Editorial Review

Video game makers have been experimenting with live-action video in games since the early 1980s but EyeToy (a digital camera for PlayStation2) marks the first time it's been done right. The device magically superimposes video-game graphics onto a player's image and translates his or her movements into controlling elements of the game. It is the best improvement of video game controls since the joystick.

The EyeToy camera plugs into your PS2

EyeToy has two components: a digital camera that plugs into one of the USB ports in the front of the PS2 and a disc of party games. In the EyeToy games--there are 12 on the disc, but some of them are little more than variations on the same theme--your image is at the center of the action. The game is totally controlled by moving your body in front of the camera. For example, in one game where the object is to beat back invading hordes of kung-fu fighters who come at you from the four corners of the screen, you must move your hands (or elbows, head, hips, whatever) to connect with the fighters onscreen and slap them away. Unlike most contemporary video games, EyeToy is so intuitive that most users will be able to play in a matter of seconds--even toddlers and senior citizens. Watching someone play EyeToy is fun: onscreen, the games are like the fanciful mix of live action and animation á la Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and off-screen, the player's movements are almost as goofy as those playing Dance Dance Revolution.

EyeToy is best enjoyed by groups

Setting up EyeToy is simple--just plug in the camera and drop in the disc--but fine-tuning it for your game environment takes a little effort. First, you'll need to have adequate, well-balanced lighting. We found that a bare 60-watt light bulb positioned behind the EyeToy camera worked pretty well. Next, you should clear away as many objects as possible between you and the EyeToy camera. Not only can extra objects impede the camera's function, they can present hazard when playing the game. A uniform background helps, too; we found that a light-colored wall worked better than a dark background. Before you drag the couch out on the lawn and pull pictures off the wall, try out the camera in different positions to see if you can find something that works without redecorating. The recommended placement of your EyeToy camera is right on top of your TV, but if your PS2 is situated farther than the 72-inch attached camera cord, you will have to get creative. We tried pointing the camera up at us from a coffee table and it worked fine.

The EyeToy games, while fun, are too simple to keep solo gamers interested for long periods of time. EyeToy is best as a party game played with groups of friends, or as a way to show off your PS2. And as a peripheral for future games EyeToy holds a lot of promise. Let's hope that Tony Hawk and John Madden find a use for this little camera. --Porter B. Hall

Pros:

• Totally unique approach to video game design
• Great for groups
• So intuitive that anyone will be able to play it immediately

• Only the pathologically vain will find lasting fun in this as a solo game

Features

• Ten massive gameplay levels spread across five major missions
• Open environment based gameplay allows players to take multiple paths and approaches to defeat the enemy
• For 1-4 players
• World War II themed first person shooter
• Epic WWII Action from 1941 to 1945

Reviews (240)

Inherent mediocrity
A loyal and content follower of the Medal of Honor series since its inception on PS1 many years ago, I nonetheless approached this title with a considerable degree of trepidation.I'd never been disappointed with any Medal of Honor title I'd laid hands on.Yet many reports of this game were lukewarm or downright negative, and I expected to find that the MoH developers had finally made a critical misstep.To a certain degree, as it turned out, that was eventually revealed to be just the case.I didn't buy this game when it was first released-was indeed planning on just bypassing this installment of the series altogether-but when I later saw new copies of the PlayStation 2 version of it for sale on the cheap, I gave in to the beckoning voice of nostalgia and series loyalty and snapped one up.

