XCM V-Box (USA/JAP) modification - allow any video input, not just Wii

May 19th, 2007, 16:06 Posted By: scorpei

Hey all,

Okay so I went and did it , I got my hands on a XCM V-box early and felt up to the challenge (especially since the unit I received was for USA/JP and I have a PAL Wii). I went up and modded the USA/JP XCM V-box to accept ANY other video device capable of outputting S-video or Composite signals. After finding out how I wrote a guide about it which you can see:

here; http://wii.scorpei.com/XCM_V-box_USA.html

I will also soon do this to the PAL version of the unit, however that is not yet released at this time (it is however due for shipping soon).

A bit of background info on the XCM V-box (for those who haven't been following the news ;

The XCM V-box is a video adapter for the Nintendo Wii allowing you to watch the video of your Wii on the PC (and record it / take pictures). There are two versions of the unit (at this time) one for USA/JAP users and one for European users. Homepage
.........
they can be used with every device that outputs this kind of video type. This is also advertised by the team by adding the feature of inputting other video signals using a special adapter (which you have to buy separately, and is not yet available nor have any images been posted).

A small sneak at my guide;

A bit more background information in detail; As I stated earlier the USA/JAP version of the XCM V-box uses S-video as it's signal. S-video is composed out of two data lines, one of which is (Y) luminance/brightness and the other is colour/chroma (C). These lines are split to create better image quality as opposed to composite video which has both signals on one data line. The PAL Wii however (and lots of other devices) cannot produce S-video. Thankfully though, a very easy and cheap way of splitting composite into S-video is available (though there is quality loss in that way. Using a better method results in a much more costly solution) leaving us with a V-box that is also capable of using composite signals

Have fun modding!
~Scorpei

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Genesis Plus 18.05.2007 - Genesis Emu for Gamecube and Wii

May 19th, 2007, 09:00 Posted By: wraggster

Eke-Eke has released a new version of Genesis Plus the Genesis emulator for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo Gamecube:

Heres whats New:

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Namco Museum Remix to strike Nintendo Wii

May 19th, 2007, 04:59 Posted By: JKKDARK

via Punch Jump

Namco Bandai Games America Inc. on Fri. announced that Namco Museum Remix will launch on Nintendo Co.'s Wii video game system this fall.

The title will feature five remixed Namco arcade games that will utilize the Wii Remote control and allow owners to whip, swing, twist, and shake the video game classics.

Remixed titles include Pac'n Roll, Pac-Motos Remix, Galaga, Rally-X, and Gator Panic Remix.

"Namco Museum Remix breathes new life into all time classic games like Galaga, Rally-X and Pac’n Roll by taking their fun and famous gameplay and adding new twists which are easy to grasp, involve multiple players and offers a level of fun that is only possible with the Nintendo Wii," Makoto Iwai COO and Senior Vice President, Namco Bandai Games America Inc., said.

In Pac'n Roll Remix, players can roll Pac-man through worlds that feature pac pellets and obstacles. In Galaga Remix, up to four players can shoot alien invaders. In Rally-X Remix players can use the Wii Remote to steer.

In addition to Namco Museum Remix, Namco Bandai will also release Tamagotchi Party On! in 2007.

Nintendo has sold nearly 2.5 million Wii units in the U.S. to date. It ranked as the top-selling home console in Apr. retail sales data.

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Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles gets limited ed. in Japan

May 19th, 2007, 01:08 Posted By: wraggster

via joystiq

We know some of you out there are excited about Capcom's on-rails Resident Evil, Umbrella Chronicles, so we ask you: How excited are you? Are you excited enough about the Wii as light-gun functionality that you'd be willing to dish out ¥3675 (about $30)? Are you excited enough about returning to the original Raccoon City mansion that you'd want to decorate your mom's basement with a game case disguised as a medical waste containment carrier?

We'll admit, we're not quite as excited as you lot, but we would like to decorate our mom's basement with more video game-themed tchotchkes.

