Electronic Gaming Monthly articles from July 2003

Electronic Gaming Monthly archives from July 2003

Must-Hit Websites.(online information for video games facts and tips)(www.klov.com, www.gamefaqs.com, www.gamerankings.com )
July 1, 2003... www.klov.com -- Looking for the name of that one arcade game you used to play? Maybe the one where you bumped cars off the road and jumped really high over water? And all you remember is it started with "B"? Go to the Killer List of...

Online This Month.(downloadable extras for MechAssault added by Microsoft)(website, egmmag.com)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Get your mech-piloting suit back on--Microsoft has just added a second batch of Xbox Live downloadable extras for MechAssault that will make destroying your friends even more enjoyable. The biggest addition is a Capture the Flag (CTF)...

Charts.(Top 10 best-selling games of March 2003)
July 1, 2003... TOP 10 BEST-SELLING GAMES OF MARCH 2003 1 The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker GC, Nintendo 2 Pokemon Ruby GBA, Nintendo 3 Pokemon Sapphire GBA, Nintendo 4 Tenchu 3: Wrath of Heaven PS2, Activision 5 The Getaway PS2, Sony CEA...

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.((video game EA Games))(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube *EA Games *Movie: December 2003 *Game: November 2003 It turns out last year's Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers game had one very important fan: the film's director, Peter Jackson. "Peter...

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.(PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube *Atari *Movie: July 3 *Game: Fall 2003 John Botti, president of Black Ops Entertainment, has been on both sides of the movie-game fence. "In the early '90s, I programmed a RoboCop vs....

Coming Attractions.(Upcoming games)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... FINDING NEMO *PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube *THQ *Movie & Game: Out now Willem Dafoe recorded dialogue for last year's Spider-Man game. Now he repeats the favor for this kiddie game based on Pixar's latest animated film....

By the Numbers.(Consumer survey)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... 41% Percentage of Americans who say they'll buy at least one game in 2003. Percentage of those people who will actually finish the games they buy? We're gonna guess 10%. 145,000,000 The number of Americans who say they played...

Review Archive.(Bibliography)
July 1, 2003... .hack Part 2: Mutation PS2 (Also On: None) 6.5, 6.5, 8.0 n An average RPG with a neat concept--you play in a virtual online world gone berserk Apex XB (Also On: None) 8.0 Silver n You don't just haul ass in this racer--you build...

10 Games You Must Finish This Summer.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... 1 Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance 9.5, 9.5, 8.5 PS2 (Also On: XB) Gold You knew MGS creator Hideo Kojima had enormous cajones when he decided to pull Solid Snake from the spotlight 2 Final Fantasy X 9.0, 9.5, 9.5 PS2...

Bits of Q.(Pokemon Lite, Lupin, Metal Slug Advance, The King of Fighters 2001)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... SNK Back In the Saddle Hallelujah! SNK, purveyors of arcade fighting games aplenty, has returned to the U.S. after three years in the wilderness. It has a new Stateside subsidiary all set to release titles like Metal Slug Advance and The...

News Bits.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... *Evil movie sequel--A sequel to the Resident Evil movie begins filming this fall. It couldn't possibly be as bad as the first one, could it? *Chinese PS2 release pushed back--Gamers in China will have to wait till later this year to get...

The Rumor Mill.(Electronic games industry news)
July 1, 2003... Sega's "Halo Killer" I know, I know--the words "Halo" and "killer" have appeared together so many times they've lost all meaning. And I really didn't want to use them here...but what the hey, too late now. Sega's working on (if The Q's...

Bloody Roar Extreme.(Xbox, GameCube)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... Publisher: Konami Developer: Hudson Soft Players: 1-2 ESRB: Teen www.gamers.com/1061089 Xbox / Also On: GameCube PAUL: Contrary to its name, Bloody Roar Extreme is anemic, mewling, and mild. As in the series'...

Sonic Heroes.(PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube *Publisher: Sega *Developer: Sonic Team *Release Date: January 2004 WHAT IS IT? The Heroes moniker might fool you into thinking Sonic's gonna bust out his chainmail and go medieval on some...

Legacy of Kain: Defiance.(PlayStation 2, Xbox )(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2, Xbox *Publisher: Eidos *Developer: Crystal Dynamics *Release: Fall 2003 WHAT IS IT? Defiance continues the tale of two vampires, Raziel and Kain. These sanguinary heroes have quite a twisty history,...

XIII.(Computer game for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube *Publisher: Ubi Soft *Developer: Ubi Soft *Release Date: October 2003 WHAT IS IT? Ubi Soft's first-person cartoony shooter is based on a similarly named French political-thriller comic....

