Links updated – Telebunny.net and Insert Disk 2 added, book rant included!

One of my favourite writers in the games journo biz has migrated toa new site – GameSpite.net has now moved across to its new location at Telebunny.net. But don’t worry – all the old content has been migrated and the journal is still being produced. Which reminds me, I need to grab the full back-catalogue of books, as well as 1UP Presents and SCROLL.

I’ve also updated Guru Meditation to point to the new and delightfully-titled Insert Disk 2. Same content as before, but now on its own dedicated installation.

The spiel on the above publications also reminds me that I’m keen to track down some other books on old games that have been/are being published by Pixel Nation, Pix’N’Love Publishing (though the latter seems to have received at least one damning review following their French language The History of Sonic the Hedgehog release last month) and of course Udon is always busy bringing out some great artbooks – I’m personally looking at snapping up The History of Sonic the Hedgehog, Marvel vs Capcom: Official Complete Works, SF20: The Art of Street Fighter, Darkstalkers Graphic File, Okami Official Complete Works and Valkyria Chronicles.

Man, that’s a lot of artbooks!!

Shamless Gaming Month, July 2012

shameless-gaming-july-2012

Well, Kotaku have started it again, so let’s play Shameless Gaming Month for July 2012. Last year I put in a wussy effort by finishing Wonder Boy in Monster World on the Mega Drive, so for this year I’m going to try to be a bit more ambitious.

How ambitious? This ambitious:

  • Finally finish (the amazing) Explodemon on the PS3,
  • In honour of last year’s entry, finish the recently released Monster World IV on PS3 (and as an aside, expect a review for the Sega Vintage Collection releases soon)
  • Finally get all the trophies on the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection (aka Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection for those in the US), and
  • Play through Phantasy Star 2 in Easy Mode on the Sega Ages Phantasy Star Collection on the PS2.

๐Ÿ™‚

Admittedly I put the last point on the to-do list back in February, and I’m not sure if I’ll have the stamina to trophy my way through the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection given how terrible the emulation is, especially compared to M2’s recent (and benchmark-setting) efforts for the Sega Vintage Collection releases.

And as an aside, apologies for the brief hiatus of the blog – June was absolutely mad between commitments at work and home, but things have started settling down again, which is nice ๐Ÿ™‚

Shenmue looks amazing in 1080p

Watch that video in 1080p. Right now.

Amazing, huh?

Sega Addicts linked to the above video recently, and fellow gamer CG pointed me in its direction. As an irrational Shenmue fanboy, that video showed how Shenmue 1 and 2 on the DC would look being played in 1080p without any fancy filtering happening… and it looks amazing.

If Sega re-release a HD version of those two games (as already rumoured), I can only hope it looks that good. For now, enjoy the amazingly beautiful video above – it not only looks pretty, but it is also an amazing video showcasing some amazing compiled footage from both games.

I want to be an Awesomenaut

Watch that video. Bask in the delightful theme song that heralds back to my youth, where a chubby ranga with a gimpy leg (me!) would stare in delight as television taught me about (token) multiculturalism, technology, family values, science, environmentalism (thanks CG!) and capitalism.

I have no idea what Awesomenauts is, aside from it featuring an amazing title song and that it plays in two dimensions.

But that’s enough for me. I showed that clip to Wifey, who made the comment “Wow, it looks like a game made by people like you”.

You know what? She’s right.

If you want to be an Awesomenaut too, it’s coming out this week on PSN and XBLA. Props to Silicon Era for posting the trailer last week.

Report: Sonic 2 HD contains a keylogger

biohazard_symbol

Turns out the magnificent Sonic 2 HD alpha has some keylogging tomfoolery running under the hood as part of the software’s ironic use of DRM to protect the engine – it’s been reported on Kotaku, and has also been followed up on by Sonic Retro.

The recommended fix is to delete all the program files and ro take out the registry entries inserted by the software – Kotaku’s piece above lists where in the registry the entries are currently sitting. The reports above suggest there’s no evidence of the keylogging phoning home as yet, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

It’s… disappointing that this kind of thing has followed in the wake of an extremely promising project. Fingers crossed the team takes care of things and development continues… or maybe Sega can give the game their blessing and help with finishing the development with the existing team to get a release on XBLA, PSN and a PC-based distributor like Steam. Now that would be something really special ๐Ÿ™‚ They could look at making Bombergames’ Streets of Rage Remake receive the same treatment while they’re at it, too!

Thanks to CG over at the Madboards for giving me the heads-up. I’ve also updated my previous posts with the details.