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Pac-Man invades Namco Museum Remix on Wii

May 19th, 2007, 01:06 Posted By: wraggster

You remember Namco Bandai's Galaga, don't you? The very mention of it should conjure images of a lone spacecraft darting through unrelenting waves of giant insects, with bullets whizzing by and an unusually pleased Pac-Man rolling past. Oh, you don't remember him being there? That's because you haven't seen Namco Museum Rehash Remix for the Wii yet -- the "Remix" part referring to the inclusion of gluttonous gaming icon, Pac-Man, into every one of the revamped titles.

The image above is from Galaga Remix, a point-and-shooter (yes, really) that forms part of the five Wii-vitalized games included in Namco Museum Remix. Others detailed by IGN are:

Pac 'n Roll Remix -- Much like the early DS game, Pac-Man has to roll his obese body to the end of the level while overcoming enemies, obstacles and a self-image problem.

Pac-Motos Remix -- Pac-Man knocks his opponents out of dangerous arenas. He'll eat them later.

Rally-X Remix -- It's a 3-D version of Rally-X, only with Pac-Man driving the car (miraculously sans arms and legs).

Gator Panic Remix -- Whack-a-Mole, but with gators. And Pac-Man.

Galaxian, Dig Dug, Mappy, Xevious, Gaplus, Super Pac-Man, Pac & Pal, Pac-Mania and Cute Q will also be included, though they'll all have to make due without a "remix." Namco Museum Remix releases on Wii this Fall.

via joystiq

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Rayman's Raving Rabbids 2 for Wii

May 19th, 2007, 01:02 Posted By: wraggster

via kotaku

It's round two for Rayman's Raving Rabbids and the onslaught of oddly-amusing mini-games. This time, Ubisoft is promising to go into more detail about the background of the Rabbids with a narrative about their world domination plans (did I mention that they're HQed under a mall?).

The graphics look more polished this time round, and details on new minigames are a bit scarce. We know that one has 4 Rabbids strapped to lab tables, with electricity-throwing cathodes above them. Cue lots of screaming when they get zapped. Another one involves some Rabbids in some theatre seats (naturally, they are wearing costumes like a Pirate, American Sport player, and one in bandages) talking on cellphones. Hopefully there will be some unique usages of the Wii Remote's Speaker here.
No telling when the release date will be, so don't go planning a Wii Party at your house unless you've got a copy of Mario Party 8 coming beforehand to use as a buffer. Feel free to swap dip recipes while you wait though.

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QuakeDS WIFI build - now with on-screen keyboard!

May 18th, 2007, 22:59 Posted By: simonjhall

Just a quick release, so nothing majorly new.

I've *finally* gotten around to releasing the wifi build of Quake for you all to play. This supports only infrastructure-mode networking, so you're gonna need an access point to play. There is no support for ad-hoc.
Wifi performance is pretty sluggish, and you may find it not too your liking - I've done the best I can with the wifi library, but I just can't get low-latency performance out of it. Still massive kudos to sgstair though :-D
You'll obviously get better results if a computer with plenty of processing power is hosting though. But you can still host on the DS if you want to (with a max of two players).

An on-screen keyboard has also been added so you can properly play Team Fortress now :-)
You can also type in the IP you want to connect to etc, change your player name, bind buttons, use the console etc...
Today's keyboard has been brought to you by...ScummVM DS!

There are also a few bug fixes for the people who got the 'freeing precaches' crash bug in pre2. There is no fixed game saving for the people who got corrupt saves in pre2 (well I've added code to handle drivers which don't support unaligned saving, but I couldn't fix all corrupt saves - YMMV).

Mod support has also been improved a bit - dodgy QuakeC code no longer crashes (as much), some deathmatch bots are known work (I've been told Reaper and Omicron work), I've had a go with Quake Rally, Quake-done-Quake (with a vengeance), Team Fortress (not single player)... These are only the things that I have personally tested, and I'd just expect most mods to work out of the box, assuming the models are in pak files.

If you're only interested in playing single player I recommend avoiding this build as the addition of the wifi code has greatly reduced the RAM that I fought long and hard for, so some levels may not be playable or may thrash.