First things first.Controlling console first-person shooters with a gamepad-a realm long surrendered to PC titles, and for good reason-is an acquired taste, yet one that has definite benefits even surpassing those of a mouse and keyboard in certain aspects once a player becomes accustomed to the scheme and limitations.As I see it, the key is in relying on strafing with the left analog stick during active combat, using that technique to adjust aiming weapons rather than the right analog stick, which almost always tends to be too sensitive to aim where you want when the adrenaline's flowing.An area where a gamepad excels over computer controls in FPS games is the analog nature of the beast, being able to pan the camera view around at a slow, cinematic movie-like pace or at any variable speed you wish, as well as being able to move your character at any number of speeds-not just "walk" or "run."Another noteworthy feature that console pads have is the force feedback effect, which has evolved far beyond the mere novelty it once was and has become an integral part of the gaming experience.Having said all that, the analog control mechanics of Medal of Honor: Rising Sun are on par with other FPS console titles and take no getting used to if you're familiar with the genre.The rumble feature works to excellent effect, thumping with explosions, shaking with gunfire and thudding like a heartbeat when your character's health gets low.The button layout-customizable only from a limited array of predetermined options-is another story, and it took me a while to become comfortable and natural with it.

A staple of the MoH series is the actual black & white World War II footage used to augment game missions, employed before or after each long mission, and that tradition is carried on here.Unlike all previous MoH titles, however, this game involves no combat with the German arm of the Axis, focusing instead on the wars in the Pacific and combat with the Japanese.Indeed, the initial mission has you waking up on board a US battleship under fire at Pearl Harbor, rescuing fellow naval personnel, manning a gun emplacement on the deck and, later on, on a small gunboat blasting frantically at the Japanese war planes peppering the smoky, crimson sky.The PS2 graphics are well-implemented and are up to the task in this instance.It's an action-filled, pulse-pounding, impressive beginning for the game, yet is over all-too-soon.After a promising beginning, however, cracks and flaws in design and execution begin to surface.Multiple missions have you creeping through dense tropical island foliage, yet the graphics engine seems to be unable to properly render natural, organic environments; instead of actual trees, shrubs and wildlife, you're given solid green walls on either side of a given path with just the images of trees and shrubs painted on them.And while there is the occasional mid-mission option of choosing one path or another to arrive at given objective, the green walls are always there, funneling you through a narrow path with no choice but to follow it.It might as well be a corridor shooter in these cases.And while some of the foliage is decently drawn, other parts of it are so pixilated that they look like something from the Atari 2600 era.The original Tomb Raider game from 1996 on the Sega Saturn rendered outdoor foliage as good as this game does.It's difficult to overlook such glaring deficiencies after spending so much time with, for example, the highly-detailed, photo-realistic, free-roaming gaming world of Far Cry.Yet this is the aging PlayStation 2 and I realize that a developer can only do so much with the available horsepower.

Another acute failing in Rising Sun is enemy AI.So many other games have advanced what is expected of the artificial intelligence programming, and this game is definite window into the past in that regard.You shuffle helplessly down confined corridors whilst the opposing forces magically pop out at you from predetermined spawn points.They stand dumbly in front of you as you pummel them with lead.Sometimes they will run, take evasive action and find cover behind some object.Yet even at these times you can shoot an extended elbow or knee or head that's jutting up from behind said cover and the enemy soldier will just stand there and take it, not reacting to being shot until he falls over dead.Japanese soldiers never seem to act in tandem, never seem to formulate any tactic to outflank or work together to bring you down; they just stand or kneel and shoot until either you and they run out of health.It's like a shooting gallery, and I found myself becoming lazy later on in the game, usually not even bothering to duck or use cover in conflicts, just standing there myself and spraying short bursts of bullets around.During the entire course of the game, the only time my health really became threatened was when a large gang of machine gunners would surprise or overwhelm me, or on the few eyebrow-raising occasions when a crazed, sword-wielding samurai soldier would charge and begin hacking at me before I could plant a bullet in his brain.Magical, inexplicable respawning also occurs, much to my everlasting chagrin.Clear an area, nab an objective, retrace you steps and find the area suddenly semi-repopulated with opposition.And let's not even get started on the stationary machine gun emplacements.Sure, it's been done in the previous MoH games too, but it's sure getting to be old hat by now: any time you take control of a stationary machine gun, wave after wave after wave of soldiers will spring into existence all in front of you for your mowing-down pleasure.The funny part is, these swarming enemy masses present almost no threat at all to you behind all the firepower your wielding.Just fire back and forth, like putting out a fire with a fire extinguisher.Funnier still is that these forces don't even begin to exist in the game unless you man the stationary guns, so can avoid these little shootouts if you wish by just not walking up to any of the emplacements.

