From this version, the installation process is totally automatized through
the Daniele Colanardi's Corona Installer 1.0.3 utility. The SDK can be
used from Windows (integrated to Dev-C++ IDE) or from Linux Ubuntu
(integrated with Code::Blocks IDE or from command line).
The SDK includes a version of PSPSDK with psp-gcc 4.1.0, already
compiled and ready for use.
The users that don't want to install Nanodesktop using Corona or using
the manual procedure, can also using the Nanodesktop VMI: a VirtualBox
Virtual Machine that contains a copy of Linux Ubuntu with the new
distribution already preinstalled and ready for use.
The code has been totally reviewed to clean the warnings and potential
bugs.
The system is able to manage the IR Keyboards, like Targus IR Keyboard, through the drivers ndPiKeyDriver.Prx and ndPiKeyDriver_IRInput.Prx .
I want to thank federgc for the help in testing.
The system is able to recognize the vocal commands that have been spoken by the user, thanks to the new ndPocketSphinx library.
The SDK can download the mail using ndPops3LibC library (thanks to blue_eye).
The ndOpenCV library has been updated to version 1.0 and the compatibility
with the x86 OpenCV C code has been updated.
Here the changelog:
Code:
1. ndOpenCV has been updated to version 1.0
2. Improved compatibility of ndHighGUI with original OpenCV Intel Code
3. New ndOpenCV applications included
4. Introduced function ndHAL_SetupMouseCallback ()
5. Added support for Linux
6. PSPSDK has been updated: psp-gcc updated to 4.1.0 version
7. Fixed a trouble in the strategy of USB managing (this solves problems with CFW and PSP FAT)
8. Fixed a trouble in MakeFile_PSP.mak that created a memory loss under PSP SLIM when you used the simple PSP strategy
9. Reduced stack space required for the ACT threads
10. Added new Microphone API
11. Added support for extended printf/scanf routines (via Trio library)
12. Added support for ndPocketSphinx voice recognition software.
13. Added support for ndPiKey drivers (via ndPiKeyDriver.Prx and ndPiKeyDriver_IRInput.Prx) (thanks for Gianfranco Crimi and to Joseph Felton)
14. Added support for Code::Blocks IDE under Linux (thanks to Daniele Colanardi)
15. Corona Installer is the official installer of the system now
16. Added support for emails through POP3 servers (via ndLibsPopC library)
17. New user guide
18. Fixed a trouble in fflush function (NanoC)
19. Removed support for extended printf/scanf routines (via Trio library)
20. Deep code review executed to Nanodesktop core (some small potential bugs have been fixed)
21. ndTBAR routines check that the bar is contained in WindowSpace before drawing now
22. Correct a bug with perror, strerror functions
23. Fixed a trouble in routines that provide to firmware recognition
24. Network routines now work also in KSU mode with custom firmware and 1.50 emulation (bug-fix)
25. Fixed a bug that, in KSU mode, prevented the disabling of the USB drivers loader at startup
26. Fixed a timing problem that caused the hang in ndGCurl library.
27. Fixed a bug that generated carriage return in ndWS_Print.
For assistance or other informations:
I have released the new version of Nanodesktop Blind Assistant (core CFW0005).
Blind Assistant is the attempt to help the blinds through simple commercial
devices as the Sony PSP, without the necessity to buy expensive
proprietary devices.
This version of Blind Assistant, is able to talk with the blind using the
ndFLite voice synthetizer. It can answer to the vocal commands, using
the ndPocketSphinx speech recognition engine.
In this way, the blind can interact with the system using only his voice.
This version of the software integrates five features:
a) a face recognition engine, that can recognize the names of the people
that are present in the room (and the position in the screen), using
PentLand algorithm. Our version of the algorithm uses VFPU to speed up
the computations.
b) a room recognizer, that can recognize the room in which the blind is,
through a x86 server (BlindServer) and the SIFT (Scalar Image Feature
Transform) algorithm.
c) a optical char recognition engine, that can read to the blind a text
that is grabbed by the camera
d) a colour scanner, that is able to say to the blind what is the average
color of the image that is grabbed by the camera in that moment. This
is useful for the blind for recognizing the color of an object that is in
front of it
e) a mail reader, that can read the mail that the blind receives from a
POP3 server.
See the documentation in the zip file for the installation of the homebrew.
The program is able to autoupdate itself using internet.
Buddycloud takes your mobile's address book, mashes it up with location fingerprint technology and then feeds the results back to your friends. Buddycloud will point out interesting people and locations as you move around town, and gives you a convenient way to chat with them and hook-up. Invite your address book contacts to Buddycloud and you can share your location and status with your buddies live and for free. Show where you are currently, have been previously, and going to next, all automatically. Chat privately with your Buddycloud buddies with free instant messages. Join group and place chats, discuss, flirt or get to know new friends anywhere in the world. See which places are buzzing with people and chat with others who are nearby you.
With Android getting all Flash-ey, Apple's "Goldilocks" position on Flash -- the full Flash player is too hefty, Flash Lite is too weak -- seemed pretty untenable. Now Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen has revealed that Apple and Adobe are "collaborating" on making Flash a reality on the iPhone, citing the technical challenge it presents. What's clear is that with all this work to do, it doesn't seem they're going the watered-down Flash Lite route, but we're trying not to hold our breath for a full-on, Hulu-friendly version that will finally help us get that Doogie Howser fix on the go. Naturally, there's no word on when this will hit.
I'd love to tell you that the New Xbox Experience HDMI-related sound issue from November has been addressed, but that'd be a lie. More than two months and 23 pages of complaints later, it persists.
[Jacob] wanted to play some sega games on his PC and felt like the experience just wasn’t complete while using the keyboard for input. He had an old MadCatz controller laying around, which could have probably been connected fairly simply, but he really wanted it to be wireless. A wireless keyboard was sacrificed, and the wireless genesis controller was born. To make it, he disassembled the keyboard to take the controller chip out. After tracing out and soldering switches to the leads, he installed it in his genesis controller.
If you somehow managed to watch the video we've posted after the jump without reading this wall of text, you may be befuddled as to why we've posted a video of The Cure frontman Robert Smith gleefully vandalizing the Nintendo World store in NYC. Little do you know that the combat-booted troublemaker featured in the video is none other than Bob Pelloni, the jilted sole creator of Bob's Game, whom Nintendo is still refusing to sell a software development kit to. Gee, we can't imagine why.
Pelloni's assault on Nintendo World took place on "Stage 50" of his 100-day sit-in protest (the rules of which can apparently be bent to allow for a brief littering excursion). He and his accomplices plastered the store's walls in Bob's Game posters, covered the floor with business cards, and filled store shelves with mock-up game cases. Given this latest desperate attention grab, and the fact that his once-humble development blog currently shows Pelloni consorting with aliens, we're guessing he's exchanged his game development ambitions for fleeting e-lebrity status. What a shame.
Calling all cars: Be on lookout for this Mii in connection with a hit and run. Driver last seen in Moo Moo Meadows wearing Mii Outfit B. Suspect is believed to have unlimited blue shells.
No, really, that is a wanted poster and that is a Mii on it, and that made me laugh so hard I sprained my epiglottis. The Kanagawa kops (Japan) are searching for the Mii, or a someone who looks like it, anyway. The blogs that have posted about this are inconclusive as to whether that is the actual Mii of the actual suspect (to say nothing of how they might have gotten it) or if the cops used the Mii creator to build their composite. Oh my God, I hope it is the latter. Would that really fly in Japanese court?
Jesus, that is still funny the 529th time. The WTF look is priceless.
And now, having teed this up, I hand it off to you, the commenterariat, to make it one thousand percent more hilarious than I ever could.
I have released Boomshine2x 1.1 for the Wiz. The new version features improved graphics by Ruckage, a near complete re-write of the games code and various bits and bobs like the ability for F200/Wiz users to sign their name for the highscore screen. Here's a screenshot of the new title screen:
I have released Boomshine2x 1.1 for the GP2x. The new version features improved graphics by Ruckage, a near complete re-write of the games code and various bits and bobs like the ability for F200/Wiz users to sign their name for the highscore screen. There are also five other shapes added by GPH of all people. Wasn't that nice of them? Here's a screenshot of the new title screen:
Max Shooter is a unique adapter that allows you to Use a keyboard and mouse on your PS3. You will be able enjoy First Person Shooters (FPS), or any other game where targeting is important, the way they are meant to be played.
Specifications :
- Compatible with all PS3 games
- Compatible with all versions of PS3 consoles
- Can map the controller button keys to any key of the Keyboard
- Compatible with 95% of mice and Keyboards
- High sensitivity, precision and smoothness
- Can adjust the mouse sensitivity by the 2 extra wheels
- Built in Turbo (Auto Fire) function, eight customizable auto-fire buttons
- Plug and Play - Just connect the Max Shooter to PS3.
- Ease of use: Just use the original PS3 controller to re-map itself to the mouse and keyboard
- Both controllers analog stick keys can also be mapped to the mouse and keyboard
- Connect PS2 compatible controllers to you PS3
- Compatible with PS2 joypads, light guns, racing wheels, dancing mats and more
Connect your PlayStation2 console, DVD player or other electronic devices supporting a optical output via this cable to your optical input of your HiFi receiver. For digital Dolby Digital and DTS surround-sound capabilities.
Specifications :
- Fibre-optic connection delivers higher sonic performance than standard cables
- Tuned spectral attenuation for optimum signal admittance and low loss
- High velocity of propagation for lower time smear
- Provides a digital connection from any Optical out connection
This easy to use, easy to install converter let you use your PS2 Dual Shock 2 or even PS1 Dual Shock on Playstation 3 and PC. 4 Dual Shock/2 can be used at the same time!
Specifications :
- No batteries required
- Supports most PC games
- Plug and play on PC and Playstation 3
- Supports most PS3 games with PS2/PS1 Dual Shock type controllers
- 4 pieces of PS2/PSone Dual Shock controller can be used simultaneously
Taros comes to realize the 1.00 version of "Innocence", where you can play a musical instrument futuristic (a kind of guitar synthesizer). Geometric shapes appear when you play notes, you can choose to have benchmarks or not depending on your level.
'Parallel Worlds: Combined' is a new platforming game I am currently working on. In it, there are various 'worlds'. Each world will have it's own levels, characters, and enemies, and music. It features a unique camera system, realistic AI, fantastic levels and music, and, of course, my own 'Jelli' world, designed entirely by myself. Extra worlds, levels, and character suggestions/submissions are very much welcomed in the 'Parallel Worlds: Combined - Forums' (link below)
Rough Backstory (not final):
You are a character, in your own world, and in your own time. You enjoy life: hanging out with friends, training your skills, talking with girls, etc. But, one day as you are relaxing at your favourite holiday location, a freak wormhole opens up and drags in one of your most prized possessions (unique to your character). In a desperate attempt to retrieve it, you leap in after it, and enter a dark void. Suddenly, you find yourself in a large, open space with various wormholes and portals around you. As you go over to have a look inside one, you find yourself getting sucked in. Desperately, you try to grab something around you, but this effort ends up being futile as there usually isn't anything in a wide open space, anyway. Finally, you succumb to the pull of the wormhole, and end up in a strange world full of mystical (or not so mystical) creatures and characters.
Now, you must adventure through various areas, jumping on enemies and leaping from world to world. There's one problem, though. You soon realise that all these worlds are parallel, meaning that the object you seek to find is in every world, just in a different form. This makes it extremely difficult for you. Will you find your prized possession? Or will you just end up with a flimsy plastic clone? It's all up to fate... I mean.. you, of course.
Well first of all, with this program, I do not work copy of rpg dévelloper Akabane is just the resumption of the goal of my homebrew acien create rpg before dévelloper: rpg creator xp. This program allows you to create a rpg in lua and not c.
Creator MyRPG For PSP you can:
Creating a basic rpg with:
Coding lua (HM 7)
Event Management
Management maps with 2 layers of display
Management bottlenecks the map with a third layer
Database Management: Objects and character
Management of stores
Management of combat (not implemented in this demo)
Managing backup player
The JPCSP Team have posted a new PSP Emulator for the PSP which is a port of their Java PSP Emulator to the c++ language, heres the changelog
Changelog from 191:
Added debug for unknown syscalls, now it will also return the name
Prelimary work on plugin configuration dialog. Still not useable
Added prelimary RTC module support. (rtctest now works,some other demos might behave a bit better)
Ultimate VSH Menu is back with a big update
It's now almost like the M33 vsh menu
Big changelog of v1.03:
- All found bugs fixed
- It removed "flash1:/dic" for more space
- Don't activated VSH Menu in PSP Store
- Code completely rewritted
- Ultimate VSH Menu can only load after 3 seconds
- Fixed a bug, that sometimes CPU 222 is
- It's locked only the buttons
- Scrolling is now even faster
- Battery options are added to "MAKE BATTERY"
- Enter is now available with LEFT or RIGHT
- Screenshot now with NOTE, R + NOTE, L + NOTE or R + L possible
- Possibility to change Speed up MS
- "USE SLIM COLORS" appears only on PSP phat
- Added Orange and Purple to "VSH MENU COLOR"
- Added "USB CHARGE" on PSP slim
PSPChrome is a webbrowser application for the PSP by Damiaan Reijnaers.
It's a application that looks like the browser Google Chrome, from Google. You've just only to download it, and put the files into your root directory.
You need a internet connection to save and load the files.
In a further release, V1.0, you will be able to create more tabs, and see you're favorites and history.
Ahman has released a new version of the Shell for the PSP, heres whats new:
This is only a minor update for Slim PSP with Interlaced TV support. Phat users don't need to install this release.
New Features:
- For interlaced TV, some games have low frame rate. This is now fixed.
- For interlaced TV, some games have stuttered sound output. Most of them should now be fixed. If you still encounter stuttered sound for a specific game, you can try to increase the value of "Interlace TV Thread Priority" in iR Configurator. The higher the value, the lower the priority the thread will run and it will give more CPU time to the game which will help with the stuttered sound. You shouldn't lower this value, unless you know exactly what you're doing. The default value is 0 which will work for most games.
EA has secured a deal with Ludlum Entertainment allowing it to create videogames based on the works of acclaimed author Robert Ludlum – the first of which will be a game based around the Bourne character to be developed by Starbreeze Studios.
The announcement seemingly puts to rest speculation surrounding Project Redlime, the previously untitled collaboration between EA and Starbreeze that came to light last February.
Bourne's last videogame outing launched to a muted response, Vivendi and High Moon Studios effort last year receiving mixed reviews. With the developer behind the hugely impressive Chronicles of Riddick games at the helm, expectations will no doubt be high for the latest Bourne project.
Several of Robert Ludlum's works are currently receiving the Hollywood treatment, with The Maltarese Circle due to hit cinemas later this year and Leonardo DiCaprio set to star in an adaptation of The Chancellor Manuscript.
For the time being, however, EA's focus appears to be on the Bourne series, with EA's Mike Quigley saying,"Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne is the most exciting action hero to emerge in decades, thrilling audiences around the world. EA is excited to enter into a long-term relationship with Ludlum Entertainment, bringing the action, intrigue and intensity of Robert Ludlum's fiction to life for casual and core gamers around the globe."
Back in September, images surfaced of a prototype massively multiplayer online game set in the Halo universe. The game was reported to be under development as recently as 2007 at Ensemble Studios, which closed down for good last week after finishing up its work on the upcoming real-time strategy game Halo Wars.
The gaming business Web site Gamasutra was there when the studio shut its doors last week and reports that the Halo MMO idea was alive and very well at Ensemble for a time.
The game started as a concept called Titan in 1998, after Ultima Online started getting attention in the PC gaming development community. After Microsoft began its relationship with Bungie, the Titan idea was merged with the Halo license and was code-named Orion.
Microsoft was so serious about the concept that, according to Gamasutra, it commissioned the construction of a new Ensemble campus for the game's development. But for unnamed reasons, Microsoft halted the construction and the project, and Ensemble was later marked for closure altogether.
The Halo franchise has turned out to be something of a poisoned chalice for Ensemble, which gained fame as an independent developer of the Age of Empires RTS series in the late 1990s. Microsoft bought the company in 2001, and for the past few years the studio has been working on Halo Wars, its first ground-up console game. The Halo MMO would have been Ensemble's first foray into the MMO market as well.
Microsoft has made no official statements about the Halo MMO project, but company executives have been frank in the past about their MMO ambivalence. The Halo online project is one of a handful of high-profile console MMO projects that have been shelved at the company in recent years.
Back in September, images surfaced of a prototype massively multiplayer online game set in the Halo universe. The game was reported to be under development as recently as 2007 at Ensemble Studios, which closed down for good last week after finishing up its work on the upcoming real-time strategy game Halo Wars.
