MOTHER 3 fan translation out now

MOTHER 3 is easily the most anticipated RPG game not to have been localised by Nintendo, whose primary motivation of making money is through targeting the soccer mums and pensioners demographic. Released in Japan on the venerable GBA platform some 2 1/2 years ago, fans of the MOTHER series has waited patiently as fans worked hard to translate the game. Well the moment has arrived, and the unofficial translation has finally been released.

To get it you will need a ROM copy of MOTHER 3 and a flash cart. Download the patcher and patch the original ROM file, before uploading the patched ROM onto a flash cart. Insert flash cart into your Game Boy Advance, SP, micro, DS or DS Lite and enjoy the game. You can also probably play it on a PC based GBA emulator. I've played the Japanese version with a FAQ (didn't last long) and from the short amount I can say the game is something special.

Thanks to HAL, Brownie Brown, Nintendo SPD and the translators for working hard to bring us the game. But no thanks to S. Iwata, Reggie and whoever runs NOE, for attempting to deprive us of a great video game title.

Thanks to Zorocaster for the heads-up

Heroes season 3 (episode 1-5) recap

Admittedly I was a little frustrated with season two of Heroes, but season three (up to episode five) has so far proven to be pretty enjoyable.

Spoilerific opinionated recap follows:

• Sylar is easily now my favourite character of Heroes. He is beginning to control his hunger, while redeeming himself on the way. In Angels & Monsters, he saved Claire and did not kill Noah despite Noah's attempt to off him. He looks classy in a suit.
• Peter is still the most annoying, unbalanced and immature character. He has perfected the skills he absorbed from other heroes and now has Sylar's intuitive ability but does not know how to use them to everyone's benefit. Quite easily the most dangerous person in Heroes he keeps attempting to change the future. Peter also seems to have also forgotten this Irish bird whom he left in an alternate future, which I guess is all for the better.
• Hiro and Ando's relationship takes turn for the worst as they cock up more missions (including losing the formula that can turn anybody into heroes) than ever, and even lose Adam Monroe after digging him up. Hiro eventually agrees to join a rival 'badass' company, but has to 'sacrifice' his best friend first.
• Mohindar has gained a power through a serum he created from Maya's blood. While his body and sense has grown stronger, he has also developed insect like abilities. A modern day reference to Seth Brundle (from The Fly) if you didn't already suspect.
• Claire and Noah's relationship is explored once again as Claire quickly repeats the same mistakes she did in season one and two. How Claire of her. Future Claire works for the rival company controlled by Arthur Petrelli and is frankly, an icy bitch.
• Nathan, surviving the assassination attempt by Future Peter, seems to have found god, in the form of Linderman. Except Linderman is dead and Nathan is actually being indirectly influenced by old man Parkman who is under the employment of old man Petrelli. Confused yet?
• Niki Sanders died at the end of season two, but they bring her back in the form of her twin sister Tracy Strauss. Ali Larter, proving how limited her acting ability is plays Tracy pretty much like Niki. Tracy, like Niki, is very insecure about her ability (freezing) and eventually sleeps with this one former New York senator.
• Usutu, a new character, has the same ability to paint the future like the dead Isaac Mendez. It is also implied that Matt has gained the same precognition ability. A little bit more originallity by the writers would have been better. You did get your pay rise didn't you?

Amazon UK, slightly improved

In the past I've always had to purchase £15 worth of products to qualify for their free shipping offer. This usually means buying in advance 3-4 books (though I guess it does not matter since I am a fast reader). But now that Amazon UK has reduced the minimum purchase threshold to just a fiver (£5) for customers to qualify for super saver delivery, I can be a bit more flexible in shopping for low priced goods. I guess they are starting to feel the pressure from Play.com (they have free shipping regardless of minimum order).

Below is a list of books that qualifies for free shipping. Yes these are books by Christopher Moore, the genius writer whom you should all kow tow before.

Practical Demonkeeping
Coyote Blue
Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story
Island of the Sequinned Love Nun (review)
The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings
You Suck: A Love Story (review)

Dear LittleBigPlanet virgins

With Kratos (God Of War), Nariko (Heavenly Swords) and now Old Snake (MGS4) and Sephiroth (FFVII) making their sackboy cameos, are there really any more excuses you are not playing this yet? Or planning on buying it?

via

ASA saves teenage girls from Cactuar

Oasis's Cactus Kid commercial has been ordered off the air by the Advertising Standards Authority. The ASA, fearing that underage girls around the country will attempt to fornicate in Homebase's gardening section or with a Sabotender soft toy, agrees with the viewers alleging that the ad promoted teenage sex and pregnancy, A further 16 complaints were filed that the ad promoted an unhealthy diet.

