New online petition demands a fully localised version of Bethesda's all-consuming RPG

While we in the West have been fully gorging ourselves on Bethesda's amazing Oblivion in both its PC and Xbox 360 incarnations, it seems Japanese gamers have been denied their share of the Oblivion spoils.

With no plans apparent to launch the game over in the Land of the Rising Sun, a new petition has just gone online from Japanese Xbox 360 fans (both of them - hehe only kidding MS) demanding that a fully localised version of the game debut over in the east.

It's a particularly interesting one this, given that MS needs to drive sales over in the East and if it could persuade Bethesda to deliver the goods, then maybe, just maybe, Oblivion would prove a tipping point title which brings reluctant Japanese role playing fans into the Xbox fold.

However, with PS3 and even PSP versions of Oblivion rumoured to be in the works, and the PS3 one possibly as a launch title, perhaps Bethesda has spread its eggs into other baskets? The race is on, for Japanese RPG fans' hearts and minds, but how will they get their dose of Oblivion? ...

Seriously, everybody loves the Wii. What's more, with developer support for the console growing day by day, another major software house has stepped up to be counted - this time, Gearbox, developer of the acclaimed Brothers in Arms series.

Speaking to IGN, Gearbox's president Randy Pitchford revealed, "Gearbox Software is enthusiastically supporting the Wii." However, as for the kind of support we can expect from the company, Pitchford stated, "At this time, we don't have any announcements to make about specific games we may be developing for Wii."

Speaking about Nintendo's forthcoming console itself, Pitchford enthused, "I think it's great. I'm very much looking forward to playing." Furthermore, he offered his own take on the machine, from a developer's standpoint, "The strengths of the Nintendo Wii include the price, the unique interface, the sure-bet library of games based on the great Nintendo properties and the promise back catalogue of classic games from Nintendo and others that they have partnered with. The weaknesses of the system include its lower relative power when compared to other next-gen consoles and the unique interface requiring more dedicated focus specifically for the platform (which makes it more difficult to amortize larger AAA budgets across more customers from multiple platforms)."

Of course, while we still have no official word on which titles Gearbox will be bringing to Wii, we can't help but cast our minds back to earlier this year, when an apparently leaked Ubisoft release schedule noted a Wii-bound Brothers in Arms game was in the works. Given the publisher's support for the console so far, with Rayman and Red Steel both set to debut as Wii exclusives, it wouldn't surprise us if Ubisoft was indeed intent on bringing another of its major franchises to Nintendo's increasingly bulging next-gen game line-up. ...

There's few things we like more than spanking our plank of a morning here on CVG, and sometimes we even follow it up with a spot of Guitar Hero as well (badumtish!). However after playing the original 'till our fingers bled, we're more than looking forward to additional axe-wielding mayhem with the advent of Guitar Hero II later this year.

You should too, given this array of fresh screens which have just erupted into our Friday morning, suggesting part deux will be even more saucy looking than GH I - we can almost see the queue of groupies stretching around the block, as we lovingly caress screaming melodies from our axe of justice. Ahem.

Still, pretty screens aside, GH II will undoubtedly be all about the finger-numbing, axe-shredding gameplay and we'll be warming up our digits with some Satriani-like arpeggios in anticipation of GH II's debut this very November.

However, if you haven't already checked it out, the official Guitar Hero website is well worth a visit, with great links, pics and a community of fellow shredders to shoot the breeze with. You can even upload pics of yourself wielding the axe in your best god of rawk pose! In the words of Spinal Tap's rock legend Nigel Tufnell, this one will undoubtedly go up to Eleven.

Screens and News at CVG ...

Vettacossx has been working overtime tonight!
He has just finished his SS goku Turrican Full GFX mod!

Here is what he had to say about his most recent masterpeice!!

well at first i didnt think i was gonna be able to pull off dbz with the turrican engine but it seems i was wrong!!!...though i admit this was a challenge
....im looking foward to takling
SS4 GOGETA NEXT thanks for your votes... it looks like our characters for
the future DBZ line up of turrican mods will be:

GOKU takes the win by double the votes of any other! as predicted by SP
2nd
SS4 GOGETA--- tie for second
TRUNKS----- tie for second
3rd
KRILLIN ----tie for third!
KORIN -----tie for third

so there you have it the DBZ most requested characters and your next mods by
JMV as always enjoy and thanks for your support!

About this file. Like the last time, this file was too large to upload in one peace, Just download both parts of of the file, and let win rar do the rest,

Great Work Vetta! I cant wait to see SS 4 gogeta mod!!

