Review: Rockstar Presents Table Tennis
This game is Pong with fucking awesome graphics and control.
All this game is is get the ball past yr opponent, make sure you hit the ball when its coming at you. You can apply 4 types of spin (top, back, left, right) and you can hit the ball with degrees of strength. It's super simple and partly because of that you won't ever be playing the single player game unless you want to practise your game, unlock a character or unlock some new some some new outfits.
The real fun here is the multiplayer game, and R* did a fine job with that. I played online once I finished a match or 2 against the 360. The first match I played was intense. We had a few 50-60 hit rallies going, and it just gets insane when yr up that high and you shoot the ball past yr opponent (even more insane when the opposite happens.) A real sense of victory. The thing I really dig the most is I never felt I was losing or fucking up because the game somehow prevented me from doing what I wanted to do... I always felt complete control withing the game universe, and if I fucked up it was my fault. TT actually reminds me more of fighting games than Pong in some ways... it's a very visceral 1-on-1 experience, where you completely focus on the very simple goal of defeating your opponent. Very PURE.
The graphics? Shit bitch, my new next gen HD showcase game is this. When yr playing the actual game the graphics might as well be Pong as you barely see anything but the ball. But man, once you take a breather and check out those instant replays in slow motion, or view the character models and really zoom in.... WOW. Also some incredible realistic clothing animation.
So, R*'s first foray into the next-gen arena is pretty damn good. The game probably isn’t for everyone, and the single player experience is a little slim, but get a few people together either online or off and you’ll appreciate what R* was trying to accomplish with this game.
8/10
Dr. Alexander Shulgin, groundbreaking scientist and explorer of the human mind
From
The Sunday Herald:
This man has invented more than 80% of the world’s known hallucinogenic drugs, has had more than 4000 psychedelic experiences, and in 1967 created the drug ecstasy. Meet Dr Alexander Shulgin, groundbreaking scientist and explorer of the human mind. It seems rather appropriate to meet Doctor Alexander Shulgin, a man who has spent most of his life creating and consuming hallucinogenic drugs, high on a mountain.Shulgin, whom Timothy Leary called “one of the most important scientists of his generation”, lives with his Antipodean wife, Ann, on a steep Californian hillside a few miles from San Francisco, that former bastion of free love, acid trips and tie-dye T-shirts.
In his lifetime, Shulgin, now 81, has been canonised by chemists and chastised by the police, invented a groundbreaking insecticide, written two groundbreaking books, invented more than 80% of the known hallucinogenic drugs in the world and, by his own admission, had more than 4000 psychedelic experiences.
Review: New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo DS)
The giant mushroom power-up makes you feel like a big man.So, New Super Mario Bros. This is how retro gaming should be done. Midway might want to take a note here, as they seem to be the biggest retro whores out there with their re-packaged collections of Space Invaders and Pole Position. Essentially NSMB is classic side scrolling Mario game (executed extremely well), but updated with modern graphics. The result is a very familiar game for those who cut their teeth on SMB and SMB 3 for NES (SMB 2 doesn't count.... that was just Doki Doki panic re-skinned) and SMW for SNES.
Me, I've played the originals to the point where I can probably recall every level in detail the way some dorks know every line of dialogue from Empire Strikes Back (and that would still be me). This means that the only real drawback for me with NSMB is that it feels a little too familiar sometimes. The novelty of a new 2D (but with 3D) sidescroller just doesn't have the same allure it did back in '86-'90. That aside, the game still rocks, and had me glued to my DS, even on the streetcar with teenagers pointing and laughing at me. It’s pretty damn fun. And the level design? Shiggy PLEASE! Fuck Japan just owns that genre. The characters are beautifully rendered and animated. It's really fun to make Mario just run around.
Downers? The multiplayer is not online. Ah vell... they got that covered with Mario Kart and Metroid I guess, but still. There is some nice wireless mutliplayer fun to be had, but you need a friend with a DS.
Other than that I can't recommend this game enough to hardcore Nintendo fans who want a taste of nostalgia coated with 2006 graphical hot sauce, as well any platformer fan who can appreciate the genre but aren't as schooled in Mario's past.
8/10
Tomonobu Itagaki: Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 Interview
Katsumi loves you.Teamxbox.com chats with Tomonobu Otagaki about his new waterslide, jetski, soft porn beach volleyball game which I'll be buying the day it comes out.
