ALERT: TER HAS MOVED

Triple Entente Radio has switched blog carriers. You may now find new posts at this address:

http://triplententeradio.blogspot.com/

From the new blog:

Oh god. We changed URLs. We changed themes. We’ve changed everything. Someone hit the Panic Button, because we’re all screwed.

Except, not really. There are a few reasons we changed, and really, we think it’ll be for the better.

The main reason that we are now on the Blogger service and not WordPress is because while editing posts and image sizes and the like on WordPress was a snap, adding HTML content was a different story. No matter what we tried, it was impossible to edit HTML into the sidebar. Here, HTML and Blogger go hand-in-hand, strolling through the park. For starters with these new powers of HTML, we’ve added a big Donate button to the sidebar.

We’ve never asked for money before, and it feels weird to put that button there. But please, if you like the blog and you like the show, donate a little bit of money if you can. The money goes back to the Triple Entente/D & W Reviews Network, which then allows us to afford better hosting space, domain URLs, among other things that makes everything flow smoothly. Long story short, if you donate, it helps the Network grow, so please do. I can guarantee that every cent donated to Triple Entente Radio will be put into the site for things like domains and contest prizes, and none of it will be pocketed.

At the same time, this new HTML function has caused us to lose some things, including old posts, pages, etc. One thing you’ll need to make note of is the new feed (which we never can make manageable). It would probably be best for you to delete the old feed from your feed catcher, and add the new one at the bottom of the page.

While we have lost some things, I seriously feel that this change will be for the better. More posts, more features, and an all-around better blog. Here’s to the future of Triple Entente Radio.

In the Wii Shop: 8/4/08

Oh dear...

Remember the days when good games were released on the Virtual Console? Those were the days. Now, it seems like we get the run-of-the-mill generic crap from the old days. Anyways, here’s what’s up for downlaod in the Wii Shop Channel:

• Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega Master System) – 500 Wii Points
• Splatterhouse 2 (Genesis) – 800 Wii Points
• Wild West Guns (WiiWare) – 1000 Wii Points

And in case you’re getting a feeling of deja vu froms eeing Sonic up there, keep in mind that this is the 8-bit version of the hedgehog’s first outing. No idea why you would buy the 8-bit version.

Triple Entente Radio Music – (7/27/08)

It’s that time once again. Triple Enente Radio: Music is here!

Below is the list of songs you heard tonight, as well as link to each individual song download page. The setup is as follows:

Game (Name of Song) – Author

• Wind Waker (Earth God’s Lyric + Aria of Wind) – Fairuzons
• Final Fantasy VIII (Find Your Way) – SimMa-T
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Ending) – DrWaldo
• Super Smash Bros. (Sector Z) – Luigi Cipriani
• Street Fighter series (Ken’s Theme) – afliXion
• Final Fantasy series (Prelude) – TopherJ
• Sonic Spinball (Lava Powerhouse) – mikeblastdude7
• Ninja Gaiden (Death of a Hero) – Brunzolaitis
• Goldeneye 007 (Cradle) – LastSpartan
• ORIGINAL PIECE (Sand and Sorrows) – Josh Kemp
• Sonic Adventure 2 (Green Forest) – TheGimpsta

TERadio: E3 Roundup (7/21/08)

From Penny Arcade

Finally, it is up! Triple Entente Radio for E3 is now available for download. You can download it on Podomatic, or directly from the iTunes Music Store. This episode, I dived into the big press conferences of E3, with what went right, and what went wrong.

This week’s episode, we featured the following songs:

Animal Crossing – 1:00

Still Alive Remix

That Mario Paint Composer Song At the End
A little notice: This episode was rushed in under time constraints, and for some reason, turned out to be 70 MB. Sorry!

Finally, please please please watch The Speed Gamers’ Metroid Marathon on August 15th. These are a great group of guys who have been doing these marathons for charity for the longest time now. They’re a really cool group, so check them out and donate if you can. Any little bit helps.

Microsoft Live Blog!

I know this is last minute, but this’ll be fun! And for those of you that get this message, please listen up!

Click the link below to open up a live blog from me of the Microsoft Press Conference.

Microsoft Press Conference Live Blog

Sony at E3: Time to shine

At the PS3’s launch, nothing was going right for Sony. Few games were out, high costs turned people away, and the poor PlayStation 3 couldn’t keep up with the competition. A year later, a new batch of problems faced the PS3, like confusion over multiple SKUs. And the same problems still remained: High price, no games.

Lately though, the PlayStation 3 has been gaining steam. Big time. With numbers that are starting to rival the 360’s sales each month, Sony is finally able to fight back. And this year, they have the power to make us all PS3 owners.

It’s odd for me to say that even though I do not own either a PlayStation 3 or a PSP, Sony’s show is the most exciting for me. And that’s because Sony has the things that I want to see. At Sony’s show, we know a bit about what’s coming, but there’s the room to surprise us.

