Today is a solemn day, as we walk outside and the wind blows oh so gently. Something looms in the air, something eerie. Perhaps the world this morning does not sit right. Perhaps something ill has happened.

Yeah it has, today the gaming industry is a buzz with word that Interplay disbanded developer Black Isle Studios as it has suffered over a 20 million dollar loss this year. The business side of the industry can be ugly. With Black Isle Studios gone those of us that have had the pleasure of playing its unbelievable titles are left with many great memories. I for one loved both Baldur’s Gate and the Icewind Dale series. Something about DnD games I really do enjoy and these fine people brought in onto our computers.

Here is a big thank you from the SB crew; we appreciate everything you did for the industry.

Snackbarians…What is up? Sorry I have been absent from the site. My computer has been acting up so I have not been able to access the site. All is well now since I have my iMac to fall back on. Things are little hectic in the Pretzel realm, with several games to review and much drama going on. It’s needless to say that I have much on my plate. So anyways, just been reading a bunch of stuff on Splinter Cell 2, freaking can’t wait until that game comes out. Also been contemplating on buying Beyond Good and Evil, the trailer and the storyline is reeling me in. Also saw the trailer to Armed and Dangerous, I’m totally going to try it out. Played Deus Ex: Invisible War…I was totally pissed at it. Five minutes into and I almost fell asleep. I can’t review game that I end up falling asleep on after five minutes. So look out for a NFS: Underground review pretty soon folks.

It seems that Koei has read my mind and granted me an early Christmas present. They announced today that a new game would be released entitled Samurai Warriors. Yes, it is a hack and slash like DW only with Samurai. Yes it will dominate all that have come before it. Yes it will be out in March of 2004. They drastically improved on many things you will have to read the press release to see them all, but I am sad to read that “SAMURAI WARRIORS is exclusive to the PlayStation 2, and is a 1-2 Player game.” Oh how I wish that Koei would get on the bandwagon and do simultanous releases on Xbox and PS2.

I have been reading up on the upcoming Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. The good folks at Ubi Soft have implemented a multiplayer game. I am already jumping for joy as I can play against some actual people as opposed to brainless AI henchmen. The games will be kept small to about only four players so games do not turn into deathmatches (you know they will). Mercs vs Spies with the Spies playing the game the way you usually play ala 3rd person mode. The mercs however are in straight up FPS mode as they look under every nook and crannie to find the spies and stop them. Sounds pretty cool. You can bet it will be objective based, and you can bet I will be getting it.