Slashdot Mirror

It's one of the longest-running comics on the internet. (Slashdot is approaching its 20th anniversary, and in its first year ran two stories about Pokey.) Open source developer Steve Havelka of Portland, Oregon created the truly bizarre strip back in 1998 -- one legend says it was originally a parody of another comic drawn with Microsoft Paint -- and he's since sporadically cranked out 637 strips.

Since 2010 he's also been publishing the cartoons in printed books, and this year launched an equally surreal page on Patreon identifying himself as "Steve Havelka, THE AUTHORS of Pokey the Penguin," offering supporters a "mystery item in the mail". Pokey has lots of fans -- he earned a shout-out in the videogame Hitman: Blood Money -- and very-long-time Slashdot reader 198348726583297634 informs us that on this 19th anniversary Pokey "is celebrating on Twitter!" where he's apparently accosting other web cartoonists and touting a new birthday strip. (Not to be confused with that truly horrible Pokey-goes-to-a-party movie created in Adobe Flash.)

I'd like to hear from any Slashdot readers who remember Pokey the Penguin -- but I'm also curious to hear from Slashdot readers who have never read the strip. ComixTalk called it "one of those webcomics that really only exist because of the Internet -- it would be hard to see something like this in any other medium... there's just something about Pokey the Penguin that fits online."

1up notes, briefly, an enormous present for any dedicated Zelda fan that hasn't been able to work through Twilight Princess yet. The extremely cogent 'Mgoblue201' has uploaded a massive text file to GameFAQs, with the entire script of the game available to read. The author means business: he has jotted down every line of dialogue in the game, including the ones where you as a player try to do something nonsensical, or when you do something out of the ordinary. Mgoblue also offers a good deal of interstitial text to connect the various scenes. Here is some of his work from the very first scene of the game: "FADO: Hey hey, where are you goin' without Epona? Hurry on up an' bring her with you, bud. [Link rushes through the shadowy coat of the forest, which parts ways to let in the path to the springs, where he finds Ilia bathing Epona in the eerie glow of the twilight]" At the end of the document he looks at some of the apparent inconsistencies between the Zelda games, and attempts to make sense of the fractured 'Hero of Time' timeline. If you want to find out how the game ends, or don't understand something you breezed past, Mgoblue has you covered.

jvm writes "Are negative reader reviews of the Sony PlayStation Portable (like this one) being yanked from GameFAQs? Some have certainly been removed, and Kyle Orland of the Video Game Ombudsman investigates: one of the reviews which was taken down, an interview with the author of the review, and a subsequent anonymous email purportedly by the person who took the review down. The review's author then responds that the justifications are questionable. Accompanying this is a discussion of the handling of reader-submitted reviews." Update: 04/16 04:53 GMT by Z : Many thanks to CJayC for setting the record straight in the comments below.

Thanks to GameSpy for its 'Pixel' column discussing the dangers in letting videogame nostalgia run unchecked, as the author explains: "Number one: Just because it's old, doesn't mean it's particularly good. And number two, loosely based on Sturgeon's Law: 90% of all video games ever made are either mediocre or crap." He gives an example: "Case in point: A little PlayStation game called Gunners Heaven. It was a very early Japanese release by Sony... [and] the American import magazines covered it a bit and described it as a Gunstar Heroes clone", but the game, once acquired, "was thoroughly mediocre", showing "the dangers of unchecked nostalgic anticipation."

Thanks to Tokyopia for pointing out the Japanese debut of a novel based on cult PlayStation 2 title ICO, as created by "Japan noir" author Miyuki Miyabe. There's discussion of the book's contents over on GameFAQs, with a reader explaining the plot as involving "the village Ico comes from, their rituals and beliefs, and the birth of Ico... [and then includes] the game part... then an epilogue about what happens to the two [after the game]", and noting "It sounds like [Miyabe] asked for permission to write the novel", as opposed to vice versa. The discussion also warns the book shouldn't be confused with an Italian-language non-fiction analysis of ICO from Ben Mottershead, due out in September.