But all is not lost in the world of Rising Sun.For all the game engine failings during the aforementioned levels, the graphics are still impressive in the more traditional MoH settings.My favorite level of the game begins at night in Singapore, a stealthy infiltration on the docks.You're crouched in shadows, the old boards of the dock creaking underfoot as soft waves lap the posts and hulls of moored ships.Light fog rolls across the docks, casting and eerie, phosphorescent glow.Up on the mainland, glowing businesses and buildings of the town proper are visible: ghostly eyes shrouded in mist.Half-seen enemy guards lounge and patrol in lazy patterns.Equipped with a one-shot-one-kill stealth weapon, the player creeps along and either sneaks by them or takes them silently out, one by one: a muffled whoosh, a projectile contacting target, the sighing grunt as he falls and the fog-muted splash as he plummets to the murky depths.It's a great beginning, and the level progresses from there into the city proper with some open street-to-street combat and hostage rescuing.There's also a nicely done level that places you and a squad of friendly AI troops on board a small boat chugging slowly up a narrow waterway.Under shadowy night skies, under the impassive eyes of the moon and stars, under the overhanging, somehow menacing branches of trees and darkly emerald topography, the soldiers whisper back and forth.Did you see something?Did you hear something?Be ready, men.We scan the shorelines, left and right, left and right again, but see nothing.Time passes.The slight murmur of the outboard motor.The conversations of insects.The wind rustling through the leaves.Tension builds.What was that?Suddenly, gunfire erupts from the canopy of night: red on green and black, the ambush is on. Once again, a terrific, cinematic moment.I also liked most of the Bridge on the River Kwai level.From a distance, the far off outdoor vistas are compelling and epic, and working your way along high above the rushing waters of the river had a certain dramatic, cinematic flair to it.At one point in this level, you descend onto a line of railroad tracks, and I heard the oddest trumpeting, grunting noises coming from behind me.I turn around and, wonder of wonders, there's family of elephants mulling about on the tracks.It was such a cool, out-of-place, surreal moment.And another example of the uneven nature of the MoH graphic engine: amidst the backdrop of some questionable outdoor environmental visual rendering, these animated elephants were nearly photo-realistic.Later on, there's a fun little section of the game where you actually get to ride atop a big ol' elephant as he crashes madly through the woods, you all the while scorching the trees and surrounding rock formations with gunfire in an attempt to take down the bad guys before they can hurt you...or your friend, the elephant.

Yet most of the game falls in the range of average to slightly below average, and certainly a been-there-done-that feeling surfaces all too often.The single-player portion of the game is notably short, probably only 6 or 7 hours long.They attempt to make up for this by offering the enticement to replay the game several times to get better "scores" and thusly earn medals for particular performance grades, but I personally didn't see much use in that.There's also a split-screen, cooperative, off-line multiplayer option that affords you the ability to wade through all the single-player missions with someone else, which is a nice inclusion, as well as PS2 online support (which I don't subscribe to).There are a couple of classy extras thrown into the mix as well: interview clips of actual WWII soldiers discussing their parts in the conflicts represented in Rising Sun, and an interesting section called Letters from Home, which features the reading of actual letters written by WWII servicemen.Still, a few memorable gameplay moments and a unique platter of extra features aren't nearly enough to save this game from its .

LOOK AT THIS ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i thought this game was pretty cool withall the japanese soldiers and pearl harbor and everything. other people say it's boring and the AI is bad, but i like mindlessly killing japs!!!!have played frontline and it is really col too, but i can't pick which one i likebetter. anyway, blowing upstuff is lots of funso ha!!!!!

