Kamalot

Play games - Drop pounds

2008-04-14T10:47:00.000-04:00

If you are a little on the heavy side, and would like a bit of coaching to drop off a few pounds, you may be interested in My Weight Loss Coach for the Nintendo DS. It not only helps teach better eating habits, but the game also comes with a pedometer that plugs into the DS. As you walk around during the day, the DS will count your steps and use the information to help you gauge how many calories you should eat.

Kamalot LAN Party Photos

2007-11-19T10:05:00.000-05:00

Here are a few photos from the Kamalot LAN Party this year.

Rockstar's Table Tennis Gets Crazy on Wii

Guitar Hero ROCKS!

Michael, looking smart, as always.

Virtua Fighter Smackdown

Dexpot

2007-01-19T09:59:00.000-05:00

This is the kind of application I live for. It simplifies the way we use windows, it is perfect for portables with less screen real estate than huge desktops, oh... it is free too.

Deskpot allows you to manage windows and virtual desktops to keep your workspace tidy and streamlined. It will work wonders for your laptop, tablet or ultramobile.

Who's Who?

2007-01-18T14:10:00.000-05:00

I'm terrible at remembering names. I also attend a lot of meetings with clients. Invariably, I forget a lot of their names. Lifehacker comes to the rescue with a great little tip.

Draw a map!

I've always got my Tablet PC with me in meetings, to take notes, jot down ideas and draw explanations of complex systems. I always write down the names of participants and meeting attendees, but never before have I drawn a map.

As a visual person, maps help me all the time. I map out ideas, concepts, system flows, business diagrams and more. Why not take an extra 15 seconds to draw a map of the conference table and who was sitting where? Surely, that would save me the embarrassment of not being able to remember someone's name later on. Even DURING the meeting, I could refer to my map in order to remember someone's name.

I think my problem of being bad with names just became a little less of a problem.

2 Cool Tools

2007-01-17T16:25:00.000-05:00

Here are two cool tools I came across today. First is EvilRSS. This oddly-named service allows you to make any Google search you want, and save it as an RSS feed. Why didn't I think of that?

The next one is a series of free audio books. Put them on your iPod or on your Treo to listen to stories on the go. Did I mention they are free? Yeah.

I run a 700p

2007-01-17T01:46:00.000-05:00

These are some programs that I run on the Treo.

LJP is a program that emulates Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System, Genesis, Super Nintendo, TurboGraifx 16 and more.

TCPMP is a free movie player that runs DivX movies, among other formats, at full framerate. It will playback 640x480 on the Treo's screen, automatically scaling to fit the native 320x320 resolution. This is very handy since you don't have to downsample or convert movies in your collection.

QuickNews is an RSS newsreader that I have configured to download podcasts. Several times a day, the Treo updates the RSS feeds. If it finds any new podcasts, it downloads them directly to the SD card. My Treo is always full of the most recent content.

Listening to Podcasts can be done with the included Pocket Tunes or TCPMP, for free. Shareware alternatives let you customize your music. The enhanced version of Pocket Tunes allows you to download skins for the player, and ties directly into Internet Radio streams. Listen to DI.fm or Soma anywhere you have data connection.

Mocean, a touchscreen-based player that uses a familiar wheel design, also plays audio and video. The interface makes it easy to transition away from other products.

Softick Audio Gateway allows you to wirelessly listen to your music through a pair of Bluetooth headphones, or anything else that receives Bluetooth A2DP signals.

Yes, it has Google Maps.

NPD Sales Number Charts

2007-01-14T18:59:00.000-05:00

There has been a lot of buzz over the video game sales data from NPD that covers all of 2006. Every one of the major game companies has put out some form of press release stating that they are the champion for December or all of 2006.

I've gone ahead and created some simple charts of the data. These are a great way to visualize the numbers that Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft are touting around.

A few things to note:
Consoles - Home System
Handhelds - Portable Game Systems
Next Gen / Current Gen - The most recent available systems
Previous Gen - Systems that have been replaced by newer systems

On to the charts!

This chart compares the division of the current (next) generation console market by grouping all of the data for each company's home console sales for 2006 into their piece of the pie.

Current-Gen consoles include:

Sony - PS3

Microsoft - Xbox 360

Nintendo - Wii

Note:

This chart best represents the home console wars at the close of 2006, as it does not include previous generation systems or handheld systems.

This data is frequently cited by Microsoft, as it shows Microsoft controlling the larget portion of the current (next) generation home console market.

This chart shows the number of current generation consoles and handhelds that have been sold during 2006 by each of the primary video game players.

Current-Gen consoles include:

Sony - PS3

Microsoft - Xbox 360

Nintendo - Wii

Current-Gen Handhelds include:

Sony - PSP

Nintendo - DS

Note:

This chart provides an easy way to compare volume of current (next) generation systems as they were sole through 2006.

This data is frequently cited by Nintendo, as it shows that Nintendo sold more current (next) generation units (combination of console and handheld) in 2006.

This chart shows the number of current generation consoles and handhelds that have been sold during December 2006, by each of the primary video game players.

Current-Gen consoles include:

Sony - PS3

Microsoft - Xbox 360

Nintendo - Wii

Current-Gen Handhelds include:

Sony - PSP

Nintendo - DS

Previous-Gen Consoles include:

PS2

Previous-Gen Handhelds include:

GameBoy Advance

(There is no indication in the data provided to me if the GameBoy Advance numbers include all models of GameBoy Advance (Original, SP, Micro, GBA Player) or not.)

Notes:

Sony is the only manufacturer of previous gen consoles in this data.

Nintendo is the only manufacturer of previous gen handhelds in this data.

Total number of current-gen consoles exceeded that of previous gen console sales.

This data is frequently cited by Sony as it shows Sony having sold more home console units (previous and current (next) generation) than the competition.

This chart compares the division of the current (next) generation console and handheld market by grouping all of the data for each company's current (next) generation handheld and home console sales for all of 2006 into their piece of the pie.

Current-Gen consoles include:

Sony - PS3

Microsoft - Xbox 360

Nintendo - Wii

Current-Gen Handhelds include:

Sony - PSP

Nintendo - DS

Notes:

Microsoft does not produce a handheld game system.

Current-Gen consoles include:

Sony - PS3

Microsoft - Xbox 360

Nintendo - Wii

Current-Gen Handhelds include:

Sony - PSP

Nintendo - DS

Notes:

Microsoft does not produce a handheld game system.

This chart compares the division of the console and handheld market for both current (next) generation and previous generation systems by grouping all of the data for each company's handheld and home console sales for December 2006 into their piece of the pie.

Current-Gen consoles include:

Sony - PS3

Microsoft - Xbox 360

Nintendo - Wii

Current-Gen Handhelds include:

Sony - PSP

Nintendo - DS

Notes:

Microsoft does not produce a handheld game system.

Gate 88 - a Queasy Game

2007-01-10T11:03:00.000-05:00

Here's a sweet little shareware game I found.

It is a cross between Asteroids (Armada), Warcraft and Rez.

No really! You fly a ship around and use it to build bases/turrets/etc. that can be used to build automated fighters. Unlike a regular RTS, you can fight on your own. The whole thing is presented with a Tron/Rez like look to it. The music is excellent (in OGG format so you can play it on your MP3 player too) and it is super fun. Oh yeah, it has online multiplayer too. :D

The developers describe it in the following manner:

A childhood daydream of deep space intergalactic battle inspired by Herzog Zwei, Star Control, Subspace, Homeworld, and Parsec47.

I'm going to work on a GlovePIE script so you can play the whole thing using a wireless Wii remote.

Here's a link to the Windows download...
http://www.queasygames.com/gate88/downloads.html#win32

Enjoy!

Petty Differences

2006-11-06T20:54:00.000-05:00

I just realized...

There is no difference between the 360 and the PS3. All the remaining arguments are so petty, they are practically the same machine.

Yours is louder then mine.
Yours has longer loading times.
Yours gets so hot.
Yours is too expensive.

Microsoft should just freaking PARTNER with Sony to manufacture the next X-Station and they can both make money on games AND hardware!

Why Do PS3 Screens Suck?

2006-08-18T15:53:00.000-04:00

With Sony’s PS3 being released this fall, several screen shots have been released of upcoming games. These screens often leave gamers asking questions about why the screen shots are so unimpressive.

