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. →  Think outside the post.

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. →  This better not be as bad as everything else here.

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. →  While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not gaming.

Weekly News We Care About Wrap Up – 12.22.06

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Resident Evil 5 not coming in ‘07
1up has reported that the next proper sequel in the Resident Evil franchise will be coming in 2008, if not later. I don’t know where I’ll be living or working in six months and I’m supposed to care about a game that may not be out for three years? Human life probably won’t even exist by that point, and if it does, we will surely have evolved gills and other radical changes that will make gaming obsolete. Capcom might as well just say that Resident Evil 5 is never coming out.

Good games coming to the Virtual Console this Christmas
Some people have bitched about the low quality of Virtual Console titles. For every Zelda, Nintendo gives us a Solomon’s Key, Altered Beast and Tennis. →  In all ages, hypocrites, called producers, have put crowns upon the heads of thieves, called publishers.

Are gamers too jaded?

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Seeing as how most of us are around the 20 year mark, we’ve all probably seen and played a lot of video games in our lives. My collection alone contains well over 100 games, and that doesn’t include those I have traded in. This in and of itself isn’t a bad thing. Hell, the more the better. But when we start complaining about a new game that doesn’t do something that a 10 year old game does, we have to ask ourselves, “are we too jaded nowadays?”

Take, for example, Ocarina of Time. How insane was it when you first saw how big Hyrule Field was? For the time, that chunk of real estate was huge, and we truly felt OoT was special and epic because of it. →  NiGHTS into REaDS

Amazing adventures at Best Buy

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Last night I went to Best Buy with the intention of buying a portable RPG for my upcoming plane ride to England. I chose that particular store because it is close to home and closes late, not because it doesn’t suck. Looking for Contact for the DS, I had a myriad of experiences that I’d like to now share with you.

– The PS3 demo kiosk is not working. Some racing game is stuck at the course selection screen and there is a short loop of bad heavy rock music playing. This same game crashed at the same spot at the same Best Buy a few weeks ago. I’m not sure if that store got a bad kiosk or if all the kiosks are that awesome. →  Tony Hawk’s Pro Reader 3

GameCube Was Good, And Don’t You Forget It!

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There have been some rumblings on the Interweb in the last few months that Nintendo completely failed with the GameCube, some people saying it was their worst console to date. Sure, it’s not as popular as the PS2, but that doesn’t make it a failure.

Critics mostly point to the fact that the GC only sold 20 million consoles worldwide, compared to PS2’s 100 million. If you look at it like that, then yes, it looks like a failure. But for some odd reason, many people cite the original Xbox as a success story, even when it sold only 23 million units, three million more than GC. That just doesn’t add up.

Can you remember the games we got with our beloved GC? →  SNK Article Classics Vol. 1

Why I play the games I play

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While collaborating with the rest of the staff about yesterday’s article, I started to wonder a little more deeply, very much in the abstract way Jay was specifically trying to avoid, why I play the games I do. I think the answer to this question is very much the answer to the question of why play games at all, when there are hobbies/ways of life that are likely to lead to more sex/money/interpersonal relationships than video games.

A simple answer would be that I can never be a ninja, a WWII general, a wizard, an NFL quarterback, an etc, etc but video games allow me to come as close as I am likely to be able. I’m sure this is part of it, the desire to be immersed in a game to the point where I feel as though I am a part of it, but I do not think this is all, or even most of why I game. →  Reading. Reading never changes.

The Christmas Method

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My last Winter Break ever starts tomorrow, meaning a whole month of absolutely nothing to do. Nothing to do but try a little gaming experiment, that is.

Welcome to Flavor Country (tm?)

The project is simple. I’ve had a stack of games of either my own or my roommate’s ownership just waiting for me to either begin or finish. Time and again, I can’t sit down with any of them for more than an hour. I think I need a break from the modern game, or at least the modern game design.

I’m tired of required tutorials sequences for things I know how to do, and for games I’ve already played. I’m sick of slow introductions that string me along forever before I really get the reigns. →  Secread of Evermore

Wii Weather Channel Tells Weather, Gamers Complain

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…And I’m going to be one of those complainers. What? I can’t help it. What with the powers of blogging, and all.

Anyway, after updating my Wii (which never takes as long as those other guys), my forecast channel finally greeted me up on the main screen. I’m starting to like how the main screen is turning out, what with those blank boxes starting to disappear. Still makes me wonder, though, won’t we max out the available channels by the time Wii’s successor shows up? 48 channels may sound like a lot, but five years down the line? I’m not too sure about that.

After setting up my Forecast Channel by telling the Wii which city you live in or near, you finally get to see what we’ve been missing since launch. →  Ratchet & Read