Hasta La Gadget!

Hailrazer is clearly a fan of the Nintendo 64 and GameCube, but his projects have kept the systems as separate beasts. Until now, that is. His latest mod puts a Nintendo 64 into a GameCube’s GameBoy Player add-on, linking the audio, power and video to those of the more modern system. Gamers just have to plug in relevant controllers and flip a switch to play whichever console best triggers a nostalgia trip. About the only setback is the absence of space for a proper Nintendo 64 cartridge slot, which effectively mandates using a not-quite-above-board storage format instead. Given that the two-in-one console is strictly a personal labor of love, it’s still quite the achievement — and it guarantees that Hailrazer’s inner circle won’t have to travel far for a trip down memory lane.

[Thanks, Jon]

Continue reading Hailrazer stuffs a Nintendo 64 into a GameCube GameBoy Player (video)

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

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Source: Bacteria’s Forum

The Nintendo Wii U has kicked off a new generation of consoles. The device, which comes with HD graphics that can about match those we have from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, will likely be joined by vastly more powerful PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 consoles at some point in the next year or so.

Once those devices launch, it will be time to handicap the marketplace. Which console will succeed? Which console will fail? And perhaps most importantly, which console will win the next-generation battle?

[Image credit: Andreas Levers]

I’m sure there are those in each company’s camp armed with reasons their particular favorite will win.

Those who support Nintendo will say that the company’s commitment to innovation and fun, coupled with its high-quality first-party library, will be enough for the Wii U to dominate the gaming market.

Sony fans disagree. They point to the PlayStation 3’s late surge in the gaming space to make their case. Sony fans believe that the PlayStation 4 will come with high-quality specs and a large game library that will give it the edge. To think otherwise, they might say, would be nonsense.

Microsoft, however, has a different take. The Xbox 360 has proven steady over the last six years, and it’s likely that in the U.S. and Western Europe, it will have a strong showing. And Microsoft’s fans say that the software giant’s online experience and Kinect functionality will impress gamers and get enough people to join up to take over the console market.

I honestly believe that all three companies have a chance at dominating the next-generation console market. After all, coming off the GameCube, no one thought that Nintendo would win the space, but it did so with the Wii. And although the PlayStation 3 got off to a slow start, it’s starting to show now why it had so much promise in the beginning.

“I don’t know how Nintendo expects to hang tough in the long term”

At this point, though, I don’t quite know how Nintendo expects to hang tough over the long-term. The Wii U, while nice for its fans, will be trumped very quickly by whatever Microsoft and Sony offer. And if Nintendo doesn’t find a way to respond with some sort of update or new addition to the console’s featureset, it will be impossible for the game maker to keep pace.

Sony’s issue might have something to do with cost. The company has historically tried to deliver a high-end product, but in the gaming market lately, value has been the name of the game. And I’m not sure Sony realizes that.

Microsoft, meanwhile, might be popular in the U.S. and Europe, but the company has yet to establish itself in Asia. And until it capitalizes on that extremely important continent, the Xbox 720 will have some trouble.

So, while all three consoles might have some features that could push it over the top, they all also have some troubles. And the winner of the next console generation will be determined not by how much “stuff” they all have, but by how well they can get over the issues and capitalize on their virtues.

It should be a fun fight to watch.

Which Console Maker Will Win the Next-Generation Battle? is written by Don Reisinger & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We already knew OUYA‘s Dev Console was shipping slightly ahead of schedule, but the open-source gaming team has now revealed exactly what comes in the box: a special edition frosted translucent version of the console. The limited availability version is headed off to 1,200 developers with a new casing – along with a few hardware tweaks – while OUYA has also thrown open the doors to its Dev Portal with the full development kit (aka ODK) and full support forums.

The OUYA Development Kit is also being released under a free license – Apache 2.0, in fact, just like Android itself – meaning as long as coders steer clear of OUYA’s own trademarks, they’re free to modify the console software at will. However, with an eye on the fragmentation that has become a headache for Android-based phones and tablets, the OUYA team say there’ll still be some control retained, to make sure it’s a safe, welcoming, and productive place for developers and gamers alike:

“It’s worth mentioning that “open” does not mean “anarchy” — and as we continue to build out OUYA’s core services, please know that not every facet of OUYA will be totally open. In order to ensure the best possible experience for our gamers and developers, for example, we will be screening games for copyrighted content and offensive material (which we’ll define under our developer guidelines), and we’ll make sure that OUYA is a secure place to discover great games and conduct business” OUYA

The first developer boxes should be reaching lucky recipients in the next couple of days, though the ODK is available to anybody who wants to sign up. In addition to the frosted casing, it has a microUSB port for connecting to a computer and debugging more straightforward. There’s also a fan, as you can see in the company’s new video:

OUYA Dev Console overview video:

The full package contents include:

• Jet-black OUYA Devs package
• Official Developer Welcome Letter
• One frosted translucent OUYA Dev Console
• Two frosted translucent OUYA Dev Controllers
• HDMI cable
• Micro-USB cable
• Power adapter

Meanwhile, there’s also a sneak peak at the UI which will face gamers; it’s still a work-in-progress, OUYA says, as is the version loaded onto the Dev Consoles, but the final thing should look something like this:

Regular Kickstarter supporters and those who have pre-ordered the console since its funding round finished will have to wait until 2013 to get their unit. Shipping is expected to begin in March.

OUYA details special translucent Dev Consoles as SDK thrown open is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

So you’re the very definition of generosity and plan to put a Wii U under the tree for that special someone. Nintendo just provided a helpful tip to keep the kindness going beyond Christmas morning, if it’s not too late: update that Wii U’s firmware before you wrap the box. Unless the recipients are wired up with Google Fiber, they’ll likely face a long wait as that 5GB patch arrives. The process will spoil the unboxing experience, to be sure — but so does realizing that it’s another two hours before anyone can use the eShop and Netflix. Trust us, they’ll thank you for it later.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

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Via: Pocket-lint

Source: Nintendo of America (Twitter)

Valve has been making a visibly deep push into the living room, but in bits and pieces — controllers here, Big Picture interfaces there. Company chief Gabe Newell may have just hinted at a more holistic, though non-exclusive, approach in the works. Chatting on the sidelines of the Video Game Awards, he tells Kotaku that any Valve hardware would involve a “turnkey solution” with a “very controlled” environment, not unlike a console. While that’s not necessarily the confirmation of the rumored Steam Box, Newell only stokes the speculation further through his eagerness to put Big Picture on Steam for Linux and get that much more control when building hardware. The game developer doesn’t see his company monopolizing couch-based devices should it get involved, however — he predicts more companies will be selling PCs in 2013 tailored for the TV in a way that would favor Steam. We won’t consider either a Valve-made gaming box or its third-party equivalents to be imminent based solely on award show banter, but the remarks suggest that at least one of the PCs is more than just a dream.

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Source: Kotaku