via Kotaku


NiGHTS fans have been waiting for a proper sequel to the Dreamcast cult classic for some time now. Sega's attempt to capitalize on Sonic's ring collection mania in a more robust 3D world, NiGHTS was a landmark game for the era.

Now NiGHTS has come back to the masses on the Wii in NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. So does its predecessor live up to expectations? Hit the jump for our Frankenreview: every thing you need to know about everything that is this one particular game.



GameTap
You can play Journey with several configurations. Each of them has a steep learning curve, but the remote-only setup will wear down your patience and send little kids crying to their mommas. It's just too tough to keep the remote cursor steady enough that it doesn't skitter around the atmosphere as you try to guide Nights past obstacles. Better to attach a nunchuk or plug-in a classic controller or even a GameCube controller, where the analog joystick eventually rewards your persistent thumb work with fairly smooth flying.

GameSpot
Visually speaking, Journey of Dreams is deliciously vibrant. Each dream world is unique and colorful without veering from the overall art design. From beautiful underwater vistas to a busy carnival complete with exploding fireworks, environments are created with painstaking care. Nights is smoothly animated, though in the ground levels, the children don't move as fluidly. Cutscenes are also well done and often poignant, thanks to expressive facial animations. You will encounter frequent moments where the frame rate dips a tad, but it doesn't usually get in the way of smooth flight.


1UP
This time, you assume the roles of William and Helen, two new tykes sucked into the dreamworld of Nightopia in order to better cope with the very modern pressure of living with unloving, often-absent parents. Unfortunately, you'll actually get to know these kids a little too intimately, thanks to an overabundance of heavy-handed, talky cut-scenes that assault the eyes (and ears) with amateurish production values. We definitely liked Nights when he/she was an enigmatic, laconic benefactor 10 years ago...now that it's more of a corny purple Mary Poppins that won't shut up, we're considerably less enamored.

GameZone
More than half of Journey of Dreams' stages are worth playing through multiple times. Unfortunately, there are a few stages that you won't care to revisit. It's not that they're significantly bad, but they're not much fun either. They lack the excitement and awe-inspiring feeling that the rest of the game offers.

IGN
You'll also find odd sections of loading that don't bring up screens or icons at all, instead keeping the screen fully white or black for upwards of 15 seconds with no explanation. If it wasn't for the music playing in that background we would have assumed the game was frozen. This lack of overall polish can be found in virtually any area...

It looks fairly passable unless you are a big NiGHTS fan, though Wii owners who've beaten Super Mario Galaxy may be looking for something new. ...

New version of the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS emulator for PC.

Changelog:

- nds/3d: soft-renderer: uses fast linear color/texture interpolation when w1=w2
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: supports perspective-correct texture (eg. eragon/demo)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: supports perspective-correct rgb color interpolation
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: picks correct vertex/color/attributes on 1dot polygons
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: prevents polys at existing/possible x1=256 (off-screen)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: allows bigger than possible rear-depth (clubhouse dart)
- nds/3d/debug: vram viewer correctly shows swap buffers as 1st command in tree
- nds/3d/help: added note on situations where lower/right edges are excluded
- nds/3d/help: anti-aliasing doesn't work with (opaque) lines and wire-frames
- nds/3d/help: anti-aliasing isn't used on edge-marked polys/lines/wire-frames
- nds/3d/help: swap_buffers parameters are applied on the FOLLOWING gxcommands
- nds/3d/help: swap_buffers does NOT copy re-ports (disp3dcnt/toon_table/etc)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: supports w-buffering (games with reversed z working)
- nds/3d/help: confirmed guessed texture slot locations for rear-plane bitmaps
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: allows dots on lower/right clip-boundary (off-viewport)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: prevents polys at y1=192 or y1=negative (off-screen)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: handles faulty viewports (exceeding 192 scanlines)
- nds/3d: re-renders old frame on master changes (disp3dcnt or port 330h..3BFh)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: discards correct vertex of invalid twisted |X| quads
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: emulates edge-marking (edge_color, opaque, polygon_id)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: emulates correct size of line-segments and wire-frames
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: emulates correct size of edge-marked polygons
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: emulates correct size of translucent and opaque polys
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: enulates inwards/outwards/left/right/front/back edges
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: emulates steep, flat, vertical, horizontal edges
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: emulates correct rounding of screen coordinates
- nds/3d: supports direct capture from 3d engine (instead from engine a only)
- nds/2d/bugfixes: inits engine b on reset, fixed engine b base in vram viewer
- nds/3d: opengl: internally breaks all polygon strips to separate polygons
- nds/3d: buffers translucent polys, and renders them later (after opaque polys)
- nds/3d/help: corrected polygon_attr.bit11 (affects pixels, not whole polygons)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: stores alpha in framebuf (unlike evil generic opengl)
- nds/3d/help: added description on clamped textures (clips to minmax 0,siz-1)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: supports texture clamp, repeat, and flip-repeat modes
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: clips texcoord (only if needed; point1 or point2>max)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: supports toon table (and skips green/blue calculations)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: does texture blending (modulation,decal,toon,highlight)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: explodes texture bitmap and renders texture by texcoord
- nds/3d: emulates polygon_attr having no effect until next begin_vtxs command
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: renderer uses linear (quick'n'dirty) color/texcoord
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: interpolates color and texcoord (if any) on rendering
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: interpolates color and texcoord (if any) on clipping
- nds/3d: allocates/stores color/texcoord/screencoord in each buffered vtx-entry
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: re-ensures range after clipping (for rounding errors)
- nds/3d: vram viewer: fixed 4x4 texel texture mode1 crash (missing pusha/popa)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: optional depth_update for translucent polys (less only)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: optional depth_less or depth_equal rendering condition
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: interpolates depth (z) horizontally and vertically
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: initializes rear-plane rgba,depth,etc (blank or bitmap)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: front/back/linesegment check (on first three vertices)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: hides far-plane-intersecting (if enabled in poly_attr)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: clips polygons to all six sides of the view-volume
- web/paypal: added an evil "donate 2.50 and download newest version" button
- dos: due to the soft-renderer, dos version is now fully supporting 3d video
- a22i: added LO (usingned lower) as alias for CC (carry clear) (thanks niels) ...

