Technofranki's blog

For the last couple of years, almost every Friday (or at least the weekend), I’ve been blogging the new Virtual Console and WiiWare games. Written with full text. But is does take some time, so now I will only write the titles and info.

Beer Pong! Frat Party Games
WiiWare – 27/02/2009 – JV Games – sports/arcade – 1-4 players – 800 points – age 3+

Snowboard Riot
WiiWare – 27/02/2009 – Hudson Soft – snowboard racing/battle – 1-4 players – 1000 points – age 7+

I’m looking forward to April 3rd, when the Nintendo DSi will be released in Europe. In the meantime I’m been watching some videos of the features on IGN.com.

IGN.com have posted a trailer of the new Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars game for Nintendo DS.

Here is a list of the latest region free Blu-ray releases in US. The list is taken from Blu-Ray Region Code Info. All links goes to Amazon.com.

• Milk
• Let the Right One In
• Wonder Woman
• Primal Fear
• Amadeus
• Role Models
• What Just Happened
• Watchmen: the Complete Motion Comic
• South Park: The Complete Twelfth Season
• The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
• Gandhi (25th Anniversary Edition)
• The Silence of the Lambs
• Zack and Miri Make a Porno

On Thursday March 5, 2009 the Norwegian Game Award Gullstikka 2008 will take place. Since there is now official English name for the categories, I’ve translated them to the best of my knowledge. (Source: My Norwgian Blog)

Here is the list of the nominees:

Best Strategy
Civilization: Revolution (Firaxis Games/KE Media)
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (EA LA/EA Norge)
Spore (Maxis/EA Norge)
Tom Clancy’s End War (Ubisoft/Ubisoft)

Best Adventure/RPG
Age of Conan (Funcom/Ubisoft)
Fable 2 (Lionhead Stuios/Microsoft Games Studios)
Fallout 3 (Bethesda/Ubisoft)
Final Fantasy Crisis Core (Square Enix/Ubisoft)

Best Childrens game
Englekræsj (Ravn Studio/Norsk Spill Distribusjon)
Josefine og Drømmespeielet (KREA/PAN Vision Norge)
Litlest Pet Shop (Hasbro/EA Norge)
Ungene i gata og Rocke-Ragnar (Minimedia/Norsk Spill Distribusjon)

Best Action game
Call of Duty: World of War (Treyarch/Activision Blizzard)
Gears of War 2 (Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studios)
Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar North/KE Media)
Metal Gear Solid 4 (Konami/PAN Vision Norge)

Best Racing game
Burnout Paradise (Criterion/EA Norge)
Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (Polyphony Digital/Nordisk Film)
Mario Kart (Nintendo/Bergsala)
Race Driver: Grid (Codemasters/Atari)

Best Sports game
FIFA 09 (EA Sports/EA Norge)
Football Manager 09 (SEGA/PAN Vision Norge)
NHL 09 (EA Sports/EA Norge)
Pro Evolution Soccer 09 (Konami/PAN Vision Norge)

Best Platformer
Little Big Planet (Media Molecule/Nordisk Film)
Mirrors Edge (DICE/EA Norge)
Prince Of Persia (Ubisoft/Ubisoft)
Tomb Raider (Eidos/Ubisoft)

Open Class
Guitar Hero: World Tour (Red Octane/Activision Blizzard)
Rock Band 2 (Harmonix/EA Norge)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Sora Nintendo/Bergsala)
Wii Fit (Nintendo/Bergsala)

Best Multiplayer game
Call of Duty: World at War (Treyarch/Activision Blizzard)
FIFA 09 (EA Sports/EA Norge)
Left 4 Dead (Valve/EA Norge)
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Blizzard/Activision Blizzard)

Best game with Norwegian language
Buzz TV Quiz (Relentless Software/Nordisk Film)
Little Big Planet (Media Molecule/Nordisk Film)
Resistance 2 (Insomniac Games/Nordisk Film)
Spore (Maxis/EA Norge)

