Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Watch and learn: DVD on Wii how-to videohttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/13/watch-and-learn-dvd-on-wii-how-to-video/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/13/watch-and-learn-dvd-on-wii-how-to-video/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/13/watch-and-learn-dvd-on-wii-how-to-video/#commentsFiled under: ,

Earlier today, we reported on the better-late-than-never news that DVD playback has come to Wii, thanks to the console's burgeoning homebrew development community. We decided to give the hack a go ourselves and recorded a brief video tutorial of how you too can unlock the immense potential of the Wii's disc drive. Okay ... so you can just watch DVDs, but this is big stuff for Nintendo, folks.

The actual process is so simple - and the results, even for a first release, so impressive - that we're boggled by the fact that Nintendo hasn't simply added this functionality to the Disc Channel as part of a system update. It's a matter of downloading a small file, a hombrew video player, copying them to an SD card, and using the Homebrew Channel (a guide to installing which we've posted about previously) to apply a two-second patch. Keep reading after the break for our full impressions.

Gallery: Guide to watching DVDs on Wii

So you want to play DVDs on your Wii?First thing's first: essentialsA word to the wiseWhat to download firstCopy over the Twilight Princess save

Once it's up-and-running, you can pop into the Mplayer app from the Homebrew Channel, put any video DVD in the drive, and voila - you're watching a DVD on a game console. Crazy, huh? The video quality is good, although we've found that Mplayer drops frames during more action-packed scenes in order to keep the film's audio in sync. You can disable frame dropping, but your audio and video will exist in separate time zones. There's definitely a lot of tidying up of the UI that can be done, but again, this is a first effort and Mplayer is in continual development.

We have a full rundown on the playback controls in our video; our compatriots at Wii Fanboy have put together a step-by-step gallery detailing the process of installing the Homebrew Channel and getting the necessary DVD hack files onto an SD card, which you can make with the clicky on above.

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]]>dvdhackhomebrewhow-tojoystiqfeaturesmplayernintendoRandy Nelson2008-08-13T19:40:00+00:00Modder brings touchscreen support to PSPhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/10/modder-brings-touchscreen-support-to-psp/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/10/modder-brings-touchscreen-support-to-psp/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/10/modder-brings-touchscreen-support-to-psp/#commentsFiled under: ,


DS owners are a handsy bunch. Rarely do fans of Nintendo's handheld jump onto the PSP wagon, as they know they'll miss the thrill they receive after wiping their meaty paws all over the screen of their portable gaming device. However, modder jube808 is working to bridge the gap between handhelds -- in addition to adding a sturdier control pad and increasing the battery life of the PSP, he also recently integrated a touchscreen into the system. So far, he's created a brief tech demo, seen above, and a rudimentary keyboard (posted after the break), but he hopes that the technology can be utilized by interested homebreweries.

His next project? Integrating a Cuisinart panini press into his Xbox 360. Let us know how that one works out for you, Jube.

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]]>hackjube808modpspsonytouchscreenGriffin McElroy2008-08-10T15:30:00+00:00Windows Vista + PS3 = Proof of Patience, and not much elsehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/06/windows-vista-ps3-proof-of-patience-and-not-much-else/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/06/windows-vista-ps3-proof-of-patience-and-not-much-else/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/06/windows-vista-ps3-proof-of-patience-and-not-much-else/#commentsFiled under: ,

We're not even willing to label this a "proof of concept," as this mash-up of Windows Vista (via emulation) and the PlayStation 3 is only for those with near-infinite patience or those with a penchant for pain. Some numbers to keep in mind: a day to install, 25 minutes to boot up, 5 minutes to access the start menu and 12 minutes to open notepad. (That's a lot of sandwiches.)

Video embedded after the break, or click here to view instructions on how to do it yourself. Only the truly masochistic need apply.

[Via Engadget]

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]]>hackhomebrewsonyvistawindowswindows-vistaRoss Miller2008-08-06T05:00:00+00:00Video: PSP app uses GPS to remix tunes as you walkhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/04/video-psp-app-uses-gps-to-remix-tunes-as-you-walk/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/04/video-psp-app-uses-gps-to-remix-tunes-as-you-walk/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/04/video-psp-app-uses-gps-to-remix-tunes-as-you-walk/#commentsFiled under: , ,

It's not often (in fact it's never) that you see a game tagline line this: "Make music with a disc of 510 067 420 km² = the Earth." But that's what Oterp, a hombrew PSP app by Antonin Fourneau does.

