So many choices...so little time

GameCube:\n• "Resident Evil" -- The Playstation standard is revisited in correlation with the release of the upcoming "Resident Evil" flick directed by Paul Anderson ("Mortal Kombat"). This game, along with an onslaught of other "Resident Evil" titles, will be released solely on the GameCube in an exclusive licensing contract with Capcom throughout 2002.\n• "Metroid Prime" -- Samus returns in this GameCube update of the 8-bit Nintendo classic. The game will incorporate aspects of the much beloved first-person shooter genre a la "GoldenEye" or "Halo" and will contain all of the old school gats and gizmos. "Metroid Prime" is scheduled for release this November.\n• "Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet" -- Fox McCloud returns for the first time since "Star Fox 64" with "Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet." The game is being designed by Rare, the folks that brought gamers "GoldenEye" and "Perfect Dark," and as such, it's a real departure from the other titles in the series. This game removes McCloud from his trusty Arwing ship and places him in a barrage of hand to hand combat. The gameplay is supposed to be very similar to that of "Zelda: Ocarina of Time." Currently, the game is scheduled for release in April.\n• "Mario Kart" for GameCube (title pending) -- The classic cartoony racer which made its presence widely known on both the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 will be hitting the GameCube sometime during 2002, presumably late in the year. The game will support four players and will return all of the classic Nintendo characters we've grown to know and love. With more detailed tracks and a greater number of polygons, "Mario Kart" will be a title well worth including in your collection.\nPLAYSTATION 2:\n•"State of Emergency" -- Rockstar Games provides us with another nugget of socially irresponsible video gaming in the vein of their break-out hit "Grand Theft Auto 3." The game play echoes coin-ops of the late '80s, i.e. "Double Dragon" in its side-scroller style. Looting, killing and maiming are handsomely rewarded as gamers inhabit gang members fighting against Americorp, a monopolistic regime. Players are armed with an assortment of weapons including Molotov cocktails, uzis, grenade launchers, shotguns, tazers, pepper spray and tear gas, among many other tools of destruction. The game hits streets Tuesday.\n• "Virtua Fighter 4" -- Developed by AM2 under the supervision of esteemed game designer Yu Suzuki, "Virtua Fighter 4" promises to be a royal kick in the pants to the somewhat lacking fighting genre. Characters and levels are designed in far more detail, and gameplay will be enhanced through more offensive weapons and a beefed-up defense. "Virtua Fighter 4" should serve as another shining example of the way in which Sega (now defunct as far as hardware goes) is developing inspired titles for other consoles. \n• "Britney's Dance Beat" -- That's right folks, everybody's favorite little Lolita is hitting the PS2 with her very own video game! The only way this game could be cool is if you had an old school Power Pad a la 8-bit Nintendo to bust some phat moves on. As far as musically themed video games go you're better off sticking to "Parappa the Rapper." Dope!\n• "Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2" -- The latest installment of EA's popular speed and flee racing series will hit the PS2 later this spring. Unlike a majority of the series' predecessors, cops are incorporated into the game to spice things up a little bit. Thus, gamers are given yet another opportunity to wantonly break the law in a pixilated world. A vast assortment of cars including the Aston Martin Vanquish, BMW Z8, Ferrari 360 Spider, Ferrari F50, Jaguar XKR, Lamborghini Diablo, Lamborghini Murcielago, McClaren F1, Mercedes CLK GTR, Opel Speedster and a vast assortment of Porsches make breaking the law a whole lotta fun.\nX-BOX:\n• "Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions" -- As developed by Bunkasha, "Wreckless" should be a change of pace for the design house, as well as a whole lot of sleazy fun. Drawing inspiration from such far-flung sources as Sega's "Crazy Taxi" and John Woo's Hong Kong bullet ballets, "Wreckless" promises to be one helluva ride. The game hits the streets Feb. 15.\n• "Hunter: The Reckoning" -- In Interplay's spinoff to "Vampire: The Gathering," you must battle an assortment of monsters including zombies, werewolves and vampires. Players can choose one of four different characters including Deuce (a shotgun and axe toting biker bad boy), Father Esteban (a priest armed with cross-bow and sword), Samantha (a tattooed lady cop sporting a kitana and revolver) or Cassandra (a 20-year-old raver chick adorned with throwing knives and Woo-esque double guns). "Hunter: The Reckoning" will be released Mar. 15.\n• "UFC: Tapout" -- The translation from the highly controversial and widely criticized underground fighting tournament to video game seems to have been a fruitful one as designer Crave preps a sequel to their bone-crunching Dreamcast hit. "UFC: Tapout" seems to have upped the stakes of its predecessor with incredibly detailed texture mapping and supposedly improved gameplay. The exclusion of such "UFC" luminaries as Royce Gracie and Tank Abbot is almost inexcusable, but the game still looks pretty rocking. "UFC" will be released in March.