The gaming business Web site Gamasutra was there when the studio shut its doors last week and reports that the Halo MMO idea was alive and very well at Ensemble for a time.
The game started as a concept called Titan in 1998, after Ultima Online started getting attention in the PC gaming development community. After Microsoft began its relationship with Bungie, the Titan idea was merged with the Halo license and was code-named Orion.
Microsoft was so serious about the concept that, according to Gamasutra, it commissioned the construction of a new Ensemble campus for the game's development. But for unnamed reasons, Microsoft halted the construction and the project, and Ensemble was later marked for closure altogether.
The Halo franchise has turned out to be something of a poisoned chalice for Ensemble, which gained fame as an independent developer of the Age of Empires RTS series in the late 1990s. Microsoft bought the company in 2001, and for the past few years the studio has been working on Halo Wars, its first ground-up console game. The Halo MMO would have been Ensemble's first foray into the MMO market as well.
Microsoft has made no official statements about the Halo MMO project, but company executives have been frank in the past about their MMO ambivalence. The Halo online project is one of a handful of high-profile console MMO projects that have been shelved at the company in recent years.
Follow Afro Samurai as he fights to become the number one warrior, a title currently held by Justice, the man who killed Afro's father when he was a child. The game follows the plot of the original series with added material and background for fans and new comers alike.
Blood is beautiful in this hip hop infused action adventure as Samuel L. Jackson reprises his role as Afro and Ninja Ninja. A striking art style gives Afro Samurai a truly unique look and feel across beautifully animated open environments as he wages war against his adversaries to become number one. Using an innovative gameplay system, enemy AI is affected by the beat of the musical score produced by RZA of Wu-Tang Clan fame. These dynamic battles ensure stylized encounters throughout the game that affect the overall tone of gameplay. Slice and dismember opponents as Afro acrobatically leaps from one location to the next, interacting with anything and everything in the environment to help him on his journey.
Dubbed Wii Speak, the new peripheral is a small semicircle-shaped add-on which was shown sitting on top of the Wii's sensor bar. Wii Speak allows players to chat online and undertake activities in the Animal Crossing: City Folk world. One example shown at the conference included a four-player fishing game in Animal Crossing, with players happily chatting to each other as well as engaging in some trash talk along the way. Another quick example shown was four players going into an in-game restaurant and talking to one another over a meal.
Information released by the big three videogame market information providers, The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track and Enterbrain, has shown that the UK led market growth on a global basis in 2008.
The country saw a 26 per cent increase in sales over 2007, compared to 15 per cent in the United States and a 13 per cent decline in Japan, meaning that it's now overtaken Japan to become the second largest videogames market in the world.
Combined growth across the three biggest markets in the world averaged out at 11 per cent, with 409.9 million units of software sold compared to 367.7 million the previous year.
Console software in the UK rocketed by 38 per cent, with portable software jumping 6 per cent, while in the US the numbers were more modest at 22 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.
"UK console videogame software units are more than double what was achieved in 2003, which just shows how fast the UK market has been growing," said Dorian Bloch, business group director for GfK Chart-Track Limited.
"Because of this amazing growth and coupled with the downtown currently being experienced in Japan, the UK market has for the first time overtaken Japan as the number two world market.
"Although still behind on revenue, the gap has narrowed considerably and it will be interesting to see how things develop during 2009."
Mario Kart Wii sold 8.94 million units in the three biggest software markets globally, according to new information in a report released by The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track and Enterbrain.
The title sold 5 million units in the US, 2 million in Japan and 1.94 million in the UK to take top spot.
Wii Fit was in second place, on 8.31 million, shifting 4.55 million, 2.15 million and 1.61 million in the territories respectively.
Slightly surprising on the surface was that record-breaking Grand Theft Auto IV only came third on the list, with 7.29 million units - but that was thanks to very quiet sales in Japan in comparison to Nintendo's hits. It sold 5.18 million copies in the US, 1.85 million in the UK, but only 256,000 in Japan.
Super Smash Bros Brawl was fourth, with 6.32 million units sod mostly in the US and Japan, while Call of Duty: World at War was fifth on the list based on sales in the US and UK only.
The list is as follows, broken down as: Total (US/Japan/UK)
1. Mario Kart Wii: 8.94 million (5m/2m/1.94m)
2. Wii Fit: 8.31 million (4.55m/2.15m/1.61m)
3. Grand Theft Auto IV: 7.29 million (5.18m/256k/1.85m)
4. Super Smash Bros Brawl: 6.32 million (4.17m/1.75m/404k)
5. Call of Duty: World at War: 5.89 million (4.46m/0/1.43m)
Nintendo's Wii Fit has taken the lead once again in the UK software sales chart for the third consecutive week, despite sales dropping 17 per cent.
The balance board title has become the videogame giant's second best performing title in the region, alongside Pokemon Gold, with a total of seven weeks at the top spot.
This was followed by Call of Duty: World at War which remains in second place, with sales down 11 per cent, while FIFA 09 climbs a place to come in third.
Nintendo's DS title Professor Layton and the Curious Village sees a 54 per cent spike in sales as new stock hits shelves, and jumps up six places to number four. Meanwhile, Skate 2 falls two places to come in fifth, with sales dropping 28 per cent in its second week.
Mario Kart Wii and Wii Play come in sixth and seventh respectively, and Ubisoft's My Fitness Coach drops one place to number eight. Closing off the top ten of the chart was Tomb Raider: Underworld at nine and Need for Speed: Undercover, which climbed three places to come in at ten.
UK software sales chart follows:
01. Wii Fit
02. Call of Duty: World at War
03. FIFA 09
04. Professor Layton and the Curious Village
05. Skate 2
06. Mario Kart Wii
07. Wii Play
08. My Fitness Coach
09. Tomb Raider: Underworld
10. Need for Speed: Undercover
11. The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
12. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
13. Guitar Hero: World Tour
14. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training
15. Carnival: Funfair Games
16. Shaun White Snowboarding
17. Lego Indiana Jones: Original Adventures
18. Grand Theft Auto IV
19. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
20. Football Manager 2009
We've seen plenty of semi-portable mashups from modder extraordinaire Bacteria, and now he's back with another luggable system that turns a PSone into a fully integrated handheld. The system is naturally made from a PSone console itself as well as a travel screen, a third-party controller, custom case, and, most importantly, a lot of skill and patience -- roughly 100 hours worth. You cay buy the tangible bits in a kit on eBay for £49.99 (about $70 US), then follow Bacteria's stupendously comprehensive instructions to build your own.
With the economy lodged so firmly in the toilet we're always glad to see some sort of good news on that front, so check out the latest numbers from comScore that show the market for downloadable time-wasters on smartphones grew by a massive 291 percent in the period between November of 2007 and 2008. That's thanks in large part to the iPhone and its App Store, with sales on that platform alone accounting for 14 percent of all mobile game downloads and nearly one third of all iPhone users reporting they'd downloaded at least one game. That compares quite favorably to non-smartphone users, of whom just 3.8 percent have downloaded a game, driving that market to decline by 14 percent since 2007. Overall the mobile gaming industry bucked recessionary trends, grew a healthy 17 percent, and will now be shopping in the husky clothing section.
Normally, the portable consoles that spring forth from the handy folks at the Ben Heck forums are sleek, professional-looking affairs. This wooden PS1? Not so much.
f Apple's sat back and let the iPhone hacking community do its thing in peace (well, relative peace) so far, this little gem just might be what the doctor ordered to stir up the crap. Crackulous -- available now in beta form through Cydia -- claims to be able to strip the protection off most apps downloaded from the App Store, meaning that just a single user needs to take the plunge and buy a target app once to get it busted and into free circulation. You need a jailbroken iPhone to get Crackulous loaded, naturally -- you'll see Apple make a Windows Mobile-powered device before you'll see Crackulous in the App Store -- but seeing how PwnageTool is dead simple to use, this puts most users just a couple graphical tools away from foolproof piracy and the golden opportunity to take a few hard-earned bucks out of a programmer's pocket.
Here's the thing about batteries: they store energy. Lots of it. Channeled correctly, that energy does really awesome things for us -- but channeled chaotically, and... well, you know where this is going, don't you? A man shopping in a Lenovo store in mainland China has been killed after the phone in his chest pocket exploded, severing arteries and leading to massive blood loss. The make and model of the phone and battery have yet to be identified, but seeing how this is the seventh high-profile case of an exploding phone in China in the last six years, it really gives you pause before installing that shady off-brand juice, doesn't it?
Nintendo's customer service has a reputation for going above and beyond to satisfy the needs of once-distraught fans. This may be because only the stories of NIntendo awesomeness proliferate online (Not a headline: "Nintendo says it can't do anything for broken DS"), but this stuff makes us so happy that we'd rather not go all cynical. For now.
GoNintendo reader PsyduckWarrior's house caught fire, destroying (among other things, of course) his entire video game collection, including almost every Nintendo system and "more than 250 Nintendo games spanning all their consoles". Later, he sent Nintendo a fairly simple inquiry about transferring his account to a new Wii, including pictures demonstrating the circumstances through which he came to require a new Wii.
Nintendo responded by offering to send him a new Wii, along with a replacement for his Game Boy Advance SP. It may not be a replacement for his whole game collection, but it is a super-classy move from a company that could have just classified PsyduckWarrior's plight as, "Not our problem."
This Wednesday on Xbox Live Arcade, shoot-em up fans get a healthy dose of redone retro goodness with R-Type Dimensions, repackaging and repolishing the first two games in the R-Type series.
R-Type and R-Type II return this Wednesday in R-Type Dimensions, which takes the classic gameplay of the original shooters and updates them with all the bells and whistles you'd expect from today's advanced downloadable titles. While you can simply amuse yourself playing the classics in their original form, the updated 3D versions look simply amazing, and you can switch between them on the fly at any point during gameplay. Along with the graphical upgrades, Dimensions also adds co-op play both online and off, a stage unlock feature that lets you choose where you want to start shooting once you've completed a stage, and Infinite mode, which loosely translates into Easy mode.
Now how much would you pay? How about 1200 Microsoft points? It's a bit of a higher price than I am used to for a remake of an older title, but the extra features could just be worth it.
Portuguese developer Seed Studios has lifted the lid on PS3-exclusive RTS Under Siege.
Due out later this year, the game will place "special emphasis" on user-generated content, according to the official website, and be tailored for console gameplay and controls. Multiplayer and community features will be important, too.
There's not much else to go on, other than some pre-alpha screenshots, which show rural areas and what appear to be tribes and explorers. We can't see much evidence of technology, and the silhouettes on the site suggest swords are the staple weapon-type.
Under Siege doesn't appear to be have publisher yet. We'll let you know more when we do.
Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata has told investors that be believes there is room for the DS and Wii to grow beyond its current market.
Speaking at the company's third quarter financial briefing, Iwata predicted that the DS's total installed base in Japan, Europe, and the US could reach a potential 152.2 million units alone. He went on to attribute fears that Nintendo's sales had reached a peak to the past platform cycle theory, which tends towards a five-year lifespan for consoles.
"Especially in the case of DS, when you apply this five-year cycle theory to a platform that has been through its 5th holiday season since its 2004 launch, a concern that DS business may slow down in the next fiscal year may appear to be logical at first glance," he admitted, according to Gamasutra.
However, he went on to say that this slow down could be avoided due to the general "gaming population expansion", caused by the advent of casual games.
This is supposed by findings in a report from the market research firm Packaged Facts, which found that twice as many older gamers use Nintendo systems as use PlayStation.
"Over the last few years, the driving force behind the increasing diversity and the mass appeal of gaming had been Nintendo," said Bob Brown, the report's author, according to the New York Times.
"My wife's mother lives in a retirement community, and the last time we were there, everyone was excited because they were getting a Wii in there."
iPhone appears to be one of the main drivers behind mobile gaming growth, according to the comScore report released on Friday.
iPhone owners accounted for 14 percent of mobile game downloaders in November, with 32.4 percent of all iPhone users reporting they downloaded a game in the month, compared with a market average of 3.8 percent.
That's nearly 10 times the average. No wonder so many companies are hopping onto the iPhone bandwagon.
Sony has told Eurogamer that attractive PSN game Flower will cost GBP 6.29 when released next Thursday 12th February.
Flower costs USD 9.99 across the pond, which left us expecting a slightly higher conversion, so this is pleasing. And so is snow.
Flower - developed by thatgamecompany of flOw fame - has players restore vibrant colours to the dreary dream-worlds of city flowers. To do this, petals must be steered around on the wind and clattered into other flowers, sending up more petals to join the cause.
The effect is rather pretty and quite serene, as our hands-on impressions of Flower point out. Look out for our review soon.
PlayStation 3 owners will be getting a bit more time with Killzone 2 before release than originally anticipated, as Sony's semi-official blog ThreeSpeech announces a demo for the eagerly anticipated game dropping this week.
A demo for Killzone 2 will be hitting the PlayStation Network on Thursday, February 5th, several weeks ahead of the originally announced February 26th date, which would have placed the demo a mere day before release. In North America, this is the exclusive GameStop demo, with those not pre-ordering from the retailer still having to wait until the 26th.
The demo will feature the first two parts of the first level of the game, giving players a chance to learn the controls in advance of the title's official release.
Between this and today's Resident Evil 5 demo, PlayStation 3 owners will have a good bit less hard disk space by the end of the week.
UPDATE: Sony Computer Entertainment America contacted us to let us know that the demo would still be a GameStop exclusive in North America until the 26th of February. We've updated the article to reflect this.
I've been playing around with Payback on my iPhone for the past week or so. The game is a top down action game very reminiscent of the original Grand Theft Auto.
Did I say reminiscent? It's really closer to a copycat. I haven't really played it enough yet to write up a formal review, but the game does seem to have some interesting things going for it.
It's Monday morning, and the Nintendo Wii downloadables delivery van is making its weekly rounds with a mix of alpine sports adventure, space-filling puzzles, and yet another installment of brazen blue hedgehog.
Mixing things up today, we'll kick things off with the solo Virtual Console title dropping this week, Sonic Chaos for the Sega Master System (500 Wii Points). Dr. Eggman's motivations have never been so clear; he's using a Red Chaos Emerald to make weapons of mass destruction, I assume in order to destroy...masses? Somehow this results in Sonic's home of South Island sinking into the sea with nay a missile fired, and it's up to the titular hedgehog and his mutant fox pal Tails to save the day. We're really scraping the bottom of the Sonic barrel now kids.
A judge in the case Blizzard brought against mod developer MDY has ruled that its auto-farming "bot" for World of Warcraft, Glider, violates Blizzard's copyright.
Glider takes control of players' characters and automatically grinds through enemies, "farming" them for gold, materials and experience. It can be used as a tool to generate funds for real-money trading, or simply as a way to level up a character without putting the hours in.
Either way, using Glider distorts the game experience and constitutes a violation of the user agreement for World of Warcraft - hence Blizzard's interest in shutting it down. Judge David Campbell already passed summary judgement in favour of Blizzard last summer, and awarded it damages in the autumn.
But this latest ruling could have much wider implications for digital rights management, as argued in an interesting if rather technical Ars Technica article.
The argument put forward by Blizzard and accepted by the judge is that the "non-literal elements" of WOW - the end-user experience, in other words, rather than the data stored on the game disc - constitute intellectual property which is protected by WOW's security software, called Warden. Therefore, because it circumvents Warden, Glider contravenes a provision of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act banning software that is "primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work".
MDY argued that the game experience was not a distinct copyright work, because it did not exist in a tangible medium, and because it was effectively created by both Blizzard and the player. The judge rejected these arguments.
Although few WOW players will mourn the setback for a mod regarded as a cheat at best, legal experts contacted by Ars Technica point out that this case sets a worrying precedent. By using legislation intended to stop file-sharing in its case, Blizzard has effectively succeeded in copyrighting not just a game, but a network service, and enshrining its right to control access to that service even if no copyright theft is at work (Glider still requires a valid copy of WOW and a paid-up subscription to work). This has the potential to cause tremendous problems for the open-source software movement in particular.
The ruling is expected to go to the Court of Appeal, so we haven't heard the last of this yet.
In the annals of console history, the Dreamcast is often portrayed as a small, square, white plastic JFK. A progressive force in some ways, perhaps misguided in others, but nevertheless a promising life cut tragically short by dark shadowy forces, spawning complex conspiracy theories that endure to this day. So to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its launch, which passed recently, Eurogamer is going all CSI to consider who - or what - killed the Dreamcast.
Was it grinchy old EA, withholding the precious lifeblood of its licensed sports games? Or did the fiendish pirates help to sink the SEGA ship, cracking the GD-ROM format and allowing anyone with a CD burner to brazenly copy Dreamcast games? Or was it that big mean bully Sony, tucked away on the grassy knoll, blowing the head off the competition with a bullet of ruthless PR chicanery?
