Archive for April, 2008
The E3 2010 Primer: Nintendo
With only a few weeks left until E3 2010, information is already starting to pour out about what’s going to be on the showroom floor. Before the floodgates open completely, let’s take a look at what Nintendo is likely to bring come June.
Wii MotionPlus’s Shaky Future
When the Wii MotionPlus was announced, people were happy to hear that the Wii would be getting the one-to-one motion control people were expecting at launch. Unfortunately, developers weren’t given a heads-up about the device, leaving it with little third-party support. Even worse, this drought has continued, with a few sports titles and Red Steel 2 being the only games not published by Nintendo to use MotionPlus. Still, the adoption rate is there. Wii Sports Resort sold about as well as every other “Wii Something” game put out by Nintendo, Wii remotes have been bundled with the device, and some console bundles come with it. A recent patent filing even points to a redesigned remote that could have the technology built-in. With any luck, we’ll see both Nintendo and third parties showcasing titles supporting MotionPlus this year. Otherwise, things don’t look too good for the little guy.
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Virtual Boy Part Deux: Meet the Nintendo 3DS
Announced ahead of E3 due to leak concerns, we know that, despite the recent launch of the Nintendo DSi XL, Nintendo has a true successor for the DS line planned and that it’s in 3D. We also know that the 3D does not require glasses and can be turned off for those who experience headaches or cannot see 3D. On top of that, we know that it won’t actually be called the Nintendo 3DS. While backwards compatibility with DS games is likely, it’s hard to say if that will carry over to DSi Ware as well. It might seem like Nintendo is spreading its portable line thin, especially with their acknowledging of Apple as a competitor, but, if done right, the 3DS could prove staggering competition for both Apple and Sony. It’s going to be an interesting product to see, and could very well be the talk of the show.
Do or Die Time for the Vitality Sensor
This was Nintendo’s big surprise at last year’s E3 and it left a lot of people shaking their heads. We still haven’t heard of anything being developed that would use the peripheral, so unless Nintendo is planning a new Wii Fit title, it’s hard to imagine what game the sensor would launch with. It might be premature to call this vaporware, but if we don’t hear anything about it at this E3, it might not be coming at all.
Wii Would Like to Party
Shown off to stockholders earlier this month, the newest “Wii Something” title is Wii Party, a party game in the same vein as the Mario Party franchise, only starring your Miis. Not much is known about the title yet, but early screenshots show a strong focus on board and family games, like Mahjong and BINGO, rather than frantic mini-games like in Mario Party or the Rayman: Raving Rabbids series. That doesn’t mean that controller-destroying waggle isn’t in store for the title, though. Due out sometime this fiscal year, this is one that will definitely make it to the conference.
The Legend Lives On
For a whole year, we’ve known there’s a new Legend of Zelda title in development. All we know is that it may require MotionPlus and we’ve had one image to look at. With any luck, all of this will change when Nintendo takes the stage at L.A. There’s been a lot of speculation off of that one image, largely around the absence of Link’s sword, but there’s not much solid to go off of for this title. What has been said by Shigeru Miyamoto, Zelda creator, and Eiji Aonuma, game producer, is that they are looking to create a new way to play the game, restructure the stale framework, and make the game easier for newer players. With the past few Zelda offerings falling flat with a decent number of gamers, maybe the changes in store for this new title will be just what the franchise needs.
Metroid: Other M Makes One Last Show
If you saw Nintendo’s E3 conference last year, you probably ended up shocked and confused when Team Ninja, the studio behind Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden, had their intro pop-up on screen to show off a Metroid title. While it’s a break from the other entries in the series, there are a lot of people excited about this title, and for good reason. With a couple of months left until release, there’s a chance that we might see a more finished, playable build of the game shown off this year before the game hits shelves in the fall.
Kirby Comes Home
Long confined to the handheld market and various rereleases, it looks like Kirby is finally going to get a Wii game, the franchise’s first console game in seven years. Outside of being mentioned at a stockholder’s meeting, there’s nothing else known about the game. Hopefully it will be a proper platformer, along the lines of the Dreamland series, and not a departure from the norm like Canvas Curse or Air Ride. Still, the pink puffball is finally getting the Wii treatment.
RPGs Rediscover the Wii
While the RPG market on other systems might be focused on Western-developed titles, some Japanese-developed games are finding a nice spot home on the Wii. Monolith Studio, the group behind Xenosaga and Baten Kaitos, is bringing Xenoblade, previously shown off as Monado: Beginning of the World, to the Wii sometime in 2010 in Japan. Hironobu Sakaguchi, Final Fantasy creator, is leading Mistwalker in the creation of The Last Story, a more mature looking RPG reminiscent of earlier Final Fantasy titles. Since both of these games are being published by Nintendo, it’s likely that we’ll see something of them, though it’s hard to say if it will be at E3 or later on at the Tokyo Game Show.
