The newest Nintendo Revolution rumor is that the new console will not have a D-pad or buttons on the controllers. Anyone’s obvious first thought is: “touchpad?” A totally dynamic controller would be pretty cool, if it was still comfortable.
Also, Nintendo has confirmed that the console will be shown at E3 2005.
An anesthesiologist has discovered that allowing children to play Game Boy for a few minutes can be used as a replacement for pre-anesthesia tranquilizers. Imagine playing wireless multiplayer DS with your brother in the waiting room. That would be the best surgery ever.
Shopping for video games in Osaka, or, why I’m trying to convince M to get a residency in Japan.
Someone has been considerate enough to put a flash-powered working World of Warcraft demo online. Realistic!
Gamestop has stopped taking pre-orders for the Nintendo DS because they won’t have enough units at launch. EBGames is warning that they will likely have to do the same thing. A launch of 300,000 units doesn’t seem like a lot, but 4 million in four months will roughly match the GBA and GBA SP sales.
Another thing that might be happening on November 16: Ken Jennings' Jeopardy loss. The rumor is that he lost on day 75, and unless they show another week of special episodes or something, that’ll be when it’s aired. I’ll have to tear myself away from Half-Life 2 for a half an hour, I guess.
Grand Theftendo, a Nintendo Entertainment System fan port of Grant Theft Auto. It’ll be available for free download when it’s done!
With a 225 million dollar haul, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has reportedly broken the opening weekend for sales of any entertainment anything. Ever. Spider-man 2 only made $192M. With GTA:SA, Half-Life 2, Halo 2, the Nintendo DS, and the Sony PSP, this is shaping up to be a huge season for video games, perhaps even bigger than the fall of 2001 (when PS2, X-Box, and Gamecube were all released).
Also: Read Wil Wheaton’s story on how he ended up doing a bit voice-acting part in San Andreas.
SPOnG.com has a long story up about their recent hands-on demo of GTA: San Andreas. This game sounds totally fucking gonzo. You need to eat? You need to exercise? (Oh, the irony of gamers working out at a gym in-game). Swimming! Cars that disappear when you walk off for too long can be retrieved (read: re-stolen) from the SAPD impound lot. And there are far more interesting features hinted at and detailed.
I’m definitely looking forward to this game, although I’ll have to wait a while, since I’m not really willing to buy a PS2 for it.
A zero-score Boggle board is possible. A chance to run to the bathroom for those who are addicted.
As if you doubted its promptness, GTA San Andreas has gone gold. In other, less inevitable news, Gamespot is claiming that Half-Life 2 has gone gold. True? Not? I’m preloading part 6 right now, and I’m hoping part 7 will be the last.
The future of Nintendo’s home console hasn’t been nailed down yet, but there are a number of rumors floating around. The most recent one comes from something Nintendo’s VP said to IGN about trying to match Sony’s schedule for the PlayStation 3. That would mean 2006.
Earlier this year it was reported that the console (currently codenamed Project Revolution) would be demoed at E3 2005. We should go.
Happy October. Here’s an eerie fun Flash game for your Friday: A Murder of Scarecrows
In the same vein as the PSone, here comes Sony’s PStwo. (Okay, that’s not the real name, but it should be). That thing is ridiculously tiny. Barely more than an inch thick and one-quarter of the volume of the original. Yikes.
Quake IV. Not being made by id, but based on an id engine (Doom 3, obviously). It’ll look good, but will it be good?
Update 09-16: Just FYI, it's being made by Raven Software, makers of games such as Jedi Outcast, Soldier of Fortune, and Elite Force. All of those were fun games, to say the least. That bodes well.
In the second level of Doom 3, “Administration” (just as you arrive at the Alpha Labs), you come across a PDA (as you do frequently). One of his emails on the PDA is a spam. The website it mentions exists, and even provides you with a cabinet code. That’s genius. I haven’t looked for the cabinet much, but I’ll have to remember to try it.
I’ve ranted a couple times recently about how tantalizing interactive physics — like that seen in Doom3 and Half-Life 2 — is. True full interaction is the next big step in gaming, like the jump from Duke Nukem’s 2½D to Quake2’s 3D. The day I can (in-game) set a house on fire with an RPG, or level any wall (made of an appropriately destructible material) with a gattling gun will be a good day.
I’ve heard that Red Faction, released three years ago, had something the marketrons called Geo-mod. Anyone play this game? I’d like to get my hands on it..
The only game I wish I coulda tried at our LAN Party last weekend was Tribes: Vengeance. I gave the original Tribes a chance (in fact too many chances, probably, considering the weight I put on Freshman year), and I tried to give Tribes 2 a chance (although my computer wasn’t quite up to it). I will track down the source of the problems, I swear it.
Reminds me of this classic.
Liberated Games aren’t abandonware, but they’re just as Free (as in Beer in some cases, as in Speech in others). I was just thinking the other day how my new rig would handle Homeworld.
So “Nintendo DS” is the official name. It’s one hot handheld. Stereo speakers builtin, ~$170 release price, and more than 120 games in development. I’m signed up.
Also, I finally got an official quote from the horse’s mouth about wireless: “DS users will be able to connect with a local wireless network of up to 16 players. Nintendo’s guaranteed range is 30 feet, but will extend far beyond that depending on circumstances. It … will make use of both IEEE 802.11 and Nintendo’s proprietary communication protocol, which provides low battery consumption. … The DS technology also provides for a wireless LAN connection, which could allow a theoretically infinite number of players to … compete at a central game hub on the Internet…” (Emphasis mine) Holy hell.
There are no words to describe how I feel about 68.5 fps Doom3 at 1600x1200 at high quality. I wouldn’t have said it was possible. (Page 4 actually looks at non-crazy-expensive video cards).
Interesting fact #1: Doom 3 for PC has gone gold. Release date is August 5. “More remains to be done for the OSX version … and that will take some time.” Sorry. Oh, and there will be a demo.
Interesting fact #2: Half-Life 2 specs have been revealed. Sadly, my desktop is still 50% slower than the minimum, but I’m planning on finally upgrading for these two games. “Late summer release”?
Interesting fact #3: I need to add Eurogamer to my daily reading.
I’m having an increasingly difficult time preventing myself from rationalizing a purchase of a Gameboy Advance. It’s got more power than the SNES, and a game selection that is getting better and better. The Portable Monopoly lighting system will be released soon, and appears to solve all of the related lighting issues. And at $70 in some online stores, the GBA only represents about 5 hours of work.
On the other hand, how many hours of work will it end up costing me in the long run?
