The European version will run on Australian consoles, so you can just import it and get what you want.
(This has been confirmed by those who have examined the leaked Euro copy.)
I was at Yodobashi Akiba as well. But my experience was a little different from what you describe. Before we left Friday night, we made sure we could come back and join the line prior to 7AM. They said we could, so I came back around 6AM. I know somebody else who came back around 3. We both had pretty good positions and got our systems pretty quickly.
Seriously though - 4 hour wait? The tickets were passed out before 11PM.
I've taken apart every console and computer I've ever owned - portable, television, desktop or laptop. A bit of solder and putting the guts in a new case isn't troublesome at all. Hell, part of the reason for doing stuff like this is to see if you can do it.
Can I pull it off or will I toast my system? Tune in to find out! ^.^
(For the record, I've never ruined a computer or game system.)
"AFAIK, nobody has managed to backup and burn GameCube discs."
Gamecube games can be backed up and burned with very little trouble. Stick in a modchip and buy a custom case to allow the Cube to hold full-sized DVDRs and you're all set.
10. Ikusagami - PlayStation 2
9. Touch! Kirby - Nintendo DS
8. Jump Super Stars - Nintendo DS
7. Slime Morimori Dragon Quest II - Nintendo DS
6. Senkou no Ronde - Arcades
5. Ryu ga Gotoku - PlayStation 2
4. Rogue Galaxy - PlayStation 2
3. Wanda to Kyozou (aka Shadow of the Colossus) - PlayStation 2
2. Otona no DS Training ["Brain Training for Nintendo DS"] - Nintendo DS
1. Ponkotsu Roman Daikatsugeki Bumpy Trot ("Bumpy Trot, a Romantic Junkyard Action-Adventure") - PlayStation 2
Newertech has a great one called the miniStack. USB 2.0 or Firewire, and has hubs for both built-in. It's available as a bare case or with a drive preinstalled.
Since the link to the video is down, here's a transcript (swiped from some forum). The beginning part is missing, as are what his mom's saying, but I think you can get the general idea from this:
Begin.
I need it up loud!
No, I have to, it's a clan match
I HAVE TO! STOP! NO I HAVE TO! MOM, quit playing that! You're messin' me up!
You're messin' me up!
You're messin' me up!
You're messin' me up mom! Quit playin' that!
You're messin' me up! Stop! You're messin' me up!
You're messin' me up!
No, don't turn it off.
Mom, why can't I have it up loud?
You're not in bed yet!
Well, I need it up loud. Mom, I need it up! Whatever, I need it up! Why do I have to get off?! Why?! That's stupid. You always do that -???- You never let me play. You always 'Get off, get off, you gotta get off, its time to get off, turn it down' you never let me have it up loud. This weekend you're like... You can have it up as loud as you want. So I can have it up as loud as I want.
Why? Why? Why? Okay. Why? Why? Why do I hafta get off? I wanna play. That doesnt mean that I should have to get off. No, that's bull.
I want a chocolate milk not this.
You said that you'd bring me a drink. I don't wanna mountain dew, I want a chocolate milk now. I want a chocolate milk now! I want a chocolate milk now!
Why?! That's what I want! Why can't you get it?! Yes. Mom! Get it! Get iiiiit! Get it! Mom, please get it! WHY?! THAT'S BULLSHIT! YOU SAID YOU'D GET ME A DRINK AND YOU LIED!*
No! You'd said that you'd get me whatever I wanted to drink and I said a mountain dew and now I want a chocolate milk!
YOU'RE MEAN!!! YOU BEAST!!! What? I'd like a fucking chocolate milk! Why would I get in trouble, you said you'd bring me whatever I wanted to drink and now you won't. That means you're lying! No! Bring me chocolate milk! WHY?! I want some motherfucking chocolate milk! I don't hafta get up. You said that you'd get it for me. Why?! THAT'S BULLSHIT! THAT'S BULLSHIT! THAT'S FUCKED UP! I don't have to do shit!....that's bullshit...
