Despite selling a good 400,000 more Xboxen than GameCube over the Christmas season, Microsoft and their cronies haven't let up the assault. Rather, they have intensified it with the release of two games that have been targetted to very different demographics. The release of Panzer Dragoon Orta has seen the rebirth of one of the most beloved franchises from the Sega Saturn days, and was the focus of discussion when our European correspondent Ali went over to Japan to interview Smilebit and AM2 (you can read that interview here). The other release? None other than Tecmo's Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, which premiered last week with an... interesting TV commercial and more raging hormones than Hero has ever experienced in his entire life. While both won't exactly light up the sales chart, there's plenty for the Xbox fan as well as the PS2 fan with titles such as War of the Monsters and The Getaway. As for the GameCube? Well... I guess we'll have to wait until Skies of Arcadia Legends. Pity.

Bahn - Multiple Titles

Well I finally decided over the past few days to actually function as a gamer and try some "new" titles. My GBA has collected dusts for a few weeks (if I recall correctly, it hasn't been used since I played Dual Blades, ack!) Suffice it to say, there's a myriad of handheld goodies that has just been waiting to enjoyed. I decided to start off with Tomb Raider: The Prophecy. Not that it's entirely relevant here, but it's rather interesting how Eidos has aspired to reshape Lara's image after the feature film was released. Her entire character design seems to be modeled after Angelina Jolie, go figure. Anyways, this marks the second handheld installment based on the busty explorer. I never played the original side-scroller edition, so I can't make any comparisons for reference (other than the fact I considered it to be rather weird from a gameplay perspective). The Prophecy essentially is a top-down perspective, very straightforward and (gasp!) not all the exciting. I discussed this with some of the team the other day. For starters, the engine practically leads you from point A to B (cue short ambient theme) as the screen scrolls along and basically is saying "Psst...psst!!!! Over here, yeah, that's it". Um, is this supposed to be a game of exploration or what. This alone makes the game extremely linear and does very little for the challenge factor. I am not too thrilled with the fact Lara does not roll. I accepted it for Mega Man, but ever since this character was introduced (you know, back on the 3D realm), she rolled. I see no reason why she can't roll in this engine, or even flip. These blasted wolves get to chase me around and I can't maneuver past them unless I activate a "burst" command to run faster. Fun. I suppose I will warm up to the game in the next week or so. Stay tuned for an upcoming review.

So our board community recently discussing Super Monkey Ball Jr. being a hit or miss. Compared to Nick or Burg, I am not the authority on the various nuances, but from the comments I skimmed through, I couldn't really see what all the negativity was about. In its handheld form, SMB Jr. is quite enjoyable. The controls took me a bit of adjustment, but it's nothing that I would consider to be frustrating. There's three difficulty levels in total, the novice level features 10, while selecting the "elite" setting features 30. Yes, the whole cast is here from Baby to AiAi! Unfortunately, I can't appreciate the multiplayer levels since I don't know anyone in my area who actually has a copy of the game (if only it had some sort of network play I could set up online).a

Revenge of Shinobi isn't exactly as I remembered it...and all I have to say for now is that I am not really excited playing it. I turned it on and played it for a total of 15 minutes. Then I just got bored and out it went and powered up the Xbox. I hadn't touched Quantum Redshift in awhile and that's probably a bad thing now because I seem to dislike it. I don't like that it lacks air brakes, nor am I fond of crafts. Perhaps it's just a phase, or maybe my fondness of Wipeout Fusion has finally made me entirely biased. I want a true Wipeout game on the Xbox. No more, no less.

In the next month or so, I'll probably join the millions of people that have already made the jump to broadband to check out some online games. Our Online Matchmaking board gets an infrequent degree of activity, probably because there just aren't that many games that have piqued player's interest to get into the respective online networks from Sony and Microsoft. Personally, I am really looking forward to Capcom vs. SNK 2. There's a lot of opportunity there to go against a new league of players which previously was only available when I visited a local or nationwide tournament. My main concern of course will be the ping and latency factors, nothing is more disturbing then executing a command only to see it come out seconds later (Kaillera and emu players will know what I mean). Japan impressions reports have been very positive, so I am hoping that we'll get equal enjoyment once the game is released stateside. Then Shinjohnpv, Andy and company will all be in for some major hurtin from yours truly (and no, it won't be from Chun Li...)

Reno - Multiple Titles

Soul Calibur 2 (Arcade)
Yesterday was Toronto's third Soul Calibur 2 tournament, put together by yours truly once again. As always it was a great time and the best thing about it is that we got a lot of the matches on tape, so expect to see some match videos online very soon. While we had some problems with the controls that forced us to cancel the tournament three-quarters of the way in, it was still an enjoyable experience, and now the Toronto community is getting set for a big team tournament battle with Montreal for bragging rights. It oughta be something very spectacular if what I witnessed on Sunday is any indication. Criminal Symphony is so very tasty!

Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (Xbox)
First thing's first: I've actually wanted to get this game ever since it was revealed at E3 mainly because I enjoy volleyball. I loved all the old NES volleyball games like Super Spike V'Ball and Kings of the Beach, and I think Beach Spikers is a fantastic game. Having said that, DOAX is a disappointing title because the actual volleyball portion of the game isn't nearly as good as it could've been. I do like the fact that you need to base your attacks on timing rather than watching a meter like in Beach Spikers, but the mindless AI and the crappy camera angles pretty much screw it up for me. It's insanely hard to pick your spots for your kills, and that resulted in some really long rallies that would not have happened if you were given a better camera angle. However I did enjoy a lot of the secret videos in the game, like the realtime demos for Dead or Alive 2 and the Ninja Gaiden trailer. The former really brought back some memories for me when I watched them. Gotta love the Izuna Drop off the waterfall.

