Just received something in the post from Ubisoft’s Montreal Studios. It was a parcel accompanied by a letter, which reads:

Mr. Jordan Grant,

You have been recognized as a credible gaming journalist by UbiSoft’s Marketing Department of Canada. As a result, you will find enclosed in this parcel two copies of the upcoming Nintendo DS release title LostMagic.

Use the second copy with another of your organization and provide a hands-on review of single player and multiplayer functionality. The Nintendo Wi-Fi service will begin functioning for this game as of April 1st, 2006, so you can also experiment with the online gameplay of this title as well.

Bear in mind that this is a hands-on title strictly for the use of your company with the intent to review. Your company is not allowed to resell or distribute this copy of the game before or after the official North American launch date of April 18, 2006.

We look forward to your review, and working with you in the future.

Laurent Detoc
Executive Director, North America
5505 boul Saint-Laurent
Suite 5000
Montreal H2T 1S6, Quebec
Tel: +1 (514) 490 2000
Fax: +1 (514) 490 0882

The letter, needless to say, has shocked me. Although, I am excited to begin playing the game two and a half weeks early. So far, it is quite good, but I wont go into further details until I’ve finished and I write my full “hands-on” review.

So, the question is, who do I give the second copy to?

It seems that I am not the only one who dislikes the Universal Media Disc format that Sony rather unwisely chose to implement into their Sony PSP - and nothing else.

Many Hollywood studios are pulling out of the format in part or entirely, and major retailers like Wal Mart are also beginning to reduce the amount of shelf space that these discs are given. Zellers, on the other hand, has actually increased the space UMDs are allocated as of February 2006.

The floundering format is dying out for movie releases, but Sony does have hope for the little disc format that could. They have alluded to possible functionality with next-generation hardware. So, in the future, we could be using UMDs on a television through a PSP-TV hookup, or - perhaps - backwards compatibility available through the Playstation 3.

For whatever reason, some people are intrigued by this possibility. I - on the other hand - find this to bring about the question: Why keep the format at all?

The fact of the matter is, most people are content at simply finding movies through other - possibly illegitimate - avenues and playing them off of their memory stick. So, here is the question: Why doesn’t Sony simply establish an iTunes-like download service for movies? Download the file onto your computer. Drag and drop it onto your PSP. It is safe and sound. If the encryption is good enough, then they will not even be able to be ripped, as there is no analog video output on the PSP.

Call me crazy, but I think a Sony Video Service would work wonders for the PSP, and revitalize their dying little portable.

Alright. So, I’m sick of bullshit wireless router difficulties and all that crap, so I go out and purchase a 35 dollar Nintendo Wi-Fi Connector. I come home, and follow the directions. Install the software. Connect your DS. Authenticate. Be happy.

The damn piece of shit still doesn’t connect. It says there is likely some difficulty with my firewall. So, I personally go and deactivate every shred of security ever installed on the system. What happens? Sweet dick all. The damn thing still wont work. How can Nintendo make a product to connect to WiFi that only works some of the time, if at all? I mean…I’ve been patient. I’ve tried again and again and again to get this fucking thing working and it keeps kicking me in the balls. I’m sick, tired, I’ve got nothing to do now that I’m dropping law, and all I fucking wanted was to pile some fucking Tetriminos onto some poor guys screen. But fucking no!

Fuck Fuck Fuck.

I hate when things don’t work after I buy them at Zellers. I feel so awkward returning them.

Apparently, the Nintendo Revolution is going to save games on SD Memory Cards and any USB Storage Device (pocket drives, external hard drives, thumb drives, etc). Sounds pretty interesting, especially since it really opens up the possibility of already owning your Revolution’s memory card, and having other uses if you don’t have a lot of games.

Source

Also, check out the Rev’s specs

Source

At first, I wondered how the developers at Nintendo would be able to fit so much game into such a small cartridge. What would be cut back? Would the game shine like it’s Gamecube relatives?

To compare Metroid Prime Hunters to the Gamecube entries in the series would be unfair. They are completely different games. The two Gamecube titles stress exploration and routine puzzle solving, and stress more on finding upgrades of various types and using them to explore further. The gunplay aspect of the Gamecube games is muted due to the inclusion of an auto-targeting system and only four unique beam weapons.

Metroid Prime Hunters - on the other hand - stresses gunplay over all else. The game features eight unique weapons (including the missile launcher), and stresses shooting accuracy over all else. Frequent encounters with the other six bounty hunters of the series require you to duke it out in a battle of whomever can fire best and fastest.

In Hunters, the puzzle element is extremely lacking. The morph ball puzzles of earlier games were almost entirely absent, and any other puzzles merely consisted of finding something and scanning it. Strangely, despite the absence of puzzles and riddles to solve, there were still an incredibly large amount of Logbook Scans. Due to my ineptness at scanning every single object, I have only managed to complete the game with a measly 66% as of this review. As a result, I did not even get to encounter the second phase of the final boss (how embarassing).

One of the other drawbacks of this game is that the expansive overworld has been replaced by five detached planet areas. Due to this change, the setting is less engrossing than the console versions, which - by the end - has such a uniform and cohesive existence that it feels real. Furthermore, the expansive overworld of the console versions provides multiple ways to approach objectives, whereas the worlds in Hunters are disturbingly linear.

Despite several drawbacks, Metroid Prime Hunters has a decent single player with plenty of challenging points. However, the best part of this game is, without a doubt, the multiplayer modes. With a wide variety of maps, seven game types, seven different hunters AND the ability to use bots, Metroid Prime Hunters is easily the greatest multiplayer game for the DS to date.

The seven hunters are each unique, offering different character sizes, styles, and - most importantly, morph ball forms. Trace’s alternate form is a three-legged spider who can cloak if he stops moving. Weavel seperates into two pieces: an autoturret and a sword-wielding torso. Spire becomes a heated ball of magma that is extremely large and devestating.

With the seven diverse hunters come seven diverse weapon types, including some grenade launchers, a weapon that shoots lightning bolts, and my favourite - the sniper rifle known as The Imperialist. Unprecedented levels of fun are sure to follow when you’re playing as Trace and getting headshots on all the “n00bs” with your Imperialist.
Unfortunately - to no fault of the game - I am unable to take the multiplayer experience into the online arena. Perhaps, after tweaking the router or buying a Nintendo WiFi DS Adapter, I may be able to truly experience the frenzy of multiplayer Metroid.

If you have not bought this game, but you own a DS, run to a store and fork over the cash or else you will regret it.

RATING: 9.4/10

…as any fan of Rare and Nintendo’s former union might have reacted upon reading this.

It seems that the editor from IGNRevolution had a brief sit down with representatives of Microsoft and Rare while he was attending the Game Developers Conference last week, and he learned of some startling news.

No Rare licensed games will be available on Nintendo’s virtual console. As a result, a whole new generation of gamers will be deprived of Banjo-Kazooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Goldeneye 007 and - tragically - Perfect Dark. And I want to shove my fist through someone’s face when I think about no one being able to play Battletoads!

A lot of Rare’s early works with Nintendo were immensely successful and extremely popular due to the fact that they were solid games. However, no one else will be able to experience that unless they dig up a used N64 and equip themselves with the means to replace cartridge batteries after a few decades have worn them out.

R.I.P. Rare Titles.

That spiny devil known as Microsoft has corrupted your good name.

I really, really, pray that this is entirely false.