New version of the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS emulator for PC.

Changelog:

- nds/3d: soft-renderer: uses fast linear color/texture interpolation when w1=w2
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: supports perspective-correct texture (eg. eragon/demo)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: supports perspective-correct rgb color interpolation
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: picks correct vertex/color/attributes on 1dot polygons
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: prevents polys at existing/possible x1=256 (off-screen)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: allows bigger than possible rear-depth (clubhouse dart)
- nds/3d/debug: vram viewer correctly shows swap buffers as 1st command in tree
- nds/3d/help: added note on situations where lower/right edges are excluded
- nds/3d/help: anti-aliasing doesn't work with (opaque) lines and wire-frames
- nds/3d/help: anti-aliasing isn't used on edge-marked polys/lines/wire-frames
- nds/3d/help: swap_buffers parameters are applied on the FOLLOWING gxcommands
- nds/3d/help: swap_buffers does NOT copy re-ports (disp3dcnt/toon_table/etc)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: supports w-buffering (games with reversed z working)
- nds/3d/help: confirmed guessed texture slot locations for rear-plane bitmaps
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: allows dots on lower/right clip-boundary (off-viewport)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: prevents polys at y1=192 or y1=negative (off-screen)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: handles faulty viewports (exceeding 192 scanlines)
- nds/3d: re-renders old frame on master changes (disp3dcnt or port 330h..3BFh)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: discards correct vertex of invalid twisted |X| quads
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: emulates edge-marking (edge_color, opaque, polygon_id)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: emulates correct size of line-segments and wire-frames
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: emulates correct size of edge-marked polygons
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: emulates correct size of translucent and opaque polys
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: enulates inwards/outwards/left/right/front/back edges
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: emulates steep, flat, vertical, horizontal edges
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: emulates correct rounding of screen coordinates
- nds/3d: supports direct capture from 3d engine (instead from engine a only)
- nds/2d/bugfixes: inits engine b on reset, fixed engine b base in vram viewer
- nds/3d: opengl: internally breaks all polygon strips to separate polygons
- nds/3d: buffers translucent polys, and renders them later (after opaque polys)
- nds/3d/help: corrected polygon_attr.bit11 (affects pixels, not whole polygons)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: stores alpha in framebuf (unlike evil generic opengl)
- nds/3d/help: added description on clamped textures (clips to minmax 0,siz-1)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: supports texture clamp, repeat, and flip-repeat modes
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: clips texcoord (only if needed; point1 or point2>max)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: supports toon table (and skips green/blue calculations)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: does texture blending (modulation,decal,toon,highlight)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: explodes texture bitmap and renders texture by texcoord
- nds/3d: emulates polygon_attr having no effect until next begin_vtxs command
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: renderer uses linear (quick'n'dirty) color/texcoord
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: interpolates color and texcoord (if any) on rendering
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: interpolates color and texcoord (if any) on clipping
- nds/3d: allocates/stores color/texcoord/screencoord in each buffered vtx-entry
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: re-ensures range after clipping (for rounding errors)
- nds/3d: vram viewer: fixed 4x4 texel texture mode1 crash (missing pusha/popa)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: optional depth_update for translucent polys (less only)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: optional depth_less or depth_equal rendering condition
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: interpolates depth (z) horizontally and vertically
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: initializes rear-plane rgba,depth,etc (blank or bitmap)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: front/back/linesegment check (on first three vertices)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: hides far-plane-intersecting (if enabled in poly_attr)
- nds/3d: soft-renderer: clips polygons to all six sides of the view-volume
- web/paypal: added an evil "donate 2.50 and download newest version" button
- dos: due to the soft-renderer, dos version is now fully supporting 3d video
- a22i: added LO (usingned lower) as alias for CC (carry clear) (thanks niels) ...

