2002: After a Long Hiatus...
I did not intend on taking so long with this update, a mix of document problems, procrastination (probably mostly that to be honest) and also multi-tasking resulted in this wait. But here we are, finally updated again. Anyway, will try to not take so long with future updates. Also may go back an edit older posts too.


REZ
January, 2002

Go to synaesthesia...

The shooting genre
Reinvented

- Advertisement for the Neptune release entitled Rez, a musical themed rail shooting game, where one travels as an avatar along a path through a computer network.

SONIC ADVENTURE 2
February, 2002

Good Hedgehog
Play as Sonic and board, swing and grind to save the world.

Evil, Sinister, Malcontent Hedgehog
Play as Shadow, Sonic's evil double, and conquer the world.

- Magazine advertisement for Sonic Adventure 2. Released in 2002 for the Neptune, Sonic Adventure 2 was to be the definitive Sonic title available for the system.

"Sonic Adventure's sequel takes the bars set by it's predecessor and the Sonic games before it and raises them all the more higher. This a definite must-have for any Sonic fan or even Neptune player in general." - Electronic Gaming Monthly, 2002

"Sony's first true entrance into the Sonic franchise as it's new manager has really kicked off with a bang - everything from the first game has been only updated. The voice acting, the character animations, the graphics, the gameplay and even the story have all been upgraded to be 10 times more amazing than they were before. A definite should-buy." - Game Informer, 2002

"Here's what I like about SA2: the upgrade in cut-scene animations, graphics (as good as the Neptune can handle being), the addition of rail grinding, the music, and just how deep the plot goes. Shadow's story is really interesting in how he starts evil but becomes good in the end when his memory his jogged. The plot twist involving Professor Gerald programming the ARK to crash was also very shocking when on a first playthrough, as is the fight with the Biolizard. The Chao Garden (which is heavily expanded on from the previous game) and the extensive multiplayer is also very fun, though I wish you could play as the Multiplayer characters (Big, Chao Walker, Tikal, Chaos, Metal Sonic, Amy) outside of the multiplayer. They also did not go the Sonic Team route and stuck to their guns on not having dash panels, forcing them to design their levels for use without them. What I find mixed, the hunting and mech stage characters. Now, in the mech stage they did add the ability to transform your mech into a flying mode which is fun to play around with but Eggman and Tails can't actually leave the mechs at all. Knuckles and Rouge on the other hand have treasure hunting levels like in SA1 and it's just about as enjoyable for me. [Spoiler Warning] I also do like how they did make slight changes to the gameplay & story from what was found in the original builds - such as implementing the Chao Playground, and changing some aspects of Gerald, adding some lines further implying that he was forced to finish Shadow while imprisoned. Most of these changes were post-delay, so whatever caused the delay gave us an improved experience. As a whole, one of the greatest Sonic games." - Blog post, 2010's.


"The Hedgehog is on a roll!" - Next Generation, 2002

"For a lot of people, Sonic Adventure 2 proved that Sony truly was capable of handling the Sonic franchise. Though one can't ignore the fact that Sony became rather fond of Sonic quickly, public consciousness viewing him as Sony's mascot now what with all the various types of merchandise he had and now recognizable he was. It was easy for him to slip his way into symbolizing the entire corporation rather than just it's video games division. However, some people - and I do sympathize with them - long for the simpler times when Sega was an actual thing and Sonic was it's mascot, and was just a blue hedgehog that ran really fast." - Kyle Powell, Blog Post, 2012

"Shadow the Hedgehog. That's really all you need to know about this game." - Anonymous commenter, 2005

"I miss Sonic Adventure and it's hub worlds, if only because I kind of liked those wacky side stories all of the NPCs got up to while you were busy running off with the action stages." - Youtube Commenter, 2010

"I have mixed feelings about Sony's redesign of Sonic. At least the shoe change was only for this game, but from this point on Sonic was forever taller and skinnier than he'd ever been before. However, when you think about it does make sense. Mario probably eats a lot of spaghetti and doesn't put as much effort into running, while Sonic pretty much is a living treadmill."

"I hate you for that spaghetti comment so much." - YouTube commenters, 2011


"Sonic Adventure 2 had a tough act to follow. It was expected to follow after Sonic X-Treme which shocked the world, and Sonic Adventure which shoved it's way into popular culture with a movie released the previous year. It wasn't going to please everybody. For as praised that it is, it is criticized just as much." -


"Sonic Adventure 2's financial success comes down primarily to the Chao Garden, and the honestly over-hyping that Sony did with their marketing for this game. I'm not kidding, gaming press was all over this thing from the beginning of it's development, or at least post-announcement. The first and second delays were actually primarily for revamping the game's design, aesthetics and presentation - ironically because Sony was insecure about it after the release of Jak & Daxter, and demanded Sonic be held to that same standard. As a result, STI worked to revamp the graphics, level design, cut-scene animations, dubbing and overall presentation of the game to match the standards that Sony demanded. So I actually thank Jak & Daxter for existing in that regard, if it didn't exist we would have a not as polished version of SA2 right now."

"Sonic Adventure 2's release was another worthy success for the hedgehog, but behind the scenes things were getting a bit messy. The STI design for 3D Sonic clashed with Sonic Team's. Christina Coffin and her team decided not to bring back the dash panels from the original Sonic Adventure, something which hearkened back to Sonic X-Treme. Yuji Naka actually argued over it, though he and Naoto Ohshima also had their own separate disagreements too, over the direction Sonic was headed in. It ended in Ohshima leaving Sonic Team, and Sony as a whole. While STI went back to working on it's own original projects, the question of whether or not Sonic Team should be handed the next Sonic game was a seriously asked question. They were quite busy making more IPs for Sony: one of which set to release next year. In addition, Sony was not amused with Takashi Iizuka not wanting to make a 3rd Adventure title. Sony didn't care though, they could have any other studio they own make any Sonic game they want and were willing to let him go if he caused an uproar about it. He kept himself quiet." - Sonic Team: The Inside Story, ScrewAttack, 2017

"By 2002, the original Sonic Team trio of Sonic's creators were all going separate ways. Yuji Naka remained, Naoto Ohshima left, and even before that back in the 90's Hirokazu Yasuhara left - only for years later Sony to purchase the company he was working for Naughty Dog and bring him back into the family. Abeit, not part of Sonic Team." - Sonic Team: The Inside Story, ScrewAttack, 2017

"The STI team had proven itself yet again with Sonic Adventure 2. Christina Coffin's programming skills had now twice proven key to two high-selling Sonic titles - one of them being one of gaming's most historic titles ever." - Sonic Team: The Inside Story, ScrewAttack, 2017

"I think the conflicts within Sonic Team were bound to happen. The Hedgehog was growing more than he ever was before, I expected there to be some bumpy roads at that point. Even I wasn't completely sold on the direction that Naka and his team were taking the series. There was only so much I could do though. It didn't help that we had a lot more going on than in the old days." - Tom Kalinske, 2017 interview with ScrewAttack

"The first Sonic game to not feature the SEGA logo....I cried at that realization." - Anonymous, 2012.

JET SET RADIO FUTURE
February, 2002

Lead a posse of street-smart skaters through multiple adventures as you reclaim your turf from rival crews, combat corporate goon squads, and attempt to save the soul of the city.

- Excerpt from the back cover of Jet Set Radio Future, the sequel to Jet Set Radio. As can be expected, it was a Neptune exclusive release.


PAC-MAN WORLD 2
February, 2002

The Ghost Gang Strikes Again!

They have picked the Magical Golden Fruit from an ancient tree and released the most wicked entity that Pac-Land has ever seen. It's time for Pac-man to take control and return what was taken. With brand new skills, a zany cast of enemies and friends, and a vast world to explore, his heroics will be pushed to the limits. Step aside 'cause Pac-man is coming through, and he's on a mission!

- Back cover for Pac-man World 2, which was released for the 3DO M2 in February 2002 despite the discontinuation. It was later released for the GameCube in March of 2002, and Nokia Neo in October of 2002. It was one of the final games released for the defunct M2.


THE SIMS HAS OVERTAKEN MYST
March, 2002

The world of gaming has been seeing drastic changes ever since it first became a thing - and there is no bigger a change than what's popular on the scene at any given time. Not that long ago Mario was the everywhere, until Sonic showed up to give the plumber some healthy competition (though some argue Sony's a bit too full of itself with the hedgehog). Now, it appears another newcomer has risen to the scene - in the same of Sims. Indeed, the life simulator game has completely overtaken Myst to become the new highest selling PC game of all time. Sonic may have slowed Mario down, but not even he was able to do as much damage as The Sims has.

The two games are not really competitors though, in fact Myst came out in 1993 and is an adventure game, while the sims is effectively a virtual-life game - albeit one from the genius that is Will Wright and his Maxis team. At 6.3 million copies sold, we now officially live in a time where a game called The Sims is the most popular PC game.

The Sims, which was released in February 2000, lets players create a neighborhood of simulated people and control their lives. The game was the best-selling game of 2000 and 2001, and it has been translated into 13 different languages. The game's success has inspired the release of three expansion packs: The Sims: Livin' Large, The Sims: House Party, and The Sims: Hot Date. The combined sales of The Sims and all its expansions have exceeded 13 million units. On March 26, EA will release a fourth add-on, The Sims: Vacation, which will let players take their sims on a trip to an island with three different settings.

"Reaction to The Sims by both customers and critics have exceeded our most ambitious expectations," said EA president John Riccitiello. "The Sims has become a cultural phenomenon. Its worldwide appeal spans hard-core gamers, casual computer users, and even gaming's most elusive group of consumers, women. Over 50 percent of new Sims players are female."

In addition to the retail expansions, players have access to additional free add-ons, including new household objects and character clothing sets, on the game's official Web site. For more information about The Sims, take a look at our complete archive of Sims-related coverage.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly, 2002

"Sony assimilating Sega, The Sims becoming a thing and overtaking Myst, Nokia joining the home console race, the Dot-com bubble, the first X-Men movie, the first Shrek movie, the first Harry Potter movie, the first live-action Lord of the Rings movie, 9/11, and the evolution of first person shooter games. All in the span of just a few years. Good lord how the world changes fast." - YouTube commenter, 2010



HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED
March 14, 2002

The time has come at last. Halo, the long anticipated and hyped up title from Panasonic Interactive Entertainment & Bungie has finally made it out to stores after what was described as the onset of Development Hell. The M2 may be gone and with it the name of 3DO, but Halo is already proving to be their great return to action.

If you've read the Publisher's Weekly bestseller Halo: The Fall of Reach which came out last October, then you already know the basics of what is in store for humanity in this Science Fiction shooter. Following after the novel, the Pillar of Autumn is attacked by the Covenant Empire just after it discovers a massive 'Halo' ring orbitting around a nearby gas giant. The Covenant attack is dangerous enough to warrant Master Chief Petty Officer, Spartan JOHN-117, to escape the ship along with the AI known as Cortana directly onto the somewhat familiar ground of this mysterious Halo ring - which is believed to be some kind of weapon.

Of course, there's more to Halo than meets the eye, and the single player campaign is only half of the story. One of Halo's strongest points is it's online multiplayer, which utilizes only the most modern of online capabilities. You can now enjoy the addictive fun and excitement of online shooter multiplayers in the comfort of the home console.

Split screen action, five multiplayer action modes alongside a variety of customization options and up to 16 players online - with a System Link allowing even more makes for one of the most powerful reasons to turn your gaming from local to online - and the epic soundtrack from Martin O'Donnell only adds to the reasons to pick this thing up.

Numbers don't lie, already is Halo breaking sales records, the projection being that it will break it's first million in no time - and considering the critical praise it is getting from most outlets this should come as no surprise. 3DO might just be more successful in death than it was in life.

See pages 17-18 for more coverage on the growing Halo phenomenon.

- Neo Magazine. Halo: Combat Evolved was released on the Nokia Neo, with a Nintendo GameCube port being released in May of 2002. A PC port was released in September of 2003.