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Not as good as it used to be.
I've been reading Inquest for many years now and I've always liked it but about 2 years ago they seriously cut down on the number of pages in each issue and the price of individual issues (not subsription) is way too high to justify this. Plus there is an INSANE amount of ads dwelling within the pages (okay when they alert you to something new tho).

But it's a great magazine for gamers to pick up as it's got a bit of everything in it, plus a sense of humor and after a few issues familiarity sets in and you may feel more at ease in the world of gaming if your new to the hobby.

Too bad they have a MASSIVE Magic: The Gathering bias tho. I mean the game itself is wicked bad but Inquest's devotion to it leaves many smaller games straggling behind. But, then again, Magic IS the biggest selling CCG.

Each month Inquest includes 1 or 2 cards for a CCG (usually Magic but sometimes others) and occasionally a poster. If you're serious about gaming then no doubt you already buy Inquest but if you're new then I wouldn't waste a second in getting that subsription.

Inquest rocks!
Inquest, while not being the best gaming magazine out there, is a one stop look at all your gaming needs. It has almost everything. And although it's not the most accurate(i.e. Magic decks and cards are often off, the price guide isn't the best and some of the computer game strategies are extremely rudimentary), it does have a lot. It is also very funny and entertaining. So instead of having to have a subscription to several other magazines, you only need to subscribe to one. And a very amusing one at that. I give it five stars because I've been into that magazine since 1998.

Overall gaming magazine
Inquest is a great magazine if you dabble in various games, like RPGS, TCGs, and Minatures.Somewhat irreverant, it does give you a general feel for the gaming industry as a whole.It also has a regular price guide for Magic cards.

However, by trying to encompass EVERy thing in the Gamer's Universe, it does not of it excellently, just some well and others pathetically.It has historically been off-the-mark when it comes to creating new Magic decks or ranking the power of various Magic cards.

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Reviews (27)

Tes is teh L337 H4><0R mag!!1!1!!!1
Finally a magazine that takes it self seriously and doesn't conform for the kiddies and is brutally honest in it's reviews while not overdoing it one bit. You have to read PC Gamer just to see how L337 it really is. As well as being different, it is also intelligent and has an adult sense of humor sure to tickle your H4><0r fancy. BUY IT!!!!!11

Pros:

Intelligent writing

Good sense of Humor

Nice insight into what is coming next

Cons:

Hardly for n00bs

Too smart for some . . .


As I said before, if you haven't already subscribed, do so immediately.
You will thank me.

it WAS good......
i used to love this magazine, but people are right. the magazine is half the size it was, and the 10 year anniversary issue was the smallest issue yet. it's also behind the times - an E3 wrap-up in the AUGUST issue? E3 WAS IN MAY! the demo disk is useless - one demo per disk - they need to switch to dvd's or why pay extra when i can download demos? i'm done when my subscription runs out.

The Best PC gaming magazine out there
I have been a subscriber to PC Gamer for several, I think six years, and I can honestly say this is the best PC gaming magazine I have ever read, and I have tried all that I have come accross.They have several features (special stories) every month, whereas the majority of magazines barely have anything other than the previews/reviews/strategies/occasional special story.I read through every issue almost cover-to-cover devouring it's witty writing and great personality.I have agreeded on their review for every game I have played, as well.

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Stinkin' pile of
This magazine is complete stinkin' I have the UK version only because I am from there. All the horrible people there is say horrible things to you. There stupid ideas are complete pile of stinkin' The original Playstation magazine is rubbish too. Don't buy this magazine incase you want game demos Buy PSM2 instead.