The usual shimmy, including instructions etc lives at:
http://quake.drunkencoders.com/

Peace.

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Pony Friends

May 18th, 2007, 17:29 Posted By: wraggster

New from Play Asia



features
Choose the pony that you want from a range of breeds or create your own Perfect Pony
Accessorise your Pony
Collect over 100 different items including saddles, blankets, bridles, horse shoes as well as rare coins and shells
Brush, shampoo and condition your ponies coat, mane and tail, clean its hooves and give it medicine if it’s sick
Take your pony out and explore over 15 different trails
Trek through mountains, wetlands, farmland, towns, forests, along beaches and more
Try to snap over 100 different creatures – from butterflies to buffalo
Discover hidden paths and rare gifts
Put on your lucky saddle, bridle and shoes for extra help!

description
Choose from 6 breeds and create and customise your very own pony. Make sure it is well groomed, clean and happy. Take it for trail rides to keep it fit and watch out for birds, animals and hidden rare items to collect. Make your pony beautiful with gifts and matching sets of accessories ensuring your pony is the best pony in the whole stables!

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Nintendo Runs The Table In April Sales

May 18th, 2007, 17:05 Posted By: wraggster

Already riding a streak as America's No. 1 seller of video game consoles, No. 1 seller of portable game systems and No. 1 publisher of video games, Nintendo added more chips to its pile in April-with not just one, but the country's four best-selling games.

According to independent sales data gathered by the NPD Group, the two best-selling games in April were Pokémon® Diamond and Pokémon® Pearl, exclusively for the Nintendo DS™ hand-held game system, followed by Super Paper Mario™ and Wii Play™ for the Wii™ home video game system. Combined sales for the two related Pokémon titles exceeded 1.75 million units in just 14 days of availability during the reporting period.

The DS remained the most popular game system of any kind in April, with projected sales of more than 470,000 units. At the same time, the Wii from Nintendo, despite nearly universal sold-out status, was still purchased by twice as many consumers as any other home game console, according to the NPD data. Unit sales of 360,000 Wii systems in April bring the console's installed base in America to nearly 2.5 million in less than six months on the market.

"Nothing is more valuable in the entertainment world than an evergreen franchise," says Reggie Fils-Aime, president and COO, Nintendo of America. "These new Pokémon titles have cemented their place alongside the most enduring intellectual properties of the book, music and movie industries. And that appeal will expand even further with the introduction of Pokémon® Battle Revolution to our Wii home console next month."

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Nintendo Runs The Table In April Sales

May 18th, 2007, 17:05 Posted By: wraggster

Already riding a streak as America's No. 1 seller of video game consoles, No. 1 seller of portable game systems and No. 1 publisher of video games, Nintendo added more chips to its pile in April-with not just one, but the country's four best-selling games.

According to independent sales data gathered by the NPD Group, the two best-selling games in April were Pokémon® Diamond and Pokémon® Pearl, exclusively for the Nintendo DS™ hand-held game system, followed by Super Paper Mario™ and Wii Play™ for the Wii™ home video game system. Combined sales for the two related Pokémon titles exceeded 1.75 million units in just 14 days of availability during the reporting period.

The DS remained the most popular game system of any kind in April, with projected sales of more than 470,000 units. At the same time, the Wii from Nintendo, despite nearly universal sold-out status, was still purchased by twice as many consumers as any other home game console, according to the NPD data. Unit sales of 360,000 Wii systems in April bring the console's installed base in America to nearly 2.5 million in less than six months on the market.

"Nothing is more valuable in the entertainment world than an evergreen franchise," says Reggie Fils-Aime, president and COO, Nintendo of America. "These new Pokémon titles have cemented their place alongside the most enduring intellectual properties of the book, music and movie industries. And that appeal will expand even further with the introduction of Pokémon® Battle Revolution to our Wii home console next month."