Thanks to Busted_Astromech at EvilAvatar for pointing out a series of possible explanations.

Option 1: The PS3 is underpowered
Highly unlikely considering what we have seen of the Metal Gear Solid trailer. Yet more and more screens and movies for the PS3 come out every day that look more than just a little assy and underwhelming. Perhaps the PS3's power is not easy to access compared to other consoles' power.

Option 2: The Game Is Too Early
If the game will end up looking wildly better, as in close to the 360 version, then why would any sane company release such early screen shots as part of a press release? Unlikely. I suspect what we see is close to the final version.

Option 3: Development Teams are Lacking
Likely considering what we have seen from other screens of other games. Apparently, only a few development studios can make great-looking games for the PS3 at this point. Perhaps it is difficult to program for the PS3 (see Option 1) or perhaps there aren't many programmers that know how to utilize the PS3 yet. It could be the PS3 team is lacking in key skills necessary to make a great PS3 game, even a port from a quality original.

2/3 of theese options bode poorly on the PS3. If the game screens are too early and not representing the final product, then it is nothing more than a blip, an anolomy. If the PS3 is underpowered, there will be obvious ramifications. If the port item is lacking, that could point to larger issues that may come back to bite the PS3 in the long haul. Let me explain…

If the PS3 is difficult to program for, difficult to learn or only a few people can really harness the power of the PS3 there will be lasting ramifications. Today, developers can develop for the PS3, 360 or Wii. 360 has a reportedly great series of development tools provided by Microsoft, the world’s biggest software developer. Wii development is reportedly based on GameCube, which has had development software available for more that 5 years. It would make sense from a development standpoint to develop games on cost efficient platforms, like the 360 and Wii, over the PS3.

From a publishing standpoint, publishers are more interested in making games that will make money. Xbox 360 already has an install base of 5 million. Wii will likely have 5 million installed base before the end of the year. PS3, with a high price tag, questionable production schedule and untested technology will have the least number of installed units until possibly holiday 2007. Why would developers or publishers spend the extra time and effort necessary to master the intricacies of PS3 development when their time, effort and money can more easily be used to create 360 and Wii games, that will be more profitable?

This precipitates a ‘downward spiral’ since the PS3 will end up with fewer titles. Fewer titles gives consumers fewer reasons to buy the console. Lower installed base gives developers and publishers fewer incentives to learn/master PS3 development.

We are already starting to see evidence of this as companies announce they are going to forego PS3 development or only develop limited PS3 titles while development of Wii games have taken off at an alarming rate. Wii has, in fact, at least 27 confirmed launch titles, more than any other console launch in history.

PS3 - Just the Tip of the Iceberg

2006-07-24T18:23:00.000-04:00

Click to see the full image.

Setting up XSATA

2006-06-27T11:14:00.000-04:00

I recently ordered an Xbox 360 accessory called XSATA. It is a small device that sits between your Xbox 360 and the 360's hard drive. The back of the device has a USB port and is designed to interact with your PC allowing you to 'see' and edit the files on the 360's hard drive. What follows is my experience in unpacking and setting up the XSATA.

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The box is surprisingly light. I ordered it straight from the manufacturer's website. The box arrived a little banged up which made opening the strong plastic much easier.

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Here are the package contents:

XSATA device in static-proof bag
USB Cable
Driver / Application disc
Manual

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Here are various shots of the XSATA device itself.

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The XSATA is really nothing more than a plastic shell with some serial ATA connections inside shaped like the Xbox 360 Hard Drive plug.

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A close-up of the chips.

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A close-up of the USB port.

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Here is my setup. Luckily, the PC and the Xbox 360 are already close to each other.

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To install the XSATA device, first remove your Xbox 360 hard drive. Press the button.

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Lift the drive from the Xbox 360.

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Slide the back of the XSATA device into the hard drive bay.

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Carefully press the drive connector into place.

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Press the front of the XSATA into place. This took more force than I expected. I almost expected the XSATA to break. I found the best method was to press the palm of my hand on the XSATA and mash it into place firmly.

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CAREFULLY install your Xbox 360 hard drive into place on top of the XSATA. This was the most difficult part as the drive connector in the XSATA wiggles a bit. Make sure you like up the connectors with the XSATA and the hard drive before you press the drive into place.

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Here is a picture of the XSATA in place.

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Plug the USB cable into the back of the XSATA device.

Important: If the USB cable is connected between your PC and the XSATA device, your Xbox 360 WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE THE HARD DRIVE. Be sure to disconnect the cable from either the PC or from the XSATA before you turn on the 360 if you intend to use the hard drive in the Xbox 360.

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Here is a picture of the XSATA in place and the 360 back in its 'home' position.

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Another image of the 360 and XSATA. In this image, you can see the illumination effects provided by the XSATA. Note that there is not a switch to enable or disable the lights. If the 360 is on, the XSATA lights up. This is something to note if the blue lights will distract you when watching a movie or playing a game. Luckily, my setup involves having my 360 in a closet, out of sight.

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Before you plug the XSATA's USB connection into your PC, install the drivers and software.

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Here is the icon for the installed software. It would have been nice if the software came with a higher resolution icon. You can see it has jaggy edges compared to other icons on my desktop making it look amateurish.

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Once installed, the ST920217 AS USB Device shows up in your device manager.

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Once everything is connected and you run the Xplorer 360 software, you will want to connect to the 360's drive. Drive > Open > Hard Drive.

CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/68/411/200/IMG_2555.jpg" border="0" />The first thing I did was make a backup of my 360's hard drive. Drive > Backup Image.

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Here is an example of what your Xbox 360 sees while you are accessing the hard drive from your PC. Note, there are no profiles found.

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The Xbox 360 can not see the hard drive at all. When you are done with the software, be sure to power down the Xbox 360 and disconnect the USB cable from either the PS or the XSATA. When you power on the 360 again, the hard drive will show up as usual.

I hope this helps people get an understanding of the XSATA and its capabilities. I have to admit, at this point, it isn't very useful to me since all of the files on the hard drive contain cryptic code-like names. I was hoping to copy over some images for use in custom themes but I don't have the knowledge to deconstruct the existing themes. I'm sure someone out there will be able to do that, and more, soon.

So far I have been able to:

Backup my drive
Restore my drive
Copy over original Xbox save games including
- > Prince of Persia
- > Halo
- > Halo2
- > Crimson Skies
- > Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- > Jade Empire
- > Quantum Redshift
- > Yourself Fitness!

Let me know if you have any questions I can help with about the XSATA.

Mario Kart DS - Different on DS Lite compared to DS "Fatty"

2006-06-14T16:39:00.000-04:00

When Mario Kart is started on the Nintendo DS Lite, the game makes a different start up noise compared to when it starts up on the original DS, DS "Fatty".

What other differences are there between DS games on the old DS compared to DS Lite?

Buying By The Bullets

2006-06-12T00:44:00.000-04:00

Look, there are lots of people throwing around, buzzwords about how something is done instead of the end result. Industry people and fanboys alike that are on about 'volumetric surfaces, 'dynamic skeletal animation' and ‘per-pixel-mapping’.

That’s nice, but there is a fundamental flaw in this approach.

Nobody really cares. Oh, sure there are some. The people who create and use these techniques care, as do the marketing people and fanboys. Many of these so-called ‘features’ don’t mean a damned thing to consumers.

Why would 99% of the consumers care HOW the grass was made to look pretty? Why would people care how the beautiful dancer moves? Why would people care how the soft reflections in her eyes shine? As long as the grass is green, the dancer moves gracefully, and her eyes shimmer like deep reflecting pools, people won’t care how it is done behind the scenes.

And people shouldn’t care.

Like a great magician knows, the tricks he is about to perform require the audience to be a little unknowing of what is happening behind the scenes.

So while it is interesting to know about these invisible ‘features’ they shouldn’t alter or affect our purchasing decision. Look at the games for yourself. See how they move, how they play. Decide for yourself if the games look fun or derivative and dull.

If you buy your games or consoles by the bullet point list of features, then you aren’t buying the best game or console. You are buying the best list of bullet points.

Xbox 360 Full Case Mod

2006-05-27T14:46:00.000-04:00

Why settle for a face plate when you can give your Xbox 360 a full case mod? Glossy black replacement cases can now be purchased. Even comes with a hard drive cover.

