[img width=400 align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/16635149954789349d7b290SonicMassEffect.jpg[/img]
So, it has been known for some time that Bioware was going to be working on a Sonic RPG. Today, we have more news about the Sonic RPG that is sure to make fans of Sonic and Bioware squeal with excitement. A couple of highlights are as follows:
- Watercolor Style of Animation
- 4 Members in you Party at once, 11 party members total.
- No random battles, in a definite homage to Chrono Trigger
- Turn Based Fighting
- Special Moves play like Elite Beat Agents
If you wish to see more than a few highlights, perhaps scans hosted at Jeux France will tickle your fancy. Those scans are bright, colorful, and look as good as graphics seen in Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. I'm certainly impressed by the graphics... are you?
Certainly, this game has the potential to rock one's socks off. I am predicting pure awesome. We'll find out for sure when this game is released later in 2008.
Lock up your daughters: New info on Bioware's Sonic RPG [Dtoid]
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood info [GoNintendo]
[img align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-027/ss/ex/U-027-S-00510-A_05.jpg&sizex=174[/img]
As I sit hear, listening to the Future of Rock and Roll, I was pondering what my next article should be. I sit hear, enjoying the music, listening to the smooth melodies of the indie rock scene. Feel the emotion, the magic, the rhythm. Music is a powerful medium. Music can be one of the best ways to convey emotion and mood without saying a word. Truly, music is an important part of games. From the 8-bit era to today, music has been an integral part of games. Think of the classics. The Mario Theme. The Zelda Theme, and many more, they're all great. Let's take the time to reminisce on the past, and identify the history of game music as it is today.
Continue reading Game Music through the Ages... Why is Game Music so Popular?
 Sony has put the final nail in the coffin for usage of their UMD (Universal Media Disc) format for movies by announcing that you will soon be able to transfer Blu-ray movies that you own to your PSP by way of the Playstation 3.
According to Gizmodo, the functionality will be available this year, will (most likely) be free, and will work on (almost every) Blu-ray Disc under the sun. Some specifics about the transfer process are that the movie files will be around 1GB, in standard definition, optimized for playback on the PSP, and will take about 3-5 minutes to download to the PSP's memory stick. However, the catch is that the movies will be protected by DRM (Digital Rights Managment), which is no surprise considering that you're copying a copyrighted movie onto a portable device and could easily share it with others. There's no word on what exactly the details of the DRM policy will be (one of the restraints may be that you can only copy each disc a certain number of times). My guess is that it will be just like the DRM used for PSone games downloaded from the Playstation Store.
But who knows. Knowing Sony it could be a DRM scheme that drops a rootkit on your PS3/PSP and monitors every single thing you do before dropping that rootkit in your brain and controlling you.
Rod Cousens, to CEO of Codemasters has said, and I quote:
"I think this cycle has got a long way to go and it's certainly not over. Anyone writing off Sony and Microsoft do so at their peril. I could give you an argument that says there's going to be a 'Wii 2′ pretty quickly because [Nintendo would need one] in order to sustain momentum over a 10-year period. And what type of software would it have then? Because right now it isn't driven by technological supremacy or power. I wonder if the idea of opening up a whole new audience to 60-year-olds looking to make sure their brain cells don't die off is a sustainable form of entertainment. Maybe they got it right because we are all an aging population in Western markets, but I somehow think as a form of entertainment that won't be the case."
My reply? Why the heck are you in the gaming business? Are you that stupid? Let's talk some games, shall we? First off there is Super Mario Galaxy, which is regarded as one of the best games of all time. Second, we have the up coming release of Super Smash Bros Brawl, which is going to sell like hot cakes. Also, ton's of great 3rd party games coming up. Would you like me to name some Mr Cousens? Sure.:
Endless Ocean
No More Heroes
Okami
Dragon Quest Swords
So maybe if you could out from under your rock and see whats going on, your quotes would not make me sick. We are all on page 5 Mr Cousens, open the book please.
Source:
http://www.gamedaily.com/...visions-wii-2/19021/?biz=
Ed Note: Damn, this one hell of a well written, thorough review. I encourage you all to read this up.
I haven't listened to any Pink Floyd since quite a while before I re-ripped it at 320kbps. I'm now listening to some of it through the headphones I got for my birthday in November. It sounds so good.
The headphones are called Sharkoon X-tatic 5.1, I think rebranded as Tritton AX360 in the USA. I got halfway through writing a review of them but moved on, as I always do. I'll discard that one and start fresh...
