Massively Multiplayer: Gaming In The New Millennium

[RySenkari]

"It's a thrill to be here, opening up the X-Zone for the very first time. The X-Zone is the place for all things Xbox. You'll get to play the latest games, compete against fellow Xbox players, enjoy interactive experiences based on your favorite game franchises, and try out games weeks or even months in advance. The X-Zone is going to be the center of the Xbox universe, and to kick it all off, I'm proud to be throwing the biggest party Seattle's ever seen, right here at the Seattle X-Zone. I feel like I'm making up for lost time, since I never went to parties like this when I was in high school. But now I'm throwing my own!"
-Bill Gates, at the Seattle grand opening party for the Microsoft X-Zone, November 1, 2001

The era of the Xbox didn't begin with the big North American launch on November 15, 2001. Instead, it began two weeks before, when 14 Microsoft X-Zone locations had simultaneous grand openings across America. These parties were the first time that the general public was able to play some of the biggest Xbox launch titles, including The Covenant, Grand Theft Auto, and Project Gotham Racing. Each location held tournaments, prize drawings, and dance parties. Some locations, like Los Angeles, held concerts, featuring bands like Linkin Park and Blink 182. And in Seattle, Bill Gates himself MCed the festivities. He even sat down to play with enthusiastic fans (and was actually quite good at Project Gotham Racing and The Covenant). Between the 14 locations, over 50,000 fans attended the launch parties, which were absolutely free (though you had to reserve your ticket in advance, and tickets were all claimed within hours of when they went available in September). Of course, in the wake of 9/11, security was somewhat tight (especially at the Seattle and Los Angeles launches, where most of the VIPs were gathered), and fans were advised to come hours before the events began in order to make it through security. But for most who attended, the X-Zone grand opening parties were events that fans would remember for the rest of their lives, and still live on in legend today, 15 years later. It was surreal to see the world's richest man partying like a high school kid at the Seattle event, and there's a picture of Gates with Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love that remains iconic in gaming history.

-from IGN's article covering the 15th anniversary of the Xbox launch, posted on November 15, 2016

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Xbox Technical Specifications

Of all three sixth-generation consoles (the Nintendo Wave, the Sega Katana, and the Microsoft Xbox), the Xbox is the one closest to its OTL counterpart in performance and appearance. It's a black and green box much like OTL's original Xbox, though it is a bit smaller, by about a centimeter on each side. It also uses more green in its design: instead of a small green circle in the center of the console, the entire "X" at the top of the console is green. This is because of the mostly black color scheme of the Ultra Nintendo: combined with its boxy appearance, Microsoft wished to distinguish itself more from Nintendo's big black box, thus the use of more green. Other than this, it appears mostly identical to OTL's machine, including four controller ports and a DVD-ROM drive in front, and composite and S-Video ports in the back.

The Xbox has a 740 MHz Intel Pentium III CPU (compared to a 733 Mhz CPU IOTL), with a 247 MHz Nvidia GPU. It has 64 MB of unified RAM, and also sports a 10 GB hard drive for game saves (the drive is also capable of storing media such as songs ripped from CDs). The DVD-ROM drive can play movies right out of the box, as the system comes packaged with the required remote. The controller is the same oversized controller from IOTL, though later complaints from customers will make Microsoft eventually package a smaller controller with the system.

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November 15, 2001

The Microsoft Xbox launches in North America. It would launch in Europe in January 2002, and Japan in March 2002, in contrast with IOTL, where the Xbox launched in Japan first and later Europe. Here, Microsoft is somewhat more aware of the system's popularity in Japan, and with Nintendo and Sega dominating the market there, they are somewhat more cautious about the Japanese launch. The console is priced at $299.99, and does not include a game (though, like the Sega Katana, it does include a demo disc). Like the Katana before it, the launch of the Xbox is a major news event, with Bill Gates, like IOTL, appearing in New York City to sell the first consoles to waiting players. The Xbox launches with twenty games, and the lineup is even more impressive than OTL's, though many of the games are ports.

The North American launch titles are: The Covenant, Grand Theft Auto, The Witcher, Project Gotham Racing, MechWarriorX, NFL Fever, Madden NFL 2002, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, White Mountain 2, Yoyo, Dead Or Alive 2, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding, Cel Damage, NBA Live 2002, NASCAR Thunder 2002, TransWorld Surf, The Simpsons: Road Rage, Targeted, and Skystorm: Air Combat. Day one sales for the Xbox are 262,710 units. That's less than half of the Katana's launch and about an eighth of the Ultra Nintendo's. However, it's by far the best launch day ever for a non-Nintendo, non-Sega system, and proves that Microsoft is able to move units. No single game sells 100,000 copies on launch day, the three top sellers are The Covenant (80,216), Grand Theft Auto (76,773), and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (74,810), with White Mountain 2, NFL Fever, and Project Gotham Racing somewhat close behind. The Xbox is a success, but as of launch day, whether or not it can beat Nintendo or Sega has yet to be seen.

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Launch Title Summaries-

The Covenant

The Covenant is TTL's equivalent of the OTL game Halo: Combat Evolved. It remains the Xbox's primary killer app at launch, though it is joined by Grand Theft Auto as a sort of co-killer app. The biggest gameplay difference it has from OTL's game is the switch to a third person perspective rather than being an FPS. It has many similarities to Squad Four: Rebellion, the game that primarily inspired Microsoft to allow Bungie to keep the game as a third-person shooter, which it was originally going to be IOTL. However, there are some differences between the two games. Whereas Squad Four: Rebellion is more hack-and-slashy, with more emphasis on melee combat, The Covenant is first and foremost a shooter, with melee options (plasma swords and blunt strikes) as a more tactical option than as a go-to method of combat. Indeed, whereas Squad Four: Rebellion can be describes as a sort of proto-Devil May Cry, The Covenant can be described as a sort of proto-Resident Evil 4. It takes a more deliberate pace for its combat, emphasizing cover, tactical positioning, and teamwork. It's not as slow-paced as OTL Resident Evil 4 (Master Chief can move freely while shooting, and is much faster than Leon was in RE4), but it has quite a few of the gameplay innovations that game was known for IOTL. Despite the switch from FPS to third person game, many of the same game mechanics present in OTL Halo remain in The Covenant, including a regenerating energy shield, a variety of weapons with various advantages and drawbacks, and the ability to use grenades and melee attacks on the fly. Thus, The Covenant creates a game that's sort of a hybrid of the tactical shooter and the hack-and-slash action title, giving the player a number of combat choices that allow them to fight according to their favored style. Often, Master Chief will have fellow soldiers to command in combat, adding more tactical choices to fights. He can also be aided by other space marines who aren't under his command but will lend help in certain fights, allowing the player to focus on other areas of the battlefield while their allies cover them.

Like OTL's Halo, The Covenant has a robust multiplayer mode that allows players to battle one another in a variety of battle types, including deathmatch, king of the hill, and capture the flag. The game is capable of linking up to four Xboxes together for 16-player LAN-based combat, and in addition, the game allows for online multiplayer once Xbox Live debuts in 2002, a departure from OTL's Halo. The increased success of SegaNet convinced Bungie to work an online option into the game even though they knew Microsoft wouldn't be offering official online play for many months afterward. Once Xbox Live goes up, The Covenant's online multiplayer is a huge selling point for the service.

The Covenant's plot differs significantly from OTL's, but still features many of the same basic elements, including a space marine with the rank of Master Chief, his AI companion Cortana, and an enemy alien force. Unlike in OTL's game, the existence of these aliens isn't revealed until about a third of the way in, and it's thought that the title of the game, The Covenant, refers to the group of soldiers that Master Chief accompanies into battle. The fact that it actually refers to the aliens (which have been shown in game preview footage but not actually named) isn't revealed until they show up. Until then, Master Chief is battling an opposing army, who, it turns out, have been working for the aliens. Once the existence of The Covenant is revealed, Master Chief and his companions must fight them while attempting to discover a massive secret they are covering up. They eventually defeat the humans' main collaborator with the Covenant, a man named Reginald Barnes. The dying Barnes reveals the existence of Halo, an enormous hidden ringworld that the Covenant have been attempting to find. He gives Master Chief a map that he claims will lead him to this Halo. Master Chief does so, but his ship is shot down by Covenant forces, killing most of his squadmates as they crashland on Halo's surface. While exploring Halo and battling the Covenant, Master Chief discovers that Halo was built by an ancient progenitor race to counter the Flood, a terrible parasitic alien race from another dimension. The only way to stop the Flood is by activating Halo. Unfortunately, doing so will lead to the extinction of an entire race: either humanity, or the Covenant, as Halo requires a sample from a living sentient race in order to be activated. The Covenant was attempting to reach Halo first in order to make it wipe out humanity, but Master Chief, knowing the danger the Flood poses, knows he has no choice but to wipe out the Covenant instead. However, he cannot bring himself to do it, despite the danger the Covenant poses. The Covenant has no such qualms, and tries repeatedly to activate Halo using the human DNA sample. Ultimately, after defeating the Covenant's leader, a third solution is found: Master Chief's own DNA, which has been infused with genes from the progenitor race (TTL's equivalent to the Forerunners, but their actual name won't be revealed until a future game). Master Chief uses himself as the sample, knowing that the progenitor race is extinct. It's thought that the procedure will sacrifice Master Chief's life, but instead, it just sacrifices his body enhancements and those of his remaining squadmates, leaving all of them alive. Though Master Chief has weakened himself, he is still a space marine, and he and Cortana set out to continue protecting humanity from extraterrestrial threats.

The Covenant is as well received and revolutionary as it is IOTL, both for its campaign and for its multiplayer mode. It becomes one of the best selling Xbox games, and one of the primary factors in helping to move the system.

GameRankings Score: 96.70%

Grand Theft Auto

The spiritual successor to the Race'n'Chase series and TTL's equivalent to Grand Theft Auto III, the game takes place in a massive, open Liberty City. It too holds many gameplay similarities with its OTL counterpart, giving the player the ability to steal cars, roam freely to complete missions, and kill anyone they so choose. The game features a few gameplay enhancements from OTL's GTA III, including a somewhat improved melee system (lifted from Rockstar's Saturn game, Chaos City) and several more weapons to choose from, including a chainsaw (which didn't appear OTL until Grand Theft Auto: Vice City). In an homage to Race'n'Chase, which let players be a cop, the vigilante mode, activated whenever the protagonist steals a cop car, is greatly expanded from OTL, giving players the ability to make arrests and perform specific cop missions. If the player wished, they could have a great deal of fun just being a police officer and not killing anyone, though most players don't play the game like this. Like OTL GTA III, the game takes place across a large cityscape, and missions appear on the minimap. There are dozens of main storyline missions and dozens of side missions, with more of the city opening up to the player as soon as certain main story missions are completed. The radio song selection is about the same in terms of number of songs and stations as it is IOTL, with about half of the music from OTL appearing and half of the music being entirely original TTL. Players have the option to download their own music to the Xbox's hard drive as a custom radio station. There's different material on Lazlow's talk radio station, with episodes about environmentalism, video game violence (featuring a Chris-chan spoof who threatens to kill Lazlow), and a number of other topics that aren't addressed IOTL. The game's three main areas are Port Mudd (the industrial area, equivalent to Portland IOTL's game), Staunton Island (the commercial/downtown area with the same name as the area from OTL) and Flushing Waters (the equivalent to OTL's Shoreside Vale). The city is a bit bigger than OTL's, owing to the Xbox's increased power.

The storyline follows silent protagonist Claude Speed and his betrayal at the hands of his girlfriend Catalina, as IOTL, though in this game, Catalina is less psychopathic and more sympathetic, and eventually (after Claude betrays the Mafia) returns to make amends and help Claude out. The game starts with Claude working his way up through the Mafia, eventually all the way to the boss Salvatore Leone. Once again, he betrays Salvatore due to the machinations of Yakuza boss Asuka, but in TTL Grand Theft Auto, it's Asuka who ends up being the main villain of the game, and not Catalina. Ultimately, Asuka plans to wipe out all the other crime families in the city to make the Yakuza the city's dominant force, and she's using the unscrupulous Claude in order to do it. During a mission about two-thirds of the way through the game, Asuka kills Catalina and leaves Claude for dead. Claude must make amends with his old Mafia contacts, Luigi, Joey, and Toni, and team up with them to stop Asuka, who plans to kill the mogul Donald Love and take control of his empire, which would give her enough money and influence to extend the Yakuza's reach nationwide. With the Mafia's help, Claude fights his way up the Love Building, eventually confronting a katana-wielding Asuka on the roof (the fact that she has a katana is confirmed later on by Rockstar to be a deliberate shot at Sega's Katana system). Claude defeats Asuka and throws her off the building, into the blades of a waiting helicopter piloted by Toni. The ending sees Claude arranging an "accident" for the three Mafia bosses, taking over the city himself.

With its open world gameplay, decent graphics (still a bit backward by Xbox standards, but impressive for the time), and stellar production values, Grand Theft Auto is a hit, just as Grand Theft Auto III was IOTL. It's not an immediate MEGA-hit, because of its exclusivity for a system that hasn't yet caught on, but it helps move just as many Xboxes as The Covenant does, and once it's eventually ported to the Nintendo Wave and the PC, it becomes one of the biggest selling games of its generation.

GameRankings Score: 95.94%

The Witcher

ITTL, Metropolis Software's videeo game adaptation of the Polish fantasy novel The Witcher was made into an open-world RPG in 1997 (IOTL, the project was scrapped and The Witcher didn't become a game until much later on). The game was a hit, becoming one of 1997's best PC games, and selling a large number of copies, though not enough to justify the creation of a sequel, as the creation of the original big-budget game had nearly bankrupted the company. The game is ported to the Xbox by a Microsoft-owned studio as an Xbox launch game, with enhanced graphics and some additional missions. The game itself is an action-RPG, with a large world to explore and a great deal of moral freedom for the player as they control Geralt on his journey. Initially, The Witcher is positioned as one of the Xbox's "big three" launch titles, but as the release date approaches, it's clear that even with the enhancements given to the port, it's still somewhat dated in comparison with contemporary RPGs like Baldur's Gate II. It's released to good, though not great, reviews, and somewhat disappointing launch day sales. However, it eventually sells enough titles on the Xbox to justify the making of a sequel, The Witcher II, which will eventually be released in 2005 to much better acclaim than the first.

GameRankings Score: 80.26%

Project Gotham Racing

Fairly similar to OTL's game, Project Gotham Racing is a racing title with an emphasis on skillful stunt driving. It's not enough to just win a race, players must drive very skillful and perform a number of moves to demonstrate this skill, giving the game a fun, arcadey flavor. It's as fun and popular ITTL as it is IOTL, and becomes one of the most popular Xbox franchises.

GameRankings Score: 86.90%

Yoyo

Yoyo is one of the few "family" games featured at the Xbox's launch. It's a 3-D platformer about an anthropomorphic bird who uses a yoyo as a weapon. The heroic bird must rescue her family from an evil dragon that has descended on her homeland. The game features a good deal of cheeky humor and has ten large worlds to explore. It's a very colorful and pretty game, but for all its graphical prowess, it's not a very innovative platformer. It sells decently well, but compared to games like Mario and Sonic, it falls far short.

GameRankings Score: 71.74%

MechWarrior X

A variant of OTL's MechWarrior 4 created exclusively for the launch of the Xbox, this game features a futuristic war between gigantic combat mecha, taking place from a first-person perspective. The game is fairly short and is mostly a showcase for the Xbox's graphical capabilities, though the combat is rather fun and it's one of the few early first-person shooters available for the Xbox (since the system lacks a killer-app FPS like Halo ITTL). For that reason, the game is praised, though it's not the be-all-end-all mech game.

GameRankings Score: 76.58%

NFL Fever

The Xbox's exclusive NFL game. Despite its graphical superiority over its rivals, including the Ultra Nintendo's NFL Play Action, the Katana's NFL 2K2, and that year's Madden game, its gameplay, which is more arcade-like than the other football games in the market, is rather coldly received, and it lacks a good deal of features compared to Madden. Despite this, it's heavily promoted and sells quite well initially.

GameRankings Score: 68.44%

Dead Or Alive 2

ITTL, Tecmo didn't develop the sequel to its popular Dead or Alive series until 2000, so Dead or Alive 2 was the latest in the series when the Xbox was released. Like OTL, the game was secured as an Xbox launch title, and like OTL, the advertising heavily emphasized the prevelance of sexy women fighters, though the game itself was actually pretty good, an improvement over the gameplay of the original and one of the best looking fighting games to date.

GameRankings Score: 82.77%

Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee

Despite the commercial failure of the first two titles in the series, the series had enough of a cult classic following for Microsoft to secure Munch's Oddysee as an Xbox exclusive as IOTL. Featuring largely similar gameplay and plot elements, Munch's Oddysee actually performed a bit better than OTL's game, due to the wider audience for the Xbox at launch. It actually does slightly better, at least initially, than Yoyo, which was promoted far better. It also scores better reviews than the OTL game.

GameRankings Score: 85.21%

Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding

An Xbox exclusive snowboarding title, Amped is decent but is completely cannibalized by White Mountain 2 at launch. Though Microsoft promotes it as the better alternative, gamers see through the ruse and gravitate toward WM2, making Amped a commercial flop and killing any chances of a sequel.

GameRankings Score: 70.11%

Targeted

An original TTL FPS title about a soldier targeted for death by his commander for mysterious reasons related to a global conspiracy. The convoluted plot and clunky gameplay make this FPS a flop, even among gamers clamoring for one.

GameRankings Score: 57.54%

Skystorm: Air Combat

An air-based shooter similar to the Ace Combat series, it's a technical showcase for the Xbox and a fairly decent shooter. Sales are rather underwhelming but the game itself is high quality.

GameRankings Score: 78.29%

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3

The Xbox port of the highly popular skateboarding series, it's one of the best selling launch titles. There are very few enhancements over the Katana version, but it doesn't really need them.

GameRankings Score: 95.46%

White Mountain 2

Another game that gets very few enhancements from the Katana version, White Mountain 2 brings the same snowboarding fun to the Xbox as it does to the Ultra Nintendo and the Katana. Like THPS3, you can upload your own custom songs to the game.

GameRankings Score: 94.11%

Cel Damage

The cel-based car combat title is a launch day port for the Xbox. The graphics look somewhat better than they did on the Katana, though there aren't any changes to the gameplay.

GameRankings Score: 79.06%

Madden NFL 2002

The popular football franchise makes its Xbox debut with a decent first effort, certainly better than NFL Fever, though its sales are fairly even with that game at first.

GameRankings Score: 83.72%

NBA Live 2002

The annual EA Sports NBA franchise also shows up for the Xbox's launch. It's a bit of an off-year for the series, but the game looks really nice on Microsoft's console.

GameRankings Score: 74.63%

NASCAR Thunder 2002

EA Sports' annual NASCAR series makes its first appearance on the Xbox. It's a decent enough game, but it definitely pales in comparison with the upcoming NASCAR 2K2.

GameRankings Score: 71.04%

TransWorld Surf

A surfing title by Infogrames, which ITTL did not acquire the Atari name. The game looks nice but plays fairly terribly.

GameRankings Score: 46.43%

The Simpsons: Road Rage

A Simpsons-based driving title. Unlike OTL's game, which was based off of Crazy Taxi, this game is more of a vehicular combat title, and in that regard, Cel Damage is the superior game. Other than the presence of popular Simpsons characters, there's not much to see here.

GameRankings Score: 62.87%

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Console Sales Strong On Black Friday, Xbox A Surprisingly Close Third

This year's Black Friday was perhaps the biggest for game console sales since 1998, a year that saw the Ultra Nintendo entering its second year of dominance. With two new game systems having launched this year, sales were bound to be up. This year saw some major price cuts for console systems, with the Ultra Nintendo selling for as low as $99 in some stores, and the Katana selling for $199. Both of those systems saw very strong sales over the weekend, with reports indicating that the Ultra Nintendo edged out Sega's system in units sold on the 23rd. This would be somewhat of a disappointment for Sega. The company was expecting to take Black Friday by a wide margin over Nintendo, especially on the strength of games like Virtua Fighter 4 and Aerio: Ride The Wind. It may have in fact been the Xbox which drew some sales from Sega's machine. Though Microsoft's Xbox is indicated to have finished third in sales on Black Friday, the total numbers were closer than virtually every analyst thought they would be. This comes as a major surprise, considering that the Xbox, which launched just last week, got no price cuts from any retailer (though some did offer specials on certain games, including Walmart, which gave out a free copy of The Covenant with every Xbox sold). Total sales over the Black Friday period indicate that the Xbox sold about 80% as many units as Sega's Katana, which, if true, would be a shocking figure. The Xbox is expected to continue its strong sales over the holiday period, while the Katana's sales are also likely to pick up as the calendar rolls into December.

-from a Gamespot.com article posted on November 30, 2001

 

[RySenkari]

Victory

Released for the Ultra Nintendo, Sega Katana, and Microsoft Xbox on November 29, 2001, Victory is a Capcom-developed third-person shooter/stealth title. The game is a reboot of the classic SNES-CD franchise that centered around Nash Grieves, an ex-soldier who must defend the Earth when it's revealed that humankind is being controlled by a hidden cabal of alien invaders. In this reboot, the aliens are occupying the Earth, but in their victory, they have split into two opposing factions, and the human survivors must decide which faction to side with in order to win back the freedom of their world. Rather than being a top-down shooter like the original games, Victory is fully 3-D and plays like many third-person shooters of the day, mixing action elements with stealth to create a sort of hybrid game. Rather than using stealth to avoid combat like in other stealth titles, in Victory, Nash takes cover in the thick of battle to lull enemies into a sense of security or to gain a tactical advantage. Nash has a significant repertoire of moves that he can utilize in battle, including ducking, rolling, jumping, and a variety of different melee attacks. He also has a large arsenal of weapons at his disposal. He'll start out using mostly mechanical weapons like pistols and rifles, but eventually gains access to alien technology. Shooting or attacking from stealth conveys a damage advantage, and battles play out in a sort of tactical way, connecting the game somewhat to its top-down roots. A typical battle in Victory will have several stages, with enemies getting more difficult as the battle progresses. Frequently, you're confined to a specific area until all enemies are dead. Unlike many third-person shooters such as The Covenant, which feature more open world areas, Victory confines the action to smaller, more cramped areas, making proper positioning a difficult necessity. Usually Nash fights alone, though occasionally allies do appear. Nash will frequently have to protect those allies from being killed, and this can sometimes get frustrating, though ally AI is usually good enough to avoid needless deaths. The game features a total of 14 missions, some broken up into several segments.

Like in the original games, Nash is an ex-soldier who has been deeply affected by the war. In addition, he's consumed with guilt for failing at his mission to prevent humanity from being subjugated by aliens. The alien race has two factions: one faction, The Stand, has decided to exterminate humanity, and the other faction, The Caretakers, though still wishing to keep humans contained, wishes to protect them from the alien genocide plot at all cost. The remnants of Earth's human armies have allied with this outnumbered and outgunned latter faction, giving them enough military assistance to push The Stand back significantly. Nash Grieves, one of the most decorated and skilled human soldiers, is tasked with escorting Platanak, an alien ambassador who wishes to call in other alien races to help defend against The Stand. Platanak must be escorted to an alien spacecraft which is being heavily guarded by Stand forces. The first few missions are fairly straightforward, but at the end of Mission 4, Platanak is captured. Nash must take a Stand-aligned female alien, Kirala, hostage in order to trade for Platanak's life. But in doing so, Kirala reveals a secret: humanity has been in collaboration with another alien race known as the Galfaxis for more than 20 years. Humanity made first contact with the Galfaxis 24 years prior to the start of the game. With Galfaxis knowledge, humanity's technological prowess accelerated rapidly, more rapidly than any alien race has ever advanced. Humans developed an extraordinarily powerful and dangerous weapon system, and assisted the Galfaxis in conquering numerous worlds in exchange for material resources from the conquered planets. Once this collaboration was revealed, the Stand decided to invade Earth in an effort to separate the Galfaxis from their weapons providers. Once the Stand learned of humanity's true nature, they came to the reluctant decision to wipe out the human race, as it was too dangerous to be allowed to persist in an otherwise stable galaxy. Though Nash has learned of humanity's treachery, he is a human himself, and feels loyalty to his race. He decides to continue with his plan to try and get back Platanak, though Kirala is able to escape from him after a short time. Nash rescues Platanak on his own, and allows Platanak to bring the Galfaxis to Earth. However, Nash decides to stow away aboard a Galfaxis vessel after it arrives, and goes on his own to the Galfaxis homeworld. As he is doing so, he discovers that Kirala has done the same thing. The two of them must reluctantly work together to discover the extent of the Galfaxis' plans, and sure enough, they plan to continue their conquests after humanity is liberated. Nash and Kirala barely escape the Galfaxis homeworld with their lives (after leaving a bomb at a Galfaxis command base that takes out many of their generals) and return to Earth. By now, The Stand is in full retreat, and Platanak has taken command of the Caretaker forces. However, the Caretakers are using humanity as cannon fodder in their fight. Kirala sees the bravery of humanity and is slowly convinced that it is not all humans who are corrupt and evil, only a select few. However, the remainder of the Stand high command don't see it this way, and Nash realizes to his horror that humanity is surrounded by enemies on all sides: the Stand, the Caretakers, and the Galfaxis all have hostile goals toward humanity: the Stand seeks to destroy it, and the Caretakers and the Galfaxis seek only to use them. However, Nash comes up with a plan: to hijack the humans' superweapon and use it to destroy the invading alien forces. However, in order to do this without threatening Earth, the aliens must all be lured off-planet. Nash decides that he will go to the moon with the superweapon and threaten both the Galfaxis and the Stand/Caretaker homeworld, which will force all of them to come to him. In the meantime, Kirala tries her best to gather up those members of the Stand and the Caretakers who are truly benevolent and warn them of Nash's plan. However, this gets her captured by Platanak, forcing Nash to lead a rescue mission, all the while dodging hostile alien attacks. Thanks to Nash, Kirala is rescued, and she ends up behind the controls of the superweapon. She has three choices: she can fire the weapon at the Earth, as per her original mission, and wipe out humanity forever. She can fire the weapon at the Moon, taking out the hostile aliens (but also Nash, who is stuck on the moon stalling for time). Or she can do nothing. Kirala decides to fire at the moon. The weapon unleashes an enormous gamma energy blast, sterilizing the moon's surface and killing all of the aliens...and also, seemingly Nash. Kirala feels tremendous guilt, but then she is contacted by Nash, who managed to get off the Moon just before the blast hit. The two re-unite on a liberated Earth, which the remaining aliens (the ones who Kirala managed to stray to her and Nash's side) agree to a peace treaty with humanity. The remaining evil humans, most of whom were killed by Nash and Kirala when they stole the superweapon, are taken into custody.

Needless to say, Victory is compared quite often to The Covenant, because of their similar gameplay and plots involving humanity vs. hostile alien races. However, both games have their own distinct elements, Victory with its fast-paced, more complex battles, and The Covenant with its big open worlds and epic scale. The Covenant wins out with critics, though Victory is still hailed as one of the year's best shooters, especially its next-generation versions. All three versions of the game sell well, though it's the Xbox's version that achieves the most overall sales due to its technological advantages over the other two games. Capcom designed Victory with the Xbox in mind, and it's promoted most heavily as an Xbox game. The reboot becomes the main incarnation of the series going forward, though future games will see appearances by original series characters such as Miki and Jett.

