connectivity
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Rolling restarts for selected realms this afternoon
Fresh from the news bulletin upon login is an announcement of rolling restarts for a handful of realms this afternoon. At 12:00 noon PDT the realms of Dreadmaul, Caelestrasz, Nagrand, Aman'Thul, Barthilas, Thaurissan, Dath'Remar, Frostmourne, Khaz'horoth, and Jube'Thos will be going down for restarts.Many people have still continued to experience connectivity issues and major lag since patch 3.0.2 dropped nearly two weeks ago. Instances seem to be a particular problem with people not being able to zone in, getting disconnected upon loading, or generally having issues with mobs and other objects appearing correctly.I wouldn't be surprised to see more realms added to this list today, and perhaps some extended maintenance (if not an outright patch) this upcoming Tuesday.
TGS08: Bouncing beatdowns in Castlevania Judgment
Oh, if only we could always start the morning with hot Death on Death action ... well, we'd at least be more inclined to like Castlevania Judgment. Alas, it's only shiny and new this once, and hereafter, all Death v. Death deathmatches will be, as they say, played out.But for a moment, for one bright, shining, purply-explosions moment, Castlevania Judgment was beautiful. Now we're back to bursting muscles, wacky shorts, and flawed gameplay. But buck up, little campers: there's a bit of news on the Order of Ecclesia/Judgment DS-Wii connectivity front. We knew the DS title's heroine, Shanoa, was unlockable in Castlevania Judgment, and as we speculated, so is Aeon -- both through the DS/Wii game connection. In the DS game, Wii connectivity adds a hard mode and raises your level cap in one mode to a whopping 255. Do we need to be so badass? Oh yes. Yes, we do. Gallery: Castlevania Judgment
E308: Transfer data from Animal Crossing: Wild World to new Wii game
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/E308_Transfer_data_from_Animal_Crossing_Wild_World_to_new'; Just now, at the Nintendo Developers' Roundtable -- an apparent follow-up to yesterday's keynote -- Katsuya Eguchi announced that not only will players be able to transfer their characters and accumulated items from the DS version of Animal Crossing to the newly announced Animal Crossing: City Folk, but DS-Wii connectivity will feature in other ways as well. While we don't know all of the specifics (we tried to get clarification, but the Q&A wrapped too quickly), it sounds as though you can also use the DS to transfer AC data between Wiis if you don't have Wi-Fi. Also planned for Japan (for now) is the use of DS Download Stations. Players will be able to download information to their handhelds and take it home for transfer to the Wii title. Sounds like this is meant to open up new buyable items, and Eguchi said they were hoping to bring that feature to the U.S. as well.
E308: Highlights from Nintendo's private conference
Yesterday's keynote wasn't the only big event on the calendar for Nintendo this week at E3. Right now, their second event, a developer roundtable -- private, low key, totally secretive in that everyone knows about it -- is about to get underway, and we're ready to bring you the big news as it rolls out. Check back for updates as we get them from DS Fanboy undercover ninja JC Fletcher, and in the meantime, let's speculate. Word is that something big will be announced ... but isn't that always how the rumors run? We'll have to wait and see. But don't worry -- as soon as we hear anything, you'll be the first to know! Now let's just hope there's something worth knowing.Update: So far, looks like the same (Wii) titles from the keynote: Animal Crossing: City Folk, Wii Sports Resort, and Wii Music. Where's the DS love, guys? The love ... where? DS-Wii connectivity and transfers! Also, Joystiq is liveblogging the minutiae of this second conference.