Continue reading Sharkoon X-Tatic 5.1 Gaming Headphones
 As many of you may know, the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show is going on in Las Vegas. At this show, the electronics manufacters gather together and show off their new products. Among the exhibitors there, one of them caught my eye, Se2 Labs and their ITC One product.
The ITC One is a strange combination of...
- Microsoft Xbox 360
- Your choice of a Nintendo Wii or an Xbox 360 HD DVD Player (adds $450 or $300 onto the cost of the system, respectively)
- Your choice of a DirecTV, Dish Network, or Comcast High-Definition DVR
- Bryston Digital Sound Processor
- ICEpower D-Class Amplifiers
- Internal subwoofer amplifier
- Transparent Cable Power Conditioning
- iPod Dock
All for the low low (base) price of $25,000!!!
Goddamn! That's some pretty high end shit in there, and it's by far the best "home theater in a box" I've ever seen, but damn, it's excessive!
What's more is that according to Siliconera, you can't remove the Wii and get access to the Gamecube ports on the top of the system. Also, I have another important question about that ITC One. What happens when you get the infamous Red Ring Of Death?
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So, it's simple, I guess. Almost too easy. Want your collection to be featured? All you need to do is upload some collection photos and voila! You're instantly in the running for a featured collection. That said, let's talk about gorez's collection. As we can see from his photos and collection profile, gorez is primarily a Genesis collector, followed by the PS2. He also owns both the Featured Game and the greatest hits version of the Featured Image. Now only if he owned the Featured Hardware, or as we like to call it, the George Foreman Grill. It's black, it's beastly, and unlike the current models this PS3 has not be neutered. Or spayed. Hell, we'll just call the new models castrated. Such a strong word. That said, gorez has entered the current generation in the Microsoft camp, with his 360. I bet his favorite game is Sneak King. That or Viva Pinata. Who knows, certainly not me.
So, the featured game is Dark Cloud 2. It apparently is a good game. I couldn't tell you though, as I have not played it, but my brother has, and he has a wonderful review written. Check that out.
So, features. Huhzah! Stay tuned to see what new features we have next week.
This is a public sevice announcement brought to you by logical123
Hello to all you guests on RFGeneration right now! I'm logical, and I'm here to tell you REGISTER!!!!! Please! Yesterday, while on the forums, I noticed that there were 30 guests on-line, but only 6 registered users. The site and its members won't bite, we promise. The site is great! You can find people to ask questions, you can sell extra controllers, and of course, the Collection Software tool, the pride and joy of the site. Our coding monkeys are some of the coolest dudes around, the site works nearly perfectly. Find an error? Post in the forums. It will get fixed. Bar-none. The site is great. Register, you won't regret it.
Handy dandy link to register -> Register Now!!!
Ed Note: You got to love our members' dedication. It's ravenous. Join the fun, will you?
Edit By logical: The link was made into a "Register Now!" type thingy. I'm in the process of learning html. :-) Thanks!!
[img align=right width=250]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/268794616478035c6c0147hd_dvd_bluray.jpg[/img]
Well, it seems as though the format wars are possibly reaching a conclusion, with Sony's Blu Ray format beating out HD DVD. Depending on how you look at it, either this conclusion is vindication for Betamax or something that you wish mirrored Betamax. So, after years of fighting, bickering, and backhanded deals, the future is looking rather bleak for HD DVD. I guess the question then is- was the future ever looking bright for HD DVD? I don't know if I can say yes. It seems as though one of its principal proponents (Microsoft) seems to be rather preoccupied with its own download service. Do they really care about HD DVD? Perhaps we'll find out soon at CES with their rumored Ultimate Xbox announcement. But, I bet that even if the Ultimate 360 has a built-in HD DVD drive Microsoft will still have its agenda entirely on its download service. I wonder if it even matters any more. Let me tell you why.
Continue reading So there is this HD Format War... Do you Care? Should you Care?
As I was writing my next System Overview article, I found myself asking the question "What in the world were they thinking?" when looking at some of the console designs in my Room of Doom. Some are very unique and others are just plain elephant-man ugly. With that image in mind, who will take the home coveted Joseph Merrick Award for worst-looking video game console? The contenders:
Magnavox Odyssey 2
 Just what I need - 15 million
keys to play a game.
| Amstrad GX 4000
Space-age design or just a cheap rip-off
of the Land Speeder from Star Wars?
| 
Cast Your Vote!!
| Atari 5200
Hmm... make it bigger and
they will love it - NOT.
| Gakken Compact Vision
What in the heck am I supposed
to do with those funky handles?
|
Nintendo GameCube
Simple design or
designed by simpletons?
|
RCA Studio 2
Brutal, just plain brutal.
| Bally Professional Arcade
Bally should have stuck
to designing arcade machines.
| Pioneer LaserActive
"Customer needs assistance in aisle 3.
