Hello everyone (again). I was just wondering what titles you guys plan on picking up this March.

Right off the bat I have to get Ninja Gaiden. No if' s, and' s, or but' s about it.

Next (and it is still a question mark) is Tenchu. I really like the idea of online co-op but I will definitely have to check out this demo more before I make final judgment. Hopefully Hollywood will have it for rent and I can rent it for free for several weeks straight.

And finally is Splinter Cell PT. Quite honestly I' m still expecting the game to get delayed. It just feels like the game is going to be delayed. But if not I' m picking this game up too.

I also heard someone say that the Mega Man collection game for the Cube is supposed to be released in March. Can anyone confirm this? I can' t find any info about it.

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life on the GC is the only thing I' m really looking forward to. I' m also tempted to pick up Psyvariar 2 on the Dreamcast. Apparently it' s a bit good.

I' ll be getting Ninja Gaiden tomorrow. If for some reason it does not arrive, I will eviscerate the entire EB staff with my katana. Or possibly a butter knife.

I may also get Splinter Cell:PT, but I can hold off until April.

I was thinking about getting Mafia (Xbox), but apparently it' s a shoddy port, so maybe I' ll just smoke a $50 bill instead.

Have you thought about getting Mafia for the PC? I hear you can find it pretty cheap now.

Mafia' s been out for ages on the PC. It shouldn' t cost more than $20.

My PC is an absolute disgrace. It' s a technological travesty.

Whatever good games appear on www.the-underdogs.org and whatever games people in my dorm feel like giving me free copies of. I' m both primarily an old-school gamer, and primarily a total cheapskate ;-).

NG and SC: PT top my list for this month.

**crosses Ninja Gaiden off the list**

From a purely UK perspective, it' s a busy month alright. I' m looking forward to finding the money for


Siren (aka forbidden siren in this country - don' t ask me why)

FFX-2 - money issues.

R-Type Final well duh, looks great.

.hack//infection - anyone know a bank where all the staff suffer from narcolepsy?

Steel battallion: line of contact - damn dirty " economy"

metal gear solid: twin snakes - is it all that bad, stealing?

Harvest Moon 2 - cos, you know, they' re only games. Nobody would miss them.

Whilst I come to terms with a lack of monetary funding for my shamefully blatant addiction, U.S. gamers could help me trim this list down based on recommendations and actually having played some of these yourself. The one true annoyance with multi-format gaming is lack of funding.

whatever you' re playing, have fun folks.

NG is off my list, and in my Xbox. SC: PT is next.

I really do feel sorry for European gamers. That' s not an insult or anything; I genuinely feel for you guys. Not getting great games in the past like FF Tactics...that' s just some kind of sin (seeing as how it' s the greatest game of all time ).

And other great games showing up months later...damn, I would go NUTS. Anyway, for your purposes, I say get FF X-2, money issues or not. It was my favorite game of 2003, and I' m currently on my second play-through. Ignore the fools who can' t deal with an all-female cast...the gameplay and class system is wonderful. Check out my full review, if you want.

I haven' t purchased anything new this month, but I did pick up a couple of used games. I bought Beyond Good and Evil for 10 bucks from a friend of mine, and I picked up Goblin Comander for 22 bucks at Game Crazy. I' m on the third act of Goblin Commander and I' ve already beaten Beyond Good and Evil. I may pick up SC this week, but right now I have to find several games that I' ll be able to trade in for it.

SC: PT looks great, but seeing as I currently lack xb live, I' m going to wait a little while longer. While I' ve no doubt the single player is good, the original SC infuriated me and ultimately lost my interest: it was just too damn hard.


I' m still a little wary of FF, what with FFX turning into one big levelling up frenzy once you reach the end. Monster catcher might have been fun where it at all in context, but the fact you have to go through it to stand a reasonable chance with Sin is soul destroying.


