01.09.2010

Today and for the first time I have 2 games for mobile platforms on the list. And hell yeah, the most funny basketball game of all times…

• GTA Chinatown Wars (Nintendo DS, iPhone / iPad)

This is the first “real” game (not a minigame, or a just for fun game, no a real fulltime title) that I spent hours with on my iPhone. Though the controls are a bit fuzzy cause of the touch controls it´s the best game for the iPhone I´ve played so far. The story is amazing, the graphics are really great (look at them on an iPhone 4 or an iPad and you´ll know what I mean) and it´s simply so much fun.

And – if you don´t like the fuzzy controls there´s also a Nintendo DS version available. I played this one on my oldschool 1st generation DS and yes, the graphics is not so good, the resolution is worse and sometimes even the framerate drops heavily but you got to the point controls and the same great story and gameplay as on the iPhone / iPad.

So what´s the better platform to play ? If you own a Nintendo DS, go get this version for very little money at Amazon or eBay. Having real controls is the big advantage of this version. But if you´re fine with the touch controls in iPhone / iPad games then go get this version. It looks much better and is also available for cheap money at the Appstore.

You can also play the game on the Nintendo DS emulator for PC. See this YouTube video of mine I shot some weeks ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VjcACRrdLU

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/launch-trailer-grand-theft/61060 (iPhone)

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/rampage-trailer-grand-theft/46798 (Nintendo DS)

• Duken Nukem Critical Mass (Nintendo DS)

Well since Duken Nukem Forever won´t see the daylight soon (or ever ) the Duken Nukem fans have to look for alternatives. And what we have seen so far from Duke Nukem Critical Mass seems like the game will bring a lot of fun to the DS. I´m still a little bit unsure if a shooter will really fit well into the controls and look & feel of a Nintendo DS (and I mean in concerns of really being a very good game, not just a 0815 shooter). But very soon we´ll know more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ADn_GiYBds

• NBA Jam (Wii)

You know what ? I hate sports games, except motorsport. But I loved NBA Jam on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was the perfect game for people like me. Easy controls, fun gameplay, nearly no rules and big bam slam dunks. Because on TV, NBA is fun and still today I switch to a game from time to time. The remake of NBA Jam for the Wii does nearly the same, what the remake of Goldeneye (originally on N64) does.  1:1 copy of the good old gameplay, add some features, improve the graphics a bit (well I´m not so sure on Goldeneye) and release it for the Wii. It´s pretty arguable if this is a good concept or not. Some say it´s simple money making. And yes, they are right. Other say, a good copy is better than a worse self-made – and they are right too.

If I look at 2 statements by big publishers of the videogame industry from the last days (Ubisoft: “We will only focus on the (already established) money making titles.” THQ: “People who sell or buy used games are criminals and doing harm to the industry.”) I can´t see any revolutionary development at all and we all know that there are some “only for the money” players in this game (did anyone shout E.A. ?). So doing remakes of some classic titles can´t be that wrong, though it looks like they asked some consultants from the music industry what to do.

Anyway…here are the videos. Enjoy them !

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-nba-jam/101702

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-debut-nba-jam/63071

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/bracket-of-nba-jam/100193

11.08.2010

Wow – 3 months since the last update…

• GoldenEye 007 (Wii) & James Bond Blood Stone (XBOX 360 / PS3)

Just a few days after I wrote this article Nintendo announced a remake of the good old Goldeneye, known from the N64. It´s still the best James Bond game ever and I´m very curious on what the remake will be like. The trailers look so ugly, they could have been shot directly on a N64.  But it wasn´t the graphics which made Goldeneye so good on the N64. It was the incredible gameplay, the great multiplayer (yeahhhhhh 4 people splitscreen) and the “real” Bond atmosphere.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/remember-one-goldeneye-007/701817

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-goldeneye-007/101474

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-goldeneye-007/701355

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/sdcc-10-goldeneye-007/702352

Also Activision announced a new James Bond game, called Blood Stone, just a few days after Nintendo. I have played Quantum of Solace – the predecessor -  on XBOX 360. And it wasn´t that much fun. A boring shooter, no highlights, in my opinion one of those bulk production games, trying to profit from the James Bond brand. The new trailer looks promising and I´m very curious who´ll be the winner in the battle of the Bond titles. It´s also a battle of the technologies – the low performance Wii versus the high performance XBOX 360 / PS3. My bet is on the Wii. Yours ?

