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Toshiba gearing up to drop HD DVD?
We're not exactly sure what's going on in Toshiba land, but shortly after not-exactly-believable whispers made the rounds of the firm suddenly deciding to try its hand at making a Blu-ray player, we're now seeing reports stating that it will pull the plug on its beloved format "in the coming weeks." Citing unnamed industry "sources," The Hollywood Reporter is suggesting that the end may be nigh for the HD DVD format. Jodi Sally, VP of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products, was quoted as saying that "given the market developments in the past month, Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of its recent price reductions on all HD DVD players." Of course, we aren't exactly equating said statement to waving the white flag or anything, but whatever the case, it seems the death watch is in full effect. [Via Home Media Magazine, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Hasselblad discontinues the H2 product line
We don't foresee too many tears being shed over this news, but the Hasselblad faithful will probably want to know that the tried and true H2 product line has been nixed. Not surprisingly, the company reported that "demand simply no longer justified the dedicated manufacturing line required for its production," and that it would be shifting those resources to the H3DII. On a more positive note, the outfit is introducing the H2F, which is being billed as a "greatly simplified film-only version of the H2," so those (still) sticking with film can look here to get their fix. Lastly, the firm reassured H1 / H2 owners that it would continue to support those products "for a minimum of 10 years from the date of purchase." So long, H2, it's been a good run.[Via CNET]
Of corpse running and you
I'm sure we've all done it from time to time -- trying to get somewhere new, you've encountered heavy resistance from the locals and died a terrible death. Refusing to give up, you've run back to your corpse and continued on, until you're caught and killed again. Perhaps you thought you'd be smart and run to the spirit healer in your destination zone, far off from where you died, only to tragically see that you've been sent back to the location of the spirit healer closest to your corpse. This does make traveling through areas high above your level quite the challenge -- as I'm sure they were intended to be. Die, run back, rez a bit further down the road -- then simply wash, rinse, and repeat until you've reached your final destination. However, over at Mania's Arcana, Mania provides us with two tricks that will allow you to do the majority of your traveling as a ghost. The trick? If you die on one continent and then spirit rez in the other (yes, you can ride boats and zepplins as a ghost!), you'll be allowed to rez right where you want to. And, perhaps more conveniently, if you run as a ghost to wherever you wish, disconnect, reconnect, and then try to spirit rez, you'll be allowed to.Now, both of these little tricks smack of overlooked bugs, as the intended behavior of the game client is clear. But at present it is a working strategy in-game that can be used to more quickly move you from point A to point B.
Breakfast Topic: Famous Last Words
I can't tell you how many times this has happened, and I'm sure you can all relate. You're in a group, in an instance, and in (or were in at the time) unfamiliar territory. Your group leader gives the command. You, being a good group member, follow the command that you've been given, only to see "wait!" go by just a split second too late as your group leader realizes that they've made a tactical error in judgment. The only problem is that you are already committed, and there is no going back. The next thing you know you're staring the rez angel in the face, and the rest of your team is either screaming in /p or (more often in my experience) howling with laughter in TeamSpeak at your group leader who just happens to be a (now) very embarrassed guild mate. I think these kinds of stories are really kind of universal in WoW, no matter what language, countries, or other differences we may have separating us. In my case, I've been involved in wipes in places as varied as Wailing Caverns where we jumped in the wrong place, not knowing you needed to clear all of the Scarlet Monetary Cathedral before you pull Mograine, and level aggro jumping off a balcony pulling huge amounts of the dungeon down on us in BRD. Of course, my personal favorite involved watching a Shaman say "Check this out!" and putting on Water Walking. He then decided it would be cool to run down the river as opposed to the land as a means of showing off. This, in and of itself, was no real big deal. However when he got to the end of the river rather than stopping he apparently completely forgot that he had Water Walking on and decided to take a swan drive over the waterfall. His intent was to just land in the pool below and swim to the side while the rest of the party had to ride down the cliff path in the Hinterlands. The only problem with this is that if you leave Water Walking on, it tends to makes the water react like you've just jumped onto solid ground. Needless to say that Shaman immediately died, and the guild mates he was showing off to still haven't let him live that one down as yet. (And frankly, we probably never will because he never lets us live ours down, either.)What famous last word situations have you been involved in? Are there any that your guild mates still haven't let you live down? Anything that made you completely howl with laughter when it happened and still makes you chuckle even now? Share your stories!
Nintendo Power shutting down?
We attempted to think of something witty and clever to start the post off with a bang, but in the end, it would just be inappropriate. For at least one of us here on staff, Nintendo Power delivered the very first experience to the concept of gaming journalism.Recent reports, however, have indicated that massive layoffs have been implemented at the publication. This is by no means an official announcement, but certainly either a massive downsizing or outright cancellation. NP has been putting out their pages for nineteen whole years, and it would be a great loss to the gaming community to see such a mainstay eliminated.That said, our brilliant coverage of all things Wii and DS have probably helped in some small way to facilitate this grim news. Oops. Also, will this affect the tentative plans to bring legacy NP content to the Virtual Console? If they have to die, let their memory at least by memorialized in style.
