gamezplay

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Step-by-step Instructions for How to Mod your Super Nintendo to Play Super Famicom Games

Mobiusclimber of the Rising Stuff Forums has created this simple and straight forward guide to one of the quickest mods you can do: Make your SNES play Super Famicom games! Don’t worry, it will still play your Super Nintendo games perfectly and the modification will not be visible on the outside of your console.

Standard Disclaimer: Mod your Super Nintendo at your own risk. We are not responsible for damaged consoles.

1) Unplug your console. This step should be obvious. Here is is anyway.

2) Look inside the cartridge slot of your SNES and you might notice two small ridges of plastic, one on each side of the pin connectors.

Since the pins in both Surer Nintendo and Super Famicom games are the same, those two small pieces of plastic are the only things holding you back from playing Japanese Super Famicom games on your SNES. Well maybe the language barrier as well, but we can discuss that another time.

If you look at the back of an SNES cartridge, you’ll see two slots cut out of the plastic. This is what those ridges fit into.

Looking on the back of an SFC cartridge, they don’t have the open spaces for the ridges. So if you just tried to pop the cartridge into your SNES, it wouldn’t fit.

3) Of course there’s a very easy solution to this problem: with a pair of pliers (or some other suitable implement of destruction), reach into the cartridge slot and break off those two pieces of plastic. I used a knife when I performed the surgery, but I wouldn’t recommend that. Pliers work best because you want to make sure you get the whole piece off and not leave any behind. Take a look at these pics to see what an SNES will look like before and after the surgery:

4) … There is no fourth step. Yeah, that’s it. And in case you were wondering, no, removing those two tabs doesn’t change your SNES Mini into a regular SNES. I just took pics of the two SNES consoles that I had. I didn’t mod the Mini and just happened to have a beat up regular SNES so I modded that. Once you have those two tabs broken off you can start playing all the Super Famicom games you like. Well… not quite. Later games (released around 1996) might have a lockout chip still. Known games that will not work are Super Mario RPG and Kirby Super Star. The solution? … Play the North American release!

Elebits - The Adventures of Kai and Zero - fact sheet

Enter into an extraordinary game of hide and seek in this exciting sequel to Elebits! Kai and Zero have been swept off to a magical land and must finish the challenges ahead, to get back home.

Seek out the mischievous little Omega Elebits that hold supernatural powers and give you the ability to complete puzzle quests.

The more you play the stronger you become as you capture Omega Elebits providing you with incredible magic abilities to solve tasks.

Find, capture and befriend the Elebits, raise them and embark on a magical journey using their combined powers to battle through amazing adventures and find a way back home!

Features:

Solve challenging puzzles in order to find and capture over 20 mysterious Omega Elebits
Players problem solving abilities increase the more they explore, capture and raise their Elebits
Battle 7 bosses by utilizing each of the Omega Elebits’ special powers to defeat them
Use Kai’s capture gun and find numerous upgrades to capture the elusive Elebits
Utilize each of the Omega Elebits’ special powers in order to solve puzzles, reveal hidden paths, freeze flowing water, turn darkness into light, levitate rocks and much more
Connect via Wi-Fi and battle up to four friends in a head-to-head Elebits capture battle.

Developer: Konami Digital Entertainment.
Platform: Nintendo DS
Rated: E (Mild Cartoon Violence)
Release Date: January 6, 2009
Genre: Action
Multiplayer: 1 - 4 players

Nintendo Wii sales top 7 million units in Japan

Nintendo Wii sales have passed the 7 million 'units sold' milestone last week in Japan - where it all began.

Helping the push - sales of the new Animal Crossing - City Folk video game topped 300,000 copies with some users buying the Nintendo Wii at the same time a s the new game.

To put this into perspective Sony's PlayStation 3 sold 2.37 million units up to September 2008.

Let's forget the Xbox 360 the Microsoft console has sold only 750,000 units since 2005 launch in Japan.

Nintendo must be well chuffed...

Xtival is a three-day party that’s FREE for EVERYONE on Xbox LIVE

We’ve cranked up the volume for Xtival ’08 with 72 hours of controlled mayhem that you’ll never forget.

