Archive for March, 2007
GO3: Cosplay Dos And Don’ts
Sadly, I missed the big cosplay comp that went down yesterday, as it clashed with Kojima’s conference address. Still, they were all out on show beforehand, and I was around long enough to pick up a few lessons.
DO: This, despite the fact that behind my unsteady hand a crowd of 15-20 kids had assembled, with much pointing of fingers and laughing. My favourite? Chun-Li, because I had no idea who the other three girls were and Link was a bit scary.
DON’T: Anything in this photo.
Clip: More Bioshock Gameplay Footage
This nice extended piece of Bishock gameplay comes to us via German show Gamestar. While some of this footage we’ve seen recently in the Medical Pavilion trailer that came out this week, there is plenty of new footage here as well. Every time I see a new piece of art or video from this game, I just stare longingly at the calendar, wishing that August 22 didn’t seem so damned far away.
On a side note, in case you missed it yesterday, be sure to check out the details on the upcoming Bioshock Limited Edition and vote for what it’s contents will be!
Rumor: Wii’s Available Tomorrow at TRU and Wal-Mart
The rumor mill is at it again and this time it’s promising a windfall of Wiis! Joystiq is reporting that Wii’s will be available tomorrow at Toys R Us and will appear in TRU’s weekly ad. Commenters to the article included some Wal-Mart employees who claim that the elusive system will also be available at their stores. Website DigitalSomething.com seems to corroborate this information with their posting of several pages allegedly taken from the upcoming TRU circular. The scans however, do not show any dates so I can in no way confirm their accuracy.
For all of you out there who still want a Wii, it seems like this might be another chance for you. Of course, you will have to get there really early and wait in some sort of hideous line, but if you walk out of as a proud Wii owner it will all be worth it. I just hope for your sake that this is true and not some sort of cruel April Fools joke.
Toys ‘R’ Us will have Wii in stock Sunday [Joystiq]
April Fool’s Alert #4: Bungie announces Halo Zero
Filed under: Culture, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters
You have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool the Halo faithful and in any case, prime time Saturday night isn’t the crack of dawn by any interpretation. An April Fool’s prank of the “We didn’t even bother to research it” variety from Game Stooge is what we have for you this time and it has to do with a prequel to Bungie’s Halo series.
Don a pocket protector and start up your favorite MC Frontalot album because it’s about to get real nerdy up in here.
The story as it goes has a prequel to Halo starring the beloved cast of the alternate reality game sensation, I Love Bees, in a tactical shooter much like the Rainbow Six series. The problem being that none of the characters would know each other prior to the original Halo, nor would any of them have any combat training whatsoever. Hell, the protagonist, Janissary James’ great accomplishment was getting shot in the chest. Okay, so she broke some limbs and generally beat the crap out of some folks along the way, but she isn’t exactly the Chief.
Another, more obvious error, is the Cortana-like A.I, Melissa (see also: Durga), being referred to as Dana by Game Stooge. If they had listened to the I Love Bees audio files for, oh, let’s say two minutes, they would have gotten that one right. Hello? Wikipedia? Ever heard of it?
This exercise in epic fail concludes with a fake address by Bungie co-founder Jason Jones that makes him sound more like a public relations robot than a human being. When was the last time any of you remember Jason Jones doing a public anything, much less a statement outside of the Halo 2 documentary? You have a better shot at finding Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny playing a game of Strip Uno at the end of a rainbow than you do finding Jason Jones doing anything public, ever.
If we’re lucky, this “Doctor Who” marathon we’re in the middle of will last until April Fool’s is over.
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Gamestop Reactivates PS3 Trade In Deal
An anonymous Gamestop tipster has informed us that Gamestop/EB is revisiting their PS3 trade in deal that was available for a short time a few months ago. With your trade in of a fully functioning PS2 with cables and controller, a second Sony PS2 controller and an 8mb Sony PS2 memory card, you will receive $100 dollars off your purchase of a PS3. As the 20 gig Ps3’s are no longer readily available (and apparently will no longer be available at all), your trade in will most likely have to go towards the 60 gig version.
As I remarked in my article in January on this same subject, $100 off still isn’t enough to make me want to part company with my trusty old PS2.
