Nintendo Wii Virtual Console Flies Too Close To The Sun
February 24, 2007
It looks like Zelda: Ocarina Of Time isn’t the only Wii Virtual Console title coming out this week — we completely forgot about Kid Icarus. The first Icarus flew too close to the sun, and this one gets released on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console the same week as Ocarina. Bad luck, that Ick kid.
From Nintendo:
This week Wii owners will also get to enjoy the popular NES title, Kid Icarus. Some twenty years after its original release, Nintendo is bringing the classic platform title back to the Virtual Console for gamers old and new to enjoy. Players take on the role of a young angel called Pit in his struggle to defeat the minions of darkness and free the Goddess of Light from her prison in the underworld. Kid Icarus is available to download now for just 500 Wii Points.
Nintendo Wii Virtual Console Gets Best Zelda Ever
February 24, 2007
The Wii Virtual Console is finally getting The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, arguably the best Zelda title ever created. Sure, there are people who will tell you Nintendo Wii’s Twilight Princess is better, and who are we to debate it? Now you can have both of ‘em side by side, so everybody’s happy.
From Nintendo:
Wii’s Virtual Console allows gamers to re-experience some of the great moments in gaming history with downloadable classics from the 80s and 90s. Today, both Zelda fans and gamers who enjoy a good adventure are in for a treat with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which has often been referred to as “The Greatest Game of The 20th Century” and which has sold over 7.6 million copies globally is making a welcome return on the Virtual Console. Intrigue, excitement and the adventure of a lifetime await you in a quest that will captivate and inspire players old and new.
As the first fully three-dimensional title in the Zelda series, players must take on the role of a young boy with a grand destiny growing up in the Kokiri village. The young hero, Link, soon finds out that something is afoot when he is despatched on an epic adventure by the Great Deku Tree. On his travels Link discovers he is destined to become the Hero of Time and save Hyrule from the evil Ganondorf. His travels take him across a vast and colourful continent as he battles through challenging dungeons - ranging from the eerie Forest Temple to the fiery caves of Dodongo Cavern. With hours of exciting gameplay this title is sure to keep even the most dedicated player busy for weeks.
Unique to the Zelda series, Ocarina of Time sees players taking on both the role of child Link and his young adult form. When he begins his journey, Link is an eight year old boy in an as yet untainted Hyrule. However, when he uncovers the fabled Temple of Time and the legendary Master Sword Link is too young to take on the role of Hero of Time so is transformed into a young adult. During this time Hyrule radically changes into a darker and more dangerous place.
The equipment at our hero’s disposal changes as he grows from boy to man. As a child, Link is able to use items including the Slingshot and Boomerang, but when he is fully grown these items are of no use to him and must be replaced by items like the Hero Bow and Hookshot. Link can also tame and ride his very own horse called Epona who returns as Link’s mount in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on Wii.
When it was first released in 1998, this game struck a chord with Zelda fans across the globe, partly due to its dramatic and involving music. Not only does the game feature a playable musical instrument, The Ocarina of Time, which players must use to solve puzzles and unlock secrets, but it also features one of the most atmospheric soundtracks in the Zelda franchise. From calm and quirky background music in the field, to dramatic crescendos of sound in boss fights, this game will have the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is available on the Wii Virtual Console across Europe from 23rd February 2007 for the price of 1000 Wii Points and will join over fifty top games from Nintendo’s back catalogue already available.
Goodbye Microsoft Office, Hello Google Apps Premier?
February 24, 2007
Google Apps Premier Edition was announced today by the company at a cost of $50 per user account per year. Can this package take on the behemoth that is Microsoft Office?
The announcement from the big G follows.
Google Inc. today introduced Google Apps Premier Edition, a new version of Google’s hosted services for communication and collaboration designed for businesses of all sizes. Google Apps Premier Edition is available for $50 per user account per year, and includes phone support, additional storage, and a new set of administration and business integration capabilities.
Google Apps TM, launched as a free service in August 2006, is a suite of applications that includes Gmail TM webmail services, Google Calendar TM shared calendaring, Google Talk TM instant messaging and voice-over-IP, and the Start Page feature for creating a customizable home page on a specific domain. More than 100,000 small businesses and hundreds of universities now use the service. Google Apps Premier Edition now joins Google Apps Standard Edition and Google Apps Education Edition, both of which will continue to be offered for free to organizations.
“Procter & Gamble Global Business Services (GBS) has enrolled as a charter enterprise customer of Google Apps, a successful consumer product suite now available to enterprises. P&G will work closely with Google in shaping enterprise characteristics and requirements for these popular tools,” said Laurie Heltsley, director Procter & Gamble Global Business Services.
“So much of business now relies on people being able to communicate and collaborate effectively,” said Gregory Simpson, CTO for General Electric Company. “GE is interested in evaluating Google Apps for the easy access it provides to a suite of web applications, and the way these applications can help people work together. Given its consumer experience, Google has a natural advantage in understanding how people interact together over the web.”
Google also today announced that all editions of Google Apps now include Google Docs & Spreadsheets TM. In addition, Google Apps now supports Gmail for mobile on BlackBerry TM handheld devices.
“Businesses are looking for applications that are simple and intuitive for employees, but also offer the security, reliability and manageability their organizations require,” said Dave Girouard, vice president and general manager, Google Enterprise. “With Google Apps, our customers can tap into an unprecedented stream of technology and innovation at a fraction of the cost of traditional installed solutions.”
Features unique to Google Apps Premier Edition include:
- 10 GBs of storage per user - Offers about 100 times the storage of the average corporate mailbox, eliminating the need to frequently delete email.
- APIs for business integration - APIs for data migration, user provisioning, single sign-on, and mail gateways enable businesses to further customize the service for unique environments.
- 99.9 % uptime - Service Level Agreements for high availability of Gmail, with Google monitoring and crediting customers if service levels are not met.
- 24×7 support for critical issues - Includes extended business hours telephone support for administrators.
- Advertising optional - Advertising is turned off by default, but businesses can choose to include Google’s relevant target-based ads if desired.
- $50 per user account per year - Simple and affordable annual fee makes it practical to offer these applications to everyone in the
organization.
In addition to Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk and Start Page, all editions of Google Apps now include:
- Google Docs & Spreadsheets - With this addition, teams can easily collaborate on documents and spreadsheets without the need to email documents back and forth. Multiple employees can securely work on a document at the same time. All revisions are recorded for editing, and administrative controls allow organizations to define limits on document sharing. According to custom analysis of Nielsen//NetRatings MegaPanel released this week, 92 percent of users of online productivity tools last October used Google Docs & Spreadsheets, making it the number one product in its class.
- Gmail for mobile devices on BlackBerry - Gmail for mobile devices provides the same Gmail experience - such as search, conversation view and synchronization with desktop version - on BlackBerry handheld devices for users of Google Apps. Gmail for mobile devices joins a list of other mobile options for Google Apps and BlackBerry users that already includes a Google Talk client and a variety of calendar sync tools.
- Application-level control - Allows administrators to adapt services to business policies, such as sharing of calendars or documents outside of the company.
“When it comes to our email systems, our doctors don’t have the time or the budgets to deal with managing technology or defending against spam,” said Andrew Johnson, chief information officer, San Francisco Bay Pediatrics. “With Google Apps Premier Edition we don’t have to worry about downloading the latest spam filters or navigating unwieldy servers. This is where we let Google do what it does best, so we can do what we do best - help our patients.”