I was just wondering that for the ds online play can you just join a server without having to have someones friend code like on xbox live or the pc where you can just pick a server and join in or do you need someone else's friend code to find join a server?

- Superspudd722

DS online doesn't work like that when playing against other people. When connecting to Nintendo Wi-Fi connection with a game, Nintendo's server will connect you to someone that's looking for a game at the same time as you. Once paired or grouped up, you're essentially directly connected with them. Friend codes aren't necessary to play against people. They just make it easier to play against your friends.

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl is the exception to this. You must have someone's friend code, and they have yours, in order to directly battle against them.

What's up guys...question about the Umbrella Chronicles game which I'm very excited about. I've always been a fan of the Resident Evil storyline, but never really played the games. I started on the REmake for the Gamecube but was too freaked out after the first couple rooms to go any farther...that and I was only borrowing it. But now with RE4 coming out as well as UC, this looks like the perfect time to get back into it.

But my question is this: is UC really going to be only one player? This game looks like the perfect opportunity to get two people involved in the action, and I would much more prefer to play with a friend then by myself in the dark scary mansion. It probably would have attracted me to the series earlier on, as I never did play House of the Dead or Time Crisis without one of my friends. I feel like this game would be such a waste without it. Anyways, longtime reader, first time writer, thanks.

- chasewrenn@mac.com

I haven't seen anything that has officially deemed Umbrella Chronicles a single player game, so at this point it could still be multiplayer. It really should be, actually, given that arcade-style light gun games usually have two-player support. Time Crisis, House of the Dead, and Point Blank are just some examples of games that work best with two players, and Umbrella Chronicles should hopefully be no different.

This does bring up a good point. What if the game isn't multiplayer? If you ask me, that would hurt the game a lot. Why watch someone blasting up zombies when you can pick up a remote and join in?

I'm a Sonic fan and I just want to know why does the media hate his games so much! I loved the 2d games back on the Genesis and I love the 3d games too. I know the resent games are far from perfect but there not awful as some reviewers make them out to be. A good example of this was Shadow's game. This is the game people love to hate but I don't know why.

- Thaneros
New Orleans

Sonic the Hedgehog is not the celebrity he used to be. In the 16-bit era, his style and attitude helped Sega make a name for itself. The Sonic games since Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast have failed to rekindle that magic. This is partially because the new games forced us to play levels as characters other than Sonic, and partially because the move to 3D really hurt the design of Sonic games. Sonic took running and jumping to the extreme, but the 3D camera never seems to stay exactly where you need it. Secret Rings fixed that for the most part, but it had other issues that hampered what was still a halfway decent game.

Every game has its fans. If you like the 3D Sonic games, that's great. However, the majority doesn't. I won't look down upon your opinion, but if a lot of people don't like something it's usually because of the consensus reason.

I was reading another website and a reviewer said as far as HDTVs go Plasma is the best for Wii games. I may be wrong but I always thought that you were not supposed to use Plasma tvs for video games because the game image may get burned into the screen. Is there any truth to that. I was just wondering which type of HDTV do you feel is best for Wii games (LCD, HD-ILA, DLP, or Plasma). I ask because I am wanting to get a HDTV but don't want my Wii games looking bad.

- BKinley24

Though plasma screens are the most susceptible to screen burn-in, it doesn't mean that if you hook up a game system to a plasma monitor you'll fry your screen in seconds. Burn-in only happens when a static image, such as a HUD graphic that appears in a game during gameplay, stays visible for a prolonged contiguous period of time. Games work just fine on plasma, as long as you plan on using the screen for other things equally, like watching TV or movies. A friend of mine has a 61" monster set that he uses for gaming all the time, and he hasn't had any problems.

Possible burn-in is a con of a plasma screen, as is a hotter operating temperature. However, you do get a better overall picture and faster display refreshes (to keep up with quick motion) with plasma. Each type of display has its pros and cons. Personally, I skipped the flat panel display thing and stuck with an HD CRT display. I think the ol' glass box produces a better picture than either of them, although the thing weighs three tons. It's not fun to move it around when I need to, but I'm happy with it.

