Archive for November, 2006
11,500 Final Fantasy XI Online accounts banned by Square Enix
Square Enix has terminated over 11,500 accounts held by players involved in the usage of 3rd party tools or cheats, or engaged in RMT (Real Money Trading) activities. The termination of these accounts has led to the removal of approximately 45 billion Gil from circulation.
The violations of these PC, PS2 & Xbox 360 users were:
* Usage of tools that allow enhanced character movement. Approx. 1,100 cases.
* Usage of tools that circumvent game mechanics with respect to the timing of ability use, etc. in certain areas or at points where Notorious Monsters appear. Approx. 6,400 cases.
* RMT-related activity Approx. 4,000 cases. Bye bye Gil.
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7 comments »Canada killed the Wii
Japan killed the PS3 when it was first launched there. Now we can blame Canada for a teardown of the Nintendo Wii conducted by Semiconductor Insights (SI). I’m a little bitter about them killing the Wii even after saying they thought it was “quite intuitive to use and surprisingly responsive”. Let’s hope a future Wii firmware update will make the console sentient enough to run from dangers like these men.
Current Wii World population: 599,999 
I guess they just wanted to analyze some of the components inside, including the IBM “Broadway” processor, ATI “Hollywood” graphics processor, Broadcomm BCM2042 wireless sensor with Bluetooth functionality, Broadcomm BCM4318 WiFi transceiver, Qimonda HYB18HS1232 GDDR3, Samsung K9F4G08U0A 65nm 4Gbit NAND Flash, and Elpida S1616AGTA 16Mbit SDRAM.
Ridge Racer 7 review video (PS3)
Ridge Racer 7 once again whips the racing series in a frenzy, with movie-quality visuals and a stronger online component from that of the Xbox 360 game, Ridge Racer 6. Director Masaya Kobayashi, assistant producer Hideo Teramoto, and sound director Hiroshi Okubo all worked on the successful PSP and Xbox 360 Ridge Racers, and are aiming to use RR for PS3 as a showcase of the system’s power and capabilities. Expect 5.1 sound, blistering speed and graphics, 20 courses to racer on, online play for as many as 14 racers, implementation of cool Nitro system showcased in the last two versions, car customization options for at least 200,000 car variations per vehicle, and significant improvements in online play (including cooperative team play.) Best of all, Reiko Nagase returns in Ridge Racer 7, bringing back the racing queen of your dreams!
Does this one end up on the showroom floor, or is it strictly parking lot material? Find out in this Ridge Racer 7 video review.
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New video game releases week 48
Here’s a list of this weeks US game releases. The PS3 had 13 games at launch and the Wii had 28 games at launch over a week ago. And that’s where the bulk of great games went to… not that I’m hating on Hamsterz, Horsez and Catz or anything.
Tuesday:
Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer (PS2)
Cartoon Network Racing (PS2, DS)
DMZ: North Korea (PC)
Hamsterz Life (DS)
Harley-Davidson Motorcycles: Race to the Rally (PC)
Lionel Trains: On Track (DS)
Horsez (DS)
Mercury Meltdown Remix (PS2)
Online Chess Kingdoms (PSP)
Shrek Smash n’ Crash Racing (PSP)
Superman Returns: Fortress of Solitude (GBA)
The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-King (PC)
The Sims 2: Pets (PSP)
Xiaolin Showdown (DS)
Wednesday:
Mystery title (Xbox Live Arcade)
Thursday:
Catz (DS)
Puzzle de Harvest Moon (DS)
Rampage: Total Destruction (DS)
History of The Legend of Zelda
Let’s take a look at the humble beginnings of the boy dressed in green, Link, and the adventures he finds on his quest for greatness. This 50 minute in-depth video of The Legend of Zelda series goes on with a look at Link’s return to his roots, and his first handheld outing. Then shows Link riding his way onto the N64, and how he becomes the ultimate master of disguise. After that Link brings us back to the handheld market where Link meets a few new friends. Lastly, he ventures onto the GameCube where he undergoes an extreme makeover, and meets a talking cap that’ll change his world perspective.
