1UP Interviews Derek Yu
June 1st, 2008 by hiphperSource:1UP Interviews Derek Yu
Bonus: Video walkthrough for Aquaria, full version
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Case: Anascape Ltd. v. Microsoft et al. (E.D.Tex. 2008) [P]
May 30th, 2008 by hiphperSource:Case: Anascape Ltd. v. Microsoft et al. (E.D.Tex. 2008) [P]Back in July 2006, Anascape Ltd. sued Microsoft and Nintendo over various game controller patents, including United States Patent Numbers 5,999,084; 6,102,802; 6,135,886; 6,208,271; 6,222,525; 6,343,991; 6,344,791; 6,347,997; 6,351,205; 6,400,303; 6,563,415; and 6,906,700. Microsoft settled for an undisclosed sum on May 1, apparently before trial. Nintendo, however, fought on… to no avail.
On May 14, 2008, Nintendo was ordered to pay Anascape Ltd. $21 million after a jury found that Nintendo infringed Anascape’s patents with its WaveBird and Gamecube controllers for the Gamecube and Wii Classic controller for the Wii. The Wii remote and nunchuck controllers were not accused of infringement in the suit. Nintendo plans on appealing.
The case is Anascape Ltd. v. Microsoft Corp. et al., case number 9:06-cv-158 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
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Go Beryllium!
May 30th, 2008 by hiphperSource:Go Beryllium!
Go Beryllium! has a beta version to try out now.
Lots of positives to be found in monoRAIL’s latest. Great sound and music, tied to what’s happening in the game. Nice concept, basing the game around atoms. The Radium Boss’s shots coming from its orbiting electrons is a really cool touch. It also has support for a joystick, an always welcome feature (I should get around implementing that!)
There is one thing that bugs me, though. Inertia, in a bullet hell game. You really do want, and need, precision controls. Really, you do. Stop being so stubborn 
Sega Game Endings: NiGHTS into Dreams
May 30th, 2008 by hiphperSource:Sega Game Endings: NiGHTS into Dreams
Well now we have a treat for you this week on ‘Sega Game Endings’. Not one, not three, but two whole game ending videos. However they are for the same game, NiGHTS on the Sega Saturn.
As you all should know NiGHTS into Dreams allowed players to take control of two different characters, Claris and Elliot, who both have different levels, bosses and more importantly (for this feature at least), two different endings.
So for anyone who has not been able to get their hands on this Saturn classic, here are the final FMV sequences. You should notice that though the endings differ, they do both come together and cross paths at a couple of moments.
Elliots ending after the jump:
[Videos originally from Game-Endings]
Tags: , NiGHTS into Dreams, Sega Game Endings
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Age of Conan: Spellweaving Video
May 30th, 2008 by hiphperSource:Age of Conan: Spellweaving Video
Spellweaving, the caster’s uber attack system, hasn’t made it into Age of Conan yet, but will hopefully be there by official release. A lot of people have deemed it “pointless” as the character that’s spellweaving is vulnerable to attack while casting, however, spellweaving does grant said caster the ability to cast while spellweaving. Spellweaving increases the damage made by the caster and I’m sure that this will be put to use in amazing ways once it is made available.
In the meantime, check out the pretty animations. Oooh and aaah.
Spellweaving is only available to thefollowing classes: Tempest of Set, Demonologist, Necromancer, and Priest of Mitra. Each class has a different animation.
Can’t wait to do this on my ToS.
I can’t keep my hands out of the code
May 30th, 2008 by hiphperSource:I can’t keep my hands out of the code
Things have been pretty busy lately as I complete the process of moving my family to Boston. That doesn't prevent me from jumping into the code and breaking things every now and again… If you didn't know, 360voice has no real dev environment. We like to live out there on the edge… everything is coded directly in production against production systems… it keeps us spry… on edge… if you haven't tried running a software product with NOT development or staging I suggest you try it… it makes you question the need for complexity.
Although I have been known to roll back some of Squidpunch's code from time to time… I know we have a mantra around here that when something breaks, blame Steve (Fatty Chubs)… but lately it should be changed to blame Trapper (ChangeAgent). 
I did jump in and add a few things lately that I never called out.
- Added gamerscore to the Top 20 Most Played list on the game pages.
This is fascinating because I sort of assumed that people who played 313 DAYS of Oblivion would have all 1250 points… not so! Craziness! So click around a few of the popular games. You might be surprised at what you see. A special thanks to Himself0890 for the suggestion! - Rearranged the challenge trash talk to match the blogs.
This was something I have been meaning to do. When I redid the comment layout for the blogs I never did the trash talk, so now it should be much easier to read. I have seen in the forums that you might have to refresh your style sheets (CTRL-F5) otherwise it might look funky.
