Port forwarding configuration for Borderlands online play

While hosting public Borderlands games, a few people have told me they’ve had trouble hosting games that other players could join.

I opened the following ports on my router and was able to host public games:

  • 7777 (TCP, UDP)
  • 27900 (UDP)
  • 28900 (TCP)
  • 28902 (TCP, UDP)
  • 28910 (UDP)

Consult your router’s documentation for instructions on opening ports as methods will differ according to router manufacturer and interface.

Fatal Frame 4 fan translation available, patches game on the fly

Bummed that Nintendo has no plans to localize Fatal Frame 4 (Japanese title: Zero: Gesshoku no Kamen) for a US or Europe release? Be bummed no longer.

A team of translators and developers have released a fan translation patch that allows English-speaking Wii owners to play Tecmo‘s and Grasshopper Manufacture‘s critically acclaimed horror game in their own language.

What’s particularly impressive about this fan translation is that it can patch a retail copy of the game on the fly, meaning that Wii owners will not need to “softmod” their systems or venture into legal “gray areas” to play the game with English language text.

To play Fatal Frame 4 in English, you’ll need to purchase Zero: Gesshoku no Kamen from Play-Asia or another retailer, download the fan translation patch, and install the patch according to instructions available on the translation developers’ site.

Aside from being great news for English-speaking fans of the Fatal Frame series, this patch opens a host of new possibilities for fan translations. With a 100% legal method of translating in-game Japanese text to English, other popular Japan-only Wii releases could receive their own fan translations.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii game + lunchbox + T-shirt for $59.99 USD

Since New Super Mario Bros. Wii reads like a love letter to 20-something gamers who’ve played every 2D Mario title over the last two and a half decades, it seems appropriate that Amazon is selling a bundle with the game, a T-shirt, and–best of all–a New Super Mario Bros. Wii-themed lunch box for $59.99 USD: New Super Mario Bros Wii Amazon Exclusive Limited-Edition Bundle

Remember, New Super Mario Bros. Wii by itself regularly sells for $49.99 USD, so this is a pretty sweet deal. If you’re planning on buying the game anyway and have an extra 10 bucks to spare, please use the link above to help support Brainstorm Warning.

And yes, it’s been 24 years since I first played the original Super Mario Bros. and I’ve since (allegedly) outgrown lunch boxes, but my inner child lit up with innocent glee when I saw this bundle.

Purchases from a local Game Crazy liquidation sale

Game Crazy is in the process of closing 200 stores across the United States. Yesterday, my wife and I visited a local Game Crazy where all items remaining in the store were 50% off.

I picked up the following:

AM CD/DVD Game Cleaner Manual Machine ($5, new). I bought this to replace a hand crank-style Maxell CD/DVD cleaner that I’ve used for about 10 years. One of the parts came off my Maxell CD/DVD cleaner years ago, but I still have it and just plug it back into place any time I needed to clean CDs or DVDs. The AM brand cleaner didn’t come with a lens cleaner disc, so I’m keeping my old Maxell disc handy.

Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand ($10, new?). When I spotted Boktai in the display case, I was somewhat surprised to see that it hadn’t sold already. For those not already familiar with the game, it’s a Gameboy Advance title that has a solar sensor built into the game cartridge. Playing where sunlight reaches the cartridge affects gameplay in interesting and creative ways.

On the drive home from Game Crazy and before I unwrapped the game, I felt a twinge of buyer’s remorse for buying a GBA game for $10 when I already have a backlog of games to get through. I was concerned that the solar sensor might just be a silly gimmick, but after playing through the game’s first mission, I found myself impressed with how the developers (Konami) incorporated the solar sensor feature without making the special hardware feel extraneous or tacked on. The game would be an impressive title even without special hardware, but the solar sensor adds to the experience.

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Video: Nekketsu Oyako (Thermal Blood Parent and Child) (Playstation)

Nekketsu Oyako is a beat ’em up also known as Thermal Blood Parent and Child or Hot Blooded Family. The game was released for the Playstation in December 1994 and for the Sega Saturn in July 1995.

On an interesting side note, the game’s first level ends with the player being swallowed whole by a giant whale. The “belly of the beast” trope was listed in a recent GamesRadar article entitled Myth in games.

Click past the break for direct feed footage of the first two stages with Rio selected as the player character.

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Japanese voice cast for Ni no Kuni: The Another World

Ni no Kuni (English title: The Another World), the Nintendo DS role-playing game collaboration between Level-5 (Dragon Quest VIII, Rogue Galaxy, Professor Layton and the Curious Village) and Studio Ghibli (My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) looks amazing. The game will also features extensive voice acting.

Below is a list of Japanese voice talent for Ni no Kuni:

Source: Level-5 Shares Ni no Kuni Time Frame and Voice Cast