By November 1998, when the Dreamcast first arrived in Japanese shops, it had been ten long years since the popular Megadrive, a decade punctuated by a triple whammy of high-profile hardware mistakes. The SEGA CD add-on was the first, an over-priced and poorly supported multimedia attachment for the Megadrive that relied on the thankfully short-lived craze for FMV-based "interactive movies". Customers soon wised up to the fact that beneath the grainy video footage, they really weren't getting any more gameplay for their money. Following up this clunky bit of kit with the even more pointless 32X add-on merely deepened SEGA's malaise in 1994.
Another expensive add-on, the 32X flopped hard, selling less than a quarter of a million units. Software support was virtually non-existent, and the whole sorry affair was brushed under the rug in less than a year. SEGA fans who had faithfully bought each new product were left with pricey lumps of plastic and a severe case of buyer's remorse. It didn't help that the 32X was developed by SEGA's American arm, allegedly unaware that at the same time their Japanese colleagues were working on the SEGA Saturn.
By E3 1997, SEGA had given up on the Saturn.
Released a few months ahead of Sony's dark horse PlayStation, the Saturn seemed poised to restore SEGA's console fortunes. But SEGA hadn't banked on Sony successfully appealing to a wider audience, with PlayStation's clubland aesthetic and slicker image, and with the Saturn's internal architecture proving something of a tangle, many developers switched their attention to Sony's more accessible and successful platform. Despite fairly strong sales in Japan, the system struggled in America and Europe and soon found itself trailing in third place behind the PlayStation and Nintendo 64. With dwindling third-party support, SEGA's American head honcho Bernie Stolar announced at E3 in 1997 that "the Saturn is not our future".
Coming off a run of three high-profile failures, SEGA took the unusual step of getting two competing R&D teams to come up with a console capable of putting the company back on top. One team was based in Japan, the other in the US. Both had different ideas as to which combination of chips and parts would fit the bill, and the American team signed a deal with 3dfx to use a custom version of the company's Voodoo 2 graphics chip. Unfortunately, during the development period, 3dfx was looking to sell shares and as part of the documentation it revealed lots of juicy details regarding the top-secret SEGA console. The US plan was ditched and SEGA opted to go with the Japanese design, prompting the newly floated 3dfx stock to drop by 43 per cent. 3dfx filed a lawsuit, claiming breach of contract. The case was quickly settled out of court, but it was the sort of speedbump that SEGA could ill afford.
After a tepid Japanese debut launched the console with a resounding thud in November 1998, we poor saps in America and Europe would have to wait almost a year to get our hands on it. Finally going global in the autumn of 1999, the Dreamcast swiftly made up for its poor Japanese performance, breaking US sales records by clocking up 300,000 pre-orders and shifting over 500,000 units in the first two weeks.
We still would.
It was a deserved success, carried on the shoulders of solid technical specifications and innovative new features. The Dreamcast wasn't the first console to offer online functions - even the SNES had tentatively dipped a toe in those waters - but it was the first to come with a modem built in and its own ISP for online gaming, thus enabling online play for all, rather than those who purchased a chunky peripheral. It was also the first to offer a memory card that doubled as a gaming device in its own right, with the Visual Memory Unit able to download mini-games, swap data with friends and act as a rudimentary battery-guzzling personal organiser.
It's true that Electronic Arts opted not to support the system, denying the Dreamcast the guaranteed sales that brands like Madden provided, but contrary to what the conspiracy theorists will tell you the Dreamcast software line-up managed just fine thanks to the SEGA Sports label. SEGA's own NFL 2K1, marketed as the first football game with online play, even outsold the official Madden game during its first weeks on the market. Away from the sports field, the games were just as popular. Exclusive titles like Sonic Adventure and Power Stone showcased SEGA's bright and bold aesthetic, while nigh-perfect arcade ports like Soul Calibur and Crazy Taxi put the aging PlayStation to shame.
But there was already a fly in the ointment, and the fly was called Sony. In March 1999, realising that SEGA was about to leapfrog a hardware generation and get its next-gen machine on the shelves first, Sony had publicly unveiled PlayStation 2 - then still a year away from release. The prospect of the successor to the world-conquering PlayStation was enough to cut the already wobbly legs off the Dreamcast in Japan, with most gamers opting to wait for the sure-to-be-awesome PS2, with its mysterious "emotion engine" and games that would literally emerge from the screen and fellate you senseless.
Even in the west, as the PlayStation 2 drew closer the Dreamcast lost momentum. It was at this point that the legacy of SEGA's worthless Megadrive expansions and the fumbled Saturn came back to haunt the company. In what would become a grim self-fulfilling prophecy, many punters were understandably quicker to put their cash towards the established and widely loved PlayStation brand rather than risk ending up with another SEGA system with few games and no long-term future.
In the face of such competition, the Dreamcast's technical features proved of little value. SEGA, arguably about five years ahead of its time, had gambled on the importance of online play but console gamers in 2000 were a lot less interested in networked games than their PC counterparts. Back then, MMORPG was just a really bad handful of Scrabble tiles, so a pioneering effort like Phantasy Star Online just wasn't what joypad lovers were looking for. With the PlayStation 2 doubling as a DVD player, a desirable technology that had just tipped over into mass-market must-have status, the ability to play Chu Chu Rocket over the internet wasn't likely to turn the tide in Dreamcast's favour.
As the PS2 sold more and more on its epic ten-year journey to become the world's best-selling games console, Dreamcast sales dried up. In March 2001, a mere two years after the Dreamcast's impressive US launch, SEGA announced that not only was it discontinuing production on the console, but it was withdrawing from the hardware side of the industry altogether. The words "end of an era" don't even begin to cover it.
One of the DC's best, but by now it was too late.
If you want a snapshot of how fast the Dreamcast died then consider the fact that in June 2001, only a few months after becoming a software-only publisher, SEGA released Crazy Taxi for the PS2. By Christmas you could pick up a brand new Dreamcast, plus a game, for less than GBP 70. And in June 2003, SEGA finally switched off almost all the Dreamcast servers, with only Phantasy Star Online kept alive on digital life support. It seemed that the last embers of SEGA's hardware empire had finally sputtered out.
The story doesn't quite end there though. Despite being pronounced dead, the Dreamcast lived on in Japan - the nation so underwhelmed by it at launch - long past its official expiration date. Shops still sold the console until as recently as 2006, and new software is still being produced today by the indie community - albeit sporadically. For reasons that may never be fully understood, the Japanese shoot-'em-up fraternity decided that the Dreamcast was the place to be, giving the system a stay of execution with cult favourites like Ikaruga hitting in 2002 and Triggerheart Exelica in 2007. It's not exactly a new lease of life, but it's certainly a testament to the appeal of the sleek white brick.
At least SEGA the console maker went out on a high - in critical terms if not commercial. It was petite, stylish and many of the ideas it pioneered have since become standard features for the current console generation. SEGA was certainly visionary in its championing of an online future, while the connectivity between the Dreamcast and its VMU was but a taster of the cross-platform content sharing now at the heart of the PS3 and PSP, and the Wii and DS. For Japanese gamers, the Dreamcast was the first console to have its own digital camera, and the first to feature a karaoke game with microphone peripherals. With the separate VGA adaptor and 60Hz PAL capability it was even, technically speaking, one of the first HD consoles, even if it could only muster 480p resolution. So much of what the Dreamcast offered forms the core of the console wars today, and yet at the time nobody seemed bothered.
Off the hook.
The Dreamcast was arguably the right console at the wrong time, but who struck the killer blow? Probably not Sony, although it's hard to begrudge Dreamcast fans their lingering resentment that a technologically inferior console with a fairly dire line-up of early titles was able to so easily steamroller their beloved box just on the basis of brand loyalty. Sony certainly did its best to spoil the Dreamcast launch with its carefully timed PS2 announcement, and can therefore perhaps take a hefty chunk of the blame for the console's limp performance in Japan, but to say that Sony killed the Dreamcast would be a gross overstatement.
Ditto for Electronic Arts. Its lack of support for the system was merely a symptom of the real problem rather than the cause. The Dreamcast simply came too late in SEGA's hardware decline to reverse a long-running downward trend. For all its technological innovations and excellent games, SEGA's misadventures during the 1990s had left both gamers and publishers wary of any new platform bearing its name. Confidence in any new SEGA console was low, and with the PlayStation brand in the ascendancy such trepidation was enough to ensure that the Dreamcast would always struggle to maintain its early momentum in the face of stiff competition. Even if it had shipped with a champagne fountain and a nozzle that fired a constant stream of chocolate and diamonds into the player's lap, it seems likely that many potential owners would still have adopted a "wait and see" attitude.
The Dreamcast died and, perversely, in doing so it may have sealed its reputation as one of the greatest consoles ever. Nothing builds a cult like a tragic demise, especially when so much potential is left unfulfilled. There's a reason why few people get misty-eyed for the Saturn, but are inspired to passionate defence and blissful nostalgia by the Dreamcast. It's not the technology, or even the brand. It's the games. With that in mind, we've come up with a rundown of the best of the bunch, and of course our own Dreamcast Cult Classics.
features
Afro Samurai, starring the voice talents of Samuel L. Jackson, follows the exploits of the original series and includes new material and background for fans of the series and newcomers alike
A striking art style, shading and texturing that give Afro Samurai a truly unique look and feel
A balanced experience between stylistic combat and acrobatic platforming with the ability to dynamically slice and dismember enemies with ease
Afro interacts with anything and everything in the environment in beautifully animated open world environments
Innovative gameplay system where the music affects the enemy AI and the tone of the gameplay with a hip-hop soundtrack developed in collaboration with RZA of Wu-Tang Clan fame
description
The Battle To Be #1 Begins!
Based on the hit animation series, Afro Samurai is a cutting-edge interactive adventure that delivers a new kind of cinematic game experience that’s literally dripping in style.
Join “Afro” on an epic hunt for his father killer, as he scends into the timeless mysticism of the Samurai Code.
Afro Samurai blends traditional Japanese folklore, funky technology and hip-hop culture, to create a brutally fresh interactive experience. The hit animated TV series comes alive with style so cutting-edge it hurts!
features
Play as Coraline and interact with all of the colorful characters in this fantastical interactive adventure
Explore two distinct, fully interactive worlds like never before – the brooding Normal World and mesmerizing Other World
Graphic style and tone inspired by the amazing stop-motion animated film and the eerie storyline
description
Based on Focus Features and LAIKA Entertainment’s upcoming film, CORALINE is a whimsical exploration game that combines puzzle solving, character interaction and item collection with traditional action gameplay. About CORALINE (The Movie) From Henry Selick, visionary director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, and based on Neil Gaiman’s best-selling book, comes a spectacular highdefinition stop-motion animated feature. A young girl walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. This parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life - only much better. But when this wondrously off-kilter adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home.
features
Play as Coraline and interact with all of the colorful characters in this fantastical interactive adventure
Explore two distinct, fully interactive worlds like never before – the brooding Normal World and mesmerizing Other World
Graphic style and tone inspired by the amazing stop-motion animated film and the eerie storyline
description
Based on Focus Features and LAIKA Entertainment’s upcoming film, CORALINE is a whimsical exploration game that combines puzzle solving, character interaction and item collection with traditional action gameplay. About CORALINE (The Movie) From Henry Selick, visionary director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, and based on Neil Gaiman’s best-selling book, comes a spectacular highdefinition stop-motion animated feature. A young girl walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. This parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life - only much better. But when this wondrously off-kilter adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home.
Microsoft has announced the third map in the upcoming Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack, which also ships as part of the Halo Wars collector's edition later this month.
The map's called Sandbox, and promises large-scale vehicular combat as well as "limitless" customisation options in Forge, thanks to its tiered, openworld layout.
You can get a sense of why that is by checking out the first screenshot of the desert map and its network of ramps. Looks more like Mario Kart than Halo.
Bungie had this to add:
"Though you may feel as though you've been condemned to stand chin-deep in cool, refreshing waters your lips can never touch, sweetly-scented orbs of fruit dangling overhead ever out of reach, the cruel torment will end soon enough. The mythical tantalising will fade away like sand after a windstorm, becoming nothing more than a distant memory."
Thanks Bungie.
The two other maps in the Mythic Map Pack, you may recall, are Assembly and Orbital. Assembly is a medium-sized map set in a Covenant Scarab manufacturing facility, with a base on either side.
Bungie reckons Assembly will be perfect for Slayer, CTF and Assault, and you can judge for yourself thanks to screenshots released late last year.
Orbital, meanwhile, is described as a small, asymmetrical map set in a docking station of the Quito Space Tether. One Flag and One Bomb apparently work quite well, as does Slayer.
The maps will be available for free to people who buy the Halo Wars Limited Collector's Edition, due out on 27th February, and released as downloadable content shortly afterward.
Later in the year, they will be included in Halo 3: ODST, which will also include a few other multiplayer maps. Despite the difference in product, you'll all be able to play together, because the games all "all part of the Halo 3 'title ID' family", according to Bungie. Aww!
features
Play as Coraline and interact with all of the colorful characters in this fantastical interactive adventure
Explore two distinct, fully interactive worlds like never before – the brooding Normal World and mesmerizing Other World
Graphic style and tone inspired by the amazing stop-motion animated film and the eerie storyline
description
Based on Focus Features and LAIKA Entertainment’s upcoming film, CORALINE is a whimsical exploration game that combines puzzle solving, character interaction and item collection with traditional action gameplay. About CORALINE (The Movie) From Henry Selick, visionary director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, and based on Neil Gaiman’s best-selling book, comes a spectacular highdefinition stop-motion animated feature. A young girl walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. This parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life - only much better. But when this wondrously off-kilter adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home.
features
Official Pokemon Candy Toy
5 different kinds
Shipped randomly
Please order a box of 10 pieces to receive a factory sealed container
Height: approx. 130mm
Collect all of them and assemble this New Pokemon castle
Castle Height: approx. 300mm (5 pieces assembled together)
Limited availability
description
Build a castle for your pokemons. As a trainer you have to find a place for them to live, and what is better than a theme park-like castle complete with slides and fun rides.
The castle is built from five parts, each housed a specific pokemon, collect them all and assemble the parts together to form your castle. The five pokemon are Pikachu the mascot, Pocchama the blue bird, Hiko Saru the monkey, Naetoru the turtle and Greguru the lizard.
These candy toys contain quite a number of small parts, please keep them away from small children.
Gotta catch'em all, these toys are shipped randomly, please order a box of ten to recieve a factory sealed container.
features
Assume the role of Nobunaga, or of a rival warlord, in a quest to bring Japan under one rule
Covering the breadth of Japan with over 60 castles and 30 port towns, this incredible simulation spans one massive 3D world map; a first for the series
Complete camera control and a degree of magnification lets players rotate the map view and focus on regions or towns
A new approach to the concept of learning creates a much stronger association between technology suppliers, the military and the government - the Iron Triangle
Over 1,000 daimyo and sub-officers, each possessing varying levels of aptitude which will affect their decisions on domestic policy and battle
Create fictional characters and modify attributes of historical figures with the game’s character creation feature
Select a daimy to control, and choose from among four historical scenarios and one fictional, and then unlock more scenarios as you progress. Nine scenarios in all!
Three modes of play: “Unification”, “Region”, and “Challenge”
A moving score composed by Kosuke Yamashita
description
In the latest edition of this classic simulation series, the acquisition of knowledge and a firm grasp of technology are even more crucial to establishing the groundwork for the future of the country.
Players must embrace technology, govern wisely and shrewdly, and prepare a near-invincible military force for war on land and at sea. Only with the mastery of these three elements, the Iron Triangle, will Nobunaga’s Ambition be realized and a nation united under one sword.
Keeping to the promise of being exactly one week late, Capcom's playable demo for Resident Evil 5 has finally hit the PlayStation Store worldwide. While touted as being identical to the one we've seen hit Xbox Live, it's slightly bothersome to note that the PS3 version eats up double the amount of hard drive space. That's 942MB to be exact.
Regardless of footprint disparities, the demo finally allows North American and European PS3 owners to try out RE5's online and offline split-screen co-op gameplay. However, those who disdain pairing up with another person can still get their shrill kicks playing solo.
features
Official Super Mario Plush Doll
Height: approx. 22cm
Limited availability
description
More plush dolls are dropping down from Super Marion Galaxy, instead of the miniatures which you can put anywhere from home to office, these plushes are much bigger and more comfortable to hold on to.
The plushes that are newly announced include Mario and Mushoom, both of them stands at around 33 to 36 cm tall and are perfect companions during movie time as you can curl up on your couch and hold on to them as you watch your collection of block busters.