Source: Yahoo! Games

As we turn down the home stretch of 2007, the Internet is bound to start buzzing with year-in-review articles. And we're no exception. In the coming weeks we'll be unveiling our Game of the Year awards, which will surely include more than a few looks back at the year that was.

But before we make history, we figured it would be worthwhile to remember it. From Zelda to Oblivion, from Liberty City to Azeroth, the greatest games of the past ten years have thrilled players while slowly but surely making a lasting impact on the pop culture landscape. Spanning several generations of consoles and introducing a variety of brand new genres, here are our picks for the best games of the last decade.

The Games Are:

-------------------------------------------------

Gran Turismo - 1997

The racing game genre can be comfortably split into two historical sections: the clunkers that came before Gran Turismo, and every racer that's tried to emulate it since. Polyphony Digital's driving masterpiece introduced the gaming world to hardcore tuning, realistic physics, and replays so eerily lifelike they could make a bad race look great. With an unheard-of 166 car lineup and depth equivalent to a solid RPG, it remains the most influential racing game of all time.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 1998

Welcome to gaming's second official Golden Age. 1998 was chock full of incredible, groundbreaking titles, every single one of which could easily make a case for Game of the Year honors. But there can be only one, and it's simply impossible not to choose Link's massive, legendary N64 journey. From its revolutionary targeting system to the sprawling Hyrule Field, Ocarina of Time remains the defining game in the Zelda mythos. And that's not just Yahoo's opinion - it's the highest-rated game ever according to both Metacritic and Gamerankings.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - 1999

Trying to choose the best game of 1999 gave us fits. Noses were bloodied. Friendships were ruined. A chair actually went sailing through a window. But after cleaning up the rubble, it became clear that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was the single best game of the year. Next to Madden, this might be the most innovative sports game ever. Its control scheme and gameplay system have been ripped off by scores of developers. People who had no business getting within 100 yards of a skateboard took to it like grip tape to a deck. Yes, the competition was fierce, but the game that launched one of the longest-running franchises ever deserves its due.

The Sims - 2000

We had no idea what to make of Will Wright's digitized dollhouse when it first invaded our PCs, but after countless hours spent poring over wallpaper, redesigning living rooms and, of course, forcing our beloved babies to mercilessly mingle, eat, work and pee, we knew it was a big deal. In addition to its profoundly addictive gameplay, it was one of the first serious efforts to bridge gaming's gender gap, proving a major hit with boys and girls alike. Truly no one escaped the clutches of The Sims in 2000 and few have escaped since, as it's currently the best-selling PC game of all time.

Grand Theft Auto III - 2001

Talk about another tough call: 2001 brought home some of the biggest games ever to hit consoles, including such luminaries as the original Xbox killer-app Halo and the monstrous Metal Gear Solid 2. But when you talk about size, quality, and cultural impact, the conversation begins and ends with Grand Theft Auto III. Incredible, open-ended gameplay? Check. Seamless transition between on-foot and in-car action? Check. Trailblazing soundtrack? Check. Never before had an action game offered so much freedom, fun and brutality in one controversial package. Welcome to the jungle, Rockstar.


Battlefield 1942 - 2002

A year o' plenty, 2002 offered terrific experiences spanning every platform. No game, however, was more instrumental to the decline of general productivity than Battlefield 1942. Its contributions to online shooting are immense; capturing spawn points and trudging through land, sea and air in one cohesive game world was simply not part of the landscape prior to 2002 (Codename Eagle, the little-known game BF 1942 was based on, being the exception). Though hampered by a bland single-player experience, its multiplayer was so addictive and revolutionary that it's one of the most commonly referenced PC games ever.

Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic - 2003

By the time ace role-playing game developer Bioware turned their considerable talents towards Microsoft's Xbox, they has already created a lasting legacy with legendary PC RPGs like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights. Shifting away from Dungeons & Dragons in favor of George Lucas' licensed universe ...

Still for 3.52 M33-4 - Came to a good stopping point.

Thought I would share this for all the 3.52 M33 die hards. V.7 will most likely be for 3.80 M33


***************************
**** FEATURES **************
***************************

- Stores unlimited themes
- Stores unlimited xmb mods of every sort (icons, waves ect...)
- Fullscreen previews for all themes/mods
- audio previews for click sounds
- recovery system allows you to restore all or any part of default xmb
- Wardrobe creates recovery from your own flash, so as not to distribute patented $ONY files
- backup/restore current xmb theme
- Full Create-A-Theme feature walks you through each step of creating your own custom theme using all your xmb mods
- ***ADVANCED OPTIONS:

*FLASH0 FREE SPACE MANAGER-
*SPOOF FIRMWARE VERSION -
*APPLY/REMOVE TEAM INACOR'S DNA paf.prx hack -
* TOGGLE XMB WAVE ON/OFF-
*APPLY/REMOVE MATIAZ's REBOOT.PRX-
*WALLPAPER TOOL
*XMB FONT COLOR SELECTOR
*INFO BAR TRANSITION SELECTOR


Changes to V.6

- Unlimited Themes & XMB Mods now

- All new GUI

- Infobar animation selector

- Font color selector

- Create-A-theme feature is finished. (Now walks you through entire process of creating a custom theme, one mod at a time)

- Now automatically optimizes Flash0 free space, upon 1st use

- Menus have been made easier to understand (more n00b friendly)

- cleaned up code some more

- other minor bug fixes


DOWNLOAD v.6:

...

via eXophase.com


Mathieulh and Dark_AleX have confirmed that work on custom firmware 3.80 M33 has already commenced. There is no set release date at this time, but expect to see a release in the near future.

While working on 3.80 M33, the two found a peculiar string in the IPL’s payload file — pspbtcnf_03g.bin. What does this mean? Well, flashback to a few months ago when a string referring to pspbtcnf_02g.bin was found in firmware 2.71. Once the PSP Slim was finally released, it was discovered that “02g” was none other than a codename for the slim hardware.

Could “03g” be the codename for a third PSP hardware revision? Perhaps for the rumored PSP phone? It’s possible. ...

via Joystiq


Already bored with that CGI trailer for Resident Evil: Degeneration? Yeah, us too ... it's missing a certain something and, you know what? We think we know what that is. Dirt.

Wait, hear us out. As announced at TGS this year, the newly redubbed Final Fantasy Advent Children Complete won't be arriving on Blu-ray undisturbed. Oh no, it's been smeared through the mud, and then scratched by a horde of feral kittens. It's dirty and bloody and, well, we sorta like it. Get a peek at the trailer embedded above and wrestle with the mysteries that keep Cloud's hair so erect, even in this new, dirty revision.


Trailer here ...

via Computer and Video Games


The first images of the DS remake of Super NES classic Dragon Quest V has surfaced on the net, and it's looking pretty sweet.

Hardcore RPG fans will know the Dragon Quest games as one of the most popular RPG series' of all time in Japan, and a favourite among importers.

Developer ArtePiazza only released its re-cooked DS edition of DQIV in Japan last month, but their dual-screen remake of the sequel is already looking good - probably because it reuses many of the same assets.

DQV, originally 2D on the Super NES, was re-released on PS2 in 2004 (in US only, where it's known as Dragon Warrior V) in 3D, but is returning to its 2D roots on DS, albeit with a significant facelift.

The story, set in a world called DraQue, follows the events in 20 years of the main hero's life, in which he finds himself in all sorts of monster-related troubles, battling creatures, who join his party when defeated (like Pokemon).

Check out these first screens in Japanese Jump magazine, (via NeoGAF). ...

via Computer and Video Games


After well over a year in the dark, a new Banjo-Kazooie image has emerged in the form of a Rare Christmas Card.

Alright, it's not exactly a screenshot but if anything the classy card pic gives us a hint at want kind of art direction Rare are taking for the next Banjo, which we can only assume will finally arrive on Xbox 360 next year.

As is tradition for the chaps at Rare, there's even a few cheeky digs in there like the stocking with "KI3" on the front.

Just give it to us, Rare. And you should have out some red lights on that Xbox 360!

One screenshot here ...