Fork lift will be required." |
You may remember a previous post about a cool hack called Extra Mario Bros. In case you missed that post, here is the video again.
[youtube=425,350]AbPbvl6g4rc[/youtube]
So, I have received confirmation that this game does in fact exist. Since I wish not to be sued, all I can say is yeah, look in the right spot and you might find it, and that's all I got to say about that.
Thanks for the tip!
 So, I was checking out GameSniped today, and they listed some very interesting and rare Atari auctions they stumbled upon at eBay, sold by the Atari Museum.
He has quite a few unreleased prototype hardware items that are pretty cool.
One of the neatest things he has for auction is a box and manual for the game Quadrun. Now, as you may know, Quadrun is one of the rarest 2600 games (rated a 9 on AtariAge's rarity scale), so finding a box and manual for agame like this is really a once in a lifetime experience, and the current going rate of the auction reflects that. As of this writing, the box/manual is going for $200. Quite spendy for some cardboard and paper if you ask me, but I suppose it's worth it considering how much that game usually goes for.
Another neat item he has up for auction is a prototype of the Super Breakout LCD game, only one of two known to exist. Currently that one is priced at $385, and will likely go even higher as there is one day left in the auction. Pretty darn neat looking thing that would make you the center of attention in the game collecting world. Also, notice how much that proto looks like an early 80s version of the iPod? I wonder if that's where Apple got their inspiration...
He also has quite a few other protype system boards, hardware, and other items for sale. Take a look and report anything you found interesting.
There's some other great auctions up there including some game concept art, promotional poster for the recent Atari Flashback 2 plug and play console, some sealed Activision LCD games, a service kit, diskettes, and some rare accessories (including a CX-70 light pen.)
Click here for a full list of what he has for sale.
Also related, GameSniped listed a promotional display and lenticular sticker for the 2600 classic, ET. I might just buy that and make it the centerpiece of my collection just to show my affection for the gaming greatness that is ET for the 2600...
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[img align=right width=350]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/792620377477c87120f933WiiWii.jpg[/img]Look at them. Cute kids, huh? Look at the one holding the Wiimote. An angel, I bet he is? Right? Maybe not. Maybe so. But look at the other one, the older brother. He looks angry. Not quite HULK SMASH angry, but pretty peeved. Note the Wii. Such an elegant system. Absolutely no scent of urine... whaaaaat???
Turns out the older brother was being a jerk. That's strange, normally older brothers are nothing but a ray of sunshine. I should know, as I am the oldest of my brothers, and I am nothing but a ray of sunshine. Somehow, that kid must not have gotten the memo about being a good brother. See, his parents got he and his little brother a Wii for Christmas for 250 pounds. Grats to the parents for finding a Wii for their beloved kids for Christmas. Months searching, according to the article. Really, months to find a Wii? In Britain? I thought you guys were Sony Fanboys. Guess the exorbitant price of the PS3 has converted you from that path. Anyways, the older brother was being a jerk once they finally got the Wii from Santa. Seems he was hogging the Wii. Not letting his brother playing the Wii, apparently. Certainly the little brother didn't like that, and by golly, he had to do something about that. Tell his parents? Nah, that's to mature for his age. What he did was more classic.
And that's were the headline for this article comes into play. Hilarious. Wee on the Wii. Genius. One hell of a way to get back at your brother. Certainly, if my little brother did that to my Wii, he'd be dead. Figuratively, of course. But the truth of the matter is that my Wii is not broken thanks to urine, while that pissed off older brother's Wii is. Ha!
Boy pisses on Wii in Revenge Attack [via Kotaku]
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After being gone for over a year, the image search now works like it did prior to our switch to mySQL. Hopefully you guys will enjoy its return... it's been a long time coming.
Additionally, we've created a less crappy watermark for our images. It now includes transparency. It may or may not be tweaked a bit in the future, but for now enjoy the less intrusive nature of our watermark. We hope you enjoy it.
[img align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/collections/Tan/Laptop-RFG.png&sizex=336[/img] 2007 was a big year for RFGen. Hundreds of new members, new staff, new features, new scripts, new tools, new designs and banners (thanks Dennis!), a new store to help fund the server costs and an increased level of community participation!
