Yeah. Well....you sure you'll be okay, Brittany?"

"Mm-hmm... tell Jack I'm thinking about him."

"Sure. ....I can't wait until we get this new game network started. The world needs an escape right now, you know?"

"I just wonder what kind of world my son's going to grow up in... I hope we can get past all this."

"We will. He's got you. He'll be fine."

"Thanks...goodbye Ted. I'll talk to you again soon."

"Yeah. Thanks again, I'll let Jack know you said hi. We'll be fine."

Brittany closed her phone and smiled. The world was still a good place. There was still so much good in the world.

-

In the weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Congress passed the American Counter-Terrorism Bill, commonly known as the ACT Bill. The bill provided for a variety of new surveillance and immigration measures designed to stem the flow of potential terrorists into the United States, and to better monitor the activities of suspicious persons. The bill was passed with heavy bi-partisan support, despite a number of measures that could be seen as potentially overreaching. Most of the bill contained sunset provisions designed to expire in two years after the passage of the bill, and President Gore personally promised that he would ensure that those provisions would be allowed to occur. He claimed that the bill was a temporary but necessary measure to ensure that no more attacks of that scale occurred on American soil and to catch those responsible for committing the 9/11 attacks. The provision of the ACT Bill that generated the most debate was a provision concerning gun ownership by suspected terrorists, in which those on a terrorist watch list would be deemed unable to purchase a gun. The law was criticized as being unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, and though Gore (who heavily advocated for this part of the bill) got a good deal of cooperation from many Republicans under the circumstances, this part of the bill was ultimately removed by a narrow vote before the bill itself was passed into law.

The six terrorists who'd been captured on 9/11 gradually gave up a great deal of valuable information. The administration strongly insisted that no "enhanced interrogation" techniques be used on them. One of the captured terrorists, one of the two who'd been on Flight 77, talked almost immediately after recovering from his injuries. Speculation and rumors in the media initially identified the intended targets of Flights 77 and 93 as the Capitol and the White House respectively, but intelligence gathered from the captured terrorists identified Flight 77's intended target as the Pentagon within two weeks of the attacks. They also identified a number of top-level al-Queda operatives who were involved in the planning of the attacks, including Osama Bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Ultimately, the decision was made to launch military action against Afghanistan, after the ruling Taliban there failed to surrender Osama Bin Laden at the request of the United States. Operation Swift Justice was launched on October 16, 2001. American air power, in collaboration with Northern Alliance rebels on the ground, rapidly took control of the country, with Kabul falling to Northern Alliance forces on November 30th. American efforts then focused primarily on hunting down and capturing al-Queda operatives, particularly Osama Bin Laden. American special forces assisted friendly Afghani troops in their efforts, and many al-Queda operatives were captured or killed. However, as of the end of 2001, Osama Bin Laden remained at large.

-

"These terrorists struck not only at the American way of life, but at freedom-loving people throughout the world. We must, we will show them that their terror will never succeed. That Americans will continue to live in a nation where people are free to live and speak and think and worship as they choose. Americans are brave. Americans are strong. And we will stand united in the face of terror. We will never cower, we will never shrink away from the challenges before us. The attacks of September 11th presented one of the greatest challenges we've yet faced as a nation. But like all the other challenges Americans have faced, from the struggle for our independence, to the struggle to re-unite our divided nation during a brutal civil war, to the struggle against the forces of hate and fascism and oppression in World War II, Americans have risen to those challenges and we have overcome them. And this, this battle against those who would use fear to force their will on others, we will overcome it as well. We will do it with bravery. We will do it with ingenuity. We will do it with honor. We will do it because it is what must be done. The freedom and peace loving people of America and of the world will never surrender to a bully and a coward who hides in a cave. To those responsible for murdering more than 4,000 innocent Americans: we will not stop until you are found and brought to justice. You will answer to the world for your crimes against humanity."
-from Al Gore's address to a joint session of Congress and to the American people, September 20, 2001

 

[rick007]

This is something that I cooked up and will continue to post (With Ry and Nivek's approval of course).

The Amazing Race: Season 1: In the Beginning

Fifteen years ago, The Amazing Race started. Hard to believe that it's been that long. Looking back at The Amazing Race, I like to think that it is a good show overall. That in spite of its bad, sometimes horrible, seasons that it was still a good hour of television. The most unlikely start of all that was a hitchhiking trip and a bet.

In 2000, husband and wife team Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri were going to a television trade show and, during a break, he bet her that she couldn't create a show in five minutes. Doganieri, drawing on her experiences backpacking around Europe with a friend after high school on little money, suggested a trip around the world with little money. The prize at the end would be $1 million. Van Munster liked the idea and together they developed it and then took it to Jerry Bruckheimer.

Bruckheimer, who by this point had made a name for himself as a producer, liked it and helped to bring it to CBS. Auditions began in November, 2000. Also during this time, Phil Keoghan was tasked with hosting the show. With the cast and locations set, filming began between March and April 2001, making this race the only one to be filmed before 9/11.

A few things to start with before we get into the reviews. First, this is all my opinion, you may not agree with me. That's fine, I expect that. Second, I will give trivia notes either in the background of each season or in my descriptions of the season itself. The trivia mainly comes from interviews with the various casts, the crew and the production team.

So let's start this season with:

The Cast

Jill and F.T.: A brother and sister team from New York. They were very nearly cut but fortunately they were kept. They, very quickly, became fan favorites. As the race went on, it became clear that they had a good competitive streak too.

Bill and Joe: Gay couple from California. They are considered the show's first "villain" team, though as we'll see with later races this interpretation is up for debate, as there are teams on later races that are a lot worse than them.

Nancy and Emily: Mother and daughter from Texas. Early on it seemed like they would be nothing more than cannon fodder but they surprised a lot of people by lasting longer than we thought they would. Another fan favorite team.

Paul and Amie: Engaged couple from California. One of the first "fighting couples", though from what was shown that probably was frustration at getting lost.

Pat and Brenda: Friends from Pennsylvania and Maryland respectively. They had a cheery disposition that endeared them to fans while they were on.

Lenny and Karyn: Dating couple from New York. They were another of the "fighting couples" that appeared on the show. It would become clear that Lenny didn't want to be there during their brief time on the show.

Kim and Leslie: Teachers from Texas. I think we can class them as another "villain" team as much of the stuff they, and Bill and Joe, did is now considered standard practice.

Kevin and Drew: Friends from New York. Another fan favorite team they brought much needed humour to the race, especially in the later legs.

Frank and Margarita: Separated parents from New York. They had elements of the fighting couples of later seasons but they never let that get to them. Frank, especially early on, was very aggressive and competitive, but he mellowed as time went on.

Rob and Brennan: Friends from California. They had a strong physical advantage going in and they used it well.

Dave and Margareta: Married couple from Texas. Though they were the oldest couple on the race this season they did not let that slow them down. Another fan favorite.

The Race

Leg #1: The Race Begins.

Original Air Date: September 5th, 2001.

The first leg starts off in New York City, Central Park to be precise. Phil gives a breakdown of the rules and the teams are sent on their way. The first clue tells them to fly to Lima, Peru. The first task is to find out which airport to leave out of, in this case JFK. From there, they get on one of three flights: A direct flight that leaves first, a flight that connects through Miami that leaves second and a flight that connects through Houston that leaves last. Once in Lima, teams have to drive themselves to Plaza Mayor where they pick up the Detour and the Fast Forward.

