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More Secret Rings impressions
Our excitement for Sonic and the Secret Rings grows daily, and these hands-on impression by some folks in London aren't making the wait any easier. The game is looking scary good, as the players (who strongly disliked Sonic the Hedgehog for the PS3 and 360) rave about the graphics, voice acting, control, level design, and difficulty. For the love of God, Sonic moonwalks when you tilt backward on the Wiimote. Moonwalks. That's sweet.Some tidbits: there isn't a standard "lives" system; if you die, you simply restart at the last checkpoint. Each level contains around twelve missions, and somewhere around six need to be cleared before advancing. Earning bronze, silver, and gold medals will earn you access to a huge catalog of unlockables, including BGM and artwork from the game as well as previous entries in the series.The impressions are certainly worth a read; check it out![via GoNintendo]
Secret PSP game next week on 1up show
Last week we wondered where 1up's infamous awesome secret PSP game announcement was. Well, it looks like another week has passed and still no announcement despite it originally being promised for the season premiere of the show. It isn't quite as bad this week though, since Shane did actually address the issue on this week's 1up Show and promised that the announcement would now be on next week's show. He cited the reason for the big reveal being delayed was due to the company involved not wanting the announcement to occur yet.Hopefully this time Shane is actually able to follow through on his promise and after this long of a wait, it better be an awesome game indeed!
Twilight Easter Eggs
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was in development for approximately, oh, say, forever. That intensely long cycle, besides making a game epic and wonderful and amazing, usually gives rise to an extreme attention to detail. Some savvy forum-goers have compiled a list of little easter eggs for your enjoyment, which can be found after the jump.How many of these did you find, or even notice? Do you feel as though these little details even make a difference in the overall gaming experience? We ourselves find that we're occasionally drawn back to the world of Hyrule for a few minutes, just to feel that epic sense of adventure ... or maybe it was just those bomb arrow fireworks.
Korean carriers to offer anti-eavesdropping service
Just as Japan announces that it'll pretty much have an eye on every single cellphone user in the nation, Korea is going against the grain somewhat by offering up an anti-eavesdropping service on users' handsets. SK Telecom, KTF, and LG Telecom will all be offering private long code service, a digital encryption system to keep voice snoopers at bay, and will dub the service "Voice Private." Marketed primarily towards people of utmost importance, such as politicians, public officials, journalists (ahem), and CEOs, the luxury will purportedly operate on any mobile phone and will cost between W1,500 ($1.60) and W2,000 ($2.13). Interestingly, it wasn't noted if these fees were a monthly charge (less likely) or a per-call exaction (more likely), but regardless, the service should go live just as soon as the Ministry of Information and Communication approves it.
Steve's Special Stool
It's no big secret that Our Glorious Leader has very particular tastes, and he likes getting his way. Fast cars (Mercedes Benz), fast jets (Gulfstream), and according to Valleywag, secret three-legged stools. Though no real details are known about said stool, the Valleywag tipster says that Unkie Steve requires his designer stool to be present at all important meetings (both Apple internal meetings and certain outside meetings), as well as available to sit on during long flights on his jet (though the safety of a three-legged stool in turbulence seems dubious to me). One would imagine that this stool will be present during the keynote, so everyone keep their eyes sharp to see if we can't identify it.
