May 2003 Archives

I just picked up Nintendo's latest for the GBA: WarioWare, Inc. Mega Microgame$ and they aren't kidding! This little gem is chock full of mini games taken from classic NES games such as DuckHunt, ExciteBike, BalloonFight, DonkeyKong, even Dr.Mario makes an appearance, as well as others from all types of inspiration. They say there are over 200 games in all, but the best part of it is not even the selection, it's the rate at which they are thrown at you randomly and for only seconds a stage... you either do it or you don't. If you miss too many, you have to start from the beginning again. There are even several two player games that get unlocked by progressing through the game, and are played simulataneously on the same GBA! One player takes the right shoulder button, the other the left. Madness!

This is a great little game to take with you when you want to play a quick game of something, as it is unlikely you will ever be bored with the variety it offers.

Highly recommended... A+

The pressure is subsiding slightly, finished up two major hurdles today and now I am enjoying a little breather. Bring on the games!

E3 started today with pre-show press conferences by many of the major players. Sony announced their new baby, the PSP - PlayStation Portable. Of course it will be a phenomenal success, though it's not coming out until sometime in 2004 (think Christmas). Nintendo presented a barrage of game announcements, so many in fact that it was a bit overwhelming. Good for them. It's about time that Nintendo comes out swinging. The game I'm eager to wrap my hands around the controller for is Mario Kart Double Dash. In as few words as possible: Mario Kart never disappoints. Many games are now showing some form of Gamecube to GBA link up feature. Very cool ideas in theory, I hope the execution lives up to expectation for the innovations in game play. I love new game ideas!

Speaking of new game ideas, the Wachowski Brothers have piled high their plate with releasing a new video game and not one but two major sequels this year, with The Matrix: Reloaded set to appear in theatres on Thursday and The Matrix: Revolutions set to open sometime in November. Also worth checking out are 4 short animated films, also from the brothers Wachowski, together called The Animatrix and are all available free, online, and created with extremely high production values.

Having been enthralled with the first movie when it came out I am eager to see what they have in store for us this time. And from what I understand, the movies tie in with the video game, also to be released on Thursday, and which 4 million (!!!) have already been shipped to retailers. A very lofty and ambitious endeavor. I hope the truly multimedia experience will be just as remarkable as the first movie was.

Other things around the net... I came across a better explanation for the file-sharing technology in BitTorrent here. And speaking of file-sharing, the RIAA had to very publicly send an apology letter to Penn State as reported by Wired in this article. Under section 512 of the DMCA, a copyright holder has the right to issue a takedown notice to an Internet provider demanding the copyright violating material be removed. These takedown notices are being issued without the copyright holders actually verifying the infractions as in the cases listed in the article. The erroneous notices can have disruptive effects and I am hoping that something happens soon which takes the wind out of the DMCA's sails, so to speak.

Ok, that's it for me. Got to get some sleep as I still have work to finish up for this quarter. It was fun while it lasted.