The Fast Forward, a device that lets teams skip all other tasks and head straight to the Pit Stop, involves going to the Museum of the Nation and help wrap an Incan mummy (which is obviously fake). They can only use it one time. No one takes the Fast Forward. The Detour, a choice between two tasks each with its own Pros and Cons, is a choice between Art and Paleontology. In Art, teams go to the Museum of Italian Art and put together a mosaic. Once the mosaic was done correctly, teams got their next clue. In Paleontology, teams have to go to the Museum of Natural History, Lima and put together the skeleton of a Ground Sloth. Once it was completed correctly, teams got their next clue.

That clue directed teams to go to Central restaurant, where teams hit the Roadblock. A Roadblock is a task that only one team member can complete. In this Roadblock, that member has to serve a meal to a table of patrons without writing things down. To make matters worse, the orders are in Spanish. Once that is done, teams get to go to the Pit Stop: Estadio National.

1. Jill and F.T. 11:32 A.M.

2. Frank and Margarita 11:35 A.M.

3. Bill and Joe 11:40 A.M.

4. Nancy and Emily 11:42 A.M.

5. Rob and Brennan 11:50 A.M.

6. Kevin and Drew 11:53 A.M.

7. Lenny and Karyn 12:01 P.M.

8. Dave and Margareta 12:05 P.M.

9. Pat and Brenda 12:10 P.M.

10. Kim and Leslie 12:12 P.M.

11. Paul and Amie 12:54 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #2: Divide and Conquer.

Original Air Date: September 19th, 2001.

After a twelve hour rest, teams are told to search the stands of the stadium for their next clue. This clue is a Detour and a Fast Forward. The Fast Forward involves going to a mountain outside the city and going hang gliding to Playa Punta Hermosa and is a first come, first serve task. Jill and F.T. win the Fast Forward over Rob and Brennan. The Detour is a choice between: Underground or Underwater.

In Underground, teams go to the Monastery of San Francisco and go into the catacombs to search for the next clue. In Underwater, teams go to Park of the Reserve, the largest fountain complex in the world and find the clue under one of the fountains (this show has always had a limited budget). The next clue tells teams to go to Cuzco, Peru. Once there, they have to go to the city of Saksaywaman, where the Roadblock awaits. The Roadblock is building a 15 foot wall, without mortar. After that, teams get the clue to the Pit Stop: Plaza de Armas.

1. Jill and F.T. 8:31 P.M.

2. Rob and Brennan 9:15 P.M.

3. Kevin and Drew 9:30 P.M.

4. Frank and Margarita 9:34 P.M.

5. Bill and Joe 9:55 P.M.

6. Nancy and Emily 10:00 P.M.

7. Dave and Margareta 10:04 P.M.

8. Kim and Leslie 10:08 P.M.

9. Pat and Brenda 10:18 P.M.

10. Lenny and Karyn 10:43 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #3: A New Trail.

Original Air Date: September 26th, 2001.

Departing Plaza de Armas, teams head to London, England. Once they get there, they have to head to the London Eye Ferris Wheel where they have to search for a flag on one of the nearby buildings. Since the teams got in so late everyone would sleep outside the Ferris Wheel until the morning. After seeing the building, they get the clue. It's a Detour.

This Detour is either: Bike or Drive. In Bike, teams have to bike to their next destination using a map. In Drive, teams have to drive a bus and pick up passengers on the way. No one picks Drive. Their destination is Abbey Road Studios, which is where the Roadblock is. This Roadblock is sing a Beatles song along with a piano. Some do better than others. It was almost as though the judges wanted to get rid of the teams by the end. It's a theme that will come up now and again on the show. Once done, teams will go to the Pit Stop: Outside the Houses of Parliament.

1. Frank and Margarita 11:59 A.M.

2.Nancy and Emily 12:12 P.M.

3. Jill and F.T. 12:33 P.M.

4. Bill and Joe 12:50 P.M.

5. Rob and Brennan 1:01 P.M.

6. Kevin and Drew 1:12 P.M.

7.Kim and Leslie 1:24 P.M.

8. Pat and Brenda 1:30 P.M.

9. Dave and Margareta 1:54 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #4: Home for Some.

Original Air Date: October 3rd, 2001.

From the Houses of Parliament, teams are given the French flag and a picture of a man in a beret in front of the Palace of Versailles. All teams manage to get on the same flight to France and get to Versailles just as it opens. Here they get the Detour: Ballroom or Stateroom. In Ballroom, teams go to the main ballroom and pick out someone wearing a mask that matches the picture that they are given. In Stateroom, teams go to the Hall of Mirrors and find the leaders of the Big Four nations of World War I: Woodrow Wilson of the United States, David Lloyd George of the United Kingdom, Vittorio Orlando of Italy and Georges Clemenceau of France.

At the end of both options teams will get their next clue: a model of the Eiffel Tower with a flag on one of the legs. Once at the Eiffel Tower, teams get the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one member of each team has to climb to the second floor and look through the telescope to find a flag on the Pit Stop: The Arc de Triomphe.

1. Rob and Brennan 2:09 P.M.

2. Frank and Margarita 2:17 P.M.

3. Bill and Joe 2:33 P.M.

4. Jill and F.T. 2:58 P.M.

5. Kevin and Drew 3:15 P.M.

6. Nancy and Emily 3:18 P.M.

7. Kim and Leslie 3:30 P.M.

8. Pat and Brenda 3:59 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #5: Colossal Showdown.

Original Air Date: October 10th, 2001.

After receiving the clue, teams have to go to Tunis, Tunisia. There they have to find a man in a fez at a mini version of the Arc de Triomphe and say the traditional Arabic greeting Al Salaam. This clue is the Detour a choice between Full Body Brew and Full Body Massage. In Full Body Brew, teams have to find a coffee shop using only a photograph. Once there, teams have to order a coffee. In Full Body Massage, teams use a map to find a massage parlor and receive a full twenty minute massage.

At both locations, teams get their next clue in the form a lighter with their next destination on it: El Jem Coliseum. Teams can either take the train or a taxi there. At the coliseum is the Roadblock. This Roadblock requires one team member to light a torch, go down into the bowels of the coliseum, find a sword above the "Pit of Death", get the sword and bring it to the Pit Stop. There is a lot of confusion with directions with this task.

1. Jill and F.T. 4:05 P.M.

2. Rob and Brennan 4:36 P.M.

3. Frank and Margarita 4:54 P.M.

4. Nancy and Emily 5:13 P.M.

5. Kevin and Drew 5:14 P.M.

6. Bill and Joe 5:20 P.M.

7. Kim and Leslie 5:45 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #6: Whatever It Takes

Original Air Date: October 17th, 2001.

Taking off from the El Jem Coliseum, teams have to go to Johannesburg, South Africa. Once there teams have to go to Lanseria Airport to take another flight to Livingston Airport in Zambia. Once in Zambia, teams have the option to drive themselves or hire a driver. They have to go to the Knife's Edge, a bridge overlooking and close to Victoria Falls.

Here they pick up a clue telling them to go to Batoka Gorge and the Fast Forward. The Fast Forward tells teams to climb down to the bottom of the Boiling Pot. Rob and Brennan take it ahead of Bill and Joe. At Batoka Gorge, the remaining teams face a Detour: Land or Air. In Land, teams have to hike down to the bottom of the gorge. In Air, teams have to zip line across the gorge then swing on a flexible line to the bottom of the gorge. Everyone chooses Air.