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"Victory was probably the first game to show real differences between the Katana and Xbox versions of the same game. The Katana version, in fact, was a port. The Xbox was significantly more powerful than the Katana, and it clearly showed during the course of the game. Shadow and light, elements that made Victory's stealth battle gameplay so fun and memorable, were much more distinct on the Xbox version of the game. Character models, particularly those of the two main extraterrestrial characters, Kirala and the main villain Platanak, were significantly more detailed, with Kirala's distinctive tattooing appearing much clearer on Microsoft's system. Though all three versions ran at the same framerate, the Xbox version showed much more fluid animation than the Katana version. Characters move more realistically, battles look a lot more impressive, it's just an improved experience overall. While Victory looked just fine on the Katana, the differences between the two sixth-gen systems stood out starkly. There are things that the Xbox version did even better than Nintendo's Wave did in the 2003 port, despite the Wave being the technologically superior system, a clear indication that the gap between the Wave and the Xbox was far less than the gap between the Xbox and the Katana.

Of course, both the Xbox and the Katana versions of the game were worlds apart from the Ultra Nintendo version. With that said, the Ultra Nintendo version wasn't a 'bad' port. If you were waiting for the Wave and unwilling to pick up either of the sixth-generation systems in 2001, the Ultra version holds up just fine. All the content was there, though graphical detail was severely lacking. The sound quality of the Ultra version was pretty much equal to the Xbox and Katana version in most aspects. The Ultra Nintendo port of Victory is actually famous as one of the first games to truly push the limits of that system: it was probably the best looking Ultra Nintendo game of 2001."
-from 'Compare And Contrast: Victory (2001)', an article on Gamesovermatter.com

 

[Pyro]

Compared to the string of hits the DC film juggernaut put out, Marvel needed another bonafide hit to slow their rival’s momentum in theatres after Wonder Woman and Green Lantern 2’s successes. However, luck was seemingly not on Marvel’s side. The sequel to their 1998 hit, X-Men, had a planned Summer 2001 release, but encountered a major roadblock when director Bryan Singer and actor Michael Biehn walked off the set due to feuding with Russell Crowe and fights with studio brass over the film’s creative direction. With X-Men 2’s release date pushed to 2002, Marvel’s other planned 2001 release, Captain America, would have to shoulder the burden of facing off against the highly anticipated Man of Steel for the holiday season. While Marvel had high hopes for the Star Spangled Avenger on the silver screen, the events of 9/11 pushed the film to unexpected heights.

20th Century Fox had put plans in motion to produce a Captain America film since News Corp’s acquisition of Marvel. The studio wanted to avoid the disaster that was the 1990 film, and instead looked to Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line for inspiration. While the studio did approach Steven Spielberg and even Clint Eastwood to direct, ultimately it would be Die Hard and Predator director, John McTiernan who would sit in the chair. Casper Van Dien won the part of Steve Rogers due his portrayal of Johnny Rico in Starship Troopers while Tom Welling, a virtual unknown, played James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes. Though initial buzz around the production suggested that Arnold Schwarzenegger, of whom McTiernan directed, would land the role of Cap’s nemesis, the Red Skull. It was a reasonable assumption, though Schwarzenegger already portrayed the villainous Major Force in Green Lantern.

However, Fox surprised many commentators when they announced that Dolph Lundgren, another 80s action star, had won the role. The reaction to that news was muted compared to the revelation that Tim Curry would be cast as Baron Heinrich Zemo. It caused something of an uproar among comic book fans as Baron Zemo (or rather--his son, Helmut) had rose to prominence in the successful Thunderbolts title. Their fears would be somewhat justified as Curry did ham up the role with a slab of cheese on the side. On one hand, comically stereotypical German accent and absurd mannerisms as the treacherous second-in-command, who graduated from the Starscream School of Underhandedness, to the Red Skull was cringe-inducing for serious cinephiles, it was also a saving grace because it gave the film some needed levity considering the times.

The film begins with an elderly Peggy Carter (portrayed by Kylie Minogue, using makeup) writing her World War II memoirs, which the film uses as a framing device to keep it grounded in present day. She focuses on the origin of Red Skull (AKA Johann Schmidt), Hitler’s chief scientist and the Fuhrer’s right hand, Johann Schmidt attempts to create the Cosmic Cube with his assistant his subordinate, Zemo. For those unfamiliar with Marvel lore, the Cosmic Cube is an object that can warp reality to the wishes of its user. Though Schmidt ostensibly wants to create it as a superweapon for the Reich, the film alludes that he has ulterior motives that conflicts with Hilter’s designs. Zemo, being a member of the aristocracy and more of a true believer in the Reich than Schmidt, secretly resents the “street urchin” and sabotages the experiment, causing it to explode with the intent of killing Schmidt and seizing his place in Hitler’s inner circle. His plot backfires when the explosion of cosmic energies do not kill Schmidt, but instead give him the visage of a “red skull.”

We then transition to a frail Steve Rogers’ fourth attempt at trying to enlist in the army shortly after America’s entry into World War II with the expected his results. The army declares him “4H” and unable to serve. What is notable is that Van Dien underwent a dramatic transformation prior to production by losing the necessary weight to portray a physically frail Steve Rogers, and then regaining it to become Captain America. Also of note are the tweaks they made to some of the characters, notably Bucky, whom the movie transformed into a childhood friend and contemporary of Steve rather than his teenage sidekick as shown in the comic books. Bucky, who had joined the army and will ship out soon, tries to discourage Steve from making a fifth attempt, but Steve is adamant about joining the War because, “he can do nothing less for his country.”

What neither Steve nor Bucky realize was that Agent Peggy Carter of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division (or S.H.I.E.L.D. for those who like having fun with acronyms) overheard their conversation and offers Steve a chance to participate in “Operation Rebirth.” While Steve’s selflessness and patriotism impress both Carter and Rebirth’s chief scientist, Dr. Abraham Erskine (played by Kenneth Mars), the head of the project, Major Philip J. Fry (played by James Garner) remains skeptical. Despite the obstacles placed in his way by Major Fry, Steve perseveres and Fry begrudgingly allows him to move forward. Thus the film follows the rest of Captain America’s origins to the letter; through Erskine’s formula and exposure to Vita-Rays, Steve undergoes his transformation and a German spy assassinates Erskine.

Though said spy commits suicide via cyanide pill when Rogers captures him after an extended chase scene, the film reveals that it was the rechristened Red Skull who personally ordered the assassination. The film also reveals the function of the Cosmic Cube; it is theoretically a source of unlimited power, except that it needs a massive infusion of energy to kickstart it. An inadequate source of power was the reason for the Red Skull’s previous failure, the second attempt succeeds. With the Cosmic Cube, the Red Skull moves forward with his plans to use it to create the weapons needed to defeat America and build the “Amerika bomber” to deliver it.

What follows is an action-filled romp you would expect from the man who directed both Die Hard and Die Hard With a Vengeance. The United States wastes no time in deploying Captain America under the auspices of S.H.I.E.L.D. Of note is the liberation of a POW camp where Steve learns the Nazis are holding Bucky. David Hasselhoff makes an appearance as Nick Fury, keeping with Marvel history (though Marvel never bothered to explain why Fury looked so young in Fantastic Four, which took place in contemporary times), along with his Howling Commandos for the “great escape” scene that Roger Ebert famously called, “A perfect opera of explosions and bullets.”

It is also where Cap confronts the Red Skull for the first time. Despite gaining the upper hand in their initial battle, the Red Skull defeats the Star-Spangled Avenger through guile before Bucky wounds him in the shoulder and forces him into retreat. However, Cap is reunited with his friend, who then becomes his partner, while S.H.I.E.L.D. uncovers the Skull’s greater scheme. It is worth mentioning that the film creates something of a two-sided love triangle where both Cap and Bucky show romantic interest in Peggy, but “Agent Carter” only had eyes for Cap. Admittedly, the romantic element of the film remains underdeveloped, but considering the mood of audiences at the time, very few complained.

As the film edges towards its climax, the Red Skull reveals his endgame where not only does he plan to attack North America with the weapons made using the Cosmic Cube, but also remove Hitler from the equation and take control of the Reich himself. Zemo uses this as an excuse to surreptitiously reveal the location of the Red Skull’s fortress to the Allies and put his own plan in motion to kill both Captain America and the Red Skull to ingratiate himself to Hitler. With this information, Captain America, the Howling Commandos, and S.H.I.E.L.D. launch their assault on the base while Zemo maneuvers events so that his enemies board the Amerika Bomber after he plants a time bomb on the aircraft.

Thus begins the final battle where Cap and Bucky engage the Red Skull, who wields the Cosmic Cube against them. With the infinite power of the cube at the Skull’s disposal, the pair are hopelessly outmatched. What follows is a match between the Skull’s power and Cap’s keen tactical mind and perseverance. Despite the Skull’s clear advantage, Cap is still able to outmaneuver him, block his attacks with his indestructible shield, and even a land few hits while Bucky strikes from a distance with his firearms. Ultimately, the increasingly irate Red Skull blasts a hole in the plane and gets blown out where the cube slips from his grasp and he plummets to his (seeming) demise into the ocean.

Cap barely hangs on himself with Bucky reaching out to him. Just as their fingers are about to touch, Zemo’s bombs detonate and the explosions cause Cap to lose his grip. As he joins his archnemesis in falling into the Atlantic, the Star-Spangled Avenger watches in horror as the pieces of the Amerika Bomber scatter and fall. He yells out his friend’s name before the screen fades to black and the film comes full circle to the elderly Peggy completing her memoirs. Her voiceover confirms that the world believed that Captain America perished on his final mission, but does mention that like King Arthur, some believe that he will return in his country’s hour of need.

“But that is just a fairy tale.” She remarks, a tear rolling down her cheek when the phone rings. She picks it up as she wipes it away and her eyes widen as she exclaims, “What?”

The final scene takes place at a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility where Peggy meets with a greyer and grizzled Fury, complete with signature eyepatch, and Tony Stark (in a cameo appearance by Tom Cruise the foreshadow 2002’s Iron Man film.) They reveal that a Stark geology expedition to Baffin Island uncovered something of interest to her, and lead her to a room where a medical team is thawing a very-much alive Cap on a medical table.

Captain America arrived in theatres on November 9, 2001, nearly two months after the 9/11 attacks. The film itself was in the late stages of post-production so the attacks had a negligible effect on the film, but did impact the its marketing, which a more somber tone in remembrance of those that died. Fox and Captain America rode the resulting wave of patriotism to be the first film in cinematic history to break the $100 million mark with $107 million in ticket sales worldwide, beating both that summer’s Man of Steel and that winter’s Harry Potter, giving the Marvel Mediaverse some much-needed momentum after the tepid response to Fantastic Four and the continued production woes on X-Men 2. Marvel finally put a dent in the seemingly unstoppable DC film juggernaut and the Superhero Wars heated up as the race to Justice League was on.

-Tales From The Superhero Wars, sequentialhistory.net, September 2, 2010

 

[RySenkari]

Revolution Alpha

Published by Enix and developed by Quintet, Revolution Alpha is an action-RPG in a similar vein to the classic Soul Blazer/Illusion Of Gaia/Terranigma games, in a fully 3-D environment. The game features three playable characters: Osa, his younger brother Clyde, and their friend/Osa's love interest Zara. All three characters are playable and can be swapped between at any point during gameplay when all three are present (though many segments of the game require you to use a certain member of the trio). Osa fights most like a classic action-RPG protagonist, using a sword, Clyde fights with a staff and with magic, and Zara fights with a bow. Equipment upgrades are obtained during the course of the game, not purchased, while magic is obtained the same way. The game, though reminiscent of Secret of Mana in some aspects, utilizes a much more simplistic battle system, in line with its spiritual predecessors, with its combat system more reminiscent of a game like OTL Castlevania: Lament Of Innocence than any of the Mana titles. The game also follows a somewhat similar formula to Soul Blazer: the game is divided into 13 chapters, which each chapter consisting of three parts: A rest area (mostly towns, but sometimes an ancient grove, a secluded temple, or other peaceful place), a small intermediary area where enemies are fought and where the main goal is to discover the area's dungeon, and the dungeon itself. Dungeons form the meat of the game, where most battles are fought and where the main crux of the gameplay takes place. Dungeons are full of enemies and puzzles, and in classic Soul Blazer fashion, the main objective is to kill all of the enemies present, as doing so will open up a new area of the dungeon. Killing the mandatory enemies (which eliminates them permanently) provides experience (and sometimes stat upgrades) that will cause the characters to level up enough to beat the game's challenges, but if grinding is required, there are areas where enemies respawn. By accomplishing certain objectives in dungeons, certain things in the rest area might open up, necessitating that the party sometimes go back and forth to accomplish a certain task in the rest area that will open up more of the dungeon (fortunately, warp points are frequent in the game, meaning that backtracking takes very little time). Though many gameplay elements from classic Quintet games are included, Revolution Alpha brings these elements into a fully 3-D environment. Dungeons and other areas are big, expansive, and beautiful, fully exploreable. Characters can jump and climb. Some bosses are truly enormous, a couple of them even comparable in size to the Colossi from OTL Shadow of the Colossus. The game's production values even dwarf those of Laika's Journey and Granstream, which were very much 2-D games with 3-D graphics. This is a truly 3-D adventure, something that OTL Quintet never got the chance to create.

With publisher Enix's support, Quintet had been given a massive budget to produce the game. Its graphics are among the best of any Katana game to date, and cutscenes are in full CGI. Perhaps the only skimping was done on the English voice dubbing, the game, like other Enix titles of the day, cast non-union New York City-based voice actors. However, these included some skilled actors: Eric Stuart as the lead character Osa, Michael Sinterniklaas as Clyde, and Lisa Ortiz as Zara, among others. Quintet had brought a great deal of fresh new talent in to work on the game, among the production staff include such names as Gen Urobuchi, who worked on the game as a scenario developer, and Hiromu Arakawa, who had been working on the staff of Enix's monthly manga magazine, brought on as a character designer. Both of them would later go on to very productive manga and anime careers after their time at Quintet ended sometime in the late 2000s. The game's director was Masaya Hashimoto, who had worked on Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia. The game's score was produced by Yuzo Koshiro. Revolution Alpha was the first Quintet release positioned as a tentpole game, it was given a great deal of hype as one of the biggest Katana games of the year, perhaps the biggest of the 2001 holiday season in the United States, and no RPG other than Chrono Cross or Final Fantasy IX received more prerelease hype than Revolution Alpha. It was the game intended to make the Katana an RPG powerhouse. Reggie Fils-Aime, when discussing the game with investors at a November 2001 meeting, said: "I expect Revolution Alpha to do for the Katana what Secret of Mana did for the Super Nintendo CD."

Revolution Alpha takes place in the land of Solisfant. Solisfant is a realm of two worlds: in a few areas, modern technology exists, while many other areas live in a somewhat more rustic state, with scraps of technology (broken down cars, old TVs, etc.) but must otherwise live off the land, existing in a state somewhat like the slums of Midgar in Final Fantasy VII (though a lot more clean). Solisfant is in the middle of a war, though this war is more of a foregone conclusion: the Azkani Empire is conquering all, with little resistance. Its leader, Emperor Azkan, desires to bring all of Solisfant together under one ruler, which it hasn't been since the last great empire crumbled 2,000 years before. That empire left traces of its civilization all over the world: ancient temples and ruins, some of which are still lived in, while others lay hidden and abandoned, overrun by dangerous beasts. This ancient empire, known as the Primarian Empire, collapsed very suddenly, but people all over the world tell stories that before it collapsed, its rulers left ancient treasures in some of their ruins, to be found by the one deemed worthy. These treasures are known as the Alpha Heritage, and collecting them all is said to unlock a power strong enough to defeat any mortal army. For this reason, the Azkani Empire bans any discussion of the Alpha Heritage, though this doesn't stop the whispers and rumors. In the town of Talon, at the southern edge of the great continent, live Osa and Clyde, two brothers who are training to become part of the resistance army. Talon, unlike other towns, plans to fight back against the empire, but Osa and Clyde, along with their friend Zara, a huntress, know that it's futile and that the brothers will likely be killed in the battle. The three like to explore the ancient ruins together, though one ruin, deep in the middle of the nearby forest, is forbidden.

Chapter One: The Undisturbed Forest
After the introductory sequence, the three heroes are exploring a smaller ruin. After reaching a certain part of the ruin, a cutscene is triggered where Talon comes under attack. The three return to defend the town, but it's too late: Talon is in flames, and the three are soon being chased by Azkani soldiers. They run toward the forbidden ruin, but after they reach it, they are cornered. The three raise their weapons to fight, and their weapons begin to glow, blasting the soldiers back. They realize that something within the temple is calling to them, and begin to explore it. The ancient ruin is a sort of tutorial dungeon, though it's also quite tricky. Clyde and Zara become trapped, and Osa has to complete a couple of simple puzzles to free them. Eventually, the three reach the dungeon's boss: a bear monster that walks on two legs and is covered in tree growth. They defeat the boss and claim the first treasure of the Alpha Heritage, setting the events of the game in motion.

Chapter Two: The Great Coast
The three heroes return to Talon and help the survivors fight off the soldiers. Though their parents are dead and the town is a smoldering wreck, at the very least, it's a safe base of operations if they wish to return to the area. However, they realize that they need to move on, and head to a coastal town occupied by the Empire. They find some sympathizers who help them chart a path up the beach to the Sand Caves, the next major dungeon. Exploring the sand caves, which are full of confusing sand pits, eventually leads them to the dungeon's boss, a massive crab monster. Killing this monster earns the heroes the second treasure of the Alpha Heritage.

Chapter Three: The Iron Trap
During this chapter, the heroes run afoul of some Imperial soldiers led by a stern woman named Karen. Zara and Clyde are taken prisoner, and Osa is told that he is to retrieve the third piece of the Alpha Heritage for her in exchange for his friend and brother's lives. Osa journeys across an ancient battlefield, fighting ghostly soldiers, until he reaches a great fortress, the third major dungeon. Here, he battles more ghostly soldiers and eventually fights a ghostly suit of armor to claim the third treasure. He surrenders it to Karen, who honors her word and lets Osa's friends go (despite her subordinates telling her to kill them). Despite Karen holding three of the treasures, Osa and his friends decide to continue on their journey, determined not to let the Empire get its hands on any more.

Chapter Four: Among The Trees
During this chapter, Osa and Clyde fall victim to a deadly poison, and Zara must hunt for the Alpha Heritage alone while they recover in a treetop village full of natives who are hunters like Zara is. The fourth major dungeon is a large ziggurat-like temple, and Zara eventually does battle with a great flying eagle atop the temple itself. Claiming the fourth treasure gives Zara the power to heal her friends. During this time, Osa and Zara draw somewhat closer, though Clyde, who also likes the older girl, is somewhat jealous.

Chapter Five: The Magic Academy
The heroes reach a big city, the biggest in the game that hasn't yet been conquered by the empire. However, the city is full of shady individuals, and the city's leader, Rakado, traps Osa and Zara while they sneak out on a date. Clyde is able to escape Rakado, and he must venture with some academy students who aren't yet under Rakado's influence to an underground labyrinth beneath the city where the next treasure lies. Clyde does battle with an ancient dark wizard who has merged with Rakado in order to claim the fifth treasure. With Rakado defeated, Osa and Zara are freed from his spell, and the heroes are free to continue on.

Chapter Six: The Skyhold
This is a sort of climax point of the game. The town in this segment is a small Imperial controlled city near an ancient tower, the Skyhold, where the sixth Alpha Heritage is said to be. By now, the Empire is fully attempting to get the treasures, and the heroes realize that Imperial troops are surrounding the Skyhold, led by Karen, who is trying to get her fourth Alpha Heritage treasure. To access the Skyhold, the party must navigate a series of underground caverns, clearing the monsters within. The Skyhold itself is an enormous dungeon, probably the second or third biggest in the game, and all three party members will need to be utilized to clear it. Upon reaching the top, the party is greeted by Emperor Azkan and Karen, but before Karen can fight the party, she is set upon by an enormous boss monster, a kind of metallic centipede creature with chains all over its body. The monster sends Karen seemingly falling over the edge of the tower, and forces the Emperor to teleport away, leaving the party to battle it alone. After defeating the monster, the party claims the next treasure of the Alpha Heritage. They believe Karen is dead, but she pursues them to their next location.

Chapter Seven: An Ancient Rumbling
The party ventures to an ancient place beset by earthquakes, the earthquakes destroyed a previous settlement here, though explorers and even some tourists pore over the ruins, creating a sort of makeshift "town". The party must venture to another temple, across cracked and shaking fields populated by deadly monsters. The temple itself rumbles, and these quakes are the key to some of the temple's puzzles. Eventually, the party does battle with a powerful boss, a huge mud titan that shakes the ground with every step. Defeating the boss ends the quakes and gives the party the right to claim the next treasure.

Chapter Eight: Cupid's Chamber
The next town is a kind of festival town in which there's always a carnival. During this segment of the game, there are more sequences of tension between Clyde and Osa, and some humorous scenes involving Karen, who's come to the town in pursuit of the heroes. This chapter's dungeon is a strange, pink palace of sorts, in which Zara is abducted by the bosses, six mysterious cupid-like beings who tell Osa and Clyde that one of them can save Zara and win her heart, while the other one will die. The two are forced to work together to defeat the cupids and save Zara. However, the brothers realize that the cupids were telling the truth, one of them will have to sacrifice himself to allow the others to escape. Osa decides to make the sacrifice, but Karen, who was watching Osa's example of bravery, smashes the device set to kill him (though she doesn't show her face, she instead leaves to ambush the heroes later on). Osa and Clyde resolve their differences, though it's clear by now that Osa is who Zara loves and has always loved.

Chapter Nine: The Great Battle
During this chapter, the Empire is seen launching another conquest against an amassed base of rebels who have been inspired to action by Osa and his friends' gathering of the Alpha Heritage treasures. Amongst all of this, there's another temple nearby in which another treasure lies. The dungeon is a sort of Greek-inspired labyrinth where there are a number of water puzzles, and the boss is a gigantic minotaur monster. The heroes defeat the monster, which triggers a cutscene in which the rebels and imperial troops are fighting outside. The rebels are about to win, only for Karen to show up, harnessing the power of her treasures. She nearly single-handedly wins the fight for the Empire, and when the heroes emerge, she tells them that she'll kill every man, woman, and child who fought against her if they don't surrender their six treasures. Osa reluctantly does so, and Karen is about to leave, when Azkani arrives. He tells Karen that he's glad to see her alive and that he orders her to slaughter everyone. Karen reluctantly does so, showing off the power of the treasures in the process. She's about to slaughter the heroes as well, when they are whisked away by a mysterious being.

Chapter Ten: The Alpha Heritage
The being that whisked Osa, Clyde, and Zara away was an angelic soldier in service of The Master. It's explained that the Alpha Heritage was given to the ancient Primarians by The Master in the hopes that they would use its power to preserve peace for all time. However, the Primarians fought over its power, and in the civilization's final days, the last few heroes remaining took the Alpha Heritage to the far corners of the world, to hide it so that it might be used to banish evil. It is explained that because of the Azkani Empire's reign of terror and conquest, the evil being Deathtoll (the villain of Soul Blazer) has begun harvesting souls once more, and if the Alpha Heritage itself is used for evil, Deathtoll could rise from the depths of hell to reclaim all of humanity, just as he once did in ancient times after a greedy king made a deal with him. The angelic warrior says that Osa, Clyde, and Zara are now humanity's only hope, and they must prevent the Empire from getting the rest of the Alpha Heritage. They must journey to a temple high up in the cliffs to claim the next piece of the Heritage. The temple itself is fairly small, though it's full of deadly enemies and tricky puzzles. The temple's boss is a large angel-like beings with black wings and a black skull for a head, a symbol of the corruption of man. Once it is defeated, the treasure is claimed. The heroes look out over the cliff and see the Azkani capital city off in the distance. The next piece of the Alpha Heritage is off in that direction.

Chapter Eleven: To Face An Empire
The heroes meet up with a band of rebels that have taken refuge in a small town on the outskirts of the capital. The next piece of the Alpha Heritage is in an ancient cathedral, right under the Empire's nose. One of the rebels, a young woman, knows the secret to opening the cathedral's hidden chamber. Once the heroes are inside, the chamber opens to reveal a massive dungeon, with many secret doors and puzzles. Once they reach the cathedral's innermost chamber, they must do battle with a giant bird whose feathers glisten like mirrors. The bird is actually flightless, but attacks with its huge beak and powerful talons. Upon defeating the creature, they go to claim the next piece of the Alpha Heritage, but Karen is inside the treasure room. She takes the cathedral's treasure, then overpowers the heroes and takes theirs. Now with eleven pieces, she returns to the Emperor. She already knows where the last treasure is: inside Mt. Kratakos, an active volcano and the world's tallest mountain.

Chapter Twelve: The Final Piece
The heroes pursue the Empire to Mt. Kratakos, setting up camp in a village of friendly natives near the foot of the volcano. They journey up the volcano itself before finding a cave about halfway up, where the last dungeon is located. Inside the volcano is a fiery dungeon filled with dangerous monsters. At some point, they can hear the sounds of battle...the Imperial Army is doing battle with a huge army of rebels. Once again, it's Karen who turns the tide, but she seems disgusted with what she's doing. Finally, the heroes reach the boss: an enormous fire-breathing dragon bigger than any other boss in the game. The heroes defeat it, and claim the final treasure, preventing the Empire from taking it. However, the Imperial army has the rebels surrounded. The heroes realize their only chance is to defeat Karen and get her pieces of the Alpha Heritage. They confront her, and there's another boss fight, but even after the heroes win, Karen manages to get the last piece anyway. The heroes have lost...the Empire has won. Azkani taunts the heroes as Karen stands over the defeated rebel army and the victorious Empire. She raises her hand...and slaughters the entire Imperial Army. Then she grabs Azkani. She tells him that he disgusts her and that she will never forgive herself for the atrocities she has been forced to commit in his name. As Karen is holding Azkani over the volcano to throw him in, Osa hears The Master's voice, telling him not to let her do it, if one more soul is claimed in the name of war then Deathtoll will rise. Osa and the others beg Karen to spare Azkani's life, but she tosses him into the volcano anyway....which immediately erupts. A massive hand reaches out of it and grabs Karen. Screaming, she tries to fight back, but she is dragged into the volcano...dragged down to hell. With the last of her strength, she points her hand at the heroes and a brilliant light emerges from them as she is pulled in. The heroes feel a great power has been bestowed upon them...the Alpha Heritage. They lead the rebel army in their escape as demons pour from the volcano. A wave of evil sweeps over the land, dragging everyone it touches to hell. The heroes manage to create a shield of light, blocking the evil wave from harming the bulk of the rebel army and the native villagers near the volcano. It's about to crack the barrier and claim the three heroes when they are warped away once again.

Chapter Thirteen: Deathtoll
The heroes now face The Master, who has guided countless heroes and has even taken up the sword himself to defeat the archdemon Tanzra during ancient times. The Master tells Osa, Clyde, and Zara that they are the only ones who can defeat Deathtoll now. They must enter his realm and use the Alpha Heritage to battle his demons and Deathtoll himself. They agree to do so. They enter the portal and battle through an otherworldly realm of evil, seeing some of the innocent people killed during the journey imprisoned in Deathtoll's dungeons. They battle a demonic-possessed Karen, who, after being defeated, begs them to undo the damage she has caused in her anger. Eventually, the heroes find Deathtoll himself, and engage him in a great battle. Deathtoll appears in a much larger version of the monster he appeared as in Soul Blazer, using more attacks. He only has one form, but his hands and head must all be destroyed separately for the battle to be won. Finally, Deathtoll is defeated...but the world is still not saved. The heroes realize that an act of sacrifice must be made in order to liberate the human souls from Deathtoll's evil dungeon. One sacrifice is not enough...two must agree to give up their mortal lives to provide enough power for the Alpha Heritage to restore the world. Despite Clyde's tearful protests, Osa and Zara choose to give up their lives. They embrace and share a first and final kiss before becoming wisps of light, passing into the sky. Deathtoll's dark realm is destroyed, and every human who died during the war who had even a bit of good in them (including Karen), is restored to life, though for people like Karen and others who committed many acts of murder, this comes at the cost of their memories. The world is restored to a more natural state: the advanced technology of the Azkani Empire is forsaken, though it's stated that humans in their capacity for intelligence can choose to reinvent it if they wish. Clyde watches from a cliff as Osa and Zara ascend into the sky as angels, to be reborn as guardians in service of The Master, perhaps to revisit Solisfant one day. Clyde then returns to Talon to rejoin his revived parents and tell them of his and Osa's adventures. We see scenes of various characters met throughout the game, including Karen, who, while having forgotten about being a warrior, still retains her essential good heart, and vaguely remembers Clyde when he comes to visit her.

