Is this gorgeous enough for you? The series that brought computer graphics into the mainstream consciousness is coming to a console near you. Myst III: Exile maintains the on-rails, point and click, interface of its predecessors, but features a 360 degree camera and the most photorealistic landscapes we\'ve seen so far, not to mention a meaty narrative. Click here for more.

She\'s back, and it\'s nice to see that the glory of Metroid will be preserved for another generation. Metroid Prime, the FPS next-gen installment of one of the most beloved gaming franchises, is all set to go on Gamecube, and it is going to be a whole lot of fun. Incredible visuals paired with tight gameplay insure this a spot in any gamer\'s library. Click here.

When this game came out for the Dreamcast it was a hit. And it\'s still a super good game. Space Race on the PlayStation 2 brings back all the same tracks and characters with just a few enhancements. Bottom line: If you own the DC version, don\'t sweat this one, but if you haven\'t tried Space Race and if you like kart racers at all, click here now.

Capcom\'s other latest offering is a revolutionary take on their established Breath of Fire series. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter does two things very differently: First, it incorporates a way-cool cel shaded look. Second, the game structure and replay system are unlike anything we\'ve seen in console RPGs. Read all about it here.

Possibly the most beautiful game yet for PS2 is ICO, the strange story of a little boy with horns growing out of his head. Normally, that would be cool, except in his culture they sacrifice little boys with horns growing out of their heads. Check out Jason\'s review here.

Sony announced several new partnerships and technology deals at E3, making a major play to enter the online gaming market before Microsoft can get its online bits in order. Both companies have professed the importance of online gaming to the success of console systems, and Sony has specifically illuminated desires to create an online distribution network for all kinds of gaming, movies, music, and other broadband entertainment applications.

Peter Moore, President and Chief Operating Officer for Sega of America, held a press teleconference this morning to detail Sega of America's plans for 2001 and to comment on Sega's worldwide strategy. In addition to announcing a new $99 price tag for Dreamcast beginning February 4 (the Sega Smash Pack will now be priced at $119), the company has decided on some strategies to move Sega from a lagging hardware manufacturer, to a "top of the heap" software developer and publisher. Moore outlined a three-pronged approach that will go into effect April 1 this year and continue through at least March of 2002. The basic approach involves the following:

Sega is now a "platform agnostic" third-party game developer/publisher.
Sega will license the DC chipset.
Sega will focus on network strengths.

As we move into the next arena of competing systems, 2001's HAL9000 may be a ways down the road, but there is a wide world of electronic-gaming glory in sight. While most have hopefully known the awesome perfection that is Dreamcast, it does behoove both the serious and casual gamer to look at the upcoming choices and see what each new platform has to offer them.
PS2 has already landed and GameCube and X-Box will within a year. PS2 and X-Box should both be in the $300.00 range and GameCube about $200.00. Like most other technical-equipment purchases, it all depends on what you want your new box to do. The PS2 has made a serious leap forward as a true 'Set-Top Box' offering movie-playback and the promise of serous internet capabilities. X-Box will offer these also and Nintendo's new entry will at least offer online browsing. With DVD players dropping in price everyday and nearly half the houses in the country connected to the internet, these are niceties in a console, but maybe not the prime focus.

PlayStation2, the words still sound like honey in my ears. Like the culmination of some grand epic, the PlayStation 2 is now a reality and I'm still giddy with excitement. My zealous desire to own a PS2 reached a fevered pitch this week and had me compared to everything from an irrational fanatic to a crack whore looking for a fix.

So, as I was standing in line at 6:00 a.m., waiting for Big K to open and deliver me my PS2 booty, the hot topic amongst the fellow first-come-first-servers was DVD. None of us doubted the PS2 game system would be hot, but for many people DVD playback was what brought them out to brave hypothermia, and risk social rejection for years to come. (Hey, camping out for a PS2 is a hell of a lot cooler than doing the same for a Furby”you can't even give those things away anymore!) I have to admit I was skeptical.

Okay fellow troopers, here's the deal on the PlayStation 2. We've been flooded with mails here at GF! asking about details regarding the PS2's memory, processing power, rumored bugs, and a lot more, but most often people have been wanting to know the simple, practical bits of info: Does it come with a demo disk? (No.) Does it come with a memory card? (No.) Will my old multi-tap work? (No.) While the technical details are interesting and provide fodder for those late-night debates about what system will be number one by what month and whose momma could whoop who at Tekken, it's those more practical questions that will hang you up.

Hey you, yeah you with the pre-ordered PS2 (who probably won't see it for a few more months)! I want you to slowly put down that VHS copy of Planet of the Apes and run, run I say, from the analog realm of home video. You're going to have a DVD player in just a few weeks. With virtually every movie that you could want to own (see the note on George Lucas at the bottom of the page) on DVD, or that is coming to DVD, you might need a little introduction into the fanatical world that is DVD video.

My wife hates it whenever I make a significant electronics purchase; she doesn't mind the money spent as much as the buyer's anxiety I always experience after plunking down a few hundred dollars for something I know will be obsolete within a few months. The DVD player, the stereo, the camcorder are all sources of great anxiety to me whenever I think about them. Should I have waited for them to go down in price? Could I have gotten a better deal if I had looked around a little more? Did I get the right brand? Because of this tendency to second guess myself, I try to avoid making major purchases of things new to the market. I waited a year to see if DVD would really take hold, and it did. I had intended on breaking the waiting restriction with the Playstation 2. I didn't think that there could be a surer bet. At the beginning of the summer I started putting pennies away in anticipation of October 26th. I would be the first one on my block to own it, and it would be glorious. There was no doubt. After all, Newsweek even ran a cover story on it. Sure, there were rumors about an X-Box and a Dolphin, but what were they in the face of Sony?

Perhaps you missed last Sunday\'s episode of \"The Simpsons,\" which, as well as being one of the best episodes to date (enough to make a person forget about last season\'s crap-a-thon), also featured the show\'s first new generation video game spot. Of course you shouldn\'t worry; syndication will take care of that problem, but, for those of you who did manage to catch it, the time for discussion is at hand.