This news originally came out as a rumor, but the PlayStation 2 port of Wipeout Pulse is almost palpable. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has yet to announce it, but the USK (Germany’s ESRB equivalent) knows a thing or two about it. Recently, they rated it confirming that a Wipeout Pulse port is in development and perhaps on deck for a release soon.
Wipeout Pulse was originally released as a PSP game with online play as one of the main highlights. Downloadable expansion packs for Wipeout Pulse were also sold over the PlayStation Store. Since the PlayStation 2 version hasn’t been given a formal unveiling we don’t know if either of these features will carry over on the PS2.
If Sony is going to continue porting PSP games to the PlayStation 2 they mind as well shoot for some of the creative ones like Patapon. More people should have a chance to play Patapon.
So, in case you missed it Famitsu poured details about Bubble Bobble Wii, a brand new WiiWare game based on classic Bubble Bobble. No rainbow islands or puzzles here!
Bubble Bobble Wii has 400 stages and this number includes a remake of the original Bubble Bobble. On top of that you also get rearranged stages, four player co-op, and two optional map packs for 200 Wii Points each. Bubble Bobble is getting a meaty revival for only 800 Wii Points ($8).
One of the screenshots clearly says World Ranking in the menu which is enough to justify an international release for Bubble Bobble Wii. If that doesn’t suggest that Taito or in this case Square Enix is bringing it overseas check out the rating for Bubble Bobble Plus we found on the USK.
Unless the thought of bingo used for bonuses is a revolution Space Invaders Extreme 2 won’t shock you. The sequel, slated for March 26 in Japan, looks just like Space Invaders Extreme. Hypnotic and psychedelic backgrounds mixed with more aggressive invaders made the first game a hit.
Will it work again? Probably. Some of the boss battles look pretty cool like the one where you have to reflect lasers on the top screen to hit a giant invader on the bottom screen. Huh, I think something like that was in the previous game. Speaking of the last DS game Space Invaders Extreme 2 supports the paddle controller and download play so you can have multi-player, mammoth UFO battles with a single cart.
It's been a long time coming, but BioWare has finally informed us that a patch is in the works for the PC version of Mass Effect . Word comes via the official forums, where community coordinator Chris Priestly posted a note on the planned update.
Priestly says that Bioware has been watching the community and gathering feedback from various users having issues with the ported game. The patch, being developed by BioWare and Demiurge, will work with all versions of Mass Effect PC (including retail and those from Steam and other digital distribution sources) and should be available "soon."
Dolphin the Gamecube/Nintendo Wii Emulator for Windows has had a new public beta release, heres the news details:
This week we havn't changed much that the end users might notice
however we did do some wiimote & njoy fixes and DSP_Null is now itegrated in HLE .
64bit should also be fixed now
for more info and to talk about this rev build go to our forum
have fun
- Daco
PS: to download go to downloads( dur ) and login
Dolphin the Gamecube/Nintendo Wii Emulator for Windows has had a new public beta release, heres the news details:
This week we havn't changed much that the end users might notice
however we did do some wiimote & njoy fixes and DSP_Null is now itegrated in HLE .
64bit should also be fixed now
for more info and to talk about this rev build go to our forum
have fun
- Daco
PS: to download go to downloads( dur ) and login
We've already seen some Samsung rumors start to crop up in advance of Mobile World Congress, and it looks like the flood gates have now fully opened up, with a slew of new leaks and rumors of varying veracity now making their way across the internet. The most solid of those is the 16GB Samsung Omnia pictured above, which otherwise isn't too radically different from its current 8GB incarnation. That includes quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and single-band UMTS/HSDPA connectivity, along with the usual 3.2-inch WQVGA touchscreen, a five megapixel camera with built-in flash, a secondary QCIF front camera, and the trifecta of built-in Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS.
In other pre-MWC news, the Dutch site GSM Helpdesk has reportedly confirmed that Samsung will indeed be introducing both a 12 megapixel and an 8 megapixel handset, the latter of which will supposedly be a successor to the Innov8 and run the Symbian S60 OS, while the 12 megapixel phone will apparently run Samsung's own OS. Lastly, but certainly not least, GSM Helpdesk is also reporting that Samsung will be announcing its very first Android phone within the next two weeks, which just so happens to line up nicely with MWC, although it unsurprisingly doesn't have any more details than that.
The JPCSP Team have released a new build of their Java PSP Emulator for Windows,
Heres whats new:
r912 fixed system time (nanos -> micros) Jan 25, 2009 pfft.whatever
r911 more patches thanks to raziel1000 Jan 22, 2009 geo...@moralis.gr
r910 Fix divide by zero (Issue 66) Jan 21, 2009 gi...@web.de
r909 Patch for Patapon provided by raziel1000 Jan 20, 2009 gi...@web.de
r908 fixed SceKernelSemaInfo Jan 19, 2009 pfft.whatever
r907 ops i commented out something by accident Jan 19, 2009 geo...@moralis.gr
r906 fixed a small bug in sceKernelThreadInfo (write was 2 bytes wrong ) Jan 18, 2009 geo...@moralis.gr
r905 Patches for Castlevania X and Patapon provided by raziel1000 and snkmad. Jan 18, 2009 gi...@web.de
r904 ... messed up the last commit. This time: updated ResolveUnmappedNIDs tool, you can now copy paste lines from html logs as well as output directly copied from the log window. Last time: fixed thread issue in pspge. fixed endianness issue in mpeg module. tweaked devctl 0x02425818 to 32mb empty ms (values still guessed). Jan 16, 2009 pfft.whatever
r903 updated ResolveUnmappedNIDs tool, you can now copy paste lines from html logs as well as output directly copied from the log window. fixed endianness issue in mpeg module. tweaked devctl 0x02425818 to 32mb empty ms (values still guessed). Jan 16, 2009 pfft.whatever
r902 +1 Implemented sceUtilitySavedataInitStart mode 8 (Issue 51). Enhanced test program SavedataTool to test mode 8. Jan 16, 2009 gi...@web.de
r901 improved io seek. added fatms0 mapping to ms0 (untested). removed context switch from fast check sema when inside callback, who knows what will happen if the sema wanted to wait. converting ge sync(type=queued) to sync(type=done). Jan 15, 2009 pfft.whatever
r900 fixed PSF write (value offset was not getting updated) Jan 15, 2009 pfft.whatever
r899 fixed ioXXXAsync -> context switch -> waitAsync blocking forever. added devctl 0x02015804, 0x02015805, 0x02425823. Jan 14, 2009 pfft.whatever
r898 accidentally left GE callbacks disabled in the conversion - restoring Jan 14, 2009 pfft.whatever
r897 Fixed 2D display to no longer ignore depth information. - ZTST: fixed for 2D. Not yet fixed for 3D. - CLEAR: set DepthFunc to GL_ALWAYS instead of clearing the depth buffer Tested with 2dstudio.prx and different games. E.g. display problems in ToE are now fixed. Jan 14, 2009 gi...@web.de
r896 Fixed 2D display problems: - ATST: do not disable ALPHA_TEST when reference value is 0 - CLEAR: ALPHA_TEST is always disabled in clear mode - TME, ABE, ATE, ZTE: they have no effect in clear mode (other flags not tested) Tested on a real PSP using 2dstudio.prx Jan 14, 2009 gi...@web.de
r895 +1 Added test program 2dstudio.prx to test different parameter combinations when drawing 2D objects. Jan 14, 2009 gi...@web.de
r894 Added jaxen and jdom to .classpath for Eclipse Jan 14, 2009 gi...@web.de
r893 oops, didn't comment out a test properly Jan 13, 2009 pfft.whatever
r892 missed a file for the last commit. other minor changes. Jan 13, 2009 pfft.whatever
r891 re-wrote emu thread <-> graphics thread interaction. list sync implemented. old code/files will be removed later. Jan 13, 2009 pfft.whatever
There's no letting up for Square Enix's Final Fantay crossover fighter! Dissidia has now recorded its second month in a row at the top of Japan's sales charts, according to January sales stats released today by Enterbrain.
Over the period covering December 29 through January 25, Dissidia sold 186,352 units, bringing its sales total since its December 18 release up to 846,614 units. The title has long since topped Crisis Core as Japan's fourth best selling PSP title (the top three are all Monster Hunter).
Also notable this month was Animal Crossing City Folk. The Wii entry in the Animal Crossing series crossed the million mark over the month. Its DS counterpart, as we reported last week, crossed the five million mark recently.
Here's the full top ten for the month, with life-to-date sales in parentheses.
1. Dissidia Final Fantasy (Square Enix, PSP): 186,352 (total 846,614)
New website launched with free copy of Championship Manager 01/02 game for all those who register on the website!
Monday 2nd February/... Designed to offer the ultimate one-stop-shop for football data, stats, news, editorial and networking the newly launched www.championshipmanager.co.uk is the comprehensive portal for all football fans.
To celebrate the fantastic new website, Championship Manager is giving away the classic ‘01/02 edition of the game to every visitor that registers on the website before February 28th 2009.
Roy Meredith of Championship Manager said: “If you love your stats, news, trivia and discussions, you will not find a more comprehensive football website anywhere.
“Championship Manager is a game for all fans of football who want to delve deeply into the sport and our website is an extension of that and much more. The insights from members of the Football Council will be fascinating and the analysis you can draw From The site’s data makes the website a genuine homeland for all fans of the beautiful game.”
New features of the website include:
1. A unique Football Council – a group of people from all areas of the football world who will write regular articles about life in the real World of professional football. The CM Football Council is: Manchester United and Celtic legend and Youth Academy Manager Brian McClair; former West Ham United assistant manager Mervyn Day; former Premiership and World Cup referee Graham Poll; Ajax midfielder Howard Nedd; Dagenham & Redbridge striker Mark Nowekji; and Daily Mail journalist Mark Alford. In addition to their insights into the ‘behind-the-scenes’ activities in the World of football, the Football Council are also providing their expertise and unique experience into the design of the Championship Manager game, ensuring it retains it’s authenticity and provides fans with a firmly realistic experience of managing a football club
2. On-going real team and player data from across the leading UK and European leagues, building as they happen for every match throughout the season. Determine the truth behind the performance!
3. Create your own avatar, take part in matchday predictions or challenge “Cappo” in “Cappo’s Quiz”. Users will also have the opportunity to comment on Football Council blogs, share their football experiences and opinions across the network and meet new supporters of their teams.
4. Championship Manager forums for gamers to discuss new games, demos and patches together with genuine fans forums for discussion about real life football
5. Regular football news stories, features and blogs, updated on a daily basis and written by football journalists from the UK and abroad
Championship Manager has been the leading brand in football management simulations since 1992 and the new site will herald a new direction for the most established name in football gaming. The new website features a bold and striking new design, with new logos and graphics, signalling the game’s return to the fundamentals that have firmly established it within the hearts and minds of football audiences for nearly 20 years.
The website is live now at www.championshipmanager.co.uk and with many more changes still to come it will continue to be the innovative home of football and Champ Man news.
Camden business raid reveals the largest-ever seizure of illegal game copying devices yet
Monday 2nd February/... Business premises in Camden were raided last week, resulting in the largest ever seizure of illegal game copying devices in the UK. The company, which cannot yet be named for legal reasons, continued its illegal trade online, despite receiving seizure notices from HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs).
The raid was carried out on Thursday 29 January by officers of Camden Trading Standards, accompanied by the Metropolitan Police and an investigator from ELSPA (the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association). The raid resulted in the discovery of more than 50,000 illegal game copying devices, along with counterfeit games console peripherals for the Nintendo Wii™, Xbox 360 and PlayStation®3. The seized items have now been sent for forensic examination by ELSPA.
Investigators had exposed a fully operational production line. Mail sacks were filled with packages containing illegal game copying devices awaiting despatch to customers across Europe. The company continued to trade despite seizure notices issued by HMRC detailing the copyright and trade mark infringements for each consignment seized over the last year.
Prior to the raid, several covert test purchases were made From The company's website by ELSPA investigators as part of their ongoing activity against IP theft.
The business is believed to have imported more than 38,000 illegal game copying devices, some 32,000 of them imported since December 2008.
Michael Rawlinson, Managing Director of ELSPA, said today: “Our investigators are out in force working with Trading Standards Departments across the UK, combing everything from Sunday car-boot sales to auction websites in search of counterfeiters. The devices found in Camden are highly illegal and offenders caught trading such items face criminal prosecution. ELSPA would like to thank Camden's Trading Standards department and all other attending authorities for their efforts in stamping out this criminal activity which ultimately threatens thousands of jobs in the country's games industry.”
Pong2 is an open-source game based on the original game of Pong. Pong2 has improved features over the original. The paddle can be moved horizontally and vertically. 10 tracks of background music are available during game play. The first player to score 10 points in each level is the winner. Special thanks to my family for their support during the development of this game.
Key Features:
2D pong gameboard with special graphical effects.
Five game levels
Game player score is shared on internet.
WiiMote, Classic Controller device support
10 background music tracks
Several sound effects
A new version of Pong2 is released with the following changes:
01/02/2009 Version 0.96
- Improve third intro screen.
- Added small game menu.
- Added credits screen
- Improve help screen.
- Added release notes screen.
- Increase http receive buffer size to 8196 bytes.
- Use only one unique cookie number during the game.
- Split game logic, button events and screen output in source code.
- Build game with libogc 1.7.1 and devkitPPC r16 compiler
Bootlegger has released a new application for the Nintendo DS that turns your DS into a spirit level, heres the screen and release details:
Ok, heres my first NDS application - for users with a DSMotion card, a Spirit Level!
V0.7 out now. Please download from http://homepages.manx.net/bootlegger...ogramming.html
Should have working DSerial code thanks to Bram (see zoelen.net)
I am calling this the final beta release - if I dont hear anything bad about it soon, i will tidy up the code and put
some error checking facilities in if you dont have a a DSerial or DSMotion card and release Version 1.0
Enjoy
Bootlegger
'Parallel Worlds: Combined' is a new platforming game I am currently working on. In it, there are various 'worlds'. Each world will have it's own levels, characters, and enemies, and music. It features a unique camera system, realistic AI, fantastic levels and music, and, of course, my own 'Jelli' world, designed entirely by myself. Extra worlds, levels, and character suggestions/submissions are very much welcomed in the 'Parallel Worlds: Combined - Forums' (link below)
Rough Backstory (not final):
You are a character, in your own world, and in your own time. You enjoy life: hanging out with friends, training your skills, talking with girls, etc. But, one day as you are relaxing at your favourite holiday location, a freak wormhole opens up and drags in one of your most prized possessions (unique to your character). In a desperate attempt to retrieve it, you leap in after it, and enter a dark void. Suddenly, you find yourself in a large, open space with various wormholes and portals around you. As you go over to have a look inside one, you find yourself getting sucked in. Desperately, you try to grab something around you, but this effort ends up being futile as there usually isn't anything in a wide open space, anyway. Finally, you succumb to the pull of the wormhole, and end up in a strange world full of mystical (or not so mystical) creatures and characters.
Now, you must adventure through various areas, jumping on enemies and leaping from world to world. There's one problem, though. You soon realise that all these worlds are parallel, meaning that the object you seek to find is in every world, just in a different form. This makes it extremely difficult for you. Will you find your prized possession? Or will you just end up with a flimsy plastic clone? It's all up to fate... I mean.. you, of course.
Alpha 3 Released!
Changes in this version:
-Ground enemy system completed (very buggy)
-You can now jump on enemies to kill them
-Beautified the game a bit
Hello everyone,
yesterday I finished my homebrew and I've posted on my blog but not here because I had a little lack of time.
Well, forget this grave sin!
The name is PSPInfos I've developed in 1 week, as its name suggests, it gives you lots of info.
There is a new relase for Eigenmath DS, the free computer algebra system for NDS
Eigenmath DS is a free computer algebra system for Nintendo DS
The aim of this project is to have a free CAS comparable to commercial systems such as Texas Instruments or HP calculators.
The system was designed for the manipulation of symbolic algebraic expressions.
Some features:
Natural result display two-dimensional mathematical form.
Manipulation of mathematical expressions in symbolic form.
Plotting graphs and parametric plots of functions in two dimensions.
Simplification to the smallest possible expression.
Solution of linear equations
Differentiation.
Indefinite and definite integration, including multidimensional integrals.
Matrix operations including products, inverses, etc.
Davex has released a new Unofficial version of the CPS1 emulator for PSP:
Hi everybody,
One feature missing of the great NJ emulators was cheat support. Maybe one day NJ returns to amaze us with their fabulous creations, but meanwhile I have been working adding cheat support to his CPS1PSP emulator.
