Archive for April 8th, 2007

Xbox 360 qwerty keyboard

Source: thexboxdomain.com

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Gamespot announced a qwerty keyboard for xbox360, but the page was quickly taken down. Luckily GamingTalkHQ was able to catch it.

New attachment snaps onto system’s standard pad for quick and easy instant message typing.To ease the task of typing in messages without the aid of a full-sized keyboard, Microsoft today announced a new text input device for the Xbox 360 controller. The attachment snaps onto the bottom of the controller through the headset jack and features a QWERTY-style key layout with 47 keys.

The keyboard attachment has not been priced or even named yet, but it is expected to see release this summer.

This definitely seems to be true as with the upcoming spring dashboard update and, Live Anywhere the texting is quite difficult with the on-screen keyboard

It looks bulky, but it still looks like it works. I can easily purchase one of these, if the price is right. Seems like a must buy for people who use Windows Messenger, but an AIM user like me, im not sure how much use I will get out of this. Would you get it and what would you mainly use it for?

[via Daking240]

- Jerome “the360loopâ€? Francisco -

Published on April 8th, 2007 under

Ten weird videogame Easter Eggs

Source: videogamesblogger.com

First Easter Egg in Adventure on Atari 2600
We hope you’re having a nice Easter. Check out this list of videogame Easter Eggs. Do you do know of any that are weirder? Which of these are your favorites?

Adventure:
The very first easter egg ever in a videogame was a secret dot or egg, hidden in the 1978 game “Adventure” on the Atari 2600. It let you view a message from the programmer Warren Robinette, because at the time Atari didn’t allow their programmers to take credit for their work. In a way he used it to sign his work with the text: “Created by Warren Robinette.”

SimCopter:
Jacques Servin, a gay employee of Maxis, slipped unauthorized images into SimCopter, a game in which players fly rescue mission through a complex 3-D city peopled with tiny characters. “The artist that was working on it made them these standard female computer-game bimbos, really skimpy shorts, big breasts — what you’d expect,” Servin said. The male figures were all “really dumpy, little squat middle-aged types,” he said, so he threw in some muscular men. The first 78,000 copies of the game at release in 1996 were shipped before the company discovered the additions. Sevrin was fired the next day for “adding the unauthorized content.” These boys in swim trunks just walk around only on certain dates like Friday the 13th and Servin’s birthday September 30th.

Super Mario Bros:
Not as much of an easter egg, but on the second level towards the end you can jump up above the screen and walk to find a secret warp zone. These warp zone would take you to a level much further into the game.

Super Mario Bros 3:
Sticking with the Super Mario Bros series the next easter egg that was oh so common was the warp whistles. These warp whistles would transport you to different levels. In world 1-3 towards the end there is a white block, if you get up on it press and hold down you will eventually fall through the back of it and run towards the end of the level. At the end you will enter a secret mushroom house where Toad gives you the warp whistle. Other warp whistles can be found in the World 1 fortress and on the World 2 map.

Mortal Kombat:
This was one of the easter eggs that was very hard to do and every time the shadowy item was flying in front of the moon we would all be like, “Don’t hit me at all!â€. On the pit stage if you saw a shadowy item flying in front of the moon that means you could enable the easter egg. What you had to do was beat your opponent without getting hit or using the block button. If you did this after the match you would be able to fight Reptile at the bottom of the pit.

Warcraft, Warcraft 2, and Starcraft:
This was quite a funny easter egg. I actually discovered it when I was bored waiting for my peasants to mine gold. I repeatedly clicked on one peasant and after about 6 clicks instead of saying , “Back to work†or something like that he said something completely different that would just made me laugh. They would either complain about something or say something funny. It worked on all characters in Warcraft, Warcraft 2, and Starcraft. Although I tried it in World of Warcraft without any luck!

Serious Sam: The Second Encounter:
If you have not played this game you should! It is such much fun and a complete waste of an entire day! Anyways on the second level, “The Valley of the Jaguar†if you head way over to the huge tower with the houses on each side and look back there is a sign that says “CROLLYWOODâ€. Other funny things in the game include a couple in a bush giggling, and tons of references to Duke Nukem Forever.

