You guys rock. Because of the submissions of many people, RF Generation can proudly say that we have over 60000 images on our site. That's just games and hardware images, too. I bet we have quite a few collection photos, as well. This is an amazing accomplishment, and further cements RF Generation's place as THE classic and modern gaming databases. From just a few images to 60000, let's keep growing our image database. After all, there are almost 30000 games that need either a box front, box back, manual, or game scan. How cool would it be if we could get an image for every game? Perhaps some day we shall.
There are so many people to thank for their image submitters. Submitters of old like SpeedyNES and blissfulnoise. Current submitters like Rajaat the Warbringer and NES_Rules. Staff Members like Tan, Fuyukaze, and Funk Buddy. Old Staff Members such as Pop_Culture_Portal. So many other people I haven't mentioned - THANK YOU! Today wouldn't be an awesome day if it was not for all your amazing work!
60000 images... Here's looking for 70000... 100000! Together, we'll hit more momentous occasions in the not too distant future!
Now, in about three days, I can officially say that I am a Civil Engineer. Now, Civil Engineers do a lot of things. Designing Bridges, Creating Dams, Building Things, Creating Traffic Jams, Mitigating Floods, yeah, we do all that and much more. See, there is this thing though. Most, if not all Civil Engineers specialize in something. I, for example, specialized in transportation. Seamar, specialized in structures. See, from an ethics standpoint, we agree only to practice in the fields we're competent in. We know better than do attempt to do something when we have no idea how. So, we know better than than to do and market things that we have no idea how to do, so why does Microsoft then try to do something it doesn't really know how to do?
Microsoft does a bunch of things well. I personally enjoy their Wireless Mice and Keyboards. Windows XP was and still is amazing. So Microsoft can in fact do things well. But there are certain things that Microsoft doesn't do well. Vista, for example. Windows 98 is to Windows XP like Windows Me is to Windows Vista. So, some things that Microsoft do are just terrible.
So, Microsoft has this wonderful little console that many of you might lovingly refer to as the Microsoft Xbox 360. It's lovely little console, but it had some problems. These problems caused Microsoft to issue a recall for the 360, and with that recall came quite a monetary hit on their ledger. So, what caused this problem?
So, this wonderful guy at the Gartner Group, Bryan Lewis, who happens to be their research VP and chief analyst, has stated that the source of their gigantic recall lies in the fact that Microsoft decided to design their original GPU by themselves. Did you know that Microsoft designs GPUs? Neither did I. When I think Graphics Accelerator, I think NVidia and ATI. Turns out, once a massive recall is initiated, that Microsoft also thinks ATI for their graphics needs, as that's who they contracted to redesign their 360 GPU.
Here's to you, Microsoft. If only you had used ATI or NVidia to begin with, you wouldn't have had this massive recall and all those extended warranties. I bet you all don't care, as your warranties are longer. But then, there are probably several of you who wish they didn't have to send their 360 in because of a RRoD. If only Microsoft stuck to what it could do well and contracted out that what it couldn't, you might have never had to send out your 360.
I've been meaning to write another blog for a while now so I've decided to write about some of the other video game stuff I've collected over the years. Since I was younger I loved card games. Starting with Poke'mon I moved to DBZ, then Yu-Gi-Oh, then to dot//HACK, and last Magic The Gathering. I was a senior in High School when I decided to quit playing/collecting and sold all my cards. This eventually lead to me collecting Video game but that's a different story. Anyways my love of collecting cards never really faded and after a friend from work gave me a bunch of Nintendo Power Super Power Club cards I decided to collect Video game cards. The first few pages are filled with the scratch off/ sticker cards from Nintendo's Game Packs made by Topps. I wish I knew about these when I was younger. These are almost 20 years old so the stickers don't stick well and the scratch off material have kinda set in. The stickers have little tips that cover the 6 games the cards depict: Super Mario Bro., Super Mario Bros. 2, The Legend of Zelda, The Adventure of Link, Punch Out! and Double Dragon. I managed to buy a whole display bow of these with the box but sadly it has a big black X on it. This is the only Complete set I have in this binder, Im lucky I guess to get them all in one box. Next is the Nintendo Power cards. For a time in Nintendo Power printed these cards and put 6 of them in issues for fan of the magazine to collect and trade. They featured Nintendo, Super Nintendo and Gameboy games. On the back of each is a description of each game and 3 challenges for Novice, Intermediate and Pro players. There are a lot of these to my understanding and I'm just happy to have some of my favorites like Final Fantasy 3, illusion of Gaia, Soul Blazer and Super Metroid. Not pictured, but I also have a few non Power Club Cards from Nintendo Power, a set of Mortal Kombat 3 cards and Mega Man X2 Cards featuring the Robot Masters. After all this is the UFS Series. These are actually Card Game cards. The UFS series covered a few different Fighting franchises including DarkStalkers, Street Fighter and my all time favorite Soul Calibur. I really enjoy the artwork of these and it kind of makes me want to pick it up and find someone else to play with. I have a few different copies of my favorite characters and 3 starter decks. Most of them are Soul Calibur except for a few Chun-Li cards in back.
