Gaia DS

We have a new Homebrew Bounty entry! MoDmew8 is creating Gaia DS, an RPG in the style of those on the Super Nintendo. The project is currently in it's first stages as the author is currently working on adding features to the engine.

Gaia DS

Revolutionary Nintendo DS flashcard R4 NINJA hits store shelves

Cutting edge R4 NINJA is a completely new flashcard made by "Edge" manufacturer.



This amazing flashcard is compatible with Nintendo DSi XL, DSi, DS Lite and first DS edition, it features a userfriendly menu-system, a video game compability Percentage of 99, can handle microSD memorycards upto 32GB, supports AR cheat engine, supports download play, so much more...



In short: R4 NINJA has Everything required built-right-into a robust card offered with an amazing price!
 

Re- four Playstation 3 Move Controllers easily

Charge up to four PlayStation® Move controllers using the completely new Turrikan Charger for Move by Shinobii.

The Turrikan Charger for Move stores 4 Move controllers making it possible for you to charge the Move Motion controller and / or Move Navigation Controller internal batteries easily. The Turrikan Charger for Move can either be attached to a common eu wall plug using the attached two-pin wall plug, or into a USB slot -- PS3®, PC or other system. The futuristict style for this Turrikan Charger for Move matches both the Move Controllers and also Playstation 3 games console. Turrikan Charger comes with 4 Black silicon covers that suits the outside design and "fits like a glove".

Some benefits includes: Display and charge up to four PlayStation® Move controllers, Charge the Move Motion Controller and / or Move Navigation Controller internal battery packs, Connects to standard European wall plug or any USB slot -- PS3®, Desktop or other device, Futuristic style and design that matches Move controllers and also PS3® gaming system, Includes 4 silicon covers -- Made to fit the outer design

For more info around Shinobii and all their products pay a visit to their site at www.shinobii.com

 

How to rip your DVDs or convert your avi and mkv files to Android friendly mp4 format

Google's Android operating system is widely used in a big number of different mobile phones from many manufacturers. So, even though all these devices have extra features when it comes to video playback, the core Android OS supports by design the H264 AVC codec using the mp4 container as described here .

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Mario Galaxy 2 Passes The 1 Million Sold Mark!

Right, so I still haven’t tried out the Wii2HDMI. I know, there’s really no reason I haven’t except that I’ve been a bit tired. This weekend I should for sure though, so we’ll talk more about it next week. In the meantime, did you know Super Mario Galaxy 2 has sold more than 1 million copies already? No, well it has. When you think about it, that’s an insane amount of games sold in less than two months. But that’s what Nintendo does, sell an ass-ton of games. The Big N is dominating the monthly sales charts, with 6 of the top 10 titles being from Nintendo according to NPD. And if you didn’t know, five of those are Wii titles. Yeah, that shit is crazy!!!
Another thing that’s crazy is the Old Spice guy. Homey blew up on Twitter the other day posting something like 100 video responses to people’s tweets. I’m going to post a couple of my favorites, because I can’t find a Ninty related video worth posting today. Those will be just below, and you can follow the jump after them for the full press release on SMG2 killing the competition. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

July 15, 2010
Nintendo News
U.S. Sales of Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy 2 Cross the 1 Million Mark
In the month of June, U.S. sales of Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy™ 2 for the Wii™ system reached 548,000 units, according to the independent NPD Group, bringing the game’s cumulative nationwide sales to more than 1.1 million units. Also in June, Nintendo systems sold a combined 933,000 units, accounting for 50 percent of all gaming hardware units sold in the United States. The Nintendo DS™ family of hand-held systems topped the charts with more than 510,000 units sold, bringing life-to-date unit sales to nearly 42 million. Wii system sales totaled more than 422,000, closing in on a cumulative milestone of 30 million units sold in the United States alone.
“Consumers continue to look to Nintendo for exceptional value and one-of-a-kind gaming experiences,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Between games like Super Mario Galaxy 2, the pioneering motion controls of the Wii system and the portable fun of Nintendo DS systems, Nintendo offers something for everyone. As we prepare to launch a remarkable lineup of new games in the second half of the year, we are grateful that consumers are supporting Nintendo consoles to continue their run as the nation’s most popular game systems.”
Six of the top 10 best-selling games of June play on Nintendo systems. These include Super Mario Galaxy 2 for Wii at No. 2 with more than 548,000 sold, New Super Mario Bros.™ Wii at No. 4 with more than 200,000 sold, Just Dance™ for Wii at No. 5 with nearly 175,000 sold, Toy Story 3: The Video Game for Nintendo DS at No. 6 with more than 164,000 sold, Wii Fit™ Plus with the Wii Balance Board accessory at No. 7 with more than 148,000 sold and LEGO® Harry Potter™: Years 1-4 for Wii at No. 9 with more than 136,000 sold.

