Oh, good Lord no, not a tabletop cabinet. That’s boring. This is much nicer. Reader Aaron sent this into us, and writes: I decided to take an old table my grandfather made that had a stain on the top of it and tile it myself. Luckily my parents were tiling their bathroom so I got to use a nice industrial cutter :)
Lucky indeed, Aaron! Great stuff. Great carpet, too.
If a new arcade version of Virtua Fighter 5 wasn’t enough to get excited about, how about a new version with pirates? Yes, PIRATES. Labelled Virtua Fighter 5 Version D, this is the fourth update to the arcade version. This latest update adds a CPU pirate-fighting “Knockout Trial 2″ for one-player mode and the ability to easily have “Official Open Battles” in Japanese arcades. The new versions brings new costumes, too. What hasn’t been updated: The game’s fighting balance hasn’t changed since Version C. Gotta love the pirate brawling. You gotta. VF5 Update [Famitsu][Pic]
Still waiting on those “hundreds of songs”, but Sony promised a SingStore update on February 6, and an update is what we’ve received. Only seven tracks are on offer, mind, but that seven includes MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This”. Oh, and “Greatest Love of All” as well, though sadly, it’s the Whitney Houston version. Busting out the Randy Watson version will get you zero points. Don’t ask me how I know that…
The latest thing? Remixing game sound effects into the game’s theme. Right up there, that’s the original Super Smash Bros. Pretty catchy! Hit the jump for a stab at Super Mario 64. More »
Develop Magazine has its list of 25 people who are changing the game industry. Number one shouldn’t be a shocker (it’s Nintendo honcho Satoru Iwata). Luminaries like Hironobu Sakaguchi, Ray Muzyka, John Carmack and, yes, even Mark Rein. It’s a good list and worth checking out to see why these folks matter and how they’re reshaping gaming. Game Changers [devleop via DS Fanboy][Pic]
Metal Gear Mobile, a Japan-only Metal Gear title for cellphones, looks kinda okayish. It’s Metal Gear Solid. But with keypad controls. Pros and cons, then. It does have one snazzy, original feature, though: Snake’s active camo, which is compatible with your camera’s phone. In other words, take a snap of your surrounds and that’s what Snake’s camo will look like. Knowing Metal Gear, I’m guessing it’s safer to play (and take your snaps) on the train or bus than it is in a grassy field on a sunny day. Camouflage Solid Snake with a camera phone in Metal Gear Solid Mobile [Siliconera]
Severed arms. Decapitated heads. And lots and lots of blood. Ninja Gaiden II looks pretty gross. The game’s mastermind, Tomonobu Itagaki, is to remind all that it plays pretty gross, too. Itagaki says: They [the enemy characters]can basically keep fighting until they’re in pieces. Even a one-armed enemy can still fight.
Itagaki adds that his team is trying to be realistic to a degree, so don’t expect chopped off heads to attack you. Whew, that’s a relief! Itagaki Interview [Games.net via Go Nintendo]
Buried amongst the rubble of EA’s Q3 fiscal results are some details on not only how each platform is doing for EA, but what EA is doing for each platform. Did you know, for instance, that for all the sheen and luster of current-gen consoles, the PS2 was EA’s biggest bread-winner for the quarter? Or that they released more mobile games than DS and PSP titles combined? Do now!
This one’s for the doubters. Just because Steven Spielberg can make movies, that doesn’t mean he can make video games. They’re different! And just because he’s in tune with cinema, that doesn’t mean he understand games, right? Right?! Wrong, says former Dreamworks’ employee and current Electronic Arts’ exec Glenn Entis. Steven Spielberg is a huge gamer nerd, he points out. What’s more, Entis adds:
