Thursday, February 28, 2008

Wii steamrolls the "competition"

This is getting ridiculous. The Wii is outselling the PS3 4-1 in Japan; the land of video games. And Nintendo makes cold hard cash on every box it sells. Super Smash Bros has already moved 1.33 million discs in Japan and has helped spur console sales. Looks like the little white box is going to continue to dominate this year and most likely for this entire generation! Better luck with the PS4 Sony. You're going to need it.

Mario Kart Wii Press Release

Nintendo UK posted a press release that gives us some new information on the upcoming Mario Kart Wii.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Now I don't want to go off on a rant but...

Honestly, I can't stand buying games at bricks and mortar stores. I prefer to buy them online from Amazon or eBay. Today I broke and bought a used game at EB Games.

I saw a copy of The Legend of the Zelda: The Minish Cap I checked my receipt and noticed the following line: "You saved 10.00 buying pre-Played!" What does that even mean? The Minish Cap went out of print like five years ago! Does this mean they still have new copies in stock? I could have bought it new in the box instead of just the cart? Or are they saving price lists from 1999 so that they can tell you how much you saved? That wouldn't make sense either though because wouldn't they have to adjust the prices to today's dollars?

Gimme a break EB. It's a used game. You gouged me on it. I know that. You know that. Let's not play around and pretend I saved all this cash because I bought used.

The Animal Crossing World Atlas

Hello Leave luck to us fans, and welcome to another one of my commentaries.

Some of you might be interested in the details of Animal Crossing outside of your own town. I'm about to try and explain to you my theory about the layout of the world of Animal Crossing Wild World.

Other Towns

- There are many towns in the world of Animal Crossing. This can be proved by leaving your own Town Gate and entering somebody else's town via wii fi or ds to ds connectivity. So assuming that Earth's population in February 2008 is approx 6.65 billion(correct me if this # is incorrect, i'm just taking an educated guess) then technically it is possible to make a Nintendo DS and an AC game for each person in the world, which would mean that there can be at least 6.65 billion towns in the world of Animal Crossing Wild World.

Are All These Different Towns Found On One Globe?

- No. Originally i thought Yes but i have since changed my thoughts on this. It would be virtually impossible to travel to a town on the other side of the globe in the alotted time. By foot or even by car.

I believe that each AC game cart contains one globe. While each of these globes are situated in a common space. Each of these globes are connected by a common thread or path or shall i say tunnel or like the geeks would describe as a worm hole of sorts. The entrance to this tunnel would be your gate. The tunnel appears to be in the form of a path with sky, earth, grass, trees, air. Your regular outdoors. If you open your gate, you can see a bit of path leading out. It is also real bright when you open your gate. This would mean that there is some sort of strong activity upon exiting your gate. Be it electrical or whatever. But this is only temporary since there is no overly bright energy when you're cabbing it to your town through this tunnel when you first begin playing AC.
Time in this tunnel works differently than in our real world. If i wanted to visit a town far away from mine it would take only moments.

Are the Gates The Only Route To Another Town?

-No. Technically yes. But if you were permitted to swim i believe that you could swim from town to town. This would mean that the ocean flows from a town through the tunnel mentioned earlier and into the next town. How else could you explain throwing a message bottle into the ocean and the same bottle ending up in somebody else's town.

Boondox

-Now let's talk about the Boondox. Described as a town where the villagers eat dirt. The name Boondox probably originated from the words, Boon Docks. Boon Docks can be another name for Hinterlands, meaning the inland region behind a port. Boon Docks is a brush covered regionwhich is rural where it's citizens are considered "backward" people.
My theory is this. The town of Boondox was a port town at one time. This town was used to ship it's natural resources until these resources had been depleted and nothing was left for it's citizens. The Boondox must be an Island where it's citizens cannot leave. Swimming wouldn't be an option since the town is described as being located in the far North. Hypothermia would set in before you could even near a town. Or you would die of swimmer's fatigue. Since Boondox is described as being far North would mean that the ocean in our town would be situated to the North.
This would mean that the town Gate would be situated to the South.

The Big City

- The Big City that Tom Nook keeps talkin about must be set somewhere to the South of your town since North is the ocean, everyone's town sits on the same ocean horizontally or side by side means that the Big City can't be East or West. This leaves us with South and South West because......