A Bright Future for Golden Sun
Despite a strong fan following, it looked like the Golden Sun series was retired, until last year’s presentation showed that, even after eight years, Golden Sun is something to be excited about. One of the stand-out series on the GameBoy Advance, Golden Sun is finally hitting the Nintendo DS with updated graphics and a story linked to original titles. While we only caught a glimpse of it last year, we’re likely to something far more substantial this time around.
Nintendo isn’t an easy company to predict, especially in the recent years. Things like Pokémon Black and White and 3DS launch titles could just as likely end up at the Tokyo Game Show as they could at E3. Whatever gets revealed, Nintendo has a nice core lineup going for it this year which looks more than capable to please any gamer. A lot of people may have given up on Nintendo, but with new Zelda, Metroid, and Kirby games coming out, plus whatever else might be announced, even the most jaded gamer can find some excitement.
Written and Contributed by Number905 - Podunk Camper
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Ps3 Japan Store
Reviews 2009 Easy Backup Wizard
You’ve surely seen the advertisements for Easy Backup Wizard, often dubbed the best tool to copy Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii games, but is it worth all of the hype? We’ll explore that question or more in our in-depth review!
So what is Easy Backup Wizard exactly? Simply put , Easy Backup Wizard is a software package that allows you to copy games for almost any console based video game system. It functions perfectly with Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, Playstation, and others. In addition to copying games you already own, it allows you to copy downloaded games, flicks, music, TV shows, and more. Want to download the newest Wii game? Simply download it from a torrent site online. Torrent sites ( Google that term to find one – they ALL work ) have literally each game, for each system. These games are full version downloads, just like if you bought it in the store!
No special software of hardware ( apart from a CD or DVD burner, of course ) is required to use it. In my primary test install, I was able to download the package and install it, simply, in just about 3 minutes! The package incorporates great help texts on how everything works.
Easy Backup Wizard has two main features. The first is the capability to copy games for any system. UPDATE : Playing copied games on Wii no longer needs a mod chip! To discover how to soft-mod your system to play import, backup, and retro games, visit the Nintendo Wii Homebrew Unlock Hack Guide!
In addition to just copying DVD’s, the software will also allow you to simply create DVD’s from any video file format! The software required to do this alone, usually sells for $49.95, but is included FREE with Easy Backup Wizard.
Please do not forget to obey copyright laws. This program is meant to preserve games and media you legally own.
Over the past few months, Easy Backup Wizard has taken the computer game community by force with over half 1,000,000 registered users. This has been fueled in part by glowing reviews from both users, and major gaming mags and web publication alike.
The Easy Backup Wizard is a software package that permits you to copy games for a many different console based computer game systems including the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Gamecube, PSP, Nintendo DS, Playstation, PS One, PS2, Xbox, Dreamcast and Game Boy/GameBoy complicated. You will not need any extra software or hardware aside from a CD or DVD burner to use it. It is so straightforward to use that you’re going to be able to download the package and get running within a few minutes with no issues.
1. It enables you to copy games for any system. Please note that this doesn’t require you to modifiy any of your consoles with a mod chip! There’s no need with the Easy Backup Wizard.
2. Not only will you be able to do this, but you also will be able to create DVDs from almost any video files including divx, xvid, mp4 and more! Normally, this type of software sells for $49.95, but is included at no cost with the Easy Backup Wizard software package.
Many positive reviews of the Easy Backup Wizard have spread across the video game community both on the web and in printed publications.
If you are interested in reviews for game copy software you may need to check out a new review site called eXpert Reviews. We do the research so you do not have to is our motto. We plan to bring an amount of truth to our product reviews.
About the Author
I’m a reviewer of products and services at eXpert Reviews. I like to write in my free time about things that intererest me. I have been a reviewer at eXpert Reviews for the last 3 months.
PS3 HAS NO GAMES?!? *An Anti-Xbox Fanboy Production*
Ps3 Consoles – An Excellent Blu-Ray Player!
Only used as a Blu-ray player with the Blu-ray disc remote. As a stand alone Blu-ray player this thing rocks and excels at playing movies, downloading movies, sound formats, picture in picture (PIP), and by even allowing browsing of the internet. It does a great job at upgrading regular movies too! Hide the cables and use the optional remote to make it blend in with other high end components.
I personally have a Denon receiver with 7.1, Paradigm speakers, a 46” 1080P Panasonic plasma, HD DVR recorder and the PS3 Consoles; an Awesome setup! The PS3 Consoles does not take away from this set up, to the contrary, it compliments and completes my set up by providing the fastest load times, DTS Master and True Dolby HD sound. Trust me, for the money there is nothing better, unless you are willing to spend over $2,000 for a Denon Blu-ray player, and yet, it still does not offer internet browsing, personalizing its menus, connectivity, an 80 Gig hard drive to store movies, music, pictures shows, and also the ability to play games when you are bored (If EVER!). A great product that even its maker (Sony) is having trouble duplicating and offering with similar options on their dedicated blu-ray player lineup.
PS3 Consoles – Upgrade of Death
Please take a look at the Sony support forums before buying this or any other PS3 Consoles. I have a 40G PS3 Consoles that I bought in February 2008. I bought it as a Blu-ray player in large part because it was upgradeable, but the first time I upgraded the software, the unit was turned into a useless frozen brick.
