KingdomBlade

With half of the community addicted to rock and the other to pop/techno (primarily Jap and VGA's), we rarely get to hear love songs around here anymore. SO post them here, just in time for Valentines.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps


Whitney Houston - Saving All My Love For You (couldn't resist)


Radiohead - True Love Waits


U2 - With or Without You


The White Stripes - Well It's True that We Love One Another

The world's largest video game controller, 30 times the size of a standard joypad, was unveiled today as one of the wackier winners in the new Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition. The fully working device, which is an oversized replica of the pads on Nintendo's iconic NES console, was on display at Liverpool St Station, London.

If you wanted to use it like a standard handheld pad, you would need to be 51m (167ft) tall – the same height as London landmark Nelson’s Column. The device, created by British Engineering student Ben Allen, is featured in the new Guinness World Records 2012 Gamer Edition.

British engineering student Ben Allen, 23, was one of the three who built the device as apart of a university project. Mr Allen said: 'This is really a labour of love. We’re passionate about gaming and wanted to honour its most iconic device; the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) joypad.

'We put our heads together in the pub and decided to create this absurdly large working version. It’s such a rush to know we’ve made history and are being included in the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition.'

The joypad, which measures 366cm x 159cm x 51cm (12ft x 5ft 3in in x 1ft 8in), and weighs an estimated 265 pounds (18 stone), took five months and £4,000 to build. Such is the size of the controller that it requires at least two gamers to press the buttons - or jump on them.

Source

What peculiar news. However, it's offbeat, which is why I thought it'd be nice.

After noticing a severe-lack of movie themed threads around, I decided to make this with Video-Games in mind. This is the list of the greatest video game themed films of all time, ranging from adaptations, documentaries and simply just those with games integrated to the plot. The majority of the movies on this list aren't the most well-known films; however they are all well worth watching. Sorry to those of you who were expecting films like Resident Evil or Tomb Raider to pop up.

Mortal Kombat is a film that is ridiculously cheesy and relatively brainless, but overall good fun. It is an adaptation of the popular fighting-game series of the same-name. The film is, as would be expected from the source material, laughably plotless. However, the film becomes watchable because of its good and funny action scenes, the fun dialogue, surprisingly serious and effective visuals, and a good stunt-oriented cast. The special-effects are, surprisingly enough, good, and look attuned to the theme. A movie you should watch if only for the heck of it. It's nothing special, but it's not bad actually. If you don't find it good, it's likely you'll find it on the 'It's so bad, it's good' spectrum of these.

While Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is, I believe, ridiculously over-hyped, it's also a fairly good film. The movie depicts the aftermath of the events that occurred in Final Fantasy VII. That already says so much about why this movie is often considered great by gamers. While the plot had an enormous amount of potential, it screwed itself up by entangling too many elements and it ended up being a convoluted mess. It's virtually impossible to understand for anyone who hasn't played FFVII yet. The visuals however are where it really shines. The CGI is extremely polished and the action scenes look dazzling. Each scene looks and sounds pitch perfect, and the coloring is possibly some of the best I've seen. Besides that, they also kept the integrity of the characters which preserves the nostalgia. I certainly had some. You'll probably have it too.

While not directly mentioning video-games or even showing any, this is very much a video-game movie. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World stars Michael Cera in the titular role as Scott Pilgrim, a guy who must defeat his girlfriend's seven evil ex-boyfriends (or exes.) The film is brimming with invention and extremely bright. It's quirky, wired, and hell of a lot of fun. It's sort of reminescent of old Nintendo games, which is why a lot of gamers (ahem, everyone on this website) enjoyed it heavily. It makes the old feel young, the middle-aged feel young, and the young feel younger. One such scene that I found humorous is when Michael Cera defeated an enemy (that enemy merely disappearing) and picked up coins that he dropped. It was hilarious. I immediately pictured what Mario would really look like doing that.