Download And Give Feedback Via Comments Below ...

An internal SCEE Q+A re. PS3, from E3, has made its way onto the web. It’s an interesting read - in many ways they would have been better off just releasing this, it would have better communicated some of their points.

Playstation 3 / E3 2006 QA

- PS3 is a computer system
- PS3 is one product with different configuration
- PS3 launch date : Nov 11 (Japan), Nov 17 (US/Europe)
- PS3 price : 20GB : JPY 59,800, USD499, EUR499 (incl. VAT) / 60GB : JPY Open, USD599, EUR599 (incl. VAT)

Interview
PS3 Business Strategy:

Q1. Why will you launch two models with different specs for PS3 ?
A1. PS3 is a computer system and as such, various configurations can be considered. In future, larger HDD may be required for larger content to be saved on PS3. Considering the fact that, nowadays, network connectivity is spreading within the homes, we have decided to introduce a configuration with basic ports. However, these ports, excluding HDMI, are expandable with adaptors available on the market.

Q2. How can users connect PS3 to TV without HDMI output ?
A2. PS3 supports most displays via the AV multi output. Visual quality through AV multi output is comparable to that through HDMI.

Q3. Do you have two color variations of black and silver for two different models ?
A3. This model comes in one color (clear black) only. There may be color variations in the future.

Q4. What is the initial launch quantity for PS3 ?
A4. 2 million units will be shipped worldwide at the launch timing (for the first 3 weeks), cumulative 4 million units by the end of December and cumulative 6 million by the end of March 2007 (we do not disclose the breakdown by region).

Q5. Will you launch the PS3 in the Asian region at the same timing ?
A5. Yes.

Q6. What is the breakdown of the production shipment figures for each model ?
A6. We will decide the breakdown according to the market situation.

Q7. Are you planning to launch another model which has different HDD or interface in the future ?
A7. Like PCs, other configuration with the different HDD capacity and I/O can be considered in the future.

Q8. Where will you start manufacturing PS3 ?
A8. We will start manufacturing in Japan and China simultaneously (we don’t disclose the names of manufacturing companies).

Q9. When will you start manufacturing PS3 ?
A9. We will start assembly from summer. Manufacturing of the main semiconductors has already started.

Q10. MS’s Xbox360 was launched a year ago and has a head start. How do you feel about it ?
A10. We have set the best launch timing for PS3.

Q11. How is the PS3 network service going to be ? Will you also start the service from day one ? What are the differences between Xbox Live and PS3 network services ?
A11. Apart from providing basic features and functions, the most important element is content and services. Downloading music in SingStar, purchasing or exchanging game data as we demonstrated at E3 press conference and many other new ways of enjoyment will be provided.

Q12. Will the network service be charged ?
A12. Basic services available free for current PCs will be free of charge but content and specific services will be charged from the beginning.

Q13. Are the specifications and design final ?
A13. Very close to final.

PS3 Price

Q14. Why did you set such a price for 20GB HDD model ?
A14. We have set this price so that many users can enjoy PS3.

Q15. Why is only 60GB model open price for Japan ?
A15. Each RHQ decides the price of PS3.

Q16. You have announced in April that more than 100 billion yen of operating loss will be caused from Game segment in FY06. Will the PS3 price have any impact on the forecast ? Was the introduction of two models factored in at the earnings announcement in April ?
A16. There is no change in forecast.

Q17. Won’t having two models increase cost ? Can you expect the economy of scale with two models ?
A17. We don’t have two different models. It is one model with different configuration just like with PCs. Therefore, economy of scale can be pursued.

Q18. When do you expect to start making profit with PS3 business ? It has been reported by Nikkei (dated May 1st) that the “PS3 business will make profit of over 100 billion yen in FY07.” Is it true ?
A18. At the early stage after the launch, PS3 expects losses due to start-up cost, etc. However, there is no change in our business model to make profit from both hardware and software. As we have accomplished with PS2, we aim to make PS3 business profitable as soon as possible, by expanding the platform and continuing our ...

New Yahtzee game released for the PSP, heres the details:


Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...

After some final tweaks to his latest mod, Venture Bros Full GFX, Vettacossx is ready to unleash it upon the world! Here is what he had to say about this latest creation!!

This is a venture bros. themed turrican mod with Brock as the main guy a
request by GSLOP of the forums..turrican is a 2d sidescrolling shooter for the psp made by arguru..

WHATS VETTA MEAN BY FULL GFX MOD?(all the GFX have been moded of course!)