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/debut-trailer-james-bond/701796

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/sdcc-10-james-bond/702004

• Alpha Protocol (PC / XBOX 360 / PS3)

Alpha Protocoll is a mixture between a strategic and an action game. It features character developing, known from RPG´s and a solid story. You´re playing the agent Michael Thorton and you have to save the world – what else . Though the critics weren´t too good on the game, I think it´s worth a try, mainly because of it´s genre mixture.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/launch-trailer-alpha-protocol/100773

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/small-world-alpha-protocol/100278

http://www.gametrailers.com/game/alpha-protocol/9237 … more

• Mafia 2 (PC / XBOX 360 / PS3)

Will it be the new GTA ? Will it be the better GTA ? Will it be as great as part 1 ? So many questions about the upcoming Mafia 2. International release will be the 27th of august. Then we´ll know more. If we take a look at the trailers, it looks brilliant and will surely feature a great atmosphere. But will it be good enough to beat GTA IV or Saints Row 2 ? I don´t know, but I know that I´ll spend some money to find out…and by the way – the demo is already available on XBOX Live and the Playstation Network and can be downloaded for the PC too.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-kick-mafia-ii/702414

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-mafia-ii/101200

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-boom-mafia-ii/62666

http://www.gametrailers.com/game/mafia-ii/5403 … more

• F1 2010 (XBOX 360 / PS3 / PC)

Codemasters develops the first F1 game since Formula One Championship Edition for the PS3 (which was on this list below). Since it´s impossible to get this one for an acceptable price (you have to spend around 40 EUR on that…wahhhhhh) I replaced it with F1 2010. The guys at Codemasters know how to do a racing game. They have proven this with Colin Mc Rae Dirt and Race Driver GRID. I don´t like both but I let´s see how they do with a F1 game. And honestly, there is no alternative on the market and there won´t be one in the near future.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-f1-2010/700510

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/uk-debut-f1-2010/48450

19.05.2010

• Split / Second: Velocity (PS3 / XBOX 360)

I´ve been an addicted player of Burnout 3 Take Down but I never got used to the free world concept in Burnout Paradise. Split / Second: Velocity seems to be a secret brother of the Burnout series and it promises fast paced racing, compensating it´s lack in content with explosions and the BOOOOMMMM effect everywhere. So exactly my kind of game.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/downtown-trailer-split-second/64043

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-debut-split-second/46433

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/the-shipyard-split-second/60055

10.04.2010

• Formula One Championship Edition (PS3)

The last two F1 games I played were Geoff Crammonds Grand Prix 2 (PC) a million years ago and Formula One´97 (PSX). From today´s view both are messy, but GP2 was a great simulation and F1 97 looked brilliant…at that time. When I connected my PS3 to the Playstation Network yesterday I found the demo for Formula One C.E. and I remembered that it was a very much hyped launch title for the PS3. After the frustration with Motorstorm (looked not half as good as it was supposed to) and the fact that the PS3 was absolutely unaffordable at launch time I lost focus on this F1 game. So I downloaded the demo yesterday, and it´s far from perfect but I think the best F1 game currently available. I was only shocked about the prices at eBay and Amazon…gotta look for a cheap one…somewhere.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/preview-hd-formula-one/16987

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/trailer-3-formula-one/18171

• Midnight Club Los Angeles (XBOX 360)

This is not a typical “must have” game but I think it´s worth a try. I loved the first part of Need For Speed on the PSX but all after versions on any platform couldn´t draw my attention.  Test Drive, Pure, Project Gotham Racing and Forza Motorsport – which all are alternatives to Midnight Club L.A. were a too fuzzy mixture between arcade and simulation (though Forza 3 and PGR 4 are definitely great games). And I´ve never been into that tuning thing, in my opinion wasted time in a racing game. Midnight Club L.A. promises to be a real arcade racer with the focus on fast and thrilling racing action. It has that tuning thing too, but I think it can be easily ignored.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/south-central-midnight-club/46191

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/launch-trailer-midnight-club/41776?type=flv

• New Super Mario Bros (Wii)

I missed this game in the last updates of this list, and I still wonder why. I´ve spent so many hours with Super Mario World on the SNES and so New Super Mario Bros is a must have for me. It´s already at home, I only need to find some time to play it.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/ent-09-new-super/57807

26.03.2010

• Just Cause 2 (PS3)

This is a real arcade action game. Don´t expect too good game mechanics, K.I. or level / story design. It´s all about the boooooooom effect and some nice physics.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/things-that-just-cause-2/63538

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/vehicles-gameplay-just-cause-2/63540

• Red Steel 2 (Wii)

The first part of this game was a real disappointment especially after it´s good locking previews and promising game mechanics.  But in the end the gameplay sucked hard. Now the developers took themself a heart and work hard on the whole gameplay. So now it really feels like a good old sword fight and by the way it is a perfect muscle training for your right (or left) arm. Wii Motion Plus ist required !

