NEWS FEBRUARY 2007
On 4 February, the Indianapolis Colts won Super Bowl XLI, defeating the Chicago Bears 29-17 to claim their first Super Bowl victory since 1971. Quarterback Peyton Manning was named MVP for the game, with 25 of 38 pass attempts completed for a total of 247 yards, with just one interception. The Colts’ Dominic Rhodes was also a key player, achieving 113 rushing yards.
Anna Nicole Smith passed away on 8 February, at the age of 39. The model and actress was found dead at a hotel in Florida, having accidentally overdosed on a variety of prescription drugs. She was best-known for her work in Playboy and roles in movies such as The Naked Gun 33 1/3, as well as her controversial marriage to octogenarian billionaire J Howard Marshall in the early Nineties.
On 19 February, 27-year-old former school caretaker Miles Cooper was arrested in connection with a letter bombing campaign that had begun in January and injured seven people. The bombs had been sent to organisations involved with DNA testing and road transport. Cooper was convicted at trial and given an indeterminate sentence, with a minimum of four years and 149 days to be served before being eligible for parole.
With the excitement of Christmas long past and the new consoles all out – unless you were still hanging on for the PS3’s European launch – February was a rather light month for gaming thrills.
The game that attracted the most interest was Sony’s flagship racing game MotorStorm, in its Japanese import form. In an 8/10 review, games™ felt that it was “unforgivable” that the game had launched without Time Trial,
Arcade and Multiplayer modes, but that it was still “the finest arcade racer since Burnout Revenge”. Next3 also awarded it 8/10, saying that it “may be the best-looking videogame in history” and Play gave it 82%, praising it for having “a sense of chaos unmatched by any of its contemporaries”.
If you were still enjoying the older vintage of PlayStation, Capcom’s brawler God Hand was the game to see. “It’s the gaming equivalent of a John Waters film, in that it’s pretty camp in places and not as funny as you think it will be,” said our Tim, reviewing for Play. “But for the sheer awesomeness of the fighting, the variety of attacks and characters to beat off you really have to admire God Hand,” he concluded, giving a score of 89%. PlayStation: Official Magazine gave the “gloriously unhinged” game 8/10, and Official PlayStation 2 Maga
