Archive for December 9th, 2006
Dutch Get Fighting Over Last Wii
The Wii shortages in Europe look like they’ve taken their toll on some people’s grip on reality, with the last remaining Wii at the MediaMarkt store in Zwolle, in the Netherlands, going to the winner of an impromptu bout of fisticuffs (well…some shoving and grappling, at least).
While on the one hand it’s kind of sad seeing people reduced to this kind of behaviour, it does beg the question: how awesome would it have been if the initial PS3 shipment allocations went down like this? Lines are for pussies, real men fight for their consoles.
Nintendo Wii bijzonder moeilijk verkrijgbaar [FOK! Games]
Today’s hottest game video: SMB3 in Lego
Today’s most-watched YouTube game video is a trailer for Final Fantasy Versus XIII. This upcoming PS3 title … okay, we just can’t do it. Final Fantasy fans, follow the link to get your fix. We’re sure you’ll love the game; Final Fantasy just seems to come up a lot on YouTube, and we want something different tonight.
For the rest of you, we offer the second-most-watched video of the day — with nearly as many views as the Final Fantasy trailer — a Lego animation of Super Mario Bros. 3. This brilliant video shows what SMB3 would look like if your TV rendered 2D images in Lego. The animation looks like a pixel-to-brick translation, recasting Mario in bright Lego colors.
It’s unclear if the animation is literally the labor-intensive process of animating each brick, but it looks great regardless. (Originating site, BitFlicks says that some videos use software effects.)
See the video after the break.
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EB/Gamestop FF XII CE Price Drop
EB/GameStop’s latest newsletter brings us news of some interesting price drops just in time for the holidays. The EB/Gamestop exclusive Final Fantasy XII Collector’s Edition has dropped from $59.99 to $49.99 making it the same price as the plain-Jane edition. The Collector’s Edition comes in the requisite fancy metal box, and includes:
- Developer’s Interviews
- History of Final Fantasy featurettes
- Final Fantasy XII U.S. Trailers
- Final Fantasy XII Japan Trailers
- Final Fantasy Art Gallery
Square/Enix’s Kingdom Hearts II also receives a drop from $49.99 to a paltry $29.99 and if you can make it past the stomach churning Little Mermaid levels, it’s totally worth the money.
Speaking of stomach churning, if you’re feeling brave, stop by and check out the gallery of photos from EB/Gamestop’s “FF XII Dress-up and Win Sweepstakes”. Not for the faint of heart…
Final Fantasy XII CE for $49.99 [GameStop]
Kingdom Hearts 2 for $29.99 [GameStop]
Video Game Bloggers Pwnd By CNN Reporter
The breaking Wii remote strap issue has made it all the way to CNN. If you tuned in on this particular day to find out about the war or any other pertinent news story, you had to wait until this amazing piece of tripe was finished.
The reporter does another typical “in depth” mainstream media story on the game industry and offers other people’s differing opinions on whether or not you should only use tiny motions to control your Wii or get your ass of the couch and wave your arms wildly like a total spaz. Chiropractor, Karen Ericson, says get your lazy bones up and use the full range of motion, while Bloggers Chris Grant and James Wiley (from that other game blog) warn against the dangers of overzealous playing. Grant and Wiley then go on to get their asses kicked by the intrepid reporter in a round of Wii boxing. Said reporter seems very pleased with himself after the punch fest is over and his opponents lie bleeding and motionless on the floor.
Watching this leaves me with one burning question. Doesn’t CNN have an editor in their company? (hmm, why does that phrase sound familiar?) “The hard pite might be keeping a grip on it” ? “Full rain of motion”? This is CNN, people, not some sort of blog where no one pays attention to the massive amounts spelling mistakes…
This Day in Gaming, December 9th
2003: EA releases Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for Xbox, PS2 and GC in the US today. (The book was already made into games in 2001 as well). Even though I enjoy the books, I’ve never had the slightest inkling to play any of the games (most of which are reported to not be very good).
So since there isn’t much to talk about the game, and today is a little slow for TDIG, let’s geek out to the books instead. What is going to happen in the last Harry Potter? Predictions?