The Spirits Within is frequently overlooked for the next FF film, regardless of the fact that it may actually be better. Instead of trying to talk about the story (that of which is average), let's talk about what really makes it incredible. The effects. Aki Ross may as well be the most amazing looking CGI created character ever. Until now; which is fascinating considering that it was made nearly 11 years ago. The movie looks and feels incredible; its effects are the best on this list. Even #6. It's worth experiencing if only for the visuals. The movie should've taken off with ease; unfortunately the movie proved (surprisingly) to lack audience compatibility. It really is worth a watch. Even Roger Ebert, who has well known disdain for games, was on the side defending the film (albeit a small side that is.) That says quite a lot.

TRON is the second movie on this list that is not specifically about any games, but is themed in the same way as a game. This movie barely needs a description. The plot is inspired by Pong, which may explain a lot. The plot focuses on a game designer who intends to use a program called TRON to monitor communications. It's a weirdly engaging look on video games. It visualizes technology in an obviously ridiculous manner, however it is a visual delight. It's a sound and light show full of wonder and very easy to appreciate; triumphant in style. The video game themes are well integrated into the story, though now thinking about it, it seems like the concept that the inside of a computer looks like a video game is preposterous. It's not really a big deal though, you'd probably just chuckle at it. The film made me want to put Christmas lights on a plate and throw it at balloons.


Second Skin is a documentary about MMORPG's and the subculture of people that it has formed. It also shares the stories of people who's lives have been affected by MMORPGS, for better or worse. The movie is incredibly impartial; it depicts the games in both a negative and a positive light. That just shows how much ground this movie covers. It shows the human side and how it affects people, the technical side, the issues pertaining to it, and the history behind the games. It's extremely informative and entertaining. It shows a world that is somehow different from our own, and how it clashes with ours.
This first acts as somewhat of a companion piece to the first place film which you will see later on. Chasing Ghosts is a documentary about the video game craze of the early 80's in which Walter Day, an eccentric businessman/arcade owner, decides to national high score table. The film showcases a wide variety of faces, the majority being either the current or previous holders of arcade-game high score records. It's a compelling film. We see the whole dynamic behind the frenzy, the lives of those people who have been hooked, how the entire mania ensued, and the games themselves. Through the film, we see that even then, video games could be a big deal. The film is an essential for any video game fan, most especially those who want to reminesce that certain age of gaming.
The most serious game on this list. By far. As is obvious from the title, Playing Columbine is primarily related to a game about Columbine, which for those of you who for some reason do not know about it, is a massacre that occurred when three high school students embarked on a massacre, killing 13 people. The game, called Super Columbine Massacre RPG! was subjected to widespread controversy. The documentary is dramatic. It's extremely compelling. From someone who has played the game (and, surprisingly enough, appreciated it) it's a very good story to be told. The game, the ensuing murders that followed (The Dawson College Murders), and the wild reaction from the press, all speak about how video games ought to be treated much more seriously. For better or for worse, they can severely affect lives. It's a movie that will take you to somewhere you'd never expect video games to be. For the heck of it, I have to say this is my favorite from this list. There's a lot to get from it.

What a sudden change of tone, huh? WarGames is an undeniably entertaining thriller about a teenage hacker who, in his hacking ventures, accidentally manipulates games that feed false war information to the US Military. Because of this, NORAD, a defense group, nearly launches World War III. It's very compelling, geniune, and a near classic of the genre. It's intelligent and has an ending that seems both philosophically accurate and clever. It's not the most game-themed film, but the film does heavily involve concepts from games. "The Only Winning Move is not to Play."

