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1UP's tips for that perfect gaming rig
1UP has a playful little piece up with some helpful tips for sprucing up your gaming setup. Some of our favorites include They advise gamers to use rechargeable AAs in those wireless controllers. Play & Charge be damned, those AAs just keep on running, no wires necessary ... and they'll work in your Wavebirds. There's some interesting points on the vagaries of HD gaming; want your old games to look great on that new HDTV? Good luck. That HD box is gonna stretch that signal to fill up the frame. You can opt for an upscaler, or just get a dedicated TV set for those standard-def games. 1UP recommends an EDTV set, which come in sexy slimline variants (just like their HD cousins) but are fixed at 480p. For some reason, I don't think this is a really viable solution, but the problem is a notable one. Home Theater PC gaming! Build yourself a custom gaming rig, hook that sucker up to your HDTV, and get an all-in-one gaming/emulation/DVD/PVR/Joystiq machine. A sexy solution, to be sure, but be warned: building PCs can be tricky and outfitting one with the necessary gear can be expensive. There's also a page on import games that feels a little tacked on. A Mario cap DS pouch? Eh, notsomuch. Of course, real gamers don't need a fully spec'd setup to do their gaming. Just look at Xbox 360 Fanboy's "most pathetic 360 setup" contest applicants. If you're willing to do your HD gaming on a 13" TV/VCR combo just to get your fix, we salute you. That's not to say we'd game on it or anything ... [Via /.]
An in-depth review of E3 media booths
Kyle over at Video Game Media Watch turns the spotlight back on the media's presence at E3 with an in-depth review of the big media booths that were dotted around the show floor. Here's the quick and dirty from Kyle's write-up: 1UP/Ziff Davis' booth wasn't very crowded, although the free copies of EGM were popular. BradyGames, the strategy guide publisher, stuck a couple of Guitar Hero 2 booths in their stall and let the crowds grow exponentially. GameSpot's booth was very inaccessible. So either they were working hard, or they were playing a massive LAN game. UGO couldn't hide their Geometry Wars addiction. Oh, and they stole chairs from neighboring booths. G4 let people browse the web for free: free internet FTW! Kyle goes into a lot more detail, so make sure to check out his full article.
An educated look at the name Wii
We haven't been reporting on the internet's reaction to the new name for the Revolution Wii because, frankly, it's all been a bunch of boner jokes and cries of torment at the completely ridiculous nature of the title. I can't speak for everyone here at Revolution Fanboy, but I don't like it. As such, the link leads to a rather calm article on the name change for the system and an analysis of several of the rumors that have tried so hard to come up with an explanation for the name outside of Nintendo wanted it that way. One step at a time, just one step at a time...
DS Lite to be priced & dated May 4
During a recent podcast, 1UP noted that Nintendo would announce the official price and release date for the DS Lite this Thursday, May 4. The announcement will include the relevant data for the North American launch and will likely reveal a price and date for Europe as well. The DS Lite debuted in Japan this past March for 16,800 yen (just under $150), but due to demand, some distributors pushed the price to 23,300 yen (roughly $200). Current rumors speculate a June release in North America with a $199.99 price tag.The original Nintendo DS model is now on sale for as low as $119.99. Would you be willing to fork over an additional $80 to go Lite?[Thanks, David]
What does your Animal Crossing town say about you?
Like other virtual sandboxes which foolishly let us have some degree of control, living in an Animal Crossing town means that that town begins to take on aspects of our personality. With the wireless capabilities of Animal Crossing: Wild World, it's easier than ever to see what crazy dreamscapes your friends have built and to get an extra insight into the workings of their minds.This 1up article does just that, looking at a few different towns along with the horrors and delights that lie in store. Whether you prefer mixing red wallpaper with orange carpet, you've collected an entire museum's worth of fossils, or you prefer to go au naturel and let weeds flourish, you might find yourself reflected in one of these secret lives. Either that, or there's an internet quiz meme waiting to be born.
Virtual prostitutes make real cash
Sex sells in Second Life, as it does in real life, and this article by Computer Gaming World delves into the story of prostitution within Linden Labs' virtual world. While Second Life prides itself on being driven by user-created content, including user-driven entertainments at nightclubs and gaming plazas, it's no secret that cybersex is amongst the entertainments on offer for the discerning punter.According to the article, escorts can earn up to L$10,000 a week from a few hours' work -- approximately $30, although the exchange rate fluctuates. It's not something that a brand-new character would be able to pull off, though; an expensive wardrobe of realistic avatar clothing, skins and animations is an asset, as are gender verification and a location in which to practice. The industry supporting the sale of these items, and arrranging escort encounters, seems more profitable than actual on-the-street work.Does this render sex-based MMOs redundant? No; there's room in the market for more than the offerings from Second Life residents. But as the recent suspension of Spend the Night shows, creating an erotic MMOs isn't plain sailing; Second Life's exploration of the genre, with or without endorsement from its creators, is a useful first for any developers that wish to follow.[via /.]