Bonus content planned for Judgment, Ecclesia connectivity
With Konami currently developing two Castlevania titles, one for the Wii and the other for the Nintendo DS, it seemed obvious that the studio would add some sort of connectivity feature to the two games, especially considering that Shanoa, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia's protagonist, will be a playable fighter in Castlevania Judgment. Though Konami hasn't provided any specifics, the company has announced that connecting the two games, presumably through WiFi and not with a string, unlocks "bonus gameplay content." We don't know yet if that extra stuff will be limited to just the Wii, but we're hoping for some added DS perks! What could that "bonus gameplay content" be? New items/costumes/areas? The original Castlevania games for the NES? A minigame for raising your own pocket Castlevania monsters?!%Gallery-22992%
Somebody's Ambition
There are so many Koei strategy games out there that it can be hard to keep them straight, especially when we can't read much of the text. It's even worse when there are two titles in the same series on the same system being promoted at the same time. In this case, the games actually interact with one another.The new Nobunaga no Yabou 2 (Nobunaga's Ambition 2) is a more traditional Nobunaga's Ambition game, focusing on the big (Japan-wide) picture rather than battles between individual units. It can connect to the more Advance Wars-like Kunitori Zunou Battle Nobunaga no Yabou via local wireless to unlock secret generals. While we wish either of these games would be released here, we just think it's neat to interface two different DS games to unlock stuff.%Gallery-19665%
DS doubles up as notebook for Wii kanji trainer
Anybody who has attempted to learn how to correctly write kanji will know that the process involves a bewildering number of rules. Memorizing rules is stressful enough, but practicing your kanji skills with a Wii Remote would surely only make the experience more frustrating.This meant that IE Institute faced a potential dilemma when developing its Wii-bound kanji trainer, 250 Mannin no Kanken Wii de Tokoton Kanji Nou, yet the developer found a graceful, elegant solution: throw in a spot of DS-Wii connectivity, and let users input kanji characters on the DS's touchscreen, which is perfect for handwriting (as other games have already ably demonstrated). There's been nowhere enough DS-Wii connectivity for our liking, yet this is easily one of the better uses of the feature to date.
Blizzard website updates complete
A blue poster on the forums today announced that the updates to Blizzard's websites are now complete. These updates have caused all of Blizzard's sites to work either poorly or not at all for the past few days.They were doing these updates to provide greater security and new features. While we might never know what the new security aspects are of the site (we can guess at stronger encryption, etc...), we expect to see some new features on their site in the future. Personally I'm glad their update is done. My credit card recently expired and I had to put in a new number, but wasn't able to because the site kept messing up. However this afternoon I was able to update my billing information without a hitch. Back to the multi boxing for me...
Rolling restarts
A friendly reminder that there will be a number of rolling restarts for U.S. realms this morning starting at 5:00 a.m. PDT, and lasting until 6:00 a.m. PDT. Several realms will be offline for approximately 15 minutes (if everything goes okay). This is a welcomed event as some servers have noticed stability issues in the past couple of days. The U.S. realms that will be restarted are: Arathor, Azjol-Nerub, Bloodscalp, Bonechewer, Boulderfist, Bronzebeard, Crushridge, Daggerspine, Darkspear, Draenor, Dragonblight, Dragonmaw, Dunemaul, Eldre'Thalas, Fethermoon, Firetree, Frostmane, Gurubashi, Nathrezim, Scarlet Crusade, Shadow Council, Shadowsong, Silvermoon, Skywall, Smolderthorn, Spirestone, Stonemaul, Stormscale, Suramar, Terenas, UIdum, Windrunner If there are any major down times that come up, WoW Insider will let you know will all due haste.
Viva Pinata almost had DS/360 connectivity
The new Viva Piñata game on the Xbox 360 uses the Xbox Live Vision camera to read codes found on Viva Piñata cards, unlocking new piñatas. It's an impractical feature (if only there were some other way to enter short text strings into a game ...) but it's a fun gimmick. And it's designed such that the camera can read card images not just from physical cards, but from screens on computers and portable devices, which enhances the possibilities for sharing.The DS has a Viva Piñata game (Pocket Paradise). The DS has screens. Wouldn't it be awesome if you could use the DS game to send stuff to the 360 game? It would be -- and is! Rare had it implemented, according to MTV Multiplayer's interview with Rare's Justin Cook, but too late. "We got it to work, but it was too late in the development cycle," Cook said. "It's one of those things where you just kick yourself." A strange statement coming from Rare. Can't they just delay the game for a couple of years?%Gallery-8991%
Ghostbusters' Wii connectivity turns DS into PKE Meter [update]
[Update: Actually, there won't be a connectivity feature that turns the DS into a PKE Meter. Sorry.]The Wii version of Ghostbusters might be headed in an uncertain direction in the hands of Red Fly, a wholly different developer than Terminal Reality, which is creating the other version, but it will at least make use of the waggle console's touchy sibling. Busting through the fourth wall, Wii's Ghostbusters will morph any old DS (sold separately, of course) into a bleeping, blinking "PKE Meter," reports videogaming247. Sure, it's a glorified radar, but it senses ghost goo -- and you'll actually hold the darn thing in your hand! Has ectoplasmic detection ever been so tangible?In addition, the Wii version (and PS2 port) will place special emphasis on local multiplayer and feature 4-player split-screen gameplay. Just don't cross the streams.
