Funtime Festive Fambly Fi Club

Ok, so it's not a full-on Fi Club as you know and love it. Consider it a special invite-only poshed-up Fi Club with girls (ach!)

I'm doubting it's worth you bringing bags and bags of portable kit, but there will certainly be some hot Wii action and hopefully some Geetar Hero (both number ones and number twos) so get warming up your tennis elbows and limbering your fretting fingers.

No need to load up with armfuls of 'spensive crisps either cos this week all the catering is courtesy of Mr and Mrs h i r 0 (mainly Mrs) but do bring those speciality European lagers you guys are so fond of or some kind of soft drink if that's your bag.

Looking forward to cramming you all into my humble abode.

h

Line Rider - Urban Run

We've all spent 5 minutes munting around in Line Rider and then given up, right?

Then check out this amazing Line Rider video with a psuedo-isometric view. Clever clever clever.

So... impressions

So, what do the Fi Clubbers think of the Wii on first impressions?

Lot's of mini-game action going on, but largely very lightweight. Having given Sports some more time over the weekend I do think there's more going on under the covers than initially appears - there's a Brain Training-style performance review thing that I can see becoming quite addictive. I like playing all of these games. Golf is really quite sophisticated once you get into it and I'd love to see a full-featured golf game along the lines of Everybody... although I'm sure EA have something realistic in the pipeline already.

Play was worth it purely for the controller, but again very fluffy and disposable. Duck Hunt, Find Mii and Billiards are the stand-out games there for me. I'm wondering if these games support four players with four controllers. I should go and look in the manual I suppose.

I've put in about 2.5 hours on Zelda and the real quest has just kicked off... there's a lot of the cutesy 'village quests' which essentially familiarise you with the controls and principles. Now it's gotten very dark and mysterious. I can't wait to settle down this evening and give it another couple of hours.

I'm really looking forward to a first rate FPS. I had hopes for Call of Duty III after the video but it's only looking like a 74%-er on Metacritic. Still, by the time I've finished Twiglet Princess it will be a few quid cheaper I guess.

I also took the SD card out of my phone and checked out the Photo Channel today... It does a quick inventory of your card and displays all the thumbnails. You can set up a slideshow, with your own choice of music (played from the SD card in mp3 format), or doodle over the pictures and post them to the message board. Quite good fun, especially for the kids.

Fii Club

Counting on those two paragons of reliability, accountability and delivery excellence: Amazon and Royal Mail might seem a shakey premise for a Fi Club, but let us press on and assume that on the morning of Friday 8^th December a bright, shiny, exciting new console will be turning up on my doorstep looking for a loving home.

I'll be spending the day warming it up and breaking it in ready for the evening session. Those of you who haven't designed your Mii yet, may I suggest you visit the Joystiq demo and get some practice in.

Hopefully I shall have two Wiimotes, two Nunchucks, Wii Sports, Wii Play and Zelda on hand. If we find it's just too much fun I might go and splash out on another couple of controllers ready for the night's entertainment.

Back-up wrist straps and gym chalk optional...

Wii Hacks

Not that anyone but me cares, but here's a site pulling together some of the best Wii and Wiimote hacks so far.

Includes - Wiimote bluetooth drivers for Windows, "GlovePIE" scripts allowing you to control Windows with the Wiimote, and some guy noodling with some Nord Lead synth software.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

http://www.tshirthell.com/store/product.php?productid=818
That was fun! Lets do it again!

Advertising Space

Check out this screendump of the PS3 section of Gamespot earlier this week. It didn't appear like this on any other page.


Click for biggerness!

via alwaysblack

Wiideos

A couple of Wii videos that have caught my eye this week. The first is Call of Duty 3, and worth checking out for the gesture driven game play: Canoeing, wrestling, clubbing galore.




I'd like to think that these actions don't get repetitive throughout the game, but rather exist as hundreds of one-offs.

Second is WarioWare Smooth Moves. They've really gone to town on the mini-game quality with this one and completely capitalized on the Nintendo IP. It's long, but worth watching to the end. Check out the boss level! ROB!



WWSM is out in January and top of my 2007 wishlist.

It's all for char-i-dee mate!

I had an idea that we could raise some money for the Penny Arcade Child's Play charity and have some fun at the same time, by running a sponsored 24-hour Fi Club at some point in the New Year.

The charity aims to stick toys and games into the sticky mitts of unfortunate kiddies in hospitals around the world. Our 'local' one is Alder Hey children's hospital in Upnorthland somewhere (Liverpool.) Each participating hospital makes an Amazon wish list and contributors buy stuff off the list and it gets sent straight to the hospital.


I see this as a potential win-win-win-win. We get to raise money for charity and look cool, we get to mess around for 24 hours, we get to go happy shopping on Amazon, and the ickle kiddies get loads of cool gear.

What say ye, fellow Fi Clubbers?

AllOfMP3.com

its official, Russia will be closing allofmp3.com. Please hold a minutes silence. Russia have just joined sony (not including tv's :)) on my sh1t list.

TechCrunch link

Matt

Emergence Day

... is supposed to be November the 17th. In case anyone is living under a rock - that is the Xbox 360 Gears of War release date.

Emergence Day for the Fi Club will be November 24th @ Munchk's pink palace. I promise to turn up to this one!

There you go, glad I haven't hyped that one too much, good job... lol.

The only way to commute?

A subject close to my own heart!!! The ultimate gaming bus!

Linky

The Real Mii

Got a couple of minutes spare? Log onto Joystiq's Mii Creator (SWF) and create your Nintendo Mii.

I was actually surprised how quick easy it was to get a passing likeness from the tool.

Why So Hard On The PSP Then?

So Sony are releasing Open Platform for the PS3 which allows "any desired third-party system software to be installed on it."

Unless I'm overlooking something surely this poses Sony exactly the same security risks as homebrew on the PSP? Worse in fact as Sony are opening the door and inviting everyone in to the party, rather than make us climb up the drainpipe of HENC and in through the bathroom window of Devhook.

