Fire Emblem: Kakusei is the latest in the RPG series and should be released in Japan this spring. So what kind of extra money are we talking here? The price of a cup of coffee or another game? It looks like you will be able to download additional content for “several hundred yen each time”.

At today’s exchange rates, 100 yen works out to about $1.29 USD, which isn’t too bad, but it depends on how many things the game has to download, and how many “several hundred” means. They did say “each time”. You can pay using pre-paid cards available in Japanese electronics stores or with your credit card. While it’s not clear exactly what content will be downloadable, one example that they gave for Fire Emblem is that buyers will be able to purchase additional levels after completing the game.

[via TechCrunch]

Like other torrent managers, the uTorrent app lets users add and remove downloads, and there’s even an option to check RSS feeds for available torrents.

According to Lee Mathews of Download Squad, the app doesn’t require a lot of tweaking or fiddling around with router or port information. In fact all he did was to enter his login details and he was good to go. The uTorrent app also gives users the option to transfer finished downloads from their PC to their Android device, so you can immediately use whatever it is you downloaded. Neat.

You can get the official uTorrent app from the Android Market for free. It’s currently for Windows users only though, since the app only works with the uTorrent 3.0 beta desktop client, which is also Windows-only (for now).

[via Download Squad]

Yo Ush! People are hatin’ on me Ush. Ush Ush Ush. But seriously it would be nice if there was an option to do the opposite and resume downloading the video. As it’s really not too different from closing the window or tab where the video is loading.

[via Google Operating System]

I think the most frightening thing in Pixel Force:Left 4 Dead is Zoey’s face in the character select screen:

Actually all the portraits are creepy. Seriously though, Eric himself said that he didn’t intend his version to make an exact copy of Valve’s game: “I want to make it very clear that the design aspect of this de-make was to create the game “Left 4 Dead” in a way that I feel it would have been handled back in 1986. The idea was NOT to remake it exactly like the Valve original.” You might also want to check out Eric’s response on YouTube to some of the comments on the video below for more details on the creation of the game.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Whatever your opinion is on Eric’s game, you can’t complain about the price: you can download and play it for free, so even if you end up not liking it, you lost nothing but time. Hit up Eric Ruth’s website for the download links, and happy slaying! Unless you own a Mac, in which case no 8-bit Left 4 Dead 4 you.

[via Joystiq]

According to Ars Technica‘s John Timmer,  Fung was lawyered fairly easily because he made several incriminating statements on his blog, such as questioning whether copyright infringement should be considered theft, and giving instructions on how to download movies and then burn them to DVDs.

The old “Google should be sued too because you can use their search engine to find torrents” argument wasn’t worth squat in Fung’s case, because one of his sites had specifically incriminating links, like links to torrents of “Top 20 movies” as well as TV shows and “High Quality DVD Rips”. There’s no word yet on Fung’s punishment, or if IsoHunt will be taken down, but I guess with a lopsided case like this it looks like the website’s days are numbered. Or Fung could host his torrent sites somewhere else, ala Demonoid.

It’ll be a pirate’s life for you when you install these new add-on packs. The costume kit ($5.99 USD) includes everything you need to dress Sackboy up as everyone from Will Turner to Elizabeth Swann to Davy Jones, complete with tentacle face. Of course, most of you will probably dress up as Jack Sparrow and wander around with a drunken swagger.

The premium level kit ($5.99 USD) adds 5 completely new Pirates’ themed levels, along with a variety of new materials, and some great new gameplay creation objects like a bubble machine, scuba gear and global water – sweet! There are even 4 additional music tracks – hopefully they included the familiar “yo-ho-yo-ho” one.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

So what are you waiting for, saunter on over to your PS3, head over to the Playstation Store, and get to downloadin’!

Sadly, the folks in Cupertino don’t warn its customers about this. While it’s not exactly a major oversight, I don’t think it would have been hard to have the Snow Leopard installer end with a prompt telling users to check their Flash players.

Of course you’ll still be able to watch videos of puppies who can’t roll over even if you don’t have the latest version of the Flash player, but you’ll also be less secure because these upgrades are released mostly to address security issues. As of this writing the latest version is 10.0.32.18. You can check the version of the flash player installed on your system by visiting Adobe’s about Flash player page. If you don’t have the latest flash player then I suggest you upgrade. Or you can be macho about it and let the malware come at you.

