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Topics - RickPowers

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Announcements / Topic Subscriptions turned off. Use "Favorites".

« on: May 05, 2003, 06:52:58 PM »

Due to the amount of e-mail bounce-back we're getting from people using their "spam" mail accounts and having them full, we have disabled the Topic Subscriptions feature. However, if there are threads you want to follow, you can "bookmark" the topic to your Favorites area of Planet GameCube Forums Today by clicking the yellow star icon at the top of the topic.

We know this is going to cause an inconvenience for some of you, but we're hoping that it's going to put greater attention on the Today area, which is VERY useful.

If you have any comments or suggestions, we'd love to hear about them. Post your thoughts in the PGC Discussion area. Thanks!

Nintendo Gaming / E3 Discussion should to go Trade Show category

« on: May 05, 2003, 02:13:42 PM »

E3 is coming up in a week. To make sure everyone can find the information they're looking for, please put all E3-specific discussion in the Trade Show Discussion area. Thanks!

Nintendo Gaming / E3 Discussion should go to Trade Show Category

« on: May 05, 2003, 02:10:33 PM »

E3 is coming up next week. In order to make sure everyone is finding the information they're looking for, please put E3-specific topics in the Trade Show Discussion area. Thanks!

Announcements / Introducing ... the SPOILER tag!

« on: May 02, 2003, 04:37:34 PM »

Because you asked for it, I've hacked in a little spoiler tag for y'all. All you need to do is enclose your text in the following brackets, and the text will be "spoiler-proofed".

Please, do your fellow gamers a favor and spoiler-proof any game elements, puzzles, or plot points that may ruin part of a game for someone. No one likes to have a game spoiled. Do your part. If you don't know if it's a spoiler, do the right thing, and protect it, just in case.

TalkBack / Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand Movie

« on: May 02, 2003, 09:17:40 AM »

Hideo Kojima was part of an event in Japan where he showed off his newest GBA title and it's innovative sun-sensor ...

Konami recently filmed part of an event in Japan to showcase the latest innovation from Hideo Kojima. The GBA game is called "Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand", and it uses an interesting sunlight sensor to determine how much light there is where you are playing, and adjusts the gameplay as a result.

Now you can see some of the game for yourself in the following RealMedia clip, courtesy of Konami. You will need RealPlayer installed to view this clip.

Boktai Streaming Video

Boktai Event

Announcements / Forum Rules Updated re: Avatars

« on: May 02, 2003, 07:59:20 AM »

We have updated the Forum Rules to include guidelines and rules regarding the use of off-site Avatars. While the rules page may take a while to upload, we've included the changed text below. Remember, your continued use of the Forums is tacit agreement to abide by the rules, and regardless of whether you have read them or not, failure to abide by the rules can result in your being banned from the Forum. Enjoy the new feature!

You may add a custom avatar (also called a "author icon") to your profile. It should be no more than 64x64 pixels in physical size, and no more than 20KB in data size. It should not contain any offensive graphics or needless animation, and you agree to remove or change your avatar if requested by a moderator. Planet GameCube Forums reserves the right to remove the avatar feature at any time if it is deemed to be causing problems with page loading times, or causing unnecessary strain on server resources. Use of images in your avatar falls under the same rules as linking to any image in the Forums ... they must be hosted on your own personal webspace, and should not be linked to any other site's bandwidth without their knowledge. Violation of this rule will result in your being banned from the Forums.

General Chat / Welcome Home USS Abraham Lincoln!

« on: May 02, 2003, 07:07:50 AM »

As I type this, the USS Abraham Lincoln is returning to port, after being deployed for the longest stretch of any naval ship in recent memory. Regardless of your personal feelings about the war, it's always heartwarming to see the brave men and women who risk their lives for our country's ideals return home safe and sound.

Announcements / Welcome to PGC Forums Version 4.0!