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/katakara-showdown-red-steel-2/63530

17.03.2010

• Brütal Legend (PS3)

I own this one already for the PS3 and it´s so much fun.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-brutal-legend/49772

—

• Heavy Rain (PS3)

This game is supposed to be the successor of Fahrenheit and I can´t await giving it a try. Now I only need to convince myself to spend 50 EUR for it.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/to-catch-heavy-rain/61300

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2k6-heavy-rain/10758 (the beloved E3 trailer / tech demo from 2006)

• Uncharted 2 (PS3)

I loved the first part of this game. It looks and feels like a modern Indiana Jones with less adventure and more action components. It looks great on the PS3, has an exciting story and a strong gameplay. I think I´ll have this imported from Amazon UK in a few days.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-uncharted-2/50366

• God of War 3

This great piece of gaming got it´s place on the list mainly for my girlfriend. She loved the 2nd part of the game and I think she´ll make me buy this one as soon as it´s out.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/launch-trailer-god-of-war/63218

Well I´m a real Typo3 newbie, but I had no choice on this…since my last upgrade to Typo3 4.4.2 I had a problem with the rtehtmlarea extension – a rich text editor which ships with the Typo3 source package.

Whenever I wanted to edit a page it got the following error :

PHP Fatal error: Call to protected method language::readLLfile() from context ‘tx_rtehtmlarea_base’ in /srv/www/htdocs/XXX/htdocs/html/typo3conf/ext/rtehtmlarea/class.tx_rtehtmlarea_base.php on line 1153

I tried this and that to solve the problem but I had no choice other than removing the extension from the /typo3/sysext/ folder (where it was as installed as a system extension) and reinstall it as a local extension (in /typo3conf/ext).

But the internal extension manager did not agree with my plans and prompted me with the following error:

Error: The datatransfer did not succeed. The T3X file could not be fetched. Possible reasons: network problems, allow_url_fopen is off, curl is not enabled in Install tool.

But the solution is easy. You only need to insert the following lines in your localconf.php file :

$TYPO3_CONF_VARS['EXT']['allowGlobalInstall'] = ’1′;
$TYPO3_CONF_VARS['EXT']['allowLocalInstall'] = ’1′; - installs to (/typo3conf/ext/ folder)
$TYPO3_CONF_VARS['EXT']['allowSystemInstall'] = ’1′; - installs to (/typo3/sysext/ folder)
$TYPO3_CONF_VARS['SYS']['curlUse'] = ’1′;
$TYPO3_CONF_VARS['EXT']['noEdit'] = ’0′;
$TYPO3_CONF_VARS['BE']['disable_exec_function'] = ’0′;
$TYPO3_CONF_VARS['BE']['usePHPFileFunctions'] = ’1′;

Be sure to check your localconf.php if these values are already there before you insert them. If so, simply change them, delete the cached localconf.php and try to install the extension again.

Thx to David from http://www.typo3forum.net.

Some days ago I realized that I haven´t written about a very important affection of me – emulation and emulators of old (and new) video game and arcade system. So this is the first article to change this and today I´d like to advise you nullDC – an emulator for the Sega Dreamcast and NAOMI arcade system. In it´s latest release 1.0.4 r50 it plays a great bunch of Dreamcast games and if you´re owner of a fast PC with a good gaming graphics card you can enjoy the games in much higher resolution than on the Dreamcast.

http://code.google.com/p/nulldc/

You should also try to get your hands on one of those xbox 360 pc compatible game pads. They are supported by the emulator and play well with Dreamcast games.

But one thing you should keep in mind. The emulator is still in an very early state of functionality or better stability. It crashes many times, sometimes it won´t play a game, you restart it and whoooo it works.

And – the developer ended it work on it some months ago and turned it into open source. So hopefully some motivated and skilled people will continue development.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NullDC

Before nullDC will run on your system you may need the following stuff:

• additional components for DirectX (dxwebsetup.exe)
• Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime (vcredist_x86.exe) – even if you´re running a 64bit Windows (like Windows 7 or Windows XP 64bit edition) you´ll need the 32bit (x86) version of the Runtime. It won´t work with the x64 version.

And your nullDC “data” folder should contain at least the following files:

• dc_boot.bin (Dreamcast bios)
• dc_flash.bin (additional Dreamcast bios file)
• dc_flash_wb.bin
• dc_nvmem.bin
• fsca-table.bin

The copyright on most of these files is held by Sega, so I can´t offer them here. But Google should be your friend on this…have fun !