 

How About A Little More Lost in Shadow…

You know what really sucks? Realizing that you can’t depend on other people. Don’t worry, I’m not going all emo on you; I’m not in danger of becoming a cutter or doing myself other bodily harm, like befriending a ginger. This isn’t about some childhood friend abandoning me in an hour of need. I’m talking about the sucky realization that, for the most part, you can’t depend on other people to do what they say. Let’s take contractors, for instance. I used to think was that unless you were Tim Taylor or Wilson, and you wanted to get some work done on your home, you had two routes you could take. You could either hire each individual person to do their one specific job, or you could hire a general contractor to deal with all the headaches and hiring for you. Well, when Mrs. Mike and I decided to redo our kitchen, we hired a GenCon; more specifically, we hired one that was recommended to us and that we had met several times before. We trusted that they wouldn’t ruin our shit. We were wrong, it’s been a total pain in the ass. In fact, it’s basically at the point where if I have to talk to them much more it’s going to be all cussing and yelling and shaking and crying, so I’m forcing myself to accept shoddy half-finished work instead. It’s stupid, right? I mean, how hard is it to make sure that the tile guys who took off a backdoor in order to cut it to fit in with the new flooring didn’t somehow mess up so bad that the door won’t even open anymore? And, if you’re the tile guys who cut said door, why would you put it back like that? Did you think I wouldn’t open my back door ever again?? What I’m trying to say is, if you’re in the Atlanta area, don’t use Callaway Homes to do any work you may need done.
Alright, sorry about that. I had to vent as that’s what I’ve been dealing with since the middle of last week. I feel like I’ve aged about 10 years in that time, which means I’m now almost 40. That fact was driven home today when I discovered something called the “Misquito Ringtone”. Apparently, only young’uns can hear certain pitches and my range ends at 14khz, which is for the 49-years-old and younger crowd. I wish I could look on the bright side and say that 29 is there, but I can’t hear past the 39 and younger setting. Yeah, apparently my ears are in their 40’s. Wow, this post actually is kinda emo. If I see a ginger later I’m freaking the eff out…
Before things go full cutter mode around here, let’s have some Wii news. Nothing like 450+ words into a post before the Wii is even mentioned. Maybe I should put the Wii stuff first and ramblings second? It shall be considered… Anyway, yesterday I posted the Japanese trailer for Lost in Shadow, the Wii-exclusive game from the creator of Final Fantasy. Well, today we have more of the game, and it looks freaking beautiful. Our dear friends at IGN have a nice little direct feed gameplay video that they put up, and I’m gonna share it with you guys. Lost in Shadow is set to launch “Q3 2010″; yeah, that means it should be here some time soon. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.

 

To gamify is not to game

DICE 2011: Jesse Schell of Schell games and Zynga's Brian Reynolds discuss what the catchphrase "gamification" means to the gaming industry.
Who was there: The DICE 2011 "Hot Topics" panel continued on Wednesday afternoon with a discussion between Jesse Schell of Schell Games and Zynga's Brian Reynolds, with G4's Adam Sessler serving as moderator. The two sparred over the idea of "Gamification vs. Gameplay."


Games like Zynga's FrontierVille have people pondering just how many activities can be made enjoyable with a little bit of game design.
What they talked about: "Gamification" is the new buzz word, the moderator began, before asking Schell and Reynolds to offer their definitions for it. According to Schell, it involves taking something that isn't a game and making it a game. Reynolds added that gamification is when companies use game elements to try to get people to do something they don't want to do.

So is something gamified actually a game? Schell said that it's important to understand the definition of a game. His definition is "a problem solver situation that you enter into" and that "you want to enter into." Reynolds then offered his own definition, saying that a game is defined by a situation where a person enters into an activity where decisions are made, and edification arises from these decisions, and that fun is had in the process.

Schell went on to note that there are games that people play that aren't fun, and there are things that aren't games that people do that are fun. He then said that the rise in popularity of the term gamification stems from a fundamental design shift, in that companies are moving away from a model of designing things to be efficient and toward design based on enjoyment. All games are designed so that players like them, he said. As such, this is why people are turning to game designers, because this is their specialty.

Reynolds said that gamification largely involves getting people to do something they wouldn't necessarily want to do, such as fly one airline over another. As such, it has a pernicious quality to it. However, Reynolds said his job at Zynga is to make something fun and social and then have other people monetize it.

Schell noted that the thing about human pleasure is that it's very complicated. People find many things interesting and pleasurable. Out of that, he said that people may do something initially for one reason, but once they are in that activity, they may continue doing it for a completely different reason. Massively multiplayer online games are a perfect example of this, he said, because people start to play for the game's sake but many continue to play for the social relationships.

Responding to that social peer pressure, Reynolds said that the negative sides of social games are a fallacy. He said that there is a reason people like social games, which is that we're social animals. People like playing games with people they are actually friends with, though he did condition that by saying Facebook friends don't have to be particularly close.

As for what impact gamification is having on games, Schell said that he believes the more people play games, the more they become connoisseurs of gaming. The casino audience, he said, has changed because of games; people are more comfortable playing more complicated games. Schell also said that he thinks gamification will fuel novelty and result in more complicated experiences in casual gaming and that games will become more integral to people's lives.

Schell also said that not everything is susceptible to gamification. In fact, he often draws a comparison between gamification and chocolate. While chocolate is enjoyed by nearly everybody, not everything is made better with a coat of it--cottage cheese, for example. Companies have to find the right way to gamify there products, he said.

The question begs to be asked, then, if everything is made fun, are people still enjoying it? Schell said that it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Ultimately, if things are well designed, fun can be maximized with a rich variety.

Quote: "Chocolate is great…but does that mean we should throw chocolate on cottage cheese? No!"--Jesse Schell, on the importance of gamifying with care.

Takeaway: According to Schell, gamification represents a shift in design away from efficiency and toward enjoyment. However, both he and Reynolds believe that gamification is a far cry from real gameplay, but these experiences can still be enjoyable if done correctly.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot


"To gamify is not to game" was posted by Tom Magrino on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 16:59:32 -0800