Saharra The Camel

- Saharra claims she is from a far away country. We know turbins are a common piece of clothing in her country as described by her. Since she's a camel, i suspect her country is located in a hot region. My guess would be the Far South(South being hot). In our world the middle east has turbins and camels and is very hot. Therefore i theorize that Saharra's country is located in the South East. this would mean that tom nook's big city is located South or South West. A good estimate would be a comfortble South West.

In The End

- i hope to write more on this topic. But right now i'm super tired and want to post this thing. Remember this is only a theory of mine. I hope this article has excercised your imagination and you don't just think of Animal crossing as a little town with a couple of stores.
If you have other theories of your own surrounding this topic and have a chunk of time to waste, please share with us.

Until next time,
peace

Vanilla.

Nintendo's top 100 NES games playable in your browser.

Get your daily dose of Nintendo nostalgia : Super Mario Brothers, Super Mario Brothers 3, Ninja Turtles 2, Tetris, Zelda, Double Dragon, ExciteBike, Off Road and many more.

read more | digg story

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Linux runs natively on the Wii

"And last but not least, we have finally run natively Linux on the Nintendo Wii through Team Tweezers' twilight-hack (http://wiibrew.org/index.php?title=Twilight_Hack). We have released a small usbgecko-enabled Proof of Concept mini-distro to prove it." It still needs drivers for the fancy Wii hardware...but regardless, it's Wii Linux.

read more | digg story

Monday, February 25, 2008

Phil Harrison resigns from SCE!

It pains me to report on what appears to be a Sony story here on this fortress of Nintendomania but this story has everything to do with Nintendo in a roundabout way. Phil Harrison, President of Sony Computer Entertainment (what the suits call the GayStation brand) has resigned. No doubt his bleeding ulcer--aggravated by the avalanche of Wii successes--is no longer manageable without daily care from Ken Kutaragi's soft man hands. Hopefully Phil can spend some time playing turds like Lair on his BS3. Time to throw PlayStation onto the pile of consoles destroyed by the Nintendo war machine! NOW YOU'RE PLAYING WITH POWER!

Puzzle Quest will have a sequel

I have to admit that this is the first I'm hearing about a Puzzle Quest sequel. But to be fair, it looks like D3 was hiding this title under the name "Galactrix." Only recently have they revealed the full title of the cart: "Puzzle Quest: Galactrix." Puzzle Quest is a beautifully addictive piece of software and I await Galactrix's release later this year with bated breath. If you don't have Puzzle Quest in your library yet, now's a great time; you can find it for as low as $19.99 new.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Animal Crossing's Wishy the Star

Okay, so for all you Animal Crossing Wild World fans.
I've run into a number of people who don't know about Wishy the Star.
Talk about Make a Wish Foundation. This plan beats it hands down. This is a great way to get free presents. I don't know the time frame but in my experience approxiametly 12:30am- 1:30am-ish. Last day this happened was Friday in the A.M. There's a curious sound while a star streaks across the sky. That little freak is Wishy. This all happens pretty damn fast. When you do notice this, with your stylus tap your character. I always poke around his forehead. You have to do this before the star disappears. You know you have accomplished making-a-wish if you see your character bow his/her head and fold his hands together, almost like praying.
Then, the next time mail comes, you'll have received a letter packed with a present from Wishy....

"To the wisher, Rev,
I heard a small voice call
to me one lonely night. It
made me happy...so I will
grant your wish! *
From Wishy the Star"

SO yeah, if you want to get free presents and make a star happy,try this. I usually see the star streak at least 4 times at a few minutes intervals. I've received presents such as Dracaenas, fine painting, and a few other things.
Try it and have fun.
Peace,
Vanilla

C64 games coming to Wii's Virtual Console

Just when you think all of your nostalgic fantasies have all been fulfilled, along comes Nintendo with a little extra joy for your retro heart. That "little extra" in this case happens to be Commodore 64 games for your Wii. Wow! I peed in my pants a little. Four player M.U.L.E?

read more | digg story

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Unexpected Things

"What if, on a crowded street, you look up and see something appear that should not, given what we know, be there. You either shake your head and dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than we think. Perhaps it really is a doorway to another place. If you choose to go inside you may find many unexpected things." S. Miyamoto

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Wii Ware and Wii Fit dated for May

According to the Wall Street Journal, Nintendo will officially announce the U.S. release dates for both Wii Ware and Wii Fit today. Wii Ware to launch on May 12th and Wii Fit to launch in US on May 19th.

read more | digg story

Use your Wii as a Media Center

You can finally ditch that X-Box for good because with Orb you can use your Wii as a media center. I mean if you're into that sort of thing. Personally, I use my gaming console for gaming.