(only in german – sorry)

Es wurde einfach mal wieder Zeit für ein richtiges Old-School Point-and-Click Adventure. Und für 9,99 EUR konnte man bei Geheimakte 2 – Puritas Cordis nichts falschen machen, zumal schon der 1.Teil des Spiels – Geheimakte Tunguska – ein ziemlich brauchbares Adventure war.  Trotzdem lag es dann doch bestimmt ein halbes Jahr herum bevor ich mich in das Abenteuer von Nina, Max und Sam stürzte. Das Spiel zeichnet sich vorallem durch 2 Dinge aus. Es ist a) klassischer Point-and-Click Stoff, mit allen modernen Annehmlichkeiten, die sich in den letzten Jahren als Standard in der Adventureszene etabliert haben (always run, “Szene untersuchen”, Spielhilfe, keine Dead-Ends, etc.). Und b) hat das Spiel von der ersten bis zur letzten Szene wunderschöne, mit viel Liebe gezeichnete Animationen und Schauplätze. Auch die Cutscenes, von denen es reichlich gibt, sind nicht zu verachten und transportieren die Story hervorragend. Kleiner Schwachpunkt an dieser Stelle ist, dass es teilweise bei Interaktionen mit Objekten keine Animationen gibt, sondern nur den vorher-nachher Zustand. Ich persönlich hätte daür lieber auf 1-2 Cutscenes verzichtet, aber naja. Ein großes Lob gibt es für die Möglichkeit, dass Spiel entweder im Vollbild oder Window-Mode zu spielen. Allerdings gibt es nichts was gegen Vollbild spricht, mittels STRG + ESC kann man jederzeit aus dem Spiel rausspringen ohne das es Probleme gibt, sogar innerhalb von Cutscenes, die dann vorbildlich anhalten und weiterspielen sobald man das Fenster wieder aktiviert.

Leider hat die Grafikengine einen Bug, oder ist an einem Punkt schlecht programmiert. Sobald mehrere Personen im Bild sind (und auch wirklich nur dann) kommt es zu massiven Slowdowns – ohne ersichtlichen Grund. Ich habe Version 1.0 gespielt, war aber auch zu faul nach einem Patch zu suchen, der das Problem eventuell behebt.

Die musikalische Untermalung ist sehr gut gelungen, was man im Großen und Ganzen auch von der Sprachausgabe sagen kann. Nur Nina hört sich hin- und wieder nicht zu 100% überzeugend an.

Jaaa…und damit sind wir auch schon bei den Dialogen. Grundsätzlich gesehen sind die Dialoge alle von sehr hoher Qualität – sprachlich und auch von der Art her, wie die Figuren interagieren. Nur leider haben alle Charaktere im Spiel die Angewohnheit, unglaubliche Schwätzer zu sein. Man verbringt einen übergroßen Teil des Spiels damit, Dialoge zu verfolgen. In den meißten Dialogen sind aber max. 20% relevant für die Handlung oder für das Lösen von Rätseln. Leider sinkt dadurch auch die Aufmerksamkeit bei einigen längeren Cutscenes, die aber wiederrum wichtige Informationen enthalten um die Handlung zu verstehen. Hier wäre mit Sicherheit weniger mehr gewesen.

Bei meiner Meinung über die Rätsel bin ich sehr zwiegespalten. Das Spiel beginnt mit einem doch leichten Schwierigkeitsgrad, steigt dann an, fällt wieder etwas ab, bis dann in loser Reihenfolge mehrere Hammerrätsel kommen. Dabei ist die Auswahl der Rätsel vielfältig, ein Adventurefan findet alles was er sucht. So kreativ einige dieser Rätsel sein mögen (eine Raketenabschussrampe aus Bambus und Orangen als Räder – wie geil ist das denn ?), so unlogisch sind Andere. Das führt leider dazu, dass einige Stellen ziemlich frustrierend werden können und man sich überdurchschnittlich lange damit aufhält. Und eben bei genau diesen Rätseln ist auch die integrierte Spielhilfe keine Hilfe, da die Ratschläge nur allgemeiner Natur sind.

Last but not least die Story…die Erzählweise ist ähnlich wie bei Teil 1 auf hohem Niveau, die Spannung kann leider nicht mit dem Vorgänger mithalten. Das liegt unter anderem an den oben beschriebenen Dialogschwächen, sowie an einigen nur schwer nachvollziehbaren Handlungsfortgängen. Kürzere, dafür aber fokussiertere Dialoge hätten mit Sicherheit geholfen, den Spieler stärker ins Spiel zu verbannen und zudem die Handlung dichter, aber hauptsächlich logischer aneinander zu reihen.

