<div align="center"><img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b285/jph11200/TTP.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
<div align="center"><b>April 6th - April 12th (2008)</b></div>
Hello, and welcome to the first issue of the <b>Temper Post</b> !
A weekly recap of all that's been going on on the GBAtemp Network.
<b>Contents & Index:</b><ul><li><a style="text-decoration: none;" href="#a">GBAtemp & Scene News</a></li><li><a style="text-decoration: none;" href="#b">Official GBAtemp Weekly Game Reviews</a></li><li><a style="text-decoration: none;" href="#c">Featured Homebrew Release of the Week</a></li><li><a style="text-decoration: none;" href="#d">Interesting Gaming News This Week</a></li><li><a style="text-decoration: none;" href="#e">Community</a></li></ul>
Have a nice read!
<div class="reviewbreak"><a name="a"><img src="http://gbatemp.net/images/icons/mascot.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> GBAtemp & Scene News</div>
<b>Sunday 6th</b><ul><li><a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81503" target="_blank">EDGE OS v1.33 Released</a></li><li><a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81507" target="_blank">Neoflash MK5-DX NDS Flashcart Released</a></li><li><a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81512" target="_blank">New Neoflash R6 Gold & Silver Flashcarts Released</a></li></ul><b>Wednesday 9th</b><ul><li><a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81935" target="_blank">MK5 Core Upgrade V1.45 + 2.55</a></li><li><a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81937" target="_blank">DS-Xtreme Firmware 1.1.3</a></li></ul><b>Thursday 10th</b> <ul><li><a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=82019" target="_blank">DSLinker XMenu 2.55</a></li></ul><b>Friday 11th</b><ul><li><a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=82068" target="_blank">WiiScrubber 1.1 Beta</a></li><li><a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=82128" target="_blank">G6/M3 DS Real Loader v3.4</a></li></ul><b>Saturday 12th</b><ul><li><a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=82204" target="_blank">GBAtemp Official N5 Review</a></li></ul>
<div class="reviewbreak"><a name="b"><img src="http://gbatemp.net/images/icons/index/review.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /> Official GBAtemp Weekly Game Reviews</div>
<b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%"><img src="http://gbatemp.net/html/lp/c27.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> DS Game Review of the Week by <a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=irpacynot' target=_blank title='View profile for member irpacynot'}>irpacynot</a></b></span>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81971" target="_blank">Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys</a>
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/img/nds-boxart/static/gt3144.png" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Fresh from the boys and girls (Ignition) who brought us Elf Bowling 1 & 2, comes Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thinygs! (Whew, what a mouthful!) But don’t let the publisher’s (lack of) pedigree scare you off from giving this title a whirl. Teenage Zombies (TZ) isn’t a masterpiece by any definition, but it might be worth a look if you’re a fan of old-school, platforming action.
The short of it is, the game uses three characters (you guessed it – the teenage zombies) to navigate chapters (levels). What you get is a somewhat refreshing serving of platforming gameplay. Each of the zombies has unique abilities, which allow them, as a team, to make their way past various obstacles and enemies. Sure, we’ve seen this done before, but TZ does it fairly well. The level design – though a bit boring in and of itself – is well thought out in terms of how demands on the characters’ unique abilities play out.
One notable gameplay problem, however, is an issue with collision detection. The chick zombie uses her stretchy arms to reach high places and pull herself up, and often you’ll be required to fiddle with finding just the right spot to have her stand before she can successfully latch onto a ledge, etc. Also, there’s no map. The developers decided to utilize the touch screen for what is mostly an arbitrary purpose: switching out characters (which can also be done using the shoulder buttons). A mini map of sorts would have been greatly appreciated, since many of the levels look generic to the point of making you forget where you are at any given time.
But TZ does tack on some mini games – some fun and clever, some not so fun, nor clever. One last bit of contention against the game, though, is the level progression. Screw up and die, and you’ll be repeating the entire chapter from its beginning – faux pa.
On the production front, the game offers a very modest yet tight presentation. Cutscenes are done using comic-book stills, which look surprisingly attractive; the menu screen uses a clever comic-book-cover presentation; and though the 2D graphics are pretty unremarkable, everything comes together to make a professional-looking package. The sound, on the other hand, lacks variety in both the effects and music. Each of the three characters sounds exactly the same – including the girl character – when they grunt. As a whole, however, TZ does seem to make the most out of what was obviously a shoe-string gaming budget.
