Crave

Take our advice and be a sad little king. You won't regret it.

(Credit: XSeed Games)

Those who complain about there not being enough good original Wii games had better put up or shut up this week. Yes, there's a certain game called Wii Sports Resort that's about to hit store shelves, but we're not talking about that one. Indie game publisher XSeed has been slowly gaining a reputation for releasing weird and risky import titles to the U.S. (the DS cult hit Retro Game Challenge being one of them), and this week they've brought the Wii perhaps its finest genre-blending game: Little King's Story.

We won't pretend, based on the title, that you'll necessarily be interested at first sight, because we weren't. Cutesy king man-child, large logo, and Japanese-esque anime art all add up to a look that seems to say "bargain bin." But do yourself a favor and pick this game up, and help publishers like XSeed for their efforts. This is a long, serious, weird, and fun piece of entertainment.

Shigeru Miyamoto's semiforgotten GameCube masterpiece, Pikmin, was recently released in a Wii-mote-friendly format by Nintendo, prompting fanboys to get angry about no new Wii sequel. Well, you can nearly consider this your sequel. Little King's Story features a gameplay mechanic of crowd control and rounding-up of subjects that's very reminiscent of Pikmin. Executive produced by the creator of another cult title, Harvest Moon, this game retains a lot of the same sense of family-friendly strategy.

While the colorful, Animal Crossing-cheery world centers on you (the Little King, who starts with a few subjects and no money), the way that battles and missions are achieved is by training and gathering your growing stable of subjects, tossing them at targets to do your bidding. Waddling around with your little jiggling entourage surrounding you is really an amusing sight, and the game unfolds with some charming Nintendo-quality localized humor, smart use of classical music, and a great mix of real-time strategy and role-playing wrapped in an interface that's nonintimidating.

Reviews of the game have been good since its release, which isn't surprising. It's everything that Nintendo games are supposed to be about. If we had a few more of these, and a few less of the licensed one-offs, maybe the Wii wouldn't seem like so hollow a success story to serious gamers. While this game is available on disc in stores like GameStop, hopefully WiiWare will allow riskier indie projects and smaller-market games in the future to thrive more easily, and insure a future where gamers will always have original, creative content as an option.

Now here's a question for you: are there other forgotten Wii masterpieces you feel have been under-celebrated? Or others you'd like to finally see the light of day?

(Credit: Capcom)

For gamers, March 13 is a special day. It's the launch of Capcom's Resident Evil 5. What makes this day even more special is Capcom has partnered with the American Red Cross to host a blood drive.

On the way to pick up a copy of Resident Evil 5, gamers in the Los Angeles area will be invited to give back to the community by donating blood at the World of Wonder gallery on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Calif., from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. In addition, fans of the series will have the chance to get exclusive limited-edition Resident Evil 5 Blood Drive collectibles, win copies of the game, enter a raffle for one of several exclusive red Xbox 360 Resident Evil limited edition consoles, and most importantly, do their part to help a good cause.

Something has gone horribly wrong

(Credit: Mike Lambourn)

(Credit: Justin Yu)

As an avid cyclist, my biggest concern about riding my bike in New York City isn't king-size potholes, wayward pedestrians, or even the hordes of aggressive cabbies itching to smash me into gray matter, but rather the constant fear of getting my bike stolen. I've been a victim of bike theft in the past, and it literally feels like the loss of a limb (not good), so I'm constantly researching new ways to deter thieves from snatching up my precious Surly Cross-Check. Whether it's making my bike ugly with stickers or carrying around extra locks in my bag, there's only so much you can do, because if a thief wants what you got, they're gonna get it no matter what.

(Credit: Mike Lambourn)

Michael Lambourn gives cyclists one more bullet in the barrel with his SmartLock design. It's a cable lock with colored liquid inside that explodes everywhere if the lock is cut. It's a clever idea, and one almost certainly hatched after a freak skunk accident, and I applaud Michael Lambourn for making an effort to make cycling safer for paranoid city dwellers like myself. The goal is to achieve peace of mind while your bike is locked up, and the SmartLock is definitely a step in the right direction. If this product is successful and helps get people out of their cars and onto the bike, then I'll get behind it 100 percent. I just have a few critiques to make in the meantime.

PowerColor's ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 card.

(Credit: PowerColor)

The reviews are in for AMD's new high-end 3D card--the embargoed, but not exactly secret 2GB Radeon HD 4870 X2--and the official results are as enthusiastic as the previews. By all accounts, the $550 Radeon HD 4870 X2 is the fastest desktop 3D board on the market, outpacing Nvidia's flagship GeForce GTX 280 card on most tests.

According to the results on PC Perspective, Hot Hardware, ExtremeTech, and Anandtech, AMD's new card comes up faster than both a single $450 GeForce GTX 280 as well as two $250 GeForce GTX 260's. Nvidia may steal a win here and there depending on the settings, such as on Crysis, but at higher resolutions and with more image quality details turned on, the AMD card and its 2GB of fast DDR5 memory the Radeon HD 4870 X2 fares better overall.

