Click here to read this week\'s twoplayer comic.Dear GF! Reader,
I don\'t know if you\'ve been keeping up on the latest rumors about the next generation systems, but if you haven\'t been, let me give you some advice; don\'t worry about it. Trust me. No one knows anything about any system. Gametab.com is a great way to keep track of this sort of information, but it seems pretty obvious to me that most of these rumors can be traced to a single guy in a garage, in his underwear, playing with Photoshop. I mean, seriously, one day a reliable source says the Nintendo Revolution will use some sort of 3D technology, and the next day another reliable source reports that it will actually not have 3D technology. Honestly, what\'s the point of having reliable sources if they keep contradicting each other? That would suggest that someone is NOT BEING VERY RELIABLE. That said, it\'s a lot of fun to speculate what systems will look like once they finally hit the shelves; this week\'s Twoplayer comic tries to imagine what might have gone through Nintendo\'s minds during their early stages of development. Of all the systems out there, Microsoft is doing the best job of stimulating the rumor mill, but I\'m actually the most curious about what Nintendo has up their sleeve. Anyone who has the pleasure (honor, luck, whatever) of knowing me knows that I think that the brightest future (not necessarily the one we\'re going to end up with, but the one that would be best) lies in game systems that are not just all about the better graphics and bigger hard drives, but about true innovation. At least until they prove me wrong, Nintendo seems to be the most likely to live up to this dream of mine.
Next week\'s Twoplayer will mark the beginning of E3, at least for us here at GamesFirst. After a BBQ on May 12th to watch the MTV special unveiling of the Xbox 2, we get to start packing for the trip down to Los Angeles. In one of those little life ironies, I\'m the only person of the ten-member E3 crew that hasn\'t received their media badge in the mail yet. Apparently it was mailed and just never arrived. This means that I\'ll probably find myself in the line before E3 with business licenses in hand, preparing to plead my case for entry. I can imagine everyone else on the team frolicking in the fields of E3 while I waste away to nothing in a line by the front door.
In the mean time, Noah and I are still curious to hear reactions to the Twoplayer comic. Make sure you fire an e-mail to
cartoons[AT]gamesfirst.com with any suggestions or thoughts you might have about the comics. Have any favorite games that you think would be fun to see show up in the strip? Write and let us know. Later on down the road we intend to become bitter and jaded, so this is as good a time as any to drop us a line. Be sure to check back as E3 draws near. We\'re going to have a great year this time (those of us that are not in line, that is).
Until next time,
Aaron Stanton, editor
cartoons[AT]gamesfirst.comI also have to note that within minutes of writing this, Kotaku.com posted a picture of what is supposedly the Xbox 2 taken during the filming of the MTV special. I don\'t claim to believe anything, but I had to share.
You can find the pictures here.