archives 2004-09-14 2004-09-13 2004-09-01 2004-08-30 2004-08-27 2004-08-26 2004-08-25 2004-08-24 2004-08-17 2004-08-13 2004-08-09 2004-08-06 2004-08-05 2004-08-03 2004-07-19 2004-07-14 2004-07-12 2004-07-09 2004-07-06 2004-06-25

Hey Ivan old bud,
Read your preview of PoP the Warrior Within, and while I was quite pleased with it, there was no mention of whether or not the Prince would have a partner this time around. Judging by your primer on the story, I don't think Farah's going to be around very much this time around... But does that make him solo throughout the game?

In the last game, Farah was really just a liability in a fight... she never did anything particularly useful in combat, and it was annoying how she'd find a convenient skinny-girl crack to go through while you ran up walls and the such... It'd be nice if you had some degree of control over said partner in the second one, at the very least.

Anyway, keep up the mailbag.

-- Grasilich

No Farah...sweet, sweet Farah. As far as I know (and I know an awful lot), Prince will not have a partner this time 'round. He will meet plenty of good, bad, and indifferent characters, but there will not be a sidekick.

Frankly, that upsets me. Even if she was useless, Farah added to the game. The relationship that developed between her and the Prince was pivotal to storyline progression and made the last few portions of the experience that much more thrilling.

Given her omission and the fact that Ubisoft has opted to change the Prince's voice (and Yuri did an absolutely fantastic job the first time through), I'm a little worried that Warrior Within will lose a lot of its charm. Still, no other third-person action adventure has me this excited and I'd be crazy to publicly doubt the talent of Ubi Montreal, so I'm sure it'll still rock.

-- Ivan

Hi Jeremy please sent me all from J.B.L John Cena and were have the titles I come from Germany (Braunlage) and I can a little bit English. Please sent me a E-mail.

-- Kevin Kahn

Those profiles will be coming up before November. If you'd like to see them, click on the bloody site because I'm not about to email you anything, ever. In fact, I'm not even going to email you this response. How do you like them apples?

-- Ivan

Hmmm.... with the recent announcement of this FF7 Vincent spin off game I get the feel that Square is really whoring the FF7 brand name out... I am incredibly psyched for Advent children but then they're releasing that Cell Phone Turks game? And now this? If Square is going to make a sequel then they should stop half-assing it and make a full blown FF7 RPG Sequel. Whats your opinion on this?

-- Peter

I've never been a Final Fantasy fan, so I don't care (at all). My kind of RPG begins with Ultima VII and ends with Baldur's Gate or Planescape Torment. Anyway, I find the combat and melodramatic storylines of most conventional Japanese RPGs to be uninteresting, which is part of the reason why I'm not particularly excited about Third Age (that and I've only seen the damn Mines of Moria every single time EA has shown it).

Jeremy, on the other hand, likes RPGs quite a bit. He doesn't believe Squeenix should make a sequel at all. He thinks they should "leave well enough alone," though he's quick to point out that since he's a huge fan of Japanese styled RPGs of the sort, and even a devout follower of the FF series, he'll definitely buy it anyway. If a sequel has to happen, he admits that the real game he'd like to see made would be a follow-up to Final Fantasy IV, which released in North America as Final Fantasy II.

[The clearly wrong opinions of Ivan Sulic as seen in this mailbag are his own and do not represent those of IGN.com, its subsidiaries, or sister/parent companies.]

-- Ivan

I think it would be cool if Frank iterrogated the men by threatening to slowly crush the enemy with a cargo container and if they won't spill their guts he can drop the cargo container on them.

-- Jordan

Be more creative. If you're going to use the cargo container in The Punisher to interrogate people, why not have Frank tie the man to the box, raise it with a crane, and then swing it into stuff like a wall of sharks, or a porno theater that's on fire, or the gaping wound of the tauntaun Han had to cut open so he and Luke could sleep in it on Hoth.

[The disgusting opinions of Ivan Sulic as seen in this mailbag are his own and do not represent those of IGN.com, its subsidiaries, or sister/parent companies.]

-- Ivan

Can you fly the 2 engine and single engine prop planes and are the physics more realistic?