After that, teams have to go to Songwe Village. Once there, teams have to face a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, teams have to cook and then eat part of a ostrich egg. Once the Roadblock is done, teams can walk to the Pit Stop.

1. Rob and Brennan 11:23 A.M.

2. Jill and F.T. 11:42 A.M.

3. Nancy and Emily 11:48 A.M.

4. Frank and Margarita 12:02 P.M.

5. Joe and Bill 12:13 P.M.

6. Kevin and Drew 12:19 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED.

Leg #7: Triumph and Loss.

Original Air Date: October 24th, 2001.

In Songwe Village, teams have to find the Songwe Museum. It is in the actual village, though some of the first place teams go outside the village for a little while. Frank and Margarita decide to go do the Fast Forward: White Water Rafting down a river for a little ways. Kevin and Drew also consider taking it but it's first come, first serve and Frank and Margarita beat them to it. Once the other teams figure out where they were going, they find the Detour: Near or Far.

In Near, teams have to go to a nearby wildlife preserve and photograph three animals. In Far, teams go to a father away wildlife preserve and photograph one elephant. After that they have to take the photo(s) to Mukuni Village. Everyone chooses Near. Before the photos are handed in teams have to take part in a ceremony (which involves the chief spitting water on them).

The next clue tells the teams to go to India. Once there teams have to go to the Red Fort Market. There teams have to face a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, teams have to search the market in a rickshaw for a specific vender. He will give teams their next clue: the Pit Stop, the Taj Mahal.

1. Frank and Margarita 12:12 P.M.

2. Kevin and Drew 6:14 P.M.

3. Jill and F.T. 6:31 P.M.

4. Bill and Joe 6:59 P.M.

5. Nancy and Emily 7:04 P.M.

6. Rob and Brennan 7:49 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #8: Competition to the Fullest.

Original Air Date: October 31st, 2001.

Starting at the Taj Mahal Hotel, teams have to search the grounds of the Taj Mahal for their next clue. This sends teams to the Palace of Winds in Jaipur by either bus or taxi. There teams have to go to a room marked with a flag in the window for their next clue. This is this leg's Detour: Row Boat or Elephant.

The Detour requires teams to go to a specific temple, one accessible by Row Boat, the other by riding an Elephant. Completing the Detour sends teams to the Karni Mata Temple in Deshnoke, which first requires teams to make a 200 mile ride by train to Bikaner. There are only two trains and they leave six hours apart with the first leaving at 3:00 P.M. and the last leaving three hours later.

Once at the Temple, teams encounter a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, the team member has to take off their shoes, put on extra socks and enter the Temple, which serves a sect that considers rats sacred to search for their next clue. A quick taxi ride takes the teams to the Pit Stop in Bikaner.

1. Kevin and Drew 4:50 A.M.

2. Jill and F.T. 5:08 A.M.

3. Frank and Margarita 5:10 A.M.

4. Joe and Bill 8:35 A.M.

5. Nancy and Emily 8:37 A.M. NOT ELIMINATED.

Leg #9: The Unexpected Twist.

Original Air Date: November 14th, 2001.

Leaving Bikaner, teams have to go to Bangkok, Thailand. At this point there are three teams that could still use the Fast Forward: Kevin and Drew, Nancy and Emily and Joe and Bill. Kevin and Drew decide not to go for it this leg deciding that Nancy and Emily need it more. The Fast Forward is at the Temple of the Buddha in Bangkok. The other teams go to the Temple of Dawn, also in Bangkok.

The Fast Forward involves dropping exactly 108 coins into cups as a good luck ritual. Unfortunately for Nancy and Emily, Joe and Bill also decide to go for the Fast Forward. Even worse for Nancy and Emily, Joe and Bill win the Fast Forward. Nancy and Emily join the other teams at the Temple of Dawn for the Detour. In this Detour, teams have to get to Kanchanaburi one of two ways: by Bus or by Private Car. Bus means going to the bus station and taking a bus. Private Car requires looking for a private car in the streets of Bangkok.

While Jill and F.T. and Frank and Margarita manage to find the car, Kevin and Drew give up and take the bus half. Nancy and Emily just decide to take the bus thinking that Joe and Bill will beat them. Joe and Bill, in spite of having enough money to go to the Pit Stop by taxi right away, decide to travel by bus eight hours later. Arriving in Kanchanaburi, teams face a Roadblock at a Buddhist monastery. In this Roadblock teams have to put on robes like the local monks wear and walk through a pit containing tigers, which are pretty sedate. Then teams check in at the Pit Stop at the Tiger Cave Temple in Krabi.

1. Jill and F.T. 10:12 P.M.

2. Frank and Margarita 11:06 P.M.

3. Kevin and Drew 2:09 A.M.

4. Nancy and Emily 2:15 A.M.

5. Joe and Bill 6:33 A.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #10: To the Mental and Physical Limit.

Original Air Date: November 21st, 2001.

All teams have to go, by taxi and boat, to Thailand's Raile Beach "The King", a local adventuring company. It's here that the Detour is located. It's a choice between Climb or Walk. In Climb, teams must climb up a sheer rock face directly into a cave. In Walk, teams walk to the cave's back entrance. Everyone chooses Climb.

The next location, Sea, Land and Trek in Ao Luk, closes at 5:00 P.M. Fortunately, all teams make it to Sea, Land and Trek before it closes, though Kevin and Drew and Nancy and Emily just barely make it. It's here that the Roadblock happens. In this Roadblock, one team member must paddle a kayak containing their teammate and luggage to a cave containing snorkeling equipment and their next clue.

This clue tells teams to return their kayaks, hire a boat and travel some four miles to the waters near Chicken Island (which really does look like a chicken). An offshore buoy marks the spot where the clue directing the teams to the Pit Stop on the mainland.

1. Jill and F.T. 6:05 P.M.

2. Frank and Margarita 6:15 P.M.

3. Kevin and Drew 8:46 P.M.

4. Nancy and Emily 8:59 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED.

Leg #11: Fight to the Last Minute.

Original Air Date: November 28th, 2001.

Teams now have to go to the Top Pavilion in Jingshan Park in Beijing, China. While Jill and F.T. and Frank and Margarita arrive in time for a flight that will get them to Beijing in the late afternoon, Kevin and Drew and Nancy and Emily have to wait until the next morning for a flight. Arriving at the pavilion teams find the Detour.

This Detour is Volley or Rally. In Volley, one racer has to score five points against a local Ping-Pong champion. In Rally teams have to travel through Beijing via bus, motorcycle taxi and bicycle taxi. These tasks are split down the middle with two teams taking one. After completing the Detour, teams have to go to a market and buy several Chinese delicacies off a list written entirely in Mandarin Chinese. Once translated, the items are five beetle larvae, one squid and two chicken feet.

And at this point, you probably know what the Roadblock is. Yes, after having the items cooked in a local restaurant, one of them has to eat them. Then it's off to the Pit Stop: The South Gate of Tiantan Park.

1. Frank and Margarita 11:14 A.M.

2. Jill and F.T. 11:25 A.M.

3. Nancy and Emily 5:45 P.M.

4. Kevin and Drew 5:50 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #12: Race to the Finish Part 1.

Original Air Date: December 5th, 2001.

