Dcubed

An entire generation of idiotic 3rd party decisions surrounding the Wii; summarised in one single 2.5 minute video

The best "smart" device I've ever bought is the Logitech Harmony Remote/Hub. It literally transformed my entire AV setup. Being able to press a single button and have my TV & AV Receiver switch over the the correct input/settings/etc automatically is an absolute miracle; I've literally been able to put away all of my seperate remotes for every single device and just use the one, single remote that does everything. It succeeded where all other universal remote manufacturers have tried and failed for decades; hell, it even succeeds where the frickin' HDMI-CEC initiative failed! You can even make it automatically change your light colours/dimming if you have a Phillips Hue bulb setup (which I do) whenever you press a particular Event button, as part of your device's setup sequence. It's brilliant. Tragically however, Logitech have now officially discontinued the sale of the Harmony remotes. It's a serious problem for the AV Enthusiast scene, as there is literally no alternative available; and wrangling a full AV setup is an absolute nightmare without one! Thankfully, Logitech will be continuing to provide software support support for the current Harmony Remote line for the forseable future; but I really hope that somebody else comes along and takes up the mantle and/or buys out the Harmony division from Logitech and keeps them going... (it wouldn't be the first time... as Logitech previously bought out Harmony when they were struggling before). I know that the term "It Just Works" is often seen as a meaningless buzzword, often used with derision at modern "smart" devices that are anything but... But in the case of the Logitech Harmony series? It is, unequivicably, the only device out there where I can hand on heart state that it really does "Just Work". It is literally magical.

Guys! Come on!!!! We can't let this injustice stand!!! Change your votes to MP3 and let's get it over the absolute trash that is MP8!!

Am I the only person who is getting to the point where I am seriously turning down games that take the piss with their storage requirements? Like DMC1 on Switch... It's £7.99 at the moment... but the real cost is the whacking 9.4GB of storage space that it eats up!! Like... What the fuck!? Why does it take up so much damn space!?!? It's a PS2 game FFS! I've only got 170GB of my 1TB SD Card left now, and have literally no expansion options left since there isn't anything bigger on the market currently available!

I just started playing Metal Gear Ghost Babel (AKA Metal Gear Solid GBC) for the first time; which I just got for Xmas… Holy shit!! This game is SO GOOD!!! I should’ve played this years ago!! So far, this is easily the best MGS game I’ve played since MGS3! Absolutely loving it so far!

If we started including fan games he’d never end! (And yes, that is an incredible port!)

All very nice @Cube but I will never recommend people pick up BK on 360 over N64; thank God we’re getting the N64 original on Switch next month

Santa was good to me this year! Not pictured is a RetroUSB AVS... which won't be arriving until 2023 due to chip shortages, bummer. The Mega Everdrive Pro is timed really really well, considering that I literally just snagged a copy of Lunar: The Silver Star for SEGA CD for the stupidly good price of £65 just a couple of days ago!!! (It normally goes for about £150+ on eBay!!) Too bad I can't redownload anything onto the Switch OLED yet because the eShop is currently dead lol Guess it's time to play Lunar!

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/12/the-taito-egret-ii-mini-is-getting-a-western-release United Games Entertainment (Inin Games/Strictly Limited Games) will be distibuting the Taito Egret II Mini in Europe!

How's the d-pad? I hear it's more like the original DMG Game Boy's one, does that sound right to you?

How do GBA games look & play on the Pocket @Ike? What controllers have you managed to get working with the dock?

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211217005008/en/ Embracer? No. You will be assimilated!