The Solar Powered DS Lite
The mad modders over at Tom’s Hardware Guide have created a follow up to their solar powered Wii with a solar powered DS Lite! According to Twitch Guru, which seems to be run by the THG folks, the invention was rather inexpensive and easy to put together. What qualifies as “easy” obviously varies from person to person as I’m sure there’s not many of us out there that could actually pull something like this off. Not surprisingly, the most difficult part of the process was actually getting a hold of the elusive DS Lite. Once procured however, the magic came in the form of a solar powered cell phone charger.
(We) modified the Soldius 1 solar-powered cell phone charger so that the DS Lite’s battery charger cable connected directly to the two solar panels. Max fashioned a simple connection between the wires, and that was pretty much it.
Pretty much it for the connection, yes, but the actual assembly of the little light powered wonder took a bit of time and a lot of skill. You can see a couple of videos documenting the process on Tom’s Hardware Guide or for the more literary of you out there, a written explanation is provided on Twitch Guru.
How to Make a Solar-Powered DS Lite [Twitch Guru]
Solar Nintendo DS [Tom's Hardware Guide]
Kingdom Hearts III Extended Trailer
KHIIFM_Secret_Ending_Hi_Wc.wmv
Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix+ is out in Japan and it didn’t take long for this clip from it to land on the interwebs. DarkHelmet543, whoever he may be, wasted no time in uploading this extended footage of the Kingdom Hearts III “secret” trailer. The first couple minutes of this footage was available after completing KH II, but that was only the beginning. This version fives us a full five minutes of what looks to be quite a departure in style from the previous two KH titles.
I would love to see Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix+ come to the states, but once again I think we will have to be satisfied with passively watching all the cool stuff the Japanese actually get to play.
[Thanks, Squall]
April Fool’s Alert #3: MGS4 on Xbox 360 and Blue Hobbits in LOTRO
Filed under: Culture, Microsoft Xbox 360, Adventure, RPGs, MMO
This one is a cute April Fool’s Day joke, despite Turbine announcing it on Friday, they did give it a dateline of April 1. What Turbine says is that in their upcoming Lord of the Rings Online, you’ll meet the Sméorufolc, a version of hobbit who wear caps of white wool. They also have a passion for mushrooms and eating them altered their skin color to blue. Yes, they are Middle-earth Smurfs. The “press release” looks to be full of subtle anagrams and generally playful nonsense. Only a few more hours till Blizzard, a company known for their April Fool’s Day jokes, steps up to the plate. What will it be?
On the other end of the cute spectrum, a confirmation of Metal Gear Solid 4 on the Xbox 360. We still can’t tell if this was intended as a joke, but VG Resource Center says they have confirmation of MGS4 on the Xbox 360. VGRC claims they have an email from Konami stating, “Yes, in fact, we are working on putting Metal Gear Solid 4 on the Xbox 360 and PC, which should both come out roughly 6 months after the PS3 release. However, we’ve been working with Microsoft so the 360 and PC versions will both take advantage of Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live, with such features as achievements and the ability for 360 and PC owners to play against each other in multiplayer. I’d love to give you some more details, but this is already pushing it. We are making the big announcement July 11th at this year’s E3, so you’ll just have to wait until then. Sorry!”
So, the source at Konami acknowledged the game, announced another platform, said it would have Live capabilities, says the big announcement won’t be till July 11, puts it all in a perfect quote and then apologizes that they can’t give away any more information? Damn, you already gave away the whole cow, what are you apologizing for? We don’t need anything else!
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Gears Of War Gets New Multiplayer Mode
Epic Games’ Mark Rein dropped a little piece of good news over on the company’s forums. A new title update (read: patch) will soon be available for Xbox 360 juggernaut, Gears of War. The update will include glitch fixes, 720p support for VGA users running at 1280×1024, and a new multiplayer mode called Annex. According to Mark, test players really enjoyed the new additions.
Some folks who got to play it a few weeks ago said they think it is our best multiplayer gametype yet but I’ll leave it for you fans to decide what you think for yourself when it shows up soon on Xbox Live.
Keep an eye out next week for more details!
Next title update almost here [Epic Games Forum]
SSX Blur: Analyzing the controls
Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Action, Sports
With the Wii’s focus on controls, how does a franchise like SSX handle the transition? Snowboarding — and Wii-only SSX Blur — lacks a direct relation to the Wii’s motion sensitivity, but the game still translates to hand movements. The steering mechanic, which relies on Nunchuk twists, fits well; it even seems like it had always been a part of SSX.
The tricks, however, are mixed; simple remote flicks feel like a gimmick, while drawing shapes for Ubertricks only works some of the time. Overall, the controls work well enough to keep me playing, but I sometimes stop in frustration after consecutive, unrecognized moves.
