Game Informer Issue 129

Features:

• Letter From the Editor: The Year in Review? (Andy McNamara discusses the changes made to the magazine's Games of the Year feature)
• Dear GI (Reader Letters, Responses and Artwork)
• A First Look At Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix releases first screenshots from next Final Fantasy)
• Sony's PSP Concept (Sony's releases first concept images for their portable system, the PSP)
• Calling It A Comeback (EA returning to video game boxing with Fight Night 2004)
• IBM Controles Next Consoles (IBM to supply chips for all three next-generation systems)
• By The Light Of A Red Moon (Acclaim announces video games based on comics 100 Bullets and Red Star)
• Activision Drops 10 Titles (Activision announces it is dropping publishing duties on 10 titles, including Trinity and Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder 2)
• Classic GI (A look back at SNK and it's Neo Geo hardware)

Cover Story: The Year in Review 2003 (Game Informer gives a review of the major events of the past year as well as its picks for the top 50 games for 2003)

 

 

 

• SimCity 4 (PC)
• Dark Cloud 2 (PS2)
• Xenosaga Episode 1: Der Wille Zur Macht (PS2)
• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC)
• Midnight Club II (PS2, XBOX, PC)
• Ikaruga (GC)
• NBA Street Vol. 2 (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War (XBOX)
• Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)
• Wario Ware, Inc.: Mega Microgames (GBA)
• Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (GBA)
• WarCraft III: Frozen Throne (PC)
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (XBOX, PC)
• Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild (PS2)
• Madden NFL 2004 (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution (PS2)
• Tron 2.0 (PC)
• Disgaea: Hours of Darkness (PS2)
• Soul Calibur II (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (GBA)
• ESPN NFL Football (PS2, XBOX)
• Homeworld 2 (PC)
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• NHL 2004 (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• Viewtiful Joe (GC)
• Jak II (PS2)
• Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (PS2, XBOX , PC)
• Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge (XBOX)
• SSX 3 (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)
• ESPN NBA Basketball (PS2, XBOX)
• Gladius (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• Rainbow Six 3 (XBOX)
• Tony Hawk's Underground (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• Top Spin (XBOX)
• Call of Duty (PC)
• Fire Emblem (GBA)
• SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs (PS2)
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (PS2, XBOX, GC, PC)
• Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (PS2)
• Beyond Good & Evil (PS2, XBOX, GC, PC)
• Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GC)
• Project Gotham Racing 2 (XBOX)
• Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2)
• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
• Manhunt (PS2)
• Need for Speed: Underground (PS2, XBOX, GC, PC)
• Deus Ex: Invisible War (PC, XBOX)
• Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly (PS2)
• The Sims: Bustin' Out (PS2, XBOX, GC)

100 Bullets (PS2, XBOX)(A look at one of the announced comic-book games to be developed and published by Acclaim)

Previews:

• Nightshade (PS2)
• NFL Street (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• Advent Rising (XBOX, PC)
• Onimusha 3 (PS2)
• Sudeki (XBOX)
• MX Unleashed (PS2, XBOX)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (PS2)
• Mas Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (PS2, XBOX)
• James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• Driver 3 (PS2, XBOX, PC)
• Joint Operations (PC)
• Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (PS2, XBOX)
• Cold Winter (PS2)
• The Matrix Online (PC)
• Mafia (PS2, XBOX)

PlayStation 2 Reviews:

• Manhunt
• R: Racing Evolution
• Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly
• Legacy of Kain: Defiance
• Spy Hunter 2
• RPG Maker II
• The Sims: Bustin' Out
• Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde
• Spawn: Armageddon
• Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
• Whiplash
• I-Ninja
• Harry Potter And the Sorcerer's Stone
• Fugitive Hunter

Gamecube Reviews:

• 1080° Avalanche
• Sonic Heroes
• True Crime: Streets of LA
• Gotcha Force
• The Sims: Bustin' Out
• The Hobbit
• Pokemon Channel
• Pac-Man Vs.

XBOX Reviews:

• Rainbow Six 3
• Deus Ex: Invisible War
• Armed and Dangerous
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
• Grand Theft Auto III/Vice City
• Counter-Strike
• Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix
• Star Wars: Jedi Academy
• Legacy of Kain: Defiance
• Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde
• ARX Fatalis
• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - G.O.T.Y. Edition
• True Crime: Streets of LA
• Battlestar Galactica

PC Reviews:

• Deus Ex: Invisible War
• Final Fantasy XI
• Civilization III: Conquests
• Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna
• Hidden & Dangerous 2
• The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring
• Commandos 3: Destination Berlin

Game Boy Advance Reviews:

• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
• Sword of Mana
• Max Payne

Quickie Reviews (Small, one-paragraph reviews):

• Cabela's Dangerous Hunts (PS2)
• Celebrity Deathmatch (PS2, XBOX)
• Hot Wheels World Race (PS2)
• Battlestar Galactica (PS2)
• Looney Tunes: Back in Action (PS2)
• Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (PS2)
• NCAA March Madness 2004 (PS2)
• Bionicle (GC)
• Goblin Commander (GC)
• Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Falsebound Kingdom (GC)
• Secret Weapons Over Normandy (XBOX)
• Maximum Chase (XBOX)
• Whiplash (XBOX)
• Spawn: Armageddon (XBOX)
• Drake of the 99 Dragons (XBOX)
• Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon (XBOX)
• Korea: Forgotten Conflict (PC)
• Patrician III (PC)
• The Black Mirror (PC)
• Pirate Hunter: Seize and Destroy (PC)
• Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi (PC)
• Planetside: Core Combat (PC)
• Contract J.A.C.K. (PC)
• Super Duper Sumos (GBA)
• Scooby Doo! Mystery Mayhem (GBA)
• Tak and the Power of Juju (GBA)
• Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon (GBA)
• Top Gear Rally (GBA)
• Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs (GBA)
• The Sims: Bustin' Out (GBA)

Secret Access (Cheat Codes):

• NBA Live 2004 (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• Tony Hawk's Underground (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This At Home (PS2)
• Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (PS2, XBOX)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• Mega Man X7 (PS2)
• Rogue Ops (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• True Crime: Streets of LA (PS2, XBOX, GC)
• Grand Theft Auto III (XBOX)
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (XBOX)
• Rainbow Six 3 (XBOX)
• Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike (GC)

Classic Reviews:

• Descent (PC)
• Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure (SNES)
• Rising Zan: Samurai Gunman (PS)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (NES)