JAPAN, 1995 Upon the announcement of the N64DD and Randnet at SpaceWorld (Previously named Nintendo Shoshinkai), videogamers, and developers alike were excited that they were finally going to be given the tools to properly create games without bugs and storage limits. Nintendo promised capacity 10 times the size of a Mario 64 cartridge (640Mb, just shy of PS1 CDs which held 650Mb) and Cartridges that were cheaper and easier to make than their competitors.

Nintendo also promised video gamers an entire Dev-Kit (released under the name "Mario Artist") and many titles that would, unfortunately, later be released for cartridges. They promised Sim City 64, Mario Artist (which included a paint studio, a polygon studio, and animation studio, a video editor, a sound editor, and a game maker), The Legend of Zelda 64 (Later released as Ocarina of Time), The Legend of Zelda Gaiden (Later released as Majora's Mask), The Master Quest (later released for GameCube) and Pokémon Snap (later released for Cartridge).

On top of that, Nintendo noted that they would provide services like a web browser, online battling, racing etc. and even beta testing soon to-be games.

So, with all these promises comes the question. What ever happened to the N64DD?

By the time the N64DD was being prepared for release, the hardware had already been outdated. Many of the developing teams simply lost focus on their games halfway through, or decided that the DD would simply never have to following for their games to make money. They then ported their games to various other platforms. SimCity copter 64 was ported to computer, Dragon Warrior VII was ported to Playstation, and Mother 3 became a GBA title.

As for the N64DD online service, I hear that the F-Zero X Expansion Kit was the only game that featured online racing. In fact, a little birdie told me that the online racing had very few framerate issues--which is surprising due to the fact that the N64DD connected directly through your telephone service.

As for Beta testing, you can say hola. Although Nintendo was very adamant about providing this particular service, there wasn't enough of a following at it's release for it to be implemented.

And the Dev Kit? Only half of it was released to the public. Unfortunately, Nintendo's fabled Game Maker was not to be included. (although Sony did release several game creation tools for PS1 in response)

The N64DD was in development for 4 years, and in that time, the technology was outdated, the peripheral lost it's momentum and finally was released to a small following, who, while gratified by the final release of the N64DD were disappointed by the little Randnet provided in the way of service.

So, even though the N64 and Randnet were failures in the greatest sense (although more successful than the Sega CD), it may help you understand why Nintendo is as conservative with their business tactics as they are. It may also prove that Nintendo's ambitions later influenced the later XBL and PSN. So, remember Hardcore gamers: Whenever you are arguing in favor of your Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, know that Nintendo was the company that pioneered many of the features used in those systems.

You guys might have seen something similar to this on my facebook status, but I wanted to post this because I thought it was extremely hilarious and random. The people of The Church of !BLAIR! have certainly discarded their conformity and "Normalcy". I found it on this website.

"According to The Church of !BLAIR!, the human race will probably be terminated at 3:28 AM (Soho, England time) 2047, SEP. 14!. The church teaches, with tongue firmly in cheek, that if the human race does not discard their plastic conformity, then the Gods will withdraw their protection. The Gods don't want us to worship them; they don't want sacrifices or even offerings. They just want us to rid itself of our excessive "Normalcy". At that point, Astro-Lemurs (extra-terrestrials similar in shape to lemurs, but with rainbow colored bodies) will attack the entire human race and beat them to death with gigantic burritos. You have been warned. ;-)"

I for one would love to be beaten to death by Giant Burritos...I love Buritos :D

H/t to Rozzy(BAforum) from Washington

So, for those of you paying attention, Dante's Inferno has been a rather big deal among the gaming community. I; however, have been rather skeptical towards the game. After watching the interview of the game, I feel that maybe the developers have betrayed the fear behind the poem. My point is not that they've got Hell wrong, but that the character doesn't feel right. Dante is depicted as just about every other video game character is. He's a 'bad@$$' to say the least. That might sound cool for some, but to really capture the imagination of the piece should require more character within Dante.

In the game, Dante is depicted as a rough crusader who has no emotions (fear, to say the least), is angry, kindof in love, but more angry that his fiancé was killed by someone he could have killed. He's got a big weapon that looks kindof like a scyth? And, I'm pretty sure he has the crusaders cross written in blood on his bare chest. (I couldn't tell, either it's his chest or a really, really tight shirt). It might sound cool to some, but to me? It's rather bland and boring. It's what all the video game developers do--because it's worked so well thus far. *shakes head*

For me, to really capture Dante would be to give him weaknessess. They should have really worked on a character design that was weathered and tough, but also vulnerable and hurt. I feel like he's just as demonic and evil as the hell he's fighting against. The idea is that Hell is supposed to be scary and gruesome; however, EA's Dante just kindof dilutes that power with this overpowering character.

