 This story is about a man named Nathaniel. Nathaniel is a huge Xbox 360 fan who pre ordered his console months before launch. Since getting the console, he has collected signatures from several people at Microsoft, Bungie, and Rooster Teeth (the creators of the hit Halo machinima series, Red vs Blue). As you can see, this is not just a few people signing it, but most of the console had some kind of signature on it. Heck, the bottom of the console had a drawing of Master Chief by the artist of the Red vs Blue comic.
Imagine his shock when the console died. Now Nathaniel was faced with a tough situation. He had to decide whether to take off the case and see what he could do with repairing it on his own...or send it off to Microsoft. It was not an easy choice but he opted for the latter because the first would void the warranty.
Before he sent the console off to Microsoft for repair, Nathaniel contacted them over the phone, explained the situation to them, and asked that he receive his exact same console back. Microsoft obliged and gave him a reference number to include when shipping the console off to them.
He sent his unique Xbox 360 along with a letter reiterating his situation and his wishes to have all these signatures preserved to Microsoft. Everything seemed to be in good shape...
Some weeks later, Nathaniel received his console back from repair. He opened up the box it came back in and saw his 360 was sent back. It had the exact same serial number, but it was missing something. What exactly was it missing? Yup, the signatures.
He couldn't believe it! All those signatures that meant so much to him...gone. Oh, but they didn't just replace the case, they SCRUBBED THE SIGNATURES OUT! You can tell because there is marker smudge visible on the 360.
(Click the image for a higher resolution version)
Since the original posting of the story, there have been some additional developments. Many have wondered why he decided to share this tale of woe with the internet. Well, he states that it's simply a cautionary tale for 360 owners who send in their consoles for repair. He regrets sending in his console in the first place, but he's angry because he was ASSURED by Microsoft that they would take care of his system and send it back to him how it was received. After some time trying to contact Microsoft, the company has finally responded to Nathaniel and apologized to him and stated that they are working to correct this issue. Nice of them to look into this, but it should have never happened in the first place.
[Source: Hawty McBloggy]
[img width=150 align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/163238371547c70bd77c7e9Porteous-OP804.jpg[/img]See this man to the right? His name is Julian Porteous, and he has something to say about video games. Clearly, being the auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney Australia just doesn't fancy all of his time. Never mind striving for that "Just Community" and other Catholic mumbo jumbo*, for now is the time to talk about video games.
See, Australia currently has a maximum rating of R15 on video games. As you know, the age 15 generally doesn't correlate to mature audiences. As such, there are quite a few games that just don't get released in Australia. I don't know what I'd do if I could not play Manhunt, Postal, or Marc Ecko's Getting Up. I'd probably go crazy. Regardless, that is how it is in Australia. Clearly, video games are a subversion where any game intended for people over the age of 15 should be banned.
Recently, it was mentioned by sometime in the Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification that they may consider adding the R18 rating to the game ratings. Currently, the R18 rating exists for film, but not games. Certainly, there are a couple prudes that think that it is their God given right to think what other people should or should not do. Take for example Julian Porteous. As a ranking member of the Catholic clergy shouldn't he be worrying about something more important than what games are rated, such as clergy abuse, or is that strictly an American thing? Either way, the auxiliary bishop of Sydney opposes the proposal to add R18 to the Australian Classification system. Why? He thinks that video game violence can desensitize people into performing acts of violence. Hogwash. If that was the case, I would have gone out killing lots of people with a beam katana that I obtained at the local flea market. Thanks No More Heroes! Thankfully for everyone, I would never make such an absurd connection and my rationality and morality would keep me from performing such a heinous action. God knows though what would happen if I was subjected to sitting through one of Julian's homilies. Now that's desensitizing.
Julian, bugger off. Convince your congregation to perform acts of charity and see God in all things. Stay the hell off of our modes of entertainment, and I'll be less inclined to criticize the work that you and your cohorts do.