Breakfast Topic: Top 5 reasons you die in WoW
I love the forums on Tuesdays. That's when you tend to find a lot of really silly and fun threads about the most mundane aspects of the game. Several of them have become "Tuesday topics" on my guild's forums. Most are the most simple things that oftentimes you don't even think about, like this thread from yesterday... Fortuna from the Zangarmarsh realm started up a thread titled "Top 5 reasons you die in WoW." It made me stop and think, because over the last couple of years, I think I've died just about everywhere, and in a myriad of ways. There was the first time I walked into the Cathedral in Scarlet Monestary when we pulled Mograine before we cleared the whole place. Oops. Then there was the time when I learned that the undead in Stratholme can see through stealth very easily. Not good. But then I got to thinking about the reasons I tend to die, and that was a whole other ball of wax.Here's what Fortuna's list had to say:5. Stupid Fel Reavers4. I didn't know that using a gnomish shrink on Rag was going to do that.3. It's only a rare mob. How hard can it be?2. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww1111111113333333333333. O crap.1. Girlfriend walked into the room nekkid.I have to admit, 5 and 2 have happened to me too -- a lot! Just for the sake of amusement, my list (across all of my highest characters) comes up something like this:5. Playing crazy games with my guild mates (there's a post coming on this)4. Falling off Aldor rise ( I swear, I can be on a flying mount and I'll still run off and miss that elevator. I just don't die anymore.) 3. Mage grinding: *aoe* *aoe* *aoe* *aoe* oom uh...2. /cast wasteareagent Vanish1. [ Disconnected from server ]How about you? If you had to rank the top 5 reasons you tend to die in game, what would they be?[via the general forums]
Wii Warm Up: Technical difficulties redux
It's been a while since we asked, and while we hate to think of dead Wiis and broken nunchuks, we're sure there are a few out there. Some of them probably even belong to you guys. As much as it must hurt to discuss it, tell us your horror stories. We want to hear about your disc read errors and flailing, overzealous friends. Give us your bricks and your replacement stories, and we'll give you sympathy in return.
The death of console game servers
The fine cranks over at Curmudgeon Gamer have pointed out a somewhat disturbing trend of server shutdowns for some high profile online-enabled games from the last generation. Apparently, the online user base for these games is no longer sufficient to justify the expense for the companies running their servers. It's a little bit troubling to consider that there's an effective time limit for the online features of any console game you buy, and that this limit is totally at the discretion of the publisher. Then again, it's hard to ask a company to continue to devote resources for servers that few people are using and fewer still will likely use in the future. The solution seems obvious to us -- let players host their own servers, either through a PC or through the console itself. The online experience might suffer a bit, but at least interested players will still be able to play online without being a burden on the publisher. Failing that, follow the Curmudgeon's suggestion bring back the direct connection, player-to-player multiplayer that was available on the Dreamcast. Either way, don't take away our online play. Previously: Amplitude servers going offline, 'farewell party' Sunday
Microsoft Clippy, RIP: 1997 - 2007
Not too long after MobileESPN breathed new life, now we've got the unfortunate duty of informing the world that Microsoft finally axed the most annoying aspect of Office has decided to leave "Clippy" behind in Office 2007. We suspected something was brewing when the iconic figure started donning a 3D skirt in Japan, but a brief interview with Office's group program manager revealed that the clip is indeed dead. While it had been fading for awhile due to an apparent lack of mass fanfare, and was even turned off by default in Office 2003, it seems that Clippy fans will be forced to stick with now-antiquated versions of the Office suite in order to keep their darling on screen. But don't fret too much, as the countdown until someone crafts a freeware app re-instilling a Clippy rendition into Office begins... now.[Via ChipChick]
Dreamcast: the system that won't die [update 1]
Remember way back in January 2001 when Sega quit the hardware race and put their last system, the Dreamcast, out to pasture? Apparently no one told Japan, because now, six years later, they're still coming out with new games for the system over in the land of the rising sun. Sega Nerds has some details on three top-down shooters being released for the Dreamcast in the next few months: Last Hope, Trigger Heart Excelica and Karous. Casual importers should be particularly interested in the region-free Last Hope, which can be played on any Dreamcast without modification. Retro importers can pre-order all three games from Play-asia. Between these official releases for the Dreamcast, recent homebrew releases for the Genesis and Atari 2600 and the increasing prevalence of top-loading Famiclones, we may be entering a new era of support for classic consoles. As long as someone out there is willing to play, the market will find them. I know I'm personally clamoring for some new 3DO games. [Update: Fixed a link and the characterization as "top down" shooters. Thanks Brandon] [Thanks Keldon]
R.I.P. Tony Jay