Released in Japan in July 2001 and in North America on December 10, 2001, Revolution Alpha is a critical and commercial hit. The game is one of the best-reviewed Katana games of the year, with scores averaging 9/10 in most publications. Its graphics and dungeon design are the game's most praised aspects, though the plot, which involves callbacks to past Quintet games and is bittersweet as per Quintet tradition, also gets high marks. As for commercial success, it goes on to sell over two million copies in Japan, and it's the most financially successful Quintet game released in North America, even moreso than the legendary ActRaiser. It sells over 500,000 copies in North America, slightly less than expected (it certainly doesn't reach the lofty heights predicted by Reggie Fils-Aime), but still enough to be considered a major success considering the company and genre. Combined with over 300,000 European sales upon the game's release there in January 2002, and Revolution Alpha sells just shy of 3,000,000 copies overall, making it easily Quintet's biggest success ever and saving the company from the fate it suffered in OTL (IOTL, it died quietly around this time). It's also Enix's biggest success ever outside of the Dragon Quest series.

-

Alex Stansfield: You know, there's no better game to kick off the very first episode of Judgment Day than Enix's latest action-RPG epic, Revolution Alpha.

Victor Lucas: If you played games like Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia back in the day, this is very familiar territory.

Alex: Yeah, let's get to it!

(...)

Alex: Revolution Alpha is a great throwback to the days of 16-bit action-RPGs, while at the same time being an amazing modern RPG. The graphics are fantastic, the quest is long and epic, and the bosses are just amazing. It's a great game and I'm giving it a 9 out of 10.

Victor: And I'm giving it an 8 out of 10.

*Alex and Victor's scores appear on the screen, Alex's 9.0 in a red circle and Victor's 8.0 in a yellow circle.*

+ GREAT GRAPHICS
+ NICE AND LONG
+ GREAT BOSSES

- COMBAT TOO SIMPLE
- MEDIOCRE VOICE ACTING
- PLOT GETS A BIT SILLY

Alex: Like I said before, we enjoyed the graphics, they look gorgeous, there's a lot of draw distance and there's a real sense of scale to everything. The length of the game was fantastic, you'll easily spend over 30 hours exploring the huge world and its massive dungeons. And the bosses are incredible, some of the best boss fights you'll see in an RPG.

Victor: What we didn't like was the game's fairly bare-bones combat scheme, a bit too simple for a modern RPG. We felt that the voice acting could've been a bit better. And, Alex and I disagreed on this last one, but I thought the plot got a bit silly toward the end. I won't spoil it, but you can see and decide for yourself.

*Alex and Victor are back in the studio*

Alex: Hey, coming up next on Judgment Day, we'll give our thumbs up or thumbs down to Extreme-G: Future Shock on the Ultra Nintendo.

Victor: And we dish out some handheld love when we take a look at the Game Boy Nova version of Wheelman, we'll see if it's got as much horsepower as it does on the big boy consoles. We'll be right back.

-from the premiere episode of G4's Judgment Day, December 3, 2001

-

"But despite the success of Revolution Alpha, rumors still abound that Enix is preparing to jump ship to Nintendo once more. The company refuses to discuss these rumors, but inside sources say that plans are already underway to produce a Dragon Quest VII port to the Ultra Nintendo. The company has scheduled a press event for February 21st, so we may get some answers about the company's future projects, and perhaps news about potential Nintendo projects, at that time. It's also been announced that Quintet will be producing a follow-up to Revolution Alpha with character designer Hiromu Arakawa at the helm, though that game isn't expected to be released until 2003 or 2004."
-from an article posted to RPGamer.net on January 15, 2002

 

[RySenkari]

Final Fantasy IX

Squaresoft's Final Fantasy IX combines elements from both OTL Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy X, while at the same time telling a story that is largely original TTL. The game, like OTL's Final Fantasy IX, is a deliberate throwback to previous games in the series, though it's not so much so as OTL's game. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world attempting to pick up the scraps of civilization, but the world's natural resources have been almost completely drained, and the people are fighting over the scraps of what remains. The world's last hope is the four Crystals of water, earth, fire, and wind. If these Crystals are found, their power can be used to restore the world...or to doom it. The gameplay is very similar to OTL Final Fantasy IX, with the ATB battle system returning. There are a total of eight playable characters, with four in the party at a time. Each character has their own distinct class and abilities, unlike the previous four games in which character classes were customizable. Equipment and ability customization is a combination of systems featured in OTL Final Fantasy IX and X. Characters level up as normal by gaining experience, and weapons and armor are purchased. Equipment comes with two different types of augmentations. Ability augmentations grant characters certain abilities if the weapon or armor is equipped long enough, like new magic spells and character buffs, similar to OTL Final Fantasy IX. Statistical augmentations are performed like OTL Final Fantasy X: each piece of equipment comes with between 1-4 slots, and items can be refined into abilities that can then be grafted onto equipment. Some weapons have these slots already filled, others have empty slots. This customization ability is earned about a third of the way into the game. Unlike in OTL Final Fantasy X, these augments can be transferred to another piece of equipment with empty slots, though it costs Gil depending on the power of the augment. Transferring a full set of powerful end-game augments could potentially cost hundreds of thousands of Gil. Also, in this game, there are no Break Damage Limit or Break HP Limit augments, though certain very powerful attacks can break the 9,999 damage barrier. The game has an overworld map. The game also has the Trance system from OTL Final Fantasy IX, and it comes with the same flaws as OTL's version (you still can't control when you go into Trance mode, when your meter fills up it automatically triggers).

The game features the typical high production values of Final Fantasy titles, with graphical quality similar to that found in Chrono Infinite. Once again, Nobuo Uematsu does the musical score. The soundtrack features a few songs from OTL Final Fantasy IX and a few more from Final Fantasy X, though by now, butterflies and differences between TTL's game and OTL's games would ensure that about 2/3rds of the soundtrack is entirely original TTL. The three most notable songs that make the leap from OTL to TTL are all three lyrical songs from both games: "Melodies Of Life" (performed in the North American version by Deedee Magno, rather than Emiko Shiratori as IOTL) is the main lyrical song of the game, and numerous motifs involving its melody appear in the game's score. "Suteki da ne" is the game's main love theme, though it's performed in English in this game as "Isn't It Beautiful?", and "Otherworld" appears in both the opening cutscene (depicting the apocalyptic war that destroyed civilization) and the final boss battle, as it did in OTL's Final Fantasy X. There is a fourth lyrical theme in the game, completely original TTL, called "The Dying Call", which appears during certain game sequences. Other Final Fantasy IX OTL songs that appear at certain points in the game are the Freya/Burmecia motif (appearing as Julia's character theme), the Theme of the Hunt, the OTL Final Fantasy IX boss theme, and a variation of Kuja's theme/Wicked Melody, while OTL Final Fantasy X tracks that appear include the Moonflow theme, the Luca theme, the Thunder Plains theme, and Auron's theme (as the character theme for Avaric). The game features an all-star voice cast (at least as far as the voice acting world goes), and is considered one of the best voice acted games to date, as by this point Squaresoft has been using voice acting in its games for nearly six years.

The game features eight playable characters and numerous other major NPCs. The main characters in the game are:

Scav: A fairly carefree scrapper who's become a bit of a cynic, he scrapes out a living hunting for treasures and relics of the past. He's sort of this game's equivalent of Zidane, though he's a bit less excitable and he uses a longsword instead of a dagger. He's voiced by Josh Keaton.

Emia: A mysterious young woman from beyond the wasteland who has lost her memory, but holds a great power: the ability to summon and use white magic. She's this game's equivalent of Garnet, if a bit more demure. She's voiced by Kellie Martin.

Ifeni: A very spunky young woman who is exceptionally good at swimming and treasure hunting. She's not like anyone in OTL Final Fantasy IX but instead has more in common with OTL Rikku from Final Fantasy X. She's a kind of hybrid blue mage/alchemist, able to learn enemy attacks and also to mix up chemicals. She's voiced by Tara Strong.

Moku: Moku is a Moogle, one of the last survivors of the Moogle race nearly brought to extinction by humans. He's a sort of hybrid of Vivi from OTL Final Fantasy IX and Mog from Final Fantasy VI in terms of personality. He wields black magic, and like most members of the Moogle clan, doesn't hold a grudge against humans. He's voiced by Debi Derryberry.

Beckman: Beckman is a tall, strong soldier with a mysterious past. He works as a bodyguard for travelers crossing the wastes. He's a bit like OTL Steiner, though he's much more calm and world weary, a sort of hybrid Steiner/Auron type character who fights with a giant greatsword. He's voiced by John DiMaggio.

Lani: The character most like her Final Fantasy IX counterpart, Lani shares a name and largely a personality with the OTL Final Fantasy IX bounty hunter who tries to kill Zidane and capture Garnet in that version of the game. She starts out trying to hunt down the heroes but eventually renounces her selfish ways and comes to join them. She's a thief-type character, wielding a dagger, with the ability to steal from foes. She's voiced by Wendee Lee.

Avaric: Avaric has a good deal in common with the OTL Amarant, wielding claws in battle and starting out, like Lani, as a rogue who holds a grudge against the party, though his reasons are somewhat different than those of Amarant (and he doesn't work with Lani in this game). He's voiced by Skip Stellrecht.

Julia: A dragoon with a tragic past, she's much like OTL Freya, though unlike IOTL, she's fully human (unlike Freya who was a rat-like Burmecian). Julia seems to know a great deal about the civilization that came before, despite the fact that it fell 200 years prior to the events of the game. She's voiced by Laura Chapman.

Major NPCs include:

Cid: Cid is the leader of a pack of Mad Max-like scavengers who troll the wastelands, searching for scrap. Though scary at first, Cid ultimately has a heart of gold, and becomes a valuable ally to the heroes. He's voiced by Michael McShane, who voiced the OTL Final Fantasy X Cid and largely uses the same voice for this one.

Garland: The mysterious and powerful leader of the Arc Remnant, Garland is a sinister figure to behold and may have been alive at the time of civilization's collapse. He is voiced by Robert Carlyle (who is probably the biggest celebrity to date to perform a voice in a Final Fantasy game ITTL).

Gogai: Gogai is Garland's main enforcer, a huge man in an imposing set of armor. He speaks little but holds immense power and is considered the leader of the Arc Remnant army. He is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.

Vela: Vela is Gogai's companion. He is much smaller in stature and knows a great deal of magic. He holds a mysterious connection to Emia, and when he and Gogai are together, he does much of the speaking. As it turns out, Vela is the game's primary villain, playing a similar role to Kuja in OTL's Final Fantasy IX. He's voiced by Pablo Schreiber (in his first professional acting role).

Syrene: Syrene is the leader of the Crystal Keepers, a group devoted to protecting the crystal from human influence. She's an extremist, going to great lengths to protect the natural world, and plays enemy to both Scav and the Arc Remnant during the course of the game. She's voiced by Mary Kay Bergman.

Ajale: Queen Ajale is the leader of the Faradian Kingdom, an old remnant nation seeking to reclaim its past glory. She assists the heroes during their quest, but has her own ulterior motives for doing so. She is voiced by Cree Summer.

Baker: Baker is an extremely eccentric old tinkerer who meets the heroes at several points during their quest. He's Ifeni's father (though she doesn't find that out until later) and a genuinely kind fellow, if extremely loopy. He's voiced by John DiMaggio.

There are dozens of factions trying to carve out power in the world, but the five main ones are as follows:

Arc Remnant: The most notable and the most dangerous, the Arc Remnant is what remains of the most powerful civilization from before civilization's collapse. During the war, their evil leaders took shelter underground, and after the destruction, emerged to rule over what was left. They've rebuilt a powerful nation and use their armies to terrorize potential conquests. They are led by the dangerous Garland and his mighty lieutenants.

Scavengers: These are treasure hunters who mostly operate in the southern wastes. They're led by Cid, and though they seem dangerous, they have a code of honor and try their best to protect the weak and innocent.

Crystal Keepers: A sort of ecoterrorist group, the Crystal Keepers are led by Syrene, and they use their powerful magic to strike at those who they see as threats to the world's new, natural order.

Faradian Kingdom: A kingdom in the west and probably the world's second most powerful group, they were the only ones besides the Arc Remnant to keep an appreciable amount their territory after the war. Led by Queen Ajale, they are mostly benevolent, not trying to conquer but simply trying to keep what they have.

Assassins: A group hidden in the shadows, with mysterious motives. They strike without warning, killing seemingly randomly, but their goals are hidden and unable to know. Julia used to work with them, and perhaps she still does...

As for the game's plot, you start out as Scav, hanging out with a group of fellow scrappers and exploring an old junkyard just outside the wastelands. Eventually, Scav meets Emia, passed out near the wastelands entrance. He and his friends nurse her back to health, and this is what starts off Scav's heroic journey. The girl is amnesiac and doesn't know why she crossed the wastes. As Scav and Emia talk, one of Scav's friends returns from the wastelands, badly injured. He claims some Remnant soldiers came for the girl. Scav and Emia go and fight the soldiers and the monster they've brought with them, the monster, a large chained-up dog, is the game's first boss fight. Scav decides he wants to help Emia find out who she really is, and they set out across the Wastelands to find the answer. The next portion of the game takes place here, in the small towns and dungeons that make up the Wastelands. Cid is met here, though at first, it's not clear whether he's friend or foe, as Scav and Emia are briefly taken prisoner by his flunkies before escaping. Eventually, Cid befriends the pair, and Emia gets her first memories back...she tells Scav that they need to find the four Crystals. Scav is skeptical, but he agrees to do so, as the Water Crystal is said to be just past the Wastelands. The next portion of the game takes place in the area surrounding the large lake where the Water Crystal is located. Here, the party meets Ifeni, Moka, and Beckman for the first time, though Beckman and Moka join only for brief portions of this part of the game. Once the Water Crystal is found, the next part of the game involves the search for the Earth Crystal, in a large mountain surrounded by hanging cliffside towns. It's during this part of the game that the party runs into a number of factions for the first time, including the Crystal Keepers and the Assassins. It's also here that Lani and Avaric are met for the first time, though they won't join permanently until later on in the game. Julia is also met around this time, after helping the party fend off one of Lani's attacks. Once the Earth Crystal is collected, the party must find some method of sea transport if they are to claim the Fire Crystal, which lies in a great volcano across the sea. The collection of the Fire Crystal is the first major climax in the game, where the party encounters Gogai and Vela for the first time (and gets their asses kicked by Gogai, in similar fashion to how the party is beaten by Beatrix in OTL's game). Despite Gogai and Vela's power, the party is able to escape with their three crystals, and as Disc 1 ends, the hunt for the Wind Crystal begins.

The first half of Disc 2 concerns the search for the Wind Crystal, and during this part of the game, both the Crystal Keepers and the Faradian Kingdom become very significant. Moku returns to his home, but he is rejected by militant Moogles who have fallen in with Syrene. Syrene is attempting to lead her forces in an attack on the Faradian Kingdom, which seeks to find the Wind Crystal to use as a weapon. The party must resolve these various entanglements if they are to have a chance to claim the crystal they need. During this time, Lani joins the party permanently, becoming the sixth permanent member (at this point, Scav, Emia, Moku, Ifeni, Beckman, and Lani are in the party, leaving only Julia, who left at the beginning of Disc 2, and Avaric, who won't join until late in Disc 2, as the only holdouts). Eventually, the Wind Crystal is claimed. During the course of gathering this final crystal, Ajale betrays the party, making the Faradian Kingdom an enemy. However, Syrene eventually comes to see the party, particularly Moku, as allies, and draws back her militant stance. She will become a valuable ally for the remainder of the disc. After the party gathers the Wind Crystal (during which time Avaric joins the party), Emia, who has more of her memories back but not everything, guides them to the Tree of Life (this game's analogue to OTL's Iifa Tree), where the four Crystals can be used to restore the world. There's not much time to do so, as a dramatic battle between Arc Remnant forces and the Faradian Kingdom demonstrates: the kingdom and Ajale are completely wiped out in a spectacular battle, where Vela demonstrates his ability to summon for the first time, shocking the party (especially Emia, who thought that she was the last summoner). The party climbs the Tree of Life, which is besieged by Garland's army. Just when it seems that the party will be killed, Syrene leads a grand army of Moogles into battle, giving the heroes the time they need to ascend the tree. Gogai and Syrene do battle, but eventually, Gogai smites Syrene from the sky, killing her. The heroes reach the top of the Tree, but the Crystals fail to activate... and then, Vela appears. After a boss battle which the heroes win, Vela reveals he was holding back, and defeats them easily. He abducts Emia, but not before revealing that he is her older brother. Then, he takes the Crystals. The defeated heroes barely make it out with their lives, and Disc 2 comes to a close.

As Disc 3 begins, the immediate concern the heroes have is rescuing Emia from the Arc Remnant's clutches. In order to do that, they'll need an airship, and after a brief quest, Cid and Ifeni are able to cobble one together. During this time, Julia rejoins the party, and reveals some of the secrets of the Assassins and why she is so knowledgeable about the past: Julia was put under a stasis spell at the time of the apocalypse. She was the most skilled Assassin, and they wished to make her their leader in the future to ensure that the group could continue to be strong. She did not agree to the procedure (which is why she now despises the Assassins), and because she's 200 years displaced in time, has lost everyone she ever loved. Despite this, she and the current leader of the Assassins have buried the hatchet, and the heroes can count on their help for the rest of the game (the reason Julia made peace with the Assassins is revealed in dialogue throughout Discs 2 and 3, essentially, the new leader learned of what happened to Julia and was disgusted with it, and spent a good portion of the game trying to atone from afar). The Assassins help the heroes sneak into where Emia is being held, though after she is rescued, she is in somewhat of a catatonic state, and must be taken to the Shrine of the Summoners to recuperate. More secrets are revealed during this part of the game, including Beckman's past (he and Gogai are of a similar nature, warriors grafted into powerful suits via magical technology, Beckman was considered a defect and the procedure on him was incomplete, he was scheduled to be disposed of but was smuggled out by a sympathetic female scientist NPC who becomes Beckman's love interest, while Gogai took to the procedure with vigor and became the perfect soldier). After a lengthy quest and some long flashbacks, in which Emia's memories are completely revealed, Emia finally regains her senses. She and Scav acknowledge their feelings in a heartwarming CGI cutscene set to "Isn't It Beautiful?". The party's new goal is to confront the Arc Remnant and prevent them from using the power of the four Crystals to destroy the world. There are a couple more dungeons before the climactic confrontation, including a boss battle with Gogai where the party is finally able to defeat him (and Beckman gets through to him a bit, though Gogai is still loyal to Garland and he flees with his soldiers afterwards). Finally, the party makes it to Remnant Castle, a structure rebuilt from the old palace of the ruling civilization from 200 years before. It's a hodge-podge of scrap metal and technology, a sort of 3-D take on Kefka's Tower from Final Fantasy VI. Eventually, the heroes reach the top and battle Garland, who tries to turn the crystals on the party after he is defeated, only to be struck down by Vela, who says that he has another use for them. Gogai turns on Vela, but Vela uses the Crystals' power to hijack Gogai's technological armor, turning him on the heroes in one last savage battle in which the heroes are forced to take him down as well. Vela departs with the Crystals, but not before summoning Bahamut to destroy the Arc Remnant capital city, slaughtering thousands of people. Emia realizes what Vela is planning. It's here that we learn of Emia's entire past, something alluded to throughout the story (by characters like Julia, who witnessed some of it).

Emia and Vela are the last of a race of summoners, who lived 200 years before. Garland, the ruler of a nation known as Arcanum, and master of a floating fortress known as the Arc, led a great war of conquest against humanity. He had learned the secret of immortality (from aging, not from injury), and once he had gained it, set out to begin rule over an eternal empire. Only the summoners had enough power to stop him, and for this reason, all the summoners were rounded up and slaughtered. Vela and Emia's father, a summoner named Malos, agreed to aid Garland in rounding up his fellow summoners in exchange for a place of power at Garland's side. Vela and Emia's mother, a scientist named Kayla, disagreed with her husband and spirited her two children away to hide them. She had been working on a hidden project named Avernus, a machine powerful enough to defeat Garland. However, it needed a power source, and the only thing powerful enough to provide that power was the four ancient Crystals. She told her children of this plan, but before she and her fellow scientists could finish the machine, Garland's men attacked. After Kayla left, Malos told Garland of her treachery and that she should be killed. When Garland's men arrived, Kayla was killed, while Vela and Emia were chased into a corner. Just as Garland's men prepared to kill them, Emia's summoning powers awoke and she summoned Atomos, the summoned beast of time. Atomos' powers aged Garland's men into dust, while propelling Emia and Vela 190 years into the future. Emia immediately lost her memories, with only her mother's instructions to find the crystals etched into her mind. Vela set out to find Garland to get his revenge, but realized that he didn't have the power to do so, and instead ingratiated himself to Garland just as his father Malos had done. Vela earned Garland's trust, though Garland made sure his strongest warrior Gogai was with him at all times to keep him in check. But once the heroes had weakened Garland, Vela was able to take the opportunity to kill him and take the Crystals for himself. Now, Vela seeks to activate Avernus. Unlike Emia, whose heart was full of forgiveness and compassion, Vela's heart has grown full of hatred and vengeance, and he wishes to use Avernus to destroy the world (the circumstances surrounding Vela and Avernus are not unlike those surrounding Shuyin and Vegnagun in OTL Final Fantasy X-2, which shares some of its writing staff with TTL Final Fantasy IX). Vela starts out by raising the Arc, which causes an enormous earthquake as the massive buried structure lifts up from the ground. The heroes fly to it on their airship. The Arc is the game's final dungeon, and it has been twisted by Vela's evil influence on the four Crystals. The heroes must battle a number of bosses on their way through the dungeon, including the classic Four Fiends: Kraken, Marilith, Lich, and Tiamat, on their way to battle Vela himself. The heroes first battle Vela himself, then Bahamut fused with Vela. But afterward, Vela does the unthinkable: he uses the Crystals to activate Avernus. However, the machine has a mind of its own, and overpowers Vela's control before turning on the heroes. The battle against Avernus is extremely difficult, just to make it vulnerable they must disable its four Drives, named after the Four Fiends, each of which grant it a separate power and bear a decent supply of HP. Once the Drives are knocked out, Avernus itself can be attacked, though the Drives re-activate with time, forcing the party to knock them out when they do. Finally, Avernus is destroyed, but it is still determined to turn its power on the world. Emia convinces Vela to help them stop Avernus, but the heroes realize that someone must stay behind to make sure the machine is shut down for good. Like Kuja in OTL Final Fantasy IX, Vela sacrifices himself to undo the damage he has done, while the other heroes escape with the Crystals. With Avernus gone and the threat to the world ended, the heroes use the Crystals to restore the world to its pre-apocalyptic state. Though most of the fallen civilization's technology is still gone, the world will now flourish, and human civilization no longer has to fight over scraps to survive. "Melodies Of Life" plays over the final cutscene and the ending credits.

Final Fantasy IX receives excellent reviews from critics, and is considered, along with Chrono Infinite, to be one of the year's top two RPGs. Chrono Infinite is SLIGHTLY better reviewed, though Final Fantasy IX wins the overall sales battle. It's a little less successful than Final Fantasy VIII, though it's still a massive hit and maintains the Final Fantasy series' reputation as one of gaming's top franchises. After Final Fantasy IX, Hironobu Sakaguchi turns his attention toward the Nintendo Wave, where the next Final Fantasy mainline game and, later, its first ever online game, will be released.

 

[RySenkari]

Top Ten Grossing Films Of The Last Three Months Of 2001: (films that debuted in North America between October-December 2001, North American box office receipts only)

#1: Captain America ($340 million)

Easily the most successful superhero film since 1989's Batman, Captain America was able to capitalize on the patriotic fervor in the United States after 9/11. It not only became the first film to make $100 million in its opening weekend, it ended up being the top domestic grossing film of the year, and the film with the highest domestic gross since Star Wars Episode I.

#2: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ($325 million)

Based on the first Harry Potter book, this movie was a special-effects laden fantasy spectacular that became the highest worldwide grossing film of the year and in terms of domestic box office, finished a close second to Captain America in both opening weekend gross and total domestic gross.

#3: The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring ($280 million)

Peter Jackson's epic adaptation of the Tolkien classic starred Elijah Wood and Sean Astin as the hobbits Frodo and Sam, who must take the One Ring up the slopes of Mt. Doom. Christopher Plummer played their friend, Gandalf the Grey, and Viggo Mortensen played the rogue Strider, who turns out to be Aragorn, heir to the throne of Gondor. The film didn't do quite as well as Harry Potter, but is still considered to be one of the most successful films of the year. The critically acclaimed score was performed by Jeremy Soule, who had previously worked only on video game soundtracks.

#4: Monsters, Inc. ($225 million)

Pixar's hit CGI animated film about a pair of monsters who work for a scaring factory faced stiff competition in the form of Harry Potter and a pair of 2-D animated films, but still managed to scare up over $200 million domestically.

#5: Ocean's Eleven ($210 million)

This star-studded heist film starring George Clooney made some serious bank at the box office. In a holiday season huge for family films and fantasy epics, this was the most "grown up" film of the season, and adults flocked to see it in big numbers.

#6: The Snow Queen ($165 million)

This 2-D animated musical based on the classic fairytale about an evil snow queen who kidnaps a young boy named Kai was Disney's most successful animated film since Pocahontas. With acclaimed performances by Megan Mullally as the voice of the Snow Queen and newcomer Daveigh Chase as the voice of Kai's friend Gerda, the film was Disney's biggest critical success since The Lion King, raising the bar for next year's Treasure Island.

#7: A Beautiful Mind ($160 million)

Starring Russell Crowe as famed mathematician John Nash, who is brilliant but struggles with mental illness, this was the year's biggest Oscar contender, and one of the best acclaimed movies of the year.

#8: Saint Nick ($125 million)

Warner Brothers' first animated film since The Iron Giant, this movie tells the story of a young man named Nicholas (voiced by Carmine Giovinazzo) who lives in early 18th century Europe and devotes his time and energy to helping destitute orphans. Eventually, Nicholas stumbles upon a magical secret and becomes the legendary Santa Claus. Though not as critically acclaimed as The Iron Giant, it's still considered a good movie and does very well with families throughout the Christmas season.

#9: Turok: Dinosaur Hunter ($110 million)

Based on the video game franchise, this film tells the story of Joshua Fireseed (played by Brandon Lee) who becomes the legendary warrior Turok and must save a mystical realm from being taken over by a warlord called the Campaigner. Though a mediocre film, Lee is a very popular actor (based on his work in The Matrix and a couple of other action films in 1999 and 2000), and the special effects are solid. It's not as successful as the summer's Tomb Raider film, but does beat out Nicolas Cage's Ballistic Limit 2, which is somewhat of a flop, only grossing $65 million domestically.