Thanks to EvilAvatar for pointing to a gallery of screenshots from the hidden 'Army Mode' of newly-released Xbox strategy game Full Spectrum Warrior. Originally discovered using a modified Xbox, GameFAQs lists a universally-usable code to "unlock the original [U.S. Army-funded] training version [of FSW], with more enemies, civilians, open areas, levels, and [greater] difficulty", as previously mentioned on Slashdot Games. However, critical response to the title, while generally good, has wavered a little, with the GameSpot review arguing that the game "boasts a great presentation and a unique design. However, the gameplay itself just doesn't stack up quite as well", but an alternate take at IGN suggesting that "there is room for improvement, but the game is still top-notch at every level of development and execution."

caek writes "If you've played Sim City you've wrestled with one of the problems faced by supercomputer designers. Unfortunately there's no GameFAQs.com for the technical staff at Japan's Earth Simulator or Srinidhi Varadarajan and colleagues at Virginia Tech. True enough, they won't have to deal with rising crime or Godzilla but, as hinted at in a recent paper in Journal of Physics A, the physical layout of a massively parallel supercomputer is fundamentally the same problem as minimizing the time commuters spent stuck in traffic jams. Read the rest of my kuro5hin article for a popular explanation."

Thanks to Insert Credit for its in-depth report on SNK's forthcoming PS2 title, King Of Fighters: Maximum Impact, as "the first 3D fighter of SNK's new age" is rated from preview builds, with the author arguing "it would be considered a respectable contender against Dead or Alive 2 and Soul Calibur." Elsewhere, UK company Vektorlogic are bucking the death of the MVS arcade hardware, and are announcing multiple new MVS-compatible arcade cartridges, including an arcade version of Super Bubble Pop. Finally, and sadly, prolific Neo Geo (and other) FAQ writer Chris MacDonald, aka Kao Megura, has recently passed away, according to forum messages posted by his brother.

Thanks to 1UP for its interview with La Pucelle: Tactics publisher Bill Swartz regarding alleged censorship to the PlayStation 2 SRPG from the developers of Disgaea, after an eToychest interview with the game's Japanese producer revealed: "We did take out a very few things we felt would cause problems in North America." Following sustained noises of discontent on the GameFAQs messageboards, it's explained: "Alloute wore cross earrings a few times and we took them out. We also removed a few other cross accessories and changed a handful of devices that looked like crosses (unless you looked carefully) to devices that looked a little less like crosses." Swartz laments: "There are well organized forces that work hard to punish software makers and sellers for what they consider religious transgressions", and clarifies the changes were "...not things that either carried meaning to the game's original audience or were in any way part of the substance of the game."

Thanks to GamerFeed for its article noting that Square Enix's PlayStation 2 remake of Dragon Quest V has debuted big in Japan, since this previously mentioned SNES remake has already "sold over a million units in just 2 days", additionally helped by "the inclusion of a preview disc of Dragon Quest VIII." The series, known as Dragon Warrior in the States, has never really taken off outside Japan, however: "Dragon Quest VII went on to sell more copies than any other PSOne game in Japan ever. By contrast, Dragon Warrior VII, and the Dragon Warrior series, has never attained more than a small but loyal cult following in the US."

XtremeLeader writes "Just days after GameSpy releases its Best All-Time Game competition, GameFAQs answers with a much more interactive Spring 2004 Contest to vote for the best games (you need a GameFAQs account to view the page). Unlike the GameSpy awards, however, this is completely gamer controlled. It begins by a registered user submitting their choices for favorite games (one per system, with more than a few systems), of which any game you want can be nominated. Voting ends at the beginning of March, and the polls are slated to begin late March/early April. The top 64 nominations will be accepted and placed into a series of polls that we get to vote on. Hopefully, this one doesn't have great games like Chrono Trigger thrown into the potpourri category."

Decaffeinated Jedi writes "Title Fight: The Ultimate Gaming Grudge -- a tournament in which gamers can vote to determine the greatest game of all time -- is underway at GameSpy. The rules for the tournament are simple: '64 games enter, one game leaves.' Polls are now open for the qualifying round, allowing gamers to choose titles from a wide range of genres that will eventually comprise approximately half of the 64-game final bracket. Qualifying will last until February 22, and first-round voting will begin on February 23." This is somewhat reminiscent of the GameFAQs Character Battle tournaments, but featuring entire games, not just videogame characters - predictions for the finalists and overall winner are welcome.

