Articles

Rumor Rounds: PSP2 w/ HDD?

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This one comes from a recent Samsung convention, revealing some sort of memory unit for the device, either designed for the existing unit or a future revision. Even though it would be awesome to have an HDD, I’m inclined to think that it really won’t save the PSP.

Technically, the PSP isn’t a bad system. It has all the pieces to make it a great machine, but Sony has done a horrible job making it useful.

First, regarding its multimedia capabilities, you can’t really watch anything unless it’s been properly converted. They gave us the Media Manager (which isn’t free, by the way), and the online community has given us PSP Video 9, the ultimate converter for the PSP. But if you want to watch video on the PSP, you have to learn about it first. And who really cares that much to go through all the hoops for it? Hardcore gamers probably would, but not the mass-market.

As for music, it’s a little bit better. →  Xenoblade Articles X

Houston — Wii have a success story

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“The Wii is just a gimmick, it’ll never work.”

“Everybody will have forgot about it in two months time.”

Those two statements have been on the tip of my tongue for a long time now, and I’ve been spouting them to anyone who would listen for even longer. In retrospect I probably sounded like a crazed ex-Nintendo employee hell-bent on putting a stop to their massive success, but it seems even my misplaced educated guesses have proven to be slightly awry. And so it is I announce with a mix of self loathing and excitement that I actually do love the Wii.

But then again, what’s not to love? The first day I brought my Wii home, all happy and proud like a cat that just got a pudding of monumental proportions, my whole family had had a crack at it. The games were simple: a game of bowling here and tennis there, but it was that very mantra of simplicity that made it such fun to play. →  You do not simply walk into reading more.

Beyond Good and Evil – Slightly less than amazing

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Beyond Good and Evil is the poster child for several “Most Underrated Games of All Time” lists. It has a small army of dedicated fans who will just about yell and scream at the unwashed masses who haven’t played it yet. To even consider it as a bad game is an act of treason to every website and hardcore gamer on the ‘net.

See if you can follow this: She wears green lipstick, a green headband, green jacket, off green pants, and her name is Jade.

Folks, get the noose ready, because I’m about to go for broke. While I have to blame some of it on the hype that was slathered on it for months on end, Beyond Good and Evil is nevertheless one of the most underwhelming gaming experiences I have ever had. I’ve heard all the arguments for it, and even the best have been unable to convince me of this game’s quality. I just can’t see it, though lord knows I’ve tried. →  READ3R

Wii Sells Like Wii-Cakes

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In little over a month, the Nintendo Wii has sold over 3.19 million units worldwide, according to VG Charts.org. For any console, that is a fantastic number, and Nintendo is deservedly riding on clouds lined with freshly printed Benjamins right now.

But how could this have happened? I mean, Nintendo is supposed to be dead last in the home console market, right? How can a company become so popular after being the most underrated console maker in the last generation? Am I taking crazy pills or something?

I guess the Wii really is all that and a bag of potato chips. We have reports that moms and sisters have been getting into the action, and people are getting so excited that they’re shattering their TV’s to show how excited they are.

One cannot argue that the Wii isn’t a great time, but you have to be amazed at how fast the thing is selling. Stores get a shipment in, and they’re all gone within a matter of minutes.To →  Assassin’s Read

Noob Xbox 360 Impressions

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For Xmas, I finally acquired a Microsoft Xbox 360, HDD included. And of course, I got it early in the day and was not able to play it until later that night. After nine nail biting hours without any system, I finally put the 360 through the ropes.

For a gamer that never really liked where Msoft was heading with the Xbox, I have to say I am enjoying 360 a lot. Maybe a little too much, in fact. The system’s got so much to mess around with that you can get overwhelmed without ever playing any games. I’m somewhat of a tech-savvy individual, so when a system lets you hook up your Media-Center PC and stream video to an HDTV in 1080i, I’m as happy as a toadstool that was just saved by a fat Italian plumber.

It took very little time to setup, too. I have Vista RC1 installed on my PC, which comes with Media Center, so it was all legit from the get go. →  I’m gonna take you for a read.

