Joystiq

See the Wiimote AK-47 mod

Justin McElroy — 2008-04-24T16:25:00+00:00

Filed under: Hacks, Portable, Nintendo Wii

This video was released a couple of months ago, but if there's one thing we can't pass up it's a great sight gag. You have to respect a guy who would go through all the trouble of merging a Wiimote and a plastic AK-47 just so he could use the butt of the gun to smash the noses of the titular critters in Rayman Raving Rabbids.

What's more, the modder actually goes through the trouble of teaching you how to tie a shemagh to help increase the verisimilitude of your experience. What a value!

[Thanks, overflow]

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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Joystiq interview: EA talks The Sims, from milestones to expansions

Jason Dobson — 2008-04-17T09:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, PC, Sony PlayStation 2, Portable, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox, Simulations, Interviews, Mobile, Casual

With 100 million units sold to its name, The Sims is certainly the most prolific PC game in history, if not the most popular. The milestone says a lot about the industry and consumer tastes, as well as Electronic Arts and the gaming giant's love of little computer people ... and money.

We recently had the opportunity to speak with The Sims' studio head Rod Humble about the brand he holds so dear. Over the course of the conversation we went back and forth on a number of topics, from the expansions that never were to what he felt has been key to The Sims' widespread success. If you are at all a fan of the series, jump into the pool. We promise not to delete the ladder after you dive in.
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Joystiq impressions: Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

Zack Stern — 2008-04-15T14:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Portable, Adventure, RPGs, Galleries

A turn-based RPG, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood moves the speedy Sega characters into a role-playing world. After a big, "Huh?" I gave this DS-only game a shot at the Nintendo Media Summit. But especially with Bioware behind the project, I came away thinking it could be a fun game for kids and even adult RPG players. And forget Sonic; the deep game mechanics, dialogue options, and great-looking world could combine into a portable RPG favorite.

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Joystiq hands-on: Space Invaders Extreme (DS/PSP)

Zack Stern — 2008-04-15T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Arcade, Culture, Nintendo DS, Portable, Sony PSP, Retro, Action, Online, Galleries

My surprise of the week: Space Invaders Extreme. I played a few rounds at the Nintendo Media Summit since there was no line for the lonely kiosk. (Its PR handlers had even abandoned it, working double-duty at the Crystal Chronicles station across the room.) But as soon as I began tapping the buttons, I was hooked; this update borrows the basic idea of Space Invaders and remixes it into a wild, fast-paced shooter.

Like the classic, enemy ships make formations above you, raining shots down the screen. Otherwise, nearly everything else has been squeezed, twisted, and stretched into a modern game. The transition deserves comparison to our lauded Pac-Man Championship Edition, but I haven't yet decided if its as elegant an update. Regardless, an update is an update, and Space Invaders Extreme betters nearly every other current shooter.
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Joystiq impressions: Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)

Zack Stern — 2008-04-15T06:07:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Hacks, Portable, Wireless, Peripherals, Rhythm, Casual, Galleries

Activision and Nintendo briefly demonstrated Guitar Hero: On Tour at last week's Nintendo Media Summit. As previously announced, the portable rhythm game includes a four-fret controller that slips into the DS GBA slot. A stylus shaped like a guitar pick can be stored inside and pulled out for portable rocking.

Guitar Hero: On Tour includes the same kind of career mode and single-song play as Guitar Hero III; many of the portable songs also overlap with other versions of the game. But 20 new tracks, a few control twists, and a new versus mode should make it more than Guitar Hero Lite.
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Famitsu publisher thinks new DS will be shown at E3

Kyle Orland — 2008-04-11T13:19:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Portable, Retro

All you jerks out there who are used to lording your shiny new DS Lites over Phat-owning early-adopters might have to get used to playing second fiddle soon. In the latest issue of Japanese gaming rag Famitsu, publisher Hirokazu Hamamura speculates that a new version of Nintendo's best-selling handheld may be revealed at this summer's E3 trade show.

As detailed in a Bloomberg Japan report (sketchy machine translation), Hamamura's comments seem based on nothing more than industry chatter and pure conjecture on his part -- Nintendo predictably offered up a no comment. The timing does seem about right, though -- going back to the Game Boy days, Nintendo has released a new portable hardware revision roughly every two years since 1996's Game Boy Pocket (1998: Game Boy Color; 2001: Game Boy Advance; 2003: GBASP; 2004: Nintendo DS; 2005: Game Boy Micro; 2006: DS Lite). What would you like to see on a potential DS upgrade? Let us know in the comments.