In sum, Tempers who are fans of this sort of action should check out Teenage Zombies. But as mentioned, the game does have issues – the main problem being TZ’s lack of pizzazz. Though the sound, graphics and gameplay all mostly work, they’re nothing extraordinary, especially on the DS. There are only a handful of monsters and such present throughout the entire experience, and the game itself is quite short. Nevertheless, check the game out, have fun with it, and then wipe it clean from your card.
<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Final score: <b>6.9</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/html/lp/c108.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">Wii Game Review of the Week by <a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=thebobevil' target=_blank title='View profile for member thebobevil'}>thebobevil</a></b></span>
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81555" target="_blank">Mario Kart Wii</a>
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/images/wii/766big.png" border="0" class="linked-image" />
<u><b>Tell us Evil One, how's it looking?</b></u>
Well, it is definitely looking like Nintendo. The desire to out-Disney Disney, in the looks department, is unmistakable. Shiny, colorful & bright.
A lot of people have been saying that they'd have liked it to look better, but c'mon, how much better could it look without the 12-player online suffering? GAMEs are about GAMEplay, aren't they? How pretty does something need to be, for us to enjoy it?
It's Nintendo, it's Mario Kart, we know how it should look, don't we? It's already pretty enough.
<u><b>Tell us Evil One, how does it sound?</b></u>
It sounds like New York City, during rush hour, and everyone has their windows rolled down.
There's too much sound coming from this game, at times, particularly when you are on one of the more claustrophobic tracks, with a full 12 players tearing around ... background music, sound effects, the chatter of characters as they taunt each other ... it's a cacophony of irritation.
<u><b>Tell us Evil One, how can we control it?</b></u>
In many ways ... the Wii Wheel (which comes packaged with the game), or Whiil, as I shall henceforth refer to it as, the Wiimote on it's own, the Wiimote & Nunchuck, the Classic Controller & the GameCube Controller, are all available to you. But do you want them all?
I found the GC controller, the Classic Controller & the Wiimote on it's own, to be the only worthwhile methods.
Heresy!, I hear you cry ... the Whiil roxxor!!1! ... or some such net babble ... but no, not in my opinion, and that's all this is ... opinion ... it does not. It's clumsy ... that's the only word that really describes it. Clumsy.
It annoys me. It just feels wrong. But, to each his own, I suppose.
<u><b>Tell us Evil One, how does it play?</b></u>
Well, it's like Super Smash Brothers Brawl on wheels. It feels less like a racing game, and more like Death Race 2000.
You dash from power-up to power-up, hoping to get something decent, and just as your power-up settles down, and you see what you have been stuck with ... it's a banana skin ... then BOOM! ... 2 karts turbo past you, you get POW'd, Lightning, and then 4 red shells smash into, one after another, as a bullet flies off into the distance ... you've gone from 1st to 10th in an instant.
Now, let's assume, for just a moment, that not everyone who is going to be playing this game will have years of Mario Kart under their belts. Now, with this assumption in hand, let us try to imagine how this constant barrage is going to feel to Johnny Newgamer.
He's gonna frickin' hate it.
He's gone out, spent his hard-earned dough on this top-notch, highly-lauded game, taken it home, fired it up, gone online, and been smoked like a kipper, every 15 seconds since.
Don't get me wrong ... it's a fine game, and with practice, and some natural gaming ability, it's fun and all that ... but, to Mr. Newgamer, it's frustration on a disc.
But, here's the upside to all that ... if Mr. Newgamer isn't totally disheartened, and if he has some friends to play with, offline, or online vs. friends only, he can work on his skills, and play with the rest of the kiddies in the sandbox ... if he doesn't, well, it's either play against the CPU for a while, and hope to improve, or keep diving back into the water, and either banging your head on the bottom, drowning, or being eaten by the sharks.
<u><b>Tell us Evil One, did you like it?</b></u>
I did, to be honest ... other than the clumsy Whiil, the sonic jihad that laid siege to my ears, and the visions of frustrated new gamers ... yes, I did.
