GamesFirst! Weekly Wrap-Up #18

Hello, gamers, and welcome to another episode of the Games First Weekly Wrap-Up,

where we round up the latest news, reviews, and previews from the past week's worth of Games First postings.

This time, we're wrapping up the week ending January 10th, 2006.

I'm Val Townsend, the Atomic Goddess, and this week we'll take an early look at the Final Fantasy XI beta for Xbox 360.

Check out the lighter side of strategy gaming with Legion Arena, out now for PC from Strategy First,

and then we'll check out some game-related items.

Altec Lansing sent us some headphones, and we've got reviews of two books about hacking the PSP.

One is good, and the other, well, not so much.

So without further delay, let's get into the news.

After strongly denying that they were planning to launch a revamped version of the Nintendo DS for several weeks,

Nintendo has now announced a revamped version of the Nintendo DS.

The Nintendo DS Lite is a slimmed-down and slightly reconfigured version of the original DS.

The most noticeable difference is that it is definitely smaller,

weighing 20% less than the original, and accordingly thinner.

The buttons have been slightly reconfigured to move critical system buttons out of the way of gaming thumbs.

The microphone has also been repositioned, and is now centered just above the lower screen.

Aside from the overall shrinkage and a few configuration changes,

the DS Lite is exactly the same as its predecessor.

The screens are the same size, and the unit retains its ability to play Game Boy Advance cartridges,

in addition to DS-specific carts.

Another gaming heavyweight hit us with big news this week.

Electronic Arts has confirmed a streaming service for the Nintendo DS Lite,

a great date for the PC, Xbox, and PS2 versions of their upcoming mob epic, The Godfather.

The Godfather game is based on Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 film classic,

and features the voice talent of several actors from the movie.

Among EA's strong assets are some of Marlon Brando's last recordings,

as well as extensive access to film resources.

The Godfather seeks to put gamers into the role of their own gangster,

jockeying for power in the world of the 1940s-1950s mafia.

The Godfather has been plagued with controversy

almost since it began development.

The free-form, open-world gameplay is very reminiscent of the Grand Theft Auto series,

which has many gamers crying foul.

To add fuel to the fire, Coppola himself has disavowed the game.

With such hot properties comes hot debate and fervent fans.

The game's release on March 21st should lend some much-needed substance to the discussion.

A constant sore spot for online gamers is the never-ending battle for bandwidth.

Since the early days of gaming, the faster connection always has the edge,

but sometimes it's hard to gauge just where you stand.

It's hard to sit on the connection speed spectrum.

Ubicom, a company dedicated to bandwidth management solutions for gaming,

has now released a free application to rank your bandwidth speed.

Running the OP Score software evaluates your online playability score on a scale of 1 to 5.

This test is more robust than most online bandwidth testers,

and it emulates traffic more like a real game rather than web browsing.

Anyone who is not sure about the quality of their online connection

can check out Ubicom's OP Score program for free online.

Get the link at games4u.com.

That's all of the news for this week, although our first reviews are quite timely.

Just as we were finishing the reviews for two books about hacking Sony's PlayStation Portable,

news came out that hackers had found a way to run homebrew games and applications

on the latest version of Sony's official firmware.

These kinds of breakthroughs aren't uncommon, and the PSP hacking communities remain very active online.

So it's understandable that a book about hacking the PSP would have the odds stacked against it.

By the time it gets to print, the book is outdated.

But as we'll see, you can still do it online.

You can do a lot with your book. Or not.

Let's begin with The Knot.

Dave Prochnow's PSP Hacks, Mods, and Expansions is the bad book about PSP hacking.

On our review copy, the book advertises boldly that it includes coupons for cool PSP expansions and mods,

and that seems to be the main purpose of Prochnow's book,

to sell us on some specific products and not so much to educate the user about the PSP.

The how-to articles and PSP hacks are pathetic, featuring very few written instructions and images that are not very helpful.

Most of the how-to articles are simply instructions about how to use products that already come with instructions.

Why would I buy a book to learn about how to apply my gamer graphics game skins?

In the worst examples, Prochnow begins to show us how to do something

and switches halfway through the step-by-step instructions to tell us to use a manufactured product.

For example, he begins to tell us how to build a dual-purpose USB charging and synchronization cable.

That would be a cool cable to have, and many people have extra cables hanging out to experiment on.

Prochnow tells you to cut off a piece of the PSP, and then put it on the PSP.

Cut off the ends of your cables, then to be careful when shrink-wrapping wire connections.

Then Prochnow tells you to buy a product from Boxwave that does the same job.

No explanation is given about how to connect the cables to create the new hybrid cable,

and the final images show the Boxwave product in use.

Prochnow doesn't really even approach the PSP hacking or modding scene,

and neglects to mention a large number of useful and free tools, alternatives, or methods which are readily available on several websites.

Instead, he offers reviews and buying suggestions about the games

that have still not come out, or which have been released and received overwhelmingly bad reviews.

Prochnow tells you to buy Rengoku, which might make him guilty of psychologically damaging any gamer following his advice.

