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Australia Gets Black DS Lite Press Release: More

Wii KIOSKS! Real or Fake…: View

Love Love Hamster DS Screens: View

Project Hacker DS Review: Read

Wii Party Chance?: More

ONM Magazine Cover Story: Check it

Sales Predictions (Enterbrain): Read

Japanese Hardware Sales Aug. 21-27th: View

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon PS2 Video:

EGM DS Scores and Rumors: Read

Yggdrasil Labyrinth DS Press Release (coming to US): More

Elebits Could Have Online Play: Read More

Top 10 Imported Games: Check em

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Preview: Read it

EB Games Wii Page: View

There is nothing theatrical or performance-related about playing Lara Croft, or any of the many avatars that populate game worlds. Lara is not an actor, she is a doll. It wouldn’t matter to the game if she were blonde, black, South African, Martian or whatever, she is just a doll. The Master Chief is just a doll. Mario is just a doll. It’s the world that the players are buying into when they pick up these games, not the idea of being the doll.
More at: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10660

Not only America, but Australia will be seeing the black colored DS Lites. 

Officials from Nintendo Australia have announced that the black colored version of the Nintendo DS Lite will be launched in the region on September 21st, 2006 for a price of AU$199.95 (US$153).

The new color will be launched just in advance of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team on September 28th (well before the European launch of the game on November 10th). The press release also indicates that both versions of the Nintendo DS hardware have sold in excess of 300,000 units since the format’s launch in February 2005 and the release of the Nintendo DS Lite on June 1st. Nintendo claims that this continues to sustain the Nintendo DS as the highest selling handheld console in Australia, ahead of both the Game Boy Advance and Sony PSP.

If accurate, the strong performance of the Nintendo DS runs contrary to Nintendo’s usual reception in Australia which, even more so than the UK, is not a traditionally strong market for the company. The success of the console in these two countries, and elsewhere in the world, would appear to fully justify the company’s gamble in releasing such an atypical console and largely dropping the Game Boy brand in its marketing.

Regarding the new color announcement, Rose Lappin, director of sales and marketing commented: “We are very pleased to introduce Black to the range. I think the color lends well to the overall design and offers a sharp elegance to the unit. Until now, consumers have really embraced the clean sophistication of the Polar White look - now they have an option.”

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10699

Once again proving that Sony can’t do ANYTHING original anymore, they are planning on redesigning the PSP. 

Following in the footsteps of Nintendo’s handheld redesign tradition, Sony is rumored to be releasing a new, improved PSP model by March 2007 in Japan.

There is little information on the nature of the alteration, but that’s never stopped the rumor mill before. Some alleged add-ons, besides a natural cosmetic overhaul, include a digital camera, dual analog nubs, and a fatter, 8GB flash memory.

At this point, nothing has been confirmed, and mum’s the word over at Sony. If there is any validity to these reports, however, expect more news soon.

http://www.nintendojo.com/infocus/view_item.php?1156997203

It’s interesting to see how in-game advertising will change in the next consoles. 

Electronic Arts has done it again. Just when we thought they took in-game advertising to its limit, they turned around and proved us wrong.

EA has signed on with two advertising companies to provide a new type of in-game ad. These new ads will be seen later this year in EA games like Need For Speed: Carbon and Battlefield 2142 for Xbox 360 and PC.

This new “dynamic” form of advertising will allow for updating of advertisements at any time. For example, remember driving around in Need For Speed: Underground 2 and seeing billboards for Burger King and Best Buy? With the power of the internet, EA will be able to change those billboards continuously to reveal new products, or advertise timely sales and clearances.

Although this currently will only affect Xbox 360 and PC versions of the above mentioned titles, future Wii titles could also get this advertising treatment.

http://www.nintendojo.com/infocus/view_item.php?1157062926

Import gamers, mark your calendars: Jump Ultimate Stars, the sequel to last years mega-popular DS fighting game extravaganza Jump Superstars, has been set to release in Japan on November 23.