Starting in Beijing teams are told to go into Tiantan Park and search for clues attached to kites. These clues tell teams to go to a specific section of the Great Wall of China. Once here teams have a Detour. In this Detour teams have to choose between Steep and Flat. In Steep, teams have to walk a short but steep section of the wall. In Flat teams have to walk a longer but flat section. All teams choose steep.

Next teams have to fly to Anchorage, Alaska. Once there teams have to drive themselves to Scotty Lake. After spending the night, teams participate in a blanket toss to search for their next clue. This leads them to Matanuska Glacier and the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to climb the ice wall, retrieve the clue then climb down. This clue leads teams to mile marker 131, where the teams will take a snowmobile to the next Pit Stop.

1. Frank and Margarita 4:17 P.M.

2. Jill and F.T. 5:02 P.M.

3. Nancy and Emily 11:45 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED

Leg #13: Race to the Finish Part 2.

Original Air Date: December 13th, 2001.

Starting at the last Pit Stop, teams have to put on snow shoes and make their way to Takosha Lodge. When the Lodge opens the Detour also opens. This Detour is a choice between Horsepower and Dogpower. In Horsepower, teams ride skidoos over a long route. In Dogpower, teams take dogsleds along a shorter route to the same end point. All teams take Dogpower.

Once at the end point, teams are told to go to Fish Lake in provided cars. Once there teams do the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, teams have to do a Polar Bear dip grab the clue and come back. This clue tells teams to fly to Queens, New York. There the teams have to make their way to Vincent Daniels Square at 51st and Roosevelt. The clue at the square tells teams to go to the nearby subway platform, board a train, go to Shea Stadium and head to the Finish Line.

1. Jill and F.T. Win.

2. Frank and Margarita Place.

3. Nancy and Emily Show.

The Review

This season has always been something a mixed bag. While it has flaws they are in some ways excusable, given that it was the first season and the producers didn't know what would and wouldn't work yet. On the other hand, it was still a good season over all. It did have some odd quirks though:

-Phil wasn't at the mat to greet every team that arrived, he was only there at the end of each leg to tell last place teams whether they were eliminated or not. Starting in Season Two, Phil would be at the Pit Stop for every team.

-No prizes are given out to the winners of each individual leg.

-The mats and clue boxes were country specific.

-There were no punishments for teams that came in last on non-elimination legs.

-There were no gimmicks along the race course that I will get into once they start appearing on the show.

There is also the fact that the last sprint to the finish line was between the top two teams. Nancy and Emily got screwed on the flights out of China and ended up being several hours behind. This would be fixed in subsequent races but it meant that Nancy and Emily never got to the finish line.

Still fans are willing to overlook these things because it was the first season. Personally, in the list of all 28 of the races thus far, I put this at number 7. Many fans also agree with me, though they usually put it at slightly higher or slightly lower.

The ratings for this season, while still good, were barely enough to warrant a second season. But I'll get into that next time.

-Globetrotting: An Amazing Race Blog by R.C. Anderson on the website Reality Rewind, September 5th, 2016.

 

[RySenkari]

As early as 2000, Williams Street, which had produced the Toonami block for Cartoon Network and who had created Space Ghost Coast To Coast, began to explore the possibility of a late-night block on Cartoon Network that would air programming exclusively for adults. The network had toyed with this in the past: Space Ghost Coast To Coast itself had been conceived for older viewers, and starting in 1999, episodes of Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, Gundam Wing, and Pokemon, with lighter editing (to TV-PG standards) had aired in late night as part of the Toonami Midnight Run block. The high ratings (for their timeslot) of Midnight Run convinced Cartoon Network programming head Mike Lazzo to proceed with the plan. He began to assemble a lineup of comedy and action shows that would be aired on the block. On the night of May 6, 2001, Cartoon Network aired a special "Adult Swim" preview block, featuring various uncensored shows. The 4-hour block included:

12:00 AM: Space Ghost Coast To Coast
12:30 AM: Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law
12:45 AM: Aqua Teen Hunger Force
1:00 AM: Pokemon (the uncensored version of the beach episode, which aired previously on Midnight Run)
1:30 AM: Sailor Moon
2:00 AM: Sailor Moon - (these two episodes are the uncensored versions of the final two episodes of the series, including full nudity, they aired only once as part of this block with a TV-MA rating)
2:30 AM: Gunsmith Cats - (the original three-part OVA series)

Viewer reception to the block was extremely positive, paving the way for the launch of Adult Swim as a Thursday and Sunday night block. The block originally aired on Sunday, September 9, 2001.

The original Adult Swim lineup was:

11:00 PM: Space Ghost Coast To Coast
A mix of both old and new episodes of the show, the new episodes included more mature content, though the show remained as a TV-PG program.

11:30 PM: Home Movies
A transplanted show from UPN, it failed on that network as IOTL due to low ratings, but thrived as an Adult Swim "original".

12:00 AM: Johnny The Homicidal Maniac
Based on the comic book by Jhonen Vasquez. Williams Street reached out to Vasquez to adapt his comic after Nickelodeon rejected his idea for a sci-fi themed Nicktoon. The show is much like the comic, chronicling the demented serial killer Johnny (voiced by Mitchell Whitfield) on his string of horrific murders. With its extremely dark humor and gratuitous violence, the show is a fairly tough sell but cultivates an extremely loyal fanbase. It starts out as a TV-14 show, but for its second season Vasquez is allowed almost complete creative freedom and it becomes Adult Swim's first TV-MA show (which causes its popularity to increase further).

12:30 AM: Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law
Featuring the classic superhero reborn as an attorney who helps various cartoon clients solve their legal problems. Largely an identical show to OTL.

12:45 AM: Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Featuring Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad as a team of food-themed superheroes. Another show that's mostly as IOTL, featuring random humor and absurd situations.

1:00 AM: Gunsmith Cats
Based on the story of two bounty hunters in Chicago, Rally Vincent and Minnie-May Hopkins, the show is action-packed but also features a great deal of humor. ITTL, the manga by Kenichi Sonoda received a full 26-episode anime series in 1998 and 1999. The Adult Swim run consists of both the three-episode OVA from IOTL and the 26-episode anime series, for a total of 29 episodes. It's seen as the "girl" show on the block, though it features a ton of fanservice, and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac ultimately has more female viewers than Gunsmith Cats.

1:30 AM: Cowboy Bebop
The classic anime series is brought over to Adult Swim as IOTL. There are very few changes from OTL's Cowboy Bebop, with the episode "Waltz For Venus" being affected the most. In its place is the episode "Siren's Waltz", which still brings the crew of the Bebop to Venus but features a significantly different plot involving a prostitution ring led by a cruel madam. The classic "bang" ending from OTL's final episode is virtually unchanged. Cowboy Bebop is as successful on TTL's Adult Swim as it is on OTL's, and it remains a staple of the block.

2:00 AM-5:00 AM: Replay

Adult Swim is a major success from its inception. Like IOTL, it would become a haven for anime and for rejected comedic animation from other networks. In the spring of 2002, the block expands to Saturday and adds more shows, with the Thursday/Sunday blocks becoming more comedy centric (and adding an hour) and the Saturday block becoming the home for anime.