Slick teaser for Trackmania DS



Take a peep at this slick looking trailer for Trackmania DS and wipe the drool from your chin.

IGN takes a look at Arkanoid DS

Seems that the included paddle hardware is top-notch gaming gear but the game itself could be a bit better. Come on Taito; release this over here. I'd love to see how homebrewers would make use of the paddle.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

OBJECTION!

I've been so busy with AC, Advance Wars, and Professor Layton that the new Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney has found itself flying under my radar. This is a must buy for fans of the game. Personally, I'm going to hold off a bit. I've the first three but have only played one so far. Too many games, not enough time.

Mario Kart - Latest info & 19 new screens.

New characters, tracks and online information.

read more | digg story

One-Handed Wiimote and Nunchuk Helps the Disabled Play

Problem: Ryan Culy's friend, due to a physical disability, can only use one hand and wants to play Wii. Solution: Ryan mods the nunchuk into the chassis of the Wiimote.

read more | digg story

Monday, February 18, 2008

Stalk Market Analysis Update

Restate my assumptions: One, Mathematics is the language of nature. Two, Everything around us can be represented and understood through numbers. Three: If you graph the numbers of any system, patterns emerge. Therefore, there are patterns everywhere in nature. Evidence: The cycling of disease epidemics; the wax and wane of caribou populations; sun spot cycles; the rise and fall of the Nile. So, what about the stock market? The universe of numbers that represents the global economy. Millions of hands at work, billions of minds. A vast network, screaming with life. An organism. A natural organism. My hypothesis: Within the stock market, there is a pattern as well... Right in front of me... hiding behind the numbers. Always has been. --Maximilian Cohen in Pi

Ever see the movie Pi? It's an intriguing flick about a compulsive-obsessive computer nerd who's trying to figure out the hidden algorithm that he believes describes the stock market.

That's what I'm trying to do with the Stalk Market but I admit that it's starting to look as Herculean a task as figuring out the chaos math behind tornadoes.

At first, I was convinced it was a random number generator but now it appears that the Stalk Market isn’t quite as random as I originally thought. As evidence, look at the two week pattern that emerges between January 21st and February 4th.

Maybe it’s based on in game events that the player is generating. For example, during that two week span I did write fewer letters to my animal pals. But then again, if that were the sole determinant my turnip prices should have bottomed out for at least a third week.

So my best guess now is a pseudo-random seed generated from a table and that is built upon by in-game random number inputs. So kind of like a draft lottery: you start with so many balls but everyone ends up with a chance at first or last pick in any given round.

At any rate, we’ll need more data to analyze. Once I have a year’s worth of figures we should be able to use pattern modeling in order to predict the estimated price of turnips. Don't forget, the data is always available from the link in the sidebar. Or just bookmark this link.

If you’ve read this far then I guess I owe you a little more than “what-ifs” and “maybes.” So here are some tips about making money in Animal Crossing: Wild World that should hold you over until next year when we crack the Stalk Market.


You want to make a lot of money?

Don't listen to Tom Vu! He's a loser! There are three main ways to make money in Wild World:Fishing, Fruit, and Turnips. When you’re starting out the best way to earn money is by fishing. You can easily bring 10k bell batches of fish to Tom’s every half an hour to an hour. It is extremely time consuming but quite lucrative and your only overhead is a fishing rod.

  1. When you’re starting out the best way to earn money is by fishing. You can easily bring 10k bell batches of fish to Tom’s every half an hour to an hour. It is extremely time consuming but quite lucrative and your only overhead is a fishing rod.