That's it for now, I have more to show you all but it'll have to wait. Thanks for reading!
Gamers love GTA IV and its gritty, realistic, and wide open world. Well, one guy likes GTA IV so much that he decided to recreate the intro to the classic Leslie Nielson comedy The Naked Gun inside of the game. The result is nothing short of spectacular.
June 8th, 2004. On that day, RF Generation went live to the world. In the four years since we've gone live, RF Generation has grown from a small community and database to a large community of collectors and gamers who have worked to make RF Generation THE classic and modern gaming databases. Today is definitely a day to celebrate.
The last few months have been hectic here at RF Generation. Last year, June 8 brought our current site design. This year, June 8 brings two weeks of smooth sailing on our dedicated host. That's reason enough to celebrate. Certainly, I am pleased.
We have a lot of people who have donated money to keep RF Generation free and ad-free for all. Without their donations, RF Generation would have to resort to using ads to support our server costs. I am extremely thankful for the donations that our donors have made. So far, we've raised more than 270 dollars for our donation drive! We're truly humbled by the generosity of our members. We have created a Donors Page to thank all those who have donated. We really appreciate their donations, and we thank them for their generosity.
Some of you might be wondering about our little submissions contest. It was supposed to have ended some 15 hours ago. Well, because we were down for much of May, I am pleased to announce that the "Pain Yourself With Submissions" Contest has been extended for two more weeks. The contest will now end at midnight (CDT) on June 29, 2008! So, get those submissions in! Swag to be had! You could win!
Four years live. what a day to celebrate. Our community is the best. From all of us at RF Generation, keep it tuned to channel three.
Oh and Blast Works for the Wii looks great as well.
There's also Nascar 09 (PS3, 360, PS2), Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit (PS3, 360), Don King Presents Prizefighter (360), Backyard Baseball '09 (Wii), Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles (DS), and more crappy DS shovelware, but who cares? There's only one game that TRULY matters this week.
There are some games that people just think are pipe dreams. Games, in development for so long that many of you were not even Teens yet. Games in development for 12 long, painful years. A game that lends its abbreviation to imply something that is destined to never come out. You know, that game.
What? You've become so jaded that you don't believe me that there could be footage of that game on the internet? Well, you go on your merry way. Everyone else might want to search the above video, you might just find footage of that game.
Yo, sup homies? After outgrowing our previous server and temporarily moving operations to WordPress, we are finally back in action on our home base right here at RFGeneration.com. In celebration of our triumphant return, the game companies have dumped a massive load of (hopefully) great games for you to look at this week.
Playstation 3
Xbox 360
Nintendo Wii
•The Bourne Conspiracy •GRiD •The Incredible Hulk •Kung Fu Panda •Lego Indiana Jones
•The Bourne Conspiracy •GRiD •The Incredible Hulk •Kung Fu Panda •Lego Indiana Jones •Ninja Gaiden 2
•Cabela's Trophy Bucks •The Incredible Hulk •Kung Fu Panda •Lego Indiana Jones
PSP
Nintendo DS
Playstation 2
•Lego Indiana Jones •Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2
•The Incredible Hulk •Kung Fu Panda •Lego Indiana Jones •Paws and Claws Pet: Healing Hands •Summon Night: Twin Age
•The Incredible Hulk •Kung Fu Panda •Lego Indiana Jones
In a week with so many games, it's tough to give out a pick of the week. However, I've got to go with GRiD. The game is made by Codemasters, the same team behind last year's awesome rally racer DiRT, and attempts to bring the style of racing game presented in that game onto the streets. GRiD stands apart from most other racers in that it is neither a simulation like Forza or Gran Turismo nor an arcade style game like Burnout or Project Gotham, but somewhere in the between. It definitely has some great physics, but it isn't too overbearing for casual racing fans. Better yet, it carries over the amazing menu design philosophy as seen in DiRT, which is arguably the greatest interface ever seen in a video game. The game is available now on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. If you're interested in the game, be sure to download the demo for it on your platform of choice...it's definitely worth your time.
