Here's the VC for 4/30!

Direct from the Nintendo website: The Virtual Console titles for Monday, April 30th, 2007.

Castlevania (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points): Step into the shadows of the deadliest dwelling on Earth. You've arrived at Castlevania, and you're here on business: to destroy the curse of the Evil Count, once and for all. Make your way through six monstrous floors filled with bats, ghosts, zombies and every kind of ghoulish creature you can imagine. Use the legendary whip Vampire Killer and a host of deadly weapons to battle your way to Dracula's chamber and the ultimate duel of good vs. evil.

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja� (Super NES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): In The Legend of The Mystical Ninja, take control of Kid Ying and Dr. Yang in an action adventure through feudal Japan. A curse has stricken the village of Horo-Horo, and its beloved princess has vanished. Together Kid Ying, a daring young mystical ninja, and Dr. Yang, master of the invincible spirit transformation, must overcome 10 levels of the Dragonbeast to save Princess Yuki. Each stage contains intense 3-D and 2-D zones where the duo must perform dozens of attack moves and solve magical problems and puzzles before advancing. Battle humorous enemies like the Carp Meister, who stuns victims with poisonous fighting fish, Tanaka-U-Out, a knockout artist who wallops opponents with a bone-crushing hammer, and the Sumo Tag Team, kings of the unbeatable belly-buster crunch. Collect coins to buy new equipment and to receive clues, spend some time playing minigames in the arcade or try your luck and increase your fortune at the Quiz House and Horse Races.

Shockman (TurboGrafx16, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points): It's been two years since Arnold and Sonya were made into Shockmen. A message from the professor to return to their bodies has them head to his laboratory, but they are ambushed by a mysterious enemy along the way. After narrowly defeating the enemy, they catch a TV news flash announcing the Ryo Empire invasion. They find that the professor has been abducted and set out to rescue him. Shockman is a side-view action shooter that has eight stages, including Action Stages, where you jump and use special techniques, and side-scrolling Shooting Stages. This game expands on the well-paced story from the previous version and contains cooperative elements like shared life and a powerful Team Shockbeam that can be used during two-player simultaneous play.

Bye Bye, Krazy Ken.

Looks like Ken Kutaragi's days are through at SCEI and Kaz Harai is taking over as CEO! Hm, how do you like that?

Review: Super Paper Mario

Let me start out by saying that I love RPGs of all sorts. Platformers are pretty well up there too, I never thought there'd be a game to tie the concepts together well. Mostly due to the fact that I didn't think there'd be a market for it. Sure, this isn't the first Mario RPG, but it is the first with realtime combat.

I picked up SPM on saturday and started playing it almost immediately, the controls are simple and the story is silly, but at least you're not saving Peach from Bowser. The visuals are crisp and stunning, the lines are clean and the art direction creative. The distortion effect from Twilight Princess is quite prevalent though, I guess when Nintendo get a hold of an effect they like, they bleed it dry. Honestly, the game reminds me a lot of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, albeit a lot less vulgar and profane. There's no in game speech, it's all text, but I can just imagine H. John Benjamin, Dana Snyder and Dave Willis filling in for many of the voices.

The game itself is very "Collect (number) of (sacred object) or we're all doomed!". There's very little innovation in most Japanese produced RPGs, but what can I say? They have it down to a science. You start as Mario, shortly pick up Peach in your party and as you continue on, you gain various other party members. Most of which take form as tools, they're called Pixls and they grant you various abilities. One for picking up object and enemies, another for a bomb, the list goes on. They all have their own personalities and when introduced some of them are entertaining.

Overall, the game is a fun experience; real time battles, quirky levels, fun pixls. I'll give Super Paper Mario an 7.5/10

Kickin' it with new xbox 360 backward compatible titles.

Here is the full list, lifted from xbox.com

Avatar: The Last Airbender
Breakdown
Call of Duty®2: Big Red One
Call of Duty® 3
Cars
Crash Bandicoot5: Wrath of Cortex
Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics™
FIFA Soccer 2007
Full Spectrum Warrior™
Guilty Gear Isuka
JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future
MechAssault® 2: LoneWolf
Mercenaries™
NASCAR 2006:Total Team Control
NFL Fever 2004
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
Panzer Dragoon ORTA™
Phantom Dust™
Reservoir Dogs
Return To Castle Wolfenstein
Rugby League 2
Sonic Riders™
Star Wars Republic Commando™
Street Fighter® Anniversary Collection
The King of Fighters Neowave
The King of Fighters™ 2002 & 2003
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 07
Tony Hawk's Underground
Ultra Bust-A-Move
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
Xiaolin Showdown

The patch is not yet downloadable on Live! but you can download it via PC and load it that way.

