Game Informer Issue 161

Features:

• Letter From the Editor: The PlayStation 3 Predicament (Andy McNamara discusses the issues surrounding the new console)
• Dear GI (Reader Letters, Responses and Artwork)
• XBOX Live in Progress (Article on the current state of the service and how it compares to Microsoft’s lofty ambitions for it)
• Behind the Mic (A look at voice acting in video games)
• Valve Opens Episode Two Portal (Valve announces compilation release for Half-Life 2: Episode Two that will include Team Fortress 2 and Portal)
• The ’07 NBA Tipoff (Overview on the 2007 NBA games)
• Big Changes For E3 (The ESA announces a scale-back for the annual event)
• This Story is Happy End (Interview with Tomm Hulett, assistant QA manager/editor for Atlas USA, Jyun Takagi, localization specialist at Square Enix, and Bill Trinen and Nate Bihldorff of Nintendo on the process of localization)
• The Day Azeroth Died? (Interview with Tom Chilton, lead game designer on The Burning Crusade, about the decision to share paladins and shaman with both the Alliance and Horde)
• Interview: Bill Roper (Interview with the CEO of Flagship Studios)
• Classic GI (A look how the Silent Hill movies follows the events of the games)

Cover Story: Bully (PS2)(Extensive look at Rockstar’s next game, which has drawn the ire of critics due to its high school setting)

Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3, 360)(Having found success in the multiplayer realm with its hit Battlefield series, DICE now takes on the challenge of crafting a compelling single-player experience that can stand tall with it’s phenomenal multiplayer experience)

Previews:

• Splinter Cell: Double Agent (360, PS2, XBOX, GC, PC)
• God of War II (PS2)
• Call of Duty 3 (PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, XBOX)
• Scarface: The World is Yours (PS2, XBOX)
• F.E.A.R. (360)
• Star Trek Legacy (360, PC)
• Phantasy Star Universe (360, PS2, PC)
• Eragon (360, PS2, XBOX, PC)
• TimeShift (360, PC)
• LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (360, PS2, XBOX, GC, PSP, DS, GBA, PC)
• Maelstrom (PC)
• Magical Starsign (DS)
• Superman Returns (360, PS2, XBOX)
• Justice League Heroes (PS2, XBOX)

Multiplatform Reviews:

• Super Monkey Ball Adventure (PS2, GC)
• FlatOut 2 (PS2, XBOX)

PlayStation 2 Reviews:

• Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra
• Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories
• Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
• Yakuza

XBOX 360 Reviews:

• Dead Rising
• Saints Row
• Ninety-Nine Nights
• Over G Fighters
• Bomberman: Act Zero

PC Reviews:

• CivCity: Rome
• Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Warlords
• Sword of the Stars

PSP Review:

• Tekken: Dark Resurrection

Quickie Reviews (Short, one paragraph reviews):

• Super Dragon Ball Z (PS2)
• One Piece: Pirate’s Carnival (PS2, GC)
• NCAA Football 07 (PSP)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (PSP)
• Mercury Meltdown (PSP)
• Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: The Genies and The Amp (DS)
• Break ‘Em All (DS)

Secret Access (Cheat codes and strategy guides):

• Dead Rising (360)
• NCAA Football 07 (360, PS2, XBOX)
• The Da Vinci Code (PS2, XBOX)
• NBA Ballers Rebound (PSP)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (PSP)

Retro Reviews:

• Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist (PC)
• Shadowrun (Genesis)
• Breakthru! (SNES)