#10: Frontier Show ($105 million)

The year's other big Best Picture contender, Frontier Show is a dramedy about the beginning of the career of Buffalo Bill Cody (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), focusing heavily on his friendship with Wild Bill Hickok (played by John Cusack). It's DiCaprio's first truly acclaimed role, and gets him a Best Actor nomination.

 

[RySenkari]

Alex Stansfield: So when was the first time you met Charles Hirschhorn?

Ted Crosley: Well, let's see, that would be, um... I'd say...1995? Right before GameTV started. He was scouting talent for Disney, which is where he worked at the time, doing their shows. And he got in touch with me because he wanted to give me a job on the Disney Channel. This was...this was before a lot of people knew about GameTV.

Alex: Ha ha, so what did he say when you told him?

Ted: I said, uh, "I'm flattered, sounds great, but MTV just offered me a really great job and I have to turn you down." I mean, he took it well. He gave me his card, we stayed in touch, he got me some voiceover auditions. So we were business acquaintances for a long time before G4 started.

Alex: And how soon after-

Ted: The day. THE DAY! *laughing* The day after we went and did our final show...

Alex: He called you.

Ted: I get a call, in the morning, I'm sitting there eating scrambled eggs and pancakes and I get a call. I'm thinking, "oh, one of my buddies giving condolences about the show", you know. No. It's Chuck.

Alex: Was he pitching G4 to you then?

Ted: No, no no no no. That wasn't until 2001. That call, he just says, "if you ever need a job, you know, you call me." And I told him, I really wanted to get back into doing video games again. And he said he'd see what he could do.

Alex: *nodding, smiling* That's when it began, man.

Ted: *smiling* That's when it all began.

-from "Ted On Ted: Two Hours With The Guy I Spent Five Years Arguing With", a video posted on Gamesovermatter.com on July 16, 2015

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"Oh, no, we're much different. This isn't GameTV: The Network, though obviously they did pave the way, and MTV's style was a huge inspiration. But this is a network for gamers, by gamers. We've brought in some incredibly talented, incredibly passionate people, and it's going to be nonstop video games. The very first network devoted entirely to games. Ted went out and got a lot of the talent. He pitched a lot of the ideas, but he's just one part of a huge effort by many, many people to put the best possible network on your television screen. G4 is a gamer's paradise."
-Charles Hirschhorn, discussing the new G4 Network in an interview segment on Headline News, November 30, 2001

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The G4 television network launched on December 3, 2001 (about five months earlier than it did IOTL). The network launched as a digital premium cable channel on Comcast and other television services. Like OTL's G4 network, it was founded and headed by Charles Hirschhorn, a television executive who'd previously worked for Disney. Among the people he hired to help him start the network was Ted Crosley, host of MTV's GameTV program from 1995-2000. Crosley was a major driving force in talent and content on the network, brought in by Hirschhorn because of GameTV's success and because Crosley knew what gamers wanted in a television network. Among the things Crosley did when he began working on G4 was to insist that the network, from day one, feature reality-based programming, which had become a growing force on television at the time due to the success of shows like The Real World and Survivor.

-

Ted: The Real World. You remember, right? The producers on MTV, that's one of the shows they said we were competing with for ratings. Like, we're this much above The Real World, or this much below it.

Alex: Yeah, I came to hate those guys.

Ted: The producers or The Real World cast?

Alex: Sometimes both.

Ted: *laughing* But yeah, I told Chuck, you know, "reality is big. It's gonna bring in the ratings more than any game footage we could show. People don't want to sit around and watch some guy play a video game for five hours straight."

Alex: You were wrong about that one though.

Ted: Nobody call Kewprix coming. If I'd seen Kewprix coming I'd be rich.

Alex: Aren't you already...

Ted: Richer. I might be as rich as you. *laughs* But back then, in 2001, nobody saw that coming. Back then, nobody wanted to watch somebody play a video game that long. They wanted to watch real people, and with The Pitch and The Crunch, that's what we gave them.

-from "Ted On Ted: Two Hours With The Guy I Spent Five Years Arguing With", a video posted on Gamesovermatter.com on July 16, 2015

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The initial G4 lineup consisted of 12 shows. Many aired new episodes daily, at least in the first few months, though others aired new episodes weekly. Six are from G4's OTL lineup, six are original TTL.

Filter: A top ten show where a host counts down the ten best (or sometimes worst) games in any category, ranked by viewers on the G4 website. In OTL, this show was hosted by Diane Mizota. ITTL, Ted Crosley initially tried to get Brittany Saldita to host the show, but between her anchor duties on KABC and her new baby, she was unable to accept the job. It would go to young comedienne Janet Varney, who hosted the show from 2001-2006.

Judgment Day: A show where two hosts go back and forth discussing the merits of new games before giving them a 1-10 rating. Another show from OTL, it was hosted IOTL by Victor Lucas and Tommy Tallarico. ITTL, Crosley recruits his old co-host Alex Stansfield to host the show along with Lucas.

Cinematech: Probably the closest TTL G4 show to its OTL counterpart, Cinematech showcases cutscenes and game trailers, with no narration or commentary in-between.

Portal: A show that showcases online multiplayer titles, but mixes commentary with comedy and machinima, it too is quite similar to its OTL counterpart, hosted by Dave Meinstein as IOTL.

Sweat: A show that features sports game news and strategy, Sweat is quite similar to its OTL counterpart also, though it has an increased focus on extreme sports titles, and also features a number of guest star appearances from athletes, occasionally hosting specials where athletes compete against G4 staff.

Blister: A show that specializes in action/adventure games, Blister is one of the more straight-forward shows on G4, and is co-hosted by Bill Sindelar (the show's OTL host) and Ted Crosley.

Apart from these six OTL shows, there are also six original shows:

G4 Weekly News: A weekly show focused on news from the game industry, it's somewhat like OTL's show Pulse, though it has a bit more of a GameTV feel to it, with sketches and on-site interviews with industry professionals. One of the most well-known and highly regarded shows on the network, it's still going as of TTL 2016, and has covered a number of serious issues in the game industry. One of the show's most notable alumna is Mindy Kaling, who co-anchored the show from late 2002-early 2005 before leaving to focus on comedy writing.

Guide: An hour-long show that gives tips and tricks for various games. It has elements of OTL's Cheat, but focuses more on general game strategy than on cheat codes. There are episodes that are entirely devoted to doing a walkthrough for a single game.

Epic: A show focused on RPG coverage, in the same was that Blister focuses on action/adventure coverage. One of the first of G4's original lineup to be canceled, it ends in 2003 due to a lot of its subject matter (particularly MMORPGs) is distributed amongst other shows.

Showdown: Focused on offline multiplayer, with tips and tricks, and occasional battles between the show's hosts. Gives tournament tips as well, and begins to cover game tournaments later on.

The Pitch: One of G4's original two reality shows, The Pitch follows ten teams as they attempt to pitch an idea to a game studio. Once a week, a team is eliminated, until only one team remains. That team gets to work with a game company to produce their pitch into an actual game. More than one highly acclaimed and successful game would be launched by this show.

The Crunch: A reality show that goes in-depth with game companies and covers the process of making an actual game. Needless to say, most major game companies do not want to be featured on this show, but a few of the smaller ones did volunteer. This show brings the term "crunch" into the mainstream, highlighting the intense struggles that game developers endure during the game production process and the toll it can take on families and health. This show wins producer Ted Crosley a Peabody Award in 2008.

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Other shows that would debut on G4 later on include:

Icons: A show from OTL that gives biographies of famous game industry figures, Icons would premiere in 2002.

Focus: An hour-long show that gives attention to unusual aspects of game culture, such as obscure games, little-known issues, and other strange but interesting aspects of all things video game related. Hosted by a succession of quirky presenters, it becomes one of the network's most popular shows.

Multiplayer Mode: A reality competition show that pits teams of gamers against one another in season-long challenges, where they are given a game to play in advance and then a short period to practice that game. The winning team collects $200,000 and the title of Gamer Gods for that season.

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December 3, 2001

The sound of cheers, clinking glasses, and conversation echoed throughout the Santa Monica Buffalo Wild Wings, where Charles Hirschhorn, Ted Crosley, Alex Stansfield, and numerous other G4 personalities had gathered to watch the first night of programming and celebrate the network's future success.

"Nobody's asking to change the channel, that's a start," said Stansfield, taking a small sip of beer.

"That's because I'm paying them five hundred bucks to put this on instead of the Laker game," said Hirschhorn with a laugh.

"Wait, there's a Lakers game on?" asked Crosley. "Change it, change it!"

"Don't you cheer for the Nets?" Stansfield said, lightly elbowing his former co-host in the ribs.

"Yeah, but they suck this year," Crosley groaned. "Curry sucks, the whole damn team sucks. Sucked ever since Petrovic went to Greece. I bet Gary's having a blast though, the Blazers are still undefeated!"

"They're getting their asses kicked by the Lakers right now," said Bill Sindelar, stealing a glance at one of the TVs across the restaurant. "I almost got tickets for that game, but they wanted like 80 bucks for nosebleed seats."

As Filter host Janet Varney counted down the top ten Super Nintendo CD games on the screen, a familiar person approached the table.

"Okay, I call bullshit on #7, Tale Phantasia should be higher," said Stansfield.

"Damn right it should," came a familiar voice. Ted and Alex looked up to see Brittany Saldita standing near the table smiling at them. "Bad sign for your little network, the fans all have terrible taste."

"Hey, this is a private party, news lady," Crosley joked, before giving his friend a huge smile and reaching out to hug her. "How's it going?"

"Just stopped by on the way home to see how you guys are doing," Saldita replied. "Don't worry, I DVRed the whole day, I'll watch it when I get home. Think I'll skip this show though if they're not even right about what the best SNES-CD game is."

"Oh, a DVR, fancy," said Crosley as Saldita sat down between her two former co-hosts. "How's Arturo?"

"We tried so hard to get him to walk, now he won't stop," said Saldita, shaking her head. "You can't leave him out of his pen, he'll knock stuff over."

"Ha! My mom says I was a naughty baby just like that," said Stansfield nostalgically. "She couldn't leave anything out."

"Oh yeah, found that out the hard way when he broke two of my old Super Nintendo CD discs."

"Ouch, did you lose anything good?" asked Sindelar.

"Not really. Primal Rage and The Swarm. No big deal, I'm just glad he didn't get into anything that would hurt him. We bought a ton of those childproof locks and locked everything up. The games are secure!"

The three friends chatted for about half an hour before Saldita had to go. She departed, and the party continued on until sometime past ten o'clock, when the programming began to repeat. Hirschhorn and Crosley were the last two left. They left a massive tip for the waiters before getting up and heading for the door.

"We did it," said Hirschhorn, shaking Crosley's hand. "And we couldn't have done it without you."

"Hey, you gave me my dream back and don't forget it," said Crosley, a look of gratitude on his face. "I can't wait to see how far this network goes."

 

[RySenkari]

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

Ultra Nintendo-

Sarasvati

A puzzle platformer developed by Fumito Ueda, Sarasvati is TTL's equivalent to OTL's Ico. It takes place in an enormous maze cave full of puzzles, hidden chambers, and shadow creatures. Unlike Ico, in which the protagonist must guide a young girl, here, the main character, a young girl named Sarasvati, is completely alone as she journeys through the maze. Despite this, she is guided by spiritual beings based on the Hindu goddesses Parvati and Lakshmi, who guide the young girl on her journey. As she makes it through the maze, it reorganizes itself into different mazes. Sometimes, Sarasvati must re-visit segments of the maze that have become something entirely different, in order to reach new areas. Though the game does feature some combat, it's very basic and infrequent, with most of the game revolving around the puzzles that Sarasvati solves along the way. As she makes her way through the maze, she accumulates knowledge about her past and the world around her by finding ancient hidden tomes. As she finds them, we see more of her backstory unfold. The game draws heavily from Hindu beliefs, with Sarasvati's mysterious power based on knowledge and rebirth. The more she learns, the more she changes the world around her, though she does not know it at first. By the time she reaches the end of her journey, she has the power to rearrange the entire world, but because of what she's learned on her quest, she chooses instead to simply go home and live out a normal life. The game is revered by critics for its intuitive puzzles and excellent graphics (by Ultra Nintendo standards, though obviously not as good as OTL's Ico). But, like Ico, it's somewhat of a commercial disappointment. Sales are marginally decent, but certainly not the blockbuster sales that would be expected of something so critically beloved.

Fallout 2

Black Isle's post-apocalyptic RPG from 1998 is ported to the Ultra Nintendo in 2001, amidst some fanfare, though not to the degree that one might expect of such a popular PC game. It comes to the Ultra mostly intact, with none of its content censored. Despite the quality of the port, sales are fairly mediocre, though it is regarded as one of the Ultra's best RPGs of 2001. Black Isle considers porting the game to the Xbox later on, but decides instead to wait for future series installments to introduce Xbox (and possibly Katana) players to the series for the first time.

Hey You, Pikachu!

This is a Pokemon-based voice recognition game where the player befriends and plays with their very own Pikachu. Like OTL's game, it includes a microphone accessory that the player uses to say voice commands and other things to Pikachu. Thanks to the increased space of the optical Ultra Nintendo discs, this game has about three times as many commands and numerous additional activities to OTL's game, with the most notable addition being the ability to level up Pikachu and take him into battle. It's generally better received than OTL's game (which was decent enough on its own), and sales are fairly strong, making it another of Nintendo's major holiday releases.

Runner Mike: Cult Of Shadows

The second game in the action/adventure series created by Activision and written by Dan Brown, this sequel has Professor Michael Shannon, AKA Runner Mike, going to Europe to investigate a strange cult based on the ancient Druids. Though the cult seems dangerous and suspicious at first, it's discovered that the cult isn't a cult at all, it's a society of educated professors who are trying to assemble Druid documents and treasures in order to prevent a truly dangerous event from taking place, and Mike must team up with them to save the world (it's a case of Dan Brown trying to bust common Druid myths, though, in typical Dan Brown fashion, he does take a good number of liberties with historical facts). Though the gameplay takes a bit of a back seat to the plot, and is once again considered to be generally inferior to games like Tomb Raider, the game is still considered quite good, and sells even better than the original, making it one of the biggest Ultra Nintendo titles of the holiday season.

Frequency

Created by Harmonix, Frequency is a rhythm title where players have to move rapidly from node to node, activating the correct nodes and assembling a musical song piece by piece. It's largely similar to OTL's game, though many songs (more than half) are completely different from the songs that appear IOTL. It's another well reviewed game that becomes somewhat of a sales disappointment, though it performs well enough to get a sequel on the Wave later on.

Tsugunai: Atonement

Localized by Working Designs, this RPG is perhaps best known for its critically acclaimed score by Yasunori Mitsuda, of Chrono Trigger fame. The localization is fairly mediocre, though Working Designs does release a very nice premium package for the game with a decent amount of swag included. It sells very poorly, even in Japan, and is seen as one of the biggest flops in the history of Working Designs, losing the company so much money that it would cause a delay in the release of Lufia: Bride Of Starlight in 2002.

Starboy And The Light Bringers

A very generic 3-D platformer about a young superhero named Starboy and his team of followers known as the Light Bringers, who journey from planet to planet re-activating nodes of light to bring hope and peace to the people. This game is actually hyped quite a bit prior to its release. It's thought of as being the Ultra Nintendo's response to Aerio on the Sega Katana, and is expected to be one of the top selling Ultra Nintendo games of the holiday season. But it's released into a very crowded November, and reviews are significantly worse than expected. The gameplay is said to be very generic and boring, the controls are shoddy, and the voice acting, which was done on a low budget, is considered to be quite bad. Starboy is a flop and one of the year's biggest disappointments, though other Ultra Nintendo games do manage to pick up the slack, and the game's failure largely paves the way for Ice Climbers and Kirby's Caverns to be major holiday sales successes for Nintendo.

Graviton Knights

Released in the midst of declining fortunes for Telenet Japan, Graviton Knights is a JRPG largely seen as saving the company in the meager years after Tale Illumina. It's a fairly traditional RPG, with turn-based combat instead of Tale-like action gameplay. Despite the rather generic nature of the game, the music, characters, and storyline are all highly regarded. The game has a light-hearted plot, about a group of young adventurers who become knights in the service of a benevolent prince. When the Knights are framed for a terrible crime, the prince comes to their defense, only to be deposed in a coup, and it's the knights and their prince against the world, though even amidst the circumstances, the plot retains a good deal of brevity, with things never getting too dark. While the game's sales are only mediocre in North America, it's a success in Japan, and Telenet Japan largely becomes an RPG-focused company going forward.

Night Terrors

A horror game set in the mid 19th century, Night Terrors combines Gothic horror with a bit of cosmic horror. It stars a woman named Magda, who is locked away in an asylum that is rapidly overwhelmed with terrifying creatures. She is aided by an asylum orderly whose mind is slowly being taken over by an ancient evil. Soon after the orderly manages to free Magda, his mind degenerates to an irreversible degree, and he goes from being her savior to being her tormentor as she desperately tries to win her freedom. Sales of the game are decent, while reviews proclaim it one of the year's top horror titles.

Sega Saturn-

Shattered Arc

The final Saturn release of consequence is Enix's Shattered Arc. Released by a sort of "B-team" comprised of Enix developers and Quintet developers who weren't being utilized on Revolution Alpha, the game is a traditional-styled RPG somewhat reminiscent of The 7th Saga, in which a great futuristic colony suddenly malfunctions and crashes to a desolate planet, stranding four survivors at the far corners of the world. The game consists of five chapters, in which the four survivors each appear in separate quests. The survivors are Lucius, the captain, Elliot, a navigator, Kara, a nurse, and Nashua, a soldier. Lucius ends up stranded on an island of natives and must choose sides in their war. Elliot falls in an orphanage and must protect the children from a dangerous forest witch. Kara ends up being taken prisoner by an evil emperor, but when he falls ill, she saves his life and later comes to help him find his humanity, and Nashua falls into a river and is washed down into a society of mermaids, where he must help them defend their home from human hunters. In the fifth and final chapter, the four survivors come together along with their allies, to defend their new home against a terrible threat from outer space. The game is considered one of the best Saturn RPGs, though not quite as good as Panzer Dragoon Saga II. Like most late generation Saturn RPGs, sales are absolutely terrible, and the game is worth hundreds of dollars, even after it gets re-released on other systems later on.

Sega Katana-

Shenmue II

The Katana's most anticipated release of the holiday season, Shenmue II is the sequel to Yu Suzuki's critically acclaimed 1998 Sega Saturn title Shenmue. It's the first two disc game for the Katana, the two discs are necessary because of the game's massive open world, containing a large portion of Hong Kong along with Kowloon Walled City. The combat system is improved from the original game, which was already an improvement from OTL. Ryo Hazuki can utilize a variety of punches, kicks, and throws on his opponents, the combat system is styled like a hack-and-slash Virtua Fighter with a rudimentary experience system, so that Ryo gets stronger the more he utilizes certain moves. The game's plot borrows a great deal from OTL's title, but once again expands on OTL's plot, and once again allows Ryo to date multiple girls. Nozomi and Masuno do not return, but Kagura from TTL Shenmue does. She is joined by three additional girls, including OTL's Shenhua and Joy, and an additional original girl, Zeifa, a chain wielding gangster who's even more of a badass than Kagura. She starts out as Ryo's rival, but eventually becomes a girl who can be his love interest. The game, however, seems to focus on Shenhua a bit more than the others, as she's the most relevant to the game's plot. Like the last game, Ryo is in pursuit of his father's killer, but he runs afoul of the Yellow Head crime syndicate in the process, and must do battle with them to rescue his new friends (and whichever love interest the player decides to pursue over the course of the story). Though the main plot remains the same no matter what route Ryo takes, the events that lead him to the conclusion of the game can differ greatly. Joy's path is the most conventional, while Shenhua's path has mystical elements to it. Teaming with Zeifa will lead Ryo to perform certain missions for Yellow Head (though he will eventually betray them) while Kagura's path is the most adventurous and potentially dangerous. Whichever route Ryo takes, there are dozens of side missions, and he doesn't have to advance the main plot at all: he can get a job, train, or simply explore the city. Shenmue II is released in August 2001 in Japan and on November 22, 2001 in North America, just a week after Grand Theft Auto. The two games draw numerous comparisons to one another. Shenmue II is obviously the least controversial (it's rated Teen, and though Ryo can commit crimes, he won't murder innocent people no matter what path through the game is chosen). The plot of Shenmue II is generally considered better, while the graphics are about equal (in fact, Shenmue II's graphics are ever so slightly better). However, the sheer freedom afforded by Grand Theft Auto is considered to be the game's strongest selling point, and though Shenmue II gives the player a lot of free choice, it's still somewhat more constricting than the Xbox's anarchic exclusive. Shenmue II is still one of the best reviewed games of the year. It sells quite well in North America and is a major hit in Japan, ensuring the release of the franchise's third and final installment in 2004.

Spare Parts 2

Developed by an entirely different team than the original Spare Parts, Spare Parts 2 continues Zacki and Ella's story in the rebuilt world they helped to create following the events of the first game. The gameplay is largely similar to the first, most comparable to OTL's Ratchet and Clank series, with the two going around and battling enemies, collecting the scrap they drop and then selling it to upgrade their equipment. The game is much lighter in tone than the original, featuring a much sillier villain and set of circumstances than those of the first game. The main villain is Dr. Gearhead, a robotic mad scientist that originally existed as a brain wired to a broken down laboratory. Through sheer force of will, Gearhead reassembled himself by manipulating the cleaning robots in the lab to build him a robot body, which he can transform and swap out at will. Despite the tone of the series shifting from melancholy to silly, Spare Parts 2 is still an extremely fun game. The graphics are lively and colorful, there's a much larger variety of enemies, the voice acting is still extremely high quality (especially Tom Kenny as the voice of Dr. Gearhead, he plays him much like the Ice King in OTL Adventure Time), and the gameplay is still as addictive as the original. While it doesn't win any awards like NiGHTS' highly-acclaimed sequel did, and while it's not quite as epic as Aerio, it's still another excellent platformer for Katana owners to enjoy, and sales are extremely robust, eventually outpacing those of the Saturn original.

Super Monkey Ball

Virtually identical to the Gamecube launch title from OTL, Super Monkey Ball has the player controlling a monkey inside a transparent, rolling ball as they journey across numerous stages full of narrow paths and platforms, doing their best not to fall off. It's easy to learn but EXTREMELY hard to master, and it's just as addictive as OTL. It's a unique game that's nothing like anything on the Ultra Nintendo or Xbox at the time, and for that reason, it's a major critical and commercial hit, becoming one of the hottest games of the holiday season.

NBA 2K2

Team 2K Sports' first foray into NBA basketball on the Katana, it's a high quality game that exceeds that year's NBA Live 2002 in both graphical and gameplay quality to become one of the Katana's top sports games to date.

Rez

A music-based rail shooter, Rez is another game that comes out mostly like its OTL counterpart, utilizing sight and sound to visually wow the player as they move through a number of stages, shooting objects to make light patterns appear and to make music play. It's compared with Frequency on the Ultra Nintendo but is a much stranger and more artistic game. It's more commercially successful than IOTL due to the increased success of the Katana over the OTL Dreamcast, though it still fails to become much more than a cult classic.

Ninja Blade

A simplistic fighting game featuring ten characters, all of them ninjas of various disciplines who fight using their limbs and various weapons including shurikens and katanas. Despite the simplicity of the gameplay and the small roster, the fights are very quick and require a great amount of skill, making it popular in some tournament circles. The plot of the single player campaign, which requires a character to best all nine of their rivals before battling a difficult boss, is also praised due to the complexity of the relationships between the game's characters, with none of them being entirely good or entirely evil. Though sales pale in comparison to many other fighting titles on the Katana, it finds a decent niche and is successful enough to get sequels.

Microsoft Xbox-

Deep Black

Most major releases for the Xbox at this time are ports from the PC or from other systems, and Deep Black is the only notable Xbox exclusive post-launch in 2001. It's the most notable FPS release for the system, and designed to be both very dark and very difficult. Its protagonist is Operative 15, an agent trapped behind enemy lines in a country ruled by a ruthless drug lord. The plot gets some comparisons to Load, though Operative 15 is a much more serious character and the game overall is much more serious in tone. Operative 15 is frequently without weapons or armed very meagerly, and must steal weapons from heavily armed soldiers if he is to survive. He relies on stealth melee kills, many of which are extremely brutal, and the game's stealth elements get more difficult in every level, frequently putting Operative 15 in nearly impossible situations. It contains a positively received multiplayer mode. As the Xbox's most notable early exclusive FPS, it's considered a good game, and sales are very strong, though it obviously doesn't have the impact that Halo did IOTL.

Game Boy Nova-

Mortal Kombat Nova

A port of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, this game is a MUCH higher quality port than OTL's Mortal Kombat Advance. The graphics are arcade perfect, the blood and fatalities are completely intact, and all the characters are present. The only flaw is that the difficulty is still somewhat unbalanced, though not as frustrating as Mortal Kombat Advance, making the game still quite playable and fun. Reviews are good and sales are decent.

Gran Turismo Nova

A version of Gran Turismo specifically designed for the Nova handheld, the game features 50 cars and 14 tracks, and is considered to be one of the best looking Game Boy Nova games to be released, even long after the handheld's lifespan has ended. It's easily the best looking handheld racing game up to that point, with impressive draw distance and very realistic 3-D, almost as good looking as OTL's PS1 original. Sales and reviews are both exceptional and it's considered to be the best Nova game of 2001 by many major critics.

Victory: War For Earth

A top-down shooter that plays much like the original two Victory games for the SNES-CD, Victory: War For Earth is a prequel to the original series, where players control Jeremiah Albright, a soldier fighting in the massive world war that ravaged the Earth prior to the events of the original two games. Though the gameplay is well received, the levels are somewhat uninspired, and Jeremiah is nowhere near as compelling a hero as Nash Grieves. Still, the game's sales are strong in the wake of the reboot's success on consoles, and Capcom indicates that the original series' storyline may continue on the Nova.

Life x Death

A first-person shooter where the player is tasked with hunting down a different target each level. The targets have different personalities and attack styles, and as the game progresses, the player's true purpose becomes apparent. With better graphics than both of the Doom ports, Life x Death is considered somewhat of a technical marvel, and many of the target characters become very popular in their own right, despite all of them being killed off during the course of the game (in somewhat of the same way that many of the Hunger Games tributes cultivated fandoms despite most of them being killed off in the original book). Particularly notable are Kenneth, the target from level 10, who is probably the funniest character in the game and is clearly a good person who is wrongly targeted by the protagonists' superiors, and Jacqueline, the target from level 12, a spy who, while morally unscrupulous, is an incredibly compelling character whose entire backstory is alluded to throughout her level, and who meets a tragic end at the hands of someone other than the protagonist. Eventually, the protagonist's purpose is revealed: he's working as a cleaner for an organization that decided to burn 13 of its best spies at the exact same time in order to cover up a botched rescue mission. The protagonist decides on his own to carry out that rescue mission, while the organization he had been working for tears itself apart. Praised for its gripping story and compelling characters, and its excellent local multiplayer mode (which unfortunately few people play), it's one of the best reviewed Nova games of the year and a great seller.

Chocobo Mystery Dungeon

Developed by Chunsoft and Squaresoft in collaboration, the game is the first Mystery Dungeon game to make it to North America. ITTL, the Mystery Dungeon games were SNES-CD exclusives, with the last one released in Japan in 1999 before the series resumed on the Game Boy Nova. Chocobo Mystery Dungeon plays much like OTL: a turn-based roguelike game where players guide a chocobo and his friends through a series of deep and dangerous dungeons. The game is an unexpected hit in North America, and combined with strong Japanese sales, leads to the remainder of games in the series being localized. Like IOTL, the series would expand to Pokemon titles, and would cross over with a number of other franchises as well.