So my note to EA is--you can make it an action game; however, you really, really need to work on your character because his presences in the game completely dilutes the presence of hell, which is the reason why the love displayed in the poem is supposed to be so remarkable to those who read it. It looks as if this game is going to be another popcorn game that you simply rent on the weekends. Not to say it will be bad, but it won't be a well referenced interpretation of the poem itself. :(

H/t to danny_dm_moore on Popcorn Gaming

I recently was in a discussion on the forum (and later with my friends) about how hot-swapping may mean that Nintendo has plans for Multi-Cartridge games. I originally thought that the old DS featured hot-swapping (I soon figured I was wrong). Normally, the game screen would freeze, but every once in a while, the DS would simply shut off. Generally, that meant that publishers and creators alike had a limited amount of space to store the games on. This was normally a problem, especially due to the fact that RPG designers had trouble creating or using 3D engines efficient enough to run their incredibly long games. (FFIV being an exception)

Of course, that issue may change due to hot-swapping. Generally, because of the nature of cartridges, you can't just stop them from 'spinning' like discs. They are always in the act of transferring information (think of two electrical cables coming into contact). The information that the DS is constantly reading is a small bit of information that tells the DS what specific game is loaded. Because of this, most game designers would not have been able to create multi-cartridge games.

So, hot-swapping is the abillity to change out cartridges while the machine is still hot (it's generally referred to USB cables in the computer world). The simple fact that Nintendo has added this feature hints towards some future ambitions. Does this mean that we will have multi-cartridge games? We already know that Nintendo has been expirimenting with this idea because of images of a DS model with two slots. However, this idea was discarded due to the excessivly huge size of that particular model.

We can speculate all we want, but you also have to look at the issues behind this statement. Nintendo hasn't been very famous for producing multi-cartridge or multi-disc games (LotR: The Third Age, and Tales of Symphonia come to mind). Multi-cartridge DS games would be a very, very bold move on Nintendo's part. Plus, due to the fact that Nintendo's largest audience is of the casual gamer's market, their plans might not have anything to do with longer games. It could easilly be there just so it's harder to damage the DSi itself. Not to mention that you've also got issues with the fact that these multi-cartridge games have to be DSi specific. Since, none of the other DS models are hot-swappable, multi-cartridge games would not be available for them. :(

However, evidence of this theory is already being materialized in the form of Dragon Quest IX. Even with all the problems of having a multi-cartridge game (especially on the DS in reference to compression issues) it seems that Nintendo has plans after all. Even though Dragon Quest will take a while to make it's way to the general audience, all this evidence may mean that RPGs on the DS will be the most in depth and lengthy portable RPGs ever created. Imagine FF7 quality games making use of the DS functions. That just makes me Giddy :D. What about you?

Please Note: This is not a description of the actual relationship between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. This note is to humorously display 'fanboyism' in it's strengths and weaknesses. In fact, 99.9% of the next few sentences are completely untrue about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. They are actually good friends and healthy business foes. This article explains their relationship in good length.

Steve and Bill used to be great friends, they did everything together-they watched basketball games, the went on double dates together (with women, respectively), they even worked on the first Apple II project; which established the PC industry (and consoles respectively) as we know it.

However, this golden age for the golden duo soon folded when Bill stole Steve's girlfriend after working on the first GUI. After that, Bill and Steve have been on bad terms, continuing to push their market shares above each other. Eventually as life moved on, they continued to disrespect each other. One year at Christmas, they even sent these cards to each other.

As years continued on, their spouses thought it would be a good idea to get together and have thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, Bill and Steve thought it would be a good idea to mess with their food. Think 'Waiting'...but worse.

Even though Bill and Steve's relationship was socially unhealthy, it helped provide competition in the economy. Apple and Microsoft are both software companies. Therefore, the fact that both leaders of these software companies were competitive meant that there was a quick rise in the quality of software/price.

Fanboyism is the philosophy developed by the user of a certain product that only allows them to buy from that single company, no matter how bad that product may be (there are exceptions in moderation). Now, my arguments against Fanboyism are irrelevant here because we all know the negative points of Fanboyism; however, many people don't understand that Fanboyism, although annoying, is healthy for the economy.

