VIDEOGAME CULTURE NINTENDO | SONY | MICROSOFT CHRISTMAS 2004 $8.95 lec y PORTABLE | COIN-OP | SET-TOP Can anyone break Nintendo's hold on portable gaming? ARE THIS YEAR'S KILLER GAMES REALLY WINNERS OR THE BIGGEST VICTIMS OF ALL? AN IN-DEPTH LOOK INSIDE LORNE LANNING'S MOST OPULENT ODYSSEY YET ICO 2. PRINCE OF PERSIA 2 HALFLIFE 2 HALO 2 GTA: SAN FROM PITFALL TO DOOM 3: THE WORLD'S COLDEST THIRDPARTY PUBLISHER HITS 25 ‘A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE DARK ART (OF NINTENDO'S FORGOTTEN MASTERPIECE THE BARD'S TALE DEVIL MAY CRY 3 RESIDENTEVIL 4 SHINING TEARS ANDREAS METROID PRIME 2 custarmaes aatnienes Bere sane ml Sarge ecw nck peneeleyiht dem whch rca peers” oes nce eaeenens oe name ets ota epee ean ey aoe a simon porpind aia men aplaly mires ares spencer an vevd secon F4lnd Romy hard tocrtry cron oa olan aay, eee ae Seiaseay Che ucie meet eres ee eae raat FS ie terete Sieganciiestod wait © pavaraerusch eres eee nee Sr Naucele Gtinlanee resent qauni arene Se eee eet care Pscnig scene reenter ga Seay eae Iiuera meg eecaees we naar es ee rage Gegprentsjatesnephotcthow __songte ak sev rena but be eRe eo ee este aoe kite by mathematis? ‘oj “Given that the nature of his Bluesky ‘may not make it into finshed game."DO ae Remember fun? You'll know it when you'e living it. Enter the World of Warcraft™ and jin thousands of other mighty heroes in an online world of myth, magic and legendary See cee ee flying over smoldering battlefields, epic sieges, alliances, adventure: an infinity of experiences await. Will you fight rats? No, Will you have fun? Yes, m'Lord. But don’t take Pe er re Ee teen) etterMassivevy Epic ONLINE eS)Classic 8bit platformer threatens to shine on mobiles, then disappears. Smith fans despair if you are vin enough a indulge in virtua “Tis he soci tat ou wot sete coometes a races management. one pla ver os Lie no ge uly oul anevar aro worth aang aout ‘eerste: Ws ae, “The bigestny of Grads Vita ts ually Whe a j So Srey } Bacarfon ERINGS Pia OUT NOW!mpi oy suc gh sn wt 202 Back in the saddle fora closer look at perhaps the ‘most visually arresting PS2 game ever conceived 4 aeady given a cover stoxyt0 the next co game (a moniker CEE ave bee impolite ops up anche opportunity to speek with Fumio Ueda 2a an nospecely que Ken Kaido. 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But third time's the charmingen At ag foc sea The force is stillstrong with Sega's superdeformed sprites as they prepare for another outing on PS2 sh he recent elses GBA nd Tears was presented os Top Bate RP ight under Al contra, but car ‘alk fora surpnglyniense shepherd th he rint analogue sick iach as Rtumedot. Feces Hokang RI wl nse them nthe majoniy ofthe games sions mage attack ca be eleased into the aro Invling defending tai but undersiled,eney as poasble to venture ouside of 1 rvisiing, betwen the Sw characte - presunaiy wal and damage Troplyer gies co btenpt Fee Mision’ nord to eveup ofthe partner tthe second {na ween your characters fighting frm tandem attacks mst be Wggeredin concert. forthe man gorse, Whether sto-bated Deesting eemes dng te courte frexgerencegaierng rhssonecanast of amason ear tatu and Stl pon, lofts against me goupe of enemies in ackton toa bus at fs conson “seeen-ceudnoy large ou, aking ul dependent on your ranking ana ghng soranage ofthe 20 spite presentation "i Thi bonus can be ae to grade be ether cut down in droves or routed by avoiding the common pitfall of ess-used eta wth epee detesing ther ener ‘haat ling fr behind the aces in San ay a >on, he will aye enter comoat wth a Though st fora Neth Amercan eget ses oman pares chosen rom avouablalies between release 2005, Tas’ syperelormed mons: schol alec the soni spas and hand drawn backgrounds il be {nd Xons ingame abies In posesion cating swords withthe renere spend efbotha ight and dik sul hsalignment of Car allances extended fan: the 1 owes wi ft depending on his Stung rae may have fight on ite also provides benef ae sey pacar