Life After the Video Game Crash
This is probably the most clever/funniest/ post-E3 analysis I've read yet...
Life After the Video Game Crash
Pic of the day: Mario shaved!
Microsoft turned down GTA 3
A new feature story about the Xbox 360 Uncloaked book posted on 1UP today reveals that Microsoft could have had Grand Theft Auto exclusively on the Xbox but passed on it.: Fries won one internal battle. Bach decided that Allard should focus on technology and the next Xbox, so he relieved Allard of control of third-party publishing and gave that to Fries at the close of 2002. That wasn't such a bad move. Under Allard, the third-party division had failed to spot Grand Theft Auto III as the killer application. Allard had organized a group of game managers to evaluate proposals for games. They asked questions of developers, such as, "What would a gamer do in 60 seconds of game play?" The process was secretive, and it had been nicknamed "The Star Chamber," after a 1980s Michael Douglas movie where a group of judges meted out street justice in secrecy. (The movie itself was named after a secret medieval society of judges who vindictively abused the powers of the courts). Unfortunately for Microsoft, the Star Chamber turned down the proposal from RockStar games for Grand Theft Auto III. The Star Chamber members sent the proposal back to RockStar Games with the suggestion to beef up the game. When RockStar later cut a deal with Take-Two Interactive to create an exclusive for the PlayStation 2, Microsoft didn't even get a last-minute chance to bid for the deal itself. It wasn't Microsoft's kind of game, since it was a gritty crime game with foul language, abusive treatment of women, and cop killing. Microsoft had a corporate image to maintain and, like Electronic Arts, it avoided that category. Gamers, however, increasingly loved the anti-establishment themes in the games and the ability to roam free without any rules. The game became the runaway hit of the PS2, and it proved the ineffectiveness of the Star Chamber.
Sony sold alot of PS2s on the strength of GTA (and not just 3—Vice and San Andreas had that same exclusivity). The outcome of the previous generation could have been drasticly different if Allard had a bit more foresight. —1138
Feds Want Hacker's Genetic Code
Hacker Adrian Lamo is in trouble again, this time for failing to give the federal government his DNA. On Tuesday, federal probation officer Michael Sipe filed a notice of violation in a Northern California court accusing Lamo of refusing to submit a blood sample, in violation of Sipe's instructions and a 2-year-old federal law. "He reported to the probation office as instructed; however, he refused to provide a blood sample for DNA testing, in violation of the general condition of supervision requiring compliance with federal law," the filing reads.
Lamo is nearly 18 months into a two-year probation sentence for hacking The New York Times in 2002.
According to his attorney, Lamo's refusal is based on a religious objection to giving blood, and he's willing to provide his DNA in another form. "He went in there with fingernail clippings and hair, and they refused to accept it, because they will only accept blood," says federal public defender Mary French. "Which is, you know, kind of in the Dark Ages."
French says she'll be filing a motion to dismiss the case. She declined to identify Lamo's religion. In prior court cases, members of the Jehovah's Witnesses have registered opposition to blood tests for alcohol content, based on certain passages in the Bible.
The Most Realistic Virtual Reality Room In The World
More than $4 million in equipment upgrades will shine 100 million pixels on Iowa State University’s six-sided virtual reality room.That’s twice the number of pixels lighting up any virtual reality room in the world and 16 times the pixels now projected on Iowa State’s C6, a 10-foot by 10-foot virtual reality room that surrounds users with computer-generated 3-D images. That means the C6 will produce virtual reality at the world’s highest resolution.
Iowa State’s C6 opened in June 2000 as the country’s first six-sided virtual reality room designed to immerse users in images and sound. The graphics and projection technology that made such immersion possible hasn’t been updated since the C6 opened.
The difference between the equipment currently in the C6 and the updated technology to be installed this summer, “is like putting on your glasses in the morning,” said James Oliver, the director of Iowa State’s Virtual Reality Applications Center and a professor of mechanical engineering.
The new equipment – a Hewlett-Packard computer featuring 96 graphics processing units, 24 Sony digital projectors, an eight-channel audio system and ultrasonic motion tracking technology – will be installed by Fakespace Systems Inc. of Marshalltown. The project is supported by a U.S. Department of Defense appropriation through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
So, where's teh pr0nz? —1138
Peter Moore pwn3z Sony
This is a great interview by the way. Moore just pisses all over Sony's face, then takes a dump on the floor and makes Sony eat it while flies swarm around Sony's shit caked lips. Then he has his german sheppard ass rape Sony, and when the dog gizz drops out of Sony's gapping anus, he mixes that in with the leftover shit from before, and makes Sony eat that too.
