Friday, October 31, 2003
Business card-sized PDA
Game n Watch Style GBA SP
Nintendo of Japan made a limited edition GBA SP that looks kinda like their old "Game n Watch" devices, (or for that matter, the Famicom controllers).
Obsolete Games Exempt From Copyright ?
Totally Sidetalkin'!
PLAYABLE Half-Life 2 Leak
According to CNN, on October 7th, 2003, there is a playable build of Half-Life 2 released by someone (or someones) who created it based off of the source code that was leaked a few days before that.
Strangely, I never heard mention of this on Slashdot.
Strangely, I never heard mention of this on Slashdot.
Microsoft Japan Dresses Up Xbox
From 1UP, Microsoft is trying to woo the japanese consumer by offering different designer overlays for the Xbox.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
PacMan on Excel
From Slashdot, a bunch of japanese programmers have programmed PacMan for Excel. The page is in japanese, but has enough english to figure it out how it works.
Advertising on the net
How to render the Segway Human Transporter obsolete
Interesting idea.... to render a lot of the gyroscopes on the segway useless. As an engineer, I think the segway does a lot more then that, such as steering, and shifting of the CG underneath the two wheels.
Interesting Comic Strip
Some 80s Commercials!
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Arcade Ambience
Simpson's Movie References Quiz
BMX rider settles suit over XXX game
From CNN, Mira settles with Acclaim over the XXX BMX videogame, citing that it damaged his reputation... Geez... if an artist endorses a game product, how did it go so far wrongly down the path to become a soft porn game that he doesn't endorse? Doesn't he even get to see the final product?
Paper Plate Origami
From BoingBoing, A site showing some paper plate origami. All the sculptures were done with 9" paper plates.
Enterprise goes into Wind Tunnel
From Slashdot, A model of the Enterprise is subjected to a wind tunnel. Surprisingly, it lasted past Mach 5!
Monday, October 27, 2003
Canadian Beats World at Rock, Paper, Scissors
Snake Jump
Sands
MyTunes
Privacy advocats skywrites Citigroup's CEO SSN
From Wired,A privacy group hired a skywriter to write part of the Social Security number of Citigroup's chief executive above New York City on Friday, protesting the bank's lobbying efforts to keep lawmakers from tightening privacy regulations and demonstrating that even the privacy of bank executives is at risk.
Saturday, October 25, 2003
Meatshakes
Friday, October 24, 2003
John Carmack's Aerospace Activities
John Carmack, famous for his work with ID Software (Doom, Quake, etc) is now involved in his own aerospace company, vying for the "x-prize" (to be awarded to the first private sector manned flight into space).
His company, Armadillo Aerospace, has alot of very interesting videos which show, not only their activities and successes, but their failures too. Check them out.
His company, Armadillo Aerospace, has alot of very interesting videos which show, not only their activities and successes, but their failures too. Check them out.
Plants In Motion
Lightning strikes Gibson's Christ
Is this an Omen? A sign from God?... it's so out there, that it's kind of funny... Lightning struck the actor that plays Christ in Gibson's latest Movie.
Thursday, October 23, 2003
The Great Library of Amazonia
X10 files for Chapter 11
From Slashdot, remember the two brothers that sued X10 for patent infringement? Well, the decision of the judge was alas, too costly. X10 has filed for Chapter 11.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Canadian Dollar Hits 10 Year High
Cool & Silent Hard Drive Sandwich
Ex-Blizzard Employees start new Studio
From Gamespot, The creators of Diablo, who have left Blizzard have started there own company, Flagship Studios.
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Yahoo! News - Toronto Hockey Shrine to Be Turned Into Supermarket
From Yahoo, The Maple Leaf Gardens will be turned into a supermarket! Commercialism, ahhh, the blasphemy!
Trackmania
From Slashdot, imagine Roller Coaster Tycoon, but driving on the tracks afterwards. The beta is available for free download.
Star Fox Adventures $9.99US
Brothers sue X10, win $4.3 million
From CNN.com, remember those annoying X10 internet ads? Well, 2 Brothers sued the company, and won a $4.3 million settlement. X10 wasn't paying the bills for using their annoying pop-under technology.
MSFT monopoly says Apple iTunes Monopoly too restrictive
From theRegister.co.uk, MSFT monopoly says Apple iTunes Monopoly too restrictive... This should be an Alanis Morissette song, how ironic!
Monday, October 20, 2003
Retro Arcade Coin-op Revival
A couple years ago, Midway/Namco re-released Ms-Pacman and Galaga in one combined arcade cabinet (available in both upright and the classic cocktail table form). What I didn't realize, is that there have been other such combo re-releases as well, including Defender/Defender II, Joust/Robotron 2084, Centipede/Millipede/Missile Command, and even a "special anniversary" reproduction of Space Invaders.
You can see all these arcade games on this distributor's page. As well as "ultracade", which I can only guess is MAME based.
You can see all these arcade games on this distributor's page. As well as "ultracade", which I can only guess is MAME based.