Wheelman

A version of Wheelman (the TTL version of Driver) created for the Nova, this game, like its console counterparts, has the protagonist working as a wheelman for various criminal organizations and others. The graphics are downgraded from console, but still quite impressive for the Nova, and the game plays well, though on a smaller scale with somewhat less missions.

Squad Four

A port of the original SNES-CD game, Squad Four actually features slightly better graphics than the SNES-CD version, but about 90% of the voice acting is removed from the game. The basic rail shooter/adventure gameplay remains intact, but with much of the cinematic elements gone, reviews are a bit mixed. It's still a very commercially popular port.

Fire Emblem

A port of the SNES Fire Emblem game, based on OTL's Mystery of the Emblem. The graphics are slightly enhanced from the original, with menus looking cleaner and characters looking more detailed. The game also contains extra content that was originally exclusive to the Japan-only Satellaview, adding about 25% more content to the game itself. With few major RPGs released for the Nova during this time, Fire Emblem gets a lot of hype from Nintendo and sells better in North America than the SNES game did, ensuring the localization of future Fire Emblem Nova games, including the first original Nova title, planned for 2003.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

Based on the console sequel, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 features the same improvements that the original had, though it is downgraded in some aspects, both graphically and in the number of songs that appear in the game. Still, it's Tony Hawk, it's incredibly fun, and sales are very strong.


Bomberman Nova 2

Another Nova Bomberman game, Bomberman Nova 2 features more levels, more characters, and an improved local multiplayer mode. It's a solid game, though the Bomberman formula is wearing a bit thin at this point, and sales are less than Hudson Soft expected.

Multiplatform-

Max Payne

Probably the most anticipated multiplatform title of the season, Max Payne is released in late 2001 for the Xbox and Katana (the Katana in November and the Xbox in December). Though the Xbox is a more powerful system than the Katana, Rockstar developed the game to look identical on the two consoles, most likely so as not to antagonize Katana owners who are missing out on Grand Theft Auto. The gameplay is much like OTL, retaining the familiar "bullet time" elements that made the OTL game so successful. The game's plot is a mix of OTL and original elements, and gets a lot of inspiration from the acclaimed NYPD: Narcotics Squad. Like OTL's game, Payne is framed for his best friend's murder, though unlike OTL's game, Payne has a mentor character, a grizzled former DEA officer named Sal Luchenzi who's largely based on Fred from Narcotics Squad. Luchenzi believes Payne's story about being framed, and helps him at various points during the game. Payne also comes across Mona Sax, who takes a somewhat more active role in events than she did IOTL, most notably rescuing Max after he is abducted to be tortured by the Mafia. The game's main villain is still connected to the Valkyr drug, a dangerous drug responsible for the deaths of Max's wife and infant child, but rather than being the corporate CEO Nicole Horne who is behind the game's events, it's the director of the DEA, Ralph Bellard, who is behind everything. He plans to make Valkyr become "the next crack cocaine", a drug that will lead to a massive influx of funding and power for the DEA. Luchenzi actually knew about Bellard's corruption, but rather than blow the whistle and become a target, chose instead to quietly resign, something he's regretted for years. Luchenzi ultimately sacrifices his life to protect Max during a late game mission, and Mona Sax, like IOTL's game, is shot but her body is never found (leaving her free to return for the sequel). Max Payne eventually takes down Bellard, clearing his good name and ending the threat of Valkyr. Max Payne, while not the enormous success that Grand Theft Auto was, is still a huge success on both the Xbox and the Katana, and would get a sequel in 2003.

The Sims

A port of Will Wright's PC mega-hit, The Sims comes first to the Ultra Nintendo in late 2001 in an extremely downgraded version before getting a more proper port to the Katana and Xbox in 2002 and the Wave in 2003. The Ultra Nintendo version, despite attempts by Nintendo to make the game distinct by adding Nintendo elements (in the same way they did for SimCity), is panned by critics and is a commercial flop. The Katana and Xbox versions are much better received, with the Katana version getting original characters like Sonic and Commander Keen, and the Xbox version getting enhanced customization options such as the ability to add your own music and the ability to make custom death animations for Sims.

Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2

Dave Mirra's BMX series once again graces consoles, coming to the Ultra Nintendo and Katana in October 2001 and to the Xbox in early 2002. It's considered an improvement over the original. Despite the Ultra Nintendo having the least graphically impressive version by far, it outsells both of its sixth-gen competitors by more than double.

Hyperforce Battle Team

A fast-paced 2D platformer reminiscent of OTL's Viewtiful Joe (though it's not made by Capcom, indeed, TTL's proper Viewtiful Joe analogue will be making an appearance later on), featuring rudimentary cel shaded graphics and five colorful protagonists. With fast paced fighting and a fun storyline, it's beloved by critics, though sales are quite poor due to the game's unorthodox style and high level of difficulty. It appears on both the Ultra Nintendo and the Katana, and sells slightly better on Ultra Nintendo.

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

October 2001

1. Aerio: Ride The Wind (Sega Katana)
2. Gran Turismo Nova (Game Boy Nova)
3. Ice Climbers (Ultra Nintendo)
4. NBA 2K2 (Sega Katana)
5. Virtua Quest 4 (Sega Katana)

November 2001

1. Max Payne (Sega Katana)
2. Shenmue II (Sega Katana)
3. Victory (Sega Katana)
4. Victory (Ultra Nintendo)
5. The Covenant (Microsoft Xbox)

December 2001

1. Final Fantasy IX (Ultra Nintendo)
2. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (Sega Katana)
3. Super Monkey Ball (Sega Katana)
4. Max Payne (Microsoft Xbox)
5. Revolution Alpha (Sega Katana)

 

[RySenkari]

January 14, 2002

Reggie Fils-Aime furrowed his brow as he looked over the sales figures for console hardware during the 2001 holiday season.

The Ultra Nintendo, the Sega Katana, and the Microsoft Xbox had all sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of hardware in November and December. It had been the closest holiday season since 1992, when the Sega Genesis had just narrowly beaten out the Super Nintendo. In the end, it was the Ultra Nintendo that sold more consoles than anyone else. For the fifth straight year, Nintendo had won the holidays. In raw dollars, Nintendo had finished last due to the cheap price of the Ultra Nintendo compared to its rivals (about half of the Ultra Nintendo consoles sold during the holidays had been sold at the $99 price point) but in raw numbers, Nintendo had won.

But it was the second-place finisher that was most shocking.

The Microsoft Xbox had sold more consoles in North America than the Katana in the last six weeks of 2001. Worldwide, the Katana had beaten the Xbox by a significant margin, but in America, the Katana was last...a position Sega wasn't used to being in. Katana sales had underperformed Sega's expectations for the holidays by 20%, and Xbox sales had doubled expectations. The lone bright spot for Sega was on the software front: Katana games had sold more than any other console's software over the holidays. Games like Aerio: Ride The Wind and Shenmue II had been major hits, and Super Monkey Ball was the season's biggest surprise. People who had Katanas were buying lots of games... but people in the market for a new console weren't buying Katanas.

And that was a big problem.

Sega's toy division had posted excellent sales, especially in Japan. Anime toys had done exceptionally good business, while the Gundam line of figures and models had grown precipitously in North America. With Gundam Soul set to debut on Toonami in the spring, it would be a lucrative year for Sega, proving that the company's purchase of Bandai might have been the best decision the company ever made.

But the games division was starting to falter...and if Xbox sales continued to pick up, it would draw more and more market share away from Sega. Sega's saving grace was the slow sales decline of the Ultra Nintendo. As the company's new sixth-generation system drew closer and closer, Ultra sales would continue to decline...but 2002's Ultra Nintendo lineup looked strong, and with a permanent price drop to $99 now inevitable, it would surely cause the Ultra's sales decline to slow. The console was about to pass the 100 million worldwide sales barrier, the first home console ever to do so. The Saturn, meanwhile, was going to limp past 40 million, better than the Genesis but far, far short of the Ultra Nintendo.

"We've got no problem selling games," thought Reggie, "but we've got to start selling consoles or we're going to be in trouble."

The brightest spot for Sega was its growing stable of family-friendly games, particularly platformers. To Reggie, the solution was clear.

"We've got to put everything on Sonic Neon. That's going to be the game that sells consoles for us. We can't compete with Microsoft in raw power and we can't do it with mature games. It's got to be with Sonic."

Reggie went to his staff and instructed them to begin working on an all-out marketing blitz for Sonic Neon to propose to the higher-ups in Japan. If the Katana was to succeed, Neon had to move consoles. Otherwise....Sega would be in a very precarious position.

-

Top Selling Ultra Nintendo Games Of 2001 (pack-in sales included, North American sales during the calendar year of 2001 only)

1. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
2. Super Mario Dimensions
3. Peyton Manning’s NFL Play Action
4. Gran Turismo 2
5. Medal Of Honor: Underground
6. Madden NFL 2002
7. Dead Midnight 2
8. Novus Ordo
9. Ballistic Limit 3
10. The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Top Selling Sega Katana Games Of 2001 (pack-in sales included, North American sales during the calendar year of 2001 only)

1. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
2. NFL 2K1
3. Virtua Fighter 4
4. Madden NFL 2002
5. NiGHTS: Into The Labyrinth…
6. Commander Keen: Worlds United
7. Dead Midnight 2
8. Madden NFL 2001
9. Aerio: Ride The Wind
10. Silent Hill 2

Top Selling Microsoft Xbox Games Of 2001 (pack-in sales included, North American sales during the calendar year of 2001 only)

1. The Covenant
2. Grand Theft Auto
3. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3
4. Victory
5. NFL Fever
6. Max Payne
7. Madden NFL 2002
8. Project Gotham Racing
9. Dead Midnight 2
10. Deep Black

-

MTV Video Game Awards 2001:

Game Of The Year:

Chrono Infinite
The Covenant
Grand Theft Auto
Novus Ordo
Virtua Fighter 4

Handheld Game Of The Year:

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Mega Man Blast
Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions
Tomb Raider: The Ancient Library
White Mountain Snowstorm

Sports Game Of The Year:

NFL 2K1
NHL 2K2
Peyton Manning’s NFL Play Action
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3
White Mountain 2

Racing Game Of The Year:

Burnout
Daytona: International
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Project Gotham Racing
Revroad

RPG Of The Year:

Chrono Infinite
Final Fantasy IX
Panzer Dragoon Saga II
Revolution Alpha
Virtua Quest 4

Fighting Game Of The Year:

Balance Of Power
Dead Or Alive 2
Tekken Tag Tournament
Virtua Fighter 4
WWF Smackdown

Shooter Of The Year:

Deep Black
Justifire
Load
Medal Of Honor: Underground
Quake III Arena

Best Soundtrack:

Chrono Infinite
Frequency
Grand Theft Auto
Rez
White Mountain 2

Most Addictive Game:

Dead Midnight 2
Grand Theft Auto
Jet Set Radio
Shenmue II
Virtua Fighter 4

Best Open World Game

Grand Theft Auto
Jet Set Radio
Revolution Alpha
Shenmue II
The Witcher

Best New Franchise

Aerio: Ride The Wind
The Covenant
Grand Theft Auto
Max Payne
Novus Ordo

Best Online Game

Chu Chu Rocket
NFL 2K1
Phantasy Star Online
Quake III Arena
White Mountain 2

New Character Of The Year

Aerio (Aerio: Ride The Wind)
Claude (Grand Theft Auto)
Master Chief (The Covenant)
Max Payne (Max Payne)
Vicus (Novus Ordo)

Villain Of The Year

Dural (Virtua Fighter 4)
Dr. Gearhead (Spare Parts 2)
Porky Minch (Earthbound 3)
Ralph Bellard (Max Payne)
Schala (Chrono Infinite)

Babe Of The Year

Cynthia (Virtua Fighter 4)
Ifeni (Final Fantasy IX)
Joy (Shenmue II)
Kirala (Victory)
Mona Sax (Max Payne)

-

Nintendo Announces March Space World Event, Expected To Formally Unveil Next-Gen Console

Nintendo has announced that, for the first time since October 1998, the company will be holding a Space World trade show in Kyoto Japan. The show has been announced for the week of March 4-8, and it's likely that Nintendo will reveal for the first time their next generation follow-up to the Ultra Nintendo. We've already had the new hardware teased before, first at E3 2001, and then at the Tokyo Game Show, where more footage of Final Fantasy X was shown off, along with footage of a new cel-shaded Capcom sidescroller. The hardware, codenamed the "Wave Engine", is rumored to rival or exceed Microsoft's Xbox console in processing power, and it's likely that we'll know more about its capabilities, and the appearance of the console itself, at the show.

Nintendo is also expected to show off a number of new Ultra Nintendo and Game Boy Nova games, including Super Mario Ranger, Metal Gear War, and Super Smash Bros. 2 for the Ultra and new Zelda and Metroid games for the Nova.

-from an article on Gamespot.com, posted on January 17, 2002

-

Gamespot Awards 2001:

Game Of The Year: Chrono Infinite
Game Of The Year (Readers' Choice): Final Fantasy IX
Best Graphics, Artistic (Console): Jet Set Radio
Best Graphics, Technical (Console): The Covenant
Best Original Music: Rez
Best Sound Effects/Design (Console): The Covenant
Best Story (Console): Earthbound 3
Best Game No One Played: Sarasvati
Most Disappointing Game (Console): Ballistic Limit 3
Best Action/Adventure: The Covenant
Best Driving Game: Burnout
Best Fighting Game: Tekken Tag Tournament
Best Puzzle Game: Chu Chu Rocket
Best Role-Playing Game: Chrono Infinite
Best Shooter: Medal of Honor: Underground
Best Traditional Sports Game: NFL 2K1
Best Alternative Sports Game: White Mountain Snowstorm
Best Ultra Nintendo Game: Chrono Infinite
Best Katana Game: NiGHTS Into The Labyrinth…
Best Xbox Game: The Covenant
Best Game Boy Nova Game: RevOlution

-

Interactive Entertainment Awards 2001:

Game Of The Year: The Covenant
Console Game Of The Year: The Covenant
Computer Game Of The Year: Gemstone
Action/Adventure Game Of The Year: The Covenant
Family Game Of The Year: Pokemon Stadium 2
Massively Multiplayer Game Of The Year: Gemstone
Handheld Game Of The Year: Gran Turismo Nova
Racing Game Of The Year: Project Gotham Racing
Role Playing Game Of The Year: Revolution Alpha
Shooter Game Of The Year: Medal Of Honor: Underground
Strategy/Simulation Game Of The Year: Civilization III
Sports Game Of The Year: Peyton Manning’s NFL Play Action
Fighting Game Of The Year: Virtua Fighter 4
Outstanding Art Direction: Jet Set Radio
Outstanding Vocal Performance: Michael Bell as Raziel in Soul Reaver 2 (Male), Elizabeth Mitchell as Katie Sunderland in Silent Hill 2 (Female)
Outstanding Animation: Jet Set Radio
Outstanding Game Design: Aerio: Ride The Wind
Outstanding Gameplay Engineering: Grand Theft Auto
Outstanding Online Gameplay: Gemstone
Outstanding Original Music: Chrono Infinite
Outstanding Sound Design: The Covenant
Outstanding Story: NiGHTS Into The Labyrinth…
Outstanding Visual Engineering: Aerio: Ride The Wind

-

GameRankings Top 25 Games Of 2001 (only games newly released or significantly remade in 2001 are included, multiplatform releases are averaged)

1. The Covenant- 96.70%
2. Grand Theft Auto- 95.94%
3. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3- 94.81%
4. Gran Turismo Nova- 94.36%
5. Chrono Infinite- 93.80%
6. White Mountain 2- 93.60%
7. Super Monkey Ball- 93.07%
8. Phantasy Star Online- 92.95%
9. Mario Kart: Super Circuit- 92.78%
10. Final Fantasy IX- 92.71%
11. Virtua Fighter 4- 92.21%
12. NFL 2K1- 91.91%
13. NiGHTS Into The Labyrinth…- 91.77%
14. Novus Ordo- 91.37%
15. Aerio: Ride The Wind- 91.34%
16. Chu Chu Rocket- 91.13%
17. Silent Hill 2- 91.05%
18. Sarasvati- 90.98%
19. Dreamscape- 90.94%
20. Sid Meier’s Civilization III- 90.86%
21. NHL 2K2- 90.70%
22. RevOlution- 90.21%
23. Revolution Alpha- 89.81%
24. Gemstone- 89.31%
25. Commander Keen: Worlds United- 89.27%

-

"2001 was a year of wrenching transition for the video game industry. The first sixth-generation consoles, Sega's Katana and Microsoft's Xbox, made their debuts, with general success. The Katana launch came without a major killer-app, but later releases such as NiGHTS 2, Virtua Fighter 4, and Shenmue II gave it a strong lineup from the get-go, and it was supplemented with a burgeoning online community in SegaNet that propelled games like Chu Chu Rocket and Quake III Arena into major hits. The Xbox launched strong as well, on the backs of two huge killer-apps: The Covenant and Grand Theft Auto. The Covenant was a revolutionary third-person shooter that would become one of the Xbox's strongest original franchises, while Grand Theft Auto offered unprecedented open-world freedom despite massive controversy over its violent content.

The controversy over violent video games flared back up after a tragic school shooting focused the media's attention on the shooter's game playing habits, particularly Arbiter of Sin 2 on the Sega Saturn. Lawsuits and a congressional investigation followed, and though neither of those would pan out in the coming years, it still forced the industry to do soul searching of the type it hadn't done since 1993. The other major real world event that shook the gaming world was the terrorist attacks of September 11th, a day no one in the world will ever forget. Though censorship of games was very mild in the days after the attacks, it still forced developers to take a hard look at some of their games' subject matter. Ultimately, the attacks would have little lasting impact on the industry. Indeed, video game sales spiked somewhat in the following weeks, as world-weary gamers turned back to the virtual world to escape the weight of the real one.

Going forward, 2002 would be another year of transition, as Sega and Microsoft began to fight over the growing sixth generation landscape, each hoping to carve out as much as they could before Nintendo's Wave console took the stage. The Ultra Nintendo would begin its long, glorious ride into the sunset, crossing the 100 million sales barrier and into history. 2001 had seen some of the greatest video games ever released, and as the new year began, 2002 looked to be even brighter."
-”The History Of Console Gaming: Year-By-Year (Part 8)”, Wired.com, July 10, 2012

 

[Pyro]

Until the release Man of Steel on June 15, 2001, DC cinematic ventures (the Batman quintology, Last Son of Krypton, and Green Lantern) had been self-contained with no continuity between them. That changed with Billy Zane and Wesley Snipes reprising their roles as the Green Lanterns, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Wonder Woman, and a curious appearance of a certain dark knight at Superman’s funeral at the start of the film. Both Joel Schumacher and Sam Raimi went to great pains to insist that this was not the same Batman from the 1989-99 films and indeed Val Kilmer refused to reprise the role so the identity of the actor in the suit remained a mystery until former Robin/Nightwing, Leonardo Di Caprio admitted that it was him as something of a gag casting choice nearly ten years later. It added weight to the rumors of a Justice League film on the horizon. In addition to the stars of DC/WB’s other superhero films, other attendees included Noel Neill and Jack Larson from the 1950’s Adventures of Superman television series, Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder from the 1970s films as well as Richard Donner, Dean Cain and Terri Hatcher from Lois and Clark, as well as various creators who worked on Superman through the year. Lois Lane delivers a tearful eulogy and even Lex Luthor puts in a few words for his mortal enemy. Among those watching the procession to Superman’s final resting place is a heartbroken John and Natasha Irons.

With Superman gone, it emboldened many of his enemies to go on a crime spree. The film begins in earnest with a chase scene with the Metropolis PD in pursuit of a Sam Raimi staple, the Oldsmobile Delta 88, driven by the Toyman (played by Adam Sandler) with the Prankster (Ted Raimi) in the passenger seat. Though Sandler himself had been transitioning towards more dramatic roles after Barcode, he famously said, “There are two things you can’t say no to: a bag of cash and the chance to appear in a Superman movie.” While they use their respective gimmicks to stop their pursuers, Sandler’s wide-eyed and slack-jawed reaction when hes see a tall figure descend upon their car through the windshield is priceless. One transition later, the police find the wrecked vehicle, the stolen money, and Toyman and Prankster tied up with the chrome bumpers. Toyman won’t stop muttering about a “man of steel.”

Meanwhile, Lois Lane completely immerses herself in her job, much to the dismay of Perry White and Jimmy Olsen, and obsesses with this mysterious “new hero” who appeared after the funeral. Perry White calls her into his office and tells her that she’s officially on leave whether she likes it or not. Lois plans to investigate anyway, but receives a call from a man calling himself “Henshaw,” who tells her of a secret project to “replace” Superman. The first act of the film largely establishes John Henry Irons as Steel with him performing heroic acts in a similar fashion as Donner’s Superman right down to the helicopter rescue and saving a kitten from the tree. Meanwhile, Lois later discovers via Henshaw that someone had stolen Superman’s body from his crypt adding to the mystery. The end of the first act ends with Steel’s attempt to save Air Force One when a familiar caped figure appears to assist. Through careful camera work and deft use of shadows, the audience is supposed to believe that it is Superman, but after Steel and “Superman” safely land Air Force One, we finally see Superman in the light to see that he is now a cyborg.

To those well-versed in DC Comics’ lore, the Cyborg Superman was one of the four (along with Steel) imposter Supermen that appeared in “Reign of the Supermen.” Though his origin his slightly convoluted, the Cyborg Superman was in fact a former astronaut named Hank Henshaw whose immortal consciousness could possess computers so he built a cyborg body using genetic material from Superman. He is most (im)famous for his part in the destruction of Green Lantern’s home city, Coast City, which led to Hal Jordan’s fall from grace “Emerald Twilight.” For obvious reasons, Sam Raimi chose to follow little of the source material. As for the role, Bruce Campbell himself played the role, but with his voice given an electronic distortion effect.

Naturally, the public embraces the Cyborg Superman as the true Superman, but Lois and Steel immediately realize that something is amiss. This “Superman” is colder and calculating, and announces that he intends to “improve” by metropolis by integrating Kryptonian technology into its infrastructure. Both Lois and Steel agree that Steel will confront “Superman” while she continues her investigation. With “Henshaw’s” help she discovers “Project Cadmus” a consortium of corporations and government agencies where Lex Luthor greets her (apparently Lexcorp is a HUGE financer.) “Henshaw” was just a way of leading her to him. Everything begins falling into place when Luthor reveals the true Superman in stasis inside a yellow solar chamber. Lex explains that Superman’s Kryptonian physiology was in a healing state that resembled death so Luthor arranged to have Superman’s body “moved” to Cadmus.

However, given the two’s history, Lois does not trust Luthor’s motives.

LOIS
Why would you bother to bring him back, Luthor? I thought you wanted him dead.

LEX
Oh, I want him dead, Miss Lane. By my hand and at a time of MY choosing.

LOIS
You’re sick, Luthor.

LEX
(Scoffs) Oh, am I? Superman is the ultimate challenge to human ingenuity, Miss Lane. The greatest arsenal any man can bring to the party consists of the resources of his own mind: his intelligence, his stratagems. What Magog did was beat god to death. When I kill “god,” it will be though cunning and force of will.

LOIS
And you think that makes you sound any less insane?

Though given a more secondary role in Man of Tomorrow, Kevin Spacey adds more layers to his portrayal of Lex Luthor from his manic, if not melodramatic portrayal in Last Son of Krypton. There are elements of that portrayal, but given a more menacing presence. Spacey’s Luthor was driven by obsession to the point where he would actually revive Superman just to get the pleasure of killing him again. Despite Lois’ claims of insanity, Luthor was just as calculating and other (ulterior) motives for reviving his despised enemy. Part of it is ego, since Luthor lured her Cadmus so that he would have a witness for his “second-most glorious moment,” but being a master manipulator, Luthor’s holds his cards close.

Lois also did her homework and revealed that she learned that Dr. Hank Henshaw was a cybernetics expert working for Lexcorp and this specialty was biological/computer interfacing that disappeared years ago. When she presses Luthor for more information, he claims that he had nothing to do with Henshaw’s disappearance and that he only used Henshaw’s name to lure her though Lois is skeptical. This exposition is supposed to implicate that Henshaw is the Cyborg Superman as per the comics, but is in fact setting up one of decade’s biggest cinematic twist.

Meanwhile, the Cyborg Superman is using his influence to acquire materials for his project and even thwarts an attempted robbery at Ferris Air’s Metropolis branch. Unfortunately, for the robber, the Cyborg Superman grabs him by the throat and flies up into the stratosphere where he threatens to crush his throat. Steel confronts the Cyborg Superman, but the imposter Superman drops the robber, forcing Steel to save the criminal while he escapes. Though Steel didn’t catch the Cyborg Superman, he did a scan and noticed that the Cyborg Superman uses both alien and Lexcorp technology.

The third act is where everything falls into place. The Cyborg Superman publicly opens what appears to be Metropolis’ new “zero-point reactor” to much fanfare. However, the combined efforts of Steel, Lois, and Luthor reveal him as a fake. Luthor’s own looks at the plant’s schematics reveal it to be a spacecraft and launch pad; though Lois accuses the Cyborg Superman of being Hank Henshaw, Cyborg Supes sees no reason to maintain the charade. Steel engages him to stop the launch, but the imposter defeats him, destroys his armor, and begins launch. Luthor then (remotely) awakens a fully Superman who joins the fray in a black and silver variant of his iconic suit as the ship lifts off. As the two Supermen fight, the real Superman gains the upperhand, leading to the scene that blew many comic fan’s minds.

SUPERMAN
I’m giving you only one chance, Henshaw. Surrender now and land this craft.

CYBORG SUPERMAN
(Voice changes to that Lawrence Fishburne’s) Not Henshaw, Kal-El.

SUPERMAN
Great Rao! Brainiac?

BRAINIAC
Yes. Brainiac is online and ready to complete his directive.

This scene blew many fan’s minds. Despite the various clues that Hank Henshaw was the Cyborg Superman as per the comics, they were all red herrings. In the years to follow, it was fairly obvious if you picked up the clues. The stinger for Last Son of Krypton revealed that Brainiac survived his destruction by hiding in Lexcorp’s computers and Henshaw himself never appeared in the film aside from exposition. This revelation changed the stakes of the film since Superman, Lois, and Luthor knew what this meant. Superman and a now-powerless Steel would have to world together to stop Brainiac’s attempt to “bottle” Metropolis (again) and destroy the planet.

Some fan cried foul over recycling the plot of the first film in the third act, but in some ways it was clever as well because it tied the loose threads of the trilogy. Superman and Steel destroy Brainiac’s ship (presumably with Brainiac on it) and the film ends with Steel accepted as Metropolis’ newest champion and Superman’s partner. Luthor and Superman come to an uneasy truce in light of recent events; and Superman reveals his dual identity to Lois. To Lois’ credit she reveals that she found out years ago to an astonished Superman before they kiss in a scene mirroring the comics where Superman (now in his classic costume) and Lois danced under the Aurora Borealis. It seemed to wrap up the trilogy in a neat bow, but Raimi had one more twist for the audience who stayed for the credits.

For the mid-credits scene, Luthor returns to Project Cadmus to enter a laboratory named “Project Kr” where he reveals that he is growing a clone of Superman. Since the clone is a teenager, it is clear that is the clone Superboy introduced in “Reign of the Supermen.” He watches the teenager, floating in aminotic fluid, presses his hand against the glass and calls him “son.” Apparently this scene was added at the last moment at the suggestion of Geoff Johns, Donner’s then-assistant and future head producer of DC’s Expanded Multiverse. Though Superboy himself would not appear in future Superman films, this scene served as setup for the WB network’s long-running Titans television series.

