But it's not a particularly exciting one, we're afraid. Oh sure, it might play havoc with your homebrewing, but you're not going to see any differences in how the system works. In Japan, 4.1 fixed a bug in Wii Sports Resort, apparently, so we're betting it's the same case here.So go on, update. Or don't. Up to you. We just wanted to temper your excitement when you saw that telltale blue glow. [Image: Wlodi]Permalink | Email this | Comments

A hacker by the name of "hetoan2" claims that it is relatively simple to alter variables in High Voltage's Wii FPS, The Conduit, allowing cheaters to attain infinite ammo, health, invisibility from radar, and other beneficial but unfair advantages -- even online. You can see some of the hacks in action in a video on hetoan2's site."Everything is virtually unprotected," hetoan2 discovered when he dumped the game's data and opened it up in a remote debugging program. "All values can be edited fairly easily, and there's virtually no sign of an attempt at hiding values, fixing bugs, or preventing online hackers." hetoan2 said that hacking the online version is as easy as hacking the offline version, because the code is completely identical. "The only difference is in the online mode the game sends the variables in real-time to their server."hetoan2 released some patch codes for The Conduit, but initially altered them to corrupt the save files of anyone using them. Now, he told The Wiire, he's working with High Voltage to identify cheaters, whose MAC addresses are currently being sent to Nintendo for banning.
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The Nintendo Channel received an update today, with the new version in available in Japan's Wii Shop offering a new interface and a few refined features for the demo download/trailer streaming channel. Andriasang offered a translated list of the changes. Users can now select standard or high quality for videos, in a setting that is decided upon the first startup of the channel. Users can also make a "favorites list" of games in which they're interested. It is also possible to see more detailed records of playtime for games on your list. User rankings for games offer detailed information, like determining how much fun a game would be for one person vs. multiple gamers.The interface tweaks, however, are more significant than they might sound. Searching has been improved, allowing users to find games based on title, genre, or publisher, and each game's information is easily accessible from any video or page about that game. The DS download service is also more centrally located.Right now, the update is just for Japan, but it should make its way worldwide eventually!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Normally, a DS game based on a kids' movie wouldn't attract our notice -- they're as common as rocks, and tend to be less fun to play with. But the DS game based on Robert Rodriguez's Shorts, a movie about a neighborhood of kids who find some kind of wish-granting rock, appropriates one of our favorite new trends in side-scrolling games: drawing platforms.Kirby Canvas Curse started it, but in the last year there has been an explosion of games that mix traditional platforming with user-created platforms. The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity did it, and the upcoming Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, MarkerMan Adventures (also published by Shorts publisher Majesco), and, outside of the DS, Crayon Physics, Drawn to Life on Wii, Max and the Magic Marker on WiiWare, and Trine allow players to make platforms by drawing shapes.And, as it turns out, we are extremely receptive to this idea, even when it is in a game in which you control a character named Loogie. See the trailer after the break.

Continue reading The Shorts DS game draws our attention

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