  1. While you’re earning your days fishing start building up your fruit orchards. Selling non-native fruit to Tom can bring you upwards of 200k bells every three days. Once you start selling fruit you’ll only pick up a rod in order to complete your fish collection. To get started in fruit dealing, replace all your native fruit trees with non-native ones. So if your town started with apples, cut down your apple trees and non-fruit bearing trees and dig up the stumps. Plant pears, peaches, or oranges in those holes. You do that because a tree is guaranteed to grow where one was growing before. If you don’t have the non-native fruits yet visit a friend’s town to find them or make it real easy on yourself and just mail your native fruits to the animals in your town. They’ll send you non-native fruits you can plant. Once you get a couple of trees you can pick its fruit and plant those. Continue until you’re swimming in non-native fruit trees. Every three days you’ll have to spend a couple of hours harvesting your fruit but your bank account balance will skyrocket.

  1. Once you’ve built up your bankroll a bit you can start trading turnips. The stalk market has the best potential to make you rich. You’ll need some space to warehouse your turnips too. I wouldn’t start with less than 100k bells and a two-room house. Once you’re ready, find Joan the Turnip Trader. She arrives in your town every Sunday between 6am and noon. Whatever her price, buy all the turnips you can afford. It’ll take you a few trips between Joan and you house so you can drop off the turnips. Starting Monday morning, Tom Nook will quote you a price at which he’s buying turnips. His price changes at noon. So everyday you have two chances to sell your turnips at a profit. Once his price is higher than what you bought at—even if it’s only a bell—sell all your turnips. Don’t wait for a higher price; the risk is too high. The turnips all go bad Saturday night so you can only hold onto them for a week. Sell them by Saturday night because losing some or most of your money is still better than losing all of it. Of course, if you’ve got a friend who’s playing or can find one on Nintendo Wifi then you have a much better chance of making money. If Tom isn’t offering a good price in your town you may find he’s offering a great price in another. The only pain is the number of trips it’ll take you through the gates to get your turnips to another town. Personally, I buy over 10k turnips a week and have never lost money. Just this week I bought 1.5 million bells worth of the tasty treats and sold them this morning for a 100k bell profit. Not the best margin on my money but it’s possible to earn 500% on your investment quite easily.

By using these methods I’ve paid off my entire mortgage, started sending donations to Boondox, increased my catalogue significantly—I can buy anything I want without even thinking about it—and even hired people to harvest my fruit for me. ( I pay 50k bells to pick all my trees clean.) All this in only a couple of months. Remember: fish, fruit, turnips. In that order. If you’re just starting out and don’t even have a fishing rod yet there are some other ways you can make a little coin to get yourself started: shake trees, mail junk to your little animal friends and sell what they send you, find the money rock and hit it with a shovel, catch and sell bugs, pick up shells, do chores for your pals, and raid the lost and found and recycling bin for cash. But once you have enough to buy a fishing rod hit the beach and starting pulling in those bells. Use those to set up your orchards, and then get into the turnip game as soon as you can. You’ll be sitting on a pile of bells in no time.

Panasonic preps Wiimote-proof TV

If you still don't trust that the new Wii straps work, or you don't like to use them, Panasonic has designed a plasma TV which it reckons will withstand the force of a fiercely flung Wii Remote. The TV’s display surface can absorb a hit packing up to four Joules of kinetic energy, thanks to a special transparent coating sprayed on the screen.

read more | digg story

Another love simulation academy game from Japan

Girl's Side Second Season looks to be another dating sim from the land of the rising sun. The twist here is, as the game's title suggests, that it's aimed at girls instead of guys. Must be selling since this seems to be a sequel.

The evolutions of Mario, Link, and Donkey

From 8-bit to the Wii, how Mario and friends have changed their looks over the last quarter century.

The Brawl to end them all!

Nintendo of Canada will be holding Super Smash Bros Brawl tournaments nationwide at select EB Games locations. The last man standing tournament offers a grand prize of a trip for two to the Nintendo World Store in New York City. Sign up begins March 9th. CAN YOU DIG IT?

Friday, February 15, 2008

Professor Layton: Playing through


Professor Layton and the Curious Village was released on February 10th.

I didn't follow my own advice: I didn't pre-order. Fortunately though I did manage to snag a copy on Sunday fresh from the box. Unfortunately, I found I had paid $5 too much and returned it. Come on, five bucks is five bucks. I'd rather the game and a pizza instead of just the game. Am I right? I bought it the next day at another store. My point here is that it was a circuitous route that I took to get my game but get it I did.

