For better or for worse, gold farmers have become a part of life in MMORPGs. No matter how hard the developers try, there is no way to stop the flood of accounts gold farming accounts. It's going to take a far bigger entity then Activision-Blizzard to make a dent in the gold farming industry. Something like say, the People's Republic of China, which has recently passed a law that banned trading virtual currency for real money.
Yes, you read that right: China itself is cracking down on Chinese gold farming...is what I would like to say.
In truth, the Chinese government is really only concerned with people trading virtual currency for actual goods and services. Using physical currency to buy virtual goods and services is okay by them, so don't expect to gold farmer to disappear anytime soon.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun via InformationWeek
I'll write up much more detailed impressions later, but I just have to ask this: what the hell was Square thinking when they added Ruby and Emerald Weapon for the game original English release? Did they really think American gamers were so masochistic that they wanted not just one super boss that takes more effort to beat then the entire game, but two?
Admittedly, it's a nice change from Final Fantasy IV where they were like, "Americans don't know how to play RPGs, because they are far too complex and require reading skills, so let's dumb down the entire game for their benefit."
I don't think I will try to beat them though. I'm pretty certain I have better things I could be doing with my life then spend weeks grinding level and materia to even come within a hair's breadth of beating them.
- Music:Hy Bound - Mark of the Beathsmith (Mark of a Traitor)
Obviously, someone at Blizzard should have asked me about that last one, because they decided it was okay to remove LAN play from Starcraft II. This means the only way to play Starcraft II multiplayer is through Battle.Net.
Personally, I can't help but feel this is a mistake on Blizzard's part. They can add all the bells and whistles they want to Battle.Net, but it doesn't change the fact that some people have no intention of playing the game online. They plan on buying the game to play with their friends, so they might not like the fact they need an Internet connection to play someone in the same room. And that's not even accounting for some doomsday scenario where all of Blizzard's go offline, and nobody in the world can play Starcraft II multiplayer.
While this might not seem like a big deal by itself, the fact is people are already unhappy with the fact they can only buy a third of game at launch. If Blizzard keep this sort of thing up, then they're going to have a lot of gamers (and possibly one whole country) boycotting what is arguably the most eagerly anticipated gaming sequel since Super Mario Bros. 3.
Joystiq via IGN
- Music:Geoffrey Taucer, Tepid - Golden Fields (Farm Boy)
The first question that I'm sure is on everyone's mind is whether or not Transformers 2 is in fact the best movie of the summer?
No, it isn't. Please remember which Transformer movie this is a sequel to, and set your expectations accordingly.
This isn't to say that Transformers 2 is a bad movie, or even a bad sequel. In a nutshell, the sequel takes everything from the preceding movie and amps it up a few levels.
( Click to continue reading the review )
- Music:zircon - Nomura Limit (Fight On!) | Powered by Last.fm
Currently they're up to part 88, and I have no idea how close that is to the end of the game. Personally, I've only watched up to Part 8 so far. What I've seen does look pretty good, which makes it all the more tragic that no one will ever be able to actually play it.
Crimson Memories Memorial Channel
- Music:Tsuyoshi Sekito - Memories Regained
No, this is not bootleg, but an official controller licensed by Capcom back in the day. Apparently it was designed to be lower-priced alternative to full arcade stick during the hight of Street Fighter II's popularity. While its bizarre asymmetry might look rather intimidating to some, it's actually relatively easy to use.
Basically, you would hold the left side of the controller as normal to use the d-pad. The pistol grip at the bottom is used to stabilized the controller so you tap the face buttons with you fingers like you would at an arcade machine.
You can find the controller used on Ebay and other places, but it was brought to my attention specifically because NCSX is actually have a sale on them. So if you like obscure game controllers, then you should probably check them out before the sale ends.
Tiny Cartridge, via NCSX
What impresses me about most is the fact that not only did they make it look cosmetically identical to the original Game Boy, but they even gave it a pea-green screen.
Admittedly, I'd question whether such a nostalgic decision was really practical, but I don't make bootleg systems, so what do I know?
via A Little Bit On The Awesome Side via difuno
I need to get another job so I have some free time again.
Case in point: I saw an article on Gamasutra that flipped that little rage switch. The article is entitles "Multiplayer Can Hurt You," and talks about how the author talks about how he doesn't like multiplayer modes in games anymore, and wishes that developers would spend more time focusing on a richer single-player experience.