Damage: Only $45
Verdict: Temptalicious

Wii Has 3D Sound

2006-05-22T18:19:00.000-04:00

Like most people, when I heard the Nintendo Wii controller would house a speaker I thought it was an interesting gimmick. How on earth could a speaker be useful? I already have a surround sound system that is quite nice. Why do I need a little speaker in my hand as well?

Items in your hand, sound like they are in your hand
Marcus and I sat down to discuss the possibilities. The first one that came up is that actions your character takes in the game, will create sounds that emanate from the controller. Reload your pistol, and you can hear it in your hand. Swords clash, right in the palm of your hand. Gunshots, creaking doors, pulling the pin on a grenade, etc. could all come from the controller. Imagine a game like Oblivion or Half Life 2, where many items can be picked up and interacted with. Imagine picking up a plate and sliding it over a brick wall, making a distinct grating sound. Combined with the tactile feedback of a rumble pack, games really will take a new step into immersion. Much in the way you can feel the action from the game through rumble, the added benefit of having sound come from within the room will enrich the gaming experience more than I initially believed.

3D Soundscape
An even more interesting application of the speaker would be to utilize it as part of a surround sound system. By balancing the timing and volume of a sound, the Nintendo Wii could trick the human ear into thinking a particular noise is coming from someplace between the TV and the Wii controller. Imagine, hitting a baseball; the crack of the bat, followed by a woosh as the ball flies away. By using nothing more than simple stereo speakers and the Wii controller, the game could balance the sound experience to make it sound as if the ball traveled from the bat (the controller) into the screen itself. If you hit it to left field, the sound will travel to the left.

Now, imagine this application of 3D space working for all sounds within a game. Charged shots in Metroid Prime would seemingly fly from the controller to the portion of the screen. As objects in-game, such as energy beams, airplanes, etc, come close to the player, the sound could appear to come out of the screen, occupying a place inside the room. The system knows where the remote is in relation to the screen and can automatically position the sound of various items anywhere. As your character moves through the game, all sounds could be projected into the play area, creating unparalleled immersion.

Try It Yourself
Next time you are playing a game, think about the sounds you hear. Most people take stereo and surround sound for granted in games these days, so actively listen to things as you play. Imagine, what the game would be like if you could hear the jingle of gold in your hand when you pick up loot and treasure. Imagine what it would be like to point a weapon, feel the recoil and hear the shots. Take it a step further and imagine the sounds coming from your entire sound system, perfectly balanced with the controller in your hand, the soundscape extending into your room. Next time you hear the blue shell in Mario Kart coming up from behind, imagine it getting louder and louder until it is right overhead.

Wii has the possibility of being the most innovative and radical game console ever created, provided developers can learn to harness the power and immersive potential.

PS3 - Where is Devastator

2006-04-13T18:43:00.000-04:00

In the dawn of the PS3, the system specs were all powerful. The almighty Cell processor has 8 SPEs and would take advantage of other Cell processors on the network, such as those in your TV. It was kind of like Devastator, the processors combining to become even more powerful.

Then we find out that Sony is having trouble making Cell chips with 8 working SPEs. So the PS3 is promised to only have 7 working SPEs for each system.

Today we find out that the OS will always consume an SPE and has the right to abduct another when necessary. This reduces the potential number of SPEs that a developer can reliably count on for a game to use at all times is reduced to 5.

The true power of the PS3 keeps being reduced the closer to launch it becomes. Additional features have already been dropped. How many more will evaporate before the PS3 becomes a real device you can go to the store and buy?

"Cell will create a new extensible computing platform. A set-top box containing a Cell chip could, for example, combine to share processing power with a Cell-powered high-definition television to render the graphics of an animated movie."-wrong

"A game console might use a chip with 16 cores, while a less complicated device like a set-top box would have a processor with fewer"-Try a chip with 7 cores, only a max of 6 can be used for gaming.

"It will have the ability to do north of 1 trillion mathematical calculations per second, roughly 100 times more than a single Pentium 4 chip running at 2.5GHz."-?!

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-948493.html

What went wrong on the way? Why do we now have a processor that isn't half what we were promised but is still a total bitch to program for?

Don’t you think someone should be asking these questions? Are people going to stand there and be happy they are being spoon-fed lies? Do people only have a memory that goes back a week so they can’t remember what we’ve been promised?

Anyone who believes ANYTHING that the game companies are telling us is being taken for a ride. Temper any news you hear with knowledge of history. Examine the reliability of the company’s press statements. Do this and you’ll see that Sony, as a company, is a bunch of cockroach liars.

Anyone who is saying that the 23% overhead will be optimized is lying to themselves. Is Sony really going to patch everyone’s OS with a streamlined version, give the extra horsepower to developers and then are developers going to take advantage of the extra power? Does anyone realize how far-fetched this is? Sure, it is possible, but it also possible to build a zeppelin in your garage. Who’s gonna do it?

What is Sony’s incentive to give developers extra horsepower? They’ve already got you once you buy the PS3. Why give you more for your money? Sony is interested in selling you Bluray movies and DRM’d music from their iTunes ripoff. They don’t want to streamline their OS, they will fill it with features to get you to spend money.

PSP Movies Bomb - Like Blu-ray

2006-03-30T12:35:00.000-05:00

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has completely stopped producing UMD movies, according to executives who asked not to be identified by name. Said one high-ranking exec: "It's awful. Sales are near zilch. It's another Sony bomb -- like Blu-ray."

EA Snatches Your Privates

2006-03-29T22:12:00.000-05:00

When you load up Unreal Tournament, Metroid Prime Hunters, Mario Kart, Counter Strike, Halo 2 or any other online action game, do you expect to be required to give up your email address to the publisher so they can spam you? Get ready kids. Electronic Arts is getting’ ready to rape your personal info.

From the moment you load the Battlefield 2: Modern Combat demo on the Xbox 360, the game sends your email address to Electronic Arts. Within moments, emails are sent out to fill your mailbox with crap.

Remember, your EA Member Account automatically stores your information, making the game registration process quick and easy. Even better, you could receive a free cheat code or game hint, or an opportunity to receive special offers on EA games with each game you register.

Look EA. I didn’t want to be part of your community. I wanted to try out your game. I don’t like the way you wrangle my email address out of me. It isn’t fair.

Perhaps if you spent more time creating compelling games, you could spend less time trying to trick people into giving up their personal information. It is rude, sneaky and dirty.

Thanks for playing on Xbox Live. The EA and Xbox Live partnership gives you an even deeper and richer experience on the ea.com website, including access to your personal stats, rankings and more.

And shame on you Microsoft. Your Live service has been great so far. Not once have I been bombarded with an advertisement or newsletter telling me how I can spend my money on your stuff. It is great, a no-pressure approach. But this ‘partnership’ with Electronic Arts is shady. It stinks. Is this what Live is going to become, a sell out to any company that puts up a demo or arcade game?

The slope is slippery. You have a great opportunity here; you are currently the greatest online gaming service of all time. Do you maintain that title by shafting over customers, giving their private details out to any publisher with a bit of cash?

Electronic Arts, you suck.

Sony's PS3 Ark

2006-03-14T15:14:00.000-05:00

Sony is building an ark.

All around, the flood waters are rising. Sony no longer is the dominant name in portable music, televisions or stereo equipment. Their namesake is sinking in a torrential sea of small, nimble companies. What is Sony to do?

All eyes fall on the Playstation, the only division of Sony to be profitable in quite some time. Once the laughingstock of the company, the unlikely bastard child of all things Sony; the Playstation name is now the company’s life preserver, and all divisions want to hold on for dear life.

Sony has created the Playstation 3 (PS3), not as a game machine, but as a vessel to float the company into new lands. They are burdening the system with a new movie format (BluRay) unheard of levels of digital rights management for music and video, Memory Sticks and more.

The results are already starting to show. A year ago, Sony promised to launch the PS3 in Spring 2006. Instead, they waited till Spring 2006 to announce that they won’t be launching the system until November 2006, in Japan, with other regions perhaps as soon as Spring 2007. Why? Digital Rights Management issues with the upcoming BluRay format.

The other divisions of Sony are dragging the PS3 down. The Playstation Portable (PSP) suffers from the same illness; too many hands in the basket. The PSP was designed around a slow-loading UMD format for distribution of movies which makes the machine less than ideal for game playing. Compared to ROM cartridges, UMDs are too slow loading and consume too much battery time. They make the machine more fragile and introduce problems with additional moving parts. In short, they are a sacrifice to the movie industry arm of Sony; giving up on the optimal game experience for the opportunity to sell you movies you probably already own on DVD.

