Archive for December, 2007
By: Ivan 'Nahu' Lozano - On Monday 31 December 2007 @ 1:36 am
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Despite there having been Wii modchips for quite a while it by no means unlocked the full potential of the Wii but a couple of days ago at the 24th Chaos Communication Congress, a delightful meeting of hackers and other hardcore tinkerers, Michael Steil and Felix Domke demonstrated the work they had been doing with the Wii as you can see in the video above.
Beyond the technical mumbo-jumbo they were able to extract the security keys for running code on the Wii and therefore enabled the user to run homebrew software on the console. Although at the most basic level of development right now this means that free Wii homebrew is now a reality and might render better fruits before Nintendo’s WiiWare does. As of now the most popular console on the market is wide open and now anything is possible.
- Did you want to use a hard drive through your USB port? Now its possible.
- Did you want to turn your Wii into a media center? Now its possible.
- Geek enough to want Linux on your Wii? Now its possible.
- Wanted to play old GCN games with your wiimote? Now its possible.
- Wanted to synch your Wii to your PC? Now its possible.
- Dreamed of some hot Wii on DS action? Now its possible.
While this is old news for other consoles the Wii enjoys massive user base and its hardware is cheap making hackers and would-be coders more likely to work on projects. Remember when the iPod was finally cracked? Well this is pretty much that all over again. Just give it some months folks, things are about to get fun.
By: Ivan 'Nahu' Lozano - On Monday 31 December 2007 @ 12:27 am
If you are a fan Japanese fashion and have always dreamed of getting yourself dressed in the latest of J-fashion (and looking like a complete freak everywhere else in the world) you surely have found yourself facing the horrible prices the stuff runs overseas, the excessive cost of importing and the wait that comes with it (and fashion deprecates faster than hardware). Its always been a drag but Japanese businesses seem to be catching on. The see the money overseas and someone’s finally stood up and done something about it.
How FABULOUS are these?!
Maruione.jp is not the typical Japanese clothing outlet, its completely geared towards the international market, featuring the most prominent styles so you can bet you’ll find that gothic and lolita clothing you’d been craving for as well as everything else coming out of places like Harajuku. The prices are pretty fair and their inventory grows every other day.
Good news for the ladies, right now most of the merchandise is for you. As for us men, unless you are comfortable wearing a skirt (which you should if you like J-fashion) you will have to wait and see how things go.
There are also anime goodies such as animation cells, tshirts and a couple of cosplay outfits, all under the watchful eye of master-otaku Patrick Macias. Go give it a browse!
By: Abraham 'Velcor' Duarte - On Monday 31 December 2007 @ 12:22 am
After all these years following gaming through its many many forms (mainly Nintendo’s in the console area) there’s a time when you ask yourself: “Is videogaming worth all the things I do for the sake of it?” I could do other things, get other hobbies like:
-Building miniature ships inside of bottles.
-Have a pet.
-Go to night clubs and hit on random women. . .although studies say that a lot of these will be men.
You get the idea. So wonderful hobbies this world has for us. . .and most of us have decided to go into gaming. Well, I couldn’t be more satisfied.
Shigeru Miyamoto started it and incited a bunch of others who also created fascinating worlds and characters who give us that small spice of adventure, drama, and whatnot to our daily lives, giving us hope that we can do anything if we have the correct set of mind. But Mr. Miyamoto was first, and without his idea, I don’t really know what kind of human or animal would have been Mario (And yes, it is WRITTEN that the character who would rise videogames from the flames shall be called Mario!).
I only think that, with the release of Mario Galaxy this 2007, giving some hope for the Mario-solo franchise, this character is worthy of the yearly Retro Video compilation extravaganza!
First, we’ll start with the first game with Mario in it, Donkey Kong (Video by lfrage):
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Retro Video - End of 2007 Special: Super Mario Fanservice -
By: Ivan 'Nahu' Lozano - On Sunday 30 December 2007 @ 11:51 pm
Dear readers, I know we’ve seen ridiculous Hello Kitty products before, unsettling ones, bizarre ones, but I think this will be the first time we truly see a creepy one. Brace for impact!
These are the hello Kitty Contacts, a work of perfect evil. The people at Sanrio have finally figured out how to make you see hello kitty in everyone’s face. I seriously pity the guy who has to date a girl like this, instead of looking deep into her eyes and see into his own soul through her, he now sees the Mouthless One staring forever at him, thrusting his soul into the deepest, darkest, cutest abyss.
