Game Informer Issue 165

Features:

• Letter From the Editor: The Hardware Year (Andy McNamara discusses the console war now that all three of the next-gen systems have been released)
• Dear GI (Reader Letters, Responses and Artwork)
• Heavyweight Title Bout (Overviews and reviews for both Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii)
• Fable 2 Tells A New Tale (New details emerge on next Fable game)
• XBOX Live Goes to the Movies (Microsoft announces partnerships to offer movies and television content through XBOX Live)
• Building The Perfect FPS (A breakdown on the perfect FPS using parts from other games)
• Top Ten: Licenses that Should be Games
• The In-Game Ad Game (Nielsen Media Research to offer statistics related to in-game advertising)
• The Next-gen Star Wars (Interview with Greg Knight, senior concept artist at LucasArts)
• Fragging on the Verge (Article that looks at competitive e-sports and whether it can break into the mainstream)
• Interview: Denis Dyack (Interview with the president of Silicon Knights)
• Classic GI (History of Earthbound)

Cover Story: The Top 50 Games of 2006: (GI’s picks for the top 50 games released in 2006)

• Ape Escape 3 (PS2)
• Grandia III (PS2)
• Super Princess Peach (DS)
• Black (PS2, XBOX)
• Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams (PS2)
• Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (360)
• Shadow Hearts: From the New World (PS2)
• Daxter (PSP)
• Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror (PSP)
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (360, PC)
• Tetris DS (DS)
• Tomb Raider: Legend (360, PS2, PC)
• Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (DS)
• Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
• Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends (PC)
• Half-Life 2: Episode One (PC)
• Titan Quest (PC)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II (360, PC)
• Prey (360, PC)
• New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
• Dead Rising (360)
• Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra (PS2)
• Disgaea 2: Cursed Memory (PS2)
• Saint’s Row (360)
• Company of Heroes (PC)
• Okami (PS2)
• Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (PS2)
• Scarface: The World in Yours (PS2, XBOX)
• Bully (PS2)
• Splinter Cell: Double Agent (360)
• Dark Messiah of Might & Magic (PC)
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (PS3, 360, PC)
• Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
• Lumines II (PSP)
• Need For Speed Carbon (PS3, 360)
• Call of Duty 3 (PS3, 360)
• Neverwinter Nights 2 (PC)
• Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
• Gears of War (360)
• Guitar Hero II (PS2)
• Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (PS3, 360)
• Medieval II: Total War (PC)
• WWE Smackdown! Vs. Raw 2007 (PS2, 360)
• Yoshi’s Island DS (DS)
• Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii)
• Rainbow Six: Vegas (360)
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
• Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)
• Fight Night Round 3 (PS3, 360)
• Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (PSP)

Previews:

• Medal of Honor Airborne (PS3, 360, PS2, XBOX, PC)
• Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)
• Army of Two (PS3, 360)
• Tomb Raider Anniversary (PS2)
• Crackdown (360)
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)
• Cipher Complex (PS3, 360)
• Two Worlds (360, PC)
• The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
• Vanguard: Saga of Heroes (PC)
• Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War (PS3)
• Bullet Witch (360)

Multiplatform Reviews:

• Phantasy Star Universe (360, PS2, PC)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3, 360)

XBOX 360 Reviews:

• Star Trek Legacy
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
• Superman Returns
• Dead or Alive Xtreme 2
• Viva Pinata

PlayStation 3 Reviews:

• Fight Night Round 3
• Full Auto 2: Battlelines
• Call of Duty 3
• Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
• Tony Hawk’s Project 8

PlayStation 2 Reviews:

• Rogue Galaxy
• SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Combined Assault

Nintendo Wii Reviews:

• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Excite Truck
• Red Steel
• Chicken Little: Ace in Action
• Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam
• Wii Sports
• Elebits
• Rayman Raving Rabbids
• Madden NFL 07

PC Reviews:

• Medieval II: Total War
• Warhammer: Mark of Chaos

Nintendo DS Reviews:

• Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All

PSP Review:

• SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fire Team Bravo 2

Game Boy Advance Review:

• Final Fantasy V Advance

Quickie Reviews (Short, one paragraph reviews):

• Family Guy (PS2, XBOX)
• Reservoir Dogs (Ps2, XBOX, PC)
• NHL 2K7 (PS3)
• Madden NFL 07 (PS3)
• NBA 2K7 (PS3)
• Star Trek Encounters (PS2)
• Sega Genesis Collection (PS2)
• ATV Offroad Fury 4 (PS2)
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (Wii)
• Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii)
• Call of Duty 3 (Wii)
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Wii)
• Metal Slug Anthology (Wii)
• Summon Knight: Swordcraft Story 2 (GBA)
• Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony (PSP)

Secret Access (Cheat codes and strategy guides):

• Star Trek Legacy (360, PC)
• Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (PS3, 360, PS2)
• Need for Speed Carbon (360)
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PSP)

Retro Reviews:

• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (PS)
• Omega Boost (PS)
• Vandal Hearts (PS)