Say Hello to the New Review Layout!

As you may or may not know, I famously (well, I'd like to think so, anyway) created the review system for both The Players Republic and Twinfinite. If you'd like, you can read about it here. I never actually got to use this system over here at Installation 04, but the more I think about it the more I dislike about it. The execution, in my opinion, still needs work. So I've decided to streamline, reorganize, and birth a whole new review layout based on my original system. This will be used in all future reviews here at I04, and I think readers will really dig it. As always, I'm on a mission to write the highest-quality reviews around. Details lie beyond the break.

Happy 7!

As usual, I missed I04's birthday. The site turned seven on December 22nd. Happy birthday to us!

Video Game Winter Song Playlist Go!

Merry Christmas everyone! After the stress of the holidays, relax with this cool mix.

Here it is: The Official Zelda Timeline

Christmas has come early for Zelda fans. The comprehensive and official Zelda book "Hyrule Historia" was recently released in Japan and it only took fans days to translate the timeline published within. The book's supervising editor was Eiji Aonuma himself, making it that much more official. So, without further delay, there it is:

Might want to expand that...

2012 in Blockbuster Film Trailers

Yep, 2012 is going to be a good year.

The Installation 04 Last Minute Christmas Gift Guide 2011!

Note: only include candles near your gifts if you want them to catch on fire and burn up.

Oh noes, Christmas is only a week away and I accidentally the gifts! What should I do? Is this dangerous?

Not to worry, resident of the internet, Installation 04 has got you covered! Read on for a handy list of gifts. All you have to do is hand over the money. And if it doesn't make it before Christmas, don't fret! At least they'll have gotten that perfect gift. After all, it's the thought that counts, right?

VGA 2011 Wrap

Lots of stuff from the VGAs, yet there is so little to care about. Regardless, there's a bunch of trailers after the break.

Metal Gear Rising lives as Revengeance

[EDIT] Trailer's gone. I'll put it back up when it's officially released. Trust me when I say it was awesome.

The VGAs are tonight, and that means a mini E3. The first thing to leak is a trailer for the reworked MGS: Rising, now Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The big news here is that Kojima is no longer developing and Platinum is in charge now. Yes, that Platinum. And holy shit, this game looks fantastic. My interest is rising by 200%!

Keep it tuned here for all the VGA news!

Hori Classic Controller Review

*NOTE* I have repurposed this review from a now defunct website. If it looks familiar, you're not crazy.

I don't buy a lot of third party accessories for my gaming systems. Though cheaper, it's usually a better investment to go with the first party stuff because it's more likely to last. Regardless, there were a lot of choices back when controllers were wired. Nowadays, Microsoft has a monopoly on wireless controllers and Sony doesn't allow for Bluetooth compatible ones, meaning you need a USB dongle. Nintendo doesn't give a crap, which is why I've only bought third party stuff for Nintendo systems this generation. What I buy, mostly, are controllers. I had a few PS2, Xbox, and GameCube controllers back in the day that weren't very solid. I haven't bought a third-party controller since. Well, until recently.

Halo Anniversary Terminals Guide

Most terminals look like this.

I just finished up Halo Anniversary and found out a little special something about the game's terminals. So before I review the game, I thought I'd write up a handy guide to finding the terminals in case you're stuck.

Read a large chunk from "Avatar: The Promise" Right now!

Avatar fans may or not be aware, but Dark Horse is publishing a 3-part graphic novel trilogy in 2012 set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It literally picks up right were the series left off (and, in fact, there is some crossover between the comic and the last scenes of the show that puts them in context) and will focus on Aang and Zuko's efforts to rebuild the world. Essentially, it'll bridge the gap between the orignal series and Korra. Quite a large chunk of the first volume (available January 25th) was leaked online and can be read here. All I have to say is holy shit, it's amazing! No, really. It's just what I wanted. Considering the first volume is 80 pages, we're potentially looking at a 240 page epic here! And I'd like to know, is it just me or does anyone else read the dialog in the characters' voices? You can check out a behind the scenes video about the making of the book after the break.

Teen Titans, GO!

I posted about this yesterday on the Google+ page, but I think it bears repeating: Teen Titans is returning to television! Well, sort of. It'll be back as an animated short series to air during the Cartoon Network's new DC Nation block in 2012. It's in  more or less the same style, with the same voice cast, but the characters are chibi. Unfortunately, the only footage I can find was uploaded to Facebook and I can't embed the video here. But you can check it out at this page. Who else is super excited?