You may not know his face, but actor Tony Jay has provided his voice for dozens of characters, including Rugrats (Dr. Lipshitz), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Judge Claude Frollo), and a multitude of video games. On August 13, Jay failed to recover from micro surgery to remove a non cancerous tumor from his lungs and passed away. Here are some of his notable gaming highlights: World of Warcraft (Narrator) X-Men Legends (Magneto) Bard's Tale (Narrator) Return to Castle Wolfenstein (The Director) Legacy of Kain series (Elder God) Fallout series (various) Rest in peace.[via Evil Avatar]Read -- Tony Jay loses fight to recoverRead -- Tony Jay's Wikipedia profileRead -- Tony Jay's IMDB page
Project Manager chats up Dead & Furious
Turns out we weren't the only ones who thought the recent Dead & Furious trailer (recently removed) resembled a disgusting mess of road kill littering the highway, undoubtedly the loser in a deadly game of Racoon Vs. Car. Oh, you never heard of that game? Well, I assure you it exists...and is quite popular...somewhere.In light of the huge cringe that went out over the internet in response to the leaked trailer, DS-x2's Jacob decided he'd get his interview on with the game's Project Manager over at Dream-On Studios Benjamin Yoris. Benjamin was quick to defend the title, stating that the leaked trailer in no way reflects what the final quality of the game will be. Benjamin also managed to get our attention when he commented on the game's multiplayer."If you're familiar with gun powered arcade games then you'll have a pretty good idea of what you will find in Dead'n'Furious cooperative mode. Each player on his/her console can shot enemies on their own Touch Screen, while seeing the same scene. We added just one difference : there is a unique health jauge for the 2 players to reinforce the cooperative feeling. In Dead'n'Furious you live and die together!"Now that's a cool feature. Hopefully, the next time we see the game in action it won't be so disappointing.[Note: We're assuming that "jauge" should be "gauge."]
Dead & Furious trailer fails to excite [Update]
This trailer for Dead & Furious honestly fails to cause any sort of excitement over here at the DS Fanboy offices, instead replacing what should be a mild build up of salivation around our mouths with sharp feelings of disdain for the title. With some abysmal graphics and gameplay that looks, honestly, boring, we're not too sure that Dead & Furious is so much, well...furious. Dead though, we're sure of that.[Update: The video has been removed from You Tube. Hope you were able to catch it in time!]
Bruckheimer gets his DS on
During the Japanese premiere event for the recently-released, and box-office-shattering, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the producer Jerry Bruckheimer sat down to chat about his interests in gaming as well as to play the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest game for the DS. While Google's Japanese-to-English translation software could use a little work, we were able to understand that Mr. Bruckheimer enjoys a bit of Oblivion now and again. Aside from that, he seems to support game tie-ins to movies as he feels the extra money is nice that the two experiences, exciting for the game and relaxing for the movie, complement each other well.[Update: Fixed a typo. Thanks DSGirl!]
Another Dead Man's Chest trailer and new screens
For those of you who love the antics of one Captain Jack Sparrow (and if you don't, why?), the 2nd official trailer for the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest game has been posted at Gamespot. Head on over and check it out as it has lots of action, showing Jack take down some natives, navigating environmental puzzles, and battling a gigantic squid. Along with the new trailer, there are also a plethora of new screens available centering around the naval combat that will be in the game.
Possible fix for the iPod 'click of death'
JC at Mac Geekery has come across a potential solution to the iPod hard drive's 'click of death' that many owners will likely experience at some point or another (After all it's a hard drive and you walk/run/snowboard around with it all day. It has to throw in the towel some day).After hurling a dead 4G iPod off a 3rd story balcony to test an iPod case, JC discovered that his iPod was suddenly working again - but only for an hour at a time or so. This odd turn of events prompted him to investigate by opening up his iPod, in which case he discovered that his click of death (not necessarily everyone's) was a result of nothing more than an unseated hard drive cable. After putting everything back in its place, JC's 4G iPod is back on top and jamming again.Check out JC's post for more details, but just in case you're in a similar boat, remember: I'm pretty sure opening your iPod is like tossing your warranty out the window and then running it over repeatedly with an SUV, so attempt this stuff at your own risk. If your warranty has already r-u-n-n-o-f-t, however, then you don't have much to lose.[thanks William!]
Breakfast Topic: Acts of kindness
Sometimes encounters in WoW leave me with a deep loathing for the entire human race, but other times I'm left with a warm fuzzy feeling towards fellow homines sapientes. Fly-by buffs are still fun to give out and to receive -- I would be lying if I said I didn't buff fellow players in the hope that I will receive similar services back, but I tend to rely on global karma, buffing anyone and everyone who crosses my path.After being beaten up by a nasty elite roamer (Son of Arugal, I'm looking at you, though Borelgore gets honourable mention) there's nothing nicer than a random resurrection. Standing at the graveyard facing a long and depressing corpse run -- or even a short one -- the magic words "<Player> wants to resurrect you" can do a lot to lift my tortured spirits. The last time it happened, a passing priest dismounted, resurrected me, then rode away before I could thank them properly. Back at the mailbox I sent a present, thinking all that karma -- the similar resurrections I'd done on my alts -- had finally paid off.Ever had a little act of kindness make your day? Do you like or loathe fly-by buffs and resurrections?