Have gaming history, trivia, or famous birthdays you’d like to see in TDIG? Drop us a line at tdig@kotaku.com
Arcade Flyer Art Saturday: Moon War
Moon War:
In 1981, Stern released “Moon War” as a conversion for Scramble and a few other scrolling shooter games. Much like the other games of this ilk, the player manned a spaceship over the Moon’s terrain, shooting targets. Each of the 16 targets had it’s own point value that you would earn for destroying them. Using your shields to deflect enemy ships would cause your fuel to decrease, requiring you to stop at a “refueling base” to restore your energy. Stopping at these bases would earn you points and increase the difficulty of the game. Moon War featured a “top down” view of the game rather that the traditional “side scroll” view and featured a 2 player control layout with a “steering wheel” (a sort of spinning disc reminiscent of a trackball) and three buttons: Fire Missile, Warp Drive and Shields.
Once again, we have here a game that doesn’t quite live up to the pure awesomeness of the flyer. The 1940’s Buck Rogers style illustrations provide an interesting counterpoint to the pure eighties-ness of the model. I particularly love her sort of half-assed attempt at those Hooters-esque shorts that give full meaning to the words “The Ultimate Moon Shot” hovering right underneath. This “ass to the camera” pose was a very popular one for arcade flyers at this time. It’s really a shame that companies don’t advertise games like this anymore.
Arcade Flyer Art Saturday: Moon Shot
Moon War:
In 1981, Stern released “Moon War” as a conversion for Scramble and a few other scrolling shooter games. Much like the other games of this ilk, the player manned a spaceship over the Moon’s terrain, shooting targets. Each of the 16 targets had it’s own point value that you would earn for destroying them. Using your shields to deflect enemy ships would cause your fuel to decrease, requiring you to stop at a “refueling base” to restore your energy. Stopping at these bases would earn you points and increase the difficulty of the game. Moon War featured a “top down” view of the game rather that the traditional “side scroll” view and featured a 2 player control layout with a “steering wheel” (a sort of spinning disc reminiscent of a trackball) and three buttons: Fire Missile, Warp Drive and Shields.
Once again, we have here a game that doesn’t quite live up to the pure awesomeness of the flyer. The 1940’s Buck Rogers style illustrations provide an interesting counterpoint to the pure eighties-ness of the model. I particularly love her sort of half-assed attempt at those Hooters-esque shorts that give full meaning to the words “The Ultimate Moon Shot” hovering right underneath. This “ass to the camera” pose was a very popular one for arcade flyers at this time. It’s really a shame that companies don’t advertise games like this anymore.
Designing the ultimate gamer’s cabinet
Filed under: Culture
We were very impressed by Flickr member kriseattle22’s design for his gaming cabinet. Besides the finely crafted woodworking involved, the cabinet also featured hooks on each side for controller storage as well as two blue-lighted CPU fans for each console. The Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii have all been elevated so that heat can be exhausted below, as well.
Let’s use this as a template for the ultimate gamer’s cabinet and improve upon the design. Some improvements, both serious and farcical, we’d like to see:
- An upright Wii console. No offense to those who prefer the Wii lying flat, but the console’s beauty comes from its vertical position.
- We’re also wagering that the elevated platform and fans are a little extreme for the light-on-high-tech Wii console.
- Can we adjust the fans (and lighting) to be console specific? For example, have only the two adjacent fans on when the Xbox 360 is in use. And make them light up green.
- Side- or top-mounted AA battery recharger units would rock.
- Speaking of the Xbox 360, why not have a mini-fridge to house the power brick?*
- The controller hooks are a nice touch, but the convenience of sitting down and turning on a console wirelessly is lost. How about a custom-built coffee table to complement the cabinet?
- That NES up top looks mighty lonely …
- That bunny adjacent to the stand? Lose it — Nabaztags are the way to go.
Every cabinet, obviously, should be tailored-made to the specific gamer and his or her respective consoles and console needs. If you were building yourself a console cabinet (or having one built for you), what would like to see on it?
[Via MAKE]
* Joystiq does not support the idea of placing any sort of technology into a refrigerator / freezer compartment.
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European Wii Launch Impressions: Germany Edition
We’ve been getting lots of emails from around Europe with people sending in photos and their impressions of the Wii launch. If you have any of your own, please send them in, especially if you got pictures!