So, Sony, what gives?

Baxx0rs, baxx0rs thru teh miztz of t1m3...

Join me on a journey, fellow clubber, a journey back through the mists of time to an age when we were younger and had fewer kids... March to be exact.

Click the archive link down there for March 2006 and look at the very first set of stories on 'Fi Club. Sure, marvel at how punchy and tight our writing was back then, for it was a time of wonder, but also look at how the stuff we were writing about way back in March is the same stuff we've only just started getting hold of and playing now. Soda Fountain, Tekken, Mercury Meltdown (ack-shully, even though it's on my PSP, I haven't actually run that one yet) and GTAVCS.

Funny how that lot took about 8 months to get here.

I'm EEEmerging!

Munchk towers is good for me.

Looking forward to it.

Bring on the War with Gears!

I'll bring the straws so you guys can draw to see who loses and gets teamed with me!

Bum, fragged again!

 

Also, Friday 24th is the release date for G.H.2.

Play has it listed at £39.99, game and guitar.

Do we fancy this as a club purchase?

I'll put in, but I can't aford to get it myself.

 

Picking up on Hir0's earlier thread...

I know what he means about tags and names.

Similar problem.

 

R.

 

 

Nuff Gamez

You know that road trip we keep saying we're going to make? You know, the one where we're going to drive down to Austin to stop my girlfriend from watching that VHS of me shagging some blonde one-night-stand that I sent to her by mistake? It's gonna be great, and now we have the happy happy goodness of our drooling lobotomised PSPs, I decided to see just how much A-rated gamer goodness I could cram into my Mem-o-stiku at the same time to keep us occupied on the journey.

Avoiding the horribly flawed "WTF did I DL this shit for?" of Mega Man, I dragged the smallest games on to my stick until it screamed out in over stuffed-agony. Turns out, this trip will be filled with many hours of (mostly puzzler) fun as we wind our way down south trying to avoid the gaze of the fugly deliverance dude with the obvious eating disorder sitting next to us in the back. Get away from me, man, stop looking at me. I don't care who's car it is.

Here's the listage -- chekkit:
Lumines
Space Invaders Evolution
Every Extend Extra
Mercury Meltdown
Pilot Academy
Virtua Tennis

and of course, Syphon Filter is in the slot pretending to be all of the above. The irony.

So that's seven games. Couple that with the improvements in battery life that we're seeing due to the fact that our PSPs no longer have to spin up an electric motor or run an optical read head and we're doing pretty well.

Right, that's it, pull over, I'm putting the freak out on the highway.

Calling All The Hir0s

Suppose a fellow were to tire of his nick? Suppose he found it passé, overused amongst the gaming community and that it's faux-Japaneseness grated on a fellow? Suppose a fellow found he shared his nick with a certain Microsoft employee?

Suppose said fellow were to change his gaming nick. What would he change it to? Something clever and witty, something dashing and brave that reflected his real life and gaming persona I suspect.

What do you think? Any ideas? Brainstorm people!

Supergrass

Munchk, dude, your Xbox360 is squealing on you!

Sony fuck it up again!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6146328.stm

Grand Theft Video Game

Remember last Fi Club where we were all pissed off with Sony for destroying our favourite over-acting-grey-importer and for generally being shits?

Hoowah! The hating goes on, and here's where Sony start paying.

This Friday, after all the work is done, pile on over to Ruut's gaff and bring your PSPs (Yes! you heard right! Your PSP!) and at least a 2GB Mem-o-stiku Duo, and we'll all get our god-damn game on in a big stylie. Yeah!

Want to know more? Hit the handy dandy comment button and we'll clue you in! Hit the button now -- tell us if you're there or not. Want to know if I have your car? Hit the button. Fuck it, just hit the button and let us know you're alive, it's all cool.

** U P D A T E !**
Now with new image hotness! Clikkit! See more bigly!
Last time on 'Fi Club, in a moment of madness, H i r 0 san and I dumped out our respective game pouches and scoped the beautiful vista of current-gen game tech loveliness. Hours of fun and laughter and wanton violence. Hours and hours and hours and hours...

The PS3 Factfile

The bbc have a page about the PS3, whats in it, and how much it is gonna cost. How much?
Anyway, go here, if your Sony hating bone will allow!

Anyone Can Play Guitar

1up.com reports on some DS Guitar sim software being released in Japan in December.

The software, called Hiite Utaeru DS Guitar M-06 (or just M-06, for short), allows anyone to strum out a few pleasant sounds, while proper guitar players can also feel at home with the ability to control the sound like a real guitar. 120 chords are built in, with three plucking variations of each. These are navigated with the d-pad, while the pen is brushed across the touch screen to strum.

There's a limited release due on amazon.co.jp on December 21, and a general release in February. I'm hoping I can get my hands on an evaluation copy by Christmas.

I really like that cover too.

Wii Woe

This morning I got the following email from play.com:

Dear Customer,

Due to a European shortage of the Nintendo Wii Consoles, we regret to inform you that Play.com will be unable to supply your pre-ordered Nintendo Wii at launch. As an Official distributor of Nintendo products we are guaranteed more stock before Christmas, but Nintendo have informed us, along with all other official Nintendo retailers, that the console will not be freely available until next year.

All pre-orders will be fulfilled on a first come, first served basis and we will fulfil your order as soon as we can.

If you no longer wish to keep your pre-order with Play.com please login to your account and remove the item from your Outstanding Orders.

Kind Regards

PLAY.COM

I guess they just got their allocation figures in yesterday or today. Considering I pre-ordered on the 18th September I think I'm now shit outta luck on any chance of getting it before Xmas. I've put in three pre-orders at other retailers and I'm on the Toys'R'Us email list for a notification of when they start taking pre-orders.