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Go Bananas As Virtual Console Takes You On A Safari To Donkey Kong Country

May 18th, 2007, 17:04 Posted By: wraggster

Stake your claim as king of the jungle this week as Nintendo’s world famous ape family swing their way onto Virtual Console. Released for the Super Nintendo in 1995, Donkey Kong Country 2™: Diddy’s Kong Quest™ sees our hero Donkey Kong take a step aside to allow his family members to take centre stage. When the big ape himself is kidnapped, it is up to the young Diddy and Dixie Kong to fight their way through eight worlds of comical action to save their superstar relative. Donkey Kong Country 2™: Diddy’s Kong Quest™ is available now for 800 Wii Points.

Joining this retro classic is another all-time great from Nintendo’s archives. Originally making its debut in 1992 on the NES, Mario & Yoshi™ is a fast-paced puzzle game starring everybody’s favourite plumber and his faithful dinosaur side-kick, Yoshi. In this game, players must catch falling enemies from the Mario series in-between egg shells, to free Yoshi trapped inside. With increasingly difficult stages to master and a frantic split-screen multiplayer mode to enjoy with a friend, this is the ideal title for puzzle fans! Mario & Yoshi is now available to download for 500 Wii Points.

These great games will join the list of 87 classic titles already available for the Virtual Console in Europe.

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Karous blasts onto the Wii

May 17th, 2007, 22:01 Posted By: Shrygue

via Nintendo Wii Fanboy


Old school gamers rejoice; vertical shoot-em-up Karous is headed for the Wii. Karous was released a couple of months ago on the Dreamcast and currently stands as the last game released on the system.

We've already talked about how many classic shooters are available on the Virtual Console, so it's nice to see a new release joining the party.
The cel-shaded shooter is hardly a genre classic, but does add something a little different to the Wii's library. Who knows, if sales figures are good, a few other shmups might find their way over. Radiant Silvergun on Wii, anybody? Now we're dreaming ...

There's no release date yet, nor any confirmation of a U.S. release. Keep your itchy trigger fingers crossed.

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More evidence of a US release for Picross DS

May 17th, 2007, 21:56 Posted By: Shrygue

via Nintendo DS Fanboy


The cat is slowly emerging from the bag, it would seem. We knew that Picross DS was in Gamestop's computers as a July release, and now the ESRB has pretty much confirmed it by rating the game.

Just think, this summer we could be filling in squares and making pictures just like they do in Europe. Well, you could be. Availability isn't the issue for us; being able to buy the game isn't going to magically make us less awful at Picross.

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DKC2 on Euro Virtual Console

May 17th, 2007, 21:44 Posted By: Shrygue

via Eurogamer


Nintendo is releasing Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES) and Mario & Yoshi (NES) on Virtual Console this week, and gamers in some European territories can already download them.

Normally we have to wait until Friday to do that, but the games have been sighted in the wild in some places, although they're currently not on the UK Virtual Console pages. "There are various public holidays across Europe today and tomorrow and that's why some have gone up early," Nintendo told us.

Diddy's Kong Quest is the 1995 follow-up to one of Nintendo's biggest Western success stories: Donkey Kong Country. The Rare-developed series was lauded for its impressively-rendered graphics, and wasn't a bad platformer to boot. The second game shifted the focus from Donkey Kong to his little pal Diddy and Diddy's girlfriend Dixie, whose ponytail was good for smacking enemies and grabbing onto things. On the VC it costs 800 Wii points.

Expect a more thorough explanation in tomorrow's Virtual Console Roundup, when we'll also be looking at puzzle game Mario & Yoshi, which will set you back 500 points.

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GBA lives forever - FFVI hits June 29

May 17th, 2007, 21:14 Posted By: Shrygue

via Computer and Video Games


There are already more Final Fantasy games on the way to Nintendo platforms that we can keep track of, but just in case the Wii and DS games aren't enough, Square Enix is unleashing Final Fantasy VI for GBA on June 29.

Renamed Final Fantasy VI Advance, this is an extended of the original classic that originally hit Super NES in 1994, with a new location called Soul Shrine you tackle an endless stream of monsters, an unlockable music player and a new dungeon with a secret boss, Kaiser Dragon.