Best Norwegian-developed game
Age of Conan (Funcom/Ubisoft)
Englekræsj (Ravn Studio/Norsk Spill Distribusjon)
Riding Club (Artplant/Norsk Spill Distribusjon)
Ungene i gata og RockeRagnar (Minimedia/Norsk Spill Distribusjon)

Best Cellphone game
Bejeweled 2 (iPhone)
Boom Blox (N-Gage)
Hero of Sparta (iPhone)
SimCity (iPhone/Java)

Best Retailer
Electroworld Sandvika
Elkjøp Megastore Karihaugen
Gamezone
Platekompaniet Oslo City

Critics Award
Braid (Number None Inc/Microsoft Games Studios)
Fable 2 (Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Games Studios)
Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar North/KE Media)
Little Big Planet (Media Molecule/Nordisk Film)

Best Handheld game
Final Fantasy: Crisis Core (Square Enix/Ubisoft)
God of War: Chains Of Olympus (SCEA/Nordisk Film)
Ninja Gaiden DS (Eidos/Ubisoft)
Locoroco 2 (SCE Japan Stuido/Nordisk Film)

Best PC game
Age of Conan (Funcom/Ubisoft)
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (EA LA/EA Norge)
Fallout 3 (Bethesda/Ubisoft)
Football Manager 2009 (SEGA/PAN Vision Norge)

Best Console game
Fallout 3 (Bethesda/Ubisoft)
Gears of War 2 (Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studios)
Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar North/KE Media)
Little Big Planet (Media Molecule/Nordisk Film)

Game of the Year
Fallout 3 (Bethesda/Ubisoft)
Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar North/KE Media)
Little Big Planet (Media Molecule/Nordisk Film)
Metal Gear Solid 4 (Konami/PAN Vision Norge)

Community of the Year
Battlefield.no
Multigamer.no
Spillegal.no
Wii-fan.net

Best Magazine/online site
Dagbladet
Gamer.no
Gamereactor
VG

——
Gullstikka translates to something like The Golden Stick.

You can soon vote for your favourite arcade game on Xbox Live from 2008. The voting starts on Tuesday, March 3 at 2:00 A.M. Pacific Time (10:00 A.M. GMT), and ends Tuesday, March 10 at 3:59 P.M. PT (11:59 P.M. GMT). (Source: MajorNelson.com)

The nomenees for the Second Annual Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards are:

Best Overall Arcade Game
Braid
Castle Crashers
Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2
Street Fighter II HD Remix
Portal: Still Alive

Best Original Game
Castle Crashers
N+
Braid
Penny Arcade Episode 1
Schizoid
Age of Booty

Best Family Game
Boogie Bunnies
Roogoo
A Kingdom for Keflings
Lost Cities
Meteos Wars

Best Co-operative Multiplayer Game
Castle Crashers
Schizoid
Bionic Commando Rearmed
N+
Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2

Best Competitive Multiplayer Game
Street Fighter II HD Remix
Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2
Soul Calibur
Meteos Wars
Age of Booty

Best Solo Game
Braid
Mega Man 9
Penny Arcade Episode 1
Rez HD
Portal: Still Alive

Best Innovation in XBLA
Braid (time travel)
A Kingdom for Keflings (use of Avatars)
Fable II Pub Games (retail game integration)
N+ (level sharing)
Duke Nukem 3D (dynamic replay)

Best Graphics
Street Fighter II HD Remix
Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2
Braid
Castle Crashers
Bionic Commando Rearmed

Best Classic/Remake Game
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Street Fighter II HD Remix
Mega Man 9
Galaga Legions
Rez HD

So The History of Microsoft continues with 1976.

Quote from Channel 9:

For Microsoft, 1976 was the first year with an official name, it was the first time Bill Gates raised the issue of piracy and we hired our first full-time employee Marc McDonald.