katmai - Unplugged, Unmatched, Unleashed

When the original NBA Street hit the scene in 2001, it took the over-the-top basketball formula established by the NBA Jam series to the next level. Since then, enormous, rim-rocking dunks, intentional fouls, and blatant goaltending have been a part of nearly every play. Rather than simply adding more content and possibly making the latest game in the Street series too complex, developer EA Canada has trimmed the fat and focused almost entirely on simplifying and perfecting the gameplay. NBA Street Homecourt is easier than ever to pick up and play, and almost all of the new moves and dunks are fantastic, but thanks to a shallow career mode and a limited number of other gameplay modes, there aren’t enough ways to enjoy it.

NBA Street’s fast-paced, over-the-top gameplay is back, and it’s as good as ever. The trick stick has been removed, but the new simplified controls work very well. Basic dribble moves are mapped to the X and Y buttons, and the really crazy stuff is performed by hitting one of those face buttons in conjunction with a shoulder button. As always, the more moves you make, the faster your gamebreaker meter fills. And if you really make a defender look bad, you’ll earn a bonus for your trick points. As crazy as they are, the series’ dunks are so frequent that they’ve almost become routine. Almost. Homecourt has breathed new life into dunks by adding a few twists. For starters, teammates will sometimes get down on all fours at the top of the key and act as launching pads. All you’ve got to do is run up to them and jump, and you’ll soon find yourself high in the sky heading toward the rim for a vicious dunk. The biggest addition to the dunk repertoire is the double, and sometimes triple, dunk. A meter fills as you hold down the dunk button, and the longer you hold it, the more powerful your dunk. If you release the button too late, you’ll get denied by the rim, but if you time it just right, you can dunk the ball, catch it, and dunk it again. If you do this during a gamebreaker, you can dunk the ball a third time. Multiple dunks are both awesome and awful. It’s great when you’re the dunker, but as the dunkee, it’s maddening to lose a close game as a victim of a double dunk. It’s bad enough when you’re playing against a friend, but it feels downright cheap when the CPU does it.

After you’ve performed enough tricks and dunks to fill the gamebreaker meter, it’s time to unleash some pain. Once the meter is activated, you’ve got a limited amount of time to score, but you’ll want to take some time to perform as many tricks as possible because the more you refill your meter, the more points your bucket will be worth. As usual, the moves and dunks you can perform here are completely over-the-top, even by Street standards. While the game’s focus is mostly on offense, you’ll need to hunker down on defense if you’re to rule the streets. Goaltending and fouling aren’t just allowed–they’re encouraged. The way you play defense is largely unchanged, and for the most part, it’s very satisfying, especially when you’re blocking shot after shot. The only negative aspect of the gameplay is that it’s often very difficult to pick up loose balls, particularly if you’re on defense. The CPU even has a difficult time picking the ball up and getting it back to the baseline after a bucket.

The one area in which Homecourt is lacking is the number of gameplay modes. You can play a basic game without tricks and gamebreakers or play games where points count only if they’re scored with a full trick meter or a gamebreaker. However, none of those modes are particularly interesting. Online play offers up the same games, as well as leaderboards. While the game runs well online, it would have been nice for there to have been some sort of true online career mode. Because the other modes are so shallow, nearly all of the game’s value is found in the Homecourt Challenge.

Homecourt Challenge is where you play on your local court, eventually make a name for yourself, and take on real NBA players on their homecourts. You start by creating a baller, but rather than altering individual features, you select from one of a handful of generic heads and then merge it with the heads of two NBA players. This means that you can finally find out what the love child of Steve Nash and Yao Ming would look like. It’s every bit as horrifying as you might imagine. Outside of being sort of creepy, the create-a-player feature is quite limited. After you’ve created your Frankenstein baller, you assign him a position and playing style. Then, you head to the court where you can round out your squad of three by picking up some no-name locals. Once your squad is assembled, you’ll play pickup games against other local players, and eventually, you’ll get to take on teams made of NBA and even a few WNBA players. The rules for victory vary. Sometimes the winner is the first to score 21 or the first to lead by three points; other times, you’ll only be allowed to dunk or take jump shots. Your created player’s attributes improve slightly after each game, and when you reach a certain level, you can max out one skill by designating it as a “freak skill.” This makes your player nearly unstoppable in one aspect of his game, and knowing you have a deadly shooter, shot blocker, or rebounder is invaluable in tight games against the CPU. You won’t want to get attached to your teammates because you’ll constantly be adding and dropping players to improve your team’s talent level.