B.C.(Video game for Xbox)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *Xbox *Publisher: Microsoft *Developer: Intrepid *Release Date: Fall 2003 WHAT IS IT? Five hunters, all carrying wooden spears, cautiously approach a T-Rex. In videogame terms, this is known as a "bad idea." When they...

Counter-Strike.(Xbox )(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *Xbox *Publisher: Sierra *Developer: Ritual/Valve *Release Date: Winter 2003 Valve promises the Xbox edition will have better special effects, improved characters and environments, richer sound, and levels from the PC...

Swat: Global Strike Team.(PlayStation 2, Xbox)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2, Xbox *Publisher: Sierra *Developer: Argonaut *Release Date: October 2003 WHAT IS IT? You have the right to remain anxious. SWAT: Global Strike Team promises to blend the strategy and tactics of Tom...

SSX 3.(Video game for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube *Publisher: EA Sports Big *Developer: EA Canada *Release Date: Fall 2003 WHAT IS IT? Instead of having tracks placed around the world, the latest SSX attempts to fulfill all of your...

Morrowind.(Xbox )(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *Xbox *Publisher: Bethesda *Developer: Bethesda *Release Date: Fall 2003 WHAT IS IT? Think of it as Morrowind-Plus-Plus with braggadocio: This value-priced package rolls together 2002's Xbox hit first-person RPG...

Sudeki.(Xbox)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *Xbox *Publisher: Microsoft *Developer: Climax *Release Date: October 2003 WHAT IS IT? The fact that Xbox desperately needs another RPG notwithstanding, Sudeki is pretty intriguing. It's an action-RPG chronicling the...

Vectorman.(PlayStation 2 )(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2 *Publisher: Sega *Developer: Pseudo Interactive *Release Date: January 2004 WHAT IS IT? Looking at these screenshots, you may not think this is the same Vectorman from the late days of the 16-bit Sega...

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.(Xbox )(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *Xbox *Publisher: LucasArts *Developer: Raven *Release Date: Fall 2003 WHAT IS IT? Xbox-owning Padawans, pack your bags--it's time to visit Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and learn the ways of the Force. Jetting across the...

MotoGP 2.(Xbox)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... Publisher: THQ Developer: Climax UK Players: 1-4 (1-16 online) ESRB: Everyone www.gamers.com/1308995 Xbox / Also On: None DEMIAN: If you've played THQ's previous MotoGP game--not to be confused with Namco's PS2...

Beyond Castlevania.(Castlevirus, Blaxplovania)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... Castlevania mastermind Koji Igarashi has a stockpile of game concepts lurking in his coffinlike mind. Ask him the right questions (or offer him the right beverages) and they start spewing out like mad. We can't guarantee that any of these...

Cool Fusion.(Castlevaniz: Harmony of Dissonance)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Like his many Belmont descendants, Leon tosses a mean flask of holy water. He also finds daggers, axes, crosses, and crystals (an all-new item that works like a land mine) as he explores the castle. Heaving these handy pickups at foes is fun,...

Better, Stronger, Faster.(Leg of the Worlf, Stardust, Invincibility Pot, Lucifer's Sword, Svarog Statue. Computer games)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... Blistering spell-fusion attacks provide the meat of your offensive capabilities, but Leon has a few supernatural powers up his sleeve, too: He finds some legendary Magic Relics stowed away in Drac's castle. The catch? Leon can't use these...

Illustrator of the Undead.(Interview)
July 1, 2003... Back when Producer Koji Igarashi was working on Symphony of the Night for PS1, he decided Castlevania needed an image makeover. "In old Castlevania games, you see a macho guy," he tells us, "but the story and character designs were lacking."...

Coming Soon.(Calendar)
July 1, 2003... JUNE Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction (Strategy) PS2, Xbox After this, a Freddy vs. Jason online RPG would only be a slight surprise Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku II (RPG) GBA Super Saiyans seem more like UPS...

Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick.(PlayStation 2, Xbox )(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... Publisher: THQ Developer: VIS Interactive Players: 1 Rating: Mature URL: www.gamers.com/1149823 PlayStation 2 / Also On: Xbox SHAWN: Playing Boomstick is more excruciating than having your sphincter sewn shut and...

Resident Evil: Dead Aim.(PlayStation 2)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom Players: 1 ESRB: Mature www.gamers.com/268659 PlayStation 2 / Also On: None MARK: If there's one area where this Resident Evil shooter is right on target, it's atmosphere. The...