So that is it for now. Look for a few bigger new features this week! And for all those wondering, we will be recording another podcast here soon as well.
Arcanacra Black Label
May 30th, 2008 by hiphperSource:Arcanacra Black Label
Kei Mesuda’s Arcanacra Black Label is an update of his earlier browser-based vertical shooter release. Another Mode can now be accessed right from the start, and replays of any level by the top ranked players can be watched even if you have not attempted that particular stage yet. Bomb stock is also increased from three to five.
Click on the screen to add credits. Press the Z key to shoot and hold the shift key to target enemies with your ship’s homing lasers. Switch between rapid and spread shot by holding either one or both shoot buttons. The boss of each stage can be beaten easily once your ship has a persistent lock on it, especially when the lock weapon has been upgraded.
Push the right arrow key when the main menu is displayed to view the high score table.
Name: Arcanacra Black Label
Developer: keim
Category: Shooter
Type: Browser
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Arena Tournament First Qualification Round Concludes
May 30th, 2008 by hiphperSource:Arena Tournament First Qualification Round ConcludesAfter several weeks of fierce competition, the 2008 World of Warcraft Arena Tournament’s first qualification round has come to an end. Registration for the second qualification round is now open, and you can check out the
phase schedule for it. To register for the tournament or for more information, please visit our
Arena Tournament information page. Thank you to all of the participants and good luck to everyone in the second qualifier!
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Blizzard Striking Down WoW Botters
May 30th, 2008 by hiphperSource:Blizzard Striking Down WoW Botters
More than a year after Blizzard officially filed suit against the creators of popular World of Warcraft botting program Glider, the company has begun banning large swaths of the WoW playerbase who had been using the program.
“Glider is a tool that plays your World of Warcraft character for you,
the way you want it,” according to Glider’s promotional page.
Unfortunately for those found to be using the program, Blizzard considers automated gameplay to be a violation of the game’s rules.
As a result, the company has begun a mass campaign to remove all players found to be using the program from World of Warcraft.
Many fans of Glider argue that Blizzard’s EULA, and its stance that players are legally bound to an agreement that many simply click through on their way to the actual game, is faulty and that use of the program merely enhances their own enjoyment of the game.
Blizzard, on the other hand, feels that using programs to artificially inflate one’s status in the game gives players an unfair advantage over their peers.
Additionally, the company cites the lengthy EULA as an airtight, legally binding agreement that functionally gives it the right to ban players found in violation of their terms at any time.
There’s no word on whether these most recent bans (and those we expect to see crop up in the near future) are of the temporary or permanent variety, but after the protracted legal headache Blizzard has had to deal with as a result of the Glider program, it wouldn’t be surprising if Blizzard was striking these botters down with the sort of righteous fury usually associated with Norse Gods and Samuel L. Jackson.
Mass bannings strike Glider users [WoW Insider]
See Also:
- Boy Survives Moose Attack Thanks To World Of Warcraft
- WoW Gamer Memorialized In ‘Running Of Da Bulls’
- Blizzard’s Tauren Marines Top April Fool’s Gags
GTA IV Game Night Tonight
May 30th, 2008 by hiphperSource:GTA IV Game Night Tonight
Hey all don’t forget tonight is GTA IV Community Night. You can join us in the chat room, starting around 9:00EST if you want to chat while waiting to get into a game. If you have signed up you will get an invite from the gamertag you signed up with, either www360voicecom, communitynight, or gamerdna. We will be running two simultaneous games, and we will work in new players every few games.
As a reminder, we have a diverse group of folks in our community, so we ask everyone be considerate with language and play style. I know we have such a great group of people that this won’t be an issue, but I hope at least people take it easy on me as I am kind of noobish on GTA IV still.
People playing from 360voice.com
www360voicecom: Fatty Chubs
communitynight: Squidpunch
gamerdna: QforQ
ChangeAgent wont be joining us tonight, because he’s scared he’s traveling, so the 3 of us our holding it down. For those of you who don’t know QforQ, he is new to our small family here. He is the Game Talent lead at GamerDNA. And although he is new to our site, he is no noob to gaming. QforQ, (or Sam Houston) got his start with consoles like Genesis and N64 but also computer games where he joined competitive FPS clans for Call of Duty and Call of Duty: United Offensive. He was introduced to the MMO genre with Final Fantasy XI but it wasn’t until The Matrix Online released that he had developed an interest for massive worlds. With the Matrix Online Sam began broadcasting internet radio for gamers and podcasting for internet video gamers. This hobby has taken Sam across the US to interview game developers and broadcast live from Sony Online Entertainment’s Fan Faire in Las Vegas. Lately he joins myself and ChangeAgent regularly for Rock Band, putting my skills to shame on all instruments.
Sam will be jumping between games tonight and hopes to meet a lot of you.