[Via DSFanboy; picture source]

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Samsung brings Second Life to smartphones

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-04-02T20:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Portable, MMO, Mobile

For every story we post about Second Life's various troubles, there's always another story about one company or another arriving late to the SL bandwagon. So, following up our news of Phillip Rosedale's resignation as CEO, we have word that Samsung will be including technology to run Second Life on its line of smartphones.

The technology is being shown off at the CTIA wireless event this week in Las Vegas, and will allow users to access the 3D world of Second Life, as well as communicate with in-game avatars via text and SMS. The application is due to launch on Samsung phones running Softboard software in the second half of this year. Huzzah?

[Via GayGamer]

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April Fools' Alert #10: Wii Sports on iPhone and utter obsolescence

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-04-01T18:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Portable, Nintendo Wii, Mobile

ThinkGeek is certainly on a roll today with the April Fools hijinks. Not only do we have Super Pii Pii Brothers (and its bizarre peripheral), but now we have Wii Sports on the iPhone, as well as a conduit for shuffling between dead video formats.

The Wii Sports on iPhone gag is nothing more than an unclickable banner ad, making us wish the joke was taken a bit further. The Betamax to HD-DVD converter, on the other hand, is quite the stroke of genius. The idea alone is brilliant, made even more so by the "promotional" video, viewable after the break.

Continue reading April Fools' Alert #10: Wii Sports on iPhone and utter obsolescence

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Rumor: GTA IV coming to DS

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-03-31T17:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Portable, Action

A French retail site has listed Grand Theft Auto IV for Nintendo DS on a sheet of upcoming releases. Tucked inconspicuously in between titles like Kung Fu Panda and Harvest Moon, it's most likely that the listing of the game for DS is a slip-up, and not indicative of any "OMG"-worthy news. The possibility for a slip-up seems even more likely when Guitar Hero: On Tour is erroneously labeled as Guitar Hero 3 on the same list.

What stands out as a bit odd, however, is the listed release date of June 15, 2008, a far cry from the international release date of April 29 for the actually-real console version. It's enough to give us pause, but not enough to keep us from breaking out the skeptical sauce. As awesome as a classic, top-down GTA on DS would be, we've got a feeling that it's just not in the cards.

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Mega Man Star Force 2 coming in June

Zack Stern — 2008-03-13T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Portable, Retro, Action, RPGs, Casual, Galleries

Capcom has announced that Mega Man Star Force 2 will be out for the DS in June for $30. This action-RPG follow-up to last year's game follows in its Pokemon-like style, releasing in two different editions: Zerker X Saurian and Zerker X Ninja. (Huh. Where's the love for Ninja X Saurian?)

The local- and WiFi-network-able game relies on collecting new characters and collaborating with friends. With the right connections, players assemble a "portfolio of Battle Cards with distinct attributes," according to a Capcom fact sheet. We've been trying to get the kids -- and our closeted adult gamer friends -- off Pokemon for years. Maybe this is a step in the right direction?
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Another PSP Phone patent appears, with touchscreen and feedback

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-03-07T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Portable, Sony PSP, Mobile

Another patent has emerged for the elusive "PSP Phone," this time featuring an iPhone-esque touchscreen design, rather than the ugly swivel-screen look. The patent, filed by Sony Ericsson, uses a combination of the touch-screen, accelerometer and haptics to alter the display and buttons for different modes, as well as offer sensory feedback for button presses.

Sure, that all sounds fancy in theory, but we'll hold off on further analysis until Sony's ready to show this puppy off (or at least admit that the darn thing is in development).