-- Kris

I'd love to see the physics of you falling out of a plane. I bet you'd be complaining the whole way down about how the aerodynamics aren't what you feel they should be intuitively. How about stating a question that actually has some sort of a basis? See, it's better when you set it up with a setting like "In my favorite game about to come out, Soul Plane, there are lots of planes. Keeping that in mind, I was curious about the soulful physics of said plane and other planes that might be in the funk right along with it. What do you think about this fine conjecture?"

And then we'd tell you to go do something unsanitary to a rabbit and call it a day, but at least it would make sense and we could provide some useful information in the mailbag. Right, back to my quadruple latte with a layer of foamed crystal methamphetamine, I'm getting tired.

[The opinions of Ed Lewis as seen in this mailbag are probably similar to Ivan's and thus do not represent those of IGN.com, its subsidiaries, or sister/parent companies.]

-- Ed

Heard at IGN: I'm not big on tooting my own horn, but I had the distinct pleasure of being able to bust this baby out earlier to a very well respected industry veteran. In retrospect, this conversation was the highlight of my career. And yes, I was honestly looking for an answer.

"Since we're on the subject of homes and houses, do you know any attractive girls (preferably strippers) who would want to serve drinks in lingerie at a local poker game of mine for money?"

I didn't get any definite answer, but I was promised the matter would be looked into.

-- Ivan

Can I ask you a few honest questions that's been on my mind, as well as other MGS fans? Are you guys not hyping up MGS3 due to the dissapointment you felt from MGS2, and will you rate MGS3 harder because of the high score you gave the last game, despite its faults (i.e overrated it because of the hype generated from it)?

-- Jag

We're not covering Snake Eater because we haven't received anything to cover. The only time we hype games is if we see and play them and are legitimately impressed. Hype, after all, is just a very positive form of coverage. Nothing to cover means no coverage, which implies no hype. It's not personal.

As it stands, I'll be reviewing Snake Eater. I beat Metal Gear and Snake's Revenge on NES, I beat Solid, I beat Sons of Liberty, and I beat Twin Snakes, so I think I'm pretty well qualified. I even play all the other techno spy / stealth action / tactical espionage / here's-a-couple-of-stupid-ass-buzzwords-to-explain-our-stupid-ass-game, games.

I'll judge Metal Gear fairly because I try to judge all games fairly. If the story is convoluted and detracts from the gameplay, I'm going to say so. If the gameplay is tired and offers little new to the genre or the series, I'm going to say so. If the much ballyhooed eating mechanic is nothing more than mobile health packs, I'm going to say so. Above all, if the game is damn good, I'm going to say so.

If it's as great as gaming gets these days, I won't be afraid to give it a ten. If it's the worst thing ever, I sure as hell won't be afraid to give it a zero. Expectation means nothing to me.

[The opinions of Ivan Sulic as seen in this mailbag are his own and do not represent those of IGN.com, its subsidiaries, or sister/parent companies.]

-- Ivan

I know it's been a while but is this game coming to the States anytime soon? How about any other boxing games in development?
Thanks!

-- Henry

Hajime no Ippo 2: Victorious Road, as it's known in Japan, hasn't been announced for stateside release. Whether or not it happens is impossible to say. Unfortunately, there's no way for us to know if it will ever happen because there's simply no one around here to call about it.

I suppose it's time to flip a coin.

-- Ivan

Demon Stone, the latest offer from the mideval hack and slash I love so much, has been released for a few days now but IGN has yet to review it. I value you guys' opinion on videogames very much. In fact, I refuse to buy a game unless it has scored an 8.5 or higher according to your standards. I am contemplating buying Demon Stone but I need your opinion on it first before I shell out the $60. I know you guys are busy but you usually review a game well before its release date so I just thought I would ask. Thank you for your time.

-- Nikk

Jeremy gave it a 7.3. I was a bit less impressed than he was, but it's still a decent game.

I completed both The Two Towers and Return of the King and like a good beat 'em up as much as the next guy, but Demon Stone really didn't appeal to me despite being created by the developers of Two Towers.

It's a gorgeous title (absolutely fantastic engine), has incredible sound and music, good voice acting, and a mildly entertaining storyline D&D; buffs will likely appreciate. But, there are too few environments, the combat is painfully simplistic, and upgrading your character is so straightforward the game could have done without it and just automatically granted new crap at the beginning of each new mission.