Check back next week where there will undoubtedly be a ton of games for me to cover.
Just today, Tomonobu Itagaki announced that he is leaving and suing Tecmo over unpaid bonuses. He claims a completion bonus for Dead or Alive 4 has gone unpaid; further stating, "President Yoshimi Yasuda chose not only to violate this agreement, but also turned defiant, telling me 'if you are dissatisfied with the decision not to pay the bonuses, either quit the company or sue it.' " So far, Tecmo has yet to respond.
Tomonobu Itagaki (via his translator, Andrew Szymanski) has contacted a number of news outlets requesting prompt reporting of this story. This news arrives the same week as the release of the highly anticipated sequel, Ninja Gaiden II. This severance of ties to Tecmo ensures he likely won't be able to work on any future Dead or Alive or Ninja Gaiden projects.
Itagaki is most known for his work with Team NINJA where he created the Dead or Alive series and the modern reincarnation of the Ninja Gaiden series. He derives his success from incorporating 'fun' into his projects to ensure satisfying gameplay. Itagaki's cognizence of Western gamers' interests also allows his hits to become international successes instead of Japan-only treasures.
Another trailer has been released since the Street Fighter IV 'debut trailer.' This 'epic trailer' shows more gameplay. Also announced this week are two fighters that will only be available on home versions of the game and not in arcades. These new fighters are Fei Long and Dan Hibiki.
Well, I must apologize for the lack of an update in April on submissions. RF Generation was sort of on an up and down swing. Unfortunately, this up and down nature of the site kept me from being able to do a submissions update for April. For that, I am sorry.
Anyways, how were submissions during the tumultuous month of April? Well, there were 1700 submissions. Not bad, given how we were down for half of the month and when we were up it was a real chore. For April, the top submitter was Fuyukaze, edging out Belgarath by one whole submission! Damn! The top non staff submitter, Darth Sidious, was not too far behind, with 183 submissions during April. Excellent work! If you're wondering who was approving all of those non-staff submissions, s1lence kicked ass and took names with approvals, soundly outdoing Fuyukaze who had the second largest number of submissions! Of course, there were plenty of people who did their part with submissions, and I'd like to take the time to thank those submitters who made more than 50 submissions in April:
Fuyukaze, Belgarath, Darth Sidious, Cobra, DefaultGen, dotDarkCloud, ApolloBoy, y2richie, Madir, and Rajaat the Warbringer.
Thanks to them and everyone else who made submissions in April!
Now, for May, well, there was this contest or something that is still going on, more on that later. We unfortunately had some downtime during May as well. Frustrating, really, but it's all sorted out now. We had 3523 submissions, which is awesome considering how we were down for half the month. We had almost 2900 image submissions in May. Damn! That's really, really impressive! Kudos to you all! Of course, there was this contest going on, and well, some people went all out in submissions. The top submitter for May was Rajaat the Warbringer. He had a whopping 1361 submissions! Damn! The second largest submitter last month was VACRMH with 867 submissions! Good job you two! In terms of the wonderful people approving your submissions, Fuyukaze kicked ass and took names in submission approvals. He's certainly been doing his part to ensure the contest runs smoothly, and I certainly appreciate everything he's done. Of course, there are many people who made submissions in May, and I'd like to specifically thank those who had 50 or more submissions:
Thanks you guys and everyone else who made submissions in May! Keep up the great work into June.
Now, there is this contest going on. You might be wondering the standings. You might also be wondering if the contest is going to be extended. Well, first, let me tell you the top three people right now. Currently, the top three people are, in order:
Rajaat the Warbringer VACRMH Voykous
There you go, the top three people in the contest. Will they continue to be the top three people, or will someone else pull ahead? Time shall tell!