As far as graphics, sound, and other review standards, those all hold up in Blur, but aren’t my focus in this analysis. (Look up scored reviews for other opinions.) Instead, I’ll further explain how Blur translates a thumbstick-and-button game into a tilt-and-flail experience.
Gallery: SSX Blur
Continue reading SSX Blur: Analyzing the controls
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This Day in Gaming, March 31st
1998: Activision releases Dark Reign: Rise of the Shadowhand for PC in the US. As a massive Dark Reign fan, it’s hard to believe that I never sought out this expansion. Maybe that’s just another travesty of the gaming world pre-absolute crazy Internet phenomenon where you can not escape information if you tried.
2006: Blizzard plays an early April Fools joke by announcing Wisps as the new WoW Alliance race. And it’s only cruel because a ton of people would have played as Wisps, if only for the joke factor.
Have gaming history, trivia, or famous birthdays you’d like to see in TDIG? Drop us a line at tdig@kotaku.com
Fan demand prompts BioShock collectors edition
Filed under: Culture, Action, First Person Shooters
Mark your calendars and take a picture for the grandkids: A video game petition has actually done something. An outpouring of support from fans of BioShock in an online petition has netted a promise of a collectors edition of the game for both the Xbox 360 and PC from publisher 2K Games.
The effort picked up steam earlier in the week, when a 2K staffer noticed the petition requesting a collectors edition of BioShock, based on the fan community’s love of the unreleased title’s “exceptional story, atmosphere, AI and gameplay.”
Said staffer then wrote on the game’s official site that higher-ups in the company told her that 5,000 signatures on the petition would convince them to release a (presumably pricier) collector’s edition. A message appeared on the site the following day, saying that the goal had been reached in just 5.5 hours. Approximately 18,500 signatures appear on the petition currently. With the limited edition guaranteed, the fan community is now voting on exactly what they want that special package to contain. (As of now, “art print with team’s signatures” is being beat out by “upgraded packaging,” which has to be a blow to somebody’s self esteem.)
So, does this represent a new emphasis on letting fans more directly impact releases? Or is it possible that a limited edition was already in the works and the signing effort was a way to drum up publicity, or deflect any negativity from fans who view collector’s editions as nothing more than a cash grab? If 18,000 fans are truly demanding to buy a collector’s edition, the move seems to have been a success, no matter what the motives were.
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Comedy Central Launches Reno 911 Paintball
Comedy Central has been in the habit lately of creating online games for some of their shows. The newest member of this quickly growing clan of games is Reno 911 Paintball. Done in a mock FPS style, Reno 911 Paintball pits you against the Reno 911 deputies in a paintball battle/flag capture game. This free webgame will not work on Macs and PC users will need to have the latest version of Shockwave installed for the game to work properly.
Reno 911 paintball joins other Comedy Central games such as 911’s cheekily named Petty Theft Bicycle, South Park’s Hippie Drill and Carlos Mencia’s Mix Master Mencia. I really hope there’s a part in that last one where you score points for stealing other comedian’s material.
Reno 911 Paintball [Comedy Central]
April Fool’s Alert #2: David Jaffe explodes on Geoff Keighley
Filed under: Culture
David Jaffe will finally lose it tomorrow on GameTrailers.com during an interview with Geoff Keighley. The cubby Jaffe will finally have a lover’s quarrel on camera with the twinkie Keighley and say, “$%@& you man, why do I have to be humble to you? I’ll $%&@ you up your @$$!” Yeah David, don’t let Keighley push you around, enough is enough!
This April Fool’s Day joke is based on Jaffe’s previous outbursts. There was the drunken tirade at the Playboy Mansion and once on Keighley’s show, GameHead, Jaffe had some choice words about a Gamespot story on him. We certainly look forward to seeing what scripted crazy-talk Jaffe will unleash on Keighley. Then again, taking Jaffe into account, it could all be real!
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Papercraft: ViVi
From Chamoo232, the creator of last week’s awesome Pyramid Head paper model, comes another terrific piece in the form of ViVi from Final Fantasy IX. The model comes on three separate pages and Chamoo232 estimates it will take about seven or eight hours to complete. ViVi stands six inches tall and is incredibly detailed for a paper model. Chamoo232 is quite adept at making these and I look forward to seeing more from her.