« on: May 02, 2003, 05:04:04 AM »

Our upgrade to 4.0 is complete. We have a lot of new things that we'll be playing with over the next few months, but right now, we're doing a stress test with ...

CUSTOM AVATARS!

You can link to an avatar by going into the Profile menu, and entering the URL to your avatar at the bottom of that page. Please keep the file sizes small, in accordance with the rules.

Now, for the bad news. We do reserve the right to turn OFF the Avatars at any time if the load on the server or if the page load times become too high. Consider this a BETA feature, and do not assume it will be around forever. Keeping the site and the Forum loading fast over E3 is our number one priority.

If you have any comments, please make them in the appropriate thread in the PGC Discussion area.

Thanks, and enjoy the new features!

TalkBack / SD Adapter gets a Date!

« on: April 29, 2003, 07:13:07 PM »

Your prayers have been answered, and your Memory Card 251 is about to start gathering dust... UPDATED: Bakudan brings more info from Nintendo's website.

UPDATE: Our Japanese correspondent, Bakudan Yoshinoya, just chimed in with added information from Nintendo's site.

According to Nintendo, the SD Card Adaptor will enable new ways of gaming. It's possible for friends to e-mail game data to each other. Players can also download event and game data from the Internet.

The first software to use this accessory will be Doubutsu no Mori e + (Animal Crossing e+), which will be released on June 27 in Japan. Players will be able e-mail game data and photos taken in the game through a PC.

The price has not been determined.

In a recent update to Nintendo's Japanese web site, a little surprise popped up. Nintendo is known for giving us info on accessories and add-ons for its products, then quietly shelving them, and it was feared that the same would happen to the SD Adapter. Never you fear, as Nintendo has posted a July 18th date (in Japan) for the accessory.

Also a bit surprising is a new design for the adapter, which now loads the cards from the side, rather than from the front. It will likely be much easier to remove the cards as a result.

SD Memory cards are postage-stamp sized modules frequently used in Digital Cameras and PDAs. Panasonic owns the patent on the format, and it was thought that this accessory was just a way to leverage that partnership with Panasonic/Matsushita. In other words, while the technology is cool, we didn't really expect it to see the light of day, especially after the release of the Memory Card 251. But you just never know with Nintendo.

The timing is great too, as 64MB SD cards can be had online for around $35, and 128MB cards are around $55 (we've seen them as low as $38 online). We don't yet know what the maximum size is that the GameCube will be able to address, but 64MB should work fine, since that's what Nintendo was expecting to begin with. It should be noted, however, that the picture below shows a 16MB card, which can be difficult to find.

One small caveat for importers ... it's unknown if the GameCube will be able to use the SD cards as simple memory cards, or if there are game-specific functions for the adapter. The GameCube has a limit on the number of files/blocks it can address, and a 64MB card would far eclipse that limit. It would be a good idea to wait and find out more information on the peripheral before you make an order.

We should have more info at E3. Watch for it.

TalkBack / THQ SuperStar Challenge

« on: March 29, 2003, 08:58:49 PM »

THQ held the first ever THQ SuperStar Challenge at WWE Fan AXXESS this year, and PGC was there. Get the results inside!

THQ held the first ever "SuperStar Challenge" at this year's WWE Fan AXXESS event, and it was quite the spectacle. Yes, it was a PlayStation 2 tournament, but when you get Wrestlers playing games, you have to get the story.

16 WWE SuperStars took on each other in a single elimination tournament, with the winner and runner-up earning cash for their favorite charity.

Many unscheduled surprises took place, inlcuding a couple of last minute replacements managing to battle their way into the Semi-Finals, and in one case, winning the whole tournament.

Competing in the tourney were Shelton Benjamin (of Team Angle), Jaime Noble, Rosey (of Three Minute Warning), Rey Mysterio, Nidia (Tough Enough 1 Winner), Jamal (also of Three Minute Warning), Bubba Ray and D-Von (The Dudley Boys), Sean O'Haire, Shannon Moore, Maven (Tough Enough 1 Winner), Steven Richards, The Hurricane, freestyle rapper John Cena, Christian and Chris Kanyon.