Man of Steel marked an end of an era for the Superman film franchise. While it performed admirably, its overall performance paled compared due to the laws of diminishing returns and Captain America’s post 9/11 success. After Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell announced their departure from future Superman projects, the Warner brass decided to let the Man of Steel rest of his laurels and focus on developing their other properties after Green Lantern 2 and Wonder Woman’s successes with Flash and Justice League in the pipeline. After positive audience reaction to Michael Clarke Duncan’s John Henry Irons, Warner Bros considered proposals for a Steel spinoff and there was even talk of Lobo and Supergirl films, though nothing came out of the latter. Despite “losing” to Captain America and the departure of Raimi and Campbell, this sense of optimism prevailed at Warner Bros. Despite Man of Steel’s inability to knock the Sentinel of Liberty out, the appearances Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Green Lanterns generated even more buzz than Tony Stark’s cameo. However, it would be the announcement that the legendary James Cameron would helm Justice League at Comicon International on August 2, 2002 that would light both Hollywood and the comic world on fire.

-Tales From The Superhero Wars, sequentialhistory.net, August 26, 2010

 

[RySenkari]

Warcraft III: Heart Of Chaos is just the beginning of what looks to be a Warcraft-filled next couple of years for Blizzard. Blizzard has already announced their first ever MMORPG, World Of Warcraft, which will be based on the Warcraft III engine. World of Warcraft is still at least a year away, but the company promises the biggest MMO world ever seen. While their biggest competition looks to be Sony's ongoing pirate-themed game PirateQuest and the venerable Ultima Online, there's also Squaresoft's upcoming Final Fantasy MMO which has been announced for both the PC and Nintendo's upcoming next-gen console.

To their credit, Blizzard acknowledges the stiff competition facing a new entry into the ever more crowded landscape of MMO games. Most recently, Gemstone, which was picked as last year's PC game of the year by many outlets, has struggled to gain a userbase despite its online component being free. It's already been announced that World of Warcraft will be a subscription-based title like most online RPGs, including PirateQuest. And, thus far, it's been announced as a PC exclusive title, unlike the future Final Fantasy MMO. As for Warcraft III, no console port has been announced, and we may be unlikely to see one after recent Blizzard console ports flopped.

"Right now, we're PC only," said producer Bill Roper. "We're focusing all our creative energies on PC and on Warcraft at this time. That could change in the future if we feel we need to go a different direction."

-excerpted from the Warcraft III: Heart Of Chaos cover article in the January 2002 issue of GameInformer magazine

-

Gamespot: Let's talk about consoles now. Recent console ports of games such as Diablo II and Starcraft largely disappointed in terms of sales, but you just announced Warcraft III for the Xbox.

Bill Roper: We've been extremely impressed with what we've seen from Microsoft. The Xbox is definitely the closest thing to a gaming PC that exists in the console market, and it's really easy to develop for, so after we spent some time with it the team came to a decision that we'd be doing a port of Warcraft III. We're going to play to the Xbox's strengths for this one, and I really think it could be a success on the level that our Ultra Nintendo ports weren't.

Gamespot: Will the port be released soon after the game comes to PC?

Roper: Right now we're looking at a late 2002/early 2003 release window for the Xbox version, so it'd be a few months after the PC version.

Gamespot: Are there any other plans for the Xbox?

Roper: Well, right now we're kind of reluctant to say anything, but we are looking into the possibility of a game designed specifically for the Xbox, an entirely new property. At this point it's still up in the air but we're very thoroughly exploring that possibility. Right now, Warcraft III and our Warcraft MMO are our top priorities.

Gamespot: Pocket Treasure Hunters just came out for the Game Boy Nova, so it's not entirely true that Blizzard is focused only on Warcraft.

Roper: That's actually being developed by a separate team, still a part of Blizzard but unrelated to the Warcraft team. But yes, we've also liked what we've seen from the Game Boy Nova, it's a very powerful little handheld and it's actually got a lot of possibilities. Our Nova team is looking into producing a number of properties for it, perhaps even handheld versions of the original Warcraft and Diablo. It's got the power to do versions of those games that we think would be very fun and would maintain the gameplay of the originals. Again, it's something that's only in the early stages of brainstorming right now. The biggest thing we'd like to do with the Nova is bring back The Lost Vikings.

Gamespot: Another port?

Roper: Actually, a brand new game. So...The Lost Vikings 3, perhaps. Because both the Lost Vikings games did really, really well on the Super Nintendo CD. The original one exceeded our expectations and Norse by Norsewest was a moderate sized hit also, so we know The Lost Vikings has the potential to be a successful property on a Nintendo system. That's something, I think, I'd really like to think about doing on the Nova.

-from an interview conducted with Blizzard's Bill Roper at the 2002 Game Developers Conference, March 20, 2002

 

[RySenkari]

2002 Grammy Nominees: (winners in bold)

Best New Artist-

Alicia Keys
Foo Fighters
India.Arie
Julieta Venegas
Linkin Park

(Notes: The 2002 Grammy field for Best New Artist was seen by many at the time, and as of TTL 2016, still is seen as one of the most stacked fields in the history of the awards. Artists such as RikRok, Nelly Furtado, and Gemini were completely snubbed, and the category itself featured five incredibly talented acts who would all go on to have stellar careers. Julieta Venegas' win was seen as a massive upset, with Alicia Keys and the Foo Fighters having been seen as the prohibitive favorites before Venegas' popularity exploded in late 2001. Venegas' win in this category is seen as another possible peak of the 2000s Latin boom.)

Song Of The Year-

"Drops Of Jupiter" by Train
"Edge Of Eternity" by U2
"Fallin'" by Alicia Keys
"Pyramid Song" by Radiohead
"Video" by India.Arie

(Notes: The Latin artists were shut out of this category, which was seen as somewhat of a snub, as La Ley's "Eternidad" was considered a front-runner. This was largely a race between U2 and Alicia Keys, and in the end, Keys won, which was considered to be a prelude to the Record of the Year race.)

Record Of The Year-

"Edge Of Eternity" by U2
"Fallin'" by Alicia Keys
"Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)" by Blu Cantrell ft. Mya
"I'm A Little Shy" by Julieta Venegas
"Showoff" by RikRok

(Notes: While Edge Of Eternity and Fallin' were once again seen as the front-runners, RikRok's catchy Showoff was seen as a popular dark horse, and after Venegas' Best New Artist win, many analysts changed their predictions at the last minute to I'm A Little Shy. In the end, U2 won, taking some of the sting out of their narrow loss in this category the previous year.)

Album Of The Year-

All That You Can't Leave Behind by U2
Amnesiac by Radiohead
Revolución de Amor by Maná
Stankonia by Outkast
The Swerve by Jay-Z

(Notes: U2 was seen as a massive favorite in this category, with only Radiohead's Amnesiac seen to present a serious challenge. The U2/Radiohead showdown was hyped heavily in the music press, with many of the younger generation pulling for Radiohead and many older critics pulling for U2. The nominee list was also notable for the inclusion of two hip-hop acts in Outkast and Jay-Z. It was thought that either Alicia Keys' or Julieta Venegas' albums would get the nod, but both were snubbed. Venegas' album was likely snubbed in favor of Revolución de Amor, which appealed more to music critics despite its relative commercial obscurity compared to Venegas. Beyonce Knowles of Destiny's Child spoke out against the nominations in this category for lack of female acts, particularly claiming that one of Alicia Keys, India.Arie, or Julieta Venegas deserved a nomination in the category. In the end, U2 won, as expected, and the controversy faded rather quickly.)

-

2002 Oscar Nominees: (winners in bold)

Best Picture-

A Beautiful Mind
Dicey's Song
Frontier Show
The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
Mulholland Dr.

(Notes: A Beautiful Mind was considered the favorite in this category from the beginning, though Frontier Show was seen as a strong contender and Mulholland Dr. as a popular dark horse. Though The Fellowship Of The Ring was easily the fan favorite in the category, it had little chance of winning, as did Dicey's Song, an adaptation of the first two books of Cynthia Voigt's Tillerman Cycle. A Beautiful Mind, though a fairly typical Oscar bait film, had an exceptional performance from its star Russell Crowe and enough heart to win over the Oscar voters.)

Best Director-

David Lynch for Mulholland Dr.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet for Amelie
Peter Jackson for The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
Robert Zemeckis for Frontier Show
Ron Howard for A Beautiful Mind

(Notes: Though Ron Howard was the favorite in this category, the voters decided to give David Lynch his due and award him with the Oscar for his work on Mulholland Dr.. It was also thought that Robert Zemeckis had an excellent shot at winning, though in the end, the award fell to Lynch.)

Best Actor-

Christopher Reeve in Paperwork
Leonardo DiCaprio in Frontier Show
Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind
Sean Penn in I Am Sam
Will Smith in Ali

(Notes: This star-studded category could have gone to any one of these five men, from Christopher Reeve's turn as a police chief threatened by a criminal gang in Paperwork, to Will Smith's amazing turn as the sports legend Muhammad Ali in Ali, but once again it was the favorite, Russell Crowe, who took home the gold. Crowe's performance as the brilliant but stricken mathematician John Nash in A Beautiful Mind won over critics and voters alike.)

Best Actress-

Audrey Tautou in Amelie
Evan Rachel Wood in Dicey's Song
Naomi Watts in Mulholland Dr.
Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones' Diary
Sophie Okonedo in Out Of Fear

(Notes: Naomi Watts was the overwhelming favorite in this category for her performance in Mulholland Dr., while Sophie Okonedo, who played a slave who killed her owners to protect her children from being sold in Out Of Fear, was the popular dark horse pick. Instead, it was 14-year-old Evan Rachel Wood who shocked the world by winning the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as Dicey Tillerman in Dicey's Song. Wood's tearful Oscar speech, in which she spent the first 30 seconds shaking with her hand up to her face while shouting 'oh my God!' over and over again, went down as one of the most memorable moments in the history of the ceremony, along with her massive hug to host Whoopi Goldberg as she took the stage to accept her award.)

Best Supporting Actor-

Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast
Bruce Willis in Paperwork
Christopher Plummer in The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
John Cusack in Frontier Show
Jon Voight in Ali

(Notes: While it was thought that Ben Kingsley might pick up another Oscar for his role in Sexy Beast, and while Bruce Willis won some accolades for his serious turn as a brutal mob enforcer in Paperwork, John Cusack was the favorite from start to finish in this category and didn't have much trouble picking up an Oscar here.)

Best Supporting Actress-

Eden Espinosa in ¡Celebracion!
Hilary Swank in Frontier Show
Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind
Louise Fletcher in Dicey's Song
Maggie Smith in Gosford Park

(Notes: A front-runner never really emerged for this category, as everyone except for newcomer Eden Espinosa was seen as the favorite by the Hollywood press at one point or another during the race. Initially it was Connelly, then Swank, then Fletcher, then Smith, then Connelly again. Maggie Smith, who was probably more well known that year for her role as Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, won for her performance in Gosford Park, a film which was mostly snubbed in the other categories and lost Best Original Screenplay to Amelie. Espinosa, who made headlines for the wild outfit she wore to the Academy Awards ceremony, got a number of offers for films after her nomination, but would turn them down for a career on the Broadway stage.)

 

[RySenkari]

"Start Your Engines!
NASCAR 2K2 Leads The Pack Of Racing Games Headed Your Way"
-from the cover of the February 2002 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, depicting five cars racing on the track at Daytona, representing vehicles from Ridge Racer 3, Burnout 2, Supercar World Revolution, Need For Speed Unleashed 2, and led by Dale Earnhardt's familiar #3 car representing NASCAR 2K2

-

NASCAR 2K2

Released on February 18, 2002 (the day after the 2002 Daytona 500, won by Ricky Craven), NASCAR 2K2 is a NASCAR video game developed by 2K Sports exclusively for the Sega Katana. The game features every single NASCAR track and nearly every current driver, more than 40 in all (including Ayrton Senna, whose deal to promote the Gran Turismo series does not preclude him from appearing in NASCAR titles), allowing players to simulate an authentic Winston Cup season. The game features realistic racing action, and the best commentary to date in any NASCAR title, featuring Darrell Waltrip as a color commentator (though he's paired with an in-house commentator rather than an actual racing announcer). The game also features an extensive training mode, where Dale Earnhardt walks the player through a series of courses that teach players how to play. Earnhardt comments on the player's performance as they make their way through the courses, and gives tips specific to their particular racing style. Hours of voice clips were recorded by Earnhardt for this mode, making it one of the most comprehensive training modes to date in a video game. Dale Earnhardt himself appears on the cover of the game, side-by-side with his #3 car. He also appears in commercials for the game, along with his son, Dale Jr. The game itself features excellent graphics. They're not quite as technically impressive as those on the Xbox's NASCAR Thunder 2002, but the tracks and cars are considerably more true to life. The game allows players to get behind the wheel of any of the Winston Cup cars, or create their own car and racer and start out as a rookie. The player starts off racing for Dale Earnhardt's team, and Earnhardt recorded a fair bit of dialogue for this part as well. Players can also customize the Winston Cup season, having races in whatever order or whatever tracks they wish.

The game receives excellent reviews from critics, and is the best reviewed NASCAR video game to date and an early contender for racing game of the year. It sells quite well, and actually causes Katana sales to experience a small spike, thanks to Sega's $199 Katana bundle that includes a copy of the game. The game is promoted extensively during the 2002 Daytona 500, with Dale Earnhardt sporting the game's logo prominently on his car during the race. Released at a time when NASCAR's popularity is climbing rapidly, the game both benefits from and contributes to the fervor, taking the sport's popularity to even greater heights.

-

Ridge Racer 3

Based largely on OTL's Ridge Racer V in terms of graphical style and gameplay, Ridge Racer 3 is the third game in the Ridge Racer series, not counting spinoffs (none of which performed particularly well in North America). The first sixth-gen Ridge Racer title, it too is exclusive to the Sega Katana, though it would ultimately be the last Sega-exclusive Ridge Racer game to be released. The game, which focuses on arcade-style racing, isn't particularly noteworthy from a gameplay standpoint, though graphically it's one of the better looking Katana games yet released. Overall, it's a fun game, and is probably the best critically reviewed game of the series thus far. Accompanied by a fair bit of prerelease promotion, it's one of 2002's early hits when it releases in January, selling better than its disappointing predecessor and approaching the sale of the original Ridge Racer game.

-

Burnout 2

Released in March 2002 for the Ultra Nintendo and Sega Katana, and in October 2002 for the Xbox (with the subtitle Director's Cut as IOTL), Burnout 2 is the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed and commercially successful game Burnout, featuring much of the same high octane, stunt-driven, crash-heavy gameplay of the original. It features a Demolition Derby mode, where up to eight cars enter an arena and the last one that can still drive is the winner. Developed specifically for the Katana, the Ultra Nintendo port is somewhat of an afterthought, and is poorly reviewed compared to the excellent reviews that the Katana version receives. The Ultra Nintendo version fails to outsell its predecessor, while the Sega Katana version doubles its predecessor's sales to become one of the top selling games of March 2002. This, despite having been released after a large number of driving based titles in the preceding months (one critic specifically mentioned the title of the game, saying: "Burnout" is right, will Katana fans spring for this game after a glut of racing games before it?).

-

Supercar World Revolution

The sequel to Supercar World Circuit, Supercar World Revolution is an Ultra Nintendo-exclusive title released in March 2002. It features four times as many cars as the original game, and the same simulation-style gameplay, though a bit more "arcadey" than Gran Turismo. Ultimately, it's the comparisons to Gran Turismo 2 that bury the game's potential somewhat. Though reviews are decent, averaging around 8/10, sales don't quite measure up to the original game. The developers were hoping that Supercar World Revolution would succeed as a sort of "stopgap" title after Gran Turismo 3 was moved to the Wave instead of being released on the Ultra Nintendo as originally expected, but most racing fans chose to keep on waiting.

-

Need For Speed: Unleashed 2/Need For Speed: Unleashed (Nova)

A sort of combination of the OTL games Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 and Need For Speed: Underground, Need For Speed: Unleashed 2 builds on the foundation of its successful predecessor, expanding its career mode into a sort of branching tree: players can excel in legitimate races at a variety of tracks, they can become an illegal street racer in unsanctioned races, or they can become a police officer and catch speeding criminals. The game has a storyline for each path, though it's somewhat of a bare-boned "excuse plot" that takes a back seat to the racing. As for the racing, the gameplay is essentially the same as in Unleashed, though there are some new driving tracks players can perform depending on the car they're driving. The biggest expansion that the game has is in the number of tracks and cars available. There's also a lot more graphical "oomph", particularly on the Katana and Xbox versions, which are released simultaneously with the Ultra Nintendo version in late February 2002. Unlike the Burnout 2 port, the Ultra Nintendo port is still an excellent version of the game, with graphics rivaling those in Gran Turismo 2. Sales are excellent, especially initially, and Need For Speed: Unleashed 2 becomes one of the year's best selling games overall.

The Nova also gets Need For Speed: Unleashed in January 2002. Based on the original 2000 game, it's a downgraded port with a few less tracks and cars. It's impressive graphically, though not as pretty as Gran Turismo Nova, and gets good reviews and sales.

-

Wheelman 2

The sequel to Wheelman (the TTL version of OTL's Driver), it's not a "racing" game but it is heavily car-based. Tanner returns, and like OTL's game, is given the ability to step out of his car on missions, and even steal new cars to use. The plot is completely different from OTL's Driver 2, which involved a multi-national arms cartel. In Wheelman 2, Tanner goes undercover as a driver for a mob boss who's being suspected of trafficking drugs. Instead, it's learned that the mob boss is trafficking people, with one of them being a dangerous anarchist terrorist who is plotting a major attack. It's one of the first games to address terrorism after 9/11, and thus earns some controversy and notoriety (though the game's storyline was decided a few months before 9/11 happened). It's also compared with Grand Theft Auto in a number of ways. It doesn't give Tanner quite as much freedom, and though there are four different cities that appear in the game, all of them combined aren't as big as Grand Theft Auto's Liberty City. Still, the driving controls are significantly better, and many critics prefer the plot of Wheelman 2 to the plot of Grand Theft Auto. The game is released for the Ultra Nintendo, Katana, and Xbox on March 25, 2002, and while it sells well on the Ultra Nintendo (the port, like NFSU2's, is quite good), it achieves a majority of its sales on the sixth-generation systems. The game would later be released on the Wave in 2003 with some minor graphical upgrades.

-

"So let's review some racing games
Which one's the best? Are they the same?
Cuz you know we've got a thousand games
Let's see which one's the best
Tonight"
-Ted Crosley, singing a parody of Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" while being pushed around on a piano on the March 11, 2002 "Racing Games Special" episode of G4's Blister

 

[RySenkari]

The New Orleans Saints came in to the 2001 NFL season as heavy favorites to defend their Super Bowl XXXV title, and they didn't disappoint. They would dominate the regular season, going 15-1 in a year when only one other team (the Green Bay Packers) won at least 13 games. The Saints had the most potent offensive attack in NFL history, scoring an astonishing 595 points over 16 games, a record that has year to be broken. Peyton Manning logged 64 passing touchdowns in total, another NFL record that still stands. Among the Saints' wins was a 70-56 victory over the Indianapolis Colts that still stands as the highest scoring game in NFL history (and would be the first matchup between quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Tom Brady). The Saints' season was aided by a stellar performance from rookie wide receiver Reggie Wayne, including 19 touchdowns. Another excellent rookie was LaDainian Tomlinson, who helped the Washington Redskins capture the NFC East title over the Philadelphia Eagles. Tampa Bay quarterback Ryan Leaf garnered controversy when he made comments after the September 11th attacks blaming America's acceptance of the LGBT community for the attacks, remarks that earned him a massive fine but not a suspension. The AFC was a tight race all year, between twelve different teams battling it out for the six playoff spots. The 12-4 New England Patriots eventually emerged as the first place team, fighting off a tough challenge from the 11-5 Baltimore Ravens and the 11-5 Oakland Raiders for that top spot. Meanwhile, no less than six teams duked it out for the last two wild card spots on the final week of the season: the Buffalo Bills, the Cleveland Browns, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Indianapolis Colts, the Miami Dolphins, and the Tennessee Titans all had a shot at getting into the playoffs going into the week's games, with the then 10-5 Pittsburgh Steelers being the only team that had punched their ticket. The Browns, led by Offensive Rookie of the Year Michael Vick, had played inspired football all year, and went into the day 8-7 and needing a lot of help to get in. Ultimately, the Colts and Bills won their games and secured their spots, setting up an exciting playoff for the new year.

NFL Playoffs 2001-02:

Wild Card Round

(3) Oakland Raiders: 33, (6) Buffalo Bills: 7

The Raiders were playing excellent football in 2001 behind the coaching of Jon Gruden and the veteran skills of Vinny Testaverde. They were one of the most complete teams in the league, and made short work of the Buffalo Bills. Doug Flutie was picked off three times, twice for touchdowns, and the Raiders won impressively in this wild card contest.

(5) Indianapolis Colts: 24, (4) Pittsburgh Steelers: 21 (OT)

In probably the most exciting game of the wildcard round, Tom Brady led his Colts back from a 21-7 fourth quarter deficit, with touchdowns to Randy Moss and Marvin Harrison. In overtime, the Colts escaped defeat early on after Pittsburgh's kicker missed a 38-yard field goal off the right upright, but couldn't take advantage and were stopped. The Steelers got the ball again but had to punt, and the Colts marched down the field to give kicker Cary Blanchard a chip shot field goal opportunity with less than a minute to go in the overtime period. He made it, and the Colts were into the next round.

(3) Washington Redskins: 15, (6) Chicago Bears: 14

The Bears bent but didn't break, not allowing the Redskins to score a single touchdown. However, kicker Matt Stover was a perfect 5 for 5, giving the Redskins a one point victory over the visiting Bears.

(4) Philadelphia Eagles: 27, (5) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 21

Ryan Leaf was well behaved in this game, and threw quite well for three touchdowns, 308 yards, and only a single pick. However, it wasn't good enough to beat Tim Couch and the Philadelphia Eagles. Leaf had one last chance to win the game on a final drive with 1:14 to go, but his 38 yard Hail Mary throw was picked off in the end zone, knocking out the Bucs yet again. Head coach Tony Dungy would be fired after the season.

Divisional Round:

(1) New England Patriots: 23, (5) Indianapolis Colts: 16

The New England Patriots avoided the divisional round upset by beating the Colts at Foxboro. After jumping out to a 16-3 lead, they withstood a furious comeback by the Colts and their quarterback Tom Brady, who had a chance to tie the game on the final drive but ended up turning the ball over on downs.

(2) Baltimore Ravens: 7, (3) Oakland Raiders: 3

In a defensive struggle played in the snow, the Raiders led 3-0 most of the way. On the last drive, Ravens quarterback Kerry Collins fumbled the ball, and a Raider appeared to dive on it just before it would have gone out of bounds. However, the play was ultimately ruled dead due to the ball going out of bounds, giving the Ravens another chance to score. They would make the most of it, scoring the game's only touchdown for the win.

(1) New Orleans Saints: 57, (4) Philadelphia Eagles: 21

The Eagles had absolutely no answer for the Saints in this blowout that would see Peyton Manning throw six touchdowns and even a two point conversion at one point just to show that he could.

(2) Green Bay Packers: 26, (3) Washington Redskins: 17

This game was played in even more brutal conditions than the Ravens/Raiders game, but despite that, both offenses performed well. In the end, it was Brett Favre who won the day. The Redskins played poorly in the second half, with three turnovers, two inside the red zone, and were unable to fully utilize hot rookie runner Tomlinson due to having to play from behind most of the game.

Conference Championships:

(2) Baltimore Ravens: 28, (1) New England Patriots: 10

The Patriots tried their best to repeat as conference champs, but Donovan McNabb couldn't get anything going against the Ravens' stout defense. The Ravens even played good offense in this game, with Kerry Collins throwing for three touchdowns. He also threw two picks, but the Patriots were unable to take advantage of them. Their only score would come in garbage time after the Ravens were already up 28-3.

(1) New Orleans Saints: 44, (2) Green Bay Packers: 13

The Saints played yet another dominant game inside the Superdome. The Manning/Favre showdown that had been hyped up for the entire week turned out to be anticlimactic, as Favre threw one of the worst games of his career and Peyton Manning had another dominating performance with four passing touchdowns.

Super Bowl XXXVI:

New Orleans Saints: 19, Baltimore Ravens: 13 (OT)

Played in San Diego, California (which narrowly beat out New Orleans to get the Super Bowl, had New Orleans won, the Saints would have become the first team to ever play the Super Bowl at their home stadium), the game was hyped up as the battle between the "unstoppable force" that was the Saints and the "immovable object" that was the Ravens, the game at first seemed like it would be a rather boring affair, as the Saints jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead. However, the Ravens' defense soon stiffened up, and began to strike back with a field goal in the third quarter, and another early in the fourth. Late in the game, the Saints had the ball and a 13-6 lead, and it seemed that they'd be certain to repeat as champs. However, on a 3rd and goal rushing play with just over a minute remaining, the runner fumbled the ball and a Baltimore defender scooped it up and ran 96 yards to score. It was 13-13, and the game went into overtime. As exciting as that play had been, the overtime was anticlimactic: the Saints won the coin toss and marched down the field to score an easy touchdown. Despite that, the Ravens had given the Saints a serious challenge, and the game featured some of the most exciting moments in Super Bowl history. It also featured one of the best halftime shows in Super Bowl history, as Grammy winners U2 played to a raucous crowd.

-

The 2002 NFL Draft saw the first ever pick by the expansion Houston Texans, who would select quarterback Carson Palmer, who had left school a year early to come to the NFL, with the first overall pick in the draft. The #2 pick would be used on David Carr, selected by the Detroit Lions, while the #3 pick would be used on yet another quarterback, Joey Harrington, who was picked up by the Arizona Cardinals. Star defensive end Julius Peppers slipped all the way to #6. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts, who traded a massive bounty of draft picks to grab Peppers to shore up their woeful defense (particularly after Peyton Manning gashed them for 70 points in November, a game that saw radio commentator Bob Lamey shout "for fuck's sake, he's got all day to throw!" on a live mic, earning him a one game suspension). The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had the 21st pick, took quarterback Patrick Ramsey, a surprising choice even considering how controversial Ryan Leaf was at the time, an indication that they were perhaps losing confidence in their star.

 

[rick007]

The Amazing Race: Season 2: Electric Boogaloo

As I said last time, while the ratings for Season 1 were good, they were barely enough to warrant another season. However, fans of the show, including some of CBS' popular stars, managed to convince CBS President Les Moonves to renew the show for another season. And it got a somewhat better budget this time. That being said there are some changes, like Phil appearing on the mat more frequently, the prizes and the flags changing from yellow and white to yellow and red (though this would change back to yellow and white for countries like Vietnam that have a yellow and red flag to avoid confusion).

The casting process took place at the end of 2001 and filming took place between January and February 2002. The cast for this season is a variation on the last:

The Cast

Oswald and Danny: Two friends from Miami. They were a couple of gay friends who weren't a couple (even if they sometimes acted like one). They were easily one of the more popular teams that season.

Marc and Polly: Father and daughter from Colorado. Though the Klaas' had been briefly famous in the early '90s and again in the later part of the decade with what happened in Columbine, the network decided that, as with Ron Goldman on Survivor that enough time had passed that they were not a distraction. Besides after Season 8, no one was complaining about their inclusion.