Sony hopes that the PS3 will carry their formats of movie and music distribution will become the de-facto standard by attaching them to the PS3. 100 million PS2s have been sold in the last 6 years. One would think that using the Playstation’s success to launch a new standard format may be a good plan. The problem isn’t in the plan, it is in the execution. Delays and compromises will push the PS3 back while consumers looking for a game system will pick up another available option, such as an Xbox 360 or Nintendo Revolution; systems designed to play games first and foremost. Consumers looking for some of the other features the PS3 is to include, such as High Definition movie playback, will pick up more readily available and cheaper options, such as HD-DVD.

The delays brought about by making compromises to the core functions of the system will put a great strain on Sony. Currently, their ark is full of holes and loaded with baggage. The flood waters rise. How many gamers will wait until this time next year in order to pick up a PS3 when Xbox 360 games are available today and are getting excellent review scores? How many will pass up the Revolution this holiday season when it is affordable and fun? How high will the waters rise before Sony can launch the ark?

Will it float?

360 - First Impressions

2006-03-07T13:08:00.000-05:00

I dont mean to be negative, but right now i fail to be compeled towards the 360. If nothing else, it's the best VGA box for xbox 1 titles I've ever seen.
--Blademonkey--

Microsoft made a real console this time. The original Xbox is a kludge of PC parts + clunky controller + poopy interface spun in the marketing machine. The 360, by comparison, shows such a serious design initiative from the team, so much so that the difference is shocking. The dashboard, the online component, the marketplace, the music collection, the PC connection, the downloadable demos are all handled better on the 360 than they will be on either the Revolution or the PS3. The controller has, in some regards, become my favorite controller of all time in just 2 days. I'm amazed at how much I like it.

The 360 is an excellent piece of hardware with so much thought placed into the interface (something dear to me) that it is difficult not to be impressed. The games though, are games we've already played to death. The Nintendo Revolution will be home to favorite franchises and unique, new, innovative games. I'm not expecting that on the 360, but I'll be very happy if it happens.

It'll be a while before games I really want come out for the 360. We picked up the 360 to cover the types of 3rd party games from this generation that won't work well on the Revolution; titles like Prince of Persia, Xtreme G (and XGRA), Sega Soccer Slam, Resident Evil 4 and others. While 'traditional' cross-platform titles may not work well on the Revolution, they will shine on the 360.

Perfect Dark is total crap. Some of the issues with the sound and level design encountered in the single player mode are downright embarrassing. The development team included transparent blue arrows on the ground that materialize in order to lead players to the next destination. Why? Because the level and mission design is so bad, pointlessly confusing and dark, that it is impossible to tell what one is supposed to do next.

Kameo does have some control issues that are very frustrating until learned. What is most frustrating about them is that they could have been ironed out with testing and polish. The title does have a lot of interesting game mechanics that are downright fun yet the learning curve to get to the point where it is enjoyable will turn off many. The art direction is best described as 'fantastic plastic' a fantasy world made of plastic, which will also turn off a large portion of players. The game will be nice to play through in a week or two, but not one that will be the most memorable of experiences. It could turn into a very nice sequel if provided more attention.

On the flip side, I REALLY like Ridge Racer 6. I like the arcade play, I like the smooth controls, I like the clean gameplay. I could easily while away the hours drifting around and having a blast! It isn't revolutionary, but it is clean, arcade fun.

I would have a difficult time recommending the 360 at this point. Perhaps if you enjoyed playing online, sports, racing, or World War II themed shooters, it would be a great time to pick up a 360. I don't like sports, my tastes in shooters and racing are limited and eclectic. I don't particularly care for dark games. I don't particularly care for playing online with strangers. For the love of all that is holy, there aren't any 360 games thet utilize a grappling hook!

I am looking forward to a few games for the 360, and hope they rock. With the 360's ability to download demos, I also think I'll get a good chance to try games before paying full price for them. I'll buy less but try more; a fair trade off.

Here's a list of games that I'll be keeping my eye on. They are in no particular order.

N3: Ninety-Nine Nights

Star Trek: Legacy

Resident Evil 5

Too Human

Top Spin 2

Tokyo Xtreme Racer

Sonic the Hedgehog

Soulcalibur

After Burner

Blue Dragon

Chromehounds

Gears of War

BioShock

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII

Lost Odyssey

Mass Effect

Metronome

NeoGeo Battle Coliseum

Shadowrun [next-gen]

Transformers

Unreal Tournament 2007

9Dragons

Overall, I'm happy with the box, the controller, the interface and the online component. The games aren't any better than current games though. PS3 is going to be the same thing, only without an excellent controller, interface and online component. Not only will I bet my hat on that, but I just bet $650 in Xbox hardware/software. I've been around for all of Sony's console launches and seen the vast difference between the reality of the console and promises (lies) made before the launch. I’ve also has the misfortune of attempting to use their various pieces of software and now understand they won’t ever have a service that rivals Live in usability or features. Sony’s attitude towards controller symmetry ensures us that they will forego ergonomics and proper control placement to create a controller that is more beautiful than functional.

For the time being, I'll spend more time on my DS than on the Xbox 360. The DS has a long list of must-have titles already available and a very bright future lineup as well. I'll be playing Metroid Prine: Hunters on the 20th along with some Tetris Online as well.

Pong Clock: Limited Run

2006-02-28T10:33:00.000-05:00

Pong Clock: Limited Run

It looks like the makers of the Pong Clock have run into a few snags.

Buro Vormkrijgers, makers of the Pong Clock based in the Netherlands, are apparently sending out an email to those that pre-ordered the timepiece. The email unveils the fact that Atari contacted the team and pulled the ‘we own the rights to the name Pong’ game. After a bit of legal wrangling, the two sides have come to an agreement...

...Only 400 pong clocks will be created.

If you want one of these awesome timepieces, put in your pre-order now since once all 400 are gone - that’s it, no more will be created. To put it into perspective, the team aready produced 200 clocks that sold out instantly. These next 400 are sure to sell like gangbusters, and fetch a high price on ebay when no longer available to order.

Atari

----------------------------------------------

Basically ATARI demanded we shut down our website immediately, and halt all production.

The reason for that; they stated they own the “Pong” name and game characteristics, on which we were infringing in their eyes. Needless to say we were unaware of such possible infringements when we started this endeavour.

On advise of our lawyer, we seconded those claims, and kept our website live.

However, in the meantime we halted all production and other investments, and cancelled our display-order from china, to prevent getting stuck with huge financial damage [these things are very expensive] and stocks that need to be destroyed, if these claims got confirmed. For us the Pong Clock started out as a fun project within our office, that got so much attention, that we then decided to produce and sell it to share the fun with you, not to get bankrupted by.

To see the clock, visit their site and click on Portfolio, Browse, Misc, Pong Clock.

Thanks to everyone that sent this in.

Got Some Time?

2006-02-25T04:51:00.000-05:00

Thanks Joystiq.

Namco's DS Sales Suck - Why?

2006-02-24T10:10:00.000-05:00

The good folks over at Kotaku are reporting that Namco is cutting back on its profit forecast for 2006 based on poorly selling Nintendo DS games.

Let's look at Namco’s Nintendo DS lineup. The games are listed along with their average review score (out of a possible 100) as listed by MetaCritic.

Dig Dug® Digging Strike - 65

Mr.DRILLER® Drill Spirits™ - 70

PAC'N ROLL™ - 72

PAC-PIX™ - 71

Real Time Conflict: Shogun Empires™ - 38

Ridge Racer® DS – 63

Hmm. Not a whole lot of reason to get excited. I wonder how much they were betting on this lineup to pull them through financially. I admit to owning Ridge Racer DS from the first few dry months of DS games. It wasn’t great. Since then, there has been a flood of great titles, not only from Nintendo, but from 3rd parties as well. In a competitive marketplace it is difficult to justify buying Dig Dug when you can get 3rd party games like:

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Meteos

Tony Hawk

Age of Empires

Sonic Rush

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Here's a hint Namco, Stop making crappy games and expecting to swim in piles of money.

Maybe this year will be better with games like: Baten Kaitos™, Xenosaga® and Tales of the Tempest.

