• allow people to break technical protections on video games to investigate or correct security flaws.                

• allow college professors, film students, documentary filmmakers and producers of noncommercial videos to break copy-protection measures on DVDs so they can embed clips for educational purposes, criticism or commentary.                

• allow computer owners to bypass the need for external security devices called dongles if the dongle no longer works and cannot be replaced.                

• allow blind people to break locks on electronic books so that they can use them with read-aloud software and similar aides.

Dvader said:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100726/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_digital_copyright – Owners of the iPhone will be able to legally unlock their devices so they can run software applications that haven't been approved by Apple Inc., according to new government rules announced Monday. • allow owners of used cell phones to break access controls on their phones in order to switch wireless carriers.                

• allow people to break technical protections on video games to investigate or correct security flaws.                

• allow college professors, film students, documentary filmmakers and producers of noncommercial videos to break copy-protection measures on DVDs so they can embed clips for educational purposes, criticism or commentary.                

• allow computer owners to bypass the need for external security devices called dongles if the dongle no longer works and cannot be replaced.                

• allow blind people to break locks on electronic books so that they can use them with read-aloud software and similar aides.

Someone tell me how much an impact this will have?

That's it, I can't stand this Apple fanaticism garbage anymore.   I ignored this story because I don't care about the iPhone at all, but apparently this is a significant legal matter that has been dematerialized by hawking it as "you can jailbreak now!!111"

One of the most significant and harmful aspects of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was the inclusion of anti-circumvention laws, meaning that if there were "digital locks" on a piece of software, it was illegal to bypass it.  This essentially criminalized cryptography and created a massive loophole by which consumer rights could be bypassed.

These are some measures to draw back the ridiculous legislature, and it's actually surprising and refreshing to see this actually happen.  It needs to be the other way around, though.  That is, if there are going to be anti-circumvention laws, the laws need to create special conditions under which it it is illegal, not a blanket law with exceptions.

Dvader said:

New Metroid trailer is nice, shows off a ton of new moves, well old moves but the first time they were shown in this game. I still worry about this game though.

Is it the camera perspective or the Itagaki-less Team Ninja?  Both have me concerned.  But like I've said before, I never would have thought Retro would have succeeded.

aspro said:

Is it the camera perspective or the Itagaki-less Team Ninja?  Both have me concerned.  But like I've said before, I never would have thought Retro would have succeeded.

Its the really strange control scheme that does not seem to fit the game now that it looks more like a 3D game rather than a 2D Metroid.

Dvader said:

aspro said:

Is it the camera perspective or the Itagaki-less Team Ninja?  Both have me concerned.  But like I've said before, I never would have thought Retro would have succeeded.

Its the really strange control scheme that does not seem to fit the game now that it looks more like a 3D game rather than a 2D Metroid.

Come on man, you are a Capcom fan. You should be used to weird control and inadequate control schemes. 

Me on the other hand

Famitsu scores

Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X (PSP, Bandai Namco): 9 / 8 / 9 / 8 - (34/40)
Tiger Woods PGA 11 (PS3, EA): 7 / 6 / 6 / 6 - (25/40)
Assassin's Creed II: Special Edition (PS3/Xbox 360, Ubisoft): 9 / 9 / 8 / 9 - (35/40)
J-League Winning Eleven 2010 Club Championship (PS2, Konami): 8 / 7 / 7 / 8 - (30/40)
Tetris Party Premium (Wii, Hudson): 8 / 6 / 7 / 8 - (29/40)
Oretachi no Sabage Versus (PSP, Best Media): 6 / 5 / 4 / 5 - (20/40)
StormLover (PSP, D3): 8 / 7 / 8 / 7 - (30/40)
Jewel Pet: Mahou no Oheyya de Issho ni Asobou! (NDS, MTO): 8 / 7 / 7 / 7 - (29/40)
Heart Catch PreCure! Oshare Collection (NDS, Bandai Namco): 7 / 7 / 7 / 7 - (28/40)
Mame Goma 3: Kawaii ga Ippai (NDS, Columbia): 6 / 6 / 6 / 7 - (25/40)
Battle Spirits: Digital Starter (NDS, Bandai Namco): 7 / 7 / 8 / 8 - (30/40)
Tetris Party Premium (NDS, Hudson): 8 / 7 / 7 / 7 - (29/40)

http://www.mundorare.com/features/stampedes-sorrowful-swan-song

Sabreman Racing game aka Donkey Kong Racing on Gamecube

As we all know, the game started as Donkey Kong Racing, but it apparently never got farther than the E3 2001 promo video before it became Sabreman Stampede. In the beginning, Sabreman Stampede, like its former incarnation, was a racing game involving jumping from one animal to another, and racing towards the screen. According to our source, "a number of people from the development team consider this [version] to have been the most enjoyable & playable state of the game."

When it moved to the Xbox, it went more into the adventure genre. In this game, we find out that Sabreman had a wife named Flo. They would crash land on the island in a hot-air balloon/blimp (the artwork seen seems to imply that they settled on a plane crash). Sabreman would talk and befriend the villagers, perform tasks for them, and learn how to ride the animals, which could get him to his destinations quickly, and allow access to new areas. These changes happened late in the game's lifecycle; according to our source, it was "somewhere in 2004/2005 that it took on more of a sandbox adventure style."

The concept of the game was "basically Grand Theft Auto with animals. You have a huge open landscape and you can catch animals, and ride them around." As you can see in the video(s), you grab onto an animal, which begins a minigame where the animal drags you as if you were in a rodeo. If you can hold on for a period of time, you can ride said animal. Catching animals was a controversial topic among the team, because the core gameplay "involved catching animals that didn't want to be caught - essentially it's a cruelty-to-animals simulator." There was concern about some specifics in that regard, such as "harpooning animals, and a gun that held a rabbit flopping about on the end which you'd then shoot at a lion to tame." At the same time, this was a late feature in the game and was still being discussed about up to its cancellation.

So, what went wrong? Why was this game cancelled? According to our source, the game unfortunately wasn't going anywhere: "there was a lack of definite design direction on the team, and programmers and artists were constantly putting in more & more scenery, more animals with different handling, interesting features & mechanics. But, the skeleton of the game was just not there. It was severely lacking in major features, [such as] the game's progress, story, main tasks/objectives, etc."

Because of this, Microsoft saw it fit to put their foot down. "After three years of low productivity from all but 1 of the Xbox teams, [they] ...insisted that Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero be ready for the 360's launch." The Stampede programmers were taken off the team to help on those games. There were still two designers and a few artists that remained, adding more 3D models and scenery. Eventually, they realized that the game was going nowhere, and it was cancelled in late 2005.

Tons more footage:

http://www.mundorare.com/features/stampedes-sorrowful-swan-song/stampede-videos

Awww man.