Now I've never seen an ad that promotes good dietary, not even those by Jamie Oliver, so I don't know how Oasis can get the stick where as KFC, McDonalds, Tesco, Asda, Carlsberg etc. are allowed to continue peddling their equally less than ideal products to us.

The mind boggles that people (ASA) are being paid to make stuff up.

via The Guardian

eMusic review

Taking advantage of their 35 free songs offer, I decided to sign up with eMusic and write about my experience with this online music shop. Offering DRM-free tracks at reasonable prices, they are one of the few online legal music stores that offers this unique feature. Now some of you may probably already know that I serial hater of online music stores, and the only reason I signed up with eMusic was their no obligation free download two week trial. I am 100% certain I'll not continue beyond the trial period. But do read on.

eMusic allows their customers to download tracks through their optional software called eMusic Download Manager, or direct download from their website, though this only allows you to download one track at a time. The download program is rather small and allows you to save the tracks downloaded into a specific folder on your PC. Download speeds vary, but personally I found it to be rather slow. The application is purely a download specific program and does nothing else. You'll have to install a third party software like the excellent Media Monkey if you require a music management program.


You can download tracks through any web browser or use the Download Manager

Now the most important bit. How are the selections? Well due to the lack of the 'Big Four', eMusic catalogues are more geared towards underground, niche and indie music. That is not exactly a bad thing as it does allow for one to sample a greater amount of music outside of the mainstream appeal. I am glad to report that music from some of the best bands around are on eMusic. I haven't really explored much, but I did find albums from Pink Floyd, Motorhead, In Flames, Camera Obscura, Lacuna Coil, Morbid Angel, British Sea Power, Napalm Death, Ellen Allien, Arcade Fire, Iced Earth, Interpol (though only Antics and Antics Remixes), Carcass and available for purchase. While I can't confirm, it is likely most of Earache, Century Media and all the major indie music labels' catalogues are available here.

Sadly the tracks made available are encoded in lossy MP3 format, specifically through a LAME encoder (standard -V 2 VBR quality averaging between 180-220kbps). While the MP3 format has significantly improved over the years particularly the LAME encoder, it is still the most significant downside of digital music compared to traditional CDs with PCM audio or lossless audio format like FLAC. On the upside the tracks are DRM-free, meaning you can upload them to a large variety of digital audio players like the (gasp) Ipods as well as, more importantly, superior players from the likes of Cowon, Sony and iRiver.


The subscription based model is flexible , competitive and much more reasonable than other mainstream services.

Unfortunately as I mentioned earlier I won't be continuing it. The lack of 'Big Four' isn't a major concern to me as their CDs are easily available at most stores anyway. The pricing is very tempting, but I've always been willing to pay a bit more for lossless downloads and in this case, eMusic has no such options. A shame really, as I do like the eMusic and their business model. If they started offering lossless none-DRM downloads with a competitive pricing, then I'll not be hesitant to recommend it. Until then I suggest you hold onto your CDs.

+ No DRM
+ Large variety of content by indie labels
+ Reasonable pricing (from 20p to 50p per track/download)
- Only lossy MP3 tracks sold
- Lacks 'Big Four', though that may be a good thing
- Download was rather on the slow side

Sennheiser CX 95 canalphones review

My desire to obtain a new mid-range headphone for my Walkman stemmed from the lack of good sealing on the bundled MDR-EX082 and the average quality (but supremely comfortable) of the CX 300. I narrowed down my choices to either a Denon AH-C700, Klypsch Custom-1, Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 3 and Sennheiser CX 95.

I finally got the CX 95 cheap from a fellow Head-Fi'er. These canalphones retails for £60-70 on the high street (or less online), a price which puts it at the high-range non-IEM canalphone market (or entry-level depending on whom you ask). Sennheiser is a brand I can trust, having a good impression with their budget canalphone, the CX 300 priced at £40 (but you can get them for under £20 easily) as well as the mainstream PX 100. The construction of the CX 95 is fairly predictable. Made of tough plastic material, the CX 95's heads are pretty sturdy protecting the single driver design. The same can't be said about the cables - which are flimsy and rubbery almost like the CX 300. The default lenght is perfect for when I slip my Walkman into my shirt pocket, but the extension cable is a just too long. I pair it with my Sony extensions instead.