Xtival is a three-day party that’s FREE for EVERYONE on Xbox LIVE; even Silver members will be able to experience the thrill of multiplaying with their friends - all weekend!

So get your friends together and enjoy LIVE to the max.

This year brings exclusive new music videos, HD movies and new games to download.

You can chat to our headline act The Prodigy, and take advantage of multiplayer using FIFA’s new 10v10 feature.

Above all else this is your chance to play your favourite games with your mates - like there’s no tomorrow!

Have Microsoft Wii'd on the Xbox 360?

A week ago Microsoft launched the new Xbox Experience and upset a fair number of Xbox 360 users in the process.

What if you liked the old Xbox Experience? Some people like the simple navigation having tried the PS3 navigation with its XMB.

So why have Microsoft chosen to mimic the Nintendo Wii style interface? Do they think that's what we want? If you look at what we buy to play (last week's chart) Call of Duty - World at War, Gears of War 2, Need for Speed - Undercover, FIFA 09, Left 4 Dead. YES, Microsoft shooting, driving and sports games not fluffy Nintendo 'family' games - so why the Nintendo interface?

Wii sale for the same week - Maro Kart, Wii Fit, Wii Play, Mario & Sonic at the Olympics all games that have been around for ages... No the hard nosed games the Xbox and PS3 users are attacted to.

It looks like it's all been done to get users to spend more time, NOT playing games! The social aspect of interacting with your friend's avatars and exploring the online content offered by Microsoft on Windows Live have also entered the party.

Some users have experienced the Red Ring of Death on upgrading but that may be down to what they've done to their Xbox 360 rather than what Microsoft have (if you understand).

See my earlier post on the new Jasper chip....

Xbox Experience post here...

Mirror's Edge review - the game really shines...

Occasionally, a video game will reshape the way gamers see virtual worlds. Much like "Wolfenstein 3D," "Super Mario 64" and "Half-Life" before it, the stunning first-person action-adventure game "Mirror's Edge" smashes the conventions of its predecessors.

As a super-agile courier named Faith -- who's usually being chased by bad guys -- players can run, walk, leap, hop and slide across rooftops, within warehouses, through sewers and inside office buildings. Faith's goals are never more complicated than getting from Point A to Point B. How she accomplishes that is where "Mirror's Edge" comes alive.

Created by Swedish developer DICE, "Mirror's Edge" mimics real-life running -- complete with panting sounds. There are no on-screen meters, so the minimalist display lets players' eyes focus on the game's parkour-inspired moves. (You know, that froggy style of movement made famous by "Casino Royale" and all those soda and sneaker commercials.)

Luckily, the free running isn't disorienting. It's liberating, especially when players gain enough momentum to acrobatically parlay a series of maneuvers into an impromptu ballet, resulting in a spring from a construction crane or lunge toward a helicopter. Of course, the fear of going splat or being shot to death by your pursuers is omnipresent.

To keep the action moving, objects and surfaces that Faith can bounce off of or use to her advantage glow a distinct shade of candy apple red and are usually easy to spot within her sterile urban environment, which resembles what it might look like if Ikea erected a city in Japan. Once you get the hang of the light-footed game play, it's strangely blissful.

Players can also tackle what few foes get in Faith's way and apprehend their firearms. However, guns seem to slow her down. Ultimately, this game is all about the chase. So, with the tap of a button, she'll toss weapons aside and continue on her way, making "Mirror's Edge" a surprisingly nonviolent yet continually adrenaline-pumping affair.

"Mirror's Edge" isn't perfect. The story line is pedestrian and the wannabe anime cut scenes aren't compelling. Tapping the bumper button to vault or wall climb doesn't always seem to elicit the desired response, which can send Faith tumbling to her death -- and force players to restart the sequence.

Those issues aside, the game's 10 chapters will definitely leave players craving more places to lunge and run. Innovative games such as "Mirror's Edge," with a sleek "Fifth Element" aesthetic and "Run Lola Run" sense of urgency, don't come around often. It would be a mistake to let such a visionary piece of work pass you by.

