DCEmu Featured News Articles

Newly released today



features•Invite friends to your farm in multiplayer mode!
•Run your own shop! Choose what to sell, attract customers, and get top dollar for your goods!
•Show off your skills in fun festivals like the horse race and snowboard competition!
•Choose to play as a boy or as a girl!
•Find love, get married, and start a family!
descriptionZephyr Town's bazaar was once the grandest in the world, drawing customers and peddlers from all four corners of the Earth. These days, though, the bazaar has more tumbleweeds than customers. Maybe you can turn its fortunes around! Raise animals, harvest crops, craft rare delicacies, and then sell your wares at your very own shop! Can you bring prosperity back to Zephyr Town?

http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...j-70-3uuy.html ...

This video is a blatant example of having too many high-end toys but we love it anyway. [Robert Stephenson] is controlling a rather awesome-looking hexapod via a Bluetooth connection to his HTC Hero. The app allows on-screen selections to decide which portion of the robot will move as a result of accelerometer data from the handheld. The only thing we saw that was missing is a camera feed to the phone.

But this hack doesn’t stop there. The Hero can be used to host a WiFi network while still connected to the hexapod. The second half of the video shows an iPod Touch connecting via WiFi and controlling the bot. Now head on over to the laser cutter to start that hexapod build, and finish up by getting elbow-deep into some Android development.

http://hackaday.com/2010/08/23/hexap...id-and-iphone/ ...

Halo-inspired Xbox 360? Check. Xbox 360 laptop? Seen it. Xbox 360 fused with a PS3? Yep. A Tony Stark-approved Xbox 360? Thanks to one Zachariah Perry Cruse, we can now add this beaut to the list. This here design student managed to use his summer vacation for a little more than weekend jaunts to Gary, putting an awful lot of blood, sweat and fear into his very own Iron Man Xbox 360. Naturally, it's the older, less slimmer 360 console, complete with a 120GB hard drive and an HDMI socket. There's a video of the LEDs doing their thing after the break, and that eBay link will get you where you need to be if you're a prospective buyer. And let's be honest here -- you are a prospective buyer.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/23/i...right-to-ebay/ ...

The PlayStation mod known as 'PSJailbreak' has apparently seen so much demand that it has sold out.

Shoppsjailbreak (which operates out of the USA) has announced that it has run out of the USB hacking tool, which allows PS3 owners to copy games to the hard drive play the backup games.

The site posted this message earlier today:


***NEWS UPDATE: We are sorry to say that we are currently not accepting sales online for the PS Jailbreak as we are currently out of stock.
We have been informed by ********** that our next shipment of PS Jailbreaks is going to arrive on Monday August 23rd 2010.
Until then, we are only accepting reservations so we can guarantee that we will put a PS Jailbreak aside for you as soon as they come in on Monday, you will then be contacted on Tuesday and asked to place your order online at ***********
In order to get a reservation simply email us at ********
ALL customers who send an email to that address are going to be contacted on Monday when we receive stock, and are GUARANTEED a PS Jailbreak.

Obviously Sony won't be happy about the existence of a PS3 hack. There have been reports that the platform holder will be able to detect those using it.

So far, however, Sony has refused to comment on the matter.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

39 per cent of UK internet users now play online games, making it the most popular form of media consumption in the country, according to a new Ofcom report entitled ‘The Communications Market 2010 (August)'.
That figure is up one per cent on Q1 2009 and takes online gaming ahead of downloading film and music at 38 per cent. For 15-24 year olds the figure for both stands at 55 per cent.
Consoles are also playing an increasingly important role in the modern multimedia-centric UK. Nearly one in ten households that own a console used it to access the BBC iPlayer, which is available on both PS3 and Wii.
In February alone the PS3 accounted for six per cent (4.9m requests) of all iPlayer traffic and the Wii four per cent (3.2m requests). By comparison, seven per cent of requests came from Mac users.
As for additional console usage, 22 per cent of owners use their devices to watch DVDs or Blu-rays while 20 per cent use them for online gaming, 12 per cent for web browsing and five per cent for live AV content.

“Ofcom’s report shows that the popularity of games continues to increase, with downloads of games surpassing that of music and films,” TIGA CEO Richard Wilson stated. “It also shows that consoles are providing a door to the internet.
“The widespread downloading of games also confirms the importance of digital distribution. TIGA’s research shows that on average, 62 per cent the games created by UK developers are online or digital products, as opposed to physical products. TIGA will continue to support developers looking to distribute their games digitally over the coming months.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/40571/Onli...UK-media-usage ...

Tootech recommends an article at the Technology Review about the intensifying struggle between gamers and publishers over intrusive DRM methods, a topic brought once more to the forefront by Ubisoft's decision not to use their controversial always-connected DRM for upcoming RTS RUSE, opting instead for Steamworks. Quoting:
"Ultimately, Schober says, companies are moving toward a model where hackers wouldn't just have to break through protections on a game, they'd also have to crack company servers. The unfortunate consequence, he says, is that it's getting more difficult for legitimate gamers to use and keep the products they buy. But there are alternatives to DRM in the works as well. The IEEE Standards Association, which develops industry standards for a variety of technologies, is working to define 'digital personal property.' The goal, says Paul Sweazey, who heads the organization's working group, is to restore some of the qualities of physical property — making it possible to lend or resell digital property. Sweazey stresses that the group just started meeting, but he explains that the idea is to sell games and other pieces of software in two parts — an encrypted file and a 'play key' that allows it to be used. The play key could be stored in an online bank run by any organization, and could be accessed through a URL. To share the product, the player would simply share the URL."

http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/0...anies-Over-DRM ...