*David Murnan is a raised Catholic kid who was subjected to 12 years of Catholic education, of which four of those years were in an amazing Jesuit Institution. As such, he is allowed to be openly critical of his own faith.
via Gamepolitics
Let's face it, eBay sometimes might really grind your gears. You might even hate eBay and its evil empire. Perhaps you'd just prefer a place to auction your games that specializes in auctioning games. Perhaps you'd prefer such a site even more if it was run by a Digital Press member, and has affiliation with DP. If you're interested in such a place then I have good news, Gamegavel.com might just be your place.
Why should you be interested in gamegavel.com? Let the webmaster speak for himself.
Why is GameGavel different than eBay, and why should you use it? GameGavel.com has the DigitalPress seal of approval, Joe loves the idea and is backing it 100% both with his word and the ability to use the Rarity Guide (integration into the GameGavel site is coming soon!) Further, all auctions feature free basic insertions! I don't believe you should be charged to list an item, then be charged at the end when you sell it! If you upgrade beyond the basic listing, the fees are modest, and the Final Value Fees are lower than ebay every time! Additionally, everyone at GameGavel is just as passionate about Video Games as you are! I am trying to cultivate a Community Feel, by incorporating your feedback at all the sites you enjoy! When a person clicks your profile to look at your reputaiton, they have instant access to your DP Feedback, Cheap Ass Gamer Feedback, and more! People instantly know that you are a good seller/buyer/trader!
Certainly this is a site that a collector could find great use in, and as such I highly recommend that you check it out. You never know what you might find or be able to sell.
Gamegavel.com
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  Sony has just sold me on a PS3. This was announced on IGN.com recently:
MGS4 Bundle Announced
Anticipated game to be packaged with 80GB PS3 and DualShock 3.
by Jeff Haynes
February 26, 2008 - For months, Metal Gear Solid fans have eagerly been looking forward to a release date of the upcoming title from Kojima Productions, Metal Gear Solid 4. Since its delay last fall, the only thing fans have known is that the game is expected to be released later this year. Earlier today at Destination PlayStation, a retailers only conference for Sony products, Sony announced that a Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle pack will be released in Q2 2008.
The bundle will include MGS4, an 80GB PS3 and a Dual Shock 3 included for an MSRP of $499.99. It will also include an Metal Gear Online "Starter Pack. For players that pre-order Metal Gear Solid 4, there's an added bonus: they'll be guaranteed access in the multiplayer beta of Metal Gear Online in late April.
"Working closely with our retail and publishing partners and sharing our hardware and software roadmaps at Destination PlayStation gives us a great opportunity to outline some key milestones for the year. In response to incredible demand, we will be manufacturing more 80GB PS3s for North America and the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots 80GB PS3 bundle is an ideal way to offer that continued value to our consumers," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO of SCEA. "With Blu-ray having won the format war, our stellar software line-up and a broad product portfolio, we will continue to drive the incredible momentum we've been generating since last fall."
Sony FTW.
[Source]
EDITOR EDIT: That wasn't the only thing to come out of Sony's Playstation Destination event today.
Metal Gear Solid 4 comes out June 12. One can only assume the bundle comes out on that same day too.
 In addition, Sony announced a new God of War PSP bundle. The bundle will be $200 and will come with God of War: Chains of Olympus, Superbad on UMD video (hahahahaha, Superbad and UMD are both hilarious...for totally opposite reasons), and a free download of Syphon Filter: Combat Ops from the Playstation store. Expect it on retail shelves in June.
Finally today, the much awaited vibration-enabled DualShock 3 will be hitting store shelves on April 15 for $55. More than I had hoped for, but still a good deal cheaper than importing it.
So, it looks like Sony decided to save all the big announcements for this little conference instead of saying everything at GDC. Looks like the bad news of Phil Harrison leaving Sony is being balanced out.
