VG Theory Productions

Making The Theory

In a bout of nostalgia, I have uploaded an ever-so-slightly earlier cut of Making The Theory, a documentary included with the ill-fated Video Game Theory, Volume One archive dvd(it shames me to admit that this mp4 version is actually higher quality than the final dvd version). I figured I would give it away online for free just in case someone gets curious. Eventually, whenever I can find a good way to do so, I will upload the entire archive of Video Game Theory episodes as well for the illusion of posterity.

I am not fooling myself. I know, in the grand scheme of things, this entire post is moot, minute, absolutely meaningless to the rest of the world…But it’s important to me. I want people to know where I got my start. I want people to laugh at the ridiculousness of a group of naive kids surrounding a shitty mic, talking out of their asses. For almost two years, Video Game Theory was my life. I take full responsibility for not giving the show it’s due, but I am proud of what I, what we – Dillon, Josh, and Addison – accomplished with no experience, no budget, and absolutely shite equipment. It was a tremendous learning experience.

I only wish the guys would drop by and say a few words.

Wow, it’s been some time since my last entry. Only really big news with me lately is that I gave in and signed up for college. It’s nothing fancy, just our local community college, but still, that’s something. Being the picky bastard I am, I had to opt for the Associate in Liberal Studies degree. Basically, this enables me to pick a whole lot more electives than any of the other degrees offered. It’s pretty cool. I’ll be taking web design and video production this fall, among some other somewhat more mundane stuff.

I would be curious to know what’s been up with the other hosts lately since I haven’t really communicated with them in a while. When we branched out, there was a lot of distance placed between us, even though three of the hosts still reside in the same city as far as I am aware. Just one of those little things in life that’s interesting. But…not very.

I tracked down a leaked copy of the Phantasy Star Portable demo for PSP(acronymic irony, har har). Aside from a glitch that basically renders multi-mode unplayable, it’s a pretty great conversion. The lobby system has been almost completely revamped. No longer do you run around the space station, going to shops or things like that in 3d. It’s all been streamlined into a 2d, menu-based interface. Now, I can see why Alfa Systems did this, and it does make sense for a portable system, but honestly, it doesn’t quite feel right. It doesn’t feel like Phantasy Star(not counting the earlier RPGs). The gameplay itself is spot on and the controls are pretty tight. One gripe is that the player is forced to use the analog nub for character movement. Again, I can understand why the developer did this, considering how every entry since the first Phantasy Star Online had analog movement, but what a hell of a cramp this can induce. No doubt this is offset by 5-15 minute missions rather than the, admittedly, somewhat grueling grind-fests of old. I’m not quite sure how to feel about that yet. Still, i’ll buy a copy if it ever comes stateside.

That’s good for now. Take care, folks.

Ricky Coulter
Writer, Gamer, Caveman.

Last month someone created a genius T-shirt that put a gamer’s spin on the age old "yo mamma" bag. The shirt read "Your Mom’s Rated E for Everyone." Who wouldn’t think that’s friggin hilarious. The ESA, that’s who.

Earlier this week the Entertainment Software Association sicked their lawyers on us. Demanding that we take down the post about the shirt, calling it an advertisement and saying that the shirt would create consumer confusion and a "substantial likelihood that the ESRB certification marks will face tarnishment and dilution."

LINK

Windows only: Open source app MediaCoder is an audio and video batch transcoder designed to give you super-simple conversion to and from some of the most popular media codecs.

Among other great features, MediaCoder’s Devices tab makes converting videos for your iPod, PSP, smartphone/PDA, etc. a breeze. MediaCoder is simple to use but does a lot.

Link

Tags: Freeware, Windows, Converter

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s UK MD, Ray Maguire, claims that the heavily criticised UMD format has a future, despite a number of film studios opting out of producing movies on the format and numerous retailers scaling down their UMD* offerings.

Yeah…right! The UMD is doing poorly.

Link

Tags: Sony, PSP, Gaming

Awsome now I can get some homebrew on my 2.70 PSP. I have played two SNES games on it so far. There is an downgrader, but it is still…uh “buggy.” I don’t want to risk my PSP to bricking.

eLoader Version 0.99 brings us this. Read on.

The major new feature is support for v2.70 and v2.71 firmwares. That’s right, full support for these 2 firmwares is now added, using a new kernel-mode syscall-finding technique (which is why 2.80 support is not yet possible).

As well as support for the v2.7 firmwares, there is also limited kernel mode support on v2.5-v2.71. This means that the .init program section (which contains functions declared with the ‘constructor’ attribute) will be called in kernel-mode for homebrew built with the kernel mode attribute. Note that you cannot create kernel-mode threads from the init functions in this release, due to security checks in the firmware.

The increased kernel access has also allowed us to add a built-in exception handler to eLoader, so that crashes can be caught and debugged more easily, as well as usually preventing the need to reboot.