Part of the appeal of the NBA Street series has always been the great player animation, and Homecourt does not disappoint. Dunks are satisfying not only because they change the score, but also because they look powerful, leaving fallen players and bent rims in their wake. You never know what mind-blowing dunk you’ll see next either. It might be a reverse, or a reverse with a flip, pump, spin, and a windmill. These moves look even better, thanks to a consistently snappy frame rate. The players look realistic, and because the game’s roster is mostly made up of the NBA’s better players, they’re almost all instantly recognizable in-game and look even better in the replays. The real-life courts on which you play vary greatly in style and design. Most of them aren’t instantly recognizable locales, but whether it’s an indoor gym, beachside court, or urban setting, they all look nice.

It’s odd that the developer decided to muck up all of the great-looking animations, players, and courts with a “retro” look. Everything is run through a filter that gives it a sepia tone. The idea was to make the NBA players’ homecourts look as they might in home movies or pictures. This might make sense if there were any old-school players, but it’s a safe bet that Carmello Anthony’s home movies weren’t shot with an old 8mm camera. There’s no option to turn the effect off either. Eventually you can get past it, but it’s still lame.

The game’s audio also has a bit of a retro feel to it, but it works because it’s cool. When you bust out a gamebreaker, you’ll do so to the synthesized funk of Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit.” The outstanding soundtrack features artists, such as RJD2, Quincy Jones, The Jackson 5, DJ Shadow featuring Q-Tip & Lateef, the Herbaliser, and many more. On the court, players will talk trash, which itself is nothing new, but here it actually doesn’t sound supercheesy.

There’s a lot to like about NBA Street Homecourt’s debut on the Xbox 360. The controls are easy to learn, the gameplay is as tight as ever, players look great and move well, and the soundtrack is top-notch. As any good game should, Homecourt leaves you wanting more, not only because it’s so much fun, but also because there isn’t enough to do. Earning achievements by performing tricks, playing online, and leveling up your character will keep you going for a while, but the Homecourt Challenge doesn’t offer up enough depth, and the game is lacking in other modes. However, there are worse things you can say about a game other than it left you wanting more.

At its core, Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 is a technical showcase for the shapely heroines of Team Ninja’s Dead or Alive series. You don’t have to look much farther than the opening cinematic sequence to know that the game is out to provide you with fan service in the purest sense. There’s quite a lot of suggestive material to be found here, with loads of cleavage and g-strings, and some of the bounciest breasts you’ve ever seen. The game never crosses the line towards the obscene, much to the chagrin of those still looking for that mythical Tomb Raider nude code, but it comes pretty close to being an interactive Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. If all you’re looking for is pretty, jiggling girls and something that’ll show off the latest in technical achievements in graphics, then you can stop reading now, as on the visual front, the game most definitely delivers.

No matter how shallow the rest of the game may be, Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 features some of the most attractive graphics we’ve ever seen. The assorted locales and landscapes are postcard-perfect, really capturing the look and feel of a picturesque island paradise. And more importantly, the visiting ladies of the Dead or Alive tournament look even better than they did in Dead or Alive 4. Their animations are silky smooth, and when they’re playing poolside or going for a swim, it’s hard not to remark on how great it all looks. The girls lack in certain features that would make them more lifelike, as they have flat skin textures, so you won’t find any wrinkles, pores, or other blemishes, something that was touched on by the impressive-looking Rumble Roses, a game that even gave its girls realistic stretch marks. This fine line that was drawn between realism and fantasy keeps the girls from entering that Uncanny Valley territory, where digital characters can appear lifeless and downright scary. Still, some may find something disturbing about objectifying these girls, considering their youthful faces and anime-inspired facial features. How attractive the girls are to you is really a matter of personal taste, and your satisfaction with the game is entirely contingent on this.

The physics behind the character models need special mention, particularly the effect that allows for their ample bosoms to jiggle and bounce independently. While it may be unrealistic at times, if you can suspend disbelief, you may get a chuckle or two out of the sheer absurdity of it all. Some people love this stuff, and more power to them. Of course, real women don’t very often look like these do, and that’s understandable, as Itagaki and Team Ninja have created idealized versions of most gamers’ dream girl. These are world-class martial artists, wrestling champions and ninjas, not the barista at the local Starbucks that won’t give you the time of day.

To provide you with something to do as you watch the girls play poolside, you can take pictures of them, collecting snapshots for, ahem, later viewing. The girls don’t notice the cameraman taking the shots, and the whole thing feels very voyeuristic and even somewhat creepy.

It’s almost unfathomable why the decision was made to change the mechanics behind the original DOA Xtreme Volleyball game. You have a single camera perspective, giving you a sideline view of the action, which works well for providing plenty of good looks at the characters’ posteriors, but not very much as far as depth perception, making it very hard to predict the ball’s position. In the original game, your player would auto-center underneath the ball when appropriate, but now you have to rely on instinct and sheer luck in order to get underneath the ball for a dig. The blocking and serving work well, though, and you are rewarded with extra cash whenever you execute impressive moves.