Counter-Strike:
I found these easter eggs when I was killed. When you are killed you go into ghost mode. From there you can go anywhere in the level and go through walls. In many levels there are hidden rooms that you can only get to while in ghost mode. In these rooms you will find notes, dedications, etc. Here are some of the ones that I found. In de_aztec between the terrorist and counter-terrorist sides beside the bridge you will find a room with a tom of different messages. In de_dust2 in the counter-terrorist spawn if you go through the back wall and turn around you will see The credits for the map. Finally in de_inferno in the counter-terrorist base go down the ramp and through the wall. You will see a government health warning and the maps credits.

Unreal Tournament:
Unreal was one of my favorite FPS games. I played in a lot of local LAN tournaments and loved to play lowgrav instagib maps. One easter egg I found was in dm-codex. In the map there is a square room with a pillar in the middle and a hallway on each side. Go into the hallway with the lift on the right side and a wall straight ahead. Now go stand at that wall. If you stand there long enough a door will open revealing a hidden room. Inside of the hidden room is a picture of Cliffy B. the co-designer of Unreal Tournament and text that says “pretty flyâ€. If you shoot the text it changes and says “For a white guy!â€.

World of Warcraft:
Out of all of the easter eggs in World of Warcraft this one has to be one of the hardest. This alliance-specific quest will get you a pet chicken that will follow you around everywhere. What you need to do is find a chicken in the game and type “/chicken†to it A LOT, around 60 times! After that you will be able to talk to the chicken and get the C-L-U-C-K quest. You have to go get a special feed for the chicken then “/cheer†and it and you will be able to pickup your present, which is the pet chicken.

From Thinkgaming, additional first and weird Easter Eggs via Digg.

Published on April 8th, 2007 under

Nintendo GDC 2007 Keynote video (showing history & future vision)

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Nintendo WiiAs mentioned previously in the GDC award winners list, today we’re doing some catching up with the Game Developers Conference from a month ago.

We finish up with Nintendo who didn’t announce any new games at the time, but did share — Nintendo Senior Managing Director — Shigeru Miyamoto’s creative vision. Prepare to laugh your ass off, because this man isn’t only a videogame genius, he’s also hilarious, showing you his thoughts like his Wife-o-Meter that measures the interest of his wife into gaming from zero with Donkey Kong to very high with the arrival of the DS Lite and Wii. Take a look at the conference in four parts:

Click on the bottom-right corner arrow to view it full-screen.

In part two Nintendo’s vision is shared:

In part three Wii games are discussed:

In part four more ideas and Super Mario Galaxy are shown:

Watch the full Nintendo GDC 2007 Keynote video at Gamespot.

Published on April 8th, 2007 under ,

Cheon Ho Park plays Final Fantasy IX Sleepless City Treno Theme

Source: videogamesblogger.com

This is the second (watch the first here)piano rendition by Cheon Ho Park, who once again tackles the Final Fantasy IX Sleepless City Treno theme. And don’t worry about a scary act this time! He is normal here.

The piano playing is quite good IMO. Enjoy because there are many more coming in the following days.

Published on April 8th, 2007 under

Sony GDC 2007 Keynote video

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Sony PlayStation 3As mentioned previously in the GDC award winners list, today we’re doing some catching up with the Game Developers Conference from a month ago.

We continue with Sony who announced their PS3 Home online plans and talks about what Game 3.0 entails. Sony’s GDC keynote address video gives a much more extended look at Sony’s PlayStation 3 plans that include the very creative downloadable game LittleBigPlanet. Take a look at the conference in three parts:

Click on the bottom-right corner arrow to view it full-screen.

In part two Sony demoed the Home application:

In part three you get a full demo of LittleBigPlanet:

Watch the full Sony GDC 2007 Keynote video at Gamespot.

Published on April 8th, 2007 under ,

7th Game Developers Choice Awards winners

Source: videogamesblogger.com

A month ago the Game Developers Conference were held. Today I thought I’d update with the full video recordings of both the Sony and Nintendo keynote addresses for gamers and game developers. But first let’s go through the Game Developers Choice Awards, where Gears of War won the Game of the Year award and then some.

Watch the award show winners on video at Gamespot. Here’s the full list nominees with the winners bolded.