As for the european situation, it' always been a case of domestic British publishers releasing in their own territory first. Now, seeing as all we have left in terms of homegrown publishers is eidos, that isn' t what I' d call comforting.

Saying that, it should mean we get Hitman: Contracts before the U.S. or Japan. Also, it' s become a practice of Konami to either release their games in europe first or release them after the U.S. release - but bundled with lots of extras (anyone who' s played ZOE: Second Runner can attest to how much harder it is - especially the end boss).

Still, one game doesn' t make up for the slew of crap we have to put up with. I just hope the recent censoring of NG in europe isn' t the start of a lazy effort to bring the whole EU in line with one overly-sensitive country...*cough*Germany blows*cough*

Preacher: There were no levels in FF X...not sure what you mean here. And on top of which, the many side-quests you could undertake to power your party up even more (most notably, the mission to obtain and fully activate the Legendary Weapons, but also getting all the Aeons and their skills as well), should' ve been at least attempted. After 120 hours of doing all kinds of different things to power up my party, Sin never touched me. You want a real challenge; take on one of the Original Creations at the Monster Arena...Nemesis with 10 million HP.....' shudder'

And FF X-2 uses an entirely new format; the customary levels are back, and the class system (ala FF Tactics) is utilized through the Dress Spheres. VERY cool, IMO.

I haven' t quite finished FFX-2. I am very close to the end, but, have a great deal of levelling characters up before I am ready. Not to mention that I have to work on some of the leftover stuff. (levelling up individual dress spheres). But, I have enjoyed FFX-2.

deadmeat: You got ALL the Dress Spheres, right?

Btw, make sure that when you beat it, you press the " X" button during an ending scene at the Farplane Glen. The Fayth will interrupt the scene and ask Yuna " if she wants to see someone." Simply select " Yes," and watch the ending and let the credits roll. When the credits are done, you get a bonus AWESOME FMV, and this is the " Good" ending. It doesn' t require any kind of percentage complete, either.

The " Perfect" ending can only be attained by getting 100% complete. And if you don' t get 100% your first time through (which you probably won' t), you can start the New Game Plus with the percentage you' ve already cleared, AND all your Dress Spheres and everything you acquired in your inventory from the previous game. You start back at Lv. 1, but with everything you have, you' re a powerhouse. LOL

Preacher..... *coughFranceSucksCoughNotGermanyCough*, never mind.

Embarassingly enough, I am missing a few dress spheres. But, It was too late for me to get them. So, I' ll have to finsih with what I have. Given that I' ve put in so much time, I' ll just have to deal with it.

The sphere grid isn' t exactly a massive departure from levelling up ala previous FF games, as the unnecessary length of the game will attest to.

What annoyed me about FFX was despite reaching the final level, you' re not prepared for it. If they' d been smart they' d have intergrated more of the sphere/ability acquisition into the story, so as to maintain interest. I mean jesus, once I get to the end of the game, I don' t look forward to the prospect of endless battles in order to get the necessary spheres - just so i can fight the last boss.

Horses for courses, as they say, but if the FF series has one crippling problem it' s the fact that you have to be prepared to forsake most other games in order to plough through it - only to find that you' ve then go to do even more work to get the necessary spheres in order to expand your repetoire. The reason why I' ve not touched FFX in months is precisely because it wasn' t much of a game anymore - it felt like a chore.


being honest, they don' t have much right to call them side quests when you' re practically forced to participate in them if you want any chance of seeing the ending. Side quest? gameplay without the engaging story, is what I think. Though saying that, the game up till that point is great.

Well March has come and gone and I ended up not getting one of the titles I had on my list. Ended up getting Beyond Good & Evil for the Cube (tedious stuff) and Winning Eleven 7 International (Jap version) for the PS2 (which is awesome).

As regards Europe, things are getting better with release dates now being closer to the other territories and a lot of games now coming with NTSC/60 Hz modes. Still IMO if you are into your games and live in Europe you do need to have access to imports otherwise you will miss out.