The unabashed, unadulterated camaraderie and hand-holding between former rivals in the first half of the year would've certainly moved Elton John to verse, but other than that, the year was actually a bit slow in the beginning (especially with the surprisingly supriseless E3). So slow, in fact, that during staff brainstorming for this article, we briefly thought that Peter Main's leaving and the new Zelda revelation were revealed this year. But just wait until you get to August; I think you almost could've heard someone flooring the pedal and the stores suddenly became parlous parlors of sinfully good games. So if the market of electronic entertainment weren't so saturated and we could all get our heads straight and remember past dates with accuracy (or maybe it's just me; I have trouble remembering what I ate four days ago, let alone remember what was the big, must-have game four years ago), 2002 will most certainly be remembered with a warm smile and fondness. It wasn't so much as a milestone year, but a blithe, back-to-basics year where most of the big news were the big releases and with an attitude of getting back to what matters: fun with 1s, 0s, and motor skills.

Maybe the planets were aligned correctly, or the technology and the demand hit an even note, or maybe it was just their time, but this we can ascertain: most of the big releases of 2002 were patronymic ones. And not just quick-run, rehash piffle but a volcanic explosion of long-thought dormant series loudly brought back into view (and leading to the delicious pun that Altered Beast has now risen from its grave), a big rout of already and soon-to-be classics. But beware of all that nostalgia waxing we did, for it brought with it a noxious byproduct, another retro trip, but this time it was a sort of subversion back into the tumultuous days when Mortal Kombat and Night Trap were first released, and after these past few quiet years, excessive media bias and controversy returned (and in some cases, with due cause).

I'm not going to overemphasize the importance of the events listed here with a sledgehammer or jackhammer or any other construction tool, but just sit back, relax, read, and see the components join together and highlight what has been one of the most entertaining, enjoyable, and provocative years in gaming. Think of this article as one of those computerized Magic Eye drawings, but without the ponies, spacecrafts, and moonshine.

Enjoy!

JANUARY

1/08: Minoru Arakawa retires from Nintendo of America
Minoru Arakawa announced his effective-immediately retirement from his position as Nintendo of America president, with his successor being The Pokemon Company's CFO, Tatsumi Kimishima, who was president of Pokemon, U.S.A. Arakawa was the third NOA executive to retire in as many years, the others being Howard Lincoln and Peter Main. During the 22 years he spent at Nintendo, Arakawa oversaw the launches of the NES, the Super NES, the Nintendo 64, and the GameCube, and it'll have to be seen if Kimishima can pull off the next big console task with the same amount of aplomb.

FEBRUARY

2/13: PlayStation 2 gets set to the Maximo
Maximo may not have swept the The Next Level's 2002 Awards (or any other major awards for that matter), but that doesn't negate the fact that not only was it the quiet forerunner of the retro revolution, but also a fine video game achievement. A fairly challenging continuation of Capcom's Ghost 'n Goblins series, the fun carnival frights and a never-properly adjusted camera is reminiscent of a German expressionist film, which most certainly equates to one hell of a good time. And Maximo's refusal to give up on rescuing scantily-clad, buxom beauties even when he only has his knickers is the most underspoken example of sheer will and determination this side of Dynamite Cop.

2/19: And behold: The Tri-Force is complete
Nintendo, Namco, and Sega all join together to create a new arcade board known as the Tri-Force, in a valiant attempt to lessen arcade costs and aid in linking arcades and consoles. The economy is down and when everyone fears his or her favorite company might go into the drink, we actually get this practically unparalleled friendly gathering. Things get big when we hear what exactly they have in store for the board, but considering the name, it's pretty obvious who wears the pants in this relationship.

MARCH

3/8: Square and Nintendo reunite
Photo-op everyone! After years of icy tension and a barren relationship, Square and Nintendo bury the hatchet and give each other a proverbial slap on the back. The result? The generically named, Q-Fund driven, Game Designer's Studio, being helmed by Akitoshio Kawazu, who previously created the Romancing SaGa series. Their first project is the enigmatic but exotically drawn Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicle, sealed with the promise of a GBA version to come.

3/27: Sega and Nintendo announce new F-Zero
Sega, or Amusement Vision to be specific, announced a new F-Zero for the Tri-Force arcade board, the first real game to showcase what this thing can really do. With a collaboration between Yuko Sugino (Sega), Toshihiro Nagoshi (Amusement Vision), and Takaya Imamura and Shigeru Miyamoto (both Nintendo), great results can be foreseen for the futuristic racer. Says Imamura in an interview: "It is a weird game in which creators can push their preference to the users. And the users are still happy to accept its silly world. I guess that's the charm of this game." Let's hope his preferences include high-speed fan service.

APRIL

4/24: The G4 television network launches
Comstat launches G4, the 24-hour, seven-day-a-week network devoted to video games and the lifestyles or cultures you may pick up in choosing this hobby. The original programming content with the ADD titles ranges from the entertainingly good (i.e. Icons) to the plain embarrassing (i.e. Players). But Comstat shows it has the smarts and savvy each time it plays Starcade, the legendarily funky arcade game show with an equally funky theme song, and with all those mint arcade games being given away as prizes, we all definitely need this one last Pengo in Paris.

MAY

5/7: Nintendo and Namco announce new StarFox
Meeting in a little secret rendezvous when Sega isn't looking, not only does Nintendo strike a deal with Namco to make the Tri-Force board a little more useful with a new shooter-veined StarFox, they also went so far as publishing rights. While fourteen games for the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance could be considered big news, it was only a penumbra to the fact that Nintendo themselves will publish some of the games, with possible candidates being the next Ridge Racer, Soul Calibur II, and a whole bunch of Klonoa, Famitsa, Tales, and Mr. Driller games.

JUNE

6/7: PC and Xbox get a bone and Morrowind transplant
After some divergent dabbling in other series, such as The Terminator series with Future Shock and SkyNET, Bethesda returns to the Tamrielic Empire with Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Pre-release hype and media was relatively high, especially for a series that's practically unknown to all console gamers and has had a relatively large gap since the last Elder Scrolls game (four years, in 1998, with The Elder Scrolls: Redguard) and the last official official Elder Scrolls game (six years ago, in 1996, with The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall). With vast environments and open-ended gameplay, people who thought they were coming back to grips with life and reality were presented with the PC-only, pretty-damn-big-for-an-expansion-pack, The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal.

··· Highlights of 2002 (continued) / Introduction