My online experiences have been terrible for many modern games; surrounded by 15 year olds who insist that you follow them despite their insurmountable death rate, and are suffering from an obscene case of turrets. Please don’t let your kids be one of these people. Maybe someone should start a group; GAWK (Gamers against Wayward Kids).
...
I understand that multiplayer is a strong feature to give longer legs to an otherwise 6-10hr game, but I’d rather see multiplayer dropped in favor of a strong story-driven game experience instead of the other way around.
On the one had, I can sympathize him. It's irritating to know that for any given game, the competitive play environment is going to be filled with 15 year old kids who will be far better then I can ever hope to be. On the other hand, I feel like I should post this video in the article's comment thread:
( Video, and rest of the article, after the cut )
- Music:Hitoshi Sakimoto - A Speechless Battle
At the risk of sounding incredibly hypocritical, I've never quite understood the purpose of Twitter. I mean, I can understand the value of being able to post something from your phone (I've done it quite a few times myself), but I don't know how I feel about a service completely devoted to that end.
There are others won't don't share my skepticism though, like the Associated Press, which just issued a new edition of their guidebook that includes an entry about Twitter. Other entries include Libor, recession-proof, knuckleball and baba ghanoush.
However, the reason I'm posting about this isn't simply the fact that the AP is officially legitimizing "tweeting" as a verb. I'm posting about this because no more then two months ago, the AP was getting pissy at the blogosphere for daring to to repost their stories. And they weren't just mad at people stealing their stories wholesale, they were just as mad about people who would only quote a portion of their stories and attribute them properly.
Perhaps the AP took a moment to pull its head out its ass gain some perspective and reconsider the value of social blogging. Then again, it could simply be them realizing that people talk enough about Twitter anyway, so they might as well throw in their two bits on the subject.
via Media Bistro
That is a custom handheld system that contains a NES, SNES, GBA, Genesis or Neo Geo emulator. All you have to do is load roms via a USB cable or mini SD card and you're good to go. If the ability to play five old systems on the go wasn't enticing enough, the system can also work as a music player, an ebook reader or an FM radio.
The best part is that this isn't some super-expensive custom hack found only on ebay for more money then you'd spend on a getting the actual consoles. It's actually being sold on Think Geek for the realatively paltry sum of $100.
Granted, the legality of the device is questionable, but given that it it only emulates old systems and comes with no roms I'd say it's probably not going to be struck down within the next five minutes. If someone (i.e. NIntendo) does decide to shut it down though, I hope it's because they are planning to make a similar product. It would be awesome if I could copy Virtual Console games from my Wii and play them on my (theoretical) DSi system.
Shout out to
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
electrocoustic for the link- Music:Hiroshi Okubo - Drift Psychosis | Powered by Last.fm
When Smash Bros. Brawl was still in development, they made promises about how the game would embrace user-generated content. They promised that users would be able to submit screenshots, replays and even levels for other users to download. Starting June 30, only the latter part of that promise will remain true.
A small notice on the Smash Dojo states that :
As of June 30th, 2009, the current service that accepts user-generated snapshots, stage designs, and replay data will no longer be available. Please note, however, that we will continue to distribute such data after that date.
So you will still be able to download content, just not upload it. I would find this to be a tragedy, except my experience with Brawl downloadable content has been offset by the limitations inherent to it. Specifically, the fact you can't save what you download from the NIntendo Wi-Fi Connection.
I can understand how Nintendo might not want gamers to accidentally fill up their Wii storage with downloaded content, but last time I check the game supported saving to an SD card. Shouldn't I be able to save an interesting downloaded stage so I can actually play it with my friends?
News via Kotaku
- Music:SamplingMasters AYA - I Want You | Powered by Last.fm
In any case, Nintendo's E3 presentation was a make or break moment for many Nintendo fans. If the conference went anything like the one from 2008, then people could officially declare Nintendo was ruined FOREVER.
Fan's reaction to this year's E3 conference can be described best by this Penny Arcade comic:
As exciting as it was to hear that there was a new Metroid game in development, I reserved myself the slightest bit of skepticism. I mean, I know that, objectively speaking, Team Ninja has made a lot of good games. However, I have yet to play one that I felt was subjectively good, so I was a little bit worried when they were taking on a game franchise near and dear to my heart.