Was it worth it? Yes, but the game isn't without a couple of flaws.

The game is perfect from an artistic viewpoint: the 2D cell-shaded figures are eye candy and hurdy-gurdy music creates the perfect atmosphere. The presentation is very cinematic and you'll feel like you're watching an anime during the cutscenes. And the localization team did a remarkable job. Almost too good; no engrish here. Charming describes this title perfectly. Beautiful looking game from top to bottom.

The meat of the game is the puzzles. How are those?

Most of the puzzles I've found are very interesting and really got me thinking. I love digging up new ones. A couple of the puzzles I've encountered so far have some problems. For example, a matchstick puzzle that I found fairly straightforward would not accept my correct answer because the matchsticks were not placed exactly where the computer was expecting them. At that point I have to spend hint coins trying to figure out how I can better place the matchsticks so I can salvage some Picarats. Some of the puzzles I've found too easy and some are near impossible without a math degree. The game does allow you to use the touchscreen as a scratch pad on most (but not all) puzzles. And the background art on the bottom screen makes it hard to see what you're writing. An option for a blank slate would have been welcome for some of the puzzles where I need to use a little algebra.

The problems though are small and I found myself overlooking them.

What we have is very original game that looks great, plays great, and has one or two minor flaws.I stand by the strong buy rating on this game. Grab a copy now if you haven't already so you'll know what the rest of us are talking about. Buy.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Professor Layton and the Perpetual Torment?

Pretty funny Professor Layton comic featured on Penny Arcade. I lolled. (NSFW language.)

Problems With Time Travel In Animal Crossing Wild World

For all you Nibblets who like to cheat in the game Animal Crossing Wild World by way of time travel. A friend of mine online has provided me with the dangers of doing such an idiotic maneuver. Reminds me of sonyfanboys.

Problem #1 All turnips will rot.
Problem #2 The following Sunday Joan won't sell ya any red turnip seeds.
Problem #3 Playstation 3 and XBox suck.
Problem #4 Some of the tasks in the game will never be able to be completed. For example if there's a lost kitten in your town and you time travel, the kitten will be lost for good (vanish). The town where the mom cat is, is where mom will remain. Looking for her baby for all of eternity.Crying, praying for the safe return of her kitten to no avail. All that crying, what a racket.
Problem #5 Tom Nook won't give you more than 99 bells a day for turnips.

So be forewarned by your friendly neighbourhood Assassin. Keep me in mind if you're thinking about cheating. Your ying and yang or whatever won't balance out. Everything bad gets punished somehow.

Peace
V.A.

Nutjob reviews Super Smash Bros for N64

I'm sure the guy who wrote this is kicking himself right now.

read more | digg story

Monday, February 11, 2008

Time for Frank to lose some weight.

In a news release, Ubisoft announces My Weight Loss Coach for the DS. Dropping this summer, My Weight Loss Coach will include a pedometer that uploads data to the DS. Check out what DS Fanboy has to say on this story. They've also got some intriguing screens.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

After School Boy screens entice

Pray to the Nintengods that we'll see Konami's After School Boy hit our shores this year. This Japan-only title has me itching to play it based on nothing but these images. The good news is that we may get our wish because there is considerable buzz building around this card. Looks a little like Dynamix's The Adventures of Willy Beamish but with much improved art.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Best Theme Tune of all Time

Hey, hey Nintendo Nation.
Vanilla here again. I still have my cold so pardon my spelling mistakes and all that junk. This cold is totally giving me nightmares. Just last night i dreamt that i was forced to play Xbox 360. I woke up in a cold sweat.
Anyway, today i wanna talk to y'all about a component within one of the best games ever made.
Most people don't quite appreciate music in a game. F-zero for the Super Famicom is definately in my top three games of all time. My favourite board or level in a game would be Red Canyon which is found in F-zero and it's theme tune is my favourite tune of all time. Red Canyon is a fast paced, crazy curvy board with kickass jumps and a funky little beat.
I have all but fond memories of this board and tune. Check it out.

Super Nintendo, Best Console ever? NAH!




