President Bush gets Nintend DS for 60th Birthday.

Thursday 06 Jul 2006 : 00:20 AM



In a PR move that would make Max Clifford proud, Nintendo have sent President Bush a 60th Birthday present, A DS and a copy of Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, claiming that they can help him keep his brain sharp.

We think it might take more than a few logic puzzles, but we loved the "Happy Birthday Mr. President" message on the screen.

Head over to Kotaku for a full transcript of the letter.

Tags: Brain Age , Nintendo , Touch Generations

Formats: DS

New Zealand Story - On it's way to DS ?

Thursday 06 Jul 2006 : 00:08 AM



According to Eurogamer , New Zealand Story is coming to Nintendo DS later this year and it's being developed by Rising Star Games.

This sounds like a great idea in theory, as long as it doesn't go the way of Rainbow Islands.

They don't have any more details so unfortunately neither do we, but we'll certainly let you know when we do.

Tags: New Zealand Story , Nintendo , Retro , Rising Star Games

Formats: DS

Sony borrows about £400 million

Wednesday 05 Jul 2006 : 20:44 PM



£376,746,816.14 to be exact, or 80 billion yen.

Read into this what you will but this is the first time Sony has borrowed money from investors in 10 years. Sony hasn't been doing that well recently, it's consumer electronics division hasn't been doing that well and PS2 revenues must be starting to slip.

It would probably have needed to borrow some money anyway as it's invested huge amounts of money in the Cell processor and Blu-Ray and even with the hefty price tag of the PS3 it will still be subsidising that for a while so it's unlikely to see healthy profits from that until 2008.

Despite their huge console market share and brand loyalty you've got to say that Sony is taking a lot of risks at the moment, as are Nintendo with their new controller. The next year is going to be very, very interesting.

Tags: Sony

Formats: Multi Format

Design a car for Test Drive Unlimited.

Tuesday 04 Jul 2006 : 15:07 PM



Atari are giving budding designers the chance to have their dream car modelled and included in their upcoming MMOR (massively multiplayer online racer!) Test Drive Unlimited. They'll also be giving one lucky winner a cheque for $2,500.

Designs can be submitted digitally or on paper but you'd better hurry up, the competiion only has 6 days left to run.

read more here

Tags: Atari , Racing , Test Drive Unlimited

Formats: Xbox 360

Microsoft rubbishes Xbox 360 internal HD DVD drive

Monday 03 Jul 2006 : 22:15 PM



Rumours circulating the web earlier this week that Microsoft were to include an internal HD-DVD drive in the Xbox 360 are definitely not true according to Microsoft.

The rumours surfaced after a top brass at Toshiba made comments about the possibility of MS including an internal drive in future models but it was only ever speculation and a microsoft employee has rubbished the claims saying,


"Saw a few stories online about an Xbox 360 with a built-in HD DVD drive: not true. We have no plans to release an Xbox 360 with an internal HD DVD. What we showcased at E3 was an external HD DVD drive, and we're sticking with that.

We've always had a games-first emphasis with the Xbox, but some consumers can build on the platform - like by adding a Windows Media Center Edition PC. By keeping the drive external, we're offering consumers a choice in creating their own hi-def experiences. So: no plans for an internal HD DVD."


An internal HD-DVD drive wouldn't be a good move for Microsoft, Sony has been criticised for the high price of the PS3 and it's attempts to force it's Blu-Ray technology on gamers. A seperate drive makes sense and will probably still work out cheaper than the PS3.


Tags: HD-DVD , Microsoft

Formats: Xbox 360

PS3 & Nintendo Wii launch titles rumour roundup.

Monday 03 Jul 2006 : 21:34 PM



There's been lots of talk about launch titles for this years 2 big console launches in recent months . Some were announced officially at E3, some have been announced by developers and some are mere speculation so we thought it was about time we cleared a few things up and gave you a (relatively) difinitive list of the games you'll be playing this christmas. The lists are compiled from a number of sources including retailers, developers,news sites and a bloke I met down the Fox and Hounds on Saturday night so don't quote us on this.