Quickly the tournament turned into a fiasco as Nidia used every trick in the book to advance her way to the Semi-Finals, cheating and getting assists from Brian Kendrick and even a ringer from the video game journalists present to try to secure her place in the Finals. Eventually, Nidia's tainted win over Shelton Benjamin was disqualified and she was forced to compete on her own, resulting in Nidia losing the Semi-Final match to Benjamin.

Steven Richards managed to wrangle his way into competing against Shelton Benjamin in the Finals, guaranteeing each of them at least $1500 towards their favorite charity. Richards was picked as the favorite going in, being an avid gamer and self-proclaimed "expert" at SmackDown: Shut Your Mouth. In an upset victory, Shelton Benjamin managed to score the pinfall on Richards, earning $2500 for the Make a Wish Foundation.

Overall, the tournament was a tremendous success, and everyone had a great time. Kudos to THQ for providing the game and prize money, and to the WWE for giving the fans a great show.

Make sure to check out our Event Page for THQ's WrestleMania Weekend to see pictures from the tournament!

Nintendo Gaming / WARNING! Do not open the latest Nintendo newsletter!

« on: March 24, 2003, 02:11:34 PM »

If you want to keep yourself from seeing any BIG Wind Waker Spoilers, DO NOT open the latest Nintendo newsletter sent by E-Mail. Just delete it. Trust us, you don't want to see this!

The biggest hint I'm going to give those of you that just can't stop yourselves is that this newsletter gives away one of the best surprises in the game, and once you've seen it, you're NEVER going to be able to erase it from your memory, completely ruining the surprise. Please ... just delete that e-mail.

Nintendo Gaming / WARNING: Do NOT open the newest Nintendo Newsletter!

« on: March 24, 2003, 02:06:43 PM »

TalkBack / SP Headphone Adapter MIA?

« on: March 20, 2003, 01:50:44 PM »

Despite the early shipment of the Game Boy Advance SP, the Headphone Adapter is nowhere to be found. Here's why ...

Update: We've been contacted by people from both Nintendo of America and Nintendo Australia, and both companies are choosing to NOT distribute the Headphone Adapter in retail channels. Much like the Component Video Cable, this means that they will only be available Online through Nintendo's store.

Retailers around the US are receiving their Game Boy Advance SP shipments, but a key accessory is strangely missing. When Nintendo redesigned the Game Boy Advance, they lacked the room to include a headphone jack in the case. An accessory was developed that uses the same port you use to recharge the unit to attach a headphone jack for stereo sound.

The adapter is supposed to retail for under $10 ... if you can find it. We haven't found a single retail chain that has the headphone adapter in stock, not even Nintendo's own company store. This echos the situation in Japan, where the Headphone Adapter wasn't available for launch.

Fans waiting to hear their favorite Game Boy Advance games in full Stereo sound are going to be waiting a little while longer.

TalkBack / Game Boy Advance SP Selling Early?

« on: March 20, 2003, 12:21:56 PM »

Thanks to the many readers who've sent us the info, we can confirm that the GBA SP is on sale at select retailers...

Update: We've gotten word that GameStop has been authorized to sell the SP as soon as it arrives. Sure enough, I just returned from picking up mine. Remember, your mileage may vary, so please be respectful when dealing with your retail employees. Thanks.

Also, it seems that many chains that allowed pre-orders are getting just enough to cover those pre-orders, with big chains getting a few extras. Be forewarned!

We held onto this info until now to make sure we had as much detail as we could for you, but sure enough, the Game Boy Advance shipped to retailers late Tuesday. Some retailers, including Best Buy and Wal-Mart, began selling the revamped handheld the moment the stock arrived.

