Hype!Games
GAME OF THE MONTH
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (PS2)
Thousands of years from now, when aliens discover our barren planet floating silently through the void of space, what will they find? Giant radioactive cockroaches, smaller cockroaches who are taunted and slapped around by the giant ones…and skateboards. Millions of skateboards. They’ll study these in the same way we now pore over Roman ruins. Ultimately the aliens will conclude that we worshiped a god who skated the earth, performing sick stunts. They’ll believe his name was Christopher Jenkins, a carpet cleaner from Santa Monica.
The aliens will be wrong. The true skating god is Tony Hawk. Stupid aliens! And lo, unto gamers has come Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, and it is good.
We know what you're thinking: A third incarnation of this grossly popular title? Does that mean I should throw away my copies of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2? Well, duh. Unlike movie sequels, follow-ups to video games actually improve on the originals.
True, the first Pro Skater had smooth-as-butter game play. But the PS1 graphics were clumsy. The second version added a feature that allowed you to design your own parks and skaters, but those pesky, sloppy graphics were still there. With Pro Skater 3, however, the beefy PS2 console serves up the next generation of graphics to go with the silky moves on-screen. You can also say hello to bigger parks than ever and a wider range of tricks—including the all-new capability to revert between air and ground tricks.
There are also brand-new, cooler levels, filled with other skaters and nonskaters (known as “pedestrians”). In the L.A. setting, earthquakes rip up the terrain while you skate, creating exciting challenges as well as annoying traffic delays. Perhaps best of all, the game now allows you to create female skateboarders. Use this as a baby step toward your eventual interaction with actual women.
—Simon Munk
THE PLAY LIST
Commanche 4 (PC)
Pilot an earth-hugging chopper through urban or rural settings in this ultrarealistic flight game, unleashing hellfire along the way with cannons, missiles and all manner of cool shit. Then you might want to consider anger-management therapy. Or some of the bundt cake we left for you on the windowsill. It has a delightful lemon filling!
Kinetica (PS2)
You’ve gotta love gravity. Not only does it keep your hair in place, but it also makes street luge possible. If you live in a flat state not conducive to luging, check out Kinetica. It features fast racing, mad stunts and body-smashing drops. Also, you can roll along any surface—unlike in real life, where rolling is frowned upon in some circles.
Simpsons Road Rage (PS2, Xbox, GameCube)
If you like the madcap driving of Crazy Taxi and the arch humor of The Simpsons, you'll love Simpsons Road Rage. This hyperspeed cab-driving game takes Taxi’s nonstop action to Springfield. Sounds like a fare deal to us! (Note: Please help us. We’ve run dangerously low on creativity.)
Smuggler’s Run 2: Hostile Territory (PS2)
In this game, smuggling involves racing through the jungle for air-dropped packages while dodging cops and rival gangs. Superb car handling adds to the excitement. We always thought smuggling involved hiding things in the rectum. That's how we got our toaster through customs!
Top Gun Combat Zones (PS2)
This flight sim has close-up dogfights, razor-sharp graphics and a twist: It rewards you for flying like a lunatic. The more near·hits and under-bridge swoops you pull off, the higher your score. Remember, chicks dig pilots. So if you're ever talking to a chick and a pilot approaches, just walk away.
Half-Life (PS2)
Half-Life was great on the PC, letting you dodge aliens, outwit soldiers and travel to strange worlds. Now that it's on the PS2, it's even better. This version has sweeter graphics and a new two-player mode featuring foxy female doctors. Plus you don't have to boot up your PC just to play. That's time you could be spending on your diorama. …S.M.
OUTSIDE THE BOX
How Do They Rate?
As the newest generation of superpowerful game consoles hits the shelves, Stuff answers the question all other publications are afraid to ask: Which one looks the coolest?
Cofounder of Seymour Powell product design, London (clients include BMW, Nokia and Casio)
Cofounder of Softroom design agency, London (clients include Self ridges & Co., Wallpaper and BBC)
Designer, IKEA, Älmhult, Sweden
A nine-year-old
NINTENDO GAMECUBE
IT’S A CHICK MAGNET: "All of the others are not humanistic—they're just big, bold, blubby and black," says Heimisdottir. “Women might like this more. It's a lighter color and smaller.”
IT’S, LIKE, CUBIST: “It does look very modernist.” says Powell. “The cube shape and the regular radii controller ports go well together.”
IT’S YOUR 128-BIT FRIEND: “This is toy town compared with the others,” says Salway. Powell agrees: “It's not saying ‘megapower’—it’s more friendly.”
IT LOOKS BETTER THAN ALL THE OTHERS: “I would like to play GameCube because it looks better than all the others,” says Alex.
SONY PS2
IT APPEALS TO CHIMPS: “This black monolith says, ‘Look at me—I'm powerful,’” says Powell. Salway concurs: “It’s a shame it needs a cheap blue plastic triangle to help it stand on end. But once it’s there, it looks like a tower—awesome power.”
IT FITS: “The fact that it stands up is great,” says Salway. “People might want to place it in different environments, like on a shelf or with a hi-fi.”
IT LOOKS COOL: “PlayStation 2 is a lot cooler than PlayStation 1,” says Alex. “It looks cool because it says PS2 like this: 
.”
MICROSOFT XBOX
IT’S BIG: “You could lose half and be left with a better, leaner product,” Salway says. “And Microsoft has made it so that it must sit at the top of a hi-fi or video stack because it’s not flat.“
IT'S REALLY BIG: “It's like the first computers. the first Walkmans,” says Heimisdottir. “When items are new, people want them big to show them off.”
IT LOOKS COOL: “Xbox looks cool because it has a giant X on the console,” says Alex. —Simon Munk
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