Adult Swim Sunday/Thursday Block (as of March 2002):

10:00 PM- Daria (Cartoon Network chooses to acquire Daria instead of King Of The Hill. They also continue to target The Simpsons as a potential addition.)
10:30 PM- Home Movies
11:00 PM- Dilbert
11:30 PM- Space Ghost Coast To Coast
12:00 AM- Sealab 2021 (debuts six months later than OTL)
12:15 AM- Super Toon Squad (a gag dub show featuring various heroes in various antics, including Blue Falcon and Dyno-Mutt, the Justice League, Jonny Quest, Captain Planet, etc.)
12:30 AM- Aqua Teen Hunger Force
12:45 AM- Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law
1:00 AM- Johnny The Homicidal Maniac
1:30 AM- Cowboy Bebop (because of its popularity it continues to air on the comedy block)
2:00 AM-6:00 AM: Replay

Saturday Block: (both Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho would debut on Toonami instead of Adult Swim as IOTL)

11:00 PM- Outlaw Star
11:30 PM- Bullheart
12:00 AM- Love Hina
12:30 AM- Ranma 1/2
1:00 AM- Gunsmith Cats
1:30 AM- Cowboy Bebop
2:00 AM-5:00 AM: Replay

 

[RySenkari]

(Authors' Note: Been looking at all the anime discussion and it might take a while to get to responding to a few of the questions, especially since a lot of the stuff to be discussed is a bit spoilery at this stage of the timeline. I'll try to address some of it later. For now, here's today's Nintendo-centric update!)

-

"Nintendo's decision to release three first party games in October 2001 didn't initially seem like a good one. A lot of people, myself included, thought that the games would get in each other's way, especially Kirby's Caverns and Ice Climbers, both being rather cutesy mascot platformers (albeit different from the typical platforming game). But Nintendo's smart advertising, which emphasized the multiple game releases as a positive thing with Kirby, the Ice Climbers, and Claus and Lucas posing together, made it work. It also probably helped that the releases came just a month after the 9/11 attacks. The games provided an escape for Nintendo fans who wanted to get away from the real world for a while. Plus, a lot of gamers would buy one of the games upon release and then ask for one or both of the other two for Christmas. And, in addition, Nintendo was launching all of its big guns ahead of the Xbox release, drawing a contrast between itself and Microsoft. It ended up being a strategy that paid off, and I was one of the most surprised that it actually succeeded."
-Dan "Shoe" Hsu, in a 2012 interview with Blargo.com

-

Ice Climbers

The sequel/remake/reboot of the NES classic Ice Climber, Ice Climbers brought Popo and Nana into 3-D for the first time. In many respects, the game resembled a typical Mario-like 3-D platformer. Popo and Nana can move in all directions in a 3-D environment, they can swing hammers at enemies, they can throw snowballs, and they can freeze enemies with powerful ice breath. But the way that the levels progress and the way that the two characters control provides the game with its uniqueness. Players control either Popo or Nana. They can switch between the two with the touch of a button. When controlling one, the other is tethered to you and will follow you. At any time, you can choose to launch your partner. You can launch them at an enemy, or you can launch them to reach higher ground, or to push a distant switch. If you launch your partner, you can choose to either rappel to their location, or, if your tether snaps, they'll walk or run back to you. The Ice Climbers can gather eggplants throughout the stage, either to gain health (by collecting green eggplants), to gain an extra life (by collecting 20 purple eggplants), or to gain energy used for ice breath attacks or power launches (by collecting blue eggplants). Some eggplants are alive, and if they are rescued by the Ice Climbers, they'll either be friendly and offer advice or items, or sometimes will be unfriendly and will attack the Ice Climbers. The level structure is very vertically based, nearly all objectives are achieved by climbing higher and higher up various mountains. There are 14 mountains in the game, with early mountains being fairly short, and later mountains being very, very tall. Ultimately, the Ice Climbers will need to ascend to the very top of each mountain in order to clear it and move on to the next one. The monsters in the game are similar to those found in the classic NES title, including Topis and White Bears. There are a number of other monsters in the game, including mountain goats, evil snowmen, and giant burrowing white moles. The game's plot is fairly simple, the Ice Climbers are living peacefully with their animal friends in their home when they are suddenly set upon by a giant evil yeti. The Ice Climbers are forced to flee their home and climb over mountains to escape the yeti's wrath. Eventually, they climb the final mountain and confront the yeti, defeating it once and for all. There's no voice acting in the game, though the graphics are quite good.

Ice Climbers is positioned as Nintendo's major platformer for the holiday season of 2001. The game is heavily advertised, and reviews are quite good, praising the unique vertical platforming mechanics and the intuitive control scheme that makes controlling both Popo and Nana fairly easily to learn and extremely fun once players get the hang of it. Though it doesn't sell as well as some of Nintendo's other major franchise games, it's still considered a hit.

Kirby's Caverns

Kirby's Caverns can best be described as OTL Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards meets The Great Cave Offensive from Kirby Super Star: a fully 3-D Kirby adventure that takes place in a series of caves and involves treasure-hunting and Metroidvania/RPG elements. It plays much like Kirby 64, though it allows Kirby to utilize up to 18 different enemy skills. In addition, by using those skills, Kirby can power them up into more powerful skills, with each skill having up to three levels of power. Once Kirby has achieved enough experience with a skill to level it up, it will remain that level when Kirby retrieves it from an enemy again. Skills can also be powered up by redeeming treasures that Kirby finds for points. This way, you can power up skills that you aren't able to find very often, or that you might need for an enemy but haven't used the skill enough to have it powered up to level 3 yet. Kirby also needs to collect a certain amount of treasures to open up deeper areas of the cave (though redeeming treasures for points doesn't cost you the treasure itself for purposes of collection). As Kirby progresses deeper into the caves, he finds more difficult bosses to fight and more valuable treasures to find. Ultimately, Kirby's goal is to defeat the wicked Crystal King who rules over the denizens of the caves. By finding enough treasures, Kirby can access the Crystal King's castle, and engage him in fierce combat. After defeating the first form of the Crystal King, he absorbs a huge amount of crystal power and transforms into a giant monster that Kirby must also defeat. Defeating this form of the Crystal King ends his tyranny once and for all, and liberates the caves and their people once again.

Kirby's Caverns is seen as a fun departure from the typical Kirby formula. It's fun and a bit more complex than most of the series' games, though it is criticized for being a bit short. Despite this, reviews are good and the game does fairly well. It's not as big a seller as Ice Climbers, but it still sells more than a million copies worldwide.