It seems now that stores are getting units nationwide. However, do NOT badger any of the retail employees if they say they do not have them, or have them and aren't allowed to sell them. They're doing their jobs, so cut them some slack. We anticipate more stores receiving shipments today and tomorrow, but it should not be assumed that all stores will be selling them when they receive them.

We've also received a couple of reports stating that some GameStop locations may begin selling the SP as soon as they receive them (to combat the loss of sales to larger chains), but this is likely going to happen on a per-store, or perhaps regional, basis.

Lastly, it appears that there are a VERY LIMITED number of the handhelds being sent out in this first shipment, but it's possible that more are being shipped for the official launch date of Sunday. Many stores are reporting having received between 6-12 units TOTAL in this first shipment. Don't panic ... any store with a pre-order program should be able to fill any pre-orders, plus a few units to spare.

TalkBack / Graphic State Unveils New GBA Technology

« on: March 19, 2003, 06:58:56 AM »

New "AGB Rush" engine combines 3D environments and sprites

Graphic State has developed a new engine for GBA games that allows 3D environments, more realistic physics, dozens of on-screen sprites and more. Crazy Taxi : Catch a Ride will be the first title to take advantage of the new technology.

GRAPHIC STATE ENHANCES TECHNOLOGY FOR GAME BOY ADVANCE

Leamington Spa, England. (March 19 2003) Graphic State, one of the leading developers of handheld video games, has revealed details of its latest GBA developments.

Having just completed work on Crazy Taxi : Catch a Ride for THQ, Graphic State has unveiled details of its latest Game Boy® Advance technology. Crazy Taxi is the first release to make use of the unique AGB Rush engine, which features detailed 3D environments, realistic physics and dozens of on-screen sprites. Handheld game players can now experience 3D gameplay similar to games previously seen on the original PlayStation.

"We can now create games for the Game Boy Advance that are a generation ahead of current titles, we are confident that we have developed the best 3D routines for GBA - and unlike many other developers our technology has already been proven in a commercial release," says Richard Whittall, Creative Director of Graphic State. "The new games we are developing take the GBA to new levels, which is essential in the very competitive GBA marketplace."

"Our AGB Rush technology includes many advanced features such as full texture mapping on all surfaces, lighting effects, depth shading, animated textures, fluid sprite animations, weather effects."

TalkBack / Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Against Acclaim

« on: March 15, 2003, 11:02:23 AM »

The law firm filing the suit alleges misleading statements about financial announcements.

The lawfirm of Cauley Geller Bowman Coates & Rudman is filing a class action lawsuit against Acclaim Entertainment on behalf of Acclaim's investors. The complaint alleges that Acclaim issued statements about the company's income and financial performance that were either misleading or false, and that investors suffered as a result.

Interestingly, listed in the information that Acclaim allegedly withheld from investors is information about the lagging sales of Turoc: Evolution (sic), and Aggressive Inline. The suit also says that by developing games like BMX XXX, the company severely limited its ability to get into retail channels that it needed to sell the games. Other issues the suit mentions include the company's inability to track certain important pieces of sales information, and that there was no basis for any optimism in any public statements made by Acclaim.

The crux of the complaint is that when Acclaim issued a statement that it was expecting to report an operating loss for the 4th quarter, shares dropped precipitously, losing almost 30% of their value in a single day. Basically, the suit says that this performance proves that Acclaim was lying about its financial health in earlier reports.

If you are an shareholder in Acclaim and bought shares between January 11th, 2002, and September 19th, 2002, you can go to the Cauley Geller website and file to be included in the complaint.

TalkBack / Want a new GameCube for under $70?

« on: March 14, 2003, 12:40:59 PM »

If you're still on the fence about GameCube, you just ran out of excuses ... Update: Too slow, they're gone!

Update:Told you that you needed to move fast. They're sold out now!

FAO Schwarz is going out of business, and they're clearing out stock, and they have Indigo GameCubes for $66.98.

It's unknown how long this amazing deal will last, but I'd highly suggest that if you don't have a GameCube, or are looking to replace a broken one, you're not going to get a much better deal than this.