The Ultimate MAME Cabinet
Friday, October 17, 2003
Taiwan now has the World's Tallest Skyscraper
Many news articles are reporting that the Taipei now holds the record for the world's tallest skyscraper. The 101-story structure, called the Taipei 101, is 1,667 foot-tall. It beats the previous record holder, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 1,483 feet. However, they may not hold this record long, as China is developing the Shanghai World Financial Center will be higher when it is completed by 2007.
Nokia claims strong sales for N-Gage
From gamesindustry.biz, Nokia has reported that N-Gages are 'flying off the shelves'. Wha?!?! Whom to believe! (*sarcasm*)
Hidden Agenda
Datel to make 3rd Party GC GBA Adapter
Thanks to Gameindustry.biz for finding out that Datel will make a 3rd party GC GBA player that will just plug into the memory slot of the GC.
Maya 5 Now Available for Free Download
Thursday, October 16, 2003
Most UK women have dog breath
It's something you always hear about in jokes about the UK, but Yahoo news reports that most UK women have breaths worse then their own pets.
When Kids play classic games
EGM has an article on today's kids playing old classic games, like Pong, and Atari 2600. Interesting article.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Professional Lego Builder Wanted
Looking for a job? BoingBoing has found that a major theme park in California is looking for Professional Lego Builder.
New Internet Speed Record Set by Euro - U.S. Labs
Yahoo has reported that a new internet speed record has been set. A full length DVD film was transferred in seven seconds!
Chinese Astronaut Says Space Food Tastes 'Great'
I've always wondered what a chinese astronaut would eat in space. I like how they americanize the food... Kung Pao Chicken?
Our Canadian Dollar At Work
Yet another pay per download music site has been launched, but this one is based in Canada, with Canadian prices. The site is PureTracks.com Songs go for as low as .99 cents each, Canadian currency, but I've found others that are priced at $1.19.
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
NanoKids made in lab
From BoingBoing, a bunch of researchers have developed some man-shaped molecules in their own image.
Hellboy
The fan did a CG render of Hellboy in dedication for the upcoming movie. It's so good, that the director of the upcoming Hellboy movie even saw it... Let's see what happens.
Martial Arts Kicking Robots
Romero and Hall sign on to Midway
According to Computer and Video Games.com John Romero and Tom Hall has been signed exclusively to Midway to work on videogames. Apparently, they are joining the development team for the next gauntlet.
Women take less risks, live longer
From this Canoe article, it would seem that men would live just as long as women, if we took fewer risks.
Sony to Drop PS2 to $99?
Friday, October 10, 2003
Images Show a Snub Really Is Like Kick in the Gut
This Yahoo Science article is pretty interesting... Emotional Pain really translate to feelings of Physical Pain.
Macrovision introduces new PC Game Copy Protection
Macrovision introduces new PC Game Copy Protection. The new protection system, called Fade, makes unauthorised copies of games slowly degrade, so that cars no long steer, guns cannot be aimed and footballs fly away into space. But by that time the player has become addicted to the game.
Hidden and Dangerous Free
Blue's News has the announcement that Hidden and Dangerous is to be released free just ahead of the sequel. Hmmm... sounds like movie marketing... Matrix Reloaded on DVD, and then Revolutions in the theater shortly after...
Tokyo's Newest RC Robots
Thursday, October 09, 2003
Gamecube #1 Seller in US
According to gamesindustry.biz, Nintendo has reported that Gamecube sales are outpacing PS2 sales by 20%. At this rate, it is expected to exceed the Xbox market share by Xmas.
The Tick Series on DVD
In case nobody knew.... The Entire Season of the Tick is now on sale!... also, The ultimate "Battle of the Planets" boxed set is out next week.
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
Flash Flash Revolution
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Sticker Shock as Sony Puts $719 Tag on PSX
Thanks to Yahoo for unveiling the price of Sony's new PSX. Sony unveiled the PSX in Japan. From CNet: ''A version [PSX] with a 160-gigabyte HDD will sell for 79,800 yen ($719)and be able to record up to 204 hours of television, the company said. It willalso sell a 250GB version for 99,800 yen ($899). There is no timetable for an overseas PSX launch, Sony said. The price was in line with our expectations, and it is likely to have a solid appeal for buyers of DVD recorders,' said Masahiro Ono'
Detailed specs and pictures from the show can be found at TVG, with more press coverage at Google.
Detailed specs and pictures from the show can be found at TVG, with more press coverage at Google.
Command & Conquer Generals
Got C&C Generals. It's pretty good. I was a fan of the original C&C (always liked it better than Warcraft 2). And the sequel Red Alert wasn't bad. But by the time I got to playing Tiberian Sun, the formula was tiring (I have barely touched Emperor of Dune). Generals just feels good and solid. It's good old C&C but with enough new and interesting features. So far, there's been alot of urban combat... you know, tanks rolling down city streets, and since the game is in 3D this makes for interesting battles and battle strategies. The A.I. so far seems pretty good too. There's the usual RTS thing where groups of attackers are continuously sent forth, but the paths they take isn't always the same. More than once I was surprised to find I was being attacked from an alternate location, which threw me off since they had been using a different attack pattern a few times in a row before.
The game has no cheesy video clips, just in-game cut scenes to establish the action and this is fine by me. One bad thing though, and I can't tell if it's the game or my system, but it seems to play in slow-motion. Previous C&C's had a "speed" option, but this one does not. My computer's specs exceed all of the game's recommended specs, so I don't know what's going on here. And that's another problem: even though my specs exceed the recommended specs, I can only get a decent frame rate with quality set to Low and all other visual options turned off. That SUCKS.
Despite that, Generals feels like good old C&C, and for someone who hasn't bought a new RTS in almost 2 years, I'm really enjoying it.
UPDATE: October 8, 2003
OK today I finished one whole campaign. Pay attention to the dates here... October 7 I posted this saying I had just started playing it, and here we are, the middle of October 8th, and I've already finished one whole campaign. I played the USA campaign. There were 7 missions. I have to say, I completed these way too quickly and easily.
The game has no cheesy video clips, just in-game cut scenes to establish the action and this is fine by me. One bad thing though, and I can't tell if it's the game or my system, but it seems to play in slow-motion. Previous C&C's had a "speed" option, but this one does not. My computer's specs exceed all of the game's recommended specs, so I don't know what's going on here. And that's another problem: even though my specs exceed the recommended specs, I can only get a decent frame rate with quality set to Low and all other visual options turned off. That SUCKS.
Despite that, Generals feels like good old C&C, and for someone who hasn't bought a new RTS in almost 2 years, I'm really enjoying it.
UPDATE: October 8, 2003
OK today I finished one whole campaign. Pay attention to the dates here... October 7 I posted this saying I had just started playing it, and here we are, the middle of October 8th, and I've already finished one whole campaign. I played the USA campaign. There were 7 missions. I have to say, I completed these way too quickly and easily.
Monday, October 06, 2003
Go Ream Go!
THIS my friends, is why the Japanese are still enjoying going to video game arcades, while the american arcade industry has all but died.
What you're looking at is an arcade game called "Boong Ga Boong Ga" (translates to "Smack 'em"). The main controller is a motion-tracked device shaped like a pointing finger. Before you... is an ass. Your job: stab the ass with the finger. *BUT* you must do it "well". Your jab skills are depicted by a grimacing face and you are awarded points based on how well you goose (or spank... I'm not clear on which method of abuse is encouraged).
More info on this game can be found here:
http://www.digitpress.com/reviews/boonga.htm
http://carcino.gen.nz/images/index.php/35a796d8/5ec8bfb7
What you're looking at is an arcade game called "Boong Ga Boong Ga" (translates to "Smack 'em"). The main controller is a motion-tracked device shaped like a pointing finger. Before you... is an ass. Your job: stab the ass with the finger. *BUT* you must do it "well". Your jab skills are depicted by a grimacing face and you are awarded points based on how well you goose (or spank... I'm not clear on which method of abuse is encouraged).
More info on this game can be found here:
http://www.digitpress.com/reviews/boonga.htm
http://carcino.gen.nz/images/index.php/35a796d8/5ec8bfb7
Sunday, October 05, 2003
MegaMan Trailer
The FanMade MegaMan Trailer in making the rounds on the internet.... This is in addition to the rumours that Warner Bros. May be considering a movie based on the game.
Saturday, October 04, 2003
Web Zen
The Illustrated Catalog Of ACME Products
Build your own Mortar
Atari 2600 Dune Prototype Discovered
AtariAge is reporting the discovery of the 2600 game of Dune that never got released, as it was only 30% complete.
Friday, October 03, 2003
Fanimatrix
Nintendo to Report First Quater Loss
Various sources are reporting that Nintendo will report a first quarter loss for the first time in the company's history. Ths majority of the loss is attributed to Nintendo's holdings in bonds, and the loss is not attributed to the Gamecube price cuts.
GameCube Abuse
Beer at the movies
Hey, this can't be a bad idea, you know? Famous players wants to offer beer at the movies. Probably wouldn't pass of course, as you'd have to seperate minors from majors.
Phone Companies stand up against RIAA
Once again, as the RIAA pursues all those dang pirates, they are asking the phone companies to monitor all illegal internet traffic. The baby bells have decided to stand tall against recording industry. Waitaminute, even cops need permission from the courts for wiretapping...
Thursday, October 02, 2003
Legal way to use your emulator
From Slashdot, introducing a 'legal' (?) way to use your emulator. Not sure the legalese... can anyone enlighten?
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
8-bit Music Revival
Apparently small groups of musicians and fans are getting together and "performing" semi-recorded and live music sets, using hardware such as Commodore 64, Gameboy, NES, and Atari 2600.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/972272.asp?0dm=C12QT
http://www.msnbc.com/news/972272.asp?0dm=C12QT
Independant Games Festival
The IGF has now announced the entries for the 2004 Independant Games Festival competition (my own company has an entry).
www.igf.com
www.igf.com
Nintendo Confuses New Yorkers
From Gamespot, Nintendo's $100 million marketing campaign seems to be causing more confusion then promotion... They've also launched a website about it. I don't know... what is the campaign theme again?
Cheap IPod
Identity Theft in Canada
Well, luckily we don't live in Quebec... but what the heck? Three Quebec Revenue Canada computer mainframes stolen?