"A truly revolutionary title, it combines sci-fi space opera with gritty wartime action with one of the most engaging online multiplayers we've seen in this industry yet. If you didn't believe a new era had begun before, you're definitely gonna start believing it now." - Game Informer, 2002

"A challenger has appeared, and it means business!" - Next Generation, 2002

"Halo won me over because it was a bit more than just a first person shooter game. It's setting was more interesting to me than those 'set in a real war' type of games. It's plot even came with a genuinely surprising twist with the third faction of enemies that appear late into the story. In general the entire storyline of the campaign is honestly one of the most surprisingly thought out things I've seen in a first person shooters - and the plot is something that honestly usually doesn't get talked about in these kinds of games yet when it comes to this one you could probably do an entire series dedicated to analyzing it thoroughly and I'd be totally invested in said series. Though the first game it self doesn't tell you the full story, there are additional materials in the form of novels that let you in on the extra details not covered in Combat Evolved. As a whole, Bungie and P.I.E. clearly put effort into coming up with this title and it definitely pays off well." - David Mason, IGN Forums, 2009

"I feel like not enough people give the amazing score of this game the praise that it deserves." - Hayden Burns, YouTube, 2012

"I like the attention to detail in this game, all of the enemy aliens have ranks determined by their armor colors and their species - and all of them remain consistent throughout the game. Despite that, they can still offer quite a challenge once in a while especially once the factions such as the flood and the sentinels come into play." - Patrick Mills, Gamespot, 2003

"For all of the praise that Halo does deserve, I have mixed feelings about the direction it shoved the industry towards." - Austyn Gross, YouTube, 2017

"I was rooting for Halo to succeed if only because I wanted to see what was left of 3DO make a name for itself rather than just fade away into being nothing but a memory. Luckily, that's what happened." - IGN Forums user, 2012

"I for one still ache for 3DO's entire story. They started with genuine hope and optimism that while you do associate Trip with founding EA, you kind of want his 3DO company to succeed. He genuinely did think it would catch on, and he had a unique way of handling the console itself not done by any of the other companies (or at least not to such a scale). It actually did allow the 3DO to get a surprisingly amount of attention in places - such as places where native consoles are more respected than foreign ones. Not much a benefit, but it was there. They had a rocky start for sure: they had an awful launch and it was followed up by the rockiest of all battles against Sega & Nintendo, a battle which many said was impossible for them to win. They got Namco's support, sure, but by that point Sega already had Sony. Then, they sold themselves to Panasonic and seemed to have honestly learned from their mistakes - they became more like their competition if only to survive in this world. As the 1990's ended it seemed like 3DO was finally going to be in the lime light, but then the Neptune came out. With Nintendo and Nokia pulling back to release their systems in 2001, 3DO was left to face the Neptune as it's only competition. It was a doomed battle from the beginning."

"3DO is the embodiment of 'I just can't win' for the gaming industry."

"If the original 3DO had some actual copy protection and wasn't so damn expensive at first, the M2 may have had a better chance."

"They'd need more quality third party support at first too. Legit Namco and Konami basically saved 3DO from death."

"All of that is true, but in the end 3DO is technically still around. The company, I mean. They just changed their name to better go with Panasonic, and they ultimately made a bit of a comeback with Halo. Sure, we can always imagine what would've happened if Halo was on the M2 successfully or if they did succeed enough to make an 'M3'. But no matter what, Halo was the savior they'd been waiting for - it really got their third party business started. It literally saved them from total death."
- IGN Forums conversation, 2013

"I still don't like the GameCube port though, it looks and plays good but getting online on that version is just so much more complicated and just barely supported. Loading times are more prominent but actually well hidden and not as much a burden as one would think." - Thomas Foster, Gamespot, 2004

"When Halo came out, a revolution had begun." - Game Informer, 2007

"In the end, Halo actually did turn out to be the Saviour we needed after all. Even after losing the 'console war', we were still struggling to find our place in the third party world [Panasonic] was still thinking of just shutting us down completely. Had Halo not been a commercial success, it would have been it. Luckily, Halo was a success and it gave us the ability to start spreading our wings out again." - Laura de la Cruz, Interview with Gamespot, 2007

"Halo started something that would overtime begin transforming gaming into something far different from what it was before. To keep it short, First Person Shooters were going to begin becoming the norm, for better or for worse. However, it also gave hope for the reincarnation of 3DO known as PIE, it appeared as though they were rising from the ashes to not reconquer, but instead carve out a new empire for themselves." - IGN, 2012

"Panasonic Interactive was definitely in a new neighborhood. They now had to produce games for the other consoles, they had to learn their hardware, and they were now competiting with companies that had once upon a time been their own supporters. Halo was something they needed to get along in their new home." - Gamespot, 2012



SEGA SOCCER SLAM
March, 2002

ARE YOU TOUGH ENOUGH?
Go toe-to-toe with the wildest players ever in Soccer Slam, the high-flying, hard-hitting, 3-on-3 soccer game where winners go on to drink from the Continental Cup!

- Back cover for Sega Soccer Slam, a Neptune exclusive that features an exaggerated version of Soccer as well as mini-games.


KINGDOM HEARTS
March, 2002

What's it all about?
No one would have expected Disney to approach Square to do an RPG, but it happened. No one would have expected a Disney-based RPG to be any good either, but that's happening too. Featuring four new characters designed by Final Fantasy legend Tetsuya Nomura, Kingdom Hearts takes Sora (the main character) and Goofy and Donald Duck on an adventure to save their two friends Riku and Kairi. Kingdom Hearts will not only introduce Disney characters to a whole new genre in gaming, it will tie together what was previously a separate collection of character-specific worlds. In Kingdom Hearts, the Little Mermaid's underwater kingdom will rest alongside Tarzan's jungle, Pinocchio's village and Aladdin's Arabian environs, among others. Virtually every Disney character you know will make an appearance during the game, with Dumbo having already been sighted.

- Magazine Excerpt about Kingdom Hearts, a Neptune exclusive title first released in March of 2002.

"It's like Final Fantasy, but with Disney! In fact, it pretty much literally is."

"What is with Disney and crossing over all of it's characters all the time. First House of Mouse, and then this."

"Hey, at least they know how to have fun."

PLAY AS SONIC OR TAILS:
April, 2002

Sonic Team's two stars make cameos as warriors in SSBM. Here's how you get 'em: achieve a high score of 20 KOs with any one character in Cruel Melee. Sonic and Tails will then both challenge you (yes, at the same time). Beat 'em and they open as playable characters. Finish Classic mode with either for a special surprise.

- Excerpt from EGM's April 2002 issue

"One hoax caused a total fire storm amongst what is basically three fandoms." - IGN Forums user, 2008

"Sonic was never considered for Super Smash Bros. Melee, and for the foreseeable future it is highly unlikely that it will ever happen." - Masahiro Sakurai, 2010 interview with ScrewAttack, translated.

"Sonic has never, was never, and will never be considered for Super Smash Bros." - Tom Kalinske, 2010 interview with ScrewAttack.
"I think it's personally idiotic that neither Sony or Nintendo are willing to do what would be their biggest money making move and make Smash be a crossover between their great franchises. If all they really care about is money, why NOT do that? People want to see Sonic and Mario fight each other! It's criminal to deny gamers of that!"

"You know there's mods, right? I mean, I know modding smash is trickier than modding things like Paradox's games, but it's still been done. Do you know how many 'Sonic' mods there are for the smash games?"

"Plus, as to why they don't do it, maybe it's because they both make consoles and compete with each other, and so they would be benefiting their own enemy depending on which version sells more. ALSO, there's the possibility that the other company will sabotage the rival port of the game. For instance, on the Sony version all of the Sonic + Other Sony characters are OP beyond compare, and all the Nintendo characters suck. And vice versa on Nintendo's side. And trust me, that kind of thing happened in the industry before. It would not be the most likely thing, but still possible."

"TL;DR - Until (or really, unless) either Sonic or Mario become third party characters, we're not ever going to see Sonic (officially) in smash."

"How did EGM even get away with this?"

"I think with all the buy-outs going on in the early 2000's, everyone thought Nintendo had bought Sonic Team or something like that, as if Sony would just let Sonic slip through their fingers. That, and the kids reading it didn't think of much of it."

"Why do people keep insisting Sonic should be in Smash? There is no way possible for this to happen."

- YouTube comments, 2015


SPIDER-MAN
May, 2002

The question on pretty much everyone's mind in Hollywood today, as the movie industry sat back slack-jawed at the record-shattering $115 million opening weekend for Columbia Pictures' ''Spider-Man,'' was whether it was an aberration or a sign of more blockbusters to come.

''For a long time, we never thought that a $100 million weekend was really possible,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, chairman of Exhibitor Relations, a Los Angeles company that monitors the box office. ''And this was not just $101 million and change. This proves that it is technically feasible for a movie to have a $100-million-plus weekend, to have a $40-million-plus day. And that changes everything.''

Of course, various all-bets-are-off pronouncements were made after ''Titanic'' opened in 1997 and earned $1.8 billion around the world. So far, though, that movie's phenomenal success has proved to be an aberration. Yet the Monday-morning betting in Hollywood is that in this case, ''Spider-Man'' might actually signal a new era of $100-million-plus openings, raising the bar for everyone.

''What happened with 'Spider-Man' this weekend is, historically, an aberration,'' said David Davis, a box-office analyst for Houlihan, Lokey, Howard & Zukin, an investment banking firm. ''But it foretells a world where $100 million openings will become common in the relatively near future.''

In hindsight, everyone has theories on why ''Spider-Man,'' from the Columbia Pictures unit of Sony Pictures Entertainment, beat the $90 million record that Warner Brothers' ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' set just six months ago. ''Spider-Man'' is a shorter film, so it could be shown more times each day. Because it appealed to an older audience, it was possible for theater owners to add post-midnight screenings that also sold out. And since children's tickets are cheaper, a movie with more teenagers and adults in the audience will inevitably earn more money. - New York Times, May 2002, excerpt

"Ah, the first Sony Spider-man movie. I love the pose Green Goblin takes when he talks to Spider-man on the roof. Just, I love this movie in general. I love spidey in general. These were good times, good times."

"Since this was one of Sony's first post Sega films, I always felt like there's some hidden Sonics in this movie in addition to the Stan Lee cameo. I don't know if anyone else feels this way when they watch it."

"Actually, I think they did hide a discreet Sonic in there somewhere, but at the same time I think that's just a rumor because I have never seen anything."

"I heard a rumor they hide Sonics in their movies since they bought Sega like how Disney hides Mickeys."

"It's not a rumor, it's a fact."

"Dang it why can't they hide Ryos or Kiryus."

"Because it's a Marvel movie, the only human that can cameo is Stan Lee."

"Good point."

"Excelsior!" - Forum Discussion, Late 2000's


HIROSHI YAMAUCHI STEPS DOWN FROM NINTENDO LEADERSHIP
May, 2002

It is the end of an era. Hiroshi Yamauchi, who has led the video game monolith Nintendo since 1949, has made the surprising decision to step down from the company's leadership - though he is remaining the company's largest shareholder and remains the chairman of it's board of directors. Though the reasons for leaving his presidency are unclear at this time, this shift in leadership comes as a surprise given that it is the first time that someone not a member of the 'Yamauchi' family name has headed the company, who was founded by Hiroshi's great-grandfather long ago in the year 1889.

It was under Hiroshi's leadership however the company expanded into the multi-billion dollar behemoth that it is today - leaving it true that the gaming industry would not be where it is today had it not been for him and his keen sense of business.

From what we can tell, he is confident that Nintendo's presidency is left in "good hands" as his successor is none other than Satoru Iwata, who had previously been the head of Nintendo’s Corporate Planning Division. Even still, it is clear that Hiroshi is beginning the process of stepping back from direct leadership of the company - leaving one to wonder where things will go for Nintendo from here.

- Los Angeles Times


E3 2002 - E3 - ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO WIKI GUIDE

E3 2002 belonged to one game and one game only -- DOOM 3 from id Software. There had been lots of rumblings about id releasing a new Doom game with a new and revolutionary DOOM engine, but no one had seen much of it.

So id sets up this little movie theater in the Activision booth and word gets out that id is showing DOOM 3. This was the first DOOM in nearly one decade, and it's id, so everyone took it seriously. People had heard John Carmack talk about dynamic lighting and some of the other things he planned on throwing into his new engine.

In other words, nobody had a clue.

DOOM 3 had the most amazing graphics anyone had ever seen in a game -- and that includes the non-interactive graphics in games like Dragon's Lair. DOOM 3 took the DOOM franchise in a new direction. It was slower-paced. It was nearly like survival-horror. You did not have bullets and shotgun shells sitting behind every corner. The monsters did not just splat and die. Some of them survived entire clips of bullets and chased you.

You saw reflections in glass. Monsters could break through walls. In one part of the demonstration, you entered a bathroom and saw a Pinkie eating the carcass of a fat zombie. Both the Pinkie and the zombie attacked you.

The line to get into the id theater became over 100 people deep. More people queued up for the movie than could possibly fit into that tiny theater over an entire day. Computer games seemed like the backwater of gaming in 2001. In 2002, thanks to DOOM 3 and several other new titles, PC games were the hotspot of gaming.

SSCEE opened E3 2002 by declaring the console wars over and themselves as the victor. Having shipped 30 million Neptune consoles worldwide, SSCEE was rightfully confident that neither Nokia nor Nintendo could possibly catch up. Arrogant as that sounded, it ultimately proved to be correct - even if Nintendo and Nokia didn't believe the fat lady had sung just yet.