[Via PSP Fanboy]

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Today in Joystiq: March 4, 2008

Ross Miller — 2008-03-04T23:59:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Portable, Retro

A papercraft version of level 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. recreated inside an actual Game Boy brick (no worries it was already broken). We can't help but point out in Camera Wences' design, however, that the Game Boy was never in color and never has this version of Mario Bros. Oh well, we should've just called it a clever hack and made a Paper Mario joke. (Via Make) Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
The best of WoW Insider: February 27-March 4, 2008
Counting Rupees: Royalty Screwed
Massively Week in Review: Feb 26 - Mar 3, 2008
Nega-review: God of War: Chains of Olympus
10 reasons the PlayStation 3 is relevant again
Today's most perspective-bending trailer: echochrome in real life

News
Japanese PSP brandishes bronze bundle, cradle
Plato to school kids with new learning games for PSP
Okami Wii-treats to April 15
Umbrella Chronicles ships a million units worldwide
Ubisoft details Assassin's Creed PC enhancements
Wii gets TV guide channel, Wiimote becomes universal in Japan
SCEA's Hight: PlayStation Store overhaul, Warhawk expansion coming in April
GameTap tells the tale of Grimm's gameplay
Infogrames attracted Harrison with giant magnet
School shooting "hero" confesses to Xbox theft
D&D creator Gary Gygax dead at 69
Virtual Jihadi mod causing tension at New York school
Ready at Dawn ready to move away from PSP
Skype finally comes to Japanese PSPs this month
Paramount 'very, very, excited' about games space

Rumors & Speculation
Rumor: Crysis shown on Xbox 360 to 'prospective publishers' at GDC

Culture & Community
Majority of women, men swap gender in MMOs
Return of Bully means more controversy
Hacker makes mini-sized Rock Band drums
Dreamcast demo stand now sitting on eBay
Which publisher gets the best review scores?

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GDC08: XNA games coming to Zune

Christopher Grant — 2008-02-20T14:38:00+00:00

Filed under: Portable, GDC

Microsoft's Chris Satchell just announced that XNA Game Studios games can also be made for Zune. He showed off a brief demo of Zauri - a topdown shooter. XNA Zune games can also support custom soundtracks (this is an MP3 player after all). Satchell promises that you'll be able to take games from Windows, to Xbox, to Zune. No word on the availability of this functionality on Zunes; more as we know it.

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GDC08: Tetris, "the Slim Jim of video games"

Richard Mitchell — 2008-02-18T21:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Portable, Puzzle, GDC

In what is destined to become the most interesting metaphor used at GDC this year, iQ212 founder Rick Marazzani noted that Tetris is "the Slim Jim of video games." The proclamation came during a lecture entitled "Tetris: Best/Worst Mobile Game Ever," in which Marazzani analyzed the success of Tetris on mobile platforms. Slim Jims -- much like Tetris -- are "brandable," descriptive, and easy to consume, all of which are very important factors for ~~mobile games~~ meat snacks to succeed. Marazzani contends, however, that Tetris would not succeed if it had been invented in today's market. The primary reason for this is that Tetris isn't winnable, which is apparently a requirement for mobile users. To the best of our knowledge, Slim Jim's aren't winnable either, so the metaphor stands the test.

Most of it makes some amount of (meat-related) sense, but we'd take exception to the idea that a game must have a win condition to be successful (several lecture attendees pointed out games like Bejeweled and Lumines, for example).

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Japanese mobile game rewards players with real fish

Kyle Orland — 2008-02-15T18:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Portable, Mobile

It used to be that just getting a high score was the be all and end all of game accomplishments. More recently, amassing Achievement points became the all-consuming passion of gamers. Now even that seems passé as a new Japanese cell phone game rewards played with real, raw fish delivered right to their door.

Ippon Zuri ("pole-and-line fishing" in English) lets DoCoMo users in Japan's Fukuoka area set bait, cast their lines and wait for the virtual fish to bite. When they do, a slot machine game appears and, if all three numbers match up, the fish is caught and, as Pink Tentacle describes it, "a message is then relayed to the wholesaler, who picks up the real-world equivalent from the local seafood market and delivers it, whole and raw, to the player's doorstep." Kind of reminds us of Activision's Atari 2600 badge program, except updated for the new millennium ... and with raw fish!

We think this is a great idea, and can't wait for the concept to be applied across the gaming world. Win a real trophy for success at virtual sports games! Win real cash for success at virtual game shows! Win a real disembodied skull for success at a first-person shooter! Er ... scratch that last one.

[Via BB Gadgets]

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Xboy: Ziff-Davis survey hints at Microsoft handheld

Christopher Grant — 2008-02-14T21:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Portable, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

[click for high-resolution]

A recent Ziff-Davis survey - distributed amongst subscribers to their 1UP, EGM, and Games for Windows Magazine brands - asked "If Microsoft came out with a portable gaming device (similar to PSP, Nintendo DS/Lite, etc.), how likely are you to purchase the device?" Answers are comprised of the typical survey stuff, Very Likely to Not at All Likely with a Don't Know thrown in for the more indecisive gamers out there.

