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Rainier's Articles


PC Preview - 'FreeStyle Street Basketball'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006

Genre: Sports
Publisher: Vivendi
Developer: JC Entertainment
Release Date: Q1 2007

It is within the bounds of possibility that you could sell a million copies of anything in Korea, as long as it was a massive multiplayer online game. Ideally, it should be an MMO you can play with one hand, freeing up the other hand to smoke a cigarette.

Freestyle Street Basketball is, at once, a demonstration of this principle and an idea I'm surprised we haven't seen before now. This is a game where you can create and kit out a cel-shaded cartoon avatar, and then

PS2 Preview - 'King Of Fighters: Maximum Impact'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2004

Genre: Action/Fighting
Publisher: SNK
Developer: SNK
Release Date: September 14, 2004

Let’s clear one small thing up here, all right? This isn’t really SNK’s first foray into the realm of 3D. Before this, they had the Samurai Shodown games on NeoGeo CD, 64 and Warrior’s Rage, neither of which are worth the considerable effort they take to find; and Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, an excellent game on extremely rare hardware, which is unfortunately better known for a terrifically botched PSOne port.

So this, King of Fighters: Maximum Impact, is really SNK’s fourth foray into 3D, and the

Xbox Preview - 'Forza Motorsport'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2004

Genre: Sports/Racing
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Microsoft
Release Date: TBA

For years now, we have been waiting for a true Gran Turismo killer to come out and knock GT 3 off of its pedestal, and take the racing sim crown. There have been many attempts at this, but so far none have been able to dethrone Sony's masterpiece which has really stood the test of time. Not only that, but the latest version in their GT series, GT 4, is due out later this year, promising online play as well as an updated list of features. Before E3, it looked

Tribes: Vengeance (PC) - Screens

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - E3 2004 May 14th

Spyro: A Hero's Tail (NGC/PS2/Xbox) - Screens

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - E3 2004 May 14th

NDS Preview - 'Crash Boom Bang!'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006

Genre: Party/Puzzle
Publisher: Vivendi
Developer: Dimps
Release Date: October 2006

Well … Crash is back.

Crash Boom Bang! is sort of weird, in that it's the first game in the long-running Crash series being made by a Japanese developer. For Crash's DS debut, the reins have been given to Dimps, the house behind Dragon Ball Z: Budokai.

As a result, Crash Boom Bang! has taken a turn for the anime. (Look, Mom, I'm using nouns as adjectives!) The game is more colorful than its American predecessors were and definitely more cute; Crash has gone from looking insane to looking

PC Preview - 'World in Conflict'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006

Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Publisher: Vivendi
Developer: Massive
Release Date: Spring 2007

It may look like another World War II RTS when you see the screenshots, but it isn't. World in Conflict is actually a World War III RTS, set in an alternate universe where the Cold War did not end in 1989.

Instead, it heated up rapidly, culminating in Russia invading the United States via Alaska, forestalling the collapse of their economy by shooting the hell out of people. As a result, the settings of World of Conflict aren't the usual Eastern European/Middle Eastern hellholes; you'll be fighting

PS2 Preview - 'Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006

Genre: 3D Fighter
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Spike
Release Date: October 2006

If Super DBZ is the "professional" of the two upcoming Dragon Ball Z games, then Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is the feel-good, super mainstream title. Building off of the best-selling DBZ title in history, the original Budokai Tenkaichi, BT2 introduces new characters, stages, and gameplay modes. The gameplay is still super-accessible 3D brawling, complete with multiple transformations for most characters, an expansive selection of characters, and enormous levels in which to battle.

BT2 is determined to outdo the previous title in every respect. The already-large BT levels

Red Ninja: End of Honor (PS2/Xbox) - Screens

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - E3 2004 May 14th

PC Preview - 'Neverwinter Nights 2'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006

Genre: RPG
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Obsidian
Release Date: September 2006

Obsidian managed a successful debut with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, despite having to face the Herculean task of crafting a sequel to one of the finest licensed games ever made, and by a developer no less than Bioware. In light of that, it suddenly seems a bit more understandable that they're now tackling the unthinkable challenge of crafting the sequel to Neverwinter Nights, perhaps the single most popular Dungeons and Dragons game ever. With NWN, there is not only the challenge of