Latest news with #GameBoyAdvance
Stuff.tv
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Stuff.tv
The 10 best tennis video games ever to play during Wimbledon
8) Mario Tennis: Power Tour (2005, Game Boy Advance) Play Presumably concerned Game Boy Color owners would throw their consoles out of the window if the company had the audacity to release a normal tennis game on the system, Nintendo crafted Mario Tennis to be closer to a quirky RPG that just happened to have tennis mechanics in place of a battle system. For this Game Boy Advance sequel, the mash-up was particularly glorious, twinning amusing Zelda-like chats and exploration with high-octane ball-thwacking that was the best on the system. Add in furiously addictive madcap mini-games and you've a title that might not be tennis as you know it, but it does make everything else on this list seem a little dull by comparison. 9) Wii Sports (2006, Nintendo Wii) Play As the Wii arrived, the games industry was roused by a million voices crying out in pain that Nintendo had – shock! – dumbed-down console gaming. Take the tennis bit of Wii Sports: players moved automatically, and you merely swung your controller a bit like a racket, only occasionally accidentally letting go and smashing your TV screen. The thing is, it was fantastic (apart from the TV-smashing bit). Everyone could get in on the action, rather than having to first master the 'gamepad claw'; yet there was enough nuance for dedicated players to pull off some fantastic moves – even if the little Mii characters looked ridiculous while doing so. 10) Top Spin 4 (2011, PS3/Wii/Xbox 360) Play It's probably sacrilege to say it, but some time in the 2000s, Sega lost its tennis-game crown; Virtua Tennis 3 was an impressive if predictable update, but its sequel was finally eclipsed by the lurking Top Spin series. In Top Spin 4, the deep coaching system hugely added to the extensive career mode, and the character customisation went so far as to enable you to select different types of grunts and victory celebrations. It was perhaps all a little clinical (besides the bizarre uncanny valley player faces), but fluid player movement, balanced gameplay and detailed, responsive controls combined to make for a rewarding experience for those who persevered. New balls, please Play If you're thinking, 'Hang on. You've just recommended the game equivalents of Martina Navratilova, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer', that's because there are few newer titles capable of walloping an ace towards your console. Still, if you need something contemporary, there are two solid options. Top Spin 2K25 (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows) follows up on the last entry in the above list with an iterative effort that nets you a slew of licensed venues and players that look at least 34% less like zombies than they did in the Virtua Tennis days. Tweaked mechanics make for exciting risk vs reward moments during rallies. But you'll grumble at the grind progression system and absurdist virtual currency, which leaves Wimbledon winners with barely enough extra virtual cash for a pair of virtual socks. Tsk. Unsurprisingly, Nintendo Switch owners get something a mite more bonkers and colourful in the shape of Mario Tennis Aces. This builds on previous Nintendo efforts by fusing arcade gameplay and adventuring, while occasionally acknowledging that, yes, there's a tennis game in there somewhere. Boss battles with tennis rackets can be entertainingly daft, although the single-player mode runs out of steam faster than the average Brit at Wimbledon. The game's chaotic nature is fun while it lasts though.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A Canceled, But Nearly Finished Animaniacs Game Has Been Found
An unfinished build of a previously missing Animaniacs game, Hollywood Hypnotics, has been found and saved by the video game preservation group Hidden Palace. Finally, the world can see and even play this lost piece of gaming history. As spotted recently by Time Extension, a nearly complete version of Animaniacs: Hollywood Hypnotics for the Game Boy Advance was shared with Hidden Palace. This was intended to be a tie-in video game based on the popular animated series that aired on FOX and later The WB from 1993 to 1998. Here's some footage of the game running: This newly uncovered build comes courtesy of users MrPinball64 and Billcat-socks. The never-released GBA game was reportedly being developed in the early 2000s by UK-based studio Full Fat Productions. A blog post written by the users who shared the unfinished game claims that development on Hollywood Hypnotics started around 2001 after a previous Animaniacs game had been canceled very early into development. However, the game's publisher collapsed in 2003, and the nearly finished game was canned. Hollywood Hypnotics features point-and-click adventure game-like mechanics as well as some 2D platforming. It is a Game Boy Advance game based on a kids' cartoon. Of course, it has some 2D platforming in it! That was the law back then. The unfinished build is fully playable on modern GBA emulators. I tested it out and it worked perfectly. The plot of the game revolves around Warner siblings Yakko, Wakko, and Dot trying to stop the famous lab mice Pinky and the Brain from turning the iconic WB Water Tower—where the trio live in the animated series—into a rocket, with the nefarious duo using hypnosis to make their evil plan happen. . For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Metro
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