Where is my magazine
I recieved only two issues may and june where are july and august

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Reviews (37)

Gamer's In Detail
Video game magazines have been all the rage in our lives. Yet there are just so many of them that tell different stories for different video game systems. That has been the case with one of the biggest-selling ones of all time, Gamepro. They truly have made it one the most provocative and well in-depth magazines with detail about what games are popular according to their writers, and what upcoming games and systems are all in the works. The magazine is quite well, but I honestly do wish they could try to publish more in the way of codes and helpful hints for several games for Gamecube and Game Boy Advance, when most of it primarily focuses in on Playstation 2 & Xbox. Yet, Gamepro really handles itself as a very deep gamer's magazine. Anybody who wants to be enjoy the field of video games, this magazine is worth reading.

Overall: B 1/2+

The worst gaming magazine
As you can tell by the title, I'm not enamored of this magazine. I've been playing video games since the early 80s, and have read many, many gaming magazines. My reasons for this negative review of Gamepro follow in no particular order: 1.) Their numerical rating system stinks. 1-5 points is just not accurate enough. Most mags/web sites have a 1-10 system with decimals. Not Gamepro. 2.) The written part of the reviews are way too short, and often are written borderline incoherantly. It's as if they hired the proverbial 1,000 monkeys to type them out. 3.) Often times they cram two or three reviews on one page. Screen shots provided with reviews are often the size of a postage stamp. 4.) The number of ads in relation to content is distinctly high. Once when I was bored, I counted all the ads in one issue. Out of around 110 pages there were 60+ pages of ads. 5.) Their article layouts are confusing, and occasionally they print on colored backgrounds that closely match the text color. Forget about reading it if you're colorblind. 6.) Their gaming tips are either so obvious that a brain dead chimpanzee could figure them out, or plain don't work. I suspect that the ones that do are ripped off from various web sites. 7.) Gamepro costs the same as better gaming mags, such as EGM and Game Informer. So, in closing... if you want a good gaming magazine, just about any magazine other than Gamepro would be an improvement. Many great magazines have come and gone, why a turd like Gamepro continues is a mystery to me.

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

Take the power and flexibility of a dedicated computer gaming system and combine it with the easy-to-use, instant-on format of a high-end console system and what do you get? Well, if you also add in DVD playback ability and broadband Internet connectivity, you get Xbox.

The advanced components inside Xbox make it the undisputed powerhouse among current game consoles. A 733 MHz Intel main processor and 233 MHz graphics processor from industry leader nVidia deliver photorealistic graphics in real time. A cavernous hard drive stores saved games and characters, making flimsy memory sticks obsolete. The built-in Ethernet port enables super-fast multiplayer online gaming over a broadband Internet connection. Four game controller ports allow you and three of your buddies to play at the same time, or you can use them for other peripherals such as gamepads, light guns, and who knows what else?

But Xbox has more going for it than fancy innards. The Xbox's Windows-based operating system is a breeze to program on, earning it grateful accolades from Electronic Arts, Infogrames, THQ, and other game producers. The less time developers spend struggling with the operating system means the more time they spend tweaking gameplay, which ultimately results in better games. And games are what it's all about.

Well, games and the fun of owning a green-glowing game console that looks like it came from Darth Vader's living room. --Mike Fehlauer

The Xbox Holiday Bundle includes the Xbox console, the popular "S" style Microsoft controller, the games Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Tetris Worlds Online, a two-month trial subscription to the Xbox Live service, and all necessary cables to connect your Xbox to your TV. A DVD kit (sold separately) is required to access DVD playback ability. Xbox Live requires a broadband Internet connection and an Ethernet cable to connect your Xbox to your cable or DSL modem (sold separately).

Editorial Review

Praised for brilliant scripts and open-ended gameplay, vilified for unapologetic violence and mature themes, Grand Theft Auto has deservedly become one of the most popular game franchises in history. This double pack contains the full versions of both Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City, enhanced for Xbox. Xbox gamers can rejoice that the grand king of video games--The Sopranos with a gamepad--is finally available on the big black box.