Thanks to Polygon for their article discussing the recent problems faced by European videogame developers. The piece explains: "According to a recent study conducted by London's Financial Times, 23 European game developers folded in 2003, which is up from 14 in 2002 and 8 in 2001." It also notes that "one of the biggest European companies to close its doors this year was Rage Software, perhaps best known for their David Beckham Soccer series", and a recently-linked editorial mentions a number of other notable independent developers who are no more, including Mucky Foot, Lost Toys, Computer Artworks, and Silicon Dreams. The news piece ends by quoting Eidos CEO Mike McGarvey as suggesting: "A studio of about 150 people, split into three teams, is about the ideal size and it's hard to see how it makes sense for the cottage industry types. They may have more of a future in post-production as a service-based business."

Thanks to IGN PS2 for its information about the new Final Fantasy XII trailer debuting at Japan's recent Jump Festa exhibition The Magic Box has some still images from the "lengthy seven minute trailer" for the PS2 RPG sequel, which shows cinematic action and battle scenes, but unfortunately without "[revealing] much about the gameplay systems." There's also a hands-on look at the PS2 remake of Dragon Quest V, which apparently brings "a little bit of new flavor to a classic old-school game", originally released on the Super Nintendo back in 1992. Finally, 1UP has a brief overview of the festival, including pictures of a Slime-infested Christmas tree.

Thanks to 1UP for their article revealing the popular GameBoy Advance titles Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire have a time-unlocked glitch that's just been activated in Japan, since the game has features based on how long it's been played, and Nintendo have discovered there's "...an issue with its internal clock that can disable certain gameplay systems after a year's worth of playtime." Specifically, you can plant trees in-game which "eventually bear fruit, which you then feed to your pet monsters to cause them to evolve in useful and interesting ways." Unfortunately, after a year from the game's start date, "those trees are unable to grow." Nintendo has "...invited Japanese players to bring or send their game cartridges to one of many service centers around the country. The service centers will apply a patch that corrects the issue and return the fixed copy of the game free of charge." Finally, Nintendo of America have commented "The earliest the issue could appear [in the U.S.] is March 2004, which is the one year anniversary of the first sale in North America."

Thanks to Game Informer for their hands-on look at Sword Of Mana for the Game Boy Advance, as Square Enix follow up Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, which has sold almost 500,000 copies on Nintendo's handheld in the US alone, with this portable RPG, which GameNow describe succinctly as "...a retelling of the age-old black-and-white Game Boy release Final Fantasy Adventure... essentially a prequel to the rest of the Mana series." The official site has more in-depth information, and GameNow points out "most of the original Mana games team is working on this one", suggesting "RPG fans can't really go wrong" with the December 1st-released title. What other Square Enix games would you like to see on Game Boy Advance?

Thanks to 1UP for its illustrated primer to Final Fantasy X-2, illustrating the PS2 RPG sequel that debuts in the U.S. on Tuesday. Advance press reviews vary somewhat, but fan reviews of the import version have been overwhelmingly favorable, with the GameFAQs messageboards also harboring a handy pre-release guide to "give you a feel of how the game is played". 1UP illustrates the 'dress-up' angle of FFX-2 well with their expose of "the new Job system and the costumes it entails", showcasing the Cher-like variety of outfits Yuna, Rikku, and Paine wear, and finally, Futurama fans may rejoice, because Bender himself, John Di Maggio returns in FFX-2 as the voice of Wakka. Update: 11/16 15:48 GMT by S : GameSpy has just added their own review of the game, giving it 3/5 ("It's not quite what you may be expecting.")

Thanks to 1UP for its illustrated primer to Final Fantasy X-2, illustrating the PS2 RPG sequel that debuts in the U.S. on Tuesday. Advance press reviews vary somewhat, but fan reviews of the import version have been overwhelmingly favorable, with the GameFAQs messageboards also harboring a handy pre-release guide to "give you a feel of how the game is played". 1UP illustrates the 'dress-up' angle of FFX-2 well with their expose of "the new Job system and the costumes it entails", showcasing the Cher-like variety of outfits Yuna, Rikku, and Paine wear, and finally, Futurama fans may rejoice, because Bender himself, John Di Maggio returns in FFX-2 as the voice of Wakka. Update: 11/16 15:48 GMT by S : GameSpy has just added their own review of the game, giving it 3/5 ("It's not quite what you may be expecting.")