By: Jonathan_Leo - On Saturday 29 December 2007 @ 8:08 am
Thanks to the joined efforts of 1up.com and GameVideos, we get to finally see how Street Fighter IV looks like before the New Year comes.
Oh, wait. My bad. Bet you got a kick out of that old video of the U.S Street Fighter cartoon, eh? No? Sourpusses. Here’s the real deal:
Looks just fucking amazing. This will bring a tear to an old school fighter’s eye. Nothing smarmy coming out of my mouth: this will bring blisters and cramps to my own two hands.
By: Abraham 'Velcor' Duarte - On Friday 28 December 2007 @ 3:49 am
See that (H) on the Title? That means that series is HENTAI, in other words, not for minors. By clicking the “read more” you’re stating that you’re overage and mature enough to watch this stuff. Still, rest assured that these reviews will seldom get you in trouble since as a lot of you know, my reviews cover the technical aspects mostly without going too much into detail.
Now, on to the review!!
Pigeon Blood is awesome; it has the right amount of animation, the right amount of music, and the necessary characters for the story, not more nor less. Being made based from an h-game you never expect a good story (except for C’s ware games), but you’ll be surprised on how some scenes just captivate your 5 human senses.
By: Ben 'FBINinja' Schmidt - On Tuesday 25 December 2007 @ 2:27 am
Well its that time of year, to spend time with your families and celebrate what’s most important in the world. Free stuff.
While you enjoy your free stuff, we here at DDN (except nahu, he’s…different.) are also enjoying our free stuff and will be back to full power fairly soon, (how’s next month looking for you?) I hope someone here on the writing staff has something up their sleeves for a great entry into 2008!
Go out and enjoy the Holidays, and freezing weather!
From all of us (’cept Nahu, he’s…different) at DDN
-Happy Holidays.
….
All this political correctness is killing me. Merry Freaking Christmas.
I come from a place and time where, in my childhood, it was really hard to get anime; even before DVD’s and even before high-speed internet connections, we few anime-loving friends had to do almost impossible tasks, get to know THAT one guy who happened to go God-knows-where to get his anime, and we would follow, to his house, via that OTHER guy who was friends with him. Fantastic tales we soon made, just in order to keep the moe going. Moe. . .a very powerful word, which recently got a whole new meaning, mostly because of the girls of Love Hina.
Yep, Love Hina. That one anime most of you started with because of its male-seducing Harem style, sometimes funny comedy, and overall good animation, and let’s not forget Megumi Hayashibara on those infinite-looping songs.
By: Jonathan_Leo - On Friday 21 December 2007 @ 5:33 pm
As you are aware, there is a shopper’s guide written by our very own tskiller (it got its own sidebar, so go click it, goddammit). But my rather insane-like right side of my brain thought to myself, “Why stop at 2007, when you can plan on what to get your friends and neighbors swag for the future?” Here’s a list on what you can expect to purchase for the holidays….of the future!(cue omnious Twilight Zone music)
*Please note that these forecasts are 50% accurate and 0% credible. So enjoy, as I bid Merry Christmas to all, and drive safe!
Final Fantasy XIII & Final Fantasy Versus XIII Exclusive Demo
Likely to be purchased via: Playstation Network
Estimate Price: US$49.99
Given the fact that Square-Enix has a tight grip on the JRPG market, it will only be a matter of time until they thought of something like this: Why place a free demo of a Final Fantasy game on a Square product (i.e Dragon Quest VIII) when fans are stupid loyal enough to pay for said FF demo at a retail price? Heck, if some gullible chap was willing to pay full price for tripe like Dirge of Cerberus, charging for a demo would seem like a logical step for the money vampires of the East. As an incentive, it comes with a brand “new” trailer, which is basically the one shown at the last E3 with additional 5-seconds worth of new footage.
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Holiday Buyer’s Guide 2008
By: Ivan 'Nahu' Lozano - On Friday 21 December 2007 @ 9:58 am
First 4 Figures, the guys behind the awesome Zelda and Metroid limited edition figures had been quiet for quite a while, turns out they had been working on something awesome, and it shows.
This is their newly released Echoes Gunship model and its their most detailed work yet. Measuring 11.5 inches in length the ship is equipped with 50 LEDs all over the model, in the windshield, engines, the base, pretty much everywhere. The base is also set up so you can tilt the model as you like it and secure it in place. Pretty awesome indeed, this is the first in a series of Metroid ship models set for release.