The six strangest games Hideo Kojima made before Death Stranding 2
Death Stranding 2 is out soon but Hideo Kojima's gameography is full of weird games, from Penguin Adventure to a stock market simulator. It would be reductive to describe Hideo Kojima's video games simply as weird, but it's the obvious place to start. He's very much aware of how they come across, and plays up to the commentary about them, to the point where he was worried the upcoming Death Stranding 2 wasn't divisive enough. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, the sequel to the original 2019 hit, promises to be another bizarre experience, with a stop-motion animated puppet as part of its main cast, a villain wielding an electric guitar as a weapon, and a very blatant stand-in for Solid Snake from the Metal Gear games. With the sequel's launch right around the corner, we wanted to look back through Kojima's gameography and highlight the ones that stand out as the weirdest of the lot. This one deserves recognition not so much for its content but for the fact that it was designed to be played outside. That's because this 2003 action role-player for the Game Boy Advance had a light sensor built into its cartridge, with certain mechanics requiring you to make use of real sunlight, since the gameplay was all about fighting vampires. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. It's certainly a novel idea, although anyone who owned a Game Boy Advance knows it's next to impossible to see what's on-screen when out in the sun. Also, it just flat out didn't work most of the time in the gloomy UK. Nevertheless, the game did well enough to justify three sequels, although the last one for the DS removed the light sensor. The first Metal Gear Ac!d game was already weird for being so far removed from the main series, as it merged stealth action with a turn-based collectible card game, while also setting up its own continuity. We have to give the point to its follow-up, though, since it's not even technically a sequel and is itself set in another separate continuity. If that's not quite nutty enough for you the PSP version came with a cardboard box called the *Solid Eye*, that you can look through to get a stereoscopic image. While he didn't direct this one, and instead served as producer, Kojima's influences are still all over this game, particularly in regards to its overly complex narrative. It was quite good, but unfortunately it's not available on any modern formats and the only other version was a Java ME port for non-smartphones. Penguin Adventure is only weird in retrospect, since it's Kojima's professional debut in the games industry and is so unlike anything else he's made since, being a platformer for MSX home computers, where you play as a cartoon penguin. A deeper dive unveils some humorously child unfriendly details, like one of the weapons being an actual gun and one of its multiple endings seeing the princess you're meant to save die. Despite its status as Kojima's first game, though, he downplayed his involvement in a 2014 social media post, saying he only worked on it for a short while and didn't contribute much beyond ideas for some of the boss fights and gimmicks. Even so, a penguin with a gun is still pretty weird. What makes Snatcher so strange is that there was truly little else like it when it came out. It's technically an adventure/visual novel, but Kojima's love of film meant it had a far more cinematic flair than its contemporaries. The influences it takes from sci-fi films like Blade Runner, Terminator, and Akira are laughably obvious, but this was many players' first real exposure to cyberpunk stories. Although it was a commercial flop, it's long since been vindicated as a cult classic. Perhaps the weirdest thing about it is that there's no modern re-release, although there was a radio play prequel that Kojima made with Suda51 and is, predictably, Japanese only. Although he didn't direct Zone Of The Enders or its sequel, Kojima is credited as the series' creator and certainly had a lot of influence over it, with a 2003 interview translated and archived by schmuplations stating he was responsible for its world and backstory. He also appeared to have enough creative control to be the one to scrap plans for a Zone Of The Enders 3, after the less than stellar HD collection botched remasters of the first two games. That's a shame as Zone Of The Enders is a fun giant robot sim, although its mechs are much zippier than you'd expect. More Trending Incredibly niche outside of dedicated fan circles, and growing obscurer by the day, Zone Of The Enders' story is perhaps even more impenetrable than Metal Gear's, with all the cut scenes and characters it throws at you; although the sequel wasn't quite so bad. Even some diehard Kojima fans may not have heard of this one and we wouldn't blame you, since it only ever released in Japan on the DS. You're not missing out, though, since this is no stealth action adventure but instead a stock market simulator. While Nintendo was busy with its blue sky strategy, of expanding gaming beyond the normal core audience, Kojima's response to games like Brain Training was what translates as Stock Transaction Trainer. It was a serious simulator, using real Tokyo Stock Exchange data, and successful enough to spawn two sequels. None of them were ever localised for the West though, probably because so much would need to be changed beyond just the dialogue. Or maybe Konami's US division just thought it was too weird. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima explains why he'll never retire MORE: Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear spiritual successor won't be out this decade MORE: Hideo Kojima put a secret stash of game ideas on a USB stick for when he dies