So, when will the contest end? Some people wish for it to be extended because we were down for half of May. In the spirit of competition, I'd like to extend the competition's length by two weeks. Now, I'd like to do that, but I would like to see what other people think about that. We were down for quite a bit, and well, it's sort of crummy that the contest length was shortened because of it. So, shall we increase the length? Let me know.
Regardless, submit on! Thanks everyone, and here's hoping for an awesome June!
So, believe it or not, but I am actually a gamer. I know, wow! The cynical gamer is a gamer! It may frighten you to know then that I do not own a 360 or PS3. Rather, I own that technologically inferior Wii. I used to think that was a bad deal, but then I realized that when I do play the system I am absolutely enthralled. Who’d a thunk it? Thanks, Okami! (and NMH, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, Metroid Corruption, and Twilight Princess). Truly, in the mounds of shovel ware, there are some winners.
WiiWare – how I am excited for this downloadable medium. Games like Eternity’s Child and World of Goo, in addition to Strongbad’s Game for Cool and Attractive People, certainly have my interest. On launch day (well, the day after actually), I decided to by Lost Winds. It was a gamble for me, for it was developed by Frontier. Ugh. They developed RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, and that game crushed by top of the line laptop. (at least it was 4 years ago) So, I had low, and at the same time high expectations for the game. Turns out that the game is pretty darn good, but then, I noticed something, and it made me rather unhappy.
On the download screen, Lost Winds takes up about 250 blocks on the Wii. It was then I saw how much space I had left on my internal memory, about 500 blocks. Ouch. I guess I can download one or two more games before Nintendo, in their infinite wisdom, decides that I should start deleting things in order to obtain newer releases. I only have a few Virtual Console games on my Wii, and Lost Winds, so, this development has my head scratching.
What the hell, Nintendo? Do you really want to stifle people from spending money on your wares? Do you really wish to not utilize the SD card slot or USB for additional storage? Do you really think 512MB of internal memory is enough? If you did, then you certainly must have a clearer idea of what people like me want. I guess that I don’t actually know what I want. But, thankfully, you do, and you’re limiting me to 512MB of downloads. Bravo, Nintendo! Bravo!
So, Nintendo, is your head so far up your ass that you can’t see that people are willing to spend money to populate more than 512MB worth of space? Do you really think that everyone is going to only by NES games to populate the Wii Channel list that is horizontally expansive? Do you think people are going to want to constantly delete and re-add games whenever they want to play something? I sure hope not.
512MB is a miniscule chunk of space to bestow on a console with downloadable content. Perhaps it’s time for a larger storage solution for the Wii. Certainly, we gamers hope that Nintendo is doing what is necessary to afford us more space. Until that time, we gamers will continue to be frustrated by the prospect that we’ll have to delete something to add something new. On a console that tries to reach out to the elusive “casual gamer”, ease of operation should be paramount. It’s clear though that the ease of dealing with downloadable content is not. It’s time for that to change.
As most of you know, RF Generation recently moved to a dedicated server. Such a move is not cheap. Our costs in the last two months have increased six fold, and such an increase is no small change. To cope with this increase in prices, we've began to accept donations. These donations help us cope with the server costs, and do their part to ensure that ads stay off this site.
In the four days since we began asking for donations, we've raised $108 to cover server costs. Such generosity is very much appreciated. Unfortunately, I forgot to mention in my announcement that if you donate I'd really appreciate it if you would personal message me stating who you are so we can make note of the donation. We certainly appreciate everyone's generosity, and we want to make sure we know who to thank for these donations. Every little bit matters.
If you are interested in assisting in the funding of server costs, we'd certainly appreciate it. We have a donation page set up to assist with the drive. Every little donation counts, and we certainly appreciate any generosity given. May our little slice of the internet continue to prosper, and may RF Generation continue to be THE classic and modern gaming databases.
So, Ubisoft had their Ubidays event yesterday. Many games were discussed including Far Cry 2, Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., Prince of Persia Prodigy and others. However, the real showstopper announcement was official confirmation of the mounting rumors that Beyond Good And Evil 2 does in fact exist. At the event, Ubisoft released a little teaser trailer showing the two main characters from the first game, Jade and Pey'j, stranded in the middle of a desert.