Earthbound 3

Earthbound 3, known as Mother 3 in Japan, is released in Japan for the Ultra Nintendo in early 2001, and in North America on October 29, 2001. The game bears many similarities to OTL's Mother 3 in terms of plot, characters, gameplay, and storyline, though with a number of major differences. IOTL, Shigesato Itoi originally intended to make Mother 3 for the Nintendo 64. When the scope of the game became too big to fit on a cartridge, he moved development to the 64DD. When that flopped, he moved development back to the Nintendo 64, but ultimately the game was canceled and revived for the Game Boy Advance. ITTL, the Ultra Nintendo's Gigadisc is more than enough for Itoi to realize his vision, and the game is created as it was intended: a massive, decade-spanning adventure featuring a huge world, 30+ hours of gameplay, and a total of 12 chapters. The game's battle system is much like that in OTL Mother 2 and Mother 3, with up to four characters attacking in turn-based combat. Characters can use regular attacks, PSI techniques, items, or special moves on enemies. As in OTL's Mother 3, button presses timed properly with battle music will enhance the damage from a regular attack. However, due to the 3-D battles in the game, additional action elements are present, including the option to blunt specific attacks with well timed button presses or to recover from status effects with action commands. Some PSI attacks are also powered up via the use of action commands, and players can sometimes even move around during certain battles, introducing action RPG elements and even fourth-wall breaking into the game. Though Itoi originally intended for there to be more than ten playable characters in the game, there ultimately end up being a total of eight: Lucas, Kumatora, Flint, Claus, and Boney from OTL Mother 3, the Clumsy Robot from OTL Mother 2, and two original TTL characters: Karen, a guitar player, and Hammond, a reformed Pork Army soldier. The game features fully 3-D exploration, with large, detailed, beautiful worlds. There's no voice acting, and all cutscenes are done in-game. The cutscenes aren't all that impressive graphically (especially compared to what the Katana is doing at the time), but the animation is whimsical and complex. The game features a large soundtrack (with many songs from OTL's Mother 3 along with a lot of original material).

The plot begins much like OTL's Mother 3, with Flint, a cowboy-like explorer, finding out that his family, including his wife Hinawa, and his two sons Lucas and Claus, have gone missing. Flint eventually discovers that his family has been attacked by a gigantic mechanical dinosaur. Hinawa is dead, and Lucas and Claus are severely traumatized. However, unlike in OTL's Mother 3, this sets off a chain of events that eventually see Lucas and Claus set off on their own adventure, that takes them across a vast and dangerous land. The first six chapters of Earthbound 3 center around Claus and Lucas, and shows how they are coping with what happened to their mother. Claus' anger-based reaction and Lucas' grief clash numerous times over the course of the game, with Lucas spending much of the early chapters as a mute. The two brothers get into numerous arguments and fights, though they eventually come to bond as their adventures take them across the world. They do battle with many enemies, including evil humans, ghosts, and more mechanized animals. The first six chapters of the game see a traditional world, with many ancient landmarks and peaceful, rural settings. The only hints that something is amiss are when the two brothers come across strange pig-like men handing out free televisions in the various towns. Lucas and Claus also meet the mysterious Magypsies, people with feminine mannerisms and appearances except for various male features such as beards and mustaches (yes, the Magypsies appear in TTL's game, and yes, they are completely uncensored in TTL's Teen-rated localization). On this part of their journey, the two brothers meet and team up with the mysterious Kumatora, a ninja princess from an ancient kingdom. They also team up with the Clumsy Robot, and for a good chunk of this first part of the game, the main four-character party consists of Claus, Lucas, Kumatora, and the Clumsy Robot. The robot seems to know a good deal of information about a technologically advanced society in the ancient past, and recognizes some of the technology the Pork Army is handing out. Eventually, the Pork Army becomes the main enemy of this first part of the game. In Chapter 5, the two brothers reunite with their father Flint and their dog Boney, while Kumatora leaves the party, followed by the Clumsy Robot later in the chapter. This leaves a party of Flint, Lucas, Claus, and Boney for a climactic showdown in Chapter 6 with a massive Pork Army tank. Following a fierce boss fight, Lucas is severely injured, and Flint, Boney, and Claus must protect him from an improved version of the robot dinosaur that killed Hinawa. When all seems lost, Claus snaps, killing the dinosaur single-handedly, and vowing to avenge his mother. He leaves, and the Pork Army is repelled...for now.

Skip to Chapter 7, and ten years have passed. Lucas is now an older teenager. The world...has changed. The Pork Army's technology has changed the world from a rural, traditional one to a suburban, technological world much like the world seen in the latter chapters of OTL Mother 3. Claus hasn't been seen in ten years, Flint is "retired" from exploring, Boney is a very old dog now, and it seems like everything is peaceful, until one of the Magypsies visits Lucas and asks him to help save the world. The latter half of the game, spanning Chapters 7-12, sees Lucas journey across this new, technologically advanced world, where many people have become jaded, slaves to the mysterious TV boxes in their homes, which secretly transmit subliminal messages from the Pork Army. Lucas is tasked with finding the Magypsies to gain their powers, which will allow him to confront the leader of the Pork Army and stop the world from being transformed into a soulless, brainwashed husk. Lucas eventually reunites with Kumatora and also teams up with Karen and Hammond. He learns that in order to stop the Pork Army from taking over everything, he must track down and pull seven magical Needles that hold the world together. Unlike OTL's game, where all the Needles are found over the course of a single chapter, in this game they are found between Chapters 9-11 (with 10, like OTL's Chapter 6, consisting only of cutscenes and exposition). During this phase of the game, the party has numerous encounters with a mysterious Masked Man under the Pork Army's control (who, as IOTL, is Claus in disguise). The party finally fights him at the end of Chapter 11, but he escapes after taking a lot of damage. Finally, Chapter 12 takes place in the Pork Army's home base of New Pork City, where the world's residents have been relocating. There, Lucas reunites with his father Flint and the Clumsy Robot. The Clumsy Robot ultimately sacrifices itself to destroy Porky's massive mech (which, after Lucas and friends damage it enough in battle, attempts to self-destruct and kill everyone). After a final confrontation with Porky Minch, the leader of the Pork Army (which, as IOTL's game, results in Porky inadvertently sealing himself into an impenetrable capsule for all eternity), Lucas and his friends have one final battle with Claus, whose obsession with revenge allowed his mind to be corrupted. Claus attempts to strike down Lucas, only for Flint to put himself in the way and be fatally wounded. Lucas and Claus then have a one-on-one showdown, and though Lucas eventually gets through to his brother, Claus knows he's too far gone, and takes his own life, both out of grief and in order to free the final Needle which will enable the destruction of the old world so it can be redeemed as the new. New Pork City is destroyed, along with the world itself, but because of the spiritual power of Lucas and his friends, it is reborn in a new, natural state, allowing the people who had once been enslaved by the Pork Army to resume their old peaceful lives. Unlike OTL's game, in which it's ambiguous whether everyone survived (apart from the narration which states that they all did), TTL's Earthbound 3 features a long ending sequence in which Lucas returns home to Tazmily Village with Kumatora. The two pay their respects at Flint, Hinawa, and Claus' graves, and it's implied that the two of them are now a couple. The ending also shows all the other places and people Lucas and his friends visited over the course of the game.

Like OTL's Mother 3, Earthbound 3 is highly praised for its gameplay and storyline. The game is one of the best reviewed RPGs of the year, though it does get lost in the fold a bit amongst the year's two big Squaresoft hits Chrono Infinite and Final Fantasy IX. It's a hit in Japan, becoming very profitable there, though it's considerably less so in the States. Though the Mother series has a cult following in the West as IOTL, it's not as big a cult following because the series is never perceived to have been mistreated by Nintendo like the series was IOTL. Mother made it to the SNES as Earthbound, a remade version of OTL's NES game. OTL's Mother 2/Earthbound came over for the SNES-CD as Earthbound 2. It sold more copies in North America than OTL's Earthbound, but this might have actually HURT it in the long run because it was never perceived with the sort of mythical reverence it received IOTL. Nintendo didn't bungle the advertising campaign. The game didn't get a big premium package, and copies of the game never really became a collector's item. So when Earthbound 3 came over, it was seen as just another RPG by the mainstream gaming press. Released in the wake of Chrono Infinite, the game was never really hyped up to be anything huge or special. It sells "all right", but not spectacularly, just somewhat more than Earthbound 2 did. It sells less in North America than either Ice Climbers or Kirby's Caverns, though in Japan, the sales order would go: Kirby's Caverns, Earthbound 3, Ice Climbers. Instead of achieving legendary status like OTL's Game Boy Advance game, Mother 3 ends up being just one of the better RPGs in what's ultimately seen as one of the best years the genre has ever or will ever have... which is just fine with Shigesato Itoi.

