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Homebrew carts for Motocross Challenge and more
Remember Motocross Challenge, that cancelled Excite Bike GBA clone we raved about last April? Developer DHG Games posted a downloadable ROM for the homebrew community to play with, but for those of you who prefer tangible products, RGCD has a limited run of less than a 100 Motocross Challenge cartridges for sale for £7.00 to UK customers (£8.25/$17.00 for worldwide customers). As we made sure to mention several times in our preview, it's a terrific title, and this physical release even has a limited save function included as a bonus.Several other GBA homebrew carts are available for purchase at RGCD's shop, the latest of which is a Christmas Double Pack containing Santa's Chimney Challenge, Santa's Skidoo Scarper, and a hidden game. While you can find descriptions and ROMs for the titles at developer Ian Jeffray's site, keep in mind that Santa's Skidoo Scarper is meant to be played with your handheld turned sideways. UK residents can pick up this Christmas Double Pack for as low as £5.50, while the rest of the world will have to fork up £6.75 ($13.91).
Cases for Lego maniacs and music lovers
Japanese site GAME Watch has put up reviews for two new DS accessories that've come out in Japan, the first of which is a multicolored set of individual cart cases from Takara Tomy. It's not the best solution for keeping your games protected, as part of the cart is left exposed, but its stackable design allows for some creative decorative pieces. Peek past the break for examples of the cases snapped together all crazy-like. A pack of six retails for 700 yen (approximately $6.35).The second product, which you can also see photos of after the post break, looks like a standard system pouch, except it leaves the volume slider accessible, and you can plug in headphones even while your DS is tucked in. But wouldn't the DS put your game into Sleep Mode while it's packed up like that? And who uses their handheld like a portable music player, anyway? Perhaps Morigames designed the case with R4 owners and Moonshell (homebrew media player) users in mind. The bright yellow pouch sells for 750 yen (approximately $6.81).
Textual ads destined to hit shopping cart handles
As marketers continue to search for (and exploit) places in which you'd never think to find an ad, it makes sense to scroll a few plugs through an item that the vast majority of us spend at least a few hours per week touching. That item, dear friends, is the handle of the tried and true shopping cart, and apparently, Modstream is hoping to install bars with scrolling displays onto buggies and allow companies to beam in messages wirelessly. The system works by allowing outfits to access a web-based profile, enter in a given message, and transmit the ad to participating stores. As an added bonus, the setup enables said companies to change up their messages on a whim and keeps us shoppers guessing as to what clever line is coming next. Now, who's down with hacking this thing to scroll through our favorite RSS feeds?[Via Textually]
Today's hungriest video: Aqua Teens
The half-baked, non sequitur style of Adult Swim prevails in this trailer for Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am. They couldn't even resize footage from different sources to be the same resolution. That's the Adult Swim seal of approval.Strangely -- like some of those cartoon shows the kids are into -- the trailer comes off as engaging and funny. There's golf cart racing, a helpless Carl taking the detectives' abuse, Mooninites, and very little actual golf. Hopefully the actual game will strike a similar balance.See the trailer after the break.
Buy it while you can: Blast Arena Advance
Though newcomers to the homebrew scene likely missed Blast Arena Advance when the title was released mid-2005, and even longtime followers of the community probably acted too slow to pick up one of the original 41 cartridges that were manufactured and distributed later on, there may still be a chance for you to make things right.Developer Matthew Carr (Lemmings DS port) has made available 150 more Blast Arena Advance carts for approximately $14, warning timid buyers that this limited run will be the last for this project. Already, over sixty of the semi-transparent, teal-colored carts have been sold. The penny-wise among you could always download the ROM posted on Matthew's site instead, but you'd have one more hole in your collection of rare GBA games.From its minimalist-but-stylish graphics to its immediate accessibility, there's plenty to compare between Blast Arena Advance and the bit Generations' series presentations. You can play the entire game using just the D-pad, collecting flanges and dodging debris from exploding stars while the soundtrack -- music so good you'll try your damndest to survive longer just to hear more of it -- paints in the scenery missing from the black background. Fling yourself past the post break for some video we took of us playing Blast Arena Advance.