While I'm admittedly pretty gutted, I'm kinda stoked for Nintendo that there's this much consumer interest in Europe. It bodes well for the future of the console (there was a part of me that was thinking it might end up as another Gamecube.)

That's His Gamer Face

London-based photographer Phillip Toledano wanted to take a set of portraits of people that would reveal a hidden part of their character so he gave them video games to play.




via Notcot.com

Egg-sactly How Hot?

Young Woody Allen cooks an egg on his (already broken) Xbox 360 Heat Sink.

Twilight Princess Teaser

Here's a nice video teaser for Zelda: Twilight Princess. It features some of the intro, some other interesting looking FMV and some gameplay footage which really doesn't look a whole lot worse than the FMV bits.

As Cartman says: "It's going to be S-WIIIIIIIIII-T."

You guys will help freeze me until December right?

Just Light A Match

Found this guy taking care of business in Syphon Filter. I couldn't flush him out but I made sure he wasn't going anywhere.

Pie Chart Joke of the Day

via BoingBoing

Don't Mind If I Do

The Sony executive division are vying with their customer support already for November's Clueless Twat Of The Month Award.

SCE Worldwide Europe VP and asshat bullshit-monger Jamie MacDonald posits his crackhead theory that Euro gamers "don't mind [the delays]" that relegate us to third place behind Japan and the USA when it comes to console releases.

Speaking to gamesindustry.biz regarding the four month delay of the UK release of the PS3 he said:

"In Europe, it doesn't seem that the release of our platforms after the US and Japan - in the long run - affects how consumers feel."

If only people would show their disapproval with their wallets then maybe he'd get the message.

It appears that this sort of blatant fuckwittery is rife within Sony's higher echelons. Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer expressed befuddlement regarding the delay during an announcement to Reuters, saying:

"I think the idea of worrying about a delay in PlayStation is slightly strange to me."

Our man-in-France, Monsieur RobPS2 said in response:

"Maybe if they give me a PS3 and I don't pay for it for 6 months, I could be 'befuddled' at why they want their money."

Thanks RobPS2 - you speak for us all I think.

Wii Virtual Console Details

Guardian Unlimited has the skinny on the Wii's first month of Virtual Console releases including NES, SNES, N64, Megadrive and TurboGrafx (PC Engine) titles and their prices.

I'm a bit disappointed to see only Super Mario 64 on the N64 list as I was hoping to run through Ocarina of Time and then Majora's Mask (which I never played on the original.) Here's hoping they'll be on the 1Q07 list.

That Club is Mine...

... that goddamned club is mine.

Fi at my place, Fiday night, 8.30ish.

These week we're going with a We Hate Sony theme which we'll demonstrate by playing with our PSPs, in front of my 32" Sony TV and maybe we'll put some music on the Sony stereo.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

(or Lay Off The Fucking Whammy Bar)

Haven't seen anyone post a Final and complete setlist for Guitar Hero 2, so there's one.

Also, here's a list of the 'hidden' tracks, via 1 up

The Acrobrats -- Laughtrack

All That Remains -- Six

The Amazing Royal Crowns -- Mr. Fix-It

Anarchy Club -- Collide

Artillery -- One For The Road

Bang Camaro -- Push Push (Lady Lightning)

Brian Kahanek -- Gemini

Buckethead -- Jordan

Count Zero -- Radium Eyes

Dethklok -- THUNDERHORSE

Drist -- Arterial Black

Every Time I Die -- The New Black

Freezepop -- Less Talk More Rokk

Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives -- Soy Bomb

The Last Vegas -- Raw Dog

Made in Mexico -- Yes We Can

Megasus -- Red Lottery

The Neighborhoods -- Parasite

Shadows Fall -- The Light That Blinds

Strong Bad -- Trogdor

That Handsome Devil -- Elephant Bones

Vagiant -- FTK

Valient Thorr -- Fall of Pangea

Voivod -- X-Stream

Trogdor? Yeah!

Looks like a nicely rounded list this time with some more excellent tracks. I can't wait to play along with War Pigs and Monkey Wrench.

Oh My God, They Killed Lik Sang...

Those bastards.

Sony take yet another giant leap backwards in a year of terrible PR with the news that they've managed to cause fantastic online retailer Lik Sang to shut down.

Last week Sony commenced legal proceedings against the company, seeking to prevent them from selling PSPs, games and accessories to the UK and EU. Presumably this was a pre-emptive strike to prevent them doing the same for PS3 as I cannot see any real reason for attempting to stop PSP sales after all this time.

Apparently Sony are doing this for our own good:

A Sony spokesperson declined to comment directly on the lawsuit against Lik-Sang, but recently went on to tell Gamesindustry.biz that "ultimately, we're trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera; is not - in PS3's case - backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software; will not play European Blu-Ray movies or DVDs; and will not be covered by warranty".

Gee, thanks Sony... I'm completely unable to look after myself in matters relating to technology, as are, I expect, most of Lik Sang's customers who bother to import expensive electronic equipment from Japan and Hong Kong.

CGW Back Issues Online

Second link from Waxy Links. Computer Gaming World have opened up their archive of back issues from 1981 to 1992 in pdf format. I wonder how they'll view on a phone?

Did he say "missile raining deathcoptor?"!!!11!

Scott Sharkey from over at 1Up (*sings* I don' wanna go to work today...) has had a good old go at the multiplayer version of Vice City Stories. Chekthizshittout:

All the modes from Liberty City Stories are back, with some new additions and a few changes; First, races now incorporate a Quadathlon mode where players will be switching vehicles several times over the course of the race, going from cars to boats to choppers on the way to the finish line. Also, Survivor mode now allows teammates to pile into the same vehicle, aiding in drive-bys or just making it easier to get around.

