It's Dangerous to Go Alone

Master Sword Award, August 2010 - Now Accepting Nominations!

2 days ago

The past couple of months, I have selected a recipient for the Master Sword Award myself. I realized last week, however, that this was absolutely something that should be a larger community effort. So, starting this month, nominations for the Master Sword Award will be held publicly, with a recipient being selected by public poll after nominations are closed.

Remember: The Master Sword Award is given out by this site on a monthly basis to a specific game, news item, event, or person that was somehow instrumental in pushing forward the game industry that month. You can check out the previous winners right here. Also keep in mind that the nominee does not necessarily have to be in any way related to Nintendo.

To make it easy, nominations can be offered here in the comments of this post, as replies to our Twitter account, or via our handy new Facebook page. If you prefer a private submission, you can also email us at mastersword@itsdangeroustogoalone.com

You have ONE WEEK to get your nominations in! I’ll close nominations on Wednesday, September 8th. So, let’s hear it! Who or what do YOU think positively impacted the game industry during the month of August?

Aug30

3 days ago

It's Dangerous to Go Alone on Facebook!

Link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Its-Dangerous-to-Go-Alone/149842598372812

So, I’ve created a Facebook page for It’s Dangerous to Go Alone! Right now it just contains a feed from the website, but once I get some members in there, I’ll be doing some more things there. I’m planning on the Facebook page being the social/community center for the site. There will be special features, user polls, maybe even some giveaways! So join the page! You know you want to. Because you’re addicted to Facebook.

Aug30

3 days ago

Nintendo dropping prices on DS line of handheld systems

Link: http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=25165

Today is apparently a big news day for Nintendo. The company just announced that as of September 12th, the prices of their DSi and DSi XL systems will be dropping down to $150 and $170, respectively. The DS Lite will stay at $130.

$20 is not an enormous drop, but I suppose for those people that need a replacement system, it’s a better bargain. I myself have a DS Lite with a broken hinge, but the system still works just fine, and with the 3DS right around the corner, I’m sticking it out.

Of course, this news just gives more fodder for those still expecting Nintendo to magically drop the 3DS on us this holiday season. Guys, guys, please. It ain’t happening. I’m still predicting a spring launch next year, where a steady supply of new titles for the next couple of quarters following launch takes them through to a stellar holiday 2011. I would LOVE to be proven wrong, but I seriously don’t expect to see the 3DS this year.

Aug30

3 days ago

Golden Sun Release Date: 11/29

Link: http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=25161

Fantastic! The seriously highly-anticipated return of Golden Sun comes sooner than anyone expected. The game was noticeably absent from Nintendo’s release date calendar announced earlier this month. I, like many others, had assumed that the game would be delayed to sometime early next year. But apparently that isn’t the case. Nintendo put out a press release this morning revealing that Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for the DS would be arriving just after Thanksgiving, which means it will make a great stocking stuffer this holiday season.

Which is great, because, honestly, I don’t think I could have waited any longer for this.

Aug29

This is something that absolutely amazes me. When developers can’t find any more interesting uses for Wii remotes or balance boards, scientists take over and show us exactly what this technology is capable of.

Some researchers at Ithaca College have taken a Wii balance board and demonstrated how it could be used as a toddler-controlled motorized vehicle. The videos are simply wonderful. All they’re really doing is using the kids’ natural tendency to lean and reach for things to operate the vehicle through the balance-detection of the board. Absolutely fantastic.

I hope these researchers have earned a good grade for this project. You know, setting aside the fact that Nintendo really did all the heavy lifting. These guys just applied the technology in a potentially useful way.

Wii Balance Board-controlled robot a hit with toddlers in Ithaca (video) — Engadget

Aug27

6 days ago

Metroid: Other M review at Joystiq

Link: http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/27/metroid-other-m-review/

Fantastic review by the inimitable JC Fletcher for Metroid: Other M. He gave it 4 and a half stars. I can only surmise that the reason for the missing half star is because the game rocked him so absolutely fully that it gave him a concussion, and he had no choice but to ding it for the regrettable ER visit.

Aug26

1 week ago

No online for Need for Speed for the Wii

Link: http://gonintendo.com/?p=134323

And so it begins. Really, you can argue that this has already been happening for some time, and for the most part, you would be right. However, I think what we’re seeing here is the slow erosion of any consideration for online multiplayer on the Wii. I think the last hurrah will likely be Conduit 2 this fall. After that, the only things your internet connection on the Wii will be good for is checking out the developer videos on the Nintendo Channel and watching as the Virtual Console continues to get completely abandoned.

Aug20

With Metroid: Other M coming out next week, the advertising might of Japan is being flexed in full. It’s working, I’m getting very excited for this new entry.

Unfortunately, I’ve promised myself that I would finish Red Steel 2 before picking up the new Metroid installment, and since I’ve been busy with Dragon Quest 9 as of late, that hasn’t exactly happened yet. So, we’ll see how long I’ll be able to hold off before dropping by Target after work one day. My guess is that it won’t be terribly long.

Metroid: Other M ads focus on nostalgia, overacting | Joystiq

Aug19

tinycartridge:

Metroid retrospective, narrated by Samus Aran (or rather her voice actress, Jessica Martin).

Just in case you haven’t seen it yet, Nintendo posted this great video catching viewers up on almost 25 years worth of story from the Metroid franchise, and preparing them for Other M’s upcoming release.

Oh, and you should also check out the new commercial posted on Metroid’s Japanese site, which compares and contrasts the Wii title with the original Famicom/NES game!

Preorder: Metroid: Other M (August 31st)

See also: More Metroid: Other M media

Aug3

Master Sword Award, July 2010: Valve

1 month ago

Every now and then, amongst the endless stories of companies that don’t care about their consumer base so long as they’re buying things, a story comes along that reaffirms your faith in industry.

Late in July, we heard such a story. Valve, who besides being a major game developer and publisher also created and maintains the popular Steam digital distribution service, accidentally banned 12,000 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 players from the service when a glitch mistakenly identified those players as cheaters.

Now, this isn’t necessarily surprising news. Most companies when faced with the same sort of mistake would fix it, apologize, and move on. Not Valve.

Valve sent each player two copies of their popular title Left 4 Dead 2; one for the banned player, and another to gift to a friend. They didn’t have to do this, MW2 isn’t even one of their games, they just distribute it digitally. But they realized they made a major error, and worked to rectify it as completely as possible. They probably came away from that experience some new friends and customers.

This is absolutely an example of a company behaving very, very well. Valve went above and beyond in making sure their customers were happy after accidentally causing a massive fail, and other companies need to take note. This is how you treat your consumer base. Falling over yourselves to make everything right. This is an example to live by.

That’s why Valve is the July 2010 recipient of the Master Sword Award.

The Master Sword Award is given out by It’s Dangerous to Go Alone on a monthly basis to a specific game, news item, event, or person that was somehow instrumental in pushing forward the game industry that month.