April 2007 EGM Rumor Mill + Review Scores

[FriskyTanuki]

Notable features

-An interview with Peter Moore in the same vein as Jack Tretton's interview last month.

-Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3) cover story unveiling.

-A preview covering the next crop of Wii games.

-A Spider-Man 3 feature.

Rumor Mill
This issue should've come sooner as some of these have already been confirmed:

-The Xenosaga series may not be over yet, as Namco Bandai is working on a PS3 action game starring the ass-kicking robo KOS-MOS.

-Capcom is adding online co-op to Dead Rising's induction into the Xbox 360's Platinum Hits line.

-Resistance is getting a map pack this spring. - Already confirmed - Expect a sequel in the fall of 2008.

-Gears of War will be getting new downloadable content soon, possibly this month. Ranked achievements may be changed to just player matches if MS approves it.

-Warhawk is hurting. It will only be released as a downloadable title.

-Every Extend Extra - Already confirmed - and Rez are coming to XBLA.

-A certain publisher is cooking up a collaboration with the Food Network. Iron Chef on the Wii?

-We thought NFS was taking a break--guess not! I hear a new NFS is coming this fall. Worst part? It's a sim.

Reviews

:wii:Sonic and the Secret Rings - 7.5, 6, 6
:wii:Kororinpa: Marble Mania - 7.5, 7, 7.5
:wii:SSX Blur - 5.5, 4.5, 6.5
:wii:Wing Island - 3, 4, 4
:wii:Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 - 7.5, 8, 6.5
:ps3:Formula One Championship Edition - 7.5, 6.5, 7.5
:ps3:MotorStorm - 7.5, 7.5, 9
:ps3::360:Virtua Tennis 3 - 6.5, 7.5, 8
:ps3::360:Armored Core 4 - 4, 6.5, 4
:ps3::360:Def Jam: Icon - 6.5, 6.5, 7.5
:ps3::360:MLB 2K7 - 7.5, 7, 7
:ps2:Shining Force EXA - 6, 7, 4
:ps2:God of War II - 9.5, 9, 9 - Game of the Month
:psp:Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters - 7, 8, 7.5
:psp:After Burner: Black Falcon - 6.5, 2, 5.5

Wrap-ups

:360:GRAW2 - Review coming next month.
:360:DDR Universe - Doesn't wow with innovation, but downloadable songs are nice.
:ps2:Chulip - Could've been better a few years ago. Chunky graphics and plodding gameplay make it only worthy of a quick peck on the cheek.
:ps2:Burnour Dominator - Still looks great and is faster than any other racer, but Burnout peeked with Revenge.
:ps2:Raw Danger - Who knew staying alive would involve so much frivolous maintenance.
:psp:Chili Con Carnage - Racking up combos with precision lock-on shooting complements the gameplay well.
:360::ps2:Samurai Warrors 2: Empires - News flash: Koei's Warriors games are near indistinguishable from each other.
:gba:Final Fantasy VI Advance - RPG fans need this one.

On the DL

Winners:
:ps3:Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection
:wii:Zelda: A Link to the Past
:wii:Super Mario World
:psp:Jumping Flash!
:ps3:fl0w

Losers:
:360:Root Beer Tapper
:wii:Vigilante
:wii:Bonanza Bros.
:360:Heavy Weapon
:psp:Rally Cross

[Nibi]

Wow, this issue summary shows just how obsolete the internet has made gaming mags.

[Vinny]

Damn, I need to get GoWII...

It's too bad Sonic didn't fare too well. Well, Sega's done for.

[mr ryles]

co-op on dead rising? I doubt it.

[schuerm26]

Damn, I need to get GoWII...

It's too bad Sonic didn't fare too well. Well, Sega's done for.

Compared to most of the other reviews it fared pretty well. It will be a big seller on the Wii no matter what the reviews say, so no, Sega isn't done for.

[erehwon]

The xenosaga game sounds interesting. I just hope Namco can do better with this side game than Square Enix did with FFVII: DoC.

[JEKKI]

-The Xenosaga series may not be over yet, as Namco Bandai is working on a PS3 action game starring the ass-kicking robo KOS-MOS.aw hell naw...

HEYLL NAW~!!!!

[Logain8955]

Wow, Armored Core 4 got slammed hard. Oh well, I'll still be buying it on launch.

[Kaijufan]

co-op on dead rising? I doubt it.
EGM isn't the first place that rumor has appeared, which makes me believe that it may be true.

[jollydwarf]

Call me what you will on principle alone, but I'm almost afraid to renew my EGM subscription for three years, because at this rate it may not even be around that long. I see it all collapsing back into 1up.com, with a portion of the site being only for paying subscribers. If MTV actually buys it, however, I'm really not going to enjoy having Xhibit sit in on "1up Yours" while some slick motherfucker holds a pistol up to "Lukems'" head.

[CoffeeEdge]

Notable features
-The Xenosaga series may not be over yet, as Namco Bandai is working on a PS3 action game starring the ass-kicking robo KOS-MOS.
Oh please god, no. It would be more FMV than action game, just like the RPGs.

-We thought NFS was taking a break--guess not! I hear a new NFS is coming this fall. Worst part? It's a sim.
Any change in that shit series couldn't hurt.

:ps2:Chulip - Could've been better a few years ago. Chunky graphics and plodding gameplay make it only worthy of a quick peck on the cheek.
DEVILRY.