MacBook's iSight unknowingly photographs Apple repair center
Here's one that doesn't happen very often ever. As bad as we rumor mongers pry and pry to get inside of ole Steve's brain, sneaking a peek behind closed Cupertino doors is all but impossible (even for Mr. Dell). Nevertheless, a clever Mac user got numerous undercover photographs of the inside workings at an Apple authorized repair center (Flextronics International) in Tennessee. Rather than pulling out any MacGyver-based stunts, he simply wrote a script -- dubbed Walking Study -- that instructed his MacBook to snap a photo (and upload it to his Flickr account) with the built-in iSight each time it awoke from sleep. When his dear 'Book got sent out for repair, however, the fully-functional webcam continued to perform perfectly within the secretive confines, giving everyone a glimpse of an incredibly average looking warehouse. Although the stealthy camera didn't snap any shots of (potentially) forthcoming iPhone or widescreen iPod prototypes, we've got to give credit where it's due -- Toby Mckeys got closer to the Apple's core than we've seen in quite some time.[Via TUAW]
Apple Matters does the math on Think Secret's accuracy
I'll admit to being just as interested in what Apple has up their sleeve as the next guy, but I've always harbored a chip on my shoulder towards the rumor sites. The constant 'anonymous' sources who wind up all too often being as clueless as they are nameless have always irked me, and James R. Stoup at Apple Matters decided to take Think Secret, one of the largest rumor mongers out there, to task to see just how accurate they've actually been.Mr. Stoup did the math that was a long time coming and surveyed Think Secret's reports on Apple products between January 05 - September 06. You should really check out the results, as he did a bang-up job detailing everything he found, but to summarize: James found that Think Secret's accuracy can get pretty black and white; either they nail it or they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a wrecking ball. He also discovered some patterns in terms of which kinds of products Think Secret typically nabs correctly, concluding that they have a fairly good batting average with Mac hardware and iPods, but their 'inside scoops' on software tend to represent that aforementioned wayward wrecking ball.Take a look at James' post for the real (and thorough) details of his findings, but don't think he's trying to bash the rumor gurus, Think Secret or otherwise. After all, what Apple fan doesn't hold at least some place in their heart for rumors of what shiny new thing Apple might have coming up? I think James' investigation should serve at least as a reminder that rumors are exactly that: rumors, and not much more. One is merely rolling the dice when reading these sites and building up hopes of a fancy new [insert name here] or a product revision.With that said, we'll be sure to stay on top of the latest gossip to make sure y'all can decide whether the latest iPhone or media center rumors could be worth that extra wait.
TGS 2006: Sonic and the Secret Rings trailer
With the Tokyo Game Show in full swing, we're sure there will be plenty of posts like these to follow. While it may seem suffocating, these videos are for your own good. You need to see them. You want to see them. And this latest trailer for Sonic and the Secret Rings is no exception.Continue into the post to see the embedded video.
Secret "Simple Start" Wi-Fi connection? [Update 1]
File this one under "What the hell?" Some astute gamer has discovered a hidden feature inside the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection setup menu, and one that certainly leans itself toward DS-to-Wii connection theory. The video gives an extremely detailed explanation, so check it out....now. Go ahead.Done? All right. The system asks for the player to press a "Simple Start Wi-Fi Button", something that clearly doesn't exist on any existing Nintendo hardware. So, is this how the Wii and the DS will sync up? Before you run off wildly screaming the news throughout your house, we offer these two bits of counter-evidence. First, regading the Wii, we've seen essentially every button and switch on the damn thing, even inside the "mysterious" front flap; no "Simple Start" or even remotely related button has been seen or reported. Second, accessing this mode by hitting the absolute upper-left pixel on the touch screen is ridiculous; in certain cases the stylus can't even reach the pixel, and a toothpick or other thin, prodding device must be used.We've seen no reason why "DS Download Play" would fail to properly pick up and sync with a Nintendo Wii console, so we'll chalk this up as a feature that will fade, like the legendary city of Atlantis, into one of the unexplained mysteries of the past.[Update 1: The internet, it seems, will brook no mysteries. Save Atlantis. Click here for an extremely detailed explanation of this feature, and as speculated, it has nothing to do with Wii connectivity.][Thanks, Super-Jesse-Mario!]