Featuring characters from the Shonen Jump manga magazine, many of which, such as Naruto, Kenshin and Goku will be no strangers to Americans, Jump Ultimate Stars is a hectic, four player 2D fighting game in the tradition of Smash Brothers.

Unfortunately, much like the last installment, scattered copyrights involving the characters in the US will prevent this game from coming out in the states. But since DS will play games from any other country, be sure to check out import sites in the coming months to snag yourself a copy!

http://www.nintendojo.com/infocus/view_item.php?1157043296

Nintendojo askes the question: :So what is next after the Nintendo Wii?” 

We all know that Nintendo is bringing us a magical and groundbreaking way of controlling video games with Wii’s freehand remote, and that it will forever change the way we interact with entertainment software. In fact, it’ll probably radically shift the market in ways that even I’ve never considered before.

You’re Absolutely Right

So, here’s the big stumper: Where do we go from here?

Uuuah?

What I’m trying to get at is, assuming that the people at Nintendo are as absolutely and totally correct as we know that they’re going to be, then what is the next step in the evolution of video games? Are we going to continue down the path of motion sensing, or is something else going to come along?

Looking at the differences between the past few hardware generations, it’s obvious that there hasn’t been much of a shift. The largest change was likely the shift from primarily digital to primarily analog-based control. While analog offers a 360-degree radius and varying levels of sensitivity, the truth is that it’s still a two-dimensional method of control.

“But, wait,” you say. “We play 3D games with analog sticks. How can you say it’s a 2D way of controlling games?”

That’s easy. How do you jump in Super Mario 64? With a button. If you have to use a button to perform a jump or similar action, then the control isn’t in full 3D. With the freehand remote, though, control is in true 3D, thanks to the sensor bar. It senses height, depth, and breadth, and can constantly track the relative position of the remote wherever it may be.

So, how does the next generation, meaning, the one after this one, start? I think the sensor bar itself is the key. Sure, we could start wearing gear and using Power Gloves to play everything, but, on a personal note, wearing a wired body suit or using a VR helmet doesn’t really appeal to me. Not to mention the fact that it would be prohibitively expensive.

But expanding the sensor bar’s function might not be. Sure, you’d probably need an extensive setup, but in the end, it would be less of a hassle than suiting up every single time you wanted to play Zelda. Plus, in theory, it could offer a full range of sensation for you entire body, without the need for a peripheral such as the Wii remote.

And, yes, we’d still be using TVs. You already know I’m not in favor of the visor, if for no other reason than it would make me look stupid, and fully-formed 3D holograms are probably still a little bit out of the price range for most American CEOs, let alone normal poor people who write columns for food.

This One Rates A Cheeseburger

Of course, I could be completely wrong on this one. How the future is shaped is in some way determined by how the general public responds to Wii.

—Hold on. I realize the way that was worded sounds like I’m not 100 percent sure that Nintendo will in every way dominate the next generation. What I meant was that it depends on whether the public loves Wii and wants to see even more new ways to control games, or whether the public loves Wii so much that it wants more of the same in the generation-after-next. Did that clear things up for you?

http://www.nintendojo.com/editorials/view_item.php?1157059977

Madden craziness has spread, leading to more than 2 million copies of Madden 2007 sold in its first week. 

If Electronic Arts’ estimation of the sales success of Madden NFL 07 is accurate, this year’s game could be headed to the Hall of Fame in no time. The publisher believes that more than 2 million copies of the game have been sold across all platforms in just its first week of release.

This year’s first-week sales are up 12 percent over Madden NFL 06’s 1.8 million units sold over the same period last year, says EA. Though the franchise has always performed well in retail during its 17-year career, EA’s estimation makes Madden NFL 07 the best-selling game in the franchise’s history of first-week performance.

Earlier today, Microsoft claimed that the Xbox 360 version had logged more than 2 million hours of online play over Xbox Live–the equivalent of 228 years in just one week.