\n• "Outlaw Golf" -- Simon and Schuster are prepping this delinquent golf title for release sometime this spring, and to say the least, it's certainly inspired. If your caddie acts like a moron you can crush his head in with a 9-iron. Gamers can choose to play with "respectable" characters ranging from Killer Miller -- a depraved, escaped death-row inmate, to Doc Diggler -- a third-rate pimp complete with stripper girlfriends. Practice modes include a driving range in which you're rewarded for breaking the windows of parked cars. Who ever said golf was boring?\nPC:\n• "Hitman 2: Silent Assassin" -- Here's yet another game furthering the development of society as a whole: this time the culprits are Eidos Interactive. In this sequel to last year's popular but somewhat problematic shoot-'em-up hitman is contracted to snuff out a wealthy Japanese businessman as well as a member of the KGB. This family fun will be "hitting" PC's sometime this Spring. \n• "Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast" -- It's "Star Wars," you possess both blasters and light sabers and it's coming this spring. Need I say more?\n• "Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix" -- This sequel to last year's popular first-person shooter promises to improve upon its predecessor's gory antics with the incredibly fluid "Quake 3: Team Arena" engine. Levels are bigger, guns more accessible and violence more realistic. Fans of the similarly titled war -- mongering mag should be pleased with the combat depicted in "Soldier of Fortune II." The game should be available during the first quarter of 2002.\n• "Command & Conquer Renegade" -- This spin-off to the popular "Command & Conquer" series will be hitting shelves sometime in February. Westwood Studios alongside chief game designer Brett Sperry expand "C & C" implementing a more first-person shooter style of play as opposed to strategy. Although, the game will differ from many of the first-person shooters according to Executive Producer Dan Cermack. He told IGN.com, "It's about being on the ground in the middle of a C&C universe -- it's not about trying to compete with first-person shooters."\nFrom Pong to Gamecube:a brief history\n1972\n• "Pong" is released by the Atari Company. Chubby kids nationwide can now enjoy tennis indoors without breaking a sweat.\n1977\n• Atari 2600 is released. The government starts training for an alien invasion by having pilots play "Space Invaders" and "Asteroids."\n1981\n• Nintendo Entertainment System released. Plumbers rejoice to finally have a spokesmodel that can save princesses and keep his butt-crack hidden.\n1989\n• The Nintendo Game Boy debuts. Now kids can ignore their parents not only in the living room, but also at the dinner table and on vacations.\n• Sega Genesis released. Phil Collins tries to get spokesperson job, but a blue hedgehog beats him to it.\n• Power Glove is released for the NES. The evil kid from "The Wizard," Lucas, is quoted saying, "The Power Glove is so bad."\n1991\n• Super Nintendo is released in United States. The 16-bit console wars begin and lunch table arguments increase causing detentions to also rise. Common comments like "Mario sucks" and "No, you suck" are heard throughout elementary school cafeterias nationwide.\n• The "Time Traveler Hologram" video arcade game is released showing off new technology, but it's a dollar to play. Many kids are seen just watching the demo over and over again.\n• Sega CD is released along with the first creation of Full Motion Video in games. Games like "Night Trap" show the full potential of how bad of an idea this really was -- girls in lingerie prance around a house avoiding kidnappers.\n1992\n• Sega releases the 32x add-on for the Genesis system. Weeks later the add-on can be bought cheaply at nationwide garage sales.\n1995\n• Sega Saturn is released with full potential to prosper until…\n• Sony releases the Playstation. College kids finally get a CD-Rom machine worth skipping class for. Almost every "Final Fantasy" Game in the upcoming years is reportedly bought with textbook money.\n1996\n• Nintendo 64 released with a magical and colorful 3-D look at Mario World. The new four-player port lets gamers wait less for their next game of "Goldeneye," and also sets new standards for double dates. Well, it would if the 64 owners could get dates.\n1999\n• Sega Dreamcast debuts. A great and impressive machine, but could not compete with the other amazing competition, sort of like the IU football team.\n2000\n• Playstation 2 debuts in United States. The new machine comes with a built in DVD player and allows the owner to never have to leave the couch again, unless they need to switch the game or movie.\n2001\n• Billionaire Bill Gates sets his sights on addicting children in the console market with the launch of Microsoft's X-Box. Gates is quoted as saying, "Man, Satan really gives you a lot for a soul."\n• Nintendo releases Gamecube. A new video game war begins with online play and new name calling like "Cube-face" and "Box-head." Gamers still are not praised for their originality.