OOH!! https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/12/segas-astro-city-mini-is-getting-a-tate-version-packed-with-shmup-goodness There's a new version of the SEGA Astro City Mini coming... and this time, it's in… This one comes with a new lineup of games, and they're not all vertical shmups... but yeah, they're mostly all vertical shmups! Nice lineup

TBH, there's not much on the immediate horizon that excites me. It's pretty much just Kirby & The Forgotten Land and Advance Wars Reboot Camp that I'm truly excited for as far as known 2022 releases go. Splatoon 3 will no doubt be decent, but I have no faith in Bayonetta 3 actually coming out in 2022; or indeed for the current Switch at all (I was shocked to even see any footage at all this past year! But I still think it's gonna get pushed back to being a launch window title for Switch 2 in 2023; Nintendo would be absolutely stupid not to do this). Likewise, I'm convinced that Metroid Prime 4 will be a launch window title for Switch 2 in 2023. I have zero interest in Pokemon Legends Arceus or BOTW 2 (so long as they are open world games, they occupy 0% of my interest). I've also had my fill of Mario & Rabbids, not particularily excited for more of the same (same goes for Splatoon 3). Triangle Strategy will probably be good, though I'm much more interested in Advance Wars personally (even though it's a remake!). Personally? I'm just wanting to skip over 2022 as far as new releases go and jump straight into Switch 2 in 2023. I'm more than ready for a new console and a fresh start at this point; so please just stick me in cryogenic stasis already! As far as my actual time being spent in 2022 goes? I'll most likely be spending it with retro games, catching up on some Switch releases (like No More Heroes 3 and Neo The World Ends With You), the Steam Deck, the occassional Gamepass game, the odd indie release (Windjammers 2 springs to mind) and maybe the Playdate if I can get my hands on one. I'll mostly be sitting 2022 out as far as new releases go, but I'll have plenty to play elsewhere I'm sure

BTW, worth noting that this is the first time that the MD version of Thunder Force 2 has EVER been re-released! (We’ve seen Thunder Force 3, AC and 4 re-released in one form or another, but never 2!). Bodes well for Rocket Knight Adventures 1 & 2 and Crusader of Centy/Soleil

Yup, they are indeed the current owners of the Extreme G games (as well as Iggi's 'recking Balls); so I fully expect them to show up on the N64 NSO service eventually. Piko Interactive also own Glover 1 & 2 (the unreleased sequel) and 40 Winks (the unreleased N64 version); so likewise, expect them too. These are the bottom of the barrel stuff that will appear on N64 NSO at the end of its life; they literally give these games away legally for free alongside purchases of Everdrives FFS! (I got them with my ones, so I would know). That being said? Nintendo appears to actually be putting some proper money into licensing for their N64 & MD games this time around (unlike with the NES/SNES NSO games), so I'm a bit more hopeful that we may actually get games that people care about this time around (like the rest of Rare's catalogue sans Goldeneye, the Mystical Ninja N64 games; and maybe even Crusaider of Centy/Soleil!?).

Yeah, they're done. Nintendo stopped releasing 1st party games for them a long time ago and we've been stuck with the bottom of the barrel City Connection/Piko Interactive/Throwback Entertainment copyright free (essentially) NES/SNES releases for well over a year now.

The juxtaposition between those select scenes and the absolute amateur hour sprites/backgrounds used everywhere else just makes this situation even worse!

WTF!? Those shots look phenomenal!!! What the hell!? Why must they tease me like this when the rest of the game is gonna look like garbage