Note: Chamoo hosts her patterns on Rapidshare which can be difficult to download from at times. Be patient and you should be able to get it eventually.
ViVi papercraft [RapidShare]
[via Paperkraft.net]
PlayStation 3 barred from UK prisons
Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3
British prison just got a whole lot more hostile as prisoners are barred from having PS3s. Home Secretary John Reid banned the console because it can “send and receive radio signals.” Of course, Britain loves the PS3 more than any other console, so it makes sense to only ban the PS3 and not the Wii, DS or PSP, which also have Wi-Fi. Spending a little extra the Xbox 360 can add the capability as well.
It’s so sad when felons have things snatched from them. We now wait to see if other consoles who use “radio signals” will also be banned from British prisons or if it’s all just PlayStation hate. It must be nice to have a prison system where an issue like this comes up. In an American prison someone would file the Sixaxis into a shiv and motion control that into a fellow prisoner’s soft parts.
[via PS3 Fanboy]
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NYC Politicos Get Panties in a Twist Over GTA IV Trailer
Take-Two just can’t catch a break. After the ousting of it’s CEO earlier this week, their impressive new trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV hit the internets to many a gamer’s delight. But apparently not everyone was excited to see it. I don’t think there’s any confusion over the fact that the setting for the new title is based completely on New York City, a fact that did not escape the notice and ire of NYC’s political leaders. A New York Daily News article has a plethora of uninformed quotes by politicos that are all worthy of reading, but I will list the best ones right here:
Setting Grand Theft Auto in the safest big city in America would be like setting Halo in Disneyland - City Councilman Peter Vallone
The mayor does not support any video game where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers, - Jason Post, spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg.
and even this quote taken directly from the writers of the article…
In previous incarnations, players advanced through the game by killing cops, selling pornography to children and killing prostitutes.
I’m not even going to begin to delve into the myriad inaccuracies in these quotes, I’ll leave that for you to do in the comments. But what I will say is that the hypocrisy happening here is overwhelming. What makes this any worse than the countless films in which NYC is depicted as the home to murderers, rapists and con-men? And what about the ones where the city is completely destroyed outright by outside forces? I have the feeling that if GTA IV had been a movie and Take Two was paying the city for its use, the reactions from these sanctimonious blow hards would be quite different.
Pols rage as vid game takes shot at city [New York Daily News]
[via GamePolitics]
Clip: Kotaku on Game Head
Back when Team Kotaku invaded New York earlier this year, Game Head came out and took some time to talk to the entire crew about a myriad of things gaming related. I’m told they plan to use that for reoccurring segments called Kotaku On…
But this first appearance of Kotaku on Game Head was essentially a quick primer on what the site is, featuring me in my big bird shirt. I totally need to buy more shirts. 
If you’re impatient to get to the Kotaku, it starts off a bit about 10 seconds before three minutes. And never forget, Kotaku is the product of a team of amazing writers, both Ninja and Pirate.
Guitar Hero Effects Pedal confirmed in 360 instructions
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm
Praise be to the Circuit City’s and Wal-Mart’s of the world as Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360 has arrived a few, scant days early on Mount Joystiq. What? You actually go to a game store to buy your games? You should probably stop doing that. After shredding it up like only nerds with tiny, plastic toy guitars can, we actually took a look at the instruction manual, curious as to any information regarding the mystery port found at the base of the X-Plorer.
The gods of rock shined upon us as it is now clearly labeled the Effects Pedal port, as seen above. Opposite the page is an explanation of all the buttons and gadgets found on the guitar, including an explanation of the Effects Pedal port. How dost thou rocketh mighty ports of pedals?
(Feature currently not available.)
Rockin’! Now that we know for sure that it’s for some sort of effects pedal, we curl up into the fetal position. We’ve been scorned in the past by these sorts of shenanigans. We’re looking at you, Konami! We still want our Beatmania III pedal!
(Update - Because everyone is insane and paranoid about April Fools, we’ve included some actual pictures of the manual in question behind the cut. We even threw in some Mudkip because we heard that you like him so much.)
Continue reading Guitar Hero Effects Pedal confirmed in 360 instructions
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Clip: Gamecock Game Montage
The game studio with the saucy name brings us this video montage of some of their upcoming game clips edited together with bits of their romp through Vegas. Having already seen the Gamecock takes Vegas video before, I would have much rather seen more bits from the games, but if nothing else, they do make an impression. Look for a special appearance by my favorite gaming robot, Mr. Destructoid!
