Thursday, October 23, 2008

Mattel Intellivision Retrospective




One of the Atari 2600's toughest competitors, broken promises, controversial accessories, industry firsts and millions of units sold. All of this plus much more in this weeks Retrospective article on Mattel's Intellivision. I've never personally owned a Intellivision or even knew a great deal about it, so I quite enjoyed researching information about the system. If something like this was around now today's gamers couldn't handle a few minutes with that pack in controller and would be reaching for the Wii Remote in no time. None the less it's still quite the interesting system for its time. Click the link below to check out the full article




CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Video Game Collectors

Since the majority of the MySites are primarily focused around videogames it’s a fair call to assume that there’s a number of videogame collectors amongst us. Some people just end up with a stack of consoles and games from being too lazy to trade them in or even… god forbid chuck them out *weeps a little* Some of us are gamers that just can’t bare to part with the awesome memories that these consoles have given us back when they were in their prime, so a collection of the evolutionary steps in videogame technology are probably stashed away on the top shelf in a closet somewhere. Then there’s the die hard collector that will spend hours sifting through listings on ebay or bantering with a second hand dealer at some market place looking for that must have rarity. Wether you are one of the above or something in between, heck! Even if you want to check out some cool pictures of other members collection may I suggest you head over to MyDS.com.au and check out an interesting thread we have going on that’s all about videogame collections and collectors. Look I know that some of you are thinking “what’s the big deal it’s just a thread dude” well the main reason I’m here today spreading the word is because we’ve had a small taste of member’s videogame collections and now we want to see more. So if you have some gaming history stashed away somewhere in your house, fish out what you have, take a happy snap and post it HERE! It doesn’t matter if your collection is big, small or rare. If you’re a Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Atari, Commodore or Sega fan. Portable gaming, hobby computers or home consoles a collection is a collection and we would love to check it out. It’s not all picture posting though, there’s some good tips, general information and friendly discussion being bounced around as well.


Below are just a few shots of what the MyDS members have posted so far.




This is most of my collection, well the older stuff anyway







This is Doles284’s towers of power









This is BBking’s tribute to Nintendo






This is m24ychal’s collection of portable gaming







This is Insidious’s vast collection of Nintendo’s finest




That’s just the beginning and we hope to see more. I have to give a special thanks to the above mentioned members for letting me use their pictures.


Note: If any of the above images are too big just "right click" and select "view image" to get a full view.












Monday, October 13, 2008

Getting some use out of the Wii's USB ports



When the Wii was first released Nintendo fans were pumped when they noticed not one but two USB ports fitted to the rear of the console. The common response was “OMG USB possibilities could be endless thank you Nintendo!!” Well we’re approaching the two year mark since the Wii first graced us with its presence and what has Nintendo given us that actually utilizes one of the worlds most common plugs? BUBCUS! That’s what. Ok there are a few things that are Wii related that have a use for the USB ports such as the USB LAN adaptor but WiFi is so common these days that most people haven’t bothered with it. We can jam a generic USB keyboard in there and tack away at the interwebz but how about a mouse? Bah! No one really uses the Opera Browser much anyway unless someone has hijacked their computer. Wii Speak will be the first accessory from Nintendo that will use it but that’s not out yet and there may be some time before we have any games that use it properly. The aftermarket accessory makers were quick to conjure up some gizmos in an attempt to jump on the Wii phenomenal success train. There’s an abundance of frumpy looking cooling fans available on ebay that sound like an out of tune tractor when turned on. These are pretty useless considering the Wii doesn’t over heat and speaking of useless, how about the combination fans units that come with a smooth pimpen coloured glow, a place to stash your Wii Remotes and a shoe rack…ok enough of my random loosely researched babbling I’m going to get of my butt now and find something useful to do with those dam USB ports before they rust.




Hopes and Dreams





So you’ve gone nuts and downloaded heaps of software from the Wii shopping channel and you’ve quickly chewed though the Wii’s enormous 512mb internal storage. The SD card system of deleting and reinstalling just makes you crazy and a sensible storage system is what you desire. The solution to your problem is to get a generic external hard drive and format it to FAT32 and plug that into one of the Wii’s USB ports are you are set. Nah just kidding that wont do squat but it is a feature that we have been screaming for such a long time and it just boggles my mind why it hasn’t happened. Anyway let’s do something about it… well try at least. I think if everyone got together and jumped on the “Everyone votes channel” and sent in the suggestion; “Do you want the ability to use an external storage device on your Wii” as a question Nintendo might get the hint after a few million suggestions all stating the same thing. Or option B would be to plug an external storage device in there, fire up your Wii and focus all your inner will power and concentrate on the two devices working together. Maybe the concentrated Zen-like force of millions of desperate Wii users might make it happen.