-

"It's an honor just to be mentioned with some of those games. I knew Mother 3 would not succeed on the same level as Final Fantasy IX, but that was never my goal. I just wanted to make a game that would resonate with everyone who played it. I'm grateful for everyone who did play it, and I hope it's affected your life in a positive way. It was a lot of work, but knowing the impact it's had makes it worthwhile."
-Shigesato Itoi, in a January 2011 interview in Famitsu magazine

 

[RySenkari]

*A girl stands in the middle of a large field, the wind blowing through her hair.*

Narrator: She goes wherever the wind takes her.

*Gameplay footage is shown of the girl leaping between giant mushrooms high above the ground, propelled by the wind. More gameplay footage is shown of the girl flying above the ground collecting items. The girl descends in a long glide, landing on a moving midair platform.*

Narrator: Guided by fate, riding on the breeze, she takes a leap of faith...

*Aerio stands at the precipice of a cliff. Then more gameplay footage is shown of her backing away from a large, heavily armored enemy.*

Narrator: To save her friends, to save her world, she will risk everything.

*More gameplay footage is shown of various battles and environments. The environments are very naturalistic, but also include an ornately decorated castle.*

Narrator: She is Aerio, and her destiny awaits.

*The music playing in the commercial hits a crescendo as a number of cutscenes now play, showing Aerio meeting a small sprite that bestows a magic spell on her, Aerio touching some kind of green wall, and Aerio flying around as a gigantic monster throws rocks at her. Aerio struggles as two soldiers hold her arms, looking on as some kind of magical ritual is performed.*

LET

*Aerio flies above a giant plant monster, firing a burst of wind at it.

THE

*Aerio performs a spectacular series of midair platforming stunts aided by the wind blowing her.*

WIND

*Aerio pulls a friend close and hugs her tightly.*

TAKE

*Aerio fires another huge wind burst, shattering all the windows in a large building.*

YOU

*Aerio is standing on the precipice of a cliff. She leaps off and freefalls for a great distance before the wind catches her and she recovers, flying at incredible speed away from the screen*

AERIO: RIDE THE WIND

*The game's logo is shown.*

Only on Sega Katana.

*cue the Sega scream*

-from the North American commercial for Aerio: Ride The Wind, which began airing in early November 2001

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Aerio: Ride The Wind

Developed by Traveller's Tales in collaboration with a small Sonic Team division that was split off from the Sonic Neon team to work on the game, Aerio: Ride The Wind is a 3-D platforming adventure title released exclusively for the Sega Katana. It stars Aerio, a 12-year-old girl (voiced by an obscure child actress who has few other roles besides this game but nevertheless is praised highly for her performance) who has begun to discover that she has the ability to control the wind. This ability, however, is not absolute. As Aerio has discovered, the wind is a fickle thing with a mind of its own, and it doesn't always respond to her call, which has led to a number of accidents that have driven Aerio away from the places she's tried to settle. The game controls much like a normal 3-D platformer, though the jumping is somewhat "floaty", to best take advantage of the game's unique wind mechanics. Aerio can double jump, i.e., she can jump once and then again in midair. She can float and flutter, especially when the winds are strong near her. When the winds are strong enough (as indicated by visual cues and the game's HUD), she can even fly on them. She can use the winds as an offensive weapon. She's able to push enemies back, pull them toward her, or cause them to fly up into the air. Again, this depends on the strength of the wind. Aerio must take advantage of the environment to deal damage in many cases, since the wind can't harm an enemy on its own (with a few exceptions that arise at certain points during the game). Fighting is actually fairly scarce in the game, much of the challenges simply come from utilizing the wind to move from place to place. Aerio can perform NiGHTS-like acrobatic stunts in certain places to reach out of the way areas. There are also a great number of puzzles in the game, though none of them are very time-consuming or frustrating. The game features extremely detailed graphics, with big, wide areas and lush environments. Much of the game takes place high above the ground, and Aerio is said to feature some of the best skyscapes in gaming history to date. The game also features a beautiful orchestral musical score that emphasizes scale and wonder. The game's voice acting is high quality as well, with some notable voice actors including Tim Curry and Grey Delisle voicing major characters in the game.

The game starts with Aerio entering a village dressed in a hooded cloak. She looks shy and nervous, and we learn that it's because she's been tossed out of everywhere else she's been, due to causing mishaps with her wind powers. She's also being pursued by armored soldiers wherever she goes. Though Aerio tries to hide her true identity, it isn't long before she needs to use her powers again, as two village children need rescued from a cave: an 11-year old girl named Lina and her 6-year-old brother Tobias. Aerio rescues the children, trying her best not to let them see her use her powers, but Tobias catches her and tells Lina about it. However, the two kids seem fine with Aerio using her powers, and they know nothing of her past. Aerio swears Lina and Tobias to secrecy, but later on, Tobias is talking to some men who turn out to be the soldiers who were pursuing Aerio. The soldiers raid the village and kidnap Tobias, though Aerio saves the village itself from a monster left behind to destroy it. Expecting rejection and anger, Aerio is stunned when the villagers give her their full support, including Lina, who says that she's still Aerio's friend and promises to help her rescue Tobias. As it turns out, Lina and the villagers know a lot about the outside world, and they offer Aerio advice on how to best find Tobias. Eventually, Aerio learns more information about the soldiers pursuing her. She rescues Tobias fairly early on, but afterwards, she decides to keep learning and exploring as much as she can so that she can learn the mystery of why she has her powers and just who wants to take her prisoner. The village becomes the hub area from which Aerio ventures out into the various areas of the world. There are six of them in all, and they must all be explored thoroughly for Aerio to achieve her destiny.

Area One: The Forest
The first place that Aerio explores after Tobias' kidnapping, Aerio must explore both the dark forest floor and the towering forest canopy if she is to track down Tobias' abductors. She eventually finds and saves him, and the soldiers she defeats leave clues as to Aerio's destiny.

Area Two: The Sky City
Aerio takes to the clouds and explores a civilization suspended on floating platforms miles above the ground. She must explore both a modern city and a series of ancient sky temples. Her reward is more information about her past and clues about where to go next.

Area Three: Mt. Obscura
Aerio hears of a tall mountain where an ancient battle once took place. She explores high peaks and surreal environments as she discovers the mysteries of the mountain. This is where Aerio first meets the woman in charge of the soldiers who have been pursuing her: Queen Aratheria, a powerful dark sorceress who is far too strong for Aerio to defeat. She is saved just in time by some of her allies, but now that Aratheria knows how powerful Aerio has become, she'll stop at nothing to make her a prisoner.

