Todd's columns have appeared in many publications such as GamePro, Electronic Gaming Monthly, PC Gamer, and Electronic Games. Todd is a founding member of GiN and speaks from an "old school" gamer's perspective. Embracing the notions of all classic gaming, game soundtracks, and the original "hardcore style," he also shuns the trends he feels are ruining the game industry, such as the embracement of 3D, the over-saturation of MMOs, and misleading game advertising.
On the day I am writing this, it will mark one month since the PlayStation 2 was launched to the public. As everyone knows I was the only one on my staff (at least I think this) who was lucky enough to pick one up. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t consider myself lucky. In the month that followed the launch, I have seen nothing but disappointment for Sony’s new console, and it makes me wonder how the mainstream press continues promoting it over the Dreamcast. I know that Sony was successful with their launch, as the initial 500,000 units sold … Continue reading PS2 Day One→
Ever since EA Sports, as well as Electronic Arts, turned their back on Sega and dedicated all their services to the PlayStation2, it occurred to me that they were only concerned about a game’s visual presentation, no matter how poor the actual gameplay turns out to be. I found this out when I tried to play NHL 2000 last year, and was infuriated with the game’s poor goaltender AI and unrealistic collision physics. As a result, I ended up playing Sega Sports’ NHL 2K, a game which I really enjoyed because it had some of the best goaltender AI I’ve … Continue reading Does EA Sports Care About AI Anymore?→
As one of the Dreamcast’s launch titles, NFL 2K came away as the runaway hit of the system. It was so good in fact that GiN gave it the title of Best Sports Game of 2000, being the only other game (besides the godlike High Heat Baseball series) to beat out EA Sports for this title. There were some small problems that prevented it from being the be-all, end-all of football games. The running game was pretty weak (usually getting gains of only 3 yards, 10 yards if you’re lucky), and aside from the season and fantasy modes, there was … Continue reading Madden Crushed by NFL 2K1→
Poor, poor Ken. Not only did he NOT obtain his PlayStation 2, as he stated in his Friday column, but he had to explain all that he went through in order to fail in the end. Me, on the other hand, ended up on the ladder of success. Next to this computer monitor, sits my brand new PlayStation2 in all its glory. Believe it or not, I wasn’t really looking forward to getting one in the first place. I’m sure everyone knows my love of Sega, its Dreamcast, and it’s godlike Internet gaming service. Also, with all the trouble I … Continue reading No Lovin’ For Ken→
As I write this review, I am in the middle of watching the World Wrestling Federation’s Summerslam pay-per-view. In typical WWF fashion, the production is top-notch, with nary a hitch. Their rival, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) has taken a major fall from grace, and their last pay-per-view, New Blood Rising, is a perfect example. WWF and WCW video games seem to follow the same story. While I was impressed with both WWF Wrestlemania 2000 on the N64 and Smackdown! on the PlayStation, I did not like WCW Mayhem for either N64 or PlayStation. When I heard that THQ (who made … Continue reading WWF Royal Rumble is WCW Clone→
CRI’s Aerowings was one of the launch titles for the Sega Dreamcast. Featuring a very realistic flight model and graphics that could rival the high end PC flight sims, it was impressive. In fact, it could be considered the first true console flight sim. However, despite being a good title, the squad-based flying became more of a chore, and gamers were looking forward to a little combat. It is now a year since the monumental Dreamcast launch, and now we’re seeing sequels to these launch titles. Aerowings 2: Air Strike is one of those titles, and yes, it does provide … Continue reading Aerowings 2’s Friendly Skies Get More Deadly→
One thing you have to give Sega credit for: they seem to be the only game company to have grapefruits enough to come up with original stuff. Right out of E3 their impressive showing debuted several interesting titles. Space Channel 5, the dancing game, was released last June (when everyone else was playing the same old genres), and later this year Sega fans will be treated to even more original titles with the likes of Jet Grind Radio and Shenmue. In the meantime, another original title has been released. Seaman, which has been mentioned in many Sega publications, and showcased … Continue reading Seaman: New Pet or Potty-mouthed Tamagotchi?→
I know we’ve all gone through a large wave of wrestling-based titles lately. Don’t get me wrong, some of them have been very good (Wrestlemania 2000 and WWF Smackdown come to mind), but most of them are from mediocre to just plain awful. The same can be said for fighting games. Aside from Capcom’s fighters, most are not worth mentioning. But those that are worth mentioning these days are now following the same cookie-cutter format as the past ten or so years. Even the mighty Capcom is falling into the trend they originated. It is about time someone added a … Continue reading Ultimate Fighting Championship takes the belt→
Capcom has been on a roll lately. In the past several months alone, three titles have been released. First of all, we have the impressive anime mech-style Tech Romancer, the long awaited Street Fighter 3, and the much anticipated sequel to Marvel Vs. Capcom. I had a chance to try out all these titles, but for the time being I wanted to review SF3 and MVC2 because over the last few years, since the days of X-Men back in 1994, there has been a heated debate. On one side of the argument, you have the Street Fighter series that has … Continue reading Capcom loads titles on Sega Dreamcast→
Sega’s World Series baseball lineup, until now, always appeared a sure thing to me. It all started when I played the original World Series for the Genesis, which was developed by Blue Sky. This company was also responsible for great Genesis classics such as the Vectorman series. When the Saturn was released in 95, a new Japanese-based development house released their smash hit Greatest Nine to the states, naming it again World Series Baseball. It was one of the earlier launches capable of stealing some thunder from the EA Sports titles released for the PlayStation. As each year passed, the … Continue reading World Series 2K1 loses big→
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