Blog5 Games

To: Crecente
From: Ashcraft
Subject: Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Yo. So, part of today was spent in the local legal office waiting for my wife to get grilled by some lawyers so they could decide if she’d be able to change her name. She was interviewed for about 40 minutes by two lawyers, alone. The lawyers pointed out that we should consider our options carefully when choosing which name to use. They added that my son might be picked on at school if he had a foreign name to which my wife responded: “Regular people in children don’t get to choose their last names. They take their fathers name. And it’s not only foreign names that children make fun of.”

Guess that worked ’cause she got the okay to change her name and my son’s name. Best wedding anniversary present ever. The rest of the day was spent at him, me working. Wife might be annoyed — She wanted to do something for our anniversary, which we will do this weekend.

What you missed while you were sleeping:

• Sony to end PS3 “shortages.”
• Don’t steal a Dreamcast in Japan. You’ll piss people off.
• Shoko-tan is back. Get excited!
• Luke’s gearing up for the Australian Gaming Expo. We’re gearing up for Luke!

Okay, got a few hours left! Time to be a good husband and wash the dishes and let my wife beat me in Excite Truck.

I’m off to my Nanna’s, going to grab some knitting needles. Actually, might grab my Nan. She’s a killer on the needles. Doesn’t read Japanese, but we can work around that, I’m guessing the directions will be mostly pictorial.

Just, Nanna, when you do the knitting, can you make the sizing a little bigger? No, of course it’s not for me…

So, so, so fantastic. Luke Plunkett

[Big thanks Brett!]

We’ve met Wii-tan, 360-tan and PS3-tan. ‘Bout time we moved on to the portables. Here is PSP-tan. She’s dressed in slick, black rubber. Kinky-looking, but without the strength for long playtime stretches. Blogs site Dark Diamond Network:

Seriously, I checked everywhere for more images of PSP-tan but there’s just no love from the fans! Its a shame because her design has so much potential…

Shame indeed! Brian Ashcraft

PSP-tan [DDN]

Kingrocka over at game site CAG pinged us, letting us know that he’s done folks living in The Land of the Rising Sun a huge favor by compiling a huge backwards compatibility/region-free list for the Japanese Xbox 360. Hit the jump for his post in full. Brian Ashcraft

360 JP Backward Compatibility/Region-Free List if you feel this doesn’t belong here, i apologize. i thought this might help some people decide on the purchase of a jp 360. it has been a really nice added feature for me. ninja gaiden can still hang with the best of the next gen (but NG black cant for some reason).

-
UPDATE: Jim’s Attic
http://home.netyou.jp/cc/jimkanoh/region.htm
this is a site run by a guy in japan who appears to be xbox superfan #1. it may not be an exhaustive list, but it’s bigger than mine. if you want, you can cross reference it with the BC list to find some games that should work for you.

UPDATE: Added for reference
US XBOX BC List
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/back…ygameslist.htm

JP XBOX BC List
http://www.xbox.com/ja-JP/games/back…ygameslist.htm

tested out the BC titles i had. i was pretty disappointed to find some in particular were region-locked.

All titles were tested on my JP 360.

game (version) notes

PLAYABLE
ghost recon 2 (pal) stutters, maybe NTSC US is better
buffy: chaos bleeds (jp) full english
thug 2 (us) hiccups in menu
prince of persia (us)
ninja gaiden (us) no emulation of the original NES titles, but they
suck anyway
halo 2 (us)
fatal frame 2 (us)
rainbow 6 3 (us)
splinter cell: pandora tomorrow (us)
counter-strike (us)
dead or alive: ultimate (us) both 1 & 2 work

NOT Playable (all games below are US versions)
shenmue II
buffy the vampire slayer
soul calibur II
evil dead:fistful of boomstick
fatal frame
rallisport challenge
burnout 3
tom clancy’s ghost recon
dead or alive 3
jade empire
manhunt
max payne 2
medal of honor: frontline
medal of honor: rising sun
ninja gaiden: black
star wars: jedi knight: jedi academy
star wars: knights of the old republic
halo
star wars: battlefront
fable

Here’s the cross-referenced compilation list (Jim’s Attic and The Official US MS BC List) of region-free BC titles. I cannot personally account for the validity of this list, but it should be good. I followed MS’s ordering system.

