IGN's new screenshots of the Battle for Hoth from Gamecube Rogue Leader are just unbelievable. I'll be very impressed if this is realtime in-game footage, but judging by the radar in the top left and the tone of the article I'd say it quite possibly is, wow..
So you had the Ree-Yees, Yak Face and Snaggletooth. You had the Rancor Handler, Sy Snootles and Max Reebo and you even had a Chewbacca Bandolier to stick them all in. But I'll bet you didn't have a Gargan prostitute or a Mongo Beefhead Tribesman.
Read about them and other never-released toys in the treasure-trove that is toysrgus.com. Then spare a moment to remember the other forgotten heroes of Star Wars.
Kieran Hebden is a founder member of Fridge, part of Badly Drawn Boy's backing band and remixer of the likes of Aphex Twin, Slag Boom Van Loon (-ziq vs SpeedyJ) and Pole. His new album under the Four Tet moniker is titled Pause and is well worth checking out if you're into the more Jazz/Post-Rock leanings of Electronica..
IGN has posted screens from Famitsu Magazine's scoop of Nintendo's GBA line up for Spaceworld. The screens include a first glimpse of Mario Advance 2, Spaceworld takes place between the 24-26 of August in Tokyo..
So it's happened, Tim Burton has failed dismally to re-create Planet of the Apes. With rumours of re-shoots being still done in the couple of weeks before release and preview screenings being pushed back it was inevitable really. Planet of the Apes and its sequels were children of the 60's & 70's, political films which dealt with race and social opression. At the time they were powerfull stuff hidden behind the facade of a Sci-Fi action movie. In Hollywoods current moraly bankrupt climate though the politics have been ditched and the surface sheen is everything. Its a real shame that Hollywood's film making community no longer have enough courage in their political convictions to produce great movies which still have something to say about the real world we live in..
Some of you in the windows world may have had the pleasure of getting aquainted with a particularly virulent strain of worm by the name of SirCam over the past week. For those of you who are unaware of this massively malicious mobile code, here's a quick breakdown of it's finer aspects:
That's right, any file on your hard-drive to any address on your computer.. And they're only getting better, successful virii such as this invariably leave a lot to be desired. Poorly written message bodies are a regular failing, but then what else can you expect from non-english speaking script-kiddies. So when someone really wants to do the job properly, I think we'd best take cover.
But hey, let's not get down about it.. this virus does good things too!
In today's games a lot of our imagining is done for us, so there's still something very intriguing about the long-retired genre of text-adventuring. The king of the interactive fiction hill was undoubtedly Infocom, with Zork as their crowning glory. Adventure Collective has interviews with original staffers Dave Lebling and Steve Meretzky. You can play many of the classics online through the wonder of java, or if you prefer the MUD feel, try telnet (if it's not too busy that is).
Richard Donner has confirmed he is working on a Goonies sequel. Expect to see the return of Mouth, Chunk, Data and One Eyed Willy in this follow up to one of the greatest kids movies of all time..
Further to my post from yesterday, an additional movie trend is that of turgid comic-book adaptations. Thank the lord then that Dan Clowes and Terry Zwigoff seem to have managed the impossible and created a comic-book film for love not money.
Ghost World is based on the comic-strip of the same name taken from the pages of Clowes' Eightball comic book. Clowes' work owes a debt to the great confessor R. Crumb, whose work Zwigoff in turn payed homage to in his documentary, Crumb. The pairing of these two is therefore natural, so it's no surprise that Ghost World the film has been the result of collaboration rather than slavish reproduction. Both are fantastic artists in their own rights and it's heartwarming that they've managed to see their visions through to a final release where so many others have failed.
Oh, and be sure to pick up your little Enid action doll too.
In the run-up to the release of Peekabooty, the Cult of the Dead Cow have released two statements in order to clarify their position and announce the inaugration of their Hacktivismo offshoot. Scary to think that the future use of the internet is being defined by ill-informed governments behind closed doors, and for the most part without the publics knowledge. And reassuring to know that groups like cDc aren't going to stand for it.
Yet another mediocre excuse for a game-based film is on it's way in the form of Resident Evil: Ground Zero, directed by Paul "Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon" Anderson. But think of what could have been! R.E. was once to be scripted by king of undead-horror himself George A. Romero and you can even read the script that they callously threw away.
So will there ever be a good game-movie? Of course not! Games that appeal to hollywood are invariably based on movies in the first place so by the time the idea has come full circle any last interesting elements are bound to have been sapped out of it. Resident Evil is Day of the Dead, Tomb Raider is Indiana Jones and Super Mario Bros. .. well there's no real excuse for that one.
