mgroves

Posts Tagged ‘gaming’

IGN has a rundown on Top 10 EA Classics That Deserve Updates.

There are some good titles on this list that I think would definitely make for some good updates/sequels.

First, Skate or Die. This was a really fun NES game that definitely doesn’t hold up today. However, I think the “Skate or Die” brand has some life in it and could compete with Tony Hawk. EA already has Skate, but I’m wondering if they could use Skate or Die to make a less realistic Tony Hawk type of game with maybe more of an “X Games” feel to it.

Second, Pinball Construction Set. This is an olllld game that I remember having hours of fun with. With EA’s love of downloadable content, an XBLA version of this game could make them piles of money from pinball fans.

WiiWare is coming to the US.

WiiWare is similar to Virtual Console and XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) for Wii. It will allow a Wii owner to purchase and download new games.

It looks like one of the launch titles will be an updated version of Dr. Mario, one my favorite puzzle games of all time.

This version will contain updated graphics and music (although the music sounds similar to the old NES music, thankfully), as well as Mii integration and multiplayer. It will also include “Virus Buster”, which is a similar DS mini-game from Brain Age, I guess.

I don’t know how many hours I’ve whiled away playing Dr. Mario over the years, but I know that when it comes to puzzle games, it’s the one I usually go to first. I even created my own “updated” version of the game a while ago using the Allegro library.

Speedlinking is yet another tool of the lazy blogger. Basically I smash together a bunch of interesting links that I collect every so often, and write a sentence or two about them.

This week’s Speedlinking is being brought to you courtesy of the useful Instapaper website, which I’ve been using to temporarily bookmark the below links.

• You should read David Mamet’s excellent piece, Why I Am No Longer a ‘Brain-Dead Liberal’. The article can basically be summed up by saying “the perfect is the enemy of the good”.
• Someone with way too much time on their hands (actually I’m really quite jealous of his commitment) put together a very comprehensive Futurama timeline.
• Played the newest Vector Tower Defense yet?
• It looks like NetJets is staying in Columbus (yay), and are going to add 800+ new jobs and expand their facilities by about 6-fold.
• Finally, enjoy this parody of the “3 am” commercial:

I promise that this site isn’t turning into some celebrity obituary site, but what kind of nerd blog would this be if I didn’t mention the passing of Gary Gygax?

He’s best known as the inventor of Dungeons and Dragons (aka Satan’s Game), which has been entertaining and will entertain generations of nerds.

He is also a member of the Vice Presidential Action Rangers (pictured above), and his death is likely a cover for his covert operations involved in protecting the space time continuum.

I’d make a pun about saving throws and 2D6, but I never actually played D&D (I was more of a CCG nerd), so I’ll spare you.

Ah, Chrono Trigger. One of the finest RPG’s of all time, and perhaps my favorite.

The story is this: Crono and friends accidentally discover time portal(s) and get flung into a post-apocalyptic future caused by Lavos, a giant parasite created and summoned by an evil mystic named Magus.

When Crono and his party are first flung into the future, they enter one of the ravaged cities known as “Arris Dome”. They find a few disheveled survivors who are able to (painfully) survive without food through the use of an enertron. Supposedly there is a huge store of food in the lower levels of the Arris Dome, but it’s being guarded by robots, and the last man who tried to get past them never returned.

Crono and his team are able to defeat the robots, only to find that the refrigeration has failed and all the food has spoiled.

They do find the body of the last man who tried to retrieve the food. He is clutching seeds that could be used to grow food, thus giving the survivors a glimmer of hope for their devastated world.

But did you know that a real Arris Dome has been created right here on Earth in an Arctic mountain near the North Pole?

That’s right. When the Day of Lavos comes to Earth, we’ll have a sample of seeds from more than 1400 seed banks from which to help us survive.

But wait, what if the refrigeration fails?

“The seeds of wheat, maize, oats and other crops will be stored at a constant temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius, and even if the freezer system fails the permafrost will ensure that temperatures never rise above 3.5 degrees Celsius below freezing.”

Phew, good. Now all we have to worry about is the guardian robots.

Bring it on, Lavos, you overgrown porcupine!

Super Mario Galaxy for SNES? No, it’s not an actual game, just a silly concept. However, from watching this video, I think it would be really fun.

Really Mode-7′s up the place, doesn’t it?

I’ve been calling Portal “Game of the Year” ever since I played it. I certainly would give it mgroves.com Game of the Year if I was the type of guy to give out awards that the winner would never hear about.

However, the Game Developers Choice Awards certainly showered Portal.

• 2007 Best Game Design
• 2007 Innovation award
• 2007 Game of the Year

Congratulations to one of the best games from 2007, and one of my favorites: Portal.

Speedlinking is yet another tool of the lazy blogger. Basically I smash together a bunch of interesting links that I collect every so often, and write a sentence or two about them.

• Having a baby soon? I know I am. Here are some helpful tips about raising a child.
• Dragon Quest Swords looks like my next must-have Wii game. In other news, the video is totally corny, but does a good job of showing off the game and gameplay.
• World of Goo is an interesting looking title for the Wii. It reminds me of goofy but addicting flash games.

Here is an update on the Game King-II.

Thanks to many loyal mgroves.com readers, there’s a lot of new information for this enigmatic device.

