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They're magically delicious!
Very early in patch 2.4's progressive development on the PTR, the ability to send raid icons over chat was implemented. The syntax is pretty simple, you place the name of the icon in those funny looking brackets, like so: {circle}, {star}, etc.Personally, I'm not too terribly excited, it's not something you'll be typing on the fly, probably. I can't really see a Mage or Warlock(or anybody) taking the extra time to type that out properly when something goes wrong(ie death), as simple as it seems to do so. However, this could be a good tool for raid leaders, not so much the raiders. A raid leader could include these in a tanking/crowd control assignment macro. "/ra Matthew, tank {skull}. Christian, sheep {square}." That sort of thing.Regardless of how often this will actually be used, it's a nice little feature, and I'm sure post-2.4 mods and addons will make good use of them, even if the players themselves don't.
Wii Warm Up: Star search
We expect that most of you are at least several hours deep into Super Mario Galaxy, smiling with each new discovery and throwback detail. The more dedicated among you have delved in much further, biting right into the tootsie pop to feast on its chocolate center like Mr. Owl and his ruthless beak. Our question today: How many stars have you so far collected in Super Mario Galaxy? Are you the shame of your neighborhood, having rounded up only a few in your journey? Or are you on the cusp of attaining all 120? Don't forget that if you're having trouble finding these shiny balls of plasma, you can always turn to Hardcore Gamer Magazine's video guides!
Wear this Bob-omb jewelry at a safe distance
Craftster user False_desire calls herself a "one woman jewelry workshop," a pretty accurate description considering her prolific output. Wading through her assortment of Rainbow Brite, Care Bears and Hello Kitty creations, we stumbled across these adorable (non-exploding) Bob-omb earrings and matching necklace. Hand-sculpted from FIMO (damn fiddly stuff, let us tell you), both of these cute one-offs are available now on eBay (here and here), so grab 'em while you still can!
A video guide to the stars
Having trouble getting all the stars you need to advance in Super Mario Galaxy? Hardcore Gamer Magazine has put together a near-complete collection of videos demonstrating the best ways to tackle each stage and earn your stars. This long list of clips takes you all the way from Dino Piranha to the final stage!Sure, watching the tutorials ruins the fun of the game's exploration and figuring stuff out on your own, but we understand that some of you just want to get to the next galaxy to see what's waiting for you over there. If there's a particular group of planets holding you up, look to these videos for help!
An elegant announcement for a more civilized age
This is yet another confirmation of what every gamer has been waiting for since the first time we saw the Wii controller. At the Hollywood & Games Summit, panel moderator N'Gai Croal asked LucasArts president Jim Ward about the possibility of a Wii lightsaber game. Ward's response was very encouraging. "We're all over that, and internally we have already played a lightsaber game on the Wii. It's a lot of fun, and we'll get there." He went on to say that "some stuff" would be out this fall. Start practicing your blind Force-guided waggling now.[Via NeoGAF]
Pachinko is really exciting!
Dude, we had no idea pachinko was so cool! We knew Japan was all into it, but we always thought it was some boring gambling thing. Turns out it's all a bunch of big people with huge chest muscles beating the crap out of each other in a post-apocalyptic wasteland! Man, when that guy punched the other guy like a hundred times really fast, that was some awesome pachinko! And then the other guy like exploded into a beam of yellow light! And the cool pachinko music was playing, and it totally got us pumped about pachinko!We know the graphics aren't totally next-gen (look at the cardboard hair), but it must be super tough to render realistic pachinko visuals! We are going to buy Jissen Pachinko/Pachislot Hisshouhou! Sammy's Collection Hokuto no Ken Wii RIGHT. NOW. We're totally ready for some pachinko mayhem! Watch the totally cool pachinko video after the break, and you'll feel the same way! PACHINKOOOOOO![Via Siliconera]
WayForward licensed to develop for Wii
Another Western developer has signed on to make Wii games-- hopefully they can get the funding to make some original ones. WayForward mostly makes licensed stuff these days, of undetermined quality (we haven't had a chance to test GBA Unfabulous), but they are also responsible for the excellent Game Boy Color platformer Shantae and the clever GBA shooter Sigma Star Saga. Also Ping Pals, but let's not talk about that. WayForward has actually had a Wii development kit since last year (they got access to some early pre-release duct tape) and they've been doing research and development since then. We know the licenses are coming, but we're really hoping that WayForward will have the time and resources to do some original stuff too.[Via DCEmu]
Bruce Willis: iChat user, forum troll
