Well Folks here we are once more, if you like me wondered where this site went last week then all I can say is I have no idea however it would seem as though it is back and so that means that it is time for Gary's Garden once more.

E3 came and went and it would very much seem as though it was the best show in many a year. Both Nintendo and Microsoft showed us some great looking games. There were no massive surprises as all the news seems to have been announced before the show but as far as Nintendo went that was no bad thing because it just meant that everyone concentrated on Zelda, Mario and Metroid. However before we delve in to the good lets first look at the bad. What the hell is up with Rare? All these people who claimed to have sources in Rare were talking rubbish they did not announce their intentions to go 3rd party and yet it was clear that they are. Nintendo will develop donkey Kong and there was no sign of Donkey Kong Racing or any other Rare title apart from Star Fox so why can't they just tell us and stop me from going insane.

Sony seemed to be fairly low key. They announced that GTA would be PS2 exclusive and that is a coup for them and there were a few good looking titles there (Crouching Tiger, Shonobi) but compared to Microsoft and Nintendo you get the sense that Sony and there PS2 is rapidly loosing steam in terms of quality and innovation. Microsoft announced big plans for an "online Disneyland". Make no mistake that is a huge gamble. It could earn them a fortune or could be a disaster. While Broadband is so expensive I can't see it taking off outside America and frankly even then they will face an uphill battle. Is the world ready for Broadband? I guess we will soon find out. However there is one title on the Xbox that makes me green with envy, Panzer Dragoon looks awesome. It appears that Crazy Taxi 3 may be a let down. However credit to Microsoft for taking a gamble, I'm not sure if it will work but we shall see.

Nintendo god bless their cotton socks had a stonking show. As apposed to focusing on Multiplayer games they went showed us a lot of great titles that are good solo and multiplayer. Zelda has been slammed to pieces that was until people actually played it, now everyone is agreeing that it will rock. Ditto with Mario. There was one game that took everyone by surprise and that was Metroid. Everyone assumed it would be good but people are raving about this game big time. Oh and do yourself a favour and go and see a video of Zelda. There have been some new games announced by Nintendo and some really cool 3rd party ones to. Here for your reading pleasure is a list that will make you wet your pants.

Nintendo Games yet to be released

Mario Sunshine
Zelda
Wario's World
Animal Crossing
Eternal Darkness
Star Fox Adventures (Adventure Game)
1080 2
Metroid
F Zero GC
Star Fox GC (Space Shooting game)
Doshin the Giant
Pikmin
Donkey Kong +
Mario Party 4
Mario Kart GC
Mario Golf
Mario Tennis
Kirby
Roll o Rama (formally Kirby, this game will be controlled using a GBA and a "tilt Sensor"

Cool Exclusive 3rd party Games

Resident Evil 0, 1, 2, 3, Code Veronica and 5
Die Hard Vendetta
Super Monkey Ball 2
Star Wars Rouge Leader 2
Harvest Moon: A Beautiful Life
Beach Spikers
Possibly Sonic Adventure 3
And Namco are bringing
"New Mr. Driller" (working title) - November, 2002
"Soul Calibur II" (working title) - January, 2003
3D Racing Game (title TBA) - March, 2003
Tales RPG (title TBA) - July, 2003
New RPG (title TBA) - December, 2003
WWE Wrestlemania 18

Cool MultiFormat 3rd party Games

Lord of the Rings
Hobbit
Harry Potter
Pro Evolution Soccer
Tony Hawks 4
Turok Evolution
Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance
Ghost Recon
Medal of Honour
Timesplitters 2

Right Sorry it's so long but anyone who tells you that Gamecube Sucks and that no good games are coming out then just laugh and be safe in the knowledge that they know no better. This list is Awesome what is even better is that you will see many of these before Christmas. Also this is not a definitive list by any means. Nintendo really have done good.

Random thoughts

-Sega Soccer Slam has gone multiplatform but what annoys me is that the PS2 and Xbox version will be better. The game has not even been released in Europe yet and surely this will put many possible buyers off, daft if you ask me.

-I got Super Smash Bros and was at first disappointed but this really is a fantastic game with so much depth. It rocks as a multiplayer game but is also a wicked Single player game. I have been pleasantly surprised to find that Star Wars is excellent and Super Monkey ball is class.

-Apart from Pikmin next month the release list is a bit thin but look at this for a list.

September 2002
Resident Evil (Capcom)
The Sum of All Fears (Ubi Soft)
Time Splitters 2 (Eidos)
The Last Ninja (Studio 3)
Turok Evolution (Acclaim)
Die Hard Vendetta (Vivendi Universal)
Animal Crossing (Nintendo)
Medal of Honour (Electronic Arts)
October 2002
Mortal Combat Deadly Alliance (Midway)
Rayman 3 Advance (Ubi Soft)
Super Mario Sunshine (Nintendo)
Eternal Darkness (Nintendo)
November 2002
StarFox Adventures (Rare)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (Activision)
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3 (Activision)
Rayman 3 (Ubi Soft)
December 2002
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings (Vivendi Universal)
Metroid Prime (Nintendo)
Ghost Recon (Ubi Soft)

Nintendo has a very good Christmas release list, very good indeed.

Anyway go and read the list of games again and Take Care.

Gary Samaden