A Couple of Doozies

By:Triple Triad ID

Well, well, well. If you hadn't known about the comings of these two new games, you must be living under a rock. Yeah, you know, probably two of the biggest games in RPGs and Action Sports this year. If you hadn't guessed by now, then you deserve a nice crack. Yep, it's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and Xenosaga.

From what I know, Xenosaga is going to be one kickass game. Tetsuya Takahashi, the director and mind behind Xenosaga, and also Xenogears, has leaked out a ton of info on this new title. It's said that it will not be a sequel, or a prequel, of Xenogears. In fact, it's a totally new storyline, and a totally new style of gameplay. There are many resemblances though, which seems pretty sketchy to me, like the clothing worn by characters, the main character's name (Shion Uzuki, much liek Citan Uzuki), the mechs and the name of the game (Xenosaga, Xenogears). Seems like Takahashi is pulling our legs! Well, there are a few changes. No more full 3d environments, no more random battles, and no more 2d characters on 2d BG. There's a set view, monsters are on the screen, and the world map and movement will be in 3d. Still, Xenosaga has much speculation surrounding it. The whole Shion and Citan coincidence. And what if Xenosaga, which its full name is "Xenosaga Episode 1: The Will to Power" is about leaving planet earth after the time shown on planet earth in Xenogears? Just because it isn't Episode 6, doesn't mean it's not tied together. WHat if there is a depletion of power, or the world doesn't know what to do since the Zohar has left? Maybe they are searching for another Zohar Modifier? Also, there is speculation on hwo may be the main enemy, or like a Shakan figure in Zenosaga. The leader of a large corporation, Vector, seems to be the guy to big. His name is Wilhelm, and he runs a company that runs the U.M.N.(Unus Mundus Network). It's a system of space warps that can send you from world to world. The company Vector is also a part of the Star Cluster Confederation. There are also an alien space form that wants to kill all humans called Gnosis. Can you smell a war between Star Cluster Confederation and Gnosis? If you can't, go take some cold medicine, some orange juice, and get back to bed! RELIEVE YOURSELF OF THAT STUFFY NOSE! Still, there is no surprise that there are resemblances. There are 5 of the main staff workers from Xenogears working on Xenosaga, being Tetsuya Takahashi (the Big Cheese in both games), Yasunori Mitsuda (Music Composer in both games), Kunihiko Tanaka (Character Designer in both games), Tukumi Sakura (1 of the three Production Designers for Xenosaga, but was the Gear Designer in Xenogears), and Yasuyuki Honne (Art Director in both games). Honne and Mitsuda both worked in Chrono Chross, and both of them, including others, worked on CT. Pretty sweet, huh? Look for it December 1st, 2001!

Onto Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. This one hits home for me. Not only is my favorite Jackass, Bam Margera in it, it includes one of my local skateparks! A few depressing things to hear. No new tricks have been announced, and nor have Bob Burnquest and Kareem Campbell! Now for the good news. We'll be working with the same controls, X being Ollie, /\ being Grind,  being Flip Trick, and O being grabs. There will be many more move targets in the levesl too. Pedestrians, cars, traffic accidents ( !!! ), Natural Disasters ( !!!!! ), and changing weather ( !!!!! ). The standing lineup hasn't changed much, so our starting lineup is:
Tony Hawk - Known to be one of the best in skateboarding ever, also for the 900.
Bam Margera - Known for doing pranks on the CKY Cds and on the famous MTV show "Jackass".
Steve Caballero - Another living legend, this guy first pulled the fakie no-grab 360 on a vert ramp in competition.
Rune Glifberg - A guy to be reckoned with. He has a streak of some 9 or 10 straight vert vert wins this year. If it has died, it's still one heckuva streak.
Eric Koston - Known for being named Skateboarder of the year in the 2000-2001 Action Sports Awards and Rookie of the Year 1999-2000.
Bucky Lasek - Known for being a lunatic and his rodeo 5's. He won last year's X-games for vert.
Rodney Mullen - Known for nothing, really, well, except for being able to mime people. He can do one-footed smiths and rodeo 5's. Pretty well-rounded to me.
Chad Muska - Known for tearing it up. He has mastered the art of the Darkslide, and the art of skating with a backpack.
Andrew Reynolds - Maybe one of the techiest people on the planet. He can backside boardslide any handrail that opposes him.
Geoff Rowely - Known for his vert antics. This dude definitly is a top. He can do more fakie fives then you can read Dr. Sues books without getting toung tied reading quickly.
Elissa Steamer - Known for chillin at Skater's Island, oh, and did I mention that she can whip the heck outta any other female skateboarder? Give her a skateboard and a gap and she'll kick/heelflip it. Go figure.
Jamie Thomas - Known for the Leap of Faith. Yes, that's right, the Leap Of Faith. A Leap of Faith is anything that you ollie at least 2 feet over and drop down 10 feet, I think. Even anything a tid bit smaller than that would still rule.

Well, if you can wait for this game to hit the shelves November 1st, then you need a shot or something. Also, any speculation of everyone that was on the Tony Hawk's Gigantic Skatepark Tour has been put to rest. Only Bam isbeing added to the list, maybe #4 we'll see Anthony Furlong or Willy Santos, good luck next time.