Rumor: Mario Paint on the DS
1up editor Luke Smith recently posted about some tastey morsels that'll be running in the May issue of Electronics Gaming Monthly. Of these morsels, the tastiest to DS Fanboy readers (and Bloggers) is a rumor that the DS could be seeing an adaptation of the beloved SNES title Mario Paint. Considering how accessible the DS is to people who aren't hardcore gamers and the recent success Brain Training has enjoyed on the handheld, the idea of a Mario Paint game hitting the DS is a great idea. Using the stylus to swat flies would be too much fun!
Rumor: Final Fantasy XIII PS3 exclusive at E3
According to 1UP, the May issue of EGM contains a rumor that Final Fantasy XIII will be showing up at next month's E3 for "a brief teaser video and confirmation from [Square Enix] that the RPG will be a PS3 exclusive." RPG fans, rejoice!What's a little shocking is that FFXIII would be unveiled before FFXII is even released outside Japan, but "rumblings" have apparently also been picked up that "Final Fantasy XIII is practically close to being finished" already. With all the delays to XII, it's certainly more than possible that a second team working on XIII's already got something to show by now.It wasn't exactly surprising that FFXIII would show up as a PS3 exclusive--despite certain misquotes to the contrary--but you know that a new Final Fantasy is just what the next PlayStation needs (judging by how previews of FFX elevated the PS2's platform profile). Hopefully this little tidbit isn't EGM's way of stretching its April Fools' coverage to another issue (and another month).[Thanks, Spatlase Disexia]
Playstation 3 delay is official
In the "who didn't see this coming?" news of the day Sony has announced that the Playstation 3 won't be shipping this Spring. A Japanese newspaper is reporting the launch has been pushed back to November in Japan, potentially leaving US high definition gamers PS3-less until 2007. The stated reason for the delay? Copy protection related to the Blu-ray drive. Apparently that preliminary AACS agreement wasn't enough, or maybe Sony is just planning on slipping a combo (or at least 4x drive) in the unit.It's been pretty obvious that the PS3 would slip, with it being March and developers still not having final hardware to work on, but November seems pretty late, it will be interesting to see how they keep the hype machine rolling all year long.Hopefully we will learn more about Sony's next generation plans tomorrow. [Via Evil Avatar]
1UP discusses the Revolution
1Up is running a feature where they analyze the current hype, the machine, and how the launch will go for the Nintendo Revolution. The piece goes on to say:"Love it or hate it, the U.S. launch of the Nintendo DS was packed with games specifically pointed at the Western audience: Spider-Man 2, Madden '05, Asphalt Urban GT.& OK, maybe some of these should never have been released, but here's the point: Nintendo can, if pressed into action, mobilize third-party publishers to have launch games readied."That's the most important thing for the Revolution: third-party support. If the Revolution can maintain a steady stream of third-party releases then we'll see a much more drastic shift toward Nintendo when it comes to market dominance." At any rate, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has told a Japanese newspaper that he sees the Thanksgiving holiday as being an important target to hit in the U.S. market, so we're probably assured that Revolution will be out by then. In stark contrast to Sony's usual method, the Japanese release may actually come slightly later, as with the Nintendo DS in 2004."Who do you guys think will get the revolution first: America or Japan?
What happened to instruction manuals of yore?
1UP has a feature called Instruction Destruction lamenting the loss of creative and thorough game manuals. Early PC games often used the manuals as part of their copy protection, forcing you to navigate the manual hunting down key words; some NES titles came with bundled maps, some 16-bit titles came with walkthroughs and T-shirts. The 32-bit era brought an end to the practice. Confined by the smaller CD jewel cases and looking to counter increased production costs with lower manufacturing costs, publishers offloaded the extras as promotions for pre-ordering (think Metal Gear Saga) or premium-priced super-mega-special editions. Most manuals offer none of the thrill they used to, when you'd pour over them in the car on the ride home from the game store. The only manuals I can recall enjoying recently were We Love Katamari, which was full of wonderful illustrations of the game's characters, and Shadow of the Colossus, which used simple, elegant images to communicate the game's mechanics.[Image is from the Legend of Zelda manual, available at The Game Manual Archive]
MySpace and gaming: the power of social networks
The social world of MySpace seems a far cry from gaming, but as games become more socially focused, the two are converging--Alice, at Wonderland, muses on a MMO that would combine the social power of MySpace with MMO dynamics. A lot of the emerging social technologies on the Web--from social bookmarking to photo sharing--could easily translate into a game world, and as a commenter on Alice's post points out, Second Life already achieves some of the same goals as the MySpace network.With games and MySpace intertwining in new and unusual ways, perhaps MyMMOG isn't as far off as it sounds.
Mod summit looks at modmaking from all angles
Computer Gaming World has (by way of 1up) a roundtable chat with various game developers and modders. If you've ever flirted with modding or downloaded a mod or two then it's a great read, looking at mods from both sides of the game engine.A couple of interesting points for would-be modmakers include the fact that modmaking is becoming more complex, linked to the increasing sophistication of game engines, and a tip from modders that FPS seems to be the genre of choice. While modmakers have no salary or loyalties, meaning that their creativity can run free, sometimes modding is a hard and unrewarding business. Fortunately, there are also success stories from modders who have moved into the games industry as a result of their work.[Update: Corrected CGW, thanks Stevo.]
