Electronic Gaming Monthly (August 2002)

Electronic Gaming Monthly (August 2002)

Electronic Gaming Monthly was perhaps the most popular and certain one of the longest lasting video game magazines in the U.S. The first issue came out in the late 1980s and it continued publication into the 2000s. The August 2002 issue includes:

Features

• Miyamoto's Angels - Referring to Nintendo's popular franchises Metroid, Mario and Zelda. This article previews the new games coming soon in those franchises to the GameCube and Game Boy Advance including Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube), Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (GBA), Metroid Prime (GameCube), Metroid Fusion (Game Boy Advance), Legend of Zelda (GameCube), and Zelda GBA.


• The First GameCube and Xbox RPGs - Morrowind for the Xbox (but honestly, your better off playing it on a PC) and Lost Kingdoms for the GameCube are a couple of the first major RPGs for those platforms.

_{Table of Contents from the August 2002 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly}

Departments

• Editorial - Looking at trends in video games, both good (adult themes in games) and bad (poor licensed games...but this has almost always been a trend).


• Letters - Letters from readers about Tony Hawk 4, cel shading, Star Wars games, the Final Fantasy movie, and much more.


• Press Start - The top news this month includes highlights from E3, and update on the PlayStation 2's success, Microsoft pushes online gaming with the Xbox and new games like Unreal Championship, Nintendo pushing new games in major franchises but lacks online presence (Phantasy Star Online is the only online game at the time). For the GBA, more games are being released that make use of the GB/GBA link. Get extras in Animal Crossing and Phantasy Star Online.


• Gossip - Quartermann speculates on rumors including Sonic retiring from Adventure games; Rare to start developing games for multiple systems; Doom III for the Xbox; and more.


• Review Crew
  • PlayStation 2
  • Aggressive Inline - Like Tony Hawk games but with inline skates.
  • Britney's Dance Beat - A pretty terrible music based game.
  • Dropship: United Peace Force - A combat vehicle sim in which you not only pilot aircraft but drive ground vehicles as well.
  • Endgame - A light gun game that you probably don't want.
  • Freekstyle - Kind of like SSX but with dirt bikes in instead of snowboards.
  • Legion: The Legend of Excalibur - A Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance like action/RPG that unfortunately does not live up to that comparison.
  • Fire Blade - A 3D combat helicopter arcade game.
  • The Mark of Kri - A 3D action adventure game that earns EGM's 'Game of the Month'.
  • MLB Slugfest 20-03 - A baseball game on steroids.
  • MX SuperFly Featuring Ricky Carmichael - A motocross sim with unrealistic physics...but fun to play.
  • Shifters - A not so great action/RPG.
  • Xbox
  • Test Drive - A continuation of the Test Drive series that I started playing on the Commodore 64. This one is comparable to Burnout.
  • Crazy Taxi 3 - A great sequel in a great series.
  • The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - An excellent RPG from the PC world. The Xbox version is excellent...it's just that the PC version is better.
  • GameCube
  • Bomberman Generation - There have been a great many Bomberman games over the Years. This is one of the better ones.
  • Lost Kingdoms - A new and somewhat unique RPG for the GameCube.
  • Game Boy Advance
  • Guilty Gear X: Advance Addition - A decent portable 2D fighter.
  
  
• Tricks - Infinite grenades in Resident Evil, play as Laura Croft in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, several secrets for Jedi Starfighter, increase the size of your stolen-car collection in GTA3, Bonesaw in Spider-Man, strategies and clues for Eternal Darkness, unlock hidden wrestlers and arenas in Wrestlemania X8, plus tons of codes, GameShark codes, and questions answered by the Game Doctor.