From a technical aspect, the trailer is just stunning. Pey'j looks AMAZING and not as cartoony as he did in the first game. Jade is also looking pretty damn good as well, but we don't ever see how she looks from the front.
Here is the trailer for your viewing pleasure. Now, keep in mind that Ubisoft has stated that this is all done in the game engine...
So, we are back! Feels good to see the homepage again. So why not start up with a new weekly article, Shadowfortes 100 Best Games of All Time. So I will post 5 a week. Here we go!
100 – Sonic The Hedgehog (Genesis, Game Cube)
So, I was never a big Sega fan when I was a kid, because Nintendo ruled my house. I think the first time I played a Genesis was after I got my PS1, so I was a bit behind. One game though that will always stick out will be Sonic. It had something that Mario would never have: Speed. It was fast and had amazing colors and graphics for it's time. And IMO, Genesis had the best controller of that time, so that helped.
99 – Phozon (Arcade, PS1)
So many things I could say about this game. The only thing the strikes me as odd though is that everyone I have asked about this game has never played it or only played it on PS1. I can also say that this is one heck of a hard game to play. But the awesome tactful game play and replay value make me keep coming back for more.
98 – Burger Time (Arcade, NES, Game Boy)
Burger Time spawned a whole new type of game play for us that played it on the NES. Who thought making burgers by walking over them could be so much fun? With funny, yet hard to fight hot dogs, falling patty's and a little chef, how could you go wrong?
97 – Rock Band (360,PS2,PS3,Wii)
What's Rock Band you say? Take the GH games, whip out four friends and Rock Band, and feel like you are on your first world tour. Rock Band steps it up to the next level with one of the best party games of all time, yet it is also a great single player game. With the options to create your band members, play online, and download new tracks each week, this game is a must have.
96 – Dig Dug (Arcade, PS1)
Dig Dug is not a game I can just pick up and play. Matter of fact, I need to be in the mood for it. So why is it on my list? Because once you are in the mood to play it, you can't put it down. This game is so much fun, you just can't get enough. I mean, whats better the blowing air into a dragon until it blows up? Priceless.
Now, in about three days, I can officially say that I am a Civil Engineer. Now, Civil Engineers do a lot of things. Designing Bridges, Creating Dams, Building Things, Creating Traffic Jams, Mitigating Floods, yeah, we do all that and much more. See, there is this thing though. Most, if not all Civil Engineers specialize in something. I, for example, specialized in transportation. Seamar, specialized in structures. See, from an ethics standpoint, we agree only to practice in the fields we're competent in. We know better than do attempt to do something when we have no idea how. So, we know better than than to do and market things that we have no idea how to do, so why does Microsoft then try to do something it doesn't really know how to do?
METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS
In a week with so many games, it's tough to give out a pick of the week. However, I've got to go with GRiD. The game is made by Codemasters, the same team behind last year's awesome rally racer DiRT, and attempts to bring the style of racing game presented in that game onto the streets. GRiD stands apart from most other racers in that it is neither a simulation like Forza or Gran Turismo nor an arcade style game like Burnout or Project Gotham, but somewhere in the between. It definitely has some great physics, but it isn't too overbearing for casual racing fans. Better yet, it carries over the 
Just today, Tomonobu Itagaki announced that he is leaving and suing Tecmo over unpaid bonuses. He claims a completion bonus for Dead or Alive 4 has gone unpaid; further stating, "President Yoshimi Yasuda chose not only to violate this agreement, but also turned defiant, telling me 'if you are dissatisfied with the decision not to pay the bonuses, either quit the company or sue it.' " So far, Tecmo has yet to respond.
So, believe it or not, but I am actually a gamer. I know, wow! The cynical gamer is a gamer! It may frighten you to know then that I do not own a 360 or PS3. Rather, I own that technologically inferior Wii. I used to think that was a bad deal, but then I realized that when I do play the system I am absolutely enthralled. Who’d a thunk it? Thanks, Okami! (and NMH, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, Metroid Corruption, and Twilight Princess). Truly, in the mounds of shovel ware, there are some winners.