Right! I've got a few bits of hardware that are currently just excess, taking up space, and I'm looking to sell them. Figured that I'd rather post them on here for you guys to snap them up, before I chuck them onto eBay. Original Xbox (Modded) This system is a ver 1.2 Original Xbox, which has been modded to run the latest Unleash-X dashboard and is pre-configured to run retail disc games in 480p/720p as appropriate. No hardware modifications have been made, it's a pure soft-modded system. No games have been installed onto the HDD. Comes standalone with no controllers or cables; making it a perfect drop-in replacement for anyone who wants to replace their OG Xbox with a modded one that is region free, which runs all region games (including PAL) in 480p/720p. It works perfectly. Only reason why I am getting rid of it is because I have just replaced it in my setup with a hardware upgraded modded Xbox (which came with a nice 300GB HDD pre-installed - which I used to rip my own physical disc games onto for greater convenience); so I have no use for this one anymore. Playstation Vita original 1000 OLED model (with 32GB Official Vita memory card) Fully working Playstation Vita, comes with an official 32GB PS Vita memory card. A fair few hairline scratches to the body & screen, would describe the condition as "fair" overall. I recently got a new PS Vita that I have modded to run all of my PSP (physical UMD rips and PSN downloads) games & PS1 PSN downloads (along with a SD2Vita adapter - just got sick and tired of having to deal with switching PSN accounts all the time!). So this other system is now redundant for me. Comes with a charging cable, the 32GB memory card and nothing else. New Nintendo 3DS Fully working New Nintendo 3DS (PAL region). Generally in good physical condition, aside from two annoying scratches on the top screen (caused by the edges of the bottom screen; if you've ever owned a 3DS, you'll know what I'm talking about. It's near unavoidable with regular use). The A Button is also a bit unresponsive sometimes, sometimes you have to press it a bit harder for presses to register. Otherwise it's fully working (I replaced this with a fresh N3DS some time ago, and this one is currently just sitting around unloved). No mods, no built-in games or anything like that; it's as stock as it comes. I can chuck in a 3DS charger as well if you want one. I'm willing to accept below average eBay prices for these, since I really just don't want to deal with the hassle of eBay fees and dodgy potential buyers etc if I can help it. PM me if you want them and I'll give you some mates rates

Just got round to watching the Story of Xbox documentary series the other day. Really good! Thoroughly enjoyable watch! Had no idea about the big fight between the Direct-X and Windows CE departments over who should be controlling the design of the Xbox! And Microsoft turning down GTA3 as an Xbox exclusive!? WOOF! Now THAT is a career regret if I have ever seen one! I was amazed that they actually got Jack Tretton from SCEA in on this documentary; he was surprisingly candid about Sony's mistakes with the PS3! (Actually, the whole series is surprisingly candid, they don't pull any punches to make themselves look good here. Great stuff! ) I do wish that they would've spent more time going over the creation of the Xbox 360 though; they spend a lot of time on the RROD, but not much time over how the hardware was designed, envisioned & built. Would've been great to see the 360 get the same treatment as the OG Xbox here (speaking of which, the proposed names for the Xbox were absolutely WILD! "Fire Plug"!?! LMAO!!). Also would've been nice to see some more details about the various deals that they made over the years (the fact that Rare isn't mentioned whatsoever throughout this series is absolutely criminal! It was THE big power play move of the original Xbox generation! How could they not mention it!?), and how they managed to get developers over to their side (Final Fantasy 13 hitting Xbox was a big watershed moment for the platform, as was GTA4 DLC exclusivity; would've liked to see how they managed to secure these deals). Still. When you're biggest complaint is that you want more of where that came from? It's a good problem to have I suppose. Highly recommend a watch for anyone with even a passing interest in Xbox history! There are some great stories here that are very well told

Weird that they're patenting the terrain phasing mechanic from the trailer only just now, when they already did this mechanic over a decade ago with Super Mario Galaxy 2! (the drill powerup).

Here’s my 2021 Wall of Shame… You’re damn right that Dicey Dungeons sits atop my list! @Glen-i That list is utterly appalling! I can’t believe that MUA3 is your No1!!

I’ve decided to hold off. I’ve spent too much recently and I can’t justify the cost here when I have a perfectly good IPS/USB-C GBA and Gameboy Interface setup already.

Disappointing to hear about the limited video output options when docked; hopefully that gets sorted soon as that would be my main reason for purchasing this thing. Universal Sleep Mode is a VERY welcome feature though Nice to hear that controller support is seamless. Not exactly a fan of the original DMG D-pad though; was hoping for something a bit more akin to the GBAsp TBH.