It's not videogame related but there are games about it and I thought someone would like to see this.
If you don't recall, ReBoot was a 3D cartoon that allegedly took place in a computer. All the things that were believed to have normally happened in a computer in the mid-90s were represented in various ways through the lives of humanoid and robot characters with stupid names, including viruses negotiating with the leaders of the residents of the computer and games threatening the stability of the entire system when played (just like with current systems). It appears from the look of this page that in less than three weeks the creators plan on revisiting it all, although what forms this will take are unclear at present.
I was supposed to write more here but I don't remember as much as I would have liked when I discovered this and I'm watching television right now. Look it up if you need to know more.
The Nintendo Hanabi Festival is a PAL-only event in which several Japan-only releases are published on the Virtual Consoles for Europe, Australia and New Zealand and related territories over the course of several weeks. Games that were released in North America but not in the aforementioned countries are also included. Past releases include the original Super Mario Bros. 2 (The Lost Levels, now retired from Virtual Console in PAL areas), Mario's Super Picross, Ninja Gaiden 1 and Sin & Punishment (all never released in PAL areas). According to Kotaku, reception of the first event held last September was apparently strong enough to warrant a second Hanabi Festival starting this week. Releases of interest (to me, anyway, see the source below for more titles) include Gradius II, Star Parodier and freaking Chou Aniki. If you don't know what the latter is, don't ask, don't tell.
And they say Europe is always given the shaft when it comes to game releases.
It's a very rare occasion when I try out some new or cool technology for myself and I manage to actually be able to enjoy it. It's even rarer when it goes completely without any hassle or compromise to myself. I read reports of people using their Wii Remotes for PC tasks such as mouse emulation and makeshift digital whiteboards, but I had something much simpler in mind: mount the Classic Controller as a normal PC joystick. Completely to my surprise, one trip to Wal-Mart and a $20 Bluetooth adapter later, that's exactly what I accomplished. I just got off playing Salamander 2 on MAME and I never felt so alive playing it with anything else (not counting my old cheap PS2 arcade joystick, RIP). I suppose I should post my findings for the benefit of the community.
Notice: The latest version of this guide is available at http://whatistheexcel.com/2008/04/06/classic-controller-glovepie-one-happy-exy/. As I'm still working out caveats and other odd behaviors of the drivers, I expect to have to tweak this often. If you have to bookmark this, I highly recommend you bookmark that instead.
The process I followed is as such (this is for Windows only; other OSes are out of my experience):
1. Purchase a Bluetooth adapter that is compatible with the Wii Remote. The one I used is the IOGear GBU221WM, available at Wal-Mart for $20.
2. Get drivers (see above link). The CD that came with mine is perfect for the job. The built-in drivers with Windows XP SP2 won't be able to maintain the connection with the remote. When the drivers are finished installing, you will be prompted to connect a Bluetooth device.
3. Press the Sync button under the battery cover of your remote(s).
4. Go through the wizard to add the remote. There is no passkey associated with it, so leave any fields regarding the passkey blank. There is only one service associated with the remote; check that and click Next to begin driver detection for the remote.
5. Get GlovePIE and extract it somewhere. The latest version is compatible with the Nunchuk, the Classic Controller and even the Guitar Hero III controller.
6. Get PPJoy. I had to change the .zip.exe extension to just .exe to shut my virus scanner up. All it does is start a downloader and extract the files to C:\Downloads\Simtel\PPJoySetup.
7. When installing PPJoy, you'll be asked to either stop or continue installing unsigned drivers. Don't mind them and press on.
8. I’m not sure if I had to restart or something, but you might have to. When that’s done, open the PPJoy panel from the Start Menu and create a virtual joystick with 4 axes, 16 buttons and 0 POV hats. Leave the axis mappings to their defaults and change button 1 to “nothing”.* All of the other mappings can be left to their defaults; click the Next button until you get back to the list of virtual joysticks.
9. Download this script and load it in GlovePIE.
10. Click Start and start playing your games. The first controller will be detected as joystick 2 with most newer games.
Note: I mapped the D-pad buttons to buttons 13-16 on the virtual joystick for compatibility reasons. I find that some PC games I play auto-detect buttons 13-16 as directional buttons. No one will miss it, I'm sure.
If you find that your controller lags significantly, I have no better advice at this time than to restart and try step 4 again.
I found that button 1 maps to POV Up in SNES9x, even though no POVs are defined. I had to map button 1 to null in order to work around this.
If there's anything wrong, leave comments and I'll elaborate on what I missed.
Now if only I can get my hands on a Hori arcade stick...
Technology continues to perplex me. In this video, the Australian Centre for Visual Technologies demonstrates how to generate 3D models from video footage using a beta of a program called VideoTrace. The user shows how to use this technique to duplicate objects, manipulate them directly with special effects and shock and amaze even me. The technique used in the first segment is quick and rough, but with a few more hours' work it could become truly convincing that there are actually two vehicles there and not just one. Just imagine how much more efficient this program is (and will be) in comparison with current 3D modeling techniques are today and what this could mean for the future of game development.