Hinoki writes "Atlus' PlayStation 2 SRPG Disgaea seems to be taking off in the console gaming community. A friend of mine strongly recommended the game, so I decided to chase down a copy and bring it home, only to find that one of the key elements is color coded. Now, this is a problem for me, since I've got color-blindness, which means under the majority of circumstances.. I can't tell the difference between red and green. The geo-panels in Disgaea are more widely varied than simple red-green-yellow-blue.. there are subtle shades and different colors altogether. How big a problem is this for other gamers, and what, if anything can be done about it? Surely it can't be that hard to code in an option that changes a color to a given shape, for those of us that're color-impaired?"

daitengu writes "ShackNews is reporting that PC FPS Counter-Strike: Condition Zero will be going gold this Friday. The targeted release date is then November 18 [possibly to match the Xbox Counter-Strike's street date?] The game is a single-player focused version of the insanely popular First Person Shooter, Counter-Strike. CS:CZ includes in-game bots and many updated models, textures and skins. Love it or hate it, Valve is milking the original Half-Life engine for all it's worth, and this one should sell quite nicely." If you're confused about what this title is, CS-Nation has a good webpage on CS:CZ, including information about the checkered history of the title, which has been through at least 4 developers, including Valve themselves.

Thanks to Nintendojo for the news that Konami and Hudson are creating a mascot-infested fighting game in the vein of Nintendo's classic multiplayer fighter Super Smash Bros. The title, called Dream Mix World Fighters, is being released for PS2 and GameCube in Japan this December, and the game will ship "...featuring such enigmatic characters as Bomberman, Peach Taro, Master Higgins, Bonk, Takao, Yugo, Rika, Simon Belmont, Dracula, and many more." But, as Video-Fenky points out, where are the Kojima-game characters?

Thanks to IGN Cube for their new interview with Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack about Metal Gear Solid:The Twin Snakes, as he talks about this Winter 2003-due GameCube 'enhanced port' of the original MGS, including overall changes ("...one of the biggest enhancements is the ability to do all of the things you could do in Metal Gear Solid 2 in the Metal Gear Solid 1 world... there are all sorts of different [new] ways to finish a level"), AI upgrades ("...totally ramped up. I think it's safe to say that if you look at the AI from MGS2 then we're at [MGS] 2 and a half now"), and the Metal Gear Solid 2/VR Missions bonus rumors ("There will be extras, but there won't be another game in there.")

Thanks to IGN Pocket for their article pointing out that Nintendo's Pokemon franchise is celebrating its 5th anniversary in the States. According to the article, "Pokemon first launched on the original Game Boy in Japan in 1996. Since bringing the franchise to North America in September 1998, Nintendo has sold more than 110 million Pokemon games worldwide. Pokemon merchandise has generated over $15 billion in worldwide retail sales since 1998." With the HAL-developed Pokemon Pinball:Ruby And Sapphire out now for GBA, and Pokemon Coliseum for GameCube forthcoming early next year as a Pokemon Stadium-style companion for Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire on GBA, it seems Pikachu and friends are here to stay.

Thanks to GameSpot for their guest GameSpotting feature discussing whether the print-based game guide is a thing of the past. According to the piece: "As long as there have been games, there have been game guides to help players beat them. Over the years they have evolved into slick, glossy (and thin) books with tons of valuable information and high-quality screenshots and maps... Guides make tough games easier. But are they worth it?" The author references a videogame-store friend laughing: "Why buy a game guide when I can just download the FAQ for free?" Is there any new presentation of paper-based game guides that might make you tempted to pay for them, or are they truly dying out for good?

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to an overview of the Ludologica book series, offering critical, academia-heavy videogame analysis on a number of seminal titles, from "highlighting the political and ideological messages" behind Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 2, to the "video game becoming a living organism" in Bruce Shelley's Age Of Empires. Unfortunately, these books are only confirmed in Italian-language form thus far, but further volumes will deal with Myst, Silent Hill, Doom, and Gran Turismo (?), as well as a in-the-planning-stages special to mark the 15th anniversary of Sim City.

Thanks to C+VG for their interview discussing the newly announced Harry Potter And The Sorceror's Stone with an EA producer, after this heavily rumored PS2/Xbox/GameCube update of the first book was officially announced last week. The game is summarized as having "..some stealth sections, some flying modes, but probably 80 percent of the time there's this sort of arcade adventure, it's almost Zelda-esque. We're not afraid to admit our influences." So unafraid, in fact, that they mention the Zelda series at least 5 times during the interview. There's already been a glut of Harry Potter games, most of which have been significantly different from one another - which ones have you actually enjoyed?