Fortunately, it may seem that the worst of my fears were completely unfounded, because Team Ninja is not the sole developer of Metroid: The Other M. In fact, Team Ninja was actually asked to join the project by none other then Yoshio Sakamoto, co-creator and director of almost every main Metroid game. Apparently Sakamoto and his team (the group formerly known as R&D1) wanted to do a Metroid game for the Wii, but lacked the experiences and resources to make a 3D game.
1up's Jeremy Parish did a full interview with both Sakamoto and Team Ninja boss, Yusuke Hayashi, which confirms that the game won't be "Ninja Gaiden with an arm cannon." Also the fact that while Team Ninja is working on this new Metroid game, Tomonobu Itagaki (founder of Team Ninja and gaming prima donna) will not, since he left the group and Techmo almost a year ago.
Also, in case there are any people out there wondering if this game is in fact the legendary Metroid Dread, know that it is not this game.
Interview via 1up.com
- Music:Marc Star - Wild Arms RosettaRefrain OC ReMix | Powered by Last.fm
When people talk about the golden years of Lucasarts, they talk about games like Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max Hit the Road and, most importantly, The Secret of Monkey Island. The Monkey Island games are arguably Lucasarts' flagship series, though in recent years that status has become more historical then actual. Everything comes around eventually though, and it just so happens that Monkey Island's number has just come up.
Monkey Island will be returning to computers (and consoles, technically speaking) for the first time in nine years in two new forms. Well the first is technically a old form, but done up all fancy, so it doesn't look like an old game. I'm speaking of a remake of the original Secret of Monkey Island, complete with the prerequisite new graphics and voiceovers. Taking a page from R-Type Dimensions, you can switch between the new, fancy graphics and the original, pixelly graphics on the fly.
The other Monkey Island is a bonifide new game called Tales of Monkey Island. As the title might imply, the game is being released monthly as five episodic games. If this reminds you at all of the recent Sam & Max games by Telltale Games, then give yourself a cookie, because Telltale is working on these games too.
For the first time in over a decade, it's a good time to be a Monkey Island fan.
Info (and pictures) via Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Admittedly, the conference has been losing a bit of its luster over the years. This was exemplified by Nintendo's horrible conference last year, where Nintendo apologized later by basically saying that they didn't think non-casual gamers cared about E3 anymore.
This year, Nintendo took a different approach by announcing not one, but two new honest to goodness Mario titles. I'm pretty certain something like this is completely unprecedented, even if some people predicted it beforehand. Honestly, I'm not sure what surprises me more about Super Mario Galaxy 2: the quick turnaround or the number, since numbers have been conspicuously absent from main Mario for some time now.
However, the single biggest surprise of the conference was the announcement of Metroid: Other M. Even more surprising is that this game is not beginning developed by Retro Studios, but by Team Ninja.
I'll hold back on my thoughts on that last title for now (and believe you me that I have some big ones), but I will say that Nintendo has managed to honestly blow away my expectations for this E3.
News via Wired Game | Life
Still the game has managed to carve out a foothold in the popular collective consciousness of the rest of the world. This could partly be due to the fact the game is so ripe to parody. There are for more fictional parodies of the game then I could ever hope to link to, so instead I will link to the most ridiculous, but real, parody of the game: Dance Dance Immolation.
Now I bet you think that I'm making this up, or am getting it confused with the one Pyro achievement from Team Fortress 2, but I'm not. Basically, a group called Interpretive Arson got the idea to hook a DDR machine up to a flamethrower, so that every missed note gets you a blast of fire to the face. I couldn't possible make this sort of stuff up.
Dance Dance Immolation Teaser from Interpretive Arson on Vimeo.
The scary thing about it, is that as much as I want to say "and this is why Japan is weird," this fine creation seems to be American made. Granted, that's not very surprising either when I say it aloud.
via Interpretive Arson
Instead the game was basically one long boss rush. It's not like that was necessarily a bad thing. I mean, boss fighting would be an essential part of my theoretical game too. I just wanted some of the platforming stuff too.
Later on I had time to wonder about how coop Mega Man would actually work. Looking back at the old game, you won't find many instances where coop would have worked without making some drastic changes to the game. Fortunately there are some fans who are willing to make said drastic alterations, without forgetting about the core Mega Man experience.
via GoNintendo
At least, I'm pretty certain of it. It's was kind of back in middle school, which was an extremely long time ago.
In any case, I was contemplating how I would approach the subject, when I saw that Zero Punctuation had approached the subject far better then I could ever hope to. Which on reflection, is probably a good thing because I wasn't really that familiar with the Duke to begin with.
Via the Escapist, obviously
