Χ-Play (2003)

Juiced, Romance of the Three Kingdoms X, Colosseum, and more! (3x43)

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On tonight's episode of X-Play, we review Juiced. If you remember, X-Play reviewed Juiced back in October of 2004. Acclaim, the game's publisher at the time, sent us builds marked as "review." We reviewed the game and completed the segment for the show. One day before the review segment was to air, Acclaim filed for bankruptcy and Juiced was never released. It was too late to pull the segment before it aired. Since then, THQ picked up the game and the developer continued to work on it for the next several months. Tonight's review is based upon the updated version of the game. What would you do with $40,000? The makers of Juiced are asking for complete suspension of disbelief, guessing you’d throw your life away, dump all of your ducats into a street racing machine, then join the Angel City underground street racing circuit. As unbelievable as it might be, at least it sounds fun. Ancient Greece and Rome are big in video games recently. Koei, a company that frequently draws on history, must have figured “Well, when in Rome...” Colosseum: Road to Freedom gives you the chance to become a slave gladiator with the option to buy your own freedom. X-Play has already started saving up, and we’re giving you our early impressions. If your last effort at diplomacy was offering up your Hostess snack cakes to appease a disgruntled bully’s hunger pangs, then you may want to brush up on your negotiating skills. Japanese developer Koei is poised to release its tenth video game based on the 600-year-old Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, which features more political intrigue and betrayals than a routine episode of 24. It's a subject near and dear to the publisher’s heart, with the Dynasty Warriors and Kessen franchises both drawing their characters and battles from the same source material. Fans of the earlier Romance of the Three Kingdoms games, which have been invading console systems since the musty, dusty NES, understand that the series hasn’t survived for