[via geek]

Above are the flowcharts that anticipate most, if not all, of the things that can go wrong with your computer that will prevent it from starting up. Rosenthal knows how the internet works – it’s all about sharing – so he has a link to the full pdf file on his website. Rosenthal is cool with you printing the poster for personal or educational uses (I converted it to jpeg and turned out to be a massive 4500 x 4500 image). His website also has flowcharts in more manageable sizes too, like this one about optical drive problems:

Any flowchart with a step that tells you to “Laugh at self” is a good flowchart. The flowcharts on Rosenthal’s website are somewhat interactive: clicking each step takes you to a more detailed explanation of what’s going on and what you can do to fix it. You can also download a free pdf of the flowcharts on Rosenthal’s site. If you only have one computer you’d better print that ASAP, or better yet get a copy of Rosenthal’s book. It’s only $14 (USD) on Amazon. And remember: I was the first one to use the word flowchart in this blog.

[via Boing Boing Gadgets]

While I’m torn on the overall idea of breaking retail games up into episodic download packs –  just feels like the top of a possibly slippery slope to me — the idea of an entire portion of the game, without restrictions on saves and such, is very appealing.

No pricing available yet, other than the fact this is fully downloadable content and will not require the disc. The episodes will even work with previously available DLC packs… and the whole package debuts next month.

Also announced, to no one’s surprise, was Fable III, scheduled for release next year. Preliminary image looks nice!

[via Joystiq]

That’s the new wallpaper; you can get the full version here. But the story doesn’t stop there;  build 7260 was also leaked yesterday, just a few hours after build 7232 came out.

No word on the difference between the two builds, but according to neowin, 7260 is an “RTM escrow build meaning vigorous testing will commence to ensure this is the final code unless there are show stopper bugs.” Let’s hope everything goes smoothly.

Although I have to ask, why is it that Win 7 has been leaked to high heavens, but I’ve only seen like 3 or 4 Snow Leopard leaks? Does that mean that Microsoft is less strict with their employees? I mean, the release dates for both systems are not that far from each other, so we can’t say that Snow Leopard is still in it’s early stages. Hmmm.

[via Maximum PC]

The main objective of Trash Panic is simple. Just stack the falling garbage inside your garbage can as efficiently as you can so it doesn’t overflow. I kind of like to think about it like a sort of alternative-universe sequel to Katamari Damacy, in which you’re tasked with cleaning up all of the mess the Prince left behind.

At first you might think the game appears easy. But you have to realize that every single object has unique physical properties. Some items break on impact, some bend, some burn, while others start fires that burn the other trash, and others still dowse out the incineration. The game plays sort of like Tetris, but the physics, fire and water add a whole new dimension to the challenge. And the fact that the objects don’t neatly sit on top of one another really makes it tough.

And the game includes what could possibly the best warning screen I’ve seen in a long time…

So kids, don’t go off and try incinerating actual garbage after you play this game. I know you want to, but don’t. But I digress. Here’s a quick video of the game in action. I’m sure you’ll agree that it looks like a total blast:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Trash Panic is available for download now over on the Playstation Store for just $4.99 (USD). Download it today, and do you part for cleaning up the planet.

As you can see, the website still requires you to know how and where to download torrents because it doesn’t have a search engine; you’ll have to either link to the torrent file’s URL or upload the torrent file itself before you get the downloader. But once you’ve done either of the two, all you have to do is click start download, and the downloader is created; run the program and it will start downloading the torrent. Torrent2exe also creates a URL that you can share with others so they can also download the same torrent in the same manner.

Now I don’t have Windows on my MacBook so I can’t say how well the service works. Still, it really is a simplified method for downloading torrents. But there’s no point in using the website if you’re already comfortable with torrent clients. First of all, I don’t see any option to set download/upload speeds, which is a really handy feature in clients. Also, the program can only seed the torrent a mere 2 hours after the download has completed. That’s fine if you have a speedy Internet connection and/or the file you’re downloading is small, but if neither is the case then you won’t be worth much as a seeder.

Torrent2exe is a free service, and of course it’s Windows only.

[via InventorSpot]

It’s so fast that it left most of a browser’s functions at Google’s labs: plug-ins don’t work so it can’t play Flash videos. There’s no History, no Bookmarks, no Preferences, no Find, and you can’t even open a link to a new tab. But it’s fast.