There's a reason why this is on top: it captures the gaming spirit beautifully. Not only in the theme of competitive gaming, but in terms of how the story between them is too. A classic redemptive story is present here, somewhat similar to how your character starts out tragically in a game, and ends up evenentually reaching the evil villain. It's clear that this story, about Steve Wiebe trying to take the Donkey Kong high score record from superstar Billy Mitchell, will capture any gaming nerd's heart. It's a documentary that shows how much people can care about these games, how strongly they can feel for it, and what they would be willing to do to prove their worth even in an (admittedly) trivial matter such as this. He trains hard, for hours and hours, and somehow, this becomes the most interesting thing possible. The ending isn't the happiest, but it's clearly trying to point something out. You decide what that is.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
6. Clannad - It works for fans, however it doesn't work for anyone else really.
5. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - It's an action packed film featuring Angelina Jolie at her sexiest. That's the primary thing in this movie.
4. Silent Hill - It's not as scary, or as effective, as it should be. It is very good in capturing a nice atmosphere though.
3. Gamer - A very action packed film in which Gerard Butler plays a controllable character. It's watchable.
2. TRON: Legacy - A lackluster sequel to the first movie, but still as gorgeous, this movie's main pro is the excellent score from Daft Punk.
1. House of the Dead (or better known as The Uwe Boll Show) -In order to find out how funny this movie is, you just have to watch it. It's just so amazing. It's amazing.

RULES:

One person posts a screenshot of a children's film, making sure it isn't impossible to guess (ie include either a lead character or make it a renowned/significant scene)....or too easy. When a successful guess has been made and confirmed to be correct by the poster of the image, the person who guessed successfully posts the next screenshot. So, if you're going to make a guess and following that post a snapshot please ensure that you check back every so often to see if someone named your movie correctly or to check if your guess was correct so that the game isn't held up too long. It's usual for 2-3 images to get posted per day. Try not to repeat movies, especially the same scene...

Due to the game's constant progress (and multiple accounts of cheating), new rules were formed.

• In order to keep the game flowing, post the RIPEMD-128 hash under the picture of your film using this tool (input the IMDb url into the 'data' bar and click 'Convert Me!', then copy the whole RIPEMD-128 hash). The person who guesses can then check their answer by inputing the IMDb address of their guess into the RIPEMD-128 hash generator and if it matches then it's correct and you are allowed to proceed to post the next film. - Thanks to FAST6191 for this technique.
  
• Remember to keep the scores updated.
  
• Remember to update the previous movies posted list.
  
• Posting an answer and then saying "Skip me" will result in no points, and a toss-up movie either by the judge, or by the previous poster.
  
• No hotlinking to images, try to upload them to GBAtemp's gallery (you could use the quick upload function) or tinypic/photobucket. Please make sure the name of the movie is not contained in the url.
  
• Don't "hit and run". If you're going to guess at a movie, make sure you can stick around long enough to see if your guess was correct and post the next film. If you take too long posting the next movie (24 hours or judge's discretion), you will lose the point.
  
• The winner of a round is the judge for the next round.

To make it easier for people to know whether or not a pic for a particular film has been posted a list is kept along with the scores. Whenever you update the scores the list should be updated as well. We've gotten into the habit of using the list to link to the IMDb page for the movie, but if you have trouble with that part, just list the movie. You'll get the hang of it quick enough!


The theme for this round is Kid's movies. Please make sure your movie would generally fall into this category. Here's a few things to keep in mind for this round.

• Has to have had a G or PG rating in its theatrical release. (it's can be seen on IMDB)
  
• It has to be well known. Please don't post something that no one can solve, like.. say an indie movie that only 600 people watched.
  
• It has to have received an English release or a subtitled release in the US. No Bollywood, no foreign cinema, unless, as said previously, with subtitles or dubs.
  
• It has to have minimal violence.
  
• TV Movies are not allowed. (unless they are extremely popular, i.e. High School Musical)
  
• Any genre is generally allowed, so long as it's aimed at or for kids.
  
• A movie that has a G or PG rating but not aimed at children is not allowed. You should be the judge of what constitutes a children's movie.
  
• In the same way, a movie with a PG-13 rating but aimed at children is allowed. (i.e. LoTR Trilogy or Harry Potter)
  
• Animation is allowed, but they must be strictly for kids. (as in, no Simpsons movie) It's suggested to avoid using animated movies though.

There is also a judge for each round for when problems occur.

This round will run from today (October 11) through November 11.

Here's the list of all the past Name the Movie threads, just in case anyone wants to reminisce or see how much time has been wasted over the years.

