Published by Si at 8 January, 2008
in Games.
First of all, I should preface this guide by saying that you’ll never be more of a Wii Fanboy than I am. But what if I was killed in some horrific Wii Sports accident; involving a fishtank, perhaps? All the wannabe Wii Fanboys out there would need a comprehensive guide to being the Ultimate Wii Fanboy. Of course I would always be the FIRST Wii Fanboy, and all my successors would only be Wii Fanboys in my image, understand?
Secondly, just to make my first point clear, you can’t just go out and register some domain name and suddenly be a Fanboy. I’m the only true Wii Fanboy. But it’s admirable to try and own me, even though you won’t.
Thirdly, and this is the my most important point. Being a Wii Fanboy is not about how much you like playing games on the Wii. You must download all the Virtual Console games, that goes without saying. You don’t have to play them, I mean they are all like 20 years old. But you must download them all. VC games are far superior to those Wii games you get on discs nowadays. All those expensive new Wii games are crap. They’re all just flashy graphics and the gameplay is totally uninteresting. Plus, there’s the inconvenience of having to go out and actually buy the things. Then if that’s not bad enough, you have to actually insert the damn disc! How inconvenient! No, the true Wii Fanboy doesn’t concern himself with such trivial things as the latest Wii releases. It’s all about Wii accessories and how many you own. This, my young padawan is the true essense of the Wii Fanboy.
Well, that intro was longer than the Super Mario Galaxy opening sequence. Read on to discover your true destiny as a Wii Fanboy.
Continue reading ‘Howto: Be the Ultimate Wii Fanboy’
Published by Si at 8 January, 2008
in Games.
I just received this email from Dungeon Crawl after complaining that my copy of Valve’s Orange Box wouldn’t activate. I don’t believe it requires any further elaboration than the title. Maybe I will just include this discreet link to illustrate what Valve’s action will actually achieve.
Dear customer,
In the last few days we have received multiple emails about the versions
of Half Life Orange Box and Counter Strike Source we have been selling.
The following error has occurred when customers have attempted to install
their game:
“This product code is only valid for Russia and nearby territories. Since
you are not currently in that region, this product code cannot be activated.”
We can assure customers that the products are not Russian, this is Valve
lying to the end-user. We have supplied you with Asia region official products
that were fully Australian compatible up until a few days ago. Up until last
week, we had sold hundreds of each product to 100% satisfied Australians,
this reflected in our perfect feedback for these items.
Just this week, Valve decided to put in place previously non-existent region
restrictions on these products that will restrict new accounts. Now, every
single version of Half Life Orange Box, CS Source and related steam titles
cannot be activated unless the product code being used matches the exact
territory it is being activated in.
This is not a case of Valve blocking cheap Russian copies, they are region
locking every single official version so that they can force each territory
to pay a different price. This kind of region locking with PC games is previously
unheard of. It represents a new low for the game industry and a new high
point for publisher greed, with Valve now forcing Australians to pay RRP
$99.95
Unfortunately, this all means that we must undertake to accept returns of
these products from all customers who have bought from us and are experiencing
the above problem with their product key.
Please return your product in its original condition (including full packaging)
& the new cd-key to:
Dungeon Crawl Pty Ltd
PO Box 904
Sunshine Post Shop, Victoria 3020
Bear in mind that before a refund is issued all cd-keys will be tested for
the above error. The product key must be new and not be attached to an existing
steam account.
We apologise greatly for the inconvenience and disappointment this has caused.
The publisher has demonstrated complete contempt for us (the reseller) and
you (the end-user) by region locking a product without warning and months
after release.
We may never again stock Valve products and encourage customers to reconsider
supporting a publisher which repeatedly attempts to manipulate the market
at the expense of the average gamer.
Thankyou for your patience,
Dungeon Crawl
Published by Si at 6 January, 2008
in Games.
I want an arcade table! retro to the MAX! Check out the games list. There’s also a cool MAME table. w00t!
I was briefly considering building my own but it would probably be way too much work. Curiously, it looks like this one has an LCD screen which I thought would have detracted from the retro feel of the thing, but it still looks pretty cool.
DO WANT.
Sadly, this post isn’t about the New Years kind of resolutions, but rather the kind that generally hangs out on TVs and the like. While reading up on the Wii’s (alleged) technical specs, the Wikipedia page managed to clear up some things about resolutions on the Wii. There are 3 TV types to choose from in the Wii settings menu; 50Hz (576i), 60Hz (480i), and EDTV/HDTV (480p). Without a component cable, the third option is greyed out. But the first two options are ambiguous and probably confusing to some.
When I first started up Super Mario Galaxy, I was greeted with a message asking me to switch the Wii to 60Hz mode for better graphics (not its exact words but the message has gone now, and I forget). I tried it for a while but have switched back as I’m convinced it’s all a complete load of weapons-grade balonium. My first argument for not using 60Hz mode is the lower resolution. Last time I checked, 480 was still less than 576. But then it occurred to me that lowering the res could plausibly increase graphics performance on Wii games as they would have less work to do. But in 60Hz mode (on my povo CRT anyway) the quality is visibly poorer with the whole screen looking very obviously interlaced.
But the Wikipedia page lists the modes as: 480p (PAL/NTSC), 480i (NTSC) or 576i (PAL/SECAM). For a while I thought PAL-60 was NTSC but its not, its just PAL with higher refresh rate.
So now I want to know when Super Smash Bros. Melee asks you to select 60Hz or 50Hz, can anyone actually quantify the reduced graphics lag in 60Hz mode, or is it just one giant placebo? I also suspect that when played on the Wii, it will ignore the choice at this screen, preferring the setting chosen in the Wii menu, but I can’t confirm this.
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