:ps2:Burnour Dominator - Still looks great and is faster than any other racer, but Burnout peeked with Revenge.
I think Dominator is incredible for what it is: a throwback to Burnout 1, with Burnout Revenge-level graphics.

[whoknows]

Interesting scores on Ratchet and Clank (meaning they scored it lower than everyone else just to be cool).

Armored Core scores arent that great, but I'll be getting it anyways most likely.

[The Crotch]

Damn, only two games 80% or more.

Also: A pox on you, Sega! Shining Force is not allowed to get that kind of a score.

[garfep]

They're pretty notorious for April Fool's jokes, no? Should anything posted here be taken with a grain of salt?

[Dr Mario Kart]

Thats ridiculous. An action game based on an RPG that they cut short because subsequent titles didnt sell? Yea, right.

Lets as Square-Enix if its a good idea

[mr ryles]

They're pretty notorious for April Fool's jokes, no? Should anything posted here be taken with a grain of salt?

nothing seems to far fetched, except the dead rising one. IMO.

[FriskyTanuki]

They're pretty notorious for April Fool's jokes, no? Should anything posted here be taken with a grain of salt?
Their joke was Mushroom Kingdom Hearts.

[Apossum]

Death by Degrees: Kos-Mos

[whoknows]

Death by Degrees: Kos-Mos
Why do they have to do that? Xenosaga ended well, why do they have to bring it back just to destroy it?

[Apossum]

They should outsource it to Team Ninja and have an action game that actually does her justice.

[botticus]

Warhawk as download-only is confirmed, no? Nice to see they spread their negative reviews around this month.

[FriskyTanuki]

Warhawk as download-only is confirmed, no? Nice to see they spread their negative reviews around this month.
Nope. As of GDC, they still haven't decided how it'll be sold, but they've confirmed that it's only multiplayer right now.

[erehwon]

They should outsource it to Team Ninja and have an action game that actually does her justice.
That might be cool and they'd give the swimsuit mode an actual use: xtreme beach volleyball.

[Dead of Knight]

The Xenosaga series may not be over yet, as Namco Bandai is working on a PS3 action game starring the ass-kicking robo KOS-MOS.
pls no. We don't need another Nina: Death By Degrees.

[jollydwarf]

Interesting scores on Ratchet and Clank (meaning they scored it lower than everyone else just to be cool).

No, they're just one of the only publications or sites actually using the entire 1-10 scale these days, not just the notorious '7-9' scale that both 'the kids' and the publishers love. I applaud them for that. Are they getting extra attention because of this? Yes, but I'll bet it's costing them more subscriptions than it's earning them.

Maybe it is mostly financially motivated, as they're (in my opinion erroneously*) banking on people 'coming around' and wanting tough reviews, turning to them for 'hard-hitting' scores, but that's never going to happen. Hell, I've submitted reviews to iTunes for a variety of podcasts, and it's funny how almost everyone finds your review "Helpful" (or is it "Useful") when it's a five-star one, but almost never does when it's a two-star one. Hell, four-star reviews tend to get you a tepid, mixed response from the readers leaving feedback. Let's all face it:

The gaming community, on the whole, is very childish in that they can't handle bad news and negativity. Well, those things about their consoles and franchises of choice, anyway. I mean, seriously, you guys fucking want infomercials. You don't necessarily realize this, but you do.

*--And desperately?

[SpecTrE3353]

Wow, this issue summary shows just how obsolete the internet has made gaming mags.

It is extremely awkward to bring my computer into the shitter with me when I need some reading entertainment. A paper issue of EGM however, entertains me for hours in long difficult fights with pizza/taco/beer incuded craps. For this reason alone, my subscription will continue.

[mcgavin27]

Their joke was Mushroom Kingdom Hearts.
I don't know how anyone missed that. The photo was horrible, the fact that no information was available but the fact that there are "41" characters (4-april, 1-st). their jokes have gone down hill in the past few years.

[Rodimus]

Very crappy month for games.

[jollydwarf]

I don't know how anyone missed that. The photo was horrible, the fact that no information was available but the fact that there are "41" characters (4-april, 1-st). their jokes have gone down hill in the past few years.

Wow. Either they're just not trying, or someone like "Shoe" (or even one of his superiors) decided that most of the readers are overeager (pre)adolescent morons that would actually bite the bait on a more legitimate-sounding April Fool's joke, thus earning them an endless deluge of hate mail and message board ranting.

I remember how sincerely my (old) Gamestop's employees were when emphatically telling me that those of us preordering the new Zelda game would get The Wind Waker 'realistic' remake. Hell, for a minute, anyway, there was probably some legitimate confusion on a corporate level. Now that was a joke.

[KaneRobot]

I don't know how anyone missed that. The photo was horrible, the fact that no information was available but the fact that there are "41" characters (4-april, 1-st). their jokes have gone down hill in the past few years.
Agreed. It's pretty embarassing that it took more than halfway down page 1 before someone noticed it.


Glad to see it, though - that at least lends a tiny smidgen of credibility to the Gears achievements rumor and the Dead Rising co-op rumor.

[mrchainsaw]

Mario looks so stupid in the Mushroom Kingdom Hearts picture. I wish they would try to sell their April Fools jokes and not make them so obvious. Don't you think something like that would get more than half a page? Don't say you don't have any info, bullshit some.

[The Crotch]

That's still better than their "Lord of the Rings Kart" PSP game.

*shudder*