Thanks to Cheaterdragon we have a nice update for the Zero Tolerance beta page, as a couple of beta / prototypes were found!
Think Retro audio interview with Liam
The guys from Think Retro had a short audio interview with our good friend Liam (you know, the one that records those awesome U64 video-articles), if you have some free time and if you would like to know how Liam started to do U64 videos, just download the mp3 and have fun!
Robocop & Gen 13 PSX protos are leaked and preserved
Our friends at Games That Weren’t were able to find and share a couple of interesting protos, that were seen some years ago in the Playstation Museum: Robocop and Gen 13. You can download the proto at Games That Weren’t website, to “play” them in your favourite PSX emu. These are just very early protos so there is not much to see, but they are a nice piece of unseen gaming history. Let us know if you find something more in their codes!
The Robocop file is a simple tech demo where you can control Robocop walking around a single mostly wall-less warehouse. Pillars and boxes provide some sparse decoration and while it’s 3D nothing is ‘solid’, allowing you to walk through the walls and objects.
Gen 13; The Realtime Associate’s version is the most simple, but Playstation Museum caveat this by pointing out it was done in a single week, which makes it quite impressive. It’s a fully 3D rendering of the heroine of the game and you can walk her forwards and backwards from multiple camera angles.
Thanks to Unclejun for the help to convert these files in a playable form!
Videos:
[U64 Italian Podcast] Episodio 2.0: Super Mario Beta Saga (Parte I)
The Unseen 64 Podcast is only in Italian, sorry!
U64 Podcast: Episodio 2.0 – Super Mario Beta Saga (Parte I) [78:54] (streaming) – In qualche modo la podcast di Unseen 64 è arrivata al 20esimo episodio, la qualità non è di certo migliorata ma ci divertiamo tanto quanto la prima volta! In questa puntata bonus, organizzata dal nostro ascoltatore Mr Game, ci siamo ritrovati ad approfondire vari aspetti dello sviluppo dei capitoli tridimensionali della saga di Mario, partendo ovviamente da Mario 64. Le differenze fra le versioni Alpha 1, Alpha 2, Beta 1, la difficolta’ nello sviluppo, i riferimenti ad altri giochi, i dati beta inutilizzati trovati nel gioco, la famosa “Impossible Coin”, la leggenda di “L is Real 2041” e vari ricordi più o meno demenziali sulla nostra esperienza nel castello di Peach. Siamo poi saltati a dispersioni varie su Super Mario 128 (a.k.a. Super Mario 64 2) e le teorie sulle aggiunte a Mario 64DS, elementi più o meno segreti in Super Mario Sunshine, la Beta dell’E3, le musiche e i video non usati, la bellissima debug room e il libro misterioso, oltre a strani rumors su Mario Sunshine 3DS. Avrete il coraggio di ascoltare questo nuovo episodio fino in fondo? >> U64 Episodio 2.0 – Super Mario Beta Saga (Parte I) [78:54]– Download Versione in MP3
What is ACTA you may ask? What can you do about it?
Attention all beta geeks a threat to our way of life has emerged known simply as ACTA. What is ACTA you may ask? ACTA stands for Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. This is no ordinary trade agreement as it would have dire consequences for the internet as we know it. ACTA was negotiated by a small number of countries in secret such as the United States, Japan, Mexico, and all of Europe. ACTA has been signed by almost all of the participating countries except for Mexico and New Zealand, however it still must be ratified by the European Parliament. So, you’re probably wondering what does ACTA mean for me? Here’s how it will affect you if it passes.
- Your ISP would be required to monitor what you do online 24/7 and if Hollywood thinks you committed copyright infringement they could throw you in prison.
- Youtube would be mostly wiped out due to “Copyright infringement”.
- It guts fair use laws.
- There is a possibility we would see a end to U64 itself in the name of “Copyright infringement”.
- Mods for your PC games may be gone.
- What the beta community does best which is preserve beta would be ended.
- It would limit freedom of speech.
So to sum up ACTA’s effect on you it would.
- Destroy your right to privacy.
- Limit your right to free speech.
- Destroy the internet we all know and love.
- Set up a board of unaccountable unelected people to modify ACTA effectively circumventing any democratic scrutiny.
What can you do about it? Glad you asked that question. You can go to www.avaaz.org/en/eu_save_the_internet_spread/?wujuEcb to sign the worldwide petition telling the European Parliament to reject ACTA, you can also go to www.laquadrature.net/en for more information about ACTA and how you can act against it.
Remember ACTA isn’t about copyright infringement, it’s about infringing on your fundamental rights.