As the retrospective comes to an end, it tries to make sense of the history of Hyrule and Link’s timelines.
There’s a free DVD download of this video at Wiinintendo. Thanks to Reeteshinator for sending in the tip after seeing the History of Final Fantasy I to XIII.
Wii sells 600,000 in one week! Zelda attach rate is 75%
Nintendo’s new Wii video game system sold through to more than 600,000 consumers in the Americas in just its first eight days of availability. That’s a rate of nearly one per second continuously since the November 19 launch.
Including just first-party software and accessory sales, Wii instantly has become a $190 million business in the Americas.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a favorite of avid gamers, already has achieved sales of more than 454,000 units in the Americas, representing more than 75 percent of all hardware purchasers.
“Even with sales already in excess of 600,000 units, demand continues to exceed supply, as it’s clear this is one of the ‘gotta-have’ products for the holiday season,” says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “We’ve shipped retailers several times the amount of hardware the other company was able to deliver for its launch around the same time — and we still sold out.
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Elebits is the first WiiConnect24 game. List of other online titles included
Japanese magazine Famitsu put up an article about the upcoming Wii game from Konami, Elebits. The game will be released on December 6th in the US.
Elebits is the first WiiConnect24-game. When you’re connected to WiiConnect24 via Nintendo’s Wi-Fi Connection Konami has enabled the option to send new content to online Wii users. The player can edit maps and levels with custom rules in the “Editor Mode” and send them to a friend. You can also take photos (inside story or editor mode) and send those to someone from your friendlist as well. Via Gamefront
Other Wii games besides Elebits that will take advantage of WiiConnect24 are: Article continues »
Europe freed from the Rule of Rose
That headline would be the most positive spin you could give this debacle. Rule of Rose was criticized by both the mayor of Rome and Europe’s justice and security commissioner Franco Frattini, who described the game as containing “obscene cruelty and brutality.†At the same time, Frattini called for changes to the pan-European PEGI age rating system, and dialog between government and industry representatives to help moderate game content. All of this after PEGI rated the horror game 16+.
Rule of Rose was set to be released in the UK last Friday, but a statement from a 505 Games spokesman (the publisher in Europe) indicated that, “Following discussions with our retail and publishing partners, has taken the decision not to publish Rule of Rose in the UK at this time.”
Gamasutra reported the decision was taken after the negative coverage of the game in British newspapers The Daily Mail and The Times. As recently reported in British trade paper MCV UK, though, The British Video Standards Council (VSC) has reacted angrily to the press coverage, accusing the newspapers of inventing non-existent scenarios in the game. “I have no idea where the suggestion of in-game sadomasochism has come from, nor children being buried underground. These are things that have been completely made up,†said VSC secretary general Laurie Hall.
The Times said RoR’s 19-year-old heroine Jennifer is ‘beaten, gagged and buried alive’ and Article continues »
Baja Mania and Baja Destruction racing to PS2 and Wii on March 9, 2007
Conspiracy Entertainment has announced that two of their PS2 racing games will also be released on the Wii. Baja Mania and Baja Destruction will both be released in Europe on March 9th, 2007.
The games feature hard fought combat and driving skills across the Baja peninsula in the Southern California desert, competitors must vie with each other to build the ultimate off-road racer - the better the suspension, tyres and, of course, the obligatory roll cage, the better the chances of winning.
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Wii in a NES Revolution skin
The Wii was codenamed Revolution. Decalgirl remembered and made a NES-like Wii skin for those folks that either still dislike the Wii name, or those that love retro gaming.
If you can’t stand to wait another year until Nintendo might release another Wii color, like the original black Wii they showed off at first, well they’ve got you covered too with a black Wii skin. I didn’t think those console and handheld skins could look so nice, color me impressed. Has anyone ever picked up a skin from Decalgirl?
