Camp Hyrule 2007

Enter to win this amazing life-size Link statue starting
August 13!

Fires. Earthquakes. Floods. Inter-dimensional time warps. Let's face
it -- Camp Hyrule has not had the best of luck over the years. Despite
our best efforts to keep our beloved summer camp safe, something always
seems to go horribly wrong.

2007 marks the 13th anniversary of Camp Hyrule, and you don't need to
play Brain Age five times a day to know that mixing such an unlucky
number with a camp like ours is a recipe for disaster.

For the safety and sanity of all our campers, we've decided to do
something a little different this year. Instead of inviting thousands of
Nintendo fans to a camp that's destined for doom, we've decided to host
an incredible sweepstakes guaranteed to get any Zelda fan's blood
pumping.

Check back here between August 13 and August 23 for your chance to
win a life-size Link statue, and to reminisce about Camp Hyrules past
and present. A My Nintendo membership will be required to enter the
sweepstakes, but you will not need to register in advance to participate
in the Camp Hyrule Sweepstakes.

Who knows, maybe even Stumpy the How will make an appearance!

See you there,


Camp Hyrule Administrators.

WTF? No Camp Hyrule this year? I was looking forward to crusin camp on my Wii. Man this is a real bummer. What is Nintendo thinking? A sweepstakes? That sucks.

Nintendo closes in on Sony in market value

TOKYO, June 20 (Reuters) - Nintendo Co. Ltd. shot past Panasonic maker Matsushita in market value on Wednesday and closed in on Sony Corp. as investors watched it unseat Sony as unrivalled king of the game industry.

Nintendo's Wii has been outselling Sony's PlayStation 3 game console 3-1 in Japan and more than 2-1 in the United States so far this year, according to game magazine publisher Enterbrain and research firm NPD.

Go Nintendo. I should have purchased some Nintendo stock about a year and half ago, as I wanted too. Oh well way to go Nintendo.

COLOURlovers :: Blog / Following Nintendo through the Ages (and Colors)

Every time I hear ?the adults? of my family talk about video games, which is usually after one of my cousins and I mention something, they seem to always loop back to, ?Wow, remember pong? We used to play that for hours.? And while controllers have seemingly become just more complicated and the games just the same, what?s been interesting to watch is the evolution of graphics over gameplay, specifically with Nintendo, the longest running console manufacturer.

A quick look at Nintendo, and it's progression of color palettes and display of available colors through the years. I tad bit more in-depth coverage of color palettes on system would be an interesting read. Such as Zelda on NES and other rememberable games. Similar to interesting color combinations in Castlevania I'm playing on the Wii on the VC. Good times.

Everybody Wants To Direct: Nintendo Wants Your Movies - Kotaku

Video game companies want you to make short films. First Microsoft calls for an original TV pilot. Then Midway called forth our inner Woo. Now Nintendo announces their Short Cuts Showcase, which challenges budding directors to create a short film with a Nintendo theme, with the top three entries being premiered at Rockefeller Center's annual summer film showcase.

To bad I don't have a video camera. I could make a video of April and I's drunken rants on video games and the Wii (thats not all we rant about). Splice em all together in some new wave style of quick cuts, maybe through some vector art over it, and submit the video. Maybe it could win, since Nintendo is trying to capture the adult audience with the Wii, or at least they should be trying to do so.

Tetris From Russia With Love Google Videos

A BBC Documentary titled Tetris From Russian With Love, about the creation of Tetris in Russia, by the creator Alexey Pajitnov. One of the classic games, that almost everyone enjoys to play. Many people don't know about the many legal battles that this game has created, from who owns the rights to the game, to different software companies wanting to license and release the game. A relic of late Cold War Era of Russia, that what was created by a person but not seen as intellectual property of that person, but that of the state. An interesting struggle against the capitalist and the communist over a video game. It is rather odd how many different things we Americans take for granted. The fact that for some time Alexey did not receive much or if any pay for his work. But, he was happy that he had provided something enjoyable to his friends as well as the rest of the world.