What I'd really pay top dollar for is Nintendo DS versions of Sigma Star Saga™, Rebelstar: Tactical Command™ or Soul Calibur (the original). These are all excellent titles that could stand reinvention or additional chapters of story. Rebelstar Tactical Command is a no-brainer for touch-screen control and Nintendo WiFi play.

Namco, you make some good games when you try. Honest! Why not open up a bit and make some of those great games on the DS instead of trying to foist another washout on DS users. Take a look at your strong points and go wild. After all, that's what the DS is all about: innovation and new ways of thinking. Letting us play Mr. Driller with a touch screen does not change the fact that Meteos kicks his sorry butt.

Mega Man Strategy

2006-02-23T15:37:00.000-05:00

Did you know there was a strategy game built around Mega Man for the PC? No? Me neither. Apparently, Rock Man Strategy was only released in China and is now very difficult to find. Eleni put up a little article alerting me to its existence. Now if only I could give it a try.

1080p - Only Hype

2006-02-23T14:15:00.000-05:00

Peter Putman of HDTVExpert.com has posted a great article about the mysteries and myths of the 1080p resolution HDTVs coming to market. The verdict? Right now, and for the foreseeable future, 1080p is a pipe dream used to hype the sale of the most expensive TVs possible.

First of all, no signal or content available plays in 1080p format. None. What about the upcoming HD-DVD and BluRay formats scheduled to launch in a few months?

If either format is used to store and play back live HD content, it will have to be 1920x1080i (interlaced again) to be compatible with the bulk of consumer TVs. And any progressive-scan content will also have to be interlaced for viewing on the majority of HDTV sets.

What about feature films or shows recorded in HDTV. Surely they are presented in 1080p, right?

There is a 1080p/24 production format in wide use for prime time TV shows and some feature films. But these programs must be converted to 1080i/30 (that’s interlaced, not progressive scan) before airing on any terrestrial, satellite, or cable TV network.

Well, surely, if the TVs coming out now can support 1080p, then the content can’t be far behind, can it? I’m sure lots of companies are recording their shows and movies right now using 1080p in 60 frames/second just waiting for the TVs sold to catch up, right?

At present, there are no off-the-shelf broadcast cameras that can handle 1080p/60, a true progressive format with fast picture refresh rates. It’s just too much digital data to handle and requires way too much bandwidth or severe MPEG compression. (Consider that uncompressed 1920x1080i requires about 1.3 gigabits per second to move around. 1080p/60 would double that data rate.)

Armed with this information, it looks like BluRay data transfer speeds aren't fast enough to even playback a 1080p movie.

We are settling into an HDTV era of 720p for high speed action and videogames at 60 frames / second, and 1080i for film. The HDTV change has been a long-time coming; it takes everyone to buy into the new standards for them to work. That includes broadcasters, producers, the film industry and consumers. Attempting to force another new non-standard down everyone’s throat before the current standard is even adopted is a bad move precipitated by TV manufacturers in an attempt to extract the greatest cost margin possible from consumers.

If you were on the fence about getting an HDTV because you were waiting to hold out for a 1080p set, just forget about it. Pick up a good TV that you can afford today knowing that 720p and 1080i are all you will need for a long time to come.

Doggie Dip Day

2006-02-23T13:07:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to posting the video of the Doggie Dip Day that Montgomery County, MD held last September. If you don't remember the original post, Doggie Dip Day is a day in which the county opens all of the outdoor pools to our canine friends. The pools are prepared without chemicals that would harm the dog. I brought along the camcorder to record the day's events.

Thanks Eleni!

High Definition Gaming - Best Resolution?

2006-02-22T14:05:00.000-05:00

With all the talk of HDTV and the next round of upcoming consoles, one has to wonder what the best resolution for gaming is.

HDBeat.com has a great article up about the different resolutions and what it means for gamers.

They state that higher resolutions such as 1080i and 1080p only run in 30 framer-per-second while 720p and 480p both run in 60 frames-per-second. 30 frames a second is just fine for movies, but as gamers we usually require the fastest possible systems for our action and twitch-based games.

The article also calls into question the PS3's required HDMI connection, pointing out that even TV's manufactured by Sony often don't support 1080P. With Sony's track record of over-promising and under delivering and the confusion of resolutions and formats, the article remains skeptical until Sony can show off the goods. Even then, what good is 1080P gaming if it is twice as jerky as 720P or even 480P?

What do you have or plan on getting for your gaming setup? Is HDTV worth it at this point in the game before we know about all 3 consoles and their capabilities?

Children of Mana RPG for Nintendo DS

2006-02-21T10:20:00.000-05:00

I like a nice long game with a great story that I can really sink my teeth into. RPGs typically fit this bill, and there's a real doozy of one coming to the Nintendo DS.

Children of Mana is the latest entry into the Secret of Mana games. Like other entries in the series, it supports wireless cooperative multiplayer; a great way to play with friends and family.

Click Here to download the video. It shows not only gameplay footage, but spectacular cutscenes that highlight the fantastic sense of art and style the game contains.

Portable Movie Sales Dry Up

2006-02-16T10:30:00.000-05:00

Sony is running into some problems with the sale of portable movies on the Universal Media Disc (UMD) format for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). Movie companies are pulling many of their future releases for a variety of reasons including:

Many movies do not sell well for the portable device; comedy does fairly well, but the audience isn’t very wide or deep.

People can’t play the PSP version of the movie on their TV and don’t like purchasing the same movie more than once, one time to watch at home and again to watch on the PSP.

With new high-definition versions of movies scheduled to hit store shelves later this year, retailers will require room to stock and sell these new formats. As such, something has to give, and that would be the poorly performing UMDs.

Here's what Sony SHOULD have done from the get-go:

Never imagined the UMD
The PSP should run games off of ROM chips (not Flash ROM for those claiming it would be too expensive). The PSP would have had faster loading times, better battery life, greater durability/reliability, and could be smaller. Instead, we are stuck with the already outdated UMD format and all the drawbacks of optical discs. The only advantage of the UMDs are the amount of storage space they provide, important for movies, not as much for games. This one is kind of hard to undo since the PSP has already been available for a year. It isn’t beyond the realm of possibility with a redesign akin to the Nintendo DS Lite.

Downloadable Video
The PSP should have launched with a video download service where users could buy movies online and save them to Memory Stick. Sony would make a killing on Memory Stick sales. Instead, they let Apple and Google beat them to the punch. Now sales of UMDs dwindle.

Make the PS3 a Recorder
The PS3 will come with the ability to playback DVDs. Why not embed the ability to copy the contents of a DVD to a Memory Stick for viewing on the PSP? Sony could control the fair-rights copyright within the PS3 and PSP since they create the hardware for both. They could enforce that your are only allowed to copy the DVD to a PSP a set number of times, much like iTunes handles digitally rights managed music.

Here’s why it would be successful:
Many movies do not sell well on UMDs, and producing a movie on UMD is a fairly expensive affair. Discs have to be duplicated, packaging printed, UMDs shipped to retailers, etc. Stocking movies online would remove the production form the costs of the movie, allowing Sony and the movie studio to reap more of the cost of the sale. The online store could be tailored to suggest new movies to PSP owners based on their previous viewing habits.

PSP owners would buy more movies if they were cheaper. This increases the value of the device to the consumer, ensuring they utilize the PSP more often, for longer and in public. Public use of the PSP is free advertising for Sony. Sony should think of the PSP as a long-term relationship rather than trying to gouge consumers with each $20+ UMD sale.

If people could buy a DVD and use the PS3 to watch it on their TV as well as use it to copy the DVD to the PSP, people would see a greater value in both the PSP and the PS3. It would solve the problem consumers have with buying two copies of the same movie, an understandable complaint.

High Definition movies wouldn’t compete with UMDs in retail if there was a good digital distribution method for acquiring movies or creating portable versions of DVDs. Sony is already fighting to make sure their Bluray formay is the HD movie format of choice, why would they want to battle against themselves for shelf-space? It essentially cuts into either their HD-movie retail space OR their UMD movie shelf space. Either way, Sony loses.

Analysis Of System Expectations-2006

2006-02-10T11:55:00.000-05:00

Famitsu, the Japanese gaming magazine, recently released the results of a survey they undertook concerning which game console is likely to be the leader in 2006. Famitsu polled retailers (113), developers (47) and gamers (370). The results showed some interesting things on the surface, but point to much larger issues and trends when examined in detail.

