Another installment in the Starfighter series, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter manages to make some good additions to the franchise but doesn\'t really make this one feel like an entirely new game. Sure, there are cool Force powers and new ships to fly, but it all feels very familiar. Thank goodness for the cooperative story mode. Click.

It\'s one of the oldest stories we know: Multiple groups of settlers fight amongst themselves to control a newly discovered world, empty except for the natives. Nope, this isn\'t a pre-July 4 history lesson, it\'s the plot of Dark Planet: Battle for Natrolis. This bargain-priced strategy game brings some interesting features to the table, but overall it ends up falling a bit flat. Click here for more.

Sammy breaks out with a new take on the combat flight sim. Lethal Skies Elite Pilot: Team SW offers some cool flying with a cool backstory, but ends up pulling short just before the runway. Some cool graphical effects aren\'t enough to make this one rise above the rest of the genre. Click here.

LucasArts brings us another really cool-looking Star Wars game. Star Wars Bounty Hunter allows you to assume the role of Jango Fett. Promising to flesh out the backstory of this mysterious figure (whose cool is trumped only by his son, Boba). Jetpacks, laser pistols, large environments and plenty of bounties to collect make this game a Star Wars fan\'s dream. Click here.

Rockstar brings us another in their series of $9.99 \"Got Game\" titles. The Italian Job is probably be best of these we\'ve played since Darkstone, which means it\'s worth a spin if you\'re still stuck on the PS1. Following the plot of an old British crime caper flick, it\'s got some good story and decent gameplay. Click.

Activision brings us the sequel to the popular Elite Force, creatively titled Start Trek Elite Force II. Expect more FPS action, with an emphasis on story, as well as much prettier graphics and a possible foray into Next Gen territory. Go get you a Borg -- click here.

Microsoft and Digital Anvil have teamed up on a squad-based combat game that should have HALO fans wetting their pants. Brute Force allows you and up to three friends to play a cooperative story mode or just deathmatch the heck out of each other. Great visuals and lots of cool details make it one to watch for. Click!

It\'s an innocuous little screen at right, but Dave Mirra BMX XXX promises to open up a whole new hornet\'s nest of protest and rage from the more conservative videogame watchdog groups. If you don\'t want to play a game with full, video, nudity, then stay away. If that kind of thing interests you, then wait until you hear the rest. Click here for the whole story.

THQ\'s Red Faction brought the incredible Geo-Mod technology to gamers, and the sequel, Red Faction 2 packs even more of a punch than its predecessor. Maintaining a focus on the single-player story mode, RF2 also promises much beefier multiplayer and squad-based combat. This is definitely a title to watch for. Click here.

What kind of game do you make for people who have played all the Mario titles, Sonic, Rayman, and a load of other platformers? You make a game like Vexx. Combining elements from the history of platform games with an eye towards adults who have grown up with them, this could be a real hit. It\'s not too cutesy, not too dismal, and all fun. Click here.

Ubi Soft has a Snake-killer on their hands. Picture this: Millions and millions of gamers arguing for years and years about whether MGS or Splinter Cell is the superior third person stealth action title. That\'s what the future looks like. We\'re all fans of MGS, but this Splinter Cell could make us devotees. Get the whole story 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.

RPG is a game in which character development and character interaction take precedence over other factors and where each player's experience of the story is determined by individual choice rather than designer fiat . . . Of greatest importance, this definition eliminates adventure games, which share with the RPG an emphasis on story and character. What adventure games lack - and this is a critical point - is the capability for players to grow and develop their characters, and to affect, if not the outcome of the story, than the way in which the story unfolds. Without both character development and genuine choices placed within a player's control, a game cannot be called a role-playing game, as I choose to define the genre (Remodeling 1).

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?

Dan Birlew is the author of several strategy guides for BradyGames, including Resident Evil 3 and Vagrant Story, and has been assigned to the SquareSoft roster of games. He has and is covering new Square titles like Parasite Eve II, Chrono Cross, and Final Fantasy IX. Birlew has a reputation for high quality work, and a distinct dedication to his craft. GamesFirst!, represented by yours truly, was lucky enough to sit in on a press roundtable discussion with Birlew and Detra Perry, PR Representative for BradyGames. Also in attendance were correspondants from Just Adventure, GameSpin, GameWeek, and The Computer Show. We all had a really nice, and quite long, discussion, ranging in topics from the nitty-gritty construction of a strategy guide, to linquistic and style considerations, to the future of strategy guides and gaming. It was all so fascinating that I followed up the interview with a few more questions, nagging Birlew about some of the deeper issues involved in gaming in general. You can find the GF! Exclusive Followup to the Dan Birlew Interview here, and keep reading to get the rest.