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Mar 17 2010

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March 15th 2004

• Alias Season 2 announced on DVD
• The Easter Beagle happens to Charlie Brown on VHS and DVD
• Beyond Divinity, on PC, Gets its own Novella

March 2nd 2004

• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas announced on PS2

March 15th: Alias Season 2 announced on DVD... Taken direct from the press release: The world’s sexiest undercover double agent, Sydney Bristow, is back in Alias: Series 2, as the second season of Golden Globe winner Jennifer Garner’s TV series, is launched onto six disc box set on 7th June 2004. Being presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and also starring Ron Rifkin, Victor Garber and Michael Vartan, with cameos from Ethan Hawke, Christian Slater and Lauren Hutton, the extras are as follows: The Making of season final episode, ‘The Telling’ featurette Season 2 gag reel The Look of Alias featurette 7 deleted scenes with commentary Radio interviews with the cast Audio commentaries with cast and crew DVD-ROM: scripts for two episodes

The Easter Beagle happens to Charlie Brown on VHS and DVD... GOOD GRIEF! ‘IT’S THE EASTER BEAGLE CHARLIE BROWN’ Available for the first time in the UK on DVD and video from 22nd March 2004 Taken direct from the press release: It’s time to join the beloved beagle and the rest of the evergreen PEANUTS gang in a classic Easter favourite. The first of 10 Snoopy and Charlie Brown classics, ‘It’s the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown’, featuring the added episode ‘Life is a Circus’, will be available on DVD and VHS from 22nd March 2004 courtesy of Firefly Entertainment. ‘It’s the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown,’ has Schulz’s much loved PEANUTS characters in a hilarious build up to Easter. It features Peppermint Patty attempting to teach Marcie how to make coloured eggs whilst Lucy, trying to win the non-existent affection of Schroeder, strategically maps out the placement of her eggs - but be careful Lucy, the Easter Beagle is about and Linus has been right all along… ‘Life is a Circus’ features Snoopy as ‘Hugo the Great,’ - a somersaulting, bike riding, tight rope walking, trapeze swinging, Beagle who, much to the disappointment of Charlie Brown, falls desperately in love with Fifi - a circus star poodle, and joins her on her circus travels to win her affection. From appearances in some 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries and translations in 21 languages, to cuddly toys and cool clothing, the PEANUTS gang never fail in bringing smiles to all the faces they greet. This film is an ideal Easter gift, which can be enjoyed by any PEANUTS fan, parent or child. It brings the PEANUTS gang to our stores and screens for the first time in the UK, for a ‘nutty’ reunion and is the first of 10 titles to be released in 2004/5 available at all major retailers throughout the UK. Other titles also to be released by Firefly throughout the year include ‘You’re a Good Sport’ & ‘You’re the Greatest’, ‘Snoopy: The Musical’ and ‘A Charlie Brown Celebration’ so be prepared for a Super Snoopy, PEANUTS packed 2004.

Beyond Divinity, on PC, Gets its own Novella... Taken direct from the press release: Bold new publisher Digital Jesters continues its plans to dominate the PC sector with its forthcoming release of fantasy RPG Beyond Divinity, which will exclusively feature a specially written 50-page plus novella by prestigious and respected writer Rhianna Pratchett. The novella, Child of the Chaos, weaves a masterful tale set in the original fantasy realm of the Divinity Universe, exploring magic and riftrunning between worlds, and capturing the imagination and essence of the game in its skilfully drafted pages and illustrations. The novella will be offered as a special bundle retail pack and pre-order gift to UK gamers, with European gamers being able to receive the novella from the official Beyond Divinity website on game launch for a nominal postage cost. Stateside gamers won't be left out either, as North American publisher Hip GamesTM is offering the special retail packthrough Best Buy (US). With all game scripts and storylines edited by Rhianna herself and game code developed by Belgium-based Larian Studios, Beyond Divinity offers gamers and RPG fans a unique and rich fantasy world extending the team's award-winning precursory game Divine Divinity, which was published to critical acclaim in August 2002. Beyond Divinity boasts an original and imagination-capturing storyline portrayed by a superior game engine and features stunningly detailed role-playing, where players assume the role of a character soul-forged with a terrifying Death Knight. The player's fate is to spend the rest of eternity bonded to this creature of evil, unless they can undo the curse – resulting in an epic adventure to unlock the secret of 'Riftrunning'... the only answer to a life of darkness. The game features a deep and detailed storyline filled with plot twists and optional sub-quests. Yet despite its intricacies, Beyond Divinity is an accessible RPG, which handholds novices through the early stages – although experienced adventurers can whiz off at a pace of their choosing. A unique summoning doll adds a fresh element to the game, and with total party control, players can experience a level of interaction and adventuring unlike those seen before. Additionally, Beyond Divinity boasts endless replay value through its unique battlefield generator. Leo Zullo, Marketing Director, Digital Jesters said: "Rhianna has played a central role in the development process of Beyond Divinity helping provide stunning scripts and inventive storylines. Her 50-page plus novella, Child of the Chaos, will be a real treat for new and existing gamers entering the Divinity realm" Beyond Divinity will be available in the UK for PC CD-ROM on April 8th 2004. Priced ½29.99 it will be published throughout the UK by Digital Jesters. Larian Studios has secured individual publishing rights with a number of top publishers across Europe for the European version, whilst North American publisher Hip GamesTM will handle the US novella bundle deal across the US. A Macintosh version will follow later. For more information visit the official site: Beyond Divinity.com

March 2nd: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas announced on PS2... Last week, one of the best game series in recent years, the 3D incarnations of Grand Theft Auto, had its latest version, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City labelled the best PlayStation 2 and PC game as well as winning awards in the design, action and sound categories at the first ever Bafta games awards. Now hold on to your hats and get ready to maim and kill all over again, although I still haven't completed Vice City yet and want to complete it on the Xbox now that one's out, as the follow up has been announced and it's been scheduled for October 2004, although expect it to slip a little closer to Xmas. Let's hope it doesn't head into the new year as the Xbox double pack of GTA3/VC did this time round: Taken direct from the press release on March 1st 2004: Rockstar Games, the world-renowned publishing division of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., is pleased to announce Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the next iteration in the globally successful Grand Theft Auto franchise. Developed by world-class designers Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will be available exclusively for the PlayStation(r)2 computer entertainment system and is expected to be in stores in North America on October 19, 2004 and in Europe on October 22, 2004. "In the past couple of years, we have put an enormous amount of pressure on ourselves to ensure we do everything possible to exceed people's expectations with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," stated Sam Houser, President of Rockstar Games. "Even though we still have eight months to go, we are starting to become very proud of what we have achieved and we can't wait to get the game into players' hands." Leslie Benzies, President of Rockstar North, stated, "We are extremely humbled by the success of the Grand Theft Auto series and it has made us push ourselves further than ever to create a title in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that will hopefully redefine the Grand Theft Auto series and revolutionize open-ended gameplay and video game production values." Over 30 million units of the Grand Theft Auto franchise have been shipped to date, including over 11.5 million units of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and over 10.5 million units of Grand Theft Auto 3. Check out the reviews of: Grand Theft Auto: III/Vice City (Xbox) Grand Theft Auto: III (PS2) Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2) Grand Theft Auto: III (PC)

DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.

PC games reviewed by the editor are on: