Console News

Not to be outdone by the PSP, Nintendo have just announced that you’ll soon be able to surf the web via your DS with the release of a version of the Opera web browser for the system. The bad news is that you’ll have to pay for the priviledge because they browser is to be shipped on a cartridge which you’ll have to buy.

The Opera browser is available on many computer OS versions, so chances are you may already be familiar with it. The DS version will make use of both the handhelds screens for displaying web pages, and will be surfable over any wireless web connection, though whether the currently free Nintendo WiFi system will extend to web browsing is unknown at present. Clicking on links is as simple as pointing at them with your stylus, and presumably entry of web addresses will be handled via the typical virtual keyboard arrangement.

For more information check out the Opera web browsers home page.

At long last WiFi download of demos is coming to the UK for the Nintendo DS. Such systems have been available in Japan for some time, but now we too can join in the try-before-you-buy fun!

Games shops that choose to take part will contain kiosks which contain various demo versions of DS games. All you have to do is go up to the kiosk, switch on your DS and select the download play icon. A menu of the demos availables will be shown and you simply select the one you want with the stylus. The demo will then be downloaded to your DS where it will remain until you next switch of your console. Of course, if you want to keep the game to play later you can always just close the DS without switching it off to put it into power saving mode.

The first selection of games to be made available is set to include Mario Kart DS, Tetris DS, Meteos, True Swing Golf, Pokémon Trozei, and Professor Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain?

With the March 2 debut of the DS Lite in Japan fast approaching, Nintendo handheld fans have been anxious awaiting details about the system. Is the DS Lite worth its proposed $142 price tag, a full $15 more than the original DS system? Or is the DS Lite just a trimmed down version of the DS – a bit thinner and lighter?

Well fans need to wait no longer to get their burning questions answered. This week Nintendo revealed the final specs of the system, as well as confirmed that the system is backwards compatible with all GameBoy Advance games. Great news for GBA owners who don’t want to see their money spent on GBA games go to waste.

Nintendo has made a number of changes to the system. Read the rest of this entry »

It has been announced that Sony Pictures are planning to start releasing dual packs for their films comprising both a DVD and UMD version, with an expected price tag of less than $30 US, the usual price in the states for a single UMD movie. This seems like a really good idea, as most people are unlikely to fork out twice for the same film, especially if they’ve already upgraded an old VHS version to DVD in the past.

The first set of releases are due on March 28th and include Resident Evil, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Underworld and The Terminator. A second wave arrive on April 25th and will comprise Ghostbusters, Mad Max, The Fifth Element and Snatch.

Hopefully Europe will be treated to similar plans in due course. Let’s hope the idea takes off and other movie companies start to follow Sony’s example.

Sony has announced that they will be showcasing the Playstation 3 at the upcoming Taipei Game Show next week, but gamers are reluctant to get too excited about this news. Sony’s highly anticipated next generation console system is expected to make quite the splash once it hits store shelves, but the jury is still out on exactly when the system will be released. If the system is still several months away, it may be far from a finished product and may still not yet be playable at the Taipei show.

Sony, though, is making the most out of this public relations opportunity and will be devoting a full 25% of its booth to showcase the Playstation 3, according to the Chinese-language newspaper Commercial Times. Exactly what show visitors will see, though, is still up for debate. Read the rest of this entry »

Reports in PSM magazine suggest that a GPS add-on may be on it’s way for the PSP. The device is said to plug into the USB port and uses software supplied on a UMD disc to provide standard GPS map routing facilities. Map updates can be purchased on UMD also, but there’s no word as to whether map updates will be downloadable or not. It would seem a shame to miss out on such an obvious feature, especially since you can now get a 2GB memory stick!

In the meantime however, you can still use your PSP to help you on your travels by downloading a subway map for it! Next time you visit London, New York, Chicago or several other major cities around the world, check out this post on website engadget.com. That’s if you can bring yourself to stop playing on your PSP long enough to look at the map!

Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) owners should be excited to hear the latest news. Sony’s Recording Media and Energy division has just introduced a new 2GB Memory Stick, designed specifically with the PSP owner in mind. The memory stick is being sold a part of a new promotional pack featuring a large PSP image on the front. The kit also comes with a USB cable, allowing gamers to connect their PSP directly to their desktop or laptop PC for easy file transfer. Sony has confirmed that the price of the new 2GB memory stick with vary from country to country, with an estimated retail price is expected to be around 175 euros in the United Kingdom.

What makes Sony’s new memory stick so great is its storage capability. With more than 60 times the capacity of the traditional PSP memory stick sold with the PSP, the new 2GB stick can store leagues of data. That’s the equivalent of 60 hours of digital music, 1000 high resolution digital images, or as many as four full-length feature films. Read the rest of this entry »

A quiet battle is brewing in Japan - the battle for market share in the console gaming industry. The first time around, back in 2000-2001, the Sony Playstation 2 easily triumphed over the Microsoft Xbox. The second part of the war has just begun with the launch of the next generation of gaming consoles: the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360.
And although no blood will be shed or wounds incurred, much at stake for both sides.

The first time around Sony had nearly a year and a half head start in Japan, giving the Playstation 2 a firm foothold in the gaming community. The console offered a very solid performance and featured exclusive games not playable on any other gaming platform. In addition, Sony placed a strong emphasis on marketing directly to the Japanese public, appealing to the unique needs of Japanese gamers. As a result, Sony’s PS2 snatched up a whopping 63% of the video game console market share. Nintendo captured the next largest market share (30%), leaving Microsoft with a meager 0.2% of gaming consoles sales according to Japanese gaming website Kotaku.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Sony’s hot new next generation console, the Playstation 3, is slated for a 2006 launch, although little information has been released about the games in development for the system. In fact, the current lineup for the PS3 has looked dismally bare to date. Granted, the system will first be released in Japan and the Japanese launch is still months away. When Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was launched in November 2005, there were well over a dozen games ready for immediate release, including a number of “big name” titles such as Madden NFL 06 and Quake 4, giving gamers a variety of title options. No such “big name’ games appear on the PS3 title list yet. So do excited Playstation 3 fans need to be concerned?

Certainly not at this time. Read the rest of this entry »

As we speculated a few weeks back, and despite claims to the contrary made this week by David Yarnton, boss of Nintendo UK, and reports from Nintendo Europe last week, it seems Nintendo have got a redesigned DS in the works after all, and it’s called the DS Lite.

As we suspected, the redesign is basically a shrinking down of the current DS, with a few alterations such as the microphone moving between the two screens, and the power button having disappeared from the front face of the console, presumably relocated to the side. A backlight brightness button is the only new addition, allowing the light to be set to 4 different levels. Also, as we predicted, the machine looks as if it might be a bit sturdier feeling this time round. No news on whether the GBA cartridge port remains, but let’s assume no news is good news and that it remains.
Read the rest of this entry »