Source: Star Tribune

Sony offer UK gamer £40 discount on PlayStation 3 (PS3) and why I would ask for money this Christmas

Sony are NOT cutting the price of the PS3 but they are offering the console direct from them at a discount (usually the dealers cut).

With Christmas the busiest time for game sales Sony are offering their 40GB PlayStation 3 for £269 that £40 cheaper that the recommended price.

Sony are also promosing a bundle with an 80GB with LittleBigPlanet for £279 no date has been set.

The Sony online store can be found here...

If you can wait I predict discounts just after Christmas as retailers try and squeeze more sales in the difficult January period.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Are 80% of games rubbish - if only 20% make money?

2007 saw video game sales topping $9 million, but according to a new report, only twenty percent of finished games actually turn a profit.

Forbes originally reported that only 4 percent of games are profitable, but the Electronic Entertainment Design and Research company quoted in the story was quick to clarify: Computer and video games, Nov. 24: This means that 4% of all games which start production will eventually make a profit, but a far-more-likely 20% of finished products will see profitable returns. ...

the average Xbox 360 title shifts 216,000 units and that Mature-rated titles are generally more popular on the Xbox 360 than those rated Teen.

However, the EEDAR stood by other statistics in the report, including the following: Computer and video games - The study concludes that the average total sales for an Xbox 360 game is around 216,000 units, while the average PlayStation 3 title sells 192,256 copies.

Therefore, any title shipping on both platforms is expected to sell on average 408,336 units. ... Interestingly, implementing a co-op mode is claimed to boost sales by 12,400, while a multiplayer mode could add 25,000 copies to a game's sales roster.

That's about $1 million in revenue, so well worth it if the said developer can whip up an online mode for less, notes the EEDAR study.

So, does this mean that 80 percent of video games suck?

Game reviewers don't seem to think so. Of the 526 Xbox 360 games on Metacritic, only 54 have garnered meta-scores of below 50 percent. Conversely, a full 210 — or 40 percent — of games earned meta-scores of 75 percent or above.

Perhaps these figures simply point out that the majority of likely consumers want mature titles with multiplayer elements for their Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

UK - Battlefield 2 - The Complete Collection at ASDA only £9.91 delivered!

Head online for award-winning Battlefield franchise multiplayer action with up to 64 players.

Maps scale to the number of players engaging in battle (16, 32, or 64), for an intense experience every time.

Join a squad or select the new Commander Mode to assume the strategic role of a battlefield commander directing his forces. Enhanced squad structure includes VOIP commands and team stat tracking.

Earn medals, ribbons, unlockable weapons, and other items as you rise through the ranks from lowly Private to General.

Battlefield 2
Battlefield 2: Special Forces Expansion Pack
Battlefield 2: Euro Force Booster Pack
Battlefield 2: Armored Fury Booster Pack

Lock and load, soldier! Head out to the frontlines of the 21st century with the original Battlefield 2 plus the Battlefield 2: Special Forces Expansion Pack and the two Booster Packs.

Unleash the fury of an awesome arsenal in massive online battles featuring the franchise's legendary multiplayer warfare.

Choose an army and enter the fray with laser-designated bombs, wire-guided missiles, sniper rifles, and much more. Roar onto the battlefield in tactical fighters, main battle tanks, four-wheel drive assault buggies, and other advanced vehicles.

This is no minor skirmish-this is the ultimate collection of high-tech warfare on the modern battlefield.

Asda here...

LocoRoco 2 Review for Sony PSP (PlaySationPortable)

The genius of Tsutomu Kouno's LocoRoco concept is that its gameplay hasn't been forced, like a square peg to a round hole, into the confines of the the PSP's control system, like so many first-person and third-person titles are. The L and R buttons are used to tilt the beautiful 2D game world and the Circle button is used for everything else. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Some will say LocoRoco 2 is too similar to 2006's brilliant original, and with good reason. Essentially it's the same game with different levels and a few gameplay tweaks, but then revolutionising the fundamentals that made the Sony Japan Studio developed title such a perfect fit on the PSP would have run the risk of ruining it. And anyway, its charm, beauty and uplifting nature is just as potent a second time around, even if you've felt it all before.

Full review here on VideoGamer...

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