Datel, the UK-based video game peripheral manufacturer that loves to piss off Microsoft, takes controller cheating to the next level with the latest iteration of its TurboFire 360 controller, complete with built-in “Combat Command LCD interface”. More »
Former Xbox 360 third-party memory card manufacturer Datel is free to pursue its antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft, as a federal judge dismisses the console maker’s attempts to have the case thrown out. More »
Microsoft is taking a British peripheral manufacturer to court, alleging that the company – Datel – has “illegally copied” the publisher’s own Xbox 360 control pad designs. More »
Datel helps PSP users hop on the motion control bandwagon with the Tilt FX PSP, a device that adds accelerometer controls to your favourite games. More »
You know Datel? I like Datel, mostly because they made the Freeloader for the GameCube/Wii. Well, Datel are in the process of taking Microsoft to court over Xbox 360 memory cards. More »
Datel – makers of the Wii’s Freeloader, amongst other things – were working on a third-party PSP battery that would have made it easier to hack the PSP-3000. That is, until Sony sued.
Thinking of importing the Japanese version of Mario Kart to get around the delay? Whoah, Bessie. Import specialists Play-Asia have, after a quick round of testing, found that neither US nor PAL Freeloaders will run the game on your non-Japanese Wii. Of course this is still unconfirmed by either Nintendo or Datel, creators of the Freeloader, but Play-Asia are normally spot-on when it comes to this stuff. We knew/feared Nintendo would get around the Freeloader sooner or later, but not this soon, and not via the code on a game disc. Bad news! And now for worse news: this may set a precedent whereby many, if not all Wii discs from here on in contain similar checks. Play-Asia’s warning email to customers follows.
Datel’s Wii Freeloader is awesome news. PAL gamers can get games on time, American gamers can play Japanese games, everybody wins. There’s a few niggling doubts surrounding the deal, however. Well, one: won’t a future firmware update stop the Freeloader from working, as it’s already done once to Datel’s previous GameCube-only disc? Datel say no, replying to reader Willis in an email: …we can confirm that on every occasion that the product is used when the disc is inserted in the console that it allows the usage of any imported Wii game discs and disables the console from been able to update its firmware, if the disc is removed after been inserted and reinserted this will again enable the console to update its firmware but still allow the usage of the any imported Wii game discs.
Which unless my eye for English-as-a-second-language fails me is their way of saying “don’t worry, firmware won’t break this one”. Course, they’d have to say that, otherwise nobody would buy the damn thing, so if you’re wracked with uncertainty over picking one up I’d say wait until the next firmware update hits and we can get some independent verification.
Nintendo’s Wii update, which borked Freeloader compatibility, has upset a lotta PAL users. Greatly. Datel’s Freeloader was all we had! It was the only way we could play many Gamecube games on time, and some games at all! And now it’s gone. Gone forever (just like most peoples Gamecubes when they bought a Wii). Nintendo Europe have told Eurogamer that: because it isn’t an official product approved by Nintendo, there was nothing it could do.
Technically, that may or may not be true. Doesn’t make the hurt any less, especially as with few decent Wii games on offer and prices constantly sliding, there’s never been a better time to catch up on any US or Japanese Cube games you may have missed first time around. Wii update breaks Freeloader [Eurogamer] More »