Gameboy/Gameboy Colour - Rin, Rin Unnoficial
GameGear - SMS PSP
Genesis (Megadrive) - Megadrive for PSP, Generator/PSP
MAME (Arcade) - XMame PSP
Master System - SMS PSP
MSX - fMSX, Hitbit
Neo Geo Pocket - NGPSP
Neo Geo CD - NEOGEO CD
Nes - InfoNes, Famicontest, Nes for PSP, Nesterj PSP
PC Engine - PCEP
Snes - UO Snes9x PSP, Snes9x PSP, Snes9x Optimised
Wonderswan - Oswan PSP
They're not all running at full speed, but some of them are great pieces of work. Rin, for instance, is damned near perfect (and getting better with each release). I use it to play the Zelda GBC games and they look (and sound, and play) great.
The work on them is continuing at a rapid pace - a lot of the emulators are getting updated several times a week - and they're just going to get better.
The one I'm waiting for (that hasn't shown up yet) is a GBA emulator. I think that's the one that's really going to get people's attention.
But you're right, I haven't been in a TRU recently. I live in Tokyo and, as far as I know, there's only one here. Their prices on games are higher than most every other shop and they don't have a "loyalty card" that earns store credit with every purchase like the Japanese chains do. For my shopping needs, that makes them a serious non-contender.
(In their defense, I did score a PSP from them on launch day last December - so they're occasionally useful.)
...where "you have to play it to 'get it'" isn't much of an exaggeration.
On the surface, it's nothing more than an advanced Tamagotchi (which, by the way, are still on sale in Japan and still very, very popular with younger - under 10 - kids), but the more you play it, the more you can see how much work went into it.
I picked it up right around the time it came out, and really got into it. I bought it on a lark, and was surprised how much I liked it. You do the basic pet owner stuff - walk your dog, teach it tricks, feed it, bathe it, play fetch, etc. - as well as enter it in dog shows, frisbee contests and athletic tournaments (an obstacle course kind of thing). Winning competitions earns you cash that you can use to buy more stuff for your dog (toys, food, collars), upgrade your apartment or even get more dogs. (You can have up to three dogs at once.)
What makes the game work is how well everything is dog. The animation is very fluid and natural. The AI is done well, and different dogs seem to have different personalities. My dog (a Shiba Inu named "Sushi" ^.^) likes to play with a lot of his toys and will chase them all over the apartment or bound around the park when I take him outside to play. However, there's one he seems to be scared of. It's a squeaky ball that makes noise when it bounces. He growls and yips at it, but won't go near it. I've talked to other people who have the same toy, and their dogs all love it. Sure, it could just be that my dog has one line of code (hate ball = yes) that set up this behavior, but it seems very realistic when you see it in action.
So while it's easy to dismiss the game as yet another virtual pet, there's a lot more going on under the hood than has been done in the past. I'm not sure how well it'll do in the US, but I'm sure it's got a market there.
And as for the DS sales surging when Nintendogs came out, I doubt it hurt that the Pink and Blue DSes were released on the same day that Nintendogs came out.
Actually, they're not even formatted for the PSP's screen. They're just mp4 files that the PSP will play without any further tweaking or file renaming.
If they're going to go to the trouble of making downloads targeted at PSP users, would it be too much to ask for the videos to fit the aspect ratio of its screen?
Cyber Gadget makes a unit called the Famulator which is a re-designed (or re-re-designed depending on how you look at it) NES toploader that sells for just under 3,000 yen. You can use your US NES carts on it, but you'll need an adapter like the one sold by Lik-Sang.
In almost every format (quicktime, divx, wmv, real, mpg), so have all your players and codecs loaded. I doubt the person running this site is doing the archiving himself, and is just hosting whatever people send him, hence the hodegpodge of formats.
It's a great collection, but could really use a good sorting. (Presently, everything's arranged by the date it was posted.) If ever a site could benefit from a search feature, this one is it.
I live in Tokyo and managed to get three PSPs on launch day and a fourth one a week later during the next shipment. Three of them went up on Ebay and I made just over $700 profit.
Because of that, my PSP (with 4 games) and my DS (with 3 games) were essentially free. ^.^
The Ebay prices have levelled off in the few weeks since the launch and the huge profits aren't there anymore, but it was great while they lasted.
I should have pointed out one other thing. The discs aren't "flyinng" out. They'fe falling out.
In each of the videos the PSP is angled downwards. If you hold a PSP horizontally and hit the eject button, the disc will not fall out. It's only when you aim it at a downwards angle that the UMD will fall from the unit.
What's this "it is making $300 worth of hardware fly out of my machine" part supposed to mean? The PSP doesn't cost $300 (unless you're paying importer prices or getting one off Ebay) and the games go for about $40 each.
Aside from the "flying UMD" non-issue, which is entirely due to user abuse and not Sony's fault, what "serious flaws" does the PSP have?
It uses the same source video as was used to make this gif - http://oohhhh.com/psp_ninja.gif
If you look at the bear video frame by frame, you'll see the UMD magically disappear after it "hits" the bear. Also, the blurring in the frame where the bear gets hit is clearly artificial.
I own a PSP and have been playing Ridge Racers since last Sunday (well, not non-stop, of course). I have yet to have the UMD pop out because I'm not a frickin' moron who abuses an expensive piece of electronics. Is the PSP a NeGcon? NO! So don't twist it!
The PSP is a lot more solid than people are giving it credit for. The "flying UMD" thing started as a forum joke on several Japanese message boards and has spread from there. It's not "news" in any sense of the word.
What's next? Flawed window breaks when hit with brick?
I knew Akihabara was going to be crazy when I saw 30 guys lined up outside one store at 6PM on Saturday.
To save my blog the hammering, I made a Journal entry here on Slashdot chroncling the timeline from when I first got in line until I got my last system (of the three I scored).
Slashdot Mirror
The European version will run on Australian consoles, so you can just import it and get what you want. (This has been confirmed by those who have examined the leaked Euro copy.)
Jesus fuck! Where are my mod points?!? ^.^
PS-> I'd have give you doubleplus mod points had you said "brethren" instead of "brothers."
I was at Yodobashi Akiba as well. But my experience was a little different from what you describe. Before we left Friday night, we made sure we could come back and join the line prior to 7AM. They said we could, so I came back around 6AM. I know somebody else who came back around 3. We both had pretty good positions and got our systems pretty quickly.
Seriously though - 4 hour wait? The tickets were passed out before 11PM.
BTW, bummer about your Wii not working properly.
I've taken apart every console and computer I've ever owned - portable, television, desktop or laptop. A bit of solder and putting the guts in a new case isn't troublesome at all. Hell, part of the reason for doing stuff like this is to see if you can do it.
Can I pull it off or will I toast my system? Tune in to find out! ^.^
(For the record, I've never ruined a computer or game system.)
Gamecube games can be backed up and burned with very little trouble. Stick in a modchip and buy a custom case to allow the Cube to hold full-sized DVDRs and you're all set.
10. Ikusagami - PlayStation 2
9. Touch! Kirby - Nintendo DS
8. Jump Super Stars - Nintendo DS
7. Slime Morimori Dragon Quest II - Nintendo DS
6. Senkou no Ronde - Arcades
5. Ryu ga Gotoku - PlayStation 2
4. Rogue Galaxy - PlayStation 2
3. Wanda to Kyozou (aka Shadow of the Colossus) - PlayStation 2
2. Otona no DS Training ["Brain Training for Nintendo DS"] - Nintendo DS
1. Ponkotsu Roman Daikatsugeki Bumpy Trot ("Bumpy Trot, a Romantic Junkyard Action-Adventure") - PlayStation 2
...then why are the games and system region-coded?
You make a tetrahedron.
Newertech has a great one called the miniStack. USB 2.0 or Firewire, and has hubs for both built-in. It's available as a bare case or with a drive preinstalled.
Perhaps he's doing his buddy a favor by getting an adver^H^H^H^H^H review of a book that came out 11 months ago posted on Slashdot?
Begin.
I need it up loud!
No, I have to, it's a clan match
I HAVE TO! STOP! NO I HAVE TO! MOM, quit playing that! You're messin' me up!
You're messin' me up!
You're messin' me up!
You're messin' me up mom! Quit playin' that!
You're messin' me up! Stop! You're messin' me up!
You're messin' me up!
No, don't turn it off.
Mom, why can't I have it up loud?
You're not in bed yet!
Well, I need it up loud. Mom, I need it up! Whatever, I need it up! Why do I have to get off?! Why?! That's stupid. You always do that -???- You never let me play. You always 'Get off, get off, you gotta get off, its time to get off, turn it down' you never let me have it up loud. This weekend you're like ... You can have it up as loud as you want. So I can have it up as loud as I want.
Why? Why? Why? Okay. Why? Why? Why do I hafta get off? I wanna play. That doesnt mean that I should have to get off. No, that's bull.
I want a chocolate milk not this.
You said that you'd bring me a drink. I don't wanna mountain dew, I want a chocolate milk now. I want a chocolate milk now! I want a chocolate milk now!
Why?! That's what I want! Why can't you get it?! Yes. Mom! Get it! Get iiiiit! Get it! Mom, please get it! WHY?! THAT'S BULLSHIT! YOU SAID YOU'D GET ME A DRINK AND YOU LIED!*
No! You'd said that you'd get me whatever I wanted to drink and I said a mountain dew and now I want a chocolate milk!
YOU'RE MEAN!!! YOU BEAST!!! What? I'd like a fucking chocolate milk! Why would I get in trouble, you said you'd bring me whatever I wanted to drink and now you won't. That means you're lying! No! Bring me chocolate milk! WHY?! I want some motherfucking chocolate milk! I don't hafta get up. You said that you'd get it for me. Why?! THAT'S BULLSHIT! THAT'S BULLSHIT! THAT'S FUCKED UP! I don't have to do shit!....that's bullshit...
End.
Gameboy/Gameboy Colour - Rin, Rin Unnoficial
GameGear - SMS PSP
Genesis (Megadrive) - Megadrive for PSP, Generator/PSP
MAME (Arcade) - XMame PSP
Master System - SMS PSP
MSX - fMSX, Hitbit
Neo Geo Pocket - NGPSP
Neo Geo CD - NEOGEO CD
Nes - InfoNes, Famicontest, Nes for PSP, Nesterj PSP
PC Engine - PCEP
Snes - UO Snes9x PSP, Snes9x PSP, Snes9x Optimised
Wonderswan - Oswan PSP
They're not all running at full speed, but some of them are great pieces of work. Rin, for instance, is damned near perfect (and getting better with each release). I use it to play the Zelda GBC games and they look (and sound, and play) great.
The work on them is continuing at a rapid pace - a lot of the emulators are getting updated several times a week - and they're just going to get better.
The one I'm waiting for (that hasn't shown up yet) is a GBA emulator. I think that's the one that's really going to get people's attention.
But you're right, I haven't been in a TRU recently. I live in Tokyo and, as far as I know, there's only one here. Their prices on games are higher than most every other shop and they don't have a "loyalty card" that earns store credit with every purchase like the Japanese chains do. For my shopping needs, that makes them a serious non-contender.
(In their defense, I did score a PSP from them on launch day last December - so they're occasionally useful.)
On the surface, it's nothing more than an advanced Tamagotchi (which, by the way, are still on sale in Japan and still very, very popular with younger - under 10 - kids), but the more you play it, the more you can see how much work went into it.
I picked it up right around the time it came out, and really got into it. I bought it on a lark, and was surprised how much I liked it. You do the basic pet owner stuff - walk your dog, teach it tricks, feed it, bathe it, play fetch, etc. - as well as enter it in dog shows, frisbee contests and athletic tournaments (an obstacle course kind of thing). Winning competitions earns you cash that you can use to buy more stuff for your dog (toys, food, collars), upgrade your apartment or even get more dogs. (You can have up to three dogs at once.)
What makes the game work is how well everything is dog. The animation is very fluid and natural. The AI is done well, and different dogs seem to have different personalities. My dog (a Shiba Inu named "Sushi" ^.^) likes to play with a lot of his toys and will chase them all over the apartment or bound around the park when I take him outside to play. However, there's one he seems to be scared of. It's a squeaky ball that makes noise when it bounces. He growls and yips at it, but won't go near it. I've talked to other people who have the same toy, and their dogs all love it. Sure, it could just be that my dog has one line of code (hate ball = yes) that set up this behavior, but it seems very realistic when you see it in action.
So while it's easy to dismiss the game as yet another virtual pet, there's a lot more going on under the hood than has been done in the past. I'm not sure how well it'll do in the US, but I'm sure it's got a market there.
And as for the DS sales surging when Nintendogs came out, I doubt it hurt that the Pink and Blue DSes were released on the same day that Nintendogs came out.
"Microsoft's will be 8 times larger than PS2's current 8 MB card, but Sony's will support their SD memory sticks."
Err... no Sony has nothing to do with SD memory cards and shun them where ever possible in favour of their own "Memory Sticks".
The PS3 has slots for Memory Stick, SD and CF cards.
If they're going to go to the trouble of making downloads targeted at PSP users, would it be too much to ask for the videos to fit the aspect ratio of its screen?
Cyber Gadget makes a unit called the Famulator which is a re-designed (or re-re-designed depending on how you look at it) NES toploader that sells for just under 3,000 yen. You can use your US NES carts on it, but you'll need an adapter like the one sold by Lik-Sang.
In almost every format (quicktime, divx, wmv, real, mpg), so have all your players and codecs loaded. I doubt the person running this site is doing the archiving himself, and is just hosting whatever people send him, hence the hodegpodge of formats.
It's a great collection, but could really use a good sorting. (Presently, everything's arranged by the date it was posted.) If ever a site could benefit from a search feature, this one is it.
I live in Tokyo and managed to get three PSPs on launch day and a fourth one a week later during the next shipment. Three of them went up on Ebay and I made just over $700 profit.
Because of that, my PSP (with 4 games) and my DS (with 3 games) were essentially free. ^.^
The Ebay prices have levelled off in the few weeks since the launch and the huge profits aren't there anymore, but it was great while they lasted.
Now that would make for some interesting gaming. ^.^
In each of the videos the PSP is angled downwards. If you hold a PSP horizontally and hit the eject button, the disc will not fall out. It's only when you aim it at a downwards angle that the UMD will fall from the unit.
What's this "it is making $300 worth of hardware fly out of my machine" part supposed to mean? The PSP doesn't cost $300 (unless you're paying importer prices or getting one off Ebay) and the games go for about $40 each.
Aside from the "flying UMD" non-issue, which is entirely due to user abuse and not Sony's fault, what "serious flaws" does the PSP have?
If you look at the bear video frame by frame, you'll see the UMD magically disappear after it "hits" the bear. Also, the blurring in the frame where the bear gets hit is clearly artificial.
I own a PSP and have been playing Ridge Racers since last Sunday (well, not non-stop, of course). I have yet to have the UMD pop out because I'm not a frickin' moron who abuses an expensive piece of electronics. Is the PSP a NeGcon? NO! So don't twist it!
The PSP is a lot more solid than people are giving it credit for. The "flying UMD" thing started as a forum joke on several Japanese message boards and has spread from there. It's not "news" in any sense of the word.
What's next? Flawed window breaks when hit with brick?
You think that might be why the battery life isn't as great as Sony had promised?
To save my blog the hammering, I made a Journal entry here on Slashdot chroncling the timeline from when I first got in line until I got my last system (of the three I scored).
Now, if they built the DS flavor of wireless into their next console....