_{Back cover of the August 2002 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly}

Read more: https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2022/09/14/electronic-gaming-monthly-august-2002/

SSX 3 (Electronic Arts)

SSX 3 (Electronic Arts)

SSX 3 is a 3rd person snowboard racing game that was released by EA in 2003 for various systems, including the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. As the name would suggest, this is the 3rd game in the series though the second game was called SSX Tricky. As far as this type of game goes, this was one of the best. It received very high ratings and sold well. I'm not much of a fan of sports game in general but this one plays more like a racing game. I happen to like racing games. If you like racing games then you may like this game regardless of your feelings about snowboarding or sports games in general. However, a significant component of the game is performing tricks both during races and as part of separate freestyle events. This is an excellent example of the genre so if you have any interest at all this one is worth giving a shot. The good news is that there is even a recent release of this game in the form of an enhanced Xbox One port that was released in 2018. Otherwise, an original copy for the Xbox, PS2 or GameCube shouldn't be too hard to track down either. The image at the top is from Girls of Gaming and features Elise, one of the characters from the game. Screen shots are from the GameCube version of the game.

Electronic Gaming Monthly (June 2007)

Electronic Gaming Monthly (June 2007)

EGM ran for many years. By the time 2007 came along, I didn't really pay that much attention to it anymore. Neither did many others apparently since it didn't last as a print publication all that much longer. It wasn't that it became a terrible magazine or anything, I just didn't keep up with newer games like I used to and most of those who did, did so online. It's still hard for me to believe that systems like the PS3 are a decade old. The June 2007 issue of EGM includes:

Letters

• In Soviet Russia, letter writes you

Press Start

• Exclusive: God of War: Chains of Olympus - The portable world just got a whole lot bloodier...
• Works in Progress - Keep an eye on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 - they're changing
• Foreign Object
• Preview: Fracture - The shooter from the MechAssault guys breaks new ground
• Online Scene - Check out what developers are praising - or whining about
• Preview: Manhunt 2 - The Wii steps into Mature-rated territory - take that, politician!
• The Big Ones - Grand Theft Auto IV goes under the EGM microscope
• Interview: Hironobu Skaguchi - Why does the creator of Final Fantasy hate the PS3?
• Rumor Mill - The Q-Mann reveals where Dead or Alive will bounce to next
• Take This Job - Learn what it takes to break into the world of public relations
• Coming Soon - Games that defy the so-called "summer drought"

Reviews

• Reviews Intro
• F.E.A.R.
• Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
• Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia
• Dawn of Mana
• Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm
• .hack//G.U. Vol. 2: Reminisce
• Etrian Odyssey
• Time Ace
• Brooktown High
• Coded Arms: Contagion
• Reviews Wrap-Up

Game Over

• Seanbaby's Rest of the Crap - Why is Seanbaby interested in playing with dolls? Isn't that sort of, uh, creepy?
• Retro: Grappling With Greatness - Games that feature the infamous "grapple" are destined to be remembered
• Crossword/Grudge Match - EGM's final crossword puzzle? Say it ain't so!
• Next Month
• Hsu & Chan

...and more!

Kurenai (Red Ninja: End of Honor)

Source: Girls of Gaming 5 

Girls of Gaming was a spinoff of Play Magazine. It featured pin-ups of fictitious girls, mostly from video games and anime. In this example, we have Kurenai from a game called "Red Ninja: End of Honor" that was released in 2005 for the Xbox and PlayStation 2.

I wasn't familiar with this game and after a brief internet search I can see why. It generally got terrible reviews and was the only game produced by the studio that produced it. Some interesting ideas but poorly executed. Nevertheless, the main character, Kurenai, earned a spot in Girls of Gaming.

Lisa & Christie from Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball

Girls of Gaming was an offshoot of Play Magazine and featured pin-ups of various fictitious video game, anime and other fantasy characters. This particular set features Lisa and Christie from Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball for the Xbox. Seems like a pretty effective advertisement for the game particularly when targeted towards adolescent males.

Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball was released by Tecmo for the Xbox in 2003. All of the previous Dead or Alive games had been fighting games. Xtreme Beach Volleyball was set after the 3rd game in the series and involves some role playing elements in that you have to establish relationships with other characters in order to find a volleyball partner.

In addition to competing at volleyball, you can also gamble at the casino. The money you win or earn can be used to buy different swimsuits. This was the first title in the series to receive a mature rating because of the revealing nature of some of the swimsuits.

It is actually a pretty good game and a sequel was released on the Xbox 360 titled Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 in 2006. there was also a Dead or Alive Xtremem 3 released in 2016 but only in Asia...

Panzer Dragoon Orta

Panzer Dragon Orta from Girls of Gaming, Volume 1.