In a less predictable rivalry, Vivendi, the company that held the literary rights to The Lord of the Rings lashed out against Electronic Arts, the company that held the rights to make games based on the movie versions of The Lord of the Rings.

The EA had a huge booth with a gigantic screen showing the trailer to upcoming movie, The Two Towers, on a 30-foot screen. Vivendi, with an equally large booth right next door, had a special room called "The Hobbit Hole" in which it projected coming attractions to its Hobbit and Lord of the Rings games on a domed ceiling.

This was also the year of Volleyball games. Taking a bit of a break from the phenomenon that was Shenmue, SSCEE's Yu Suzuki showed off Beach Spikers Volleyball. Meanwhile, Tecmo's Tomonobu Itagaki unveiled Dead or Alive: Extreme Beach Volleyball. Nintendo's big game at E3 2002 was Metroid Prime, an FPS game with an emphasis on adventure. THQ showed Red Faction 2, and Eidos' Time Splitters II made a big noise. Infogrames packed people in to see Unreal Championship for Xbox, and Acclaim showed off Turok Evolution -- the latest in its console-based popular FPS series.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: RavenShield, from Ubisoft got a lot of attention at Ubisoft with its amazing visuals. Everyone knew that Ubisoft would have another FPS game. One organization people did not expect to come out with a shooter was the United States Army.

In 2002, the Army unveiled a new recruitment tool called America's Army, a realistic depiction of army combat that gamers could download for free. Built using the same game engine that Epic created for Unreal Tournament 2003, America's Army caught more than its share of the attention from the mainstream media.

PIE, the afterlife form of 3DO, was rising from the ashes with Halo: Combat Evolved, which had just begun to take the world by storm by the time of the expo. Considering they were planning on having more books and extended universe media made about it, it was definitely a big subject at the show - and a major talking point getting people interested in the Nokia Neo.

Speaking of which, Nokia wowed the crowd with a gem of their own - Battlefield 1942. A game that was coming out of nowhere. Being it was to be one of their big first party titles, it was one of the things they showed off extensively, alongside the ability to play Neo Geo Pocket games on the N-Gage. They were definitely improving on their presentations. The Neo itself was proving to challenge the two big names in a way that previous number threes had failed, it had been stealing a lot of European market share from Nintendo (and replaced 3DO in the region), and it's connection to SNK allowed it a place in Japan. Halo & Battlefield meanwhile were sure to get it a foothold in America.

Other former 3DO games were also getting ported to the other consoles by this time, with GameCube ports of Gex games being released as well as Spyro titles on all of the consoles. They were also able to some portable titles too. For all intents and purposes, PIE (3DO) were looking to be more successful as a third party company than they were as a first party contender. Of course, this meant they were likely to become the rivals of their quite literal sister company Electronic Arts.

New versions of old games ruled the roost at E3 -- and not just DOOM. Tecmo's Team Ninja gave the world its first glimpse of Ninja Gaiden at E3 2002. To Nokia's delight, Tomonobu Itagaki, an outspoken N. Neo evangelist, made Ninja Gaiden exclusively for Neo. Tecmo also unveiled a new Rygar game.

SSCEE's Smilebit also unveiled a new Shinboi for Neptune, as well as Panzer Dragoon Orta. Not to be outdone, Konami showed Contra: Shattered Soldier for Neptune.

- IGN, 2012


MICHAEL JACKSON DIVORCES SONY
June, 2002

"… Anyway, I first let me say, I really don’t like to talk that much. I really don’t. I prefer performing than talking.

Let me just say this… The tradition of great performers… the tradition of great performers from — I really want you to know what I say! — from Sammy Davis Junior, to James Brown, to Jackie Wilson, to Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly. The story is usually the same though. These guys worked really hard at their craft, for the story ends the same. They are usually broken, torn and usually just sad, because the companies take advantage of them, they really do.

And… Sony…Sony… Being the artist that I am, at Sony I’ve generated several billion dollars for Sony, several billon. They really thought that my mind is always on music and dancing. It usually is, but they never thought that this performer — myself — would out think them.

So, we can’t let them get away with what they’re trying to do, because now I’m a free agent… I just owe Sony one more album. It’s just a box set, really, with two new songs which I’ve written ages ago. Because for every album that I record, I write — literally, I’m telling you the truth — I write at least 120 songs every album I do. So I can do the box set, just giving them any two songs.

So I’m leaving Sony, a free agent,… owning half of Sony! I own half of Sony’s Publishing. I’m leaving them, and they’re very angry at me, because I just did good business, you know.

So the way they get revenge is to try and destroy my album! But I’ve always said, you know, art — good art — never dies. …Thank you.

And Tommy Mottola is a devil!"
- Michael Jackson, May 2002, Excerpt

"In South Park, Mickey is a greedy tyrannical corporate mogul. Yeah, Sonic is often depicted like that too when it comes to memes and things like fan/original animation parodies, what with Sony Music's rather infamous track record. I find it hilarious though I don't know if Sonic ever really appeared on South Park yet though."

"Now I'm just imagining Sonic cracking a whip at every artist signed on to Sony Music."

"It's no wonder Sonic music is so good. Those musicians probably aren't allowed to sleep or eat unless it passes quality control."

"Assuming they don't have their backs broken due to the aforementioned whip lashes."

"Why am I now believing Sony Music's studios have more whipcracks in them than a Johnny Test episode."

"How ironic it is that the free spirit 'stick it to the man' 90's kid Sonic is pretty much the symbolic image of a corporation that pretty much is 'the man'."

"There's a political joke in that."

"Michael Jackson had been a bit of a Sega spokesperson back in the day, what with that Moonwalker game and the whole scandal over Sonic 3 (& Knuckles). It was strange how SSCEE had no comment about him leaving - but I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't able to."

"Not to mention that Sony had just lost the inspiration behind their own mascot's shoes."

"Sonic was not created as Sony's mascot. Sony just murdered Sega and took Sonic for themselves." - YouTube comment discssion, 2010's



SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE
July, 2002

Pollution and Paradise don't mix.

It's up to Mario, his water pack and you to make things less toxic and more tropic Super Mario Sunshine, only for Ninteno GameCube.

- Paper ad for Super Mario Sunshine, successor to Mario 64 and the true original 'Mario' game for the Nintendo GameCube system. It would see releases in North America and other regions in August 2002 and the following months.

"SHINE GET!" - YouTube comment, 2009

"Super Mario Sunshine is honestly the underrated black sheep of the 3D Mario family. I absolutely love the music in this game and also it's setting - a tropical paradise with enemies and civilians we've never seen before, and the introduction of a new mechanic that is kid friendly enough for Mario while also adding in the spice of a new, untapped game mechanic. While it does not have the overload of content that it's 'competitor' (Sonic Adventure 2) had, it still had that Nintendo level presentation that makes it a pleasant game to blast through. At the same time, I will admit that it could have used more content. Yet again Mario is the only playable character, and yet again you're just collecting stars (or in this case shine sprites) until you have enough to face the final boss. Only this time your hub world is a town rather than a castle - whether or not that's better is subjective. I do love Isle Delfino as a place, it's basically like Venice if Venice were closer to the equator, but I won't lie this game could still stand to be less of a 64 clone. I also don't like how the only reward for 100% completion is a post card image. Would've loved to play as Luigi or in some classic Mario level recreation instead. Still, the presentation is solid, and the slight (very slight) worldbuilding and slightly, slightly more of a plot than most Mario games is all welcomed. Honestly if you have a GameCube, pick this game up - it's the flagship Mario game for it after all." - Blog Review, 2003.

"I will forever love Super Mario Sunshine. All these other games of the early 2000's were making themselves all serious, complex, dark and filled to the brim with shooting action and mature themes but in comes Mario with an innocent, literally sunshine fueled vacation of the game that honestly does feel like a literal vacation from all the edge that was filling the rest of the market. It was honestly something that I felt was needed and made me continue loving Nintendo. Sure the water gun thing was something new but I never saw anything wrong with it - it's better than giving Mario an actual gun! It may not have a multiplayer or online connectivity, and it does have that odd design choice when it came to Yoshi, but no game is ever pefect even if it's Mario. Plus, Mario doesn't need to connect online. Honestly, I enjoy Sunshine because of it's simplicity. It's just simple, family friendly fun and sometimes that's a fantastic experience." - Cesar Oliver, Gamespot, 2006


SLY COOPER AND THE THIEVIUS RACOONUS
September, 2002

He's one cunning, devious, thievius raccoonus!

Rooftop chases, narrow escapes and dodging security guards.

Spotlights, alarms and infrared lasers.

- Back cover for Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, the first one of Sucker Punch's most successful hit series. It was exclusively available for the Nokia Neo.

"Sucker Punch had signed a deal with Nokia back in 2000. It was basically just your standard exclusivity deal, but it eventually led to the company becoming essentially a second party member of Nokia's list of supporters. Which was good for them, the Neo needed something to do better than the M2 and the CD-i."

"You say that as if the CD-i is even a console."

"I just want to forget the CD-i was a thing. Those Mario and Zelda games have forever cursed my childhood."

"I can just imagine how Sony felt about Cooper though. Their rival was having cocky, blue-wearing furry mascot character in a team of three consisting of a mechanical genius and one with the brawn, ultimately stopping another mechanical genius who is evil. I mean, yeah."

"Sly is nothing like Sonic though."

"I doubt they cared, as good as the Cooper games are, they would never be as big a cash cow as Sonic. Sonic's eyes are green now for a reason: they represent the money Sony brings in from the franchise."

"That is the best reason for the green eyes I have ever heard."

"Sly Cooper really did help the Neo bring in the platformer crowd money though, especially since it had a lot of differences from the other run-of-the-mill 3D platformers being released at the time. It gave it an exclusive franchise, some memorable characters, and some personality that it needed during a time when it needed people to have a reason to buy it instead of the other two. As all should know, it may have been the self-proclaimed successor of Neo Geo, but it would not survive if it had the same sale numbers."

"All this talk about the game but does anyone else but me remember the comics they actually made about Sly and his friends?"
- YouTube comments, 2011



SONIC X - ONLY ON FOXBOX
September, 2002

Sonic's here, and you better keep those eyes open because one blink is all it takes to miss this blue blur!

Every super sonic week, watchers of FoxBox will be treated to a quick dose of what is sure to be one of the latest hit series - Sonic X! Meet Sonic and all of his friends on the small screen along with their human friend Chris as they battle the evil Dr. Eggman and deal with everyday problems of hijinks, action and super fast speed!

Just remember to keep that schedule in memory, because you will miss it before you even know it!

Now, you may think that surely such a famous character's show would be present on other networks - but nope! This show is only airing on the equally new saturday morning block FoxBox! And trust us when we say ONLY! Your kids might want to get ready for the fastest high-speed action show they've ever seen!

Based on the hit video game franchise owned by Sony.

- Magazine advert for the localisation of SegaSonic Freedom Rangers, renamed Sonic X for distribution in America. At the time of it's Americanization, Sony was also exploring the idea of anime based on their other franchises.

"GOTTA GO FAST!"

"FASTER FASTER FAFAFAFA-FASTER!"

"Absolutely insulting Americanization, but that theme song will stay in your head for weeks."

"The theme song became a meme."

"4kids and their Americanizations. All the Japanese characters in the Sonic show got renamed to boring American names. Rouge sounded like she was 40 years old. Vector sounded hilarious. And of course, Jason Griffith."

"I know the voice is terrible, but for some reason it's my favourite Vector voice."

"I feel like this is really only a thing because Sony is obsessed with shoving Sonic into every possible media format that they can. They seem to believe that in order to get money, all they have to do is slap Sonic's face on it and call it a day."

"Well hey, it's not the worst Americanization that 4Kids has ever done."

"With how much 4kids felt the need to remove Japanese text, rename characters, edit out scenes and even edit out food it makes me question why bother. I get that Sonic was originally intended to market to the west - something he still does despite Sony's insistence on increasing it's value in the east, but 4kids took that a bit too far in my opinion. Their Kirby dub by comparison is at least handled less, extremely."

"KIRBY KIRBY KIRBY THAT'S HIS NAME DON'TCHA KNOW?!"

"All 4kids shows are destined to be memes at one point in their lives. It is their one true purpose in this universe."

"Meanwhile I'm the one kid on the block who was humming the theme song to Liberty's Kids instead of 4kids' trash dubs."

"Can't believe you guys aren't mentioning the fact that they killed off Fox Kids in favor of 4Kids."

"Top 10 Anime Mistakes" - YouTube comments, 2010's


STAR FOX ADVENTURES
September, 2002

Out of the cockpit... and into epic adventure!