Gamers
Ganers were asked which system they think will be the most successful in 2006, not which system they plan on purchasing.

Click chart for larger version.

The Xbox 360 results are no real shocker since Japanese gamers never really acquired the taste of Microsoft’s console last generation, and it looks like this generation is no different. The PS3 hype pulls out with a nice lead and gamers have a good feeling for the DS as well, no doubt being based on 2005’s stellar lineup in Japan for the handheld. The real shocker is the PSP, obtaining fewer predictions of success from the average gamer in Japan than the Xbox 360. This statistic is a painful wakeup call for Sony whose handheld has all but fallen off of the mindshare radar of gamers in their own home country.

Retailers

Click chart for larger version.

Retailers, like gamers, also responded favorably to the pre-PS3 hype, probably due to years of PS2 retail success. The Nintendo DS’s future looks bright to retailers as well. Retailer’s expectation of the PSP this year is better than that of the gamer, but it is still rock-bottom overall, tied evenly with the niche Xbox 360.

Something to keep in mind is that retailers have the least amount of influence when it comes to the success of a game console. Gamers are the ones that come in to purchase the systems, so their opinions about what consoles will be successful are more likely to create reality. Why do gamers buy consoles? For games! Which is where developers come into the picture.

Developers
Developers are a key portion of the equation since they actually develop the games that retailers sell and gamers buy. It takes a series of successful games to launch a game system into the stratosphere of the people's mindshare. Keeping an eye on where developers are focusing their efforts leads to a fairly accurate prediction of where the gamer’s excitement will eventually be focused and where the retailer will see success as well.

Click chart for larger version.

The developer survey results show a much better outlook for the future of Sony’s PSP, with almost 3x the number of developers responding favorably than did so for the Xbox 360. Developer interest is strangely close between the Nintendo Revolution and the PS3. This could possibly indicate that while retailers and gamers both have high expectations for Sony’s upcoming console, the actual developers making games have less interest in developing for the platform. As a result, PS3 titles may suffer in quantity or quality, altering gamer and retailer reactions. Another thing to note about the PS3 is that neither gamers or retailers have any real-world experience with the console. Only developers have had the opportunity to run games on the PS3. Could this abnormally low response to the PS3 indicate developer’s unhappiness with the PS3 as a development environment?

Developers are clearly in love with the Nintendo DS. The largest spread between any two adjacent systems can be found between the Nintendo DS’ 49.9% developer response and the PS3’s 16.7% response. In the Nintendo DS, developers have found a platform that requires fewer development resources to create a game, a rapidly growing installed base, and a system that allows unprecedented creative freedom with the innovative new feature set.

Note: The gamers response also had an entry for PS2 for those gamers who thought the PS2 will be the leading system in 2006. I did not include this information in the charts since it was not available for all groups polled.
Source: Gamasutra

2006-02-08T13:23:00.000-05:00

The new Samsung A920 is here. First impressions are important. It is a solidly constructed phone brimming with features and two color screens, one on the inside of the clamshell design and one outside. I'll provide more detailed impressions as time goes on. Today, I'm testing the streaming Sirius radio stations at work using the included headphones.

If you have any questions about the phone, the features or multimedia aspects of it, leave a comment and I'll try and respond.

A920 - Try & Compare

2006-01-31T10:08:00.000-05:00

Sprint just informed me they will be sending me a brand new Samsung A920 phone to test and review for a few months. Supposedly, the phone has commercial-free streaming radio stations, Instant Messenger capabilities (with AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger), live TV broadcasts, and EV-DO web browsing. The EV-DO is something I am very interested in since I do a lot of web surfing on the Treo 650.

Over the next few months, I'll be comparing the phone and the experience it provides to the Treo 650. It will be difficult to get used to a phone without a full-blown keyboard, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Just as a disclaimer, Sprint is giving me the phone and 6 months of service with it. At the end of the 6 months, I have the option to continue service but pay for it. No money exchanged hands so I'll be able to give you a fair and accurate accounting of the phone and how it stacks up.

Revolutionary Ideas

2005-12-09T11:14:00.000-05:00

MTV.com - Video Games has up a great article about a hands-on event during which they got to sample the new 3D Nintendo Revolution controller. They report that many developers are jazzed about the new method of playing games and will offer enough support to produce a satisfying array of titles by the time the system hits stores in 2006.

"In certain genres this is going to feel so good that it's hard to imagine Sony and Microsoft not also offering this as an option," said Jack Sorensen, executive vice president of worldwide studios at THQ where an undisclosed number of Revolution games are under development.

Guha Bala, president of Activision's New York development studio Vicarious Visions also shared some excellent ideas for roleplaying games. "A player in a role-playing game who needs to cast a spell at one moment could suddenly use the controller as a magic wand, for example. Better yet, players could design their own gestures to trigger different spells."

If half of what the developers are thinking of comes to fruition, we are indeed headed for a revolution in video games.

Snow Mario

2005-12-07T10:53:00.000-05:00

It'a Me! SNOW MARIO!

Thanks to Celsdogg

Why is the PSP Closed?

2005-12-01T14:36:00.000-05:00

If Sony opened up the PSP for development, it would be great for everyone.

More people would buy the PSP
If people knew they could install the programs they wanted on the PSP without fear of Sony coming around with a new firmware to break functions, then more people would buy the PSP. Imagine if your Palm would only run software sold by Palm Inc. Or imagine your PC only running software by Microsoft. Crazy!

More PSPs = More Games
If more people own PSPs, more developers will make games for the PSP. When a development team sits down with 5 million dollars and decides to make a game, are they going to put that 5 million into a PSP game and hope that the tiny minority of people that have a PSP will buy it, or will they make a PS2 game where their audience is 50 times larger?

More games sold = more money for Sony
Sony makes money on the sale of the games. Every game sold means Sony hears little cash-register sounds. Just like UMD movies (those are worth more than Gold to Sony.) So the larger the audience is, the more potential for blockbuster games and the richer Sony becomes. Don't they want that?

Memory Shticks!
Sony makes a KILLING on Memory sticks! There's a reason Memory Shticks cost more than an equivalent SD card. That extra cost goes to line Sony's dwindling profits. If people make great software for the PSP you can bet that more people will be buying memory sticks to run it off of. Even 3rd party companies have to pay royalties to Sony if they make thing Memory Stick Compatible so Sony wins anyway.

It is a bad business decision for Sony to try and break homebrew with every patch. Additional "features" such as RSS newsreaders, web browsers and email programs should come from the community while the folks at Sony spend their time trying to excite developers into making games for the dying platform.

Rouge = GameBoy + PC

2005-12-01T13:42:00.000-05:00

Imagine a full-blown PC stuffed into an overgrown Gameboy shell and you’ll have the basic idea behind Rogue.

The system really is a marvel. Not because of its size. I have a smaller Tablet PC that I play Unreal Tournament 2004 on. But the Rouge is designed around gaming. As such, the unit has game controls built right into the system. I’ve longed for something as simple as a D-Pad and buttons on the face of my TC1100. Rogue integrates analog/digital pad, arcade/keyboard buttons, trackball, scroll wheel and analog triggers right into the case. Swappable memory and CPU cards mean the system is modular enough to grow.

They have a funky new design as well as some videos of the older model playing games such as Half Life 2 and Doom 3 on the site.

thanks to Blademonkey for the tip

Embrace the Revolution

2005-11-30T16:04:00.000-05:00

Violet grew up playing her big brother's Nintendo. The last game she played was Super Mario Bros 3 in 1990. Now, she's all grown up and a member of the Revolution.

Why are 'traditional' gamers so down on the new gaming audience prepared to take the world by storm? Is it because the Revolution is something different and they fear change? Or is it because the typical male-dominated, testosterone-filled gaming community is about to be home to a whole host of new players?

If the games are focused on being fun, more and more people like Violet will be playing games. If gamers would just get away from their 'boys club' mentality and play some games that aren't focused on sports and/or killing, they may find that there are a whole lot of members of the opposite sex that may enjoy spending some quality gaming time with them.

Embrace the Revolution

UPDATE: There is now a larger version of Violet's picture available.

Happy Birthday Nintendo DS!

2005-11-21T14:18:00.000-05:00

One year ago today, Nintendo unleashed a bizarre little creation upon an unsuspecting world, the Nintendo DS.