Play NES ROMs through official hardware with PowerPak
You young whippersnappers today have it so easy. Hard drives... downloadable content... power buttons right on your the wireless controller! Back in my day you actually had to get up and put a cartridge in the system when you wanted a new game. Of course, that's not so easy for me anymore, what with the rheumatism and all. And don't get me started on blowing in the dang things ...What's that? You say there's a new flash cart that lets you store multiple NES games on a single cartridge? You say you can put hundreds of ROMs on a standard CompactFlash card and play them through the standard NES hardware? You say my days of getting up to put in Clu Clu Land are over?We'll see about that. I'll just adjust the old InterWeb browser and ... $135! Do ya think, I'm made of money? Back in my day $135 would buy you a brand new Cadillac sedan with enough left over for a fancy dinner at Roxy's. Why even today I could use that money to buy 57 27 [update: us old folks make typos too] legally downloaded NES games for my Wii. Stop wasting my time.[Via insertcredit]
NeoFlash dives into DS movement
NeoFlash's MK6-Motion is proof that not all flash cart manufacturers are out to capitalize on video game piracy. The cart's 16 megabits of flash memory gives users enough room to burn a passme ROM or a small homebrew project, but not commercial releases. As its name suggests, the MK6-Motion's appeal lies in its built-in accelerometer and gyro sensor. Since the release of the DS Motion Card earlier this year, over a dozen homebrew games have already incorporated motion sensing features. The MK6-Motion slot-1 cart improves on the technology, bypassing the need for a flashed DS or an additional passthrough device to load software. The hardware doesn't have complete compatibility with existing games yet, but developers will be able to update their homebrew projects to work with the new cart. You can pre-order NeoFlash's MK6-Motion for $49. The DS Motion Card is available at several online shops for about $30-40.[Via DSDev]
Puppy takes out frustrations on Nintendogs cart
Jake Nickell assures us that he never ignored Norman, his Pug/King Charles Spaniel mix, in favor of playing the copy of Nintendogs that came with his Nintendo DS. If that's true, what could have lead the hound into chewing up the pet simulation's cart? Maybe the puppy just grew tired of sinking his teeth into Jake's shoes, homework, and remote controls? Or perhaps Norman took the game's "Best Friends" label to heart, biting down on the newcomer in a fit of jealousy. We happen to think that this was his revenge on Jake for dressing him up in silly outfits and posting the photos on the internet. We would be pretty pissed too.
Blowin' on Nintendo games
We used to jam the game all the way back, force it all the way down, shove (of all things) one of those plastic SNES cart covers in there to keep it in place -- and then (as seen above) feverishly press 'Reset' until that sucka started up. Other techniques?See also: How did you blow your NES cartridge?
DS Daily: GBA stickout
The DS Lite improved upon its predecessor in almost every way. Brighter, sleeker, and smaller .. but, alas, it perhaps became a bit too small. Due to it's decreased size, the DS Lite was unable to fully house GBA cartridges, creating a veritable tumor on your system.In days of yore, we would carry around our DS permanently loaded with both our current DS game of choice, as well as a pick-up-and-play GBA game. These days, we seek to retain our beautiful form factor and simply leave the placeholder "cart" in the slot. Do you guys care about the GBA functionality at all, and are you willing to handle the eyesore? Ladies and gentlemen, to your comments!
Pro-Idee kicks out pricey, portable go-cart funfest
We're down with fanciful portable gaming, and we're certainly crazy over limited edition toys from overseas, and Pro-Idee's suitcase-based go-cart track fits both bills quite nicely. Even if your work regulations won't allow you to toss a PSP or DS Lite in the otherwise pointless front shirt pocket, your boss will have no idea that the sleek, silver briefcase you're toting actually contains a two-player cart racing game, complete with a two-meter long track, stop watch, and a built-in battery pack for "five hours" of rubber-burning madness. Sure to make those long flights zip by, this jewel will be supposedly be limited to 60 units and will demand a whopping €598 ($766), which is probably a good bit less than you'd pay for an oh-so-coveted Playstation 3 right about now.[Via TRFJ]
Sonic 2 prototype now playable
Known only as "drx," some mysterious mage has resurrected a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 prototype cart and promptly dumped it (for emulation). It's an early build of Sega's sequel that's more akin to the first game than to the final version of Sonic 2. Can you spot the differences? It's been suggested that this prototype is the same alpha build that was featured in several episodes of Nick Arcade. Another early build, often referred to as Sonic 2 Beta, was stolen from a toy show in New York back in '92. The cart was pirated and sold as a final version in parts of Asia and Brazil, despite only featuring four semi-playable levels.
DS-Xtreme gives drag 'n drop capability to your Nintendo DS
If you've tossed around the idea of modding your DS, but never bit the bullet due to the ridiculous amount of loopholes you had to jump through to get your homebrew game on, DS-Xtreme has got you covered. While the precise details of how this thing works its magic are a bit scarce, we do know that the company claims this wonder-working cart will allow you to not only run your favorite homebrew applications on your DS without any software / hardware hacks or workarounds whatsoever, but it also rocks a built-in GUI that interfaces with Windows XP via USB 2.0 for some remarkably easy drag 'n drop action. All this sounds mighty impressive, especially compared to the PassMe alternative that required a old fashion GBA flash card, linker, and a DS game just to get you up and running; the DS-shaped cartridge features 512MB (4Gb) of built-in storage space, USB 2.0 connectivity, a full sized onboard EEprom "complete with some serious custom engineering," and a snazzy GUI that apparently makes managing your apps a breeze. If you've been fantisizing over an easier way to get homebrew material on your Nintendo DS or DS Lite, the DS-X flash cart appears to a dream come true, but considering there's no specific release date nor price, we're forced to play the "wait and see" game on this one.[Via MaxConsole]
Yarrrr (or, how to spot pirated DS games)
Those folks over at 4 color rebellion have posted an informative guide on how to spot cheap DS cart knockoffs. While the DS homebrew community is actually quite strong, its growth has invariably created easier and more efficient methods for those...ah...morally flexible among us to reap the rewards. Take a gander at the article, and be sure that if you're purchasing DS games via eBay or some such method, be very careful from whom you buy. No DS game has really reached "cult-hit rarity" status yet (Phoenix Wright is getting another shipment soon, say sources), but if you're not looking, some one-legged buccaneer might plunder your booty in exchange for a shoddy fake.