If you want to try Chrome on your Mac, you can download the application at said developer’s blog; the compiled app is for Intel Macs on Leopard only (10.5 and up). Don’t delete your current browser yet because Chrome is sure to have lots of bugs. But it’s fast. Perfect for blog speed-reading.

The rumor surfaced at a recent preview event held at a few select GameStop stores around the country which allowed Club Nintendo members in the U.S. to get their hands on the DSi in advance of its April 5 release date. According to reports, “at first,” only first-party Nintendo games from the GBA and Game Boy will be available for download in the DSiWare service. If true, this addition to DSiWare could expand the new handheld’s appeal overnight.

Some doubt that such an addition to the download service is possible, or even probable if it is possible, but the DSi is considerably more robust than the DS, so only time will tell.

[Kombo via Joystiq Nintendo]

The DSiWare title, called Phantasy Star Zero Mini (no, really), is apparently some sort of companion to Phantasy Star Zero for the DS itself, though just what kind of companion, there’s no telling. However, there is this: when it drops, the RPG will support four-player wireless co-op and a visual chat feature, and all for only 200 Nintendo points.

Of course, there’s no word yet on an English-language version. The game comes out this month in Japan, and I can only hope Sega might see the potential for sales (only 200 points!) outside their home turf.

[via WiiWare World]

Let’s hold our poses for now, because game developers like Popcap – makers of the neo-Tetris Bejeweled – and iWin are actually mad at Amazon because of this move. The developers are saying that while they’re okay with the idea of selling previously available games at lower prices, new releases should be worth much more than $10. But if for instance Mr. A. Mazon starts selling games at the lower price, before long customers will refuse to pay for similar games at a higher price. Mr. P. Opcap can’t raise prices for new games anymore and their profits will go down. Sadface.

To wit: on one hand, developers are demanding to have more control over pricing, which is understandable because they worked hard for their games. But on the other hand, wouldn’t having your games sold at a popular store result in more buyers? Since I’m no economist and I’m not a fan of non-free casual games, I’ll let others decide as to who’s got it right. What do you think? Oh you don’t care? Neither do I, but your mom might care, so go ask her.

[via VentureBeat]

There hath he lain for ages and lay battening upon huge sea-worms in his sleep, until Ravelry member Carly Zimmerman created a pattern and shared it for all to knit and see; then once again by man and angels he shall be seen, in roaring he shall rise and on the surface die. Because if you’re not a Ravelry member the link will do you no good; it requires members to login before you can download the pattern. Maybe when the stars are right.

[via CRAFT]

There are currently 74 tracks available in the collection, and at 99 cents each, you’re looking at a whopping $73.26 to pick up the entire set. It’s the perfect way to memorize all the tunes while you’re riding the bus to work so you can defeat your online foes in a blaze of glory over the weekend.

Keep in mind that the iTunes track list isn’t an exact match for the game. For instance, tracks which are cover versions in the game are done by the original artist on iTunes (too bad they’re not that way in the game). There are a handful of other disparities too, but not enough to take away from the sheer awesomeness of the one-stop-shop library.

If you happen to have iTunes installed, you can check out the entire collection here.

[via X3F via TUAW]

According to an article in the latest Official Xbox Magazine, 360 owners will be able to download a number of original Xbox titles for 1200 Microsoft points each ($15 USD). The initial titles will include Halo, Fable, Farenheit, Crimson Skies, Burnout 3 and Crash Bandicoot: the Wrath of Cortex.

While you can pick up most of these titles for less than $10 used, it’s nice to be able to grab these classics without leaving the comfort of your couch. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the dashboard update when it hits on December 4th.

With a full subscription to the Rhapsody-To-Go service, you’ll be able to download over 4 million tracks wirelessly to your player whenever you’ve got a Wi-Fi connection. The player also has built-in bluetooth for wireless headphone connectivity. The player offers a bright 320×240 Samsung color display, and can also play back video content from the Rhapsody store. Like the Zune, it’s also got an FM radio with RDS service. It’s even got a web browser built in, but I can’t imagine how challenging that would be to navigate sans keyboard.

The biggest turn-off here is the $229 to $319 price tag on the players (substantially more than iPods and Zunes with more storage). However, the integrated music store feature does look pretty sweet if you’re okay with a subscription-based music service.

The 30GB Ibiza is now available from gadget importer FirstToYou. You can also find the lower-priced 4GB and 8GB flash-based versions of the player from Amazon.