Oterp uses the PSP GPS add-on to track your relative position on the planet and alters music in real time based on your movements. Its developer has also hard-coded numerous "collection" spots around the globe into the software. Travelling to these locations will unlock new music and effects, similar to unlocking characters via GPS in the Japanese release of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. Sounds pretty cool, huh? More videos of it in action can be found at the Oterp site.

[Via MAKE]

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]]>gpshackhomebrewsonyRandy Nelson2008-07-04T18:00:00+00:00Handheld NES ... in an NES cartridgehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/04/handheld-nes-in-an-nes-cartridge/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/04/handheld-nes-in-an-nes-cartridge/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/04/handheld-nes-in-an-nes-cartridge/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Our first thought upon seeing this very cool hack was "that's awesome." Our second thought was "do you have to blow on it to make it work?"

BenHeck.com forum member "darkeru" created this inventive new take on a home made NES portable, which manages to squeeze all of the 8-bit dynamo's guts into a 4.1" by 5.5" space ... with a backlit LCD display. We just had a third thought: what happens when you connect it to this portable NES?

[Via Hack a Day]

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]]>cartcartridgehacknesnintendonintendo-entertainment-systemRandy Nelson2008-07-04T05:30:00+00:00Steam hacker caught in 'high tech' raidhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/01/steam-hacker-caught-in-high-tech-raid/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/01/steam-hacker-caught-in-high-tech-raid/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/01/steam-hacker-caught-in-high-tech-raid/#commentsFiled under: ,

Back in April, a website used by Valve to manage its Steam-related Cyber Cafe business was hacked. As we reported then, the hacker, known as "MaddoxX," claimed to have gained access to a variety of sensitive data, including credit card numbers. Well, the jig is finally up.

A special Dutch police unit, "Team High Tech Crime" (certainly somehow related to G.I. Joe), nabbed the culprit in the town of Maastricht on June 24. Dutch authorities report that he hacked an Activision server prior to the Valve job, obtaining a pre-release version of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. He is also charged with stealing nearly 50,000 credit card numbers from a UK-based ticket sales service, using some of them to buy electronics and play online poker.

In lieu of a prison sentence, we suggest that "MaddoxX" be assigned to a work release program at Aperture Science.

[Via ITExaminer]

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]]>breachcredit cardsCreditCardshacksteamvalveRandy Nelson2008-07-01T05:00:00+00:00Working NES squeezed into ... an NES cartridgehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/22/entire-nes-squeezed-into-nes-cartridge-case/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/22/entire-nes-squeezed-into-nes-cartridge-case/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/22/entire-nes-squeezed-into-nes-cartridge-case/#commentsFiled under: ,

All right, we'll admit that headline is a little inaccurate. The heavily modified Super Mario Bros. cart shown above actually plays Japanese Famicom carts (like the not-at-all-bootleg Super Bros. 5), not the slightly larger American NES carts. Semantics aside, we're sure you'll share our sense of awe at the accomplishment of fitting an entire video game system into what, at one point, was used to hold the data for a single game.

All the pieces are there, believe it or not, including A/V outputs, a svelte power switch, and two controller ports sticking out at the bottom of the cartridge. The machine seems like a one-of-a-kind hack, and doesn't look like it's going to be sold any time soon. It's a shame, too ... we' d love to get our hands on one of these, if only so we could plug in our Flash Memory PowerPak via an adapter to create the ultimate NES-cartridge-shaped hacking monstrosity.

[Via Engadget]

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]]>cartcartridgefamicomhackNESnintendonintendo-entertainment-systemSuper-Mario-BrosKyle Orland2008-04-22T19:30:00+00:00Head-tracking feature pulled from Boom Bloxhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/15/head-tracking-feature-pulled-from-boom-blox/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/15/head-tracking-feature-pulled-from-boom-blox/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/15/head-tracking-feature-pulled-from-boom-blox/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

At the Nintendo Media Summit, Boom Blox senior producer Amir Rahimi confirmed that the final version of the game will lack the head-tracking mode. We understand that it was always an Easter egg, requiring gamers to set up Wii Remotes as cameras, and hacking together their own IR LED glasses. But you didn't have to go to TED to see the promise, and we're disappointed to see it removed.