Of course, one of the reasons the game could be selling well is because football fans who want to get their game on don’t really have any other choices. In late 2004, EA struck a five-year deal to obtain the exclusive rights to make NFL-licensed games–it later also acquired Arena Football and NCAA college football licenses. The only other high-profile pro-football franchise is Midway’s Blitz: The League, which focuses on a seamy, drug-addled, violent, and completely fictional football league.

Madden NFL 07 is rated E for Everyone and was released on all current-gen platforms and the Xbox 360 on August 22. PlayStation 3 and Wii versions are currently in development. For more information on the game, read GameSpot’s review.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6156916.html?tag=latestnews;title;0

Tecmo’s first half reports and strategy for the rest of 2006. 

It’s the season for midterm account settlements, and Tecmo’s Japanese headquarters have posted a financial summary for the first half of the fiscal year. The report offers a summary of the company’s vital statistics and gives some details about where Tecmo will direct its efforts over the remainder of the year.

Tecmo’s overall performance for the first half of 2006 was strong. Gross sales grew 17.2 percent compared with the first semester last year, totaling 4.677 billion yen, the equivalent of $39.84 million. Ordinary profit was 671 million yen, approximately $5.71 million, and midterm profits were on the order of 461 million yen, or $3.9 million. Net profits on Tecmo stocks earned shareholders 18.55 yen–about 15 cents–per share for the semester. Shipments of Tecmo software totaled 380,000 units for the semester. In addition, some 50,000 pachinko and slot machines were shipped out to help feed Japan’s gambling cravings. Other endeavors undertaken by Tecmo are mobile-phone content distribution and sales of usage rights for online games.

Regarding strategy for the rest of the year, Tecmo will release 13 games for next-generation consoles. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 will be getting volleyball, Team Ninja style, with Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. It will launch in the Japanese, North American, and European markets in time for the Christmas season. Several in-game items for DOAX2 will also be sold through Xbox Live. Another sports game, called Swing Golf Pangya (working title), is slated for the Nintendo Wii, but little is known about the game. Tecmo will also support the Wii’s Virtual Console, but it did not mention any specific games in its report.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6156853.html?tag=latestnews;title;1

Wii Shooting: http://media.wii.ign.com/media/827/827190/vids_1.html

Wii Music: http://media.wii.ign.com/media/827/827335/vids_1.html

Vivendi is buddying up with several developers in preparation of future next-gen projects.

Public companies face strict reporting requirements, which means financial reports from game publishers often reveal new titles, game delays, or other surprising announcements which, thanks to government mandate, muscle past the caution of public relations.

Along these lines, Gamasutra recently noted that an otherwise-buried SEC filing from Vivendi Games offers several tantalizing tidbits, not the least of which is a partnership between the publisher and Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Productions, the minds behind the acclaimed (and hilarious) Psychonauts.

The June 2006 document, a presentation to investors which broadly describes Vivendi Games’ current franchises and successes — including the enormously popular World of Warcraft — also lists a roster of external studios making up an “all-star” team for future projects. Among the developers are Double Fine, Starbreeze (The Chronicles of Riddick, The Darkness), Day 1 Studios (MechAssault), and Snowblind (Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance).

Sadly, the document does not go into specifics about what games each studio is creating for Vivendi. The publisher was unavailable for comment at the time of this writing.

Along with new partnerships, the filing reveals Vivendi’s casual gaming plans. For both Xbox Live Arcade and the PC, the company lists 3D Ultra MiniGolf for 2006 and Battlestar Galactica, Red Baron, and The Incredible Machine for 2007. Xbox Live Arcade will also get a game titled Megaforce this year.

In addition to boasting of World of Warcraft’s contributions to Blizzard’s success, Vivendi’s presentation includes an outline of how the subsidiary’s franchises could grow, listing new MMO, console, and PC entries of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo as “potential” projects.