NEW LANDSCAPES
NEW BACKGROUNDS
and a new charicter as always

ALSO VOTE FOR YOUR CHOICE CHARICTER IN THE UPCOMING DBZ MOD IN THIS THREAD

About this file. Like the last time, this file was too large to upload in one peace, Just download both parts of of the file, and let win rar do the rest,

Great Work Vetta! keep em comeing bro!


Download and give Feedback Via Comments Below ...

Captain Morgan's compatibility results

It looks like Captain Morgan has put a lot of effort into doing compatibility testing with Daedalus R6. Thanks Cap'n! (thanks for your email too - I promise I'll get back to you just as soon as sort this issue out!)

[Update]

Don't miss Wally*Won_Kenobie's R6 compatibility list, which is also excellent. Wally has been collecting missing_mux.txt files for me too, for which I am indebted

-StrmnNrmn

A great optimisation/bugfix..

..with a catch.

This week I've been posting about various speedups I've been making by implementing various opcodes in the new dynarec engine. Although I have implemented most of the commonly used opcodes now, after my previous post I decided to add some temporary logging to the emulator to see how often the remaining unhandled opcodes were being used. Two that immediately jumped out at me were JAL (Jump And Link, which is used to perform a function call) and JR (Jump Register, which is used to return from a function call.)

These two instructions are very heavily used, and I was surprised to realise that I'd not implemented them! They're pretty easy to code - in fact, due to the way I construct the instruction traces that are fed into the dynamic recompiler I could effectively ignore the JAL instruction and JR just required a couple of lines of code.

So far so good. I was expecting a modest speedup - maybe another 2-3% on top of all the previous changes I've made this week. After compiling and running the new code, I was amazed to see an improvement of over 10%! Surprised with the figures I was seeing, I did a full rebuild and checked the results again with several different roms. They all showed the same kind of speedup.

I've been programming (and more importantly debugging) long enough now when I should trust my instincts - call it my programming 'Spider-Sense' tingling if you will, but I knew something didn't quite add up . In situations like this in the past, rather than taking an unexpected speedup for granted I've spent time investigating the root cause to find out exactly what's going on. At the very least I'll simply satisfy my own curiosity, but often I'll find some useful information along the way too (e.g. other related improvements and optimisations etc.)

So I started looking through the code and rerunning a few roms to try and get a handle on what was causing such a significant improvement. After a short while I realised that all the roms were now generating a lot more potential traces for the dynarec engine to consider for recompiling. This confused me even more, because this behaviour should slow the emulator down rather than speed it up. Another puzzling thing was that the only observable behaviour of my changes should be the speed of emulation - but it looked like my change was somehow changing the flow of execution in the rom.

After bit more head scratching and debugging, I finally realised what had happened. In making my changes, I had inadvertently fixed a bug in the dynarec engine that was causing the recompiled code to jump back out to the interpreter whenever a JAL instruction was encountered! This bug had been in the dynarec engine since the first day or so, but because its only side effect was to slow down the emulator rather than something more obvious (i.e. a crash!) it had remained undetected for a couple of months.

So I had figured out what the reason for the 10% speedup was, and I could finally get to bed safe in the knowledge that I had fixed a nasty, subtle bug along the way. Brilliant!

It was only then that I noticed a couple of new problems that I hadn't seen before: The emulator began hanging in places that had previously been fine - such as Peach's letter at the start of Mario 64. On the occasions the emulator managed to get past that point, I found out that Mario wouldn't move or jump (but strangely the c-buttons and pause menu worked fine)



I've spent the last couple of evenings trying to figure out why fixing one bug is causing another. I've finally managed to find a way of reliably reproducing a hang within a few seconds of starting the emulator up. This is important because my best chance of identifying and fixing the problem is to be able to run the PC build of the emulator with my 'fragment simulator' enabled. The simulator is very slow however (about 100x slower than running the emulator normally), which is why it's important to find a way of reliably reproducing the bug very early on in the emulation.

So that's what I've been up to over the past couple of days, and why I haven't been able to reply to people's emails or comments on this blog. Now that I can reproduce the bug in the fragment simulator I'm confident that I can get to the bottom of ...

Got the latest firmware and want to win free gifts then this LocoRoco Demo is right up you street, heres the news about the free gifts:


Heres the Link to the Site for the Gift Promo

Download the Loco Roco Demo Via Comments, remember youll need the latest firmware

Buy Locoroco here --> http://www.yesasia.com/?/info.php?pro...7&lsaid=219793 ...