I happened to look in the Game Room directory and see a big resource file earlier today. I figured that there might be some images in it that could give clues about future content, and there was!

First I checked for PNG headers files using a hex editor, then I used this Perl script to extract them.

In the image below, you can see that it contains a number of unused achievement icons (is that one with Pac-Man, Quick Man, and Air Man an achievement for “extra mans”?), new content pack banners, and strangely a picture of Star Wars clone troopers. Maybe that’ll be used to announce the original Atari Star Wars arcade game.

Check it out: (click for full size)

I’ll update if I dig anything else out of C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Game Room\common_d9.rkv.

If you aren’t familiar with the mazes, you can see that something is wrong because the bonus fruit travels through walls!

If you aren’t familiar with it, the box art is an homage to the terrible artwork associated with the North American version of Mega Man 1 for the NES:

The actual kit is a real NES cartridge that has been stripped of screws and logic board, then reassembled with magnets and a new label. The first auction for one of these on eBay went for $750 but as you can see (since I opened it) I’ll be keeping mine!

Here are some photos I’ve taken of the unboxing:

The data plan includes free wifi access at any Rogers-branded hotspot, so I decided to map out the locations. The address of each hotspot is provided by this website but requires processing in order to be usable by Google Maps.

Process

• Downloaded the XLS version of the hotspot list
• Converted it to CSV format and imported it into the database
• Ran a modified version of this PHP script from Google that geocodes addresses into latitudes and longitudes
• Wrote a PHP script that exports the database to KML format in a few different configurations

And presto! Here they are, viewed in Google Maps:

• Rogers Wireless hotspots (352 entries, 142 KB)
• Bell hotspots (704 entries, 292 KB)
• Telus Mobility hotspots (127 entries, 54 KB)
• All hotspots (1183 entries, 486 KB)

If you want to load the entries in Google Earth or another mapping tool, you can grab the raw KML files here:
http://www.techknight.com/kml

Update

I got someone with an iPhone to try loading the maps on their device. (Mine won’t arrive until next week.) It seems that KML support is spotty at best… In Safari the map loaded but wasn’t interactive, while the actual Google Maps application could not load an external resource. So for now these are useful only when you’re at your PC, about to leave home. :)

Screenshots

Issues

A few problems cropped up while geocoding. Addresses that returned french accents in the XML caused simplexml_load_string() to error out with “Entity: line 1: parser error : Input is not proper UTF-8″. A forum post here had a solution using iconv().

Another problem was that some addresses in the original file are out of date. For example, this entry for Emerald Hills Golf Club:

14001 Concession #5, Stouffville, ON

Doing a search for emerald hills golf club ontario, it looks like “Concession #5″ was renamed to “Warden Avenue”, which causes the lookup to fail.

Also, there are some perfectly valid entries that show up in Google Maps but return a GGeoStatusCode of G_GEO_UNKNOWN_ADDRESS (602) when querying for them using the geocoding API. Examples:

Suite 220, 10610 Airport Drive, Grande Prairie, AB
1 First Canadian Place, Toronto, ON
7585 Market Crossing, Burnaby, BC

I’m guessing that the database used by the geocoding API differs from the database used by Google Maps proper. Other addresses in the original list are simply misspelled. Anyway, I thought at first that I would manually get co-ordinates for such entries, but there are 151 of them so I’m going to pass on that. :) (I did do some manual updates using this tool for the few downtown Toronto locations that didn’t work though.)

I’ll try to get in touch with whoever is in charge of updates at canadianhotspot.ca… Maybe if I give them a list of the non-working entries they can fix them.

In any event, it’s unlikely that Steam Cloud will be back-ported to many (if any) existing titles on Steam. That means I still need a solution for keeping my Peggle save file in sync between my desktop and laptops. :)

So if you’re a Live Mesh user, here’s how keep some of your PopCap Games save files in sync on Windows Vista:

Why “Effective”? Well, you could mesh individual save folders but I prefer to keep things simple. It doesn’t hurt if one of the meshed devices doesn’t have all of the same games installed as the others.

Infinite Interactive made some balance changes for the PC, Xbox 360, and all future versions. However, I prefer to use the Warrior’s Deathbringer spells from the older PSP/DS versions of PQ.

Here’s how to put the classic Deathbringer back in the game:

1. Open up your Puzzle Quest folder (probably C:\Program Files\Puzzle Quest)

2. Make a backup copy of Assets.zip

3. Inside of the zip, edit Assets\Spells\SDBR.xml and change:

<Data cooldown=”3″ />

into

<Data cooldown=”0″ />

4. Next edit Assets\Spells\SDBR.lua and change:

if (amt > 10) then
amt = 10;
end

into

if (amt > 64) then
amt = 64;
end

You could probably just delete those three lines.. But it is probably best to set the upper bounds to no more than the actual number of gems on the board. :)

5. Overwrite the files in Assets.zip with your new copies and you’re done.

Visit UMK3.net

It turns out that Hexic HD for the Xbox 360 was created with Macromedia Flash… Which makes sense because Macromedia is in the credits.

As reported elsewhere, the Xbox 360 kiosk demo disc is floating around the net and is not as restricted as normal retail discs.

The upshot is that while the executables are still signed and encrypted, the data files are in the clear. Additionally, the demo disc itself has no media restrictions and can be played in an Xbox 360 from a DVD-R.

Now, some of these data files are the Hexic HD SWFs which can be used in Macromedia’s Flash Player or a web browser with the Flash plug-in. Instead of the Xbox 360 controller, the arrow keys and the A, B, and X keys are used.

Here are some screenshots:

Years ago, I played the hell out the Software Toolworks classic, Life & Death 2: The Brain and I never forgot how much fun it was to play virtual surgeon.

Now, with DS’ touchscreen technology, the act of slicing people up and saving their lives is way more tactile and fun.

Unlike the L&D series, Trauma Center doesn’t play as a straight simulation. Rather, the operations are simplified with a heavy emphasis on action, speed, and.. drama? Yes, between patients there’s a soap opera of a story, and your character is right in the middle of it.

At first, there are a few basic patients with normal illnesses. As you progress though, a sinister conspiracy of medical terrorism unfolds and takes you all over the world. Internal injuries that defy explanation, engineered viruses and nanomachines..

I don’t want to give too much away… But the game isn’t just human patients – today I disabled a bomb with my scalpel, laser, and suction pump!

It’s wonderful that the DS is now getting games that take advantage of its unique capabilities. Trauma Center: Under The Knife is highly recommended.

Well, actually a little bit of hassle. The menus are all in Japanese! I can’t read it, but I kept clicking until I figured out the important stuff (ie starting a normal game and saving).

The screens below (phone pics, sorry) will help you navigate the game once you’re past the title screen. Remember, since this is a Japanese game, Circle is the enter key while X is the escape key. (The opposite is true on most North American PSX/PS2/PSP games.)

Oh, and a note about points: When you complete a song, you get a certain number of points. As you get more, you can unlock up to four secret songs, one extra difficulty level, and two costume upgrades for your drum guy. It takes about 12000 points to get everything.

Winter is only five months away!