At the far edge of the Lylat system, an army of diabolic dinosaurs has shattered the tranquil world of Dinosaur Planet. The future looks bleak... until Fox McCloud enters the fray. For the first time in his legendary career, Fox leaves his Arwing to battle enemies hand to hand with an enchanted staff of untold powers.

In the biggest challenge in Team Star Fox's history, he'll wield weapons and magic against massive bosses, fly Arwing missions, and explore vast prehistoric lands. He'll need all the help he can get from old teammates Slippy and Peppy - and new allies like Prince Tricky and the mysterious Krystal. The balance of power shifts ever more to the evil General Scales, and the Fox hunt is on...

- Back cover for Star Fox Adventures, a game developed by Nintendo Subsidiary Rare for the Nintendo GameCube.

"Star Fox Adventures is an interesting case study in Game Development. By no means is it a terrible game, but it was a large departure from the formula of what a 'Star Fox' game was on account of it bringing in off-ship Zelda-inspired gameplay. Now, I'm all for adding new gameplay elements into games but in many ways this Zelda-Tomb Raider segments detract from the Arwing space battle action that defines the Star Foxs series. It does not help this game that it was intended to be 'Dinosaur Planet', making it come off like it's indeed a separate game entirely but with Star Fox tacked onto it."

"People rag on this game for being too similar to Zelda all the time, but personally I think it's pretty good! I view it as something like a spin-off rather than an actual successor to the original Star Fox games, since I will concede it is quite a departure from them. I disagree that it was the 'beginning of the end' for Rare though, people loving saying that just for clicks."

"Good game overall, but definitely different and honestly pretty easy at parts that could stand to be more challenging. If you're buying this expecting it to be like the old games, then prepare to be in for a disappointed. If you want a new experience, come on in." - Various reviews for Star Fox Adventures


BATTLEFIELD: 1942
September, 2002

In the Air...In the Deep...On the Battlefield

Fight your way to victory in the most intense Battles of World War II. Choose your weapon and then jump into a raging firefight. From bazookas to battleships, a massive arsenal is at your disposal.

- Back cover for Battlefield: 1942 - released for both PC and Nokia Neo, from Nokia's acquired studio DICE. Despite the delay, it was one of the staple games for the system and a high seller.

"The Nokia Neo was a haven for First Person Shooter games. It began with Halo and Battlefield, and even back in 2002 Call of Duty was on the way - and more was coming."

"Coming out not long after Halo, Battlefield was a definite sign of the way gaming was heading. First Person Shooters were becoming more popular in the home, and the conoles of the day were attracting a much more 'hardcore' audience. While it's true that the most popular of the platformers would survive this change, many of those new faces coming into the world would be far less lucky. Thing is, for me there isn't really much to talk about with most of these games. They are shooter games, often based off real history, and do a good job at what they set out to accomplish. Battlefield was a solid and successful first party game, and made money for Nokia. It, and many others of the genre, made powerful use of the growing online multiplayer gaming that was becoming the norm." - Rayden Lancaster, Gamespot, 2011

"The games that were once regulated to the PCs, were now becoming available in the home. Of course, PC gaming was far from dying, but the types of games once commonly only found on it were now accessible to those who preffered a console - and the same goes for online multiplayer as well. That part of the shift was nice. The shift in gaming from platforming and mascots to FPS games though, that is definitely a mixed bag. I personally miss the days when it was Sonic and Mario that everyone debated over. In the early 2000's though, that debate wasn't so common as was the debate regardling Halo, Battlefield, Call of Duty (which was on the way for 2003), and other such games. I like some of the more original shooter games but I personally ignore the ones that are more run-of-the-mill. That's to not to hate on all of them mind you, I do understand the value in being able to play with a group of people without having to be the host of some party just for the purpose of gaming and I do realize that's obviously the most important part of most of these games, just saying I do admire the ones that have a little bit more than just that." - IGN, History of FPS Games, 2015

"Halo was a revolution, but Panasonic was a third-party company, the only hardware they made were televisions, electric rasers, cameras and home appliances. Battlefield was something they [Nokia] needed to prepare themselves for that - and in my opinion it did the job pretty well and is still doing that job well to this day! Sure it's one of the 'history-based' shooters, but it's not half bad at all and I say this as someone who has played it. It's so easy to hate on FPS games nowadays but there's a reason they caught on that I think gets overlooked in all of it. It's not just the online multiplayer, it's the same reason that games like DOOM got so popular. Last I checked, DOOM didn't have online multiplayer." - Bobby Wood, YouTube, 2012, excerpt.



GODZILLA: DESTROY ALL MONSTERS MELEE
October, 2002

Legendary Monsters, Epic Battles.

- Blurb from the back cover of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee developed by Pipeworks and published by Infrogrames (under the Atari branding). It was released for both GameCube and Neo, with a similar game known as 'Godzilla: Domination!' being released on the GameBoy Advance around the same time. A multiplayer arcade-esque fighting game utilizing a selection of the Kaiju of the Godzilla franchise (though it refers to them as 'monsters').

"Under infogrames, Atari had become a bit of a zombified corpse, still doing things but nothing that was ever really that 'huge' in the larger gaming industry. Sure there were some games that were decent such as their Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi series, and their Godzilla games which gained a bit of a following, it is hard to believe that the modern Atari was once the king of gaming before Nintendo completely uprooted them." - IGN, The rise & fall of Atari, 2016

"While Atari's days of running the gaming industry are long over, their games still manage to have some personality to them, whether they be nostalgia trips or modern titles. I always enjoy a good Atari game. 2002 in particular looks to be a fair bit of the beginning of what might end up being a revival of Atari as a third party brand. It's a shame that they can't make a new console in their new form." - Gamespot, 2002



RED FACTION: THE FIRST INSTALLMENTS

Every video game company has to start somewhere, and just like Bungie with the Marathon series, Volition's first truly hit series was none other than the 'Red Faction' franchise. It is perhaps best known nowadays for being the franchise in which the megacorporation known as Ultor was first introduced to the world, but is also known for it's heavy themes, especially with undertones of revolution. Like many games that came out in the early 2000's, it was a first person shooter. The original game, released in May of 2001, featured 'GeoMod Techhology', allowing you to actually alter the surrounding terrain and buildings, often using things like explosives. Using this, you can actually make alternative paths for yourself or get in the way of your enemies - and in general it is a feature unique to it not seen in many other first person shooters - much less the ones being released at the time.

The entire premise of Red Faction is basically taking place in a science fiction future in which Mars has been colonized by humans and is being mined for minerals since Earth's own minerals have been depleted. Thus, the Ultor Corporation finds itself in charge of the operations on Mars. Unfortunately, Ultor doesn't exactly give the miners a better life or a brighter future because living conditions are horrible, human rights even worse, and there is a horrible disease that is spreading around - culminating in the spark that ignites a full on revolution. Ultimately, your main character, Parker, travels through Ultor's complex and learns all sorts of dark secrets about the company along the way as he kills everything the business throws at him and even destroys their space station! However, with the earth defense showing up and an antidote found, things turn out to have a happy ending.

The original Red Faction overall was a fantastic early 2000's shooter, and a great start for a company that would only move on to bigger and better projects. Though as is to be expected, the game by modern standards is a bit dated - especially in the graphics department. Still though I'd be lying if I said those early 3D graphics don't have a bit of nostalgic old timey charm to them, as cheesy as they look in some cases. It was released for the Sega (Sony) Neptune, and the PC and even had an N-Gage port at one point - and yes it had online multiplayer.

Red Faction II on the other hand was released for the Neptune, Nokia Neo, PC and even the GameCube in October of 2002, and like the original was developed by Volition and published by THQ - yes the same THQ known for most of the Nickelodeon liscensed games. It keeps the Geo-Mod engine from the original game, and has a local multiplayer with a lot of game modes to choose from such as Deathmach, Bagman, Arena and even Capture the Flag. It's comparable to Halo and Battlefield.

Red Faction II takes place five years after the events of the first game, and the nanotechnology developed by a character from the original game who was the head of Ultor's science division ha been claimed by the Earth Defense Force. With this technology, they actually revive the Ultor Corporation - only this time with a focus on supersolidiers and weapons. So yeah they basically want their own version of Master Chief. However, most of the doctor's research has been stolen by other groups, and switched hands many times over. The player character himself is also trying to claim the research - for a entity known as the Republic of the Commonwealth. What's very interesting about the story mode of this game is that there are actually four possible endings that are all determined on your Heroics score at the end of the game - but unfortunately it's not like you can make much other drastic changes in the story.

On it's release, Red Faction II's Neptune & GameCube ports were seen as oddly superior to the Neo & PC ports. Granted it wasn't by much, but that's how the reviews viewed it. I personally don't really see much of a difference, but I don't want to bother getting into it. As a whole, the first two Red Faction games were a good beginning to a series that really put Volition's name on the map and showed THQ was more than just the people that made the Nickelodeon games.

- Jack Moore, Blog Post, 2014



GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY

Released in October of 2002, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was the sixth entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, and the first main entry in the series since 2001's Grand Theft Auto III. Released right around the same time as Halo and Battlefield 1942 and both developed and published by Rockstar, it was but another push of mature content games into mainstream console gaming.

Takin place within the fictional Vice City, we follow Tommy Vercetti who just got out of prison not long before getting caught up in an ambushed drug deal, following it up with taking down those responsible, building a criminal empire of his own, and seizing power from other crime lords in the process. So indeed, you are most certainly not playing as a 'hero' this time, at least not in the usual sense. But the others are worse than you anyway......debatably. With how most people tend to drive around the streets in this game that probably isn't quite true.

The gameplay of GTA: Vice City is done through a third-person perspective, dropping you as Tommy into Vice City to basically run around and do whatever you want, with the expansive city being a sandbox style open world filled with pedestrians, missions and all sorts of other activities - whether they are legal or not - and a lot of them aren't. In fact, the more illegal things you do, the higher your notoriety goes. The more stars you get, the more determined the police will be to get you, eventually reaching the basically undefeatable feds themselves stepping in. Trust me when I say they are truly relentless, but it makes for a great endurance test.

Also, you can finally drive motorcycles.

Interesting is the combat system of the game, which includes an auto-aim system that can be used to assist you in gun fire against enemies, and on that same subject there are many different gangs in the city, and completing certain missions will both please and offend different gangs. Ones that like you will help you, while ones that don't will want you dead. It's as simple as that. If you're down on money, you can just outright purchase businesses....if you have the money for it. Though you do have to do missions in order to accomplish this. Really virtually everything in the game is dependent on missions, whether they are small or big.

While GTA: Vice City is a fantastic game for it's time, and one of the more ambitious titles of the era too, very well deserving of the praise that it got when it came out - one can't talk about this game without mentioning the controversy that came out because of it. It is much more than just some complaints about a mature, crime-centered game. It goes straight into the territory of lawsuits being filed - all while being labeled as violent and explicit.

For one, civil rights groups felt that because the player fights gangs of immigrant groups such as Haitians and Cubans, the game is some kind of invitiation to commit ethnic hate groups - and using discriminatory language. This got to the extent that outright protests were staged against the game - and led to several ordinances prohibiting the sale of violent video games in several areas - adding that ontop of the fact it already had a censored version made for Australia.

Sad thing is how common it is for the GTA series to be involved in these kinds of things. It's practically become standard. Whether you like the games or not, one can't deny that they are a major bringer of cash for Rockstar - hence why they never stop despite the drama they get. In fact, I wouldn't even be surprised if the drama is part of why they make the company so much money.

- Spencer Barnes, Blog Post, 2012



KING OF FIGHTERS 2002
October, 2002

The Dream Match is Happening Again!

The King of Fighters 2002

Join the battle with 39 of our best characters, including those unique ones from the past! Enjoy the new MAX power system that is even easier to use and play! You, too, can fully master the battle of your dreams with the newly revived 3 on 3 battle!

Available on SNK Neo Geo arcade cabinets, home systems, and Nokia Neo

- Back Cover for a release of King of Fighters 2002. The game, as stated, was released for SNK's own original home systems and arcade cabinets, but as also available on the Nokia Neo.




RATCHET & CLANK
November, 2002

There is nothing small about this game

- Advertisement for Ratchet & Clank, developed by Insomniac Games for the Sony Neptune. Following a feline-like humanoid known as a lombax, the game is both an action platformer and a third-person shooter, and the beginning of the franchise effectively owned by Sony itself.