It's fun, even against the CPU, it's really fun. Lots of unlockables, lots of modes, plenty of character choice, plenty of vehicle choice ... now with bikes, too ... it's a fine old game.
Online suffers from no lag, that I noticed. Not even when playing with people from many different continents, at the same time. The lack of voice chat is a blessing, I feel. We don't need to hear people, to be able to play against them. We really don't.
This game is going to be taking up a lot of people's spare time, I reckon.
And why not? It's good clean wholesome cartoon violence.
<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Final score: <b>8.5</b><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
<div class="reviewbreak"><a name="c"><img src="http://gbatemp.net/images/icons/homebrew.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> Featured Homebrew Release of the Week</div>
LoneWolfDS - Flight From The Dark Review by <a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=JPH' target=_blank title='View profile for member JPH'}>JPH</a>
<div align="left"><img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b285/jph11200/LoneWolfDSFightFromTheDarknessRevie.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>
This week, member <a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=Michoko' target=_blank title='View profile for member Michoko'}>Michoko</a> updated his choose-your-own-adventure type game for the DS, LoneWolfDS - Flight From the Dark. I was very surprised at the overall quality of the game. Honestly, if I didn't know any better - I'd say that this was a real, official DS game. To play the game, you must hold the DS on the side (just like you do for games such as Brain Age or Ninja Gaiden DS).
This game is for people who enjoy reading fantasy books, I'd say. Controls are well, simple. You point and click the touchscreen with your stylus. The music in the game is a bit entrancing, but it's fitting and sounds good.
To get the best of the game, you'll need your imagination - as throughout the game it's just page after page of text.You're going on an adventure, and your next move is decided by you. It may sound dull, but it's definitely entertaining as you're in control of your own destiny. Your character stats are determined by you. Your next move is determined by you, and so on.
If reading a lot of text on a small screen is hurts your eyes, or you just don't like reading or fantasy
adventure books in general - I don't think you'll like this game very much.
But for gamers with a lot of patience and time, and fantasy adventure hubbies - check this fine piece of DS homebrew out.
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/images/download.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <a href="http://www.projectaon.org/staff/frederic/downloads.php?file=Flight_From_The_Dark_1_2" target="_blank">Download from Project's Homepage</a>
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/style_images/1/folder_post_icons/icon11.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <a href="http://www.projectaon.org/staff/frederic/index.php" target="_blank">Project Homepage</a>
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/style_images/1/folder_post_icons/icon11.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81443" target="_blank">Discussion Thread on GBAtemp</a>
<div class="reviewbreak"><a name="d"><img src="http://gbatemp.net/images/icons/index/essentialgames.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /> Interesting Gaming News This Week</div>
<ul><li><a href="http://ds.ign.com/articles/865/865747p1.html" target="_blank">Final Fantasy IV confirmed for US</a>. A 3D Final Fantasy RPG game for the DS, and it's scheduled to be released in the USA on July 22, 2008!
</li><li><a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81796&st=0&start=0" target="_blank">Miles Edgeworth: Perfect Prosecutor!</a> was announced for the DS in Japan. It's another installment in the Phoenix Wright series. Except this time, you won't play as Phoenix or Apollo - but none other than Miles Edgeworth! The style of the game is different than the others in the series, and looks rather interesting. Check it out!
</li><li>More information was announced about the new Mario baseball game headed for the Wii, <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=82007&pid=1080198&st=0?entry1080198" target="_blank">Mario Super Sluggers</a>.
</li><li><a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=82104&st=0" target="_blank">New Nintendo DS to be Revealed at E3 2008?</a>
A rumor that Nintendo will be revealing a new Nintendo DS system at this years E3 convention. True or false? We'll have to wait and see...</li></ul>
<div class="reviewbreak"><a name="e"><img src="http://gbatemp.net/images/icons/index/forum.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /> Community</div>
<img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b285/jph11200/Topic-1.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <b><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%">Topic of the Week</b></span> goes to <a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=Lisa_' target=_blank title='View profile for member Lisa_'}>Lisa_</a> and her <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=82054&st=0&start=0" target="_blank">Scammer gets Scammed topic</a> in the
<a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showforum=7" target="_blank">General Off-Topic Chat Forum</a>. It's a log from a chat that turns out pretty funny - some punk kid tries to trick someone into giving him their Steam account information, and, by his foolishness, ends up giving up <i>his own</i> account information!