As usual this figure comes at a premium price of $299.99 USD and its limited to a 750 unit edition. What is different however is that if you buy one you also earn the right to buy the same number of the model next in the Gunship series. Perfect for the fan with $300 bucks to spare, which pretty much counts me out. Ah the life of the starving student.
I decided to change the poll again after thinking long and hard, (ya rly) about the question, the first one was somewhat like a test to see the feedback and whatnot.
So those of you who voted, Thank you!
Ill break down the results:
With the 29 people who voted; (only 29? oh c’mon people!)
14 people were looking forward to the second season of Haruhi
6 people are under the control of the BOSS. (minami-ke)
1 person had heard of Wolf & Spice, I’m reading the scans, its pretty good people!
5 people could give a rats ass.
and
3 people had something else in mind.
Tell us what you want in the polls! ill consider it!
Also be sure to visit the Forums, and the IRC Channel! #DDN on Irc.rizon.net
See you around!
Welcome to the world of Pugyuru! We have cute girls, also octopus girls, and even a chibi-robot-blob maid. . .thingie. A normal series with really cool ideas that could be better done if they had enough money; nevertheless this anime makes it clear that if you have a nice idea, a good team and some money, you can make your own anime for the fun of it!
By: tskiller - On Tuesday 18 December 2007 @ 3:03 pm
Holy shit I don’t believe it.
According to a recent news post on the 3D Realms homepage, tomorrow we will be getting a special teaser video for you guessed it, Duke Nukem Forever. As quoted from their newspost:
“Tomorrow, Wednesday the 19th, around noon CST, we will release the first teaser trailer from Duke Nukem Forever. To tide you over until then, there has been a screen shot taken from the teaser and posted in our forums”
Now of course, this does not really mean anything as its just a teaser video, but it is nice to hear they are still “working” on Duke, more or less. But still, I’m as excited as ever for any news about the good ole’ Duke, as me and many of my friends were essentially raised on duke nukem 1,2, and 3D.
ZOMG UPDATE
Well, its out! You can grab a high quality version from the 3drealms website, or just view the youtube version right here!
Not much is shown that we haven’t seen before, but that said the game looks incredibly slick and I’m digging the funky Uematsu’s composed theme song. As with Versus XIII’s trailer, I’m getting a sense of déjà vu. Final Fantasy XII stunk of Star Wars and it seems XIII will too. And the whole flipping in the air whilst shooting a pistol gives me flashbacks of Yuna in Final Fantasy X-2. The difference being that XIII’s leading lady looks a heck of alot cooler, not so girly and appears to be a heck of alot more capable. It’s good to have a kick arse female in a Final Fantasy game. There hasn’t been one in an FF game since Tifa in VII. Though she lost major cool points after hanging up the mini skirt and getting punk’d like a bitch in Advent children. (How she lost that fight is still a mystery to me…)
Square Enix has said that their aim with Final Fantasy XIII is to have in game battles that rival the pace and intensity of those in Advent children. If anybody can pull that off it’s Square Enix and the PS3 is more than capable of handling it. But the mind boggles as to how the battles system is going to work. My guess is that the battle system will be some offshoot of Final Fantasy XII’s and that those really cool moves shown in the trailer above are triggered set pieces. Kinda like how the triangle command worked in Kingdom Hearts II. But that’s just a complete hunch.
Of the 3 titles that make up Fabula nova crystallis: Final Fantasy, this will release first. There’s no release date, but my guess is that Japan will see it at Christmas of 2008, whilst North America and Europe are made to sit tight until 2009. I doubt very much neither of the Final Fantasy games are close to completion. With the amount of games Square Enix have in development right now it’s a wonder how they get anything completed at all. I bet Square Enix employees haven’t seen their families since the release of Final Fantasy VII.
By: Ben 'FBINinja' Schmidt - On Monday 17 December 2007 @ 2:58 pm
You may have read a post a few months back from Nahu about the Resident Evil CG movie and how then there was no info on it, but now there is a trailer!
Featuring the Leon Storyline, and Advent Children Quality graphics, we hope this is a winner! I have a few fans in the family, and for my sake I hope its good!
[Joystiq]
com.JPG "Only the finnest in flash animation for your entertainment")
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