While rumblings concerning the long-rumored Xboy have been plenty scarce of late, Shane Kim did address it during a Q&A at the D.I.C.E. seminar held earlier this month. As reported by Gamasutra, he said, "Never say never ... Launching a portable device is like launching a Zune, launching another Xbox 360... we have a ways to go [to compete effectively in the music space]... Zune is not just about the device, it's about the service as well."

Considering that he sure didn't seem eager to say "enn oh" the idea that Redmond is soliciting consumer interest in such a device is far from surprising. However, if they're still at the whole "Does anyone want this thing?" phase, it would be quite some time before any of us got our mitts on an honest-ta-gawd Xboy.

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[Thanks, Matt & Jonas]

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Joystiq Impressions: Spore (Mobile)

Zack Stern — 2008-02-13T03:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Portable, Action, Online, Simulations, Mobile, Casual, Galleries

Update: EA let us know that only the DS game will be called "Spore Creatures." The mobile version keeps the simple "Spore" handle.

Spore ~~Creatures~~ for mobile phones is launching with the rest of the Spores on September 7. I figured that this Spore had no chance of infecting me. But after recently playing, I was impressed and surprised by its quality. The graphics -- and even its concept -- would be at home on a DS or Game Boy.

Like Spore on the DS, the mobile version of the game doesn't even try include everything from the PC version. Spore for phones centers on the Cell Phase of the game. You use the phone's joystick to steer the creature through a slurry of suspended protein and other early life forms, eating objects and avoiding enemies.

But like the other versions of Spore, you'll regularly use a creature editor to upgrade the character. While the body part choices are also scaled down, there's enough variety to make the creature your own. Certain parts, like a dangling lure, affect how other organisms behave. That lure attracts food to you, for example. Or you could add a shell for personal defense; hit a button, and hide inside for temporary invulnerability.
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Quake II homebrew released for DS

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-02-12T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Hacks, Portable, Retro, First Person Shooters

It took quite a bit of finagling, but the devs over at Drunken Coders have finally ported Quake II to the Nintendo DS. The homebrewed version contains the entire single-player game, and retains a number of fancy features like dynamic lighting, particle support, and a full ARM7 sound effects system.

According to the devs, creating Quake2DS was quite the audacious task, as the original Quake II had memory requirements that far exceeded the DS's limitations. As a result, the port will only run on flash carts with RAM expansions. Those willing to give it a go will find relevant instructions and files on the port's website.

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Apple revises trademark to include gaming devices

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-02-11T10:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Portable, Business

Apple recently filed to extend its trademark to include gaming-related devices, Trademork reports. This is the most recent story in a long line of rumors and speculation, all suggesting that Apple may be entering the games market sometime in the near future.

The revised trademark will associate "Apple" with a number of gaming-related categories, including "hand-held units for playing video games", and "stand alone video game machines". Of interest here is the specificity of these categories; the iPod may be a device which allows game playing, but it is arguably not a device "for" playing games, leading us to believe the trademark extension may reference an entirely new product dedicated to gaming.

On a possibly related note, Apple posted a job listing in September of last year for a "Game Producer/Designer." The position may be related to game development on the iPod series, however, and not to any new product.

[Via Engadget]

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New LeapFrog portables bring internet connectivity to children's games

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-02-06T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Portable, Online

LeapFrog deserves serious props for recognizing that video games can play an important role in a child's development of motor skills and critical thinking. Its Leapster portable system has been in the market for several years, and now LeapFrog is leaping ahead with both a web-connected upgrade to the portable, and a new model intended for older children.

Aimed at children ages 4-8, the Leapster2 appears to be largely a cosmetic upgrade to the original, but will include internet connectivity that will allow parents to monitor what games their kids have been playing, and track their growing expertise. New to the line, the Didj is aimed at children ages 6-10, and features a sleeker aesthetic, with a 3.2 inch screen and the same progress monitoring features as the Leapster2. The system will also allow its young users to personalize the look of each game, with custom avatars and backgrounds.

Both systems will be available summer 2008, with the Leapster2 priced at $69.99, and the Didj at $89.99 USD.

[Via Engadget]

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