Patch night connectivity issues may be over soon [UPDATED]
We've gotten quite a few tips and reports that there have been some issues with connectivity this evening. It seems many people have been getting disconnected upon leaving an instanced dungeon or battleground and are unable to log back in on that character.We don't have much solid information on what's causing it, but the theory so far has been an ISP issue. I'm not very tech savvy when it comes to that sort of thing, so I can't really say how true that may or may not be. However, our buddy Belfaire seems to be doing what he can to take care of it. He just posted that they think they've found the issue and may be rolling out a fix.So, you guys with characters stuck in limbo? Hopefully your problems will go away very soon.Updates behind the cut as they come.
Wild Arms PS2 connectivity removed
The Japanese release of Wild Arms XF featured connectivity with the PS2 version of Wild Arms XF. Players were able to unlock extra characters in the PS2 game by hooking up the two systems. However, that functionality has been removed for the US release. Why? Well, don't get too upset. XSEED's Jimmy Soga told Siliconera, "to answer your question about WAXF and WA5 connectivity, there will be none for the US version. We made WA5 have all the upgrades and bonus materials in the game w/o the connectivity to the WAXF as we thought the fans will appreciate it more that way."So no one loses anything. Not bad? We don't think PS2-PSP connectivity is really going to take off any time soon, so opting out of using such a gimmick is a good thing. But, there are so many more possibilities with PS3-PSP connectivity ...%Gallery-3795%
MythBuster Hortus says "No PTR caused lag"
When I woke up this morning I was greeted to two things: a fist full of WoW news to report on, and my daily dose of MythBusters. Interestingly I found that our chummy Blizzard PTR forum poster Hortus has taken up dispelling some myths of his own. This myth is so epic that I think it would make for a good computer nerd edition of MythBusters.The myth is this: every time the PTR goes up, my server slows down. I play mainly in two different servers, Anvilmar and Eldre'Thalas. I've heard it claimed often enough on both servers that the PTR seriously effects stability. Most people claim this is because the PTR and the server hardware are on the same "rack." Most servers are just a small gray box with a few blinking lights on the front of them, and lots of connection ports in the back. When making a server farm, like Blizzard has scattered throughout the country, they physically put the servers in clusters, called racks (no, not that kind of cluster, well kind of, but that's beside the point).
Lots of connectivity issues tonight [Updated]
The world server is apparently going up and down, and many servers are experiencing connectivity issues. Blizzard lists the realms that are not working well at the start up screen. But as I'm finding out over on Anvilmar, the problem has spread there too.According Isradun, multiple realms are being restarted now. There are additional posts on the WoW Realm Status forums that indicate they've already been at this for a while. However, as I've tested, no fix appears to be working perfectly yet.We'll keep this post updated for you with the latest.Update, 12:05 a.m. EST: Apparently the realm issues are subsiding, although no Blizzard update yet. Some reports are still trickling in of issues in the Nightfall and Reckoning battlegroups.Update, 12:18 a.m. EST: Blizzard saw what I said and decided to start crashing realms again. Multiple Tech Support Forum posts report things are not well, again.Update, 1:08 a.m. EST: Everything appears to be working now. Blizzard has removed the opening announcement, and the spam on the forums has quited down. Enjoy the night!
