Well known for its digital pinball tables, Zen Studios is revisiting another of its key releases with the release of Infinite Minigolf for the Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, VR platforms, and PC. Following on from 2010's PS3-exclusive Planet Minigolf, this updated take on the concept brings the course creation tools that helped make Planet stand out to a wider audience in a fun mix of the creativity tools of Sony's LittleBigPlanet and the trick shots found in Nintendo's Kirby's Dream Course.
In this interview with Matthew Green we talk about an incredible NES origin story, writing about video games, early impressions on the Switch, a deep-dive on an unassuming Acro-Bat, and much more.
The episode runs thirty-three minutes and was a lot of fun to record. I love talking about Nintendo and I love talking about myself, so what's not to enjoy? Thanks to Tom for inviting me on the show.
Ripped from the headlines! On this week's episode of Power Button we shine a light on the selfish, shameless, or otherwise misguided behavior of some of video gaming's most reprehensible traitors and colluders. Join us for an hour of shocking betrayals, plus we're also giving away a free eShop code for the Nintendo Switch version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Expansion Pass DLC. Listen to this episode and the send the answer to the contest question to before the end of the day Monday, July 24, 2017. Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, find us on Stitcher, subscribe via iTunes and Google Play, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via
, you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan, or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton. We also have a tip jar if you'd like to kick a dollar or two of support our way.
Our journey through Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is not over yet because Nintendo has released the first major piece of its Expansion Pass DLC. The Master Trials adds a variety of legacy items, new modes, and interesting extras to a game that already felt packed full of content. On this episode of Power Button, Blake Grundman and I spend an hour digging into the new material and discussing whether or not it's a worthwhile buy. Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, find us on Stitcher, subscribe via iTunes and Google Play, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via
, you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan, or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton. We also have a tip jar if you'd like to kick a dollar or two of support our way.
I went into the new Castlevania series on Netflix with my doubts, but I came away from the first season impressed and hungry for more. Warren Ellis and his team have found the right balance between the video game's lore, violence, and tone to produce a series faithful to the games that also manages to humanize Dracula (no pun intended; it's a metaphorical humanization and not literal) and cast some insight on just why Dracula and the Belmonts are locked in an eternal stalemate. Spoilers ahead!
The limited photographic capabilities offered by Nintendo's 1998 Game Boy Camera accessory have long since been surpassed by even the most basic digital camera, but there is still a hobbyist community out there exploring new ways to use the monochromatic camera for interesting things. Consider this astrophotography project from Alexander Pietrow, an astronomy and instrumentation student of Leiden University in the Netherlands. He recently used a Game Boy Camera combined with a telescope to capture images of the Moon and infinities beyond.
I wondered if it would be possible to do astrophotography with this camera. Searching the internet I was surprised that nobody had tried this before and decided to give it a go. Using the 1838 6'' Fraunhofer telescope in the Old Observatory of Leiden in combination with a 'Gosky Universal Cell Phone Adapter', it was relatively easy to properly align the camera with the telescope eyepiece. The biggest issue was a typical Dutch one: waiting for a cloudless night.
A few weeks later the clouds finally broke up and the Moon was high in the sky together with Jupiter. Not wanting to pass up on this opportunity, I rushed to the observatory and clicked away. The Moon was observed trough the viewfinder for a more zoomed out image and the main telescope for detailed shots. The viewfinder images are not very impressive, although the phase of the moon is clearly visible, especially when compared with a Stellarium image of that night. (Note that telscopes flip the image.) The second moon series was much better, especially when looking at the border between the light and dark sides. We can clearly see craters on the Moon.
He has actual photos of celestial objects that you absolutely must see. I love a good "because I could" vintage technology project and this has to be one of the most "because I could" projects I've ever seen. I don't know what possible use this telescope application has beyond being an interesting lark, but my compliments to Pietrow for his ingenuity. I hope that word of this reaches the Game Boy Camera's original development staff. I bet they would be pleased to learn that their own "because I could" project has been used to photograph other planets.
When it comes to the glory days of the 16-bit console mascots, it's easy to rattle off a list of characters that are not Super Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog. Invariably I always want to list Rayman in the company of Bubsy and Plok, but then I remember that Rayman never appeared on the Super NES or Sega Genesis. Instead he was born on the Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Atari Jaguar. He just feels like he should have come from the 16-bit era though, and it's probably a lingering half-memory of early Rayman magazine coverage that's responsible for this instinct. Now thanks to a recently released prototype, we can see Rayman's original Super NES incarnation in action. I knew I wasn't crazy! Ethan Gach at Kotaku explains Rayman's unfinished origins:
Information about a long, lost SNES Rayman game first re-surfaced last fall when designer Michel Ancel, the series creator, shared pictures of a ROM for an old prototype build of the game that had been re-discovered by a friend. The first Rayman game ended up metamorphosing and coming to the Atari Jaguar, Sega Saturn, and PS1 instead, with the original SNES vision lost to time. But After 24 years the ROM still worked, and now, thanks to Cornut, what exists of it is even playable.
It’s extremely limited in its scope, including a small environment, the ability to jump, and a few other character animations. “That prototype it is a very early build,” said Cornut. “So the stuff like two-player mode that have been shown in screenshots are not really in this build. Perhaps the ROM contains secrets in which case homebrew hackers will hopefully unearth them soon. “
Seeing Rayman move around in this prototype reminds me of the forgotten SNES/Genesis action platformer B.O.B. in which a space robot traverses dark, tech-inspired levels. Rayman's design is essentially intact here compared to his final form, although he's not as detailed as he would appear on 32-bit consoles. Looking at this now, I think of how larger than life arcade characters from games like Street Fighter II were scaled down to fit on lesser hardware such as the Game Boy. Sure, this is Rayman, but he's smaller and less alive than we're used to seeing him. From a historical perspective I'm glad that we can experience this prototype, but I think the character benefited more from his actual debut on stronger hardware.
Nintendo is back to raise and dash our hopes with the new Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition console featuring twenty-one built-in Super NES games including the previously unreleased Star Fox 2. On this week's episode of the podcast, Blake Grundman and I dig into the included games to discuss the best of the bunch and then outline the history of Star Fox 2 and why it's so exciting that fans will finally be able to play it. Crank up the volume and PLAY IT LOUD! Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, find us on Stitcher, subscribe via iTunes and Google Play, toss this RSS feed into your podcast aggregation software of choice, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach us via
, you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons and @GrundyTheMan, or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton. We also have a tip jar if you'd like to kick a dollar or two of support our way.
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