There's really not a lot of depth to Demon Stone and the AI never works the roles it's supposed to, which makes the game more about babysitting teammates than playing the way you want to play, as its tagline might suggest. In all, it's a bit disappointing, especially coming from the folks behind Two Towers, which set a precedent for the genre.

[The opinions of Ivan Sulic as seen in this mailbag are his own and do not represent those of IGN.com, its subsidiaries, or sister/parent companies.]

-- Ivan

To the guy that had trouble with FFXI, I'd like to reccomend creating a new user I.D and password. I don't know if having the same info (name address ETC) is a problem, but I'd imagine that creating a new I.D. and password could help. Because, shelling out any more money for something that you own (that's not broken) is insane IMO.

Oh Ivan, I do have a question. Do you know when they'll do a THUG 2 vid preview on the insider chanel? I ask, because I love the series and I'm an insider. So, I'm just wondering if you know, that's all.

Also, what's up with Gamestop listing PSP games in December? I thought the PSP wasn't coming until March 2005. What's the sense of having games for a system that's not even out?

OK, that's it. You guys do a great job and your reviews generally help me decide what games to get or not. Keep up the good work.

-- Hawkfan

There you go, FFXI dude.

About THUG 2: we usually don't do video previews until we get enough in-game video to fill one or have a build in-house. Since neither has happened, and likely won't until we inch closer to the game's release later this fall, don't expect anything soon.

About CrapStop.com and other GameCrap.com retailers: Online retailers are notoriously untrustworthy when it comes to predicting release dates because some idiot who does database work for the sites probably just pulls them clean out of his ass. Don't believe anything they say, ever. Jeremy Dunham, conversely, knows the release date for every single PS2 game ever made (no joke). What he says goes. Listen to him. Listen to the workaholic truth.

Thanks for the praise, bud.

[The opinions of Ivan Sulic as seen in this mailbag are his own and do not represent those of IGN.com, its subsidiaries, or sister/parent companies.]

-- Ivan

hey 'deez nutz' i have noticed that the xbox version of street fighter anniversary is scheduled for release on oct 29th in the uk. i have been waiting on this game since i saw your preview/review and im intrested if there is any information regarding the ps2 version in the uk? i am really looking forward to playing street fighter 3 on the ps2 as i have yet to play it at all. thx Pompa

-- Pompa

Street Fighter has not been announced for PS2 release in Europe. Right now, Europeans are only getting the Xbox version, which you know about. Can't say I really know why this is the case, but that's just the way it is. Hopefully something will change. If it does, we'll let you know on the site or in the mailbag, promise.

-- Ivan

Regarding Need for Speed selling seven million units. Is that even possible? Those numbers make me want to slit my wrists! I guess that just proves what the stupid masses will buy. I'll admit, I enjoyed Underground at first(but not enought to buy it), until I couldn't stand the fact that it a) only took place at night b) forced you to take "shortcuts" to win races c) had the over-whelmingly in-your-face-you-gotta-have-attitude-to-win-respect-on-the-streets-theme. Enough of games trying to earn "respect" or race for girlfriends like in SRS. I play games to do things I normally wouldn't be able to do. Like smash cars into oblivion in BO3 or mow down hordes of innocents and law-enforcement types in GTA:anyhting.

One last thing, I really, really hate EA. And them buying up Critereon only makes my hate them more.

Great site.

-- Ivan Lost His Name

I really don't like the hip-hop, bling-bling, respect, prance around half naked digital women racing games either. I'm into straight racing, not seeing how stupidly "fly" I can make my piece of crap ride, but I guess gamers who like playing games are becoming more of a minority in our industry.

Can't say I hate EA, though. In fact, I think that company is easily one of the best publishers around. Obviously it's the biggest, but that only helps it to make better titles with uncannily high production values and in ridiculously short times. Sure, there's the occasional Catwoman stain on the resume, but then there are also plenty of noteworthy games. Not mentioning a stellar sports lineup, EA has a tendency of doing licensed franchises justice and making some consistently solid products, however formulaic they may be. Good stuff, as far as I'm concerned.

