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hello people at dimps I am really looking forward to dbz budokai 3 i am going to do a small "what i am looking forward to about budoakai 3" coloum in my local news paper please send me some screen shots or some new info AND please please answer this question is janemba in this game? thank you for reading this letter in advance

your fan:

-- Chris

You'd want to contact Bandai for assets related to Bandai products. We're a media outlet and don't actually make games, but you've made a common mistake. When you do contact them, I'd recommend using sentences and capital letters and other neat English things.

-- Ivan

Hi Ivan,
Are those KZ related "threats" (mails) for real or did you make them up?

-- Deepak

They were all for real and there were thousands more just like them. They've settled down, but a whole new band of goons are now sending me poorly thought out death threats because of my perceived attitude toward a game our readers are even more protective of.

-- Ivan

Hey, I just wanted to ask you a quick question. I played Jak and Daxter, but not Jak II. I'm still not interested in Jak II, especially now when everybody looks back and says how frustrating and overratted it was. I am very interested in Jak 3, however. But I'm wondering if, especially for storyline reasons (to fill the gap bewteen 1 and 3 and to know new characters), it's worth it for me to play Jak II before Jak 3? What do you think?

-- Vineel

Not really. It helps and some of the characters will suddenly become a lot more important / recognizable, but I wouldn't recommend enduring an inferior product when there's a superior one available. I think you'll still enjoy Jak 3 if you don't understand every bit of the story. I honestly didn't complete Jak 2 (got far into it, though) and I had a great time with Jak 3.

In the end, those who have played through Jak 2 are getting a huge bonus. Those who haven't aren't missing too much.

-- Ivan

This is in response to your article on the need to translate Shadowrun into a MMORPG, or even just a new video game.

If you guys are interested in following up the article, Microsoft currently controls the rights to all the original FASA properties in reguards to their translation to interactive video (more on the "original FASA" stuff in a bit)

Shadowrun: Assassin was the latest attempt that got killed in production, and was going to be a first person shooter ala Deus Ex (if I remember correctly), and a third Shadowrun videogame was released on the Sega Saturn in Japan before the system went the way of the dodo.

One of the major stumbling blocks for media translation is FASA no longer exists. They closed their doors as one of the top RPG and Miniatures game developers about 3-or-so years ago, and converted the most popular lines to FanPro (the European distributor of Shadowrun and Battletech. Shadowrun is HUGE in Europe) for development and control. The transition had almost all of the Original FASA employees now working as FanPro employees, except FASA Interactive went to Microsoft (hence, the reason they control those video game rights). The major money guys behind FanPro are a company called WizKids, a new company within the last few years that's been making a buzz (and also controlled by a number of former FASA employees).

In the end, all of these events have slowed down development of the pen and paper Shadowrun RPG until recently and has spawned an ill-conceived action figure battle game (which failed) and the death of the Battletech live-action TV series (it was supposed to go into production after Star Trek: Voyager had it's final episode because many of the effects crew were going over to that project).

However, nothing would make the fans of this seminal RPG title (currently the 3rd most popular system in print within the Role Playing Game industry) happier than concrete or semiconcrete information about a new video game.

I apologize for the great length of my e-mail, but I was so greatful to find your article about one of my favorite SNES titles and RPGs, and I wanted to let you in on any knowledge that your staff might find interesting. Please let me know if there is anything else I can let you know about this game.

-- Abe

Thank you for the submission, Abe. It was very informative.

-- Ivan

I was wondering if anyone knows if San Andreas is going to reach the x box console. If so when?

-- Aaron

Rumors point to February, but I personally find that a bit unlikely. I'd wager that if it were to happen, it'd happen next fall. Then again, Rockstar traditionally keeps quiet about such things and I'm not privy to the specifics behind the Sony exclusivity agreement, so I can't do anything more than speculate.

-- Ivan

What ever happened to the Power Stone games? They were awesome party games and great fighting games. Does Capcom plan on bringing back the series?

-- Daniel

Highly unlikely. The Dreamcast sequel didn't manage to sell enough to warrant further development, so Capcom pretty much ditched the franchise. It is possible, however, that a similar game under a different brand will appear within the next two years.

-- Ivan

I've seen the boxart for MGS3, but I just now caught the "Online" stamp on the box, yet I was told earlier that MGS3 wasn't going to have online content by somebody here at IGN.

Can you tell me what kind of Online content MGS3 is going to have, if any, or is it just a mistake?