Sounds good? T'aint nuthin':

Our favorite new mode so far, however, has to be Hunter, which is a bit similar to the golden gun mode in GoldenEye, except in this case the golden gun is an attack chopper. Up to six players compete for the possession of one missile raining deathcopter. Helicopter deprived players score no points for murdering each other, though sometimes it's strategically beneficial to do so. Instead, points are earned by shooting pitiful groundlings with your Hunter, or by taking down whatever lucky player is first to find and commandeer the chopper. Players are aided somewhat by the fact that everyone starts off with an RPG and an AK-47. You can use any other weapons you find, of course, but taking the sucker on with say, a melee weapon probably won't work out.

Personally, we think any player who manages to punch a helicopter to death deserves an automatic win, as well as anything the other players have in their pockets.

And the best bit?

Look for Vice City Stories in stores in a little over a week.

You can bet I will, Scott. You fscking knows it.

NDSVisuals - VJ mxing with DS

In the first of a couple of stories culled from Andy Baio's Waxy links here's some DS homebrew called NDSVisuals. Use the wireless functionality of your DS and the touchscreen to do live mixing of video on a PC. Written as a student project at the University Of Applied Science Hagenberg.

From the site:

list of functions:

• display an overview of available footage as screenshots on the NintendoDS
• arrange footage on three layers by drag&drop
• change color/opacity of layers
• blend layers by using different blend modes
• scratch videofiles by moving the stylus over the touchscreen
• control playback speed
• include your own vvvv-patches as plugins, just by placing them into a specified directory and inserting a few special-named input nodes
• control the vvvv-patches directly with the NintendoDS
• combine videofiles and vvvv-patches
• change the opacity of all three layers by using a 2D-crossfader

Looks fun, and I'll be giving it a go.

PS3 Net Service

At last, details of the sony net service from the BBC. Included here are launch titles. Interesting how many of these titles are games already on release on a certain other HD console....

Linky.

h i r 0 gets a new toy!

Many thanks to sometime Fi Club reader Misterbleepy for sending me this Tetris Jr keyring game made by my namesake HIRO company in Japan.

It also says HIRO on the back of the keyring. Accidentally personalised Japanese gift toys FTW!

I will, of course, be bringing this to Show and Tell at the next Fi Club.

For Sale: DS games

Some DS games I'm selling...

Polarium £5
Nintendogs Dachshund and Friends £15
Trauma Center £15
Sonic Rush £15
Metroid Prime Hunters £15
Castlevania Dawn of Sorrows £15

Anything not spoken for by Saturday goes on eBay.

DS Xtreme: DS modding made almost *too* easy

Had to post this -- a major WANT and the biggest wish on my list at the moment.

Travis over at Gizmodo has managed to get hold of the fabled DS Xtreme and has written a nice post about it with pics and screenies. Clicky here.

In a nutshell, it's a DS game pak with 4Gb of storage and a USB port to allow a PC hookup. H i r 0 and I looked at these a couple of months ago and were impressed (right, man? Remember that? Oh those were the days...). This thing will let you play MP3s on your DS and will also allow you to play your, um, 'backup' files on there too. The beauty of this system is that you don't need a passthru cartridge in the GBA slot or any hardware trickery to get it to read the DS gamepak, this puppy she jus' play the games.

Travis rates this thing pretty highly, and I love the idea of being able to use my DS as a pretty decent emulator. The comments in the Gizmodo thread are worth reading and staying on top of: apparently it can play backed up ROMS properly, ONLINE and with no problems. Sure, $125 is pretty rich, but it *must* be worth it.

Cheap PSP Games...

Just ventured down to Ross Records who have quite a collection of 2nd hand PSP games all of which seemed to be priced at around 15 quid. Bought Loco Roco!

Yay!

Its F-F-F Fi Week!

Its monday morning so naturally, my mind turns to friday night. Ugh, anyone else there yet?

So I would like to welcome all and sundry to Petersfield this Friday (13th) night.

It'll never work!

"hello?"..................."hello?"............"anybody there?"............
damn! How does this thing work?)....................."oh, I know".......

dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot...................................................(no, that's not it)...............................
(how about...).....................................
What's going on here Stop This modern technology will never work Stop
Have I got it right yet Stop Very strange Stop Can't stop Stop See you Friday Stop Just realised Stop That I sent an email to Russell's old work
address Stop Sorry Stop What a tw.. STOP RICHARD Stop................

Soda Fountain

Sounds like nearly everyone in da club is getting Soda Fountain ready for Fiday. If you're one of the lucky few who can get online, this Datel headset will allow you to scream back at the kiddies handing you your ass on a plate every single game, and then mocking you in French (as I understand it.)

£9.99 is a good few quid cheaper than Amazon and postage is an additional £1.99, which is still cheaper than the big guys even with their "Really Slow and May Actually Never Arrive" rate.

Hopefully there'll be a bright shiny copy of SF at home ready for me when I get in, and I'll think about ordering a headset in the next week or so.

Anthony Devaney's great Nintendo PR Work

When Sony finally stand over the dead, smoking remains of their once-great company, one of the people they can blame is Anthony Devaney.

-----Original Message-----

From: ruut's email address
Sent: 9/10/2006 11:07:16 AM
To: Subject: PSP Network Access Code

Hello,

I recently moved to the UK from Japan and have brought my Sony PS2 and Sony PSP with me. I would like to carry on playing games with my friends back home in Japan and have been told that to play games like Siphon Filter, I need a network access code before I can sign up.

My PSP has no such code, it is a PSP1000. I'dlike to play some of the newer infrastructure games, but do not want to have tobuy a UK PSP. Please could you send me a network access code to allow me toplay my games online?

Many thanks for your help,

Ruut Ackses

-----Original Message-----
From: help@uk.ps2centralstation.com [mailto:help@uk.ps2centralstation.com]
Sent: 09 October 2006 11:14
To: ruut's email address
Subject: RE: Your Network Gaming Query

Dear Mr Ackses,

Thank you for your recent correspondence.

