Tech Blog

It wouldn’t be back to school without a little gaming treat, so Nintendo is making it easier for you to get into the swing of things with lower prices on their top selling portable systems. 

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I like rhythm games even before the term was ever coined. I remember dropping countless loonies into the Bemani series of Japanese music games at the UBC Arcade, rocking out on Guitar Freaks and Drum Mania, even though I wasn't any good at either one. And then the experience got "Westernized" with the arrival of Guitar Hero and, later on, Rock Band.

 

These games are a lot of fun, but it seems that they're starting to run out of ideas as to how to innovate the genre. This fall, we'll be treated to new iterations from both major series. There's Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and then there is Rock Band 3. And I'd argue that the latter has far more promise than the former.

 

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I've been fond of puzzle games my whole life. Boulderdash, Dr. Mario, The Lost Vikings, Lemmings, Bubble Bobble, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, you name it, I've likely played it. Most of these games have taken up hours of my time, but there's one puzzle game series that I just can't get enough of -- Nintendo's Picross. The original game to hit North America, Mario Picross for Gameboy, and its successor, Picross DS, are based on 2D nanogram logic puzzles which require you to paint blocks on a square grid that wind up forming an image when you're through, resembling pixel art. Picross 3D, as you might ascertain from the title, takes the franchise in a whole new direction, catapulting the 2D concept into the third dimension. Read more...

The classic Nintendo 64 series Sin and Punishment has been reborn on Nintendo’s unstoppable juggernaut as Sin and Punishment: Star Successor. This new Wii title follows up on the Wii-ware released Sin and Punishment with more of the same deliciously devious shooting action that harcore gamers crave. As a big fan of the original, I can’t wait to try Star Successor. I played through S&P more times that I’d care to admit, mostly because it has judged my skills and found them wanting. The new game promises more “story”, but I wouldn’t worry about that much. I still have no idea what Sin and Punishment was about, I just know that I shot things. A lot.

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The great thing about public domain materials is that they can be repackaged and shared quite easily. If you own a Nintendo DS-based device you can now enjoy 100 Classic Books almost anywhere. Read more...

I’ll be at Canada’s hottest videogame event tonight, attending the Canadian Videogame Awards. The best and brightest in Canada’s fastest growing entertainment sector will be in the audience and up for awards to recognize the Herculean efforts they made in 2009. We'll be live blogging (assuming the Lords of the Internet allow it) so join us! Read more...

If you're one of the few who doesn't already have a Wii (what's wrong with you!?) or you're looking for a second Wii, you're about to have more choice in colour, and you'll find a bonus in the box! Read more...

Ontario teen Jordan Verner has achieved an amazing accomplishment -- he's beat The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The feat took just over two years to complete. Seems like a long time you say? Not when you consider this -- he's blind. Read more...

Get set gamers, in less than two hours the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) and IFC (Independent Film Channel) will be presenting the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (IAA) live from the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas. For the first time ever, the IAA ceremony will be presented in live steaming on IFC.com @ 10pm ET / 7pm PT. Read more...

This news actually snuck out at the end of last year, but I can't help but feel it was overlooked in the Christmas rush. Ubisoft has announced and detailed Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands, a new installment in the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time storyline. Read more...

It's a new year, new decade for that matter, and with it brings what we've all been waiting for -- the games! Nope, I'm not talking about the Vancouver 2010 Games, they don't start for another five weeks. I'm talking about video games, the video games of January 2010. Read more...

When I first heard about 5th Cell's emergent puzzle platformer Nintendo DS title, Scribblenauts, I was skeptical, but intrigued. The innovative title promised to put creative power directly into the palm of players' hands by giving them the ability to conjure any object conceivable to solve puzzle and platformer levels using wild imagination and innovative solutions. Does it live up to its ambitious goals or is the game a total write-off? Let's explore. Read more...

When I think of the Wii my natural tendency is to picture nuclear families playing casual games together in idyllic, contemporary households. I mean, that's what you generally see in TV commercials and in print ads, and imagery on Nintendo of Canada's Get Up and Play website. But did you know that hardcore gamers out there also play the Wii? Gamers so hardcore they rent out a local art gallery and studio in Toronto west's Liberty Village district, invite 32 of their closest gamer friends, plus guests, and host an all-night Mario Kart Wii tournament with the game projected on a small theatre screen. That's exactly what the folks at Offshoot, a Toronto-based interactive marketing firm, did earlier this month. Read more...

With momentum for Nintendo's Wii and DS platforms stronger than ever in Canada as we move into holidays, the company made a point recently to announce their early 2010 game and accessory line-up will continue this trend. Read more...

Nintendo announced on Tuesday that the company has reached a new milestone in Canada with more than two million Nintendo Wii consoles sold according to NPD data. The Wii is the first console this generation to reach that sales figure in Canada, and joins their portable handheld system, the Nintendo DS, which has also surpassed the two million units sold mark. Read more...