Show floor video: Webex lets you collaborate across platforms
So let's say you've got a Panther machine on your DSL connection with a firewall, and another computer across town running Windows 98 on a dual-ISDN connection, but you really need to control the Mac from the PC. No dice, right? According to Webex, this might just be possible,* although your experience won't be a zippy thrill-ride.Webex uses a subscription-based tool to allow remote access across computers, and at Macworld they were talking about Mac-to-PC friendliness. Scott had a chat and wound up with pricing (it's as cheap as $10.35/month), a website (pcnow.com), and the aforementioned horrific scenario of connectivity. Oh, and they've got iPhone compatibility of a sort, just be aware of the limitations.*In theory, Webex engineers say a 56k connection will allow connectivity. The specs also provide compatibility with Panther and Win98 on the low end. Note I said "low end" which means the performance won't be anything close to a high-speed connection and some more current OS'es. Full video explanation after the jump.
Wii Japan getting DS downloads, contest channels
Come this November, Wii owners in Japan won't have to venture into the wilds of the internet for information on upcoming games or go down to the local retail chain to try out the latest DS titles, as Nintendo has announced plans to launch the Minna no Nintendo Channel (Everybody's Nintendo Channel), promising to turn the Wii into a Nintendo DS Station retail kiosk for the living room. According to IGN, this latest channel in the Wii's arsenal, which was announced during Nintendo's 2007 Fall press conference in Japan, will offer promo videos for upcoming games, as well as allow players to download playable demos, though the report only mentions DS demos at this time, solidifying the linkage between both the Wii and Nintendo's touchable handheld. Just the same, we remain thrilled to see Nintendo warming up to the idea of demos, and are hopeful that this could open the door for a similar treatment for Wii games, though sooner rather than later would be nice. In addition, the channel will also include a bit of social networking, allowing players to search for information on games based on data provided by other Wii users. While less exciting, the Minna no Nintendo Channel will also be joined by the Mii Contest Channel this November in Japan as well, offering a place where players can show off their Mii creations, as well as vote on and even take home other people's Miis. While no release date for either channel has been announced for the U.S. or Europe, we've informed Dr. Zoidberg and he's already packed his bags.
E307: Geometry Wars Galaxies gets new screens and very busy boxart
Geometry Wars Galaxies, besides being a baffling display of brightly-colored sparks, is also a pretty neat shooting game. It's somewhat easier to tell what's going on in screenshots than to be dropped right in the middle of gameplay like in the video. If, like us, you couldn't really figure it out, we recommend the screens. That boxart is just a swirly mess of sparks, though. It's like someone superimposed five Rez boxarts together. Galaxies has some exciting features in store, like co-op play and online leaderboards. We checked with Sierra to inquire about online co-op, and learned that, unfortunately, the online aspect was limited to leaderboards. But the bottom line is that this third-party Wii game uses the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for something, and that is very promising news. Owners of both the DS and Wii versions can connect the two and unlock mysterious bonus content. Connecting the games also allows access to the Elite Leaderboard for people who are really good at playing the same game on two systems! %Gallery-4795%
Friday Video: The other half
Just in case you are one of the four people in the world who doesn't own a DS (for shame!), here's what you may be missing out on in Pokémon Battle Revolution. With all the discussion on the game today, we thought it might be nice to spotlight the Wii game's handheld connectivity. Check it out after the jump.Pikachu looks so sad here. A little forlorn. Poor little guy.
My Word Coach lets you be like us (plus DS-to-Wii connectivity!) [update 1]
[Update: Fixed broken link.]Surely you've thought at some point, hunched over your keyboard because that damned essay is due tomorrow morning, that words could flow glibly and beautifully from your fingertips, as they do so often at Nintendo Wii Fanboy.All right, that was a little arrogant. We're sorry.Anyway. As you very well may know, Brain Age focused fairly heavily on the numerical side of things. Equations = sadness. Did it teach you how to express, or to inspire? Hell no. And so Ubisoft jumps into the brain training genre, with both Wii and DS versions of their literary inculcator, My Word Coach.There's an in-depth preview over at IGN, and we highly encourage you to peruse their hands-on experience. We'd also like to point out that this game features a simple and effective DS-to-Wii communication feature, in which handwriting performed via stylus is instantly translated into the Wii title, which coincidentally happens to have a far more robust handwriting recognition system than did Brain Age. Is your brain tingling in excitement? We certainly hope so.