First off, let’s get the obvious things out of the way. We’re going to see LittleBigPlanet. We’re going to see God of War 3. We’re going to see Killzone 2. And we’re most definitely going to see multi-platform titles. This is all very true. But let’s be honest: Is that such a bad thing?

Let’s see the games we want to see! We want to see more LittleBigPlanet! We’d go crazy over an open-beta date! God of War 3 would send everyone into a panic! Let’s see more of the titles we want to see, and less of the ones we don’t. We’ve seen Killzone 2 over and over and over again. Personally, I’m getting sick of it. Announce a release date, great. Show us what we’ve seen before? Not great.

And we know that Sony will show off Home once again. Home is a very cool, very unexpected experience that Sony has created. It was cool to see at game shows in the past. Hopefully, Sony will have something new to show off about Home to us at this year’s E3. Something that’ll make us want to buy a PS3 if we haven’t already.

Sony knows that the Metal Gear Solid 4 ship has sailed. Sony knows that there needs to be some big exclusive on the horizon to attract those of us who’ve been on the fence. Let’s see a new IP! Something that will make us think to ourselves “I will work more hours to buy a PlayStation 3″! Let’s face it: if they don’t show the next big thing, and Killzone 2 doesn’t live up to the hype, the PS3 will not sell well this Christmas.

Of course, we all know that no matter what, price is what drives our console purchases. The price point is what makes or breaks the sale of a console come Christmastime and Hanukkah when parents are shopping for the kids. If Sony dropped the price of their consoles by even $50 at this year’s E3, sales would soar. It’s not like they have a choice now though, considering everyone and their dog knows that the 360’s price is lower now.

We can’t forget the PSP though, the little-handheld-that-couldn’t. I remember all you suckers saying that the PSP would go above and beyond the DS in terms of gaming. I remember that.

In a post over a year ago on my old podcast blog, I said this:

“What does PSP offer that DS doesn’t? Well, it’s got online SOCOM, it’s got Exit, it’s got Lumines. It has GTA: LCS and VCS. And it has Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. But it also has a whole lot of PS2 ports. And when you only have one analog stick for a game that originally involved two, you end up with a crappy control scheme.”

And you know what’s sad? I can only add a few games to that list. Now, I’m not saying the DS has been serving us well over the last few months, but the PSP hasn’t really been satisfying our appetite at all. So maybe, just maybe, we’ll see a PSP2 at E3. It’s a stretch. But maybe. And no, unlike what W said, it will not have a touch screen.

P.S. Dear Sony: Please drop the price of the PlayStation 2 to $100. We’ve been waiting too long.

LITHCast Nintendo Presser Live Stream

Just to let you guys know: our good buddy DSCUBED of LITHCast and The Hylia is going to be streaming the Nintendo Press Conference LIVE on Tuesday, July 15th at 9 AM PST.

For more information, DSCUBED will be posting it here:

LITHCast

Plugged In launched

Hey folks! Don’t let this post stop you from viewing the Microsoft Predictions below as well as the latest Network Connections!

Just thought I’d let you know that a new member of our loving Triple Entente/D and W Reviews Network has launched, Plugged In. It’s a video show all about Tech wonders. I think it’s pretty cool. Oh, and a little trivia: good ol’ W from D and W Reviews (who’s over here with a little thing called Network Connections) is the writer.

Click here to watch.

E3 08: Microsoft Predictions

Microsoft is doing well for themselves. Their second console entry into the gaming race, and many hardcore gamers own a 360. The Xbox Live service is doing well, people are still buying consoles, and they have many exclusive titles. So what exactly can Microsoft bring to the table at this E3?

[Ed. Note: This post and the Sony post will be handled differently than the Nintendo one, in that we actually do know what they will most likely talk about at this E3, unlike Nintendo.)

First off, we have the announcement that everyone knows is coming: Xbox 360 price drop. Multiple fliers have come out over the past couple weeks, indicating that the 360 will receive a price drop at many retailers one July 13, just one day before E3. So, if anything, that will be one of the main topics of discussion at this year's show.

Gamestop displays shipped out to the stores

We’ve also heard countless, countless rumors about “X-waggle”, Microsoft’s answer to the Wii’s motion control. While we haven’t seen any concrete photos or video fo this thing in action, many sources close to Microsoft have talked about motion control. Lately though, Microsoft has been outright denying the “X-Waggle”. More recently, when Ken Lobb commented in a recently unveiled Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts trailer.

“The primary function that Kazooie has in the game is she carries this wrench and the wrench is used for many different things. One of the things that the wrench is used for is to turn these devices. So you basically grab with the wrench and then you twist the controller around and it’ll move different things in the game.”

Promptly after that quote was pounced on by internet fanboys everywhere, Microsoft denied motion control, as well as Rare. Since we’ve heard so many rumors about this “X-Waggle” and the rumor never seems to die, expect Microsoft to show it off at this year’s E3.