-- Pacokorn

Everything we've been told indicates that you will be able to compare ratings online, but that there will be no actual downloadable content, since the title will not support the hard drive. That is always subject to change, however.

-- Ivan

The threats of violence against the reader in your Jak 3 review were sophmoric and dumb. Beating someone to death isn't funny or informative. It's just unprofessional. Stop the lowest common denominator journalism, please.

-- Mark

Give me a ***damned break.

-- Ivan

I will when you start writing like an adult. Your audience isn't just 14 year olds.

-- Mark

And you'd think that our adult audience would be capable of tolerating a little juvenile humor from time-to-time, as opposed to being stoic nitpickers who need unnecessary doses of seriousness to accompany their bloody Jak 3 review for the PlayStation 2 videogame system.

Yank the tree trunk out of your behind and crack a smile on occasion. It's healthy.

-- Ivan

I'm not the guy who EVER does this. I'm an advertising writer. I'm an "edgy" guy. I play San Andreas. I'm not a holier-than-thou Christian conservative type. At all.

Remember that there are plenty of 13 year old readers out there, like my son, who read your attempt at humor and say "it must be cool to talk about beating someone to death." Yes, they do. (I didn't let my son read it, so don't tell me I should've done a better job of parenting.) I mean, do we really need that? And if you feel like we do, can you save it for your reviews of the M-rated games?

And even if you take that element out of it, it's crappy journalism. It's not edgy. It's not cool. It's going for shock value. Juvenile humor is fine, it just needs to be funny.

-- Mark

Number One: It's a critique of a videogame, not cutting edge journalism.

Number Two: You first warned me that not all of our readers were fourteen-year-olds, with the implication that because there are adults who frequent IGN, the writing should also cater toward them and not be so "sophomoric." Those were your words. Now you're saying the line was not suitable for your thirteen-year-old... Do you even know what you're arguing anymore?

I honestly suspect you're defending a point simply to defend it (conceding seems to be a notion lost on all net denizens, ourselves included). If you're not, your request basically boils down to you wanting us to change our article simply because of some trivial line you happen to take offense to. The problem with this is two fold.

First, you assume too much of our audience (who they are and what they are and are not capable of reading without being irrevocably altered for the worse). Second, every bastard on the Internet takes offense to some ***damned thing. If we caved to every request to stymie our own personalities when we write, we might as well just retype the back of game boxes and be done with it.

"If you like games, you'll buy this immediately or we'll come to your house and beat you to death." If you and your boy are prone to taking sentences like the above so literally you actually endanger yourselves, just purchase a cave, stock up on canned goods, and trouble the rest of us no more.

-- Ivan

Sure, I expected all that. Your line is both sophmoric and inappropriate for fourteen year olds? Too complex for you?

You really shouldn't put your e-mail at the bottom of your reviews if you can't take criticism from "every bastard on the internet."

Good luck in your future endeavors. For your own sake, leave this particular review out of the stack when you interview for your next job. Trust me.

-- Mark

You're grabbing at air, Mark. I understand everything you say but that doesn't make your argument valid. I'm sorry, but you're reaching and complaining for the sake of complaining.

I can take criticism. But that doesn't mean I have to take it lying down.

Here's the bottom-line: You took offense to something a nun wouldn't be bothered by and I called you on it because I don't see a problem. If you still do and are unwavering in this (which you appear to be), please enjoy your life of staunch literalism.

-- Ivan

Hey, I just wanted my voice to be heard. Mission accomplished.

-- Mark

Fair enough. I can understand that.

-- Ivan

CAPCOM SUCKS.RE4 SHOULD STAY A GAMECUBE EXCLUSIVE.I SHOULD GO OVER THERE WITH MY BROTHERS HUNTING RIFLE AND SHOOT THEM ALL.THERE ALL A**HOLES

-- GBA Shell

We're all proud of you, GBA Shell.

In seriousness, I fail to see the problem with RE4 coming to the PlayStation 2, but it sure does have a bunch of GameCube fans in an uproar.

The way I see it, the distribution of a title across multiple platforms benefits the gamer, the developer, the publisher, and the franchise that is being distributed. The only conceivable downside of any real pertinence is the potential for a technologically inadequate game designed to fit into the rigid confines of the lowest common denominator. In Resident Evil 4's case, this will not be an issue.

Because GameCube development has been going along for so long now and since it will be released so shortly, there's literally zero chance of them going back and making the game uglier so that the port will work better.