Atari Anthology
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II
Battlestar Galactica
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds
Cabela’s Deer Hunt 2005
Cabela’s Outdoor Adventures 2006
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Conker: Live and Reloaded
Constantine
Counterstrike
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Dead or Alive Ultimate
Destroy All Humans
Doom 3
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
FarCry Instincts
Flatout
Forza Motorsport
Half-Life 2
Halo 2
Indigo Prophecy
Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis
Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
MTX Mototrax
MX vs. ATV Unleashed
Ninja Gaiden
Pariah
Over the Hedge
Predator: Concrete Jungle
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Rapala Pro Fishing
Raze’s Hell
Rocky Legends
Rogue Trooper
Scarface: The World is Yours
Scrapland
Shellshock: Nam ‘67
Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
Splat Magazine Renegade Paintball
Star Wars Battlefront II
Stubbs the Zombie in “Rebel without a Pulse”
Tecmo Classic Arcade
Test Drive: Eve of Destruction
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer
The Punisher
The Simpsons: Hit and Run
Thief: Deadly Shadows
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Island Thunder
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland
Tony Hawk’s Underground 2
True Crime: Streets of L.A.
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan
Ultimate Spider-Man
Vietcong: Purple Haze
World Soccer Winning Eleven 9
XIII

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

As GDC rapidly approaches, GameDaily’s James Brightman sat down with conference director Jamil Moledina to discuss possible PS3 announcements among other things. According to Moledina, PS3 owners will be “very happy” come March 7 after hearing Phil Harrison’s keynote. “Not to be coy but you’ll just have to come to his talk” he told GameDaily. “All I can say is that I stand behind my [’very happy’] comment.”

It’s likely Moldina has the advance on Harrison’s keynote because, after all, it’s his freakin’ conference. And being that Jamil isn’t on Sony’s payroll, maybe PS3 owners do have some legitimate good news to look forward to next week. To say they need it is an understatement.

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And sticks his foot firmly in his yap in the process.

The comics market, sadly, is dying because the Playstation has taken over and comics can’t compete. Most comics I have come across haven’t realised that they have lost the battle. They haven’t changed their format. They need to tell stories. They are not producing great literary works and I don’t see why they shouldn’t try. The Playstation will never tell stories.

That’s from Ian Gibson, long-time 2000AD artist. In comic circles, he’s a somewhat semi-famous guy. Who seems to have forgotten his place.

In 1999 2000AD was purchased by AvP developers Rebellion. You know, a video games company. Rebellion continue to publish both 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Magazine to this day.

Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, Ian. If it wasn’t for the awareness Rebellion’s tie-in games bring to 2000AD, I bet a ton of people wouldn’t even know it’s still around. Oh, and while we’re on the subject, you’re wrong about the “great literary works” thing. Like, silly wrong. As someone who works in comics you should know better than that. Luke Plunkett

30 years of the future [BBC]

Not much info, but this picture was taken at a retailer here in Japan with the immortal words:

Even shoplifting a Dreamcast is a crime.

And if they catch you, they’ll call the cops. After that, they’ll call your school, your company and your house! Gawd, what happens when you steal a DS Lite? Firing squad? Brian Ashcraft

Stealing A Dreamcast Is Bad, Too [Ore Teki Game Sokuhou @ Katana]

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Online, Peripherals

It may not be the one you were waiting for, but today’s PlayStation 3 firmware v1.54 update brings additional video-camera support to the console:

• The image of the person you are chatting with during video chat can now be changed to match the screen size (explanation here)
• You can now use a USB camera compatible with USB video class (UVC) for video chat

That is all. Carry on.