My point resides on this fact. With Apple and Microsoft, you have 3 types of people: Apple 'Fanboys', Moderates (Decision Makers), and Microsoft 'Fanboys'. Even though competition is the main philosophy of our economy, that competition can't be kept unless it is instilled within the people who buy your products. Fanboys help keep competition within the market by aggressively placing their statements of why their product of choice is better than yours.

None of this is to say that the Moderates are not beneficial. In fact, without the moderates, Fanboyism would be a complete and utter waste of thinking space. The moderates are the turning point behind every business. Whoever has a higher share of the moderates are the winners of the game.

So, in conclusion, remember that when you are arguing devoutly about your favorite game, application, or computer, remember that you are doing it for our economy! We salute you Fanboys no matter how annoying you may be!

...win

Start placing your arguments here. I wanna know which one I should buy.

So, I got to level 3 now and I decided to celebrate with a little CD review. I promise that this time, I won't bash the bands you like.

So, I got this CD "I Blame You" by the Obits. Upon first looking at the CD, I was suprised to find it's layout designed to mimic a vynl cover. It was quite cool, as it folded out so you could see the credits on the inside, and then you slid the disk out to find it in a protective cover. I imagine that the vynl itself probably looks exactly the same lol.

The CD opens up very well with the track "Widow of my Dreams"; a very riffy tune the tends to build up very well. It continues through and, although not all of the songs are memorable, many of them will have you humming and tapping your foot along with them. other standout tracks would be "Pine On" and "Two Headed Coin". I should also probably mention "Fake Kinkade" for it's rather interesting lyrics.

"I Blame You" is a release with attitude; however, Froberg's age grants him a sort of wisdom that most punk bands go on without. Evidence of this lies in songs like "Run" and "Fake Kinkade".

The few gripes I have against the album is that the energy is lost about midway through the CD. It either top lines and can't go any higher, or it just starts to bottom. Many people may also be disappointed with the album due to it's rather unimpressive line-up. That simply means that none of the songs have something new or inventive in them. Although they are fun to listen to, this album will not provide the entertainment for those looking for something new.

Because this is the debut of a new band (although the members have been through 6 bands already), we are allowed to cut them some slack. This album is not perfect; however, it is obviously paving the way to greener pastures.

peace,

-nick

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061113221628AAxlNn5 No lie, this is a chemical name; however, it's not recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary due to it's length (I know it takes up 80 pages in a word document.)

Years ago, I remember watching Bert and Ernie on Sesame St. (which, if you think about it, is like SNL for kids). My favorite episode was where Bert would be practicing his piano. That is, until Ernie would pipe up with some annoying comment and mess Bert up. Bert would then proceed to relentlessly bang his head against the Piano keys. At the time, I thought that was absolutely the most funny thing I had ever seen. So I, in turn, would do the same. Evidently, at the time I took piano lessons from a ‘nice’ old Korean lady. Personally, I have nothing against the lady. In fact, we haven’t talked since I quit piano lessons a couple of years ago. She had the most harsh punishments for not practicing *shudder*. So, in true rocker fashion, I used Bert’s little joke to rebel against my teacher. Every time she told me ‘ah, you missed it AGAIN!!’, I would bang my head against the keys in my... ‘frustration’. She would proceed to tell me to ‘grow up’. This ‘rebellion’ was the fuel for my later more libertarian philosophy. This is evidence that the blood of a rocker is evident in the early stages of psychological development. ;)

With the rise in quality of graphics, we consistently see a lack of forethought (and even afterthought) on topics such as character development and proper storylines. Unfortunately, this is in view of the fact that AAA games are an expensive trade, and companies often get caught up in creating such a stunning game that they have to spend less money on writers of more talent. Many times, the writing is left solely to the creative team who throw in stories as an afterthought instead of really developing a thoughtful plotline. Since the economy’s slow decline since late 2007, AAA game companies have slowly started to feel the effects. People who were planning to buy top of the line consoles have been dissuaded to find their entertainment in more casual games, thus causing the inevitable decline of the AAA companies. This means that downloadable content will be (and is) the crutch for many of these companies. For many, the choice to provide this downloadable content at a reasonable price will be their company’s life or death. Many of the ramifications of this debacle could lead to many things like the evident rise in casual gaming. Some of the good things; as I mentioned earlier, will be a rise in an indie gaming industry that has proved itself capable of providing engaging storylines. Examples of this already distinct movement would be in games like ‘Cave Story’ and ‘Braid’. The latter of which was in development for over 3 years in being perfected. AAA game companies will have trouble competing within the next few years if they continue in their ways. Casual gaming and storytelling is where the industry is headed, and if these companies don’t match the demand, then they will sink like large boulders in an even larger ocean.