GamesRadar - PS2 Features

Sideways is sexy (The Fast and the Furious)

Sep 1, 2006

Admit it: you have no idea how to drift race. You may have unlocked every car in every Gran Turismo or Need for Speed game ever, but that's not drifting. You're aware that it's a hip, hot new way to race, and you've seen the incredibly tricked-out "whips" that these maniacs drive - maybe you even know that drifting originated in Japan, and that it involves power-sliding the hell out of everything and looking as good as you humanly can as you do it. But you don't really know how to drift ...

The Top 7… least scary moments in scary games: Redux (Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly)

Oct 27, 2008

This week marks two important milestones for GamesRadar: the start of Halloweek, a weeklong series of horror-centric features, and the two-year anniversary of our weekly Top 7 lists. To celebrate both at once, we’ve dredged up the original Top 7 article - back from before we had our formula down and our shit together – and updated it with fresh art, better layout, a few revisions and videos that actually work. ...

FIFA 08 PS2 developer blog #4 (FIFA 08)

Sep 20, 2007

Sept 20, 2007 Paul Hossack, FIFA 08 (PS2) CG Line Producer Hi, guys. Im looking forward to the imminent launch of FIFA 08, and wanted to tell you more about our new game mode this year “Be A Pro: Co-op Season”, how it came about, and some tips for playing it. What is Co-op Season? Be A Pro: Co-op Season is a new way of playing FIFA 08 – as one footballer. Instead of controlling all 11 players on your club, you play through a whole season with your friends where each of you ...

FIFA 08 PS2 developer blog #03 (FIFA 08)

Sep 12, 2007

Sept 12 2007 Marcel Kuhn, FIFA 08 (PS2), Producer First of all, I want to thank all of you for taking the time to read my last blog (Gameplay – Control and Freedom), and even more for posting responses. For today, lets have a look at Custom Formations and Club Specific Formations, which are both new features in FIFA 08. We wanted to implement team personality in FIFA 08, so we added Club Specific Formations. What this means is that our database team and their editors researched the ...

FIFA 08 PS2 developer blog #02 (FIFA 08)

Aug 17, 2007

17 Aug, 2007 Jochen Siess, FIFA 08 (PS2), Online Producer Hi there! My name is Jochen and I am the Front End and Online producer for FIFA 08 on PS2. I was born and raised in Germany, and Ive been a football fan all of my life. I love going to the stadium and seeing live football together with my friends. World Cup 2006 in my home country was definitely my personal highlight so far. Being together with friends and fans from all over the world watching great performances on the pitch was ...

FIFA 08 PS2 developer blog #01 (FIFA 08)

Aug 16, 2007

Aug 15, 2007 Marcel Kuhn, FIFA 08 (PS2), Producer Ill start off by introducing myself. My name is Marcel. I was born in Austria, and raised in Germany, and for as long as I can remember I have been a football fan and a FIFA fanatic. It all started in my parents apartment, where my Dad called me a lunatic for shouting and swearing at my PSOne while I was playing FIFA. It continued all the way through university, where studying lost out to all-night long FIFA tournaments. It was a dream come ...

FIFA 08 - developer interview (FIFA 08)

Aug 1, 2007

Wednesday 1 August 2007 As we promised earlier, here's the full interview with Paul Hossack, associate producer on FIFA 08 for PS2. Having worked on seven FIFA titles on nine different platforms, he certainly knows his stuff. And seems to be a fan of Stevie Gerrard too. Fair enough, in our opinion. Check it out ...

Pro evolution FIFA (FIFA 08)

Jun 6, 2007

Every year, FIFA starts boasting about the new tricks up its sleeve. But how many of them actually stick around for the next installment? GamesRadar takes a look back at some 15 years of FIFA and the amazing new features it's introduced. And then forgotten about. FIFA International Soccer The original FIFA introduced stunning graphics to the genre. We remember one journalist at the time saying "it looks like Match of the Day." Well... we must all have been more easily impressed back then. But ...

Final Fantasy week (Final Fantasy 10)

Mar 9, 2007

Final Fantasy is one of the most enduringly popular games in the history of video gaming. 2006's Final Fantasy XII, the last PlayStation 2 entry in the series, set a record for most copies shipped to retail on release. The series has struck a chord with fans the world over, by providing engrossing gameplay against a backdrop of astounding drama - for over 20 years. But which game in the series is the ultimate? Which entry has the best main character, the best villain, the best music or the ...