[img width=300 align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/hardware/U-073/bf/U-073-H-00031-A.jpg[/img]In late 1994, Richard Miller, the former VP of Technology at Atari from 1989 through 1994, created a company called VM Labs. Having gained extensive experience in hardware development (his team created the Atari Jaguar), Mr. Miller focused his company's energies on creating a new technology to renovate the passive experience delivered by DVD players and digital satellite receivers. In 2000 their efforts resulted in the release of the NUON, a powerful 128-bit processor that was to be embedded within these types of digital video products. This technology produced excellent results in processing complex 3D graphics and digital video that enabled the delivery of interactive content, enhanced DVD playback (smooth scanning and zoom features) and, the point of writing this review, video games.
NUON technology was released in a handful of DVD players (the first being the Toshiba SD-2300, pictured in this review). All DVD NUON equipped players resemble their standard counterparts - there is nothing notable to describe with the exception of a small NUON logo displayed on the front of the unit. The remote was used to drive gameplay, but a few third party controllers were released. The general purpose was not unlike previous attempts at being an all-in-one multimedia playing machine (Memorex VIS, Philips CD-i, Pioneer LaserActive, et al). VM Labs also followed suit by planning to license the technology to various manufacturers (like the 3DO Company did in 1993). The reason that NUON technology was only released in select DVD players and not as a stand alone video game console was based on pure statistics. At the time, only 30% of the general public had embraced video game technology in their homes while the DVD player market was booming and was projected to have 100% penetration within 5-10 years. This was sound business planning, except for one key fact that they failed to give proper attention to - the release of a video game console that also played DVDs - the Sony Playstation 2.
[img width=300 align=left]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/hardware/U-073/bb/U-073-H-00031-A.jpg[/img]Enthusiasts within the respective DVD and video game market are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but it is safe to say that there are many more video game devotees that also are DVD fans than vice versa (especially in 2000). The decision to market a DVD player that could play games was incorrect - the DVD aficionado did not necessarily play video games nor cared about them. Sure, the smooth scrolling zoom and scan features that a NUON DVD player offered were cool, but would the public pay the extra $100 or so for these features? The answer to this question is rather obvious, but first let's take a look at the NUON in more detail.
The NUON chip (which was previously known as Merlin and then Project X) was truly a powerful piece of hardware at the time. The technology is based on the Aries 3 chip. The following is an excellent description of the capabilities and functions:
"The heart of NUON was the Aries 3 chip. The Aries 3 was based on a unique 128-bit, four-way-parallel very long instruction word processor architecture. In addition to the video and audio decoding and trick-play functions, the chip performs all system-management and CPU functions. More specifically, Aries 3 featured MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 program stream and video decode; MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 Layers 1 and 2 audio decode; 5.1-channel Dolby Digital audio decode; extended DVD trick modes; 32-voice wave table synthesizer; MP3 decode; an integrated Content Scrambling System descrambling module; video scaling, and 3-D video gaming. A hardware block placed on-chip to assist MPEG video decoding was designed to free up the bulk of the VLIW device's programmable processing power: 3,024 MIPS at peak and 864 MIPS typical." - referenced from the Dark Watcher's site.
[img width=300 align=right]http://www.videogamecollectors.com/albums/Marriott_Guy_Games/Picture_125_Medium.sized.jpg[/img]This processing power described above produced games graphically equivalent to early Playstation 2 games. A total of eight games were released for the system, the most notable being Iron Soldier 3 and Tempest 3000 (developed by Jeff Minter, renowned classic home computer and Atari programmer). Though the developers varied on these releases, the majority waited to see if NUON could grab a significant hold of the DVD player market share prior to investing into this technology. In the end, it did not and third party support (both from the hardware and software fields) quickly dissipated, adding to one of the final nails in the coffin.
The NUON essential failed due to incorrectly identifying the needs of the ever increasing DVD player buying market. DVD enthusiasts were just that - not necessarily video game driven buyers. VLM Labs went bankrupt in 2001 and sold off the NUON technology to Genesis Microchip, which in turn retired further development of the NUON in July, 2002.