The water ski races are a big part of the Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 experience, on par with volleyball. You can perform a variety of tricks, some involving butt wiggles of course, but the challenge for the most part is just coming in first place so you can collect your winnings. The controls are fairly simple, with shoulder triggers allowing you to make sharp turns, and a turbo meter allowing you to turn up the speed for a last-second finish. The ocean environment looks good for the most part, but something about the water looks unnatural due to the overuse of the chop effect. Just like the breast physics, the core technicality behind the water is very impressive, but it lacks in subtlety.

The other mini-games don’t fare very well either. The appropriately named Butt Battle and Tug-of-War are guessing games, with little strategy to bring to the table. You simply have to hope that you feign or dodge at the right time and attack when your opponent is vulnerable to squeak out an occasional win. These games could have been great fun if there was more to them than just a lucky guess. The water slide is pretty interesting, in that it creates a really good sense of speed, but you have to basically have the route memorized and know the exact timing for each of your movements in order to keep your girl from flying off the slide to the ground below. The pool-hopping game is a competitive affair now, and if you make a single mistake in your race across the floating platforms, you’re just out of luck. Beach Flags fares a bit better, as it’s just a simple race on the sand, testing your reflexes at the start of the race and your ability to mash on the A button quickly. It’s not very deep, but at least you don’t feel like you were cheated by unfair AI.

Those who enjoyed the original Xbox title were usually fans who enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere and became avid collectors of all the swimsuits and accessories you could purchase to outfit your preferred character. This aspect of the game is still present, and you could spend hundreds of hours collecting all the outfits. The more expensive swimsuits in particular are worth getting if you want to see the most flesh, as some of the higher-end swimsuits are little more than a pair of quarter-sized jewels and a couple strings holding it all together. You’ll have to work hard on making cash to afford it all, however, as everything is pretty expensive, and money isn’t very easily acquired at the casinos, which don’t offer odds any better than you’ll find in Vegas. While the money-making is tedious, the collecting aspect of the game is quite robust, and it’s easy to see players spending months with the game and still finding more items to acquire.

Collecting and managing the inventory is a major part of the game, and the gift-giving system is how you make friends with the other girls. You’ll refer to their personal likes and dislikes, and send appropriate gifts to girls until they decide to trade presents with you on a daily basis, one of the best ways to acquire new accessories and swimsuits. Kokoro is a fan of the color orange and plays the piano, for instance, while Christie likes the color black, driving, and enjoys the occasional glass of tomato juice. If you want to get on Tina’s good side, you’ll have to ply her with video games (like the purchasable Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox prototypes) and wrap them up in blue wrapping paper. There’s no feedback indicating whether or not a girl likes a gift unless she decides to accept it and send you a gift in return, and it can be very hard to get a girl to accept your gifts initially. You’ll need to make friends to participate in beach volleyball as well, and it can be pretty sad when you lose your partner and have to wander the beaches on your lonesome.

If you’re an achievement whore, the preferred nomenclature for those that try to increase their gamerscore at every opportunity, you’ll have a tough time getting even a single achievement point out of the game without spending weeks of work on it. You need to complete entire collections of swimsuits for each girl to start getting these points, and it’ll take you plenty of time to do so. Luckily you only have to play through the 14-day vacation once to unlock the Bob Marley track that is the highlight of the game’s soundtrack. There are undoubtedly some songs that will appeal to you here, and you can customize your playlist at the in-game radio station. What you’ll enjoy most depends on your personal tastes, like whether or not you can enjoy a Spanish-language track, vibe with dancehall reggae, or if you’re a fan of Hillary Duff.

The most disappointing aspect of the game for me personally is the online multiplayer support. You can’t bring over any of your girls from the single-player game, as your avatar when setting up multiplayer sessions is some silly little thing like a starfish or a turtle. Once I actually got to play some games, I found that the online servers were incredibly laggy, making the online competition completely unplayable. With time this may be remedied, but as it stands now, you have far more to gain playing through the game on your own than on Xbox Live.

The original Dead or Alive Xtreme Volleyball did many things well, as it provided a relaxing atmosphere for people to play in, take in the sights, collect trinkets, and basically just have a good time away from the predominantly violent and fast-paced offerings that are the norm in video gaming. Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 just isn’t as relaxing, with its frustrating mini-games and flawed core game mechanics. There’s still plenty of eye-candy to be had, but if you’re looking for anything more, you may want to pass.