Engadget
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Palmer Luckey's ModRetro Chromatic portable console is now a thing you can actually buy
There's a new (ish) retro console on the block. The ModRetro Chromatic had a soft launch last year but is now "permanently in stock" for consumers. This is another machine that runs Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges, like the beloved Analogue Pocket and others. The Chromatic features a magnesium alloy build, so it should take a licking. It also features a backlit screen — something the original Game Boy lacked. As a matter of fact, Nintendo didn't fully embrace backlighting technology until midway through the life of the Game Boy Advance. The console was designed by Palmer Luckey and was originally sold in a limited run last year. Today's release includes a new colorway and the choice of a sapphire glass display for increased durability. There are also a bunch of new accessories, like a rechargeable power bank, and some nifty software features. It can now natively stream to Discord, Mac or PC, without any additional hardware and there's a new firmware tool to update games. The Chromatic runs proprietary cartridges, in addition to Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles. There are a handful of new games arriving with this release, including a metroidvania called Dark Plague . Each console ships with Tetris , just like the original Game Boy. The standard release costs $200, but the model with the sapphire glass display costs $300. New games price out at $40 and old-school Game Boy carts are available on eBay, at garage sales and maybe buried in ancient couch cushions. There are a couple of caveats here. First of all, this doesn't emulate games, as cartridges are required. It only handles Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles. The Analogue Pocket, for instance, can also play Game Boy Advance titles and a separate adapter brings other consoles into the mix. — Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) May 1, 2025 There's also the creator himself. Palmer Luckey is a controversial figure. He founded Oculus and helped bring VR to the masses, sure, but recent years has found him running a military defense contracting firm called Anduril Industries. This company has been involved with designing a "virtual" border wall complete with hundreds of surveillance towers, building AI tools for military use and, most recently, making wearables that allow soldiers to interact with AI-powered weapon systems. He's become a big player in the defense space, securing $6 billion in global government contracts. You'll have to decide if you want to indirectly contribute to that cause by giving him $200 or $300 to pick up a portable console. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kojima has a mind tomb: a USB stick filled with ideas for his staff to use after he dies 'kind of like a will'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. As a 31 year old, I think constantly about my imminent death. After being assassinated by terrorists while rescuing a baby who is also the president from a burning building, how do I want people to remember me? Fortunately, my contract stipulates that I will be embalmed and lie in state like Lenin in the centre of the PC Gamer offices until the end of time, but others don't have that luxury (we're short on desk space as it is). Hideo Kojima, for instance, is achieving immortality by cramming a USB stick full of ideas for his staff to use after he concludes his tenancy on Earth. In a chat with our comrades at Edge magazine, Kojima said a serious illness during the Covid-19 pandemic reminded him of his mortality: "Until then, I didn't think I was old, you know? I just didn't feel my age, and I assumed I would be able to create for as long as I live." Sickness disillusioned him of that. "I couldn't create anything. And I saw lots of people around me passing away at that time. I was confronted with death." Though Kojima recovered and is now full-swing on putting out Death Stranding 2, the experience stayed with him. He began to wonder how long he had left to keep doing creative work—"Perhaps I would have 10 years?" It's that confrontation with mortality, says Kojima, that produced the pitch for Physint, but it produced something else, too: a USB stick filled with Kojima-brand ideas for his staff to pore through after he's gone. "I gave a USB stick with all my ideas on it to my personal assistant," said the man himself, "kind of like a will. "Perhaps they could continue to make things after I'm gone, here at Kojima Productions… This is a fear for me—what happens to Kojima Productions after I'm gone. I don't want them to just manage our existing IP." To be honest, I can't think of anything more Kojima than games still coming out with his name over the title sometime in 2150. If anyone deserves this kind of intellectual preservation, it's the guy who got a Game Boy Advance game made with a solar sensor built into the cartridge. You reckon the idea for a game where you get old, die, and forget how to move is on there? Hopefully Kojima's assistant backed it up, in any case. 2025 games: This year's upcoming releasesBest PC games: Our all-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest RPGs: Grand adventuresBest co-op games: Better together
