Features:

*Exclusive new interior/exterior environments including Basement and Japanese Garden
*Multiplayer modes including Cooperative and Head-to-Head
*Integration of larger world objects not previously possible
*Advanced control functions take advantage of new analog button technology
*"Procedural Virtual Terrain" creation produces organic environments with completely unique terrain textures -- no two pieces of terrain look the same

Outlook: Wow. The second Army Men game out this month. This series reminds me a bit of the "Strike" series on the Genesis and PSX except with the little green guys and a bit more colorful. Not really much to say here, if you like the series and like the "strike" type games, you can’t go wrong here.

Jarrett and Labonte Stock Car Racing by Codemasters
October 3, 2000
www.codemasters.com

Features:

*23 real tracks across 5 continents.
*Over 40 different models of car.
*4 player split screen racing.
*Championship career mode - do well and the offers come flooding in.
* Total pit lane support, with informative pit crew speech and viewable telemetry.
*16 cars on track for the closest racing around.
* Totally realistic and detailed real-time damage effects.
* Full driver assistance - recommended car set-ups, traction control, ABS and much more.

Outlook: This is the type of racing game I like. Real physics and damage with lots of tracks and lots of cars. From what I’ve seen the game has a good sense of speed and with the real physics some really great crashes can take place (half the reason we watch, c’mon people). If you like stock car racing then I’d tell you to take a look at this one.

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature by Natsume
October 9, 2000
www.natsume.com

Features:

*Enjoy hours and hours of Non-Linear game play as you interact with over 40 unique characters!
*Collect and Cook 100 different recipes. Create your own dishes to "woo" the women in town!
*Tons of Mini Games, such as Chicken Sumo and an annual Town Tomato Fight!
*Characters move in Real-Time!
*Befriend the Harvest Sprites to help out around the Ranch!

Outlook: I absolutely love this series. It has a certain organic feel to it that just can’t be denied. I never thought that being a farmer in a small town would be so much fun but once you start you just can’t stop playing. Since the N64 version, they’ve added a lot of mini games and some new characters and interactions. If you like new and innovative type titles you just can’t pass this game up. Go get it!