In the end, PSP Hacks, Mods, and Expansions is a bad book, and we give it a Sony DRM-enabled 2 out of 5 stars.

On the other end of the PSP how-to book spectrum is Hacking the PSP by Ari Rahimzadeh.

Hacking the PSP is a much better example of what can be done,

even in the face of a constantly changing PSP system.

The PSP Hacking Landscape

Rather than focusing on products manufactured to go with the PSP,

Hacking the PSP focuses on the software and utilities that help users get the most out of their PSPs.

There are instructions about how to install game system emulators,

how to create customized programs on the PSP,

setting up programming environments,

and using more common tricks such as accessing the web browser built into the game Wipeout.

Hacking the PSP points users to plenty of websites where they can download free programs that are well-known to PSP enthusiasts.

These programs include utilities like Paperless Printer and JPEG Book,

which allow users to convert comics and text to PSP-friendly images.

Also discussed are programs like PSP Video 9 and PSP Shuffle,

which help users get more from the PSP's multimedia capabilities.

Hacking the PSP is a much better book than its only real competition,

but it still pales in the face of the PSP hacking and modification websites.

If you know anything about PSP hacking already, then you probably don't need this one.

But if you're looking into PSP hacking for the first time,

then Hacking the PSP is the book to grab.

We give Hacking the PSP a 3 out of 5 stars.

Continuing our reviews theme of things that go with your games,

Tristan recently checked out the Altec Lansing AHS-32i Headphone Mic Combo.

These around-the-back headphones are equipped with a handy mic on a FlexiBoom

and intended for use with PC games that support voice chat or other voice chat or telephone applications on the computer.

The sound quality on the mic and headphones is decent,

and far better than we'd expect.

From a headset that we found online for as little as $12.

The only real beef we had with the headphones is that the ear cups are a weird size.

Not quite big enough for most ears, but too bulky to rest comfortably on the ears.

As with any headset, the ergonomics will vary from person to person.

The Altec Lansing AHS-32i headphones are not great,

but at such a reasonable price, we can hardly complain.

If you can afford a more expensive headset, then you probably should,

but if you're looking for something solid to do the job, you could do a lot worse.

We give the AHS-32i headphones a 3 out of 5 stars.

Finally, now that you're all geared up for some online multiplayer,

we can get into an actual game review.

Blaine came through with a review of Legion Arena,

a new strategy war title from Strategy First.

Legion Arena is a very light strategy game,

which could be just the thing for some gamers.

Created by Slytherin Software,

Legion Arena puts you in control of Roman armies fighting for the Empire.

Rather than competing with the epic scale of a title like Rome Total War,

Legion Arena focuses on small battles,

and overall, a smaller scale than the heavy hitters in the industry.

And the graphics engine isn't up to the level of AAA titles either.

But sometimes, smaller can be better,

and the ease of playing Legion Arena is a credit to the gameplay and design.

Before each battle, you'll go through the usual troop selection and micromanagement.

You can train troops to bolster performance and make other decisions.

Once you get into battle, all hell breaks loose,

and one thing Legion Arena does very well is simulating the chaos of battle.

The gameplay is easy, quick, and overall,

fairly enjoyable.

It's only fault is that it's a bit shallow in the end,

and the rest is good enough to leave us wanting more.

If you're up for something a little different,

but mostly real comfortable, check it out.

We give Legion Arena a 3 out of 5 stars.

Moving from the reviews to the previews,

Matt James got to participate in the Xbox 360 beta of Final Fantasy XI,

due to release this summer for Microsoft's latest baby.

Final Fantasy XI is a massively multiplayer role-playing game

set in the world of Final Fantasy.

The game has been available for a few years now on PC and PlayStation 2,

where it was bundled with the ill-fated PS2 hard drive.

The Xbox 360 version will allow players to play on their 360s

with gamers all over the world and on all three platforms.

Final Fantasy XI still enjoys a lively community online,

so although it's not the prettiest game on the 360,

it still packs some great gameplay.

After a long process of installing the game to the Xbox 360 hard drive

and registering on the website,

then confirming in-game,

we finally got Final Fantasy XI up and running.

Right now, the beta runs on Xbox-only servers,

so only beta participants are around.

Even so, it's a blast to get into the world of Final Fantasy

and get going on developing a character.

The game is exactly like the other versions,

so users should know what to expect.

This is not exactly like any other console-based Final Fantasy game,

but the changes are suited to the online play.

Final Fantasy XI has not been upgraded visually for the 360,

which is disappointing.

It definitely doesn't look as good as the original,

but as other next-gen titles,

and the fact that this is an older title

could be difficult for some to accept.

The game runs on Square Enix's private servers,

but still integrates to Xbox Live,

so access to the regular Xbox Guide features are still there.

Final Fantasy XI should get a lot more fun

once everyone in the world is playing together,

so Xbox 360 owners will definitely want to keep an eye out

for its release in April.

And that finishes another episode of the game's first weekly wrap-up.

Remember, gamers,

you can get more on these stories,

plus fresh new content every day,

at gamesfirst.com.

I'm Val Townsend, the Atomic Goddess,

and I'll catch you next week.