News

You can now see all of the fanart that makes up the layouts in its original format by visiting the Fanart section. There are 12 layout pieces from Hikaroo and Hsiu, and about a half dozen new Oekaki from Hikaroo available now!

And, while we are on the subject, you can now RATE every piece of fanart we have on a 1-to-5 scale! Click on any fanart thumbnail to find out how.

http://www.gamesarefun.com/newspro....,36928,

Ziff-Davis, the company that makes magazines such as EGM and Expert Gamer, is rumored (and pretty much confirmed) to have filed for bankruptcy. Supposedly this will not affect the magazines they publish, but it would suck if EGM died, because a whole lot of people get. Heh.

Gamespot just got a hold of a nearly-complete copy of Kingdom Hearts. It looks as if they're toning down the Disney part of it just a bit - while Donald and Goofy are part of your party, the Disney universe won't be taking over Square in this particular installment.

I'm a  bit behind on the news for this game, so I'll not go any further to avoid being redundant. But if you're looking for the full review from Gamespot, look below:

Source: http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,2875869,00.html

If you're a fan of arcade-style driving like me, you probably never got into the Gran Turismo thing. I know I did not. Then, Test Drive, after years of owning the PC driving game world, kinda tanked. We've got Ridge Racer, now, but it's missing a lot of authenticity, with the imaginary cars and the like.

That left just Need For Speed, and the best among them: Hot Pursuit and High Stakes. And now, EA got smart after the disappointing Porsche Unleashed, and is breaking out some more Smokey and the Bandit action for all of us.

For true car guys, it's all about the cars in your racing game. So how about this: your basic ride in this game is an Opel Speedster, and you've also got options for cars like the Benz CL55 and the Lotus... freaking... Elise. Sure, it won't match a McLaren Le Mans (which is also in the game), but it's a bloody Lotus!

PS2 people, PLEASE buy this game so EA will keep making them.

Source: http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,2875631,00.html

Fans of the Resident Evil series will be happy to know that their next game in the series, Resident Evil 0 (or Biohazard 0 in Japan) will be released in the land of the rising sun in November. The game has 3 discs and takes place before the original Resident Evil game. Looks to be centered around the ill-fated Bravo Team. Should be neat.

Story: http://www.gamesarefun.com/newspro....,32756,
Source: Games Are Fun

Check this out. Square's third SaGa title for the Playstation systems looks REALLY good. I myself enjoyed SaGa Frontier and SaGa Frontier 2, so I'm really looking forward to this. These screens look great.

Story: http://www.gamesarefun.com/newspro....,36962,
Source: Games Are Fun

Today, you can see the first part of Caves of Narshe version 5: the forums.  And contrary to previous announcements, you can now post as well.

Here are some of the changes we'd like to highlight:

- Forum rearrangement: Submit Fanfics and Fanart is now only for submitting artwork or fiction for the website.  General works can be posted in Your Creations.  Also, note that the news forum is now sorted by topic start date.

- New profile options: Edit your profile, and you can now insert an MSN Messenger name, and a couple of other things.  More options to talk about yourselves may be available soon, so keep checking back.  And don't forget to put your birthday in there, so that it appears on the calendar.

- Polls: You can now make polls for topics.  Enough said.

- New avatars: Thanks to Neal, we now have some Final Fantasy Tactics avatars you can use.  You'll also notice many of the staff look new and shiny.

- New ranks: It'll take a lot of posts to reach the top one.  Make sure they're not SPAM, now.

- New smilies: We've added to and changed the smiley codes.  Check the legend on the left when you post.

- Instant updates: No need to post, or wait for someone else to post, before you see your profile changes.  If you change your signature, avatar etc., old posts update right away.

We hope you enjoy the new forums.  Please use the troubleshooting forum to report bugs, and remember, this isn't quite it yet... expect a few more surprises for the CoN 5th anniversary celebration.

I almost did a double take when I saw this one. Lord of the Rings, the game, for Game Boy Advance. I had heard that there had been a Lord of the Rings game made quite a while ago...but this one may actually turn into something!

http://www.rpgamer.com/games/other/gba/lotr/lotrpart1.html

Clicking the above link will take you to a menu where you can look at screenshots and art. The screenshots, IMO, aren't bad, and look more cute then serious. The art is quite nice. But as you all know, cute graphics don't make a game.

http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q4-2001/122001a.html

This link takes you to a news story on the game. It sounds fairly good; coming out late 2002, and control of the characters as they join in. Doesn't say much about anything else, but more news will be posted as it comes through.

Elena