Doing research when making an investment in a nice monitor is critical, and it's best to ask around for many opinions, especially those who game on them. I hope you found mine useful!

Dear NWR,

I'm excited to see all the third-party support the Virtual Console has received. Looking back at my old cartridges, I don't think it'll be hard to rebuild my retro collection. There was a game and developer, however, that stood out. Virgin Interactive, who made the The Lion King on the SNES and Genesis. Maybe I'm just ignorant, but I haven't heard about Virgin Interactive for quite a while. Are they still about? How is their relationship with Nintendo? What are the chances of The Lion King coming to the Virtual Console?

- Mr. E

Virgin was bought out by French publisher Titus in 1999. Yes, the same Titus responsible that smash hit of the same year, Superman 64. Virgin Interactive eventually became Avalon Interactive, who published a few multiplatform Xbox/PS2 games in Europe for Interplay and various other companies. I really haven't heard about them for quite some time, and I don't know if the company is still doing business.

And so, the question is asked again. "What are the chances of Game XYZ coming to Virtual Console?" No offense to you, good sir, but do you know many times a week I get asked that? I don't like it when people send in such a generic question because the chances of it getting answered here are about as good as the obscure (but awesome) game they want to be put on Virtual Console. To help you all understand my plight, I will explain the process involved in re-releasing a years-old game and then answer the question here once and for all.

First and foremost, you need to find the company that made the game in the first place. Using The Lion King as an example, it looks like Virgin both developed it and published it. That's a good thing, because there's always an issue of who has the rights to a game, or parts of a game, if the developer and a publisher are different. If that were the case the initial rights would need to be hammered out between two parties instead of just one. Then again, you still need one company to do the paperwork ... what if the entity that was once known as Virgin Interactive doesn't exist anymore? Who owns the rights to the game? Richard Branson? Titus? If it's Titus, who no longer exists, who owns the rights to all of Titus's assets? You can't start negotiating this stuff without the original owner, or at least the current owner of the game.

Here's another problem. The Lion King is a Disney property, and issuing a re-release of the game in any form would require the consent of the mouse ears, and of course, a little bit of monetary compensation for each copy sold if they agreed to relicense the game for a new release. Luckily, the Disney license is broad and can be leased out on an individual basis if necessary (Kingdom Hearts), but what if another publisher had an exclusive license, in the here and now? Say for instance, the NFL license? Electronic Arts isn't going to let that puppy out for anything, which is why Tecmo had to cut out the real NFL stuff from Tecmo Bowl before putting it on Virtual Console. Had the Disney license been exclusive to someone else, it would have been really hard to un-Disney the game for a legal re-release.

As you can see, there are a lot of issues that could appear when trying to license a game for release on Virtual Console. There are more (don't get me started on working out the rights in dozens of different European countries), but I think I've gone on enough. It's a process, and all the involved parties need to be satisfied for it to work. If they aren't, or it's not possible to find the parties in the first place, it's not going to happen. Ever.

Enough of my rambling. I said I'd get to the answer, and here it is. Starting at "no chance," the chances of any classic game coming to Virtual Console increase every time one of these conditions are met:

-The developer and publisher are the same company

-The company with developing and/or publishing rights when the game was released still exists in the same form today

-The game was not licensed (movie, TV show, comic book, pizza mascot, etc.)

-The game is not a compilation of other games that could be released on Virtual Console separately

-The game was very popular when it was released in your region and language

-The game is made by Nintendo

-The game is Kirby Super Star for the SNES

If your game gets a 7/7, it's destined for Virtual Console and I will download it immediately. A 6 means it'll eventually show up. A 3-5 score has a fighting chance of appearing, and a 0-2 score means you'd better start hitting the flea markets and swap meets.

Now you know. Please stop asking me these questions now! Try asking me different questions. You can do that via the mailbag submission form, linked below.