What do you when you've got millions of dollars, no steady day job, and plenty of vocal critics that do their best to berate you knowing full well that they could never do your job if given the chance? We might just ask Bruce Willis that very question, but thankfully for all us, he's already responded. Apparently, Mr. Willis not only finds his way around internet message boards that focus on his films, but he doesn't hesitate to join in on the oftentimes testy conversations and give users his platinum-laced two cents. In a recent go 'round in regard to Die Hard 4, Bruce was caught mouthing off to disbelievers and carpers alike, and while a select few were adamant that this so-called Walter B. was little more than an overzealous fanboy, Bruce did the honorary thing and offered to prove it. The actor actually requested that a fellow iChat / Mac user hit him up for a momentary video chat in order to show his face, and sure enough, the most vocal doubter was indeed put in place rather quickly. Big fan of the ego, Bruce.[Via Switched]
Another celebrity joins the WoW fan club
The list of famous fans is getting longer as World of Warcraft becomes more and more popular. The first famous names I remember hearing about were a whole slew of cartoonists whose work I really enjoy: Roman Dirge (Lenore), Jhonen Vasquez (JTHM), Scott Kurtz (PVP Online), Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins (Penny Arcade), and Tim Buckley (Ctrl+Alt+Del). Now, being a long-time comic book geek myself, these guys didn't really surprise me when they said that they were playing World of Warcraft. After all, video games and comics are generally thought of as sharing space in the realm of the Geek. One of the next names did take me a bit by surprise -- that was when comedian Dave Chappelle proclaimed his love for WoW. After that, it was just a mattter of time. Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) admitted that he was a total WoW fan. Then he showed in an Eastvale Logging Camp t-shirt to the Video Game Awards, and got to introduce the world premiere of the Burning Crusade trailer to the rest of the world.But this most recent name added to the ranks is a new one to me. World of Warcraft has just gained a professional football player as a fan. In a recent interview with Nick Smith, the newly recruited offensive lineman for the New York Jets, WoW came up as a topic and he talked about his time in Azeroth. Or at least, said that he had been playing WoW until Burning Crusade came out.Yeah... I stopped playing when the expansion came out because I just couldn't keep up. Last summer though, I was like that guy in the South Park episode. I could kill anyone over and over again until they quit. It was awesome. That was pretty much all I did: eat, workout and play WoW.While I'm thrilled to see someone in professional sports join the WoW gamer fold, I honestly hope that he was just joking about being like any guy in a South Park episode. There are just certain images that really don't need to conjured up. O.o How about you? Do you know of any other famous names who play World of Warcraft? [via thejetsblog.com]
AMD Phenom FX, X4, X2 Stars to shine in Q3 / Q4
When it's been nearly six months since we've seen an elusive PowerPoint slide pointing to future AMD processors, it's been far too long, but it looks like the forecasting can begin again thanks to information about AMD's star-packed Q3. According to a roadmap slide charting out the future of AMD's "Stars" family of processors, a number of dual- and quad-core processor options will be headed to the desktop market sometime in the third and fourth quarters, and while the firm's "value" Athlon 64 X2 and Sempron chips will also see minor overhauls headed into Q1 of 2008, the focus seems to be on the Phenoms in the crew. The flagship quad-core Phenom FX (dubbed Agena FX) will clock in from 2.2GHz to 2.6GHz, sport 4 x 512KB of L2 cache, 2MB of L3 cache, and sport bus speeds of 3,200MHz or 3,600MHz. The X4 chips ratchet down in speed a bit, and only handle the AM2+ socket while the top-end FX plays nice with the 1207+. The X2 CPUs go the dual-core route, top out at 2.8GHz, but won't be ready for ordering until Q4 of this year. Be sure to hit the read link for a (larger) peek at the chart -- unless you just completed an order for a current-generation chip, that is.[Via RegHardware]
Rumor: Starfox 64 update restores historically accurate slowdown?
No word if this is a real issue or a NeoGAF freakout, but if the perfect beauty of one of your Virtual Console games is in danger, it's our solemn duty to report on it. What is known is that Nintendo has issued an updated version of StarFox 64. What isn't known is what it does.NeoGAFfer Nuclear Muffin (judging by the name, a level-headed character) reported that after downloading the update this morning, he found the game slowing down in the same way the original Nintendo 64 version. Again, no idea if this is true, or if it's a delusion created by someone trying to find an effect of this update, but it's terrifying if true.Normally, we're all about accurate presentation of emulated games, but we have no problem with Nintendo fixing the resolution and speed of N64 games, because they totally need it. We really hope they haven't decided to unfix it.
US gets equipped with Mega Man Star Force cartoon
Mega Man series fans have something else to look forward to in the near future, besides the never-ending stream of spinoffs and sequels. Viz Media has licensed the anime adaptation of the latest spinoff, Mega Man Star Force (Ryuusei no Rockman in Japan) for US audiences.The story is some baffling thing about a human kid merging with an alien entity called Omega-Xis to become Mega Man, which we're sure will make more sense after we play the game. It makes us a little nostalgic for the sparse robot vs. robot storyline of the original Mega Man series, but not the original Mega Man cartoon. Do you think the cartoon will be good enough to promote a game with three versions? We make fun of Capcom for all the Mega Man overload, but we're huge fans and will no doubt fill our TiVos with episodes of this series.
