Along with the release of the GameCube here in Italy more and more magazines have been springing up in various newsstands around the country. Some more "veteran" magazines like the Official Nintendo Magazine have acquired some new rivals, like the one I'm going to talk about today.

Its name is CUBE, by PlayPress Publishing. Although this is only the second edition of this monthly journal, its publisher has experience printing a variety of magazines for consoles and writers, like Marco Accordi, have previous experience in the game reviewing business.

The second publication features some bloodcurdling concept art from Resident Evil on the cover, along with Super Smash Bros. Melee and Star Wars: Rogue Leader, while near the bottom we can observe two screenshots of Spider-Man and one of the new GBA game; Duke Nukem Advance. In fact, this periodical not only covers GameCube game (like you would think from the title) but also dedicates 5 pages to Nintendo's smaller and more profitable console. Do not fear, though, as this magazine fulfils all your GameCube needs in another 114 pages divided into abundant sections.

The first takes care of the editorial (often present in gaming magazines), pictures and comments from the staff composed of 5 people plus 1 mascot, and news. A special admiring comment goes to this last part, which is very well done, full of pictures of the most recent GameCube releases. Although not much is said about the E3, we have to understand that this magazine was published only a week after the big event and had to take care of all the other information the previous month, nonetheless it provides some news on the Nintendo Press Conference.

The second division is a first look at some exceptional soon-to-be releases for our lovely GameCube: Starfox Adventures, Soul Calibur 2, PSO Episodes 1&2, Super Mario Sunshine, Resident Evil 0, and the highly anticipated Eternal Darkness. All of these previews were done in a great manner, full of screenshots, captions, and a final judgement.

Moving on to the third branch, we have the "Hands On" section. This time games are previewed, as the title says, with actual play time at disposition. This is the case for Resident Evil, which is greatly anticipated, and Lost Kingdoms, and new RPG from "From Software" (nice name, huh?).

The "Review" section is the most delicate, many game magazines make vital errors here, either with too low/high votes or not giving enough information on the game itself just because it isn't hyped enough (and vice-versa). Fortunately, CUBE magazine does not do this. A total of ten games are reviewed, and guess what? They didn't all receive great votes. This is an indication that this magazine is for real and is planning to give you a real honest opinion regarding your next purchase.

Another section that is frequently used in magazines like this one is the "Strategy" one. Helpful hints, tips, and walkthroughs are given to us for Star Wars: Rogue Leader. Turning the pages we come across the Super Cheat Bros. Not much can be said about it, taking into account that we all know what this is for. The mag finishes off with the Mailbag and "P.O.V.", point of view.

My final opinion on this magazine is that it's a great variation. The fact that it doesn't have an official Nintendo license, in my opinion, is good. It gives us an un-biased, impartial, opinion on games that will and have been released.

For all you Italians out there, go buy number 3 of CUBE magazine.