Grand Theft Auto
With Grand Theft Auto III Rockstar proves that not all developers are concerned with toning down the violence in their games. This sequel is even more bloody, violent, and sadistic than its popular predecessors, offering up an enormous 3-D city in which nearly any criminal act is possible. Players are free to steal cars, beat up the local population for their money (or weapons), make time with prostitutes, or simply roam to their heart's content. Those seeking more structure can embark on dozens of missions driven by a genuinely interesting crime-story plot or steal cars that let them play minigames. Nab a cop car and you can go on vigilante missions. Grab a cab and you can play a deadly version of Crazy Taxi. Take a fire truck and you can earn money putting out fires. The minigames are a good way to unwind after a particularly difficult mission. With so much to do, the game just never gets boring.

As you'd expect, there are consequences for criminality. As your random acts of mayhem mount up the police start hounding you, eventually calling in SWAT trucks, the FBI, and even the army if you continue down the path of destruction. Shaking these pursuers is easily the most fun part of the game, especially when a bunch of friends are packed in the room to witness your narrow escapes.

Grand Theft Auto III is fine-tuned to near perfection in every category. All the vehicles, from slick sports cars to lumbering dump trucks, handle exactly as you'd expect and smash apart realistically when abused. The three islands in the game are rendered in terrific detail considering their size, and are packed with traffic, pedestrians, and hidden jumps. The audio is equally amazing. Pedestrians talk, cops scream at you, and you can tune in nine different radio stations whenever you are in a car. It all adds up to a monumental achievement: the rare console game for adults that manages to get everything right.--T. Byrl Baker

Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City
How big is this game? Even publicists for other games end up talking about Vice City when they call our office, babbling in the same helplessly intoxicated way that afflicts everyone who plays it. The achievement of Vice City (which, as everyone knows by now, is set in the 1980s and offers an all-new, Miami Vice-inspired story) is not only that it manages to live up to an absurd level of expectation, but that it takes the game places that fans of its predecessor Grand Theft Auto III never dreamed of, and that it achieves this astonishing level of innovation without losing anything that made GTA3 the bestselling PS2 game of all time.

After a brilliant homage to the era of the Commodore 64 in the opening credits, the first thing you'll notice is the improved graphics, which are smoother and more detailed, and--with effects like neon lights reflected on rain-slick streets, and intense Florida sunlight--have a lush, tropical look that immediately gives you a strong sense of place. The architecture is more fabulous by tenfold, with art deco buildings, high-rise hotels, and believably seedy back alleys. The control scheme is essentially the same as in GTA3, but the cars handle much better, and in pedestrian mode there is a new crouch move. You will have access to fast, great-handling cars right away, as opposed to GTA3 which made you unlock the second island before you could get your hands on any respectable wheels. This game has such riches to offer that there is no need to be chintzy with the vehicles.

Cops are more vigilant this time--minor offenses like whacking innocent bystanders will more often than not get you a two-star wanted level--and are harder to elude (though they still can't seem to climb stairs or negotiate sharp turns). So while free-roaming exploration is as fun as ever, there is more incentive to perform the missions instead of randomly raising hell. Not that that's a bad thing: even lazy criminals like myself (in GTA3, I would rather toss hand grenades into traffic than follow orders from some rude Mafia boss) will be quickly caught up in the vivid characters and hilarious, fascinating story, in which you play an acid-washed-jeans-wearing thug named Tommy Vercetti. Where in GTA3 missions were blocky, schematic affairs only nominally connected to the story, this time tasks move the story briskly along and deftly blend cinematics and game action. For example, there is a scene of a character throwing Tommy a gun, at which point you are suddenly thrown back into the action and must make an instant decision about whom to trust and what to do.

There are more, and more detailed, indoor environments, including a hotel, police station, and mall (a slight downside to this is that some of the more elaborate indoor environments require load times). The layout of the city, with tons of backyards, narrow alleys, and fire escapes, encourages creativity when eluding pursuit, as does greater access to rooftops. Get your motorcycle up the fire escape and a whole new world of action is possible, including... well, use your imagination.