Re-enjoy these titles before the new surge of titles hits this year.

Holy crap, awesome Virtual Console Monday!

One of the days I've been waiting for has arrived: Punch Out! on the virtual console.. and two other games as well.

Punch Out!!® Featuring Mr. Dream (NES®, 1 player, 500 Wii Points): As young boxer Little Mac, players have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to battle the big guys of the World Video Boxing Association circuit. Take them on one by one, starting with skinny Glass Joe. Battle up through King Hippo and all the way to the WVBA Champion himself. Players use their best jabs, hooks and power uppercuts to knock out opponents, but must pay attention to subtle changes in their body position to dodge jaw-breaking blows. With great graphics, addictive action and a touch of humor, this game will keep players entertained for hours.

Virtua Fighter™ 2 (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): Virtua Fighter was the very first 3-D fighting game in the industry and introduced six unique characters, each with their own martial arts style. In Virtua Fighter 2, the intrepid fighters return to the World Fighting Tournament. Players take to the stage to see who will claim the championship title. Will it be Lau Chan, Kage-Maru, Wolf Hawkfield, Jeffry McWild, Akira Yuki, Jacky Bryant, Sarah Bryant or Pai Chan The answer lies within. Players immerse themselves in this technically challenging game and see if they have what it takes to be the champion of the second World Fighting Tournament.

Bonk's Revenge (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points): The "hardheaded" hero is back for more in the second installment of the Bonk series. Taking place in the Monster Kingdom, Bonk the Caveman makes his way toward King Drool III. Bonk's Revenge is a side-scrolling action game in which players Jump and "Bonk" (head-butt) their enemies while they make their way to the goal at the end of each stage. Double, even triple, attack power by eating the meat that appears in a stage. There are eight different hidden bonus stages, and the Dinosaur Train that appears after players defeat a boss will change depending on how many Smileys they've collected. With new actions such as the Triangle Jump and the ability to climb trees, as well as seven variety-packed stages, Bonk's Revenge will keep players playing over and over.

And now I have another thing to do when I get home.

Ignore this post.

I want Spore, dammit!

Good News, Halo 3 anticipators!

According to bungie.net
"The Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta will go live on May 16th at 12:00 AM PDT and run through June 6 ^th at 11:59 PM PDT. That means that folks who purchased specially marked copies of Crackdown, or won a spot in the Beta through the “Rule of Three” or other regional promotions, will be able to log into their Xbox Live Gold accounts, download and play the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta and enjoy an early peek at the multiplayer aspect of the game."

Also "There are a number of new features you’ll get to test out – including a new grenade type, a completely different class of weapon and some of the enhanced online functionality we plan to bring to the game – but it should be noted, a lot of secret features are hidden in this Beta. We’re keeping a lot of our powder dry for Fall. In May, when your firing the Spiker, sniping vehicles with the Spartan Laser and sticking fools with the Brute Spike grenade, remember that it’s just a peek-a-boo fraction of what’s to come."

So pretty much you'll be kickin' it on matchmaker mode and trying a lot of new stuff, but they put an emphasis that it IS a beta so it's not all set in stone. There should be a video on the xbox live marketplace. Check it out!

It's Monday, Virtual Console all over your face!

This week, the lucky resurfacing games are:

Galaga (NES, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points): Players control their fighters, with their unique ability to combine with other fighters and shoot down the invading aliens. Aliens attack in formations using a variety of attack patterns. Rescue a captured fighter to combine with it, forming a Dual Fighter with twice the firepower. Earn Perfect Bonuses more easily by using a Dual Fighter on the Challenging Stages. Galaga was released in 1981 and became an instant classic with its innovative fighter-combination system and varied enemy attack patterns.

BRAVOMAN (Turbografx16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points): The village of Nitta has been invaded by the army of Dr. Bomb, an evil scientist who is plotting to take over the world. Facing this crisis is Bravoman, who received his powers from Alpha Man to stand up against Dr. Bomb in the name of justice. The village of Nitta consists of 22 stages - action stages that take place on the ground and shooting stages that take place underwater. Action stages use a unique control system in which the height of a jump and the distance of an attack changes depending on how long players hold down the button. Players collect the Luck Symbols that appear when they defeat enemies and give them to Lottery Man to get recovery and power-up items. Stop Dr. Bomb and bring peace to the village of Nitta and the rest of the world.