This Unofficial Work In Progress version supports the cheat format used in FinalBurn Alpha and is ready for anyone who wants to test it.
LEDA is a program that integrates into M33 custom firmwares to let some old 1.00/1.50 homebrew to run.
To avoid waste of memory, leda is only loaded when necessary.
Current compatibility is unknown as is still in beta.
Although it may work on previous m33 versions, it has only be tested on 5.00 M33.
The development of LEDA doesn't mean that development of 1.50 kernel addon will be ceased. 1.50 addon is very easy to code, and thus it will still be coded for almost full 1.5 compatibility, but LEDA has some advantages over it.
Advantages:
- It works on slim too
- It doesn't need much flash space
- You don't need to care about which folder your homebrew is.
LEDA first tries to load the homebrew program normally. If it works, then the homebrew is a 3.XX+ one, and leda terminates itself to not waste RAM. Otherwise, leda does some patches to load the 1.0/1.5 homebrew.
- Unlike 1.50 kernel addon, LEDA tries to be independent of firmware. This means that whenever a new version of M33 is released, leda will probably work without need of an update.
Disadvantages:
- Less compatibility. Anyways, I will try to make LEDA compatible with those old homebrew that are still useful today because they weren't updated or because they have a better old version.
Install instructions:
Copy LEDA folder to /PSP/GAME and run it. The program will install a prx in the system, this will be done very quickly. After this, you can already try to run 1.0/1.5 homebrew normally from XMB; LEDA folder is not needed anymore in the ms and you can delete it if you want.
This is a simple to use and add to any software you develope for the PSP device, it is also works well without any issue of anykind with BenHur's intraFont so here is the SXLibary (coreXLib Replacment) that I mainly coded for myself.
I will be, now on! sharing my code online to any that would like it.
Notice something missing from your Xbox 360 ever since the NXE went live? Some HDMI-connected gamers lost all audio after the update, and a fix is finally on the way. According to Major Nelson, it's due to arrive February 3 at 2:00 a.m. PST in a mandatory dashboard update that should address the issues experienced with some HDTVs. That problem with your idiot friend always triggering the witch while playing Left 4 Dead? Still unaddressed.
The first patch for the single-player component of Crytek's first-person shooter Crysis Warhead has been released. The primary addition here is added 64-bit support. The quote below is from the patch notes.
"Added 64-bit executables for Windows XP x64 and Windows Vista 64-bit version. In Windows XP x64 a new shortcut will be placed under the Crysis Warhead program group. In Windows Vista right-click the Crysis Warhead icon in Game Explorer and choose to run the game in 64-bit mode."
Crysis Warhead, which was released in September 2008, serves as a side story to the original Crysis, made available in November of 2007. For more information on the game, head over to our object page.
Once again there is rampant grass-fire-like news across the web that Adobe and Apple are working together to bring flash in all of its glory to the iPhone. This is thanks to Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen saying "It’s a hard technical challenge, and that’s part of the reason Apple and Adobe are collaborating," going further to say, “The ball is in our court. The onus is on us to deliver.”
RSS Player is the AppStore version of Podcaster which was originally not allowed in the AppStore presumably because of /who knows/, then distributed via ad-hoc, then distributed via our repo on Cydia, and now distributed via the AppStore under its new name RSS Player.
It's free today instead of the normal $4.99. Can't argue with free--especially if you are into Podcasts. Grab it.
Video playback:
- MPEG-1/2/4 Decoder Support AVI, DIVx, Xvid, MPG, VOB, DAT format files
- Real 8, 9, 10 format Decoder RMVB format player, resolution up to 1024x576, bitrate up to 2Mbps, 720P HD display
- Support Play, Pause, Fast forward, Back forward
- 4:3 and 16:9 output switch
- Play info display: file size, file name
- HDD disk partition switch by hot key
- Support multi audio channel switch
- Support SUB, SRT, SSA subtitle display
Music:
- Support multi audio format MP3, OGG, Real Audio
Digital Frame:
- Support JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, BMP
- Support photo rotating and Upscaling
- Slide show with 12 different modes
- Background music playing while slide show
Portable HDD:
- 2.5" SATA Interface for internal HDD, No external power needed as portable HDD
Digital Companion:
- Copy or Delete file operation between internal HDD and external USB device
USB
- 1 x USB 2.0 Host Directly play from external portable HDD, U disk
- 1 x USB 2.0 Device For portable HDD application
A/V interface:
- CVBS,YPbPr output PAL, NTSC,YPbPr up to 720P output
- Stereo audio output
IR:
- IR interface remote controller operation
LED:
- Power LED Green for power on
- HDD active LED Red for HDD active
Power:
- External Power Adapter DC 5V @ 2A,AC 100-264V
Odds are there's not a lot of point in checking your own G1 for the update at this point -- it's just in the hands of a select few so far -- but T-Mobile has confirmed that firmware 1.1 / RC33 is just around the corner with some unspecified pre-Cupcake features and fixes in the mix. At this point, at least one inordinately lucky recipient has reported that the phone now supports Google voice search like we've seen on other platforms; don't get us wrong, that's cool and all, but we're still waiting for our virtual keyboard. 'Bout ready to go whip up some batter and bake it ourselves, if you know what we're saying.
comScore, a digital products consumer research group, has reported that the number of people downloading mobile games grew 17 per cent year-on-year to 8.5 million - with smartphones, such as the iPhone and Blackberry Curve, overtaking traditional mobiles for the first time ever.
"The rapid growth in smartphone adoption in the United States has provided a boost for mobile gaming, as 34 per cent of those downloading a game in November did so using a smartphone," said Mark Donovan, senior analyst, comScore.
The study of US consumers showed that the number of smartphone owners downloading a game nearly tripled, while downloads on traditional phones dipped 14 per cent.
iPhone owners now represented 14 per cent of all downloaded mobile game in November, with 32.4 per cent of all iPhone users reporting they downloaded a game in the month, compared with a market average of 3.8 per cent.
"Last year, not one smartphone appeared in the top 10 devices used for mobile downloads," Donovan explained. "This year, six out of 10 are smartphones, excluding devices with smartphone-like functionality, such as the Instinct and Voyager, which also make appearances."
"As the mobile phone has evolved into a better platform for both playing and merchandising games, the games being offered have also been improved, drawing in a broader user base."
"Over the past year, we have seen mobile gaming expand into a broadening demographic, with strongest growth among teens, who previously eschewed their mobile device in favour of handheld gaming devices, and those 35 and older," Donovan concluded.
Electronic Arts and Activision dominate the top ten of the US PC games chart for the week ended January 24, according to data provided by NPD.
Mainstay EA title The Sims 2 takes first place on the chart with its Double Deluxe expansion pack, as Blizzard's World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King comes in second.
The MMO giant is followed by two more EA titles, Spore and The Sims 2 Apartment Life, coming in third and fourth. Bethesda's Fallout 3 is the first of only two titles not published by either of the giant companies, coming in fifth place.
World of Warcraft: Battle Chest secures sixth place, as the standalone World of Warcraft title takes seventh. Valve's Left 4 Dead, published by EA, holds onto a chart position at number eight.
Civilization IV, published by Take 2, is the only other non-EA or Activision title in the chart, coming in ninth and pursued by Activision's Call of Duty: World at War in tenth place.
US PC games chart follows:
01. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
02. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack
03. Spore
04. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack
05. Fallout 3
06. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest
07. World Of Warcraft
08. Left 4 Dead
09. Civilization IV
10. Call Of Duty: World At War
Microsoft has announced that over 1.8 million users have downloaded the demo for Capcom's Resident Evil 5 over Xbox Live.
Released on January 26, 1.3 million of those downloads were in the first three days by Xbox Live Gold members, before the demo was available to all on January 29.
In Japan, over 53 per cent of Xbox Live Gold users have downloaded the content.
The PlayStation 3 demo is released today, and the full game is due on sale March 13.
There may not be a Zune Phone, but coming from Toshiba—the Zune manufacturer—the new Windows Mobile 6-based TG01 smartphone is close enough. And with a 4.1-inch screen and being 9.9mm thick, it looks extremely good.
Oh. So. Pretty. It needs some small aesthetic fixes here and there, but boy I would like to see something along these lines coming from Apple. And I like the fantasy specs too.
(Click on the image for a 1,600-pixel version)
• Titanium and Glass.
• OLED screen
• 3G
• GPS
• Front camera for iChat
• Removable battery
• 3.2 Megapixel camera
• Video
• 32 GB
The iPhone 3G is finally arriving to Etisalat—the censoring dreadful cellphone provider in the United Arab Emirates—but the interesting part is that they are hinting at a June release for the next version
ClearCam is the latest iPhone app to go live on Cydia, home for the jailbreak apps, and turns your 2MP photos into 4MP ones by stitching 6 normal photos into one super photo.
Amazon.com is jumping into the digitally distributed games market with its straightforwardly titled, um, "Amazon Game Downloads." The service begins its beta today and offers 500 casual titles for under $10 each. During the initial launch week, full versions of Jewel Quest 2, Build-a-lot and The Scruffs will be available to download for free.
We spoke with Greg Hart, vice president of video games and software at Amazon, who explained that the digital distribution service evolved from the company's acquisition of Reflexive late last year. He stated that the service does require downloading a client (think Steam), but that the 3MB application isn't invasive. When asked if we'll be seeing bigger (less casual) games available, he expressed that the company would have to see how things go during the beta first.
If you decide to give the service a try, be sure to let us know how well it fares. Us? Well, we'll give it a shot as soon as we finish looking at these CDs, books, DVDs and infrared toaster ovens. Gosh, there's a lot of stuff on this website, you know
Let's consider, for a moment, the immense and stalwart dedication exhibited by one Jem Alexander, our man at an ongoing Sega event in a snow-encased London. Despite being in the magnificent company of games featuring a certain sword-wielding hedgehog, this blogger deliberately looked away from the screen (reminder: featuring a hedgehog wielding a sword!) to send us an important email from his iPhone. Which he briefly confused with his iPod Touch -- a notable hazard for those eccentric and loaded enough to own both. What's up with that, Jem?
Anyway, he says Sega's rhythmic finger bash, Let's Tap, has been announced for European release. With the party game's undoubtedly arduous localization confirmed, it probably won't take too long for Sega of America to drum up a press release of its own. We'll point out (and at) any updates as we receive them.
Capcom plans on supporting PlayStation Home in a big way. Famitsu has revealed brand new Home content based on Capcom's upcoming games, Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil 5. SFIV will receive a post-release patch that will allow players to meet in Home and then jump directly into a Street Fighter match.
In addition to game launching, Capcom will also sell costumes to wear in the Home world. This isn't the first time Capcom has released Street Fighter costume DLC on a PlayStation system -- LittleBigPlanet also features a handful of premium costumes for purchase.
Capcom is also developing a Resident Evil 5 game space, which looks remarkably like the game's opening level. Here, players will be able to congregate and participate in various RE themed events. We're not sure if those events will involve eating other Home users alive, but we hope so.
James Bond is traveling to Japan this March when Quantum of Solace finally releases on the PS3, 360, PS2 and Wii in the region. Activision Blizzard has handed the publishing rights to Square Enix for the game's eastern release, where it will be named 007: Nagusame no Houshuu. Quantum of Solace's March 26th release date means it will be arriving a bit late when compared to the movie itself, despite it only just reaching Japan within the last week.
We're not sure how well Quantum of Solace is likely to sell in the far east, but presumably Square Enix thinks there's some money to be made from it. As Activision has shut up shop in the region, handing the publishing rights over to Japanese publishers looks to become a regular occurrence. We weren't expecting Square Enix to be the first to take advantage of this, but who knows, perhaps sticking its name on the box will actually help increase sales
Isn't it just like the internet to propagate unsubstantiated rumors. The latest such rumor surrounding the upcoming survival horror shooter Resident Evil 5 may have given the game some free publicity, but Capcom has decided that enough is enough. It's squashing the rumor once and for all in its latest community blog post. The "action" controls will not allow you to move and shoot simultaneously. Chris Redfield's testosterone-filled body makes multitasking an impossibility.
"While RE5 is very action-heavy, the base RE game design mechanic of holding fast while shooting remains," says the Capcom blog. Newcomers to the series may need to make some "mental readjustments," but the controls have remained this way to establish a sense of risk and danger while in combat. The new controls will instead grant "more natural motion to the second analog stick on your 360 or PS3 controller," allowing you to strafe. We're sure there are strong advocates for both sides of the argument amongst Resident Evil 5's audience. Maybe not Chris Redfield strong ... but strong.
Isn't it just like the internet to propagate unsubstantiated rumors. The latest such rumor surrounding the upcoming survival horror shooter Resident Evil 5 may have given the game some free publicity, but Capcom has decided that enough is enough. It's squashing the rumor once and for all in its latest community blog post. The "action" controls will not allow you to move and shoot simultaneously. Chris Redfield's testosterone-filled body makes multitasking an impossibility.
"While RE5 is very action-heavy, the base RE game design mechanic of holding fast while shooting remains," says the Capcom blog. Newcomers to the series may need to make some "mental readjustments," but the controls have remained this way to establish a sense of risk and danger while in combat. The new controls will instead grant "more natural motion to the second analog stick on your 360 or PS3 controller," allowing you to strafe. We're sure there are strong advocates for both sides of the argument amongst Resident Evil 5's audience. Maybe not Chris Redfield strong ... but strong.
The game “Peggie” is no more; just hours after we reported on the clone of PopCap Games‘ popular pachinko riff, “Peggle,” developer JSeuss Software changed the name to “Pegs in Space,” a change prompted by a cease-and-desist order from PopCap, the developer told us in a statement.
Desktop tower defense games are designed to be repetitive in a good way, but once you’ve mastered the solution to a particular map, the charm quickly disappears, which is why today’s “Fieldrunners” update, adding a new map and more tower options free of charge, is so appreciated.
We pitted the three major consoles against each other, to see which one can download games the most quickly. “Mega Man 9” — at least initially — was the guinea pig on our XBox 360s, Wiis and PS3s…
***
I’ve long suspected that my Nintendo Wii is a slowpoke.
All three of my consoles are connected to the same WiFi signal, one the emanates from my landlord’s apartment a floor below mine (we split the bill). When I download games and demos, they always seem to take longest on the Wii.
This past weekend, I convinced Patrick and Tracey here to help me test my theory.
We started with “Mega Man 9,” the only game available for download on all three systems.
I ran the rest first, at 8pm EST on Sunday. I did one at a time. These were the initial results:
-Mega Man 9 demo downloaded and installed on PS3: 142 seconds
-Mega Man 9 demo downloaded on Xbox 360: 345 second
-Mega Man 9 game downloaded on Wii: 27 seconds
Weird numbers, right?
I checked the size of these games. The PS3 and 360 list the size of their gaming content in megabytes. The Wii lists sizes in “blocks.” To figure out how big the Wii version was, I transferred “Mega Man 9″ onto an SD card, put the SD card into my computer and read the file size.
Here are the sizes:
-Mega Man 9 demo, PS3: 63 MB
-Mega Man 9 demo, Xbox 360: 88.7 MB
-Mega Man 9 game, Wii: 8.3 MB
As you can see, Mega Man 9 is not the same size on all machines. In fact, it’s wildly different in size. But we can still figure out speeds and see if my Wii is as slow as I think it is.
Such a discovery calls for some long division, which yielded the following results:
-Mega Man 9 download speed on PS3: .44 MB per second (1st place)
-Mega Man 9 download speed on Xbox 360: .26 MB per second (3rd place)
-Mega Man 9 download speed on Wii: .31 MB per second (2nd place)
We asked Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony today if they would be airing commercials during this weekend’s Super Bowl. Nintendo hasn’t responded, Microsoft said no…but Sony pointed us towards a Coca-Cola video game-themed TV spot with a PSP. To view the whole commercial, keep reading.
Pole's Big Adventure, a tongue-planted-firmly in cheek send-up of retro side-scrolling Famicom games, brings long overdue mushroom dick jokes to the Nintendo Wii.
At E3 2006, Sony brass Kaz Hirai showed F1 Championship Edition running off a PSP as a rearview mirror that could be placed next to your PS3 set-up.
Gimmicky, sure, but one of many ways Sony has been trying to link portable and home console. There are other ways Sony seems interested in linking the PS3 and PSP.
In what appears to be a recent Sony survey, the company apparently asked users several questions and to rate their answers on a scale of 1 - 6 with 1 being "Not Appealing" and 6 being "Very Appealing."
Questions nineteen and twenty were as follows:
19. If you could make one modification to the PSP system, what would you like to see?
20. The following statements concern the way you would like a portable device to interact with a console. Rank these statements based on their appeal to you. (1 = Not Appealing, 6 = Very Appealing)
Use the device to complete side missions for console games (unlocakables, etc.).