This overview barely scratches the surface of the Vice City experience, its colorful explosion of music, clothes, combat, and brilliant voice acting, not to mention the plot twist midway through the game that changes the very nature of the game itself. Though it was the outrageous, amoral violence that got all the press, the essential genius of GTA3 was its intoxicating blend of script and open-ended action. In Vice City this is--to use a cliché that is for once apropos--taken to a whole new level.--David Stoesz

Pros:

• Open-ended gameplay; player can chose to be relatively law-abiding or engage in wanton virtual destruction
• Varied missions
• Brilliant scripts with Hollywood voice acting
• Rocking sound track (also available in our Music store)
• Xbox-enhanced graphics

• As the The Sopranos of games, GTA 3 draws unwanted attention from overzealous legislators
• No multiplayer

Editorial Review

More often than not, when a game is in development for more than threeyears, it does not live up to the hype. Bungie's Halo is the exception.Not only does it meet expectations, it greatly exceeds them. This sci-fifirst-person shooter is a nearly perfect blend of gameplay, graphics, and sound.

The story revolves around the conflict between humans and an alien race known asthe Covenant. The aliens have discovered a powerful artifact--on the ring-shapedplanet called Halo--that will shift the balance of power, and it's up to theplayer to stop them. In addition to several first-person-shooter levels, thegame offers numerous opportunities to engage in vehicular combat. Both the enemyand allied artificial intelligence are extremely impressive. Enemies will usethe terrain and layout to put you in tight spots. Allies will know when to coverand aid you. For instance, if you hop into a jeep, an ally will know to jump inand man the turret on the back of it.

The graphics are exquisitely detailed, but only move at 30 frames per secondrather than 60. The sound effects and voice acting are superb. The level designis among the best ever; most of the game is engaging and challenging withoutbeing frustrating. There's also high replay value thanks to the built-insingle-player, cooperative, and deathmatch modes.

Much like the outstanding GoldenEye 007 for Nintendo 64, Haloraises the bar for console first-person shooters. All console action games willbe measured against Halo for years to come. --Raymond M. Padilla

Pros:

• Outstanding game design
• High replay value
• Impressive AI

• Several maps are used multiple times
• Save functions could have been better implemented
• Graphics move at 30 frames per second, not 60

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RELIGIOUS WRITINGS
I have been reading this magazine since it was on black and white news print...when I was a teenager from San Diego making the drive to LA everyweekend. I am now 29 and live in ITALY and still read it...need I say more?

Tomorrow Music
You hear it in your favorite chic bar.

You hear it seeping from the computer science/music major's dorm room.

You hear it in those Mitsibishi car commercials.

URB features the music of tomorrow today. Forget the charts (and the herd). Get URB and XLR8R and uncover some real sonic treasures.

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Great mag
This is an great magazine - slick look, lots of great alternative artist interviews - a must read for the aspiring hip hop producer who needs production and performance tips and techniques.

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Editorial Review

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do not subscribe to magazines through amazon.
I subscribed on august 27th. My magazine did not show up for six months! I emailed them to ask what the hell. Six months, come on. I was refunded to dollars. I finally recieved my first issue. Its been more than a month since then and i have yet to recieve my second. When people i know who subscribed from ap, have gotten their magazines. This is absurd, i'm cancelling my order.

sort of alternative press
Yes, I do read Alternative Press, or parts of it anyway. To their credit they do cover some great alternative bands and their new "unsigned band of the month" feature is pretty cool, but sadly the cover stories are usually misguided pieces about the likes of Good Charlotte or Yellowcard. Their bizarre marriage of punk/indie and uber-mainstream pop-punk make for a painful experience. The new "Big Takeover" issue speaks volumes of the diversity of their readership: Good Charlotte was in the top 5 for both the "Artist that I wish would Die" and "Artist with the Most Integrity" categories.

In short AP consistently makes me hate them by covering some of the crappiest, least alternative bands out their, but they draw me back in by putting the words "motion", "city", and "soundtrack" together on a regular basis.