From Germany, Kotakuite, paxil, tells of the Wii goings on in Cologne.
The pictures were taken at the official release party at a Toys ‘R’ Us store in Cologne. They actually had around 400 units (!) for sale with 100 of them already pre-ordered. They told me they had that many because all other German Toys ‘R’ Us stores had to give a certain amount of their units to the one in Cologne. To be honest the ‘main event’ kind of sucked. They had a boring show with some wannabe celebrities … but who cares. I got a Wii!
I want to know who these “wannabe celebrities” were. Kevin Federline? David Spade? Kathy Griffin? Anyone else care to venture any guesses?
Sports Illustrated offers favorable Wii impressions
Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Sports
Sports Illustrated’s Adam Duerson praises Wii motion, especially in games like Wii Sports, noting the console’s ability to pique the interest of his non-gamer friends. Regarding how well the system’s pack-in whets the palate, he states: “Wii Sports is meant to showcase the motion-based features of the Wii in a very primitive, ground-level state. In other words: ‘Here’s what we can do. Just wait until we make it better!’ … [It] also happens to be the best example of what the Wii ultimately is: a group-friendly system that is easy to pick up and play on the fly because of its intuitiveness.”
UPDATE: Fixed grammatical errors.
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GameStop Hosts Mysterious Guitar Hero 2 Tournament
GameStop is holding a Guitar Hero 2 contest on February 3, 2007 at select GameStop stores. This appeared as a feature in one of their newsletters, but oddly, very little information is available at the moment. There’s no mention of what the prizes are, but they certainly have no problem with advertising how much the game is. I would venture to guess that a copy of the game will be one of the prizes, although, if you’re good enough to compete in a contest, one would assume you already own a copy. Gibson is listed as one of the sponsors, so let’s hope that a REAL guitar will be included as well.
To officially register you must do so at an actual store, but seeing as they don’t tell you which stores are actually hosting the events, you’ll have to call your local GS store and check. A call to my GS was met with a curt, “I have no idea what you’re talking about” and then a dial tone. Nice. There’s a page on their site where you can sign up to receive “more information”, but my sneaking suspicion is that it will just sign you up for their newsletter. This line sort of gave that away…
Click the Submit button below to sign up for more information and receive news and exclusive offers from GameStop. By clicking below you acknowledge that any information you submit may be used for marketing purposes.
I will be investigating this further as soon as I can get a hold of an employee who actually has any information. Until then it will be a contest shrouded in rock and roll mystery….
Viva Piñata missing from top Xbox Live titles
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Online, Simulations
Major Nelson has released this week’s Xbox Live activity report*. Gears of War is still atop the heap, but where’s Viva Piñata?
Microsoft’s ‘other’ big holiday title has enjoyed favorable reception, but continues to maintain a low profile. Perhaps most of the kid-centric fanbase is unplugged, but we’re wondering if some older gamers are signing out of their Live accounts before doing the Piñata dance. After all, a gamertag like ‘[l33t]murd3rd34thk1ll187′ would lose its impact if an all-night session of Viva Piñata was being broadcast to Xbox Live community members.
In related news, check out the Lost Planet multiplayer demo’s position; it currently ranks fourth among Xbox 360’s most popular Live titles. Could this be foreshadowing another Capcom hit, or is it just proof that we love freebies?
*Activity lists are calculated using data collected from unique Xbox Live users (all games are included; not just multiplayer titles).
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Kotaku Originals: From The Wii Down Under To The Blue Dragon Launch
Another week full of Kotaku originals featuring the Australian Wii Launch, Rainbow Six giving good face and Blue Dragon landing in Japan.