Sony has told GamesIndustry.biz that it supports publisher initiatives to monetise second hand games consumers through online play, and that it is currently investing in a solution for its own first-party titles.

The move has been pioneered by Electronics with Project $10 and refined through the Online Pass, which charges those that buy games second hand to access online multiplayer services, helping publishers recoup some money in the controversial pre-owned market.

"On the principle of making online portions of the game available or unlocked from the disc-based release for a fee, we're broadly supportive of that," said Sony's European president Andrew House in an interview published today.

"And we're exploring actively the same option for our own content."

While EA has been first to roll-out the practice across the EA Sports line-up, other companies including Red Faction publisher THQ and French firm Ubisoft are also putting systems in place.

Activision's Bobby Kotick has suggested the monetisation of online console play could go further, and that he'd like to see a subscription service for Call of Duty games, but House said Sony would "struggle" with that idea, and warned against a one-size-fits-all attitude to pricing.

"In terms of just a charge for basic online play, that's something that we have to talk about a lot more and we struggle with a little bit because we feel very vindicated and base a lot of the success of PSN today - a 70 per cent connection rate across consoles - on the fact that we've removed that major initial barrier to entry."

Sony is making money from PSN with the recent introduction of PSN Plus, a premium subscription that bundles multiple free games, content and access to beta phases for a set fee.

Uptake is better than expected, said House, and the company is now beginning to analyse user patterns and observing the first consumer trends.

"It's interesting that there's been a more significant uptake on the annual subscriptions than there has been on the three months subscription, with the exception of Japan," detailed House.

"I think that we need to remain hard at work on ensuring the content offering and the content flow remain strong. I have a sense that there is a second tier of PSN users that are almost ready to sign up that are in something of a wait-and-see mode because they want to see a bit more of the roadmap and how it flows out and is it meaningful to them? Which is absolutely fair enough."

It's not just a successful service for Sony, said House, as the company gathers data to convince publishing partners that they can also take advantage of PSN Plus for marketing and sales boosts.

"As with any of these propositions we've got to validate it first and then show them some good viable data on it," he offered. "There's overall amongst publishers, certainly with European publishing partners, a good open flexibility to talk about different models and actively explore them.

"There's increasing recognition that within the network space for our audience it's a mistake to try and adopt a one-size-fits-all attitude. The network naturally leads you to a variety of business models. Creating multiple consumer options is the way to do that and publishers are latching on to that idea. Whether it's based around their own franchises or being part of a publisher-led initiative."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...t-party-titles ...

Square Enix's shooter sequel Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days has taken the top spot on the UK's all-format charts, becoming the publisher's third number one title of 2010 after Just Cause 2 and Final Fantasy XIII.

The original Kane & Lynch experienced nothing like as much success, managing only 14th during its highest-charting week, week 48 of 2007. The sequel received vastly mixed reviews, ranging from a 1/10 from Destructoid to a 9/10 from Official Xbox Magazine.

The title pushes Toy Story 3 down to second place, with Red Dead Redemption slipping to third. LEGO: Harry Potter: Years 1-4 takes the fourth spot, with Ubisoft's Just Dance sitting just below it in fifth.

Full details of the top 20 are below.

This Week Last Week Title Platform(s)
1 New entry Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days PC, PS3, Xbox 360
2 1 Toy Story 3 PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
3 2 Red Dead: Redemption PS3, Xbox 360
4 4 LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
5 6 Just Dance Wii
6 5 Art Academy DS
7 9 Super Mario Galaxy 2 Wii
8 19 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands DS, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
9 3 Dance on Broadway Wii
10 11 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 PC, PS3, Xbox 360
11 7 Dragon Quest IX DS
12 25 Mass Effect 2 PC, Xbox 360
13 13 Sniper: Ghost Warrior PC, Xbox 360
14 14 FIFA 10 PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
15 32 Need for Speed: Shift PC, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360
16 15 Wii Sports Resort Wii
17 17 New Super Mario Bros. DS
18 8 Modern Warfare 2 PC, PS3, Xbox 360
19 18 Wii Fit Plus Wii
20 10 Madden NFL 11 PS3, Wii, Xbox 360

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-formats-chart ...

Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the UK's biggest-selling game of all time, exceeding the sales of Dr Kawashima's Brain training, 41 weeks after release.

Only three weeks of those 41 have seen Modern Warfare 2 take a chart place outside the top ten, including this week, which saw the game take 18th, down ten places from last month's eight.

Sales of the first person shooter will no doubt go some way to support Activision's claim that it will become the world's most profitable entertainment company in the next five or ten years.

The title had already entered the record books after achieving record sales for its opening day, with first day sales of more than $401.6 million (£242.4m), making it the biggest entertainment launch of all time.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...t-selling-game ...