Following a link from NTK I came across this fantastic Palm Pilot Mod.. And here's something for the laydeees..
Test your smarts with PlanetDreamcast's Sega Trivia Test. If that's no match for your mad-skillz try the follow-ups on Saturn, Master System, Treasure and Sonic.
Amazon UK have Doom for Gameboy Advance listed as a November release!!! Lets just hope it looks better than the other FPS offerings GBA has coming its way..
Here's another date to stick on your DVD shopping list. November 6th sees the Warner Home Video release of Dr Zhivago, DVDFile have the full spec of this 2 disc edition of David Lean's epic adaptation of Boris Pasternak's tale of love, war and revolution..
Nintendocenter seem to think Super Mario Advance 2 will be revealed at Spaceworld next month along with a host of other must have titles, such as Sabrewulfe, Magical Vacation and Goemon.
EAGB report that Crawfish Interactive are going to be bringing the Bitmap Brothers back catalogue to a GBA near you sometime in the not so distant future. First off the production line will be Speedball2, so you can start drooling now.
The official Twisted Metal Black site (flash) is a feast for the eyes. I especially recommend the unsettling eyes-pinned-shut wallpapers, a perfect greeting for you as you start the working day.
I mean, what's this supposed to be?! It looks like they haven't finished the front off. And where's my flat-panel iMac?
It seems they've painted themselves into a bit of a corner with their fancy stylings these days, in that whenever they release a new machine I just check to see if it looks any good and barely glance at the specs. Surely there's only so many shapes and configurations that can be practical. Besides, it seems a touch odd to be releasing hardware that mainly appeals to one audience on looks while releasing software that mainly appeals to an entirely different market on internals.
Though, I suppose that's the whole idea.
While I'm on the subject of Apple, OS X v10.1 (how clumsy is that?) is due in September, and by the looks of the preview page they've finally fixed a lot of stuff they should have had down in the first place. For instance; a movable dock, a genie replacement, some finder tweaks and all the DVD you can eat.
Secrets Of Sonic The Hedgehog provides an interesting way to while away 5 minutes. Detailing "Deleted Scenes" and dropped ideas from the Sonic series of games, it provides an interesting if somewhat nerdy view into how the series developed..
Tendobox's Galloping Gaijin column comments on the Gameboy Advance's "Killer App" a week before its Japanese release. Get the full lowdown on what Famitsu thought of this handheld update to one of the all time gaming classics..
Christophe Thibault has released version 0.1 of MAME for DC. For those of you in the dark the Multi Arcade Machine Emulator allows you to play the arcade games of your youth on the computer system of your choice. This Dreamcast version only supports a few games at the moment, but keep checking back for updates..
Christophe's page links to James Surine's Mamed site, James is also working on a DC version of MAME. Check out MAME and Doom running on a Kodak Digital Camera while you're there too..
Tendobox has a story about Sega and Nintendo working together to provide an online gaming network for Gamecube, details of which they expect to be revealed at Spaceworld..
The demise of Company Flow left a sizeable hole in hip-hop, but that hole is now well on it's way to being filled with the birth of El-Producto's DefJux label. Figurehead signing Cannibal Ox have just released their debut album, Cold Vein. Rappers Vordul and Vast Aire carry on the vocal stylings carved out by the Co.Flow MCs, while El-P's production brings the Funcrusher flavour.
Also watch out for releases from label-mates, Mr.Lif and RJD2, and the DefJux sampler featuring the last tracks recorded by the one-album-wonder that was Company Flow. (Just be thankful it was a double..)
Tron was an under performer at the box office on its release. Like many cult classics though with hindsight it can be appreciated in a different light. Pre-dating Gibson's Neuromancer by 2 years, Tron tells the tale of hackers battling inside a computer system to free it from the control of a meglomaniacal corporation with an AI behind them.. Sound familiar? Writer and Director Steven Lisberger, along with artisitc help from the likes of Moebius and Syd Mead, produced a Sci-Fi classic. VFXpro have a good article entitled Tron Revisited which takes an indepth look behind the scenes of its making. Steven Lisberger is currently reported to be working on Tron 2.0 for Disney, lets hope it lives up to the standards set by its forebear..
If this sort of thing takes your fancy then Gamewallpaper.com has a huge selection of gaming related desktops for download. A lot of them are pretty cheesy but some of the Japanese ones are quite nice..
The LA Times has a weird/interesting interview with Shigeru Miyamoto. Instead of grilling him on game design or Nintendo they delve into what gadgets he owns..