rescore‘The portable Solid Snake addresses the PSP's dearth of card battles, strategy and philosophical ramblings in one fell swoop ould be» conser slower eioeven conse tons tenth combat te Rg OF Ded fea ely Pe a a SRE Isit the concept ofa rise of the robots that has kept attention ‘away from Hudson's grim-themed arcade-action PSP RPG? ad ates ay one seh ssbeen a ore aes weapons equemant ara evel AD dodging and weaving tat eta, Combats core hich appr fo be 9 tan et easly resprsive an apd, so much 0 rez, costing hi his ea 6 Sonys tr ae eee ee eee)et Like an acrobat outta hell the Prince Of Persia becomes: ‘the Prince Of Darkness. But will POP's bubble burst? UT osrce ne Sans OF Tine wae Sea snccee, game word evertng i The Werner Win ise Choked een, wth amoke snd desperate bate escape cath = ted punshent for utente snd of aisha nd uncer deeoped {agen Eventing has Ben sade with neo ot can ahufoted acon hao ere nour ee bythe aig and lngeing soaking of the are fet fe But whether or not he games lesring ‘owas 3 more geen stoi any less Ieouflin the ee of the patted: inargualy eres and stl ew notches further up the prope lade than many in verso evens, Ao, here ae fares dr on far moe prety st than he a necestry upgrade conse how ch beng ited to he cor rumbles of he ‘ed ess flowing by comparson) theres row eznyng como It tat pls on fr the Prince can dual-wield weapons, including any of those croped by hs dee sd can perfor a varity of ren gyri alin, a sasting fr tne ere probably jyment as ayting es. Whether the game can of up anthing| Obsenaton, oF 5 energising a sho agity and confint combat a that ofthe oa “Assuming, ofcourse, that Fringe an outrun or dodge sch 2 fated judgementJ es = 2p‘ome Lanning, co-founder of Oddworld inebitans, leaning forward, a small hes frp frgrten nis ‘what he soy itis: "Bad he mest fucking inthe word ‘United States message of uly beauty and fame you st down, often alone, for hours ta time, And you're focusing on for more time than you spend witha fm and yet Fens tess depth toi that your average fll. Thats ss than an fm. Gamer arent even close 0 ‘the depth a POOR fm as yet. n that make a flim great areal the ‘things that make a game eat. Hook back an the hitory of hit Company, back to the SNES and the Genes, games and films might a, ‘well have ben the sun and the different And even 2 game of 2 film, well, maybe you were the ‘Terminator and you shot a robots, but that was the only thing the flm and the ame had in common “But today, t's much loser enaracters, you have voce delivery, you nave soundtrack. Take The fone, love sore, ts dating Bir the things that have come from teaitional entertainment inthe Tost hundred years But, we point out those films. Those ae things that came from life. Lanning chuckles. ‘Well he declares, "wee ALL emulating ie” Oddworld, wth its paps and its burp, socal Inequalities and pala satires, fre Kine an as crel as they are tess, has always done a better Job of emulating life than mot. wel tcan bear the weight of ts {ambitious tory and the risk of the world, the weapons the Controls are roburt enough to piles on them, ‘And that might be quite 3 Oddworld, with its parps and its burps, its social inequalities and political satires, has always done a better job of emulating life than most cememberng something he ead inthat moming’ pope: "hove ‘uy who've stolen money rom Bertin plan, they shouldbe ‘going to prison fori. They Should get longer term than ‘olen minal beens how many people ae they screwing ‘ver Ben the ery wos eal fller now many peop hey fake out? How mary people's fetiements da they an? “Towands of people, hey jut DECHWATED thor hole ancl ‘istence, And fr what? Fora nice how Aspen or somewhere Those guys are PIS." So, yeah. Hear alto ange. ‘nd fr tat Stranger = and Srdeogaresin gener rou poapsbe gaeta,1 anu 200, Nintendo L4 trade an announcement that bono the world The Nite OS None that wae he new GA nas coming, promising srovslterinte iy ve Blo games Is twinsreare Mould