Homebrew developer tinmanx, usually seen in the PSP homebrew forums, has released a new program for the Wii. Called WiiTCPLoader, this program can send ELF and DOL files over TCP/IP protocol to your Wii. More details after the link.

Download: WiiTCPLoader v0.03 (Windows)
Download: WiiTCPLoader v0.03 (Linux)
Download: WiiTCPLoader v0.03 (Mac OS X)
Visit: QJ.NET Wii Development Forums

Phil Harrison, former Sony exec and current Atari president, said in a keynote speech that most games that fail in development do so because studios rush it through the development process.

And the lesson to gamers is: if you pressure devs to come out with a product too fast, they may end up giving you a sub-standard game.

More wisdom from Harrison after the link.

Great news for retro gamers everywhere: ScummVM has been updated to version 0.12.0, with added support for several games (check out the list of games in the full article). Versions have been released for several platforms, including the PC, Wii, PSP, and iPhone.





Download: ScummVM v0.12.0 (PC)
Download: ScummVM v0.12.0 (Wii)
Download: ScummVM v0.12.0 (PSP)
Download: ScummVM v0.12.0 (iPhone)

The d2pro dev team has announced the release of new firmwares for its 9-wire and 15/19-wire modchips. Changes include a fix for an eject issue that was affecting both chips. Further details are available in the full article.

 

FIFA 08 had remained on the top spot of the Chart Track UK ladder ever since it dethroned Halo 3 (for the week ending October 6). Now, the football mogul is finally kicked right out of the top spot by... drumroll, please... another football game. Sega's Football Manager 2008 for the PC and Mac OS X platforms has debuted at #1 for the week ending October 20.

Former king FIFA 08 (PS3, PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, PC, Wii, and DS) landed not so far away at the second spot, which is followed by two new entrants in the UK charts. The Orange Box (Half-Life 2, HL2: Episode 1 and 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal) from Valve and Electronic Arts takes the third spot, while the Nintendo DS' The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass clocks in at fourth place. Halo 3 caps the top five spots.

1. Football Manager 2008
2. FIFA 08
3. The Orange Box
4. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
5. Halo 3
6. Project Gotham Racing 4
7. Ratatouille
8. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
9. Resistance: Fall of Man
10. Crash of the Titans

Yes, it seems that Europeans do love their football. Heck, the sports simulation title is even scheduled to hit the PSP sometime this Christmas in the form of Football Manager Handheld 2008. Anyone wanna place their bets as early as now that the PSP version will eventually claim the top spot once it gets released?

Headplay is probably every couch potato's dream. Imagine a TV. Now imagine being able to take it anywhere and everywhere you go (except perhaps in the shower), and being able to watch movies or play games on it anytime you want. That's the concept for the new "Personal Cinema System" device, Headplay.

Headplay is a head-mounted device; basically, a TV you wear on your head. You can connect it to your gaming consoles, your DVD Player, your iPod, your PC, and maybe your Betamax player if it hasn't choked on dust yet. If it has a video out function, Headplay can most probably display it. You can also plug in a memory stick and Headplay can run the media files - movies, videos, and images - with its own built-in player.

Once you're behind the lenses of Headplay it's pretty easy to just relax and go dead to the world around you. It's nothing but you and the screen, with the stereo sounds blocking off everything else. It's like your own movie screen inside your living room.

To read the complete review of Headplay - what it is, what it does, how it plays on Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, and Nintendo' Wii on it - click on the link for the full article.

Yes, we know that news on Penny Arcade's upcoming game, On the Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness isn't exactly "breaking" since the site for the comic itself has been periodically giving hints about the game. After all, the developer, Hothead Games, made a press release announcing the game around August last year. However, what we have right here, is still worth posting.

Behold, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness:

Yeah, it's a game trailer. What'ya expect? Oh, and before you folks go, Fruit F*cker for the win! Yes, the crass exclamation was obligatory.

The game is made for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. A version for next-generation consoles is said to follow. It will be available by digital download, delivered in episodic format (as if the Episode One bit didn't make it that obvious) with new installments to be released upon the Kitchen ware starved masses several times a year.

Just a short heads up for young, aspiring game developers planning to create a game for the Nintendo Wii. The development team behind the Unity engine has just announced that later on in 2007, Unity will be capable of creating games supported on the Wii.

The Mac OS X-based Unity engine, in layman's terms, is intended to be a developer's tool pack that provides devs with a convenient combination of programs and applications to make the task of creating new game designs all that much easier.

The engine has already been used for titles like Big Bang Brain by Graveck Interactive, and Global Conflicts: Palestine by Serious Games Interactive, and is further used by ShiftControl studios for non-game related exhibitions. This announcement also signals Unity's use outside Windows and Mac-based applications.

On that note, we're sure the Wii gamers may find this news as a point of reassurance, as it announces a possible game engine exclusive for the Wii, which will in turn signify a possible increase in titles in the near future. And as we said before, given that Unity's strong point appears to be its ease of use, we could be looking at a prospective crop of semi-independents developers on the horizon (homebrews?).

Penny Arcade is one of the most popular web-comics on the web. They've expanded to everything from creating gaming-related charity like Child's Play, to Penny Arcade Expo event. PAX 2006 is underway and the first announcement to come out of it is that there is a Penny Arcade game in the works! It's being developed by Hothead Games which is based in Vancouver BC, Canada - a hotspot for game development.

The first game will go through digital distribution for PC users as well as those running the Mac OS X and Linux operating systems. However, the game after that will be developed for next generation systems! Exactly which ones they'll be for has not been decided and divulged, but they're coming! Maybe we'll see one based on VGCats or Ctrl-Alt-Del soon as well?