The DS threw convention to the wind on a good number of fronts. It was the first system from Japanese developers to launch outside of Japan. It was the first game console with Wi-Fi, a built-in microphone, a touch screen and two displays.

Many claimed that this was the end of the road for Nintendo in the face of Sony’s looming juggernaut, the PSP; that the DS was nothing but a gimmick and could never be a real game system. Yet over the past year, something happened. Sony’s PSP that was supposed to take handheld gaming out of the ghetto, never picked up steam.

In fact, in the year since the system's launch, the Nintendo DS has been pushing boundaries in all directions. It inspires non-gamers to try something new with games like Brain Training for Adults and Nintendogs. It provides a home to great traditional types of games such as Castlevania and Advance Wars. The DS even forges ahead with a unified online gaming service, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection launching Mario Kart into the stratosphere.

In the face of all the opposition presented by gaming magazines and blogs, somehow the Nintendo DS has come out on top in the first year. Only time will tell what next year will look like, but if current trends and upcoming titles are any indication, the DS is here to stay.

Happy Birthday Nintendo DS!

PS3 + Hard Drive + Online = Xbox 360

2005-11-17T09:57:00.000-05:00

Recently announced is a telling truth about the PS3’s supposed power.

To date, the most impressive interactive PS3 footage shown is of the infamous Metal Gear Solid 4 teaser, presented at the Tokyo Game Show. While a nice looking game, it most assuredly wasn’t up to snuff compared to the previous pre-rendered PS3 videos shown, yet Playstation fans everywhere are holding on to this one interactive demo as proof that ‘their’ upcoming system of choice will be the most powerful.

Hideo Kojima, the game’s creator, has now gone on record saying that the Xbox 360 is capable of running the PS3's Metal Gear Solid 4 interactive presentation.

That’s right. The best that the PS3 has to offer is available on November 22, 2005 in the form of an Xbox 360.

Sony is running a classic campaign. They aren’t showing their hand with the PS3. Instead, they present a few carefully selected pre-rendered videos and a lot of talk about how powerful the system is. Sony’s hope is that people don’t buy the Xbox 360 and wait a year for the PS3. They know that if they showed off real gameplay footage, people could compare it directly to the Xbox 360 and see that there is little-to-no difference. Instead, they allude to the power and mystery of the system knowing imagination is a force much more powerful than any screen shot. They pulled similar moves with the launch of the PS2.

It is also well known that the first good game for the PS2 didn’t appear until more than a year after the system’s launch. If we use this information to make a prediction about the PS3, especially in light of how difficult programming the Cell processor is reported to be, one comes up with a disturbing prediction:

* You can get an Xbox 360 this year before Christmas that is capable of running the most advanced PS3 technical demonstration shown.

* Next year (probably around this time) the PS3 will be released, without a hard drive and without a unified online service, two huge selling points of the Xbox 360.

* It will cost at least as much as the Xbox 360 does today, if not more, plus the cost of memory cards.

* By the PS3 launch, the Xbox 360 will have had at least one price drop.

A year after the PS3’s launch, it may get its first really good game.

That would be a two year span in which Xbox 360 will be cranking out real next-generation titles. Holdouts will be left with their original PS2 in the interim while the world moves on without them.

Free Castlevania Music

2005-11-15T11:32:00.000-05:00

Online retailer, eStarland is giving away Castlevania: Curse of Darkness music CDs. These discs contain the best part of the recent Castlevania game, the music. While it has been long known that Castlevania belongs in two dimensions instead of 3, the music of the series continues to excel.

Grab one of these today before they are all gone!

iBeat you can see me at night!

2005-11-08T16:56:00.000-05:00

I'm a sucker for things that glow. I put EL cable in a Sega Dreamcast and even some LEDs on my ceiling fan. This takes the cake though. Headphones where the cable itself lights up. I don't know if I could walk around in public showing off the fact that I am listening to music by broadcasting it with a big neon sign.

Real Revolution News!

2005-10-31T15:35:00.000-05:00

In a recent European interview with Meristation.com (online Spanish magazine), Jim Merrick from Nintendo of Europe has let a few things out about the Revolution:

LAN Play
It is now confirmed that, in addition to being able to play online, you will also be able to play some Revolution games over a local area network (LAN). The LAN games will work a lot like DS games currently do, many of which only require a single copy of the game!

Worldwide Launch
Often times, consoles are launched in Japan first and don’t make it to the USA for a good 6-9 months. No longer. Nintendo already launched the DS in the USA first and this time they will launch the Revolution across the world within the span of 14 weeks. Europe, Japan and USA will all get the Revolution roughly around the same time!

Improved N64
Nintendo 64 games, when played on the Revolution through the ‘virtual console’, will receive a frame rate boost, making the games play more smoothly than ever before. Even better than the originals!

When you see the games, you will say ‘WOW!”
Jim Merrick went on to say that the graphics produced by the Revolution will look great compared to those seen on the PS3 or Xbox 360!

Thanks to Gaming Age Forums for the news

GameBoy Advance Micro Faceplate Mockups

2005-10-31T15:22:00.000-05:00

Check out these sweet GameBoy Advance Micro Faceplate mockups. They have one for the Game Gear, the PSP, Neo Geo Pocket Color and original GBA. They even have a mockup of the MegaMan inspired PET devices.

Super Pumpkin Mario World

2005-10-30T22:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Haloween Everyone!

Feel free to link to your own pumpkin pictures in the comments section!

Revolution - Pumpkin Flavored!

2005-10-30T00:50:00.000-04:00

Amyheartsjapan has created a pumpkin revolution with her rendition of the Nintendo Revolution controller, jack-o-lantern style.

Nintendogs Can Get You Laid

2005-10-27T13:26:00.000-04:00

In Great Britain, the act of 'toothing', using your Bluetooth to find people with which to have sex, got a lot of press.

Nintendogging can be used for pretty much the same thing, only Nintendoggy style. Now, the same thing is happening with Nintendogs' wireless 'Bark Mode.'

The site Nintendogging.com is used to find other people with witch you can swap data. The site advertises, "Swap pups! Do tricks for others! Soap up a friend!"

Entries on the site include suggestive themes such as:

"Wet and willing -Betty the Labrador"
"Bitch wants sausage. - Lady Daschund"
"Need OBEDIENCE lessons? - Miss Lead-Lash"

Who ever said that Nintendogs is just for kids is missing out on the puppy love.

Homestar Runner Mario Paint

2005-10-21T09:58:00.000-04:00

The Brothers Chaps made their first Homestar Runner cartoon in Mario paint for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System way back in 1996. Their recent cartoon takes the characters back to their roots. Instead of appearing in Flash, as they normally do, their new cartoon was created entirely in retro Mario Paint. It is downright amazing! Check out what a little time and imagination can do with a cool tool like Mario Paint.

More about Mario Paint can be found in Wikipedia.

Watch the new Mario Paint-creation here.

Rave: The GameCube Fighting Import

2005-10-20T11:53:00.000-04:00

Here's a link to a 4-player GameCube fighting game similar to Power Stone on the Dreamcast. I've had it for a number of years and the game is a blast to play, especially at parties! Now I'm auctioning it off on eBay.

Rave: The Groove Adventure is now difficult to find.
Import stores sold out years ago.

If you are interested in importing games, Rave: The Groove Adventure is a great place to start. Most of the game is in English. You can also find a helpful translation for the rest of it here, although I never used it (Picking up a large red orb with a lighting bolt symbol in it means your opponent is gonna get screwed no matter what language you speak.
). If you need help playing import games, check out this guide to mod your cube or just pick up FreeLoader to play any import games on your system without modding.

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Mad Gamer Alert!

2005-10-20T11:43:00.000-04:00

The recent Mad Gamer article over at BuzzScope is in and boy is he MAD! This time, the article is all about the reasons EB Games sucks the big one.

Here is the summary:

1) EB trains employees to force-feed games upon consumers.

...the corporate scumbags actually pay people to spy on their employees. They call these spies "secret shoppers". If an employee is witnessed not completing the long list of crap to force a sell down someone's throat then they will face disciplinary action.

2) Employees can't tell the truth

...they really aren't allowed to tell you if they think a certain game sucks. If they ever told you that Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects sucked ass, they would face disciplinary action.

Should an EB employee tell you that a game or accessory is awesome, do NOT believe them. It's probably associated with the "Vendor of the Month" program also known as V.O.M. I actually had to lie to customers and tell them that Mad Catz made great accessories.