From our outsider perspective, the Criterion buyout should help those English blokes quite a bit. First of all, EA would have to dish out a ridiculous amount of money to purchase the famed creators of RenderWare, which powers somewhere around 30% of all videogames made. That's a hell of a lot of companies paying Criterion a hell of a lot of money for their middleware. That kind of industry-wide dominance doesn't come cheap.

As for the gaming division, while EA was the company unfortunately responsible for the atrocious soundtrack included in Burnout 3 (the same one that should be wiped off the face of the Earth with fire), it's also going to be the company that will provide Criterion the resources needed to make the super anticipated Black that much better.

[The opinions of Ivan Sulic as seen in this mailbag are his own and do not represent those of IGN.com, its subsidiaries, or sister/parent companies.]

-- Ivan

Hey Ivan,
Were you kidding when you mentioned Burnout 3 not selling in yesterdays mailbag? God, my faith in people in general, let alone the gamer population, is already in the negative range. Burnout 3 deserves to sell 4 million copies, but until kids stop calling it Project Gotham in Best Buy (for real, it happened), I will weep myself to sleep.

-- Matthew

No joke. Everything we've heard indicates that Burnout sales are pretty slow. I'm still hopeful, though. When word of mouth catches on, there's no way this game won't sell. It's just that great.

Think about this, Prince of Persia was a disaster for Ubisoft when it shipped last year around this time. Thankfully, after the winter shopping rush ended, word of mouth spread so fast and so far that the little Canadian gem still managed to sell three million units at retail, which is incredibly impressive for a title of the type.

-- Ivan

So, I'm completely fine with you guys being drunk as much as you want. So long as you review games sober, you can be drunk the rest of the time, and I won't think twice about coming to this great site. But, as it happens, I'm straightedge. I don't drink, nor have I ever, nor will I ever. I only bring this up for one reason: Katamari Damacy. I generally hate uber-Japanese games, and most games without guns bore me, but this game looks incredible. So the question is, is the game amazing no matter what your state of inebriation, or do I just have a case of wishful thinking?

Please, for the love of god, review games while sober. Otherwise, go nuts.

-- Mike

It's fun no matter what. If you have a kid around, it's even better. Very original, very awesome, but very short. That's Katamari. Thankfully, it's only $20. So buy up and watch adults and children alike smile.

-- Ivan

Hey Ign...ya i've been hearing alot of rumors about how this years version of EA's holy grail won't have create a player. For one that feature makes the game and would seriously discourage my purchasing the game. In close, what i really need to know is if this feature is really not included and if anyone at IGN has some info on this discrepency. Thanks for your time

-- Nick

NHL 2005 does not have create-a-player. Originally the team wanted to implement a very elaborate Tiger Woods inspired Game Face system that would allow people to create and then customize just about everything. Sadly, they plain ran out of time and realized that wasn't going to make it in. Unfortunately, they were left with so little time to work something out, it wasn't even possible to put in a normal create-a-player.

It's a guarantee that next year's 2006 title will have it in, however.

-- Ivan

Well folks... I got Fable today. Dan asked if I was planning on being good or evil, as if there were some sort of choice for a person like me. I'm not even good in games that don't offer the choice! If the computer is about to win in something like Madden, I'll actually kick it into the wall just in case it's sentient and has feelings. I'm really that bad.

When I was young, an acquaintance of mine once asked me to play him in Virtua Fighter, which I knew he was infinitely better at than me. My response was, "I don't like beating fat suicidal kids till they cry because I don't want whatever s*** happens afterward to be on my head, but I suppose I should do more charity for retarded people, so I guess I got time to take a dive or two for you."

I thought to myself, "Excellent comeback, Ivan." At the same time, his mom was apparently thinking, "Where's the closest rolling pin and how hard do I have to swing to rupture a boy's eye socket?"

Good or evil? Are you frickin' kidding me? My face still aches in the rain, but there's no going back for me because I didn't come from anywhere good to go back to. Oh well.

[The absolutely awful, incredibly offensive, politically incorrect, wretched opinions of Ivan Sulic as seen in this mailbag are his own and do not represent those of IGN.com, its subsidiaries, or sister/parent companies.]

-- Ivan "Deez Nuts" Sulic