The Review Crew.(employees of the magazine)
July 1, 2003... DAN "SHOE" HSU Editor-in-Chief *Can the human brain survive on two hours of sleep a day? Shoe is trying his best with help from his friends Advance Wars 2 and Phantasy Star Online. We didn't like his brain at 100%.... *Now Playing:...

The Contributors.
July 1, 2003... *Regular contributor and celebrity stalker SCOTT STEINBERG yaps with former Playboy Playmate Angelica Bridges about the games girls play.... *Industry vet CASEY LOE eases you into anime's torrid world of turgid tentacles.... *ALEX...

Summer Fashion Tips.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... When it comes to Sim fashion, we stick with the mustachioed balding guy wearing hot pants, sock garters, and little else. But that's us. If you're more of a Sims clotheshorse, Design Director Michael Perry has a hot tip for you: Be social....

Expanding Your Horizons, Literally.(EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers, comes out)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... Norrath (EQOA's persistent world) gets bigger this October when the first expansion pack, EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers, comes out. Besides increasing the world's size to 500 virtual square miles (from its current size of around...

Li'l Previews.(Spawn, Sonic Battle,Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D Revolution. Games for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... SPAWN *PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube *Release Date: Winter 2003 The previous Spawn games haven't been too hot. All right, they've been awful. (Almost as bad as the movie. Almost.) But that's not keeping Namco from trying again...

Tube Slider.(GameCube)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... Publisher: NEC Developer: NDCube Players: 1-4 ESRB: Everyone www.gamers.com/1309391 GameCube / Also On: None DEMIAN: Tube Slider takes a cynical view of the future...apparently there's nothing better to do than...

Ultimate Muscle: Legends Vs. New Generation.(GameCube)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... Publisher: Bandai Developer: Aki Players: 1-4 ESRB: Teen www.gamers.com/1132233 GameCube / Also On: None CJ: Even though this is wrestling, it's unfair to put Muscle in the same ring with WWE games. The slow,...

19) Backyard wrestling: Don't Try This At Home.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *Publisher: Eidos *Developer: Paradox *Release Date: August 2003 In a thousand years, anthropologists may dig up copies of Backyard Wrestling, see its Insane Clown-on-Insane Clown violence (courtesy of celeb thugs Insane Clown...

20) Madden NFL 2004.(PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, PS1 )(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, PS1 *Publisher: EA Sports *Developer: EA Tiburon *Release Date: August 2003 Madden NFL 2004's new Playmaker Control feature has us charged; now, you can make offensive and defensive...

18) Alter Echo.(PlayStation 2, Xbox)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2, Xbox *Publisher: THQ *Developer: Outrage *Release Date: August 2003 It looks like somebody has been getting into the hallucinogens over at Outrage Entertainment, but we figure we'll see how this 3D...

15) Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution.(PlayStation 2 )(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2 *Publisher: Sega *Developer: Sega *Release Date: August 2003 Ever since Capcom opened the not-quite-a-sequel floodgates with Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, fighting-game fans have suffered under the...

16) Midtown Madness 3.(xBOX)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *Xbox *Publisher: Microsoft *Developer: Digital Illusions *Release Date: June 2003 You're a pizza delivery boy, and if you don't get a pie to a group of foreign dignitaries in the next two minutes, it comes out of your...

14) Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Island Thunder.(Xbox )(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *Xbox *Publisher: Ubi Soft *Developer: Red Storm *Release Date: July 2003 Leave behind Eastern Europe's dreary skies and head for warmer climes. Don't get the wrong idea--there'll be no R&R, just more S&D (that's "search...

13) Midnight Club II.(PlayStation 2, Xbox )(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2, Xbox *Publisher: Rockstar *Developer: Rockstar *Release Date: June 2003 Xbox Live players have been sorely missing an online arcade-style racer, but they'll soon have one of the best with Midnight Club II....

11) Chaos Legion.(PlayStation 2)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2 *Publisher: Capcom *Developer: Capcom *Release Date: July 2003 Capcom combines the genres it's best known for--action, fighting, and role-playing--in Chaos Legion, a darker take on Dynasty Warriors'...

9) Wakeboarding Unleashed.(PlayStation 2, Xbox )(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2, Xbox *Publisher: Activision 02 *Developer: Shaba *Release Date: June 2003 It has been years since Tony Hawk's Pro Skater reinvented radical--now X-games of every niche, from Razor scootin' to erotic bikin',...

8) Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness.(PlayStation 2)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2 *Publisher: Eidos *Developer: Core *Release Date: June 2003 (We'll believe it when we see it.) If "well-known" meant "beloved," Lara Croft would be higher on this list, but too many Tomb Raider rehashes have...

6) Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising.(Game Boy Advance )(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *Game Boy Advance *Publisher: Nintendo *Developer: Intelligent Systems *Release Date: June 2003 When squashed-down army men and cartoon tanks clash, you know you're decidedly not in a world of s@#$--so it's safe for pocket...

4) Brute Force.(Xbox)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *Xbox *Publisher: Microsoft *Developer: Digital Anvil *Release Date: May 28, 2003 Few games (well, no games really) promise to make their participants best friends forever, but then few games play like Brute Force, a...

1) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.(Xbox)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *Xbox *Publisher: LucasArts *Developer: BioWare *Release Date: June 2003 Remember in Empire Strikes Back when Darth Vader says to his (newly handicapped) son, "If you only knew the power of the dark side...?" Though Luke...

Our Awards.(magazine's rating method)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Platinum Awards go to games that get all 10s, the ultimate review a game can get. Gold Awards go to games with an average score of 9.0 or higher. Quality stuff. Silver Awards go to games that average at least an 8.0 (but are lower...

The Rating System.(how the video games are rated)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Each reviewer assigns an overall grade to each game, on a scale from 0 to 10. When a game receives a 10, you can rest assured that it's one of the best games ever made, a classic that will endure throughout the ages. Conversely, when a game...

Wakeboarding Unleashed.(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... Publisher: Activision 02 Developer: Shaba Studios Players: 1-2 ESRB: Everyone www.gamers.com/1134736 PlayStation 2 / Also On: Xbox, Game Boy Advance SHAWN: Set aside your extreme-sports snobbery for a second and...

Sound Off: My Job Sucks.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... There are times during everyone's career when they think they might have chosen the wrong line of work. For example, when a fugitive wearing a wet suit and night-vision goggles is hiding in the bottom of an outhouse, some poor police officer...

The Rest of the Crap.(Piglet's Big Movie Game)(The Three Stooges)(Bratz)(The Muppets: On With the Show!)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE GAME PlayStation 2 ESRB: Everyone This is a tough game to judge--it's clearly made for people too young to distinguish between it and food. It's so infantile that players will receive a nomination from the...

Shady's Deal.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... As hip-hop heads are aware, there's a thin line between fan and "Stan." Just ask Conspiracy Entertainment. At this summer's Electronic Entertainment Expo game-biz show, the publisher will show off PS1 budget title Mix TV Presents Eminem, the...

Grudge Match: Max Fischer vs. Sam Fisher.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... Sure, Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher is crafty and good with the stealth kills, but he never wrote a hit play, attempted to seduce a first-grade teacher, or saved Latin like Rushmore's Max Fischer. They're both sneaky bastards, to be sure, but...

News Bits: Read Them All and You Can Have Dessert.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... DEEE-LAWSUIT The divine Lady Miss Kier of the now-defunct band Deee-Lite is suing Sega for $750,000, claiming that Ulala, the main character in Sega's Space Channel 5 series, copies her "de groovy" image. The world awaits the verdict....

Original Gangster.
July 1, 2003... You know that movie Goodfellas? Yeah, you do. It's based on the life of this guy right here, Henry Hill. He worked for the Mob, took part in the $6 million Lufthansa heist in '78 (the biggest ever at the time), then turned state's evidence...

The Future Is (Sorta) Now.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Can't wait for PS3? Then look to Japan, where a new PlayStation has already landed. Don't get too excited--it's actually just a PS2 with a few key enhancements for the same price. The biggest tweak: The unit can play DVDs in progressive scan,...

Playstation 3.
July 1, 2003... *ETA: 2005 Sony declined our request for a comment on its PS3 strategy, but the company has already spilled the guts of its gameplan in a few ways. In 2002, Shinichi Okamoto, chief technology officer for Sony's games unit, outlined the...

What's Next?(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The future is scary enough, what with the threat of mutant killer flus and an infinite lineup of Who Wants to Marry a Zillionaire Space Alien? reality shows. Combine that with the certainty that our game consoles will be obsolete in three...

Xbox 2.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... *ETA: 2005 Microsoft's next box, code-named Xenon (after the inert, colorless gas--no fart jokes please), is scheduled for a 2005 release, according to developers we spoke with. Expect it once again to be based on PC technology, with a...

Cube2.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... *ETA: 2005 While Sony and Microsoft officials might hold out hope that Nintendo--like Sega--will give up on the hardware business, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has confirmed the company is working on a GameCube successor due out...

