1P Start

“George” as he’s known in the video, decided to show off his mad drawing skillz by drawing everyone’s favorite video game character, but the Paper Mario version of him. It kind of makes sense since he IS drawing on paper.

Nintendo, Mario, sketch, Paper, YouTube, video

We came across an interesting article on a project to use your hands to control computers similar to what you might see in movies such as Minority Report. Could this be the future for video games as well?

Using a $30 dollar camera and this piece of Podtech software that’s still in development, you can play with computers just like Tom Cruise did in Minority Report, by grabbing files by the nipples and dragging them around the screen. Using topological depth technology, it figures out what’s the static background, and differentiates it between the changing foreground….

[Via thelastboss.com]

MS, research, Podtech

Bungie announced the new Halo 2 maps are being released on April 17. Honestly, I can’t call this big news considering Halo 3 is right around the corner. I think they should be ashamed of themselves charging for these maps with all the money they have made off the consumers already. Anyways, the two new maps are available for $4 on XBL and you cannot use Microsoft Points to purchase them. Hang Em’ High and Derelict are the new maps coming out. Hange Em’ High was immensely popular on the original Halo, so I will be curious to see how much they have changed on it.

The two maps will bring new life to ancient battlefields and legendary skirmishes, as both are new, improved and redesigned remakes of fan favorites from the original “Halo: Combat Evolved.� For the price of $4 for the pair, these maps bring a fresh burst of action to the seminal “Halo 2� online multiplayer experience. Both of the maps will be available through the “Halo 2� in-game content downloader for both Xbox and Xbox 360.*

The king of “Halo� maps has returned at last. Hang ’Em High, arguably the most popular multiplayer map for the original title, has been reimagined for “Halo 2� as Tombstone, with all-new graphics, features and a few hidden surprises. Now fans will enjoy the dangerous catwalks and trenches that made this the most requested “Halo� multiplayer map ever, with a modernized “Halo 2� flavor.

[Via Evil Avatar]

Halo 2 Maps

Gaming on the go can be such a hassle if your gaming device needs to be recharged, and your nowhere near a plug. Well, TomsHardware has come up with a way to use the sun’s energy to run a Nintendo DS Lite. It’s called “Solar Power” and boy is it sweeping the nation! The DS can be completely run from solar power for as long as you have sun readily available since the DS does not require a lot of power to run.

For a video showing off the modded Nintendo DS, follow the link.

Nintendo, DS, Solar Power, mod

I don’t know if you guys remember “Moonwalker” for the Genesis but back in the day, it was one of my favorites. I really wish they would come up with some original games like this again. Of course, I guess they could never make another Michael Jackson game for kids.

YouTube, Michael Jackson, Moonwalker, Sega Genesis

The guys at BBPS picked up on a pretty interesting comparison. It seems that the recent internet melting GTA IV trailer took a couple of cliff notes from the trailer of a pretty much unknown movie Koyaanisqatsi. Check out the Koyaanisqatsi trailer first to get a good idea

Exhibit A: The Koyaanisqatsi trailer

Exhibit B: The GTA IV trailer

Cool huh? ……ahhhh….damn these slow news days!

[Via The BBPS]

YouTube, video, GTA IV, Koyaanisqatsi, trailer

According to the PAL virtual console update, today Europe got The Legend of Mystical Ninja, Dragon’s Curse, but more importantly, the European VC was updated with Punch-Out!!

According to past virtual console releases, whenever Europe gets a “big” game that the US virtual console hasn’t received yet, then most likely it’ll come out to the US virtual console the following Monday. And if you’ve been keeping track of the past US virtual console releases, then you know this would be a great release in the midst of a crappy couple of weeks.

So in other words, be on the lookout for Punch-Out!! this Monday.

Nintendo, Wii, virtual console, Punch-Out!!

Nintendo has released a new trailer for Super Paper Mario simply entitled “Storyline”. In the trailer, we get very quick snippets of the what the story is in Super Paper Mario. This video is perfect for those of you in the crowd that have ADD since the screen changes pretty much every 3 seconds.

Nintendo, Super Paper Mario, Wii, Storyline, trailer, YouTube

I’m starting to think this may be the case. The shareholder revolt at Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. this week may actually cause some changes. I was reading a highly biased article on BusinessWeek.com concerning the issue. I am wondering if new leadership will be forced to make some drastic changes to the new title to make it more family friendly among other things. I could be way off base, but it’s always possible. There’s a likely chance that there were special interest groups behind this takeover and it may change things drastically. I’m not exactly sure what’s going on yet, but it may not be good. Here are some quotes from the article:

A feisty shareholder revolt at Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. this week offed nearly as many executives as virtual characters in the video game company’s violent titles.