Note: The site is getting hammered with deal-seeking traffic, so be patient and let the link load fully.

Thanks to TechBargains.com for the tip!

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TalkBack / Game Boy Player Delayed until June
« on: March 13, 2003, 06:19:11 PM »

For some unfathomable reason, the Game Boy player, due to release this month in Japan, is being delayed until June. And a possible price hike?
UPDATE: Thanks to PGC Reader Scott Thompson who has provided us with a link to the EBGames website, which lists the GameBoy Player with the June 23rd date, as well as the $49.99 price tag.

We were recently contacted by a couple of different stores with information that their computers are showing a new date and price for the Game Boy Player. Instead of launching in May for $39.99, it's now slated to arrive on June 23rd. Worse yet, the price tag now appears to be $49.99.

While we can't get confirmation on the new pricing from Nintendo just yet, Nintendo's own webpage for GameCube accessories does clearly list the date for the Game Boy Player as June 2003.

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TalkBack / Sorry for the downtime!
« on: March 09, 2003, 02:12:57 PM »

You might have noticed the server has been down. It had a little too much to drink at the party last night, passed out, and we just now managed to rouse it ...
We apologize greatly for our downtime. We know it couldn't have come at a worse time, with the contest going on and all, but hey, you don't turn four every day! The server partied a bit too hard this weekend, and as and had a wicked hangover this morning. It's doing much better now.

If you tried to send us any mail in the past 18 hours or so, including contest entries, please resend them to make sure we get them. Otherwise, everything else should be back to normal now.

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NWR Feedback / Happy 4th Birthday Planet GameCube!
« on: March 07, 2003, 11:05:46 AM »

Our Birthday celebration has begun! Feel free to post your thoughts about PGC turning four years old here. Bonus points for anyone that gives us a link to them giving PGC the "four fingered salute!"

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Nintendo Gaming / OLED Displays finally a reality
« on: March 04, 2003, 08:46:53 AM »

Kodak is a pioneer in Organic LED displays, screens that light themselves. They've finally come to market with the first consumer product using an OLED display. It's the Kodak EasyShare 633. 2.2" screen, 512x218 pixel resolution, 16-bit color ... this would be PERFECT for the next GameBoy. And considering that Kodak has been showing off a retrofitted GBA with an OLED display, maybe this could happen.

Kodak.com
Let's Go Digital

Discuss.

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Nintendo Gaming / Is this a glimpse of the future? Blu-Ray Disc ...
« on: March 03, 2003, 09:26:40 AM »

Sony is preparing to release the first-to-market Blu-Ray Disc DVD Recorder. At $4000, it certainly ain't cheap. But a single-layer Blu-Ray disc holds 23GB.

Everyone is wondering if this is the technology we'll see in the next PlayStation, and possibly the next GameCube as well.

So, what's this thing look like? Glad you asked.

http://www.avland.co.uk/sony/bdzs77/index.htm

Talk amongst yourselves ...

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TalkBack / Start your March off fresh, play an old favorite!
« on: March 02, 2003, 05:04:14 PM »

Head into March by dusting off a game you haven't played in a while. How about Eternal Darkness?
Tomorrow is the first weekday in a new month, PGC's birthday month, in fact. Why don't you help us celebrate by playing a game that maybe you've been neglecting for a while?3

Our suggestion is the fabulous Eternal Darkness. ED is a great game, very dark and moody. Of course, there are also the outstanding "Insanity Effects", which constantly remind you that things are not always as they seem. Plus, Eternal Darkness just won an AIAS award, even more reason to rediscover this sleeper hit.3

Most of you that go to school will probably be home by 3:00, maybe a little after. You owe it to yourself, and the great people at Silicon Knights to pop in your copy of Eternal Darkness and relive what is destined to be a classic.3

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General Chat / Evanescence - Fallen
« on: March 02, 2003, 03:17:40 PM »

I've just finished listening to Evanescence's new album "Fallen", which releases in the US on Tuesday. Many stores will be selling it for a very inexpensive $10, and I highly suggest that you pick up a copy. WWE fans will likely already be familiar with the track "Bring Me To Life", which was used as the theme for the No Way Out Pay-Per-View. Or you might have heard "My Immortal" on the soundtrack to "Daredevil".

