That's the question which seems to enter every email I've been getting and so for those of you who asked or were curious, I have an answer.

I'd like to apologize for the last couple months as this has taken off, we've had a few hit and miss schedules. This is partly due to lack of content [...]

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Wiikly Rumors
Something cool cometh?
Rumor: A new Zelda game for the Wii has been in development for around a year.

Source: thehylia.com

What We Say: I find it hard to believe this but you never know. It's safe to assume that a new Zelda will come out on the Wii eventually.

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Rumor: A game entitled "Sticky Balls" is coming to Wii and you Mii's will work with Animal [...]

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The History of the Loading Screen
Loading never read so good
It may not sound like it, but the humble loading screen is a fascinating subject. It may just seem like a nuisance, but to the video game artist it’s a canvas. Over the years its function and design has changed, what was once known as the loading screen evolved into the title screen which went off on its own tangent only to have things come full circle as the loading screen returned.


Zub loading screen for the Amstrad CPC


In the early 80s many computer games ran on cassette tapes. Tapes would take minutes to load a simple game but they prevailed in a lot of homes because a tape player was much cheaper than a floppy disk drive. One side-effect of this was that loading screens became surprisingly important. If people had to wait minutes for a game to play, they might as well have something to look at.

Not only did loading screens fill the time until the game was loaded but with the graphics of the day, the loading screen was the game’s best chance to make a big visual impression. Compared to the tiny, three or four-coloured characters running around black backgrounds in the actual games, the loading screen was a “full color” marvel, a single large picture filling the whole screen! It was also great chance for the artist to show off without being limited by the requirements of the game program.


Feud for Amstrad CPC - loading screen vs. gameplay graphics.


Since loading screens represented the best graphics the system could pull off, and since the player had nothing else to look at for several minutes, it’s no surprise that many of these became etched into people’s memories, much the same way as the tunes from Super Mario Bros. and the Legend of Zelda are etched into memories of NES gamers today.

The rise of consoles (and cartridges) meant that loading times were drastically reduced and not surprisingly, loading screens were dumped in favor of simpler title screens. Many title screens were nothing more than a nice title graphic on black followed by a mass of copyright info. Other title screens inherited the attributes of loading screens because the title screen was still a good opportunity to show off what the system was capable of. The Legend of Zelda is one example of a game with a memorable title sequence featuring the now-famous theme song, an animated waterfall, and even a sunset. It may not be etched in people’s memories as well as the loading screens of yore but it still made an unmistakable first impression

More power and storage [...]

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Your Strap Break?
Yep
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