It’s not very often that gaming culture gets a day as exciting as one when a console launches, but when one comes along it’s always a time for hilarity. And by hilarity, I mean a sobering reminder of just how much humanity needs lining up and shooting. At the moment the world is just recovering from November 17th, which is when the next generation of gaming really began if you listen to Sony. Yes, as you’ve undoubtedly heard the PlayStation 3 debuted in the US yesterday, and with it have come countless harrowing stories of muggings, shootings, stabbings, and also some amusing videos.

Since I’ve got bit of a reputation as a Nintendo fanboy (although I habitually own or at least get regular playtime on all consoles), I will of course share with you two videos that fit the stereotype! Yes, first up we have Wii guy in the PS3 line, which is a superb guy dressed up in a Wii costume and taunting people stood in one of the queues for a launch day PlayStation 3.

And as if it isn’t good enough watching this guy give PS3 enthusiasts the middle finger and throwing out those really weak “Why X is better” comments you tend to get in arguments with the more mainstream console gamers out there (you must have met at least one), there’s Smash My PS3, which simply shows an eccentric beardo and his mates applying the sledgehammer treatment to a brand new PlayStation 3 as launch queue lackeys watch on in horror.

Sadly, you can guarantee that the PlayStation 3 army will retaliate by doing exactly the same thing when the Wii launch commences tomorrow.

Update: As expected, the Wii sledgehammer video can now be witnessed.

Play Worms Armageddon or Worms World Party? Then you’ll probably enjoy my high-definition sound effect pack that replaces the game’s sound effects with beefier, higher quality versions. Having played Worms throughout my entire life, in 2004 I decided I wanted to spice up the game somewhat and realised that the sounds shipped with the game are fairly paltry. They may fit the on-screen actions, but the quality just isn’t there. Perhaps it’s because many were lifted straight from the 1994 original.

So, over many hours of loving labour I’ve replaced almost every single sound effect with a counterpart that retains the original feel but simply sounds better. Explosions? They’ll rock your chair. Jetpacks? You’ll think you’re using the real thing. Mines, grenades, blowtorches, splashes, banana bombs, everything — they’ve all enjoyed the special treatment. The only things that haven’t changed are the particularly memorable sounds such as the sheep’s “baa”, the worm movement sounds, various other animal sounds, and the Holy Hand Grenade’s “Hallelujah!”. However, I did find the original song the “Hallelujah!” came from and ripped a higher quality version.

In short, I think you’ll find that this pack retains the atmosphere of Worms but makes it feel like a whole new experience at the same time. If you don’t like it, simply delete the new sound effects and you’ll be right back where you started.

Download Ryan’s Worms Sound Effect Pack:
http://serve.ryanjohnwilliams.com/misc/ryans_worms_sound_pack.zip

Stream preview of the sounds in action:
http://media.putfile.com/Ryans-Worms-Sound-Effect-Pack-preview/

To install, simply unzip the downloaded file and then copy the contents to C:\Worms Armageddon\DATA\Wav\Effects\ (this location may vary depending upon where you’ve installed the game, and of course whether you have Worms Armageddon or Worms World Party). I recommend saving a copy of the files already there before you overwrite them just in case you don’t like the new sounds.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy the fruits of my labour! I know many people’ve enjoyed using this pack for the past two years, and there’s no reason you can’t too. If you love (or hate) it, I’d really like to see your feedback. And for those with Worms 2, I’d appreciate you giving it a whirl as I’m still not sure whether or not this pack is compatible with it.

If you’re wondering where all these beautiful sound effects came from, I sourced from the likes of Tribes: Vengeance, Unreal Tournament 2003, Day of Defeat, and various sound libraries that I’ve collected over the years. It took some considerable time to make them all fit into the Worms gameplay and quite a bit of editing was involved. At the time I used Sony Sound Forge, although I’m now more accustomed to Adobe Audition.

I don’t think theatrical is really the right term, but it’s the best word I can think of to describe the brand new trailer of Zelda: Twilight Princess that Nintendo has unleashed. It really is a joy to watch, and anyone who’s played Ocarina of Time and loves it as much as I do is bound to get giddy while watching it.