offer a mye hew Bersectie’ ongoing Span eats kid out no One Wa fy mote conince Keer ike sme omic beast trade up ofa peter codment Stpars On November 21 Iaunches nthe US, ad wh 2 ference year mates nts indy wet sed 0 wating tue ht ong fora game et lone» new nd of hod Teed not usally noted for espe, hs gone fom pes feleose to shop shelf inthe pace batween two Christmases. ite 1 remarkabe achievement ~ befitting 9 remarkable machine Nintendo of America’s ‘Gamers Summit hich ran over the same to days the ToXyo ‘euivalent, was the fst ccs Nintendo had granted to the finned srawore and a wide range of fist and hirdparty Games, sew machine suited ie auton hed evrything Nintendo promised: tn screens, ‘euch contol, microphone Input and wiles netorking, all lve in aunt whi Fobustf not beautiful wth {attry which should ost fen hours and a etal pie of 'U5$150(6197). There ae at east 140 games in development offect of he nd game Rp Racers {elon abl sep nomdrcng Ue OS. The ewer ‘rons Suen corso stooge cso Grav the wed Wee te dated ST ge mg cer te oy etn ‘innit implementstan of he occ ‘ay sles, ou Soden for cameensonl Sipe ona itn secon Ws wor ne ‘aston, homevar sce We gels so Spough ten thorn unonare merone ‘tthe nina mat fr emmver wooed Da Er someting nie ofan earn ‘icone te among ate OSs onan. Gard or wich dozens wil be vale secre of acklste GBA ports ‘many tak fl advantage of the {nd those that do deliver on Nintendo intial vague promise ‘Cashes, no fet attaries and nly 3 handful of prerelease bugs. The Chimeras Been replaced by 2 Tes still an ugly thoroughbred squat stack of ines aed planes bull ut of nasty plastic taking the USS1S0 bundle complete with Ptochat anc 3 demo massively appealing, Nintendo's new hero Reggie aiden of intend ute tompt ‘lupe he ets ck {evdesconmonos ove ‘emcoprone se ane ‘te ofthe sae 2 year of aradual price sng, the DSi starting where the clamshell encoses a devie that is easly tough enough to endure 2 fete of choo] bags and isnt going to stp your heart. esi definitely 00 big ‘Serentage othe mse aby to ‘thon eahwond mevement eRe pg tse ‘orem ‘Selva "eae te Selena Serieoeecs pens eccatnees hemes th vert ta pot youve sete your shot she uote pape aeons ‘henner ins ear ngeror mare powet cry Nenetet the gre Apowet ‘Boost cane ied to sos by ‘bing fru on he trys Rearing srte ater Sipe ofthecamers stan nd ‘iepresntaton ofthe ng meter cd yg et Moa ico ey promi‘mosreanuning Soot how hor ‘aa ‘wil oe pper fell ‘Shes poe hor nade ‘eting tat he ce bongs ‘Tage hotone con bip sng Troy te ant hone net "eng oop tat plate sping oes ictnds inhouse pale ‘gone wl be table athe Saran unc ofthe O5. ‘lau te tage you need Sole conous tne ore then, wine al Sen ‘fom bia owe Sita wires owing oe mauris re senna owing yous pure of «GUA and pe Seereoete. Des the adoration worio anaes eb ecowcs, Peet for 2 pocket it explained iecontais. The ty sys (Wietendo can presumably guarantee profitably simply bythe numberof replacements Ital beable to ea) works with perfect precision onthe thumbs wil often do just a Wal The machine's ws strap Sito doubles ara mini sty, rapping over a thumb to give brain makes the tiny acjuriment to being able to touch what an se, anything else seems ke Step back Expect to endure fan embarrassing touchareen hangover asyou poke and pod useless at mobile phone {ereens, PC monitor and TV set NINTEN Te quality ofthe display ‘on both screens fe good ~30 ‘moving with smooth detail and 20 glowing with virant colours. (GBA games (he console fully backwards compatibe os into the backlight via‘a menu option, ‘anwennal opto rome ested on YOU ete ania ann ‘ier amp oe ge the uo owe tere i ‘ang dane pty ths anno wet: yout Auli, fom stereo speakers Imei had vet 2 basen es ely ays frheadghones iscleerand ‘Sruming youve une tebe shard to fale ae imooine ns bang suppres on ony ther consol, rte tou are prety senda handheld standard tough Savini hone ee ‘movement on the O-pad may not be quite a dstnct aon the $2 The most straightforward {law ofthe OS fs ergonomics, wshard to see hove Nintendo could have avoised ths the ‘machine kely to beheld and use in a variety of unpredictable ‘way, However the fat remains ‘that hang the machine wile sing the sys and covering the buttons key to lead youto develop some peciar hand poston. In keeping @ rather traitional approach to the machin’ you Nintendo may have underestimated how Strongly "ue! DS games are likely rely onthe sys. Many ofthese ploy best withthe unit placed at on a surface, but tis‘an lead toa sight frustration in getting the perfect viewing angle for the bottom seen No doubt some enterprising Peripheral firm wil lune @ Ds wedge holster, for perfect tabletop gaming, The DSS most significant hardware revolution invite “its wireless capabilities Cables and costshave plagued the Tart generation of Nintendo Innovation. C20-GBA lineup wae a modest enough expense, but the coy tange of Final ‘nother math made i tesen he OS the esalating pie of fourear fourable GEA connection put off consumers, and therefore ‘evelopers too. OS changes ‘everthing Not only does ire give you cost fee cabe-ree multiplayer, allows players to share thelr games in Way they never have before. fon the game for his friends 1 play oe Ne OS can broadast the required software to other Players onc aesion begins Previously, games ike the ‘ightplayer Jam With The Bonet Suede is the kind of game ‘only worth owning fall of your friends own it0, and none of nly werthovining ial of ther worth buying nd wort laying because If you have then everyone hast Se long, that i they havea OS. Nintendo has turned the model an Is head Using software to sel hardware Hundreds of question mars, good and bad, remain over fhe wireless ystems. How well regulated with game setup ‘ystems be? Will many games Be ‘rly some? How long wl It take to upload the game to snather players DS? What ithe ‘maximum numberof players lust how expandable isthe 30 to 100 fee)? Wil interesting ‘irenicks such asthe capably te dovnload new Pokemon ‘witeley to your DS as they ‘ff or become a wider part of DS ovmerhin? The prospects sre tantalising but, cul. Nintendo i demonstrating from ‘the off that the coe function, of wiceless- the mutpayer-is fully operational MP Hunter: Important pece of bundled software in Nintendo's history. Software i of course, the key tothe DS. Thi nota machine ‘thats going os on its eoks band. (Shora of the untarmished Game Boy name, the Nintendo‘haar adn ea thon th Bio ‘agape whore inane ayn es aac a ten tes ‘Tay aeren sytem No ‘angchtne ret made oe op tremans to be seen how Sig sth our feminine {save tise uparene baggage as fanboy kudos) What wil sl the OS are the games achieved something remarkable. The handheld marke is coming out the N-Gage, Tapwave Zodiac andthe thelr place while the prospect of ‘the FSP fost above them ik hulking Death Star-and all are onhardwere, The W-Gage isthe phone one, the Zodiac the POA one, the Gizmondo ithe {GPS one, but not one eset) has a dstincve pce of sofware focal ts own. Indes, none of that they have any instinctive Understanding ofthe kind of personal gaming devices. ‘Among me-too console clones aniseed D-pad FS, al are yet to release the software ‘shih wal define the paint of farona that Nintendo's 15 years of Why own 2 device with touchscreen? Play Yosh’ Touch ‘nd Go and find ou. Why ovm ‘device with a microphone Input? Croon to your patients in Caoueur and ind out Why The Utes the rel of EA esing up exc See canine ee Sone seme retonen meacae ‘wold ame tney ocak ope he wet Soca ea oes screens? Pay Tiger Woods Golf dnd find out. These games fustparty~all operate as ‘convincing reatons 0 own 3 DS fiting games into people’ Ives {or handbags or manbags 0 ‘whatever than anyone ele anc its hard to shake the feeling of new kids a lesen, This isn’t overstating has plenty to prove about the software potential ofthe OS Of the games its been posible tw preview, 35 many are misses tsi The incre rapie lef ite time for new content