Gears Of War for Xbox 360Best Game:
* Gears of War
* Okami
* The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
* The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
* Wii Sports

Guitar Hero 2 for PS2Audio:
* Company of Heroes
* DEFCON: Everybody Dies
* Guitar Hero II
* Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend
* LocoRoco

Okami for PS2Character Design:
* Final Fantasy XII
* LocoRoco
* Okami
* Rayman Raving Rabbids
* Viva Piñata

Wii Sports for WiiGame Design:
* Bully
* Okami
* The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
* Viva Piñata
* Wii Sports

Gears Of War for Xbox 360Technology:
* Company of Heroes
* Dead Rising
* Gears of War
* Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis
* Wii Sports

Gears Of War for Xbox 360Visual Arts:
* Final Fantasy XII
* Gears of War
* Okami
* The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
* Viva Piñata

Twilight Princess for WiiWriting:
* Bully
* Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
* Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock
* The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
* The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Titan Quest for PCNew Studio:
* Gastronaut Studios (Small Arms)
* Iron Lore Entertainment (Titan Quest)
* Naked Sky Entertainment (RoboBlitz)
* Ready At Dawn Studios (Daxter)
* Wadjet Eye Games (The Shiva)

Best Mod:
* Darkness over Daggorford (NVN)
* Spawns of Deflebub (UT2004)
* Eternal Silence (HL2)
* Weekday Warrior (HL2)

Student Showcase:
* Base Invaders: Digipen
* Invalid Tangram: Guildhall at SMU
* Opera Slinger: Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy
* Gelatin Joe: Digipen
* And Yet it Moves: Tu Wien
* Rooms: Sungkyunkwan University
* Toblo: Digipen
* Euclidean Crisis: Stanford
* Ball of Bastards: Koln International
* The Blob: Hogeschool van de Kunsten, Utrecht

Excellence in Audio:
* Aquaria
* Bone: The Great Cow Race
* Everyday Shooter
* Fizzball
* Racing pitch

Excellence in Visuals:
* Aquaria
* Golf?
* Samorost 2
* Castle Crashers
* Roboblitz

Game Design Innovation:
* Aquaria
* Everyday Shooter
* Armadillo Run
* Toblo
* Toribash

Tech Excellence:
* Arcane Legions
* Armada Online
* Bang! Howdy
* Blast Miner
* Band of Bugs

Web Browser game:
* Bible Islands
* Gamma Bros.
* Samorost 2

Seumas McNally:
* Aquaria
* Armadillo Run
* Bang! Howdy
* Roboblitz
* Everyday Shooter

Community: George “The Fat” Man
Lifetime Achievement Award: Shigeru Miyamoto
Maverick Award: Greg Costikyan.
GameTap distribution deals: Blast Miner, Roboblitz, Everyday Shooter
Audience Award: Castle Crashers

Published on April 8th, 2007 under ,

Sega’s going ‘cheep’!

Source: seganerds.com

A few weeks ago, we reported news about one of Sega Toys latest creations, the ‘Dream Chick’.

Well, I stumbled across some more information on the product and a delightful video.  So now all budding chick farmers can see the little fellows in action…. well not so much action, as making some noise and moving their wings.

The palm-sized, fluffy robots, named Yume Hiyoko, or “Dream Chicks”, went on sale last week in time for the Easter holidays.

“I think it is good as a pet because you don’t have to feed it and clean its droppings,” said Masahiro Okada, a chicken farm worker who was looking at the toys.

The chick is touch-sensitive and touching or stroking it triggers it to chirp or flap its wings. It cannot, however, move.

Sega spokeswoman Minako Sakanoue said the robot chicks were modeled on newly hatched bird since “at this stage they seem cutest”.

The chicks cost 2,310 yen (about $19). They join Sega’s line of mechanical pets, that now includes dogs, cats and ponies.

[Source: Reuters.com]

Published on April 8th, 2007 under , ,

Review: Virtua Tennis 3 (Xbox 360) » VT3

Source: seganerds.com

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Published on April 8th, 2007 under

Review: Virtua Tennis 3 (Xbox 360) » VT3logo

Source: seganerds.com

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Published on April 8th, 2007 under

Is the Xbox 360 Elite in search of Sarah Connor? Uh!

Source: thexboxdomain.net

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According to the product page of the Canadian electronics chain Future Shop, the Xbox 360 Elite may have more going on under the hood then originally thought. Do you know where Sarah Connor is? Skynet may not have destroyed us all yet, but whoever at Future Shop wrote this sure thinks it’s eminent.

[via Digg]

-William “thewilleffect” Bell-

Published on April 8th, 2007 under

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