61 Frames Per Second : homebrew

Handjobs for Homebrew: Brawl Stage Studio

Derrick Sanskrit — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT

If you're like me, you probably subscribed to Masahiro Sakurai's Smash Bros Dojo blog hyping the release of Super Smash Bros Brawl over a year ago. On a daily basis, Sakurai and company revealed fun new features of the game, some of which were standard and blasé and some of which were mind-blowingly awesome. The two most amazing, without a doubt, were the inclusion of fan favorite Sonic the Hedgehog as a playable character and, of course, the level editor. Including a level editor in Super Smash Bros Brawl meant nearly infinite replay value, even moreso than the game's prior iterations which have long since owned the attention of gamers for years. The only problem was that controlling the level editor was finicky and many gamers, including myself, would often press the wrong button and delete all their hard work. Designing stages in the living room on the Wii was stressful. If it wasn't great, then you were deemed a failure by your roommates and loved ones. What started as a wonderful idea to extend the user interaction in a fan-favorite franchise had become a nerve-wracking and oft-ignored add-on.

Well no longer is this quite so harrowing an affair as programmer Xane has released the beta of his Brawl Stage Studio application, a homebrew program that allows you to build your Smash Bros stages from the comfort of your PC, save them to an SD card, and play them in Brawl. Fantastic! All the features are there, from conveyor belts and statues to the stage soundtrack, and even a few new features like setting the player spawn points and including your own custom thumbnail images. Plus, typing with a keyboard is much easier than using the virtual keypad on the Wii. But, as Levar Burton used to say, you don't have to take my word for it. Just check out this demo video:

Brawl Stage Studio is still in beta, which means ther are still some bugs to fix and potentially new features on the horizon. Download it and send your feedback to Xane here.

Related articles:
Handjobs for Homebrew: Mario Paint Composer DS
10 Games Nadia Played in 2008 Instead of Working: Super Smash Bros Brawl
Two Years In: The Wii's Feats of Strength and it's Disappointments

Chiptune Friday: 8-Bit Daft Punk

Derrick Sanskrit — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Third Daft Punk post this month? Clearly March is all about robots dancing as far as I'm concerned.

You may have seen around the 'net that a new bit of NES homebrew was released last month in D-Pad Hero, a game that mimicked the now all-too-familiar Guitar Hero/Dance Dance Revolution style of tapping buttons in rhythm to a scrolling bar of icons, only it replaces the guitar controller/dance pad with a traditional NES game pad and high quality song recordings with size and medium appropriate chiptune. Gameplay is expectedly challenging, but the songs are divine, especially the chiptune version of Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".

Something about those clicks and warbles just seems... appropriate.

Even though the original "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was popular when released back in 2001, it rose in popularity again in 2007 when Kanye West sampled it for his hit song "Stronger". You can download the ROM for D-Pad Hero here (you'll need some form of NES emulator). If you like it, click "support us" and PayPal them some cash to make a sequel. Maybe we'll get some chiptune Toto next time!

Related tunes:
NES Radiohead
Game Boy Postal Service
MIA vs. Super Mario Bros
RAC vs. The Legend of Zelda

Daily DS Sutra - Position of the Nail

Derrick Sanskrit — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Today, we close our series of looks at the more interesting poses in amateur French developer Cid2Mizard's SutraDS, a homebrew Kama Sutra application for the Nintendo DS. Have we saved the best for last? Well, that really depends on what you consider "best."

One more time, if you are offended by imagery or discussion of a sexual nature, please do not continue reading this post and generally avoid the rest of Nerve.com

Just to be clear, even though we do not see this content as pornographic, it is most likely NSFW.

Please skip this post if you're in a position where you don't want digital representations of sexual activity on your computer screen.

If you're in Google Reader, just tap the J key on your keyboard to skip ahead.

Nobody wants a repeat of yesterday's shenanigans.

Are we all clear yet?

If you're someplace where it's cool to be looking at stuff about video games and sex (like your home, the Nerve office or the corner Starbucks), we're all cool, right?

If not, skip this.

Ready?

Okay.

Today's position: Position of the Nail

Wow. That looks uncomfortable.

It also doesn't look particularly pleasurable, but hey, different strokes, right? Very different strokes.