If you have purchased a UK or European PSP Value, Giga or Base Pack, the Network Access Code Voucher can be found on a red and white piece of paper with black writing. It is usually found tucked into the Plastic wrapping that the PSP manual and printed materials came in.

If you are unable to find this code, then can you please call the Network Gaming Careline on 08702 422 299 (national rate) where a member of our team will be happy to assist you further.

Please remember to quote your Reference Number: 1-8TUA3.

Our operating hours are between 8am - 10pm Monday to Friday, and 10am - 6pm
Saturday and Sunday.


Yours sincerely,


Anthony Devaney
PlayStation Network Gaming Careline
Sony Computer Entertainment UK
Careline: 08702 42 22 99 (National Rate)

-----Original Message-----

From: ruut's email address
Sent: 9/10/2006 11:37:50 AM
To: Subject: Your Network Gaming Query 1-8TUA3.

Hello,

I'm disappointed in your reply. Please, rather than scanning my email and picking out words you think fit a certain pre-written reply, READ MY EMAIL and answer it properly.

I am, after all, a Sony customer and I deserve better than this. I certainly expected better.

In easy to understand steps:

I am a customer

I need a network access code

I have a Japanese PSP1000

I have no red and white piece of paper with black writing

I started a conversation with you by email *to avoid* having to waste time and money on your *national rate* helpline. I'm trying to get a Sony product to work with a Sony game on a Sony network

Regards
Ruut Ackses

-----Original Message-----
From: help@uk.ps2centralstation.com [mailto:help@uk.ps2centralstation.com]
Sent: 09 October 2006 12:48
To: ruut's email address
Subject: RE: Your Network Gaming Query

Dear Mr Ackses,

Thank you for your recent correspondence. In order to receive a network access code can you please call the Network Gaming Careline on 08702 422 299 (national rate) where a member of our team will be happy to assist you further.

Please remember to quote your Reference Number: 1-8TUA3 in all correspondence.

Our operating hours are between 8am – 10pm Monday to Friday, and 10am – 6pm Saturday and Sunday.


Yours sincerely,


Anthony Devaney
PlayStation Network Gaming Careline
Sony Computer Entertainment UK
Careline: 08702 42 22 99 (National Rate)
E.Mail: UK_help@uk.playstation.com
Web: http://www.playstation.co.uk/

-----Original Message-----
From: ruut's email address
Sent: 09 October 2006 14:06
To: 'help@uk.ps2centralstation.com'
Subject: RE: Your Network Gaming Query

Great, thanks, don't go to any trouble.


______________________________

Natch, I didn't sign the email Ruut Ackses. Remember, kids, it's not bull$hit if it's part of one of my social engineering plots.

**Update: Called the number, got the code. Result!

War(craft)... Huh! What is it good for?

Taking the piss out of, natch... Especially if you're Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

The entire World of Warcraft episode of South Park ("Make Love not Warcraft") is available on Google Video.

You don't need to be a WoW fanatic to get most of the gags and there are some great nods to other games in there too.

Well worth a watch over lunch.

360 Laptop

Ben Heckendorn builds an Xbox 360 into a Laptop configuration (skip to page 5 for final photos.)

Nice mod!

The Video Game Baftas

Full story here.

Some quick highlights:

Ghost Recon wins games of the year.
Loco Roco wins best character and best children's title.
Lego Star Wars II won the award for gameplay.
Shadow of the Colossus earned the artistic achievement prize.
Shadow of the Colossus also won the best action and adventure Bafta.
Electroplankton for best audio.
Tomb Raider: Legend for best original score.
Guitar Hero for soundtrack.
Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach for multiplayer.

The innovation prize went to Nintendo DS title Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain?.

Nice to see some recognition for the developers, however, I disagreee with GRAW winning best game, personally I thought Oblivion was better. Good to see SOTC and some DS titles in there too.

CNET Reviews the PS3

this is the first PS3 review I have seen here...

Snack Time!

For the benefit of RICHARD/Carol who apparently has been blacklisted by blogger:

Yes, it's that time again.
Grab your snacks, dips and drinks of your choice.
Snack-Club is here again!
My place, this Friday, usual time.
See you then,

R.

p.s. Oh yeh, you can bring gadgets if you wish.

p.p.s. Chris & Andy, would it be possible to borrow G.Hero if no one is using it at the mo.?

lego shmego

looking forwards to the new starwars lego? hows about holding out for a bit of THIS?

PS1 titles on your PSP.... Before the PS3!

as the title says, details on the linky....

PSP Hackers Beat Sony To The Punch With First PS1 Emulator For The PSP

Unbelievable

Is this information correct?

For my birthday I asked for Star Wars Lego II for the PSP. My sisters clubbed together and ordered it for me from Play.com. I figured it would arrive some time this week, but it didn't so I called my Dad and asked him whether it had been dispatched, worried that the postie had nicked it. He said it's on pre-order.

PRE-order? It was released on 15 September! Or was it?

Every other format was, but...

Play.com has a release date of 27 October and HMV has a release date of 11 November!

Now I'm not short of stuff to play right now, so I'm not exactly gagging for it to turn up tomorrow, but it's getting a bit fucking ridiculous when release delays for PSP spread to titles that are released simultaneously on all other formats. What possible reason could there be to delay this game on PSP?

Every time I go back to PSP from my DS I remember why I loved it so much - that screen is wonderful, the graphics are top-notch and the sound is gorgeous, but these release delays are really really getting to me now.

Is this information correct? Yep, it's right, but it's not OK.

Maybe Get a Blister on Your Thumb

Ugh. MTV acquire Harmonix, makers of Guitar Hero. I'd say enjoy #2 and forget the rest. Why do these major so-called-entertainment corps have to get their bland unimaginative hooks into everything?

Far Cry on the Wii

According to Pocket-Lint.co.uk the next installment of Ubisoft's Far Cry (Vengeance) will be for the Wii, with a new story and maps, and new weapons to take advantage of the Wiimote control system.

