Video Games, Opinions, Thoughts, & Tomfoolery

Category: Cool Stuff

In anticipation of big releases or to celebrate great games already out, the forum members over at NeoGAF often will come together to create fan made magazine style ads. Recently the community turned their collective attention toward Street Fighter IV, and the results were quite impressive. Check out the slideshow below for a sampling of some what they’ve come up with. You can use the options on the slideshow nav bar to switch to full screen mode.

Ugh, after swearing off Best Buy not too long ago I find myself with a good and valid reason for shopping there again. If you buy the re-release of Pearl Jam’s Ten (and you should!) from Best Buy, you’ll get a download code to use with Rock Band to get three free DLC tracks. The songs you’ll get are “State of Love and Trust”, “Brother”, and “Alive”.

If you’re a Pearl Jam fan, you’re probably going to be getting the album anyway, so you might as well bebase yourself and get it from Best Buy at the same time so you can pick up the free bonus tracks. You can get the free tracks by purchasing either the Super Deluxe Edition (I swear, it’s really called that) or the regular release.

This guy has to have some sort of supernatural power to do what he does in the video below. Seriously. I have Marble Madness at home, with the trackball, and I’ve only ever completed the game once. When I did, I think I had like 9-10 seconds to spare and I felt like the greatest gamer ever. Now this video comes along and humbles me beyond description. Check out the video guys, even if you’ve never played Marble Madness in the arcade, you’ll have to appreciate what this guy manages to pull off.

In just a couple of short weeks, the 1up Show staff has managed to do a pretty impressive job at pooling together their resources and re-establish themselves on their new permanent home: Area 5 (http://area5.tv). The team has already uploaded their first episode, and it’s jam-packed with ex-1up staff as they go over their favorite games from 2008. The name of the show is Co-Op, and we can only expect good things as the guys get the gear they need together and find more solid footing in their newfound situation. Here are some helpful links to get rolling with the show:

Right now you can’t subscribe via iTunes, but the YouTube subscription is free. The reasons for this direction are detailed on the Area 5 site. It’s important that the team gets a lot of YouTube subscribers, so if you’re interested in what they’re doing, make sure to support them with the subscription.

Revision3 put out a video this week showing how you can mod your N64 to make it fully portable, all with a built-in screen and rechargeable batteries. Now, you obviously won’t have it down to DS/PSP levels of portability, but it could be awesome for car trips or just as a cool novelty to have around. The video below gives you an easy step by step guide.

Yeah, for real. Watchmen, one of the most celebrated and praised comic book series of all time is coming to gaming. The game will be delivered in episodic format and is a prequel to the Watchmen graphic novel. EGM has the exclusive story in their upcoming December issue which will include screenshots and plenty of details.

Want more Rorschach? Play the upcoming game.

I’m not sure how I feel about this, to be honest. I loved Watchmen, but I’m not sure that a game is the best method for delivering additional storylines. One thing is for sure, the Watchmen creator and author Alan Moore is not going to be too happy about this one…

Now this is just downright insane. Over at Gamevideos.com, a user has uploaded video of a working calculator that was constructed in the LittleBigPlanet beta. This is just crazy, folks. Check out the video below, and then read what it took to put it together.

1up picked up on this video and asked the creator what it took to make this all work, and here’s what they said in their writeup:

The creator, PSN user ‘Upsilandre,’ admits that there are probably easier ways to create a calculator, but he opted to create an electronic calculator capable of doing decimal and binary conversions, as well as addition and subtraction. It was built using more than 1600 parts, including 610 magnetic switches, 500 wires, and 430 pistons. I find it difficult to wrap my head around organizing that many things, let alone making them the backbone of a functioning calculator.

It’s pretty incredible to think that Upsilandre was able to work this out in his head, and it’s equally incredible that the game allows for such creativity. I really can’t wait to see what the game will offer when the final retail version is out in the public’s hands.

Survivor, the popular reality competition show, kicked off its last night in its 17th season and one of its contestants happens to be the world champion for Super Smash Bros., Ken Hoang. The pro gamer should be used to being on TV cameras as he’s placed first in many televised tournaments, and was one of the main subjects of MTV’s documentaryTrue Life: I’m a Professional Gamer. Within the gamer community, the champ is known simply as “Ken” or by his old forum and tournament name “SephirothKen.”

Ken, accepting a check for winning at a gaming tournament.

We’ll see if his gaming skills translate to Survivor, as Ken looks to be one of the more likeable characters in the early running, but maybe not one of the most physically gifted.

Ensemble, speaking exclusively with Gamasutra unveiled that their canceled project was indeed a Halo MMO. The game has been rumored to have been in development for quite some time, but it was never made official. Now that Ensemble is closing down, the studio was at liberty to discuss their unfinished projects. Check out a few screenshots below.

It’s pretty awesome seeing ultra rare and collectable stuff show up for sale, and this one is a true gem. Earlier today, an Atari 2700 prototype sold on eBay for over $5,000. It sounds crazy that someone would bid that much, but the winning bidder is definitely going to be in possession of something they don’t have to worry about finding over at their buddy’s house any time soon. The seller apparently was a game developer from Atari and was given the 2700 as a gift from Leonard Tramiel himself. The auction can be seen here: eBay auction.

Oh, and yes, those are wireless controllers. For something that’s 25 years old, it’s pretty cool technology. To find out more about the 2700, check the Wikipedia page: Atari Remote Control VCS at Wikipedia.