There are those who say that the Super Nintendo was the best console ever made. I disagree. In general I say who gives a damn about graphics when pure fun eminates from a game. Yes Super Nint had the fun factor goin on and it also had the graphics part which was a bonus. SO since Snes had the fun factor and the graphics i have to start factoring in the aesthetics. This is where the Snes bombed. The console looked boring. Blue and grey? or was it blue and white? Or was it of a purple hue? All i know is it was boring looking. This is where my choice for best console beats the SNES.



Back before gamers had no idea what a snes was i imported a console by the name of Super Famicom. The Japanese older, better looking twin brother of the SNES.
What an elegant clown on "e" is to a depressed goth poet is what the Famicom was to the Super Nintendo.
Grey, white, yellow, red, blue, green. The famicom had colours coming out of it's AC jack.
The carts weren't a boring old rectangle shape but rather a sleek, slightly curved rectangle. I guess it wouldn't be a rectangle anymore.
The one problem i had with the Fami was that the cord on the controller was only like a couple of feet long. So you didn't have much room to yank at the cord when something bit Mario's ass.
The box which the sytem came in was also aesthetically better looking than the Snes box. Simple yet colourful.
At this moment i'm writing with a terrible cold. My head feels like it's going to explode, so i have no idea how to conclude this article. I guess i'll just say that my pick for best console ever is the Nintendo Famicom.
Peace





Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Scientists Glue Wii Remote Parts to Flying Lemurs

A Royal Veterinary College researcher investigating how the flying lemur "flies" has come up with a novel source of accelerometers: Nintendo Wii Remotes. Andrew Spence designed a tiny colugo-sized backback for his animals to wear that helped him determine what sorts of forces were in play when a flying lemur glided from tree to tree. I'd love to have the research proposal that Spence submitted to his professors: "I intend to glue Nintendo game controllers to small squirrels and then toss them from tall buildings."

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

'Wiiitis' pain may be badge of honor to Nintendo gamers

We've all read about 'winjuries' before but it looks like they're starting to clog up the doctor's office more often as of late. Interestingly, Nintendophiles don't seem to mind; instead they regard their injuries as a badge of honor. And why not? It's hardcore when you can get hurt playing a video game. When's the last time you got a bloody lip while playing Halo or accidentally put your hand through a glass table while playing your PS3? With a Wii, these are actual risks.

If you experience a winjury, doctors recommend treating it like a sports injury: anti-inflammatory medication, and plenty of ice.

So anyone out there have any war stories to tell about getting hurt playing Wii?

Get your pre-orders in for Professor Layton

Hey Nintendophiles! Five day warning: Professor Layton and the Curious Village drops on February 10th. If you don't have your pre-order in already then get yourself down to your local gaming shop. This one is a guaranteed buy! You heard it from me so you know it's gotta be true!

Nintendo: Like a rock



C|net included the Gameboy in its list of bombproof gadgets. I agree the original Gameboy was built like a tank. Mine went through a lot of abuse but kept on ticking until the LCD screen started to bleed. Columns would turn black starting from the outside in. After a while I couldn't even see what was happening on the screen. The end came after an unsuccessful autopsy. I used to love taking apart electronics when I was a kid.

Anyhow, I remember during my visit to the Nintendo World Store at 30 Rock seeing this display of a Gameboy that survived a bomb blast during Gulf Storm I. And yes, it still played! (Photo Credit: Spike55151)

Okay, so the Gameboy was a monster but I'll say this for the DS; it may not feel as solidly built as the GB but I've somehow managed to drop my DS far more often than I ever did my GB and my DS has come through scratchless!

Anyone else have a story about the durability of Nintendo's products?

Friday, February 1, 2008

SSBB sells half a million units in one day.

Super Smash Bros Brawl is one of the hottest titles ever released in Japan. Half a million copies flew off store shelves representing 80% of all the stock that currently exists. Sales of Gamecube controllers also spiked sharply due to Japanese gamers picking up the classic gamepads with which to play SSBB. Play-Asia, the hip video game importer, complained that Nintendo cut its order leaving it with only enough copies to supply 16% of its preorders. Nintendo was forced to cut orders due to overwhelming demand for the title that Famitsu rated 40/40. Interestingly, SSBB is known as Bra Snap X in Japan. Just kidding, but that is how Google Translator tells the story.