Don't worry Banjo: We love you without motion controll

Nintendo’s show should be all about the first-party titles that matter to the hardcore. Microsoft’s will be tailored to third-party titles that matter to the hardcore. Expect at least a few “We’ve got the exclusive and you don’t” titles to be bragged about, including Rock Band 2 having short term exclusivity to the 360. Trust me, that giant screen will be plastered with third-party titles exclusive to the 360, because that’s really what Microsoft has going for them right now.

Don’t expect to see details of Dashboard updates or new Xbox Live features though. While it would be nice to see a redesigned, blade-less Dashboard at E3, it’s probably not going to show up. And really, why would they? Usually Dashboard screens and walkthrough videos come out from the press only days before the Dashboard update is released.

Oh, and have you guys heard of “Lips”? What started as a patent filed by Microsoft that no one knew about, “Lips” has been labeled as Microsoft’s answer to Singstar. Expect Lips to be shown off on stage at E3. Apparently, the team behind Elite Beat Agents, iNiS, is heading up the project. So hey, if you’re into karaoke, then GET PUMPED!!!

Remember that price drop we talked about before? Expect that to coincide with some sort of new 360 SKU (because we need more of those right?). Rumor has it that Microsoft will announce a sort of “Pro+” 360 SKU, complete with a 60 GB hard drive. You know, for those who can’t fit everything onto their 20 GB hard drive.

Really though, the show is going to be dominated by third party titles. Things like Too Human (which we’ll get a demo of), Bioshock 2, Rock Band 2, Ninja Blade, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, etc. etc. But the ones you’ll really want to look out for, are Peter Jackson’s Halo game (which will confuse the hell out of us), as well as whatever Bungie has been working on. Let’s hope that it’s a new IP, and not another Halo.

NEXT UP: Sony, giant enemy crab-free

Network Connections: Sony <3’s touch, sequels abound at E3

To: Arby

From: W – D & W Reviews

Re: DS Anorexic, new from Nintendo (click to read)

True. GTA IV doesn’t present the revolutionary type graphics that would change how games would be looked at for a long time to come. What it does right, however, is achieve a realistic feel that gives players the optimum gaming experience. That’s what most people ask for out of a game and Take 2 delivered. As you said, DLC is going to be am interesting concept to implement into GTA IV (Exclusive to the Xbox 360). If Take 2 can effectively implement DLC to players in a cost-efficient way that furthers the players experience even more than GTA IV already has done, than I would say that’s a victory for Take 2. But if exactly the opposite happens: (High- costs, content doesn’t meet people’s expectations, etc.), than it will certainly be a disappointment.

Onto E3, the biggest Gaming Expo within the U.S. There’s a lot of hype around many different rumors that have arisen in the past few weeks, regarding E3. One of the biggest rumors that has been brought up is the possibility that both Sony and Nintendo will debut their next-generation gaming handheld devices at their respective Press Conferences. It seems plausible given the fact that the DS and the PSP have both been on the market for over 4 years. But it seems more likely that only Sony would show off it’s next-gen handheld and not Nintendo for a variety of different reasons. For starters: The PSP isn’t going anywhere. Yes, I will say it again: The PSP isn’t going anywhere. That’s just the truth. A lack of true first-party support as well as very few “new” franchises coming out of Sony’s handheld device has led me to this conclusion. For Sony’s next-gen handheld, I’m going to be a little skeptical here and say it will be touch-screen. Why not, when Apple’s cutting into the handheld gaming market with the App Store for its Ipod Touch and Iphone. (Both touch-screen devices). Sony could easily cash in on this, touch-screen concept that’s already proven itself with Apple. But who knows? Only time will tell.

As for Nintendo, it becomes a lot more interesting. With Nintendo everything’s so hush-hush, that you almost expect something to happen at E3; it then becomes possible for the successor to the DS to be shown. At the same time, with the DS’s recent success, it would seem foolish for Nintendo to kill all the hype (sales) of the DS, by showing it’s successor at E3. Again, it’s all up in the air and we’ll have to wait and see.

As for Games, I would personally like to see more Fable 2 footage, some Killzone 2, Rock Band 2 and Left 4 Dead. How about a little Resident Evil 5? Maybe some Portal 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction and God of War III. And last but not least; let’s find out more about Halo Wars.

There are so many confirmed games at E3 to be excited about. But I agree with you, how about the unconfirmed and yet-to-be-announced titles? That’s where all the magic is and I hope there’s more than a few of those at this year’s show. (Nintendo, I’m looking at you!) My only hope for E3 2008 is that Microsoft doesn’t screw up their Press Conference like they did last year. (Peter Moore, I don’t like you anymore!) Other than that, it should be a great E3 2008!

About Super Mario 64 DS; I did get my DS about a year ago. (I got the Brain Age 2 Bundle 3 days after it came out). Than a few months ago, my friend sold me Super Mario 64 DS used for $15. Getting the game was by far worth it. Brings back memories from the old Nintendo 64 days. Speaking of the Nintendo 64, what are you’re favorite Nintendo 64 games?