Read the
whole thing over at gamesindustry.biz
GTA: Vice City Stories Confirmed!
Rockstar Games, the universally-renowned publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. Developed by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with series creators Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories will be available exclusively on the PSP system in North America on October 17th, 2006 and Europe on October 20th, 2006.
"The success of Liberty City Stories on the PSP system was nothing short of spectacular," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games and Executive Producer. "The incredible PSP system technology allowed us to do things we never thought possible on a handheld system and we are excited to once again give our audience a fresh experience in one of their favorite locales in the Grand Theft Auto series, Vice City. With Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories we look to once again smash expectations of portable gaming, bringing an all new story and exciting new gameplay elements to this classic setting."
"Our collaboration with Rockstar Leeds has been a tremendous experience," said Leslie Benzies, President of Rockstar North. "Together we have been able to create uncompromising experiences on the PSP system that not only stay true to our initial vision for the series but that surpasses our own goals of what could be done on a handheld. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories will thrill longtime fans and excite new PSP system gamers like never before."
"We are proud of what we were able to achieve with Rockstar North on Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories," said Gordon Hall, President of Rockstar Leeds. "By staying true to the high standards of the series and surpassing fans’ expectations for a Grand Theft Auto title on a portable machine we feel confident that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories will redefine what handheld gaming is capable of with the most intense PSP system experience yet."
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is a new game in the Grand Theft Auto series with an entirely new storyline, new missions and gameplay that brings an unprecedented experience to mobile gaming. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories features the interactive, open environment of Vice City with professional voice talent, a diverse soundtrack and high production values that have become trademarks of this landmark series.
GTA: Vice City pictured
Xbox-portable-boy?
Probably a fake....
PS3 E3 images
Is it me or does this thing look ugly from the side? I can't decide if it looks more like football or a George Foreman grill! I'm assuming Sony wants the PS3 to sit at the top of the pile as there's no way yr going to be able to stack another console on top of it. Way to go Sony. Also, someone might want to let Sony's product designers know that the Spiderman movie font is old and tired.
The PS3 comes out in North America on November 17th, 2006 and will cost US$599
Korea Unveils World's Second Android
Korea has developed its own android capable of facial expressions on its humanoid face, the second such machine to be developed after one from Japan. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy invited some 60 children to the Kyoyuk Munhwa Hoekwan in Seoul to introduce Ever-1 to the public. The name combines the first human name found in the Bible, Eve, with the "r" in robot.
The Korean Institute for Industrial Technology (KITECH) said the android, which has the face and body of a woman in her 20s, is 160 cm tall and weighs 50 kg. Ever-1 can move its upper body and "express" happiness, anger, sadness and pleasure. But the robot is still incapable of moving its lower half. Ever-1's skin is made from a silicon jelly that feels similar to human skin. The face is a composite of two stars, and its torso on a singer.
The 15 monitors in the robotic face allow it to interpret the face of an interlocutor and look back at whoever stands near it. Ever-1 also recognizes 400 words and can hold a basic verbal exchange.
"The robot can serve to provide information in department stores and museums or read stories to children; it's capable of both education and entertainment functions," said KITECH scientist Baeg Moon-hong, part of the team that created the robot. "The Ever-2, which will have improved vision and ability to express emotions and can sit or stand, will be debuted towards the end of the year."
GTA4 !!!!
rockstargames.com/grandtheftauto4/Here's some of
Joystiq's live coverage of the 360 speech:
"Moore: "The Xbox 360 HD DVD player. The intial run of Toshiba players sold out within a few days. I'd like to announce that today, the Xbox 360 player will be available this holiday. I've got to take my jacket off ... Some of you may remember this ... It's no big secret that I saved the big guns for the bog guns! Some guys do rubber ducks, so guys do tattoos. Moore takes off his jacket -- to show off his Halo 2 tattoo. The other arm has a Grand Theft Auto IV tattoo! October 16, 2006 in North America, October 19 in Europe.
...Microsoft and Rockstar games have entered into an exclusive partnership to provide exclusive episodic content through Xbox Live. Moore is interrupted by applause after this announcement. The crowd was not expecting this, and is pumped to hear it."