EA wouldn't go on-record to say exactly why the mode was cut, only just confirming it again through public-relations channels. An email statement noted, "Head-tracking was something we considered including as an Easter egg in BOOM BLOX however, we did not end up including it in the final version of the game. ..."

Perhaps EA feared that we'd hack together a candelabra helmet as an IR emitter. They should have; we totally would.

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]]>boom-bloxbreaking-newsbreakingnewseaelectronic-artshackhead-trackingnintendo-media-summit-08Zack Stern2008-04-15T06:00:00+00:00Hacker makes mini-sized Rock Band drumshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/04/hacker-makes-mini-sized-rock-band-drums/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/04/hacker-makes-mini-sized-rock-band-drums/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/04/hacker-makes-mini-sized-rock-band-drums/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Want to quiet down the extremely loud clackety-clack of the Rock Band drum kit? You could simply use a few circles of foam rubber, or, if you're like hacker David Yoon, you can create your own extremely cute miniaturized drum kit for quiet, pencil-stick, desktop drumming.

The hack, which includes a foot pedal made from two sandwiched CDs, has the added bonus of being playable in an extremely enclosed space and/or by an extremely agile mouse. So if you have either of those things (and a bit of technical know-how), give it a go. If you have neither, well ... just enjoy the picture.

[Via Engadget]

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]]>drum kitDrumKitdrummingdrumsEAhackharmonixmodrock bandrock-bandRockBandKyle Orland2008-03-04T15:55:00+00:00Rock Band guitar gets real string modhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/05/rock-band-guitar-gets-real-string-mod/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/05/rock-band-guitar-gets-real-string-mod/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/05/rock-band-guitar-gets-real-string-mod/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Practically anyone who's played Guitar Hero and/or Rock Band has probably come across that one jerk who just can't help denigrating the simple fun of the rhythm game experience. "That's not even close to playing a real guitar," he'll say in a snide, nasally voice. "The guitar doesn't even have strings!" Well, if you want to show up that pompous prick, may we suggest you queue up the below video of a modded, stringed Rock Band guitar on a laptop and then RUB IT IN HIS FACE AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ahem. Anyway, while this single-stringed beast still has a ways to go to match a real six-string guitar, it looks like it captures the axe-grinding experience a little more authentically. Here's hoping that some sort of officially licensed, purchasable version of this type of guitar will be available soon.

[Via Engadget]

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]]>activisionEAguitarguitar heroGuitarHerohackmodMTVrock bandRockBandstringKyle Orland2008-02-05T02:00:00+00:00PSP firmware 3.90 cracked (yes, already)http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/01/psp-firmware-3-90-cracked-yes-already/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/01/psp-firmware-3-90-cracked-yes-already/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/01/psp-firmware-3-90-cracked-yes-already/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Well that was fast. Here we are, not more than two days after the Skype-granting PSP 3.90 firmware was released, and a new custom firmware comes along to let PSP owners run homebrew and/or pirated programs yet again.

While there aren't many exciting new features for this quick and dirty custom firmware upgrade, we should note that the M33 line of hacks now has the ability to download updates directly from the internet via Wi-Fi using the PSP's built-in Network Update tool. When PSP users don't even have to be tethered to a computer to break Sony's copy-protection, what chance does Sony really have of stopping them?

[Via PSP Fanboy]

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]]>3.90crackcustom-firmwaredark-alexfirmwarehackm33Kyle Orland2008-02-01T15:00:00+00:00Today's handful video: Mario, gesture mash-uphttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/23/todays-handful-video-mario-gesture-mash-up/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/23/todays-handful-video-mario-gesture-mash-up/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/23/todays-handful-video-mario-gesture-mash-up/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

In what looks like a mash-up tech demo, Super Mario Bros. gets a helping hand from a player, with the plumber being guided and lifted by simple gestures. The video makes us hopeful for fun camera-based games to finally take hold. Bring on the crazy, creative games.

See the video after the break.