Hands on with the PS3

Nice BBC article from the Tokyo games show entitled. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5371734.stm

This appears to be a very balanced view of the console. ...

Japanses PS3 Price Cut

Already?! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5369720.stm

In other news at the Tokyo games show, the 360 is to follow the PS3 and provide 1080p HD output for games and video. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5369720.stm

Fantastic news for potential PS3 owners, if the european release gets any kind of a cut. It seems the competition between all 3 of the main consoles is going to be great news for consumers.

A great little word game...

...and surprisingly addictive.
http://wordwheeze.lathamdesign.co.uk/
Its a bit like boggle with a few extra rules (tutorial at the bottom right).
Give it a go and see what you think!
I love it!

You Show Me Yours (And I'll Show You Mine)

Yeah. Nuff said!

20 OCT. SICK DAY....

This is why we should make 20 Oct a national sick day.
The ads are just the funniest. I cant wait for this.
9am pick up game - 11am beer at hiro's gaff with new game.
YEAH BABY

The Big Day

I've been waiting for this for a looooong time.

Last night Nintendo announced the Japanese launch details for the Wii.

Guardian Games Blog has all the details but here's a few of the main points:

Date: December 2
Price: 25,000 Yen (approx £115)
Launch titles: 16 (rumour), including:

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Wario Ware
Wii Sports
Red Steel
SD Gundam Revolution
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz
Trauma Centre: Second Opinion
Elebits
Wing Island

Further details at 1up (including Virtual Console details and game prices - VC is like Xbox Live Arcade with the retro titles); Famitsu cover the launch event; and SeattlePI has a rumour/story about the Merkin launch date.

The Offical WII site has also gone live.

Insert urine-based gag here....

I'm so excited!

The Top 5....

Each Trustedreviews.com writer has listed their top 5 games of all time in a rather lengthy, but nostalgic article. http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?page=8102&head=0.

Interesting that the PC, spectrum and N64 seem to have the most entries. No xbox and only a handful of PS2.

So to the club, which are your top 5's?

Don't 'Fi it, Feel It.

My place! 2030 hours!

Cake! Balloons! Ice Cream! Jelly! (*)

*May not actually be true.

Come and See, Life Should Be Fun For Everyone

PSPhacks.net are reporting that a buffer overflow has been exploited on every PSP firmware version. So far we have a "Hello World" program. This is exactly how 1.50 fell, so this is good news for the homebrewers and pirates (Arrr!)

New firmware in 5,4,3,2,...

Which Way Do I Go?

Star Wars Lego II. I'm very much leaning towards the PSP version. I don't see any compelling reason to go with the DS version as I doubt there's any specific touch-screen shenanigans going on there, and the screen and nub-control on the PSP will be better. I'm definitely not going with a tv-console version.

Anyone else?

quelle surprise

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5319190.stm

Confirmed Song List For Guitar Hero 2

Ok, there have been a few posts touching on this, but the list is now confirmed, as reported on joystiq: http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/03/the-confirmed-guitar-hero-2-song-lineup/.

There's a lot for me especially!

Fore!

Blimey! It's a MMORPG Golf Game! Free to join, download and play, but it looks like new equipment costs you real money. I've read it's a similar feel to Everybody Golf (which has gone platinum as I understand it, and can be gotten from WHSmiths for a tenner), which is very playable.

What's more - it looks pretty damn cool too...

A Non-Gamer's Perspective

An interesting article on Seeking Alpha, a stock market opinion and analysis website predicting a boom for MoSys based on the fact that they are providing the memory chips for the Wii.

With a slowing economy and consumer spending, people will turn to the buzz generated by Nintendo and its console that costs half price. I expect Nintendo to run away with this. The Wii has an iPod feel to it. And it's a fresh new perspective that I think gamers are looking for.

Top of the Pops

Check out the Japanese Top 10 of software sales for the week 21-27 August.

DOMINATING!

Mmmm.... FF3?

FLW's Kauffman House modelled in HalfLife 2

A quickie for Jal. Kauffman House by Frank Lloyd Wright modelled using HalfLife2 tech.

This really sets a par for architectural modelling in near-realistic game engines. Ruut - remember when we talked about modelling Southdowns in Quake 3? Having spent hours and hours doing my own house (and it was still pretty poor) I can appreciate how difficult this must've been.

Fi Club Seal

Just messing about, made using this. It needs a better center but nothing in the drop down was appropriate. Still, easy to photoshop something different in.

You Say You Want A Revolution

No, not that Revolution, but the real potential for a revolution in games.

From the Scratchware Manifesto:

The machinery of gaming has run amok.

Instead of serving creative vision, it suppresses it. Instead of encouraging innovation, it represses it. Instead of taking its cue from our most imaginative minds, it takes its cue from the latest month's PC Data list. Instead of rewarding those who succeed, it penalizes them with development budgets so high and royalties so low that there can be no reward for creators. Instead of ascribing credit to those who deserve it, it seeks to associate success with the corporate machine.

It is time for revolution.

Driven by this vision a community of game designers, programmers and players is growing at Manifesto Games, dedicated to releasing quality, artistic, unusual games of the type that Walmart and GAME wouldn't and couldn't stock. Their own Manifesto Manifesto makes for interesting and inspiring reading, and it's hard to fault their logic.

Maybe not quite the gaming equivalent of the Punk ethos as it's clear that while anyone can play guitar it's actually quite hard to write a game it is possible for everyone who loves games and gaming to still get involved: submit ideas; buy, download and play these games; write reviews (they welcome honest reviews whether they're good or bad); spread the word.

Join us, and help build a better tomorrow. Get the word out that there's more to games than you'll find at Best Buy, and that Manifesto Games is the place to find the best of the rest, the products of individual vision, games created for love and not at the behest of some blinkered suit whose last job was selling Tide.

Let a thousand flowers blossom; let a thousand different games contend.

