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PSP Fanboy holiday gift guide
It's Black Friday... You know what that means. The holiday shopping season has begun! Because all the other major gaming sites are doing it, we decided to make a holiday gift guide as well! These are the games that I think will make any good PSP owner happy.$50 or belowGrand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories - Quite possibly the biggest portable adventure yet. GTA fans and fans of 80s pop culture will dig this game.$40 or belowDaxter - The great graphics and lack of load times makes this platformer a great technical showcase.Gitaroo-Man Lives! - My favorite PSP game of the year. Get it for the music lover.Loco Roco - Sony proves that there are games for kids on its system. This one is it.SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2 - The online tactical shooter returns. Online junkies will love this game.Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror - Although not an FPS, the game's controls and extensive multiplayer modes is perfect for shooter lovers.Tekken: Dark Resurrection - It's the only fighting game you'll want to give to a PSP owner.$30 or belowLumines II - With nearly a hundred different musical skins to unlock, this easy-to-learn puzzle game is perfect for anyone, especially if they missed the original game.$20 or belowGrand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories - For less than $20, the original LCS sports a ton of gameplay at an insanely affordable price.Mega Man: Powered Up - This 2D platformer features great graphics, classic gameplay, and a level editor that lets you share creations. At under $20, it's a steal.Wipeout Pure - This launch game still sports some of the system's best graphics. With tons of free downloadable content, this is a great value.
Wii tops PC World's holiday list
Check it out -- the Wii is once again tops on a retail predictions list. Since PC World is a European retailer, it may not be much of a surprise that they've anointed Nintendo in the console wars for this holiday season (as there's no PS3 in store), but they've also picked the console as the hottest must-have when it comes to electronics.The Wii took the top spot of their ten predictions for the hottest movers and shakers of the season. Unlike many other lists, however, the Wii is nowhere near the most expensive item on this wishlist. Check after the jump for the full rundown. PC World was one of the early outlets to offer preorders for the Wii in the UK ... looks like they've taken off!
A comprehensive list of Famitsu review scores
Famitsu, the most popular gaming magazine in Japan, is notorious for their uncompromising and strictly regulated review system. Indeed, only six games in their history have ever received a perfect 40/40 review score. Since their opinion is highly valued, a couple people over at GoNintendo have compiled a comprehensive list of the top-scoring DS games on the market. First place belongs solely to Nintendogs, picking up one of those coveted 40/40 scores, followed by Meteos with a 38/40, and then Animal Crossing: Wild World at 37/40. For a (very) full list, click that underlined blue clicky thing at the bottom of the post.(If you were wondering, the six perfect scores belong to (in chronological order): The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Vagrant Story, Soul Calibur, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Nintendogs, and Final Fantasy XII.)
Maxim lists top game toilets
Sometimes it seems like anything video-game related that can be listed has been listed. Games, weapons, underused franchises, bad dialog... there are so many that we've even done a list of lists.But just when you think there are no more listable things out there, Maxim comes along and puts together a list of the top ten in-game toilets.That's right. Toilets.Each virtual commode is ranked on realism and cleanliness, and includes a short scatological summary of its crapper characteristics. We won't spoil the number one pick here, but let's just say it's a game that features someone known for his potty mouth.[Thanks, Scott]
Universal pumps up the HD DVD release list
Almost overnight, the list of "coming soon" titles on the North American HD DVD Promotional Group's The Look and Sound of Perfect website has exploded, with many new titles listed, some for the first time. Included on the list are recent releases like You, Me and Dupree and even yet-to-be-released summer blockbusters like Miami Vice and totally undated projects like Idlewild. We're sure these titles will come out on HD DVD eventually but the question is when. With limited studio support, HD DVD backers will be hard pressed to point out what you can watch on HD DVD because we're sure their competition will make a selling point of what you can't.[Via The Manroom]
Manly site lists 10 manliest games of all time
