London Cube Club Diary - London 27th April 2002

What a surprise when EDGE magazine sent me an e-mail telling me I was a winner of one of their 25 tickets to give away for the Cube Club in London! So I could play all the European launch titles before anyone else�this wasn't exciting news to me since I already own a GameCube and I'm playing some of the best titles already! Little did I know I was in for a big surprise. Browsing the Internet message boards I found that Eternal Darkness and Resident Evil are playable on the day! So I had a good nights sleep looking forward to the next day�

I reached the Cube Club gates 15 minutes before they were to be opened. To my surprise, a woman dressed as a red Pikmin was running along the road towards the gates! Following her were other Pikmin who then came to the gate bouncing their heads onto it in an action similar to that of Pikmin in the game when they attempt to break down a wall. It was hilarious! The gates opened minutes later and after a few questions on how I got entry to the club, I was in!

The layout was pretty much what I had expected- DJ on one side, bar on the other, and TV's set out in rows. As one of the first ones in, I had a choice of any game to play. Of course I went straight to Eternal Darkness. I found this game to be a little slow, and zombies took a long time to kill. I learned that using R targeting made it quicker to kill the zombies, but it didn't make too much of a difference. But then again I hadn't mastered it properly. Overall I can see how this game can have a lot of potential when you get further into it. Unfortunately, I didn't witness any Sanity effects in the game, maybe because they weren't present in the demo version that I played. I have learned that the version I played was in fact an old build of the game, and now it has been improved- movement is faster; zombies are quicker to kill.

By now, the Resident Evil booth was filled with excited people waiting to play the amazing title. So I decided to look around. In front of me, there were four people on a sofa playing a game. In front of them was a mammoth 100-inch projection TV!!! They were playing Smash Bros. Melee! So I waited my turn and took my seat on the sofa. It was great! I could have sat there for hours just playing this one game! Anyway I decided I should queue up for Resident Evil.

I had only played Resident Evil once before on the Dreamcast so I was really a newbie at the game. My jaw dropped at the amazing graphics. When Jill was close to the camera I would twirl her just to see the great character model! And yes, even a slow motion twirl looked amazing! Anyway I ran through the mansion looking for something to kill. I turned a corner and an FMV started playing. It was a zombie feasting on a dead man, and boy did it look fantastic! I realised the only weapon I had was a measly little knife! So I tried and tried but in the end I was devoured! I can imagine what this game will be like when more monsters start appearing. The only disadvantage to the game was the control and camera angles, which can be a letdown for some. And I had heard of the pause when camera angles switch, which was true, but nothing major to worry about. This game is a must buy!

I noticed that the games looked much better on HDTV, especially Rogue Leader, which was personally the most graphically impressive game there, over Resident Evil. Even though Resident Evil was the most graphically detailed, Rogue Leader had many more things going on at one time on the screen, making it look better. Even though I own Rogue Leader I couldn't help just stand there and admire the beautiful HDTV graphics. I advise anyone to buy a HDTV for the GameCube.

The titles I wanted to play were the ones unreleased in the USA such as Burnout and ISS2. Burnout was running at a very smooth 60 fps and so looked great. It was a great game to play, but I think the stunts could have been better such as the car could have flown into the air instead of slide across the road. But overall a great game - if your into the 'pick up and play' titles, buy this. I'm not fond of ISS games, as I'm a FIFA gamer, and ISS2 was just another ISS game to me. The graphics weren't great and the gameplay seemed a little slow. But I can see how an ISS gamer can love this game. I guessed I'm too used to the FIFA games! I was looking forward to playing Super Monkey Ball but for some reason it wasn't there�I wonder why�

There were many other things going on such as the Wave Race rider, which was the loudest corner, and also the Photo Cube with unfortunately I didn't visit (seeing that I was addicted to Super Smash Bros. Melee on the 100 inch!). Also the Pikmin women were entertaining who would come round and knock you around the head with their Pikmin flowers!

When leaving I was even given a free T-shirt, Official Launch book, promo launch CD (also free with previous NOM), and a coaster! There weren't any competitions on the day like I had hoped there to be, and no famous people to see, but I had had a great day! Well worth it!

Zamir Bandali