You won't really see a benefit from the 4870 X2 unless you play games at 1,920x1,200-pixel resolution or higher. That means unless you own a 24-inch or better LCD, you should probably stick to lower-end cards, at least for the moment. You can also double-up AMD's new card in CrossFire mode (AMD's multicard technology, and competitor to Nvidia's SLI), but that would be hard to justify on anything less than a 30-inch display.

Keep in mind that to see any kind of performance gain, both the graphics drivers and the games themselves need to know how to distribute the workload efficiently across multiple graphics chips. AMD's drivers seem to get along well with current games, but we have no guarantee that that will continue to be the case. Of course, you can't exactly wait for new tests for every title that comes out. And based on the performance the Radeon HD 4870 X2 has shown so far, we think it's a safe bet.

New and improved!

While the reported cases were few and far between, last week's PlayStation 3 firmware update 2.40 rendered a select few consoles completely useless. Sony had removed the upgrade just a day after the highly anticipated patch was released and claimed it was "looking into it."

Well it seems a week was all that was needed as the very bug-free, nonbroken firmware Version 2.41 is currently available for download. All of the features we told you about appear to remain intact in addition to a newer platinum trophy icon.

We should note that if you were one of the unlucky few to get a bum PS3 as a result of the upgrade, we recommend you get in touch with Sony customer support right away. The problem doesn't appear to be fatal, meaning your console can most likely be revived--unlike those nasty red-ring-of-death errors the Xbox 360 suffers from.

(Credit: IceTech)

Lord knows I love getting boxes full of goodies, especially when they contain a hodgepodge of MP3 players and speakers. Apparently, the Almighty One also believes that Crave readers need a little more God-fearing in their lives, because my latest shipment included an MP3 player in the shape of a cross...that you wear around your neck. There's even a a little silver (read: plastic that's painted silver) cross charm at the end of the lanyard ribbon. Sadly, the Keo MP-301 (1GB) does not come preloaded with Christian rock and gospel music, because that might actually make it worth its $48 price tag. As it stands, it's one of the cheapest-feeling MP3 players I've had my hands on.

On the plus side, the chunky electronic cross, which brings to mind the boxy wooden variety, packs plenty of features, such as a voice recorder, an FM radio, and a built-in speaker. However, good luck figuring out how to use all of them through the convoluted interface--it's one of those players that has a dedicated volume button--singular--so you have to press that and then use two other buttons to actually adjust the levels. (Is it just me, or does that make no sense?) The quirky (and tiny), two-tone split screen leaves something to be desired as well. But--hey--it looks pretty rockin' when worn and could be quite useful for fending off vampires and other evil beings. Better yet, if you have a teenager who's been begging for a new MP3 player, the MP-301 could be just the ticket to remind them that "God is always watching."

The cross actually looks kinda rock-and-roll when worn--not bad!

Next exit: the information superhighway

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Chrysler is hoping that a technology offensive will lure customers back to its brand with the unveiling of a number of connectivity and safety features that it claims are industry firsts. Most notably, the company yesterday unveiled details of an in-vehicle wireless system, which will combine Wi-Fi and 4G connectivity to turn its vehicles into mobile hotspots. According to the company, the new wireless technology will be available in future model-year vehicles and as an aftermarket option through Mopar, Chrysler's service arm, by the end of this year.

Other technologies announced by Chrysler for its 2009 models include:

• Rear Cross Path is an active safety system that alerts drivers of traffic coming from the side while backing up out of a parking spot. It's available in the 2009 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan.
• Blind-spot monitoring system is a system that uses radar sensors to detect the presence of cars out of the driver's vision. It's available on the 2009 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan.
• Active Transfer Case and Front-axle Disconnect are two independent systems that work together to disengage the car's front axle from the drivetrain when all-wheel-drive is not needed. It's available on the 2009 Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger.
• Rear-seat Swivel Screen is designed to give passengers in Chrysler's fore-and-aft facing Swivel 'n Go seating configuration access to the same digital display. It's available on the 2009 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan.

According to Chrysler, the Rear Cross Path and the Rear Swivel Screen are industry firsts, while the offering of a blind-spot detection system on the Town and Country and the Grand Caravan is a first for the minivan segment. Also new for 2009 Chrysler models is an enhanced version of the automaker's UConnect system, which will automatically download phonebook entries, and which can be used for making calls and programming navigation destinations by voice command.

(Credit: ThinkGeek)

Years ago we purchased a rare early version of one of those personal weather stations that are everywhere these days, and it failed miserably. Or, more accurately, we failed miserably; we could never get it to work properly and, even when it did, we couldn't figure out how to read it. So even though their more recent design efforts are much appreciated, we still fear that they'll be too complicated for our woefully limited technical comprehension.

Enter La Crosse Technology and its $15 LCD Window Thermometer. Not only does it claim to be simple to use, according to GadgetGrid, but it's also easy to read--nothing fancy here, just the facts. And if it's mounted on a glass door, it can also keep you from accidentally bumping your head on those rare occasions when it's clean enough to see through.