War is on the way- Bush, Rumsfeld and co. will see to that. Economic uncertainty is getting us all down (so we're told). Threats of nuclear war from North Korea are shaking us to the bone. Supposedly imminent terrorist attacks could happen at any time, any place. We live in fear. Thank the Lord, then, for games; glorious escapism from hectic modern living. Enough of my babble, then, and onto the games�

Finally, a week where games take centre stage, rather than games news- because today, March 7th, has seen the release of three rather good GC games- Sonic Mega Collection, Capcom's latest gore fest Resident Evil (, and, heralding the dawning of a new age (possibly) of online gaming, Sega's Phantasy Star Online, as well as two significant pieces of hardware: the modem adaptor and broadband adaptor. Quite a day all round, then, software wise. PSO's popularity could be well worth keeping half an eye on, as it could serve as a good indicator of GC online take-up, thus influencing future online announcements (or lack of, as the case may be).

The imminent release of the glorious Metroid Prime on the 21st of this month, and, believe it or not, the Game Boy Advance SP on the 28th rounds off a thoroughly impressive month for Nintendo. Speaking of all matters Prime, it has come to our attention that Metroid will be upgraded for Europe. Several gameplay-tweaking and general enhancements have been added to the game by those lovely folk at Retro Studios. As we mentioned in a news article earlier today, the additions are as follows:

-Defeated enemies don't drop as many power-ups as the US version; less ammo and energy
-Stronger enemies: it takes more shots to eliminate certain enemies and their attacks are more powerful
-Faster loss of energy when walking on acid or lava
-Some doors will now require multiple shots to open just like in the SNES game
-Hint system refined is refined. It takes 10-15 minutes longer for hints to appear when players are stuck Gamers can skip cut-scenes after they've played through once
-Also, a voice notifies players when doors are locked and unlocked and there is an added voice for the ending of the game. Nice.

And, by the looks of things, Retro are keen to give European gamers more of a challenge than our American friends. Its great to see a company doing this- it really does prove Retro's extraordinary commitment to quality- striving to make the game better than it was- something hardly necessary, but still they did it. Retro's astonishing, incredible turnaround was one of Nintendo's best moments in years- seeing disaster upon disaster heaped upon the fledgling development house was disheartening- the fact that they were charged with furthering one of Nintendo's most respected franchises only added to the worries. But they pulled through, and by all accounts, passed the test with flying colours, developing a game more than worthy of the Metroid name, and in the process, establishing their credentials as one of Nintendo's most talented and valuable second-parties.

We've had a slew of new game announcements recently, rubbishing fears that third party support for the Gamecube was dwindling- among the highlights are Eidos' The Italian Job, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, Midway's curious ESPionage, and Capcom's intriguing all-formats Ghouls 'N Ghosts Online- more info as we get it.

Also newsworthy this week was EA's major commitment to support the GameCube; over 20 titles will be released by the company under the EA Games, Sports, and BIG labels over the coming 12 months. The really big news though, is that EA, horror of horrors, have actually committed to make use of the Gamecube's as-yet-underused Game Boy Advance connectivity in several of their upcoming games- FIFA 2004, Tiger Woods 2004 and Madden 2004 will be the first to get the GBA link-up treatment. No doubt a brown envelope or two was slipped into EA's hands by Nintendo in that particular deal.

In all seriousness, this is very good news for Nintendo- EA support is, like it or not, crucial to the success of any console- the N64 suffered due to lack of support, the Dreamcast didn't get any, and subsequently died a horrible death- EA's non-appearance a small yet symbolic factor in each case's demise. EA had been making some noises about Nintendo's underachievements with the GameCube, and they were looking decidedly uncomfortable about 'Cube development, yet they have remained quite positive- an aggressive price slash of their games in Australia was indicative of their willingness to work with Nintendo- the question was would Nintendo respond. Well, this week's collaboration is Ninty's response. Even more amazingly, none other than Shigeru Miyamoto will be aiding EA on the link-up elements. Wonders will never cease. Its another good example of Nintendo's growing cosiness with third-parties. Thumbs up on that one, then.

I think I'll wrap it up there. See you next week, beloved readers.

Mark Cullinane