SutraDS does praise this position for "very intense stimulation" and "angle and amplitude of penetration exitante" which I understand translates to "exciting." It also warns "here you will have understood that the risk of wounds is rather raised. Therefore go with caution there." That sounds like a Liz Lemon joke gone horribly awry.

Ugh, this is going to be what I picture every time Stephen Colbert claims to have "nailed" somebody.

Well, I hope you enjoyed our week-long look at this very quirky homebrew title. Odd and unfinished as it is, I think it's certainly worth a look. The software is sorely lacking any sort of audio component, so I would recommend some MIDI Marvin Gaye to go along with it. If you'd like to read more about sex, just click "Home" at the top of this page. If you've got a Nintendo DS with a flashcart or even just a DS emulator, you can download SutraDS here.

Related articles:
Daily DS Sutra - Union of the Elephant
Daily DS Sutra - The Big Opening
Daily DS Sutra - Mobile of the Wheel
Daily DS Sutra - Union of the Amazon
Roundtable Discussion: Pushing the Envelope on Sex and Nudity
God of War III Does Not Need Another Sex Mini-Game
Sex in Games: Daniel Floyd is a Smart Cookie, but No Al Green

Daily DS Sutra - Union of the Elephant

Derrick Sanskrit — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Today, we look at another of the more interesting poses in amateur French developer Cid2Mizard's SutraDS, a homebrew Kama Sutra application for the Nintendo DS. Once again, if you are offended by imagery or discussion of a sexual nature, please do not continue reading this post and generally avoid the rest of Nerve.com

Today's position: Union of the Elephant

Can somebody please tell me what this position has to do with elephants?

Compared to the other poses reviewed this week, Union of the Elephant is downright bland, lacking all sense of adventure and wonder and offers a fairly superficial degree of penetration. What's it got going for it? Well, clearly comfort is a factor, as both partners are essentially lying flat on their fronts. This allows for increased opportunity for fondling, cuddling, and a general sense of intimacy, as your entire bodies are touching. A good pose for love, not particularly great for passion. But again, why elephants? Is this how elephants have sex, laying flat on their stomachs? That seems completely impossible. Worth noting, this position can be excellent for female stimulation, as SutraDS points out "the front wall of the vagina and point G are well stimulated."

"Point G." Thank you, SutraDS.

If you'd like to read more about sex, just click "Home" at the top of this page. If you've got a Nintendo DS with a flashcart or even just a DS emulator, you can download SutraDS here. Check back every day this week as we look through some of our other favorite positions in this quirky bit of homebrew.

Related articles:
Daily DS Sutra - The Big Opening
Daily DS Sutra - Mobile of the Wheel
Daily DS Sutra - Union of the Amazon
Roundtable Discussion: Pushing the Envelope on Sex and Nudity
God of War III Does Not Need Another Sex Mini-Game
Sex in Games: Daniel Floyd is a Smart Cookie, but No Al Green

Daily DS Sutra - The Big Opening

Derrick Sanskrit — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:30:00 GMT

Today, we look at another of the more interesting poses in amateur French developer Cid2Mizard's SutraDS, a homebrew Kama Sutra application for the Nintendo DS. Once again, if you are offended by imagery or discussion of a sexual nature, please do not continue reading this post and generally avoid the rest of Nerve.com

Today's position: The Big Opening

I admit, today's pick was partially inspired by the announcement of the Wii's SD Card channel and the increase in capability to 32gig SD cards.

Do I even need to describe how this one works? You guys are adults (I presume), you probably already know what goes into where. The important things with this position are to repeat the raising and lowering of the leg several times and to alternate legs every so often. Penetration is good but not excellent, but that's all made up by the compression of the vaginal walls with each motion of the leg. According to SutraDS, this pose should be ideal for pirates as the man "enters a hand holding the peg leg drawn up". Kinky!

If you'd like to read more about sex, just click "Home" at the top of this page. If you've got a Nintendo DS with a flashcart or even just a DS emulator, you can download SutraDS here. Check back every day this week as we look through some of our other favorite positions in this quirky bit of homebrew.