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The Wii? Region-locked? Not entirely. If you can keep a steady hand and have some NTSC Cube discs handy, you can get them running on your PAL Wii with no nasty-ass modifications or Freeloader necessary:

Pop a PAL GameCube disc into the Wii, and head to the ‘Disc Channel’. A GameCube logo should be up on the screen. Point the Wii Remote’s cursor over the ‘Start’ option so it’s highlighted, and while keeping your hand steady, press the eject button on the Wii. For about one second, the ‘Start’ option will remain active. In this window of time, hit the A button on the Wii Remote and then swap out your ejected PAL GCN disc with an NTSC (Japanese or USA) disc, which the Wii will accept into the drive.

Aussie-Nintendo, where the info is posted, say it works 100% for GameCube games, but we’ll just keep this one a rumour until the unwashed masses can verify it. Sounds promising, though. Oh, except it doesn’t work for Wii discs. But you probably guessed that anyway.

Time to hit up those American GameCube fire sales while there’s still something left…Luke Plunkett

Wii’s GameCube region lock busted [Aussie-Nintendo]

Filed under: Culture, PC, Online

A 26-year-old man from northeastern China collapsed and died Saturday after a “marathon” gaming session. Identified by his surname Zhang, the man had reportedly spent nearly all of his week-long Lunar New Year vacation playing online games. A doctor ruled the cause of death to be “overwork and obesity” — Zhang weighed roughly 330 pounds.

Zhang has been classified as an internet addict, a growing concern for the Chinese government, which has taken action in recent years to address this latest social ill, launching a rehab clinic and testing a system that regulates online gamers’ playtime. The government has classified 2.6 million of the country’s 20 million internet users under 18 as addicts. Said a young female middle school teacher of Zhang’s death, “There are only two options: TV or computer. What else can I do in the holiday as all markets, KTV, and cafeterias are shut down?” In response, the local government has been urged to organize more “traditional activities” to entertain its citizens during the week of celebration.

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Shoko Nakagawa’s TV spot for Super Robo Taisen W has *finally* hit YouTube. (I’ve been waiting!) It’s pedestrian, not jaw dropping or anything. The music video for her song CAT Life is. That amazement, dear readers, is after the jump. Brian Ashcraft

Filed under: Culture, Nintendo Wii, Polls

Nintendo’s “new-generation” console has been out just over three months now, and we want to know:

Technical mumbo jumbo: this is not a scientific or rigorous poll and is only intended to capture the general consensus of Joystiq readers. Results will be posted approximately one week after the poll is opened for votes. Sure, you probably could hack this poll if you worked at it, but it’s more fun for everyone if poll results accurately reflect the opinions of all readers, so please refrain from tampering with poll results.

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Rockstar have signed up NaturalMotion to help out with their physics. Naturalwho? Remember the Indiana Jones clip where he gives a beating to those guys on the tram? Yeah, that was built to show off NaturalMotion’s Euphoria physics software. Torsten Reil, NaturalMotion CEO:

Euphoria is about giving people an interactive experience they have never seen before. We now have the processing power to simulate humans, and the possibilities for games are endless. In Rockstar, we have found a partner that shares this vision, and is renowned for creating some of the most ground-breaking and immersive games in the industry.

There’s a “now they can stop using real hookers for their mo-capped beat-down animations” joke in there, but I’m above that. Luke Plunkett

Product: Rockstar, NaturalMotion Partner For Next-Gen Projects [Gamasutra]

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Business

Apparently all the PS3s you see in stock don’t really exist. Perhaps they’re just empty display boxes, or Sony is just really quick to replace huge piles of the console; they sell out fast and get restocked even faster. But don’t worry, you should be able to find a PS3 in a few months, says Sony chief executive Jack Tretton. “April or May is when we feel like we’re going to catch up to demand and have product fully in stock across North America and stay there.”

Tretton continued by telling Reuters that the console was still out of stock in “some areas” and that the, ahem, shortages were “a testament to the fact that we’ve been able to manufacture and ship units on a greater pace than any previous console.” Since we seemingly live in make-believe land, let’s pretend Sony didn’t even say this.