Thanks to C+VG for their interview discussing the newly announced Harry Potter And The Sorceror's Stone with an EA producer, after this heavily rumored PS2/Xbox/GameCube update of the first book was officially announced last week. The game is summarized as having "..some stealth sections, some flying modes, but probably 80 percent of the time there's this sort of arcade adventure, it's almost Zelda-esque. We're not afraid to admit our influences." So unafraid, in fact, that they mention the Zelda series at least 5 times during the interview. There's already been a glut of Harry Potter games, most of which have been significantly different from one another - which ones have you actually enjoyed?

Thanks to C+VG for their interview discussing the newly announced Harry Potter And The Sorceror's Stone with an EA producer, after this heavily rumored PS2/Xbox/GameCube update of the first book was officially announced last week. The game is summarized as having "..some stealth sections, some flying modes, but probably 80 percent of the time there's this sort of arcade adventure, it's almost Zelda-esque. We're not afraid to admit our influences." So unafraid, in fact, that they mention the Zelda series at least 5 times during the interview. There's already been a glut of Harry Potter games, most of which have been significantly different from one another - which ones have you actually enjoyed?

Thanks to C+VG for their interview discussing the newly announced Harry Potter And The Sorceror's Stone with an EA producer, after this heavily rumored PS2/Xbox/GameCube update of the first book was officially announced last week. The game is summarized as having "..some stealth sections, some flying modes, but probably 80 percent of the time there's this sort of arcade adventure, it's almost Zelda-esque. We're not afraid to admit our influences." So unafraid, in fact, that they mention the Zelda series at least 5 times during the interview. There's already been a glut of Harry Potter games, most of which have been significantly different from one another - which ones have you actually enjoyed?

Thanks to Polygon for posting the Japanese games industry's half-year console hardware and software stats on their site. They summarize: "Sales of Sony's PlayStation 2 console significantly outpaced all competitors... surprisingly, Square-Enix topped all software publishers by a large margin." As far as Japanese hardware sales go, the GameCube (8.3 percent) and especially Xbox (1.6 percent) are falling ever-further behind the Playstation 2 (58.5 percent.) Regarding software, Square Enix may not have expected Final Fantasy X-2 to sell almost 2 million copies, but it only boosted their already top-selling Japanese output. Nintendo's second place in software may be more due to their handheld output, not including (?) the separately-listed and top-selling Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire for GBA, rather than their GameCube titles (though some GC titles like Animal Crossing have been surprise hits.)

Thanks to Polygon for posting the Japanese games industry's half-year console hardware and software stats on their site. They summarize: "Sales of Sony's PlayStation 2 console significantly outpaced all competitors... surprisingly, Square-Enix topped all software publishers by a large margin." As far as Japanese hardware sales go, the GameCube (8.3 percent) and especially Xbox (1.6 percent) are falling ever-further behind the Playstation 2 (58.5 percent.) Regarding software, Square Enix may not have expected Final Fantasy X-2 to sell almost 2 million copies, but it only boosted their already top-selling Japanese output. Nintendo's second place in software may be more due to their handheld output, not including (?) the separately-listed and top-selling Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire for GBA, rather than their GameCube titles (though some GC titles like Animal Crossing have been surprise hits.)

Thanks to Polygon for posting the Japanese games industry's half-year console hardware and software stats on their site. They summarize: "Sales of Sony's PlayStation 2 console significantly outpaced all competitors... surprisingly, Square-Enix topped all software publishers by a large margin." As far as Japanese hardware sales go, the GameCube (8.3 percent) and especially Xbox (1.6 percent) are falling ever-further behind the Playstation 2 (58.5 percent.) Regarding software, Square Enix may not have expected Final Fantasy X-2 to sell almost 2 million copies, but it only boosted their already top-selling Japanese output. Nintendo's second place in software may be more due to their handheld output, not including (?) the separately-listed and top-selling Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire for GBA, rather than their GameCube titles (though some GC titles like Animal Crossing have been surprise hits.)

Thanks to Polygon for posting the Japanese games industry's half-year console hardware and software stats on their site. They summarize: "Sales of Sony's PlayStation 2 console significantly outpaced all competitors... surprisingly, Square-Enix topped all software publishers by a large margin." As far as Japanese hardware sales go, the GameCube (8.3 percent) and especially Xbox (1.6 percent) are falling ever-further behind the Playstation 2 (58.5 percent.) Regarding software, Square Enix may not have expected Final Fantasy X-2 to sell almost 2 million copies, but it only boosted their already top-selling Japanese output. Nintendo's second place in software may be more due to their handheld output, not including (?) the separately-listed and top-selling Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire for GBA, rather than their GameCube titles (though some GC titles like Animal Crossing have been surprise hits.)

