Nintendo have confirmed many circulating rumors with the announcement of a new model of their DS, the Nintendo DSi.
This third iteration of the DS was revealed at Nintendo’s own Fall Press Conference today while Nintendo preempt their lack of a Tokyo Game Show presence later this year and let loose with some Christmas announcements.
A release date of November 1st has been confirmed for Japan while the rest of the world is waiting for a 2009 release. This time around the improvements are clearly far less cosmetic so some significant hardware upheavals are expected and somewhat provided.
This new DS model will most notably feature larger screens (3.25 inches over the current 3) yet omit the Game Boy Advance port which I’m a little upset about. Removing the GBA port will allow a thinner DS and enable room for an SD Card so no loss without gain. On board flash memory will also complement SD Card capabilities as great use for new online service titled “DSWare”
While initial details are slim, “DSWare” appears to provide similar services to that of WiiWare for gamers to download full games and software onto the DSi’s internal or SD Card memory. Software downloads for the DSWare network will be purchased via the Nintendo Points method again akin to that of the Wii.
Two digital cameras will be included with a three megapixel external camera alongside a 0.3 MP internal for future support across games and the internet. Audio will get a much needed improvement with new speakers and extra audio tweaking abilities such as a pitch option and finally a web browser will be built-in by default.
Check out the video below just released, thanks to Kotaku. (more…)
Electronic Arts have regretfully informed Kotaku that the upcoming first person shooter set in the Command & Conquer universe, Tiberium, has been canceled with no further intentions for production.
Shaping up as a solid spiritual successor to C&C Renegade, Tiberium was looking quite seductive with intended plans for XBOX 360, PS3 and PC. Renegade was quite good on PC with competent single and multi player modes so I’m disappointed to see this one isn’t going to make the cut.
Apparently Tiberium was cancelled as part of EA’s new “Quality Control” methods. I’m wondering if that’s specific to (more…)
With Activision this month revealing their respectably rocking Guitar Hero World Tour dates and prices around the globe many were still wondering when us Aussies were to see the initial rival party band game, Rock Band, here in Australia especially when the sequel is already out for XBOX 360 in the United States.
First we’ll take a look at the pricing and release date for Guitar Hero World Tour announced by Activision earlier this month. (more…)
Developer - Team Ninja
Publisher - Microsoft Game Studios
Available On - XBOX 360
Reviewed On - XBOX 360
Violence, looks, speed, and violence. It was a very impressive package to be presented with all in the first level of Ninja Gaiden II. Right from the start the quick moving and unrelenting action started and didn’t let go. A few missions in and one begins to familiarise themselves with the combat, timing and abilities of the most recent incarnation of Ryu Hayabusa. While I have experience with a few odd past Ninja Gaiden titles, I had heard of the notorious difficulty of the past Ninja Gaiden XBOX title yet not having played it I gritted myself and prepared for Ninja Gaiden II.
As I mentioned Ninja Gaiden II throws a lot at you right from the start. The graphics are initially extremely impressive with everything having a smooth glossy sheen with not a jaggy in sight. The action is immediately intense and very fast flowing with little introductions leaving the player to decipher most of (more…)
As brilliant and overdone as the recent Metal Gear Solid 4 was the ending left a tear to my eye and a small amount of dismay at the end of one of the best series of video games ever.
While Hideo Kojima executive producer has stated that this was indeed his final Metal Gear Solid game and the end of Solid Snake’s era this does not mean the end of the Metal Gear franchise which is a title held firmly for Konami who have expressed potential future plans for the blockbuster series.
Multi-platform gaming website Siliconera today have discovered two new trademarks registered in Japan by Konami as being “Metal Gear Solid Existence” and just “Existence” alone. With the above picture as supported imagery released by Konami the title obviously implies another MGS game in the works which is really quite suprising, so soon.
While another Metal Gear title was always a certainty the fact that this is a proper “Metal Gear Solid” title raises a lot of questions as to what this could possibly be. The past has seen several remakes and re-realeases of MGS titles with similar title suffixes such as “Substance” and “Subsistence” but these were also usually to support a multi-platform release or something like online play (already in MGS 4) and I don’t see MGS 4 being available on any other platform anytime soon, or possibly ever.
Then the PSP titles come to mind, but they have always been “Metal Gear Acid” installments. A title alone gives very little to speculate on but considering the use of the word “Solid” I’ll tentatively await the potential return of Solid Snake.
Australian gaming journalist Joab Gilroy appeared on ABC’s program “Q&A” in July to discuss the situation and lack of an R18+ classification for video games in Australia. Unfortunately despite Joab’s efforts in attempting to portray such needs to a clearly uninformed and irrational collection of panelists many factual inaccuracies were expressed from the show’s hosts and guests coupled with irrelevant points on the specific case of Fallout 3. (more…)
We finally return to finish the last show and discuss the exiciting features of Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour, the way TV show on the ABC totally mishandled a panel discussion on Fallout 3 and the R18 rating, Godzilla, the awesomeness of Doctor Horrible and how Max Payne could well be a great movie.
You can download the podcast from the Canned Geek website.
Who’d have thought it?
Rockstar are out to prove that they’re not just mooching off Los Angeles’ glitzy and glamorous name for the titles sake and we have the screen shots to prove it.
The upcoming Midnight Club: Los Angeles will again incorporate the series’ concept of open world free path racing against accurately modeled and interestingly modified real life locales allowing racers to choose their own path through impactive and somewhat nostalgic environments.
Having never left my water locked continent of Australia the nostalgia is certainly lost on me but that just gets me eager to play MCLA and see what it’s like!
See for yourself with the screenshots below. (more…)
Developer - DICE
Publisher - Electronic Arts
Available On - XBOX 360, PS3
Reviewed On - XBOX 360
The Battlefield series has returned to home consoles stronger than ever. Not only does this next Battlefield installment provide a satisfying and expansive online community similar to it’s PC versions, but it also adds several nice engine upgrades, a big graphical overhaul and a short but fun single player campaign. (more…)