Of course, if you've already made the upgrade to DS you won't need to dig out the dusty old handheld because it'll sit snugly in the GBA port on your DS.

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Mario Strikers: Charged Football Online Hands-on

May 17th, 2007, 01:41 Posted By: wraggster

Let's get this out of the way right now: Yes. It's got its own Friend Code - and it's completely different to your Wii code. Oh, and if you want to add anyone to your Friend Roster, you'll need to manually input their Friend Code. That's 12 digits, for every friend. Do you hear that? It's the sound of the internet collectively weeping.

That aside, we're pleased to say that Nintendo's inaugural online home console offering (if you live in Europe, at least) works a treat. We'll get onto why in just a minute. First, we're going to run you through those all-important online details - we know that's all you really care about.

There's a massive array of arenas this time around. Plus seven from the 'Cube game.
In fact, our relatively brief playtime with Mario Strikers: Charged Football was predominantly designed to show off Nintendo's online service. As you're no doubt aware, it all operates in much the same way as Nintendo's DS-based online offerings. So, on firing up the game it's an easy hop into the online play menu. From here you're presented with four main options - Play, Friend Roster, Leaderboard and Ranked.

It's worth pointing out that we were only privy to the 'Friend'-based system during our hands-on, with 'Rivals' play - that is, going head-to-head with complete strangers from around the globe - remaining something of an enigma. So with that in mind, if you've yet to take your copy of Mario Strikers online, your first stop should be the Friend Roster. Here you can add friends, assuming you've got that all important 12-digit code, who - once they've done the same at their end - sit permanently in your list. Neatly, the Friend Roster keeps a running tally of your mates' current Rank, number of wins, loses and overall points. It'll also show their Mii, just in case you'd forgotten what they were there for in the first place.

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Word Wrap Beta 1.01.3

May 17th, 2007, 01:31 Posted By: wraggster

Bob Fossil has updated his Word Wrap game

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Comic Book DS v2.2

May 17th, 2007, 01:25 Posted By: wraggster

Paco_777 has updated his Comic Book DS app:

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[OLD] Beup Live v0.3e Fixed - MSN for DS

May 17th, 2007, 01:16 Posted By: wraggster

This version of Beup Live DOES NOT WORK as it's OLD.Use the search function for the latest one.


HtheB has updated BeupLive, heres the info:

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Metareview: Etrian Odyssey

May 17th, 2007, 01:10 Posted By: wraggster

via dsfanboy

Here's the thing: the games Atlus USA sees fit to bring over tend to be love-it or hate-it propositions. Don't expect anything different with Etrian Odyssey. The RPG has collected the usual run of mixed reviews so far, but if you were looking forward to it, take heart and remember that the same lead dev behind Trauma Center headed up the Etrian Odyssey team, and if we learned anything from that title, it's that the best of all possible games tend to be brutally punishing.

1UP: 80% -- "Etrian Odyssey is old-school tough, but it's new-school fair. The maps are easy to make thanks to the simple, grid-based layout, and warp items and spells are easily accessible; their use is actively encouraged. The labyrinth is divided into several "strata," and each one has its own teleportation point. So, while it may be easy to get lost in the dungeon, it's almost impossible to get trapped ... Etrian Odyssey will definitely appeal more to the OCD'd than the ADD'd, and its punishing difficulty and very deliberate pacing may turn off younger gamers who grew up on flashier roleplayers. But it offers a real sense of wonder and a sense of accomplishment -- feelings missing from far too many modern games."

GamePro: 60% -- "The first-person gameplay is effective when combined with the shiny new 3D graphics engine that renders the Labyrinth in rich detail, day or night. As you work your way downwards through the twists and turns of the Labyrinth, it really feels like you're lost in a maze. The novelty wears off, though, as you'll find your eyes glued to the 2D map rather than taking in the 3D world to plan your route and avoid roving enemies that pop up. Despite the detailed setting graphics, the character models are anime-styled 2D cutouts and enemies have no attack animations and only one wobble animation and a flash of light indicating that your attack hit them."

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