Nintendo has threatened to brick 3DS devices that have been modified by hardware or software. To protest, Defective by Design will be sending bricks with a note to the chairman of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime. What do you think about this?  Does Nintendo have a right to render devices we purchase as useless?  Last time I checked, 3DS's are still selling for $250.   Once we buy the device isn't it ours to do as we please? Is it wrong for me to put a sticker on my DS? Can I change the casing if it cracks or scratches?  We have replaced the scratched screen on our DS Lite, we have cleaned the broken trigger buttons in an attempt to repair them.  If the repairs fail it's our own fault, I don't blame Nintendo.   I can understand this tinkering voids the warranty.  If the system broke while it was under warranty I would have send it back to them to fix. I understand that people modify the hardware beyond standard maintenance. Perhaps for these individuals their system should be blocked from the Nintendo network so they don't interfere with "vanilla" systems.  I think bricking the device by rendering it useless is going too far. Here's an quote from the Terms of service (chapter 3).  I think they mean business:

"You understand that the Nintendo 3DS System specifications and the Nintendo 3DS Service are constantly evolving and that we may update or change the Nintendo 3DS System or the Nintendo 3DS Service in whole or in part, without notice to you. Such updates may be required for you to play new Nintendo 3DS games, enjoy new features, or continue to access the Nintendo 3DS Service. After the Nintendo 3DS menu is updated, any existing or future unauthorized technical modification of the hardware or software of your Nintendo 3DS System, or the use of an unauthorized device in connection with your system, will render the system permanently unplayable."

What about software modifications?   That's awfully vague.  Chances are the DS Cart system I'm using is violating the terms of service.  The kicker is that I am not using it to pirate games.  I use it so I have all my games with me and don't have to worry about losing them.  Have you seen how small these DS cartridges are?  Again I don't agree with hacking the system to ruin the game play for other people.  I think Xbox has taken the proper approach to block non standard systems from the network.

Has Nintendo gone too far?

We just posted our Crysis 2 review today. As fun as this game is I was taken aback by all the language in it. It's not just this game but a trend I'm seeing in many games we've been reviewing lately.  What gives? Yeah I get it, in stressful situations people swear, it may add some realism but to me I think it's exaggerating a bit.  I hang around non-Christians and they don't drop the F bomb every 3 minutes.  I miss the options to disable swearing and blood, can we have those back please?  Or should I say "Can we have those *#&$^'n options back please?"

It took a lot of preparation and patience to get this new site up and running. I hope you like the new look and if you have any suggestions, feedback or encouragement, I'm all ears!

God Bless!

Cheryl

Wii: Epic Mickey (I'm playing in small doses, I'm not a console gamer!)
PC: Magicka (frustrated over stability issues) Baron Wittard Nemesis of Ragnarok (stuck and no walkthroughs yet for this adventure game)
On the go: Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls (GBA) Beat FF1 playing FF2 need to grind.  I got DQVI on pre-order!

I'm sure not many people were interested in a feed of our seldom updated FAQs and Walkthroughs.  The RSS feed now points to computer reviews.  Enjoy!  When we migrate to the new site, the console and PC reviews will most likely be merged.  Yay!

I beat my first Final Fantasy game.  I just finished the GBA version of Final Fantasy.  It was pretty easy, I got my characters up to level 65 before tackling the final boss who I beat on my first try.  Next I'm going to play a few PC games courtesy of GamersGate and I look forward to Dragon Quest 6 coming out next month.  After those I'll tackle Final Fantasy 2!

Okay I admit it...I hack my gold in Majesty 2 games.  I use a free program called Cheat Engine.  It's pretty easy to use.  Make sure you go through the tutorial.  Here's what I do for Majesty 2:

1. Launch Cheat Engine
2. Launch Majesty 2
3.  Start your game and take note on the amount of gold you have. (Save your game!)
4.  Alt-Tab and go back to Cheat Engine.  Choose the Majesty 2 process.  
5.  Type in the Gold value, select Float for scan type and click the First Scan button. Wait for it to finish.
6.  Go back to Majesty 2 and when the gold changes go back to Cheat Engine.
7.  Type in the new Gold value and click on Next Scan.  When it finishes you should see 2 memory addresses.
8.  Double click on those addresses and they will go to the bottom.  Double click on them again and enter the desired amount of gold.  999999 works for me.  :)

Maybe I should actually play....  If you're too cheap to buy Minecraft here's a free alternative : Maniac Digger