Along the way we broke records, raised the bar, improved the site in so many ways your brain would melt trying to remember it all. The Admins, Editors, Staff and most importantly the Members, have helped mold and shape RFGen into the site it is today. So first off, let me quote a few 2007 database statistics for you:
41358 game submissions of all types
5956 hardware submissions of all types
====== equaling
47314 total submissions for 2007 alone! 
Meanwhile behind the scenes, our three Administrators: Eddie (St0rmTK421), David (TraderJake) and Scott (Tynstar) have worked tirelessly fixing errors and bugs, making new policies and scripts, adding new features to the site for all of us to use, guiding us with their leadership and all of this despite busy schedules, jobs, school and real life in general that can eat away at your time even in the most ideal of circumstances.
One of these new features that really hit it's stride in 2007 is the ability to log submissions and submission approvals. It's handy because we can thank each and every one of you for your contributions. So for 2007, we'd like to thank the following members:
Top Submitters
Funk_Buddy, Pop Culture Portal, Belgarath, Tynstar, OatBob, marriott_guy, Fuyukaze, y2richie, ApolloBoy, NES_Rules, James, Kevincal, TurboGrafxer AKA DCer, Mezmoron, sharp, Fighter17, AndyC, eaglebeak99, briskbc, Speedy_NES, Alabama-Shrimp, s1lence, Izret101, Magewout, Rajaat the Warbringer, tholly, freak_boy, Tondog, BadKarma, bum-man, esquire, captain_nintendo, epv39, Samada, zodiacprime, lackofselfcontrol, Donkey Kong Kid, PingvinBlueJeans, Malygris, cverz2, JWKobayashi, RAMBO, lovablechevy, Shrooin, DevIancE, lwelyk, Rorschach, TraderJake, Tretiy, Matt Rideout (dotDarkCloud), logical123, Barracuda, Cobra, djbeatmongrel, aicrob, hybrid, IamtheHBOMB, shaggy, mrdaggiman, Shimra, Wempster, Kollision, Retromangia, Cambot, meg@driver, itatton, den68, eternalblue81, JeFIzM, octbane, pvtmurre, Untamed, woutie, Corvus, gorez, DeathByNinja, blissfulnoise, Duckface, NekoOtaku, chrisbid, Vokyous, Icarus Moonsight, CatchFiveBats, anton10000, dom meatball, Lios, WarLordAG, DarthKur, Goodapollo666, KallowayAshton, hardart, ozzymandd, SchnattAttack, Xevious, ganonbanned, Innervision, MachiavellianNerd, R-21, Grim Fandango, Lenneth, RedHerring, samo, DefaultGen, le geek, Reps911, shadowforte, TheBoss, Bassgrabber, MF Dagger, phoenix1967, policenaut, TheQFactor, atari_wizard, jbiohazard3069, jcalder8, Alfador, marty_b11, Nintendonut1983, Platypus Stan, shoes23, twitami, Ackman, eldergod, Ghost Soldier, grimbasement, Matt-El, Retrogamer72, St0rmTK421, Valdiuss, Xizer, 0x15e, ChrisHavius, KamatsuKyoto, Ronin_Sixshooter, ShawnFox, udisi, VACRMH, Yggdrasil, Yurf, Antimind, brianon, dauber, diediemydarling, djknightime, dodgersfan7800, douglie007, GagaMan, GameRiley, Ghostzidane, hypercentric, Jade, jferio, Kitsune, Moriya Hanzo, Nonnolion, panda_racer, RetroYoungen, Sauza12, Schwalbe, silentscythe, vash_san, Vultar, Zabdi, Zed, ztaKxileF, Tan.
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Also a big thanks go out to the staff who besides their own submissions and contributions, review and approve member submissions on an almost daily basis. Here are the top staff approvers for 2007:
Top Approvers
Tynstar, OatBob, marriott_guy, Fuyukaze, AndyC, bum-man, Belgarath, Tondog, ApolloBoy, Magewout, Mezmoron, Izret101, s1lence, shadowforte, sharp, TraderJake, JWKobayashi, Funk_Buddy, Speedy_NES, captain_nintendo, tholly, freak_boy, Tan.
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As you can see it takes a tremendous amount of community support and staff to make RFGen the success it is. From the staff who have specific departments and areas of expertise, the members who spend hours scanning, submitting and discussing, to the weekly polls & chats (thanks Norville!) and forums that make this a second home for many of our over 1500 registered members. It's great to see that after three and a half years this site is still moving forward at such a fast pace. Here's to 2008 becoming another banner year for this site and it's members!
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