 

Let’s just get one thing out of the way: it would be easy for GameSpy to have gone out and looked for someone with a veritable laundry list of credentials and know-how to review a fighting game that warrants the sort of anal-retentiveness that has given it such a strong cult following among the kinds of people who dismiss Soul Calibur with the same scoff that most of America saves for professional wrestling. Phew, that was long. Instead, we’ve taken a completely different route. Rather than having someone who can pinpoint, frame for frame, move for move, the subtle differences of Pai Chan between VF4: Evo and now, the team has assigned a reviewer who owns a copy of Evo, but somehow, never got around to actually popping it into his PS2. With that in mind, VF fanboys, sorry, this review’s not totally aimed at you. You knew you were buying this game when you stood in line for 24 hours on November 16th, or at least, while we all thought it was a PS3 exclusive. There’s nothing, good or bad, that we can say that’s going to change your mind.

No, no. There are lots of early adopters who are on the fence right now about the investment they’ve made in Sony’s machine. Resistance is awesome, but there’s a point where adding a few more ribbons to the ranking is getting a bit grueling, and Nathan Hale has taken down the core of the Chimera threat one time too many. Maybe the wait for the EU launch of PS3 has sapped a little wind from the Ridge Racer 7 sails. Outside of playing a lot of PS2 titles, what’s there to do, besides play more ports of 360 games? Suffice it to say, there are some who will argue that Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection will tide them over until Tekken 6. Those people obviously haven’t seen Virtua Fighter 5 and Dark Resurrection running on HDTVs yet.

Another way to describe Virtua Fighter 5 is that it’s like the Pixies. The average Joe gamer probably has gone for the Tekkens, DoAs, and Soul Caliburs well before reaching for AM2’s fighter. There will undoubtedly be a strong sense of “why didn’t I discover this game sooner?” that will accompany the first few hours of play. Kind of like most rock fans were some three years ago when the Pixies announced their reunion tour. Never fear, PS3 owners; this monkey’s gone to heaven, and brought back manna in the shape of Sixaxis controllers.

What truly makes VF 5 shine so brightly lies in its controls. While VF’s detractors have complained that the series is too hardcore for the average gamer, who they’d say would rather rattle off button-mashing combos with Heihachi or Helena, VF 5 is surprisingly accessible for anyone who’s picked up a 3D fighting game. Indeed, while the hardcore gamers will be purchasing PS3 fighting sticks in anticipation of this one, casuals will be able to jump in and knock the crap out of a friend in no time. Gamers who’ve cut their teeth on other blockbuster 3D fighters should have little problem getting into the groove.

Unlike other fighting games, however, highly evolved, well-timed combos will begin to evolve out of the primordial ooze, and eventually, anyone who puts in enough time on characters will begin to see the subtleties at work. It’s small things, like combo canceling, or the fact that sometimes, a certain five punch setup won’t work as fast as the player would like, because the fighter’s animations haven’t completed their run, that show off a certain depth that more popular fighters lack. Players can fight cheap in VF 5, but it’s going to take a hell of a lot more effort and polish to do it in comparison to other titles.

If there’s anything that we don’t like, we wish that there was an option to utilize analog controls instead of the D-pad. While not every fighting game allows for it, the option to turn it on or off, depending on preference, would have been a very nice touch, and one that would leave everyone happy. Also, in the spirit of comparing VF 5 to its predecessor, we popped in VF 4: Evo and gave it a test run. While the visuals on the new game are so intensely beautiful (especially on an HDTV) that it makes the PS2 game look nearly unplayable, the core mechanics of more than one character felt nearly identical. We sense that the hardcore might complain that VF 5 really feels like VF 4 Evo with a facelift, but the visuals more than draw the line in the sand, and for newcomers, the argument likely won’t, and shouldn’t, matter.

The Kumite that’s central to the plot brings the combatants from VF 4 back in the fray, and introduces Eileen from China, and El Blaze, a masked Mexican wrestler. Eileen’s techniques lie in Monkey Kung-Fu, and her style is deceptively vicious. El Blaze has a variety of unique styles that feel like half-Rey Mysterio Jr. luchador and half-”insane martial artist.” Really, though, regardless of new fighters, it’s all an excuse for everyone to beat the unholy hell out of each other, and for friends to find new ways to screw their buddies on the couch over, now that we’re in the generation of Sixaxis as the standard and the “unplug the Dual Shock” trick no longer works. The truth is, the actual Kumite takes a backseat to an experience that’s a fighting game about the experience of playing fighting games.

