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Posts Tagged nintendo

Massive mod chip raids

Aug 5

Posted by rosicrux in gaming | No Comments

Due to a weird interpretation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Nintendo and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided 32 locations in 16 states in search of mod chip makers and distributors.

Their interpretation? and why is US Customs involved? Because the chips violate the region encoding on the consoles. And also the belief that the chips were being “imported”.

This warranted all-out raids and arrests. Yeah. Screw the courts system, we’ll just raid everyone for this extremely violent crime. Mod chips are, after all, a gateway drug.

Guess which department “US ICE” is under. The Department of Homeland Security. Good ol’ Patriot Act to the rescue again!

Nintendo supports the raids, and they should because they were the ones that initiated contact with US ICE about doing this kind of thing in the first place.

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Wii Swordplay in Soul Calibur: Legends

Jul 13

Posted by rosicrux in gaming | No Comments

I really need to get a Wii.

As I’ve said on here a million times, I’m not much of a console gamer. Or at least, I don’t really consider myself one. I played all the classic Atari, Coleco, and Nintendo titles, but things got banal and monotonous for me after the Sega Genesis, and even that console had a vast pit of crappy games to go with the few gems.

I got the Xbox only after it had been out awhile, had dropped in price, and specifically to use as a media player/linux pc platform. I never even bought the PS or PS2, although I’ve played them a few times.

But there are three genres of games I prefer on consoles: Driving, Sports, and Fighting. Those just aren’t as fun on a PC, and translate much better to sitting in front of the TV with a controller.

My favorite fighting game series is Soul Calibur. I bought that game immediately after buying the Xbox, and it is definitely my most played Xbox title. It had stunning graphics and animation back then, and still looks and plays damn good today.

And now comes Soul Calibur: Legends for the Wii. We all know about the controller and we anticipate great things to be done with it. A couple weeks ago the trailer for the new Lego Star Wars on the Wii showed a first taste of what lightsaber battles could be like. But I had no idea they were going to integrate a Soul Calibur title to be used with it. This series stresses melee weapon combat, and does it better and more varied than any other fighting game. Now we can wear ourselves out swinging the staff or whipping Eve’s sword. I can only picture good things ahead. At least, after I finally get ahold of a Wii.

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Sony buckles, drops PS3 price by $100

Jul 9

Posted by rosicrux in gaming | No Comments

In a move everyone could predict, Sony swallowed their pride and finally dropped the price of the PS3 to $500. Just a bit higher than the most expensive Xbox360 package. This move should increase their sales somewhat, but as usual, they are making broad, boastful claims about it:

“Our initial expectation is that sales should double at a minimum,” Jack Tretton, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said in an interview.

Well, whatever. But I guess they figured it was safe to lose some money per console, as Microsoft dropped the big bombshell of extending everyone’s warranty on the XBOX360, costing them over a billion dollars, last week. Plus, Sony doesn’t exactly like being ignored at E3, which starts in a few days.

And the Wii, well you still can’t even find it in stores. Keep on truckin’.

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Anyone can make some Wii

Jun 28

Posted by rosicrux in gaming, software | No Comments

Nintendo announced WiiWare, which allows anyone with some developer moxie to produce games for the Wii.

“Independent developers armed with small budgets and big ideas will be able to get their original games into the marketplace to see if we can find the next smash hit,” said Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. “WiiWare brings new levels of creativity and value to the ever-growing population of Wii owners.”

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Original Mario composer: Koji Kondo plays

Mar 12

Posted by rosicrux in gaming | No Comments

Koji Kondo, who did the original music on games such as Super Mario Bros., played a little concert at the just-ended GDC. Here’s him warming up before the show, with a song you might just recognize:

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Super World of Mario Warcraft

Feb 12

Posted by rosicrux in gaming | No Comments

I wonder if kids in high school, or even college, that play World of Warcraft would have any idea what’s going on here.

I know what’s going on: AWESOMENESS!

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Play NES, in your browser, right now

Oct 10

Posted by rosicrux in gaming | No Comments

Sure, NES emulators have been around for awhile. But this is the easiest way to hop in an old school Nintendo game anywhere. vNES. It plays in your browser. Nothing to install, no ROMs to grab, no crappy Flash hack. Just Nintendo goodness.

I can’t stop playing Excitebike.

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PangYa!

Sep 10

Posted by rosicrux in gaming | No Comments

albatross18 bobI have no idea what it means, but that is the battlecry of the Albatross18 golf game.

While I’m not a big fan of golf, I have enjoyed a few rounds of Tiger Woods on the XBOX in my time. Albatross18 was introduced to me a couple weeks ago as Korean MMO golf game. I was slightly intrigued by a couple demo movies on their site, so I signed up. It turns out this game is a blast and the physics in it work surprisingly well.

There are a few modes of gameplay. The most popular is versus, where you play against up to 4 other people trying to get the lowest score and the highest Pang. This is played similar to real golf, where everyone takes a turn until everyone sinks the ball. There are also 30+ player tournaments which you don’t directly see the other players and play pretty much as fast as you can swing. You can see other players ball locations and standings, but that’s it. I learned quickly that you really have to book to finish 18 holes in 30 minutes.

While it seems to have a bit of lolicon influence, the characters are really well animated. Where they make their money is from the hordes that love to trick out the styles and ubergame the stats of their characters. This can be done with “Pang”, which is a money type system earned through game wins and extra style. Also, you can use “Cookies” which are only available by purchasing with real money. Most of the stuff bought with Pang is pure fluff, while Cookies buy the majority of the sought after stat boosters and outfits.

I actually have no problem with no stat enhancements, but I can see where they would be helpful. I have already won many versus games against people who are relatively decked out. Skill is definitely the main factor.

Speaking of skill, there are many “special move” type shots, such as the tomahawk, cobra, and super spins. More are expected in the next “Season” (they call new versions of the game “Seasons”).

The current season:

Upcoming Season 3:

What I just found out yesterday is that they are making a version of this game for the Wii. It will be called PangYa, and, of course, utilizes the versatile Wii Remote for the golf swings. It looks like a blast. I swear I haven’t wanted a console so bad since I was a kid.

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Wii fishing

Sep 4

Posted by rosicrux in gaming | No Comments

Here’s a couple demos of the Wii shown recently. They show fishing in the Wii Zelda game. I love how the little satellite “nunchuk” controller works in harmony with the Wii Remote.


bonus! old NES commercial for the original Zelda:

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Wii Tennis Video

May 10

Posted by rosicrux in gaming | No Comments

When Nintendo first started talking about the Nintendo Revolution, it sounded like a bunch of hype. I mean, they promised alot for the Gamecube, too, but the final product wasn’t all that impressive.

Later they showed off their unique controller design. This tweaked my interest, but it still seemed like spin to try and drum up support with little actual planning behind it.

Lately there have been a flood of demos and videos released, just before and after the name change to Wii, especially. Each one I see makes me want this console more and more, and I am not much of a console player.

Miyamoto demos the Nintendo controller by playing Tennis on the Wii, in this video. I have to admit, this is how I imagined future gaming would be like when I would wile away hours at the arcade as a kid in the ’80s. Nintendo is really onto something here, and if they can pull it off, especially at a decent pricepoint, I think it’s going to be massive.

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