Andy - Multiple Titles

Another week, another weekly report, eh? As I write this, in the early waking hours of a normal person's lifestyle, having had no sleep for about 21 hours and ready to pass out just as soon as I finish this article, all that's running through my head right now is how much Panzer Dragoon Orta just kicked my ass. Wow. That is one hell of a game. For better or worse, I've been shooting and flying my way through that masterpiece of a game ever since I brung it home earlier today, and I'm sure that the minute I close my eyes, it'll be there waiting to haunt it's way into my dreams as well.

I'd better get on with it while I can still keep my eyes open; so let's see, what else have I been playing? Oh, that's right, pushing the Panzer case aside I remember the other masterpiece I've been playing lately; Ratchet and Clank. Whenever I can wake myself up tomorrow, I'll be sure to get to work on my full opinion of the game in my review, but for now, I'll just say I'm very impressed. Sony has really done a wonderful job in turning their once-pitiful first party stable into something really special, and Ratchet and Clank just adds another to notch to their belt. Anyway, that's it for me, time to get some shuteye, adios until next week.

burgundy - Multiple Titles

Panzer Dragoon Orta - Xbox
Orta has it all.

A gripping story that doesn't bog down the gameplay in the slightest. A compelling protagonist and a richly developed world, but so much left to the player's imagination. A battle system that is at once entirely familiar yet altered just enough to provide a brand new experience. The most stunning visuals seen on any console to date, but somehow faithful to the style of its 32-bit predecessors. An experience easily accessible to the beginner, yet packed with weeks worth of unlockable bonuses.

Is it too early to start talking about Game of the Year? (Editor's Note: Yes...)

Rez - PS2
I popped in Rez for a few days as sort of a warm-up for Orta, after not having played it quite a while. I was simply amazed by how much better Rez looked through component input, as opposed to my composite setup of months ago. Rez simply benefited more from the video signal upgrade than any other titles I've seen. Without trying to sound trite, it was like playing a whole new game. Did you know that the word "locked" appears over targets after you lock onto them? Well, now, I do!

Rez fans simply need to check out Episode 7 in Orta.

MechDeus - Multiple Titles
This is starting to tick me off. My house has three copies of Quake III, and yet they have all disappeared without a trace. I am so desperate to get back into it and start playing again, yet both of my copies are gone and my roommate can't find his. Thus I am regulated to finding other games for amusement (as opposed to edutainment) and I find my copy of Max Payne has returned from the friend's house it ran off to so long ago. Spurred by playing the Xbox demo and thinking it flawed from the PC version, it got reinstalled to see if my train of thought had derailed or not. Turns out I was on the money, and the console version was indeed gifted with loss of control and many bad touches to the levels. I had forgotten how much fun this game was, ripping through like a John Woo movie as no other game has the ability to do, while over-written dialogue progresses the tale of losing everything except firearms. The other thing I had forgotten was just how dark the flashbacks were and the way they managed to create confusion, fear, and plain out creepiness so insanely well. Honestly, how is it that they managed to pull off fear better in one level then the Resident Evil series does consistantly?

Oh, almost forgot: Lords and Ladies is the greatest show ever.

Ren - Metroid Prime (GC)
Yep, I'm still working on this one. According to a few Metroid-obsessed friends of mine, I'm about 80% through the game. I've been going on a massive upgrade mission for the past few days, and Samus is starting to look pretty damn cool. Apparently, I'll have to face a few frighteningly difficult bosses in the near future, but I'll try not to think about that. As usual, I'll probably end up dying several times before finally developing a good strategy against them. Judging from my rate of item collection this time around, I'll probably end up getting Ending #2. After that, I'll replay it and go for 100% item collection so I can get the best ending. Then, if I'm feeling really confident (and patient), I'll give Hard Mode a try so I can get that last lovely art gallery. Somehow, it seems that Metroid Prime gets more and more impressive each time I play it.

Sqoon - Animal Crossing (GC) Animal Crossing - Nothing doing. Just more Animal Crossing. The feeling of futility is starting to wear down on me and this never-ending debt is a terrible burden (damn Thoreau for predicting it). Thanks to my brother constant visits to my town, all of the residents took it upon themselves to move to his town. So now, there's none of the originals, just a new motley crew who haven't known each other for too long. There's Daisy, the cutest little puppy your eyes ever did see and Kody, my personal favorite, a blue koala bear. But then there's Huck, a gray and orange frog that looks like something you punch in Battletoads and an ugly cat named Tabby who…well, imagine that guy who emerged from the toxic waste in Robocop and you get the idea.

Yoshi - Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania & Contra
After over a decade of disc-based video games, I think I finally understand why God intended the technology to exist: Five Konami classics on a single disc. Sporting Castlevania, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Contra, and Super C, Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania & Contra just might be the great CD ever pressed. The games are all completely faithful recreations (or emulations as the case may be) and have never looked better. It's like having a VGA adaptor for your NES. I have been having a blast with my $20 investment, and I can only hope that similar collections for Gradius, Salamander, Metal Gear, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may someday follow.

· · · TNL Staff