First, I’d like to list all the previous Game King-II posts, in order of oldest to newest:

• PMP Game King II
• Game King-II: First thoughts
• Game King-II: A full review
• Game King-II: Emulation
• Game King-II battery mod

So, if you haven’t read all of those, go back and review them. Your question might have already been answered! Also, check out the Game King-II Wikipedia page and also the Game King-II Wikispaces page (created by TKF15H, one of the very helpful mgroves.com readers).

Note that most of this information comes from commenters on this site.

• The Game King-II does not work with a Mac. To get around this, you can
  use an SD Card and then copy data from the SD Card to the internal storage.
• If you have lost or didn’t get the disc that came with the Game King-II, you can
  download the movie converter software here. Please note that while
  I have been using this program for some time now that I do not promise that the
  software will work and I do not promise that it won’t turn your computer into a
  smoldering heap. You have been warned.
• Someone posted an “unboxing” video of the Game King-II on YouTube.
  It’s very entertaining and informative. Thank you kinglager, whoever you are.
• There are at least two models of this specific Game King-II: the black and the white one. SkyFire2001
  somehow managed to find the manufacturer: Fujiyama.
  Bizarrely enough (is anything not bizarre with the Game King-II), there’s a whole different fake screenshot
  in their stock photo, and it’s the black model.
• There’s a whole website dedicated to “MP4″ players: MyMxPlayer.org.
• Besides posting the above link, MNintGamer posted a list of SNES ROMs that (according to him) play okay
  on the Game King-II. For the full list, check out his comment.
• jnjy posted some great pictures of the insides of the Game King-II.
  His pictures were the impetus for me to do the battery mod.
• According to DJ, a 4-gig SD card will work (albeit a bit slow).
• NGF makes an exciting claim that the Game King-II can connect to your TV. Basically,
  he claims that you just stick a standard Y-adapter (picture below) into the headphone jack of the Game King.
  Then, just use RCA cables to connect “red” on the Y-adapter to “yellow” on the TV and “white” on the Y-adapter
  to “white” on your TV. I haven’t tried this yet, so do so at your own risk.

• There are all kinds of sound bugs with the emulator. For instance, to get sound to work on a GBC game,
  open an NES game, increase the volume, then load the GBC game (TKF15H).
• Some Game Kings apparently have some games that ship with them. I wasn’t able to play these
  games for some reason, but Luke was kind enough to post some of
  these “32-bit Sunmedia” games if you want to give it a try.
• To access the firmware, plug the USB cord into the Game King while it is off. Hold
  down “esc” while turning on the device. Now you should have access to the firmware. If you are going to
  do this and mess with the firmware, MAKE A BACKUP. Also, if you have a version other than “SDK-1.56″, there
  are a lot of interested people who would like a copy of your firmware. You can upload it here
  or email it to me at webmaster@mgroves.com.
• TKF15H wrote a program that allows you to change the start-up screen on your Game King
  once you have access to the firmware. The speed at which he wrote it worries me, and I think maybe he needs
  to get out more. (Just kidding, dude!) You can get his C++ source
  code for the program at the Wikispace he created.

Phew! I think that’s everything. Feel free to add omissions or new information to the comments below.
As you can see, there’s a scrappy, but thriving community of Game King-II enthusiasts. Maybe it’s time for you
to join our ranks!

With a new year comes a new bunch of games, especially for the Xbox 360 and Wii. Out of all the games that have been announced or alluded to so far, there are a select few that I’m actually looking forward to.

Here’s my list. What’s on yours?

• Harvey Birdman (Wii). This is a Phoenix Wright knock-off (by Capcom). I love the show, and my wife put in a preorder for me, so I will be checking this one out.
• GTA 4 (360). Who doesn’t want to play a new GTA? Although, this could be the beginning of the end for the franchise if they don’t nail it.
• Boom Blox (Wii). This is a Jenga-like game supposedly involving Steven Spielberg somehow.
• MLB2K8 (Wii and 360). I really liked 2K7, and I can’t wait to check this out on both systems.
• Sports Island (Wii). This is Konami’s attempt at a Wii Sports-like game, with a large collection of different sports.
• Mario Kart (Wii). Not a big fan of Mario Kart outside the SNES/GBA versions, but we’ll see. Online play could make this pretty cool.
• Dragon Quest Swords (Wii). This could be a big hit for the Wii: a FPS RPG “on rails” could be a lot of fun. So far, this is the title I’m looking forward to the most on Wii in 2008.
• Wii Music. If they still release it to the US. Could be a fun little rhythm game.
• Endless Ocean (Wii). This game could be a lot of fun or a real snooze. Think Pokemon Snap, but underwater, and…without Pokemon.
• Lost (360). Starved for Lost content, and only getting small amounts at a time makes me hungry for any scrap of new Lost I can find. The Lost guys are working on this game, so at least the story should be okay.
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Wii). Or whatever game has the Wii lightsaber battles. Yeah, that’s what the Wii was made for.
• Star Wars Battlefront III (360). The first two were pretty good, and I like Star Wars.
• Portal. I am starving for new Portal content. Portal is such a good game, that I would seriously consider getting a PS3 if that’s what it took to play some new Portal (kidding!). There have been rumors of Portal coming to Wii, as well as expectations of downloadable content for Portal. Either one (or both) would be fantasic.