NUON-enabled systems can be acquired easily from eBay and other like sources. A loose system is cheap - right around $20-$40 or so (USD). There is not necessarily a highly desirable unit, though the Toshiba SD-2300 and Samsung Extiva N-2000 are the first systems released. For a hardware CIB unit, expect to pay $75-$100 (USD). Some of the games for the system are hard to come by and will run you a few bucks - most notably the Next Tetris (only included in the Toshiba system) and Tempest 3000 (the best game). These will run you around $70 or so - the more common games around $20-$30. This is a recommended purchase for the hardware collector (video game or DVD), but not necessarily for the general gamer.
[img align=right width=250]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/107411104447bf29c519367NintendoWifi.gif[/img]
So, Nintendo Wifi Connection. It sucks, really, really hard. Don't kid yourself, if you are looking for a competent online service you certainly will not find it in the land of Nintendo. Just hearing the words "Friend Code" is like listening to a teacher use her fingernails against a blackboard. It simply is not a nice thing, I tell ya. For a company leading the pack in sales, they certainly have no idea how to capitalize on the burgeoning market of digitally distributed content.
So, what is this I am hearing about Wii Pay and Play? An upcharge for online? Perhaps, but right now we just don't know. What we do know is that Wii Pay and Play will be collecting money for "services that will adapt flexibility". What the hell does that mean? Kotaku speculated, so will I. It sounds as though Nintendo wants to print more money. More money that it does not need. So, perhaps they want to screw you, John Q. Consumer. Do you enjoy getting screwed? Personally, the thought of being raped by Nintendo does not entice me.
Perhaps Nintendo will wow us with something that is truly amazing. Show us what you mean, Nintendo, rather than being ultra cryptic about things. Show us that you are going to use this "system" for something awesome. Given your track record in the world of digital distribution and online gaming, I somehow seriously doubt it.
Nintendo Announces Wii Pay & Play [Kotaku]
After a bit of a coding rest it's time for me to get the ball rolling on the next big project. This project encompasses tweaking the games database so that downloadable games can be added to the database. It seems as though digital distribution is going to be the future, and we want to continue to be the classic and modern video games database. In that sense, onward ho!
So, while we know that this is going to be the next project, we want your input regarding how you think we should actually do it. We want to do this tweak right, and I want to make sure that the tweaks are things that you all agree with. To accomplish this, I have created a forum thread regarding crafting the architecture for this project. We need your help! With your input, we can ensure that this project turns out great.
Downloadable Games Architecture
 Microsoft has the stage for the keynote this year at GDC, and here's a rundown of what they stated:
Seven games sold over one million units each on 360 last holiday season. Impressive numbers I must say.
"Games sell better on 360 because they play better on 360." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Shut it, asshole! Don't take Sony's arrogance of years past because that is not true at all, my friend. Oh well, yay self promotion.
Over 1 billion achievements have been unlocked on Xbox Live. Half of those by Tynstar.
Gamers have spent over $250 million on Xbox Live Marketplace on gaming related content.
There are over 100,000 pieces of saved film content for Halo 3 uploaded each day by game players. That's 30% videos than what YouTube gets daily.
Three million songs for Rock Band have been bought.
Xbox Live Community Games is announced. This new platform is about "democratizing" game distriubtion and allowing everyone to publish games. One of the games shown is called JellyCar, and goddamn does it look AWESOME. They show off some other ones that I haven't seen pictures of yet, but JellyCar is just too awesome for me to care. Demos of the games shown are up on Xbox Live Marketplace now.
Guess what? Games are coming to the dead MP3 player Zune. You'll be able to play custom XNA games on Windows, Xbox, and Zune. Most impressive, but who the hell actually owns a Zune (or for that matter wants one)?
AAAAAAAAAAAND Michael Catz, president of Epic Games comes out on stage to show off the next version of the Unreal Engine and talks about Gears of war...where does this lead? Nowhere. Just a little tech demo. Nothing about Gears of War 2 announced...YET
Exclusive GTA4 downloadable episodes this fall. Take that PS3 owners!
Tomonobu Itagaki shows off Ninja Gaiden 2...and the controller fails and he has to reconnect it. Funny stuff, funny stuff. Ninja Gaiden 2 will allow you to take videos and upload them to the internet just like in Halo 3. Again, a 360 exclusive, coming out June 3.