[Via BoingBoing]

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]]>camerahackhottest-videohottestvideomariomario-handtech-demovideovideocameraZack Stern2008-01-23T03:17:00+00:00Turn real drums into a Rock Band drum controllerhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/11/turn-real-drums-into-a-rock-band-drum-controller/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/11/turn-real-drums-into-a-rock-band-drum-controller/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/11/turn-real-drums-into-a-rock-band-drum-controller/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



Just as it's impossible to look cool playing a big plastic guitar, it's pretty hard to be taken seriously as a "drummer" when tapping away on an electronic drum machine straight out of an '80s video. Luckily for those who care about looking cool, Otronicon has posted a set of pictorial instructions for turning a real, full size drum kit into a Rock Band-compatible drum controller.

You might think that the real drum would be even worse than that clacky drum controller at drowning out the in-game drum line. Not to worry... just fill your drums with foam to quiet that natural drumming sound. So, to summarize, these instructions let you replace your fake drums with real drums that are working very hard to be fake drums. Just so we're clear.

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]]>drum-controllerdrum-kitdrumsEAhackharmonixmodMTVrock-bandKyle Orland2008-01-11T12:45:00+00:00Pro gamer gets XBL account stolen for Halo 3 armorhttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/30/pro-gamer-gets-xbl-account-stolen-for-halo-3-armor/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/30/pro-gamer-gets-xbl-account-stolen-for-halo-3-armor/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/30/pro-gamer-gets-xbl-account-stolen-for-halo-3-armor/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Skyllus vBi, member of the professional gaming group Team vBi, just can't seem to catch a break. After being recognized by Bungie for making a very popular Halo 3 video, Skyllus was rewarded with the incredibly rare in-game "Recon Armor", which only Bungie employees and a select few Halo community members have. Of course, it didn't take long for some of the shadier members of Halo 3's player base to grow green with envy -- Skyllus has reportedly had his Xbox Live account hacked three times since late October.

The latest hack that Skyllus has suffered has been particularly difficult on him, due to Live's uncooperative customer service. After being told that there was nothing he could do to regain control of the account, and being given the runaround for a few hours, Skyllus had to settle for the promise of an investigation into the account in question.

Keep in mind that any kind of identity theft is illegal, especially if the hacker touches the victim's credit cards (which are easily accessible through information on an XBL account). We hope that the digital notoriety that comes from wearing rare armor in a game is worth the risk of going to real-world jail.

(Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)

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]]>HackHalo-3Halo3TeamvBiGriffin McElroy2007-12-30T11:30:00+00:00Pandora's battery achieves holy grail of PSP hackinghttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/23/pandoras-battery-achieves-holy-grail-of-psp-hacking/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/23/pandoras-battery-achieves-holy-grail-of-psp-hacking/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/23/pandoras-battery-achieves-holy-grail-of-psp-hacking/#commentsFiled under: ,

The constant back and forth between PSP hackers and Sony's firmware upgraders may finally be over, with victory going to the hackers. The folks over at N00bz have released Pandora's battery, a downloadable exploit that creates a memory stick and battery combo that can downgrade any PSP back to the extremely hackable version 1.5 firmware. Even better, the hack will fix PSPs that have been "bricked" by previous failed hacks and "will continue to work for all future firmwares," according to the developers.

The exploit is the result of months of behind the scenes work by a team of hackers that figured out how to reset a PSP to Sony's service mode. With hackers no longer needing to concern themselves with how to break new firmware, we can't wait to see what kind of homebrew software the community comes up with for the most powerful portable hardware widely available.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

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]]>batterydowngraderfirmwarehackpandoraPSPKyle Orland2007-08-23T19:25:00+00:00DS emulator on a PSP, just becausehttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/13/ds-emulator-on-a-psp-just-because/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/13/ds-emulator-on-a-psp-just-because/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/13/ds-emulator-on-a-psp-just-because/#commentsFiled under: , ,



Sometimes it feels like hackers do things just to prove that they can rather than for any actual useful purpose. Case in point, Japanese homebrew developer SofiyaCat has set up a minimally-functional DS emulator on a hacked PSP. The compatibility is reportedly spotty and the emulation runs extremely slowly, but you can count on the community to improve these problems in due time.

It might seem pointless to emulate the DS on a system that only has a single, non-touch screen but ... well actually it is pretty pointless. But it is possible, and that's all that matters sometimes.