Related articles:
Daily DS Sutra - Mobile of the Wheel
Daily DS Sutra - Union of the Amazon
Roundtable Discussion: Pushing the Envelope on Sex and Nudity
God of War III Does Not Need Another Sex Mini-Game
Sex in Games: Daniel Floyd is a Smart Cookie, but No Al Green

Daily DS Sutra - Mobile of the Wheel

Derrick Sanskrit — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Today, we look at another of the more interesting poses in amateur French developer Cid2Mizard's SutraDS, a homebrew Kama Sutra application for the Nintendo DS. Once again, if you are offended by imagery or discussion of a sexual nature, please do not continue reading this post and generally avoid the rest of Nerve.com

Today's position: Mobile of the Wheel

I have to say, this position looks dangerous. Definitely one you're going to want to be well lubricated for in order to avoid serious injury. The man inserts himself as is "traditional," but then proceeds to rotate himself around his partner 180 degrees using their connected privates as an axel. The animation loops here, so I'm not sure whether you are intended to return to the start position as depicted or go for the full 360 spin, though I imagine returning is less likely to cause pain to the man via twisting. Definitely a pose for the adventurous looking for something new and uncommon, SutraDS does warn that its very easy for beginners to slip out of penetration, so pay attention there.

If you'd like to read more about sex, just click "Home" at the top of this page. If you've got a Nintendo DS with a flashcart or even just a DS emulator, you can download SutraDS here. Check back every day this week as we look through some of our other favorite positions in this quirky bit of homebrew.

Related articles:
Daily DS Sutra - Union of the Amazon
Roundtable Discussion: Pushing the Envelope on Sex and Nudity
God of War III Does Not Need Another Sex Mini-Game
Sex in Games: Daniel Floyd is a Smart Cookie, but No Al Green

Daily DS Sutra - Union of the Amazon

Derrick Sanskrit — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:30:00 GMT

Last week, amateur French developer Cid2Mizard released his homebrew application SutraDS which, as the name implies, is a representation of a timeless pocket guide Kama Sutra for the Nintendo DS. Putting aside all criticism for the application's lack of polish or practicality, I have to admire its mere existance, wonderfully embodying everything that's great about the DS homebrew community by creating a non-game that changes what the DS is used for. As this is the video game blog for a fairly prominent internet sex magazine, I feel it is my duty to report on and promote discussion of SutraDS, and as such I now present the first in a week-long series reviewing just a few of the 37 poses included in the application.

Note: If you are offended by imagery or discussion of a sexual nature, please do not continue reading this post. In fact, you probably shouldn't be on Nerve at all.

Today's position: Union of the Amazon

This position allows for a great deal of comfort and pleasure for both partners as well as a deep penetration and high degree of mobility. The partners will probably need to be a little flexible and strong just to initiate, of course. I mean... look at that. That's not a position that you just happen to find yourself in. I imagine a little bit of regular yoga for the guy should be enough to keep this one going for a while. The man has plenty of accessability to the woman's body for manipulative stimulation, and the woman maintains control of the actual penetration, which I'm sure we all know is ideal for sustained arousal and mutual climax.

This is one of the few poses in SutraDS that features a still image of a CGI-rendered couple rather than a looping two-second animation, but I'm sure it's easy to tell what the motion here would be. The program does warn that this position can be difficult to control and that the man may feel crushed by his partner, so attempt at your own risk, and for heaven's sake, stretch first. Nobody wants to pull a hamstring in this type of position.

If you'd like to read more about sex, just click "Home" at the top of this page. If you've got a Nintendo DS with a flashcart or even just a DS emulator, you can download SutraDS here. Check back every day this week as we look through some of our other favorite positions in this quirky bit of homebrew.

Related articles:
Roundtable Discussion: Pushing the Envelope on Sex and Nudity
God of War III Does Not Need Another Sex Mini-Game
Sex in Games: Daniel Floyd is a Smart Cookie, but No Al Green

For Love of the Game: The Legend of Zelda – The Shadowgazer

John Constantine — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:30:00 GMT

We could run a daily For Love of the Game feature on Zelda remakes alone. Zelda 1 with 16-bit graphics, Zelda 1 made out of Lego, two-dimensional Ocarina of Time, side-scrolling Ocarina of Time, Link’s Awakening running on Minish Cap’s engine, Twilight Princess dating sims, and on and on and on. People love Zelda, they always want more Zelda. But, and it’s a truth that’s taken a serious toll on the series, people tend to want Zelda exactly the way they’ve had it before, only slightly different. Fans aren’t the only ones who keep remaking Zelda; Eiji Aonuma’s been doing a bang-up job of it for almost a decade.