Nintendo still King of the heap

Whatever has happened in the video game industry since the NES debuted one thing is certain: Nintendo has always been the industry leader when one examines the balance sheet. The 100 year old gaming company has only once posted a quarterly loss and that was due to currency fluctuations. MS and Sony may have thrown their hats in the ring but their gaming divisions have never made any coin. Even in the dark days of the N64 Nintendo held a license to print money.

Animal Crossing Tasty Recipes. YUM!

Hello Nintendites,
Vanilla here again.

Over the last few years, anything to do with the culinary world has grown faster than a wart on a witch's ass. That's why i'm going to use this website as a tool to help me analyse in closer detail what Animal Crossers like to eat...

Last night Mitzi would have offered me Turkish Coffee and Pear Cake. Problem was she had ran out. Anyway, Turkish Coffee and Pear cake sounded delicious to my belly.

If anybody else has come across meals that their townsfolk like to nibble on, feel free to send it along.

Mitzi's Dish:

Turkish Coffee (see name and variants for other names)
is coffee prepared by boiling finely powdered roast coffee beans in a pot, possibly with sugar, and serving it into a cup, where the dregs settle. It is common throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Caucasus, and the Balkans, and in their expatriate communities and restaurants in the rest of the world.


FRESH PEAR CAKE
4 c. fresh pears, ground or chopped fine2 c. sugar1 c. chopped nuts3 c. flour1/2 tsp. cinnamon or nutmeg1/2 tsp. salt2 tsp. soda1 c. oil1 tsp. vanilla2 eggs, well beaten
Pare and core pears. Mix with sugar and nuts. Let stand for 1 hour. Stir often as mixture makes its own juice. Add dry ingredients to pears. Add oil, vanilla, and eggs. Do not use your beater, stir by hand. Pour into a well greased and floured tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. This cake will keep for a long time if wrapped and stored in the refrigerator. May freeze if desired.

The true value of the Virtual Console

Some nintenfreaks out there are convinced the prices of Virtual Console games are too high. Personally, I've thought they might be a little on the high side but this study from Vintage Computing and Gaming tells a different story. Turns out that if you tried to buy the same titles used that are available on the VC you'd be spending more than twice the cash. So all in all, the VC is a great deal. And no blowing in the carts to get 'em to load.

Rock Band confirmed for Wii

No longer do we have to rely on some blurry type to confirm what we've all been hoping. EA has officially let loose that Rock Band is on its way to the Wii. Still no release date however.

A clueless fellow

We all know the SNES is the greatest console ever made. The only criterion you need to examine is fun factor. This goof here feels we need to factor in the technology behind the systems like CD ROMs and graphics and that sort of nonsense. As a result, he comes up with a cockamamie theory that the PS is the greater console. Please.

Dr Kawashima. He sounds like a Dick to me.

This morning when I woke up. For some strange reason I had to kick my Virtual Boy aside. Why was it in my bed? Anyway I loaded up "Leave Luck To Us" as i do every morning to get my morning dose of Nintendo news. To my surprise I read an article about Dr Kawashima(Brain Age Fame) and how he hasn't made a dime off of his game. How un-greedy of him, I thought. Or was I wrong to think that?
On the surface Dr K not collecting a single Yen off of the game that he had created and donating chunks of coin to research labs, seems all "sunshine and flowers". But if you peel away all that nice stuff you can take a closer look and you might view him as a bit of a dick.
Dr K makes around $100,000.00 a year. Which is fine. But he proclaims that he's a workaholic. His work apparently is his hobby. The article makes it seem as though he's constantly working. How much time does he contribute to his family life? He doesn't let his kids play video games all week, which is fine. Let them keep up with studies. But on the weekend only one hour of console play allowed for his kids? Come on Dr K. You make your kids study like fiends through the week and at the end of the week only one hour? Show some mercy, like an hour and half.
One time when his kids went overtime during gameplay, he broke the disc? In the words of Qbert, UG! I understand a dad breaking a kids game who constantly plays games and screws around not listening to his parents and ditching homework and that sorta thing. But these kids sound like studying machines. Come on, is an hour and ten seconds that bad?
Anyway, I'm glad Nintendo has the man around. He does good work but that's as far as i'll go in praising him.

Peace Ya'll,

V