Transfer media (music/pictures/video) wirelessly from the console to the device (broadcast television, new levels for games).
Use the device WHILE PLAYING the console game as an addition weapon/utility to help the gameplay (second player option, radar for incoming enemies, etc.).
Record console gameplay for display on the device (showing off your high scores ore "cool moves" to friends).
Do they still use telepipes in Phantasy Star? Well if they do, Sega just selected one from its inventory, bumping up the release date of Phantasy Star Portable in North America.
The PlayStation Portable action role-playing game will be invading our shores on March 3rd, weeks in advance of its previously scheduled release date. Somewhat coincidentally, I also plan to turn on my PSP for the first time in many months on March 3rd, unless a review copy of Phantasy Star Portable should make its way here prior to that date.
Phantasy Star Portable was released in Japan last July, racking up over 700,000 sales, making it one of the top thirty selling games in the country.
Sega has more Phantasy Star action planned for later this year, as Sega of America recently expressed its corporate desire to bring Phantasy Star Ø to Western shores.
And then, once we're all covered on the Nintendo DS and PSP fronts, Sega will get cracking on bringing a proper Phantasy Star RPG to whatever. Right, Sega? "Right, Mike," says Sega.
Add another fan-made Guitar Hero-inspired creation to the pile! While the Commodore 64 version may have followed the path set by the Harmonix-developed music game more closely, D-Pad Hero drops guitar controllers altogether. D-Pad Hero, a retro "demake," uses rather simple-looking pad controls — simply press a button and one of the directional pad's axes in time with the beat — one's that appear to ramp up in difficulty rather quickly. This is a fully functioning Nintendo Entertainment System game, one that you can download and play on the emulator of your preference. As you can see in the demo video above, it's not unlike Beatmania or Dance Dance Revolution in its interface. But the stylings are totally NES. Go on, grab yourself a copy. It has "Sweet Child O' Mine"...
In April Atlus will bring us Dokapon Journey, a portable follow up to last year’s Dokapon Kingdom. Dokapon Journey supports wireless play and single card download play to ease linking up with others. And Dokapon Journey is a game you want to play with others. Spinning wheels and capturing cities against the ruthless computer just isn’t as much fun.
New to the Dokapon series are a series of touch screen mini-games. In one game you spin a wheel on an exercise bike and in another you scratch off a lottery ticket.
Dokapon Journey is scheduled to come out on April 14 - right on the mark with the Amazon leak said it would. Maybe that list wasn’t so far off…
Fights in Star Ocean: The Last Hope, much like Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, are frantic. One minute you’re throwing black holes and blasting enemies with bullets and in the next you’re slicing them with a laser scythe. Let’s hope the computer controlled party members can keep up with the action with intelligent moves.
Battles might be Marvel vs. Capcom 2 crazy, but they aren’t random. Players run into enemies and get an advantage if you sneak up on them from behind. The last clip gives a demonstration of this and a dreaded “Raided Attack.”
For those who dont live in the US and want a US version Wiifit then youll be happy to know that Success hk who ship worldwide (ship via airmail and ask them to mark as a sample to avoid customs are back in stock at the price of USD 118.71
Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa use exciting, all-new powers to save the world from rising chaos. To help the Simpsons, gamers at home must journey through all of Springfield (as well as vast worlds beyond!), vanquish an amazing array of villains, and fight their way through parodies of multiple popular games.
Space Date 366: A young Federation officer finds himself transported to a mystical planet, where he is suddenly anointed as the Hero of Light. He begins a journey to fulfill a prophecy and save a newfound race. Continuing the franchise for STAR OCEAN fans, this PSP release of the classic RPG delivers the same epic storytelling and dazzling art style. Set 20 years after the events of its predecessor, STAR OCEAN: Second Departure receives special treatment in its PSP incarnation to further entice gamers to relive the adventure. The title takes the next step with fully animated movies, all-new character designs, extra playable characters, fully voiced dialogue, and more.
HORDES OF ZOMBIES UNLEASHED ON THE WII! Two grisly titles from the popular THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD series are being compiled into one action-packed horror shooter for the Wii. Both THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2 and 3 will feature the original arcade experience, complete with branching storylines, over six ghoul-filled game modes and bonus content. Re-live your glory days in the arcades and mow down packs of clawing, biting undead with the new rapid-fire Wii Zapper!
Harmonix, developers of the smash hit Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises, deliver Rock Band 2, the next step to the platform that lets audiences of all ages interact with music in an all-new way. Rock Band 2 lets players vicariously jam out as some of the best guitarists, bassists, drummers and singers of all time.
Developed in close collaboration with Shaun White ?Olympics Gold Medalist and eight times X Games Gold Medalist, Shaun White Snowboarding is the next-gen game that redefines the action sports genre. Shaun White Snowboarding lets you enter a snowboarding world of total freedom. You can create your own experience in this game, and choose how, where, and with whom you want to ride.
Get into the game like never before with the Sharp Shooter for Wii? The Sharp Shooter ideal for shooting games on the Wii and is fully compatible with all software designed for the Wii Zapper. The Sharp Shooter is designed for one handed operation, giving a pistol-like grip for all your shooting games. The accessory pass-through port also allows for use of Nunchuks?and other accessories while the Wii Remote?is docked in the Sharp Shooter. The tactile trigger also provides a smooth, natural activation of the B-button for less hand strain.
Traditional one handed pistol-like grip
Aiming sight increases accuracy
Allows Wii Remote easily slides into grip and locks into place
Accessory pass-through port for other attachments like the Nunchuk and Classic Controller
One hand remains free to operate the Nunchuk or other attachments simultaneously
Experience a complete day at the park in the palm of your hand. Using the Touch Screen, you can toss, drive, shoot, whack, fish and spin in more than two dozen mini-games throughout five themed zones. Playing mini-games lets you access interactive rides and win tickets you can redeem for prizes and accessories for your characters. Other rewards include unlockable modes, games and a secret Park Zone. Whether playing alone or challenging a friend via local wireless connection, Wonder World Amusement Park offers a rich carnival game experience anytime, anywhere.
The silicon protector sleeve is made of high-grade silicon ,providing a comfortable and improved feel for extended game play and a stylish robust solution to protect your PSP-3000 saries console from damage and scratches. The protector sleeve has been designed to allow full access to PSP-3000 series controls and flexibility allows quick and easy installation. The form-fitting design allow you to access every button and slot, then the elastic soft silicon provides enhanced hand feelings.
Do you ever struggle with calculating a dinner bill or confirming exact change at the cash register? What about helping children with their homework? Help is here! Personal Trainer: Math for Nintendo DS is a fun and rewarding way to keep those math skills sharp.
The shooter fan's Ultimate Collection has arrived. Packing three great titles into one disc, this collection of shoot'em ups contain some never before seen titles that are sure to please casual and hardcore fans of this genre. The Ultimate Shooting Collection is a must have for fans of the arcade shooter and brings the classic arcade feel to your living room
Venture into the wild world of animals like never before. Embrace all the adventure, fun, and mischief that await you in the vast forest. Feed a bear what he craves. Pick up a rabbit or hedgehog, and bring him to his friends. Discover what other creatures lurk in the wild. You have the power to reach out and touch, pick up and move everything in the forest from squirrels and foxes to trees and flowers. Make your wild animals happy and maintain a forest that lets them flourish as you venture further into the forest than you’ve ever been before! Engage wild animals, experience life in the forest, and let your creativity run wild in SimAnimals?
Venture into the wild world of animals like never before. Embrace all the adventure, fun, and mischief that await you in the vast forest. Feed a bear what he craves. Pick up a rabbit or hedgehog, and bring him to his friends. Discover what other creatures lurk in the wild. You have the power to reach out and touch, pick up and move everything in the forest from squirrels and foxes to trees and flowers. Make your wild animals happy and maintain a forest that lets them flourish as you venture further into the forest than you’ve ever been before! Engage wild animals, experience life in the forest, and let your creativity run wild in SimAnimals.
New from Success hk who ship worldwide and one for collectors of rare consoles.
A triumphant return from a monster-infested forest marks the completion of the 16-year-old hero’s coming-of-age ceremony. However, the hero’s joy is short-lived as a young village girl is found to be afflicted by a mysterious illness known as “crystal sickness.?Determined to obtain the cure, the hero steps out of the secluded village for the first time, only to discover a world in which crystals are merely artifacts of the past and no longer exist
whats inside
NDS i Console(x1)
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time Jap version(x1)
This rare collectors console is selling for USD 311.61 on worldwide shipping.
Remember that screenshot we saw of all those different Windows 7 versions (pictured above)? Well guess what? It's worse than you could have possibly imagined. The following will be the actual new SKUs for the OS:
Windows 7 Starter (limited to three apps concurrently)
Windows 7 Home Basic (for emerging markets)
Windows 7 Home Premium (adds Aero, Touch, Media Center)
Windows 7 Professional (Remote Desktop host, Mobility Center, Presentation mode)
Windows 7 Enterprise (volume license only, boot from virtual drive, BitLocker)
Windows 7 Ultimate (limited availability, includes everything)
This information has been confirmed by Microsoft... who never listens to us. At least most consumers will only see Home Premium and Professional options at retail, which is more akin to the XP options of yore, and means WMC will be "baseline" for most PCs.
Update: Just to be clear, we've checked specifically with Microsoft on all six versions, and the placement of Home Basic in emerging markets. There's now a full breakdown after the break.
anyone can go out there and put their hands on a couple of commercially manufactured Street Fighter IV joysticks, but there is something really cool about a simple, well executed homebrew mod. This PS3 controller may not be the cutting edge of industrial design, but it does say: "I can't wait for the new Street Fighter. It's gonna be sweeeet." Previously a wooden TV table and some controller stuff, the proper holes have been drilled, the innards affixed to the bottom and a picture of Chun-Li thrown in for good measure. We wouldn't recommend placing a drink on the thing (we know how carried away you get) but who has time for a beverage when you're consumed with vengeance?
anyone can go out there and put their hands on a couple of commercially manufactured Street Fighter IV joysticks, but there is something really cool about a simple, well executed homebrew mod. This PS3 controller may not be the cutting edge of industrial design, but it does say: "I can't wait for the new Street Fighter. It's gonna be sweeeet." Previously a wooden TV table and some controller stuff, the proper holes have been drilled, the innards affixed to the bottom and a picture of Chun-Li thrown in for good measure. We wouldn't recommend placing a drink on the thing (we know how carried away you get) but who has time for a beverage when you're consumed with vengeance?
If digital distribution is going to be held off for another year, Blu-ray players are going to need to achieve some serious market penetration at a rather difficult time. VIZIO's $200 VBR100 should help when it releases in a few months, but could be quickly undercut by a predicted flood of $150 drives said to be inbound from a number of other industry players, including Lite-On. These "white-box" drives will probably be short on features, but so too were the cheap DVD players that killed off the VCR, and nobody thought twice about that. If all goes according to plan look for stacks of inexpensive drives to start appearing at whatever retailers are still in business later this year.
The trailer leaked two weeks ago. But that was only a concept trailer. Today, we can finally see what the next Indiana Jones game — “Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings” — will look like, coming this spring for Wii, PS2 and PSP.
While we thought that we'd see some incredible unveiling of the India's $10 but really $20 but really $10 laptop, their public announcement today was a complete waste of time and hype
Something significant has obviously delayed the original September launch of push notifications, Apple's solution to not allowing apps to run in the background. MacRumors hears that Apple is considering allowing real background processes instead.
With the open beta attracting more than 450,000 players to the world of Taborea, Frogster Interactive has nailed down a March release date for their upcoming massively-multiplayer online roleplaying game Runes of Magic.
While the servers are all up, the item store functions properly, and all character progression from here on out carries over, Runes of Magic isn't officially released until Frogster Interactive says so, and they'll be saying so come March 19th.
"Since the open beta test launch is December, the population of Taborea has soared and we have been working closely with our community to fine tune the Runes of Magic experience", said Daniel Ullrich, Director of Product Management at Frogster, "We look forward to welcoming thousands of new players to Taborea during the next few weeks, as we get ready to fully launch Runes of Magic".
Hooray! So come March 19th, players can officially continue playing the free-to-play titles as they were, content in the knowledge that they are out of beta.
8-bit recreations are always neat to see and while some sites are buzzing about Guitar Hero recreated for the NES we’re going to take a look at a “Famicom” (note the quotes) version of Pac-Man Championship Edition.
Give it a quick glance and the video looks like bread and butter Pac-Man. However, this clip includes the modifications made in Pac-Man Championship Edition like the magic fruit that makes more pellets appear and the detailed statistics screen.
Now for the bad news. The “NES” or “Famicom” version of Pac-Man Championship Edition doesn’t seem to exist in the wild. A ROM for the conversion is nowhere to be found and unless the original creator is hiding it on his/her hard drive the video may be a mock up. A really cool mockup, but still a fabrication like a unicorn.
Brandish in 3D with Dela Delon as a playable character. That quickly sums up Brandish: The Dark Revenant, a PSP remake of one of Nihon Falcom’s early 90’s games scheduled to come out in Japan on March 19.
if you haven’t played the original it’s a dungeon crawler where you have to climb out of ancient ruins after falling into them. Most of the game you are alone except for run-ins with Dela who fell in with you and unexplained shopkeepers that are surprisingly well stocked. Brandish also had a weird system where the character you played always faced forward. If this batch of screenshots is anything to go by Nihon Falcom stuck with the unorthodox system for the remake. Ah, nostalgia.
Set in the distant future, Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer is a fast and furious shoot 'em up with state-of-the-art graphics, driving soundtrack and classic fun gameplay sprinkled with fresh innovations.
In the storyline, planet Earth's resistance aims to stop a deadly infection consuming both life forms and technology alike.
Oddly having to rely on an anti-hero mercenary and bounty hunter to pilot a mighty prototype star fighter.
His goal: To fight his way to the virus' origin, save civilisation and earn cash to boot!
The game comes with a large amount of goodies such as the OST, a Reference Guide Book, Special Slip Case, manual and an Online Key to upload your high scores and show off to the world.
This week's special Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer is available at an unbeatable bargain price of US$ 9.99 only, which is exactly the the price of the downloadable PlayStation3™ version*, only with more goodies! A superb chance for collectors that like to put their prized limited edition games on display!
Krakatos has posted a new version of the PS2 Emulator for Windows:
Heres whats new:
Pcsx2 PLayground beta 681
Main changes are, God of War and Kingdom Hearts 2 are now playable. Kingdom hearts 2 requires the appropriate gamefix, same as God of War
Changelog
- God of War and Kingdom Hearts 2 now work if you use the appropriate gamefix
- New gamefix to be selected for tri-ace games. Be sure to enable both!
- Bugfix for emu crash after deleting the ini file.
- speed optimizations (as always, game dependant)
- fixes for some random and semi-random crashes
- implemented COP 2's branching instructions
- code cleanups
Electronic Arts and Activision dominate the top ten of the US PC games chart for the week ended January 24, according to data provided by NPD.
Mainstay EA title The Sims 2 takes first place on the chart with its Double Deluxe expansion pack, as Blizzard's World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King comes in second.
The MMO giant is followed by two more EA titles, Spore and The Sims 2 Apartment Life, coming in third and fourth. Bethesda's Fallout 3 is the first of only two titles not published by either of the giant companies, coming in fifth place.
World of Warcraft: Battle Chest secures sixth place, as the standalone World of Warcraft title takes seventh. Valve's Left 4 Dead, published by EA, holds onto a chart position at number eight.
Civilization IV, published by Take 2, is the only other non-EA or Activision title in the chart, coming in ninth and pursued by Activision's Call of Duty: World at War in tenth place.
US PC games chart follows:
01. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
02. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack
03. Spore
04. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack
05. Fallout 3
06. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest
07. World Of Warcraft
08. Left 4 Dead
09. Civilization IV
10. Call Of Duty: World At War
KSEE 24 news is reporting that Xbox Live was the initial point of contact in a case of alleged internet grooming by a Paedophile in America. In brief the allegations are as follows, Edward Stout (27) made initial contact with his alleged victim (15) last April while gaming over Xbox Live. The relationship is reported to have then developed further leading to phone sex and eventually to a meeting in person on January 28th before Stout’s eventual arrest.
This story highlights the need for Parents to be aware that the Xbox 360 and other consoles with online capabilities can be used by paedophiles as a way of meeting children. I sadly doubt this will be the last time that consoles are associated with paedophilia in this way. It should be noted that there are parental controls available on the Xbox 360 that if used properly will prevent your child from being able to be contacted from anyone not on an approved list. Assuming of course that the child can not access the parental master account on the Xbox.