3) Positively STEALING

All too often and conveniently, the scanner will not register a game trade-in or two. It will still beep though and you'll think you got credit for what was just scanned. Not! This little practice is called creating "positive inventory". "Positive inventory" is often used to offset any losses the store may incur over time. Please keep in mind that these employees are not taking your games, but the company is.

Personally, I don't shop at EB games. I find their employees dim-witted and their trade-in prices insulting. It is good to know I'm not the only one.

Thanks Celsdogg

PSP in a Pickle

2005-10-20T09:18:00.000-04:00

It has recently been announced that Sony will be promoting a PSP bundle entitled, the PSP Giga Pack. The new promotion is priced even higher than the standard PSP price at $299 and includes the 2.0 firmware update making it difficult-to-impossible to play homebrew software or emulators on the PSP.

Now, let me ask you a little question. If you were on the fence about picking up a PSP before, maybe because there wasn't really anything in the library to motivate you, would walking into a store and seeing a new higher price be enough to spur you on and reach for your wallet?

There is reason to suspect that the new higher price is to compete with Apple and their new video-playing iPod. Sony has said time and time again that the PSP isn't a video game machine but a multimedia device. Well, they are partially right, it isn't a video game machine; not when the library is so devoid of original ideas and compelling gameplay. As a multimedia device, it barely passes the test of MP3 player and video playback is a joke unless you employ 3rd party tools (which are better than ANYTHING offered by Sony) or choose to purchase UMD movies.

If Sony LOWERED the price, it would have more units in the hands of consumers who would then buy games for it. Games are where Sony makes the money. (Sony makes tons of money off of UMD movies too, but I'll give the general populace the benefit of the doubt and pretend that people overall are too smart to buy such trash.)

As it turns out, Sony CAN'T lower the price any more. They are already throwing money away with each unit and moving production to China to cut costs.

Now they've got themselves in a pickle: can't lower price, GBA and DS are kicking it's ass on the games front, Apple scooping up people interested in mobile video. That leaves the PSP in an awkward situation with very few strengths except a bunch of old PS2 ports.

The F is for FUN!

2005-10-17T10:22:00.000-04:00

I started playing F-Zero for the Nintendo 64 the other day. Having never owned a 64 before, I was interested in what all the fuss was about.

The very first thing that ran through my head was how goddamn primitive the game looked. It was downright awful! How could I play something that looked like it came from the polygon dark ages?

Not even 5 min into the game, I didn't even see the graphics. I was too worried about hitting the boost pads and drifting around corners. The controls are tight and responsive, the action, FAST!

A great game causes graphics to melt away. Who has time to appreciate pretty graphics when 100% of your attention is focused on gameplay?

Sure, graphics attract people to a game (or turn them off of it) but it is the gameplay that keeps people coming back. And a great game shouldn't be left behind because there are fancier ways of playing. If something is still fun, then play it. If it isn't fun any more, start looking for something that IS fun.

Novelty, Nostalgia Hint at Nintendo Success

2005-10-07T19:46:00.000-04:00

Kikizo Games has a great little article looking at the recent Japanese sales chart, and the future.

"The Japanese charts tell of the decline of the home console in that country and the subsequent takeover by handhelds. Where previously you would be hard pressed to find anything but PlayStation 2 games on the weekly Japanese sales, the latest Top 10 is populated by no less eight portable games.

The big winner in all this is Nintendo, which is banking on both the popularity of its rich past and the novelty of the DS and the games on it. The success of this strategy on its handhelds is not only good news for the company right now, but it bodes well for its biggest leap of faith: the Revolution. "

Nintendo DS Games Galore!

2005-10-06T09:18:00.000-04:00

The skies have opened for the rainy season of games. As we ramp up for the fall/winter torrent of games, a little forecasting allows us to look at what comes next.

A whole slew of new games were recently announced for the Nintendo DS along with a huge batch of screen shots. Check out the collection of screen shots below or click through to see even more!.

Thanks to Nintendo Gal and GameWatch.

Nintendo Multimedia Channel - Thoughts

2005-10-02T11:58:00.000-04:00

This Audio Blog entry explores multimedia possibilities of the Play-Yan, GameBoy, Nintendo DS and Nintendo Revolution. We look at ideas for bringing them together and the possible reasons why Nintendo has yet to release the Play-Yan in the USA.

2005-09-26T14:21:00.000-04:00

Here is Miyamoto listening to my NES Bluetooth Handset.

2005-09-26T14:20:00.000-04:00

Its Miyamoto himself.

2005-09-26T14:19:00.000-04:00

Reggie Fils-Aime and the family

2005-09-26T14:16:00.002-04:00

The place is nice. We are some of the first inside the doors. I'm number 31.

2005-09-26T14:16:00.001-04:00

Inside the Nintendo World Store at last!

2005-09-26T14:16:00.000-04:00

People are still playing!

2005-09-26T14:15:00.004-04:00

Daybreak and the line has extended the entire block.

2005-09-26T14:15:00.003-04:00

Sleepy?

2005-09-26T14:15:00.002-04:00

More pics of people in line. Let me know if you know these people.

2005-09-26T14:15:00.001-04:00

More pics of people in line. Let me know if you know these people.

2005-09-26T14:15:00.000-04:00

More people in line.

2005-09-26T14:14:00.003-04:00

More pics of people in line. Let me know if you know these people.

2005-09-26T14:14:00.002-04:00

This crew started breakfast around 5:00. Man was the coffee good too!

2005-09-26T14:14:00.001-04:00

Kaya in the wee hours of the morning.

2005-09-26T14:14:00.000-04:00

Some people had support crews. These guys had friends bring them chairs. We weren't so lucky. We had no chairs, food, pillows or blankets to sit on.

2005-09-26T14:13:00.000-04:00

Anastasia got bored after a while and started snapping pics of the tree above our camp. I got bored and started snapping pics of Anastasia snapping pics of the tree.

2005-09-26T14:10:00.005-04:00

Let me know if you know these people.

2005-09-26T14:10:00.004-04:00

The Power Glove!

2005-09-26T14:10:00.003-04:00

Let me know if you know this person.

2005-09-26T14:10:00.002-04:00

Let me know if you know this person.

2005-09-26T14:10:00.001-04:00

Let me know if you know these people.

2005-09-26T14:10:00.000-04:00

Let me know if you know these people.

2005-09-26T14:09:00.005-04:00

Let me know if you know these people.

2005-09-26T14:09:00.004-04:00

Let me know if you know these people.

2005-09-26T14:09:00.003-04:00

Asleep in line.

2005-09-26T14:09:00.002-04:00

Let me know if you know this person.

2005-09-26T14:09:00.001-04:00

Let me know if you know these people.

2005-09-26T14:09:00.000-04:00

Let me know if you know this person.

2005-09-26T14:08:00.001-04:00

Let me know if you know this person. He is having his Zapper signed by Miyamoto.

2005-09-26T14:08:00.000-04:00

Playing PC games while waiting. World of Warcraft while waiting in line? I hope they have extra batteries.

2005-09-26T14:07:00.001-04:00

Let me know if you know these people.

2005-09-26T14:07:00.000-04:00

This gentleman is wearing a hat from Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Funny!

2005-09-26T14:05:00.001-04:00

Let me know if you know this person. He illustrated this great picture of Miyamoto!

2005-09-26T14:05:00.000-04:00

Let me know if you know these people.

2005-09-26T14:04:00.003-04:00

Let me know if you know this person.

2005-09-26T14:04:00.002-04:00

Let me know if you know these people.

2005-09-26T14:04:00.001-04:00

Another pic of the Canadian team. Woo!

2005-09-26T14:04:00.000-04:00

Let me know if you know this person. He's kissing his DS. Awww!

2005-09-26T14:03:00.005-04:00

Let me know if you know these people.

2005-09-26T14:03:00.004-04:00

Let me know if you know this person.

2005-09-26T14:03:00.003-04:00

Let me know if you know this person. I believe he is from the site, GamesAreFun.com.

2005-09-26T14:03:00.002-04:00

Let me know if you know this person.

2005-09-26T14:03:00.001-04:00

Let me know if you know this person.

2005-09-26T14:03:00.000-04:00

Let me know if you know this person.

2005-09-26T14:02:00.003-04:00

Let me know if you know this person.