It runs for a good two minutes and shows off a lot of the game, and a lot of it is in-game footage. It has to be said, it looks amazing: the horse riding, the swording, the fighting multiple enemies — all fantastic. I could go on about Zelda all day so I’ll just leave you with the video. Only 34 days away!

According to Major Nelson on his blog, two new maps have been released for Perfect Dark Zero that’re based on two maps from Goldeneye, which I think also ended up in the original Nintendo 64’s Perfect Dark. The two maps are in question are the superb Facility and Temple, although Temple has been renamed to Ruin. While Temple never really struck a chord with me, Facility was one of my all-time favourite maps alongside Bunker and I really wish I could try the redux version. The maps have apparently been completely revamped too, and aren’t just cheap novelty ports.

The only catch (alongside the necessity of owning an Xbox 360 and Perfect Dark Zero) is that you have to be an Xbox Live Gold subscriber; if so, they’re both free to download. Since I hit none of the aforementioned criteria, if anyone could take some screenshots or even capture some video I’d be massively appreciative! Needless to say, the screenshot I included in this post is of the ancient Nintendo 64 version.

There’ve been surprisingly few trick or treaters here this year, although I’m sure the US readers amongst you have been continuously bombarded all night. In fact, I can only count two small groups of kids who came to the door requesting an assortment of sweets to be lavished upon them. And the door was ignored for one of them.

Somebody on a forum I visit clearly takes the day more seriously than I do though, and saw fit to create what is quite possibly the best pumpkin in history. Behold:

I mean, just look at the craftsmanship on that thing. From the intricately cut out eyes to the semi-transparent hat, it truly is a labour of love. It’s kind of tragic that it’s destined to decompose and be nothing but a memory. Kudos to Bic-Ball for taking the time to produce such a finely customised piece of fruit.

Update: Holy crap, check out 4 colour rebellion’s Halloween collection. Grim Fandango mask, Wiimote costume, Triforce pumpkin, and lots more. Almost makes me wish I did much around Halloween.

Only 41 days until the Wii, and more importantly, Twilight Princess! Unless you’re in the US, in which case it’ll be a few days earlier. But wherever you live, it’s getting pretty damned close now. So what do you do? Watch some guy messing around with the Wii’s operating system for ten minutes, of course!

IGN is habitually a bringer of solid information, so it’s no surprise that a lot of things people have speculated about but weren’t really sure on have been cleared up in this video. Basically they’ve gotten themselves a Wii debug kit which works just like a normal Wii, except it lacks all the fancy channels. Instead, only the ‘Play Game’ channel and the system settings are available. Since the video is loading really slowly at the moment, here’s a summary of what it confirms:

• An easy-to-use on-screen keyboard can be toggled between phone and computer style
• You can adjust the Wiimote’s sensitivity — hurrah!
• You can globally toggle between 4:3 and 16:9, as well as between 480i and 480p
• There’s some kind of method for preventing the dreaded screen burn-in
• Games/internet can be restricted based upon their age rating and require a PIN to play
• You can specify whether your sensor bar is above or beneath the TV for maximum accuracy
• Setting up a wireless or wired network connection is as easy as it is on the DS

I enjoy the fact that the operating system offers a reasonable level of configuration without sacrificing ease of use or intuitiveness; hopefully the other channels will follow suit and be as accessible. I’m also very glad that the Wiimote sensitivity can be tweaked as that’s been an ongoing concern with many people and particularly the media, who noticed that Wii games don’t have a Wiimote configuration option. I guess we now know why.

Posted over on the Idle Thumbs forums, a really nice little video is available on Google Video that parodies the most recent major Zelda game, Wind Waker. To summarise what happens in the video, Link’s sister Aryll finds a Wii controller and has a bit of fun with it (and Link).

It’s a really well done video. While it may not be immediately apparent, the video isn’t actually in-engine and was instead created in a 3D modelling application. Whoever produced it has managed to pin down the style perfectly, and come up with an animation that looks almost exactly like a hidden scene in the game or something.

It’s also pretty funny, with the subtle humour completely matching the style of that seen in the game itself; there’re some nice little references to be appreciated, such as Link firmly patting the pig better after accidentally stabbing it — anyone who’s played Wind Waker knows that those things can get pretty volatile when provoked! Almost as bad as the Ocarina of Time chickens.