Originally this commentary was going to be entitled "What the hell is up with EA lately?" However, some shocking events taking place the Tokyo Game Show have caused me to do a minor change. I will still go into the sudden change (for the better) of what Electronic Arts has been up to lately, but I must begin with some bad news. As I predicted back at E3 this year, and as Ken noted in his last week’s corner column, Sega was full of hot air when they claimed that they would still support the Dreamcast until first quarter 2002. … Continue reading Tokyo Express→
I normally do not do editorials for GiN, but I thought I would take a moment to share my thoughts on preordering a Microsoft Xbox gaming system. I did find a way to customize getting screwed, which at least made me less irritated by the end of this process. But I am jumping ahead of myself and will come to that in a few moments. Every time a new system appears on the radar of the gaming world, I think to myself that I will wait and buy it later on, even though there is one right there in the … Continue reading Pre-Order Works→
With the US launch of the Game Boy Advance, and last fall’s launch of the PlayStation 2, it seems that all retailers have to follow a series of horrifying trends in order to increase their profits. Look at the hell I went through last year trying to get my hands on a PlayStation 2, eventually winning the right to buy one in a lottery. Now I ended up having to go through the same thing in order to procure a Game Boy Advance! Right after returning from E3, I decided I was going to own a GBA, and I went … Continue reading Bundles, holdouts, and sellouts→
The GiN exclusive investigation into the plight of booth babes at E3 this year has certainly stirred up a lot of controversy. No fewer than 200 letters from readers arrived the day after the piece was published. Many more continue to pour in, even weeks later. GiN has always strived to be a community newspaper for the game industry and as such, we have randomly chosen several letters from among those submitted to publish here. We made sure the sample had a mixture of both industry and consumer readers. We think this is the best way to get into the … Continue reading We Really Stirred Things Up→
AN EYE OPENER TO A PROBLEM I’ve just gotten back from E3, land of games and sex. Sex? More realistically, E3 is about games and the tease of sex. There isn’t any commercial sex there, other than what is always available in LA I suppose. Don’t forget Heidi Fleiss worked the LA market. But even without prostitutes, a lot of exploitation of women goes on right there on the show floor. You know what I’m talking about if you have ever been to E3. The young women, usually called Booth Babes, appear in booths with two goals in mind: first, … Continue reading Exploitation On The Show Floor→
Another E3 has wrapped up, and with it Todd and Ken (not to mention the rest of us) say farewell, but not before giving their impressions of the show. And since the local news was relatively tame tonight, our intrepid heroes (one of whom is self-flagellating – and no, I’m not going to say which one) may actually focus on events of the show. One can only hope. E3 DAY 3: XBOX DISAPPOINTS WHILE GAMECUBE SOARS By: Todd Hargosh, GiN Director of Product Testing Is it me, or does it seem like these three days came by too darn quickly? … Continue reading Wrap It Up→
Well, we thought nothing could make the fantasy world of E3 more fantastic would be to pit our own Todd Hargosh and Ken Urben in rival columns about the show. Things are heating up as both contestants don their gloves and recieve last minute instructions from their managers. They shake, and there’s the bell…. E3 DAY 1: THE BEGINNING By: Todd Hargosh, GiN Director of Product Testing As I am writing this review in my hotel room, I am also watching Los Angeles Channel 13 (KCOP) news. After watching some of the best news broadcast I have seen in a … Continue reading It Begins!→
The 2000 Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences may have been held back on March 22nd, but the actual awards were distributed this evening at the L.A. Convention Center. Diablo 2 won the coveted Game of the Year honors, and Electronic Arts snagged 5 individual honors for their PS2 snowboarding hit SSX. Here is a list of all the categories and the award winners: CRAFT AWARDS Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction-Final Fantasy IX (Square-PSX) Outstanding Achievement in Animation-Final Fantasy IX (Square-PSX) Outstanding Achievement in Sound-Medal of Honor: Underground (Dreamworks Interactive-PSX) Outstanding Achievement in Musical Composition-Medal of Honor: Underground (Dreamworks Interactive-PSX) … Continue reading AIAS Awards→
Last year we predicted that the E3 show would be the largest and most exciting show ever. For the most part, we were correct. But this year promises to be even more interesting. The console war this year is in full swing, with Sega having stumbled out of the hardware side of the market. Last year it was Sega vs. Sony vs. Nintendo. But just when Sega has been relegated to also-ran status, here comes Microsoft. Looks like we will have a three-way race once more. GiN has appointments with all the top competitors, so we will be there to … Continue reading E3 Promise→
Sometimes I hate my job! I really hate it when I express loyalty towards a system, only to have the system’s developer stab me in the back. I’ve been there before, most noticeably with the Atari 7800 (Dang you Tramiel! I should have known when you were fired by Commodore that you’d be up to no good.), and when Nintendo shoved their 8-bit NES to the back burner when they launched the SNES without backward compatibility. No wonder why I am so harsh against certain companies! Unfortunately, I never thought I’d be expressing the same hatred against Sega. I’ve been … Continue reading Backstabbed→
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