Computers and television have pushed a generation of children towards violent behaviour, early sex and mental illness, a large-scale study said yesterday.
It cited celebrity culture, advertising and peer pressure among the reasons why girls often have sex as soon as they reach the age of consent.
And it blamed computer games, the internet and television for 'the lurch to more and more violence which we know can breed violence and increase mental illness'.
The warnings came in the second stage of the Good Childhood report for the Children's Society.
The first stage, published at the weekend, blamed family break-up and the lack of a father living at home for the misery of millions of children.
Yesterday's analysis also linked the spread of early sex and the growing interest of young people in violence to selfish behaviour by adults.
Their aggressive pursuit of personal success has pushed the needs of children aside and amounts to the greatest threat to their welfare, it said.
The report concluded: 'The belief among adults that the prime duty of the individual is to make the most of their own life, rather than contribute to the good of others, is causing our young people a range of problems.'
The Good Childhood study was carried out by a panel of independent experts for the charity.
They included Lord Layard, a former adviser on well-being to Tony Blair; Children's Commissioner for England Sir Albert Aynsley-Green, and a group of prominent academics.
Two religious figures also took senior roles: the Right Reverend Tim Stevens, Church of England Bishop of Leicester, and Dr Muhammed Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain.
The report said: 'The age at which people have their first sexual experience has fallen dramatically. For women it dropped from 21 in 1953 to 16 in 1998.
'Teenage pregnancies are higher in the UK than anywhere in western Europe, at 27 in 1,000 compared with only five in the Netherlands.
This is the product of many forces including more privacy when both parents work, commercial pressures towards premature sexualisation and a fundamental change of attitude towards pre-marital sex.'
The report warned of the effects of long hours spent watching television, on the internet and playing computer games.
'There is much evidence that exposure to violent images encourages aggressive behaviour,' it said.
'On television, violence is frequently shown as part of a normal human life.
'The violence is both physical and psychological, and violent argument appears as a standard response to disagreement. To be sure, there is plenty of violence in Shakespeare and in the cinema. But people used to go to the cinema once a week, whereas our children now watch television for an average of 17 hours a week.'
The report called for measures to cut the impact of television on young people, including a ban on all advertising aimed at children under 12 and an end to advertising of alcohol and unhealthy food before the 9pm watershed.
There were also recommendations for an end to building on playgrounds, parks and sports fields used by young people, and for youth centres to be available for every 5,000 young people.
Early sex should be curbed by compulsory sex education in primary schools; school league tables and SATs should be abolished, and the Government should redouble efforts to cut child poverty, the study added.
Lord Layard said: 'I think what I would like this report to be remembered for in 20 years' time would be if it helped to turn the tide of excessive individualism.
'We think that the preoccupation with self is taking too much of the joy out of children's lives, out of their family lives, out of their school, even out of their leisure life and consumption.'
Wiibreaker is a simple brickbreaker game I made because one of my artists for Wii Shooting Gallery, Azza123, said there were no brickbreaker games out for Wii homebrew. Thus, I have created WiiBreaker. In total, this first release took about two weekends to write.
It now has three modes.
Once the ball falls below the screen 3 times, you lose.
Version History
0.5 - Ball now moves in 12 directions instead of 4 - 3 distinct modes (Brickbreaker, WiiBreaker, Level Editor) - A little bit of "new" artwork - Each control scheme tweaked (based on feedback from people) - 2 Tracks of Background Music - Highscore system changed to compensate the new modes (except level editor) - Highscores are now saved
Hi!
I know you're all waiting for news... well, here are some tiny tidbits, but nothing major YET. And there won't be as much stuff to post as I did last week, since we're now all waiting for the CNC case.
Well, and that brings us to on topic:
The CNC case has been ordered and while we don't know yet how long it'll take, it should hopefully be finished within the next two weeks.
During that time, we won't have much to show you - well, except for some more polished videos of the prototype case you've seen already since Michael will probably send it to me.
Also, I'll show you some emulators on it, running directly from Matchbox!
I'll also try to do more renderings from various views as well.
Stay tuned!
Frezzy produces a small update for its application "VocableDS" where you create your listings of vocabulary and can carry out tests.
Quote:
1.6 - Another short update
* I 've changed the font type from 8bit to custom so that I had to change the backgrounds to form custom 8bit too
* I've improved the waiting screen
* By now you can not confirm an emty filename or open a non-VocableDS v1.6-file
* I've removed the text cursor
* If you want to see the right answer you have to hold the stylus at the button "Next". If you release the stylus the right answer will disappear
* Some bugfixes
known bugs
* If you choose the third file you will choose the sixth file
* The saving of wrong words does not work jet
* The editing lists of vocabulary does not work
Version 3.1.0 (the current version) of Angband is now available for the DS at http://www.immir.com/nds/. Other Angband variants will become available soon.
While this is an excellent piece of work, it is still being improved
Preliminary File Save/Load Dialog Box created. It doesn't do much besides showing your top level files and selecting them; its a work in progress. Press select to toggle the file save/load dialog box.
In other news, I'm gonna start learning how to drive tomorrow! Wish me luck.
I ported this a while ago, its been sitting on my computer for ages, so i guess i should share it, i pretty sure its for managing 3d objects, so you could use it with Tri and other libraries,
TheStripper has released an unofficial version of Neopop Wii with wiimote support.
NeoPop emulates the SNK NeoGeo Pocket handheld console. It is based on NeoPop/SDL by neopopUK and ported to the Nintendo GameCube by The "Genesis Plus" Team. It has been converted from a PC based platform to run on the GameCube's proprietary PPC Gekko processor and features customized code to give you the best gaming experience possible. See changelog.txt for the whole history.
Unofficial version with Wiimote, Nunchuck and classic controller support. Wii's only version.
Credits goes to the creators and contributors.
Changelog:
03/02/2009 (TheStripper):
Added Wiimote, Nunchuck, and Classic Controller support.
Changed some menù text
Created icon.png and meta.xml
Removed Gamecube controller support
Rome, Italy. – Goozex, Inc., the leading online video game trading community in North America, announced today the company’s launch of its service for 28 European nations. Goozex is an online market place that matches members to trade games for Goozex Points, a virtual currency, which they can use to get other games for only €1. Video game players across Europe can now enjoy the benefits of saving money, accessing a large library of game titles, and joining for free a vibrant online community of gamers. Goozex.eu service will begin immediately on February 2, 2009.
Goozex EU
Goozex EU will launch the game trading service in 28 European countries: all EU‐27 countries and Switzerland. Please refer to www.goozex.eu for a complete list of countries.
The online service was started in 2006 in the United States with a mission to let gamers get the best trade values for their used video games and save money to get other games they want to play. Goozex has revolutionized the way games are exchanged online with an automatic trading system. Members list the games they have available to send and those they wish to receive, and Goozex finds the best match for their offers and requests. Each game is pre‐assigned a value in Goozex Points, to make trading games easy and effortless on Goozex.
Games are assigned a point value based on several factors including supply and demand, and users earn points when trading their games with other users. Points can then be redeemed for other video games. The system offers its users a fair market value for their games and guarantees all trades. In the US, Goozex calculates that on average, members can save $16.50 (€12.52) per game trade as compared to traditional used game retail stores. Joining Goozex is free and each transaction is only €1. Games for thirteen major platforms are available for trading including the Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PlayStation Portable, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and Windows PC.
All services found on Goozex.com (North America) will be available for Goozex EU including the following:
Video game trading
100% guarantee on all trades
Forum community
Connect to Play feature for all games
Gamer Profile Flash Application (use on MySpace, Facebook, iGoogle and other social media networks)
Goozex Gamer Signature
Open API (for independent developers)
Gift Cards
eCards
"Since Goozex started in the US, gamers from throughout Europe have been demanding we bring the best‐in‐class video game trading service here to Europe," said Daniele Bottiglieri, Goozex Europe CEO. Daniele continued, "We are very excited about launching the site in 28 countries and our promise to European members is that you will find the best value for your video games, save money, and have a great online experience on Goozex.eu."
The European website www.goozex.eu will be open to the public on February 2, 2009.
About Goozex, Inc.
Goozex, Inc. is an award winning and best in class rated peer‐to‐multi‐peer trading company headquartered in College Park, Maryland. Launched in July 2006, Goozex.com has been rated best in class by Forbes (Jan. 6, 2009), Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM #223) and GamesRadar (Dec. 25, 2007). Goozex is the leading video game trading service based on an automated point system.
About Goozex Europe, S.r.l.
Goozex Europe is a Goozex, Inc. partner company located in Rome, Italy. It manages the innovative Goozex services in the European market, and makes it available to gamers in 28 European countries.
Goozex, your game trading community TM. Please visit our website at www.goozex.eu
SIGN UP today and enter code DCEmu-UK to receive 1 TRADE immediately and additional 100 points upon completing first trade.
Rome, Italy. – Goozex, Inc., the leading online video game trading community in North America, announced today the company’s launch of its service for 28 European nations. Goozex is an online market place that matches members to trade games for Goozex Points, a virtual currency, which they can use to get other games for only €1. Video game players across Europe can now enjoy the benefits of saving money, accessing a large library of game titles, and joining for free a vibrant online community of gamers. Goozex.eu service will begin immediately on February 2, 2009.
Goozex EU
Goozex EU will launch the game trading service in 28 European countries: all EU‐27 countries and Switzerland. Please refer to www.goozex.eu for a complete list of countries.
The online service was started in 2006 in the United States with a mission to let gamers get the best trade values for their used video games and save money to get other games they want to play. Goozex has revolutionized the way games are exchanged online with an automatic trading system. Members list the games they have available to send and those they wish to receive, and Goozex finds the best match for their offers and requests. Each game is pre‐assigned a value in Goozex Points, to make trading games easy and effortless on Goozex.
Games are assigned a point value based on several factors including supply and demand, and users earn points when trading their games with other users. Points can then be redeemed for other video games. The system offers its users a fair market value for their games and guarantees all trades. In the US, Goozex calculates that on average, members can save $16.50 (€12.52) per game trade as compared to traditional used game retail stores. Joining Goozex is free and each transaction is only €1. Games for thirteen major platforms are available for trading including the Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PlayStation Portable, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and Windows PC.
All services found on Goozex.com (North America) will be available for Goozex EU including the following:
Video game trading
100% guarantee on all trades
Forum community
Connect to Play feature for all games
Gamer Profile Flash Application (use on MySpace, Facebook, iGoogle and other social media networks)
Goozex Gamer Signature
Open API (for independent developers)
Gift Cards
eCards
"Since Goozex started in the US, gamers from throughout Europe have been demanding we bring the best‐in‐class video game trading service here to Europe," said Daniele Bottiglieri, Goozex Europe CEO. Daniele continued, "We are very excited about launching the site in 28 countries and our promise to European members is that you will find the best value for your video games, save money, and have a great online experience on Goozex.eu."
The European website www.goozex.eu will be open to the public on February 2, 2009.
About Goozex, Inc.
Goozex, Inc. is an award winning and best in class rated peer‐to‐multi‐peer trading company headquartered in College Park, Maryland. Launched in July 2006, Goozex.com has been rated best in class by Forbes (Jan. 6, 2009), Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM #223) and GamesRadar (Dec. 25, 2007). Goozex is the leading video game trading service based on an automated point system.
About Goozex Europe, S.r.l.
Goozex Europe is a Goozex, Inc. partner company located in Rome, Italy. It manages the innovative Goozex services in the European market, and makes it available to gamers in 28 European countries.
Goozex, your game trading community TM. Please visit our website at www.goozex.eu
SIGN UP today and enter code DCEmu-UK to receive 1 TRADE immediately and additional 100 points upon completing first trade.
Electronic Arts has delayed a number of high-profile releases including the latest in the ever-popular The Sims franchise.
The Sims 3 will now be released in June rather than this month, while BioWare's PC title Dragon Age: Origins has been pushed back to the "last half of 2009". The Godfather II has also slipped from February to later this year.
"In the case of Sims 3, we're moving this title to June 3 to give us additional time to build the worldwide marketing campaign a title like this deserves," said CEO John Riccitiello.
During a conference call following the announcement of poor financial results for the third quarter, the firm also confirmed a number of new titles.
A game based on new IP Dead Space will be released for Nintendo's Wii, while Mass Effect 2 will be released on multiple platforms and a sequel to Battlefield: Bad Company is also in the works.
Shacknews has been acquired by online videogame rentals company GameFly.
The news website reported on the acquisition saying that the deal, which includes related sites such as FileShack, will see the editorial staff and direction remain unchanged.
"GameFly has demonstrated a true understanding of and commitment to Shacknews' gaming culture," said Shacknews founder Steve Gibson.
"We are confident GameFly will protect the legacy and community we've established, while at the same time providing much needed resources to expand into new and exciting areas that would not otherwise be possible."
GameFly co-founder Sean Spector, said: "We purchased Shacknews because it's a great site."
"We believe we can help expand its reach - we're not looking to twist and turn the site into something else."
David Hodess, GameFly's CEO, concluded: "With its avid, engaged community and commitment to providing an independent voice for gamers seeking the most accurate and up-to-date news and information, it goes to the core of our vision as a company, which is to be the ultimate resource for the entire gaming community."
A confident John Riccitiello has stated that Electronic Arts can rival Nintendo's success on the Wii home console.
Speaking during a conference call, the CEO detailed a renewed focus on the popular machine, as the publisher dedicates half of its home console output to the Wii.
"The Nintendo Wii is even more important than one year ago. It is a clear leader in this cycle," said Riccitiello. "They are getting half our emphasis in terms of title count."
EA Sports games are key to breaking the Wii market, said Riccitiello, with the new Wii MotionPlus accessory enabling EA to increase quality and deliver the type of gameplay experiences associated with Nintendo's own first-party output.
"You will see we are taking great advantage of their new hardware addition with the motion sensor," he said. "What that is going to give us is the kind of gameplay we think will rival Nintendo on their own platform, and we are bringing marketing together in such a way that we think we can get noticed in ways that no other third party will."
Two titles central to this are EA Sports Active, the fitness game due later this year, and a new tennis franchise, which also makes use of the Wimbledon license.
"We're going strong, right out of the box, with EA Sports," declared Riccitiello.
"EA Sports Active is taking advantage of the world's fascination with fitness - the strength of the Wii Fit platform - with a spectacular title in my judgement that's coming out in our first quarter."
"The second thing that is coming out in the quarter is we are launching our tennis SKU, and initially Wii only, and following it up with other franchises."
Along with more MySims releases, EA plans to market its Wii range collectively, rather than as individual titles.
"We are bringing three titles together, and we are aggressively marketing them," said Riccitiello.
Yesterday, EA reported a loss of USD 641 million, the decision to close 12 facilities and increase redundancies to 1100 across the group.
Industry trade body ELSPA has designed a leaflet to promote online safety with the help of Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.
The Good Online Gaming Guide will be available as a PDF from askaboutgames.com, and is launched to support the annual EU-funded InSafe's Safer Internet Day, held on Tuesday February 10.
"Child safety has always been the most important issue for the games industry and in an online world it is even more vital than ever," offered Andy Payne, chairman of ELSPA.
"Parental knowledge, engagement and encouragement - as well as safe and social gaming - can all help children develop, while we want to ensure they are better aware and protected in an increasingly popular online environment."
The parental section of the guide covers how to explain the online environment to children, while the children's section contains advice on inappropriate communication and cyber bullying.
he Game Developers Conference 2009 has added four sessions looking at the development of PS3 exclusive LittleBigPlanet.
Other newly revealed sessions include an in-depth look at EA's launch of new IP Dead Space, and reflections on the birth and eventual demise of Hellgate outfit Flagship Studios.
Details of the sessions can be found at the official website.
amBX is to develop technology for the PlayStation 3, after gaining a tools and middleware license from Sony Computer Entertainment.
The technology adds support for light, colour, rumble and air flow to videogames through additional peripherals.
"This is a major milestone in the development of amBX as a ubiquitous standard for entertainment sensory experiences," commented Jo Cooke, chief marketing officer at amBX.
"amBX has already proved incredibly popular and successful within the PC games, music, movies and apps markets and the tools and middleware license agreement with SCEI will allow us to bring amazing light, rumble, sound and air movement experiences to game users."
The company will be at GDC 2009, offering free developer tutorials to interested parties.
Electronic Arts only announced “Dead Space” for Wii yesterday, but an intrepid PC user hacked their Wiimote into the PC version of “Dead Space” and recorded their experiment, providing a glimpse at how the game might play on Nintendo’s hardware.
Exposing another glaring blindspot in my gaming resume, Rockstar has announced that a sequel to the (good?) 2004 PS2/Xbox Western “Red Dead Revolver” is coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360 this fall. More details and screens below.