Celebrate the Zelda 25th Anniversary with 25YEARLEGEND

Of all the awesome Zelda tribute stuff I've seen for the series anniversary, I have to admit that 25YEARLEGEND is probably the best. Sponsored by OC Remix, the album contains arrangements by Indie game composers spanning the entire history of the Zelda series. It's awesome in that it's not what I was expecting at all. You should go grab yourself a copy and get to listening!

All of Tamriel is (maybe) in Skyrim

So there's this Finnish blogger by the name of Jesse who broke through the invisible wall connecting Skyrim to Morrowind. Guess what he found. The whole province of Morrowind. And then from Morrowind he traveled to Cyrodiil. Yes, it seems very probable that the entire land of Tamriel has been programmed into the game. But why? That certainly is the question. Popular speculation is either for DLC or modders, since many modders often recreate other provinces in TES anyway. These areas are't completely accurate or to scale, at least in relation to their respective games. There could be several reasons for this. They could be in there to provide some context of the for the 3D map, but that seems unlikely to me. There's just too much land created here, even if it isn't entirely accurate. My theory is that, taking place 200 years after Oblivion, the landscape could have changed somewhat. For example:

Oblivion above. Skyrim below.

I imagine that if that lake started to dry up, you might get something like the Skyrim version. No, there's definitely a reason for the existence of these landmasses that related to the gameplay. I mean, the path that leads to Morrowind is blocked by a wall, but that wall has an open walkway. Bethesda stated before that there would be less DLC for Skyrim, but that it would be more substantial. Perhaps a trip to Morrowind or the Imperial City is in order?

Halo miniseries incoming!

Well, it's a fan series, of course, but it looks to be lovingly crafted. Basically, it'll end up being awesome like most fan series and unlike the stuff Hollywood craps out. The series is based on the short story "Dirt" by Tobias Buckell and will premier in January.

A Week of Halo!

What a time to relaunch, eh? Today is Halo's 10th birthday and to celebrate I've got a whole week of awesome Halo features culminating in the review of Halo Anniversary! Come to think of it, it's also the 10th anniversary of Xbox too. Lots of memories to relive. Stay tuned for awesomeness.

Holy crap we're back!

Yes, that's right. After going through two websites I've decided that Installation 04 is my true home. So it's back in business! Expect an influx of content coming up, whether it's just me or a team of great people. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have deleted the Facebook page.

Oh, and there's going to be a bit of maintenance going on for the next week at least.

The Players Republic has launched!

I made that logo myself!

The Players Republic is officially live! You should go check it out right now! What does that mean for this blog? Less updates, I guess. It's not gone forever but I'm not quite sure what its purpose will be in the future. In any case, go visit the new site. Bookmark it even! Become a fan on Facebook! Follow it on Twitter! You are about to become a part of something big. Let's do this!

The End (UPDATED!)

This, the 780th post, will be this blog's last. For you see, we moved on, grown up, and transformed into something new. Twinfinite. If you somehow frequent this blog, or just now stumbled across it, please redirect yourself there.

See you on the other side.

/Fuzunga

Activison is at it again...

This man is the CEO, president, and director of Activision. He just looks like a douche, doesn't he?

You know when a story involves Activision it's not going to turn out well. I hope you guys weren't fond of Infinity Ward...

Activision has announced the closure of Infinity Ward. While it's not terribly surprising, it's still pretty sad. Apparently the company became an "expensive burden" after Jason West and Vince Zampella were fired and 46 staff members subsequently quit. Evidently, that hasn't had a great effect on team morale. In fact, Modern Warfare 3 was being developed by three studios prior to today's announcement. The crippled Infinity Ward was working with Activision's new CoD-centric studio Sledgehammer to develop the campaign, while Raven Software (of Quake 4, Singularity, and Wolfenstein fame) developed the multiplayer component. Activision, however, now finds it more profitable to let Infinity Ward go. Sledgehammer will be taking over the bulk of development on the new title, though it is currently unconfirmed whether the current IW staff will be merged into Sledgehammer, assigned to other Activision studios, or simply fired all together.

The fall of Infinity Ward is a pretty sad tale. The studio will close its doors a week from today. You can read the press release on Activision's website.

Goodbye

This here's the logo for the new website. I made it myself!

A status update: Installation 04 is now closing forever. Project P.R.O.J.E.C.T. is nearly complete and is currently soft launching as we speak. That sounded slightly dirty. Sorry, for those of you looking forward to the jelly eggs. That wasn't the part coming true.

The 3DS: I have played it!

I played the 3DS today and I can confirm that everything you've heard is true. The 3D works, and it is awesome.