For better or worse, companies are showing increased concern for consumer safety. From phallic air cushions to protective braces, all kinds of ridiculous things have surfaced allegedly to keep you safe. This, however, must be illegal in at least 21 countries.
The Game Leash™ attaches to any portable gaming device and straps it to your wrist with a second adjustable loop connected to the first one. Though it is marketed specifically for gaming devices, anything with a hole for a wrist strap can be protected from gravity-based damage. I seriously don't know what else to think of it. On the one hand, the concept is undoubtedly more secure than a single unbounded loop. On the other hand, it's many times more cumbersome to put on and remove. What do you think of it?
I figure that if LordRegulus had the clearance to put up his own Game Maker project, I can do it too. In 2004 I picked up Game Maker 5 and learned a sufficient chunk of GML, Game Maker's built-in coding language. I continued my seminal programming project, Watchowt [sic], using my new-found knowledge of GML to get more advanced functions in my work. The fourth incarnation of this uninspired dross sucks tremendously in hindsight but it was successful enough in its day that work on an enhanced remake is underway in Game Maker 7. As it was constructed in 2004, it was made by Excel 2004, who, unlike the modern and crafty Excel-2008, was a colossal idiot/borderline weeaboo in numerous ways. I don't remember how I got the name Watchowt, where any art or sound assets in the game that aren't clip art come from or where I left the source code.
In Watchowt the Fourth (the first two games are lost to time; the third is also available at request), the player controls a clip art purple ball and shoots out anything that moves or shoots out at it. This repeats in several closed arenas until there's nothing left. The defining characteristic of Watchowt games is that almost everything you see and hear are clip art. Press Shift to fire in the last direction moved and Ctrl to change weapons when they become available. Remember to disable the shortcut for StickyKeys and the other Accessibility functions in the Control Panel before playing if you haven't done that already.
The original game will never be completed but three levels should do for this purpose. Test players have compared the gameplay to Contra but in all honesty I don't see any resemblance. The game will run in 640x480 fullscreen only so if your computer somehow can't handle it then don't bother.
Far be it from me to post about updates, but this time I think I'm on to something. The latest update from the Smash Bros. DOJO details the main mode of play, Brawl. It shows off character and stage selection. Normally, updates to the Dojo appear at 2:00 EST sharp, but for some reason, it was posted 15 minutes later than usual, which is the biggest delay for any update to date. I would say that this reason was one of two things:
1. This is a direct response to those leaks I keep hearing about, and they decided to meet those responsible halfway by forcing this entry to appear early. This would explain the delay.
2. The Sakurai is a crafty, crafty man and he was planning this from the beginning.
I can't wait for the weekly regular article to point this out. What do you think this is all about?
Just kidding. I rather like the style and the message it conveys. I think it looks rather pleasantly quasi-punk. What I like most about it is that you can't buy it at any local Hot Topic. Considering that this shirt is not easily found where I live and that it must have cost somewhere on the order of $30-40, I would say this is an excellent runner-up prize.
The underground has come around,
to spark the long inspired revolution;
we'll frag with weapons that we found,
and make our gamer evolution. Crash the system.
So just recently I got into MUGEN (there is no way I could pass up on a program called "EVERYTHING VS. EVERYTHING") and when I worked out how to modify the selection screen I started looking for characters post-haste. I heard about Vic Vipers and Silver Hawks but even Google has let me down. All wasn't lost, however, as is presented in the video below.
No my name does not have any intended connection to Microsoft Excel, Excel Saga, the Exhibition Center of London or anything else you can think of. Don't ask where it came from; I don't remember and I don't care to. Exy was adopted as a shorthand form from the character of the same name in DoDonPachi dai-ou-jou, however.
I put very low priority on merit-based ranking systems within large communities, including Achievements, community ranks and leaderboards. I don't get why so many people are conscious about their scores because as one person I will not name here says, I play for fun. The only time I ever pay attention to my score is if I'm playing a shmup and it's used to award extends.
I strongly believe that next to smooth jazz and The Postal Service, there is no better music in the world than NES chiptune music. Ever.
My favorite games include the Gradius series, Darius Gaiden, Picross DS, the Metal Slug series, Twinkle Star Sprites and the bemani games (beatmania IIDX, pop'n music, etc).
Please see my Backloggery for a list of games I'm currently playing.
Friend codes:
Wii "Ultradeath" 0228732691275396
Planet Puzzle League "Excel-2008" 481143-457622
Pokémon Pearl "Exy" 4940-3235-9274
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin "Excel-2008" 481160-547602
Super Smash Bros. Brawl "Exy" 1375-6888-6307
Mystery Dungeon - Shiren the Wanderer "Exy" 0731-4622-6590
All original material written in this blog is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License, unless noted otherwise. You are free to use and modify any original text and images published here for any purpose as long as attribution is given to me (a link to the original post(s) is sufficient).