"Lots of people were for some reasons that eludes me, asking for a game where Sonic had a gun and was shooting people. Ratchet & Clank being exclusive to us, gave them what they wanted without ruining our most prized possession. I don't know about you, but I for one would rather not turn Sonic into 'Medal of Hedgehog'." - Tom Kalinske, 2003 interview with Gamespot

"Though his name has some interesting meanings for some people, I always loved Ratchet. I won't lie though, when this game came out I first thought it was a spin-off of the Sonic universe but I was proven wrong because for once the hedgehog is not present in the game what-so-ever from what I can tell. Which is good, he really doesn't have much of any place in the universe that Ratchet & Clank sets up for itself. I personally love all of these duos that Sony has under it's belt, it seems to be something of a theme for them." - Eliseo Martin, Gamespot, 2007

"In the end, it was hard for third party developers to really decide to give the other companies much a chance. I mean, the Neptune was selling as if it was pure gold, the others were basically equal with each other so it's a natural choice to make. However, Nokia had other franchises that they were securing, and making."

"But Ratchet & Clank isn't really third party, the franchise from what I heard is owned by Sony."
- YouTube Comments, 2013

"Ratchet was a jerk in the first game. It was only fixed in the later ones, where they realized how bad it was. Even then, it was fortunate that the franchise proved rather successful because I'm very fond of it if I do say so myself." - YouTube Comment, 2006



SPYRO THE DRAGON: A FRANCHISE

It all began with the 3DO M2, and Insomniac Games. With those two things combined in 1998, the Spyro the Dragon franchise was born.

Spyro the Dragon is a franchise of the platformer genre, making it one with the Sonics, the Marios and the Banjo-Kazooies. The Spyro series itself started out much like those did, with the basic mascot character in Spyro the Dragon himself, a spunky purple dragon with flight, fire breath, everything you'd ask for in an anthro dragon character from the late 90's.

Released for the 3DO M2, the original Spyro game was one of it's signature games that got it to sell in those early Pre-Neptune years of it's life, before everything started going rapdily down hill for the sadly ill-fated system. Ultimately, Spyro spawned a total of four major game released on the 3DO M2. Spyro the Dragon released in 1998, Ripto's Rage in 1999, and Year of the Dragon in 2000. In 2001, a portable release 'Season of the Ice' was released on the GameBoy Advance. Being that 2001 was the final year of 3DO as a console maker before they transformed completely into Panasonic's third party game division, Year of the Dragon would be the last 3DO Spyro game.

In fact, some worried it may have been the final home console game of Spyro ever. Though thankfully they were proven wrong. You see Spyro was not initially owned by 3DO at all; rather the rights to franchise were owned by Universal, they just happened to agree to letting the franchise be solely released on 3DO systems until 3DO dropped out of the console war completely in the wake of Sony putting down their full weight (and Halo not being ready on time).

It should also be noticed that Season of Ice also wasn't even developed by Insomniac games, and neither would any of the future games in the series.

The fall of 3DO did not also mean it was the fall of Spyro, however. Year of the Dragon was ported to the Nintendo GameCube in 2001, becoming the first multi-platform Spyro game, and in some regions was even a launch title for the system - right alongside the original mascot of 3DO Gex who also was forced to make the transition from first to third party. The port was thankfully a rather decent one, though was effectively just slapped together for the monetary gain considering almost nothing at all was actually changed from the original, aside from some graphical tweaks.

The other Spyro titles would also see ports onto the other contemporary consoles in the coming years following the discontinuation of the M2.

As a whole, the initial period of Spyro was the series' golden age. Again, while not the highest selling game franchise in the industry's history, it remained a popular one with millions of copies sold under it's belt, and the target demographic for it - children - remained in love with the little purple dragon. However, gaming was changing once 3DO, transformed by then into P.I.E., finally released Halo for the Nokia Neo - and began to rebuild all of the finances they had been losing since before they had to drop out of the console race to begin with.

This is important for Spyro, because it was after Halo was released to the world that Panasonic approached Universal with the idea of purchasing the franchise from them, and once the agreement had been made Spyro - one of the M2's higher selling games, finally became an official property of the company that once benefited of it as something close to a second party title for it's own consoles. While no longer made by Insomniac and also no longer on a 3DO system, the Spyro series was now technically be handled by the development studios of what used to be 3DO themselves - or people they outsourced to.

At the time of the purchase, one Spyro game, Enter the Dragonfly, was under development. Slated for a Winter 2002 release, Panasonic - possibly using Halo as an example, delayed the game for 2003.

- Eliseo Martin, Blog Post, 2012


SONIC MEGA COLLECTION
November, 2002

8 Great Hits!
+ Extra Games!
+ Bonus Features!

- Front cover for Sonic Mega Collection, a compilation title that includes Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Sonic Spinball, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles (alongside Knuckles in Sonic 2, Blue Sphere, Sonic 3 & Knuckles), Sonic 3D Blast, Flicky, Ristar, Comix Zone and The Ooze. Released exclusively (as to be expected) for the Neptune. It also featured sans of most contemporary Archie comic covers, illustrations of various characters, and a handful of promotional video material.



SUPER MONKEY BALL 2
November, 2002

The Ultimate Party Game Returns!!!

Your favorite monkeys are back with 12 unbelievable Party Games, an all-new Story Mode, and over 150 new stages! Let the good times roll!

Only on Sony Neptune

- Back cover for Super Monkey Ball 2, the first game of the series to have a storyline - in the process introducing the villain Dr. Bad-boon.

"I never knew that I could love a video game series about adorable monkeys rolling around inside of balls but yet here we are." - YouTube Comment, 2009


SPACE CHANNEL 5 PART 2
November, 2002

The grooviest broadcast this side of Venus!

It's the 25th Century and our intergalactic reporter finds herself in two huge-spanning Adventures in futuristic neo-'60's style. Ulala must face a group of intergalactic terrorists who have designs on world domination. Using a special 'danca ray' that mesmerizes people, the evil invaders are hell-bent on taking over, and the only coming between them is Ulala and some pretty geoovt danca moves!

- Back cover for Space Channel 5 part 2, sequel to Space Channel 5 and another major Neptune exclusive title.


METROID PRIME
November, 2002

Evil Waits below the surface...

Something sinister lurks in the depths of planet Tallon IV. Interstellar bounty hunter Samus Aran is the only one who can destroy this evil...

But first it must be found.

- Back Cover for Metroid Prime, the Nintendo GameCube's definitive Metroid title, and Metroid's first true 3D title.

"Metroid Prime is by far one of the GameCube's very best titles - a definite must have for any true fan of Nintendo. Like Super Mario 64 was for Mario himself, it was the introduction of Samus and Metroid into the world of 3D gaming, and it is one of the first serious yet awesome shooting games without an 'M' rating present on it - though it is rated 'T'. And thankfully in classic Nintendo style it offers it's own experience rather than being a copy of Battlefield or Halo. Everything about this game to me really shows just how capable the GameCube as a console is, which most of Nintendo's main line of games always does for all of their systems." - Vicente Barnes, IGN, 2002

"I liked how Nintendo got around loading screens by hiding it behind a door taking a long time to open. Sometimes I actually didn't even realize it was loading, it was only noticeable whenever it took longer than usual."

"I always liked the music in this game, especially their Ridley theme. I still hear it in my head every time I see or think about Ridley."

"We don't Mario to use a gun, we already have Samus for that."
- Forum Discussion, 2005



THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: WIND WAKER
November, 2002

An Evil Wind is Blowing

Legend has it that whenever evil has appeared, a hero named Link has arisen to defeat it. That legend continues on the surface of a great and mysterious sea as Link sets off on his most epic and awe-inspiring adventure yet. Aided by a magical conductor's baton called the Wind Waker, he will face unimaginable monsters, explore puzzling dungeons, and meet a cast of unforgettable characters as he searches for his kidnapped sister.

- Back over for the Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, the first Legend of Zelda title released for the Nintendo GameCube.

"I find it odd to hear that Wind Waker wasn't liked by fans upon it's release, over it's cel-shading style to a point where despite it's usual and expected critical acclaim the game still received comparatively less sales. Did people really not buy it over just that, or was it because people were burned out with all the water themed stuff being released like Sonic Adventure twice plus the movie, Atlantis the Lost Empire, Super Mario Sunshine etc I just find it hard to believe an art style could divide so many people like that."

"I literally did not realize so much water and/or ocean themed stuff came out so close to each other. Dang."

"Nah, it was just the cel shading art style that turned people off initially. Other than that, the game got the usual critical acclaim that all Zelda titles are accustomed to. I know it's a little hard to believe, but the human race can be quite stupid at times."

"And kids in particular can be both stupid and picky creatures."

"My personal conspiracy theory is that Sony and/or Nokia had a team of spin doctors that started the first hate comment over the art style and everyone else just followed suit or something."

"lol"

- IGN Forums Discussion, 2012


PANZER DRAGOON ORTA
December, 2002

The era of human prosperity has come to a grinding halt, with all but a few pockets of civilization destroyed by years of devastating battles. A new Empire rules with an iron grip, and a band of rebels begins a revolt in an attempt to become masters of their destiny once again. As the world is engulfed in the flames of war, an unlikely and unwilling Hero must become mankind's only hope. The Dragon will rise again.

- Back cover for Panzer Dragoon Orta, 2002's Panzer Dragon title and as such a popular Neptune exclusive.


"Those who say Sony buying Sega was a mistake clearly have not played Panzer Dragoon Orta yet. This is dare I say one of the best games on the Neptune, if not of all time. The storyline, graphics and sound are all perfect in a combination that makes this one of the best rail shooters of all time - especially after Star Fox's stunt this year. However, the game is rather hard even on the easiest settings - if you can beat this game on normal, you're pretty much a true gamer." - IGN Reviewer, 2002

"This game puts hair on your chest." - Anonymous comment, 2002

"Sure, this game looks beautiful, and is one of the best shooters we've ever played, but we just can't explain how therapeutic it is to incinerate everything with the power of a thousand George Foreman Grills." - Maxim, 2002

"The only crime this game commits is being too short. Way, way too short. After SA2 I would have expected a lot more content." - Anonymous comment, 2002

"When Yamauchi turned down Sony, they created their own worst enemy." - Anonymous comment, 2002


RAGE OF THE DRAGONS
December, 2002

Iron hands wipe out evil!
Out now! Rage of the Dragons.

In a town ruled by an evil religious cult, the battle to decide the strongest dragon begins! Each contestant is a champion who contends with the power of mighty dragons: Black Dragon, Red Dragon, Blue Dragon, and White Dragon.

Go head to head in a tag-team partnership to test your attack and defense in the heat of battle.

- Back cover for Rage of the Dragons - released on Neo Geo, Neo Geo home consoles, and the Nokia Neo. The latter release was international and in December, but original releases were in September of 2002.









I do apologize if the ending bit is too long, it's the replacement of the "Games of" segment I used to talk about games with noteworthy differences ITTL. I put a spoiler just in case it's too long. I may remove it if it's biased/ASB or if it's just better as a separate post.
 
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I wonder what Sonic Heroes would turn out in this timeline? hmm... it said that Team fang would make a return along with Mighty, and Ray and Metal Sonic, and Team rose was different.
Anyway, It was said that Sonic Heroes wouldn't have Shadow as of now.
 
I wonder what Sonic Heroes would turn out in this timeline? hmm... it said that Team fang would make a return along with Mighty, and Ray and Metal Sonic. and Team rose was different.
Anyway, It was said that Sonic Heroes wouldn't have Shadow as of now.

Well, Shadow was brought back because he became popular.....and E-102 Gamma is also, well, dead even if he is a robot.
My point is that, without changing Shadow's role in the story or his character it's very possible he'll still be popular and thus brought back. However, to say that Sonic Heroes won't be different in other ways would be a lie.
Sonic Heroes is coming soon though! And that sounds interesting!

Mighty does appear in SA2. One joke I was thinking of is that he is constantly left to watch after the Master Emerald whenever Knuckles is away, just to "Excuse" Knuckles constantly being off island. XD
 
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2003: Well, it's a Year
I apologize greatly for how long this latest hiatus has been. I had a period of existential crisis/spiritual questioning and also my usual procrastination, multi-tasking, lack of ideas and some life issues got in the way. But I finally got this done! Hope you guys enjoy this installment. And don't worry, I'm alright, I got through my crisis period. At least I hope so. I posted this, didn't I?

Anyway, back to the Alternate History:






DEVIL MAY CRY 2

January, 2003

Dante the demon slayer is back to shake down the legions of the underworld, this time with more moves, expansive enviornments and twice the sizzle of the original. Together with his new devilishly agile partner, Lucia, Dante is ready to take on a horde of evil in this stylish action thriller that's cooler than hell!

- Description of Devil May Cry 2, released by Capcom for the Neptune, the original Devil May Cry was released in 2001 and was a cultural, critical and commercial success. DMC2, however, recieved mixed reviews.



WILL THERE BE A SONIC ADVENTURE 3?

Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure: Millennium Edition, Sonic Adventure 2. The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise sure has been on a roll lately when it comes to titles – effectively making a series within the series. However, it appears as though a third (or technically fourth, really) installment in the series is actually rather up in the air – and this claim is coming from Sony and Sonic Team themselves.

“The Sonic Adventures have been a resounding success for the world's favorite hedgehog” says Ken Kutaragi, roughly translated from an interview with us “I can definitely see the Adventure titles being a staple of what many affectionately refer to as the crown jewel in Sony's growing empire.”

However, whether or not SA'3' will be the next title in the franchise was not entirely confirmed – and despite Kutaragi's optimism, this is not a trait shared by all. Takashi Iizuka, one of Sonic Team's highest ranks members, said this in his own interview with gaming press:

“The Sonic Adventure games have definitely been a blast to be a part of, though whether or not Sonic Adventure 3 will be the next game in the series, I can not definitively promise. It certainly is not a terrible idea, though there is only so much we can do with the Adventure formula. All I am saying is that when it comes to titles from Sonic Team, be very prepared for new experiments both with Sonic and without [Sonic].”

Indeed, it appears as though Sonic Adventure 3 might not be the next Sonic game, despite being effectively the previous three consecutive Sonic titles. However, is this really definitive proof from the inside? Well, just for good measure we also made sure to interview the folks at Sega Technical Institute, or S.T.I., who played a key role in the development of Sonic Adventure 2 and are most famous in the world of Sonic for developing Sonic X-Treme back in 1996. Of S.T.I.'s team, it was chief programmer Christina Coffin (who worked heavily on both X-Treme and SA2), who was available for a comment on the possibility of a third adventure game. Here's what she had to say:

“Obviously, I can't really say whether or not Sony's working on a Sonic Adventure 3, even if I did know. I can' t even say whether or not we're working on it here at STI. What I can say though, is that STI at least does have a lot of projects in the not so distant future, so I would definitely say get ready for those!”

On the subject of whether or not these projects contain the one true blue hedgehog:

“Are our future projects Sonic related? I think a few ideas are, but I can't really say any more than that.”

And there you have it, all the scoop we have on the possibility of a third Sonic Adventure! We may not know that for sure, but we definitely know that SA2 is not going to be the end for the blue blur, so be ready for the future!

- Electronic Gaming Monthly, January 2003


WHY DIDN'T MICROSOFT JOIN THE GAMING INDUSTRY?

There are many things about the gaming industry that I both get and don't get. I get how Sega (which would end up becoming Sony's vassal, basically) and Nintendo came to dominate the industry, but what I don't get is why Microsoft didn't jump in and instead just let Nokia join in? Nokia is just, such a random addition to the industry. I've heard that Microsoft was considering whether or not they were going to jump in, but, well, why didn't they? Are there any answers or even theories about this?


Maybe they just decided against it? I mean, they do pretty well as a support for the Big Three (well, mainly Sony and Nokia) through Windows OS, so I don't know.

Maybe Sega PC has something to do with it? Sony does still release a lot of pretty popular games on PC, so it's very possible the money Microsoft could make from that (if they make any money from you buying PC Games) may have been a factor in them deciding not to join the console race against a “business partner”.
Maybe it was Apple's complete and utter failure that discouraged them?

^ If that were the case, Nokia would never have came into the arena.
I think they prefer trying to play all the gaming powers (or at least Sony and Nokia, the most pro-internet of the three) off each other. I think the Sega PC idea is not too far fetched, but I have my doubts it would be that much of a factor. Perhaps they take an approach similar to how Sony did with Sega, ruling from behind the scenes as a “partner”.

Except Nokia is more independent than Sega ever was. The moment that Saturn money rolled in, they went from partner to vassal.

That's because Sega of Japan's leadership was just that ineffective.

Hey, Sega of Japan did a lot of good things, they weren't complete idiots. They were just stuck in their ways and pessimistic?

It's true they gave us Sega to begin with. But it's also true that they basically let themselves become completely subservient to Sony the moment the Saturn became the #1 selling console, practically relying on Sony for all of the major decision making and even letting Sony meddle in their own internal politics. Sony was literally the mediator of internal conflicts AND the person the divisions could turn to whenever SoJ gave them a hard time. SoJ was so reliant on keeping the partnership alive that they anything that could threaten it/the money it gave them would make them basically soak their pants in piss. In the end, this reliance pretty much made Sony devouring them whole pretty much inevitable. SoJ was not terrible but simply wasn't the most effective set of leaders. Nokia and Microsoft meanwhile, have a bit of a partnership but it doesn't appear that Microsoft exerts any control over Nokia beyond letting them use a Windows-based OS. I'm also sure that Nintendo, if they had been Sony's partners, would have had the leadership to remain an independent entity.

^ This

Well this got off topic.

I don't think there's much to talk about when it comes to why Microsoft didn't join the console war. I mean, there just isn't enough information to really go on. They had – maybe - a few plans that never saw the light of day? Possibly? There's a conspiracy theory involving them pulling a Sony on Nokia? Which doesn't have much evidence. There's the theory that Sega PC made enough money for them (royalties?) that they decided not to anger what was at the time Sega? I'm not saying Microsoft couldn't be a successful contender – by all means they could very well be a powerhouse, but it seems like they just simply didn't decide to go that route.

What about the Pippin idea?

I refuse to give the Apple Pippin even the slightest bit of respect. If I said it made Microsoft not join the console race, that in my view is giving it respect. - IGN Forums discussion






SONIC ANIME AIRS LAST JAPANESE EPISODE

Japanese fans of the world's favorite (and only) blue hedgehog were treated to a special event last weekend when the series finale of the anime that originated the currently running Sonic X series on FoxBox aired, bringing the series to it's conclusion after quite a few years in service.

  • Excerpt from an unknown television magazine.



JURASSIC PARK: OPERATION GENESIS

March, 2003

Jurassic Park...Your Way!

You hold in your hands the ultimate power of creation and destruction. Design, build and rule your own thrilling park with real dinosaurs as the main attractions! Command everything from the ticket prices to the T-Rex! The world of Jurassic Park is yours.

  • Back cover for Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, released for the PC, Neptune and Neo, with the Neptune version being received better than the other versions. Online, the game would achieve a cult following and community around itself.



FIRE EMBLEM

April, 2003

The Fires of War, Rekindled!

After centuries of peace, smoldering rivalries threaten to set the world aflame in a blaze of battle! The drums of war beat, noble houses plot treason, allies become enemies, and as Lycia stands poised for war, a shadowy figure manipulates empires for his own ends. Now, Lyn, Eliwood and Hector must amass an army strong enough to fight back the forces that would destroy their homeland. Master battle tactics to douse the embers before they burn the world to ash.


  • Back cover for Fire Emblem, released for the Gameboy Advance. The series had been localized for America by Nintendo after Marth & Roy's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee made them more popular.



TEMPIA

April, 2003

From the creators of Fireborne...


Traverse through the world of Tempia, a powerful empire that is in the midst of war against it's arch rival – the empire of Gocheon, which appears to be threatening the stability of the entire world through their manipulation of dark energy, allowing them to seemingly bend reality itself. That is where you come in, a hero called upon by the Emperor himself and given the most important of quests – traversing the world to find a way to finally subdue Gocheon. It will not be easy, though the best things in life hardly ever are.

  • Back cover for Tempia, an JRPG released in 2003 by Fujiwara. The game achieved something of a cult following after it's released, and was considered an improvement over Fujiwara's previous entries in gaming.



E3 – ELECTRONICS ENTERTAINMENT EXPO WIKI GUIDE

E3 2003

E3 2003 took place from May 14 to May 16, 2003 – and it certainly was a good showing of how far games had come since the first show back in '95. Of all the games that were featured during this particular show, the one which ruled the roost this time around was Half-Life 2 from Valve – and it ruled E3 like DOOM 3 had ruled it in the previous year. However, Half-Life 2 had a slightly larger theater and manage to gather around itself by far the most buzz – even had the longest lines and all of the big awards.

The game was absolutely amazing – it had the most advanced physics that anyone had ever seen up to that point. It had great graphics and wide-open settings, though it was not quite as spectacular of a like as DOOM 3's overall design – though it was far more ambitious . DOOM 3 had dark halls and calustrophobic settings. Half-Life 2? Entire cities.

Some of HL2 seemed too good to be true. As it turned out, it was possibly too good to be true. In months after the show, evidence arose suggesting that some of the amazing things shown in the demo were actually scripted events.

At E3 2003, DOOM 3 was little more than video streaming on a couple of television monitors. E3 2003 was the show for ultra-agile wall-crawlers. Sure, Activision had Spider-Man 2 for every platform it could of but there were new suspects too. Ubisoft had ressurrected the Prince of Persia franchise, giving it a superb new look with vibrant 3D scenes and immaculate storytelling. The new Prince could scamper across walls Jackie Chan-style! Ubisoft converted the old run-'n'jump game into a puzzle game in which players had to figure out how to get from Point A to Point B.

Tecmo created a new wall-crawler too, Ninja Gaiden. Tecmo's ninja had the same jumping and wall-walking abilities, but he was more combat oriented.

However, beyond Half-Life 2 there was also Halo 2, which also garnered a crowd over at Panasonic's corner of the show. Far more than the GBA game Gex was going to get, that's for sure. It was not entirely clear on how many of the consoles that it would be available for – the Neo could certainly handle it, but whether or not the GameCube or Neptune could wasn't really made clear. However, what was shown looked great. The fight looked like it was being taken to earth, and everything from Combat Evolved looked like it was nothing short of improved tenfold.

One thing stood out when it came to 2003's press conferences though, and of course it came from Sony. It was, as per Sony tradition, long, loud and flashy. It started with Sonic Team showing off the next Sonic game after SA2 – Sonic Heroes, showing the franchise was already taking a completely different approach, yet again. Then Jak II was shown off for a bit. Sega Technical Institute also resurfaced to talk about their next big project: Byzantium: Legacy of Rome. Though it retconned the plot of the original game, it was a Byzantine Empire based first person shooter....using medieval weapons instead of actual guns. A first person sword game, basically. After Sony Computer Entertainment of America CEO Kaz Hirai finished talking about online strategies, upcoming games and how badly Sony was beating the competition; Ken Kutaragi took the stage and announced plans for a new handheld game system: the Pluto. The Nintendo press conference which took place immediately aftwards was an utter disaster.

Nintendo was simply caught off guard. They were enjoying incredible success with their Gameboy Advance SP and had no reason to think the GBA would not have the same kind of 10-year shelf life enjoyed by their first Game Boy. Suddenly Nintendo executives were asked to respond to a challenge that they hadn't even considered – nobody could have expected Sonic to return to portables in such a surprise attack after the Game Gear finally kicked the bucket in the wake of Pokemon back in the late 90's.

Other things went wrong for the red N too. They had Zelda Four Swords which went over well, but Shigeru Miyamoto's so-called big demonstration was a multiplayer Pac-Man game in which players controlled the ghosts. Sure, it was neat. However after what Sony gave everyone it was way too old school and way too small.

On the other hand, Sony and the blue N (Nokia) were going full-bore Internet at the time. All Nintendo responded with was “connectivity”. They wanted to exploit the Game Boy/GameCube connection. It was a tough sell.

Then came Nokia's conference.

Nokia, as the European newbies on the block, were still something of a mystery. Nobody quite knew yet what they were capable of – though the Neo was doing much better than any previous “#3” console, including the dearly departed 3DO's. However, their conference at E3 2003 was the worst of the day, having been after both Sony and Nintendo. Quite possibly, it was the worst E3 conference of all time.

Much like Nintendo, they seemed to fumble with the announcement that Sony was throwing their hat into the ring to rise from the ashes of the Game Gear, and their reveal of having their own handheld on the way, the N-Gage so they called it, had a completely disastorous presentation complete with mean-looking executives, a tasteless way of revealing the price, and glitchy or really bad-looking games. The N-Gage ultimately was never seen again after this abysmal showing. The only saving grace of the conference was that the Neo's upcoming line-up seemed promising, ranging from SNK's King of Fighters, Samurai Shodown and Metal Slug 5 to what appeared to be a game set in Ancient Egypt.

They say you can tell how serious a company is about their games by the size of the shrimp they serve at their E3 party. Well, Nokia had a small card table with cookies at their conference. And no, I am not making that up.

They were certainly lucky to have the Neo.

- IGN

GEX: ENTERTAINMENT ADVANCED

June, 2003

We now return to our feature presentation...

Gex is back – and this time on the smallest yet most advanced screen of all! It appears that the Media Dimension is in crisis, as television just isn't what it used to be – and the only person who can find out what the problem is and put a stop to it is none other than Gex! It probably is Rez back to his old tricks, though. Just a hunch.