Peter Molyneux comes out to demonstrate Fable 2. One of the new features is a game that's like roulette and craps combined. But, the thing is that this game will be released on Xbox Live Arcade a few weeks before Fable 2 comes out and you'll be able to take the money won in that game and import it into Fable 2. Very very neat idea if I must say so myself. Another new feature: co-op mode. You will be able to call up any character in Fable 2 by logging in as that user on Xbox Live. So, basically, if you want to go play co-op on Fable 2 with a friend, you don't need a memory. You can just login on your friend's system and your character will be imported into the game. Now, if you get any gold/experience playing co-op, you can take it back to your own game. Nice touch. He shows off the combat system.
At the end of the show, just as everyone thinks it's going to end, the screen turns red, shows some guy fighting a locust and chainsawing him to death, CliffyB comes out with a chainsaw and says "GEARS OF WAR 2 WILL BE EXCLUSIVE TO XBOX 360 THIS NOVEMBER." Wow. I sure as hell didn't see that one coming...
Overall, meh, I don't care about MS so nothing here really struck me as being compelling, except the whole Xbox Live Community Games thing. I like how that might shape up to be. Otherwise they made me roll my eyes with that whole "games play better on 360" trash and laugh at the Zune.
Also: one 360 red ringed at GDC, while another got a disc read error. Nice.
I'll be updating this article if I can find any neat pictures or video of the keynote, so stay tuned.
Sources:
http://kotaku.com/358723/...ng-microsofts-gdc-presser
http://www.joystiq.com/20...he-microsoft-gdc-keynote/
 Remember, this week is GDC and the main show starts today. Well, here's the frist big news of the show: Nintendo has revealed the release dates for both Wii Fit and WiiWare, and oddly enough they are within a week of each other!
WiiWare hits first on May 12. The games that will launch on the service are not known yet, but Nintendo stated in their press release that some of the early WiiWare games would be Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As A King, LostWinds, and an episodic game series from one of my favorite developers, Telltale Games. Other known WiiWare games are Bomberman, Gravitronix, Pokemon Farm, Dr. Mario & Bacteria Extermination, IGF Grand Prize finalist World of Goo, and the amazing looking Eternity's Child. Pricing or size on the games are unknown, but I imagine we'll hear more as launch gets closer.
Nintendo has also announced a May 19 release date (just six days after WiiWare!) for their bathroom scale/game combo, Wii Fit. If you've been living under a rock for the past year and don't know what Wii Fit is, it's basically trying to further the Wii's reputation as a fitness machine (and as a gimmicky minigame machine). Honestly, I don't care one bit about Wii Fit, so here's a link to Wikipedia's article on it.
I'm really excited for WiiWare as this could be the breakthrough that the Wii needs to appeal to me. What I really hope to see is indie developers dream up imaginative ways to use the Wiimote and make innovative games that Nintendo would never think of. Hopefully we'll see more of a indie-driven, innovative and creative environment on there rather than a bunch of existing franchises made for the service. It's looking to be a mix of both with estabilished franchises like Pokemon and Final Fantasy, but those games will be mixed with stuff like Eternity's Child. If we get more games that are like that, then the WiiWare games might possibly end up being better than the actual disc-based games. One can only hope, I guess.
Anyways, be sure to keep it on RFG for all the important GDC news.
[Source]
 Its official. The war is over. Toshiba recently announced that not only they aim to halt production of HD-DVD products, but they intend on doing it soon to allow for progression into the digital age (of Blu-Ray). Of course, this comes after weeks... even months of hard hits from retailers, rental businesses, and film studios announcing Blu-Ray exclusivity. The most recent was long-time HD-DVD supporter, Universal. How much longer can you plan on seeing those red tabs on store shelves? March 2008, according to the key manufacturer.
One reassuring vote of confidence remains for standard DVD, as Toshiba states that they stand committed to the format.
Read it for yourself. Check out the press release after the break.