Area Four: The Suspended Ocean
Aerio and her friends discover a mysterious ocean that's somehow suspended in midair. Exploring the levitating depths, Aerio discovers a mysterious civilization and a tragic secret about a lost prince from long ago. Aratheria's arrival brings great ruin to the ocean civilization, but Aerio discovers a secret power that helps her save her new friends.

Area Five: Dark Hollow
Aerio ventures to a land of darkness, and eventually comes across a secret laboratory. There, she sees three lost children trapped in crystal: two boys, one of them the lost prince from the Suspended Ocean, and one girl. These children, one of whom can control earth, another of whom can control water, and the final of whom can control fire, have been alluded to throughout the game. The children have all been captured and placed here in suspended animation, their powers drained to fuel Queen Aratheria's magic. Aerio is unable to free them, and after Aratheria shows up, she is captured herself, but before Aratheria can trigger the process of draining Aerio's power, Lina shows up and saves her. The two friends end up fighting Aratheria together and they manage to defeat her, but Aratheria utilizes a forbidden power to separate Aerio and Lina. She then captures Lina and tells Aerio that if she doesn't surrender herself, Lina will die a horrible death.

Area Six: The Queen's Domain
Aerio takes the fight to Queen Aratheria, venturing into her dark domain of magic and evil. She must battle through environments both on the ground and high up in the air, and due to Aratheria's dark influence, Aerio must traverse much of this realm without access to her wind abilities. However, once passing through a great trial, Aerio gains full control over the wind. This full control over her element is something none of the other three children who Aratheria had captured could never do. Aratheria cruelly forces Aerio to battle Lina (whom Aratheria has infused with a portion of her fire, earth, and water powers), but Aerio is able to defeat Lina and free her friend's mind and body from Aratheria's evil influence. Aerio then turns on Aratheria and battles her in a fierce showdown (the battle features one of the largest final boss arenas to date in a video game, though Aerio can traverse it EXTREMELY quickly with her wind powers, making for a very fast-paced fight). At the end of the fight, Aratheria is stripped of her elemental powers, which are returned to the three imprisoned children. This frees them, and together, the four children combine their powers to seal Aratheria away. Their freedom finally restored after hundreds of years, the children return to their homelands to help restore peace and prosperity to their people, while Aerio returns to the village with Lina to celebrate and enjoy the peace with her new friends.

With its unique platforming gameplay, outstanding production values, and its storyline that features a gradually unfolding mystery and plenty of lore, Aerio: Ride The Wind is hailed as one of 2001's best platforming titles, easily comparable to games such as NiGHTS Into The Labyrinth... and Commander Keen: Worlds United. Though it's not expected to become a blockbuster, it smashes sales expectations and becomes the best selling Katana game of the holiday season after its release on November 12, 2001 (three days before the launch of the Xbox).

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"Sega's increasingly family-centric strategy will be a winning one this holiday season. Though the company gained a lot of controversy after the Valentine's Day Shooting, in which a killer claiming to be inspired by violent Sega games went on a rampage at his high school, they've largely shaken that off, and now boast some of the best family titles of the year. In particular, Sega's 'holy trinity' of platformers: Commander Keen: Worlds United, NiGHTS Into The Labyrinth, and now Aerio: Ride The Wind, which has earned some of the best review scores of the year, should drive major sales from families wishing to purchase gifts for their children. Sega has made the right choice by offering their Katana system, along with Commander Keen as a pack-in title, for $199 as a special during the upcoming Black Friday sales blitz. I feel this should be the system's permanent price point, and I expect Sega to begin offering the Katana for that price by early next year. I fully expect the Katana to be the top selling game console of the holiday season. I think the Ultra Nintendo, which is still selling quite strongly, will finish in second, and Microsoft's Xbox, which releases in a few days, will bring up the rear. The Xbox definitely has some promising exclusive games, but I imagine that system will be more of a slow burn, and their fairly bleak action titles are a tough sell in a country still reeling from the all-too-real violence of the September 11th attacks. People are looking for an escape, and Sega's lighthearted platformers fit that bill better than any other console's offerings at this time. If Sega continues to produce strong platformers (and they've shown no indication of stopping, with Spare Parts 2, Zodiac World 2, and of course Sonic Neon being released next year), they'll capture a big chunk of Nintendo's family crowd and leave their competitors fighting over a growing but fickle adult gaming audience."
-Michael Pachter, in a November 13, 2001 article on Techbiz.com

 

[RySenkari]

Warner Bros. is already hitting a home run with its ongoing series of superhero films, and on November 21st, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone will add another blockbuster franchise to the company's already strong fortunes. The film is expected to open to over $120 million over the 5-day Thanksgiving weekend, with around $85 million over the Friday-Sunday period. That's a huge opening bow, but it won't be enough to topple Captain America, which became the first film to make over $100 million in its opening weekend. The film stars some of the biggest names in British cinema, including Alan Rickman as Severus Snape and John Hurt as the propretier of Ollivanders wand shop, and will be the feature film acting debut for three young actors who will be playing the roles of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson.

The road to Warner Brothers' production of a live-action Harry Potter film was a long one, and the company very nearly didn't get the rights to the films at all. Initially, Sony had shown the most interest in acquiring the rights, and pitched a number of projects, including a cross-media blitz that would include a video game made in collaboration with Nintendo and an animated film series in collaboration with Dreamworks. After the animated film idea was nixed, Sony mulled the idea of doing a live action film, but ultimately declined to acquire the film rights, paving the way for Warner Brothers to acquire them.

-from an article in the November 16, 2001 Entertainment Weekly

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"Potter" Dominates Thanksgiving, Conjures Up $140 Million In 5 Days

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was a Thanksgiving weekend smash. In five days, the film has made $140 million, a record for any film over its first five days of domestic release. A $30 million opening bow on Wednesday wasn't quite good enough to knock Captain America out of the record books, and its $95.8 million over the Friday-Sunday period won't be quite good enough either, but Potter did smash the five day record by more than $20 million.

-from an article posted on Boxofficemojo.com, November 25, 2001

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The Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone video games weren't quite as popular with critics or audiences as the books and films, but they were strong sellers nonetheless. The main games were the titles released for the Ultra Nintendo and the Sega Katana. The games took the form of 3-D platformer adventure titles that loosely chronicled the boy wizard's first year at Hogwarts. The two games were identical in content, though the Katana version featured more detailed graphics and smoother animation. They were solid, if fairly pedestrian affairs, but the Potter brand name moved plenty of copies of each over the holidays.

More interesting was the Game Boy Nova Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Developed and published by Ubisoft (who acquired the portable license separately from WB Games who produced the console titles), the game was a JRPG, where Harry, Hermione, and Ron explored Hogwarts and the surrounding environs, purchased items and spells, and fought enemies in turn-based combat. The battle system was roughly similar to The Darkest Ritual (indeed, Ubisoft used the Harry Potter RPGs as a sort of dry run for their Darkest Ritual port that would be released for the Nova in 2003). The games even had allusions to that series: two characters named Stephenie and Kristen appeared from time to time as Hogwarts students, their appearances and demeanors almost identical to Etienne and Kris. It's one of the more interesting cameos in a licensed game, and the game itself is considered quite good, perhaps the best of the Sorcerer's Stone games. Ubisoft would continue to produce Potter RPGs based on the books, all the way up to The Goblet of Fire.

-from an article on Kotaku.com chronicling video game adaptations of books, posted on February 11, 2012