TIMEs Top 10 Video Games of the Year are:
1. THE SIMS 2 Millions of people fell in love with the customizable suburbanites of The Sims, the best-selling PC game of all time. Veteran designer Will Wright tops this by showing just how adorably complex these creatures can be. Ideal for: Character-focused gamers who like to laugh.
2. ROME: TOTAL WAR - The best real-time strategy game yet made.
Ideal for: Battle-loving history buffs. 3. HALF-LIFE 2 The graphics and physics of how objects move in Half-Life 2s world are by far the most realistic ever to grace a computer screen. Ideal for: Trigger-happy adventure seekers
4. KATAMARI DAMACY The most unusual and original game to hit PlayStation2. Ideal for: Young kids, Japanophiles.
5. GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS What really draws players backis just how open-ended it is. Ideal for: 18-and-over hip-hop fans
6. BATTLEFIELD: VIETNAM Multi-player gamesin which participants compete via the Internetcontinue to grow in popularity. The most dramatic entrant this year was Battlefield: Vietnamchoose one of a dozen maps and log on to a server with 30 or so like-minded players. The server automatically divides you into Americans and Viet Cong. Ideal for: Military enthusiasts, online gamers
7. HALO 2 A fast-paced, seamless sci-fi action adventure set in awe-inspiring alien landscapesHalo 2 just became the best reason to own an Xbox. Ideal for:Sci-fi aficionados, Xbox Live subscribers.
8. BURNOUT 3: TAKEDOWN Your task here it to speed kamikaze-like into a series of major intersections and create enough dollars worth of auto carnage to merit a bronze, silver or gold medal. Never knew crashing your car could be fun? One test drive and youll be a believer. Ideal for: Anyone with a need for speed.
9. FABLE Fable is the best-looking, most addictive fantasy role-playing epic of the year. Ideal for: Players eager to lose themselves in an alternate reality.
10. PIRATES! Sid Meiers classic has been given a 21st century makeover. Meier has added lush new 3-D graphics and a host of minigames within the game. Pirates! lets you play exactly the way you want to, turning the entire Caribbean into your own giant sandbox. Ideal for: Scurvy sea dogs and swashbucklers.
The full story is on TIME.com at: https://www.time.com/time/subscriber/cover/0,9171,1101041129-785312,00.html
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