Final Fantasy week, day five (Final Fantasy 10)

Mar 9, 2007

At last, we'll decide which FF delivered in the best possible ways. Some games get one thing totally right but then falter elsewhere - we'll lay down the law by saying which reigns supreme. Are you ready? 5. Final Fantasy V Thanks to a recent re-release on the GBA, this game may finally get the respect it deserves in the US. Though it has one of the weakest stories in the entire series, particularly sandwiched between the melodramatic IV and VI, the gameplay is among the best. The Job System ...

Final Fantasy week, day 4 (Final Fantasy 10)

Mar 8, 2007

As we near the end of our weeklong countdown, it's time to look at one of the biggest parts of any Final Fantasy - the music. Each game in the series features an astonishing number of quality tracks, from burning guitar rock, to tear-jerking ballad, to rave-friendly electronica. There's probably no other game series in the world that's had as many full-blown concerts in its honor, be they garage bands cranking out angsty riffs or a legitimate orchestra performing for a crowd of thousands. But ...

Final Fantasy week, day 3 (Final Fantasy 10)

Mar 7, 2007

With each new Final Fantasy, a tweaked battle system is revealed. Here, we consider how much each affected the series' gameplay as a whole. When most people think RPG, they think turn-based menu surfing. Final Fantasy IV finally got it right - but later games added on to it. We don't stop there - we also take into account the supporting gameplay systems that directly affect your fighting style. 5. Final Fantasy VII The game that brought RPGs to the masses did so with a very clever evolution ...

Final Fantasy week, day 2 (Final Fantasy 10)

Mar 6, 2007

Yesterday we decided, once and for all, who was the best Final Fantasy hero. Today we're going to have a bit more fun and sift through the oceans of bodies and broken realms to determine the baddest villain in the series' history. We're not necessarily gunning for the final boss though - they have a tendency to come out of left field. No, we're considering which character causes the most trouble throughout the quest, how much damage he inflicted and the scope of his crimes. 5. Kefka (Final ...

Final Fantasy week, day 1 (Final Fantasy 10)

Mar 5, 2007

The central character of any game defines it. It goes double for Final Fantasy. Some characters blend compelling personalities with a tale of personal growth; some simply fade into the background and let a grand adventure take place around them. Obviously, nobody from the second category is going to make this list. No, it's a place only for the most dashing, the most troubled, the most likable of Final Fantasy leads. Away we go. 5. Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy VIII) No hero in the history ...

What the hell were we thinking?!?! (Final Fantasy 10)

Aug 1, 2006

Chaos, mayhem, uproar and riots. That's what GamesRadar seems to have triggered with last week's feature, "The Ten Greatest Years in Videogame History ". We might as well have burned down the internet, for all the email and forum flaming we inspired. Some folks praised us, some wanted us crucified, and one called us "wankers", ignoring that the feature only covered the US market. Granted, we set ourselves up. We knew this feature was so vast, so subjective and so dependent upon reader ...

The ten greatest years in videogame history (Final Fantasy 10)

Jul 27, 2006

Three weeks ago, our sibling site NextGen posted the article, "The Ten Greatest Years in Gaming." It was full of cool industry info, but the first thing we asked was, "So, the PlayStation was first designed as an add-on for the SNES. We get the irony, but what were we actually playing in 1993 that made it so great?" We checked it out. We made a huge list of the best games of the past 34 years, taped it to the wall, and fought for days about stuff like whether one Zelda is worth more than two ...

RPG Emo-Off (Final Fantasy X-2)

Oct 15, 2008

You know the type: spiky hair, sad eyes, too many belt buckles in his ensemble to count. You might meet one or two of these guys in fighting games, or starring in a Prince of Persia sequel; more often than not, you’ll see them wangsting their hearts out in a sprawling Japanese RPG epic. ...

The 5 worst Final Fantasy couples (Final Fantasy X-2)

Feb 15, 2008

Final Fantasy might have given us some of the most memorable romances in videogame history - as you can see in yesterday's Top 10 Square Enix Couples feature - but not all of them have been memorable for the right reasons. Whether intentional or simply misguided, the series has always been host to some of the most awkward pairings imaginable. ...

When cosplay goes badly wrong (Final Fantasy X-2)

Feb 15, 2008

Good cosplayers put weeks of hard work and sizeable amounts of money into their projects, and ensure that their depictions of videogame characters are never short of flawless. Bad cosplayers however... ...

Exclusive interview: Final Fantasy X-2 (Final Fantasy X-2)

Mar 9, 2004

With Final Fantasy X-2, the first ever true sequel in the seminal RPG series, still jostling for position near the top of the charts, we decided to have a natter with its director, Motomu Toriyama, to find out everything you wanted to know about the game - but were afraid to ask... As summoning fantastical beasts has been an integral part of the Final Fantasy experience, do you think fans will be happy about the lack of Aeons in FFX-2? In the world of FFX-2, the power of the Aeons has been ...