<img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b285/jph11200/Reply.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <b><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%">Post of the Week</b></span> goes to <a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=Batman1701' target=_blank title='View profile for member Batman1701'}>Batman1701</a> in the <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81937" target="_blank">DS-Xtreme Firmware 1.1.3 thread</a>. An intelligent post, that started a civil conversation in a DS-Xtreme discussion thread. I'd say most DS-Xtreme threads turn out to be a big bashing on the flashcart, but this guy likes to stay civil and discuss why folks don't like it in a civil manner (how many times am I gonna say the word 'civil'?!). Kudos to you, good sir.
<!--QuoteBegin-Batman1701+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Batman1701)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Ok, I bought a first-gen DS-X and I continue to use it to this day. It works beautifully, runs every application I want to use (yes, I have to patch with arm7, but really, a monkey could figure this process out, it's no hassle), and has proven itself countless times over to me. Couldn't be happier with it. Yes, tech support blows, but that's the company. The device itself is perfectly fine.
My question here is . . . what's everyone's problem with the DS-X? Seriously, I'm not trying to be a smartass, I genuinely want to know, why do you folks hate it? Did you ever even use it? What makes all the other cards "better?"
And please note, if you desire to reply with some stupid "Heh-heh, loozer n00b like DS-X OMGWTF!!??!?!!!11" please, spare me. I have little tolerance for trolls.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/html/lp/c171.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <b><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%">Blog of the Week</b></span> goes to <a href="http://gbatemp.net/?act=module&module=blogs&member=SpikeyNDS" target="_blank">SpikeyNDS's Blog</a>. Spikey's blog is great for you Tempcast fanboys. He'll keep you updated on almost all things happening in the Tempcast. Overall, it's informative and his latest Mario Kart Wii rant is a must-read!
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/html/lp/c23.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /><b><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%">Avatar of the Week</b></span> goes to <a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=VVoltz' target=_blank title='View profile for member VVoltz'}>VVoltz</a> and <a href="http://jph.gbatemp.net/vvoltzavatar.png" target="_blank">his pirate avatar</a>.
An original, <a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=Psyfira' target=_blank title='View profile for member Psyfira'}>Psyfira</a>-made avatar of a pirate. Yarr!
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/html/lp/c3.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <b><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%">KYT Sessions This Week:</b></span><ul><li><a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=xalphax' target=_blank title='View profile for member xalphax'}>xalphax</a> - <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81568&st=0&p=1073652#entry1073652" target="_blank">Session</a></li><li><a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=Orc' target=_blank title='View profile for member Orc'}>Orc</a> - <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81892&st=0&p=1078446#entry1078446" target="_blank">Session</a></li><li><a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=Twiffles' target=_blank title='View profile for member Twiffles'}>Twiffles</a> - <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=82238" target="_blank">Session</a></li></ul><img src="http://gbatemp.net/html/lp/c7.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <b><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%">Birthdays This Week:</b></span><ul><li><a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=greyhound' target=_blank title='View profile for member greyhound'}>greyhound</a> (22)</li><li><a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=HelloKitty' target=_blank title='View profile for member HelloKitty'}>HelloKitty</a> (30)</li></ul>
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/images/icons/index/faq.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <b><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%">Temper Tips:</b></span>
GBAtemp now has a new feature: Workspaces. Basically, each member has their own, personal notepad here on the site. Members can keep it private if they like, or share with friends or anybody who stops by for a view. These can come in handy for a lot of different things. Check out the <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81911&st=0" target="_blank">blog post</a> announcement for more information about this cool new feature.
<img src="http://gbatemp.net/images/icons/index/goty.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <b>NDS and Wii Releases of the week, by Hadrian</b>: See what DS & Wii games are coming out next week <a href="http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=81951&st=0" target="_blank">here</a>.
See you next week for another issue of the Temper Post!
JPH.
like a 250 dollar kit back when DDR4 was Intel only