Just like in the last game, VF 5 boasts Quest mode, which enables players to play in virtual arcades around town against opponents of various skill levels, from pwnable noobs to opposition that will put players on their backs in less time than it takes to load the fight. It’s all A.I.-driven, and while, at times, the CPU can be maddeningly cheap, especially on higher difficulties, it’s a wonderful primer for newcomers to sharpen their skills. It’s also ripe with opportunities to unlock all sorts of quirky costume adjustments and collect gold, although money is often harder to come by than a wad of hundreds in a homeless shelter.

There has been a bit of controversy regarding VF 5’s lack of online play. Some people feel that it’s a serious detraction, especially in light of the fact that Dead or Alive 4 has online multiplayer. Even more cynical people feel that Sega has deliberately left out online play because it would take a sizable chunk out of the profitability of VF 5 in arcades. My feeling is that between the lukewarm online implementation of most games on PlayStation Network, and the laggy gameplay issues that DoA 4 has faced over Xbox Live, it’s probably better for AM2 to have left online out of the game.

There have been many a times that we at GameSpy have tooted the online horn, but at least, in this reviewer’s case, there have been enough poorly implemented online experiences that we’d rather not have it, than to play a horrifically embarrassing experience, replete with chugging framerates, frustrating near-victories, and redneck teenagers screaming into headsets. While we don’t deny that there are people unhappy with VF 5’s lack of online multiplayer –in fact, we anticipate a litany of angry responses to our stance– we don’t feel for a split-second that it worsens the experience at all. That does not mean, however, that we don’t wish there were online leaderboards; for a game that aims to simulate an arcade experience in a variety of strange ways, it’d be nice to have a nice, fat scoreboard on PSN for all to see, a la Tony Hawk’s Project 8 on 360.

Instead of online matches, part of what makes VF 5 so satisfying for multiplayer is the sense of personalization, combined with the traditional on-the-couch trash talk that defines the fighting game experience. Players can take a character, run it through Quest mode, and build up some definitive victories, then play against friends, and the win/loss tally will still be affected. It explains why, outside of a few cheap victories from the CPU, some friends and loved ones have managed to put a few dents in my armor. There’s a strong sense of time and value invested in each character, and it really adds to the experience.

While Virtua Fighter has been known as the fighting game for the hardcore for several years now, it is with Virtua Fighter 5 that the series has a fine opportunity for some mainstream love with the average gamers. There’s never a strong sense of “oh, you picked the crutch character” that there are in other fighters. Instead, it’s a pure fighting experience that gamers who’ve only played Tekken, DoA, or Soul Calibur will be able to jump in and appreciate, while veterans will hop in and log in endless hours on unlocking as many items as possible. Of course, there’s no such thing as a perfect game –that’s entirely too subjective– we wish that VF 5 had some online leaderboards, slightly less cheap A.I., and we’re concerned that the hardcore might feel that in spite of its visuals, it’s really just “VF 4: NEXT Evolution” with prettier graphics. Again, while some might disagree strongly with us, we’re okay with the lack of online multiplayer in this case. Although none of us own a 1080p TV, we wonder if the resolution wasn’t capped to give the upcoming 360 version a little more “umph.” At the end of the day, however, we close with this advice: for gamers who’ve mocked their PS3-owning friends, it’s time to suck up to them and hang out at their crib for this one. One taste of this, and it’s going to feel like a long, long wait for the summertime release on Xbox 360.

After years of wondering “what’s going on with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.?”, we suddenly can’t escape the game’s shadow. It started a few weeks ago with a preview build of the single-player game (which we’re still playing), and now we’re knee-deep in the game’s multiplayer beta test, which will soon become available to the public via Fileplanet. While the multiplayer is a bit more traditional than the ambitious single-player campaign, we’ve been pretty happy with what we’ve seen so far.

To start, we were glad to see that the performance of the multiplayer beta was substantially improved over previous hands-on playtests. Granted, it helps that we just finished building a brand new test PC to play it on (with an Intel Core Duo E6600 CPU, 2GB RAM and a GeForce 8800 GTX), but even at 1920×1200, we had a smooth framerate going throughout, which we’re guessing gave us a bit of an advantage over the average player on the test servers (who, even at point-blank range, often seemed to respond slowly and miss horribly). The only drawback on our end was that we crashed to the desktop every 2 or 3 games, something we’re obviously hoping won’t be the case with the game’s March release.

The beta included two large maps and three gametypes: traditional deathmatch, team deathmatch and an “artifact hunt” mod (well, they call it “artefact,” but we won’t split hairs). Wanting to ease into things slowly, we started out with basic deathmatch, which, as it turned out, wasn’t so basic.