  • Back cover for Gex: Entertainment Advanced, released for the Gameboy Advance. It was a relatively obscure release, and only really popular within the existing fanbase surrounding Gex.
“Panasonic's GBA game for Gex is a fine production, though falls far short of reviving Gex as their mascot. They should just embrace Master Chief, in all honesty.” - EGM, 2003. Excerpt.




WARIO WORLD

June, 2003

Ready to rumble with Wario?

You'd BETTER be ready, punk! Some evil jewel transformed all of my treasure into monsters, and now I gotta go to this weird world and beat it out of 'em! There are plenty of goons waiting for a shot at old Wario, but don't worry about me, baby – I'm ready to brawl! I'll be throwing punches, charging through crowds and piledriving ugly mugs right and left! What you gotta worry about is keeping me alive. Can you handle that, or do I have to give you a knuckle sandwhich too?

  • Back cover for Wario World, released as a Nintendo GameCube exclusive.



VIDEO GAME MOVIES: WHY ARE THEY MOSTLY SO BAD?

July, 2003

So recently Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (Full title Lara Croft: Tom Raider – The Cradle Life), has been released to theaters, starring Angelina Jolie reprising her role from the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. As one should know, both of these movies are based on the ever popular video game series, Tomb Raider. That's a lot of Tomb Raiding, I know.

However, both movies have faced negative criticisms since their respective releases – and it's not like these reviews are without good reason either. Roger Ebert gave Cradle of Life 3 out of 4 stars, though most other critics completely desecrated it. And I do mean desecrate it. Some of it fair, some of it not so fair, but the point is clear – it's mixed at best, bad at worst.

Other video game movies haven't fared so hot either:

Super Mario Bros is a movie who's infamy need not even be spoken of, and as one of the first video game movies to actually adapt a franchise into film, the fact that it failed as horribly as it did has made it practically 'cool' to hate the film. In all honesty, I could probably do an entire essay on every single thing that is wrong with the film, and that is despite me having a strong yet incredibly ironic liking for it.

Double Dragon (1994) and Street Fighter (1994) came the year after that, and were received arguably even worse.

Mortal Kombat (1995) and Mortal Kombat: Annhilation (1997) also embarrassed themselves. Especially the second one. Oh lord, the second one.

Not even Wing Commander and Resident Evil were considered serious contenders for the movie scene when they were released – at best they were considered mediocre, maybe below average or just above average. No video game movie has ever been considered by anyone to be a box office masterpiece........except that one time. Well, actually two.

1998. Sonic the Hedgehog. Of all the franchises of games to make a good movie, Sonic was the one who went and did it, the year after the absolutely dreadful release of MK:A. Effectively a traditionally animated adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (& Knuckles), the film's beautiful animation alone made it stand out from all those live action with cgi video game films which preceded it. Some of the shots in that movie looked outright gorgeous. While it failed to beat Mulan, because Disney is a tough beast to tango with it, it actually won awards. It actually got to stand alongside Mulan and Anastasia in the same award show.

Even Sonic Adventure: The Motion Picture (2001) is considered a good, if not iconic, movie – and that one actually utilized some CGI and beat out Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire that year!

So then, why is every single other video game film released so far considered so bad? Is Sonic the golden franchise that can somehow be the only one to work on the big screen? Perhaps the fact that Sony both owns the franchise and produced the films has something to do with it, or perhaps there is more to it than just that.

The first reason, in my opinion, is simply that Sonic is like Mario – much more a recognizable and historic gaming brand than the likes of Lara Croft or Resident Evil. After all, those two were the ones with television shows and a plethora of other merchandise before they even had movies. But Mario's movie did flop rather hard, so I can't chalk the Sonic movie's success on that alone. I personally think the Sonic movies just had much more professionalism instilled to them by those who made it, as the Sonic films can very well stand on their own without prior knowledge of the games, and they also take two specific entries in the series and actually adapt them onto the big screen. I also can not stress enough how superior the 1998 film looked compared to the Mario movie, going with animation over live action was definitely the better choice for what Sony was going for. In all honesty, the Mario movie should have been an animated feature itself. That no doubt had an impact on the film's quality as animation allowed them to more easily capture the tone of the games.

And no, it's not that Sega is somehow skillful at making movies based on their games and Nintendo fails – the Virtua Fighter OVA film was definitely one of the inferior video game movies, and the Sonic OVA they made prior to the theatrical film is nostalgic but would not impress many professional film critics.

Then we get to what I consider to be some market reasons. The movie-going crowd is a very different group from the video game crowd, and I don't see them choosing to see Resident Evil over Scream 2, I Know What You Did Last Summer or even Anaconda. Tomb Raider though, actually made a lot of money at the box office, so I can't say much about that one...and to be fair it is Angelina Jolie.. The market for Resident Evil and Tomb Raider is the older folks, and a movie based on them has to cater both to the video game crowd and attempt to bring in people who prefer watching to playing.

Sonic meanwhile, has the benefit of being a nostalgic figure to those who are older, and yet still accessible to one powerful demographic: kids and (more importantly) their parents. The original Sonic film's sucess was no doubt because it was a family flick. You look at the other video game movies at the time, and they look far removed from their source material and not precisely “for the family” - not even the Mario movie. But then 1998 rolls around and the original Sonic film looks like something Disney or Dreamworks (who just dropped their masterpiece Prince of Egypt that same year) made. Or at least comes pretty close to that.

Still, this all begs the question.....if a good video game movies – let alone two of them – have been made, why aren't the others following these examples? Well, perhaps they just don't care or just aren't very experienced when they make these movies. Sony brought in the big guns when they made their two films, 1998 saw a very experienced anime director & animator with plenty of titles under his belt, and 2001 saw a man who has worked on Dragonball Z take the helm. Perhaps all a good video game movie needs is someone who actually knows what making a film is all about.

Well, there are still plenty of video games that haven't been made into movies yet, and still perhaps sequels can prove that even the worst video game movies can result in something better later on.

For instance, there's talk of a House of the Dead movie coming out soon, and the Crazy Taxi movie is just around the corner, so perhaps we'll see if Sega franchises really are destined for great movies or not.

  • Excerpt, IGN, 2003.


STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC

July, 2003

Choose Your Path

It is four thousand years before the Galactic Empire, and hundreds of Jedi Knights have fallen in battle against the ruthless sith. You are the last hope of the Jedi Order. Can you master the awesome power of the force on your quest to save the Republic? Or will you fall to the lure of the dark side? Hero or Villian. Savior or Conqueror...you alone will determine the destiny of the entire galaxy!

  • Blurb for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, a game from BioWare and LucasArts, released for the Nokia Neo and Microsoft Windows, with a Mac OS X release in September of 2004.
The elegance and accessibility that BioWare made part-and-parcel of this game should be the future standard for this genre. “ - Computer Games Magazine

“Definitely one of the best games ever made, and definitely one good reason to be a gamer – let alone a fan of Star Wars. The recent movies may have been inferior to the originals, but this game almost makes up for that – in fact I'm tempted to say it does.” - Anonymous Reviewer


NEPTUNE EYETOY - GAMING....WITH YOU IN IT!
July, 2003

Sony has just released an interesting new feature for the be best selling console in the world so far, the EyeToy camera for the Sony Neptune! With compatible games placed into the tray, you will be able to actually see yourself on the screen - and interact with the games you play! Using real life motion capture technology, the games will actually respond to your movements in ways that make you actually feel a part of the experience! If you want to take your gaming to the next life, get your EyeToy camera right now!

You can also use it for video chatting with friends, it's practically a webcam for your Neptune!

- Sony Neptune magazine


NEPTUNE EYETOY - GAMES TO COME
July, 2003

With the newly released Neptune EyeToy serving as the latest video game peripheral, one wonders what titles are going to be released using it. Well, Sony has already released it bundled with EyeToy: Play, and in November they're also going to come out with Eye Toy: Groove. However, Sony also has revealed plans to make other titles utilizing EyeToy technology in the future - and some third party developers may also get involved.

Maybe.

There's a lot of maybes going on about this thing.

- Internet blog post.


KIRBY AIR RIDE

July, 2003

Kirby's Ready to Ride!

Prepare for fast and furious racing action as Kirby hits Warpstar speed! Use ultra-simple controls to race and battle your pals in one of three hectic game modes!

  • Back cover blurb for Kirby Air Ride, released in 2003 for the Nintendo GameCube as an E-rated Kirby racing game.

CRAZY TAXI: THE MOVIE
August, 2003

Sony has decided to surprise the world of film goers with their latest video game-centric release, this time taking advantage of something other than Sonic - this time it's Crazy Taxi that has been treated to the Sony Pictures' treatment. And the result? It's a decent movie, though not really a masterpiece of film history. At least from my perspective as a film critic, fans of the arcade game may have different opinions.

Crazy Taxi stars Will Smith, Daniel Dae Kim, Kelly Hu and Pat Morita as B.D. Joe, Axel, Gena and Gus respectively. The entire plot of the movie is basically four taxi drivers who are completely crazy with their driving skills - treating the business more like street racing than getting people from point A to point B. There's also the appearance of, for reasons of actually having a plot, a rival in the form of Mako Iwamatsu playing an old-school archrival for Gus (Morita) who's entire family business is apparently trying to destroy the taxi industry - and to do this he has invented robots that drive taxis for people instead of people, and also to get them to their destination both safer & faster. Effectively, we got a John Henry plot going on here, in addition to a bit of corporate espionage since it's a little more than meets the high (spoiler: plot to take over all of human civilization just by making taxi drivers irrelevant....somehow).

And of course, there's a bit of romance drama sprinkled in there too.

As a whole, the plot is actually quite a bit of fun.....but it isn't anything that's really going to wow mainstream movie goers. In hindsight, it's probably just the best they could come up with considering Crazy Taxi, as an arcade title, doesn't offer much in the way of plot. The movie is certainly more concerned with fast-paced thrills than it is actually telling the story it's trying to tell, most of the time the plot seems like it's there because it has to.

Most of this movie is carried by the actors in it. Will Smith is, of course, Will Smith, and always has a level of charm to any role he's in. Daniel Dae Kim for some reason works as the hot tempered Axel, and Kelly Hu is a decent Gena...whom I personally don't know much about. Pat and Mako are of course, always fantastic actors and are hands down the best parts of the movie, both of them seem to be having plenty of fun with their roles; though in general the cast seems to ham up their performances for the fact that the movie they're in is Crazy Taxi.

- Blog review for Crazy Taxi, 2003, excerpt.


STEAM: THE BEGINNING OF A NEW AGE?

September, 2003

Steam. What is Steam? Is it what you see when you go to a sauna or boil water, or make steamed clams? Well, probably, but the Steam we're talking about is a great big no on all questions.

So what IS the Steam that we're talking about? It's an online gaming platform established by Vavle (Creators of Half-Life and it's upcoming sequel), for the purpose of Purchasing and playin video games. On the platform. The platform itself is available for Windows, Mac and even Linux – pretty much anyone who uses the internet is able of playing and purchasing any of the games available on Steam. Yes, this is real. And yes, it makes playing online with other people without a Neo or Neptune easier than ever, so long as those people got Steam too of course.

It should come as no surprise that a platform with the features and promises such as Steam is already rather rapidly growing an audience for itself: especially since virtually all of Valve's exquisite library is no doubt either already in the platform's library or is going to be very soon added to it. What's more, Steam is no doubt a sign of the way in which gaming is heading: the era of online and PC gaming has begun.

  • IGN, 2003


BILLY HATCHER AND THE GIANT EGG
September, 2003

Wake up to a new breed of super hero!

Billy Hatcher must use the power of a legendary suit to conquer an evil King who seeks to rule with an everlasting night. Slightly mischievous, yet always cool, only Billy can return the light to the land!

- Back cover blurb for Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, a game created by Sonic Team for the Neptune.

"Colourful, Fun, Memorable, and yet deceitfully challenging as you progress." - Excerpt, Gamespot review.


CALL OF DUTY

October, 2003

Get ready for duty – and no, this is not a laughing matter. This is warfare.

Call of Duty has just hit the shelves and is becoming the latest first person shooter sensation, after Halo: Combat Evolved before it. Call of Duty is fairly different from Halo, however, considering that for starters the game takes place on Earth during the second World War, with players taking control of an infantry soldier, in addition to making use of authentically modeled WWII firearms.

You also play through not just one, but three campaigns: American, British and even Soviet (though remember, this is WWII so they aren't the enemy just quite yet).

