Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[One reason Fez has taken five years to make, has already won awards]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/06/one-reason-fez-has-taken-five-years-to-make-has-already-won-awa/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/06/one-reason-fez-has-taken-five-years-to-make-has-already-won-awa/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/06/one-reason-fez-has-taken-five-years-to-make-has-already-won-awa/#comments Seeing Fez's technical postmortem directly before a screening of Indie Game: The Movie offered a jilted experience, one from developer Renaud Bedard, who presents the game's pitfalls in its most practical terms, and the other from a dramatic 15-foot projection of Phil Fish's muttonchops, who assure us that re-re-creating Fez was and continues to be a truly personal, life-altering experience.

Fez has been in development for almost five years and is now officially undergoing Microsoft certification -- the most the public (or press) has played is in demo form, yet Fez has been widely anticipated since its IGF win in 2008, a scenario that Indie Game: The Movie explores on a deeply human level. Bedard explains it in more technical terms. Way more technical terms.

Bedard and Fish created their own editor for Fez, called the Fezzer, and designed what they deemed "trixels," blocks like voxels but at 16x16x16, or as Bedard described it, four 2D views creating one 3D world. Instead of a standard 2D tile set, Bedard built 3D "triles" -- 302 of them -- in 17 trile sets. Fez will have 157 isolated levels, and these triles make up all of them.

Fez stars Gomez, a 2D character wandering a 3D world, and it also features a 4D character, Dot the tesseract. Dot is a 4D hypercube fairy that Bedard created using faux 4D to 3D projections with 96 vertices and 144 triangles, lending her the feeling that she knows more about the Fez universe as a whole, which she does.

Both Bedard and on-screen Fish agree that Fez has been a long time coming.

"The fact that Fez was such a long project means that we kept upgrading," Bedard said. "Fez is our first game, our first project. It's hard to manage the fact that you want the game to be perfect."

JoystiqOne reason Fez has taken five years to make, has already won awards originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Fezgdc-2012microsoftphil-fishpostmortemReanud-Bedardtechnicaltechnical-postmortemxboxTue, 06 Mar 2012 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[NXE audio issues continue to fire up forum users, Microsoft still working on a fix]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/17/nxe-audio-issues-continue-to-fire-up-forum-users-microsoft-stil/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/17/nxe-audio-issues-continue-to-fire-up-forum-users-microsoft-stil/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/17/nxe-audio-issues-continue-to-fire-up-forum-users-microsoft-stil/#commentsFiled under:


When the switch was flipped to release the New Xbox Experience (NXE) everyone at X3F HQ was huddled around a candle, hoping that Xbox Live wouldn't ... you know, explode! Thankfully, the NXE was released and the Live service continued to run strong, for the most part. However, not everyone had a rosy experience. Some Xbox users connected throughout HDMI noticed an issue, the NXE would not play audio via an HDMI connection. While this isn't news, users that have been hit with the audio issue have taken to the Xbox.com forum, now threatening to take the issue to the the Better Business Bureau and contact consumer advocacy groups due to Microsoft's refusal to address the problems.

Only, Microsoft did address the NXE/HDMI problem. On December 2, X3F reported that Microsoft admitted the NXE had caused the HDMI audio issue for some users and are currently working on a fix in a story on ShackNews. While they don't get points for speed -- actually, maybe they do ... we don't know how long it takes to fix these things -- Microsoft has admitted the problem and aren't leaving anyone out in the cold. Get it? 'Cuz it's December. Never mind, you seem upset.

[Ed. Note: Story edited to clarify the audio issue has only hit some HDMI users]

JoystiqNXE audio issues continue to fire up forum users, Microsoft still working on a fix originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>audiohdmihdmi-audionxetechnicaltechnical-issuesWed, 17 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Poll: Are you having technical issues with GTA IV?]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/30/poll-are-you-having-technical-issues-with-gta-iv/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/30/poll-are-you-having-technical-issues-with-gta-iv/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/30/poll-are-you-having-technical-issues-with-gta-iv/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

We've heard about various reports of the technical problems with Grand Theft Auto IV. We're conducting a network-wide poll with our friends at X3F and PS3 Fanboy to see how the Joystiq community has been afflicted with the issues. After voting, please let us know your specific problems in the comments below.

Are you having problems with Grand Theft Auto IV?
Yes, and I use the Xbox 360
Yes, and I use the 60GB PS3
Yes, and I use the non-60GB PS3 (please specify in comments)
No problem (Xbox 360)
No problem (60GB PS3)
No problem (non-60GB PS3; please specify in comments)
Don't own the game, I just felt compelled to click something

JoystiqPoll: Are you having technical issues with GTA IV? originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>grand-theft-autogrand-theft-auto-ivgtagtaivhardwareissuespollproblemsPS3rockstarrrodtake-twotechnicalXbox-360Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Case mods for the technically savvy]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/10/case-mods-for-the-technically-savvy/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/10/case-mods-for-the-technically-savvy/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/10/case-mods-for-the-technically-savvy/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Crystal clear...
We've posted case-mods for the DS and DS Lite before, but most of said mods usually involve a skin or cover of some sort, leaving the original color (probably a bland white, right?) still seething underneath, like an angry hornet. If you've got the guts to mess around with some hardware, however, then listen up. Project SHOCK! is a full hard-case mod of the DS Lite, soon to be available in several different colors. The material is made of composite polycarbonate and plastic, so the standard "cheap feel" you get with standard mods won't apply here.

They're offering several colors for preorder, including yellow, white, black, red, blue, and our favorite, clear. They check in at a pricey $35.00 each, and require some additional tools as well. They've posted a tutorial for those interested in how to perform the mod, so check it out to see if you think you can handle the job.

[Thanks, Creamsugar!]

JoystiqCase mods for the technically savvy originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 10 Sep 2006 13:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>CaseClearLiteModSHOCKTechnicalTransparentSun, 10 Sep 2006 13:16:00 EST<![CDATA[Xbox Live connection problems? Here's a tip]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2006/01/02/xbox-live-connection-problems-heres-a-tip/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/01/02/xbox-live-connection-problems-heres-a-tip/http://www.joystiq.com/2006/01/02/xbox-live-connection-problems-heres-a-tip/#commentsFiled under:

If you've been having problems connecting to your friends on Xbox Live for games or chat, here's a tip that'll help you determine the source of the problem--and hopefully fix it.

Go to the System blade, select Network Settings and then Test Xbox Live Connection. You'll be able to see what sort of NAT your system is behind, and if it's set to Moderate or Strict then you will only be able to connect to certain other users.

To fix this, set your NAT to Open by opening the following ports on your router: 88 (UDP), 3074 (UDP), and 3074 (TCP).

[Thanks, silvernome]

JoystiqXbox Live connection problems? Here's a tip originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 02 Jan 2006 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>technicaltroubleshootingxbox liveXboxLiveMon, 02 Jan 2006 18:30:00 EST