Shola and Doyin: Twin brothers from Albany, New York. It became a game among fans trying to tell these two apart. Eventually it was figured out that Doyin was the one that was married at the time the race was recorded. And the fact that he wore a blue shirt as opposed to Shola who wore red.

Peggy and Claire: Friends from California. They call themselves the "Gutsy Grannies" though they are anything but from what we saw.

Tara and Wil: Married couple from Los Angeles. Another bickering couple team and this season's villain team. They're famous for not only fighting amongst themselves but striking out at everyone around them. Interestingly, Tara says that Wil was treating her better on the race, while she was treating him worse. Which ought to tell you something.

Gary and Dave: Friends and roommates from New York. What can I say about these two? Gary's humor is grating (especially when it comes to other cultures) and Dave doesn't seem to say all that much. They were this season's attempt to replicate the popularity of Kevin and Drew.

Blake and Paige: Brother and sister from Texas. This is an extremely close team, so close in fact that people thought that they were having an incestuous relationship (that's not comedic writing people actually thought that.) Anyway, they were a team ahead of their time in terms of strategy, though Blake's plans didn't always work out the way that he wanted them to.

Chris and Alex: Best friends from Boston. They were a pair of athletic guys who were favorites early on. That, plus Alex's flirtation with Tara, make these two memorable.

Mary and Peach: Sisters from Pennsylvania. Peach is the more high maintenance of the two, but they were able to work together, after a fashion.

Deidre and Hilary: Mother and daughter from Florida and New York respectively. Hilary lived with her father after her parents divorced and they decided to use the race as a way to reconnect. They were this season's version of Nancy and Emily.

Russell and Cyndi: Married pastors from Minnesota. Russell bears a striking resemblance to Harrison Ford. Their lack of travel experience would prove to be their downfall.

The Race

Leg #1: "The World is Waiting: Go!"

Original Air Date: March 11th, 2002.

Starting in Pahrump, Nevada, teams get $200 and are told to go to Rome, Italy on one of two flights. The first flight carries seven teams and arrives first, while the remaining four teams arrive an hour later.

Once there teams had to find a clue outside a specific part of the Coliseum using a photograph. Once there teams encountered the first Detour of the race: Foot or Hoof. In Foot, teams have to find a statue of a foot using only a picture. In Hoof, again using a picture, teams have to identify a statue of a horse and rider using the hoof to go by.

After completing either side of the detour, teams have to take a train to Castelfranco Emilia, and go to the Pagani Auto Factory where the Roadblock is. In this Roadblock, one team member has to drive themselves to the town centre of Santa'Agata Bolognese, using a map written entirely in Italian, while their team mate gets driven there in a Ferrari. Then they can walk a few feet to the Pit Stop.

1. Blake and Paige 11:16 A.M. Won: A trip for two to Rio De Janeiro

2. Marc and Polly 11:37 A.M.

3.Deidre and Hilary 11:38 A.M.

4. Shola and Doyin 12:01 P.M.

5. Chris and Alex 12:09 P.M. TIE

6. Tara and Wil 12:09 P.M. TIE

7. Gary and Dave 1:17 P.M.

8. Mary and Peach 1:24 P.M.

9. Oswald and Danny 1:25 P.M.

10. Russell and Cyndi 1:35 P.M.

11. Peggy and Claire 2:07 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #2: "Opa!"

Original Air Date: March 13th, 2002.

After getting $200, teams have to go to Athens, Greece, by taking a train to the town of Brindisi then a ferry across. Once in Athens, teams have to go to Mount Lycabettus. On Mount Lycabettus, teams run into a Detour: Climb Down or Walk Down. In Climb Down, teams have to rock climb down to their next clue. In Walk Down, teams take a trail to the next clue.

The next clue directs teams to take a ferry to Heraklion, Crete. At the ferry terminal, teams search for their next clue. Teams are then directed to the Theodorus Vardinogiannus Stadium, where they find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, teams have to score one goal on a young up-and-coming soccer player. After this teams head to the pit stop, Rocca al Mare.

1. Deidre and Hilary 1:13 P.M.

2. Mary and Peach 1:17 P.M.

3. Marc and Polly 1:18 P.M.

4. Danny and Oswald 1:25 P.M.

5. Blake and Paige 1:45 P.M.

6. Chris and Alex 1:46 P.M.

7. Tara and Wil 2:01 P.M.

8. Shola and Doyin 2:09 P.M.

9. Russell and Cyndi 2:15 P.M.

10. Gary and Dave 2:22 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #3: "I don't want to be cursed!"

Original Air Date: March 20th, 2002.

After getting $150, teams leave Heraklion for Cairo, Egypt. The next clue is outside the Cairo Tower. There they are told to go to the base of the Great Pyramid in Giza. There teams run into the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, teams have to go into the pyramid, retrieve a satchel and bring it back up to get their next clue.

The next clue tells teams to take a puzzle out of the satchel and put it together on a map (also in the satchel). There is a hole in the puzzle that will show teams where to go next: the base of the pyramid. There they will get the Detour. In this Detour teams have to choose between Rock and Roll and Hump and Ride. In Rock and Roll, teams have to use traditional techniques to transport two 600lbs blocks across an area the size of a football field. In Hump and Ride, teams had to pick a pair of camels and ride them across a stretch of desert. Either way teams had to go to the Pit Stop: The Sphinx.

1. Danny and Oswald 2:17 P.M.

2. Tara and Wil 2:20 P.M.

3. Blake and Paige 2:30 P.M.

4. Deirdre and Hilary 2:34 P.M.

5. Shola and Doyin 2:36 P.M.

6. Chris and Alex 2:59 P.M.

7. Marc and Polly 3:15 P.M.

8. Mary and Peach 3:18 P.M.

9. Russell and Cyndi 4:16 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #4: "Let's do that again!"

Original Air Date: March 27th, 2002.

Teams are told to go to Johannesburg, South Africa then take a charter flight to Walvis Bay, Namibia(that's Namibia, Jackass!). From there teams have to make their way to the Swakopmund Lighthouse, where they can pick up a 4x4. Then teams have to go to the Matterhorn sand dune. There is also a Fast Forward with the Matterhorn clue. The Fast Forward is swimming in a pool to get a clue. Mary and Peach get it since Peach wasn't feeling well this leg.

At the Matterhorn, teams run into the Detour: Slide or Stride. In Slide, teams slide down the front of the dune on sand boards. In Stride, teams walk down. It may shock you to learn that no one takes Stride. Teams then have to drive 125 miles to the village of Spitzkoppe, where, at the General Dealer a local convenience store, they get the next clue on the postcard of the day. It's the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, teams, using their own money, have to haggle for five carvings of local wildlife: a zebra, a rhinoceros, a lion, an elephant and a water buffalo. They then have to bring a giraffe statue with them to the Pit Stop: The Amani Lodge just outside Windhoek.

1. Mary and Peach 7:12 P.M.

2. Danny and Oswald 10:00 P.M.

3. Marc and Polly 10:05 P.M.

4. Blake and Paige 10:15 P.M.

5. Shola and Doyin 10:29 P.M.

6. Deirdre and Hilary 10:47 P.M.

7. Chris and Alex 11:22 P.M.

8. Tara and Wil 12:02 A.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #5: "Na, na, na, na, Batman!"

Original Air Date: April 3rd, 2002.

After getting $80, teams have to go to Bangkok, Thailand. There they have to go to the Siam Center. This is where they pick the Detour: Confusion Now or Confusion Later. In Confusion Now, teams have to find a specific water taxi, take it to a bird market and buy and release a cage of sparrows. In Confusion Later, teams take a taxi to Chinatown, buy a paper car, and burn it at a specific shrine. As it turns out, it should have been called Confusion All Around.

Teams then have to go to a temple in Ratchaburi, where the Roadblock is located. In this Roadblock, one team member has to don a protective mask and search for the final clue inside a cave with a million bats in it. Then it is a race to the Pit Stop: a Thai river house called Ban Plai Pong Pang.

1. Shola and Doyin 6:00 P.M.

2. Marc and Polly 6:14 P.M.

3. Blake and Paige 7:01 P.M.

4. Mary and Peach 7:09 P.M.

5. Danny and Oswald 7:10 P.M.

6. Deirdre and Hilary 8:03 P.M.

7. Chris and Alex 8:33 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #6: "I got sprayed by an elephant, dad!"

Original Airdate: April 10th, 2002.

Receiving another $120, teams have to brave another crowded and confusing marketplace for their next clue. It tells teams to take a train 500 miles to Chiang Mai. Once there the teams run into a Detour: traveling down river one of two ways Boat or Beast. In Boat, teams have to pilot themselves on a raft using a long pole. In Beast, teams travel by elephant.

Next teams get into a four by four and drive thirteen miles to the village Me Ping. Here they run into the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member must scrub the markings off a live elephant painted for a religious ceremony. Then teams go to the Pit Stop: Karen Village.

1. Mary and Peach 8:53 A.M.

2. Danny and Oswald 8:55 A.M.

3. Blake and Paige 9:02 A.M.

4. Marc and Polly 9:10 A.M.

5. Deirdre and Hilary 9:16 A.M.

6. Shola and Doyin 9:17 A.M. NOT ELIMINATED.

Leg #7: "Great fortune is coming your way."

Original Air Date: April 17th, 2002.

After getting $180, teams have to find the Temple of the Seven Spires, where teams are told to go to the tallest building in Hong Kong. There teams have to search for the ferry terminal of the Star Ferry or go for the Fast Forward. Danny and Oswald take the Fast Forward: go to Wong Tai Sin Temple and get a face reading from a woman named Amelia Chow. The other teams go to the ferry terminal and take one across.

Once on the other side teams get a Detour: Wishing Tree or Herbal Tea. In Wishing Tree, teams have to go eighteen miles to a Wishing Tree, write down their wish and throw it into the tree. In Herbal Tea, teams have to find a specific tea shop and each drink a cup of foul tasting tea. Then teams have to go to the docks where teams do a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to move a one ton shipping container with a crane. Then it is off to the Pit Stop: the Duck Ling Junk in Victoria Harbor.

1. Danny and Oswald 4:18 P.M.

2. Deirdre and Hilary 5:39 P.M.

3. Marc and Polly 5:45 P.M.

4. Blake and Paige 6:14 P.M.

5. Mary and Peach 6:22 P.M.

6. Shola and Doyin 6:25 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #8: "Opals are supposed to be unlucky." Part I

Original Air Date: April 24th, 2002.

Receiving $100, teams leave the Junk and go to the town of Repulse Bay, where they must find the statue of Tien Hou, the goddess of the sea. There is also a Fast Forward going to the Po Lin Monastery and climbing the steps to the Buddha there but no one takes it. From Tien Hou, teams must go to the Murray House. After getting there, some teams got lost, teams find the Detour: Dragon or Lion.

In Dragon, teams must paddle a dragon boat 600 meters (they're designed for a crew of twelve). In Lion, teams must put on ceremonial lion garb and parade through the streets of Hong Kong, four times that to the same spot. The next clue tells teams to go to the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. There teams find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member is sent all over Sydney, following clues written in Australian slang. Teams are then sent to the Pit Stop: The roof of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

1. Deirdre and Hilary 9:01 A.M. Won: A 7 day Caribbean cruise.

2. Danny and Oswald 9:03 A.M.

3. Marc and Polly 9:10 A.M.

4. Mary and Peach 9:49 A.M.

5. Blake and Paige 9:56 A.M. NOT ELIMINATED.

Leg #9: "Opals are supposed to be bad luck" Part II

Original Air Date: April 24th, 2002.

After getting the clue, Blake and Paige decide to take the Fast Forward: eating a meat pie each at a particular restaurant. Don't know what to tell you folks. The other teams have to climb to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge when it opens. Then teams have to go to Adelaide, Australia. Once there teams have to go to a metal tree sculpture in Coober Pedy.

Once at the metal tree teams have to face a Detour: Cool Down or Heat Up. In Cool Down, teams have to go into an opal mine and dig for an opal. In Heat Up, teams have to play three holes of golf on the hottest driest course in the world. The catch is that you can't tell which tee goes with which hole. After that, teams have to go to Breakaways National Park and perform the Roadblock. This Roadblock requires one team member to throw a boomerang. Then everyone goes to the Pit Stop: a traditional Aborigine camp.

1. Blake and Paige 3:30 P.M. Won: a trip for two to Cancun, Mexico.

2. Marc and Polly 5:00 P.M.

3. Danny and Oswald 5:07 P.M.

4. Deirdre and Hilary 5:10 P.M.

5. Mary and Peach 5:33 P.M. ELIMINATED

Leg #10: "Ready to lose our lives"

Original Air Date: May 1st, 2002

After getting $140, teams have to go to Queenstown, New Zealand. To do this teams have to go by road train (a tandem trailer) to Glendambo, then go by charter flight to Adelaide, then book tickets to Queenstown. Marc and Polly take the Fast Forward which is to go to Shotover Jet Boats, get into one of their boats and search the river for the clue to the Pit Stop.

The other teams have to go to Wentworth Station and go to the Nevis Highwire Platform for the Detour: Quick Jump or Long Hike. In Quick Jump, teams have to tandem bungee jump into the canyon 450ft to the bottom. In Long Hike, teams go back to solid ground and take the long way to the bottom. Teams then go to Inverary Sheep Station where the Roadblock is. In this Roadblock, one member of each team have to separate three black sheep from nineteen white ones. Then it's a short walk to the Pit Stop.

1. Marc and Polly 2:10 P.M. Won: A trip for two to Puerto Rico.

2. Oswald and Danny 3:17 P.M.

3. Blake and Paige 3:45 P.M.

4. Deirdre and Hilary 5:03 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED.

Leg #11: "Is there another way?"

Original Air Date: May 8th, 2002.

After receiving twenty dollars, teams pick a camper van and drive 500 miles to the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua on New Zealand's north island. It involves a ferry ride from Picton to Wellington so catching the first ferry, at 11:30 A.M. is crucial as the next one doesn't leave for two hours. Once there, teams watch a native ceremony then get instructions to go to the Waitomo Caves

At the caves is the Detour: Drop or Climb. In Drop, teams and their guide go down the world's tallest free rappel, 350 feet to the bottom of the Lost World Cave, close to the clue box at Jesus Rock. In Climb, teams climb down a hundred foot ladder then walk the rest of the way to the clue box. After that, teams go a hundred miles to do the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one member of each team has to go on a bumpy ride in an all-terrain vehicle. Then it's off to the Pit Stop: The Warbirds Hangar at the Ardmore Airfield outside Auckland.

1. Blake and Paige 2:51 P.M. Won: A trip for two to Los Cabos.

2. Danny and Oswald 3:29 P.M.

3. Marc and Polly 3:53 P.M.

4. Deirdre and Hilary 4:13 P.M. ELIMINATED.

Leg #12: "The most fabulous ending ever" Part I

Original Air Date: May 15th, 2002.

Teams get fifty dollars this leg and are directed to the tomb of Sir John Logan Campbell, the Father of Auckland. There they are told to go to Maui, Hawaii. There teams eventually get to Pauwela Pineapple Field. This is the location of the Detour: Bike or Walk. In Bike, teams have to find one red pineapple in the entire field. In Walk, teams search on foot for one of four yellow pineapples.

Teams then have to take a boat from McGregor Point to a marker floating near Molokini Island, an extinct volcano. There the Roadblock requires teams to dive underwater and open a case that is strapped shut. It's the clue to the Pit Stop: Huialoha Church, a remote house of worship.

1. Marc and Polly 11:11 A.M. TIE Won a trip for two to London and Paris.

2. Blake and Paige 11:11A.M. TIE Won a trip for two to London and Paris.

3. Danny and Oswald 12:01 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED.

Leg #13: "The most fabulous ending ever" Part II

Original Air Date: May 15th 2002.

Teams get one dollar this leg and instructions to go to Queen Kaahumanu's birthplace at Hana Bay. The clue there tells teams to head to Anchorage, Alaska and then proceed to Rust's Flying Service. Marc and Polly nearly lose the clue at the airport but luckily they manage to find it again. Once at Rust's, teams have to take a charter plane each to Trapper Creek, Alaska, and spend the night in an igloo.

The next morning teams have to drive a snowcat, which looks like a large construction crane without the crane, over a frozen lake. Then, in Big Lake, teams have to pick up tools including hammers, saws, power drills and a blowtorch and proceed to Hurricane Gulch. It's here that the Roadblock is located. In this Roadblock, teams have to get the clue out of an ice globe using the tools they picked up.

Next teams have to fly to the final destination city: San Francisco. Teams have to go to the Atkinson-Escher House. Then teams have to go to the Municipal Pier on foot. The last clue tells teams to go to the Finish Line: Fort Baker, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.

1. Danny and Oswald WIN

2. Blake and Paige PLACE

3. Marc and Polly SHOW

The Review

This season was an improvement on the last one. It took the audience, and teams, to new locations, though some were in old countries. The production standards were better than they were in the first season. The teams were interesting, the attempt to make a love triangle with Wil, Tara and Alex notwithstanding. The prizes that would come at the end of some legs would only become more numerous, and sometimes pointless, as time goes on as we shall see.

Anyway, the addition of Marc and Polly this season was not without its detractors amongst the fans. While most fans were either ok with it or ambivalent, there were those who argued that adding celebrities, even ones as minor as Polly Klaas and her father, was a distraction. I, however, think that they were overreacting this season and that Marc and Polly were a great addition to the race.

In spite of this Season 2 of the show is my number five race. Even the complainers of this season put it in their top ten so there you go. Even still, in spite of the minor controversy, this season did do better in the ratings, enough to warrant a third season. Which is where a different controversy would erupt.

-Globetrotting: An Amazing Race Blog by R.C. Anderson on the website Reality Rewind, September 12th, 2016.

 

[RySenkari]

Klonoa 3: Phantomile Rising

Klonoa 3: Phantomile Rising (originally subtitled From The Stars during development, though the game went through some changes soon after the release of the Katana) is developed by Namco as a Sega Katana exclusive. Unlike other platformers of the time, Klonoa 3 retains a mostly 2-D perspective, though the graphics are now very detailed and polished compared to previous games in the series. The game does include a few 3-D exploration segments, mostly set apart from the main levels as bonus stages. A couple of the boss fights also take place in a 3-D perspective. For the most part, the gameplay is similar to other titles in the series. Klonoa can jump, use his wind ring, or push objects around, much like other 2-D platformers of the time. The "glide" meter from Klonoa 2 is gone, replaced by a new technique called the telejump. Klonoa gains the ability to teleport short distances early in the game. He can use this ability to access closed-off areas to hit switches or collect items, to reach high-up areas like platforms and clouds, or to outflank large enemies that can't be jumped over. The telejump can also be used to perform a number of context-based tricks by utilizing special stars in each level that are colored according to the colors of the rainbow. There are seven stars in all. Red stars can be used to generate a fiery explosion, orange stars can be used to teleport Klonoa into walls or underground, yellow stars are used to jump far higher than normal, green stars are used to create large whirlwinds, blue stars give Klonoa a temporary laser weapon, indigo stars are used during boss fights to exploit certain weaknesses, and purple stars are used to clone Klonoa so that his double can fight or hit switches alongside him. The game is divided into five worlds and 26 total levels, each taking place in a different section of Phantomile. The basic story of the game is that Lephise is experiencing nightmares and has transformed into the evil Queen Philese, who has used her dark power to make Phantomile levitate into the sky, imprisoning millions of dream creatures. Klonoa must rescue both his friend Huepow and the other denizens of Phantomile before Philese turns the island into a realm of nightmares forever.

Released in November 2001 in Japan and February 2002 in North America, Klonoa 3 is the latest installment of what was one of the most popular and lucrative franchises on the Saturn, and as a Katana game, it continues the series' strong sales performance. Reviews are somewhat mixed, averaging around 7.5/10. While the game's graphics and the new teleport mechanic are praised, the 2-D perspective is seen as outdated by some reviewers, even as it's seen as a welcome change of pace by others. Klonoa 3 would be more fondly remembered over the years, its 2-D gameplay seen as more of a retro throwback than something outdated, and its storyline seen as the strongest among the original three games.

-

Ronilyn Reilly: Breaking news from the world of Namco, you know them for great series like the classic Pac-Man, Soul Calibur, Tekken, and Klonoa among many others. Today at a shareholders' meeting in Tokyo, Namco announced that starting in 2003, the company would be releasing games for the Microsoft Xbox and for Nintendo's consoles as well.

Patrick Clark: And this is probably the most interesting gaming news of the day, because Namco and Sega were pretty much joined at the hip for the last seven years.

Reilly: Right, the arcade connection particularly made me think that Sega and Namco would be together forever.

Clark: Now, they're still going to make Sega games.

Reilly: Right, and Soul Calibur II is still a Katana exclusive.

Clark: So Sega and Namco are still close, but the days of Namco making games only for Sega systems, as of this announcement today, seem to be pretty much over.

Reilly: Games announced to be coming to Nintendo consoles include a Klonoa title for the Game Boy Nova and a brand new Ace Combat game exclusive to the upcoming Wave Engine.

-from the February 25, 2002 episode of G4 Weekly News

-

Tekken 4 Will Be Multiplatform, Tekken Legacy Announced For Ultra Nintendo

The Tekken series is coming to Nintendo and Microsoft consoles next year, announced Namco at this year's GDC. The company announced a pair of Tekken games, and for the first time in series history, they won't be exclusive to Sega systems.

First up is Tekken 4, the highly anticipated follow-up to Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament. The game, which has just been released to Japanese arcades, will be making its way to consoles in 2003, and Namco announced that in addition to the Katana version of the game, there will also be versions of the game for the Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo's next generation system. The Nintendo version is said to be releasing early in 2003, simultaneously with the Katana version, while Xbox owners will have to wait until later in the year. The game is said to introduce seven new fighters, and will also introduce online gameplay to the series for the first time. In addition, Namco is also releasing Tekken Legacy, an updated version of 1998's Tekken 3, for the Ultra Nintendo. The game will feature updated gameplay mechanics introduced in Tekken Tag Tournament, along with several new characters. The game can be said to compare with titles like Ultimate Mortal Kombat Trilogy, which tied its first three games together in a re-released package. The Ultra Nintendo will not be getting a port of Tekken 4.

-from a Gamespot.com article posted on March 21, 2002

-

"The adorable Klonoa is making his way to the Game Boy Nova with his very first Nova adventure! Tentatively titled Klonoa Nova, the game will be a brand new adventure where you can guide Klonoa and his friends through worlds of peril and excitement! Klonoa is a franchise that's gained millions of fans over the course of his previous three adventures, and now the phenomenon comes to a Nintendo system for the very first time. We'll have more on Klonoa's Nintendo debut in the coming months!"
-from an article in the April 2002 issue of Nintendo Power detailing upcoming Nova games

-

As you can see, the new Ace Combat looks to be a reboot of the series, and will focus heavily on the pilots and their individual personalities in this brand new adventure that looks to fuse Top Gun-style action with the character-based drama typical of hit anime shows. The graphics look spectacular, though that's to be expected on the Wave Engine, which is expected to be even more powerful than Microsoft's Xbox.

The project is headed by Namco's Eiji Kikuchi, with series veteran Kazutoki Kono as a supervising producer. Kikuchi offered this statement when asked why the game would be an exclusive for Nintendo's upcoming system:

"We believe that Nintendo's new system, the most powerful game console we have ever seen, is the only system on which our vision for the incredible world these four pilots will be inhabiting can be realized. We were extremely impressed with everything that's possible on Nintendo's new system, and we know that Nintendo has a fanbase that will be very receptive to the series' new direction."

Ace Combat is very early in development, and we have little except these screenshots and the very brief plot description given by Namco to give us any indication as to what the game will be like. Whether or not this new Ace Combat can lift the series' flagging sales has yet to be seen, but it's one of the more exciting game announcements we've seen yet for Nintendo's next generation console.

-from an article in the April 2002 Electronic Gaming Monthly

-
March 24, 2002

Since ascending to the position of president of Sega, Hisao Oguchi had faced one challenge after another. Disappointing holiday sales, third parties defecting, Nintendo's new console... the 42-year-old executive had been thought of as too young to head the company by many of his contemporaries, but Hayao Nakayama had believed in him, and it was Nakayama's blessing that had convinced the company's board of directors to take the chance. Now, Oguchi was faced with yet another challenge as he met with Masaya Nakamura, the venerable president of Namco. Nakamura was 35 years Oguchi's senior, and found himself somewhat intimidated by the man as the two sat down across from one another in Oguchi's office.

Two years ago, when Namco had been considering releasing some of their games for the Ultra Nintendo, including the original Soul Calibur, Hayao Nakayama had convinced them not to. Now, it would be up to Oguchi to keep the game's sequel exclusive to Sega.

The two men discussed the issue for more than half an hour. Oguchi remained extremely deferential and respectful, but emphasized repeatedly how important it was for the game to be a signature release for the Katana, and how loyal Sega had been to Namco in the past. Now, said Oguchi, it was time for that favor to be returned.

"The new Wave system is projected to sell twice as many units over the course of its lifespan as the Katana," said Nakamura frankly. "The Ultra Nintendo has been an unprecedented success, and withholding our games from it for so long has presented an enormous opportunity cost for the company that the entire board believes exceeded every financial incentive your company has provided to us since 1995."

"I would respectfully disagree that the Wave will sell twice as many units as the Katana," said Oguchi. "Its success has yet to be seen."

"We have been extremely encouraged by what we've seen from the Wave thus far," replied Nakamura. "We have little doubt in its success. I sincerely appreciate our partnership, but the fact remains clear that keeping the next Soul Calibur exclusive to the Katana would be a financial mistake."

Most of the color had drained out of Oguchi's face. Losing the Soul series as an exclusive would be an enormous blow for the company's prospects of catching up with Nintendo or pulling away from Microsoft's Xbox. Fighting game exclusives had been a staple of video game success for the past decade, and Oguchi felt Sega's dominance in that regard slipping through his fingers. He'd already lost Tekken. If he had to beg to keep Soul Calibur, he would.

"Surely....there must be some agreement that can be reached," said Oguchi. "Sega has been very loyal to Namco in the past and we can continue to help one another in the future."

"I am sorry," said Nakamura. "Development on versions of Soul Calibur II for both the Wave and the Xbox has already begun."

"The Xbox too? Damn it!" Oguchi was speechless. The Xbox was still mostly a flop in Japan. For Namco to be releasing both Tekken and Soul Calibur for the system, the winds must have seriously shifted. "Please...at least give us timed exclusivity. Wait until 2004 to release the ports for Nintendo and Microsoft's systems."

"We cannot do that," said Nakamura, rising from his chair. "However...I would be pleased to discuss other Katana exclusives with you in the future. I believe we can still work together."

"...of course," said Oguchi in a defeated tone, bowing his head. He rose from his chair and extended his hand to Nakamura, who shook it graciously. "Thank you for your time, Nakamura-san."

After Nakamura left, Oguchi slumped in his chair, his head in his hands. The Katana had no major Namco exclusives in all of 2003. One of the most lucrative partnerships in the industry for the last seven years was over.

"Why the hell did I agree to take this job?"

 

[RyderWest]

With the approval of RySenkari, this is the ATL history of Trans World Airlines in the canon of Player Two Start/Massively Multiplayer, which in IOTL was bought out by American Airlines and went out of existence on December 1, 2001.

Trans World Airlines History (1991-2002)

"The recovery of Trans World Airlines from their severe economic troubles during the early 1990's signifiy one of the few shining lights in the airline industry after the events of 9/11 last year, as the airline announced today new routes from its St. Louis hub to numerous domestic routes within the United States and also additional international routes from its secondary hubs in Los Angeles and New York, which includes new routes to Canada, Japan, South Korea and new Pacific routes in South East Asia.