For the first ten minutes, I ran pretty cluelessly around the huge “Railway Station” map with a wimpy little pistol, wondering why I couldn’t find the cool weapons everyone else was killing me with. The reason: because I was a dumbass who failed to see the “press B to access the Buy menu” message at the bottom of the screen. Taking a cue from games like Counter-Strike, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has a simple system where you purchase weapons and other gear every time you’re killed, from body armor to grenades and first aid kits. You start off with enough cash to buy some simple weapons, and then rack up more cash as you get frags (you get bonus money for headshots and scoring streaks). Throughout each match, you can go up in rank (I eventually made it through “Experienced” and to “Professional”), which opens access to the best gear.

With the formality of getting some decent weapons out of the way, I started exploring the Railway map, which was huge. In some ways, it reminded me of the large train station map from Call of Duty 2 — only twice the size. That might seem like overkill for a deathmatch map, but with lots of vertical architecture, like watchtowers, run-down buildings, and elevated railways, there were plenty of points to get a wider view of the map and snipe enemies from far off. Of course, being able to see that much of the map means enemies can see you, too, which helped speed up the pace of the action.

Set in a radioactive, rapidly deteriorating outdoor area near the Chernobyl plant, the action clearly sits on the “realism” side of the fence, with weapons that feel like they have a bit of weight behind them and lose accuracy as you move around. You can lean, sprint and crouch, zoom down the iron sights on most weapons, and you’ll limp around when you’re almost out of health. One nice touch is the energy bar that controls your ability to sprint; jumping will also deplete that bar, which should discourage bunny-hopping to some degree. Overall, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the classic Action Quake 2 mod (which, in my mind, is one of the highest compliments you can pay any deathmatch game).

Before long, I started to get the hang of the Railway map, using vertical structures as landmarks to get my bearings. It seemed most players like to gravitate towards a crumbling three-story building on the perimeter of the map; it provided a great view of the map, and you usually knew one or two players would be lurking about. Soon, I found a few favorites among the weapons, and started taking advantage of upgrades as my rank went up.

I think my favorite moment was playing a game of cat-and-mouse with a would-be-sniper; I managed to maneuver myself right under his position, noticed the slim spaces between the ceiling boards, and proceeded to shoot him right through the roof. It’s rare we see anything new in first-person shooters, but that was an entertaining first for me.

Eventually, after a few quick games of Team Deathmatch, I moved on to the Artifact Hunt gametype, which plays like a variant of Capture the Flag. Two teams start at opposing bases, outfit themselves with gear, hunt down a radioactive artifact on the map, and attempt to bring it back to their base. While the map was nicely designed for this style of gameplay, the mode could benefit from a few in-game tips, as many players didn’t really seem to grasp what they were supposed to be doing. In some games, players would just run around and kill each other, as if playing team deathmatch, while other times it seemed players weren’t quite sure where to bring the artifact.

This was a general problem that permeated the beta: there’s some confusing UI design and a lot of things that take some figuring out. Once you know how everything works, it’s easy enough, and there’s enough depth to keep people hooked for months, but it’s easy to see people jumping into the multiplayer, getting confused, and possibly discarding it without giving it a full chance.

Graphically, there are some things about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. that look amazing, and others that look just ordinary. A day/night cycle runs during multiplayer games, along with the occasional rainfall, both opening up opportunities for dramatic lighting effects. Every area is full of little details, and yet as a whole, the two maps we played still felt a bit washed out. Granted, it’s supposed to be a dreary setting, but we’ve seen games like Half-Life 2 do desolate and still manage to be eye-catching. Considering S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s long development cycle, we’re just happy the game is finally reaching completion and still looks pretty good instead of horribly dated.

It’s remarkable that even at this late date, it’s still hard to make a solid guess on how S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will turn out. Like the single-player portions we’ve been playing through, the multiplayer looks well-designed and has a lot of depth, and yet there are still a number of little issues that we’d like to see worked out before the game’s release next month. In the meantime, we’re going to keep testing both the single-player and multiplayer sections of the game; stay tuned to GameSpy for the latest on S.T.A.L.K.E.R., including the chance to check out the multiplayer beta.

These are real notes written by parents in a Tennessee school district…(spellings have been left intact.)

1. My son is under a doctor’s care and should not take PE today. Please execute him.

2. Please exkuce lisa for being absent she was sick and i had her shot.

3. Dear school: please ecsc’s john being absent on jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and also 33.

4. Please excuse gloria from jim today. She is administrating.

5. Please excuse roland from p.e. for a few days. Yesterday he fell out of a tree and misplaced his hip.

6. John has been absent because he had two teeth taken out of his face.

7. Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was hurt in the growing part.