- Ashcraft’s Blue Dragon
- Blue Dragon Impressions
- Feature: Japan Gets Its RPG, Blue Dragon Launches
- Frag Dolls Hand Out $20k in R6 Vegas Comp
- Switzerland Is Wii Heaven
- On MGS: Portable Ops Driving Me Nuts
- Nintendo Short On UK Wii Shipments
- HowTo: Create Celebrity Faces in R6 Vegas
- Kotaku Labu: Create Celebrity Faces in R6 Vegas
- Wii Launch Australia: National Reader Roundup
- Wii Launch Australia: Wii Play Impressions
- Wii Launch Australia: The PAL Retail Wii Is Violated
- Wii Launch Australia: It Begins…Yes, It Really Does
- Wii Launch Australia: It Begins…Well, No It Doesn’t
- Japanese Schoolgirls Love Xbox 360 [Part II Electric Boogaloo]
- Ashcraft’s Japanese Wii
- The Japanese Super Safe Wii Safety Manual
- This Day In Gaming
Bank in India offers Xbox 360 financing
Filed under: Culture, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business
Steep Xbox 360 prices in Indian got you down? No worries, one bank is offering to finance Xbox 360 purchases in a country where the average national income is $18 less than the $518 cost of a 360 core. TechWeb reports: “India’s ICICI bank says it will secure an Xbox 360 Core system for customers for an upfront payment of the rupee equivalent of about $20.00 and six monthly installments of about $73.00 … the purchase of an Xbox 360 would for the typical resident represent a financial outlay that in the West would be the equivalent of buying a house.”
So who in the right mind would finance a 360 over a house in India? Native Microsoft employees for one. They make on average $10,000 per year. Heck, Microsoft India will even deduct the purchase price from your check.
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Rob Lowe Drunk, High, Waffles On About Wii Region-Locking
OK, maybe he wasn’t drunk. Or high. Bad Rob Lowe joke there.
The Rob Lowe that I’m talking about here, the one who is Nintendo UK’s Product Manager, was asked by Gamespot about the reasons behind the Wii’s region locking. His answer only goes to show that there is no justifiable reason for region locking.
Obviously in the UK you’ve got Wii Play coming out and in America they haven’t got Wii Play–we try and cater for different audiences. We have to localise all of it in loads of different languages: America is just English and Japan is just Japanese, which is why it takes a little longer here. Also we always have specific software for specific regions, so we try to keep it that way. Obviously, it helps against game piracy as well. There are a number of reasons why. But I don’t think it will be a problem, because a very, very small minority of people import games anyway.
What a load of crap. Especially the part about languages - that may delay localised releases, but it shouldn’t stand in the way of Brits or Australians importing American titles, since we all speak “just” English. Oh, and a “very small minority of people import”? Gee, Rob, you don’t think that’s because region locking makes it so difficult, do you?
Q&A: Nintendo’s Rob Lowe on the UK launch [GameSpot UK]
Weekly Webcomic Wrapup: Letters Edition
Filed under: Culture, Online, Polls
Dear Readers,
I’ll make a deal with you: Penny Arcade will stay in, with the respective news post also linked, if you promise to check out the lesser known comics, too. They’re on top for a reason — consistent quality — but that doesn’t mean others can’t dethrone them every now and then. Thanks to everyone, especially other webcomic artists, who contributed to the discussion on Wednesday.
Love,
Your Fearless Leader
P.S. I told you to clean my bedroom a week ago and yet I still find pencil shavings lying about. One of my once-trusted servants is about to learn a new meaning for “pixelated pain.”
P.P.S. Here are our picks for best gaming webcomics. Be sure to vote for your favorite!
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Sony ignored among 2006 Spike TV major awards winners
Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360
Spike TV has released the list of its 2006 Video Game Awards winners, expunging all temptation to tune into the televised presentation this coming Wednesday. While the results hold little standing in the industry, it’s interesting to note that Sony has seemingly fallen out of popularity with Spike TV’s award ceremony, perhaps implying a shift in popular brand.
Last year, Sony enjoyed (at least shares in) Game of the Year, Best Action Game, Best Original Score, Best Graphics, Best Handheld Game, and Best Technology; this year, Xbox 360 is tied to all of those awards (except ‘Best Technology’ & ‘Handheld Game’), along with Studio of the Year, Best Shooter, Best Multiplayer Game, Best RPG, Best Racing Game, and Most Addictive. Sony currently has stake in none*.
Sure, PlayStation 3 hasn’t even been on the market for a month, but Wii managed to earn the ‘Breakthrough Technology’ award, and Twilight Princess nabbed Critic’s Choice; plus, with New Super Mario Bros., DS won out over PSP. Is ‘Comeback Company of the Year’ in the cards for Sony in 2007?
*Oblivion will end up on PlayStation 3 next year.
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