Financial analysts and child advocates said only a thorough purging at the top would reverse the accounting and ethical lapses at the publisher of the popular, murder-your-way-to-victory video game “Grand Theft Auto.” With a new CEO and several new board members now leading the company, that’s what they got.

Take-Two’s former chairman and CEO, Ryan A. Brant, became the first chief executive to be convicted of backdating stock options. In February, he pleaded guilty in a New York state court to first-degree falsification of business records in a deal that lets him avoid prison.

[Via Business Week]

Take Two Interactive Software, stock revolt

Nintendo is the first of the big three video game console producers to sign up for the “E For All Expo” which will take place in Los Angeles starting on October 18th and lasting for four days. “E For All Expo” replaces the defunct E3. Unlike E3 and other expos, this one will be completely open to the public.

[Via TG Daily]

Nintendo, E For All Expo

In case you didn’t know or were too busy with actually living your life, today was the day the GTA IV trailer was supposed to debut. At first, I’m sure you all were doing the same thing I was. Cursing like a sailor at your computer because the moment the trailer went “live”, the page wasn’t loading. For longer that I would have liked actually.

Right now I’m still trying to view the trailer. As soon as I get to view the trailer, I’ll update what I saw and any opinions I may have. I’ll also attempt to put the actual video on this page, so check back often tonight to get updated on the GTA IV Trailer.

[Update: I finally got to see the trailer. Here’s what I was able to understand from the trailer:

• The setting will be in Liberty City
• The graphics are a huge improvement from older GTA games
• The main character is Russian
• The trailer was awesome

Right now I’m in the midst of downloading the trailer which I will upload onto the 1PStart YouTube account and then I’ll embed the video here, so stay tuned kiddos!]

[Update 2: Yay! Got the trailer up!]

If it doesn’t have super deformed graphics, an epic tale of sorts, or teen girls driving huge ass mechs, then the Japanese gaming market probably isn’t interested in it. So Microsoft decided to make a bunch of viral videos in order to persuade Japanese gamers to embrace Gears of War, just like their national hero Hironobu Sakaguchi does.

So without further adieu, here are said viral videos.

[Via Siliconera]

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If your debating whether or not you should attend the Penny-Arcade Expo located in Washington State Trade and Covention Center in downtown Seattle, Washington, now is the time to decide. The “Early-bird” tickets (which sell for $40 for all 3 days) will only be on sale until March 31st. After that, registrants who sign-up between April 1-August 1 will pay $45 for a 3-day pass. And for the completely lazy, tickets will be on sale at the door as well, but will cost you $30 per day.

Musical guests at PAX 2007 include The OneUps, MC Frontalot, Jonathan Coulton, Freezepop, The Neskimos and Optimus Rhyme. Some companies who will be attending PAX 2007 are Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts/Mythic, Sabertooth Games, Telltale Games, the Behemoth, Namco-Bandai, Upper Deck, Wizkids, ArenaNet, Harmonix, Rockstar are the top names of the list of over 50 companies exhibiting at PAX 2007.

Last year, PAX 2006 drew over 20,000 gamers, so it’s expected that this year will be a much bigger year for PAX, especially since E3 is now non-existent.

So what are you waiting for, get your tickets now!

[Link: www.pennyarcadeexpo.com]

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This is your friendly Kezins with some GTA stuff. I’m under the weather, so BB is definitely working overtime right now, but I’ll be back in full force by Friday with no doubt. 1Up has a great article on GTA 4 and some opinions about the series in general and it’s impact to gaming. The big wait is all about the game trailer countdown on http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/. We’re less than a day away from this, and I can honestly say I have never been this excited to check out a trailer. Honestly, my favorite thing is that GTA pissed off a lot of people who just have no clue what they are talking about. The entire series has opened doors for the future of this style of gaming. I personally do not see it as out of line or unsafe. Keep it away from the little kids sure and make the parents accountable. It’s that simple and I truly think that the world may eventually come to this conclusion. Definitely check out the rockstargames site and keep an eye on the countdown. It could be hype and such, but these guys have come so far, I expect something truly mind blowing. I’d just drop in the exact time here, but what’s fun in that? Countdown clocks are always great stuff. 1up’s article reference a lot of fictional what ifs for the new game and worth reading. They got with developers to see what they would have thrown into it.

Personally, I want something we haven’t seen yet in a GTA game. But it should take something to the limit. I’m going to ask the 1PStart readers the same questions. If you could have developed this game, what would you change or add? Now if it were me, I would want possibly more vehicle controls, more explosions and a more destructable environment.

[Via 1Up]

GTA 4 Trailer, Countdown, Xbox 360, PS3

With every new Spider-Man 3 video game trailer, I get more antsy towards it’s release. Expect in this trailer some awesome graphics, a battle with a big-ass Sandman, and Venom!

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Sony, Playstation 3, PS3, Nintendo, Wii, YouTube, video