8. Megan could not come to school today because she has been bothered by very close veins.

9. Chris will not be in school cus he has an acre in his side.

10. Please excuse ray friday from school. He has very loose vowels.

11. Please excuse pedro from being absent yesterday. He had (diahre, dyrea, direathe), the sh**s. [note: words in ( )'s were crossed out] .

12. Please excuse tommy for being absent yesterday. He had diarrhea, and his boots leak.

13. Irving was absent yesterday because he missed his bust.

14. Please excuse jimmy for being.It was his father’s fault.

15. I kept billie home because she had to go christmas shopping because i don’t know what size she wear.

16. Please excuse jennifer fo! R missing school yesterday. We
forgot to get the sunday paper off the porch, and when we found it monday. We thought it was sunday.

17. Sally won’t be in school a week from friday. We have to attend her funeral.

18. My daughter was absent yesterday because she was tired. She spent a weekend with the marines.

19. Ple ase excuse jason for being absent yesterday. He had a cold and could not breed well.

20. Please excuse mary for being absent yesterday. She was in bed with gramps.

21. Gloria was absent yesterday as she was having a gangover.

22. Please excuse brenda. She has been sick and under the doctor.

23. Maryann was absent december 11-16, because she had a fever,sore throat, headache and upset stomach. Her sister was also sick,fever an sore throat, her brother had a low grade fever and ached all over. I wasn’t the best either, sore throat and fever. There must be something going around, her father even got hot last night.

Now we know why parents are screaming for better education for our kids!

The guy is a genious. I’m gonna have all the stuff he did here. I still cannot stop laughing. Dane Cook ROCKS. He is totally insane, and this is a real funny video. I could not stop and watch it again and again.

Never seen anything like this. Has got to be the best breakdance. Count me up as a fan. Presenting you - Scott Will aka Junior.

BOULDER – Police are investigating an assault that happened early Wednesday morning as a possible hate crime.

Boulder Police say it happened just before 3 a.m. near 13th Street and Canyon Boulevard.

Police say they received a call from a 21-year-old woman who said she had been assaulted. But did not know where she was. They had to use a GPS signal from her cell phone to find her.

The victim was transported to Boulder Community Hospital with severe injuries to her face.

She told investigators two men she met on Pearl Street Mall made sexual comments to her after she offered them a place to stay for the night.

“She was simply being kind to two people she believed didn’t have a place to stay the night,” said Commander Greg Testa with the Boulder Police Deparment.

She says she rejected their comments, indicating to them she is gay.

“It was at that point, when she told them that she was gay and not interested in their advances, that the assault occurred,” said Testa.

That is when the woman says one of the men punched her and kicked her after she fell. She says the other man told the attacker to stop, but did not physically intervene.

The victim is a student at Naropa University, a fine arts school that advocates peace and kindness.

Both men are described as white between 18 and 21 years old, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and skinny. One of the men had blond hair down to his chin in a “Beatles-style” haircut and was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt.

The other man had short dark hair and was wearing a dress shirt with a sequined tie. He also had Mardi Gras beads around his neck. The woman says she thought the second man had a name that began with the letter “D.” Both men were wearing baggy jeans and the victim says she thought the men said they were from California.

Police say they hope to have composite sketches of the suspects on Thursday.

If you have any information regarding the identity of the suspects you can call Boulder County Crime Stoppers at 303-440-STOP (7867) or visit their Web site at www.crimeshurt.com. You could be eligible for a cash award.

Boulder Pride is planning a march in support of the victim on Friday.

“We want the Boulder Police to state that this was a hate crime that happened here in Boulder,” said Sonya Lewis with Boulder Pride.

Police say they will not be able to call it a hate crime until charges are filed.

If it is a hate crime, 9NEWS legal analyst Scott Robinson says it moves from a misdemeanor to a felony if more than one person was involved in the assault.

The tension over Iran’s nuclear programme is increasing, with the expiry on Wednesday of a Security Council deadline for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.

At the same time, the BBC has reported that the United States has drawn up plans for an attack on Iran to cover two contingencies - the confirmed development of nuclear weapons by Iran, or backing by Iran for a major attack on US troops in Iraq.

The first contingency is full of uncertainties. Iran says it is simply exercising its right to provide fuel to make nuclear energy and that it has no intention of building a bomb.

The problem is that the same technology used to make fuel for nuclear power can then be developed to make fuel for a nuclear explosion.

So how can Iran’s intentions be judged?

The signs are that Iran will not comply with the Security Council demands

The UN Security Council has demanded that Iran halt its activities in order to allow for negotiations. Iran has been offered civilian nuclear technology for power if it gives up enrichment of fuel itself. The council has imposed sanctions designed to limit Iran’s access to nuclear technology.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that there can be no pre-conditions for talks. Indeed, he has proposed that Western governments suspend enrichment themselves before any talks.