Exposing another glaring blindspot in my gaming resume, Rockstar has announced that a sequel to the (good?) 2004 PS2/Xbox Western “Red Dead Revolver” is coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360 this fall. More details and screens below.
Even though the gaping breach in Windows 7's User Account Control feature seems, to all eyes, like a pretty easy fix, Microsoft appears to be in denial mode with MS expert Mary Jo Foley.
Looks like the the alleged June release rumor for the next-generation next-gen iPhone doesn't hold much water. A UAE journalist has warned us about the very poor track record of the publication that carried it.
Yes my friends, finally—and with everyone probably sick of so many iPhone guest star appearances—the T-Mobile G1 Android cellphone has made it to the TV screen. And in 90210, no less. Whatever that is
After the aggressively lame "unveiling" we were all subjected to yesterday, details have finally emerged about the $10 Sakshat "laptop." It's not a laptop! Or much of anything, really.
The thing, as described by the Times of India:
A storage device containing megabytes of data info which can be accessed by a user by connecting this device to a laptop.
Oh. That description sounds an awful lot like a USB drive, observed through computer-illiterate eyes. However, the only picture available of the device shows a small white box with lots of attached cabling, indicating that there's more happening here than simple storage. You know, something exciting, like networked storage! Either way, FAIL.
This whole fiasco was compounded by a few factors: deliberate misinformation by people close to the project, the complete and utter incompetence of the Indian tech press (we still don't even have a solid idea what this thing is) and the condescending eagerness of Western news outlets to believe that such a product, which would have been dismissed as totally impossible if announced here, was inexplicably plausible because it was coming from the mysterious foreign land of India. Whatever the case, there is no $10 laptop, and there probably never will be—at least not from this project.
Some students in Denmark have invented a toilet that functions like a punchline in some god awful 90s sitcom. The seat automatically lowers itself after you flush. LOL GENDER WARS OMG.
Remember DHRECK, the modder who modded a Wiimote by covering it in hemp and calling it a day? Well, he's back, and this time he's made one that's slightly smaller than the original. That's right: not totally teeny, or miniaturized (it's not lethal, either) -- just somewhat smaller than actual, unmodified 'mote. He's made some other minor cosmetic changes to it as well, and the results are attractive.
We're not saying the mildly brilliant eSATA HDD Extender wouldn't work in theory, but we're a bit skeptical about the, um, realness of this here product. Unlike Team Xecuter's Hard Drive Xtender, which is definitely shipping to buyers, this device supposedly gives Sony's PlayStation 3 the ability to recognize an external eSATA drive. Furthermore, the device also adds four USB ports for even more connectivity, and given just how sweet this looks beneath the console, we'd say some serious thought went into the design. Sadly, there's no real indication of where the PS3 HD Plus PHE-01 will be sold, and even if you are able to locate one, the installation is a few notches above "drop dead simple."
Important Update! - The old version did not support C99. Please redownload below if you have intent of using it in a C project! I apologize for not doing this the first time, as I was rushed and had little time to check for mistakes.
This is a small updated version of Chipmunk Physics ported to the PSP
Please read the readme information below:
Enjoy, and please post any issues or comments below.
Download via the link below and give feedback via comments
1C and Aspyr announced today the launch of a new website for their excessively intercapped horror shooter, NecroVisioN. In this new game players will have the pleasure of slogging through the trenches of the First World War, but the new game isn't going to be a straight adaptation of Some Desperate Glory; this game will feature numerous B-movie touches, from walking dead, German mad scientists and, yes, a war between vampires and demons.
You can check out the rest of the story, and even see shots and clips of the game by visiting the website at www.necrovision-game.com. And if you're still not completely terrified, you can check out what's up at plain, old www.necrovision.com.
Outspark, a rapidly-growing virtual playground combining free to play games with personalized social experiences, announced today the open beta launch for the 2D side-scrolling role-playing adventure game, Wind Slayer. Thrill seekers looking for endless hours of entertainment can begin their own Wind Slayer journey now by visiting www.playwindslayer.com, registering for a free Outspark account and downloading the game. The Open Beta begins at 3 p.m. PST today.
Wind Slayer offers a rich role-playing experience in which players create and customize a character, conquer hundreds of quests and engage in frenetic Player vs. Player (PvP) battles with up to 20 players at a time. Set on the beautiful continent of Beuritania, Wind Slayer challenges players to defeat monsters and bosses as they gain skills, explore the game's beautiful and mysterious locales and follow the path of one of six diverse and powerful classes.
- February 4-10 "Second Chance Event": Play and reach Level 10 by February 10th and receive a rare Ancient Necklace.
With the addition of Wind Slayer, Outspark now offers its online community the opportunity to engage in five immersive multiplayer games including the hit titles Fiesta and Secret of the Solstice. The Outspark virtual playground also features a social networking portal where community members can create free profiles, chat with their friends, create and share content and even give one another in-game items. Since Outspark's launch in late 2007, the community has grown to more than 3.7 million users.
There are rumors circulating that the new version of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard has been seeded to some of the top developers for beta testing. The latest build is said to be 10A261. The prior version of Snow Leopard delivered to developers was in December (build 10A222).
According to Macity, the latest version does not seem to contain anything different but does seem to be more stable. They report:
"The interface has not been revised and currently there are only small changes in System Preferences, have been resolved a few bugs in the Finder and little else. According to the sources of Macity the impression is that this release is more reliable than those previously distributed."
Apple has said that they intend to focus on quality and performance in Snow Leopard and there have been rumors for some time saying that Apple has been tweaking the OS to achieve this. Apple has also made it clear that the OS will give exceptional support for multi-core
This morning Google announced that it has new software that will let mobile phone users share their whereabouts with family or friends, and that it will be on the iPhone soon.
It's being called Google Latitude and the technology is a new feature of Google Maps. The software is for mobile devices and it comes with an iGoogle gadget that can be installed on your computer.
Google says:
"Once you've opted in to Latitude, you can see the approximate location of your friends and loved ones who have decided to share their location with you, So now you can do things like see if your spouse is stuck in traffic on the way home from work, notice that a buddy is in town for the weekend, or take comfort in knowing that a loved one's flight landed safely, despite bad weather."
However, even Google acknowledges that this software could be used for stalker-ish purposes but says they have built in "fine-grained privacy
NS BASIC announced today that NS Basic for Symbian OS v1.1 is shipping. It features an improved user interface for applications created with the tool and support for Symbian OS S60 5th Edition. Read full press release @ nsbasic.com.
The native S60 version of Google Maps for Mobile v3.00 has been released today, adding Google Latitude, making it possible to find your friends on the map. To download the new version, go to m.google.com using your mobile phone's browser.
Typing Genius—an app for challenging your friends to a variety of touchscreen typing games—now also unlocks Emoji on your phone, so you can communicate exclusively in kawaii pictographs like Jason and I.
[Raphael] sent us this nice kick pedal mod for Guitar Hero: World Tour. After breaking his kick pedal repeatedly, he decided to build something a bit more robust. He went to the music store intending to pick up a cheap kick pedal to start with and happened to start a conversation with an employee who had a practice pad to get rid of. [Raphael] relieved him of his practice pad and promptly made a base to hold it in position. After attaching his piezo sensor to the back of it, he had a very robust kick pedal. we can’t imagine him breaking this one any time soon.
We love alternative inputs. They can revitalize an old classic or add a twist to most any mundane task. Here, we see a perfect example where the game Punch Out for the NES is being controlled by a punching bag type thing. The impact sensors were made by hand, and wired to a PC game pad. They were mounted on some foam, allowing for a nice mushy punching surface. There’s some feedback too, when your character is hit, a custom script detects the change in the sprites color and sends a signal to an Arduino. Right now, it just lights an LED, but the goal is to signal a strobe to make you flinch. This looks like it would be fun to play with, especially if you were to make it a little more high impact. You can see a video of them lightly assaulting it after the break.
Like some other current-gen fighting games, Capcom's Street Fighter IV will be receiving premium downloadable content. As revealed by Japanese magazine Famitsu (via IGN), the latest in the SF series will witness weekly updates of additional costume packs, starting on and following after the Japanese launch date of February 12.
There are five costume packs (priced at ¥400 or 320 each) in total, with each one containing alternate costumes for five different combatants. If you do the math, that makes one extra wardrobe change for each character on the 25-fighter roster. However, it might be more worthwhile for clothing-crazed fans to wait until after all packs are released before grabbing things off the racks. Why? Because Capcom has plans of a "combo pack" enclosing all that content at a discount (¥1,200 or 1,000) sometime after everything is made available. Call it an out-of-fashion clearance sale.
Not everything needs to be paid for, however, as Street Fighter IV will also have a free Championship Mode update offering tournament-style network play. High-ranking players will have their replay data uploaded online for the public to watch and study. Though all of this currently pertains only to the Japanese version, it's likely safe to assume that Capcom will make similar announcements for worldwide releases very soon – especially with the launch so near.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and TT Games' latest LEGO game, coming this summer for DS, is not built around any license. Well, other than the LEGO license. But there's no Batman or Star Wars or anything like that: this is pure LEGO.
LEGO Battles, developed by Hellbent Games, sounds like a kind of LEGO-based strategy game, in which players build and defend bases in the LEGO Castle, Pirates and Space Themes, using units mixed and matched from the sets. The press release promises "pirate swordsmen fighting side-by-side with wizards and aliens; dragons battling ninjas; and pirate ships launching broadsides against spacecraft and knights!" In addition to the single-player mode, local multiplayer battles will also be available.
Publisher EA has revealed - as part of its depressing financial report - that Mythic MMO Warhammer Online had 300,000 subscribers at the end of last year.
The figure is a drop in World of Warcraft's 11-million-plus ocean, and doesn't represent the splash that EA was presumably hoping to make with its first entry into MMOs since Ultima Online.
However, 300,000 is still a respectable figure in a highly competitive field, which puts WAR ahead of the estimated subscriber bases of rivals like Lord of the Rings Online and EverQuest II, and alongside CCP's EVE Online. It most likely guarantees the game's profitability - and therefore its future.
Warhammer Online launched in September last year and quickly registered 750,000 players. However, many players had left the game again by the time WOW's Wrath of the Lich King expansion was released in November.
Mythic recently announced plans to expand WAR substantially in the coming months with the free Call to Arms update, including two new character classes and a new realm-versus-realm raid zone.
It has also just released a patch introducing the "Night of Murder" Valentine's event, which marks players on the opposing side as targets for you to kill, and launching the game in Russia.
Be sure to come back tomorrow for a live interview with Mythic's Paul Barnett. Perhaps you could ask him whether he's still confident in his million-player bet.
Q Entertainment will finally release Lumines Supernova on the European PlayStation Store tomorrow.
You'll need GBP 9.99 or EUR 14.99 to buy the puzzle game, which adds Dig Down and Sequencer modes to the much-ported, proven formula.
Dig Down has players burrow through a block-filled screen, and the Sequencer lets users piece together backing tracks from a stock selection of loops.
Trophies are in, as are Skin Edit, Time Attack, Puzzle, Mission and local head-to-head modes familiar to Lumines. There's no online multiplayer yet, though.
To celebrate all this, Q Entertainment has teamed with Media Molecule to offer a special LittleBigPlanet skin.
Lumines, for those unaware, is a puzzler based around arranging 2x2 squares of same-coloured blocks falling from the top of the screen. Do so, and a vertical line sweeps along and clears them in time to the music.
Look out for our thoughts on Lumines Supernova soon.
We've updated our post from earlier this afternoon but thought a fresh post might ensure you'd spot it (see? It worked!). We've just heard back from a publicist at LucasArts who told us that, while the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings will indeed feature LucasArts' seminal adventure gaming classic Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, that bonus "will be on the Wii version only." That leaves PS2, PSP and DS gamers all reaching for the same thing: ScummVM.
Star Wars fans: you Hoth to see this. The latest "Developer Dispatch" out of BioWare Austin -- developer of Star Wars: The Old Republic -- not only shows off some of the effort going into creating the Jedi-starting world of Tython (ancient home of the first Force users); it actually contains gameplay footage from the LucasArts-published MMO that lasts longer than your ability to stomach a speaking scene between Padme and Anakin Skywalker. Plus, it's hotter than ... let's see ... high noon (noons?) on Tatooine. Hey -- what are you doing with those lightsabers? Those could hurt someone ... oh.
The Sims 3 for PC will now release on June 3, more than three months after its planned February 20 launch.
A delay had been on the cards after the company told us early last week that it was "evaluating" the game's launch window.
EA offered a bit of a dubious comment in explaining its delay, or perhaps it was just explaining the potential benefit the delay could have for the publisher.
"The June launch combined with the break-through game the team is building gives us the perfect runway to create awareness for The Sims 3," said Russell Arons, EA's vice president of marketing, who went on to say it "will be the original IP summer blockbuster of 2009".
The Sims 3 is the latest entry in the best-selling PC franchise of all time, a series that has sold over 100 million units, so we doubt EA needs to build much more awareness of it.
The game will also launch for Mac, iPhone, iPod Touch and mobile devices this summer.
Doing its best to soften the disappointment of Sims fans, EA's also sent out a new trailer for the game (above) and a batch of fresh screens (below).
Valve has brushed off new rumours (again) of a PS3 version of Left 4 Dead, sparked by a rather decisive listing on a UK retailer website.
With not just a PS3 version listed, but a release date of June 5, EA down as the label and even the ability to pre-order the game right now, HMV seems pretty sure it's happening. More than an easily-missed typo-o, anyway.
A Valve rep, however, mocked the listing, saying to CVG: "Fantastic. I can't wait to see it."
Looking around, Play.com has a L4D PS3 listing too, but there's no date or pre-order on it.
So it's PC and 360 exclusive still, but PS3 owners can always hope.
In April the Shin Megami Tensei spinoff that kicked off the Persona series is coming to the PSP. Famitsu says the game is a “remake”, but it looks more like a tweaked port a la Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War.
Atlus is adding new animated cutscenes to Persona and it looks like the battle interface took a cue from Persona 3 with floating heads as status icons. Dungeons appear to have more status information too, but they retain the first person viewpoint like older Shin Megami Tensei games. Persona is scheduled to come out in Japan on April 29. Of course, it’s too early for Atlus USA to announce Persona PSP, but if they do (and why shouldn’t they?) we should get an intact version of Persona with the Snow Queen plot.
Growlanser is also getting the PSP port up treatment for its tenth anniversary. New features include additional characters like Amelia and routes to follow. Since we never got Growlanser this game will be entirely new for us if Atlus USA picks it up. Japan gets it first though on May 14.
We were on the right track with the Time Crisis Strike trademark. Namco Bandai was working on a new Time Crisis game, but its only for iPhones. Since the $5.99 downloadable game doesn’t come with a tiny little light gun you poke Wild Dog’s enforcers to shoot them with a semi-automatic pistol. Ducking, a hallmark of the Time Crisis series, is done by tilting the phone. Beat Wild Dog in arcade mode and you unlock four additional Crisis Missions to play.
Kudos to Namco Networks for making adaptive controls, but Time Crisis Strike is hardly a new light gun game. I’ll pass on this and keep my fingers crossed for a Nintendo DS or WiiWare port.
Perhaps or this set of trademarks could be related to an unannounced arcade game. Hello, AM2? Anyway, Sega trademarked three things in the US and Europe that appear to be linked: Ringedge, Ringwide, and a logo with rings.
All of these items are in a slightly different sector than your run of the mill video game trademark. They are for use with video game software, arcade game boards, stand alone video game machines, and arcade game machines with built-in screens. So, whatever these are they sound arcade related.
My first thought when I discovered these was the Sega Activator since it was a “ring”, but what was supposed to enhance fighting games ended up turning them into Para Para Paradise.
The website Killzone2.com, it turns out, isn't owned by Sony, but the websites Killzone and Killzone3 are, MTV Multiplayer reports in this look at domain name shenanigans.
Multiplayer reports that Killzone2 is actually owned by Vegard Aure of GameDiscovery.com, which also owns DevilMayCry 2 and DevilMayCry3 websites.
And apparently neither Sony nor Capcom have contacted Aure to ask about the sites... well, not yet. A call to Sony reps netted a "we're going to look into it" comment.
It raises an interesting question about official sites for video games. How often do you search out a game, by name, on the web in hopes of netting new details? Would you be annoyed if the site wasn't owned by the publisher or developer?
If you love playing with friends at home or online then this is the game for you. Welcome to Paradise City, a world built for fun and adventure. From team challenges to racing to exploring the city there’s always something to look forward to in Paradise City. Open the Ultimate Box and let the fun begin.
There are 
Jan 19, 2009 geo...@moralis.gr 
are back in stock at the price of USD 118.71