LINK

“Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my duty as Community Manager of Game Overdrive to inform you of something terrible. It has begun. In a stunningly unprovoked move, Iceland has started the end. It’s bombing of Denmark over their relationship with Sweden caused Britain to have to back childhood friend Denmark up by leveling Reykjavik. Having been looking for a reason to get back at Britain since that prom night mishap, Spain responded with a bombing of Liverpool. America was involved after that and well, you get the picture. In approximately 7 days, we will be engulfed in complete nuclear winter. What will it look like you ask? Well, you tell me.

For this contest, take any painting or photograph of the outside world, and use whatever picture editing software you use to simulate nuclear winter. Extra points for the usage of well known art as the source image. The prize? The ability to play out situations such as the one above in DEFCON. Many will enter, one will survive.

-Ben Halpern
Community Manager
Game Overdrive”

For details on the contest, visit the information page to see how to enter and win!

Nintendo is finally ready to unveil the juicy details of their plans for the Revolution launch. Whilst perusing IGN at two in the morning(as I am often apt to do, as mentioned in another rant), I happened upon an article detailing much of the information that I have wanted to know about the upcoming launch of the new Nintendo. As I read the entry, however, my excitement for the new console was somewhat tempered. Frankly, I think they have slipped up just a “wee” little bit(hah…hah…ha…).

(continue reading…)

The word is out. Nintendo is finally ready to announce the launch details that it has been avoiding for months now. Read for yourselves:

Nintendo fans finally have a price and release date for the company’s new generation console, Wii. The Big N is set to officially announce that the system will hit retail in North and South America for $250 on November 19. The New York Times published with the story and seems, in fact, to have beaten Nintendo Co. Ltd with the news.

Nintendo’s Wii console will come packaged with one Wii remote, one nunchuck attachment, an AC adapter, an audio/video cable, a sensor bar, sensor bard stand, a Wii console stand and two batteries. The US package will also come bundled with a copy of Wii Sports, a compilation sports game that best shows off the mechanics of the system’s unique controller. Wii Sports features tennis, baseball, golf and previously unannounced bowling and boxing games.

Nintendo said it would provide Wii owners with more than 25 unique games this year.

Wii’s much talked-about Virtual Console download service, which enables gamers to purchase classic games, will offer a library of some 30 titles when the system launches. Titles will include entries from the Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong franchises, Nintendo said. Virtual Console games will cost between $5 and $10 each. Specifically, Nintendo Co. Ltd. announced that Virtual Console games would cost 500 yen ($5), 800 yen ($8) or 1,000 yen ($10); we’re presuming these prices are for NES, SNES and N64 games respectively.

The Big N confirmed that it would charge $50 for its new Wii games, which is $10 cheaper than the cost of typical Xbox 360 titles. (Please note that this is First-Party games, prices have not been announced for Third-Part Wii games — publishers are free to set their own prices on Wii titles.)

Nintendo Co. Ltd. revealed that Wii’s various controllers would be available to buy separately at launch. The Wii remote will cost 3800 yen or about $40; the nunchuck 1800 yen or about $20 and the classic controller 1800 yen or about $20.

In a surprise announcement, Nintendo said that it wanted to make Wii a living room centerpiece by shipping the system with features outside of the videogame realm. Wii will include a photo channel, enabling users to display their digital photos through the console. It will also boast regularly updated news and weather channels. In addition, the system will ship with the Opera Web browser, enabling users to connect online.

One of the channels available on Wii is called the “Mii Channel.” Here, players can customize avatars by selecting from a variety of face shapes, hair styles, color schemes, and so on. The hook is that these avatars can not only be stored on the console itself, they can also be transfered to the Wii remote itself — presumably so players can easily access their personalized characters and take them with them when playing against friends.

Sony recently announced that it would ready 400,000 PS3s in North America and another 100,000 in Japan for the system’s launch. Nintendo said it plans to ship 4 million Wii units worldwide by the end of the year.

Nintendo will launch Wii in Japan on December 2 of this year for 25,000 yen, it revealed. North America will get the system first.

Expect an editorial soon…

IGN: US Wii Price, Launch Date Revealed

According to the industry trade magazine MCV, the highly anticipated Nintendo console is set to debut in Europe on the 24th of November, with a price tag of £149. After a quick google, that appears to convert to about $282 in US dollars.

Nintendo will release the Wii in Europe by 24 November for £149, according to games industry trade magazine MCV. The paper also claims there will be enough consoles to cater for demand both at launch and during the busy Christmas period.

The news comes ahead of Nintendo’s official European announcement, which is expected to made at a London event next Friday. When asked about the possible price and release date Nintendo commented: “We know that everyone is as excited as we are about the pending launch of Wii and as a result there is a lot of speculation and rumours. We ask people to be patient as all will be revealed in due course.”

So, not totally confirmed, but I think it’s fairly plausible. I must admit, i’m far more curious about the US price and release date, myself.

IGN: Wii: November 24 for £149?