Sony says the unit will have to be replaced. They would not say how common the problem is, only that a “certain percentage” of PS3 Consoles have been destroyed by Sony’s own software upgrade process. If you look at the Sony support forums you will see that many, many people have been affected with this problem.
Since mine is less then 1 year old it will cost me nothing but the inconvenience of being without the unit for several weeks and the hassles of shipping it back. But people who owned their units for more than 1 year will be charged $150 for the repair even though the problem is entirely created by Sony.
The Sony service rep assured me that the unit will not be destroyed again by future software upgrades, but why should I believe them, especially knowing that they will not take responsibilities for their own errors once the machine is 366 days old?
I understand that these are complex devices, but I find Sony’s failure to repair the out-of-warranty units damaged by their own software upgrade to be pretty shocking.
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HDMI vs Component Video
Games Download: Let the Games Begin
For hardcore gamers, it doesn’t matter if the game is too easy nor has poor graphic displayit is how you play the game. Most of these guys buy CD games in bulk and finish off each one of them. And if you can make a “walkthrough” or gameplan (some consider it a sort of game cheat), then you are game master!
The advent of such consoles as Playstation 3 made way for gamers to delve into the world of downloading. Today CDs and DVDs are not the only source of great games. You can also get tremendous games through downloads.
To start with, let’s have the freeware games for your PC. Just like commercial games, these free-to-download games have many genres. You can choose from a variety of action adventure, role-playing and strategy to first person shooter and Online Multiplayer Games. Not many gamers know that there are some freeware titles that could give commercial games a run for their money. And if you opt for an online multiplayer game download, you can even play it for free. Just log in to their site and sign in.
Maybe you are asking: if these games are free, then how do game developers benefit from these? The simplest answer would be through sponsors. Most of these developers don’t have their own web sites and rely on hosts that feature their freeware or their mirror links (just type in “freeware PC games in Google to go to these sites). These hosts earn through online ads that they post in their sites. There are some developers who are experimenting on different games and release beta versions replete with some of the chapters of their soon to be released titles. Then you can choose to buy the full game once it is released.
If you are into classic games such as Mario Brothers and Pacman, there are some game specialists who have revived these classics through their custom-built games. It runs in most PC operating systems so playing will never be a problem. Some sites even offer you a big collection of game titles you can download for just a single membership fee.
Commercial games have also entered the “webwagon”. Their only difference with freeware games is that they have their own web sites (which also promote the game’s disc box set). Especially with consoles with hard disk drives like the PS3, downloading games will be more popular than ever before. And different titles from well-known franchises such as Halo, Guitar Hero and Grand Theft Auto keep the hype alive for game downloaders. The gaming world is breaking ground. And we would probably see more titles that people can easily download over the internet. Whether other gaming platforms will follow this trend or not, only time can reveal. But this is surely a great development that would keep gamers glued to their personal computers. Now if you are still undecided which game to download, there are always java and flash based games to keep you busy with.
About the Author
The article written by Atomsri Sukpo. Please visit Games Download for more information.
Halo Reach Multiplayer Beta Trailer HD 2
How to Connect Your PS3 to the Internet
If you wish to connect your PlayStation to the internet then there are a few things you’re going to need first: to sign up to an internet service provider, to be in possession of a network adapter, and to have a dial up modem or router.
If you already have a broadband connection then you can connect the network adaptor that you currently use with your PC. If you currently use dial up internet then you just need to plug your phone line into the right port.
You can also use a USB adapter to connect your console to the internet, though usually not by plugging the USB cable directly into the front of the console. The best way of going about it is to keep your current modem connected to your computer and setup internet connection sharing between your computer and your games console.
If you do not already have an Ethernet card on your computer then it’s possible to buy one for just a few dollars. Once you have this then your connection should be easy to set up. Just make sure that your USB modem is already properly installed on the computer, then enable connection sharing, and finally connect your games console to the computer.
If you wish to use your internet service provider to connect your PlayStation to the internet then this should be possible. However, if you have ever experienced any problems whilst trying to connect to the internet on your computer, then you will probably have the same problems when trying to use the console connection!
If you want to get the best gaming experience online then it’s always best to go for an internet service provider that offers a great service. If you have any problems then always try to call your ISP and get them fixed, you should also call to check whether their services are compatible with your particular console games.
There is no reason why online gaming should be expensive, and there are in fact no fees to play many of the console games online. Some of the most popular games are available for free, so just get online to check them out.
The main games that usually charge a monthly fee are Massive Multiplayer Online Games. You may also have to pay an additional cost from the hard disk drive to store your games.
These are the basics to setting up your games console to play online games. It really isn’t that difficult, though you can always get a friend to help you out if you are having any problems. Apart from what’s mentioned here, you will also have to pay for to cost of your internet service provider. However, most of us already do this! This is why playing online games is often so quick and easy to set up – providing you with unlimited opportunities when it comes to choosing and playing new exciting games.
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How to use Ps3 Online