We've grown to understand the internet is full of crazy places; if you can imagine it, there's a site for it. So we were perhaps a little taken aback -- but not outright shocked -- when we stumbled across Arthur's Hall of Viking Manliness, a site about (you guessed it!) being manly. With thoughtful articles like "Spreading the Gospel of Chew" and "Women Who Smoke are Whores," Arthur's Hall is not for the unmanly.How exciting then, that they've focused that same manly acumen to lift up -- with huge, sweaty, rippling biceps -- the "10 Manliest Video Games Ever" from obscurity into whatever part of Valhalla is reserved for such notable artifacts. The list itself is notable for its sheer size. At over 4000 words, it's a manly screed in defense of games with a certain amount of manly violence and difficulty, with an admitted 8-bit bias. Why an 8-bit bias? Because "modern manly games like God of War are only pretenders." Got it, wimp?Their choice for manliest game ever: the classic, 8-bit shooter Contra ... now you're talking manly. The manly way to play it: no Konami code, no Spread gun, just two shirtless dudes, with pixelated abs so hard they look like they were carved from stone, hanging out in the jungle together ... what's not manly about that?[Via Destructoid]
Universal's September HD DVD releases
HD DVD isn't taking the Blu-ray launch sitting still. The lone major studio exclusively supporting the format, Universal has announced several additional movies coming to the format in September. All include Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks, no word on any additional extras. All will also follow Universal's recently announced price cut, SRP of $29.98 for HD DVD and $34.95 for multiformat discs.September 12: (star indicates newly announced releases, italics indicate Dolby TrueHD soundtrack) Backdraft Traffic Seabiscuit* Red Dragon* September 19: Dazed & Confused* End of Days* Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (DVD/HD DVD Dual Format)* George A. Romero's Land of the Dead (DVD/HD DVD Dual Format)* Read - Universal Unveils Extensive Summer LineupRead - Universal Announces September HD DVD SlateRead - Details of Newly Announced Universal Studios HD DVD releases (warning pop-ups)[Thanks for the tip WiFiSpy!]
New Packrat version adds true list and note creation
A new Packrat version (version 0.84 build 220) has enabled 100% edit-ability of lists and notes on pages, including the create of new lists and notes on pages that previously had none. To facilitate this, a new 'Action' button has been added to Packrat's toolbar, containing 'create new note/list' commands for your productivity pleasure.To find out more about the update, check the blog of Rod Schmidt, Packrat's developer.
360 BC update "in the next few weeks"
Thanks to the folks at the Gamerscore Blog, we've learned that the next Xbox back compat update "should be out in the next few weeks." In his earlier blast against BC, Peter Moore proclaimed that nobody is concerned about it anymore, but thankfully the gentler Gamerscore peeps have set the record straight, stating: "We know for a fact that there are lots of people who continue to care about backwards compatibility, including the 'Emulation Ninjas' who are working full time on the updates. And those of us posting on this blog. And, of course, many of you." We suppose quarterly updates to the BC list aren't TOO bad (hey, they sure beat semiannual dashboard updates), but getting more than a dozen titles to work each time would definitely help a lot more for those with original Xbox favorites they'd prefer to play on their new machines. Personally, this blogger would like to see the following titles added to the list: Dead or Alive Ultimate, Doom 3, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Project Gotham Racing 2, LEGO Star Wars, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, Soul Calibur II, and Capcom Classics Collection. It may not be realistic to expect Street Fighter support when Hyper Fighting is set to hit Live Arcade sometime in the near future, but one can (vainly) hope. [Via Major Nelson's blog] See also: Xbox BC not a priority, says Moore No Black on 360 till MS makes it so... or a sequel comes out US 360 backward-compatibility list shrinks A video tour of the Xbox Live Spring update SFII on Xbox Live: what's taking so long?
Over 2000 Universal apps available
Apple has told Macworld UK that there are now over 2000 applications on its Universal Applications guide (there were 2,006 as of last night). More and more developers are making the leap to Universal applications and that makes Intel Mac users (like myself) a happy lot.So, what non-Universal applications are you chomping at the bit for (other than the obvious Photoshop and Office)?
List of Mac OS X's processes and their purpose
Have you ever opened Activity Monitor to check on what processes and apps your Mac is running, only to be greeted with a list that's about as understandable as ancient Greek? (This of course assumes that you don't know how to read ancient Greek). Well, through the beauty of diggdot.us (all the del.icio,us, digg and Slashdot posts with none of the snarky comments), I found this fairly thorough list of Mac OS X's processes that attempts to explain just what is going on under the hood. Scott blogged this a year ago, but I figured this couldn't hurt even if it is review for some of us.The author reminds us that this list is by no means complete, so don't panic if you have a process running that isn't on the list. With that said, this should be a fairly educational resource for most of us, as the list is written in plain English (as opposed to the aforementioned ancient Greek) to help make sense of just what our Mac is doing with all those little processes. Check it out.