The airline has attributed its economic and financial survival after airline deregulation in the 1980's the corporate raidings of Carl Icahn to the expansion of their domestic operations in the United States and the mass rejection of the Karabu deal by shareholders in 1995, which, airline experts have said, would have resulted in mass revenue losses for TWA due to heavily slashed ticket prices, with estimated losses of $180 million dollars of revenue per year if the plan was put into action. The attemped buyout of TWA by AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines and one of its competitors, and the rejection of the buyout by shareholders, has now signalled that TWA is now in a position to properly survive on its own. TWA's financial situation is also helped by the massive airline bailout package that President Al Gore signed into law on November 18 last year, which has helped many of the legacy carriers, which include American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways survive bankruptcy in the aftermath of the airline industry crash after 9/11, which has already claimed prominent international airlines such as Sabena in Belgium.

The airline has also aquired new aircraft over the past few years, which included new Boeing 747-400 aircraft to replace the now-retired 747-100 and 200 models, which were retired in 1996 over maintenance and age concerns and new Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft for its domestic routes. The new short-ranged Boeing 717 and the new Airbus A318 are both replacing the DC-9 for their shortdomestic routes, which the latter are due to be delivered early next year."
- A snippet from a newspaper article titled "TWA annouces new Domestic and International Routes despite looming industry troubles" in the New York Times, January 14, 2002.

"TWA, One Mission, Yours."
- Tagline for the TWA "Runaway" advert (about the new 717 and A318 aircraft) shown on TV in late August 2001.

TWA Flight 883

"Holy mother of cheesecakes and sunshine! That plane is landing blind, deaf and with no legs! How can he land that!?"
- Amateur plane spotter Robert Pekkean, during the recording of the landing of Flight 883.

TWA Flight 883 was a regularly scheduled commerical flight from Los Angeles International Airport, California to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. On November 22, 1999, the Boeing 767-331ER [1] (aircraft registration number N634TW), carrying 277 passengers and 12 crew members, lost all power after a fuel leak in one of it right wing fuel tanks caused the plane to lose power over north-east West Virignia, which eventually diverted to and landed at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport at Arlington County, Virginia, after the plane had completed a series of S-turns and 360 turns to make sure that they were at the right altitude for landing. This incident was notable in the fact that this was the second time this type of fuel incident on a Boeing 767 happened in commerical aviation, the first being Air Canada Flight 143 (the famous Gimli Glider) in 1983, and the fact its no fuel landing was filmed by amateur plane spotters at Washington.

Investigators from the NTSB eventually found out that due to improper repairs conducted by an airplane maintenance contractor company that was contracted by TWA for aircraft repairs (a temporary measure until TWA could build up their in house maintenance division that was sold off under Icahn in the early 1990's), the contractors mistakenly used incompatible parts that made chafing of the fuel line of the 767 by the hydraulic lines possible, and causing a fuel leak. Unintentional pilot error was also pointed out by the NTSB due to the failure of the flight crew to notice that their fuel tank was leaking. Despite this, the pilots were congratulated for saving the lives of all on board the aircraft and landing the aircraft without any major damage, despite the wheels deflating and skid marks being observed on the aircraft due to the brakes not working.

The NTSB published a report reccomending that parts on an aircraft should always be compatible with the specific aircraft type that it is being transfered to, and always conduct proper procedure when procuring aircraft parts from official suppliers and sources. The company that conducted the improper repairs on TWA 883 was fined heavily by the FAA.

Boeing 747-131's grounded from TWA service

"TWA Boeing 747's grounded over fatal electrical defect, could cause plane to explode midflight"
- Front page of the New York Times, August 3, 1996

"If I knew that plane had that electrical fault and I knew that plane would explode, I would have never have flown it in my life, not even to Paris I wouldn't."
- TWA Captain Steven Snyder in a news interview to New York's ABC7 on August 7, 1996, referring to N93119, one of the 747-131's he flew to Paris. IOTL, he was the main captain on TWA Flight 800, and died when the plane blew up in mid flight.

A routine maintenance ground and plane inspection by TWA maintenance crew on TWA's fleet, including the aging Boeing 747-131's, the Lockheed L-1011 TriStars, the Douglas DC-9's and the Boeing 727-200s lead to the discovery of a fatal electrical defect within three of the 25 747's that were in TWA service at the time (which included the 747-131 registered as N93119, the plane that flew TWA 800 IOTL), where engineers and maintenance crew discovered that chafed and arced electrical wiring within the 747's could lead to an electrical buildup within the central wing tank, where the spark from the buildup could ignite fuel vapours in the CWT if it was not drained. They also found out that N93119, as Flight 800, flew to Paris from New York on July 17, 1996 with this fatal defect, and miraciously the wiring did not buildup an electrical surge and ignite the CWT.

This discovery leads to TWA management ordering the grounding of most of the older TWA mainline fleet, with numerous repair crews discovering the same electrical defects within the aircraft fleet, and caused a major shakeup in flight schedules and upper management since the problem would have to be fixed before the aircraft could be allowed to be put back into scheduled service. This also lead to the retirement of the 747-131's, as TWA thought that the plane's age, combined with the potential for more problems in the future lead to TWA finally removing the 747-131 from service in late 1996, although the 747-231 aircraft that TWA still had in service were allowed to be flown until they could purchase the Boeing 747-400 to replace the 747-131.

TWA Flight 273

TWA Flight 273 was a regularly scheduled domestic commerical flight from Cleveland Hopkins International airport in Cleveland, Ohio to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Chartlotte, North Carolina. On September 21, 1997, the Douglas DC-9-51 (aircraft registration number N409EA), carrying 107 passengers and 6 crew members, was attempting to land at Charlotte when it was blinded by a fierce rainstorm and crash landed into Robert L. Smith District Park near the residental suburb of Wildwood, North Carolina, where the aircraft broke into two main pieces. 41 people (39 passengers and two stewardesses) died, mostly from very severe injuries sustained during the crash, while the 72 survivors all suffered some sort of injuries, including the captain with a broken leg and bloody nose and the first officer with various cuts and bruises.

An NTSB investigation launched in the aftermath of the crash discovered that the crew of the DC-9 was approaching too low when it was attempting to land at Charlotte, and the heavy rainstorm that hit the area at the time only contributed to the problem since it reduced visibility for the crew to see that they were too low. It was also found out that the captain did not attempt to go around despite the lack of visbility and did not see that he was too low and slow for his altitude, which was considered tunnel vision, fixation and poor Crew Resource Management.

The final NTSB report, published in June of 1999, classified TWA Flight 273 as a Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accident, with the main cause being pilot error, and the secondary cause being bad weather. The report reccommended that TWA trains its pilots in better Crew Resource Managment techniques and TWA institute a system where pilots can check the possible weather patterns on their route, in order to prevent this type of accident from happening again. The captain, despite his bravery in helping people off the plane when it crashed, was let go from TWA due to the accident.

OOC Notes:

[1] IOTL and IATL, Boeing assigns a unique, fixed customer code for airlines that buy its aircraft. In this case, since TWA bought its aircraft during the first code sequence (there is 5 code sequences), it was assigned the customer code 31, so in this case a Boeing 767-300ER operated by TWA would become a Boeing 767-331ER.

 

[RySenkari]

Blackheart 2

Ubisoft's sequel to 2000's massive action hit Blackheart, Blackheart 2 builds on the previous title while introducing a number of new game mechanics to the franchise. In Blackheart 2, Sadira Blackheart returns to battle the Syndicate, a group of renegade powerbrokers who have taken over the fictional African nation of Vangada, in order to construct a massive superweapon within the country's borders. Sadira must also deal with her rival agent, the mysterious Messiah. A little ways into the game, while Sadira and Messiah are fighting, the two are captured and from that point on must work together to take the Syndicate down. Blackheart 2 retains much of the original game's familiar gameplay, including gunplay and melee action. The game's stealth mechanics return, but stealth is slightly less important this time around, allowing for more fast paced action. The addition of Messiah as an ally to Sadira changes up the gameplay in numerous ways. Essentially, for many missions, Messiah assists Sadira by performing certain actions from elsewhere in the level. You'll be able to frequently check on Messiah's status as she goes off and does her own thing. On occasion, Messiah will tip Sadira off as to what locations will be advantageous for her to check out. Messiah takes out enemies, finds secrets, and clears paths for Sadira, and following her advice, most of the time, will help Sadira through the level. HOWEVER, there's a catch. Messiah has both a health meter and a mood meter. While letting Messiah's health meter deplete won't cause a game over (she can't actually die, but she can be knocked out), it will drastically reduce Messiah's mood meter, making her take an angrier tone toward Sadira. In addition, if Messiah gets pissed off enough, she can actually sabotage Sadira, or lead her into ambushes by giving her bad advice. The player must carefully monitor Messiah's mood meter, and consider whether or not it's wise to follow Messiah's lead if she's in a bad mood. Optimally, Sadira will want to keep Messiah happy, as working together makes certain missions considerably easier. Then again, for an added challenge (or just for fun), Sadira may want to deliberately make Messiah angry. There are some pretty hilarious cutscenes that can only be accessed by going out of one's way to anger Messiah. It's the player's choice as to how best to play through the game. Blackheart 2 also contains a multiplayer mode: it's only two player (one player as Sadira, the other as Messiah). One mode is a cooperative mode where two players can play through the game together. The other is a counter-operative mode where the two players can try to screw each other over as much as possible. The multiplayer mode, though not as enjoyable as some of the four player deathmatch modes of the day, is still quite fun and well received by a majority of players. The game's graphics are a significant improvement from the previous title, which was considered to be one of the Ultra Nintendo's best looking games of its time. Ubisoft has been one of the most successful third party companies of the 2000-2002 period, and with Blackheart being such a success, the company spared no expense on technical polish: the game looks outstanding, one of the Ultra Nintendo's best looking games overall. The same voice actors from the previous title have returned for the sequel, and though they're mostly unknowns (they're a group of American expatriates in Paris that Ubisoft used for many of their early games IOTL and who also could be heard in television shows like Code Lyoko), they still get high praise from critics.

Blackheart 2 finds Sadira in the African nation of Vangada, where she's tracking down contacts who may have information on a group called the Syndicate, a group of extremely well connected criminals who have bought out the entire country. As Sadira gathers information, she is being hunted down by Messiah, who has sworn revenge on Sadira for humiliating her at the conclusion of the previous game. At the end of the third level, Messiah finally tracks Sadira down, triggering a boss fight. At the end of the fight, Sadira has Messiah pinned, but the two find themselves surrounded by heavily armed mercenaries and are taken prisoner. The fourth level involves Sadira and Messiah being forced to work together to escape the prison they're in, and then for the remainder of the game, the two work together as partners, hunting down each individual member of the Syndicate. The Syndicate consists of six wealthy individuals, five men and one woman, each with their own unique quirks and abilities (the game is playing up the camp factor somewhat, though later Syndicate members are much more serious and evil). Sadira and Messiah's unlikely and reluctant partnership is a surprisingly fitting one, and by the final few missions, the two seem to have bonded somewhat (even if the player chooses to anger Messiah in every single level where it's possible to do so). The battle with the final Syndicate member, a tech nerd turned adventurer named Derrick Sekhorn, consists of multiple stages and ends in a spectacular and explosive finish, where Sadira and Messiah cause Sekhorn's own superweapon to detonate with him right in front of it, vaporizing him and destroying the compound where he's built his headquarters (the compound was originally a massive skyscraper, but after 9/11, it was changed by the developers to be a much shorter but somewhat wider building to avoid the controversy of having Sadira Blackheart collapse a huge skyscraper). The two women escape, and Sadira is honestly impressed with Messiah's abilities. She offers her a partnership and Messiah seems to accept....only to attack Sadira from behind. Messiah still wants her revenge, and now that the mission is complete, she's going to get it. The final battle is a fierce duel between Sadira and Messiah, and it's easily the toughest boss fight in the game despite being one of the most simple. However, Sadira gets the upper hand, and Messiah begs her for mercy....only for Sadira to coldly push Messiah to her doom, smiling as she turns around while Messiah is screaming as she falls. After an ending sequence, the credits roll. After the credits, we see a massive pile of rubble, under which Messiah is buried. Messiah crawls out of the rubble, injured but enraged and once again ready to take her revenge.

Blackheart 2 launches on February 4, 2002, exclusively for the Ultra Nintendo. It's an immediate commercial success, one of the fastest selling games of 2002 and the most successful Ubisoft game to date. Critical reviews are stellar, making the game an early contender for 2002's Game of the Year (though that particular race would become an extremely crowded one). Ubisoft, knowing they have a huge hit on their hands, considers porting the game to the Katana and the Xbox, but they instead decide simply to wait for Blackheart 3, the series' first next-generation game, to take the series multiplatform. Though Blackheart 2 is an M-rated title, there are a number of controversial scenes that draw the ire of cultural critics: the game is considerably more violent than its predecessor (which also had an M-rating), depicting a number of gruesome killings. The game has a great deal of vulgar language (it's one of the first mainstream games to use the word "fuck", which is used a total of four times during the game), and there are a number of sexually charged scenes, including one in particular: when Messiah is captured and left tied up by an enemy and Sadira chances upon her, the player is given the option to have Sadira either free Messiah or to spank her. This, combined with many scenes in which Sadira, Messiah, and other female characters are seen in revealing or tight outfits, cause the game to be accused by a number of critics as being degrading to women. However, other critics point to Sadira and Messiah as examples of very strong and well developed female characters. The debate over Blackheart 2 is one of the most heated to date about the roles of female characters and sexual agency in video games, and the game (and the franchise itself) would be cited countless times in discussion of the topic for many years to come.

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Activision's Next-Gen Prince Of Persia In Early Stages Of Development

After numerous announcements and delays, Activision's new Prince of Persia title, which has been announced for Nintendo's Wave Engine and Microsoft's Xbox, with the possibility of a Sega Katana release, has entered development, according to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. The game, a sequel to 1999's moderately successful Prince Of Persia: The Jade Queen, will involve much more action-based gameplay, and early screenshots paint a vivid picture of a massive world that will see the titular Prince visiting numerous dungeons and temples on a quest said to span an entire continent. The company, which acquired The Learning Company and its assets in early 1998, immediately set out to create a new Prince of Persia game, and while The Jade Queen got mixed critical reviews, the game became a slow but steady best-seller, eventually selling a million copies across the Ultra Nintendo, the Sega Saturn, and the PC.

"Prince of Persia is one of the most innovative and successful gaming franchises of all time, and with the technology afforded to us by the next generation of consoles, we're ready to take the Prince's journey to a much larger stage thanks to the power of this new technology. This game is one of our biggest projects going forward," said Kotick, who said that the game would likely take at least a year and a half to develop, positioning the game for a holiday 2003 release date at the earliest.

Ubisoft had expressed interest in buying the rights to the franchise from Activision in 2000, but their offer was declined. According to an unnamed Activision source, strong back-end PC sales of The Jade Queen convinced Activision to retain the rights to the series.

-from an article on Gamespot.com, posted on February 16, 2002

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"According to rumors, Ubisoft is working on what is said to be a MASSIVE new IP for Nintendo's Wave Engine console. The game, like Blackheart, will feature a female protagonist, but will play much more like a Zelda-type game than an action stealth title, and is said to be a family friendly sci-fi fantasy game, rather than a sexually charged spy thriller. The company is said to be taking some of the ideas they intended to use for a possible next-gen Prince of Persia (back when they were attempting to buy the license from Activision) and applying them to this. From the early stills we've seen, the game takes place in an enormous world much like our own, but with somewhat more water, a sort of oceanic setting. We also know that the main character is likely a reporter of some sort, as a camera will feature heavily in the gameplay. We don't have an official title for the game, but we do have a codename: Project Jade."
-from a February 24, 2002 article on UGO.com discussing possible games Nintendo might reveal for the upcoming Wave console at May's E3 conference

 

[RySenkari]

Today's Enix presser confirmed what has been a widely suspected rumor for the past several months: the company will begin producing games for non-Sega systems. The presser began with Daisuke Koibiru, Enix's vice president of marketing, touting the sales success of Revolution Alpha: over 400,000 units sold to date worldwide, the company's fastest selling game ever. After thanking the game's loyal fans, he then announced that the game would be ported to Nintendo's upcoming next generation console sometime next year. He stated that Enix was impressed with the work Nintendo had done thus far on its new console and that he was very pleased to be bringing Revolution Alpha to the new machine. After announcing Revolution Alpha for Nintendo's next generation console, he then announced that Dragon Quest VII would be coming to the Ultra Nintendo, also in 2003. Dragon Quest VII, which has sold over three million copies in Japan alone, has been one of the ten best selling Saturn games, but it's well known that sales have been disappointing for Enix, as the Saturn failed to sell even half as many units as the Ultra Nintendo.

After announcing the two Nintendo ports, Koibiru shifted gears to discuss the Game Boy Nova. He praised the system for a short time before unveiling two games that would be coming to it over the next year: the first game would be an action-RPG called Tree of Mekia, while the second would be a collection of the Soul Blazer/Illusion Of Gaia/Terranigma series, dubbed the Soul Anthology. Koibiru said that he hoped Enix would be developing even more games for the Nova in the future. Koibiru then briefly mentioned that Enix was in the process of designing a game for Microsoft's Xbox system that he hoped he could share more information about at a later date. Finally, Koibiru unveiled two new ActRaiser titles, both exclusive to their respective systems. For the Sega Katana, a sequel to 1999's ActRaiser Valkyrie, combining classic ActRaiser gameplay with Norse mythology. And for the next-gen Nintendo system, ActRaiser: Return Of The Master, a game that promises to bring back the classic gameplay of 1991's ActRaiser title, combining city-building with exciting action gameplay.

Enix's press event was a significant one, though it mostly confirmed information that had been heavily rumored and that most of us expected to be announced sooner or later. The announcement of new ActRaiser games was particularly welcome, and the fact that Enix is looking to create an Xbox title is intriguing: perhaps an experiment with other game genres? We have no word on whether or not the Revolution Alpha or Dragon Quest VII ports are headed Stateside. It's likely we'll see Revolution Alpha, but poor sales for the localized Dragon Quest VII leave the Ultra Nintendo port's fate up in the air.

-from RPGamer.net, posted on February 21, 2002

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"The Squaresoft rumor mill continues to churn! The latest rumor coming out of Japan is that the company attempted to procure its rival Enix sometime last year. Flush with cash from the sales of hit titles like Chrono Infinite and Final Fantasy IX, an Enix acquisition seems like a move that's right up Square's alley, though profits from Revolution Alpha likely proved sufficient for Enix to stave off any sort of takeover bid, if there even was one. According to a Square insider, 'a purchase of Enix, while at one point something that was considered within the company, was never something that we made serious moves toward'. A merger between Square and Enix is something that seems like an RPG fan's wet dream, but for now and for the foreseeable future, the two RPG titans are happy being competitors. The recent announcement by Enix that the company will once again be making games for Nintendo systems, putting the two companies once again in direct competition, might muddy the waters a bit, so we'll have to see if things change as Enix games start showing up on the Wave Engine!

However, another Squaresoft partnership does seem to be coming together. It's all but confirmed now that Squaresoft will be working with entertainment giant Disney to produce a game featuring both company's characters. Technological hurdles seemed to be the spanner in the works: the companies were originally in talks to produce a game for the Ultra Nintendo, but the scope of the envisioned game proved to be too big for the popular but somewhat outdated console. Now that development on Wave Engine games has begun in earnest, the two companies appear to have solidified an idea for a game, and we should be expecting an announcement from either Square, Disney, or both, perhaps as soon as this year's E3 show. However, there may be another hiccup: a leaked memo with information on the original concept for the game shows that certain game mechanics were too similar to another hit Ultra Nintendo title: Rare's 2001 adventure game Dreamscape. According to the tipster, Squaresoft is busy retooling aspects of the game so as not to step on a fellow Nintendo developer's toes. So, if there is an announcement at E3, it's likely that we won't see any actual gameplay footage, and the game itself may not be ready until 2004."

-from an article on Gaming-Age, posted on March 3, 2002

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Hiromu-

Your alchemy idea is fantastic. I believe it would make an excellent manga. However: I believe it would make an even better game.

I'm extending you an offer to direct our successor to Revolution Alpha. We plan to develop it for Nintendo's new system, and perhaps make it into a series if the first game is successful.

Please reply shortly so that we can pitch your idea together to the president of Enix. I have no doubt it will get a favorable response.

-Quintet president Masaya Hashimoto's memo to Hiromu Arakawa on March 7, 2002, offering her the job as director of the video game Fullmetal Alchemist, which she accepts

 

[RySenkari]

President Al Gore gave his second State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress on January 29, 2002. In it, he discussed the successful mission to eliminate the Taliban from Afghanistan and praised the brave men and women of the United States armed forces, their allies around the world, and the Afghani rebels who made the swift deposition of the Taliban possible. He also stated that the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and surviving members of al-Queda would continue. As of the time of the speech, Bin Laden had yet to be found, and it was heavily rumored that he was hiding somewhere in Afghanistan's eastern mountains or possibly in Pakistan. Gore mentioned Pakistan specifically, urging the country to cooperate in the hunt for Bin Laden and any other terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks, and urging the international community to join America in putting pressure on any country harboring terrorists, as these terrorists posed a threat to the peace and stability of the entire world. Some Democrats disagreed with Gore's hard-line stance on Pakistan, though Gore's vice president Joe Lieberman would further emphasize the need for more pressure on Pakistan going forward.

The other main topic of Gore's State of the Union address concerned energy and climate change. Gore specifically stated that America's dependence on fossil fuels, most of which were now obtained from the Middle East, had become a national security issue, and that the country needed a path forward to domestically produced renewable energy. He specifically mentioned the possibility of solar farms in the American Southwest and wind farms in the Midwest, and also urged exploring possibilities in geothermal and hydroelectric energy. He made sure to mention clean coal technology and that there was still a place for coal and oil consumption, but optimally it would only be as much as America could produce within its borders. He claimed that if America made a push for renewable energy equivalent to the push it had made in the runup to World War II, that millions of new jobs could be created and trillions of dollars could be saved, bringing renewed prosperity to America and ensuring that the country could avoid entangling itself in dangerous regions of the world.

Gore announced that he would look to create two new Cabinet-level departments. Stating that the 9/11 attacks could be partially attributed to poor communication between certain agencies, he announced that he would seek to create a Department Of Public Security to bring many of these agencies together. He announced that he would also seek to create a Department of Science and Technology, citing the growing need for America to move forward in a world increasingly defined by technological progress and the need for knowledge. These two departments would both be created by the end of the year.

The Republican response to Gore's address came from Alabama Congressman Jeff Sessions, who stated that while Republicans agreed that pressure be put on Pakistan to encourage them to give up suspected terrorists, the United States should make more of an effort to ensure that countries such as Iran and Iraq are discouraged from state-sponsored acts of terror in the future. He also disagreed with Gore's statements about fossil fuels, and cautioned that such steps might harm the American economy, a dangerous thing at such a troubled time.

Over the next few months, the hunt for Bin Laden continued in earnest, with American special forces troops partnering with coalition allies and Afghan forces to hunt down terrorists within Afghanistan's borders. While more al-Queda members and Taliban stragglers were found, Bin Laden continued to evade capture. American intelligence efforts continued to focus on Pakistan, while careful negotiations with Pakistan's ruling government, led by Pervez Musharraf, allowed coalition forces to make inroads on capturing terror suspects who were hiding out in Pakistan. However, Musharraf, opposed by numerous hardline figures in his own country, had to walk a fine line between helping fight the war on al-Queda and ensuring continued stability in his own country. A meeting between Secretary of State Walter Mondale and Pervez Musharraf in March 2002 warmed relations considerably between Pakistan and the United States, though Pakistani hardliners continued to express anger at what they deemed to be "infidel invaders". There were two major terrorist attacks in Pakistan in the first part of 2002, including a bombing in Karachi that killed 52 people. The United States strongly condemned the attacks, and by the middle of the year, it was clear that the front line of the war against al-Queda was shifting from Afghanistan to Pakistan.

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By the beginning of 2002, the video game controversy had largely fizzled out. Jack Thompson's lawsuit was still worming its way through the legal system, and Thompson was trying to drum up attention by going on whatever news shows would have him. However, by now, the aftermath of 9/11 and the ongoing Afghanistan conflict had consumed most of the news cycle, and it was hard for the public to get angry at games when there were actual terrorists to get angry at. Congress' investigation into the game industry had churned out a report that conclusively debunked any connection between violent video games and violence in youths, though it did note that certain disturbed individuals should be closely watched if they started to play certain violent games, as the game playing could be a symptom of future behavior. Any attempt to pass a law at the federal level was completely dead. Still, some local jurisdictions, and three states: California, Iowa, and Virginia, specifically made it a crime, punishable by fine (or in Iowa's case, up to 60 days in jail), to knowingly sell M-rated video games to minors. All three of these laws would be challenged by the industry, and a case would make it to the Supreme Court in 2004: Lightfoot v. Entertainment Merchants Association. Thompson's lawsuit would drag on into 2003.

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Mark Cuban: This is really cool, because with the new Angelfire, it's so easy to make your own personal website now. You don't have to know any coding, you don't have to know any fancy tricks, you can just use the editing tools we give you and it'll look just like it does now.

Kirsten Storms: *moving the computer mouse on the page to drag a graphical icon to another part of the page* This is amazing!

Cuban: And anybody can do it. You can set up your own web page in about 15 minutes. It doesn't take any time at all.

Storms: I thought you had to be, like, a super nerd to make your own website.

Cuban: No, you don't have to be, you can be cool too. Wait, no, nerds ARE cool! But you definitely don't have to be a nerd.

Storms: This is so much fun! *she types in a few more things*

Cuban: And once you're done, you just click preview...

Storms: Yeah, yeah, okay. *she clicks and her page appears, for how little time she worked on it it really does look very well made, better than most of the early Angelfire pages IOTL, almost like a proto-Myspace page* And I'm done?

Cuban: And you're done!

Storms: Oh my goodness.

Regis Philbin: Isn't that incredible? That was so fast!

Cuban: That was! And if you're not happy with it you can just click on the Back button and go back and make changes, or if you're happy with it you can click Post and it'll go live and be posted up there for everybody to see.

Rosie O'Donnell: Okay, move, move, I wanna make one now. *gets on the computer*

Philbin: We gotta go to commercial but you can make one over the commercial break. We're comin' back in a few, we got internet genius and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, we got Kirsten Storms from the Disney Channel, we're havin' a big party here!

-from the February 22, 2002 episode of Live with Regis and Rosie

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"And in figure skating, three stars emerged on the ice at Salt Lake City. The first was Michelle Kwan, hoping to repeat her gold-medal performance from 1998's Winter Games in Nagano. Kwan skated an incredible short program and then a flawless long program, wowing the judges and allowing her to win yet another Olympic gold over her American rivals Sasha Cohen and Sarah Hughes. In ladies' figure skating, Americans swept the medals, and the three talented women held hands during the playing of the national anthem, showing the solidarity of the United States team. In pairs skating, however, Russia continued to shine. The gold medal winners, Anton Sikharulidze and Elena Berezhnaya, skated what might be the single greatest performance in Olympic figure skating history: a technically perfect and spectacularly challenging routine that made the audience gasp and cheer at several points. The routine received 5.9s across the board for both technical merit and presentation, giving the pair the gold medal by a significant margin. The figure skating event scored the highest television ratings of the games, and the millions upon millions of fans who tuned in were treated to an amazing display of beauty and talent."
-from TV Guide's recap of the 2002 Winter Olympics in the March 8-14, 2002 issue