OMG I Want Metriod Prime : Hunters

I haven't ever been a huge fan of FPS, I don't have anything against them... they just aren't my first port of call when I'm looking for a new game. I loved Half Life on the PC and Counter-Strike on the xbox and the Original Metroid on the Cube was great but I'd still rather a few laps of Mario Kart or Burnout any day. The videos that have been released for Metroid Prime: Hunters on Liksang today though are just amazing!!!

This video of the gameplay is awesome!!! I just want to go out and buy the game now!

Story Timeline and Basic Gameplay

Basically, Metroid: Prime Hunters is an original First Person Shooter. Mission file 791019 takes place in the time period between Metroid Prime and its sequel, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, which both appeared on GameCube before. Therefore, Samus sports the Varia Suit from Echoes, but she's piloting the ship from Prime 1 (a little trivia never hurt nobody!). Anyone who was lucky to get an early Nintendo DS may have played the title in its demo form, called Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt. Be aware of the fact, that the full game now bears only little resemblance to that brief sample. The touch screen is used to look around, as well as offering a radar display of enemies. Plus, there are several controls to be found on the touch panel as well: swap the active blaster to missiles here, or trigger morph ball form and scan visor usage. Much appreciated comes the option to choose from left and right handed touch screen play and being able to switch between stylus and D-pad maneuvering. You can even adjust the sensitivity of the touch controls, similar to tuning your mouse when playing a FPS on a computer.

IpodMame

So you bought an Ipod Nano and now regret that you didn't get a Gameboy Micro? Well the answer is here in IpodMAME. They are part of the iPodLinux project, and their basic aim is to bring the MAME game emulator to iPods, allowing owners to play arcade games on their iPods. Currently, you can only play Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man on the nano and iPod with video.

So no need to rush out and pick up a Gameboy for those long bus rides home....

Going INSANE!

I swear there is a cow chewing cud in my office today that not even my headphones can drown out... Anger Rising... it may be the last straw.... Next stop... Mr. Furious!

Cool DS (and general other) Stuff

So I finally got around to blogging again after my weekend update. I've looked at the blogger page about 20 times but something else has always come ip and I haven't got around to posting. There have been some really good things for the DS turn up this week. Not to mention all the reviews for the DS Lite, this review especially cemented my need for the new version. The screen looks like the jump that we had from the GBA SP to the DS. This post I stumpled across on gizmodo is completely useless but cool none the less.

Virtual PC Desktop on the DS: "This is a piece of software, but it's a fascinating use of the DS' Wi-Fi capabilities. It's essentially a version of VNC that can run on the DS and shows two screens—a larger version of the full PC screen and a zoomed window. The software is completely homebrew and it's called PointyRemote, which could also be the name of a death metal band.

There has also been huge amounts of speculation on the new Origami and UMPC. It would want to have a host of functionality judging by some of the pictures that have been released... Let's just say there are house bricks with more style. Anyway it will be interesting to see what there actually market is for this device.

On the entertainment front I've managed to get myself totally hooked on Season 2 of BSG... the unfortunate thing is the second season is almost finished in the US which means it will be a long wait until Season 3.

I've also rediscovered my love for the Burnout Series on the Xbox. I've realised I've only clocked about 4 hours up on Burnout: Revenge where I'd managed to hit 70 hours on the last title before I traded it in.

The new MX5 has had very little attention over the last couple of weeks. At the moment I'm still in the "Makes me smile every time I drive it stage" and thanks to the Tape adapter with the MD player I've got all the music on the go.

360 First Impressions

The new Xbox 360 Demo consoles have been out in the stores for a few days and I've had a bit of a play of Project Gothem Racing 3. My first reaction hasn't been as impressive as it should have been. Considering the price of the new console vs the Xbox the system should be so much better than the current demos suggest. As I've been playing a bit of Burnout: Revenge recently I was using it for graphical comparison because that's about the only form of comparison that matters for the two systems. At this stage I can't see enough of an improvement over what the current console can offer to justify the AUD$650 price tag. I'm sure as the console takes hold and a few more games showcasing the capabilities of the system come out it will be more apparent how much more the unit is capable... In the end though the graphics will just be better than the old one so there is going to be a limit to how much 'Better' it will be, the games will be the same... they'll just look shinnier. I think my money will still be on the Revolution as my next gen console of choice...

A weekend of ups and downs

Had an ok weekend in the end but is was a bit up and down on the way there...

UPs:
Finished another chapter of Sword of Mana on the Micro.
Fired up the Xbox after a long absence with some Burnout: Revenge action in mind.
Got the house to myself for Saturday for gaming/Dvds.
Had an awesome flourless chocolate cake at Freestyle (as dinner, let's face you can't have dinner and still finish one of their deserts)
Finished Season One of Battlestar Galactica and the first 4 episodes of Season Two.
Got some improptu solos on Sunday Night
Finalised stuff at the Wedding Venue (over a couple of glasses of wine)

Downs:
Burned my hand cooking lunch on Saturday so couldn't play more Xbox.
Ran out of Episodes of Battlestar Galactica
Spilt a whole bottle of juice over myself whilst out shopping
Messed up one of my Solos :'(
Sunday was yet again followed by Monday

Coolest HTPC Ever

I've been doing a bit of surfing on the Mac Mini and considering it's uses as a HTPC or just as a source for displaying TV Shows now it has built in support for Front Row and Digital Audio out. However in all the searching I've been doing I stumbled across this on Joystiq. It's a HTPC built inside a NES console! Now that is a cool mod!

At ExtremeTech, John F. de Perczel has transformed an old NES console into a home theater PC using VIA's mini-ITX form factor EPIA motherboard and a 1GHz C3 processor. He says, "it streams music, surfs the Web, downloads movies, and runs NESticle like a champ. It won't, however, run iTunes visualizer in full-screen mode."

The page is dated 8/25/04, so we're willing to bet there are plenty of more powerful options available now if one were interested in updating the concept. How about shoving one of those new Mac minis into an NES?

I think casing a Mac Mini inside a NES Console as a HTPC has got to be one of the greatest and simplest ideas around... But would doing the same thing to an Xbox be the ultimate injustice?

I want a new Mac Mini!!!

Apple has announced the new Mac Mini with a Core Duo Intel Processor! It's so Cool!!!

The new box comes with Front Row, 4 usb ports and Optical Audio out! If this new Mac wasn't built for being a PVR I don't know what is!

Also released in this run of Apple announcements is iPod Hi-Fi!

Cnet have reviews of both products iPod Hifi and Mac Mini