iSale 3.1 adds eBay interactivity, prepares for upcoming site changes
iSale, the application our own Scott McNulty dubbed 'the Delicious Library for eBay auctions', has been bumped to version 3.1 with some very useful site interactivity and significant changes under the hood. iSale 3.1 can now relist unsold auctions and allow you to watch how many people have looked at and are watching your auction - right from within iSale. An improved widget can also display the watch count, hit count, highest bid and feedback from the highest bidder. Last in this new version is a localized and active links preview for English, German and French languages. Under the hood, iSale has been tuned for an upcoming change to eBay's communication standards which goes live on July 1st.For a refresher, here's a list of the other features iSale already offers: beautiful auction templates, a 'funky pinboard' with photos of auction items, one-click locating of buyers with Google Maps, 'Smart Date' simplified auction scheduling, description importing from Amazon and eBay, Address Book/Mail integration, .Mac syncing, iCal scheduling and much more.iSale 3.1 is a Universal Binary, offers a three-auction demo and sells for $39.95 USD. Upgrades from iSale 2.x are $14.90 USD.
Packrat can now edit Backpack notes, too
I don't mean to post an update every time the developer of Packrat sneezes, but this one is for those anxiously waiting for editing functionality (including when offline) with their Backpack account. I just noticed on Packrat's product page that the feature list now says: "New: edit your lists and notes." Sure enough, it works just like the lists update I mentioned a week ago.Packrat offers a free demo, and a license will run you a mere $24.95.
Packrat 0.8 - edit Backpack lists, display images
In mid-April, Rod Schmidt asked for feedback as to whether he should release editing features in Packrat, his Backpack syncing client, as he develops them. From what I saw, the response was largely in favor of doing so, and yesterday Rod announced on his blog that Packrat 0.8 has taken the first step in this direction. Users can now edit lists in Packrat, then sync up the changes to their Backpack account. This new version can also display inline images (but not linked images) as long as you've already downloaded them, of course. This is a pretty big deal if you're a Backpack fan, especially since I'm fairly certain Packrat is the first app that has this kind of potential to become a true, offline-capable Backpack client.Swing on by infiniteNIL Software to grab a demo of Packrat, a license will cost $24.95. If you want to get involved or offer some feedback, be sure to check out the Packrat discussion group and and Rod Schmidt's blog for development updates.
Another Rosetta Compatibility List
Following up on yesterday's post about a Macintouch Rosetta compatibility list, I found that MacFixIt has a much more comprehensive list. This hopefully will help assuage the lamentations of readers such as EatingPie, who found the Macintouch list much too tiny. Actually, let us know if you spot any other Rosetta compatibility lists out there. Perhaps, if we find enough of these lists spattered around the Internets, we can gather them together into a TUAW uber-list.
CES: Blu-ray specification is done, full list of supporters and titles
Well, Blu-ray is done, which I'd hope it would be, what with them announcing players and content and all. If you're interested in licensing the Blu-ray technology you can get in touch with your local Blu-ray licensing agent and execute the secret handshake licensing agreement. Also we've got the complete list of player manufacturers, computer software, and launch titles from Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Lionsgate Home Entertainment Eagle Rock Entertainment, as well as the Japan only content announced so far.
My spin on 10 apps every new Mac user should download
I normally wouldn't post this, because I don't tend to agree with the list, but the Digg kids are all piling on top of it, so I thought I should share here: it's a list of 10 apps every new Mac user should download. Here's my take on the list: AdiumX is nice, but I'll stick with iChat. I like iChat. If I need to use all those other protocols, maybe I'll launch Fire. Cyberduck rocks. I like it. *But* I've been using Fugu recently. It rocks better and harder. Safari is a better browsing experience on OS X than Firefox. Firefox is great and all, but it doesn't integrate nicely with all the OS X goodness like the built in Dictionary and spellcheck, not to mention Services. Until it can do that nicely, Safari wins (especially if you load up Saft). iBackup.... eh. I'll stick with Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper, thanks. Nvu... uh, no. This is not something that every new Mac user should download. There are lots of people not coding websites who don't need this one. Quicksilver rocks, but I find if you get used to Spotlight and don't mind the slight delay, you don't use it as much. Stuffit Expander? I mean you need it, but isn't it already on the System when you buy it? TextWrangler is nice, but I'll have to say they should have mentioned SubEthaEdit. VLC is good. Windows Media Player?! Why is this on a top ten? That's my take on it. Head on over and have a gander for yourself. [via Digg]
