issue" August 2004: Everquest 2, Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia, The Matrix Online - Four different covers, "The Online World issue" September 2004: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - "The Sandbox Issue" October 2004: Fable, Dead or Alive Ultimate - Two different covers, "The Hot Pink Issue" November 2004: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - "the it's a-me issue" December 2004: Need For Speed Underground 2, - "The nitro issue" January 2005: Halo 2 - "The FPS Issue" February 2005: Resident Evil 4 - "The last issue" Rating system When games were reviewed, they were rated on a scale of 1 to 10. (A score of 0 was twice used, for Postal² and Ping Pals.) A score of 9 or 10 was considered excellent, 7 or 8 good, 4 to 6 mediocre, and 1 to 3 bad. As well, the GMR Essential Selection logo would be awarded to all games scoring 10 and some games scoring 9. With the rating would come a one- or two-word comment, often a pun on the game's title, and three lines of comparisons (usually "Better Than:/Not As Good As:/Wait For It:"). Previewers would rate their excitement about an upcoming game on a scale of 1 to 5 flames, although one-flame previews were absent and two-flame previews rare. Game Geezer One of the most popular sections of the magazine was an editorial that appeared in the final pages of most every issue called Game Geezer. The editorial was written as though it were being dictated by an excessively cranky old man in a humorous tone and was well regarded by readers for its concise opinions and arguments regarding the video game industry and player community. Game Geezer was later revealed to be written by Jeff Green, former editor-in-chief of Games for Windows: The Official Magazine and Computer Gaming World. The column was also written, on a fill-in basis, by former Xbox Nation editor Greg Orlando. Ninja Gaiden controversy GMR suffered a black eye to its reputation with the publication of the August 2003 issue, which featured what was billed as the exclusive first review for the then highly anticipated Xbox action game Ninja Gaiden. The game was featured on the cover and given an excellent review, but at about the same time, the game's developer made the decision to continue tweaking the game, delaying its release until early 2004. Thus, the GMR