[Via DSFanboy]

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]]>dsemulationhackpspKyle Orland2007-08-13T15:55:00+00:00Today's don't-try-this-at-home video: Homemade Wii Fithttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/21/todays-dont-try-this-at-home-video-homemade-wii-fit/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/21/todays-dont-try-this-at-home-video-homemade-wii-fit/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/21/todays-dont-try-this-at-home-video-homemade-wii-fit/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Don't want to wait until later this year try the latest spastic exergaming craze, Wii Fit? Are the Wii graphics just too high-res for you? Wish Wii Fit looked a touch more dangerous?

Gametrailers user, "neadha," answers the call to all three challenges, showing a homebrew balance game grafted to an old version of Pong. Standing on a skateboard deck on a cylinder, the Pong paddle slides up or down with every tilt. Or at least that's the idea. The game is so hardcore that the ball wings across the screen too quickly to react.

With a little tuning, the game might be cool. But clearly, a helmet is advised, lest this turn into Jackass. See the video after the break.

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]]>balanceexerciseexergamingfithackhomebrewhottestvidhottestvideomodpongretrowiifitZack Stern2007-07-21T00:00:00+00:00Cave Story patch allows you to switch main charactershttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/26/cave-story-patch-allows-you-to-switch-main-characters/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/26/cave-story-patch-allows-you-to-switch-main-characters/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/26/cave-story-patch-allows-you-to-switch-main-characters/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


A new patch by Efraim Siounis for the freeware platform adventure Cave Story lets you play as one of nine different characters from the game. Simply grab the pbm file from Efraim's site, rename it to "MyChar.pbm", and drop it in the /data directory under the Cave Story folder. When you start the game all main character sprites will be magically switched. Currently you can play as Curly, Toroko, Jenka, Sue, King, Crown, Booster, or a dog. It doesn't change the game much, but you'll have something new to stare at as you discover another excuse to play through the game ... again.

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]]>adventurecasualcavestoryfreewarehackindependentindiemetroidvaniapatchpixelJohn Bardinelli2007-06-26T01:56:00+00:00PSP firmware hack drives Lumines saleshttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/25/psp-firmware-hack-drives-lumines-sales/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/25/psp-firmware-hack-drives-lumines-sales/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/06/25/psp-firmware-hack-drives-lumines-sales/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Well that was fast. It was just Saturday that hackers at Noobz found a buffer overflow exploit in the puzzle classic Lumines that allowed hackers to run a simple Hello World program on any PSP firmware, including the recently released version 3.5. By Sunday, our blogging brethren at PSPFanboy caught the above screengrab of Amazon's Movers and Shakers page showing the game's sales jumping a ludicrous 5900 percent in just one day. As of this posting Monday morning, the same page shows a more moderate 750 percent rise pushing the two-year-old title to the second-highest spot on Amazon's video game sales charts.

We understand that there are a lot of people out there that want to exploit this new, uh, exploit to run homebrew code on their PSPs. What we don't understand is how there can be so many PSP owners out there that don't already own Lumines. How do you buy a PSP and not immediately pick up this hauntingly beautiful musical puzzler? We suppose there could be some PSP owners out there who eschew UMDs altogether for legally questionable emulators, but really, if you need a firmware hack to justify shelling out a few bucks for such sublime puzzle goodness then we don't want to be your friend anymore.

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]]>buffer overflowBufferOverflowemulationemulatorexploitfirmwarefirmware 3.5Firmware3.5hackhackerluminesPSPKyle Orland2007-06-25T11:28:00+00:00Today's best crossover video: Fighters and shoot-'em-upshttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/29/todays-best-crossover-video-fighters-and-shoot-em-ups/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/29/todays-best-crossover-video-fighters-and-shoot-em-ups/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/29/todays-best-crossover-video-fighters-and-shoot-em-ups/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Our latest trip down the internet's (You) Tubes leaves us basking in the mash-up glory of JudgeSpear. This videomaker's page showcases dozens of game crossovers, with characters from different titles fighting, and even non-gaming characters get inserted into the action. While a little long, we especially like one of the shoot-'em-up crossovers, where a spaceship is piloted through several fighting games and even a GameBoy version of Super Mario Bros.

If you're still not convinced, let this sway you: Mike Tyson makes an appearance near the end. Watch the video after the break.

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]]>crossoverfanhackhottest videoHottestVideojudgespearmash-upmashupshootemupshumpvideoZack Stern2007-05-29T00:00:00+00:00