Hasta La Gadget!

And you thought that Nintendo World Championships gold cartridge would make a nice start to the retirement fund. An eBay auction from tjcurtin1 is offering a prototype NES cartridge for the US release of The Legend of Zelda at a Buy It Now price of $150,000, or roughly ten times more than the typical final bid that Price Charting quotes for a typical NWC cart. While it looks like an unassuming yellow chunk of plastic, it’s actually a Nintendo of America copy from February 23, 1987 — half a year before the definitive action adventure reached the US market. The game still plays and can even save its game on the still functional, industry-first battery backup. Just remember that it’s not necessarily going to reveal any design secrets from Shigeru Miyamoto or Takashi Tezuka: the seller warns that he can’t see any practical differences between the early copy and the (also included) shipping version. Anyone well-heeled enough to buy the prototype is therefore going solely for the collector’s value. But for those determined to be the coolest kid on any block about 25 years late, there’s only one way to go.

Continue reading Legend of Zelda prototype cartridge goes to auction: $150,000 proves your loyalty to Hyrule (video)

Filed under: Gaming

Legend of Zelda prototype cartridge goes to auction: $150,000 proves your loyalty to Hyrule (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 14:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve played Assassin’s Creed 2 (or other Ubisoft games), you may have installed more stealthy infiltration than you bargained for. Some snooping by Tavis Ormandy around Ubisoft’s UPlay looks to have have discovered that the service’s browser plugin, meant to launch locally-stored games from the web, doesn’t have a filter for what websites can use it — in other words, it may well be open season for any maliciously-coded page that wants direct access to the computer. Closing the purported, accidental backdoor exploit is thankfully as easy as disabling the plugin, but it could be another knock against the internet integration from a company that doesn’t have a great reputation for online security with its copy protection system. We’ve reached out to Ubisoft to confirm the flaw and learn what the solution may be, if it’s needed. For now, we’d definitely turn that plugin off and continue the adventures of Ezio Auditore da Firenze through a desktop shortcut instead.

Update: That was fast. As caught by Geek.com, the 2.0.4 update to UPlay limits the plugin to opening UPlay itself. Unless a would-be hacker can find a way to compromise the system just before you launch into Rayman Origins, it should be safe to play.

Filed under: Gaming, Software

Ubisoft UPlay may accidentally contain web plugin exploit, Ezio would not approve (update: fixed) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 10:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earlier this year, Microsoft released Microsoft Flight, a reinvention of its Flight Simulator games of the past. Now the company has reportedly cancelled further development of the game and laid off around 35 staff members involved in the production. Microsoft says that the game will still be available for download for free via its website and on Steam, but that any future content for the game has been scrapped.

In addition, Microsoft has also cancelled development of Project Columbia, an unannounced game that would have made use of the Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360. In a statement regarding the cancellations, Microsoft says, “Many factors were considered in the difficult decision to stop development on Microsoft Flight and Project Columbia, but we feel it will help us better align with our long-term goals and development plans. For Microsoft Flight,we will continue to support the community that has embraced the title and the game will still be available to download for free.”

As a result, 35 staff at Microsoft Vancouver have been laid off, but Microsoft claims its still committed to the area: “Microsoft Studios is invested in British Columbia and still has several teams, both in Vancouver and Victoria, which will continue to produce the best entertainment and gaming experiences possible.” Posts on Facebook and via employees on Twitter confirm that that layoffs have occurred.

[via Polygon]

Microsoft cancels Flight and Project Columbia development is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We first caught wind of Angry Birds‘ impending arrival on Samsung Smart TVs earlier this month, and now the war against pigs is available as a free download on some of the company’s silver screens. Thanks to a built-in camera and the firm’s Smart Interaction tech, which typically help users navigate menus and browse the web, gamers can smash through swine defenses using gesture controls. In order to download the app from the Samsung Smart Hub, you’ll need a television in the Plasma 8000 range or a 2012 LED 7500 or higher. If your TV’s not as intelligent as Samsung would like, however, the avian protagonists can already stage their skirmishes on your tube with a Roku, and come this holiday season, they’ll be soaring on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

Angry Birds with gesture controls collides with select Samsung Smart TVs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 02:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Supersized screens may be the centerpiece of Nintendo’s 3DS XL, but a new Iwata Asks interview reveals that its top display packs some new anti-glare tech too. Takashi Murakami, from the company’s Mechanical Design Group, notes that each of the LCD’s three glare-prone layers were specially treated to reduce reflectivity from the original 3DS’ 12 percent, down to three. According to head honcho Iwata, anti-reflection coatings have been on the Big N’s radar since the GameBoy Advance era, but were typically abandoned because they were too pricey. The Q&A session also confirmed something we noticed when we put the handheld through the review gauntlet — the larger display increases the parallax effect, which translates to a deeper looking 3D experience. If your current handheld’s screen bounces too much light for your liking, the XL can take its place starting August 19th in North America.

Filed under: Gaming

Nintendo 3DS XL sports less reflective screen than its predecessor, improved parallax effect originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 04:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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