Staying Cool





No I’m not talking about those stupid USB fans that plug into the back of the Wii in an attempt to keep an already cool system cool. I’m talking about the fans that blow a steady steam of moderately cool air into your direction and are powered by the power of the USB port. These kinds of fans are common for people that use a computer all day and their boss is too much of tight ass to fork out for decent air conditioning. We can use this little device to make our Wii gaming experience more comfortable while we’re oozing with sweat from playing an exhilarating game of Wii Sports, Wii Fit or any other Wii game that has you bouncing around. Just plug the fan in and point it in the general direction of where you are standing but since in most cases these things have short leads and bugger all fan force you’re going to have to get pretty close to it in order to get any results. Handy Tip: Get a friend or relative to hold the fan closer to you wile you are playing. Please note that we will not take any responsibility if you accidently smash that person in the face with the Wii remote but we will accept any footage that you have managed to capture.





Cranking Up Your Mojo




So a lot of core gamers have been a little frustrated with the large number of Wii titles being released that are aimed at the casual gamer. Games like All-Star Cheer Squad and Wii Music makes the core gamer want sit but naked in a hot frying pan. Don’t stress too much as the good stuff can’t be too far away but in the mean time take the good with the bad. The good is that the Wii attracts all walks of people and most notably is the opposite sex. With the correct combination of words strung together to form a decent pick up line there’s a good chance that you can convince that special someone to come back to your place and check out Nintendo’s latest. After impressing that person with motion sensing technology plus the wonders of the balance board and it comes time to take a break nothing sets the mood like a good old Lava Lamp. Just think of all the late 60s and early 70s free love that was influenced by the classic lava lamp. Plug that puppy into the Wii’s USB slot and enjoy seductive sensation that once was all rage many decades ago. What happens after that is all up to you and don’t PM me screaming that it didn’t work or that you require further instructions. It should work its simple maths; Wii awesomeness + Seductive power of the Lava Lamp = You with more Mojo than a GoGo dancer…..that paragraph was so hard to keep clean o_O





What Smells Like Fish?




Fish can be great pets, they’re quiet and they don’t make a mess off the house by doing you know what on your carpet. They’re also easy to replace if one decides to go belly up, but there’s only so many times little Jonny will fall for your excuses to why the family goldfish keeps changing shape and colour each time you come back from a holiday. Hudson Soft was kind enough to step in and release the Wii Ware title My Aquarium. Which is ok but what happens when you want to play the Wii and still view fish at the same time? HA! See they didn’t think that though but fret I’ve got a solution to this. Still running with the fake fish theme a USB aquarium will provide all the soothing qualities of a real fish tank while you are swearing your head off at Mario Kart. The USB fish tank has water, plastic fish type things and it glows and they won’t die what more do you need? Note: Just a tip, don’t bother feeding them or else that tank will start smelling like a public toilet.






We All Don’t Smell Like Flowers




We all have that one smelly friend that we’re just to dam nice to tell them that the pong that they emit can strip paint off the walls. So factor in one smelly person plus the physical exertion caused by jumping around playing Wii games and you have your self one nasty, stinky, sweat filled room. To help combat stinky people fumes you can use one of these USB fragrance devices that will hopefully mask bad smells with good smells. If this still manages to fail and you can still smell your friend’s aroma of unwashed cow your only options are to sell your Wii or get a new friend. Tough love people, its not like you didn’t try.





Keeping the Go-Juice Warm




At some point you are going to run out of decent games to play and there’s some people out there that just can’t stand the thought of the money invested into their Wii going to waste. So they’ll sit there with the Wii turned on basking in the ominous glow coming from the menu screen while doing meaningless tasks like rearrange the channels or spin the planet in the weather channel. That’s all well and good if you are trying to extract every possible ounce of value out of your Wii but the reality is you will probably pass out from chronic boredom, and that coffee you made an hour ago would have evolved to cold sludge by then. In order to combat this problem you can use a USB powered coffee warmer and enjoy nice warm coffee while gawking at the Wii menu screen for hours on end until the next good game comes out. If coffee is not your forte and hyper active energy drinks is more your style and nothing peeves you off more than a warm can of Red Bull. Then there’s no need to stress because at the opposite end of the scale is the USB can cooler that will keep your next caffeine/guaranaa hit nice and crisp. Warning: excessive amount of caffeine plus hours of listening to the Wii menu music will make you skitzoid. This is now a common technique used by the military to interrogate captives



Double The Pleasure




Ok one last one for the bigger kids, sometimes your love life and your gaming passion can clash leaving you with a decision to make. In reality if you choose playing the Wii over getting your grove on with your misses there's a good chance you'll get kicked in the nads. What if there was a way keep playing the game you are currently fixated on while at the same time keeping your partner satisfied? Well you're in luck! just get your self a USB powered vibrator, select the desired attachment and you know the rest ;) Don't make it a regular occurrence or you might get replaced.


Well I could be here for days loading up your brains with awesome information about this topic but I’ll let you guys get started on what’s provided so far. There’s an abundance of USB accessories available out there and it’s a shame Nintendo hasn’t offered some useful options so far. Fingers crossed that Nintendo bring out something either useful or original.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Sega Master System Retrospective


MyMedia Retrospective - Sega Master System






It was a tough job to go up against the mighty NES back in 8bit era. Sega gave it a try with the Master System and is probably the most noteworthy of all of the Nintendo Entertainment System's competitors. Check out this weeks Retrospective Article to find out more about the classic Master system.



CLICK HERE! for full article