Continue reading Sorry HD-DVD fans, but the end is near
[img align=right width=250]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/187074676547b9edbd5a478GDC2008Logo.JPG[/img]GDC. Also known as the Game Developer's Conference, it is now one of the more, if not the most important gaming expo / conference now that E3 is a shell of its former self. All the major gaming outlets cover it intensely. We here at RF Generation wish to be just like those other outlets, and that is why we'll be posting news and information that we deem worthy. Certainly, no one on our staff is at GDC, but that doesn't mean we can't post the news as we hear it.
So, it is likely that there will be plenty of news to come out of this year's GDC. Is there anything you want to hear? Is there anything you expect to hear? Certainly, for me there is, and perhaps there is for you as well.
Continue reading GDC Today through Friday: What do you Want to Hear?
 We all know about E.T., the infamously bad Atari 2600 game. But did you know that Atari buried thousands of unsold copies of the game in a Alamogordo, New Mexico landfill in September of 1983?
Many have doubted this event's authenticity, however a team of four enterprising Auburn University students have decided to team up and make E.T.'s March, a documentary about them trying to locate the landfill where Atari buried all these games. Together, the four students will travel from Auburn, Alabama to El Paso, Texas, which is where the Atari plant was located. From there, they will travel from El Paso to the landfill in Alamogordo, recreating the path that the semitrucks took, while in the meantime taking in the video game culture of the United States.
Judging by the website, they seem very determined to locate this goldmine of video gaming history, and the documentary should prove to be a very interesting watch. Now, I haven't seen King of Kong, the other video game documentary that's been making waves lately, but I can imagine that E.T.'s March must have been inspired by it and the critical acclaim it has been receiving.
The filming of the documentary will take place from March 15-23 and will be released over the internet sometime this summer. There are no plans for a theatrical or DVD release stated on the website, but I assume that they would be willing to do something like that if the right distributor steps in and funds them.
While you're waiting for the film to be released, here's a great, well-researched site all about the E.T. burial story: http://atari.digital-madman.com/
E.T.'s March Official Website
Check it out. Activision comes through. Did you find yourself ticked off by your Mono Experience known as Guitar Hero III for the Wii? Did you fill out the pre-claim form on Activision's Website? If you did, start checking your mail. You might be getting the above form and a prepaid, address envelope in the mail. Send in the disc and the form (click the above image to see it in its full glory) and you'll have a not so mono experience in 3-4 weeks.
Have not yet filed a claim? Do so here. Kudos to Activision for staying true to their word.
[img width=300 align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/hardware/U-083/bf/U-083-H-00011-A.jpg[/img]Prior to releasing their revolutionary controller with the debut of Wii, Nintendo had previously experimented with this in 1995 with the release of Laserbirdie, a golf game simulator for the Super Famicom. Though Nintendo does own the bragging rights to be the first to actually implement motion-sensing technology into a game, the Wii can not lay the same claim in regards to a console. That honor belongs to SSD Company Limited with their release in 2004 of the XaviX Interactive System (XaviXPORT).
The XaviXPORT was the first home video game console that fully utilized and required the use of full, wireless motion-sensing controllers. No games are included with the system - game packs, all sport/fitness related, are sold separately that include the game and a specialized controller shaped like the athletic equipment used in the respective game (i.e. golf club or tennis racquet). Besides being the first console devoted entirely to this new technology, the XaviXPORT has a number of other unique features - some good, others not so much.
The XaviXPORT makes the Sony Playstation 2 slimline model look like a behemoth. This system has to be one of the smallest consoles ever made measuring 1.0" H x 7.0" W x 5.5" D and weighs less than 1 pound. The front of the simple satin-silver casing features two (2) push buttons to the left (power and reset) with the infrared receiver on the right. A stylish, clean XaviX logo is featured front and center. The top of the system is more of the same - straight, easy to use features (four (4) up/down buttons flanked by an enlarged Rest and Enter button). The cool-olive colored game cartridge slot also resides here. Standard AV connection jacks, power and an AV Out port adorn the back of the system. This is as simple as it gets. The XaviXPORT hardware mirrors the simplicity of the main console design.