Nintendo Wii

Definitely:

The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Wii Sports
Rayman: Raving Rabbids
Red Steel
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
Dragon Quest Swords
Metroid Prime: Corruption
WarioWare: Smooth Moves

Probably:

Madden NFL 2007
Elebits
Trauma Center: Second Opinion
Excite Truck
Project Hammer
SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
Cars: The Movie


Unknown:

Super Mario Galaxy
Metal Slug Anthology
Blitz: The League
Super Smash Brothers Brawl
Sonic Wildfire
Disaster Day Of Crisis
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers
Ant Bully
Marvel United
Open Season
Super Swing Golf Pangya





Playstation 3

Definitely:

Singstar
Warhawk
Formula One 06
MotorStorm
Killzone
Tekken 6
Full Auto 2: Battlelines
Sonic The Hedgehog

Probably:

Heavenly Sword
Fight Night Round 3
Genji 2
Fatal Inertia
Tony Hawk's Project 8
Gran Turismo HD
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Devil May Cry 4
Unreal Tournament 2007
Medal of Honor: Airborne


Unknown:

Grand Theft Auto IV
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
Call of Duty 3
Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway
WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2007
Resident Evil 5
Resistance: Fall of Man
Army of Two
Alan Wake
Alone in the Dark
Fabula Nova Crystallis: Final Fantasy XIII
Brother In Arms: Hell's Highway
Gradius
Driver 5
Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters
The Darkness
Project IM
Marvel United
Eye of Judgement
Golden Axe
Stranglehold
6Gun 2
Avalo
Dark Sector
Eyedentify
Fifth Phantom Saga
Final Fantasy PS3
The Getaway PS3
I-8
Infraworld
Killing Day
Mobile Suit Gundam
Ni-Oh
Omikron 2
Possession
Project Delta
ShadowClan
Vision GT
Angel Rings
Monster Carnival
Everybody's Golf 5


Lots of those PS3 'Probablys' and 'Unknowns' should make it onto the final list but details are hard to come by at the moment.

So far we think the PS3 list is looking impressive but we're still looking forward to the Wii more.





Tags: Nintendo , Nintendo Wii Launch , PS3 Launch , Sony

Formats: Playstation 3 , Wii

Wii to drop 6th November in US ?

Monday 03 Jul 2006 : 20:39 PM



US site Cubed3 are reporting that the Nintendo Wii will be released on 6th November on the other side of the pond. The story apparently comes from an "industry insider" and we wouldn't normally give credence to a story like this if wasn't for the fact that American magazine Sports Illustrated for kids have also printed the same date, so either they're making it up or somebody from Nintendo has let it slip to them too.

The date would make a lot of sense as it would give them a few weeks headstart on the PS3 and assuming yields are high enough it would mean that their machine was sitting in the store when parents are unable to get themselves a PS3 on launch day.

Tags: Nintendo

Formats: Wii

Nintendo announce pink DS Lite

Wednesday 28 Jun 2006 : 12:44 PM



It's taken long enough for the UK to get black and white DS lites but Nintendo announced today that Japanese fans will be able to get a pink DS lite on 20th July.

The pink DS sold very well last year thanks to the Nintendogs blue and pink bundles, I wonder what Nintendo have up their sleeves for this christmas ?

Tags: DS Lite , Nintendo

Formats: DS

Xbox Live Arcade games in a shop near you

Tuesday 27 Jun 2006 : 23:45 PM



Microsoft plans to release a collection of the most popular XBOX Live Arcade Titles through high street retailers later this year.

Dubbed "XBOX Live Arcade Unplugged", the compilation is rumoured to include the following titles.

- Geometry Wars Evolved
- Texas Hold 'Em Poker
- Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
- Outpost Kaloki X
- Wik: Fable of Souls
- Hardwood Backgammon

There are certainly some great games in there and it should help fill a gap in the 360's release schedule as Microsoft are probably saving up some of the bigger releases to coincide with the launch of the PS3 and the Wii.

The package will apparently hit the shelves in October priced £20.

Tags: Xbox Live Arcade

Formats: Xbox 360

Japan gets DS Opera on 24th July

Thursday 22 Jun 2006 : 19:22 PM



Japanese DS owners will be able to wirelessly browse the web using their DS from 24th of July when The official DS version of Opera is released.

Opera have created the browser especially for the DS's two screens and stylus. It has an on screen touch keyboard and both screens will be used for browsing, with the web page appearing in one and a thumbnail of the whole page in the other.

The unit will initially be sold on the web for 3,800 yen (about £18). There's no news of when it'll be released in the UK or US but we expect it to be before the end of this year.

As with all DS cards there is no region encoding meaning that there is no reason why it wouldn't work in the UK , apart from the fact you'd probably need to learn Japanese.

Tags: Nintendo , Opera , Wireless Internet

Formats: DS