The CX 95 does not disappoint in the sound quality department. With a rated impedance of 16 ohm, the CX 95 isn't difficult to drive. Playing FLAC files from my PC, the Sennheiser provided my blessed eardrums with good and balanced dynamic sound. At the price range, the CX 95 blew away the CX 300 in bass level in its quality, while maintaining a more balanced sound throughout. While it isn't as great as Denon AH-C751 (which has a greater frequency range I believe) IEMs I auditioned two week ago, it also costs far far less. Sounds are warm, with a reasonable clarity an overall detailed sound stage with Sennheiser's usual bass performance. Even when paired with my A818, and despite using lossy 256kbps files, the CX 95 performed extremely well. Highs are bright and the mids and lows balanced. Compared to my self-repaired Shure e2c, the CX 95 is a more 'fun' headphones while the e2c was more clinical and the Sony crispier.

In terms of isolation, the CX 95 works well, though no better or worse than the snug fitting CX 300. I had no problem riding the tube or waiting outside the changing rooms in Selfridges, with a little ambient noise disturbing my enjoyment. The same can be said about sealing, as I can comfortably use this in bed without any retort aimed at me. Comfort wise, the Sennheiser's soft tips are pretty much as comfortable as they can get (I settled for the medium size tips), and best of all I can use my Sony tips on them. They are not meant to be worn behind the ears like the e2c (which I tolerate only because they sound great), which is even better for my ears. The downside of the CX 95 is its microphonics. Microphonics level with in-ear canalphones has improved a lot since a decade ago, but they still exists. The CX 95 can be worn over the ear to alleviate the problem slightly, if you do not mind reversing the stereo imaging.

I love the CX 95 as it provides a reasonably great sound quality. It doesn't work well with all music genre, particularly if you prefer music with great clinical detail like classical genre. Despite that I found it pleasing for listening to old Metallica, Vanessa-Mae, Ministry, Carcass etc., and oddly loving the enveloping warmth sound the CX 95 produces. I am not a bass head and yes, the CX 95 like the CX 300 is bass-driven. But with proper EQ-ing and customising the A818's DAC, I found that the bass quality is soft and warm complimenting my sound preference very well. Overall the CX 95 is a great and balanced canalphones that isn't too expensive to invest in and is a couple of steps up over their entry level CX 300 models. Just don't expect to use it in the gym.

+ Great SQ and clarity for a sub £70 headphone
+ Warm and soft bass quality
+ Good seal
+ Interchangeable with CX 300 and Sony silicon tips
+ Isolates well
- Extension cable too long
- Flimsy cable
- Microphonics

8/10

The Sennheiser CX95 is available for less than £60 at Amazon UK, but has since been replaced by the CX 550

Nintendo

So it has come to this. Nintendo's solutions to drying Wii titles is through remaking GameCube games. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition was a nice update, but that was a year ago when Capcom wanted to make a quick buck and test the market. But this autumn 2008, two years after the Wii was released. Pikmin was a great game and I may rent it again (but I'll not buy). While it does look like a couple of new I.P.s will be coming our way like that Kid Icarus-like game shown at the conference, I just hope that development of new titles isn't hindered by their new found wisdom of cashing-in on GameCube Wii-makes.

Update: Joining Pikmin as Nintendo's 'take advantage of gullible fan base who will buy anything' business model are Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Chibi Robo, Pikmin 2, Mario Tennis GC, Metroid Prime, and Metroid Prime 2 Dark Echoes. Sigh.

I've mixed feeling about the new DSi. Not sure about the camera and music player but the bigger screens may may handy, though without an increased in resolution may prove pixelated. Also glad to see it has reinforced hinges. The DSi is a bit like the Game Boy micro - a new model to milk the brand dry and prevent a price drop. Personally I'll hold out for the proper DS successor, but if you don't already own a DS Lite then I see nothing wrong with the DSi. Unless they start making DSi specific games that is... Hmm...

In other news Dragon Quest IX has been dated for a March 2009 release, in Japan. Well, at least the title has not been stuck in development hell. In the meantime do play Dragon Quest IV.