Nintendo Speeds Ahead.(Mario Kart: Double Dash)(Pikmin 2)(Metal Gear Solid: the Twin Snakes)(Super Mario Advance 4)
July 1, 2003... Two pair in poker, that ain't so hot. But two pair of new Nintendo games? That'll get us reaching for our wallets. Check out a couple new sequels that stress two-player gameplay and a couple remade classics, all due later this year. As for...

Instant Expert: Anime.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... If you think anime (say it right: ah-ni-may) is a sticky tree sap used by varnish makers, then you're absolutely right--and absolutely weird ('cause, like, why do you know that?). You're also missing out on a type of made-in-Japan animation...

Old School.(news from the past)
July 1, 2003... GAME OF THE MONTH: Pocky & Rocky We won't hold it against you if you've never heard of Natsume's top-down, vertically scrolling shoot-em-up Pocky & Rocky. But this cartoony one- or two-player game set in feudal Japan and starring a...

Afterthoughts: The Sims.(interview with Sims design director Michael Perry)(Interview)
July 1, 2003... Everything's better with videogames, even basic bodily functions. That's one lesson we've learned since The Sims, the hugely popular life simulator, invaded all three consoles. Another thing we've learned is that holding a conversation with...

The Movie Game: Reloaded.(video games based on movies)
July 1, 2003... Somewhere in the deserts of New Mexico lies a potent reminder of the checkered history of movie-based videogames. It's there that in September 1983, 14 tractor trailers pulled up to a landfill and dumped their cargo: 5 million unsold Atari...

The Hulk.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube *VU Games *Movie: June 20 *Game: Out now As the Hulk film arrives in theaters, it already has a sequel: the videogame. "[The Hulk game] is deliberately set after the events of the movie, with...

Life in the Fast Lane.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Respect is the name of the game in Street Racing Syndicate, the Gran Turismo-style racer out this July for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube. To get that respect, you've got to earn it by winning races, amassing a fortune by gambling your...

Gaming Beauty.(Angelica Bridges)(Interview)
July 1, 2003... Although hardly your typical console owner (after all, she sports a bubbly personality, a cheery demeanor, and breasts), actress and former Playboy model Angelica Bridges still finds time for the odd round of Hot Shots Golf. Now that her...

Renter's Market.(video game rental)
July 1, 2003... Summer is upon us, and you know what that means: It's finally time to catch up on all those great games from last Christmas! (You didn't really think we were gonna say something about going outside or sunlight or something, did ya?) And what...

Overheard.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... "Ratchet's hands truly scare me. There's something about Ratchet with these huge rubber gloves running around that drives me absolutely batty." --Naughty Dog's (Jak & Daxter) Jason Rubin pokes fun at fellow Sony developer Insomniac's...

EGM International.
July 1, 2003... I AIN'T AFRAID OF NO GHOST Important safety tip: Do not cross the streams in PS2 import Ghost Hunter Cambridge Studio, maker of the recent PS2 macabre actioner Primal, is finishing up another occult-themed game--Ghost Hunter. In it,...

Seize the Game.(hand held games)
July 1, 2003... Mattel Handheld Football *Mattel *$15 What it is: A reissue of the handheld sports games (baseball and basketball are also available) from the 1980s. You remember: It's all about moving the red LED blips across the field while...

Where's the Party?(EverQuest)
July 1, 2003... Ask any PC gamer about EverQuest and you'll likely hear sordid tales about how they've played it for four days straight with no sleep. It's a phenomenon that's broken sales records, won awards, and spawned multiple expansion packs, support...

The Hot Five.
July 1, 2003... Vote for your most-anticipated games each month between the 1st and the 15th at www.egmmag.com. 1) Halo 2 *Xbox *Publisher: Microsoft *Genre: Action *Release: Early 2004 While you wait for H2, you need to see Red...

17) Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *Xbox *Publisher: Activision *Developer: Raven *Release Date: June 2003 The Shop, a private antiterrorism organization, is paying good money to whoever can put the kibosh on some lunatics wielding biological weapons....

12) Wario World.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *GameCube *Publisher: Nintendo *Developer: Treasure *Release Date: June 2003 Nintendo has been oddly quiet about Wario World. But now that we've finally gotten to play it ourselves (see Review Crew this issue for the whole...

10) Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *GameCube *Publisher: Nintendo *Developer: Camelot *Release Date: Fall 2003 It may look like a kids game, what with all the cartoony backgrounds, crazy effects, and club-wielding turtles, but Mario actually plays one mean...

7) Silent Hill 3.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
July 1, 2003... *PlayStation 2 *Publisher: Konami *Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo *Release Date: August 2003 Where other frightfests settle for mere scares, Silent Hill's hard-edged horror would rather scar your mind....