I like his sly "my kids don't ask me to buy Sony" dig..
Bjork is back with her finest work yet. Her new Album "Vespertine" is due for release on August 28th. The Japanese version is already out though and can be picked up on import. Vespertine sees a shift of direction for Bjork, gone are her previous pop trimmings and in their place comes a darker, harder electronic edge that was hinted at on "Homogenic" . Matmos have done a fine job, adding minimal techno rhythms under Bjorks tragically beautiful melodies. The influence of Dancer in the Dark can be felt too throughout this album as Bjork delves into a far more mature, painfull, but paradoxically warm and intimate sound. Your average pop fan will see this a step backwards, but this album pushes Bjork over a creative barrier. She has always tried to maintain a pop outlook while her own musical tastes lie more to the avante garde. Vespertine sees her cast off these pop allusions as she ploughs straight towards her own musical influences and contemporaries. I can't recommend this album highly enough. Bjork has come of age and it is a privilege to be here to see it..
IGN is reporting that one of the most anticipated Gamecube titles may be in big trouble. Lets hope Nintendo take firm control of the project before the Gamecube loses one of the potential jewels in its crown..
Square are to release 2 DVD versions of Final Fantasy The Spirits Within. The first will be a full blown SE version of the movie. The second however is a PS2 edition with game elements built into the movie. Lets hope its a bit more advanced than your standard Dragons Lair fare..
There's a new Squarepusher cd on the shelves (Go Plastic). And according to the (annoyingly difficult to link to) warprecords site: "the new Aphex Twin 30 track double album 'drukqs' was mastered last week in London." Life is sweet...
Tendobox have a cool trick you can perform with your Gameboy Advance. Lets see what damage Nintendo says this one will do to your poor machine :)
VideoSenki have the translation of a dengekionline interview with Tetsuya Mizuguchi about his new game Rez. This game looks truely incredible, mixing shooter and music maker into a new hybrid gameform.
Following on from our Handheld Heroes article, Madrigal Retrogames have downloadable emulators of lots of early handheld systems, PC only though I'm afraid, (just hit the continue link on the first screen)..
Dave Braben and Ian Bell created one of the true milestones of videogames history when they wrote Elite. Elite was, and still is, one of the most emersive and atmospheric gaming experiences you could ever have. From the early days on the BBC through numerous incarnations on other platforms Elite's innovations have captured the hearts of gamers and although some have tried no one has yet recaptured that incredible sense of open ended freeform game design. The open source Galileo Project is an attempt to do just that, only this time the developers are trying to create a fully breathing online multi-player universe..
You can play the original game here through your web browser..
And you can buy the T-Shirt here..
Camelot's Golden Sun for Gameboy Advance is looking stunning, due for an english language release in October of this year, it looks ready to set the standard for handheld RPG's. Gaming Age have just got hold of some amazing new screens, you can check them out here..
Gaming bible EDGE reaches its hundredth issue this month. To celebrate Shigeru Miyamoto has designed the cover art for them. The anniversary issue hits the stores on July 13th..
Missingmatter has a Q&A with battle-scarred veteran of games design Tom Sloper. It's not a name I've come across before, but a quick look round his site should give you some idea of the extent of his resume. And as a pure designer with no background in programming he has an interesting, non-technical take on the industry.
Got a Dreamcast Boot CD? Want a free Broccoli game? Get yourself over to Freeweb Japan and download Dejiko no Minesweeper...
Swirlvision have some nice screens of the hidden level in Sonic Adventure 2 for DC. Collect all 180 emblems and you can visit a fully realised 3D version of the Green Hills zone from the original Genesis/Megadrive version of Sonic..
Tendo Box have a funny excerpt from an interview with Nintendo's Peter Main, where he reveals that the big N are laughing their little cotton socks off at Microsoft's development strategies..
IGN have an interview with Hong Kong movie legend and one time John Woo collaborator Tsui Hark.
1999's American Movie blew Mark Borchardt to superstardom, but fame is a fickle mistress and he soon disappeared from the public gaze. This hero of the trailer park hasn't been resting on his laurels though, and has been busy fighting his own guerrilla war, turning his back on Hollywood and a quick buck in favour of artistic integrity. Along with sidekick Mike Schank he puts out a regular cable TV show, appears at film festivals, and has recently acted in Jet Li movie "The One". Keep up the good fight Mark..
It looks like the portable Atari 2600 will soon have some competition with this emulator for the gameboy advance
Visit the archive if you wish to skip merrily through time in a devil may care fashion.