Fazit:

Geheimakte 2 – Puritas Cordis ist ein klassisches Point-And-Click Adventure, mit dem man eine ganze Menge Stunden verbringen muss, bis man die Endsequenz vor Augen hat. Der schwankende Schwierigkeitsgrad und die angesprochenen Schwächen in Story und Dialogen führen durchaus manchmal zu Frust, allerdings hatte ich trotzdem das Bedürfnis, dass Spiel bis zum Schluss zu spielen. Für den Hardcore-Adventure-Zocker ein nettes Spiel für zwischendurch, für den interessierten Einsteiger ein guter Querschnitt zwischen allen guten und schlechten Seiten des Adventuregenres.

Und – sorry für die schlechte Bildqualität, aber digitale In-Game Screenshots waren mir zur aufwendig.

When you are trying to access the Typo3 install console you need to create an empty file called “ENABLE_INSTALL_TOOL” within /typo3conf/ folder.  In some cases Typo3 deletes this file everytime you want to access the install console.

You can solve this by editing the file and insert the line “KEEP_FILE”.  After that, try to access the install console again and it will work.

—

If your Typo3 back end is broken (looks messy like the css is missing) after you did an update of your Typo3 installation (f.e. from version 4.1.3 to 4.4.1) head over to the /typo3conf/ext folder and look for an extension called “mn_ff3_be_bugfix”. Back it up to your local computer and then delete it on your webserver. Now load the back end again and now it should work.

Today is my personal administration day…many things have to be updated. I´m curious on how it´s gonna be. My first time fix is about 6 hours…I´ll keep you updated.

# updating 1st WordPress blog to version 3.0.1 => done
# updating 2nd WordPress blog to version 3.0.1 => done
# updating 3rd WordPress blog to version 3.0.1 => done

Elasped time, including backup work 1h. Great. The auto update function in WordPress is really great, as long as you haven´t customized your blog too far.

Now…backing up a dokuwiki.

# updating DokuWiki to version 2009-12-25 => done

Elapsed time, including backup work 2,5h.  Better than I expected and no bug fixing after the update. Great. The only problem is that I wanted to correct just one simple font-size setting within the css. That cost me nearly 1h and it still doesn´t work.

Anyway…so far, my personal administration day went really well.

Update:

Today I did a Typo3 update from 4.1.3 to 4.4.1 and well this wasn´t so easy. The main issue was that an old extension prevented the backend to work. Ohh and I nearly forgot…I needed one hour to get the install console to work.  The article above provides 2 solutions.

A little bit unexpected I needed an external WLAN interface for my laptop, which still runs the much dead OS Windows XP x64 (64-bit Edition). And I was really scared with the last driver madness in my mind.

Anyway I got this Ralink thing for only 15 EUR (around 20$) on eBay and I was really surprised. The device came with x64 drivers. Yessss…and it worked right after I installed them. Unbelieveable…

The performance was a little bit bad, so I grabbed the newest drivers from the Ralink website. The performance increased a bit and also the newest drivers have a great support for x64 based OS (also Vista and Windows 7).

Nearly all Ralink chipsets feature x64 compatible drivers which is – at this price level – a really cool thing. Most upper class devices only have a support for Windows 7 x64, but not for Windows XP x64 or other x64 systems.
But with all the good news about this device, there´s one thing that can´t impress as much as the rest. The antenna which should supply a +5dbi connection boost. It was really hard to notice at least a boost, but honestly there´s one, but only around +1dbi / +2dbi. If you´re on a bad coverage this antenna won´t make things better at all.

In general, you can´t do anything wrong with this device at that price and if you don´t plan to use any other OS than Windows XP x64 you won´t have much choice at all.

Update :

Well with this nice 2.4 GHZ WLAN antenna from hama I boosted my WLAN stick. It works really good. Connection raised from a low signal strength to a good and sometimes even very good signal strength. The antenna was about 18 EUR on eBay (around 25$) and can be wall mounted. It is connected via a reverse SMA plug, compatible to the Ralink WLAN stick.

It’s been a long time since the last Street Art update. Yesterday in Weimar, Germany I found a lot. So here they are, enjoy !!!

This topic is not totally new to me. I think 2 or 3 years ago I found this list from the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) but then I lost the topic. I recovered it while reading about printed documents being used in a lawsuit as a demonstration on origin finding with imprinted tracking dots, more common know as watermarks. The EFF still features this list of printers which do or do not imprint those tracking stuff.

So if you need to print some really private documents you should get your hands on one of those printers first.

http://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-dots

Some models are available at eBay for a fair deal.