Here's a peculiar first choice.

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GBAtemp Digest #1
The digest of all that has happened in Temp recently, hope you give it a skim.

Crown3DS - The 1^st 3DS Flashcart
What has surfaced as the first 3DS Flashcart is still being taken with a bit of skepticism, but the device has proven to have some legitimacy as the team has already provided GBAtemp with some information. As of this moment, not much is known about the device, other than the fact that it can so far play only one 3DS game and is built in a cartridge like form. The team is working on dumping other games in addition to the one and expanding the compatibility of the device. They have been cautious about their device because of possible plagiarism. More news on developments will come to GBAtemp soon.

Official Website

Minecraft DS - DSCraft
The popular independent game Minecraft has gone to the DS! User smealum has adapted the game into a DS homebrew, with 3d graphics and surprisingly smooth gameplay. Minecraft is a game which entails you to use blocks to build objects on a sandbox-type world. While this is only the classic mode of Minecraft, the developer plans to adapt the survival mode of Minecraft found in the PC version. The game is feature-packed and allows for a high level of customization, including the ability to generate worlds and create map packs and textures, much like the original game.

Wiki Page

Ambassador Program NES Games are Available
If you didn't yet know, the ambassador program has given away 10 NES games as of the moment, and more games of other retro consoles are soon to come. The games given were Super Mario Bros, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, Wrecking Crew, NES Open Tournament Golf, Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, Zelda II - The Adventure of Link and Yoshi. To get them, log into your eShop account. Click on Menu, then Settings / Other, followed by Your Downloads. The NES titles, if available, will appear there as software you can "redownload".

Ambassador Program on Nintendo Website

PSVita Developments
Not to leave the rival to the 3DS out of the picture, the PSV has been having a lot of developments in the recent weeks. First, the PSV is region free, which is great news for those looking to import the handheld immediately, as they can enjoy their local games once they come overseas. Next, the battery has been revealed to last 3-5 hours in gameplay mode. Finally, in terms of games, Final Fantasy X has been announced to come for the handheld, along with various other games. The games list and other news can be found on the link above.

User Submitted/Minor News
3DS Extra Slide Pad - A slide pad peripheral has been confirmed for the 3DS, adding additional shoulder buttons and a right analog slide-pad that the 3DS has been lacking.
Portal Now Free on Steam - Valve's puzzle game Portal is now offered for free on Steam.
Neku is a character on KH3D - Squeenix fans screamed wildly when the character Neku from The World Ends With You was announced as a character on the very popular Square Enix franchise Kingdom Hearts, who, up until this point has only had Square Enix characters from the Final Fantasy series.
Windows 8 Preview - The preview for Microsoft's next OS has been released as a free preview open for anyone to see, available for download on their website.
Pink 3DS is the Next Color - In order to make the 3DS appeal more to girls, the 3DS is soon to be offered in pink. This is in hopes that the market developed by the DS, which had more girl users than boys, will somewhat carry over into their next handheld.

TempCast Revival
The TempCast, GBAtemp's official podcast is being revived, with a new set of staffers led by Terminator02, iFish and MR_COW. The project is divided into 3, The Weekly Temp which is a weekly discussion of the news, the TempTalk which is a roundtable discussion of a singular topic, and the Tempcast Live! which is a live show where the hosts can interact with the listeners. So far, 3 shows of The Weekly Temp have been released (#1, #2, #3), while 2 of the TempTalk have been released (#1. #2).

Game of the Week
The game of the week, also known as GBAtemp's game club, is a weekly thread done by FAST6191. The threads feature one game every week, a game that is relatively obscure and that deserves a mention or a play. The series is currently on it's 19th week, with the game this week being Retro Game Challenge. It is recommended that you read over the previous threads also.

Game of the Week #19

User Reviews
OnLive Review by Guild
GBA Clone Review by dekuleon
Fallout: New Vegas Review by Urza
Samsung Galaxy S II Review by chris888222
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Review by SubliminalSegue
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Review by Sterling

That's about it. Hope you enjoyed reading through this thread!