It is really odd how times have changed as well. When Tetris was created Russia was torn within the Cold War, and was facing many struggles within it's own system. A system that was failing, and creating a society of struggle and unhappiness. How something so enjoyable and entertaining could be created in such an environment is beyond me. I guess when you don't have much to look forward to, you create something to look forward to. As for Russia, or now know as the Russian Federation is in many much different than how Russia was when Tetris was created. A country caught up with consumerism, and capitalist ideas, that where once greatly feared, and now has relaxed enough to take a holiday break like no other. It is interesting how a little game could cause so much trouble, and may have created some sort of inspiration for a generation to come.

As a side note; I find the mystical elegance of Tetris very interesting, such as how Tetris's role in the launch of the Gameboy, and Nintendo's prominent seeking of simplistic intelligent games.

Oh and this reminds me of one of my much wanted items, The Tengen copy of NES Tetris, which I had almost forgotten about!

4 color rebellion » Nintendo Gives Flash Game Advent Calendar

You guys remember advent calendars, right? You would open one slot every day up until Christmas. Well, Nintendo of Europe has a great one set up for us fans. It takes the form of a game called ?Snowdriftland.?

Every day, an additional level opens up on the website. You guide a snowman through a Mario inspired world and collect snowflakes. It is a great way to spend a few minutes each day, and how can you resist some free Nintendo magic?

I wish that they would take the time to do this for other occasions as well. It would be a great way to count down to a holiday or a release date. Next time, they could even make the games Wiimote-friendly.

Pretty sweet. You play a little game that has the feel of Super Mario Brothers 2 and than receive cool wallpapers and ringtones. Why didn't Nintendo of America do something like this?

4 color rebellion » Use Your WiiMote for … Well, Nothing Interesting in Particular

Sure, you can use your Wiimote to play Wii games - yeah, that?s fun if you?re, like, eight years old. See, we adults are more interested in how the Wiimote can help us format Excel spreadsheets. That?s the future: motion-sensing Word documents!

Pretty damn cool! If you have lose your remote for your Macbook/Pro you can bust out your Wiimote and use it.
I wonder what else the Wiimmote can do?

Slashdot | Wii Aches — Couch Potatoes Working It Up

Genocaust writes
"While the new controller on the Wii is proving to be a success, it's turning out to be more effort than some die-hard couch potatoes bargained for. The Wall Street Journal reports on the newest workout regime for nerds."
From the article:
"In Rochester, Minn., Jeremy Scherer and his wife spent three hours playing tennis and bowling, two of the games included with the Wii. Mr. Scherer says he managed to improve his scores ? at the cost of shoulders and back that were still aching the next day. 'I was using muscles I hadn't used in a while,' says Mr. Scherer, a computer programmer who describes himself as 'not very active.' Mr. Scherer is vowing nightly 'Wii workouts' to get in better shape."
"Bunnies Don't Know What To Do With Cows," in Rayman, is another guaranteed way to get your arm aching. Cows are heavy, and it takes a lot of energy to throw them.

Wall Street Journal article linked at /. on how people are getting a workout playing the Wii.
A direct link to the WSJ article.

Nintendo preps MP3 player accessory for DS, GBA //Arstechnica

Nintendo has muddied the debate between users who favor multifunction gadgets versus single-purpose devices, by announcing a new MP3-playing addition to their line of handheld game player. The Nintendo MP3 player is slightly larger than a regular GameBoy Advance game cartridge, and it works with the Game Boy Micro, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP, and of course, the Nintendo DS. In reality, the new MP3 player is a modified version of the Play-yan multimedia add-on that has been available in Japan for over a year.

I'm hoping Nintendo will bring this device over to America. Reggie, could we please get this here in America. Then I wouldn't always have to lug my iPod Nano and DS around all the time. I?m not sure where Arstechnica is getting their source that Nintendo will bring this over to America, the article only states that it is being launched in Europe along side the Wii.
I guess I will have to wait and find out.
It would be nice to have SD Card with songs on it, and use between my Wii and DS.