Best Game Ever – Warcraft III: Defense of the Ancients

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It’s hard to classify this review. On the one hand, Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) is a custom map for Warcraft 3 that has been around for four years. WC3 itself has been around for almost five years. This might qualify it as “best game ever” status (and it indeed received this status). The flip side is, DOTA is still actively maintained, has a huge community, and has a number of sponsored leagues, including at various Blizzard events. More bizarrely demonstrating the cult status of DOTA is the work of Swedish DJ Basshunter. Accordingly, given the active maintenance and evolution of the game, it’s hard to give it the necessary dinosaur status a Best Game ever has.

Regardless of what you call it, DOTA has been amusing gamers, including myself, for a very long time. It is, by an order of magnitude, the most popular Warcraft 3 custom map. The ongoing support and development of the map, particularly in today’s age of ADD gamers and game mod writers, is amazing. →  Oreshika: Tainted Postlines

Merry Christmas NiGHTS

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NiGHTS into Dreams for the Saturn brings to mind the topic of games as art. Not only because the game has artistic value, though. Fans of the title have been calling for a sequel from the second the original was released. Yuji Naka, the leader of the project, contemplated giving fans what they want but then decided NiGHTS should stand alone.

So what does this have to do with art? Gamers’ have the attitude that games are made for them and developers should value the input of their fans. This works nicely as long as we assume games are merely consumer products. But what if we hold that games are art? Doesn’t that make developers artists? It’s one thing to hope your favorite band makes more music you enjoy, but to demand they output exactly what you want to hear and to feel entitled to this is bizarre.

Realistically, most artists have at least some sense of the market place their art exists in. →  Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Post

Actual Use for an SD Card: Excite Truck

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Early last week, my girlfriend noticed that she had a surprise under our Christmas tree. Not one to bow down to that kind of challenge, she soon met my present with one of her own. Hesitating for only a second, we both agreed to exchange them early. She was now the happy recipient of an iHome, while I got to bask in the glory that is Excite Truck.

The game is definitely a fun experience. It’s like Motorstorm, only without the whole over-promise, under-deliver thing. I can also see a lot of Burnout 3 in it. In the very little time I’ve had with the game, I have to say it was a great present. Hopefully I’ll have a review of it soon, barring any unforeseen writer’s block.

But the real gem in this game is the fact that you can import music from an SD card and listen to them while playing. Excite Truck is actually the only launch game to utilize this awesome feature. →  Words are the towns and cities of letters.

OCRemix.org is da bomb

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Have you ever said to yourself, “Man, I really wish someone would remix the Super Mario Bros. theme with some jazz vocals. That would be sweet.” Seriously, who hasn’t wished that at least once in their life? Well, if you have, then your prayers have finally been answered. OCRemix.org is a site completely dedicated to hosting remixed versions of your favorite video game tunes.

Want a Salsa-flavored remix of Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s Special Zone? Or what about a techno version of Actraiser’s first level? This site is just filled to the brim with some awesome tracks. The songs themselves have to go through an approval process, so don’t worry about finding a song with some nut job screaming the vocals to FFX’s “Sudeki de Na” track. That shit won’t fly.

You can seach by remixers, songs, composers, and games, so you can find pretty much anything to your liking right off the bat. They even have a nifty “Latest Remixes” feature on the right side of the page. →  Garou: Mark of the Posts

Wii Have Internet. (Update 1)

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Nintendo is on a roll with these Wii updates. Hot on the heels of the Weather Channel release, the Big N has seen it fit to give their fans another reason to patiently wait while Mario collects coins on the bottom of the screen. Yes, that means the Internet Channel has been set free.

Although it’s only a trial version, it gets the job done in an admirable fashion. You’ll be surfing the net in no time, all in the confines of your dark, dank dungeon of sinful pleasure. But (there’s always a “but” with Nintendo nowadays) it’s definitely far from perfect.

First, there’s no javascript or quicktime, so forget about watching movie trailers on Apple’s site. We do get Flash, though, which means Youtube is a go, but there are reports that EU users are having problems with the site. You Old Worlders, drop us a line in the comments and prove us right/wrong.

Also, viewing pages on a screen not formatted for small text is a pain. →  All the lonely gamers, where do they all come from?