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): When King Thor was kidnapped, his son, Alex Kidd, held out hope that his father would return to their kingdom on Planet Aries. Finally, it was revealed that he was being held captive on Planet Paperock. As Alex, players race to his rescue through 11 levels, battling enemies and avoiding obstacles while winning coins that will buy special items and vehicles. At the end of each level, players encounter a boss and enter into a match of "Rock, Paper, Scissors." Throwing the right symbols puts players ever closer to bringing King Thor home; throwing the wrong symbols squashes them beneath a heavy weight.

Enjoy, you kooky kids.

Inter-windows/Live! Chat? I think so.

Thar be rumors floating about, which seem to be congealing ever more quickly into facts. It looks like the spring update, which you may be downloading on your Elite unit, will include IMing between Live! on the 360, the PC and even windows mobile users, up to 6 at a time. Helped by a little keyboard that fits snugly into your headphone slot, now isn't that adorable?

VESA Approves DisplayPort Version 1.1 OR Everything you own will shortly be obsolete.

DisplayPort 1.1 gives manufacturers of LCD panels, monitors, graphics cards, PC chipsets, projectors, peripherals, components, and consumer electronics a next generation digital interface that is designed to replace LVDS, DVI, and eventually VGA. DisplayPort provides the ability to connect to both internal and external displays with a common digital interface. This common interface capability means that DisplayPort can carry pixels directly from any display source to any LCD panel, simplifying the design complexity that is present today. As presented at CES 2007, a DisplayPort Interoperability Guideline that recommends best practices for providing DVI and HDMI connectivity via the DisplayPort connector and simple cable adapters is nearing completion.

This means that components will eventually be simpler and hopefully cheaper for the consumer. A unifying port type like this could be revolutionary if the right steps are taken. There will be adapters for existing components, of course. It's smaller than VGA and DVI components and about 2 times faster than DVI, driving data and pixels more efficiently. The 1.1 standard is free, to drive adaptation.

Of course the downside is that it includes built in DRM. The upside is that future blu ray or HD DVD players won't freak out with the standard.


Read source here.

In the market for a new video card.

Come next month, I shall be purchasing a new video card. Most likely of the nvidia persuasion but there are such a variety of manufacturers for said cards, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to which would make the best purchase. I'm willing to spend between $300-$400 on said video unit. I am in preparation for Spore.

Review: Intec AV Selector and Storage Unit for Xbox 360

Tonight I'm going to review the Intec A/V Selector & Storage for the Xbox 360.
The unit includes four inputs, two integrated storage compartments to store the included remote control, memory cards, DVDs/games and various accessories. Features component video, RCA, and S-Video input & output jack connections, and 2 optical inputs and 1 optical output. The unit also features a multi port hub, to support multiple connections to various consoles or other components.

Now, the unit itself is nearly the same color as the 360, though it doesn't exactly match the hue probably due to cheaper manufacturing methods. The included remote is fairly useless, especially if you store it in the included drawer. You could simply press the button to change the interface, rather than dealing with the poorly reacting drawer mechanism. If and when you do use it, the signal doesn't seem to work half of the time.

The buttons on the unit itself works fine, though they're quite the eyesore. It looks as though they were attempting to match the aesthetics of the 360 as cheaply as possible. They're molded metallicly shaded plastic with indented, and hard to read, characters. The designers were intelligent enough to include exhaust ducts so the 360 doesn't overheat or melt the cheap plastic the unit is comprised of.

The cut-rate composition does not stop at the exterior. When the unit is in operation, every time a bright light flashes across the screen (such as when the 360 starts up or between menu screens), the display freaks out and ceases to relay the signal. This did not happen only on the 360, mind you, but also on my DVD player and my Nintendo Wii as well.

Basically, this is an overpriced, bulky eyesore with poor performance. The only advantage is that my 360 can lay on top of it, still having room for a switch box in the cramped quarters of my entertainment center. I give this a 3.5/10

Just another manic VC monday.

Three titles this week, as promised previously! Each from a different system। NES, N64 and turbo grafix 16.

Star Fox 64 (N64, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points): Good thing rumble is SOO last gen, because this rumble-flagship title lacks support for it, look out Fox!


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES, 1 player, 600 Wii Points): I remember this game fondly from my TMNT drenched grade school days, plus they were some of the cheapest action figures around. Who else had a flipping turtle? It's cool, you can tell me.


Dragon's Curse (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points): Now a game I've never heard of nor played! Who even had a turbo grafix 16? The only place I ever saw this console was in the ads of gaming magazines.

Rock Out Now.

Harmonix has decided to reveal the full down low on their upcoming title, Rock Band. Not only do you strum along as the lead guitar, you and 3 friends can choose one of 4 positions: Lead, Bass, Drums or vocal. Fortunately you're not limited to the immediate vicinity to rock, but instead you can jam across the internets. More details when I'm not so sleepy.