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Happy 15th Birthday, ESRB

by Justin McElroy { Jul 29th 2009 at 2:40PM }

Not only did this catch us off guard ... it makes us feel kind of old. Fifteen years ago today, the game industry got on the same page for one shining moment to propose the video game ratings organization, the ESRB, to Congress. It was a moving spirit of cooperation not seen again in the industry until everyone simultaneously decided to start charging $60 for games.

There have been a lot of good times with the ESRB since, but we think we'll always most remember when it tried to stop leaking the existence of games a year ago. How adorable.

Nintendo celebrates one year of WiiWare

by JC Fletcher { May 12th 2009 at 2:45PM }

On May 12 of last year, Nintendo of America launched the WiiWare download service with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, LostWinds, Defend Your Castle, Pop, VIP Casino: Blackjack, and TV Show King. Today, on the one-year anniversary of that launch, Nintendo sent out a video featuring the highlights of the service's 81-game lineup.

For all the complaining Nintendo fans do about WiiWare, and Nintendo system releases in general, all the games presented in this video make for a pretty strong year of releases. In the press release about the anniversary, Nintendo gave us reasons to be excited about the next year of WiiWare, including Cave Story, Icarian: Kindred Spirits, Super Meat Boy, Cave Story, Bit.Trip: CORE, Cave Story, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years and CAVE STORY.

It's-a Mario World: Two Years on Wii

by Kenneth Caldwell { Nov 22nd 2008 at 11:00AM }

As both game character and flagship intellectual property, Mario has long been the focal point of Nintendo's efforts. Thanks in no small part to creative genius Shiggy Miyamoto, Mario's adventures have ushered in some of the most pivotal games in the history of electronic entertainment. His moves have established and defined the entire platforming genre, and he almost single-handedly paved the way from 2D to 3D action-adventure games.

To put these landmark achievements into perspective, consider the Wii: This week marks the second birthday of Nintendo's current money-printing console. To what extent has Mario enriched the platform in the two years it has been ~~sold out~~ available? The increasingly casual (and characteristically generic) orientation of popular first-party titles like Wii Sports and Wii Fit have stolen some of the Nintendo spotlight from under the 'stach of our able plumber, and the marketing appeal of the Wii Remote has powerfully overshadowed the age-old run and jump control mechanic. Does Mario still sell games? Good god, yes. But how much have his games determined the success of the Wii? In this week's gallery, we examine the significance of Mario's Wii appearances to date. Enjoy!

It's-a Mario World is a weekly feature in which the ubiquity of Nintendo's flagship character is celebrated: We'll incessantly ruminate about mustache wax, debate the curious whereabouts of the princess and covet the luminous power stars strewn about the galaxy. Check back here every Friday to find out what strange and wonderful thing has got us tipping our caps.

DS Daily: At launch

by JC Fletcher { Nov 22nd 2008 at 10:30AM }

Yesterday was the four-year anniversary of the US launch of the DS. What was your opinion of the DS back in 2004? None of us knew back then what it would become today; we expected GBA-level popularity at best.

Were you totally lined up for a system on the first day? Did you wait until Christmas? Until Kirby? Or were you not drawn into the DS life until the Lite appeared? Whenever you got into the DS, we're glad you did, because we doubt you would be part of our community otherwise.

As for me, what finally sold me on the DS was Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. Luckily, the system got even more awesome after that!

Happy b-day, DS!

by JC Fletcher { Nov 21st 2008 at 1:20PM }

Wow, has it really been four years since the arrival of the DS (in the US)? We suppose it's not too hard to believe, since the system has evolved from an awkward, gimmicky system anchored by a Nintendo 64 port to one of the most successful and influential consoles of all time. And it doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon, thanks to occasional product refreshes (and an unprecedented, constant rush of brilliant games)

We suggest celebrating the best system ever today by going back and playing some of those launch titles. Feel the Magic: XY/XX is still as weird now as it was then!

Wii Warm Up: Expense

by Alisha Karabinus { Nov 21st 2008 at 8:00AM }

So the Wii is two years old now. Huzzah! But looking back, with everything you might have bought for your system (excluding games), do you feel like it was a bargain? It was the cheapest of this generation's home consoles, after all, and the bargain aspect was played up by a lot of people. At this point in time, do you feel like you got a good deal on your Wii? Even if you don't, was it/is it worth it?

Happy 2nd birthday, Wii!

by David Hinkle { Nov 19th 2008 at 9:00AM }

That's right, boys and girls. Today is the 2nd birthday (we're going by North American release) for our beloved console, the Nintendo Wii. It's been a crazy ride so far, and next year is looking to be even better. We've had highs and lows, but, overall, we're still loving Nintendo's latest console.

What about you all? Did you see the Wii moving in this direction? Are you excited for the future? Bestow your birthday wishes in the comments below and let us know what you think!

Win a LBP Prize Crown by creating a birthday level

by Andrew Yoon { Nov 19th 2008 at 12:20AM }

Want to win a limited edition (virtual) item that almost no one else will be able to get? Well, here's your chance. To celebrate PS3's second birthday, Sony is challenging LBP players to create a level celebrating two years of Sony's black box. The rules are simple, but you must create your level by December 9th. Then, LBP community members will vote on their favorites.

Here are the rules:

1. Create an original LittleBigPlanet level celebrating the PLAYSTATION 3 second anniversary.

2. You must name your Level using this format. "LBC1 -< YourLevelNameHere >".

3. Publish your Level to the LittleBigPlanet online server at any time up until 11:59am PST December 9, 2008 when the contest closes.

4. Send an e-mail submission to community_support@playstation.sony.com and indicate your level name (LBC1 - < YourLevelNameHere >) in the subject line. Include your PlayStation Network ID along with the name of your Level in your e-mail submission.

Good luck!

Opinion: What Wii has done wrong

by David Hinkle { Nov 7th 2008 at 5:15PM }

GameSetWatch has been running an interesting two-part column on the success and failure of the Wii in its first two years on store shelves (2nd anniversary arriving soon, read our 1st anniversary theme week here!). The second part of the piece, which focuses on the negatives, has a couple of interesting tidbits worth pointing out.

The first thing the piece focuses on is waggle and how the early promises of a more immersed experience for the gamer have not been fulfilled. We're willing to concede that, because of how great the console has sold in such a small period of time and how many developers and publishers have proceeded to churn out shovelware and dirty ports just in an attempt to cash in. There are always exceptions to the rule, however, with not only Nintendo showing us the amazing and unique things that can be done with the control scheme, as well as some other third party developers and their titles (Zack & Wiki, Let's Tap, and No More Heroes, just to name a few).

We won't spoil the rest of the piece for you, but, to be honest, it's really good. It calls the Wii out for a lot of its shortcomings, and not in a totally biased tone. And, if bashing the Wii doesn't sound like an interesting topic for an article to you, read the first part, where it's nothing but Wii love.

Source - Two Years In - The Wii's Successes
Source - Two Years In - How the Wii Has Failed

Three years of PSP history

by Andrew Yoon { Mar 24th 2008 at 3:30PM }

March 24, 2005. That was the day PSP was unleashed to the American gaming public. It's been a long and interesting ride since then. Come join us as we take a retrospective look on three years of PSP history.

What did the first PSP concept model look like? Find out.
When did PSP get its internet browser? Find out.
How quickly did the homebrew scene develop? Find out.
What was one of Sony's worst marketing disasters? Find out.
What importer was closed because it sold Japanese PSP systems? Find out.
How long did it take for PSP to get its first real price drop? Find out.
What sold 77,777 copies on day one? Find out.

Rewind to 2004! >

EverQuest turns 9, give grandpa a visit

by Alexander Sliwinski { Mar 13th 2008 at 11:45AM }

In a time before World of Warcraft, there once was a game called EverQuest, and it was ~~good~~ tolerable. Sony Online Entertainment would like to invite players back to EverQuest and the land of Norrath to celebrate the MMORPG's ninth anniversary.

The online game will hold various events throughout the year to celebrate being one year away from an actual milestone. Beginning March 16, there'll be a scavenger hunt and a month-long event tied to the divinities and servants of the Planes of Power. SOE states that EverQuest, after fourteen expansions, still has a flourishing community and will "stay active into the foreseeable future." There is more information about the anniversary events and special downloadable items (like an EverQuest timeline poster) at Station.com.

Wii is one (in Europe)!

by Chris Greenhough { Dec 9th 2007 at 1:23PM }

We acknowledged the one-year anniversary of the Wii's launch in North America with a whole week of celebratory, misty-eyed posts, so we'd feel a little neglectful if we didn't tip our hat to the console's first birthday in Europe.

There has been both highs and lows in the last twelve months for European Wii owners, but today isn't just about reflection -- it's also about looking forward to the future highs and lows! And who knows, maybe twelve months from now we'll be able to, y'know, walk in a shop and actually buy a Wii. Stranger things have happened.

Regardless, happy birthday, lil' guy!

Happy Birthday, Nintendo DS!

by Eric Caoili { Nov 21st 2007 at 9:05PM }

It's Alf! Remember Alf? He's back ... in birthday form.

With our one-year anniversary event for the Wii in full swing and Thanksgiving only hours away, we nearly forgot that today marks the third year since the Nintendo DS made its debut in North America. Can you believe it's been three years already? Three years since we first brought the GBA's successor home! Three years since Vicarious Visions tricked us into buying Spider-Man 2!

In its three years on the market, our dual-screened handheld has gone through one hardware revision, dozens of color variations and limited edition bundles (some of which were actually accidentally released in the US), and about twenty million Mega Man games. The system's software library has managed to cover just about every conceivable genre, even creating a few new ones to expand its money-printing capabilities.

We plan to celebrate the portable's birthday by drawing misshapen cakes and genitalia in PictoChat, just like we did during our first few hours of DS ownership. How about you?

[Thanks, Llamapalooza!]

So, how much does a blog spend on VC games?

by David Hinkle { Nov 20th 2007 at 6:00PM }

With this week being dedicated to the first birthday of our most favorite thing on this planet, the Wii, we looked at every possible aspect of the console we wanted to discuss. All of our launch day stories, its first year when compared to the GameCube and, last but not least, Nintendo's first foray into the downloadable content arena. And, as many of you faithful readers know, we love checking out what the service has for download every Monday.

Continued →

One year down: How do the PlayStations stack up?

by Chris Powell { Nov 19th 2007 at 11:00PM }

On the eve of the PlayStation 3's first birthday, the entire team was huddled inside PS Fanboy Headquarters, located deep inside a cavernous mountain off the coast of Bangladesh. There, we were visited by a celestial being who spoke only one immensely insightful sentence: "There is perhaps no greater litmus test for measuring success than to look back at one's past accomplishments."

At first, we weren't quite sure what our ethereal host wanted us to do with this incredibly important message. After hours upon hours of internal discussion, we made no headway into uncovering what we believe is certainly the key to finding the meaning of life.

With nothing else to do, we began talking about our undying love for the PlayStation 3, but the PS2 and PS1 kept creeping into the conversation until we started to compare the three systems. And now that the PlayStation 3 has just turned a year old, what better time to look back at how it stacks up against the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation than the present?

So sit down, grab a hot cup of cocoa and be prepared to be wowed, because some of our findings may surprise you.

Continued →