From now on, we must all strive resolutely to bring about the overthrow of the existing order.

Gameplay over glitz.

Word Komrad!

GT4: Mobile goes Duke Nukem

Famitsu magazine in Japan has found out from Polyphony Digital that eagerly anticipated PSP title Gran Turismo 4: Mobile Edition has been given an indefinite release date.

This is a blow to those of us who believed the rumours that this game would include the 'overclocking' feature (actually, just clocking up to 100% of the CPU's capability) not to mention a top-notch driving sim for the PSP.

Ooh Pwetty!

I found a stash of Zelda screenies. Now correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think Zelda ever used cut-scene FMV, making it all the more likely that these are in-game graphics.

Some of these are pretty old, but the most recent are from this month's Leipzig Game Conference.

'Fi Club this week

I think it's probably my turn, but as we're off to Bristol early on Saturday would someone else mind taking this one for me and I'll do the 15th?

DS titles from £9.99

Virgin Megastores online store has DS titles from £9.99.

I just picked up Meteos and SuperMario 64 for a tenner each.

Wii for less

According to the beeb a high-up in Nintendo Germany has mentioned that the Wii will cost under €250 which is about £170.

Folding@Home distributed computing to run on PS3s

Now this is sheer bloody genius. Volunteers will be able to run the Folding@Home software on their PS3s to harness spare cycles to help understand causes of diseases.

With 10,000 machines joined together the researchers calculate they should be able to do a thousand trillion calculations per second.

If that was achieved it would be nearly four times as fast as the world's most powerful supercomputer, IBM's BlueGene/L System, capable of 280.6 trillion calculations per second.

And that's with only 10,000 machines.

Soda Fountain delayed by 13 years

Such a shame, I was looking forward to playing that. I reckon it'll be horribly outdated by 2020.

Maybe I should stop getting my breaking gamer news from Tesco.

Official GTA:VCS screenies

The story at PSPworld.com says eight official screenshots, but I can only count seven, and I can't see any link at the Rockstar VCS site.

October 20th release date in Europe.

PSP gadgets

Gizmodo.com has a couple of quick snaps of the PSP Camera (Eye Toy?) and GPS unit. Both stick out a mile and look like crap if you ask me. You can also see the vile pink PSP.

Rumour has it Sony might actually be releasing some games for this expensive bauble eventually.

DS Homebrew Portal

For those of us maybe considering a flash cart for the DS, Portal:NDS looks like a valuable resource, with guides, links to hardware outlets, and a catalogue of homebrew apps.

Valve teasers

Some Valve teasers shot on hand-held shakey-cam, but cool nonetheless. From what I read HL2: Ep2, TeamFortress 2 and Portal are all going to be bundled for less than £50. There are also mentions of the lot being available for Xbox 360 too.

New Constellation

I name this constellation Goatse!

How many dicks is that?

Some pretty fucking disturbing viral videos for the upcoming Reservoir Dogs video game. (Audio most definitely NSFW, video is unsettlingly prosaic.)

Clever editing or dubbing aside, those kids say those lines and I'm just not sure that's right (or legal?) Still, it'll cause a commotion, get people talking about it and get the game and publishers publicity which is entirely the point.

Pink, Pink, Pink and more Pink

Pink PS2, and DS and artist Pink helps launch pink PSP.

<Insert joke at Munchk's expnse here>

In other news Aibo does a sex wii.

Gitaroo Man screenies

Couple of screenies for up-coming Gitaroo Man Lives (3Q06).

Nice sidies Gitaroo Man!

Soda Fountain

Are we all getting Syphon Filter for the PSP before the next 'Fi Club? If so, where's the cheapest you've seen it?


I'm definitely planning to grab it soon.

Sonic Rush DS

I have finished Sonic Rush for the DS (well finished the story mode with the Sonic character). First to post gets to borrow it. When you're done, pass it on.

It's a furiously fast platformer in the true Sonic vein. If (like me) you've not played a Sonic game for a while there a couple of tiny convention changes that you'll need to read the booklet to get used to but nothing terribly drastic. It's good fun, occasionally deeply frustrating, but nothing unsurmountable. The levels are very inventive, and quite replayable, and the music is enjoyable.

Chav Rising

I was wondering whether the game Dead Rising would be skinnable. If so, the first one out has to be a chav hack. Running round a shopping centre killing chavs with a scythe is quite appealing to me.

Kitty Says...

Fi Club at Munchk's this week. I'll say no more and let Kitty speak for herself.

Coke's Grand Theft

Check out this nicely done Coke Commercial. It's going to be completely lost on Granny, but it raised a smile on my Monday morning face.

!NEWS FLASH HALO!

for all you halo geeks
heres just a quicky
gets a bit dull after 30 seconds or so, but there you go!!!!

Veni Vidi Vice

GTAViceCityStories.com has a scan of Australian gamer mag Gamepro's VCS preview, along with a synopsis of the article. Some exciting tidbits:

Players can now take on the water of Vice City With jet skis!
VCS is "much, much bigger than Vice City"
You can fly helicopters!
You can swim in the game!
LCS is "rookie first-gen PSP title compared to VCS"

And so on.

C'mon Rockstar, make me love my PSP again!

A Brace of Geeky videos

The story of Chad Vader Day Shift Manager. (See also Ep 2.)

Second up Super Mario Bros Live. Not without technical problems, and when it starts off you think "Meh", but the longer it goes on the better it gets.

Both via Wonderland.

you say friday i say fiday...

OK comuters.
Get yer glad rags and gizmos, dont forget to call shotgun and head on up to the Savidge penthouse on the scenic banks of the historic river thames. I think your friendly local shofeur service should know the way to Amarillo, so sit back and warm up those digits.
Feel free to bring booze, though im not too confident about making posh vegan food and stuff, so itll prolly just be nachos and dips (any requests or brands i should or shouldnt get?... else youll end up with doritos and peanuts!).