The secret of Apple's success
Scott Stevenson has been thinking about why Apple has been so successful for the last few years. He points out that in each market that Apple is an unmitigated hit (MP3 players, music downloads) they were not first to market. So why do people dig what Apple is doing?Scott's answer: Apple doesn't care what the crowd thinks. They are doing things without consulting with focus groups, or months of market research (we imagine, you never know what is going on in Cupertino). Apple seems to be fearless, and that is what is helping them soar while other companies are limping along (just look at Vista's ever receding ship date).So, TUAW'ers, what do you think is the secret mojo that keeps Apple in the black?
Wii "ambassadors" receive gifts
Nintendo is trying a different approach to some early Wii marketing. In major urban areas throughout the country, Nintendo is holding private parties for "ambassadors", whom they have personally selected, and a whole crapload of their friends. We're not sure whether the ambassadors were randomly chosen, but we doubt it. (Where the heck were our invites, Nintendo?) In any case, the ambassadors recently received a mysterious package in their mailboxes. What was inside? A ridiculously hot, super-amazing black DS Lite, as well as a cardboard Wiimote mock-up personally signed by Reggie Fils-Aime himself. The ambassador in Miami took some pics, which can be seen here. There's also one in Chicago who's giving away two free tickets to some hardcore Chicagamers (yeah, we just made that up) willing to meet him in some shady location. Also of note is the date of the event (September 29th) and an excerpt from the back of the cardboard Wiimote: "The event will occur several weeks before Wii launches..." This is probably the strongest evidence we've seen for a late October launch. Seriously, rendezvous points? Whole vans, spiriting away gamers to some secret Fortress de Nintendo? Next time, Reggie, sign us up as well.
Nintendo Wi-Fi page updated
The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connect homepage has been updated to reflect two of the newest titles to hit the DS bearing the Wi-Fi logo. Both Star Fox: Command and Tenchu: Dark Secret get the red carpet rolled out for them with tons of information and screens for you to gawk over. Tenchu's page even has some interesting Wi-Fi information, such as a listing of the top players including login details, as well as the top cities and a nifty graph showing player logins during the day versus at night.
Loco Roco Video Sandwich special!
The past few stories about Loco Roco have been a bit too depressing. Let's ignore the low sales and remember the good things about the game: like happy happy graphics and even happier music. That's what this fun, candy-coated Loco Roco fan video does. It showcases some images from the game and puts it to the absolutely fantastic music of the game. If this doesn't make you happy, then you've lost your childhood somewhere along the way.The bottom video of this special edition Video Sandwich shows you how to get every single secret in the downloadable demo. Pretty helpful for those of you that want to earn your Loco Roco Rewards the right way. It's intersting to see the things that you may have missed. (I know without this video, I would've never found that final fruit that I've been missing!)
The secret component to the PS3 hardware
Some of you may recall from last year or around E3 2005 that a rumor was circulating stating that Sony was going to implement a motion-sensing feature similar to the technology seen in Minority Report. The idea was to be able to manipulate on-screen topography with nothing but your own movements and environment; no goofy peripherals needed.Well according to a "very reliable source," this futuristic hardware will be coming from a stealthy Israeli company called Prime Sense. So what the heck does their component do anyway? "Prime Sense's interactive device can see, track and react to user movements outside the computer, all without change of environment or wearable equipment for the end user."Think EyeToy on steroids. This description follows closely to a tech demo that Sony showed off at an event last year in LA. But if this technology is so awesome, who knows why Sony didn't make a bigger deal out of it this year. The source also claims that the device will be available on launch day for the PS3, and ready for PC users in the following months. It would be nice to hear more about this from Sony to get a better picture, but for now just think about all the crazy game applications this could provide and file it under "rumors."[Thanks, Anthony B]
Weird slots on Wii gamepad
A video posted over at You Tube shows the Virtual Console gamepad being flipped around and the back showing several odd slots. The top of the controller also shows a kind of release button, clearly showing that something is destined to plug into the back. Many are speculating that it could be some sort of SD card slot. I'd comment myself, but I honestly didn't get to play any Virtual Console titles at E3.What do you guys think?[Via Infendo]