Thanks to Polygon for posting the Japanese games industry's half-year console hardware and software stats on their site. They summarize: "Sales of Sony's PlayStation 2 console significantly outpaced all competitors... surprisingly, Square-Enix topped all software publishers by a large margin." As far as Japanese hardware sales go, the GameCube (8.3 percent) and especially Xbox (1.6 percent) are falling ever-further behind the Playstation 2 (58.5 percent.) Regarding software, Square Enix may not have expected Final Fantasy X-2 to sell almost 2 million copies, but it only boosted their already top-selling Japanese output. Nintendo's second place in software may be more due to their handheld output, not including (?) the separately-listed and top-selling Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire for GBA, rather than their GameCube titles (though some GC titles like Animal Crossing have been surprise hits.)

Thanks to Polygon for posting the Japanese games industry's half-year console hardware and software stats on their site. They summarize: "Sales of Sony's PlayStation 2 console significantly outpaced all competitors... surprisingly, Square-Enix topped all software publishers by a large margin." As far as Japanese hardware sales go, the GameCube (8.3 percent) and especially Xbox (1.6 percent) are falling ever-further behind the Playstation 2 (58.5 percent.) Regarding software, Square Enix may not have expected Final Fantasy X-2 to sell almost 2 million copies, but it only boosted their already top-selling Japanese output. Nintendo's second place in software may be more due to their handheld output, not including (?) the separately-listed and top-selling Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire for GBA, rather than their GameCube titles (though some GC titles like Animal Crossing have been surprise hits.)

Thanks to GameSpot for reporting the news that Japanese developer/publisher Data East has officially been declared bankrupt. According to the article, "Data East has been in financial trouble since 1999, when the company requested a settlement in the district court in order to reorganize its finances because of a 3.3 billion yen ($28 million) debt." The company was renowned for a massive backcatalog of '80s and '90s arcade and home games, including BurgerTime, Karate Champ, Karnov, and the brilliantly named Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja, as well as the addictive Magical Drop puzzle game series for Neo Geo and other consoles.

Thanks to Kikizo for running a series of articles on Sega, including an unconfirmed list of the AM2 studio's output for 2003, and new information about the state of Sega Rally 3. The AM2 list includes both Virtua Fighter Quest (working title) for Gamecube and Outrun 2 for arcade, both due later in 2003. Interestingly, the Outrun sequel is marked as running on the Xbox-based Chihiro arcade board, which powered the arcade version of Crazy Taxi 3, meaning an Xbox conversion would be very straightforward if this is true. Finally, as well as a separate story touching on the possible existence of Fighting Vipers 3, Kikizo claim Sega Rally 3 has been "..completely finished since January this year", but remains unreleased in arcades (and unannounced for PS2) because of "licensing issues", presumably with cars.

Kirijini writes "GameFAQs' Character Battle has begun again. Over the next two months, the 64 most popular videogame characters will duke it out for your votes in a popularity contest that is, to my knowledge, the largest event of this kind on the internet. This is like the People's Choice Awards for videogame characters, so be sure to get your vote in! Last year had some pretty tense battles." The poll currently in progress has Pikachu up against the dangerous Fox McCloud, so get voting.

Kirijini writes "GameFAQs' Character Battle has begun again. Over the next two months, the 64 most popular videogame characters will duke it out for your votes in a popularity contest that is, to my knowledge, the largest event of this kind on the internet. This is like the People's Choice Awards for videogame characters, so be sure to get your vote in! Last year had some pretty tense battles." The poll currently in progress has Pikachu up against the dangerous Fox McCloud, so get voting.

Kirijini writes "GameFAQs' Character Battle has begun again. Over the next two months, the 64 most popular videogame characters will duke it out for your votes in a popularity contest that is, to my knowledge, the largest event of this kind on the internet. This is like the People's Choice Awards for videogame characters, so be sure to get your vote in! Last year had some pretty tense battles." The poll currently in progress has Pikachu up against the dangerous Fox McCloud, so get voting.