The signs are that Iran will not comply with the Security Council demands and that therefore further sanctions will be considered. The US will press for them. Russia and China will question them.

Mutual freeze?

The UN’s nuclear agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is to report this week on Iranian compliance with the Security Council demand.

The IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei warned against ‘hype’ over Iran’s nuclear abilities

The head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, is calling for a mutual freeze - by Iran on its nuclear development and by the Security Council on sanctions. No freeze is likely.

Mr ElBaradei told the Financial Times this week that Iran might be five or 10 years away from developing a nuclear bomb. He warned against “hype” over Iran’s nuclear activities.

Meanwhile, the US continues to apply pressure on Iran and is expected to move a second aircraft carrier battle group into the Gulf region soon.

US Vice-President Dick Cheney said in Newsweek magazine that American allies in the region “want us to have a major presence there” and that the carriers would send ” a strong signal” that the US would “work with friends and allies to oppose the Iranian threat”.

Iraq linkage

A new element emerging over the last couple of weeks is the linkage the US is making between Iran and events inside Iraq. It has publicised its contention that Iran is behind sophisticated technology that is being used by some Shia groups against US and British forces in Iraq.

The US claims Iran is supplying weapons to Iraq insurgents

The timing of this claim, rejected by Iran, is significant, because it ties in with the expiry of the Security Council demand on 21 February. It adds a new component to the equation.

The US can now claim a casus belli if there is a major attack on US forces in Iraq that can be linked to Iran. Such linkage of course is not easy to prove, and even the evidence that the US has produced so far has been challenged.

But the legality of any attack against Iran will be hard to establish, to say the least, without clear evidence, especially as the evidence against Iraq proved unreliable.

Danger

All this makes for an extremely delicate and dangerous period ahead.

It does not mean that a US attack on Iran is imminent. The BBC information is that the US has chosen targets in Iran and has considered two scenarios for an attack.

The targets include not only Iranian nuclear sites but Iranian missile sites and other major military infrastructure.

This would be in line with US doctrine that, in a conflict, an attack has to cover a range of military targets. This happened in the two Gulf wars and Israel adopted similar tactics in its attacks on Hezbollah last year.

But it is not an either-or situation.

Diplomacy

There is a diplomatic effort at play here as well.

Washington hopes that its pressure will trigger not necessarily a war but a debate inside Iran that will either lead to a change of policy (maybe through a change in government) or a much slower and more cautious Iranian approach.

It is also not clear that within the Bush administration these days there is total support for any attack on Iran. The influence of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice seems to be growing at the expense of Vice-President Cheney.

We have seen the US entering negotiations over North Korea, leading to an interim agreement under which the North’s claimed nuclear weapon is being left to one side.

Mr Burns has backed the idea of “additional sanctions”

Washington has said it will now push for tougher sanctions against Iran over its continuing nuclear activities. The United Nations Security Council gave Tehran 60 days to suspend its uranium enrichment programme.

But the deadline has expired and a UN report is soon expected to confirm that Iran is pressing ahead with developing its own nuclear fuel cycle.

US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns accused Iran of “brazenly pursuing” its nuclear ambitions.

Mr Burns said that over the next few weeks there would be efforts within the UN Security Council to establish “additional sanctions” on the Iranian Government.

Internal opposition

On Wednesday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would try to achieve nuclear capability as soon as possible, according to reports by Iran’s Isna news agency.

However, for the first time a political party in Iran has also called on Mr Ahmadinejad to accept the UN’s demands.

Iran denies Western claims that it is seeking nuclear weapons, saying its programme is for purely peaceful ends.

A UN resolution, adopted on 23 December 2006, imposed sanctions against Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes and opened the way for further measures if it failed to halt uranium enrichment within two months.

Following the deadline’s expiry on Wednesday, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is expected to report that Iran has defied the 60-day ultimatum.

Security dangers

Iran resumed uranium enrichment last year. The process can produce fuel for power stations or, if greatly enriched, material for a nuclear bomb.

Speaking in the northern town of Siahkal, Mr Ahmadinejad said: “Obtaining this technology is very important for our country’s development and honour. It is worth it to stop other activities for 10 years and focus only on the nuclear issue.”

But one small radical reformist political party, the Islamic Revolutionary Mujahadin Organisation, has complained that Iran’s drive to produce nuclear energy has endangered national security, the national interest and the destiny of the Iranian people.

The BBC’s Frances Harrison says this is the first time there has been open criticism of Mr Ahmedinejad’s nuclear policy. Allies of the president in parliament were quick to say it came from lackeys of the United States who did not even know the basics of politics, our correspondent adds.