What makes Call of Duty special is it's focus on the simulaition of what it's actually like in the battlefield of a real-life war. You move in conjunction with allied soldiers rather than alone, and these allied soldiers will genuinely assist you in defeating enemy soldiers to advance – however you are still given certain objectives to complete. The gameplay also makes heavy use of cover, suppressive fire, and grenades too – and you even get 'shellshocked' if there is an explosion near you, a feature we honestly have never experienced before in an FPS game!

Overall, the era of the shooter has begun, and it's not showing any signs of going away. If you own a PC or a Mac and have any interest in gaming – get Call of Duty. Now.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly, 2003.

“The only thing that held back the original Call of Duty was that it was only relased on the PC. If it had been a multi-platform release, it would have been a revolution akin to Halo: Combat Evolved. If not moreso.”

“It Starts.” - Anonymous Comments, Unknown Dates


KILL BILL VOL. 1
October, 2003

"Since 1994, Quentin Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction' has been widely regarded as the most violent flick around. 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' makes it look like a Disney flick." - Online review excerpt.


JAK II

October, 2003

Friendship. Betrayal. Revenge. Prepare for an epic adventure unlike any other as the world of Jak and Daxter unveils some drastic and amazingly radical transformations. Travel to a future alive with drama, conflict, uncertainty and boundless possibilities. Featuring advanced technology and characters both familiar and new, Jak II is a true plot-driven adventure game, where every mission has a direct effect on the storyline. With stunning graphics and animations, Jak II takes gamers on a journey through an enormous mystical world, darker than they have experienced before, as an immersive tale unfolds.

- Back cover for Jak II, released as a Neptune exclusive, being developed by Naughty Dog after itself was bought by Sony.

“Jak II is a drastic shift from the first game, bringing the story of Jak and his little friend Daxter from the world of E to the world T – and it does it in a way that actually makes it even better than the already great original title. The animations are perfectly smooth, and the surprsingly complex story is actually very engaging to playthrough – not a single moment came that I didn't want to keep playing to see what would happen next. The addition of 'Dark Jak' may not be the most original story concept in the world, but it actually adds plenty to the gameplay. As a whole, Naughty Dog did a wonderful job with this Neptune title and I look forward to whatever it is that they have planned next.” - EGM, 2003.

To people who think the only thing that Sony cares about is Sonic, they need to play Jak II.” - Anonymous, 2003.


PRINCE OF PERSIA: SANDS OF TIME

October, 2003

In My Quest for Redemption, I Must Control Time Itself

Deceived by the treacherous Vizier, I was led to unleash the Sands of Time curse upon the Sultan's kingdom. With little but an ancident dagger and a devious princess to aid me, I must undo my fatal mistake. Mine is a fight for survival...not glory.

  • Back cover blurb for Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, released by Ubisoft for the GameCube, Neptune, Neo and Microsoft Windows – with a Gameboy Advance version also being released.
“No previous experience with the Prince of Persia series is required to enjoy The Sands of Time. In fact, virtually nothing will bar from being impressed with what ubisoft has put together for this cross-platform release. In stark contrast to previous offerings from Ubisoft Montreal, Prince of Persia is actually rather easy despite the main character's acts of skill and daring throughout the game. As result, this game can easily be recommended to just about anyone.” - Gamespot, review excerpt.


ZOMBIES ATE MY NEIGHBOURS - THE MOVIE
October, 2003

The latest, as of this month, in video game related movies......and this one is absolutely dreadful. Directed by Uwe Boll, this film takes the Super Nintendo & Sega Genesis cult classic and turns it into an what is quite possibly the worst video game film yet - Mortal Kombat Annihilation be damned.

The film's plot is very simple, two kids named Zeke (Kian Gonzales) and Julie (Alicia Hussain) have their lives turned upside down when they alone have fight a zombie epidemic that strikes their suburban town.

What makes the film so terrible primarily boils down to the horrible acting of most, if not all of the actors in the movie (especially the two leads - who may be genuine kids, but are clearly kids with little to no previous acting experience). The special effects are also rather low budget as well, and yes I'm aware that the film companies behind this aren't precisely big names like Disney, Universal, Warner, Paramount or Sony.

The plot also lacks any surprises....like, it's okay, I guess, for small children to watch this movie....actually no it's not because it's terrible. The title alone gives away that it's going to be a zombie movie, and honestly the game itself wasn't precisely keen on having a plot so much it was being a fun experience. The only thing surprising about the movie is seeing who appears as the neighbours the two kids save - which is itself not much of a surprise because Uwe Boll isn't the kind of name capable of getting noteworthy celebrities on board.

- Internet review

"People who hate this movie don't understand what a B-movie is."

"I enjoy this movie ironically." - Assorted online comments



MARIO KART: DOUBLE DASH!!

November, 2003

Double the fun!

Take all the crazy action of the celebrated Mario Kart series...and multiply it by two! In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, each kart holds two racers that can switch places at any time, so choose from a huge cast of favourites and pair them any way you see fit!

- Back cover blurb for Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, a Nintendo GameCube exclusive.


RATCHET & CLANK: GOING COMMANDO

November, 2003


Ratchet & Clank are back, kicking ass one planet at a time!

- Slogan for Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando, released in November 2003 as the second game in the Ratchet & Clank series, a Neptune exclusive. It is considered a major improvement over the original release.



MARIO PARTY 5

November, 2003

It's an all-out bash!

The superstars of the Mushroom Kingdom are partying again! Grab your friends and join in the madness as you battle across all-new game boards in a race to collect the most stars. Brand-new mini-games, including one-on-one duets and everyone-vs.-Bowser brawls, as well as mini-game tournaments, a decathlon event, and much more make tis a party you just can't miss!

- Back cover blurb for Mario Party 5, a Nintendo GameCube exclusive and latest (as of 2003) installment in the Mario Party series.



BIG RIGS: OVER THE ROAD RACING

November, 2003

Climb Up, Grab the Wheel and... Get Rolling!

Get ready for some brake jammin', CB talkin', convoy rollin' action across America!

From the desert to the plains, you'll be hauling loads and trying to stay one step ahead of the law, as you climb into your BIG RIG for non-stop driving action. Race across America and deliver your load to it's destination before the competition. So keep the tank full and your pedal to the metal as you rackup points and OWN the road!!!

- Back blurb for Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing, an infamous PC game known for it's state of being incredibly incomplete.

“How in the hell did this even get made? Like, how would you even advertise this? Did they even advertise this? It's like this game literally spawned out of thin air, materializing within an empty space at game stores, and just, existing.”

“The only 'racing' game in history in which your truck can phase through buildings, escape reality, go faster in reverse than driving forward, and never lose a single race because the rival just gives up at trying.”

“This game is terrible, functionally and technically awful, yet it's awfulness makes it fun to play in a very ironic way.”

“The back of the box is the greatest lie in gaming history. And yes I know that's saying a lot.” - Anonymous Comments, Unknown Dates



BYZANTIUM: LEGACY OF ROME

November, 2003

Once the Empire was Great....and it will be again!

The Roman Empire, the mother of the world, the greatest empire that there ever has been, is beginning to taste the cruel hands of fate. The western half has fallen to barbarians, it's history finally reaching an end. The eastern half, however, continues on like a soldier truly worthy to be called 'Roman'. The emperor, his majesty Justinian, is aiming to rectify the empire's woes in a glorious effort to retake the west and free the eternal city from barbarian lordship. You are but one soldier fighting in the name of the empire, yet the cause for which you fight is far more glorious than any number could even hope to be.

- Back cover description for Byzantium: Legacy of Rome, released for the Sony Neptune as an exclusive.

“The original Byzantium game was sort of an odball of late 90's titles, and much like Prince of Persia you don't need to have any familiarity with it to play it's new ressurection. This game is an interesting and original take on the growing first person shooter genre, using early medieval/late anitiquity weaponry rather than modern firearms this is basically a first person melee game with some arrows (and longbows) thrown in. Luckily, STI really made sure to make the melee combat both with fists and with blades as engaging as it could be – and they made the enviornments look stunning whether it be the metropolis of Constantinople, the deserts of Egypt, or the war-torn plains of divided Italy. In a world where most games (and media in general) related to Greece deal with the legends of it's pagan past, it's refreshing for a title capitalizing on the Byzantine days to come out....and be good. This game is a definite reccomendation if you own a Neptune.” - Excerpt, Gamespot review.

“My personal favorite 'FPS' game, even though it's not actually a shooter at all.”

“When Crusader Kings and Total War just don't immerse you in the Byzantine Empire quite enough.”

“Call of Duty: For Greeks” - Assorted comments, dates unknown


SONIC MOVE
November, 2003

"Sonic Move, as it's called, is the third major title for the EyeToy Neptune accessory, and the first to be Sonic related. There isn't really much to it though, it's a mini-game where you select a Sonic character to play as, and then keep them running down from Point A to Point B in 3D rendered Sonic levels, while avoiding bombs and other hazards. All while using the EyeToy camera for movement in place of a controller. It is fun to be so engaged with the game, but still, they didn't really put much effort into this one. You can only play as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Rouge, and all of them have to be unlocked. At the very least, EyeToy:play offered more than one game to play, and EyeToy:Groove makes the body movement make sense. This game just makes me wish I was using a controller." - IGN, Review excerpt, 2003

"I find this game interesting because it uses the same graphics as Sonic Adventure 2." - Anonymous Internet comment.


SONIC WINTER GAMES

December, 2003

It's time to cool off!

Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends haven't let the cold of winter stop them from doing their thing! Quite the contrary, they're all over the winter game scene! Ice Skating, Skiing, Sledding, Snowboardin, Snowmobling and Hockey are all being taken part in by Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and perhaps even Dr. Eggman – to name a few. Play alone or with friends – preferably with friends, but you could also compete in the online world ranking system! The choice is yours, just don't choose to make winter time be a bore!

  • Back cover blurb for Sonic Winter Sports, a Neptune exclusive release. It also debuted Cream the Rabbit, her chao Cheese, and her mother Vanilla Rabbit. It is a spin-off title.
“This year seems to be Sonic & Mario taking a break and letting spin-offs and third party peeps take the scene, since both series have done nothing but release spin-off titles this year. Regardless, Sonic's outing into the rather specific winter sports genre is actually rather fun to play. The enviornments are (as one might expect) essentially the same all throughout the game – the entire game is essentially Ice Cap from Sonic Adventure/Sonic 3 but with some indoor locations for Ice Skating & Hockey. There is very limited online play, mostly just a world ranking system and competing against other players in the game's assortment of sports – though it is at least a little fun. I also like how they included the option to have team battles as well, when the chosen event is appropriate. As usual per Sonic titles, the soundtrack is absolutely suburb and worth listening to in the sound test. Would reccomend it if you're into winter-related sports games, or were really in love with the Ice Cap levels from previous Sonic games.” - Excerpt, Gamespot review.

“Ice Cap Zone, but they made an entire game about it.” - Anonymous comment, unknown date.
 
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I apologize greatly for how long this latest hiatus has been. I had a period of existential crisis/spiritual questioning and also my usual procrastination, multi-tasking, lack of ideas and some life issues got in the way. But I finally got this done! Hope you guys enjoy this installment. And don't worry, I'm alright, I got through my crisis period. At least I hope so. I posted this, didn't I?

Anyway, back to the Alternate History:
Not problem buddy, real life always come first and yours was a mess...and 2003 was like a dead year on gaming OTL, nothing noteworthy and seems like a gap year when 2004 to 2007 were gaming busiest gear.

The N-gage...i think people got more hype was a phone that a console...seems Nokia dodged a bullet...
 
Not problem buddy, real life always come first and yours was a mess...and 2003 was like a dead year on gaming OTL, nothing noteworthy and seems like a gap year when 2004 to 2007 were gaming busiest gear.

The N-gage...i think people got more hype was a phone that a console...seems Nokia dodged a bullet...

Well it had the first Call of Duty game and the revival for Prince of Persia. And some games from my childhood too. That's gotta count for something right? XD
 
Does Revelations Persona, and Persona 2 Innocent Sin ever get released in TTL?

Did they get released in 2003? I never played Persona until I tried 3 via emulator a little bit ago, I can add them if you want. They did get released ITTL I just didn't mention it, it'd be a lot of work to literally put down every single game that gets released in any given year. XD
 
Did they get released in 2003? I never played Persona until I tried 3 via emulator a little bit ago, I can add them if you want. They did get released ITTL I just didn't mention it, it'd be a lot of work to literally put down every single game that gets released in any given year. XD
Earlier just persona was a minor franchise in the west till the 3.
 
Persona 3 came out in OTL in 2006 In Japan, and 2007 for NA so that’s a bit ways off lol.

Then I will mention Persona when 2006/2007 roll around.....and trust me, this is a Sega timeline, you won't want to miss 2006 and it's aftermath.....XD (Or, should I say, the changes and butterflies present in that year)
 
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