Kirijini writes "GameFAQs' Character Battle has begun again. Over the next two months, the 64 most popular videogame characters will duke it out for your votes in a popularity contest that is, to my knowledge, the largest event of this kind on the internet. This is like the People's Choice Awards for videogame characters, so be sure to get your vote in! Last year had some pretty tense battles." The poll currently in progress has Pikachu up against the dangerous Fox McCloud, so get voting.

Kirijini writes "GameFAQs' Character Battle has begun again. Over the next two months, the 64 most popular videogame characters will duke it out for your votes in a popularity contest that is, to my knowledge, the largest event of this kind on the internet. This is like the People's Choice Awards for videogame characters, so be sure to get your vote in! Last year had some pretty tense battles." The poll currently in progress has Pikachu up against the dangerous Fox McCloud, so get voting.

Kirijini writes "GameFAQs' Character Battle has begun again. Over the next two months, the 64 most popular videogame characters will duke it out for your votes in a popularity contest that is, to my knowledge, the largest event of this kind on the internet. This is like the People's Choice Awards for videogame characters, so be sure to get your vote in! Last year had some pretty tense battles." The poll currently in progress has Pikachu up against the dangerous Fox McCloud, so get voting.

Kirijini writes "GameFAQs' Character Battle has begun again. Over the next two months, the 64 most popular videogame characters will duke it out for your votes in a popularity contest that is, to my knowledge, the largest event of this kind on the internet. This is like the People's Choice Awards for videogame characters, so be sure to get your vote in! Last year had some pretty tense battles." The poll currently in progress has Pikachu up against the dangerous Fox McCloud, so get voting.

Kirijini writes "GameFAQs' Character Battle has begun again. Over the next two months, the 64 most popular videogame characters will duke it out for your votes in a popularity contest that is, to my knowledge, the largest event of this kind on the internet. This is like the People's Choice Awards for videogame characters, so be sure to get your vote in! Last year had some pretty tense battles." The poll currently in progress has Pikachu up against the dangerous Fox McCloud, so get voting.

Kirijini writes "GameFAQs' Character Battle has begun again. Over the next two months, the 64 most popular videogame characters will duke it out for your votes in a popularity contest that is, to my knowledge, the largest event of this kind on the internet. This is like the People's Choice Awards for videogame characters, so be sure to get your vote in! Last year had some pretty tense battles." The poll currently in progress has Pikachu up against the dangerous Fox McCloud, so get voting.

Thanks to GameSpot for their article indicating a major hacking incident on the PC MMORPG Ragnarok Online. According to the piece, developers Gravity initially "..reacted by rolling back the game's data a day, as a number of users had created items with game-master privileges", but then the problem worsened and revealed an apparent server-side hack, as opposed to the client-side hacking of Shadowbane, as "...a full list of user IDs and passwords was leaked to the general public... allowing anybody to gain access to any user account." There's also a very informative post on the GameFAQs messageboards detailing the spread of the 'user.txt' file around messageboards and P2P networks. The official Ragnarok site currently only has a form for players to reconfirm their identities via email, and has offered no official statement.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a Gamers.com article discussing the best and worst character designs in videogames. The author singles out his favorite designs, including Samus Aran, Solid Snake, and Sonic The Hedgehog, and then picks Ratchet, Plok, and Boogerman as examples of characters that just don't make the grade. It may not be the final word on the subject, but it's a good starting position to answer the question: "Who became an absorbing avatar with which to explore a virtual world, and who was just plain painful to look at?"

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a Gamers.com article showcasing new screenshots and details from Super Mario Advance 4 for GameBoy Advance. This title, which is a portable revival of the classic NES title Super Mario Brothers 3 with the higher quality visuals of the SNES Super Mario All-Stars version, will also have e-Reader connectivity, and a recent IGN Pocket preview claims "players can transfer the data from e-Reader to the game... to upload brand new levels and challenges", though, logically enough, "you'll need two GBAs (or a Game Boy Player [for Gamecube] and a GBA) to take advantage of this feature."

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a Gamers.com article showcasing new screenshots and details from Super Mario Advance 4 for GameBoy Advance. This title, which is a portable revival of the classic NES title Super Mario Brothers 3 with the higher quality visuals of the SNES Super Mario All-Stars version, will also have e-Reader connectivity, and a recent IGN Pocket preview claims "players can transfer the data from e-Reader to the game... to upload brand new levels and challenges", though, logically enough, "you'll need two GBAs (or a Game Boy Player [for Gamecube] and a GBA) to take advantage of this feature."