-- Ivan

Ivan,
Thanks for posting all the Killzone feedback, I know you're not supposed laugh at retarded folks, but you really make it hard not to.

Question: About what percent of gamers actually play console games online? There is a lot of time devoted to the online components of games, but the last I heard, it was still a relatively low number.

Comment: I played the demo for Killzone, waited for your review to make the purchase, read the review, decided to rent the game to make my own call and it turns out Killzone is a smoking turd that got a very favorable review.

Great job

-- Jared

There are just over a million Xbox Live subscribers at last count, which was about three months ago. Roughly 3.5 to 4 million PS2 users are online. Here's the problem with the numbers: I'm not sure if that 3.5 to 4 million is the amount of North American PS2 gamers who are online or worldwide gamers who are online. I also don't know if that number is entirely accurate. I have a call in at Sony and they'll let me know for sure. In any event, it's still a relatively insignificant portion of gamers (there are roughly 70 million installed PS2s worldwide).

-- Ivan

Is Moto GP 4 available anywhere? I would like this for a Christmas present is possible.

-- Fred

No, I don't think we'll see that one until late in 2005, if at all. It wasn't present at Namco's recent press event, so we're unsure of its current status.

-- Ivan

Hi, my names is Benny, i'v never writin to u before but i just wanted to no if u are going to put some guids of how to created wrestlers. E-mail me back and tell me plz. Thanks

-- Benito

Jeremy actually wrote seven pages on this topic. Please find that here.

-- Ivan

Hey, Great site. I always go to IGN's PS2 page when I want reviews, previews, video and cheats. Have for years.

My question is, are there plans, rumours, inklings regarding a possible EA Sports Big Street series for NHL Hockey?

It would be totally sweet. 3 on 3 or 4 on 4. Rollerblades, street shoes, skates. Playing in alleys, driveways, rooftops. Huge hits, plays, fights. What's not to love?

Any thoughts?

I've seen that there's a FIFA Street coming out and I'm sad that Soccer beat Hockey to the Street.

Peace.

-- Andrew

There's no official word, but EA does own Black Box, which developed NHL Hitz, among other things (like Hot Pursuit 2). As far as we know, Black Box isn't working on anything official right now (and hasn't been since NHL 2004), so an NHL Street game would make sense. The problem is licensing. We're honestly not sure how the licensing is going to work with all the players on strike. Hopefully that will clear up soon.

-- Ivan

IGN,
I just read your "Classics Reborn" and I can't agree more. MLF is loooong overdue for an update.

http://www.petitiononline.com/MLF/

Pass that on to any Mutant League fans you know!

Great site!

-- Ian

Consider your petition passed on. Hopefully our readership cares enough to click on it.

-- Ivan

Well folks... I completed Halo 2 over the weekend. While I haven't been deeply involved in multiplayer (and likely won't be since I gravitate more toward PC first-person shooters for that particular thrill), I did find the game to be quite enjoyable.

Even though it is gorgeous, Halo 2 is very dark and not as magical as the first. Oddly, it also features some of the same problematic LOD popping issues that Killzone has, though they're not quite as severe. The inclusion of some kind of Incubus riff is also sacrilegious. Those faults in mind, I still like the action and the pacing, but the conclusion is utter garbage.

I can't fathom how anyone approved this game's ending. It's the worst cliffhanger of all videogaming time because it's actually six lame cliffhangers rolled into one and it'll take one to three years of Halo 3 development to tie them all up. What if Lucas cut Return of the Jedi back on Tatooine when Luke was about to be tossed into the Sarlac pit instead of at the real end of the movie? It's that ridiculous (though Master Chief isn't about to be dropped into the belly of a horrible sand monster).

The end reeks of a time shortage or some kind of planned obsolescence. Maybe November 9th couldn't change and they had to make cuts? Maybe it was planned all along and the intention of Microsoft was to crank out post-market downloadable content or another Halo for Xbox 2 launch? Either way, it's totally unacceptable and I feel very strongly that reviewers are grossly overlooking this particular fault. A game that does not satisfy when it ends is a problem.

In any event, I still believe Halo 2 is an exceptionally enjoyable title, even if it is very much an extension of Halo the first. The campaign is enjoyable, until it was over and I cried out in anger, and I had lots of fun with it, until it was over and I cried out in anger.

-- Ivan "Deez Nuts" Sulic