[Thanks, Dolla Dolla]

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Sega’s helping to adapt the game adaptation of the cinematic adaptation of the book The Golden Compass. The New Line Cinema flick is based on the novel by Philip Pullman and stars Daniel Craig (new James Bond) and Nicole Kidman. The cross-platform game will be developed by Shiny Entertainment, best know for making those Matrix videogames.

Players take on the role of a young woman named Lyra, who’s out to save a friend kidnapped by a mysterious group known as The Gobblers. In-game, she visits 13 different settings — Including some not seen in the movie. Movie’s out December 7th. Game shortly before that. Brian Ashcraft

Sega’s Golden Compass Game [Sega Nerds]

Filed under: PC, Interviews, MMO

Who doesn’t love pirates? The answer seemed to be “no one” as Flying Labs’ upcoming MMORPG was swamped with fans throughout the entire New York Comic Con weekend. Although this MMO has been fairly under the radar, it certainly deserves a little more attention. Pirates of the Burning Sea promises a lot of playability, from multiple fighting styles, to naval battles, barter, economics, and more. It’s the kind of stuff not-leaving-the-house-ever is made of.

Saying whether or not the team has been successful on capitalizing on their ambitions requires having a lot more time with the game. Thankfully, there is a public beta available for those that want to find out more. The game promises tons of missions, both offline and on. With cross-functionality with a planned Pirates of the Asian Sea, the whole ninja versus pirates debate can finally be settled … in a far more artistic way than the Internet has ever portrayed it.

Watch the video to get more info about the game. Be warned that it’s incredibly long and will waste tons of your time. But that doesn’t stop MMORPG players, right?

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Nice view. But is it worth the trip? Probably. Wouldn’t know myself, I’m still scrabbling at the windowsills about 300 metres closer to the ground. Luke Plunkett

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

One of our biggest gripes with the PS3 has been how poorly the system downloads files: you can’t resume broken downloads, nor can you do anything whilst your system is downloading a file. No games. No movies. No music. Nada.

This was all supposed to be fixed in Sony’s upcoming 1.6 firmware update. But, is it already broken before its release? Apparently so. The Inner Bits has “obtained” info about the upcoming firmware revision, and it’s not looking good. The background downloads are limited to while you are in the XMB. If you launch a game, the system will pause your download because “the PS3 needs extra system resources (primarily memory) to do background downloading.”

If this is indeed true, it certainly can’t be due to the system’s inability to play a game and download a file. Although Sony’s system has the hardware to deliver the goods, it seems Sony is just not creating user-friendly software to take advantage of the system’s “potential.” Will we have to wait for yet another firmware revision for Sony to get this right?

[Via digg]

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Multiple-disc haters, rejoice! The upcoming, eagerly anticipated Mass Effect for the Xbox 360 will fit on a single disc. The game’s Project Director, Casey Hudson, dished up tidbits about the title. Main character Commander Shepherd can be customized by gamers according to gender, facial features and class, starting skills. What’s more, the original soundtrack is a “huge original score.” No doubt a lot to cram on one disc. Hudson explains:

This is a monstrous game. In fact, there was a time — not too long ago — when we pretty much scoffed at the idea of fitting onto one disc. But, there’s an art to optimizing the data that goes on a disc — plus we have a few programmers that seem to pull off magic tricks right when we need them.

Sounds like the disc is bursting at the seams. Literally. Brian Ashcraft

Mass Effect On One Disc [1Up]

Filed under: Culture

If you’re at all curious as to what it feels like to utterly lose all semblance of sanity, you should focus your concentration on The Impossible Quiz Deluxe. Having spent most of our morning leaping through its flaming hoops and catering to its bizarre and relentless requests, we’ve concluded that the sensation is not too dissimilar from having moist strands of spaghetti run through your fingers. You just can’t get a grip.

Deviant Artist, Splapp-me-do, notes that the quiz is not truly impossible, though we’re not convinced a mind capable of such unhinged questioning can be trusted. Regardless, be sure to give it a bash (or 29) and keep an eye out for those video game references.

[Via Game|Life]

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