More interesting than homebrewers adding a special blend of basement hops to the same old quest-lager are those adventuresome folks making all new Zeldas. The re-appropriation of yesterday’s art can yield both inspired results, as with Zelda: Outlands, and well-meaning but forgettable outings like Parallel Worlds. It’s especially rare to see a homebrew Zelda filled with original sprites and scenarios. King Mob’s The Legend of Zelda: The Shadowgazer, from the looks of this trailer, is especially becoming. Some of the scenarios recall earlier Zeldas (at what point did fishing become a Zelda mainstay?), but the sheer craft on display keeps the game looking fresh. A giant King of Red Lions ship? Saving mewling goron pups from a sinister dream world? The return of Majora’s Mask’s three-day cycle as a platform for puzzle solving? These are big, fun ideas here, and they’re backed up by sprite-art chops to realize them.

The Shadowgazer’s been in production for quite awhile now, so here’s hoping King Mob manages to finish the game before life or Nintendo legal teams keep the dream from getting realized. Head on over to check out the demo.

Many thanks to NeoGAFfer Kai for spotting this diamond in the internet rough.

Related links:

Whatcha Playing: BS Zelda
Whatcha (Trying To) Play: Legend of Zelda: Parallel Worlds
Faster, Link! Kill! Kill!
Chiptune Friday: The Adventure of Link

Previous For Love of the Games:

Sonic 2 HD
Quest for Glory II
Rockman 7 FC
Outcast 2
Street Fighter One
Metroid II

Handjobs for Homebrew: Mario Paint Composer DS

Derrick Sanskrit — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:00:00 GMT

There's never been a better time to be an independent software developer. College students are designing original concepts that are then developed by established publishers into big games like Portal and de Blob. Small teams working in bedrooms or coffee shops are developing downloadable console games like Braid and World of Goo. And then, of course, there are the homebrew developers, releasing their software often for free or a small donation. Widely seen in less-than-100%-legal light, homebrew software is often a means of "hacking" the platform of choice to add functionality that had not originally been intended. While there's never any guarantee of quality when it comes to these things, there are some fantastic pieces of homemade software out there, and we hope to spotlight a few of them here on "Handjobs for Homebrew" (this is Nerve, I can say "handjobs," can't I?)

Originally demoed just about a month ago, BassAceGold's homebrew of the Mario Paint Composer for the Nintendo DS was released to the internet masses last week. There have already been a number of homebrew applications to add the painting and animation components of the Super Nintendo classic Mario Paint to the touch-screen handheld, but MPC emulates the feature that always seemed to me (and, apparently, the YouTube community) to be the most engaging element, its cartoonish music composition score.

For those who've never played Mario Paint, allow me to explain... A series of wacky icons each represent a different voice in the song, so many instruments could share a single staff in the musical score. Still don't get it? Check out this YouTube video of Yoshi's Theme played in Mario Paint:

Well BassAceGold's Mario Paint Composer translates that delightfully unique musical interface to the DS. Saving and loading various songs is a breeze if you're working with SD memory cards (which most Nintendo DS flashcards do in order to utilize such software), the touch screen is perfect for adjusting notes, and this homebrew has even gone ahead and added four new voices, the distorted horn blast piranha plant, the warm piano coin, the soft strings shy guy and the fuzzed harp boo. Check out this demo by the programmer on a beta of the program playing Boston's mega-hit "More Than A Feeling":

Of course, the software is not perfect. I'd love to see some tighter timeline controls and something aside from a title graphic on the top screen (maybe a zoomed-out view of your whole arrangement) but Mario Paint Composer is still an excellent addition to the DS's growing library of musical production tools, ranging from retail software like Jam Sessions, Korg DS-10 and Electroplankton to other excellent homebrew like Nitrotracker, Groovestep and the ever-popular LSDJ (run it on a Gameboy emulator, it plays like a sweet dream on the DS). If you have the appropriate equiptment to run homebrew DS software, feel free to download Mario Paint Composer here and start kicking out the jams!

Related Articles:
Through the Fire and Flames on Mario Paint
Make The Music With Your Games, Kids!
World of Goo: The Art, The Design, The Anticipation!
Jonathan Blow Your Mind
Indie Dev Moment: A Game A Month From Kloonigames
Indie Dev Moment: Eegra Shindig Ends, No One Got Laid, Awesome Games Got Made
Indie Dev Moment: Scarygirl