Explore the heavens with your handheld
Still in the alpha stage of development, Constellations DS already looks like a useful tool for amateur astronomers. The homebrew application combines the portability of a star chart with the lighted display and interactivity of a notebook computer. Users will be able to zoom in and out of clusters, panning the night sky with their styli. Tapping a particular star displays its name, position, and other relevant information. Only thirteen constellations have been mapped so far, but developer Nameless plans to add 75 more. Future builds of the program will also use the date and your location to lay out an approximation of how the night sky should look. If anything, Constellations DS serves as a great excuse to escape the light-congested city limits and spend a warm evening outside.[Via Drunken Coders]
New videos at Super Paper Mario's Japanese site
Nintendo of Japan has put up a teaser page for its next big Wii release, Super Paper Mario. Considering that the US release date (4/09) is a week and a half earlier than Japan's, we're not sure which to blame for why their official site came up before North America's -- our laziness or their industriousness.Along with the standard story and cast previews, there are three gameplay videos, with nine more promised. The movie clip showing what happens when Mario gets a star is definitely worth a watch. We've really grown fond of seeing the giant plumber kick aside warp pipes ever since he picked up the habit in New Super Mario Bros.Keep an eye on the site as there are still two unrevealed sections. With the game's release being only a few weeks away, they won't be able to hold onto those last bits of hidden info for too long!
Fist of the North Star Pachinko uses Miis
We brought you the story that an EA producer was not given access to Mii code for My Sims, and that according to him, no third parties were. The situation seems to have changed, because Sega Sammy is using the little guys and gals in its Jissen Pachinko/Pachislot Hisshouhou! Sammy's Collection Hokuto no Ken Wii. It's not the most exciting implementation of Miis, with no Fist of the North Star-style makeovers or actual in-game avatars-- in fact, it consists mainly of a Mii portrait tied to a character profile.The game uses Nintendo Wi-fi as well, but for online rankings, which hardly counts as online play. We aren't ready to call that an implementation of third-party online play yet.Coming from a licensed pachinko game, proof that it is possible for third parties to use Miis. Sega does what E ... Ain't?
Finally, a pachinko game for the Wii
We might sound sarcastic, but we're happy to see different kinds of games come to the Wii. This latest title from Sega Sammy is a collection of pachinko and pachislot (pachinko plus slot machine) simulations, called (deep breath!) Jissen Pachinko/Pachislot Hisshouhou! Sammy's Collection Hokuto no Ken Wii (Fighting Pachinko/Pachislot Victory Way! Sammy's Collection Fist of the North Star Wii). It's based on the same popular Sega Sammy pachinko games that have been released on the DS, PS2, and PSP, and contains a bundle of pachinko and pachislot boards. And, of course, it carries the license of the classic, brutal Fist of the North Star manga and anime series.This one is interesting for the same reason a lot of Wii games are: Wiimote controls. Apparently, you can use the Wiimote steering-wheel style to control the speed of the dropping balls. We admire the novel Wiimote use! It also has online ranking, in case competition motivates your pachinko-playing.Jissen Pachinko/Pachislot Hisshouhou! Sammy's Collection Hokuto no Ken Wii (Fighting Pachinko/Pachislot Victory Way! Sammy's Collection Fist of the North Star Wii) comes out on May 24th in Japan, and probably never anywhere else. Any pachinko fans here? Do any of you import these kinds of things?
Jet Impulse looks really, really hot
A Nintendo-developed dogfighter, Jet Impulse, has recently opened their official website for perusal. The game formerly known as DS Air is, for the moment, Japanese-bound only; this will change, however, when we threaten Nintendo with deadly force.Two videos adorn the pages, highlighting both game mechanics and opening cinematic. We've been hankering for more air since Star Fox Command ended so very quickly; hopefully, this title can make the trip stateside before long.[Via NeoGAF; thanks Mutsu!]
Stars, points and conversions
So, you folks over across the Atlantic pond, you have a bit of a step up on us statesiders. You know, except for those exorbitant prices. Anyway, when you purchase wonderful Nintendo products, you may redeem your purchases for "star points", which can then be used to obtain various wallpapers and doodads.Recently, Nintendo revealed that these star points would be redeemable for Virtual Console points, but the conversation rate was not yet specified. However, German mag N-Gamer has apparently uncovered the secret, and come up with a less than satisfying rate: 4 to 1. Since DS games are occasionally offered for around 4500 star points (DS games are typically around 45 Euros), that means approximately 100 star points per Euro. This amount of star points, under a 4:1 rate, would purchase 1125 VC points. If you simply used 45 Euros to purchase VC points directly, however, you could get over four thousand.Yeah, it sucks, but at least it's an option if you've got nothing else to grab. Be sure to grab it soon, too: Nintendo Europe has recently stated that star points have an expiration date of twelve months.
Stargazing on the Wii
While checking out the Wii Forecast channel, keen observer Josef Faulkner noted that the star formations pictured looked very much like true-to-life constellations. In fact, he found that they were, going so far as to identify such constellations as Ursa Major and Orion. Sounds great, but we want to know about gamers in other parts of the world. Do the star formations dynamically change depending on region?[Via Joystiq]
Real stars in Wii weather
Gamer, Josef Faulkner poked around in the Wii Forecast Channel, discovering that the stars generally correlate to actual astronomy patterns. He identified a few constellations, including Orion and Ursa Major on his Wii.Have you tagged other constellations? Southern Hemisphere gamers, are your stars in the right place?[Via digg]