Just ordered animal crossing (have doubts about it turning up in time, but fingers are crossed) and im training up my golden retriever bobba to be the bestest little hobo ever.
Looking forwards to it.

Incoming Message from Coote HQ

It's pretty garbled but I think it has something to do with tonight...

No, it's gone. Sorry. Still, I can't wait until tonight -- Mario Kart, New Super Mario multiplayer games, Hunters, Animal Crossing... megosh, m'lud, it's all going a bit Nintendo.

You gotta Fi, fo' yo' ri' to paaaaahtteeee!

When I was in boarding school we played a game with a carton of eggs and a microwave.

Put an egg in a microwave on full for about 25 - 30 seconds and it'll cook and explode all in one, hot, lava-like scalding mess.

The game involved microwaving an egg watching the seconds tick by until you wrenched the door open, grabbed the eggs and ran across the kitchen to hurl it out of the open window (preferably with the fly screens removed, but it was good either way) before it exploded all over you, the spectators and the kitchen. The fun part was counting along with the 'chucker' as he gambled those last few seconds -- "20...21...22...23Ohhhhhh!"

We played this game all the time. The electricity bill must have been horrendous.

It's like this whole 'post to host' thing. It's Tuesday -- will he post? :)

FI NIGHT

If i was to host a ficlub, how many people would go?
id provide accommodation.
some of you may have to share a bed tho.

Going Loco

Just wanted to let everyone know how frickin cool locoroco is!
Its nuts! It makes no sense whatsoever, but i still spend hour after hour on it!
What a crazy concept. The tunes are so catchy, i find myself humming them to myself on my ride in to work every morning. The characters are funny too with different voices and singing styles.
Saw this nifty case too! WICKED...
You can build your own Loco house and play one of those grabber machine games too.
I havent managed to do multiplayer yet, but there is another guy here with the game, so ill have to see if i can book out some time!
TTFN.

Can you wait?

For all of us madly dancing, crossing and uncrossing our legs waiting to have a Wii, relief may be in sight earlier than expected. Accordian to word on the blogosphere this AM, Nintendo may open the doors early and let us have a Wii in September rather than October or November. Quickly now, my back teeth are floating...

Sony Says

Interesting opinion on Sony's hardware philosophy.

To the best of my knowledge, the last time Sony introduced a format that became the de facto industry standard was the 3.5" diskette--in 1983.

Hot fun in the summer time...

here it is the groove slightly transformed
just a bit of a break from the norm
just a little somethin' to break the monotony
of all that damn hard work that has gotten to be
a little bit out of control...

Whoop, holler and jump into the air Italian plumber punchy style for it is 'Fi Club time again, and after the week I've had, I can not bloody wait.

While we all steam away in our sweaty office chairs at work, I offer you a sparkly block of tuneful invincibility, my friends -- a reminder that there is life after work and that this coming Friday July 7th is a 'Fi Day.

I'd like to host this time, and I'll let you know now that our front room will almost certainly be nice and cool when you arrive. Our living room stays cool even on the hottest days, so it'll be some relief if it's been a stinking hot day. If it hasn't,and it's chucked it down all day then no one will give a toss and it's not much of a selling point, but I'm hosting anyway, so ner.

There'll be the usual fab fun 'Fi Club fambly favourites and some new stuff to get into -- the DS Lite launch prompted me to join the Ninty Kids and grab a copy of the jaw dropping 'How is this so bloody good?' Metroid Prime Hunters (bring it if you've got it) so we'll almost certainly be looking at that. From the quick calculation wot I done there are a good few DSs between us, so we should be good to go with the game sharing and the like.

Now get back to work, but rejoice in the fact that I seeded a happy happy Fresh Prince song into your personal monologue to brighten your day. God, I'm good to you.

Hot Wii action

Gameworld Network have a nice feature on the Wii controller showcasing "25 Hi-def streaming videos showing how each and every Wii game is played using the Wii-mote."

Want. One. Now.

I enclose my CV...

Guy applies for job of Manager at Middlesborough FC based on his experience of Football Manager 2005. Steve Gibson personally replies. Ace.

Nostalgia... It's what's good for you

And while we're on a nostalgia jag, let's have a look at Star Wars Transformers.

The best thing from the 70s mixed with the best thing from the 80s? Hey.. it's my birthday in less than two months.

Hey! h i r 0! That's not a game!

No, but it is Pitchfork Media's Top 100 most awesomest music videos. Just like video games, music video is a thing that belongs to our generation. Bohemian Rhapsody, Money for Nothing, Take on Me, these are all moments that speak more to us than anyone else on this planet. Like videogames, we were there when this started and it's our generation who are now making the music videos for the kids of today.

Which is why I thought this was blogworthy.

It looks like every single choice is linked up with a YouTube video, which probably puts this at over 400 minutes of fun and nostalgia.

The sound of One Finger Gaming

Quicky gleaned from the archives of Penny Arcade which everyone should read, at least for the pretty pictures.

So, here's Chopper Drop a game you can play with a single digit, in a kind of antithesis of Space Invaders. Level the buildings before you helicopter crashes into them. Simple.

The title page states it was written to be played on a PSP. I'm not sure if that means it works on the browser in a PSP, or if he's going to port it to an eboot or what, and frankly, I'm not inclined to dig any deeper.

Anyone else have any one finger games?

Blitzoid does not have your car

Tho, I might have a film with it in.
Fi Club at mine on Friday. Usual time, bring usual stuff, tho leave the PSP out cos they dont work at chez moi.
Warning, there may be off line gaming involved! (anyone fancy a game of pick up sticks, or maybe Kill Dr Lucky?)

I love Sony

just wanted to share -
my psp broke yesterday :(
the disk drive stopped reading the disks.

phoned up Sony - told them the problem
now they're sending me a new one to my desk - tomorrow!

they said they were going to throw in one of these for the inconvenience too!

yippee........

Thanks.