[img width=300 align=left]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/hardware/U-083/bb/U-083-H-00011-A.jpg[/img]The XaviXPORT system, contrary to the innovations delivered in their game interface devices, harkened back to a method used in the 1970's of delivering gaming applications and processor in one medium - through the cartridge itself. I am not sure of the exact specs of the internal components of the XaviXPORT (though I have read is of an 8-bit variety), though it is safe to say that some basic processors are included to process sound and video output along with the software bridge required to communicate with the cartridges. The premise here, as it was back with Pong-On-A-Chip technology (PC-50x family), was to include the processing power onto the game cartridge to avoid having to keep upgrading the central system every time a leap in technology occurred. In theory, this is an excellent approach to keeping the games up to date and providing the gamer the best experience. Now to the important question - what about the games?
Interactive sport and fitness games are the only genre for this system. A total of eight ( 8 ) applications have been released for the XaviXPORT from golf to baseball to fishing to boxing. I would have to say the graphics are somewhat similar to the 3DO - obviously not that great considering the year of its release. The games are fun though - physically demanding you to get off of your couch and participate. Correct positioning of the system is paramount for the optimal enjoyment because the game peripherals range does not seem to be that great (maybe 15-20 feet or so). If you are looking for a good workout, you will not be disappointed.
[img width=300 align=right]http://videogamecollectors.com/albums/Marriott_Guy_Games/2004_Xavix_Game_Collection_001.jpg[/img]Overall, the XaviXPORT is truly a first among video game consoles. SSD Company Limited fully embraced wireless, motion-sensing technology and ran with it. Having to compete in the marketplace with the Sony Playstation 2 and Microsoft Xbox did not help their cause, nor did the lack of their brand name recognition. I rather view this system like Worlds of Wonder release of the Action Max - intriguing technology at the time, but too much competition to overcome.
The XaviXPORT is still being sold in some select stores (both online and retail). A brand new system costs $80 USD, with games running approximately $50 USD (some higher). This is a recommended purchase for the gamer that likes to get a physical workout and fun game experience but is not necessarily addicted to cutting edge technology. This is also a recommended purchase for the console collector due to the place in history that the XaviXPORT will have and the small library of readily available for purchase games.
[img width=250 align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/171605600847b5f52c93a4dIcarus.jpg[/img]You may have noticed that the average Wii game tends to... suck in the graphics department. How the hell is it that the most graphically taxing game for the Wii is Super Mario Galaxy? Certainly, that games looks nice, but they can do better. Too bad then that the Wii is land of shovelware and crap. Fortunately for those us that do own the system, there are a few diamonds in the rough. While they might not be the most graphically amazing thing out there, they do excel at one key thing - they are fun.
So, yes, Factor 5. They are working on [SECRET UNNAMED PROJECT NAME GOES HERE]. Some people think that it might be a new Kid Icarus. That would be pretty damn cool. Others though, think it might be on the level of Lair, which from what I heard is a graphically amazing, yet horrible experience. Things didn't turn out too well on their first outing on the PS3, but hey, perhaps could be better with their Wii outing, right? Right?!
Anyways, Julian Eggebrecht, the president of Factor 5, had a little chat with IGN. Turns out, we have some new, interesting information. Sure, it has nothing to do with what the game is, but everything to do with the graphics:
Whatever we're working on will at least blow you away in a lot of the technical aspects. We're really trying to do everything to squeeze the maximum out of the machine
My my yes, better graphics, better technical aspects? Neat, but what does that mean? Face it, from a technical standpoint, the bar is rather low. Will they blow the bar away, or will their technical advancements just surpass the current technical marvel, also known as Mario? Time will tell, but there is also this fun tidbit from Julian:
Although we're going to use everything for what we have in development, I think the pointing stuff is probably the biggest innovation which we're working on right now.
Again, the bar is quite low, but who knows, Factor 5 in the past made great games, perhaps they can pull off something amazing. Certainly time shall tell, and if we're lucky we'll know something more next week with GDC about to ramp up.
Update: Factor 5 Wii Project [IGN, via 4cr]
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