However, "Bring Me To Life", while the most likely to get wide radio airplay, is probably my least favorite song on the album. The rest of the songs have less Linkin Park-esque "rapping" and feature more of Amy Lee's amazing vocal work, and some really powerful and "crunchy" guitar work by Ben Moody. In fact, being a fan of Linkin Park, I was immediately pulled in by the single "Bring Me To Life", which is likely why the label chose that track for release, but having heard the rest of what "Fallen" has to offer, the band is definitely not a Linkin Park clone.

"Fallen" is produced by Wind-Up Records, who also took a chance on a band named Creed, and like Creed, Evanescence is poised to leap to the forefront of rock. Hopefully the band's "epic, dramatic, dark rock" (as Amy Lee calls it) sound won't suffer the same backlash that Creed faced as they launched to superstardom.

When you pick up the album, give yourself a treat for taking the chance, and skip straight ahead to track five, "Haunted". Video game fans are immediately wish that this song was featured in a game like CastleVania, or Eternal Darkness. It's got an incredibly dark and moody feel, and would be right at home in the soundtrack to a horror or suspense thriller flick. But it's the chamber choir sound (arranged solely by Amy Lee) that puts the song right over the top.

Run out and grab it Tuesday, and let me know what you think.

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Nintendo Gaming / Wireless Networking? Clearing up the confusion ...
« on: March 02, 2003, 10:30:25 AM »

An errant comment made on another message board has people thinking that Miyamoto and Nintendo are going to introduce some sort of Wireless networking solution for GameCube. I'd like to clear things up a bit by showing you how this miscommunication occurred. Below is a snippet of the transcript from the DICE roundtable with Miyamoto and Aonuma. (Look for the italics.)

Quote
Whenever Nintendo's been asked, "When are we going to see more online games?" The response has always been, "When we see that the market is ready." Is there a possibility that at E3 this year, we'll be able to see more online or LAN-style network games from Nintendo?

MIYAMOTO: I can't really say a whole lot about E3 right now, but Nintendo is still at a point where we don't currently see online games being successful as a business model at this point so I don't think you can expect to see any serious look at online games at E3. I do think that the communication aspect of networking and linking games together, including LAN games, is definitely very interesting. We're going to look at ways to show that off at E3. Particularly linking the Game Boy Advance and the GameCube and linking four GBAs together, which is also kind of a form of communication and networks.

What about linking GameCubes together?

MIYAMOTO: [Laughs] Unfortunately I can't say anything today.

How content are you with the connectivity Nintendo's been able to show off on Game Boy Advance so far?

MIYAMOTO: No, I think we're still in the middle of a big challenge in trying to show off the capabilities of [connectivity] and we're still looking for some more definitive examples to show off. One of the preconditions for connectivity is that everyone has to have all these cables and people who have a GameCube also have to have a Game Boy Advance and that may not always be the case. Up until now, we've really been focusing on taking the idea of connectivity and presenting it in a way so that people who do have both can find, "oh, I do get more value out of this," or, "this is a little bit more fun," or, "this is an interesting experience." We're looking more at trying to build on that and establish the basic groundwork for us to go forward.

The comment about cables came right after the networking question, but was otherwise entirely unrelated. To boot, the phrase "that may not always be the case" came closely after the cables comment, but was in response to needing a GameCube and a GameBoy Advance for "connectivity", and again, had nothing to do with the GameCube specifically, or networking in general.

Just wanted to make sure everyone is clear on this point. The other message board in question is abuzz about this "wireless networking", and I just wanted to make sure that it doesn't filter over here as well.

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